Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Statement Of Faith

End Times Part 5

Intro:  How are we to live, right now, knowing that the Lord may return at any moment? That is what we have been looking at this month. Paul, in 1 Thess. 4 + 5, is responding to questions and observations Timothy brought back when he returned from visiting the church at Thessalonica.

Hope for the dead
     If you remember, they were obsessing over the return of Christ. They were concerned that their loved ones who were Believers and had died, would miss out on the promise of the glories of Christ's return. Paul assured them in Chapter 4 of 1 Thessalonians that there is hope for the dead in Christ. That they will see and join Christ when He returns and that those Christians who were alive at Christ's return would join their departed loved ones and remain with Christ and with them for all eternity.

A Reprimand
     Well it seems that there was more to the obsession than just their concern for their departed loved ones. Some at the Thessalonian church wanted to know more about the time and manner of Christ's return than Paul was able to tell them. So he reprimands them in the beginning of 1 Thess. 5 and tells them not to worry about what is unknown, but to concentrate on the known. And what is known?

A Reminder
     Paul reminds the Thessalonian Christians that they were not appointed or predestined to see the wrath of God but His salvation. So, instead of worrying about that which is hidden, do that which is revealed...live in the light of God's Word.  And encourage one another with this truth.

A Call for Respect
     It seems however, that there was not much encouraging going on in the Thessalonian church. In fact, it seems that laziness and disrespect were the predominate action and attitude and it lead to division in the church. Paul reminds the church to respect their leaders because of the work they do. He tells the leaders to respect those in the church by caring for them and helping to meet their needs. The idea here is we are to respect each other and work together as we await the Lord's return.

A Call for Response
     Last week we looked at 1 Thess. 5:16-18 and we saw what are called the 'Standing Orders of the Church'. Remember them? Rejoice Always, Pray w/o ceasing and give thanks in all things. Why? Because this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. They are our  necessary response both in attitude and action  to all Paul has told us concerning the return of our Lord.

Trans: This is the final message on our church's Statement of Faith and it is a fitting end, because everything that Paul has said to date concerning how we are to live in light of Christ's return, hinges on our willingness to do what he calls us in to do in vs. 19-22 of 1 Thess. 5. What is that? He extends to all Believers

I. A Call for Responsibility (vs. 19-22)
Read: 1 Thess 5:19
    A. To the Holy Spirit (vs 19)
         The context of vs 19-22 is public worship. Once again we are reminded of the centrality and primacy of worship in the life of the believer and the church.

         In a nutshell, Paul is saying in light of Christ's imminent return, as we gather together for worship we must understand our responsibility to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  And what is that responsibility? Paul says, Do not quench the Spirit. What does that mean?

Definition
 'To put out, suppress, smother or to allow the fire of the Holy Spirit to cool off.'.

     Life in Christ, life in the church, is life in the Holy Spirit. Christ promised the Holy Spirit as a gift to believers in Acts 1:8. But the problem is that too many Christians live like those in Ephesus who had not heard that there was a Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2).

    The Holy Spirit is God present and active in the midst of His people. When the presence of God the Holy Spirit is denied, resisted, or ignored, it is as though the power of God has been turned off. Without a sense of God the Holy Spirit as alive, present and active, then the worship of God tends to be little more than an intellectual exercise.

     Many churches today have worship services that are merely intellectual activities void of the passion and fire of the presence of the Holy Spirit. And God deserves so much more than that....and so do you as His children.

How do we quench the Holy Spirit?
 There are numerous ways to quench or put out the Spirit's fire in our midst. I will look at a few of the most common.

1. Do not throw cold water on the Spirit burning in the heart.
     -The Spirits work is to enlighten the intellect and at the same time to warm the heart. Where there is light there is also heat.
      Light for the mind, heat for the heart.
     -When we suppress our own feelings or put an extinguisher to the emotions of others in worship we put the light of God
      out and quench the fire of the Spirit of God in our midst.

2. Suppressing the Conviction of the Holy Spirit
     -Perhaps it is the conviction of a a particular sin. Will you repent of that sin or quench the Spirit by suppressing it?
    -Perhaps it is a vision from God for a particular area of service? Will you yield to it or extinguish it?
    -Perhaps it is to make intercessory prayer for someone. Will you cry out to God on their behalf, or will you quench the
     Spirit by going about your business?

3. Ignoring the truth of the revealed Word of God.
     -The Holy Spirit opens our minds to truth and urges obedience to that truth. Will we be obedient to God's Word or will
      we quench the Spirit by living in disobedience?

4. Denying the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
     -Martin Lloyd Jones has said 'Certain people by nature are afraid of the supernatural, of the unusual, of disorder.
      You can be so afraid of disorder, so concerned about discipline and decorum and control, that you become guilty of
      what the Scripture calls 'quenching the Spirit'.
     -As God the Holy Spirit gives gifts to His children, they must be allowed to be freely used, to the glory of God, in public
      worship.
    -We must not sacrifice the movement of God's Spirit in our midst for a strict adherence to a rigid and antiquated form.

