Sunday, July 13, 2025

“O Magnify the LORD with Me” [Matt's Messages]

“O Magnify the LORD with Me”
Lanse Evangelical Free Church
Family Bible Week Finale
July 13, 2025 :: Psalm 34

“O MAGNIFY the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.”

That’s an invitation.

This whole Psalm is a beautiful lyrical invitation to join King David in knowing and praising and trusting in the goodness of God. Verse 3 says:

“O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together” (King James Version).

Now, as the adult class learned this week, there are many different excellent translations of the Bible out there that, together, help us understand what it means. The NIV (the New International Version) which is what our Pew Bibles are says, “Glorify the LORD with me.” The CSB (the Christian Standard Bible) says, “Proclaim the LORD’s greatness with me.” So that’s what it means to “magnify” the LORD as the King James and the ESV (English Standard Version) put it. To “magnify” the LORD does NOT mean that the LORD is really small, and what we need is to beef Him up some.

“Poor little ‘god,’ let’s get some magnification on that guy.” No! It doesn’t mean that God’s goodness is microscopic.  It means that our understanding is microscopic and that we need to expand our understanding, and that we need to show more and more just how good and glorious our God is. Amen?

“O MAGNIFY the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.”

Do you feel how that is an invitation?

King David wants everyone who reads his song in Psalm 34 to join him in magnifying the goodness of God. Let’s look at the whole thing, starting up in verse 1.

[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]

Interestingly, Psalm 34 is an acrostic poem. One of those A-Z sort of things where the psalmist starts each line with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Aleph, Beth, Gimel. A, B, C. You can’t see it in the English, but this is a carefully constructed poem from A-Z. This week in the adult class, I passed around my Hebrew Bible, and you can see the pattern there.

It actually deviates from the pattern in two places, and I’m not sure why. There is no 6th letter and the 17th letter is out of order, coming at the end. But the point is that King David has spent a lot of time and effort to craft this particular song just the way he wants it to invite us to magnify the goodness of God with him.

The first invitation of Psalm 34 is an invitation to join the psalmist in unceasing praise. Look at verse 1.

“Psalm 34. Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left. I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.”

I have four points of application for us to consider today from Psalm 34, and they are all about how to magnify the goodness of the LORD. The first one is this.

O magnify the LORD with me:

#1. BY ALWAYS PRAISING HIS GOODNESS.

David starts his song with a commitment to unceasing praise.

“I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.”

“You can count it. I plan to always praise the Lord.” What does that remind you of? It reminds me of what we just studied last Sunday in the last section of Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians. Paul wrote, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:16-18). Remember that? I wonder if Paul had been reading Psalm 34?!

King David said he would always be praising the goodness of God.

Not just when things are going well, but when things are decidedly NOT going well. It’s much harder then. That’s why we have to decide in advance that our lips are going to always have praise on them.

And just like we said last week, that doesn’t mean that all we ever do is praise the Lord. Sometimes we lament. Sometimes we confess. Sometimes we confront. There are lots of other kinds of righteous words on our lips.

But every day and never far away, we who belong to the LORD can and should have praise on our lips. Because He is so good! We boast about Him. Did you see that word in verse 2?

“My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.”

Now, that’s a strange group to rejoice! “The afflicted.” The suffering. The downtrodden. The distressed. King David invites them to hear his song and to join it! V.3

“Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.”

Praise is contagious, and it loves company! “With me!” David says. “Glorify the Lord with me!”

Praise doesn’t stay confined in one person. Someone who is praising wants other people to join in the praising with them. 

Like if you see a good movie, most of the time, you want to tell somebody else how good that it is and encourage them to watch it, too. Or a good restaurant? Or a great piece of music? 

“You’ve got to listen to this song. It’s so good!”

King David is inviting everybody to sing about the goodness of God! King David wants everybody to sing in concert with him, boasting in the goodness of the LORD. All the time.

There’s a call and response originating in the Black Church that goes, “God is Good...All the Time. All the Time...God is Good.”

Have you ever done that?

Leader says: God is good!!
People say: All the time!!
Leader says: All the time?!
People say: God is good!!

Let’s do it.

God is good!! [All the time!!] All the time?! [God is good!!]

King David would say, “Let us exalt his name together.”

In verse 4, we begin to see what David was so happy about. He had been rescued. He had been saved from his enemies. Verse 4.

“I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.” 

Like many other psalms, this one has a backstory. The superscription up in verse 1 tells us that it was written out of the time when David “pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left.” 

You can read that story in 1 Samuel chapter 21. It’s really wild! David was in trouble (as usual) and on the run from King Saul, and he ran into even more trouble trying to live under a Philistine king while carrying the sword of the giant Philistine Goliath whom he had killed earlier. 

David was in a pickle, and he used a clever ruse to get out of it. But his own cleverness was not the point of the story that David himself got out it! When David thought about his own story, he didn’t give himself the glory. He gave the glory to the LORD. David recognized, when it was all over, that God had rescued him. That Yahweh had delivered him. From all of his fears and all of his troubles. That’s his testimony! Look at verse 6 again.

“This poor man [this afflicted guy with no resources on my own] called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.”

That’s why David is praising Him! That’s how good the LORD is!

God is good!! [All the time!!] All the time?! [God is good!!]

I love, love, love how verse 5 describes the people who look to the LORD for their salvation. They don’t look terrorized even if scary things are happening to them. Verse 5.

“Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” 

I want that for myself, especially as I age. I want to be radiant. And I want that for all of us, too. I want us to be radiant.  I’ve seen some radiant faces up here on the platform as the kids have sung the songs this week! If I were going to plant or rename a church, I think I’d want to call it, “Radiant Church.” Shining with praise for God’s deliverance in our lives. Because, verse 7:

“The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.”

That’s an unseen spiritual reality intimated in this song lyric. Right now, those of us who fear God have the angel of the LORD encamping around us. 

You are surrounded right now! Did you know that? If you are in Christ, you are surrounded. You are spiritually safe from the world, the flesh, and the devil’s rage–make war against you as they will. “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.” Greater is He that encamps around you than he that is in the world (see 1 John 4:4)!

And if that’s true, why wouldn’t you want the LORD in your life? V.8

“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”

O magnify the LORD with me:

#2. BY TASTE-TESTING HIS GOODNESS.

Do you feel how much this psalm is invitational?

King David is like a satisfied customer who is saying, “You’ve gotta try this for yourself! C’mon. Taste and see that the LORD is good.”

Notice that the metaphor in verse 8 alludes to two of our physical senses, both of which when something is truly wonderful indicate for us great pleasure! Both taste and sight. “Taste and see that the LORD is good.”

What was the best thing you ate at Family Bible Week out there under our brand new pavilion?

The Hospitality Team served around 400 meals over the four nights we had together, and there’s plenty of leftovers for the picnic today. Everybody stick around for the party!

Monday night was Hotdogs.
Then it was Taco Tuesday.
Wednesday was Mac-N-Cheese and Chicken Nuggets.
And Thursday was pizza and ice-cream night.

And I would ask kids in the line, “Do you like tacos?” And some of them would nod “yes,” and some would nod “no.” And for the “no’s,” I’d ask, “Have you tried it? Or do you just stick to PB&J from Amy over there?” Because this stuff is so good! 

That’s a taste-test. Somebody who has experienced the goodness of something invites others try it out and see for themselves how good it really is.

And in Psalm 34, it’s not just a hot-dog or a chicken nuggie. It’s a Person. It’s God Himself. It’s Yahweh, the God of Israel. “Taste and see that the LORD is good.”

The Hebrew word translated “good” is “tov.” We’ve seen this word before in our Old Testaments. “Tov” is same word Moses used in Genesis 1 to  express God’s pleasure in the world that He had made. God saw that it was “tov.” “Tov” is the way things ought to be.

It’s not just morally good. It’s good and complete and sweet. “Taste and see that the LORD is [tov].”

King David says, “See for yourself. Don’t just take my word for it. Jump in yourself. The water is so good! Judge for yourself. Take a bite of the goodness of belonging to the Lord. You won’t be disappointed!” Because here’s what you’re going to find: blessing. Verse 8.

“Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”

That’s the same word that starts off the whole book of Psalms. “Blessed.” Happy. To be in a state to be congratulated. In a good place.

As the hymn says it’s, “Life and rest and joy and peace. 'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus.” Try it! Verse 9.

“Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.”

