A Pastor's Wish, a Church on Fire

Well, let me invite you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. just given the Sunday that this is, I wanna look at 1 Thessalonians 5:12 through 22. And the title of this message is a Pastor's Wish. A church on fire.

A pastor's wish, a church on fire. a little over 40 years ago, believe it or not, in August of 1981, Cornerstone Fellowship Bible Church was born. And its first service was held the Sunday of August 2nd, 1981 at the home of Ed and Leah Lindsay here in Riverside. Jim Brown pastored Cornerstone through its 1st 10 years of existence, and when the church was being established back in 1981.

he led the steering committee and worked together with the steering committee towards some particular goals. That have been cornerstone distinctives ever since and Jim Brown and I were emailing each other, this past week about the desires that guided him and the men on the steering committee as they were seeking to establish the culture of Cornerstone. And in his email to me, he identified some basic desires regarding what they wanted the cornerstone culture to look like. Let me share some of them with you.

First of all, he said that they desired. From the outset that decisions by the elders would always be by unanimous action. They believed that if God was really leading the elders in a particular direction, God would lead every elder in that direction. Secondly, they wanted Cornerstone to be a church where the word of God was faithfully taught and practiced and from the outset, Jim says the Cornerstone Church body.

Had a deep love for God's word. Thirdly, Jim Brown and the steering committee wanted ministry to be shaped by the burdens and the passions of members of the congregation. For example, he says, and I quote, we didn't start Sunday school classes until someone said we need classes. For children Or for our children.

Those who had that burden were then asked, would you be willing to present to us some plans? And that became the pattern for caring for the needs of. The congregation. Jim says ministries were started by individuals and encouraged.

By the elders. He cited other examples of how the congregation flourished in ministry with that approach, and then he said, the point I'm making is that love for the body of Christ was one of the key qualities that characterized the Cornerstone family. From the very outset, he went on to say that another feature he wanted the church to prize was gathering in homes, given that the church was without a regular facility that it owned. These gatherings in homes from Cornerstone's earliest days were designed to facilitate regular community and served as the forerunner.

Of our present care group ministry and finally Jim and the steering committee wanted Cornerstone to be a church that was led with wisdom by the elders and it was from its very earliest days and Jim says, and I quote, one key result of the good leadership of the elders was that there was always respect for the leadership along with the willingness to work together to solve problems. And overarching everything. Jim says we were all convinced that the Holy Spirit only had one mind.

And we had to seek him first.

Our plans had to be submitted to him for guidance in establishing them and working them out. And that's what they did. And a beautiful church culture was formed. When Donna and I My wife and I first came to Cornerstone in July of 1991, 10 years later, we observed these characteristics of Cornerstone and fell in love with this congregation immediately because of these very things that were deliberately built into the DNA of Cornerstone from the very outset.

And if you will permit me to boast for just a moment, I think my greatest achievement as a pastor that I most prize. And being a pastor over these past 30 years. Is that cornerstone is still today. What it was.

When I came And that I didn't mess that up. With this being our celebration and vision Sunday, I want us to look at. A passage in which the apostle Paul, very much like Jim Brown did 40 years ago, is seeking to shape the culture of the Thessalonian Church, a church that at the time that this epistle was written is in its infancy, it's less than 1 year old. It's a church that may just be a few months old at this point.

And as we look at this passage, I, I want you to notice a progression in Paul's tone as these verses unfold. In verse 12, for example, we have Paul beginning with the words, we request. Which leaves you thinking that he's just gonna be asking for some things that he wishes for. But in verse 14, we find Paul saying, we urge, where he is earnestly pleading with great urgency.

By the time he gets to verse 18, he has been giving out imperatives, commands, and says, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus. And in verse 19, he says, do not quench the spirit. Which reveals, I think, the heartbeat of his concerns that have been guiding him not only throughout the whole letter, but throughout the entirety of this passage that we're gonna be looking at this morning. And using the word quench.

