1 Thessalonians 5:14-28
Notes:
This passage is a call for spiritual maturity. In it, Paul provides additional guidance for Christians:
- On dealing with others (vs. 14 – 15)
- On daily living (vs. 16-22)
- Prayer for sanctification (vs. 23-28)
On dealing with others
- Be ready to give a warning to those who create trouble in the church. (v. 14)
- Comfort those who experience difficulties in the face of adversity by encouraging them to trust God. (v. 14)
- Strengthen and protect those who are weak, either physically or spiritually. (v. 14)
- Be patient with all, realizing that every Christian has their own trials and battles to overcome. Don’t add to those battles. (v. 14)
- Make an effort to intercede when matters might become trying between fellow Christians, in an attempt to eliminate evil deeds between those who are of the church. (v. 15)
- Practice good behavior that would honor God. (v. 15)
On daily living
The following guidelines are presented in the text very plain and require very little explanation:
- Rejoice evermore. (v. 16)
- Let the joy of the Lord be evident in your life at all times.
- Pray without ceasing. (v. 17)
- Be always in an attitude of prayer.
- In everything give thanks. (v. 18)
- Always be thankful, remembering that God controls all things and all things work together as part of His will is perfect.
- Quench not the Spirit. (v. 19)
- Take no actions, and walk in no darkness, that would cause the fire of the Holy Spirit to be diminished in your life.
- Despise not prophesyings. (v. 20)
- Do not become antagonistic regarding the preaching of the Word. In today’s church this has become more and more prevalent, as church-goers in greater and greater numbers no longer want to hear the preaching, but would rather be entertained with song and a brief talk.
- Prove all things. (v. 21)
- Measure everything by the Word of God. Ensure that what you hear is from the Word.
- Hold fast that which is good. (v. 21)
- When preaching has been proven by the Word of God, it is good and profitable and should be used for growth and discipleship.
- Abstain from all appearance of evil. (v. 22)
- The goal is to keep from sinning. In order to do so, keep from appearing to sin. Stay away from evil and anything that appears to sin. This implies that setting up standards that ensure godly behavior rather than walking on the line between evil and good.
Prayer for sanctification
Paul closes this epistle with a call and a prayer for sanctification and general closing remarks:
- Sanctify you wholly. (v. 23)
- In other words, there is a prayer to be set apart completely for holiness.
- Be blameless before the Lord at His return. (v. 23)
- To be blameless as a result of the work God does in the Christian’s life, and be found as such when Christ returns.
- Trust in God’s faithfulness. (v. 24)
- Great is God’s faithfulness to empower the believer to achieve what He has called them to… including His call to holiness.
- Pray and greet those who are serving in the field for the kingdom of God. (vs. 25-26)
- Realize that those who serve are praying for you, so pray for them as well, and let them know that they are on your hearts and minds.
- Read the Word aloud in the congregation. (v. 27)
- During Paul’s time, these epistles were the written guidance provided to the church by God.
- They were to be read aloud as instruction and guidance, as they are today in Bible-believing and preaching churches all over the world.
- Follow after grace. (v. 28)
- As was common in Paul’s epistles, he asked that grace would be bestowed on the church.
- This is a prayer we should remember today as the church is being subtly attacked on many fronts, so grace is needed in these troubled times.
Questions:
- From this passage, list five ways that Christians should deal with others in the church.
- Sometimes we find that other Christians’ behavior tries our patience… How should a Christian teenager deal with another Christian who’s behavior is “obnoxious”?
- If you had two Christian friends who were stirring up trouble in your youth group, how could you help eliminate the potential problem?
- The perception of many people is that teenagers are professional complainers and are seldom thankful. Whether or not this perception is the reality in your situation, what can you do to help change the perception? (Note: At rymmr.com and www.RadicalYouthMinistry.com, we know that is not an accurate perception for most Christian teens.)
- Considering verse 17, evaluate your prayer life on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest or best). Is your score where you want it to be? What can you do to improve your prayer life?
- It’s easy to say I’m going to spend more time in prayer (you probably answered the above question that way)… But, the reality is to improve your prayer life requires a commitment and a desire to pray. Would you be willing to sign a commitment before God to become a better person of prayer? If so, discuss making that commitment with your Youth Pastor or leader.
- What does God expect you to do when you hear preaching?
- Considering verse 22, how would you determine what is acceptable or questionable behavior for a Christian teen?
- What does it mean to be sanctified?
- What does “purity” have in common with sanctification? How important is remaining pure (physically and spiritually) for a Christian teen? (Hint: Read 2 Timothy 2:19-22)