How about that image?! Yes, even young lions who can eat anything they can catch will still get tired and hungry. But if the LORD is your shepherd, you shall not want (Psalm 23:1). If the LORD is your sun and your shield, He will withhold no good thing from you (Psalm 84:11). Everything you really need will be yours if you put your trust and fear in the name of the LORD.

God is “tov”!! [All the time!!] All the time?! [God is “tov”!!]

Now, David has used this phrase, “fearing the LORD” a few times already in this song (verse 7, verse 9). The LORD has delivered Him from all of his fear except for his fear of the LORD. That’s a good fear. And it’s one that we need to learn. The fear of the LORD is...what? “The beginning of wisdom.”

Where you do you get that? In verse 11, King David offers to teach us. He speaks as the “father” of Israel and offers to be their teacher. Verse 11.

“Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.”

He kind of sounds like one of our terrific Family Bible Week teachers for the kids. They have done great job this week of coming every night and getting those squirrelly kids to settle down and listen and teach them the gospel. They are back there doing it now! Make sure you thank them.

Do you feel how invitational this song is? David invites them to praise God for His goodness all the time with himself. David invites them to taste and see God’s goodness for themselves. And now David invites them to learn to fear the LORD for themselves.

And it basically boils down to living out God’s goodness. To living out God’s will in the sight of God and pursuing goodness like God himself. Verse 12.

“Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.”

O magnify the LORD with me...

#3. BY PURSUING HIS GOODNESS.

The fear of the LORD looks like living a good life in the sight of God. It’s living out your faith before a holy God. It’s not being perfect, but it is being obedient by faith. Pursuing goodness. Look at verse 12 again.

“Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days [tov days, days filled with the goodness of the LORD, ... DO THIS:], keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good [tov]; seek peace and pursue it.”

It’s that easy. Or it’s that simple. It may not be easy, especially for broken people in a broken world. But it’s pretty simple.

Watch your mouth. “...keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.”

I’m not very tempted to outright lie very often maybe because I don’t want to get caught. But I am tempted to exaggerate. If I’m in a conversation, and I say something that really gets a good reaction, I’m tempted to blow it up just a little bit more. And magnify myself instead of the LORD.

How about you? Is your mouth marked by truth? Gossip, slander, obscenity, cursing, manipulating, quarreling. There are lots of ways that our mouths can get us in trouble.

There are so many Proverbs that warn us that the fear of the LORD means that we keep our tongues from evil. And not just our mouths, but we should watch the whole direction of our whole lives.

“Turn from evil and do good [tov]; seek peace and pursue it.”

What does that remind you of? That reminds me of what we just learned in 1 Thessalonians a few weeks ago! I think Paul must have been reading Psalm 34. 

Paul said, “Live in peace with each other...Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else” (1 Thess. 5:13&15). The word for “kind” there is a Greek word that often gets translated, “good.” Do good for each other and everyone else.

King David says in Psalm 34 that to learn the fear of the LORD, we actually have to pursue His goodness in our personal relationships.

“Seek peace and pursue it.”

Does that describe you and your life? Remember, it doesn’t say “fake peace,” it says “seek peace and pursue it.” You and I are supposed to be peace-seekers, peace-pursuers, peace-makers, reconcilers.

Some of us just like to stir the pot, though. When Christians do not pursue Gods goodness like verses 12 through 14, we give Christianity a bad name. 

That was the point the Apostle Peter was making in his first letter when he quoted these very lines of Psalm 34! 

And Peter said we should do it even when we’re being persecuted! He said, “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, ‘Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it” (1 Peter 3:9-11). That’s Psalm 34!

We still supposed to live this way today. Even when we are being persecuted. We need to pursue the goodness (the tov-ness) of God.

With our mouths.
With our lives.
With our relationships.

We are to repay evil and insult with blessing so that we may inherit a blessing. Because our God is so full of blessing, so full of goodness. So full of attentive care.

That’s how David ends this song–with a litany of beautiful images of God’s goodness up close and personal. One on top of another.

O magnify the LORD with me:

#4. BY TAKING REFUGE IN HIS GOODNESS.

Because when we live in the fear of the LORD knowing that His holy eyes are on us so that we want to please Him and live in accordance with His goodness, we also know that His holy eyes are not just on us but on our enemies, and He will deliver us from them. V.15

“The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry; the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. The LORD redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.”

This afternoon, take out a piece of paper and a pen and make a list of all of the goodness that this song ascribes to the LORD. And just revel and rest in it!

Look at all of those sensory words! Its not just our mouth and eyes with which we taste and see. It’s the LORD’s eyes, and ears, and face and personal presence, and closeness. 

He is near and He cares.

I think that’s the message that the kids really got this week. Every night we sang the new song, “God Sees Me.”

“God sees me and He knows what I’m thinking.
Every doubt, every hope, every dream.
God sees me, and he cares how I’m doing.
It makes me smile, knowing that God sees me.

He watches over you and me.
He cares about the little things.
It makes me want to shout and sing
and give the glory to my king!”
[Paul Marion and Jeremy Johnson, Lifeway Worship, 2024]

“The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry...”

At Family Bible week, the kids learned:

1. God sees me.
2. God cares about me.
3. God loves me.
4. God forgives me.

And right now they’re back there learning that [5] God is faithful to His promises. Promises like (v.18)...

“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted...” Are you brokenhearted today? “[He] saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

Now, He does not promise us a trouble-free life (v.19).

“A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.”

For great King David, that was a metaphor of God’s overall protection, but of course, for great King David’s greatest son, King Jesus, it was literally true.

They did not break His bones (John 19:36). Though they did pierce His hands and feet. And He did die on the Cross.

There is a tension here, isn’t there? This psalm cannot promise that we will win every single time. That Christians will never lose, never really suffer, never really die. Our Lord did all of that. But even as He died, they did not break His bones, and that pointed to the ultimate deliverance that came in just 3 days when He came back to life and life forevermore.

And verses 21 and 22 point to our ultimate deliverance, our ultimate salvation. Which is “no condemnation” for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). 

There is condemnation for those outside of Christ Jesus. V.21 

“Evil will slay the wicked [it will catch up to them]; the foes of the righteous will be condemned.”

Judgment is coming. Flee the wrath of God! But Jesus absorbed the wrath we deserve so that we can be redeemed. Verse 22.

“The LORD redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.”

So take refuge in Him! Take refuge in His goodness! All who take shelter in King Jesus can say, “I will never be condemned.”

“O MAGNIFY the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.”

God is good!! [All the time!!] All the time?! [God is good!!]


***

Astute readers will recognize that significant portions of this message were adapted from my message “Taste and See that the LORD is Good” first preached for LEFC Sunday April 25, 2021.

Sunday, July 06, 2025

“This Is God’s Will For You” [Matt's Messages]

“This Is God’s Will For You”
Eternal Encouragement - 1&2 Thessalonians
Lanse Evangelical Free Church
July 6, 2025 :: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-28  

Do you want to know God’s will for your life?

Careful how you answer that. Sometimes we say we want to know what God’s will is for us, but we really don’t. We only want to know God’s will for us if it’s also our will for us, right?

“Well, give me a peek, and then I’ll decide.”

But when we are at our best, all Christians do want to know God’s will for our lives. I have Christians ask me all the time to pray with them to discover God’s particular will for them.

“What job should I pursue?
Whom should I marry?
Should I sell my car?
Am I doing the right thing here?
What is God’s will for me?”

Those are really good questions to ask and to ask God to answer. Most of the time, the particular answers are not in the Bible. This book does not say whether or not you should sell your car, or marry that guy or gal, or take that particular job.

But every once in a while, the Bible comes out and directly says, “This is God’s will for you.” This is what God wants you to be and to do. And to not do! 

And when it says that, we should sit up and pay attention.

In verse 18, the Apostle Paul writes, “This is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” There is no question about this. God wills it for the Church of the Thessalonians and, by extension, to the Free Church at Lanse. So we better sit up and pay attention.


We said last time that Paul has not changed the subject. In this last section of his letter, he’s still talking about how we should live in light of the return of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is coming back soon. We don’t know when, and it’s better that way. We don’t need to know when it’s happening. We need to know that it’s happening and that it’s happening for us. We need to know Who we are and where we’re headed.

We are Children of the Day, and we are headed for salvation. We are not Children of the Night, and we are not headed for wrath. We are Children of the Day and we are headed for salvation when Jesus Christ returns so that we are together with the Lord forever.

And so we wait in active patience. We patiently wait in faithful, hopeful, active love.

