Only God can, only God can, only
God can help. He will make it, He will make
it, He will make it. Go back to 1 Thessalonians 5
now. Preaching is my occupation. And just like whatever your occupation
is, you think about it. You talk to others about it. And I do the same. Talked to
other preachers about it. I'm constantly thinking about
it. I'm listening to your comments about it. Trying to improve upon
it. And I ask myself all the time,
what makes for good preaching? I listen to good preaching and
I examine it. What makes for good preaching?
And I'll tell you in a minute why I'm saying this. foremost, it is the preaching
of God's Word that makes for good preaching. There is no other
kind, actually. It's not the preaching about
it, and it's not outlines upon it, but it's the actual line-upon-line,
verse-by-verse preaching of it. Thus saith the Lord. Preach the
Word, Paul told young Timothy. Preach the Word. I know what it prompts to do,
so I'm glad you read from that. 2 Timothy 4. Preach the Word. It is called the Word of His
power. God's Word is His power. It's
the only thing God uses. I mean the only thing. We can
illustrate all we will. And, you know, maybe folks will
be a little bit profited from that, but when it's all said
and done, the only thing that really makes a lasting impression
or a change or whatever is God's work. It is His power. And we're
born again by what Peter said, being born again by the incorruptible
seed, the Word of God. It's what causes us to grow.
We grow by it. It's the sincere milk of God's
Word. Scripture says, of Scripture,
it is quick. That means life. It is powerful. It is sharper than a two-edged
sword. It is profitable for doctrine, for proof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness, for all of these things. Chiefly,
it points us to Christ who is salvation. It points us to Christ. And it exhorts us to emulate
Christ as our example. God's Word is our life. God's
Word is our food. God's Word is our source of comfort. God's Word gives us all the answers
that we need. There are no other answers. There
really are no other relevant questions except what is found
in God's Word, right? Good preaching is preaching of
God's Word. Good preaching is Christ-centered. This whole book is about Christ,
Poetess to Christ, so Christ-centered preaching is good preaching.
Good preaching is relevant. Relevant, that means it's, it
is, it applies to where we are. Not just something happened in
the past, it needs to meet us where we are at the time we live
in and the things we are faced with now. And good preaching
applies God's Word to where we are. It's applicable, it's relevant,
it's personal. If we do not feel like we've
been spoken to, by God's Word. Brother Milton told me on the
phone today, we were talking, he said, I've got a sermon. I
hope God will turn it into a message. And that explains the difference.
We need to be spoken to by God from His Word. Or else it's just
a sermon. Good preaching feeds the soul. It feeds the soul. Good preaching
touches the heart. Now, the reason I said all that
is because this chapter, this chapter is a wonderful example
of all that is good about God's Word. All that I said is found right
here in these verses. All that is good about God's
Word. I want us to look at the last dozen or so verses, each
one is full of doctrine, the proof, doctrine of Christ, the
proof, correction, and so forth, and it's very, very, very profitable. Now, chapter five, and we've
looked at this so many times, but I didn't just grab an old
outline. I never do that here, and whenever
I go someplace, I do grab several, but I completely redo them. I
don't just preach the same thing I've got written, but completely
redo it. I look at a reference. See, that way it's fresh to me. And though we've looked at this
many times over, and I could have grabbed something old, you
know, not spend any time, I didn't do that. I don't do that. My pastor taught us that years
ago. I'll never do that. God won't
bless that. So, chapter 5 could have or should have started with
verse 14. You know that the translators
are the ones who put chapters in verses. It was not written
that way. It was written in a letter form.
Translators did that so you could find these verses easily. And
they put chapter divisions where they felt like they should be.
