Beloved friends, in verse one through three, in the fifth chapter of First Thessalonians, the Spirit of God directed our thoughts to that period of world history, which is referred to in God's word as the Day of the Lord, or as it is often expressed in the New Testament, the Great Tribulation. It is, or rather it will be, a time of greatest trouble and chaos, unequalled in all other periods of human history. It is a solemn revelation, but tell me, my friend, how many people today are seriously aware of this momentous peril for the human family? Sin-loving, pleasure-loving, and God-resisting humanity today has no realizations of the impending doom and the destruction awaiting it at the end of this age. Let us carefully continue in our chapter five of first Thessalonians to consider the admonition that Paul directs to the saints of God in view of that coming day of the Lord, as it is found in verses four through eleven. For there are very prayerful and careful admonitions in view of that terrible day, for the benefit and the blessing of the believer. First of all, if you will note verses four and five, the beloved apostle writes to say, But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light. And the children of the day, we are not of the night. nor of darkness. In these words, the beloved Apostle Paul sets before us a vivid contrast between the destiny of Christians and the destiny of the unbelieving world. And he emphasizes it very carefully by the personal pronouns that he uses. In verse three, where we have already seen the word of God through the Apostle, He uses the pronoun they and them as he refers to the world in its darkness. But in verses four and five which we have just read, it is noteworthy that the Apostle addresses the Christians as ye and you and we, indicating his direct reference is now toward the saints alone. Then note the substance of his message to the saints. He says the world is in darkness, and it is of the night. Darkness is in harmony with the expression, as we saw in a preceding verse. The Lord will come upon the world as a feat in the night. But Paul says to the believer, believers are in light. He calls them the children of the day. Yes, they once lived in darkness. But the darkness has been dissipated. It has been dispelled by the light of the gospel that was received into the hearts of the believers at Thessalonica. And they are called children of the day. They are not children of night. And this is no reference to the day of the Lord when he calls them. The Children of the Day. My fellow believer, do you and I realize how true this is for us today? We are children of light. We are children of the day. The unsaved of the world are categorically called children of night and of darkness. But God has translated his children out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Well did Paul write to the Colossians when he gave thanks for those believers at Colossae, thanking the Father and said, Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son? Colossians one thirteen. Also Peter the Apostle has written, God hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. First Peter chapter two, and particularly I believe in verse ten and eleven. This is what God says of every child of him. We are not in darkness, but we are in his marvelous light. It is the place that he has brought us into, fellow believers. Take a good look at the world in darkness. Moral and spiritual darkness under Satan. And get down on your knees, and may I get down on mine to thank God that when he saved us, he took you and me out of that darkness. He translated us into his marvelous light. What a glorious place this is. Do you realize it, my Christian friend? Do I realize it as I should? For God who commandeth the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Paul well wrote to the Corinthians in Second Corinthians four in verse six. Why then does the apostle emphasize this truth to us? There is a purpose for it. Yes, there is also a responsibility in regard to it as we read in verse six. Therefore, Let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober. The Christian is not to be a sleepy Christian, but one who is awake. Let us not sleep implies here a state of spiritual insensibility on the part of a believer. We confess that we have too many Christians who are asleep. They are conformed to this world of which Paul in Romans twelve two exhorts that we should not be. God says to sleeping Christians who are spiritually sleeping, Awake thou that sleepeth in Christ shall give thee light. This is in Ephesians five fourteen, and those words were not addressed to the world of the unsaved, but to the Christians who have become asleep spiritually. In Ephesians five, fourteen, we are exhorted to awake out of such a state. But in our epistle of the Thessalonians, the fifth chapter, and verse six, we are warned against falling into such a state. How we need to take heart the exhortation of the Apostle's closing words as we go to verse six and seven. But let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. My beloved fellow believer, let us be very careful, let us be very faithful to realize that this is an exhortation to mental and to spiritual