1 Thessalonians 5:16-22
Sermons by Rev. Mao Translated by Evelyn Lee
May 28th, 2006 ^.^~~☆★★ ~^.^~~☆ ☆~^.^~~☆.^~~ ~^.^~~☆~^.^~~
When we were born into this world, the world gives us a whole bunch of frames. Your country gives you a big frame; your family gives you a small frame; your church gives a frame of faith; your marriage gives you a heart shaped frame; your parents, your boss, your subordinates, including your most beloved ones; then you have your friends; your brothers and sisters; they all hope you live within their world of frames; On top of all these frames, some one thinks it is not enough, he adds to himself more frames, making life so much harder to move on. It is like running a 10,000 feet obstacle course race, full of difficulties.
Your will discover life is a framework, your are trapped in a certain place, certain time; entrapped in a certain month or a certain date. Have you ever thought that being a Christian you are encased in a frame given by other people? God also mounts you on a frame and even you encase yourself to a frame too. Today let us share the seven frameworks of a Christian. In 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-22, it tells us we Christian have these seven frameworks. If you break these frames, you will feel regretful and weak.
First framework: “JOY” verse 16 – An act of whole hearted trust in God.
“Be joyful always” 1 Thessalonians 5:16 In Chinese Bible. The shortest verse is “Jesus wept”. But “Be joyful always” is the shortest verse in Hebrew New Testament. It is the shortest verse; therefore it is strong and convincing. It is a commandment. Let us think about it carefully, regardless of what happens, regardless of any difficulties, we are joyful always. Why joyful? Because it is a peaceful feeling from the act of a whole hearted trust in God.
Apostle Paul in his letters to the churches, he mentioned about “JOY” often. He told the brothers and sisters in Thessalonica to be joyful always. He wrote to the Philippians’ church, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4) Where was Paul when he said this? He was not in a night club, dancing club, music hall or an amusement park, he was in the jail. This reveals that a Christian may reach at such a mental well being. Paul was in the jail and he said this to the people outside the jail, “Be joyful always”. Therefore, regardless of how heavy your life pressure is, hope you have a joyful framework.
The second framework “Pray” verse 17—Pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5: 17)
Prayer is strength! Without prayer there is no work and no life; only prayer can support us. God gives us grace though His graceful throne. “Be joyful always” should be Christians’ lifestyle which consists of two secrets: (1) pray continually”. There are scheduled prayers, such as morning devotion, evening prayer, giving thanks before the three meals and also fellowship prayer. Unscheduled prayers are at any moments, any time or any place we communicate with God in our hearts. This continually prayer will give us new and vivacious life without burdens and worry, we are naturally relaxing and joyful. (2)”Give thanks in all circumstances. I will talk about this later. To pray continually does not mean out spoken prayer continuously, it is a life of a close communication, abiding and” remaining in the Lord” (John 15:4-7) When I grew up, I saw my mom was a person who prayed continually. But every time she prayed, she shed tears, I was afraid to see her pray, and I was also afraid to pray with her. When she shed tears, my heart felt aching. I did not like to see my mom shedding tears, especially when she prayed for me; she shed a lot more tears. I hope we belong to a framework of PRAYER
The third framework, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18 this is the secret to a joyful life. A grateful person under any circumstances, good time or bad time, admits that this is God’s arrangement and this is with His permission. Although we don’t understand at first, we will be molded into his will finally. Therefore, give thanks in all circumstances and do not complain, God has His own good intention. In this way our hearts will be filled with joy and happiness.Openly reveal your thankfulness in your heart, and graciously accept the gratitude from other people. It is a precious virtue to express gratitude and to accept gratitude, this will bring an abundant vitality, and everyone around you will receive a positive force and energy. To be filled with gratitude, our lives will be more vigorous and forceful. On the contrary, without gratitude we will not experience the delightful bliss for one another, and we may not continue to get help from one another.
There was a little story about a diligent and hard working house wife working hard for half of her life time and receive no appreciation and gratitude from her family. One day, she asked her husband: “If I die, are you going to buy me flowers for my memorial service.” Her husband was surprised and answered,” Of course, my dear, but why this nonsense?” The woman said, “When I die, all the flowers in the world means nothing to me then, why don’t you give me only one flower while I am still alive.” Sometimes, one flower may bring an expression of thankfulness; it also gives happiness and hope. Actually, it takes practice to express your thankfulness or accept thankfulness from other people. One of the American most scholastic philosophers, Henry Slone said,” We should give thanks for this life time existence, it is only right to give thanks.” I hope we all have a framework of thankfulness.