Well, I disagree with them here. Verse 14 begins with exhortations. This is where these exhortations
begin. OK? And chapter 5 is a continuation
of what he just read or wrote in chapter 4 of Our Lord's Return. And he says it begins in verse
14. He said, Now we exhort you. That is, we beseech you, we implore
you, we urge you. That's what exhort means, urge
you. This is something important,
he said. So we urge you to sit up and pay attention. This is
something very, very needful. We exhort you, several, many,
or exhortations here. We exhort you, brethren. Once
again, this is written into the church. Right, brethren. Exhort you, brethren, warn them
that are unruly, disorderly, those who will not follow, who
will not follow. Now, why would he begin with
this? Why would he begin his exhortation with this? It makes you feel a little uncomfortable
to hear that. Because the fellowship around
the gospel, any fellowship, any church, any local assembly, is
a rare and precious and valuable thing. And it's something we should
jealously guard and protect. As Paul wrote, as the Lord told
him to write, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit
and the bond of peace. We should jealously guard it
and protect it because we need this badly. Our children need
this badly. We don't really realize. You
here at Central Baptist haven't been without the gospel for over
30 years. He's been here the longest. He's
17 years next month. Jim was here 12, 13 years. That's at least 30 years. I don't think you all remember
what it's like to be without it. You don't want to know. So he tells us to look out for
those who would sow discord. And this is what happened. That's
what happens to local assemblies. The church at Corinth and on
and on, I can mention. Local assemblies don't usually
last too long for very many generations. They just don't. Never have.
Never have. So it doesn't mean they can't. It doesn't mean they can't. They usually don't. Because people
begin to take it for granted and not watch and so forth. And so he says to, and it's generally
internal, it begins internally. That's right. So he tells us to watch out for
those who would sow discord and cause strife and division. Mark
them, he said, mark them which cause strife and division. And
we don't have that right now, I'm so thankful. But it didn't
happen. And where do we start? With ourselves. We watch out
for ourselves. We watch over our own attitude
and action. How do you warn someone? Well,
it's not so much as an open rebuke, and these things start through
disgruntled people. member unhappy for whatever reason,
generally it's their own fault. But, and little innuendos are
brought up and whatever. Number one, refuse to hear it.
Don't hear it. Take no part in it. People, for
something to continue, they have to have an ear. Right? Nobody's going to talk to a wall.
So, just don't hear it. General reproof, and the only
thing that will improve is God's word. Look at the next thing. So that's
why he brings that up because this is so precious and valuable
and needful and humanly speaking delicate. We're all very human. That which is flesh is flesh
and flesh is liable to anything. God takes His hand off of one
of us. We can turn into devils, can't
we? So, he said, warn them and comfort
the feeble-minded. Feeble, those who seem easily
upset, and some are more easily upset than others. Some are more
fearful than others. Some are more liable to temptation
than others. No, don't look around. Don't
think about anybody. It's just a fact. He says here,
comfort them. Comfort the people, my, how?
How? But it's only, again, it's God's
Word. It's the only thing that will
comfort anybody in any situation, any situation, any situation. Whatever it may
be, the only thing that will comfort, the only thing that
will build up, the only thing that will exhort is God's Word. Because the next thing, support
the weak. Support. Support means bear up. Get under, hold up. Bear up those that are weak in
the faith. Over in Romans 14, 1, he says,
them that are weak in the faith receive you. Most of the time,
young believers, new believers are weak in the faith. Sometimes
people who have been around a while are weak. It shouldn't be, but
golly. So he says, no matter who it
is, support him. And he'd support. You that are
strong, he said, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak.
Support the weak. Be patient to the next thing.
Be patient toward all. Margaret went. Patient toward all. Patient. Patience. When you think of patience, what
do you think of? Waiting. No. Just waiting. On whatever. When you have patience,
you're able to just wait. Well, he says be patient toward
people. Toward all. Not just the young,
not just the weak, not just the big, but all. We're all liable
to anything. We're all apt to do anything.
We're all apt to get into any type of bad spirit and attitude. We're all, all, starting with
me. I've come in here before mad,
and the preaching's come across that way. And it'll probably happen again.