diligence and spiritual vigilance, which is the opposite of being asleep. Remember the Lord Jesus when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane during his great agony that came upon him in that day and that night? He went to the three disciples and he found them sleeping, Peter, James, and John. He said to them what? Could he not watch with me one hour? Matthew twenty-six forty. All the great need of being spiritually awake and watch. Here were three of the most famous disciples and the nearest disciples of the Lord. But they were asleep. And now truthfully we can say many Christians, spiritually, they have fallen asleep. And there is a call to be sober. We all should know the meaning of the word sober. It usually means to be free from intoxicating. To be free from intoxicating influences of drink. Be not drunk with wine, said Paul, which intoxicates and makes a person unreliable and unstable and erratic, both in conduct and behavior. My dear Christian friend, may I suggest we have a lot of excitable and intoxicating influences in this world. They can affect our spiritual sobriety, and often they do. But to keep ourselves free from the mental and the moral excitement of this dizzy world is our responsibility. The word sober in all of its meaning implies, and in notes, stability. A drunken man is unstable, both in his thinking as well as in his actions. Paul uses this illustration to admonish the believer, to be free from this, and to possess the Christian sobriety of matured years, which is the result of self-control, and particularly the study of the precious Word of God. My beloved, you and I need the Word of God to enable us to be sober. Did not Peter say, let's be reminded of Peter's words. Be sober. Be vigilant. For your adversary the devil. Goeth about as a roaring lion, seek in whom he may devour. So briety and vigilance are needed. Be mentally. Be spiritually awake and alert. How necessary in such days in which we now are living. So may we let the word of the Lord sink very deeply into our heart, my beloved believer. The days are perilous. The nearness of worldwide judgment is upon us. But we who are the children of God, we are not the children of night, nor of darkness, and the Apostle says. Therefore, let us not sleep. But let us watch and be told this. This is a plea from the Word of God for spiritual vigilance and spiritual sobriety. May we hear the Savior say as he did to his disciples, Watch and pray that she enter not into temptation. In Matthew chapter twenty-six, then verse forty-one, how important this is. What a responsibility then to watch and to be sober. Have you never noticed in the words of the Lord Jesus as he speaks them in Matthew? Twenty-four and twenty-five, regarding the coming events that are coming in judgment upon the world, And to those believers who will be living in those terrible days and enduring the awful trials and the experiences of what is called in the Word of God the Great Tribulation, to them he says, Watch, watch, whatsoever I say unto you, watch, therefore, for you know not the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. What I say unto one, he says, I say unto all, watch. Well, man, we sing the words of the old hymn. When Jesus comes to reward his servants, whether it be noon or night, faithful to him will he find us watching with our lamps all trimmed and bright, or that we may realize this. But as we go further, continuing in First Thessalonians chapter five, particularly seeking to consider verses six through eight, We must realize this scripture portion presents a threefold responsibility to the Christian believer. We have noted one of them in verses six and seven. We'd like to note them together, the three of them. First, the great responsibility of Christian soberness or sobriety, meaning as we have said, to be spiritually, to be mentally alert. Keep me awake, Lord, fill with thy love, one wrote in wonderful poetry long ago. And to be kept awake in such days, when often we are tempted to be spiritually and mentally asleep, let the words of our Blessed Master ring in our ears from Gethsemane, watch and pray. I think of the words of Peter as he writes in his second epistle. of the dangers of the last days. And one of the great dangers he emphasizes is the fact that Christians can become spiritually asleep in lethargy and laziness, forgetting that they have been saved and not looking for the Lord's appearing. And you have an expression in Peter's epistle that he writes to stir up, to stir up the pure minds of the believers, to stir up. Beloved, very frankly, we need to be stirred up. spiritually to be called to stay awake. As we go on in verse eight of our chapter, following the exhortation of what not to do, then, not to fall asleep, that is, we are now informed what to do. Now note the words. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love. Now this is the second responsibility for the believer to obey. in sobriety and in watchfulness, putting on the breastplate of faith and love. Three words should be noted here. The word breastplate, the word faith, the word love. The word breastplate is described in Ephesians chapter six and verse fourteen. They're called on the Christian's armor the breastplate of righteousness. That outward protective part of Christian armor, meaning the practical righteousness of the life. Living right. Note carefully that this breastplate is to be put on. It is to be worn. It is a vital part of divine provision against our enemy, the devil. That he may not accuse or even condemn us for not living right. Breastplate. The breastplate. How we need it. But the second word to note is faith. For it is called the breastplate of faith. And where should the believer's faith be? Should not the believer's faith be in the Lord? This faith is the proper attitude toward the Lord Jesus. Are we trusting the Lord Jesus daily? Are we trusting the Lord Jesus constantly? It has been well said in the beautiful words of the chorus, Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees and looks to God alone, lest that impossibilities and cries it shall be done. In such perilous days which we now live in, how suitable it is if the saints would say to the Blessed Lord, What his disciples said when they came to him, And prayed to him, and said, Lord, increase our faith? How we need to be trusting him more and more. The poet well wrote the lovely hymn, simply trusting every day, trusting through a stormy way, even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus, that is all. My beloved, put on the breastplate of faith. Be as Job said long ago, though he slain me, yet will I trust him. Now the third word that we have here is the word love, describing the breastplate. Love is the proper attitude toward the saints, as well as toward God. In Colossians chapter one and verse four, the beloved apostle Paul comments about this in his letter to the Colossians. He compliments them for the love which he has to all the saints. What a wonderful compliment. How important this is, how we need to take it to our hearts today. Let me also point out these two qualities again, faith and love, by referring to Paul's appreciation for his good friend and his dearly beloved Philemon, in that lovely epistle, and verse five, where of Philemon he declares, hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and toward all saints. Philemon was definitely wearing the breastplate of faith and love. May God help us to seek to do the same. But there is a third responsibility, not only Christian sobriety, not only the breastplate of faith and love do we need to put on, but there's a helmet. It's called the hope of salvation for a helmet, the hope of salvation. We are again indebted and reminded of another part of the Christian armor described in Ephesians six, seventeen. Take the helmet of salvation, Paul said, which in Roman medieval warfare was a vital protection the helmet was upon the soldier's head when in battle. We have a helmet also. Here in our verse of Thessalonians it is called the hope of salvation. It is not just called the helmet of salvation, but a helmet that is the hope of salvation. Now this does not mean that I should hope that I'm saved, or that I hope I will be saved. The believer from the word of God can know that he or she is saved, which you may read in many scriptures, and I just mentioned one. The first epistle of John chapter five and verse thirteen, and there are many other scriptures, then what does the hope of salvation in our verse mean? Have you not noticed that this first epistle of Thessalonians, it is a letter and epistle of hope? Do you not recall the blessed hope that is recorded, and particularly in chapter four, the coming of the Lord for his sake? That blessed meeting of the Lord with the Lord in the air? The future event that is yet to come when our salvation will be completed? That's the hope of salvation, being delivered forever out of this scene, and going to be with Christ and meet him in the air. And though we may be surrounded by the influence of an intoxicating world, a world that is bent, determined upon sinful desires, sinful pleasures, We are to have our eyes directed to the future, and to resist the spirit of this age in which we live. For the believer's hope is to meet the Lord in the air, and thus to be forever with the Lord. How we need this helmet of salvation, the hope of this helmet of salvation today. We need it more than ever, for the days are dark, difficult, perilous. Paul concludes his powerful argument to emphasize what the Christian hope means when he goes on to say in verse nine, For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Know very carefully that the Christian is not to experience the wrath of God in the great tribulation, and that great and terrible day of the Lord. Absolutely not. The Christian has been ordained to be delivered from it, which is the broad meaning of the word salvation. Praise his name. God's children are not to go through the Great Tribulation. God has appointed us otherwise. And upon what ground? Notice what he says by our Lord Jesus Christ. And then note the following words. Who died for us? That whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him? My beloved fellow believer, let me say, the death of Christ alone in which every true believer rests his faith upon it for his or her salvation, that death of Christ alone is the sole ground of our coming deliverance from the after come. Nothing less, nothing more. Some may disagree, but it plainly states that those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, whether they sleep in the graves or whether they are living when it comes, They're going to be living together with him. God says so. It would be a great blessing to every child of God to believe this fact and rejoice within it. For what a joy it is to know we have this blessed hope. The helmet of the hope of salvation. How precious it is. For the Lord is coming for the believer. The moment of his coming is unknown to us. But we know he is first coming to take out of the world, and from the grave is redeemed saints from below. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. My beloved friend, may I ask the question, what will be happening to you in that moment? Will you be in that great gathering, or will you be left for the visitation of God's great wrath that is to be poured out upon the world in that great and terrible day of the Lord? My beloved, the choice is yours to make, if you will. And surely the Spirit of God would remind you and remind me that it's only those who are in Christ Jesus will be delivered from that great and terrible day. Oh, my beloved, what a joy to read. Though that day of the terrible day of the Lord is going to be a day of sudden destruction for the world, we are warned, we are admonished, we are exalted, we are encouraged to know as believers, that day will not be for us. We are children of the day, we are not children of the night. We do not expect the Lord to come as a thief in the night and thus overtake us in sudden destruction. Never. My beloved, may I say something very precious? The Lord's going to take his bride out of this scene before that day of the Lord with his judgments begin to be poured out. And there will be that blessed event of the rapture as we have studied it in this epistle that will thus make the great exodus of saints going out of this scene to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Let me remind you of the destiny of those saints. In my father's house are many mansions, said the Lord Jesus, if it were not so, I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again to receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. Our blessed Lord Jesus gave that promise nearly two thousand years ago. I am firmly convinced he'll keep his promise. Oh, you say that's been an awful long time ago. Yes, it has. May I point out to you that in the word of God, God keeps his promises? Back in the Garden of Eden, God promised a deliverer to crush the serpent's head when Adam and Eve had sinned. Four thousand years went by before that Savior came, but he came. In the prophecy of David in chapter twenty-two of the Psalms, David prophesied the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, opening with those words, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? One thousand years before Christ ever hung upon the cross that came to the world, David wrote those words. He came, he died. Isaiah wrote perhaps seven hundred to seven hundred and fifty years before Christ was born, and wrote of him coming and said in Isaiah fifty-three, that he would be wounded for our transgression, he would be bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace would be upon him, and with his Christ we would be healed, and declared that all we like sheep have gone astray, we turned every one to his own way, and that Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all? Graphically, the word of God in the Old Testament foretold the coming of Christ to be born, to live, and to die. to effect the world's redemption to the glory of God and to the salvation of all who will believe upon him. And it mattered not if it took four thousand years. It was fulfilled. If it took one thousand years, it was fulfilled. If it took some hundred and fifty years, it was fulfilled. And in that upper room with his disciples, the Lord Jesus said, now unto nineteen hundred and more years ago, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also, and may I say it the word of God, and the assured promise of the Son of God himself. He will keep his promise. The Scopus says, as you read in Second Peter three, where is the promise of his coming? Please may I tell you where it is. It's in John fourteen and verse three. It's in First Thessalonians chapter four, thirteen through eighteen. It's in First Corinthians, chapter fifteen, verse fifty-one, fifty-two, and on. It's written in Peter's epistle. It's written in all the epistles. Three hundred and eighteen times in the New Testament there is a reference to the coming again of Christ. My beloved is coming again. And the question raises again. In our hearts are we ready for his coming? Oh, my beloved. Sing the wondrous love of Jesus we sometimes sing. Sing of his mercy and of his grace. Sing of the mansions in glory, where he's gone to prepare us a place. And we often sing, when we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all see Jesus, we'll sing and shout the victory. My beloved, the victory is coming. Thanks be unto God which give us a victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. wrote the Apostle Paul