Epistles of Paul 10

Well, good evening, brethren, and today we're going to continue and complete our study on first Thessalonians. We're going to be covering chapter 5 verses 12 through 28. And Paul, in his first epistles to the Thessalonians, started by encouraging them for their faithfulness and love. And later in the epistle he addressed four areas of concern, namely sexual purity, working as an act of brotherly love, teaching that those who have died will be resurrected and changed to spirit beings before those alive, and that we need to be watching before Christ comes, lest we are caught unawares. Today we will address Paul's conclusion to this letter or to the epistle, wherein he stirs them to action in a number of points. So, Paul first addresses proper relations and proper Christian virtues within the body of Christ that is the Church of God. So, let's read first verse 12 and 13 of 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem their very highly in love for their worksite. Be at peace amongst yourselves. Now we have a recognition and a regard for the Christian-appointed or rather, shall I say, Christ-appointed leaders in his body, and therefore our responsibility is to recognize that ministry. We urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you and are over you. So, we are to respect them. They are God's servants. They are not dictators. They are over you. So, there is government. But again, it is a sacred trust to edify. We read that out of 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 4, because it says, but we have been approved by God. That's we, God's ministry, in this case, on the letter on the epistle, specific Paul, and Silvanus and Timothy, but in a greater context, we have been approved by God and to be entrusted with the Gospel. Even so, we speak. So, God is entrusted. So, it's a sacred trust. God has entrusted us to preach the Gospel, which is not only the good news of the Kingdom of God, but its application in our lives to be new people, to change from the old man to the new man. And so, we speak, not as pleasing men. So, unfortunately, sometimes we have to say things that some people may not feel comfortable, that we have to say them, but we've got to speak the truth. And when we do that, not as men pleasing, not pleasing men, but pleasing God who tests our hearts. So, we have a responsibility as God's ministers to help the brethren and help one another to be in the Kingdom of God. That is our job, to help people to keep going. And so, we are therefore to admonish. So, if we read back in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 12, it says, we urge you brethren to recognize them who are over you and admonish you. Admonish, that is basically instruct and also warn. And then in verse 13, and to esteem their very highly in love for their worksite. In other words, we are to regard them because of the work we have to do, which is preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God for God's worksite. In other words, we are about our Father's business. And so, we all should be about our Father's business. In fact, we all, in a way, are doing God's work by changing ourselves, by becoming better people. And so, that is part of that responsibility that we all have, doing the Father's business. And so, our worksite is the Father's business, which is under the direction of Christ. And that is to preach how we need to change from the old man to the new man, how we need to repair, how we need to change and live a new life. And then, so that's, let's say, the first instruction as far as proper relations that Paul addresses. And then he says something else. Be at peace among yourselves. Be at peace among yourselves.

That is a very important little statement. We need to be at peace amongst ourselves. I know we all accidentally may say things wrong. I've experienced in some areas, it's not in Dallas, not in some of the ones that you may be aware of, but I've experienced in some areas where people in the church, one says something maybe not so kind, but maybe wasn't too bad, but was interpreted by somebody else as very, somebody else that is very sensitive as something very heated. And then this person just said things that should have not said and created problems between those people. And when he says, be at peace among yourselves, it's something for us to think about. We really need to have our brains and our minds, our hearts thinking before we put our mouths into gear. We really have to be careful with what we say. We really so be at peace amongst yourselves. And so he's introducing me in the next two verses or so that we need to have responsible action and or reaction to imperfect sense, to imperfect brethren. We all are imperfect. I'm imperfect. I may say sometimes things that I shouldn't say, but we all may say that sometimes. We're all imperfect. And so we need to have a responsible action or reaction to other people's statements. So do we try to be at peace amongst ourselves? Are we really striving to do that? Are we peacemakers? You know, when we look at the Beatitudes, quite often I draw back to the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, starting from verse 3 to 9, starting with humility. And mourning, which basically means repenting, and being humble, and being seeking after God's righteousness, and being merciful. All these build up. They really build up. They go one on top of another. That then we are peacemakers. It's different than peacelovers. It's peacemakers. So are we peacemakers? Are we really at peace amongst ourselves? Or are we critical, judgmental, not at peace with one another? And so we have to be careful, very careful. You know, James is something that really makes you think deeply. In James chapter 3, it basically addresses the tongue, and it speaks how our tongue can cause so many problems. It's just a little member, but it really can create so much grief.