In verse 19, Paul is depicting the spirit as a fire that burns in our midst, a fire that gives off light and warmth. To the body life of our church, a fire that enables us to give off light and warmth to the community around us and a fire that actually can make us dangerous to Satan's kingdom. And Paul is basically saying, I need you as members of this congregation to do what I am calling upon you to do in this passage in order to help you to avoid quenching the Holy Spirit, and instead allow the Holy Spirit to burn at full flame in your midst.

As a pastor of Cornerstone.

I can say that when I read Paul's request in these verses, they, they resonate with me. They are things that I and the elders would most want from you as a congregation. In fact, what we have in these verses is any pastor's dream for the church that he pastors and more importantly, the Holy Spirit is speaking through Paul in these verses and he's essentially saying if you do these things, you will provide a rich environment. For me, the Holy Spirit to burn at full flame in your midst.

And you want that, right? We all want that. There's no telling what God can do. If we Behave in ways that provide the Holy Spirit and oxygen rich environment to burn among us in this way.

So let's work through these verses. And hopefully you have a hard copy of the notes that are with you and observe 6 things that that we're gonna want to do or must do to nurture a rich environment for the spirit to burn at full flame among us. Number 1, we must appreciate and love our workers, leaders, and teachers. We must appreciate and love our workers, leaders, and teachers.

Is it not true that people tend to flourish best in an environment of encouragement? We all know this is true, and listen to what Paul says in verses 12 and 13. He says, but we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. The word translated appreciate here is the Greek word genosko, which means to know someone in the context of a relationship that is characterized by appreciation.

And who does Paul request that we appreciate? He says, appreciate those who diligently labor among you. This would refer to any of your brothers and sisters in the church who serve in the church, engaging in anything from the most menial task all the way to the most exalted task that serves the good of the church body. Paul also says that we are to appreciate those.

Who have charge over you in the Lord. This speaks of those who stand before us and who lead us here at Cornerstone, this would include the elders and ministry leaders, the deacons and the care group leaders and teachers, along with even our worship leaders and children, this would include your parents, whom you should appreciate. Even more specifically. Paul says that we are to appreciate those who give you instruction.

And this word give you instruction is the Greek word for admonish. Paul's use of this word teaches us that the entire apostolic body of truth that is centered in the gospel of Jesus Christ is designed to confront us. As we are and bring about needed change in our lives, this word implies defects in you and in me that gospel instruction is seeking to address with the goal of bringing about positive change in our lives. The truth is, none of us enjoys being admonished, right?

But imagine going through life and never being admonished. Imagine a life without admonition. Imagine if the teaching that you received here at Cornerstone from week to week only made you feel good and never admonished or convicted you. That would then mean that in 10 years, 10 years from now, you'd probably still be exactly the same person.

That you are right now. And that would be your worst nightmare, wouldn't it? And it might actually be a nightmare for those around you who know you. And I'm thankful.

That you are not like this and that you want Cornerstone to be a church where you are being convicted and challenged and then yes, encouraged in the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's why you're here rather than somewhere else and that's why you appreciate those who give you challenging instruction in the Lord for your growth. Paul's language of appreciation continues in verse 13. He asked that we appreciate those who labor meaningfully among us, and then in verse 13, he adds, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work.

Not just esteem them, but esteem them highly and not just highly, but very highly. And not just esteem them very highly, but esteem them very highly in love. Why? Because of their work.

There is simply no price tag on the service that any of you render to this church. The body of Christ, no matter how menial the task may be that you are engaging in. So be a person. Who appreciates those who labor in any capacity here at Cornerstone and as you do labor on behalf of this church, know how precious your service is.

Last week I was thanking someone out in the lobby for serving coffee at the coffee station, and they immediately said, it's my honor. That's someone who knows something about the preciousness of the people that they are serving. There's yet another pastoral wish from Paul in this passage which represents the second thing that we must do in order to nurture the richest environment for the spirit to burn freely in our midst. Number 2, we must live in peace with one another.