Be patient. The next one will be sweeter.
Hopefully, but be patient. Wait. I mean, wait and just wait.
Persons in this have attitude or in this bad spirit or whatever. This is happening. They're going
through this. Just wait. Watch. Undeclare. Watch. Wait. Don't be rash. Don't be
rash. Don't do or say anything that
will, you know, tear up, tear down, destroy,
whatever, be hopeful and patient. Be patient toward all, not just
young, but old. Read on, verse fifteen, see that
none render evil or evil unto any. In other words, do not retaliate
ever, ever. Our Lord is who taught this in
his Sermon on the Mount. To find enemies might be on the
cheap, turn unto him the other. Did he do that? He most certainly
did. He could have retaliated and
put an end to it. He will someday. He says, Vengeance
is mine. I will repay the Lord every injustice. will be repaid by the Lord. Every wrongdoing will be repaid
by the Lord. Every hurt will be recompensed
by the Lord, and it will be recompensed, and they'll know why. We can't do that. When we retaliate,
it won't end there. It won't stop there. You know,
words, hard words or actions or whatever, It knows no end. It knows no end. It'll just keep
going. Past the Hatfields and McCoy. It never ends. It never ends. Our Lord told us to end it before
it starts. Like gossip, gossip won't continue
if it doesn't have an ear to hear it. Neither will an argument
continue if it doesn't have somebody to fight with. That's what that means. Render
evil for evil unto no man. Do not render evil for evil. And that's all it is indeed.
When you get in a fight, nobody's right when you start fighting.
Are they? Nobody's right. Nobody. You start fighting. It all ends up there. Don't retaliate
ever. Blessed... Well, read on. He said, "...ever follow that
which is good." That which is good. What's good? Well, there's
a psalm that says, I give you good doctrine. That which is good. Follow good
doctrine. Our Lord taught good doctrine,
did he not? Our Lord taught us in the Sermon
on the Mount, blessed are the merciful. Here's good doctrine.
Be merciful. Boy, he is. Oh my. Be merciful as your Lord
is merciful. Oh, he said, the same measure
you need will be needed for you. Be merciful. Consider your own
self. Blessed are the peacemakers.
They're called the children of God, peacemakers. Our Lord is
the peacemaker, is He not? He made peace for us. We who
were children of wrath, even as others, Christ came and broke
down this enmity. Did He not? Reconciled us to
God. Not God to us. God wasn't our
enemy. Us to God. Broke down this enmity
that was in our hearts and minds. How did He do it? By His goodness
to us. By His mercy to us. by His sacrifice,
by Him taking our place, like old Barabbas. That's the greatest
example of substitution in Scripture, you know? Old Barabbas. They
came to that fellow who was in the cell, going to die for crimes
he committed, a murder and a robbery. They came to him and said, You're
free to go. And on walking out of that cell,
he didn't understand why. But perhaps somebody said, look
at that central cross up there. See that man hanging there? He's
dying, and you're going to pray. That's our motive, isn't it? Be in peace. Turn the other cheek,
our Lord said. Turn the other cheek. Go the
extra mile. He said, he's asking you to go
a mile, go two. Go two. This is good doctrine. Good doctrine. Give to them that
ask you. Does our Lord do that? He giveth
and giveth and giveth. The Lord grant you. Bless them that curse you. People,
there was a time that I denied God, denied the truth openly,
openly. United, told others that it was
false. Bless them that curse ye. Our
God bless me. Read on. He says in verse 15, Follow that which is good, both
among yourselves and to all. To all. Peter wrote, Who is he that will harm you?