And then he says, look, we can't be looking after our self-interests. We can't have envy of others. Maybe you're not, one is not envious, but when we want our way, self-interests, it's closely related to envy. And James then says, really consider the meekness of wisdom, because the meekness of wisdom as an outcome, if you read at the end of James chapter 3, it brings peace. And then he goes into chapter 4, and he says, why are there squabbles and fightings and arguments among you in the church? And he says, because the spirit that dwells in us, which is the spirit of man in man, is self-seeking. Oh, well, it says, lusts to envy. But basically, we want our way. We want our way of thinking, and we are not humble.

And that's why there are squabbles and problems sometimes in the church. And then James focuses on submitting to God. And then a little later, still in James chapter 4, says, don't squabble one another, because when you do that, when you're fighting, you are becoming a lawmaker, because you're making a law, because the real law is a law of love. And you are saying, I'm okay, I'm doing right. So it is a very, very interesting section of Scripture for us to read in James, particularly chapter 3 and chapter 4. And if we humble, Satan will avoid us, because he is not humble. He is not humble. He wants his own way. He's self-seeking. So in verse 13, at the end, be at peace amongst yourselves. That is so important. We really have to meditate.

Is the outcome of everything I say and I do, is the outcome, is the end result going to be peace? And we have to think about what we say and what we do to make sure that it has that outcome. So let's now read verse 14 with that in mind. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly. So because we want peace, we want to be peace makers. And so under the context of having a responsible action to imperfect science, now we have some imperfect signs which are unruly. This subject of being unruly is a subject that was addressed or mentioned in chapter 4 verse 11 and 12, which I mentioned I think was in the previous Bible study. And he mentions it again briefly. Note that he's actually saying it very gently. He's not digging into the issue. But from what you and I can see, these instructions that he has in 1 Thessalonians were not taken to heart because he has to address them in the second epistle of Thessalonians in chapter 3 verse 6 through 14, which we will address later when we go there. But for the time being, let's look very carefully at what this word unruly is. Unruly is a Greek word 0-8-1-3, which basically means disorderly, out of the ranks, like a soldier, not in their ranks, irregular, inordinate, immoderate, deviating from the prescribed order or rule. So, for instance, you could have various types of people being unruly or disorderly or deviating from the prescribed order. For instance, those people that go into demonstrations, sometimes they get very unruly, to put it mildly.

When we read that in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 6, that word is the same word which is translated as disorderly. And in the context of 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 11, it says that they're not working at all, they're busy bodies. So Paul is referring in the context to a situation of using, or in the context, should I say, that the people were not working. And so he's using the term they are disorderly because they're not working, they're busy bodies. And so he says, now exhort you brethren, warn those who are unruly. In other words, insubordinate. The margin in my Bible, he also uses the word idle. And then he says, comfort, the faint-hearted, uphold to weep and be patient with all. So he's now saying, comfort, encourage the faint-hearted, depressed, anxious, traumatized. In other words, encourage the people, comfort them, uphold those that are weak. Now in 1 Corinthians 9 verse 22, Paul mentions, I became weak. I to preach the gospel to be to be at the same level as others. I treated others and I became weak like they are. I went down to their level. It's very important that we go to the level of our audience. You can't, we can't say, well, for instance, like priests, you're giving a sermon or a semanet. You say, well, people should understand before I'm going to talk at this very high-folluted way. But we should understand our audience and we should understand that maybe some people will struggle and we need to say it in a way and at the speed that people can follow and comprehend and therefore get the maximum benefit from the instruction. And so, I Paul those who are weak, particularly spiritually, help them, encourage them, be patient with all. Which basically means, think about it, not everybody grows at the same speed. It's like if you have little plants and you water them carefully and patiently and you treat them some flourish more quickly than others. Others are a little slower and you still are patient with those little plants that maybe are growing a little slower. So, we need to be patient with all. Verse 15, see that no one renders evil for evil to anyone. So, we need to follow this principle. No one renders evil to anyone, which means if you are treated badly, you should not treat others badly because you've been treated badly. If somebody has said something to you that hurts you, you should not now hurt the other person. And that is something very important in our Christian lives. So, as it says, see that no one renders evil for evil to anyone. And then, continue here in verse 15, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. And so, it means whatever we need to do, do it in a way to yield peace. Now, in context, we need to understand that Paul saw an area in Thessalonica that they needed to grow in Molav, and that he addressed in chapter 4. It was to have an orderly life. In chapter 4, verses 9 through to 12. So, he addressed that in chapter 4. So, in that context, he is saying, don't render evil for evil, but always pursue what is good for yourselves and for all. So, in the context, he's saying, I hope that others want abuse. We got to do what is right and godly.