We must live in peace with one another. And this would go for our relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ, our relationships with family members in the home. This would go for our marriages. We must live in peace with one another.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:13, Paul gives another instruction saying live in peace with one another. Literally, you could translate this, as Paul saying be piecing one another. Or as one dictionary says, be bringing peace. To one another.

The command here is really that we take the peace of Christ, that we take the peace that Christ has accomplished in reconciling us to God and to one another, and we bring this gospel peace to each other, and we bring this piece to bear upon our relationships with each other. The word peace here speaks of relational wholeness and flourishing. In the Old Testament, it translates the Hebrew word Shalom. This word speaks of more than merely the absence of hostility, but speaks of the luxurious presence of healing and reconciliation in relationships and to live in peace with one another means that we bring this peace into our relationships.

To live in peace with others is to do more than say, I'll stop fighting and I'll put my weapons down. It means to value your relationship with another person, to make deposits into that relationship with the goal of contributing what is needful for a relationship that more and more begins to reflect the wholeness of Christ. It means to refrain from doing things that damage the relationship. And when you do do things that damage the relationship, it means that you apologize and you confess your sin and you ask for forgiveness from the person you have wronged.

And it also means that when someone wrongs you and ask for your forgiveness, that you forgive them truly from the heart. This command to live in peace with one another doesn't mean you must know it does not mean that we never have conflict or disagreements or even admonish one another with hard truths. Sometimes we have to speak hard and difficult truth to one another and even disagree with one another in our pursuit of a deeper peace. But even when we do that.

The underlying foundation of our relationship, even for those interactions, is the peace of Christ. And we work honestly through our differences on that foundation of the peace that Christ has accomplished for us at the cross. Ultimately, Paul calls for this from us in this passage because he knows that true transformation. Happens in the context of loving relationships that are characterized by the luxurious presence of Shalom.

It is in the matrix of Shalom that spiritual growth happens most richly in our lives. So if we want the fire of the spirit to burn freely in our midst through this year and beyond, then we should invest in our relationships and be bringing the peace of Christ into those relationships. And live Do life together in peace. There's yet another pastoral wish from Paul in this passage which represents the third thing that we must do in order to nurture a rich environment for the spirit to burn and work freely in our midst.

Number 3, we must be involved in particular. And patient ministry to one another. We must be involved in particular and patient ministry to one another. If if Cornerstone is to be all that God wants it to be, then we need every member of this congregation involved in ministry, every person viewing themselves as a staff member of this church engaged in meaningful ministry to others.

To this end, in verse 14, Paul says, look at the verse, we urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Notice that there are 3 verbs here on the front end of this verse, admonish, encourage, and help. And all 3 of these are present tense, indicating that Paul wants us to be continuously doing these things for one another in the church. And then notice that there are 3 groups of people who evidently need ministry, that's the unruly, the faint hearted, and the weak.

All of them need a particular ministry, and from Paul's words in this verse, at the very end, we can infer that all of them will require patience. On your part. First of all, Paul says admonish the unruly. The unruly are those who are walking out of step with the teaching of scripture.

You admonish them by helping them to see their error and pointing them to the truth and to the right way, and then loving them enough to stick around and be a part of the solution. Obviously in order to engage in this ministry of admonishing the unruly, you must first know what the rule is. Which means you need to be. A voracious reader.

And student of the scriptures. And then you must have the courage to move toward. Others and help people to walk in line with it as you are seeking to do in your own life. Next, Paul says to encourage the fainthearted.

The faint hearted are literally those who are small psyched. They have a small psyche, literally. They're small souled. This is those brothers and sisters whose souls have become shrunken.

These are the brothers and sisters who because of discouragement or trials or defeat or suffering have been reduced to discouragement, despondency, or despair, and Paul is saying encourage such persons, literally move toward them and come alongside of them and minister to them from a position of long sightedness. Don't bark at them from a distance, but come alongside of them and speak words of truth and encouragement to them that are designed to expand their souls and lift them up.

Next, Paul says, help the weak. The weak are literally those who are without strength.