if you'd be followers of that which is good. That which is
good. The followers of that which is
good will be. Sam would you walk up there and
turn that thermostat down a little bit. I'm warm. He said who is he that will harm
you if you'd be followers of that which is good. We can. get in trouble for our own meanness
and think it's because of what we
believe or whatever and not be the gate. But our Lord said this, here's a
perfect example. He said, for what good work do
you stone me? And everybody said, we're not
stoning you for good work. But let it not be our meanness. Thank you. Let it not be our
meanness. And Peter wrote a whole chapter
about that, you know. There's no thanks if you suffer
for your own wrongdoing, but if you be followers of that which
is good, do that which is right, followers of that which is good,
who is he that will harm you? That's the context here. He says,
follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all.
to all. Read on. Rejoice evermore. Rejoice evermore. Now, there
is a time to weep. Scripture says so. Our Lord wept,
didn't He? Our Lord did not say that you're
not to Only you're not to sorrow as
those who have no hope. That means uncontrollably, unceasingly,
constantly. But he himself wept. He was a
man of sorrow, acquainted with grief, and he wept. There's a
time for that. There's a time to laugh. Scriptures
even tells us, let your laughter be turned to mourning. Most of
this laughter and all this Suppose it's holy hilarity in
religion today. All this stuff, you know, good
time in the Lord, they ought to, you know, be turned to mourning.
Because I believe most of them miss Christ. They ought to weep
for themselves and their children. But for the believer, the saint,
the one who trusts in Christ, even weeping you can rejoin.
Evermore. Even in weeping, you can rejoice. We rejoice, and what did Paul
tell us in Philippians to rejoice in? He told us twice, he repeated,
in the Lord. Rejoice. The disciples one day
came back after casting out the devil, and they were excited,
and we would be too. If Sam and Stan and I went out,
and we had this It's an extraordinary supernatural gift and ability. Boy, I'd do it too, man. I'd
go first thing to these so-called church houses with you and just,
oh, I'd love to be able to get through behind that. There's
one woman sorceress I'd like to shut up right now. That's
what she is, a sorceress. I'd cast them out, and they came
back rejoicing, didn't they, that the devils were subject
to them. Remember that? And what did the Lord say? He
gently rebuked them. He said, Don't rejoice in that.
He said, I saw Satan, the archangel. I was there. I was the one that
cast him out. The Prince of Power did. Don't
rejoice in that. He said rejoice in this, that
your name shall be written with faith, that you know the Lord,
that He knows you. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice
that you know Him, the true Lord, the living Lord. This is eternal
life. This is life eternal. That you know the true Lord.
Rejoice in Him. Rejoice that thy God reign. Thy
God reign. Rejoice. Sam rejoices. Who cares? Okay. Y'all know who
I'm talking to. Stan rejoices that his rock is
not like their rock. Don't you? He loves that bird. His rock is not like their rock.
Because when he goes to die, when we go, if we attend his
deathbed before ours, he's going to say like brethren before him,
I'm standing on a rock. That same rock. The mark, the
perfect man, the end of that man is peace every time. I've never seen a believer die
without hope. Never, ever. Never, ever. Anybody who trusts in Christ,
God and peace, your God reigns. Theirs doesn't, but your God
reigneth. Rejoice, thy God reigneth. And He's working all things together. All things for your good. Not just your eternal good, but
your temporal good. Yes, sir. And we don't see it
now. You can rejoice in this. Even
in the saddest of times, you can rejoice. Like, oh, Eli, what
did Eli say? It's the Lord. When David lost
his whole family, he thought, he thought he didn't know if
they were all dead or what. He didn't know. It says he encouraged
himself in his God. God knows what he's doing. So I don't. Rejoice, all things
are working together by that God who reigns. Rejoice in this. Your sins are gone. Your sins are gone. This is our
chief cause for rejoicing. This is our chief problem and
its figure. Everything else is just so trivial.