But we must make sure that, unruly, the insubordinate are still in a loving way, warned, but don't render evil for evil. So, it is a very tight balance this Christian life. So, that was what I would call the section of being responsible for our actions and reactions to imperfect science. Then, from verse 16 through to 22, I would say it's a summary of a number of Christian virtues we should have. And in verse 16, it says, rejoice always. Are we always rejoicing? Now, for us to rejoice, we have to look at the positive. It's quite often easy to look at the negative. And therefore, when we look at the negative, when we focus on the negative, we don't rejoice. So, we got to really see the positive side in many things, even though maybe sometimes it's very difficult, but we have to see the positive. Rejoice with God's help, with God's only Spirit. Verse 17, pray without ceasing. We have to always walk with God.

So, whatever you're doing, mentally keep thinking about God, keep praying to God in constant contact with God. Always praying, praying without ceasing. But those prayers must be with gratitude. Look at verse 18. In everything, give thanks. So, whatever we do, we got to have gratitude. It is God's will that we show gratitude. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. What is the will of God? Then we show gratitude.

Why is it so important, Brethren?

Well, maybe, maybe, I'm not saying it is for sure, but maybe one of Satan's faults was lack of gratitude. And because he wasn't grateful for what he had, he wanted more. And therefore, he said, I will assume and I will be like the high God, etc., etc., because he wasn't happy. He wasn't content with what he had.

And so, lack of gratitude could have been a problem with Satan. And therefore, when we pray, we always need to be grateful, show gratitude.

So, and then he moves on. In verse 19, do not quench the Spirit. In other words, it's like erase or push it out.

Brethren, how can we quench God's Holy Spirit?

You see, in the first place, let's understand God's Holy Spirit has got many attributes, many attributes. And when you look at the fruit of God's Holy Spirit in relations five, love, joy, peace, etc., that's not just some of the attributes. When you look at 1 Corinthians, when he talks about other characteristics of God's Holy Spirit, like wisdom, insight, understanding, it's got many attributes.

But one of the things that God's Holy Spirit never does. It never forces you. God's Holy Spirit leads us. So turn with me to Romans chapter 8 verse 14. Romans chapter 8 verse 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. In first place, God's Holy Spirit leads. In second place, we are led. We submit and we follow willingly. Of free will, we follow God. So God's Holy Spirit leads us.

And this is important because God's Holy Spirit never forces us to do this or that or something else, but it leads us.

And so that's important to think about it. All right, how does God's Holy Spirit lead us?

Well, one example could be by circumstances.

Circumstances develop and then, well, we've got to go this way or that way because the circumstances develop and they guide us in a specific direction. If we look at the example that Paul in his second Maysh and Litrope, it says God's Holy Spirit told us to go to Europe, in the words, to Macedonian Greece and start the preaching of the Gospel across European continent.

It was circumstances. If you look at that story, you see circumstances developed that and maybe they were different things and there were information that he became aware through dreams or whatever it may be. But circumstances quite often in Paul's life lead in specific directions. And you and I can quite often look at our lives and see that there are many circumstances that affect our lives that lead us in specific directions.

