Disciplines of Discipleship
1 Thessalonians 5:16-28
Be Joyful
Be Prayerful
Be thankful
Fan into Flame the zeal of the Spirit
Heed the Word of God
Test the Truthfulness of Teaching
Focus on that which is Good
Avoid that which is Evil
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Introduction
Knowing God’s will.
It is something that everyone thinks of at times. What is God’s will for my life?
Well, back in the beginning of chapter 4, Paul talked about God’s will for each of us to avoid sexual immorality so that we might be able to grow in our sanctification.
This week, we also learn about God’s will for us, but Paul gives us things to do, not just to avoid, that will help us continue to be sanctified, to grow in relationship with the Lord and to be His disciple.
Last week we learned some principals regarding leadership, followership and fellowship, this week we learn some principals regarding the Disciplines of Discipleship
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so that when Christ returns, He will find us ready.
Turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 5:16-28
Let’s read what Paul says for us to do personally as God works to sanctify us and prepare us to be blameless at his coming.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-28
16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
19 Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20 do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
25 Brothers, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27 I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Pray
Ok, as we take a look at some of these disciplines of Discipleship, they don’t seem to bad.
The first thing Paul tells us to do is
Be Joyful
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In fact 1 Thessalonians 5:16 says- Be joyful always;
Always?
Wait a minute. Is Paul telling us to be joyful in bad circumstances?
How do you do that?
How can we be joyful when life has got us in a hammer lock and doesn’t seem to be letting go?
How can we be joyful
when we’ve lost our job,
when we just got a call from the Doctor with bad news,
when a loved one has passed away,
when our house is being foreclosed on?
How do you do that?
Happiness and Joy
Well, first we need to understand the difference between happiness and joy.
They are not the same thing nor do they emanate from the same place.
Happiness is related to “happenings.”
Our external circumstances have a lot to do regarding how happy we feel.
Joy, on the other hand, is something that, biblically speaking, emanates from within, not from outside of us.
I think we need to recognize that joy is not something we just manufacture.
Joy is a fruit of the Spirit.
It comes from a close relationship with the Lord as we walk in the Spirit.
If we are not experiencing joy, the question is not
“what circumstance can I change to be joyful?” but
“why are we not bearing this fruit of the Spirit?”
Right after Paul lists out the fruit of the Spirit, he says, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25)
When we are not experiencing any of the fruits of the Spirit, it is not that the Spirit that is in us is bad, but the problem is more likely what the Spirit is planted in. We need to be tending the ground of our hearts.
Just like in any fruit bearing plant, we need to water and fertilize so the plant grows and bears fruit.
We too need to check the soil of our heart and fertilize it with faith.
We do that by paying attention to the Lord’s leading and keeping in step with the Spirit.
As Christians, the Spirit is continually seeking to lead us into a deeper and closer walk with the Lord. We will need to continually take steps of faith as He leads.
When we fail to do that, we fail to keep in step with the Spirit and we won’t be bearing the fruit of the Spirit.
But when we continue to follow, to trust in faith and to “keep in step with the Spirit” then we are going to be able to experience the joy of the Lord always.
That is because we are going to be seeing the Lord continually be true to His promises.
We are going to see Him bring us through difficult circumstances.
We are going to be assured of the truth of His word.
We are going to know that God is completely in control and really can work “for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28), in absolutely every circumstance.
I can be joyful knowing that even though I am ill equipped to deal with some things, He can deal with everything, and He is not surprised by anything, and is completely able to use even the bad circumstances of life for my good.
Oh the joy we can have regardless of our circumstance when we are keeping in step with the Spirit.
Be joyful as you keep in step with the Spirit of the Lord.
But Paul continues in his disciplines for Discipleship by telling the Thessalonians to
Be Prayerful
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1 Thessalonians 5:17 - pray continually;
Prayer is supposed to be something as constant as breathing.
If that is the case then there are probably a lot of us who are gasping for air because we have been holding our breath when it comes to prayer.
We don’t pray like we should, and we probably all recognize that.
And I probably don’t need to quote a lot of verses that convince us that we need to pray.
But how do we do it? How do we pray continually or at least more than we do?