It really is. Food and raiment, that's just
so trivial. But this sin issue is gone. That
woman I preached on, the woman with the issue down there, the
woman with the issue of blood. Don't you think that when that
issue was gone, that everything else was just... You know, somebody,
she went home and one of her, whoever, children or somebody
said, we don't have enough money to pay you a lot. My issue is gone. We'll get that money. But this
issue that was killing me, I'm alive. And so shall I live. Forevermore, my sin issue is
gone. Rejoice in your everlasting inheritance. Here's a few rules to keep us... Ah, boy. I've got to give you
these. These are too good. Here's a
few rules to keep us rejoicing. All right? Count your blessings. Count your blessings. You start
counting your blessings, They will far outweigh your problems. Oh, yes. Doesn't matter who.
Everybody in here, I know you pretty well. Know some of the
things you've gone through. Don't know all the things you've
gone through. But some of the things, difficult things, tough
things. But I also know how blessed you are. Count your blessing. Number two, remember where you
came from. Now the Lord told Abraham or
whoever said look under the pit from which you were digged. Oh
Mephibosheth, you know he's still lame. Mephibosheth was still
lame. But if he could just keep in mind where he was when the
Lord found him. And every day they brought him
to the table. He'd think, oh, who am I? And
what is my house? That's my next point. Consider
where you are now. I'll tell you where you were.
You were on the dung heap. I'll tell you where you are now.
You're seated among princes. There's another thing to keep
you rejoicing. Look at the world around you. It's a mass. It's a perverted
cesspool. And but for the grace of God,
you'd be right in the middle of it. The world is in darkness. He
said, we're not in darkness, even as others are. Why? Oh,
our God's blessed us. Keep that in mind. Just keep
in mind. This will start you rejoicing if you quit. Keep in mind where you're going.
Peter wrote the first chapter of his first epistle about this.
He said, These trials, now they're fiery trials, but oh, they work
for you. Oh, and they, this, our everlasting
inheritance that's reserved in heaven for you, that paid us
not away. Look, look, look yonder. Look yonder. Keep your eyes.
Don't look to the right. This is why Scripture says, don't
look to the right hand, don't look to the left. Look straight
on. Look toward that celestial city. Don't mind the lions, they're
chained up. It's vanity fair, it's not the
place for you. Don't fall asleep, you'll get
in a doubting castle. Just look straight up, look,
look at the only celestial city. There are brothers and sisters.
They've already gone. Some of them are there. Yes,
sir, they're already there. Resting in peace, everlasting.
And we'll soon join them. It's just a little while. You know, my life is two
things over. For all practical purposes, stop. Certainly, those of you who are
in your 60s and 70s, man, you're just right on the threshold,
aren't you? And in a moment, the twinkler
of an eye will be changing. And whatever he, even in the
midst of whatever, evermore. Pray without ceasing. Pray without ceasing. You know
this, you know these things before. That it's not, prayer is not,
you can't get down on your knees, you can't close your eyes, that
sort of thing. We do that collectively. We do
that privately. But this is living daily in an
attitude of the heart. This is a heart going out to
God, what this is. This is a heart going out to
God, lifting up the heart to God. And I had several things,
what prayer is, but I don't have time. Pray without ceasing. That means in everything, at
all times, before. Old Mother Bruce Crabtree said
this, wisely said this, he said, See no man's face till you see
God. Before, during, and after. Pray without ceasing. Lift up
the heart to God. It's in everything. Verse 18. Prayer, I started to say, is
one thing, and prayer is thanksgiving. And he says, In everything, give
thanks. In every situation, in every
trial, in whatever, every affliction, in whatever it may be. In everything,
give thanks. Some of you all like this verse,
don't you? Well, all of you ought to like it. In everything, give
thanks. In everything. Because this is
the will of God. It wouldn't be happening if it
wasn't God's will. God's will is done in heaven
and in earth. Yes, it is. It is being done.