Remember that? How do you get ready for the return of Jesus Christ? 

Three things: Faith, love, and hope. Faith, love, and hope. Every day, putting on the body armor of faith and love, and the helmet of the hope of salvation.

In the last section (verses 12-15), Paul double-clicked on the idea of love. He said that we need to love our church leaders and our church family and even our enemies.

And now, in verse 16, he turns to loving our God. Listen to verses 16 through 18 again:

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

I have three points to summarize our passage for today, and here’s the first one:

#1. BE FULLY HAPPY IN CHRIST JESUS.

This is God’s will for you! Be fully happy in Christ Jesus.

The thing that jumped out at me the most as I studied this passage for this week was all times that the word “all” appeared in all these verses. Or some variation of the word “all.”

You see it in these 3 short verses: “always, continually, all circumstances.”

There’s a globalness, a fullness to these commands. It’s not partial. It’s not limited. It’s not half-hearted.  It’s whole-hearted. And here it’s whole-hearted happiness.

“Be joyful always.”

That sounds so good, but it is so hard to do. It’s hard to rejoice all the time, isn’t it? Because there are so many things against us. We have enemies–the world, the flesh, and the devil. We have problems. We have struggles. We have difficulties. We are broken people living in a broken world. There is much to be sad about.

And guess what? The Bible is not saying that we should never be sad. Or mad. The Apostle Paul was sad and mad at times. The Lord Jesus Christ was sad and mad at times. God wants us to be sad and mad at the appropriate times, but He also wants us to be glad all. the. time.

“Be joyful always.” The King James says, “Rejoice evermore.”

Under and above and through all of the other emotions and attitudes that we have, there should be a deep and abiding joy. Not just a fleeting happiness that is dependent on happy circumstances, but a deep happiness that is derived from eternal blessedness.

“Be joyful always.” Because we always have something to be joyful about!

The Apostle Paul didn’t just say to do this, but he did it himself, didn’t he? Paul was a model of this.
Just a few months before he wrote this, Paul was in prison with his teammate Silas. He was imprisoned in Philippi, less than a hundred miles from Thessalonica. You can read about it Acts chapter 16.

Paul was not a criminal. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He was just preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and rescuing people from demonic oppression. And a crowd attacked him, and he got arrested, and they beat him. They flogged him severely. And they tossed him in prison.

And you know what he and Silas did that night in prison? Well, they probably cried. They probably felt sad and mad at the pain and injustice. But what Luke tells us in Acts 16 is that they sang in their prison cells! 

They were glad! The rejoiced. They sang in prison. 

Maybe something like:

“Though sometimes He leads thru waters deep
Trials fall across the way,
Thoough sometimes the path seems rough and steep,
See His footprints all the way...” [Luther B Bridgers]

“Be joyful always!” This is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Are you singing in your prison? Is there within your heart a melody in all of life’s ebb and flow?

“Be joyful always!” This is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Now, just because we are rejoicing doesn’t mean that things are as they should be and that we shouldn’t be doing something to change how things are. And one of the key ways we do that is to ask God to change things. Verse 17 says, “Pray continually.”

That means to keep on praying all the time. To ask for things and not give up.

Interestingly, all of these commands are plural. This is something we’re supposed to do together. We’re supposed to pray for one another and keep on praying for one another.

I don’t think that Paul envisions us all mumbling all the time. The Lord Jesus said that we aren’t supposed to just mindlessly babble our prayers.

And I don’t think that Paul is asking us to get on our knees and never get up. Whatever he means has to fit withing the active loving working lifestyle that he also tells us to do in this letter. But I do think that he’s saying that we should have an attitude of prayer all of the time.

I like think of it as like the speaker mode on your phone. When you get up in the morning, you dial the Lord and then you “hit speaker” and talk to Him all day long. He’s listening all the time anyway, right? Why not talk to Him? We should be relating to the Lord all the day long. Telling Him our needs. Telling Him our desires. Bringing Him our problems. Confessing our sins. Lifting up our concerns and cares. And not just ours but our family’s, our church family’s, our community’s, our nations.

“Pray continually.” This is God’s will for you! Are you praying?

Paul did this one, too, didn’t he? Remember back in chapter 1 when he wrote them, “We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually [same word!] remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:2-3).

Paul never stopped praying for them, and he asks them to never stop praying, as well. And while praying continually, they were supposed to thank God continually. Look again at verse 18.

“...give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”
 
Now, notice that it doesn’t say that we have to give thanks for all circumstances. We do not have to love everything that befalls us. 

But at the same time, it does say that whatever befalls us, we can be grateful. We can (and should) give thanks no matter what. Why? Because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Now, that phrase, “in Christ Jesus” is very important. It means that this command to give thanks (and to rejoice always and to pray continually) comes from the very highest authority. It comes from Jesus Christ Himself Who has all authority in heaven and in earth. We need to do this. This is God’s will for us!

But I think it means more than that.

I think it also means that we find in Christ Jesus the power to obey these commands.
Because we are in Christ Jesus, we have every reason to rejoice.
Because we are in Christ Jesus, we have all access to pray before throne of God above.
Because we are in Christ Jesus, we have every reason to give thanks!

I’ve been processing some hard things recently. People I love are going through very difficult times. I’ve gotten some bad news that I have to work through. I see a lot going on in my country and my world that troubles me.

And it’s easy to get down about those things. And it’s okay to be sad and mad (in the right way). But I was reminded this week that this is God’s will for me: 

To give thanks in all circumstances. 

Because in all circumstances there is always something to be thankful for. Just think what we can be thankful for, no matter what:

We are saved!
We are children of the day!
We are not destined for wrath but for salvation!

Jesus Christ “died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him” (1 Thess. 5:10).


“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thess. 4:16-17).

Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Because of Christ Jesus, we can be fully happy all the day. 

And not just fully happy but fully holy. This is God’s will for you:

#2. BE FULLY HOLY IN CHRIST JESUS.

In verses 19 through 22, Paul urges the Thessalonians to practice discernment. He wants them to make wise choices about what they hear and what they do with what they hear. 

Listen to these verses again. He’s still giving these little short staccato instructions. Verse 19.

“Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.”

You can tell that Paul wants them to be careful with how they live their lives. He wants them to be holy. They are to “Hold on to the good” and to “Avoid every kind of evil.” And that means being able to tell the difference between the two.

“Test everything.” Being holy takes discernment.

Paul starts in verse 19 with the instruction, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.”

Or probably better to say, “Do not quench the Spirit” (because we can’t put out the fire of the Holy Spirit!). The word for “quench” means to “stifle” or “extinguish” or “suppress” a  fire or a light. And the Holy Spirit is pictured as both a fire and a light elsewhere in Scripture, so this is a call to not resist the work of the Holy Spirit in their church family. 

Don’t do something (don’t do anything) that resists the work of the Holy Spirit to make you all holy!

For example, if the Holy Spirit is convicting you of some sin in your life–perhaps joylessness or prayerlessness or ungratefulness (the opposite of verses 16 through 18), then don’t ignore that conviction! Don’t stuff it down. Don’t put your fingers in your ears. “Don’t quench the Spirit.”

Is there something that you know is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus that you are actively rejecting?

“Not right now, Spirit. I don’t have time to work on that right now. Life is hard. Leave me alone.” 

Paul says, “Don’t do that. Do not try to put out the Spirit’s fire. He wants to make you holy. Let Him!"

Last week, Jim Panaggio told us about how the Holy Spirit is in the business of transforming us into the image of Christ. He’s making us more and more like Jesus. Don’t try to get in His way!

Paul says in verse 20, “Do not treat prophecies with contempt.” 

The Holy Spirit was trying to speak to the Thessalonians through prophecies, and Paul says, “Do not put your fingers in your ears.”

Now, I don’t think these prophecies were Old Testaments prophecies like Jeremiah or Daniel. And I don’t think they were New Testament Apostolic prophecies like the book of Revelation or what Paul predicted in chapter 4.

In New Testament times before the Scriptures were completed, the Holy Spirit sent words of “strengthening, encouragement and comfort” through prophecies given to church members (see 1 Cor. 14:3). You can read about that in the Book of Acts and especially 1 Corinthians chapter 14.

Paul taught the Corinthians that those prophecies needed to be carefully “weighed” (see 1 Cor 14:29).

In verse 21, he says, “Test everything.” 

The Thessalonians were not supposed to be gullible and fall for everything that came down the pike under the name “prophecy.” Notice that word “everything.” There’s that “all” word again! “Test everything.”