So that is one way God's Holy Spirit leads us. Another way God's Holy Spirit leads us is, I would say, preaching our conscience. That's why we must not have a conscience seared with a hot eye. When God's Holy Spirit preaches your conscience to say, don't do that, we better listen to that conscience and be led by God's Holy Spirit.

So God's Holy Spirit leads us. Now, I want to mention something that sometimes quite often we might not think. And that's in John chapter 14. John chapter 14 verse 17. John 14 verse 17. He's here in Christ talking to the apostles and promising them the helper. He says, I've prayed to the father that he will give you the helper, which is God's Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth. Verse 17. Whom the world cannot receive because it is not it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him.

For he hit God's Holy Spirit, dwells with you. And will be in you. So God's Holy Spirit was dwelling with them. That explains why, for instance, some people that are being called, as you see people are being called, they start understanding the Bible. Because God's Holy Spirit is with them. God's Holy Spirit opens their mind to understanding.

But as I mentioned, God's Holy Spirit has got various attributes. And one of them is to be a divine seed that you and I receive after baptism at the lay of hands when the minister prays and asks the father to fulfill his promise through Christ for us to receive God's Holy Spirit, which is the divine seed which begets us as children of God. So now, upon this begettle, this divine seed that is in us, we are now begotten children of God, so it is in us, but it doesn't cease to be with us.

Guiding us, and preaching our conscience, and working in the other ways, additional ways, that has been working with us before we were baptized. So when we are baptized, we have God's Holy Spirit dwelling with us and in us. So, when God's Holy Spirit works with us, and is with us, God's Holy Spirit then flows like a river, and we have to be renewed daily with that inflow of God's Holy Spirit. That's why it says, give us our daily bread, which applies physical but applies spiritual daily bread through the power of God's Holy Spirit. We need to have it daily.

You see, just because we have God's Holy Spirit in us as a seed, and we have been begotten as children of God, we still need the daily bread through God's Holy Spirit. If we look at John chapter 4 verse 10 and 11, John chapter 4 verse 10 and 11, we know the story of the Samaritan woman, which meets Christ, and in verse 10 it says, when Christ said to her, if you knew the gift of God, which is God's Holy Spirit, and who it is who says to you, give me a drink, if you knew that I am the one, Christ, that baptizes you with the Holy Spirit, as we know John the Baptist said, one greater than me will come, that will baptize you with God's Holy Spirit.

So if you knew the gift of God, in other words, if you understood what God's Holy Spirit is all about, and who it is that asks you, give me a drink, you would have asked of Christ, that he, Christ, would have given you living water. You know what's God's Holy Spirit? Living water. So we see here that God's Holy Spirit is compared to living water. A little later also in John, now John chapter 7 verse 38, John chapter 7 verse 38, he says, who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

But for him to flow out of our heart, it has to flow into our heart. So God's Holy Spirit has to flow in as living water and flow out of us, grow in us, and flow out through our words, right? Because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks through our words and through our actions, how we act, how we dress, how we behave ourselves, then God's Holy Spirit will flow out of our hearts in actions, in words, as rivers of living water, obviously, symbolically, but that's what it is. So God's Holy Spirit flows like a river.

And it's interesting, it says rivers of living water. It's a very small possible implication to God's Ten Commandments, because God's Ten Commandments are love. Because God is love, God's Commandments are love, and God's Ten Commandments is like Ten Tributaries, Ten Little Rivers of Living Water that show us how to exercise through love towards God and towards man. And so, out of him will flow rivers of living water. So it could be an implication towards us, the way we say, the way we do things, the way we live, how we apply God's Ten Commandments, that is seen by other people, and that becomes a light. So God's Holy Spirit flows, and therefore we must not quench it. That's why it says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 19, do not quench the Spirit. So allow that water to flow. That means we've got to ask every day for God's Holy Spirit, and we've got to put it to practice. Acts 5.32 says God gives his Spirit to those that obey. So we've got to put it to practice.