Nothing can stop it. It depends on nothing and no
one. And this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus. Now, here's the point. The will of God in... Do I have
time? I'm going to make time. Go over
with me to... Now, the Apostle Paul is the
one God used to write that letter to the Thessalonians. And he
says, And everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. In Christ Jesus. There's a key
right there, OK? In Christ Jesus. Something to
do with Christ. This is happening to you because
it has something to do with Christ. Now, he said in Philippians,
listen carefully now, in Philippians, Philippi, in Philippians, he
said, in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving. It says the same thing. All right, here in Acts chapter
16 is where the church at Philippi started. Right? How did it start? It started by Paul being put
in jail, beaten almost to death. The church of Christ at Philippi,
the salvation of God's people, given to Christ, said, God's
people, God's children were saved by the direct, indirect means
of this man being beaten almost to death and cast into a cruel
Roman prison in a dark, damp dungeon. That's how it started. God's ways are not our ways,
huh? That's how that church started. It'd be like if we were the church
at Philippi, that every one of us, how did it start? Well, look
here. Verse twenty-three, it says, When they had laid many
stripes upon them, they cast them into prison. Paul and Silas
laid many stripes. How many is that? Oh, my. You know, most people died from
the scourges they received back then. Forty stripes saved one,
thirty-nine. With a cat of nine tails, broken
glass, most people die from that. Many strikes, beat them, beat
them, and cast them, their lives bleeding in a dark night. So
what do they do? They start singing. They start praying and singing. At midnight, verse twenty-five,
Well, verse twenty-four says the jailer thrust them into that,
made their feet fast in the stocks. I mean, that jailer took those
metal bands and cut off all the circulation off their arms and
legs and hanged them against a stone wall. What did they do? They stopped
praying. What does God do? Breaks the bonds asunder. Opens
the prison doors. And the jailer, the very one
who may dust their stocks of dusting in the prison, says,
what shall I do to be saved? Took him home. He saved his whole
house. Saved Lydia. Saved the whole
church of Philippi, I started. So Paul writes in everything
to give thanks. This is the will of God. You
think Paul and Silas thought it was the will of God at first? They started jording one another,
talking about it. Yes, this has to be. We wouldn't
be here if it wasn't God's will. What good can come out of it?
I don't see why. God's ways are not our ways. Not our ways. Well, and everything, everything. Go back to the text. Everything
you think. This is the will of God in Christ
Jesus. What is God's will in Christ
Jesus? You know His will. He's abounded toward you in it. Our wisdom and prudence make
Him known unto you, the mystery of His will. How that He's going
to, in a dispensate of the fullest of times, He's going to gather
together in one whole thing, even in one In Christ, this is
the will of God in Christ concerning you. He's putting you in Christ. He's whittling down, darling.
That's what he's doing. He's whittling off. He's cutting
off the drops. He's molding us, making us like
Christ. As Paul said, the sufferings
of Christ. So, may the Lord open our eyes
to see that whatever it is, it's for His glory, for our future
good and glory. Verse 19, quench not the spirit.
You know, when time's up, can I go on? Just take one yea. Two, okay. The yea's happen. Quench not the spirit. Quench
not the spirit. Now, the Holy Spirit indwells
all of God's people. If any man had not the Spirit
of Christ, he's done ahead. The Spirit of Christ is in every
believer. What does it mean to quench the
Spirit? Well, the Holy Spirit is convicting, always, all our
life, convicting us of sin, righteousness, judgment. The Holy Spirit is
reproving. The Holy Spirit is warning us. The Holy Spirit brings up Scripture.
instructs us, and so forth, leads us, leads us. He's leading us.
Any man led, be led not, the Holy Spirit's leading us. We
know what's right, don't you? Oh yeah, the glory of God, it's
the law of God written on the heart. The Holy Spirit's the
one that brings it to mind. Does it not come to your mind
all the time? Yeah. How about it? Something. Huh? We're not the blind? We're
not the dark? Are we? That's what he wrote
over. We're not in the dark as others.