But even though they weren’t supposed gullible, they also weren’t supposed to be cynical. God was still speaking to them, and they needed to stay open to the Holy Spirit and not treat prophecies with disdain and contempt.

Now, Christians today disagree on whether or not God still sends prophecies now like He did then before the canon of Scripture was completed.

If He does, they need to be carefully tested when they come. Are they compatible with the Scriptures? Do they properly glorify the Lord Jesus Christ? Because the Holy Spirit is all about glorifying Jesus and never detracting from Him. Do they strengthen, encourage, and comfort? Do they help us to become holy or do they bend us in the wrong direction?

“Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.”

When we get to 2 Thessalonians, we’re going learn that some people were prophesying in Paul’s name[!] that the day of the Lord had already come (see 2 Thess 2:2). Which was a flat-out lie. And if believed, it was going to do all kind of damage to the spiritual lives and holiness of God’s people in Thessalonica. 

That kind of prophecy needed to be avoided at all costs. And there is a lot of that kind of “prophecy” out there in the world today. Beware. Test everything.

But notice that Paul does not say, “Because prophecy can go wrong, we should avoid it all together.”

No, he actually said, “Do not treat prophecies with contempt.” Just test everything. And that’s true whether or not the Holy Spirit still sends prophecies in the exact same way that He did in the first century. Regardless of that, the Holy Spirit is still speaking to us today, and we need to listen. We just need to listen with discernment.

We need to pray continually and we need to search the Scriptures diligently to test everything we hear.

And that includes everything you hear from me in this pulpit! In Acts 17, after Paul left Thessalonica in the middle of the night, he and his team went to a little town called “Berea.”

And he planted a church there, but the Bereans never took Paul’s word all by itself. Luke says that the Bereans were “noble...for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11).

Now, if they had to do that with the Apostle Paul, then you need to do it even more when it’s me!

“Test everything.” Including Pastor Matt’s teaching.

That’s why we need to study our Bibles and know our Bibles. That’s why we have Family Bible Week because we don’t just listen to our spiritual leaders (though we learned in verses 12 and 13 that they are supposed to work hard at admonishing us).

But we also need to check on everything they teach.

“Test everything.” Why? So that people feel tested? No, so we know what is good and we do that. V.21

“Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.”

There’s another “ALL” word. “Every kind of evil.” Avoid it. Run from it. Abstain from it. Let go of it.  “Avoid every kind of evil.” Be fully holy! This is God’s will for you.

Paul is sure of that, and he even prays for it. In verse 23, Paul switches from commands to prayers. He gives a benediction or a blessing where he writes out his prayer for the Thessalonians.

And it’s a prayer for total holiness. Look 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.”

What a beautiful prayer. How encouraging that must have been for the Thessalonians to read! Because they might have been daunted by the call to “Test everything...[and]...avoid every kind of evil.” That’s hard to do. So Paul prays that God Himself would make them holy!

That’s what it means to “sanctify.” That’s the word we use to mean “holy-fy.” To sanctify something means to set it apart as holy.

And Paul prays that God Himself would make them holy.

How holy? “Through and through.” ESV says, “Completely.” NASB says, “Entirely.”  Those are “ALL” words, aren’t they?

He goes on pray, “May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” There’s another “ALL” word. “Whole.”

And he includes the spirit, the soul, and the body, not because we are made of three parts, but to say every part of us. Paul prays that every single part of us would be kept or protected blameless for that coming day when Jesus Christ returns.

There He goes again, talking about the Lord’s return! Paul prays that God Himself would make them fully holy on the day that Jesus Christ comes back for His people. “Our Lord Jesus Christ.”

And here’s the most encouraging verse in this entire section. Verse 24.

“The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”

There’s “eternal encouragement” for you! The Apostle Paul says that God Himself is trustworthy, and He Himself will make them holy. 

That must have been so encouraging for them to read. And it is for us, too, right?

This is God’s will for you:

#3. BE FULLY HOPEFUL IN CHRIST JESUS.

We don’t have to save ourselves. We don’t have to sanctify ourselves. Not ultimately.  

It is God's will for us, and it is God's work in us that saves us and sanctifies and makes us holy.

Our hope is not our own efforts. Our hope is the One who calls us to all of this. Yes, He’s calling us live this way, and it’s not easy. It’s not easy to be fully happy in Christ Jesus. We have reason to be sad or mad and not just glad. It’s not easy to be fully holy in Christ Jesus. It’s hard to avoid every kind of evil.

But ultimately, it’s not up to us. It’s up to the One calling us to accomplish it in us.

And “The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”

Put your hope in Him.
Put your hope in His work.
Put your hope in His faithfulness.
Put your hope in His return.

Earlier in the service, we proclaimed our unity in Article 9 of our statement of faith. “We believe in the personal, bodily, and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service, and energetic mission.”

He is our hope! We fully hope in Him.

In the last four verses, Paul has a few final requests to make of the Thessalonians. 

First he asks for prayer.  Verse 25.

“Brothers [and sisters], pray for us.”

While they are praying continually, Paul asks that they pray for him and his team in particular.  He prays for them. He asks that they make it mutual.

And he wants them to greet each other. Verse 26.

“Greet all the brothers [and sisters] with a holy kiss.”

Make sure it’s holy! This is a sign of family love. Treat each other like the spiritual family that we are with culturally appropriate signs of affection. For us it might be hearty handshakes and fist bumps. 

Notice he says, “all” the brothers though. There’s that word “all” again. That includes the idle and the weak and the timid from verse 14. We don’t just greet the church family we like or gravitate towards. We greet them all. Who do you need to go out of your way to greet today before our time together is over?

Paul uses the word “all” again in verse 27. 

“I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers [and sisters].”

That’s pretty strong words! To insist that his letter gets read he must believe that it is from the Lord through him. And we believe it, too! This letter is holy Scripture. And so we read it to all here this morning. Here we are obeying verse 27 in this very room! This is the Bible. And we accept it, not just the words of a man, but “as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in [we] who believe” (1 Thess. 2:13).

And Paul concludes (v.28):

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”

And that’s exactly what we need. We need the grace of Jesus. Our hope is in Him.

This is God’s will for you and me in Christ Jesus.

Let’s sit up and pay attention.


***

Messages in this Series:

01. "To the Church of the Thessalonians" - 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
02. "We Loved You So Much" - 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16
03. "You Are Our Glory and Joy" - 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13
04. "Do This More and More" - 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
05. "Encourage Each Other With These Words" - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
06. “We Belong to the Day” - 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
07. "To Each Other and To Everyone Else" - 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15

Sunday, June 22, 2025

“To Each Other And To Everyone Else” [Matt's Messages]

“To Each Other And To Everyone Else”
Eternal Encouragement - 1&2 Thessalonians
Lanse Evangelical Free Church
June 22, 2025 :: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15  

Are you ready for the return of Jesus Christ?

We have been talking a lot about the end times this year at Lanse Free Church. First, the prophecies of the King of Kingdoms in the Book of Daniel and now in these two letters to the Thessalonians.

In these two letters, the Apostle Paul has a lot to say about living in light of the return of Christ. He mentions it in every single chapter, and he’s been focusing on it in depth at the end of chapter 4 and the first part of chapter 5 which we’ve studied the last two Sundays.

Do you remember what we learned last week about how to be ready for the return of Jesus Christ? Was it knowing in advance the time and date of His return? Is that how we get ready? No. 

When is Jesus coming back? We don’t know and that’s okay. In fact, it’s better than okay. It’s better that we don’t know. It’s important that we don’t know.

What do we need to know to be ready for the return of Jesus Christ? We need to know who we are and where we are headed. 


We learned last week that we are children of the day. We belong to the day, not the night. We belong to the day of the Lord. It’s our Day. So we eagerly anticipate the return of Jesus Christ because that day is our day. We have nothing to fear because we belong to Jesus are not headed into eternal wrath but eternal salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us and came back to life to give us life forevermore.

And because we know who we are and where we are headed, we stay alert and self-controlled (this was verse 6, “Keep calm and carry on,” don’t get freaked out by the end times), and we put on the triangle of virtues that Paul loves to emphasize in his teaching: faith, love, and hope.

Remember this? Faith, love, and hope. We get ready for the return of Christ by, every day, putting on faith, love, and hope. That was in verse 8.