at the end of First Corinthians fifteen, after telling of the coming of the Lord for his people, when the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and when the living shall be changed, in that moment the twinkling of an eye, to be caught up, singing in that dual anthem, O death, where is thy single grave, where is thy victory? Beloved I raised the question, are you looking for it? Are you ready for it? Are you sure that you're saved? Make sure if you're not now. Beloved friends, permit me to dwell carefully once again on verses nine and ten in the first epistle of Thessalonians chapter five. For these words are so important to confirm God's sovereign purpose for the believers, definitely revealing that we shall not, and we are not appointed, to experience the wrath of God that is to be poured out upon this ungodly world. We are appointed for salvation. The word salvation has a wide meaning. It means literally deliverance. And in this particular case from the context of our Scripture, deliverance from the coming wrath. This fact is substantiated in First Thessalonians chapter one and verse ten. where if you may remember we were informed that we wait for God's Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, our deliverer from the coming wrath. But it is also important to understand what this deliverance is based upon, that it is based upon the virtue of the death of Christ. His atoning word, as verse ten in our chapter declares, that it was Christ who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Please note that in substance the Spirit of God is saying, He died for us, we shall live with him. Let every born-again Christian rejoice that we now possess eternal life. For the Lord Jesus said in John five twenty-four, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, have everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation or judgment, but is passed from death unto life. All this is based upon the death of the Lord Jesus for us. Now let me carefully state and emphatically do it, that the rapture does not depend on the condition or the spiritual attainment of the saints, but it depends solely upon the death of the Lord Jesus for them. Salvation from start to finish. is always by grace and grace alone. And the redemption of our body is part of our salvation that we have received from Christ when he became our Savior. Yes, we know that a lax and an indifferent Christian will suffer loss, and we must plainly remember this. At the judgment seat of Christ, there can be eternal loss for the believers. in the way of rewards. This is plainly taught in the Word of God by the Apostle Paul elsewhere in the New Testament. So we must conclude again that the completion of the believer's salvation is entirely through the meritorious and the all-sufficient work of Christ on the basis of his atoning death. Well, did one write upon a life I did not live? Upon a death I did not die. Another's life, another's death. I stake my whole eternity. My beloved, drink the truth of it in. Rest your soul upon it. How precious to know that the believer that trusts, the meritorious, eternal efficacy of the precious redemptive work, and the shed blood of the Lord Jesus is not only saved, but is eternally saved. and from the coming judgment of wrath that is to come upon the world. But now let us know the closing exhortation of this truth in verse eleven of our chapter. Wherefore comfort or encourage yourselves together and edify one another, even as also ye do. All this precious truth is to encourage one another to vigilance. It is to encourage us to build up one another spiritually. The Thessalonian believers were doing this, and my fellow Christians, let us also encourage each other to be spiritually awake and build each other up in the faith. Particularly in these closing days do we need to be strengthened, and our hearts and minds to be thus built up in and through and by the Word of God. After this we come and reach the last section of the Epistle, chapter five, verse twelve to the end. The beloved apostle ministers to the saints and the rest of the epistles concerning their mutual relationships in the local church or in the local assembly. First, he speaks of our attitude towards spiritual leaders. In verses twelve and thirteen, he declares first that we ought to know them. They ought to be recognized, to be appreciated. and to be valued. He means to know them by observation, careful observation, and a spiritual believer will discern who is really a spiritual leader. Second, they are recognized, these spiritual leaders, because of their work. They labor among you and are over you. They lead. They care for. and they attend to the spiritual needs of the saints. They are the ones to be respected as such. Their scope of responsibility is indicated. They are over you in the Lord, says Paul. The words in the Lord very definitely assign their authority is concerning the spiritual needs of the saints. And it also indicates no human appointment. But based upon the relation of all the saints to the Lord. Then note they admonish you, Paul says at the end of verse twelve. Admonition has in view the things that are wrong, and call for warning. But always to be based upon the