The word help has the idea of coming alongside of a person and laying hold of them and, and putting their arm over your own shoulder and helping them to walk. With your support. In a season of their life when evidently they're unable to walk on their own. And sometimes we need that from others, right?

In fact, do you realize that sometimes in God's providence. A brother or sister in the church may not have within them the strength that they need to do what God calls them to do. Does that sound heretical? It's not They may not have within them the strength to do what God wants them to do, because God has put that strength that they need inside of you.

And now God wants you to move toward that person and lend your strength to them and help them to walk in a way that they could not walk on their own. Does that make sense? R. Kent Hughes, has been a successful pastor for decades, but he's had his ups and downs over the years that he's been.

Thankfully honest about and in one of his books, he tells about a very dark season in his ministry. Where he was bitter, he was angry, and his faith was hanging by a thread, and he exploded one night while talking to his wife. And when he was done, he said to her, I don't think I can go on. All the blackness of.

Of his thoughts in that moment just came spilling out and he said, I don't think I can go on. And his wife responded by saying to him, Well, honey. I got enough faith for the two of us right now. And right now you are welcome to lean on my faith.

And he did. And he wrote about that experience in a book. Imagine a congregation doing this thing. For each other.

Now, for us to obey these 3 commands that we see in verse 14. does require wisdom from all of us, does it not? Look at verse 14 again. It would actually be simpler if Paul said, admonish the unruly, the faint hearted, and the weak.

If that's what he said, then we would have a one size fits all approach to ministry, no matter what a person's needs are, just admonish them. Some of you have the gift of admonishing. So this would like be a dream come true for you. But this is not what Paul is calling forth from us.

He tells us to admonish the unruly, encourage the faint hearted, and help the weak. So to obey this passage, we need to be discerning regarding who is unruly. And who is faint-hearted and who is weak and then render the appropriate ministry to them, right? And notice by the way, that this text does not say if you see someone unruly or fainthearted or weak, then.

Make sure you have one of the pastors deal with that. No This is a command to the members, the brothers and sisters in the Thessalonian Church. God wants you involved in all three of these ministries, and we want you to be equipped to do such things as well. One aspect of our vision for Cornerstone is to, to have literally a congregation of counselors.

Who are equipped to minister the counsel of Christ to one another. This is. This is what we're up to in literally everything that we do. This is part of the purpose of our adult equipping school classes.

This is part of why we're inviting. all of our men to join us on this campus March 9th through 11th to watch the general sessions of the shepherd's conference coming up. This is why the women's spring event. In March has 8 workshops addressing topics to help you and to help you help others.

This is part of why we're bringing the IBCD Summer Institute to you this summer here on this campus in the month of June. And then later in October, we will be bringing Scott O'Malley from 12 Stones Ministries. To come and conduct a weekend counseling conference for your benefit. This is why we do what we do in our men's and women's ministries and all we do, we're seeking to render you competent to minister the counsel of Christ to your brothers and sisters in the Lord, providing for them the particular help.

That is suitable to their particular need in a given moment. Take advantage of these resources. If you look again at verse 14, you'll notice. That there is one element of Paul's instruction that actually is one size fits all.

So if you like simplicity, you'll love this. And Paul tells us what this one thing is. He says at the end of verse 14, be patient. With everyone Which includes the unruly, the faint-hearted, and the weak.

Such an instruction from Paul implies that all such persons will test your patience at times, but Paul commands us to be patient with everyone. The Greek word that is translated patient here literally is the word, it's two words. It's the word long. Attached to the word anger.

In other words, this word means to be long angered. Toward people and you might hear that and say, Pastor Milton, I'm getting that right. I'm pretty good at that because when I get angry at people, I stay angry a long time. But that's not what this word means.

What it means to be long angered is that you endure provocations and disappointments and hurts for a long time. Without giving way. To anger. It means that you keep admonishing and encouraging and helping the unruly and the faint-hearted and the weak for a long time without giving way to anger or giving up in angry exasperation.

If there's one thing that That I'm sure of, and I know you will agree, it's this, no one will learn anything from you. If you are being impatient toward them. Which is why I think Paul says to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4, preach the word. The instant, in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort.