The fourth framework: “Be Spiritual” Vs 19.－－We should follow what the spirit that is inside us is leading us.
“Do not put out the spirit’s fire” 1 Thessalonians 5: 19. God values us for not putting out the spiritual fire. The new life in Christ where the spirit dwells and work in us. In Spirit we communicate with God, we understand God’s way for us. We also receive the spiritual guidance and spiritual training. We also grow within the Spirit. Within the Holy Spirit, we resist all kinds of attacks. In the Holy Spirit we get the authority to fight winning wars, over trials and tribulations. We receive the power to work and serve for the Lord. We receive the life from the Resurrection. Therefore, the way we relate to the Holy Spirit is also the way we live spiritually.
Now I would like us to sing together the hymnal written by the evangelist Dr. Shan Jyue Suong, “Spiritual life” This is one of my favorite songs: “To die with our Lord on the Cross, we bury together with Christ and we resurrect with Christ. Now we ascend up to heaven together with the Lord. I no longer live. The Lord occupies within me, see what the Lord sees, speak what the Lord speaks, ask what the Lord asks, do what the Lord does. He is my Lord.”
“It is not us that are struggling within us; it is the work of our Lord. We are not imitating Christ; it is the Lord who grows within us. He changes everything. Love what the Lord loves; take joy in what the Lord delights. Worry what the Lord worries. His heart is my heart.”“It is not us that desire to do anything; we only hope the Lord’s will be done. It is not us who try to hope for anything, we only hope the Lord’s words are fulfilled. The Lord materializes everything. Listen with His permission, believe with His permission, love with His permission, hope with His permission, May God’s words be fulfilled.” “We do not take the same yoke as this world. Be happy as His co-workers. It is not us who desire for anything. We establish love for one another. Within the Lord we contact one another, with one heart and one mind, pray earnestly. Unify within the Holy Spirit. In love we work together as one family.”
The fifth Framework: Being Disciplined Vs 20 –Respect God’s choice of instrument.
“Do not treat prophecies with contempt” (1 Thessalonians 5 :20) There are two kinds of prophets; One is to prophesize the future; the other prophet is to be Gods spokesman. In the Old Testament, the prophets had two duties: They prophesized and also be Gods spokesmen. The prophecy of Jesus descended into this world was fulfilled; now we need God’s spokesmen. The prophets were God’s spokesmen; they could not explain God’s words in any way as they please. They had to:” correctly handle the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) Therefore, what the pastor preaches is not according to what he likes, speaks more of those that are pleasing to men, and speaks less of those that hurt the ears. This preaching will not please God. “Do not treat prophecies with contempt.” We need to be disciplined. With a disciplined heart, one will receive good teaching.
The sixth framework: “Judgment” Vs21. Test everything using God’s words.
“Test everything and hold on to the good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21)Here the “Test everything” is in the present tense, a trend of continuous thoughts In Christian’s pursuit of the truth, we need to make good judgment. Test what is true and what is false. Recently there are two events relating to Christianity: “The gospel of Judas” and”Da Vinci Code”. This is a generation where people believe in everything, and also not believe in anything. Paul told the Christians that we need a framework of good judgment. Apostle John persuaded the Ephesians believers to discern the different spirits. “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God; every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” 1 John 4:1-3 the words in the Bible are the words of God. The authority of truth is the best source to test all kinds of spirits. Some one asks how to discern the true belief from the false belief. The expert teaches us how to tell the true bill from the counterfeit. He said, “If you have the ability to discern the true bill then you know what the counterfeit is.” Similarly, if you are well versed in the Bible, you will know how to discern the true belief from the false one. Christians should have the framework of Judgment.
The seventh framework : “Be holy and clean” vs. 22 – avoid every kind of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22)
Untruthful spirit will lead to an erroneous behavior. If we are to follow the Spirit for our way, we have to keep ourselves in the correct and truthful environment. Our spirit will become indulgent or permissive or boastful; it may also retreat or withdraw. If we do not keep our spirit through the Holy Spirit, we will fail as a Christian, our behavior will fail too. We ought to know before our outward action fails, our spirit within us declines and falls first. If our spirit is strong and powerful, clean and holy, regardless in any circumstances, it will stop us from being undisciplined; it will stop us from tumbling and falling.
CONCLUSION:
Thank God for keeping our thoughts within these seven framework structures. We pray these seven framework structures will lead us to a successful life.
Rev. Szuhsing Mao 卯思興牧師 
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