Now, I have mentioned before a word or two words, which let's quote them, a virtuous circle. Now that's a play on the two words called a vicious circle. Now, if I talked to you about a catch-22 vicious circle, you know what I'm talking about, which is kind of a negative. One thing brings on an error, it gets worse and worse and worse. But let me turn it the other way around. Instead of a vicious circle, a virtuous circle, a positive circle, a circle of virtue. And think about it, it starts. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. It starts with the fear of God. You and I have a deep, profound respect for God. Then, as we have that respect for God, we trust and believe in Him, and therefore we repent. And as we repent, we commit to do more things. As we commit to do more things like God, the way God wants us to do, He gives us a bit more understanding through His Spirit, because His Spirit works with us. And I'm even now talking at this stage before baptism. So you have a deep respect for God. A person that's not baptized has a deep respect for God, trusts in God to one degree or another, starts repenting to one degree or another, even though very little, but it starts repenting, starts realizing they need to do certain things. They commit to that. They do. They practice it. As they practice it, God then opens their mind to a little more understanding. And as they put it to practice, and they continue with that respect for God, they now believe more and trust more in God. They have a deeper understanding of what they need to repent even more. Now they need to commit to do that, and they need to do. And as they do, now God blesses them with a little further understanding. And you see this virtuous circle until they reach to a point that their respect for God and their trust in God and their repentance leads them to a commitment which we call baptism, which then they receive God's Holy Spirit in them, which is the seed of God's Holy Spirit. Then they have God's Holy Spirit in them and with them, and they continue applying and learning more and more. And so you move on through this circle of virtues and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So the moment you quench the Spirit because you stop practicing, because you know what you need to do, and you don't practice, it's like squeezing the hose pipe and preventing the water to go through. So these rivers of living water kind of go down. What happens? The person who is growing like this starts to go down and starts to forget things and forget things. They can get to a point they don't even remember when God's Holy Days are. You have probably seen people that were growing and growing and growing, and then one day realize, oh I don't have to keep God's Holy Days. Oh, I don't have to keep the Sabbath. Oh, and then you talk to them years later and you say, well we're going to the feast. You say, oh yeah, when is the feast? What stack of things? You know, if kind of things get lost because you're growing down, you cannot quench God's Holy Spirit. In other words, you cannot stop putting to practice what we know. This is so said, do not quench the Spirit. So we gotta keep studying. We gotta keep practicing. We gotta keep studying. We gotta keep doing praying. That's why it says before that, pray without seizing in thanks, with thanksgiving, and then put it to practice. Don't quench God's Holy Spirit. Keep studying. Keep finding out what we need to do. Occasional fasting. Meditate about what you need to do, how you can apply it.

That is the formula. That is the formula. So now we see some Christian virtues being summarized in just simple short sentences but full of meaning. And then he goes on about a few other Christian virtues, but now in verse 20, he is having a critical receptiveness of prophecies. Now what do you mean? Prophecies. Now in the King James Version, it translates as prophesying.

Do not despise prophecy, says in verse 20, which basically is the positive encouraging conversations. You see, the word in Greek 4394, one of its meanings is the discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God. So when we have Christian fellowship, and when we are inspired and speaking and uplifted and, for instance, on the Sabbath with one another, and we are talking about God's ways and God's principles, and declaring as we encourage one another through Christian fellowship the purposes of God, we are prophesying. Oh yeah, it could be preaching, but in our Christian day-to-day life, it really means, in a practical sense, that we are conversing with other people in a discourse or in a conversation, that we are declaring the beauties and things that God has done for us and encouraging one another through this.

That is very uplifting, and that's why it says, don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together in Hebrew stand. We really have to be aware of the importance of this, and so do not despise, matter of fact, Godly Christian fellowship and have these encouraging, uplifting conversations with one another. So then, in this context, look at it in verse 21. Test all things. Hold fast what is good. Now, we have to have, as I mentioned earlier, is a critical receptiveness of prophecies of, if people are saying things that they don't jowl, then we need to examine and hold fast what is good. We need to examine everything and determine if it's genuine or not. The word for test all things is Greek 1381, 1381, tokimazel, which means test, scrutinize, examine everything to determine whether it's genuine or not. By please, you examine a hundred dollar bill to see if it's really a genuine note or not, or you examine something to say, is this really gold or is this diamond or just fake? So, look with me at 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 4, which I referred to a little earlier, but at the end of chapter 2, verse 4, says, you know, what it says, we entrusted with the gospel would be approved by God, entrust, the gospel, but it says not pleasing man, but God, who tests our hearts. We are being approved by God, who tests, checks, are we really doing things in the way that we should be doing? God is testing our hearts.