5. Unnecessarily delaying the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
     -There is an unwritten 11th commandment. It is 'And everything shall be decided upon by the edicts of a committee.'
      Sometimes, we work and rework and over analyze something to the point that it is no longer effective to do what we
      were prompted to do. When this happens, we quench the Spirit.

6. Yielding to self-indulgence.
     -This is putting our needs and wants and desires before the prompting  of the Holy Spirit. We quench the Spirit when
      our natural desires blind us from what the Holy Spirit wants to do in our midst.

7. Yielding to worldliness.
     -When we decide to play golf or go to Great Adventure instead of gathering with the family of God for worship. It affects
       your life, your children's life and it affects the rest of the church family. When the pleasures of the world take priority over
      the joy of the Lord in worship, the Spirit is quenched.

8. Neglecting to add fuel to the fire.
    -A fire is kept burning by added logs to keep it alive. A Christian who fails to pray regularly, study the Word of God,
     worship wholeheartedly, and fellowship with other Christians can cause the Spirit of God to 'die out' within him.
     He/She will quench the Spirit with spiritual starvation.

9. Maintaining the status quo
     -This is holding to the premise that 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' or 'We have never done it that way before.'
      It is perhaps these two mentalities that do more damage to the work of the Spirit in the church than any other.
     -We are comfortable with what we know and are familiar with. We don't like discomfort so we wont tolerate change.
    -The Holy Spirit is not a static force but a living person who was involved in the creation of the universe. He never stopped
      being creative. He was creative in 100 ad, 1000 ad and in 2001 ad. and the church always has reflected the creative touch
      of the Holy Spirit. To deny His continual creativity is to quench the Spirit.

Challenge
     Are you guilty of quenching the Holy Spirit either in your own life or here in the church? No? It is interesting to note that Paul uses the present active imperative here in the Greek. That means, the Thessalonian Christians were quenching the Holy Spirit. A more literal translation would be 'Stop putting out the Spirit's fire.' I don't believe we are any different than those early Christians. The challenge is, are we mature enough in our faith to recognize it and to stop?

Trans: Paul in the next part of our text, gets specific.

   B. To the Spirit's Gifts (vs. 20-22)
Read: 1 Thess. 5:20-22

     Prophesy was the gift of the Spirit that some in the Thessalonian church were fighting about. We are not told why, but the context of the end times seems to indicated that perhps some were making predictions of Christ's return that were not coming true, so they were rejecting the Spirit's gifts completely. Well, Paul elevated prophesy to the place just below love in the church in 1 Cor. 14. So Paul responds to the Thessalonian dissenters by saying 'do not despise or reject the gift of prophesy.

     Instead, examine it when it is done. Is it consistent with the  revealed Word of God? If so, hold fast to it. Don't let it go. Accept it. But if it doesn't, don't be swayed by evil and reject the prophesy. Whatever spiritual gift is expressed in worship, test it. Make certain it is in accordance with the Word of God. If it is, rejoice in it, if not, then you can confront the one using it incorrectly, but always in love. We should never allow any spiritual gift be used inappropriately in worship.

     Paul is also saying, let's not be too quick to judge the manifestations of the Spirit in our worship as sinful, lest we judge incorrectly and quench the Spirit.

Conclusion
 Somehow we get the idea that the early church was made up of super-Christians  and they did not have problems like we do today. Well, that is not true. The Thessalonian Christians quenched the Holy Spirit in their worship and it happens in church today as well. And Paul says it MUST STOP.

 We must allow God the Holy Spirit to move as HE pleases within our lives.
 We need to allow the Spirit to guide us in our corporate worship as well.

 Worship where the singing, whether it be hymn, chorus, or special music touches our hearts.

 Worship where the Word of God convicts us, teaches us and helps mold us into the image of Christ.

 Worship where the Lord's Supper moves us to a closer, more loving relationship with Jesus Christ.

To make this happen ...
 We need to stop listening to sermons....and start living the sermons, in church, at home and in the workplace.

 We need to stop singing songs, and start making melody in our hearts to the Lord.

 We need to stop taking the Lord's Supper and start communing with God by rejoicing with every ounce of our being because in Christ, all our sins have been forgiven.

 We need to stop being afraid to show emotion in worship and start offering our whole lives; mind, body and spirit to God as our acceptable service of worship.

 We must decide, as individuals and as a church, are we going to allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in and among us or will we quench His activity and presence?

     Jesus is coming back, His return is immanent, it could happen at any time. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to make us ready.

 What will you do with the ministry and movement of the Holy Spirit?

 Will you allow Him to make you ready for Christ's return?