With great patience. And instruction So don't be an impatient person in ministry to others. And if you are getting impatient and you need some motivation to be patient towards someone that you are ministering to, take some time to ponder how patient God has been toward you. Think about how much he lavished you with blessings on his good earth and was patient with you while you were living in rebellion for years before your conversion.

And even since becoming a Christian, think about how patient God, he is with you. How many times he forgives you for the same offense, and keeps on loving you and never abandons you or gives up on you. Don't look at some brother or sister. In the church who's stumbling and say, I, I can't believe they're still struggling with that.

I gave them the solution to that problem a month ago. Oh, and God's only ever had to say something to you one time, and you're, and you just get it. That's just the way you roll. But no one else is the way you are.

No, how many times God. Has to patiently remind you again and again and again, and you stumble and he loves you, he forgives you, he speaks sometimes the same truth to you again, so patient with you. And you have opportunity to mirror that patience toward others. Maybe you've admonished an unruly person who's out of alignment with God's word, and now you see them going sideways yet again.

Maybe you've encouraged a faint hearted person and then you see them. Falling into despair once again. Maybe you've helped a weak person, and you walked away from that encounter grateful that God used you to solve their problem. But a few days later, you realize that their problem is not solved.

In fact, you realize that you're not even out of the first inning of what's going to be a very long ball game that goes into extra innings. That's OK. Sanctification for all of us is a slow motion miracle, and you are never more like Jesus than when you come alongside of people and minister to them. With the patience of Christ, and we want Cornerstone to be a church that is full of the patience of Christ.

Amen. Along these lines, there's yet another pastoral wish from Paul in this passage, which represents the 4th thing that we must do to nurture a rich environment for the spirit to burn in our midst. Number 4, let's say it this way, we must reflect the gospel toward those who wrong us. We must reflect the gospel toward those who wrong us.

Observe what Paul says in verse 15. See that no one repays another with evil for evil. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. The language here indicates that.

And forewarned you that in the church, you can expect. To be sinned against. People will wrong you. Hurtful things will happen to you.

But if someone wrongs you, you are not to repay them with evil for evil. Paul's instruction here also forewarns you that in the world, there are going to be people who wrong you and sin against you. When that happens, you are not to repay them with evil for evil. And noticed that Paul.

In this verse says, see that no one repays. Another with evil for evil. When you see a command with words like that, see that no one repays in it, it means that not only do you have the responsibility to not retaliate with evil for evil, but you need to see to it. That no one else is doing that either.

So if you see someone in the church giving way to bitterness and anger and retaliation, you should. Be involved in helping them to behave differently. Paul goes beyond this and says, but always seek after, literally always pursue, chase after that which is good for one another and for all people. So evidently we need to go beyond refraining from retaliation and actually go on the offensive in our relationships and literally chase after opportunities to do good to those that have wronged us or let us down.

To do good and beautiful and beneficial things to those who in the moment, we're not thinking are very deserving of our kindness. The good that we may need to do may involve confrontation and admonition, but our goal, even in that. is to do good to them, not just to vent. And if you need some motivation to practice what Paul is commanding in this passage.

Take some time to think about what God has done. Toward you You and I have sinned against a holy and a righteous God, and for our sins, we deserve God's eternal wrath. God would have every reason to visit evil upon us, for all the evils that we have done. But God has not only withheld from us in Christ the justice that we deserve for our sins, but he chased after us, he pursued us and Came into this broken world, in the person of Christ, lived the life we failed to live and then died to shed his blood so that we could have atonement for our sins, and that he might be able to save us and lavish eternal good upon us.

Even now that we are saved, what does Christ do but continually pursue us? Even in our moments of sin. He pursues us every day. So that we can say with the psalmist in Psalm 23, surely goodness and mercy.

Shall pursue me all the days, every day of my life. You and I, who know the Lord Jesus Christ, we are saved because we have a God who's already lived the ethic of verse 15 toward us, and now we have a chance to turn around toward one another and mirror the same ethic toward them. And it's when we behave in this way. In our relationships with one another that the world would look at us and say something is different.