We're led by the Spirit of life, truth, and what's right, basically. Quench not means, listen, no
turn of the ear. Listen, heed, follow, don't ignore. And the Spirit of unity, the
Holy Spirit, he says, endeavoring to keep the Spirit of unity.
in the bond of peace. The Holy Spirit is with every
gathering of believers in a spirit of love, joy, faith, and so forth. Taking the things of Christ and
showing them, building us up, this holy faith. Uniting our
hearts. Fear of God. Faith in Christ. Love to one another. That's the
Holy Spirit doing this. Christ is in heaven, seated at
the right hand. The Comforter is the one that does all this.
He's here. He's with us. Whenever Christ,
people meet Him. Spirit. Spirit of unity. To quench that is to come in
here with a bad attitude. A poor countenance. A poor me. A poor my. A discouraging word. and so forth
and so forth. That's what it meant. So don't
do it. Endeavor to keep the unity. This
is why I always say, no matter how you feel, when it comes to
this house of worship, thank you. It's just one time I would
say, for the good of others, thank you. If somebody asks you how you
are and you feel really, really bad, tell them, I'm all right. over the mill. You know that
church down there. I've never called him. I wouldn't
have. I wouldn't have. I wouldn't have
gone through it. I'm saying I wouldn't have. I
wouldn't have done it. I've been gone a long time ago. Some people have been gone
or I've been gone. I just wouldn't have put up with
it. He's so patient. But I've never
called him, ever, and asked him, how are things? Well, he didn't
say. Right. And I know better. Well, if God's on the throne
and our sins are gone, we have an inheritance waiting
on us, everything is greater. If it gets down to two of us,
if there's two of us still believing, it's just great. It's just great. So, don't squint your spirit
in that way. Despise not prophesying. Despise
not prophesying. Preaching the Word is always
preaching a future thing. Okay, prophesying means foretelling
a future event. Preaching the word is always
prophesying or preaching future events. We preach, I preach something
that we haven't really experienced yet. Everything we're talking
about is future, mostly. We have this present salvation
but you understand what I'm saying we're saved by faith and by hope
we live by faith and live by hope saved by hope and all in
a future reality. So this is prophesying. There are no more prophets today
in the sense that somebody's telling something that's never
been said before. You follow me? There are no prophets in
the sense that there's somebody telling something that's not
in God's Word and it's never been...nobody knows it. That's
not known. No more prophets. After our Lord,
that prophet, no more prophets. He came to reveal everything.
There are no more prophets. Do you understand that, Barbara?
In the sense, everything's already been prophesied. All I'm doing
is retelling what has already been prophesied. I'm prophesying,
but it's not something new. You follow me, John? That's what
that means. But what he's saying here is,
and we hear these things over and over again, and to despise
something, the word despise doesn't mean hate here. It means lightly
esteem it, set it at naught, let it slip, don't take, consider
it, take it for granted. Don't do that. we exhort what preaching ought
to do is as we said prepare us to die this is what we're doing
preparing us to die because the Lord is coming and we just read
that in a moment at a time when my dad gave this illustration
one time he said a preacher one time asked a church member he
said do you think that the Lord is coming tomorrow and the man
said Well, I think not. And the preacher said, at a time
when you think not. So, you know, wherever you are
to live in a sense of expectancy, He might be coming to mind, the
real one. So, and we hear that all the
time, don't we? And it's easy to, oh, you know,
Remember back when the millennium came? I plainly told you it was
not going to come. You knew that from the scripture.
It was not coming then. You knew that. And we said how
that, you know, a few years ago, a few more years ago by, and
everybody would just please plumb forget about it. Second time,
just plumb forget it. I said to him, remember, I warned
us all, me included. That's when it's coming. And he is guilty. So that's what
that means. Abstain from all appearance of
evil. That means practically, especially religious evil. Don't
take any part in it. It looks evil. It is evil. Verse 23, the very God of peace.
After all of these exhortations, he says, the very God, that's
where we get that term, very God of very God. That is, he's
truly God of peace. The only one who can give it.