For instance, if you remember, I don't have to turn there, Malachi chapter 3, verse 10, when it's talking about tithing, it says, prove God.

You know, whether God will bless him or not, and will open the heavens for you and the windows of heaven and bless you, it does not have to be financially, could be in many other ways. Could be in understanding and knowledge and peace of mind, could be in many ways.

Look at another thing in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 10. In 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 10, he is talking about the mystery of lawlessness and the man of sin. But then in that context, talking about people, and then he verse 10 says, And with all unrighteous deception amongst those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth. In other words, they did not hold fast to what is good. You see, they learned the truth. They've known the truth. They've tested them. They know it's the truth. Oh yeah, this is God's Church, this is the truth. But they did not hold fast to it. And in this case, in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 10, he says they did not receive the love of the truth. They did not hold on to the love of the truth. They maybe understood it to a point, but they did not stick to it. That could be that they don't receive it at all, but it could be that they just didn't stick to it. They let it go. They open up their hands. They do not hold fast to it. So we gotta retain the truth. Gather retain the truth. Brethren, it's easy to let go of the truth. Once we start compromising God's truth, or rather with God's law and God's principles, or we start questioning certain things of truth, and we start saying, I know it better. For instance, you could start with a thing that oh well, let me give you a simple example. You could start with a thing that says, I don't agree that some minutes should be going on for just 10 to 12 minutes. I want to do my own thing, and I think they should go 20 minutes. And I should, why have an SBS? I'll do. You go back to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, where at the end we read Donbian ruling. Well, it could be a, are you respecting those over you? Are you respecting that authority? Are you sticking to that? You see, once you start, you know, it's so subtle. It's so subtle. It can be a small thing. And then you start questioning maybe something else, something small. And you can spend hours with those people, but they start questioning now something else. And then something else. Simple things, but they start questioning. And then it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. And then they have not hold fast to the truth. They let it go. Because they allow those little things by very subtly take them away. They don't retain the truth. And so continuing now in verse 22 of 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, abstain from every form of evil.

As some translations put it, avoid the appearance of evil. So it's not just abstained from evil, because that is commanded, but what appears to be wrong. Now quite often we just say, well, you know, don't get together with a young woman in a room, and we shouldn't do that. That's an appearance of evil. But that, this principle, goes far deeper than just that. Far deeper. Far deeper. So we really have to be abstaining. Abstaining. Avoiding. And so consider it in the context of one we just read, which is verse 20 and 21, okay, which is, be careful, test, prove what people are saying, particularly as far as doctrine. Avoid any deviation from sound doctrine.

Look at Titus chapter one verse nine. Titus chapter one verse nine. Verse nine.

Holding fast the faithful word as it has been taught that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convict those who contradict. So we gotta be focused on sound doctrine. It doesn't ring true to the red flag. So have a sound doctrine. Look at chapter two verse one, still of Titus. But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine. So avoid deviating from sound doctrine. So in the context in 1 Thessalonians chapter five verse 22, when you read that in the context of verse 20 and 21, you can see it could be applied also to speaking things that are contrary to sound doctrine, contrary to the truth. Because we're gonna hold fast to what is good. And then we get down to some concluding remarks from verse 23 through 25. Verse 23 and 24 is like a benediction. In other words, a closing prayer with a blessing. Let me read it quickly. May now the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. So may the God of peace himself, may God himself, completely sanctify you. In other words, completely you set you apart in sanctification. And there's been a lot of points here in 1 Thessalonians, which has been talking about sanctification. So he says, may God indeed help you through this to become pure, pure in conduct, in sanctification. Because he focused a lot about that in chapter four, as you recall, when we went through it. And so may God completely sanctify you. And then he says, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body. Now I've had people coming to me, not necessarily people in the church, but people that are learning and asking questions. He says, oh well, what is this thing about soul and spirit and soul and body? Well, it deserves a little explanation. Spirit is Numa 4151, which is the human spirit of man in man, our spiritual intent and disposition, our spirit of man in man. So it's our spirit. So may our whole spirit, our whole spirit of man, our whole spiritual intent, which is more related to the heart in the sense, but the mind too, it's spiritual man in man. And then your soul, which is Greek 5590 sukei, which basically is your body and spirit together. It's your whole life. It's your physical life. It's your human vitality. Okay, now it's Greek sukei, but it's kind of equivalent to the Hebrew nafesh, which is a living being. It's our physical living energy. So let your heart and your whole being and then also and body, which is soma Greek 4983, which is your flesh, your literal body, how you conduct your body and things that you do with your body. Be preserved blankness.

