Printer Friendly VersionOne Sunday night after the evening service some layman in the
church suggested that we join them at a nearby restaurant for what they called
“food and fellowship.” I responded: “That sounds like a good
idea to me; we’ll follow you in our car, and wherever you want to go
will be fine.” So we followed them down to the main street in that town
and parked in the lot at the restaurant of their choice.
As I recall, I was the first one in the entrance. We were greeted
by a cheery hostess who asked, “How many in your party?” She picked
up an ample supply of glossy, plastic-covered menus and said, “Please
follow me.”
We scooted on the vinyl-upholstered seats around the table in a corner booth.
After the hostess dealt out the menus, we discussed what we would order. Some
wanted patty melts with fries. Others wanted pie alamode; still others wanted
hot fudge sundaes. I was trying to eat lightly that night. I heard the place
was famous for white New England clam chowder.
While we discussed what we would order, a peculiar sound interrupted
our conversation. It was a loud, noticeable hiss. I questioned those at the
table, “Did you hear that?”
They responded, “Yes”.
“What is it?” No one knew.
The waitress came to take our order. She left, but the noise
didn’t. Here it came again: hissssss. Pretty soon the waitress returned
and distributed the food around the table. I was the only preacher at the
table, and I guess it says somewhere in the Bible that if there’s a preacher
at the table, he’s ‘it’ to say the prayer. As I bowed my head
to say an appropriate table grace, simultaneous to my prayer was my realization
of what was going on. You see, on the wall behind the booth, up against the
ceiling was a plastic, wood-grain box. It was a timed dispenser. I don’t
know if it was room deodorizer or bug spray, but what I do know is while I
bowed my head to say the prayer I felt a mist hit the back of my balding head
before it drifted into my clam chowder! I immediately lost my appetite, and
silently decided, “I’m never coming here again.”
Well, a few years later I was driving on the interstate through
that same town. It was about noon and I was tired of driving and getting hungry.
So I exited the freeway and drove down that same street by that same restaurant.
I noticed a big poster taped to the window announcing “Under New Ownership
and Management.” I thought I’d give it a try. When I walked in I
was really impressed. There was heavily padded, cushy, opulent carpeting,
color-coordinated wallpaper and booth upholstering, and very attractive diagonal
redwood paneling.
There was a brand new menu, and a relocated bug spray!
It seemed that the new owner and manager walked in with total
unquestioned authority and, having surveyed the situation, he saw some opportunities
for improvement. Evidently he said, “Let’s move that, and paint
this, and replace the other.” And the net result was a significant improvement.
Every change he made was for the better, none for the worse. He had the authority
to do it because he was both the owner and manager.
A major question for all of us to consider is are we living
under the Lord’s ownership and management? Has there come a time in your
life when you submitted completely to God and His will for your life? Are
you currently living under His ownership and management?
I’m convinced that’s what Paul is getting at in I
Thessalonians 5: 12 - 24. He opens the sensitive subject of lay and pastoral
relationships in verses 12 and 13. Respect, hold in highest regard in love,
and live in peace are the instructions we are given. Here Paul gives us the
acceptable, biblical norm for our attitude and behavior towards ministerial
leaders.
You would be shocked if you saw the gross violations of these
verses I’ve observed in my years of travel in itinerant evangelism.
It reminds me of the description of John the Baptist: “There
came a man who was sent from God.” He was human (not absolutely perfect),
but God sent him. We have a responsibility to comply with the scripture regarding
our behavior and attitudes toward ministerial leaders.
Paul gives us four instructions in verse 14: “Warn those
who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”
Sometimes people are not productively involved in God’s work because
they are lazy, apathetic, mediocre and nominal in their relationship with
God. Paul says, “Warn those who are idle.” Other times people aren’t
productively involved in God’s work because they are shy, timid and handicapped
with inferiority feelings. Here Paul says encourage the timid. The shy and
timid person needs to be affirmed and trained in their ministry.
Next, we’re taught to help the weak. As new believers are
brought into the church, many will have weaknesses. They do not need criticism,
they need help. When we were first saved, we were not zapped into instant
perfection. And the truth is, we all still have room to grow!