Sanctify you wholly. Set you apart wholly. Set you apart from the world
wholly, completely, mind, body, and spirit. Spirit, soul, and
body. Sanctify you wholly. You know,
what sets us apart from the world is the truth. Our Lord said that. Sanctify
them through the truth. Thy word is truth. Not our dress,
per se. It's not. It's true. And God does set us apart. He's the one that makes a difference.
And Paul says, I pray that your whole person will be preserved,
blameless. Verse 23, I pray your whole person,
spirit, soul, and body, be preserved. This is the will of God, he said
back in chapter 4. Your sanctification, your vessel
be restrained. Spirit, soul, and body be preserved
blameless. Now, he's able, isn't he? He's
able to present us blameless? Under the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, look at verse 24. Faithful is he that calleth you,
you also will do it. He'll do it. How are we going
to be preserved? You can't preserve yourself. No pigs have ever preserved themselves. No grapes, neither can you. And He that calleth you, and
He has called you, hasn't He, in our gospel? Paul thanked the
Lord for that, knowing your election. He'll do it. Didn't He say in
Psalm 58, Our God that worketh all things for us? He'll do it. Greet all the brethren, verse
25. Brethren, pray for us. Who's us? Paul, Silas, Timothy. Preacher, pray for us. And you
do. It's so... And you just don't know how it
makes me feel. So many things run through my
head when I hear you call my name. But I'm glad you do. Because
there's a lot at stake here. Is there a lot at stake? Your
children are sitting listening to me right now, and they're listening. They really are. And even our
children are going to be made to be with the Lord or not with
the Lord. Is this important? Are you glad Shannon heard this
gospel? Oh my, what in the world matters
in light of that? I mean, nothing doesn't matter
what they grow up to be as long as it's a believer. Pray for me. Let the Lord keep
me. The Lord keep me preaching to
God. Keep me true. Keep me from temptation. David
fell. Amen. God. Pray for us. Greet all the brethren
with a holy kiss. That simply means show people
you love them. Show the brethren you love them.
And you do. You do. I'm telling you people, I've
been to all the great churches I know, and there's none like
this one. I'm in it. I'm not being prejudiced,
biased. I'm really not. I'm telling it
like it is. There's none like this. That's all the more reason to
go back to that first exhortation. We've got something special here.
Read all the brethren, all the brethren. Don't leave anybody
out. Don't leave anybody out. I charge
you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. Read this again. And again and
again and again. Holy brethren. We're not holy
because we got it on our billboard out there. Because we wear our
hair a certain way. Some of us don't have any hair
to wear a certain way. But we're holy because we said
we are. Holy in Christ. Holy brethren.
Boy, that's a humbling thing to think about is holy brethren. that grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with you. He doesn't say, may it be. No,
although that's what he's praying for. He's saying it is. It is
with you. The church at Thessalonica was
a wonderful group of believers. Most of what Paul says in there,
very little admonition. Very little open rebuke. Very
little. I really can't think of anything,
but there's a wonderful group of believers. He says, oh, the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with you. He's with you. And
it's with us. He's with us. What do you say
to that? Amen. So be it. Lord, I'd have
it so. Lord, make it so. Lord, teach
me this. Lord, keep it that way. Lord,
I second the motion. And so on and so forth. Amen. All right, stand with me. Our Heavenly Father, thank you
for your blessed, blessed Word. It is so full. We're not able
to receive it as we should, but thank you, Lord. Thank you. Give
us a greater capacity to receive it, Lord. Minds, hearts, soul,
body, everything, prepare us to receive this engrafted word
as you would the good grail. Thank you for this word. Use
it. Bring it back. Cause us to remember it as a
Clean animal chews its gut. And we rehearse these things
in our own minds among ourselves. Thank you, Lord, for this church.
We ask that you keep it as Paul prayed for the Thessalonians.
Keep it by your power, by your grace. In Christ's name we pray.
Amen.