About this group of people. They truly love one another with a gracious and unexplainable forgiving love. And it's when we behave like this that we create a rich environment for the Holy Spirit to burn at full flame in our midst. There's yet another pastoral wish from Paul in this passage which represents the 5th thing that we must do in order to nurture the richest environment for the spirit to burn at full flame in our midst.

Number 5, we must be rejoicing, prayerful, and grateful persons. We must be rejoicing, prayerful, and grateful persons. Observe what Paul says in verses 16 through 18. He says, rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and everything give thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Imagine a congregation full of people doing these things. First of all, Paul says, rejoice always. And guys, he's not just giving a command like this because it's like the pious thing to do, but because. God is always evidently doing things that you can be rejoicing in.

Because in every circumstance and every suffering, there are things for you to rejoice in. Because no matter how broken your brothers and sisters may be, there is always good in them for you to rejoice in. Because no matter how many sins you have committed today, There is still the atoning grace of Christ. And the righteousness of Christ that you are dressed in.

Please know that this command to be rejoicing always does not mean that you can never weep. My goodness. As Christians, there's so much to weep over, and we're called to weep. But Paul's command here means that even when you are weeping, there are things that you can be rejoicing in.

At the same time. Even through your tears so that you can then rightly speak as Paul speaks in 2 Corinthians 6:10 when he speaks of himself as listen to this sorrowful yet. Always rejoicing. Paul knew how to be sorrowful.

And rejoicing at the same time. In fact, is it not true that certain joys Our best scene. Through tear stained eyes. Is it not true that in our moments of deepest mourning and tears that we're able to lock on to Causes for our deepest joy.

I've noticed in my own life that when things are going splendidly. I can tend to rejoice in the shallow stuff. But suffering changes our perspective and gets us to dig our roots down a little deeper. And to put our focus on where our real and lasting joy comes from, and we become all the richer for that deeper focus.

Next, Paul tells us to pray without ceasing. Literally to pray without leaving off, is what he's saying. To use modern day language, Paul is telling us that when we talk to God on the phone through prayer, and we say in Jesus' name, which is often our way of saying goodbye in prayer, Paul is saying, don't hang up the phone. Stay on the line with God and always know that he never hangs up the phone on you.

He's always on the line, and he wants you to always be on the line also and to experience life and relationship with him. Has it ever happened to you that you finished a phone call with someone and you thought you hung up? Then you realize, no, evidently I didn't, and they're still on the line. It's happened to me where I've actually hung up.

And somehow they're still on the line, they won't, they won't go away. but what? That's God. Always.

Whenever you go to dial his number, he's still on the line from the last time that you talked to him. And he says, hey, how's it going? You wanna talk? What do you wanna talk to me about?

He's always there. To pray without ceasing means to pray without. Leaving off without giving up. Some of you are praying for a wayward child.

And you have not seen the answer to that prayer that you are praying. Don't give up. Don't give up on prayer. Don't give up on God and don't give up on the person that you are praying for.

Don't give up praying for that person in the church who is unruly right now or faint hearted or weak, that you are endeavoring to help. As Christians, we should never give up on praying. As a congregation, we should never give up on praying. As care groups, we should never give up on praying together.

As families and as married couples, we should never give up on praying. Most of the time when we do come to God and pray, it's in our moments of desperation and we're wanting a miracle and we little realize that in that moment that we are praying, we are already God's miracle. It's a miracle that we're even praying to him. Pray without ceasing, and don't hear that and go, man, that's hard to do.

No, it's an invitation. It's an invitation. Experience life in relationship with God, where the lines of communication are always open. Between you.

Next, Paul says, in everything, give thanks, which implies that in every situation, there is always something that God is doing that you can be genuinely thankful for. A command like this only works because of the truth of Romans 8:28, that God is always working all things for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose. We have to be a congregation. Of brothers and sisters that are in on this secret.