The fourth instruction from verse 14 is “ . . . be patient
with everyone.” When Paul gives a list of the attributes of a Spirit-filled
life in Galatians 5:22, we learn that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, patience. As we live under His ownership and management the spiritual
fruit produced by the Holy Spirit grows and flourishes.
Further, the Spirit-filled Christian living under new ownership
and management will not pay back wrong for wrong (verse 15), but rather show
kindness. You might be thinking . . . “you don’t know what they
did, or you don’t know what they said, or you don’t know how bad
it hurts.” We must remember Jesus taught us to forgive seventy times
seven and to turn the other cheek. “Do not take revenge, my friends,
but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to
avenge; I will repay’ says the Lord” (Romans 12: 19).
Peering further in this passage we find “Be joyful always”
(verse 16). I’ve heard folks argue, “Well, I’m not going to
act happy and joyful if I don’t feel happy and joyful!” It doesn’t
have anything to do with the unpredictable human emotion called happiness.
The fruit of the Spirit is joy! Have you ever known that kind of person where
the whole room seemed to brighten up, when they left? Paul encourages us,
as we live under new ownership and management, to be joyful.
Next he says, “pray continually” (verse 17). That
does not mean stay on your knees twenty-four hours per day. It does mean stay
tuned-in to the Holy Spirit. And after you talk to God, let Him talk back
to you. God talks to us as we study His Word. What priority do you give to
reading His Word daily? Some folks rationalize that they don’t have time.
But we all choose how we use our hours each day.
God also talks to us through our times of public worship. He
talks to us through good Christian literature and music, and through the counsel
of caring Spirit-filled friends.
Verse 18 instructs us to “give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” We often are tempted
to complain. Sometimes we feel sorry for ourselves when we’re in uncomfortable
circumstances. But as we live under His ownership and management we trust
Him, knowing “that in all things God works for the good of those who
love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
And because that promise is true, we can give thanks.
Next Paul cautions us, “Do not put out the Spirit’s
fire.” The King James Bible translates this “quench not the Spirit”.
The “word picture” here is: don’t snuff out the candle, or
don’t douse the fire, or don’t pour cold water on the flame of God
in your heart.
How do we “put out the Spirit’s fire?” We do
it when we do what we know we ought not to do. Can you remember when the Spirit
said, “Don’t do that,” but you did it, or “Don’t
say that”, but you said it, or “Don’t go there”, but you
went? We quench the Spirit when we do, by impulsive disobedience, what we
know we ought not do.
We can also “put out the Spirit’s fire” by not
doing what we ought to do. Remember when the Spirit said, “Go there,”
but you stayed, or “Do something”, but you refused, or “Say
something”, but you were silent, or “Give something”, but you
held back? We can quench the Spirit by omitting doing what we ought to do.
Looking further, we learn “do not treat prophecies (forth-telling
proclamations of God’s Word) with contempt. Test everything, hold on
to the good” (verses 20 - 21). These are days when we cannot buy everything
we hear from public pulpit, printed page, audiocassette, videotape, radio
or television. Among Christian teaching in America today there’s a lot
of “prime rib and filet” available. But there’s also a whole
lot of bologna. Paul advises us to test everything. How do we do that? You
and the Holy Spirit and your Bible can sort out everything relevant to your
personal relationship with God.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives
generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him”
(James 1:5). The Lord will lead us regarding “Hold on to the good”
and “Avoid every kind of evil” (verse 22).
As we live under His ownership and management there will be
specific evils we will avoid. There will be places we won’t go, and things
we won’t do, and things we won’t drink, and programs we won’t
watch. And it will not be the result of some preacher hassling us into conformity,
but it will be the result of what the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit
does in our own yielded, dedicated and submissive hearts!
Paul steers this instruction to a conclusion at verse 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.” The term “sanctify” here means clean, purify, to separate,
or set apart for God’s exclusive ownership and possession, and to make
holy. It’s living under new ownership and management, where our top priority
is to please Him and do His will.
That’s something that we can’t accomplish by ourselves. That’s why we have verse 24 to follow: “The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.” God’s patient, loving activity in our hearts produces both cleansing from original sin and the in-filling of the Holy Spirit, who guides us into continual development in holiness.