First understand that when Paul tells us to pray continually, he is not saying that we need to be constantly speaking prayers to God.
Paul did have times of prayer where that was all he did, but Paul did many things other than just praying in the sense we understand it.
But being in continual prayer does mean that we have a constant open line of communication with the Lord, it means that we don’t hang up the phone, that He is part of our other conversations and all that we do.
CME – ON phone with clients
When I was a broker at the CME, every morning I would call my clients and talk with them. We would talk about what happened overnight and about the things I knew were going to be going on during the day and find out what they were looking at so I could let them know what was happening as the day progressed.
For prayer, that is like our initial prayer during our day. When we get up, we need to begin the day with the Lord praying and asking for guidance with our day as we deal with things and lifting up requests and petitions for the things we know we are going to be facing that day.
But I would also be on the phone most of the rest of the day giving market updates, letting them know what was happening and ready to receive an order when they had one.
The continual part of prayer is a lot like that.
We recognize that the line is open and we are continually giving updates and asking for guidance.
“Lord, this conversation I am having with a friend just turned spiritual. Give me wisdom to proceed.”
“Lord, I am struggling with temptation right now, help me”
“Lord, I am feeling very afraid or alone all of the sudden, please give me peace.”
To pray continually means our lines of communication are continually open and we are communicating regularly throughout the day and the Lord is “in on” everything that is happening in your daily life.
Paul continues on and tells the Thessalonians to
Be Thankful
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1 Thessalonians 5:18 – “give thanks in all circumstances” for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Wow. Did you notice that every one of these disciplines for discipleship is constant.
Be joyful always
Be prayerful continually
Be thankful in all circumstances.
That is because, as I said earlier, they don’t depend on our circumstance. They are dependent on a living and growing faith.
Now regarding thankfulness, this is one of those things that we continually need help with.
When I was a kid, my mom would always have to remind me to send a thank you note. It is not that I wasn’t thankful, but Iife would just move on and I would forget.
We are all a lot like that.
Life is busy. And while we may be able to tell you that the Lord is good and He provides, we don’t always stop and give thanks for these things.
We need to pause and continually reflect on what God is doing and give thanks and be thankful.
This is one of the reasons that we will pause next week and worship Him through stopping and looking back over this past year and give thanks to Him for what He has done at Hickory Creek as well as in the lives of those at Hickory Creek.
And I want to encourage you to put this verse into practice today as we have opportunity to give a video testimony of thanks for even the difficult circumstances that you may be facing and what God is doing through that.
We glorify the Lord when we recognize His sovereignty and ability to take even the bad circumstances and use them for good.
Corrie Ten Boom on Thankfulness in all circumstances
Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch born Christian whose family helped hide Jews from the Nazi’s during WWII. Her family was eventually arrested and placed in concentration camps. Corrie and her sister, Betsy, were in one especially bad concentration camp. In the barracks they were in there was extreme overcrowding and terrible flea infestation.
As they were reading through 1 Thessalonians, they came upon our text for today and were reminded to be joyful, be prayerful and be thankful in all circumstances.
Corrie could not, and would not give thanks for their situation with the fleas, but Betsy persisted that they give thanks even for this circumstance knowing that God could use all things, even these fleas, for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
As they spent their days at the camp, they found it shockingly easy to have Bible studies and prayer meetings in there Barracks without any interference from the Guards. It was only several months later that they learned that the guards would not enter their barracks because there were too many fleas!
They were able to keep growing in and sharing their faith because of those fleas.
They truly could give thanks for the fleas and that God is really in control using all things for their good.
Whatever circumstance you are facing or in, you can give thanks that God is in control and has promised to work it for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
Give thanks to the Lord for being able to use whatever circumstance you are in for your good.
Paul goes on now and says, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire” (1 Thessalonians 5:19)
If you have ever had a fire in a back yard fire pit, you know that if you neglect it, it will go out.
If we disregard the Spirit’s work or leading in our life, we are going to lose the zeal of the Spirit that we get usually when we first become a Christian.