And we know always that God is at work in our life and in the lives of our brothers and sisters. As we saw back in November when I preached a message on Thanksgiving, this word give thanks is a combination of the word good and grace. Good grace. Literally is what this word means.

So giving thanks and everything involves seeing every good thing in your life as a grace. An undeserved favor and recognizing that God is the source of that gracious good, and then thanking him for it. So to be truly appropriately grateful in this sense, we, we need to be reminded and understand the, the hell that we deserve for our sins. And then we see every blessing in our life against the backdrop of that hell that we deserve, and we see that good and we pronounce that blessing to be a grace, and it's good, and we give thanks to God for it.

And the greatest blessing Of all, according to verse 18, is that we're in Christ Jesus. The one great permanent circumstance in which you live and move is in Christ Jesus. And that's always leaves us with an infinite number of salvation blessings that we can. Have available to thank God for.

As we saw back in November, giving thanks is not just one thing that God wants us to do. This is a mother lode. In which all other virtues are found, giants get slain and many evils get avoided when we are living our lives, giving thanks to God, and that would include being thankful for each other. As John Henry Jowett says, and I quote, gratitude is a vaccine.

An antitoxin. And an antiseptic. Imagine a congregation full of this vaccine. Of gratefulness.

To God Regarding all of these instructions in verses 16 through 18, Paul says, this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus, rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, giving thanks and everything. And using this language, Paul is not simply saying that here's 3 things out of 1000 that Are a part of what God wants you to do. No, Paul is saying that God's will for you in all areas of life should be infused with the fragrance of these three things. All the good that God wants for you and the avoidance of all evils that God wants you to avoid are encompassed in you doing these things.

There's one final pastoral wish. From Paul in this passage, which represents the 6th thing that we must do in order to nurture the richest environment for the spirit to burn at full flame in our midst. Number 6, we must be good responders to the prophetic word. We must be good responders to the prophetic word.

Observe what Paul says in verses 19 through 22. He says, do not quench the spirit. Do not despise prophetic utterances, but examine everything carefully. Hold fast to that which is good, abstain from every form of evil.

You could translate this, stop quenching the spirit, stop despising prophetic utterances, but do this instead. There's a lot we can say about these verses, but let's content ourselves with just a few comments here. First of all, technically speaking, prophesying in scripture involves a person. Giving newly given revelation, speaking forth newly given revelation.

From God. And during the first century in which this epistle was being written, newly given revelation from God was still pouring forth for the benefit of the church. But today we have the full body of God's revelation enshrined in scripture. Which means that what Paul tells the Thessalonians to do in this passage.

Can guide us and how we respond. To the revelation of God that is revealed in scripture. When someone speaks forth the prophetic revelation of God that is in scripture, Paul would tell us not to despise that revelation or to view it as of no account, but to esteem that revelation is infinitely valuable. This is actually what we try to do with God's help here at Cornerstone.

This is why we make the preaching and the teaching of the word of God central in all that we do. We do not want to be guilty of despising God's word. There are churches today. That treat what the world says as valuable.

And what the Bible says as of no account. But we wanna give God's word, the highest value that it deserves. You see, Cornerstone is not just a club. Where we come together and pool our ignorance and And say to each other, what does your heart tell you to do?

No, we're a church of people that come together. To look outside of ourselves to God. And listen to revelation from Him through His word. This is what Cornerstone has done for the last 40+ years.

It's what we have sought to do as we've been going through the book of Revelation. Over this past year. And we now have less than a chapter to go. Some of you have.

It's interesting. I went halfway through the book of Revelation and people were coming up to me saying, what are we gonna do after Revelation? you just have to know, don't you? And, but I'm gonna tell you right now, Lord willing, when we're done with revelation here shortly, we're gonna begin a series to the Gospel of John.

And I hope that you'll join us, for what I know will be an amazing journey of beholding the grace and the truth of Jesus Christ. In these verses here, there is a call not to be gullible, but to examine everything carefully. This would mean to examine God's word carefully in order to understand it and see how it applies to. Our lives and how our lives apply to it.