Paul likens these three things to the body armor of a soldier. Faith in God’s promises. Trusting in everything God has said that He will do. That’s your body armor. That’s your breastplate, your bulletproof vest that you wake up every day and put on. Faith. And the second piece of body armor protecting your vital organs is love. Love for God’s people and for those who are not yet God’s people. And on top of all of that is the helmet of hope in God’s salvation. Hope in everything that God has said is certainly coming for those who belong to Jesus.

His return. Our resurrection. Our being caught up to be with Him in the air. And our being together with the Lord forever. Nobody missing out. All of us–those who have already died and those who are still alive–all together with Jesus forever and ever and ever. “To a land where joys will never end.” Faith, Love, and Hope. That’s how we get ready for the return of Christ.  

Paul said in verse 11, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” Which is what we’re trying to do by studying these words together in 1 Thessalonians.

And that leads us to verse 12. Paul is coming down to the end of his letter, and he gets really practical with the Thessalonians. He starts firing off these short little staccato instructions. Do this, do this, don’t do this, don’t do this, do this, do this and this. We’re going to take two Sundays to get through them all. This week, we’re just going to do verses 12, 13, 14, and 15.

But don’t miss this. Paul hasn’t really changed the subject. Paul is still talking about how we live ready for the Lord’s return. This is how to live in the meantime. This is how we live while we wait for Jesus to come back. Remember, our waiting is not passive. It is active. Active in love.

In verse 12, Paul is “double-clicking” on this idea of encouraging one another and building each other up. It’s all about relationships. The title of this message comes from the last seven words in verse 15, “To each other and to everyone else.” It’s all about how we relate to each other and to everyone else while we wait for Jesus to come back.

Paul is focusing in on the “love part” from verse 8. And I’d like to summarize his teaching here in three points of application. Here’s the first one: 

#1. LOVE YOUR CHURCH LEADERS.

As you are waiting for the return of Christ, love the people who lead your church.

Now, this could be a bit awkward this morning. Because verses 12 and 13 tell me to tell you to respect me and to hold me in the highest regard.

Awkward.

It could be really awkward if you folks weren’t so good at this already. Last Sunday was the 27th anniversary of the first time I preached in this pulpit as your pastor. And George Leathers pointed it out and praised God for it. And you gave me round of applause of appreciation. Thank you!

And thank you for taking a risk on me as a rookie pastor 27 years ago. It struck me really for the first time that the Thessalonian church leaders were all rookies themselves. They hadn’t even been to Bible school and seminary like I had. Look at verse 12.

“Now we ask you, brothers [and sisters], to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work.”

He’s talking about their church leaders.

And remember, this is a baby church. Paul had planted this church not very long ago and then had to leave them in a hurry (see Acts 17). And he had to leave some baby Christians in charge of leading this baby church. 

And he knows that church leadership is hard work. Jeremy, is church leadership hard work? Yes, it is. The church that the Childs serve just recently swapped buildings with another church family in town. Both churches had buildings that were not great for them but would be great for the other, and so they swapped locations. Was that hard work to lead through? I’ll bet it was. Imagine if we swapped locations with any other church in West Branch!

But just the day-in and day-out work of church leadership is difficult.

And Jeremy and I are paid to do it. We are generously supported by our church families. The real heroes of church leadership are those who are unpaid volunteers.

For example, our church’s elders. Keith and Keith and Cody and Abe and Curtis are all serving as elders this year. And that’s a lot of work. I’ve seen a lot of Curtis recently. He helped lead the Membership Seminar on Tuesday and then was the Elders’ meeting on Thursday and then lead the Kentucky Team meeting on Saturday. And he’s got a job, a wife, and three rambunctious girls. Thank you, Curtis, for working hard among us and helping to lead this church in love. We hold you in the highest regard IN LOVE because of your work.

None of these guys do this work for the recognition. In fact, they probably hate that I’m talking about them. But the Bible says here that we need to do that recognition. We need to acknowledge their service, to show our esteem and appreciation. And not because they are better than anyone else, but because they are working hard. Sometimes just one step ahead of everyone else. 

I think about these Thessalonian church leaders thrust forward with almost no training (and probably no pay) and being asked to lead and care for this fledgling church which was experiencing persecution. Paul says, “Respect those who work hard among you...hold them in the highest regard in love.” Love your church leaders.

Again, church, you are great at this. As one of your church leaders, I feel very loved and appreciated. You regularly encourage me. You take good care of my family. You pray for me. I know it. Two years ago when I was fraying at the edges, you granted me a three month sabbatical rest from which I still glow inside.

One of the things you do that encourages me the most is study your Bible with me. You know two of my favorite sounds in the whole world are babies crying in church and the sound of pages rustling when I say, “Turn with me if you would to 1 Thessalonians.”

I love the sound of babies crying in church because it says that we are reaching the next generation. And I love the sound of pages turning because you are not just listening to me but actually reading your Bible and seeing what it says. And then you go out and do what it says! You send that encouragement card! You put on faith, love, and hope. You love your church leaders!

Now, of course, if your church leaders are in the wrong, you don’t follow them, and you don’t just honor them if they are not working hard. If we are out of whack, then we need to have our feet held to the fire.

These verses don’t just tell the church to love the church leaders, but tell those of us who are church leaders how to lead the church!

Church leaders are to work hard among the flock. Some pastors are lazy.  There is joke out there that pastors only work once a week and that for only half day, and I’m sure that’s true for some of us. It could be a cushy job. Jeremy and I need to work hard.

And we need to admonish. Did you see that verse in 12?

“...[W]e ask you, brothers [and sisters], to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you.”

We who are church leaders have a responsibility to correct those who are going astray. To warn those who are getting out of line. To teach the hard  parts of the Bible and not just the easy parts.

On Tuesday at the membership seminar, a number of the people who came said that they appreciated that here at Lanse Free Church we teach the parts of the Bible that are not as popular as the others. That’s hard to do, but it’s our calling.

At our elder meeting on Thursday, we have been talking about discipling, and Abraham asked us what part of making disciples gives us the most joy and what is the hardest to do. And I joked that I really love correcting people. I just love telling people where they are going wrong. Which is totally not true. I really struggle with the admonishing part of my job. I can do it up here at the pulpit. It’s easier to broadcast it, but it’s harder when talking with you one on one to bring the hard parts of Scripture to bear on your lives. But we have to do it.

You know who is good at this? Pastor Kerry, our district superintendent. Right, Jeremy? Kerry is such a good shepherd at telling us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear. He is good at admonishing. He is good at encouraging in both ways–consolation and exhortation. And we respect and hold Kerry in the highest regard in love because of his work among us.

I love going to EFCA One like Keith Hurley and I are this week. It’s a great reunion of our extended church family. And I see a lot of hard working church leaders learning together how to lead better. I often see pastors have to slip out of sessions to get on the phone because someone back home is in a crisis and needs their shepherd. 

Love your church leaders. You do that so well with me. And we need to do it with all of our hard-working church leaders. Not the just the elders but everyone who has a leadership role and who rolls up their sleeves and does the hard work, especially in teaching the Word of God.

I think of Jordyn Skacel as our Director of Family Ministry and all of her teachers getting ready to teach at Family Bible Week. We respect and honor you. While we wait for the return of Christ, we love our church leaders.

Secondly, while we wait for Jesus to come back, we love our church family.

#2. LOVE YOUR CHURCH FAMILY.

Here’s where we really get into the “each others.” Look at verse 13.

“Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

Once again, Paul uses the word “brothers,” and he means both brothers and sisters. He’s talking about our spiritual siblings, our whole church family. He tells them all to “live in peace with each other” while they wait for the return of Christ.

And that’s not always easy to do! It’s not always easy to get along with other Christians, is it? We have conflicts with each other. We have tensions. We don’t always agree. We don’t always see things the same way. We are all sinners, broken and difficult, in our own ways.

And, yet, we are called to peace. It’s not optional.

“Live in peace with each other.”

And that takes work.

Years ago, I learned to differentiate between peace-faking and peace-making (cf. Ken Sande). 

There’s peace-breaking, too. That’s when we cross a line and sin against one another. And we need to repent of peace-breaking and forgive each other. But we also need to repent of peace-faking which is pretending there is peace when there is not. Running away from our conflicts and from each other. 

When Paul says, “Live in peace with each other,” he isn’t telling them to put on a smile and pretend that there is nothing wrong. He’s calling them and us to work at peace-making among Christians so that we live in the shalom that God offers.

Who might you need to confront or forgive today so that you aren’t peace-breaking or peace-faking in your church family?