That goes together with, for instance, when you think about when Christ said the great commandment, love God, Matthew 22, 37, love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. So it's very much a parallel to your heart, your spirit, your soul, meaning your whole life, your being, your energy, and your mind, which is part of your physical body, your physical things. Love God with your heart, your whole energy, and with your mind. So that you, therefore, with that, you may obey completely. So your intention, your attitude, your motivation is to obey. And obviously, you do it with your body. And so it's your whole complete. Now, you know, when you baptize, you make sure that somebody is completely under the water, that there's not an elbow coming out, or a knee coming out, or whatever it is. What you want to do is God does not accept half of a commitment. He wants a complete commitment. And that's why he says, preserve blindness, completely blindness, completely blindness. And he says, preserve blindness at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we've got to preserve means persevere till the end. So that at Christ's coming, you and I are, or at our death, whichever one comes first, you and I are blameless in the sight of God. We have been trying our best to be the best model imitating Christ as much as we can. Our intent, how our desire is to imitate Christ. Are we perfect? Maybe not yet in this physical life. But our intent, our motivation, our commitment, our drive, our perseverance is to be that. And then in verse 24, it's a very encouraging statement. Think about it. He who calls you God the Father calls. He's faithful.

Who will also will do it. What is he called you and I to be? Children of God. And you and I will be children of God. As I was mentioning to somebody the other day, you got the ticket. You got the ticket. I'm just symbolically believe you got the passport, quote unquote, you got the capability to get there. Obviously, not my capability, not your capability, through God's Spirit, with God's help, living, but God has done everything for you to be there. The only negative is if you and I don't persevere till the end. But he says who calls you is faithful. He says, I'll never leave or forsake you. And he also will do it. There's no doubt, no questions. He will do it. And then final greetings. Brethren pray for us. Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. In other words, it's a cultural thing. I know when we go to Portugal and some in Brazil, people go on one cheek and another. We don't really do that here in the States. But what we do, we come to church and we really want to give people what? A good, affectionate action. Generally speaking, a good hug, or a good handshake, or hold that hand, or whatever it is. It is that quote unquote, holy kiss, which is relative to your culture. But that's what we do when we see somebody in church and we just so nice to see them and give them a good warm hug. That's symbolically a greeting the brethren with a holy kiss. Verse 27, I charge you by the Lord that this person be read to all the holy brethren. So it's possible that, and I'm sure it's right, that they only had one manuscript and they said, take it around to the different churches and read it publicly for this message to be read and understood by all people. So read it publicly. In other words, pass this word, this message, around. And yeah, we have it today and we've been reading and we've been covering this. And then in conclusion, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. The goodness, the kindness, the mercy, all that is good of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is also of God the Father. But yeah, it says of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we're not kind of denying the Father by saying the grace of Christ be with you.

And then he says, amen. So be it. Now interesting thing, Raven, just as a little concluding between the brackets, only three books in the New Testament end without amen. Acts, James, and 3 John. Maybe the Acts are not completed. Maybe James, addressing the 12 tribes, there's some more information about it to come. And maybe 3 John, which is basically talk about false Christians, maybe just some more information to come about it. But anyway, we have concluded this study. We've concluded 1 Thessalonians. The next study will then start with 2 Thessalonians. Thank you so much for your attention.