This would also involve examining any person's preaching or teaching, including examining mine to make sure that what is being said is in alignment with God's word. And then upon doing that careful examination, we hold fast to the word of God. We hold fast to that which God's word calls us to hold fast to, and we abstain or we hold ourselves away from everything that God's word tells us to abstain from. And we abstain from anything that anyone says.

Who is not speaking consistently with God's word. This is what we must do as a church. We must preach and teach God's revelation. We must examine his revelation carefully and hold fast to it and abstain from anything contrary to his word.

And if we do this. we're gonna look different. From the culture around us, right? But that's OK.

In fact, the church is supposed to look different from. The world being biblically different is good. And it's the best service that we can render to the people of this community. Amen.

As William Kirk Kilpatrick once said, Many people coming into the church are coming because they're burned out on what the world has had to offer them, and we render them a great disservice when all we do is give them more of the same. Let's not do that. Let's be a church that's willing to be radically different from the world. A community governed by God's word rather than governed and shaped by the culture.

Just in summary, guys, this is a divinely inspired wish list. From Pastor Paul. From the Holy Spirit of God. And I know that it expresses the heart of the elders of this church, and part of why I love Cornerstone so much and I've been so blessed to be here.

Over these last few decades is because so many of you model these things in a way that is so encouraging and makes you a joy to lead. On behalf of the elders of this church, I want you to know how much we appreciate you for that. But in the year ahead, let's excel still more. And doing these things and thereby create an oxygen rich environment for the spirit to burn at full flame in our midst here at Cornerstone.

This is not the time in history for our light as a church to grow dimmer. But for our light to burn brighter, for us to turn up the light and turn up the heat. And to pierce the darkness and the cold around us, and we will burn brighter and burn hotter if we do these things that allow the Holy Spirit to work freely and burn at full flame amongst us. And with the spirit working in this way among us, there is no telling what God can do in and through Cornerstone during this year and beyond.

Amen. Well, I could say, guys, go do this. I love the fact that Paul concludes these verses with verse 23. Where he turns our attention to the only one who can empower us to do these things.

He says, now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely. He's the one who does this. And may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray together.

Lord, we're so thankful for just the immensely practical instruction that Paul. And the Holy Spirit through Paul provides us in these verses. There are parts of this text that are personally. Encouraging to me and other parts that are deeply convicting.

And parts that are both encouraging and convicting. Lord, we're so thankful here at Cornerstone for the legacy of godly leadership. For men like Jim Brown that whose thumbprints were just all over. This flock in the first decade of Cornerstone's existence and who left deep imprints on this church imprints that are still visible to this day.

We're thankful for the godly elders, the godly leadership that. That led this church from its very earliest days and then over the last 40 years, Lord, and the men that lead this flock to this very day. We thank you for those in our church who are still with us, who were a part of Cornerstone 40 years ago, and we thank you for all those brothers and sisters that you have brought our way. And made a part of this great congregation.

And I thank you for leading my wife and I and our, our children. To this church What a blessing it is to be a part. Of Cornerstone, Fellowship Bible Church. With these brothers and sisters.

I asked the Lord, that you would make me a better man. A better pastor. A better brother in Christ. Who lives out the ethic of what we've seen in this text, and I ask that you would help all of us.

To excel still more in doing these very things in the strength that you provide. And when we fall short, that we confess our failures to you and we receive of your forgiving grace and that That grace causes us to love you all the more, and that grace serves as wind beneath our wings that helps us to soar even higher toward being like what we see in this text. When I read this passage, I see Jesus. These are descriptions of.

Of him And so our eyes are upon Him, Lord, and we ask that you would make us more like Him who loved us and saved us so. And do much In us and among us and through us in 2022 and beyond. And Lord, if you do so, we promise you now that we will give you all the glory and take no glory to ourselves. But we will glorify you endlessly.

For the mighty work. that you have done and will do. In the days to come We surrender ourselves to you, amazed by your grace, in the name of Jesus, and all God's people said,