Because we need each other! This is what a healthy church family looks like. Listen to verse 14 again.

“And we urge you [that’s the word for “encourage” there again, the harder edge to encouragement], brothers [and sisters], warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”


Notice how Paul recognizes that there are different kinds of people in our church families and they need different kinds of ministry to them. You see that?

There’s the idle, the timid, and the weak. And they are not same. And they don’t need the same things!

You don’t warn the weak.
You don’t help the idle.

You warn the idle, encourage the timid, and help the weak.

So, it’s important for us to get to know one another and identify what each person needs and then give them that. We have to get into each other’s lives so that we can really love our church family. 
 
And that’s not always easy to do. People are not always easy to love. It’s easy to love your church family in the abstract, but it’s hard to do it in the nitty gritty.

Remember that old Peanuts cartoon where Linus says that he wants to grow up to be a doctor and his sister Lucy laughs at him because he doesn’t love mankind? And Linus says, “I love mankind...it’s people I can’t stand.” 

I love the church, it’s church people that I have a hard time with.

The idle, the timid, the weak. You know who that is? That’s all of us at one time or another. And we all need each other.

Verse 14 says, “[W]arn those who are idle.”

That word for “warn” is the same word as in verse 12, “admonish.” It means to point out where someone is going wrong and help them to go right.

The word translated “idle” in the 1984 NIV is more difficult to translate. The 2011 NIV update has “idle and disruptive.” The King James and the New American Standard have “unruly.” And the CSB says, “irresponsible.” The idea is someone who is “out of line” and not doing what they are supposed to be doing. Like working, for example.

These are difficult people to love. When someone is not doing the thing that they are supposed to be doing, it can be really frustrating to live with them. Have you ever had to deal with a lazy person? Somebody who doesn’t do their job? The Bible calls them “the sluggard.” Some of these people might have quit their jobs because they were expecting Jesus to return any minute and were just loafing around playing video games waiting for the kingdom to come. And so hard to move.

Paul says, “warn those who are idle.” Get in their face. Point them to Scripture. Tell them where they are going wrong.

The church leaders have to do that (v.12) but this says that we all do it for each other as we love our church family.

Warning someone like this is not breaking the peace but pursuing peace. This is not getting frustrated with someone because they are driving you nuts with their irresponsibility. This is loving your brother or sister in Christ with a loving warning that they are out of line and they are going to hurt themselves and others.

Do you do this? This is how we stay ready for the return of Christ. We warn the idle. And we “encourage the timid.”

That second group in verse 14 are those who are “fainthearted.” It’s those who are disheartened and discouraged and depressed. The troubled.

And the last thing they need is to be admonished. We don’t say, “Cheer up, Buckaroo” to these folks. We don’t say, “Quit your whining, you dopes. What are you afraid of?”

The Thessalonians were dealing with persecution from the Jews and the Romans. Some of them were getting pounded, and it was wearing them down. Paul says, “Love your church family. Encourage the timid.” 

Some people are afraid to stick their heads out because they might get chopped off. By now, we should not be surprised to hear Paul say, “Encourage your brothers and sisters. Comfort them. Send them a card. Send them a text. Give them a call. Be in their DMs and PMs.”

Remind them what is true. Remind them what we’ve learned the last two weeks:

Jesus died and rose again, and so will all of us!
Jesus is coming back for all of us!
All of us will be with Jesus forever! 
We belong to the Day.
We are not appointed for wrath but for salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And that makes all of the difference. Remind each other of what is true. The timid can be difficult to love. Some of you would rather warn an idle person than encourage a timid person. And some of you, it’s the opposite. We’re called to do both. We have to love the brothers and sisters in front us. Whoever God gave us and whatever they are struggling with. And we need to tailor our love to their particular needs.

Like the weak. We need to (v.14), “help the weak.”

It’s not an hundred percent clear what kind of “weakness” Paul is talking about. Some of the commentators I read this week emphasized spiritual weakness. These people might be anxious, struggling to believe the promises, weak in faith. 

Others think that it was physical weakness, bodily weakness. Those struggling with an illness, a disability, a limitation. As I get older, I struggle more and more with my limitations. I need reading glasses. I don’t sleep as good. I can’t concentrate for as long. I can’t go as long without a break. And I need more people to help me.

The weak can be difficult to love. You have to slow down. You have to come alongside. That’s what the word “help” here means. It means to stand with someone, to be devoted to them. To hang with them. The Bible is saying that we need to hang on with the weak.

Is there someone in our church family that you need “hang on with?” Don’t leave their side. Don’t leave them hanging. We need each other! Yes, church people can be difficult to love. I am difficult to love.

But this is how we live in the meantime while we wait for the return of Christ.

Every day we put on the body armor of love.
Every day we put on the body armor of love.
Every day we put on the body armor of love.

Paul says (v.14), “Be patient with everyone.” And by that, he means “everyone.”

We are need to be patient with the idle, the timid, and the weak. Even the idle! Even the disruptive, unruly, irresponsible, “crazy-lazy” (c.f Alistair Begg) folks in the church. Even those that need warned. 

“Be patient with everyone.” Do you need to hear that? I know that I do. We have to adapt our ways of loving to the particular needs of our spiritual siblings, but we also have to be patient with all of them. And we hope that they are all patient with us. Because we are all three of these at some time and sometimes all three at once. Love each other. Love your church family.

Our theme verse last year as a church was John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (NIV84).

One thing I worry about as our church grows in size is that we not lose our family feel. We need to know each other and be in each other’s lives and love one another in a 5:14 way.

“And we urge you, brothers [and sisters], warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

Love your church family. And number three and last:

#3. LOVE YOUR ENEMIES.

Look at verse 15.

“Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.”

This is probably the hardest thing that the Lord ever asks us to do. To love our enemies. To love those who do us wrong.  

Paul knows that we will be sinned against. We will! But the Lord Jesus taught us in His Sermon on the Mount that citizens of His upside-down, inside-out kingdom that is here already yet still to come are not allowed to hate those who hate us but must love them back (see Matthew 5:38-42)!

Personal retaliation is not an option for followers of Jesus Christ (see also Romans 12:17, 1 Peter 3:9). The Thessalonians were not allowed to get to revenge on those who harmed them, and neither are we.

In fact, it’s more than just non-retaliation. We are called to be kind to our enemies and to seek their good. “Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.”

That phrase “be kind,” isn’t quite strong enough. The 2011 updated version of the NIV has, “...always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else” (1 Thess. 5:15 NIV). Not just kindness (though that’s in there) but goodness. We are called to seek the best for our neighbors and even for our enemies.

You see how this stretches from “each other” to “everyone else?” We don’t just love our enemies within the church–those with whom we have a church disagreement. We are called to be children of the Day loving even those people outside of the church who hate and oppose us.

Is that what we’re doing?

Is that what we do when we get cut off in traffic?
Is that what we do when somebody undercuts us at work?
Is that what we do when somebody gossips about us in our family?
Is that what we do when we hear a news report about our political enemies? 
Is that how we act on social media? Are we paying back wrong for wrong or always trying to be kind to each other and to everyone else?

Seeking their good, seeking what is best for them?

Every day we put on the body armor of love.
Every day we put on the body armor of love.
Every day we put on the body armor of love.

That’s how we get ready for the return of Christ.

It’s hard to do! So hard to do. But our Lord Jesus showed us how to do it. The Bible says that Jesus loved us when we were His enemies.  Jesus died for His enemies. He took the punishment for the sins of His enemies into Himself on the Cross, and when He rose from the dead, He gave His own righteousness to cover His enemies with grace. Jesus showed us how it’s done. So that, now, we can show His love to each other and to everyone else.

To love our church leaders who work so hard among us.
To love our church family, the idle, the timid, the weak.
And to love even our enemies.

Until Jesus returns and takes us home to be with Him forever.


***

Messages in this Series:

01. "To the Church of the Thessalonians" - 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
02. "We Loved You So Much" - 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16
03. "You Are Our Glory and Joy" - 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13
04. "Do This More and More" - 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
05. "Encourage Each Other With These Words" - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
06. “We Belong to the Day” - 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

She makes me like royalty.

For 31 years now, Heather Joy has made me like royalty. She is my crown.

"A wife of noble character is her husband's crown, 
but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones" 
(Prov. 12:4 NIV84).

Married June 18, 1994
Picture August 10, 2024
Happy husband always.

Thank you, Ben Schiefer for capturing these golden moments at our son Peter's wedding last August.

