Welcome back once again to our study on 1 Thessalonians. We are now ready for chapter 5. This chapter may not be made up of as many words as some, but it is packed full of information and lessons we can learn. So, it should go without saying that this conclusion study of chapter 5 will be a bit longer than the others. Here is a reminder of the five steps we are using for this study:
- Read the chapter through
- Pick a key verse for the chapter
- Summarize and discuss each verse
- Apply it to our lives
- Pray specific things from what we learned
Let’s start by reading:
But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.
1 Thessalonians 5
11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
12 And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves.
14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. 15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
23 Now may 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. 24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
25 Brethren, pray for us.
26 Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss.
27 I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
Truly a full passage of scripture! before we dig in, let’s pick our key verse. For this study, I think it would be appropriate to select a collection of short verses that are full of meaning. Our key verses for chapter 5 will be 16-22:
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-22
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
Those verses hold so much of what the Christian life should be. It would do us all well to take those to heart.
Now, let’s discuss each verse:
- Paul now transitions to a discussion of the coming of the Lord. He is reminding the Thessalonians of these things because He knows they already know it.
- To say that the day of Christ’s return will come “like a thief in the night” is to say that it will come unexpectedly. No one but God can know when it will be.
- People often seem uncomfortable and claim that they are safe, however it is usually then that destruction comes and does not allow an escape.
- Still, we are reminded that as Christians, we are not in total darkness like that in which a thief could easily come.
- We are called children of the light and not of darkness.
- Therefore we must be sober and watchful unlike others.
- Drunkenness and sleep are activities of the night.
- Because we are children of the day and of light, we must be vigilant to adorn ourselves with the defense of the armor of God to block the attacks of sin. This armor is made of faith, love, and the hope of salvation.
- God has set us up for salvation rather than for His wrath. All who follow Him are His elect for whom He appointed a place in heaven with Him.
- Christ died for us, so (as we discussed from chapter 4) both the living and the dead who are faithful will live with Him once again.
- Paul encourages the Thessalonians to continue comforting and edifying each other in order to reach that heavenly goal together.
- Now Paul moves to very practical and straightforward teachings we should follow. We should make note of all who work among us and oversee us in the church.
- We need to hold them in an honorable place of love because of the difficult work that they do. We must also remain at peace with one another.
- In this verse, Paul first reminds us to give warnings to those who are going against God’s commands. Warn them, but do not condemn them. We want them to be reconciled to God. We must also lift up and encourage those who are weak and struggling, whether from sin or just from all the hardships of life. We need to be patient with everyone. Some may only need a few words of encouragement here and there, but others might need constant help and teaching to follow the Lord.
- We need to not seek to retaliate when someone wrongs us, but instead try to do what is good for everyone.
- “Rejoice always.” This is a small verse, but it says a lot. Not everything in life will be happy, but we must always find ways to find the joy of the Lord, even when things are tough.
- “Pray without ceasing” is another short verse that tells us so much. Now this first does not mean that we should start a prayer right now with a “Dear God” and never end it with an “Amen.” In fact it means something quite different. Our prayer life should not be defined by an arbitrary number of times in which we begin and end some kind of message to God before we eat or when we end a worship service. Rather, our life should be prayer. Prayer is not messages you sent to God hoping He might answer. Prayer is our ability to talk with our Lord. We need to be able to speak with Him at any time, and we can! We can because our life is meant to be an open conversation with Him, praising Him, thanking Him, seeking His guidance all the time. To “pray without ceasing,” we must never stop our life of prayer to our God.
- “In everything give thanks” can also be said, “Give thanks in everything.” Notice that this does not say, “Give thanks for everything.” God does not expect us to give thanks for all the terrible things that happen in this life, but like Job, we must be able to give thanks in every situation. He gave thanks to God for his own life and salvation even when everything else was taken from him. It is the will of God that we give thanks in all things.
- “Do not quench the Spirit.” Don’t hinder the Holy Spirit from working in you and others as God sent it to.
- “Do not despise prophecies.” Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to accept godly prophecies as they were still being given at the time he was writing this letter.
- “Test all things.” Don’t blindly accept everything you might hear as being God’s word. Study and be sure of what is. “Hold fast what is good.” Keep a strong and close grip on everything in life that is holy and godly because there is too much that isn’t.
- “Abstain from every form of evil.” Put away sin. Run from temptation. Don’t get yourself into situations in which you know you will be tempted.
- Paul now begins to close his letter with a final exhortation, praying that God will sanctify the Thessalonians.
- God is faithful and He will do such things.
- Paul asks for prayers from the Thessalonians. He knows prayer works and is not afraid to ask for help.
- He asks them to greet one another for him.
- He also commands that this letter be read to all—not just those of the church in Thessalonica.
- Paul concludes by praying for God’s grace to be on them.
This chapter includes so many important topics for Christians. From the return of Christ, to short messages that have deep meanings, we can learn a lot from this passage of scripture. Because the length and depth of our verse-by-verse discussion, I will omit any summary. Instead, I will say this: We must be prepared for Christ’s return. He could, in fact, return at any moment. So, are you ready?
Finally, take the time to pray for a couple things today:
- Pray that we will be prepared at all times for the coming of the Lord.
- Pray that we will rejoice and give God thanks, no matter what happens.
- Finally, “pray without ceasing.”
Thank you so much for stepping through this incredible letter from Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to a collection of God’s people who were strong in their new faith and who were adamant about spreading the gospel to everyone they could. May we be the same.
I look forward to continuing studies such as this. I hope you enjoy them as well. Please feel free to comment your thoughts down below, contact me if you have any questions or concerns, and keep a lookout for what book we might study next!
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