So we need not only to not actively put out the Spirit’s fire, but we need to not neglect it, but instead,
Fan into Flame the Fire of the Spirit
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While we can be sure that the Spirit will never leave us because Paul has told us that we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) who guarantees our inheritance (Ephesians 1:14), we don’t want to lose that energizing power of the Spirit in our lives.
When we are neglecting these disciplines that we have spoken about, we are neglecting the Spirit’s work and we are in danger of putting out the Spirit’s fire.
But when we are rejoicing in the Lord always, when we are praying continually and keeping those lines of communication open, when we are giving thanks in all circumstances, we are not only tending the fire, but we are fanning into flame the fire of the Spirit in our lives.
And when the fire is burning brightly in us, we help others to “catch fire” as well and we see the good news of Jesus spread and the joy of the Lord experienced by more and more people.
Paul told Timothy to “fan into flame the gift of God” (2 Timothy 1:6)
We need to fan into flame the fire of the Spirit of God in our lives by maintaining joyful prayerful, thankful lifestyle.
Transition
Paul goes on to say not to treat Prophecies with contempt (1 Thessalonians 5:20). At this point, the early church did not have the completed word of God as we do. God spoke through the Apostles and prophets the very word He wanted them to know.
Today we have the very word of God in written form.
We, still today, need to not treat God’s holy word with contempt.
And, it is as we
Heed the Word of God that we honor the word of God and how we do not treat it as contemptible.
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As I or Andy or any of our elders or teachers get up and expound on the word of God, we need to listen and heed what is being spoken. If the message that is spoken and heard is ignored, you treat it with contempt.
But while we are called not to treat the word of God with contempt, we are called to
Test the Truthfulness of Teaching of those who are expounding on the word
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1 Thessalonians 5:21a - Test everything.
Is what is being spoken in accord with what the Bible teaches?
Is the teacher taking the Scripture out of context and making it say whatever he wants it to say?
We need to test the truthfulness of what is being said.
Now this goes for anyone, including me.
That is why it is so important for each one of us to know the word of God.
We want you to be learning it and growing in your understanding of it so you can be able to test everything and be like the Bereans who examined the Scriptures to see if what was being said was true (Acts 17:11).
Test the Truthfulness of what is being taught against the word of God.
Then, you need to
Focus on that which is Good
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1 Thessalonians 5:21b - Hold on to the good.
As we hear the word of God and see how the Spirit of God is working, hang on to that. Hang on to the truth of God’s word.
Hang on to the eternal promises of God.
Hang on to those times when God powerfully worked in your life.
Remember it. Dwell on it. Hang on to it.
Paul tells the Philippians “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9)
Focus and hang on to what is good by putting it into practice in your life so you might be able to experience the peace of God.
But not only should we Focus on that which is Good, but we need to
Avoid that which is Evil
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1 Thessalonians 5:22 - Avoid every kind of evil
Often I get asked “is it a sin to do this or is it a sin to do such and such.”
Usually what is in the mind of someone asking that is “how close can I get to sin without actually sinning.”
It is because we think our joy is going to come from sin rather than from the Lord.
We are believing a lie.
When we are focused on the truth and holding onto the good, we are going to have an easier time avoiding the evil.
We don’t want to see how close we can get to sin without sinning.
We want to celebrate and be joyful in the wide open area of godly living that the Lord has provided for us well away from the line of sin.
Avoid every kind of evil.
John says in 3 John 11 – “do not imitate what is evil but what is good.”
Focus and hang on to that which is good and realize that it is Satan that is tempting you with the evil and seek to avoid it.
Conclusion
As we implement these Disciplines of Discipleship into our lives, that is when we experience the sanctifying work of the Lord in our life.
Listen to how Paul closes this letter.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-28
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
25 Brothers, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27 I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Keep your focus on the Lord,
Be joyful in his work no matter what is happening,
devote yourself to prayer continually keeping those lines of communications open,
be thankful in every circumstance trusting God’s sovereign work and control to use your circumstances for your good.
Fan into flame the fire of the Spirit by doing those things and
Heed the word of God by following it and
Test the truthfulness of what is being taught
Hold on to the good and avoid the evil.
Put these disciplines in your life and you will be found blameless and ready when Jesus Christ returns. God is faithful.
Follow Him and be His Disciple.
Let’s pray.