Sunday, June 15, 2025

“We Belong to the Day” [Matt's Messages]

“We Belong to the Day”
Eternal Encouragement - 1&2 Thessalonians
Lanse Evangelical Free Church
June 15, 2025 :: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11  

Who wants to be ready for the return of Jesus Christ?

We’ve noticed so far in our study of these letters to the Thessalonians, that the Apostle Paul brings up the return of Jesus Christ an awful lot!

He mentions it in every single chapter. And, last week, at the end of chapter four, he really emphasized it. Paul reassured this beloved church family that none of their loved ones who belonged to Jesus Christ and who had already died would miss out on His Return.

The dead in Christ and the alive in Christ would together be caught up with each other to meet the Lord in the air when the Lord comes down from heaven. Return, Resurrection, Rapture, Reunion (cf. John Stott). And Paul said, “And so we will be with the Lord forever” (4:17). Which is just the greatest thing, isn’t it? 

So, how do you get ready?

Well, one idea for getting ready would be to find out when it’s going to happen. The date and the time. That might be helpful to know, right? I mean, if I knew that my Dad was coming over on Father’s Day for lunch, I might get the house ready for his arrival. Maybe hide my dirty socks and get them off of his place at the dining room table. (Don’t worry, Dad. I did it already.)

It might be helpful to know when someone important is going to arrive so that you can get your place cleaned up. And Paul is telling us that the Person Who is on the way is the King of Kingdoms!

But Paul says that knowing the day and the time is actually NOT what we need to be ready for the Lord’s arrival. Look with me at chapter 5, verse 1. He has not changed the subject. He’s still talking about the return of Christ. 

“Now, brothers [and sisters], about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (vv.1-2).

We said it last week. When is Jesus coming back?

We don’t know. And that’s okay!
We don’t need to know. And that’s okay.
In fact, it’s better that we don’t!

Paul says, “We don’t need to write to you about times and dates.” 

Those are the same words that King Jesus used with His disciples in Acts chapter 1 when they asked Him “when?”

He said, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set...” (Acts 1:7). Jesus said at one point that He didn’t even know. So it must NOT be important for us to know. In fact, it must be important for us to NOT know.

Paul had already taught this to them when he planted the church. He says, “you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”

How many here know when your next home invasion is going to be? Me neither. Thieves don’t tend to send a notification. They don’t even knock!

Jesus used the same illustration when He was teaching about His return (Matthew 24:43-44, see also 2 Peter 3:10, Revelation 3:3, 16:15). I think the emphasis here is on how unannounced and therefore unexpected this event will be. It will be just sprung on those people. And for those who are not ready, it will be very scary. Verse 3.

“While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”

These people are not ready. They think that life is hunky dory and they have everything together and they don’t need Jesus to have peace and safety. Those words were used in the ancient Roman world to describe the “Pax Romana,” the “Peace of Rome.” “Peace and safety.” “Peace and safety.” All is well. “Peace and safety.”

And then destruction hits. And they are doubled over in pain. Labor pains. The Lord Jesus used that metaphor, as well, when He was teaching about His return in Matthew chapter 24. The birth pains.

We’ve heard about a lot of those in the last few weeks as all of these moms have been having their babies!

Labor pains say that something big is happening, but you don’t know exactly when, right? And they get increasingly intense and inevitable, but you still don’t know exactly when it’s going to happen. Unpredictable. That’s what Jesus was emphasizing with this metaphor (see also Isaiah 13:8, Jer 6:24).

But I think Paul is also really emphasizing how dangerous and scary it could be. Back in those days a lot of women died in childbirth. And so that first big contraction hitting out of nowhere might be the harbinger not of joy, for some, but of doom. 

“And they will not escape.” They will not escape what? Verse 2 calls it, “The Day of the Lord.”

“The Day of the Lord” is a phrase that comes up again and again especially in the Old Testament. It’s a time period predicted in the future when the LORD will bring both judgment on evil and salvation for His people. It’s not just one thing, it’s all of that. It’s a complex of events where evil is finally judged and God’s people are finally saved.

The Prophet Joel calls it “great” and “dreadful” (see also Amos 5:18-20).  

“The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?” (Joel 2:11).

“Great” and “dreadful.” Especially for those who are going to experience judgment when Jesus returns (either in the Great Tribulation or/and in the Great Judgment).

“They will not escape.”

They don’t even know it’s coming! They might have heard something about it, but they don’t believe it. They think everything is “peace and safety,” and then destruction falls.

That sounds scary, and if you are not ready for it, you should be scared. Let this be your wake-up call! The King of Kingdoms is coming. The Day of the LORD is on the way. And you won’t know when. So get repent while you still can.

But that’s not the main the reason why Paul writes about it here. Paul actually writes to reassure the Thessalonians that they will escape! Not to scare them but to encourage them. “Eternal encouragement!” Look what he says in verse 4.

“But you, brothers [and sisters], are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day” (vv.4-5a).

“Children of the light and children of the day.” It’s not just the boys. The title of this message comes from verse 8 where it says, “We belong to the day.” Literally, “We are OF the day.”

We belong to the day. We are characterized by the day. We are children of the light and children of the day. That means that we are characterized by the light and by the day.

What a beautiful thing to say, right?! “Hello, Light People! My, you are glowing today!”

King Jesus said that He is the Light of the World. Remember that? And He also said that we, His people, are the Light of the World. The Children of God are the Children of the Light. And the Children of the Light are the Children of the Day.

What Day is that? It’s the Day of the Lord! We belong to that Day. It’s ours. And we are it’s. We are not scared of it. We want it to come, amen?

I have three simple points this morning. Here’s the first one.

Because we belong to the day we are:

#1. NOT SURPRISED.

We will not be surprised when the Day comes. Listen to verse 4 again.

“But you, brothers [and sisters], are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.”

What does he mean? He doesn’t mean that we will know the timing of Jesus’ return. We will NOT know the timing. We’ll still be surprised in that way.

“We don’t know, and that’s okay.” It’s better if we don’t.

But we do know that it’s coming. And it won’t be for us like a home-invasion and everything is ripped away from us in the night. No, we belong to the day, so when the day comes, we will rejoice!

I once saw a movie where these zombie-like things came out a night, and when the dawn came and the sun broke through and hit them, they all died. If they saw the sun, they were stopped. They hated the day arriving! But the good guys in the movie were happy when the sun came out because they were safe in the daylight. They belonged to the day.

We will not be surprised that the Day of the Lord has arrived. Because we have been looking forward to it with great anticipation.

That’s our Day! 

We know who we are. We are children of the light and children of the day.

Do you know who you are? Paul is encouraging the Thessalonians by reminding them of their true identities. “You are all sons of the light and sons of the day.” How encouraging that must have been for them to read!

I love that word “all” there in verse 5. He doesn’t leave out any true believer in Jesus Christ. 

“You are ALL sons of the light and sons of the day.”

I won’t make you say it to your neighbor, but you should do it anyway. We should say this to each other. Tell them, "You are a child of the light and a child of the day.”

On this Father’s Day, your Father is light, and you are a child of the light. Your Father is the Day, and you are a child of the day. Paul goes on to say it the other way around (v.5).

“We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.”

And that means we are not surprised, and we are not asleep.

#2. NOT SLEEPING.

Look at verse 6.

““We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.”

There are a lot of contrasts here in this passage, aren’t there?

They and you.
Night and day.
Darkness and light.
And here, asleep and alert. Some versions have “asleep” and “awake.”

Now does that mean true believers in Jesus Christ never go to sleep? “Sleep is bad!” 

Of course not. We all need sleep. Even our Jesus Christ needed sleep. Sleep can be a really good thing, amen? God made Sunday afternoons for naps!

But this kind of “sleep” is a bad thing. Sleep here is a metaphor for spiritual indifference and spiritual lethargy. [It’s not like last week where “sleep” was a metaphor for death.] In verse 6, Paul is talking about how unbelievers are insensible to spiritual things. They are dull and lethargic and missing out on true life. They are cut off from the light and the day.  And they are out of control. It’s like they are drunk. Look at verse 7.

“For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.”

He’s saying that’s the general rule of when that happens. And it was back in that day because there wasn’t any harnessed electricity. You sleep at night because that’s your chance. There was no third-shift working under the lights. And if you were going to get drunk, the night was when you did that, too. Because it’s hidden.

And “drunk” is a metaphor here, as well. He’s not just railing against drunkenness (which is sinful, of course, see Ephesians 5:18), but he’s warning against all kinds of being out of control and acting like the darkness, acting like the night.

We’re supposed to be different. As children of the day, we need to be different from the children of the night who are going to be “caught napping” when the Lord returns.

Paul says (in v.6), “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.”

What does it mean to be “alert?” The Lord Jesus used the same word when He was teaching on His return (see Matthew 24:42-43, 25:13). It’s the opposite of “asleep” in this context. It means to be vigilant, aware, sensitive to spiritual things. It means to be connected to the light and the day with the eyes of our heart fully open and taking in truth, seeing things for how they really are. It means to be spiritually conscious.

And Paul pairs it with a word that means the opposite of “drunk,” sometimes translated “sober,” but it doesn’t just mean not having too much alcohol, but not being out of control. So most of our English versions say, “self-controlled.”

“Let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled” (v.6).

That means calm, cool, and collected. It means steady and unfazed.

Have you ever noticed how people lose their minds over the end-times? Every time something happens in the world that seems like it might be a part of what Jesus said was going to happen, people start going crazy. Speculation. Following conspiracy theories. Listening to crackpots. Quitting their jobs. Stocking up on ammunition. Going into a panic.

I get it. Sometimes it seems like the world is ending. And one of these times, the world is going to end.

But we are not going to know when!  And the New Testament tells us that when it seems like it’s the end world, that’s not the time to go into a panic. Again and again, the New Testament says, “Alert and self-controlled.”

As the Brits say, “Keep calm and carry on.”

“Alert and self-controlled.” Why? Because we are not sleeping. We are not children of the night. Look at verse 8.

“But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled [same word], putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet” (v.8).

That’s the very opposite of sleeping. That’s dressing for battle!

“...putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”

The picture here is of a warrior who is putting on his armor. It’s kind of like “the armor of God” from Ephesians 6, but it’s a little different. Here, the breastplate, which protects the soldier’s core, is faith and love. And (as in Ephesians) the helmet which protects the soldier’s head is the hope of salvation.

Paul says that we (and notice how ever since he got to verse 5 he’s been including himself in all of this. It’s not just “you;” it’s “we.” We) belong to the day, so we need to put on this armor.

Faith, Love, and Hope.
Faith, Love, and Hope.
Faith, Love, and Hope.

Do three things sound familiar?

Paul loves these three virtues, and he employs them over and over again his letters. The most famous is in 1 Corinthians 13 when he puts them in this order, “Faith, hope, and love.”

It’s sometimes called “The Pauline Triad” or Paul’s Triangle of Virtues. Faith, Love, and Hope. He’s already used this triangle back in chapter 1. Do you remember this? Paul was so thankful for the Thessalonians? He wrote, “We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:3).

This is the answer to the question we started with this morning:

How do you get ready for the return of Jesus Christ? By putting on faith, love, and hope. 

Put on faith. Faith in God’s promises. Believing what God has said. Trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that genuine faith will work itself out in genuine love. Loving one another and loving even our enemies!

You know, since we don’t know when the Lord will return, we have to wait. We have to be patient. He may come sooner than we expect, but He may come much later than we expect. We just don’t know, so we have to wait.

But the waiting we do is not like waiting at the bus stop or at the gate at the airport, just passively sitting there waiting for our ride to come. "Beam us up, Jesus!" No, our waiting is active. We stay busy. We stay awake, alert, and active loving other people, putting other people ahead of ourselves.

Following our Lord’s example of love.

Put on love. This week, I had multiple occasions to watch God’s people loving others with a Christ-like love. These loving people “belong to the day” and they showed it with how they gave of their time and energy and life-blood. They were warriors–not against flesh and blood but against the darkness.  And not with worldly weapons of iron and steel but heavenly weapons of love.

“Faith and love as a breastplate, and [on top of it all] the hope of salvation as a helmet.”

One thing that’s really neat to know, and maybe you’ve got a footnote or something to point this out, but Paul is almost certainly drawing this imagery from Isaiah 59:17. Isaiah writes about this armor with a breastplate and a helmet, but it’s not believers who are putting it on, but the LORD Himself.

Isaiah says, “The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak” (Isa. 59:15-17).

In that context, the LORD put on His armor to save His people–fully fulfilled perhaps on the Day of the Lord. And here Paul says that we need to put on the armor ourselves, so it’s not just our armor, but it’s the Lord’s armor for us!

We can’t do this on our own. But He has done it for us. And that includes our salvation. We have hope for our salvation from our sins, not because of us, but because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross and at the Empty Tomb. Because of Jesus, we can put on that helmet of the hope of our salvation to come.

And it’s real hope. Biblical hope. That’s not just wishful thinking or what we want to happen but don’t know if it will. This is real hope. This is certainty. This is God’s promises guaranteed.

Look at what Paul says in verse 9.

“Putting on...the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him” (vv.9-10).

Because we belong to the day, we are:

#3. NOT SCARED.

We are not scared of God’s wrath.

It must have been so encouraging for them to read this, right?! 

Paul assures and reassures this church that because they belong to the day they are not headed into wrath but headed into salvation. They have nothing to worry about! Nothing to worry about in the grand scheme of things.

Again, I see Christians getting worried about the end times. Every once in a while, somebody tells me that they think the end is near, and what do I think about that. There is some development in current events that has them spooked. 

And if I have a good relationship with them, I like to say, “Great! That means that Jesus is coming back soon, and He’s going to bring us salvation! The King of Kingdoms is going to bring the Kingdom of Kingdoms!”

We who are children of the light, children of the day, have nothing to fear.

God has not appointed us to suffer His eternal wrath, but to receive eternal salvation. [Pre-tribulational Christians would also say that Christians will not receive God’s wrath poured out on those alive during the Tribulation.]

And not through ourselves, but through His Son! V.9, “...salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

And here’s how He did it. He suffered God’s wrath in our place. V.10

“He died FOR US.”  He took our place. He died the death we deserve. He took the wrath of God that we had earned in our sin. And He died on that Cross to save us. And He did save us, and He is saving us, and one day He will bring salvation in all of it’s fullness. Body and soul. Verse 10.

“He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.”

I think that Paul is going back to talking about “sleep” the way he was at the end of chapter 4. “Sleep” as in a metaphor for “dead.” Paul is saying that whether we are alive or dead, when Jesus Christ returns, if we belong to the Day, then Jesus’ death and resurrection guarantees that we will “live together with him.”

Like he said in chapter 4, verse 17, “And so we will be with the Lord forever”

That is our blessed hope, is it not? That is the helmet that we put on every single day, reminding ourselves of our salvation that is on the way. We have nothing to be scared of, if we belong to the day.

And how do we apply that truth to our lives today? 

By now, it should be no surprise. We encourage each other with this truth. Look at verse 11.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

Paul wants to encourage each other. Remember, encouragement comes in two related flavors: consolation and exhortation, comfort and command. This one is both. 

Paul is comforting them. “Don’t worry, Christians. You are not headed into wrath. You are headed into salvation.”

And He’s also urging them to live differently than the world does. Awake, alert, and active.

Faith, love, and hope.
Faith, love, and hope.
Faith, love, and hope.

And we need the same.

Who have you encouraged this week? Did you send an encouragement card? A text? A message? A phone call? 

Did you remind another Christian who they are?

“You are a child of the light.”
“You are a child of the day.”
“We belong to the day.”

Did you remind another Christian where they are headed?

Not just where this world is headed. The Day of the Lord is coming. “Great and dreadful” like a thief in the night, like the first dangerous contraction out of the blue, like destruction that the world will not escape. But we will! We will escape the wrath of God, not because we deserve to escape, but because Jesus absorbed the wrath of God in our place on the Cross. So that we are headed into salvation.

Have you encouraged somebody with that truth this week?

I’ll bet you have! Paul says that the Thessalonians were already doing it.

And he was just encouraging them to do it more and more. And I know Lanse Free Church. For the last 27 years, I’ve seen you in action encouraging each other and building each up in this truth.

“Just as in fact you are doing.” Keep it up, church! Keep it up!

Because we belong to the day!

We are not surprised. We are ready. We are waiting. We are eager for the return of Christ.

We are not sleeping. We are alert. We are self-controlled. We are putting on faith, love, and hope, every single day.

We are not scared. The world should be, the darkness should be, the night people should be scared, but we belong to the day.

Jesus Christ is coming back to bring wrath and salvation. And we know which one of those is ours!

Because we belong to the day.


***