instructions of the scriptures, of course. You cannot admonish a fellow believer without using the word of God, or you're not doing it right. Then further in verse thirteen, we are to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. Love is to govern the attitude of the saints toward their spiritual leaders. And it is to be done for their work's sake, not because of their office or their personality, but because of the actual service that they perform among God's people. How important this is. But last of all, in verse thirteen, note these words, Be at peace among yourselves. While acknowledging love for the leaders in the Lord, they have to be on their guard against rivalry in the assembly, against partiality and such things which do not produce peace, to be without any factions existing. How lethal this condition is in our days among God's dear people. Would it God the people of God everywhere were at peace among themselves? Not having any rivalry, not showing any partiality and such, nor having any factions existing amongst them. Then we are now told what should be our attitude toward others in verses fourteen and fifteen. Preceding this was toward those spiritual rulers. Warm them that are unruly or disorderly. This can be manifested in different ways. But may we suggest any refusal of a believer to submit to spiritual rule is the evidence of weakness in that believer, and not strength? Then Paul exhorts comfort or encourage the feeble-minded. Don't misunderstand the word feeble-minded. It means encourage the faint-hearted. Those that become despondent. The faint-hearted like courage. They like energy. They need to be constrained and encouraged. Then you have a third thing told that the strong should support the weak in verse fourteen. How the matured Christians should always bear with, as well as care for the weak Christians. The weak need our sympathy. They need help and must be the object of the shepherd's care. Then we are told to be patient toward all men. This implies the character of long-suffering. This is a quality of self-restraint, in the face of provocation, not easy to show, how needful. It will not retaliate hastily nor promptly punish. Then fifth comes the responsibility for all believers, found in verse fifteen. See that none render evil for evil unto any man. But ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all men. It is worthy to note there is a negative responsibility in this exhortation, and there is a positive one. Negatively we are told that none render evil for evil to any man. Retaliation in time of evil is a strong impulse in all of us. But it is the spirit of the world. We know it's not the mind of Christ. So may God help us to realize this responsibility not to retaliate when evil may be done against us. Then positively and permanently we are to follow after that which is good. Our personal contact with all men, as well as all women, should at least leave them better and not worse for the contact that we've had with them. Do good unto all men. Wrote the apostle in Galatians chapter six and verse ten. Yes, in soul and body and circumstances, how we need to try and do good to all men. Paul said in Galatians six, especially to the household of faith, but he also included all, even outside the household of faith. Here are responsibilities regarding the believer's attitude toward all men. So it is important for believers to realize these facts in order that we may live to the glory of God and to His honor while in this present scene. We come to the closing meditations of our epistle. beginning in chapter five at verse sixteen to the end verse twenty eight and we find the first three verses sixteen seventeen and eighteen they present to us three practical exhortations of a permanent character that should be found in the Christian we are told to rejoice evermore this is one if not the shortest verse in the Bible apart from Jesus wept in John eleven thirty five though this has more letters to the word. Rejoice evermore. Christian joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, according to Galatians chapter five. We know that. But it is to be a joy that is independent of circumstances. The believer is exhorted to count it even joy when in complications and trials, according to James chapter one and verse two, A believer should know it for nothing else besides. He or she can rejoice in the Lord always, according to Philippians four in verse four. May we know more of this perpetual joy, and there are more reasons for it than opposed to it. But let us ever remember we have in the Lord alone all we need to rejoice. Then the second exhortation, pray without ceasing. This is the condition of perpetual prayer, not the position. The bodily attitude is not essential. It is noticeable in the scriptures of the different positions that men took when they prayed. David sat, we read, and prayed. Solomon stood, and prayed. Daniel kneeled, and prayed. David and the elders of Israel prostrated themselves before God, and so did the Lord Jesus in Gethsemane. But the expression without ceasing indicates that at all times, as well as about all matters, we should be dependent upon God. For our spiritual life depends upon our prayer life with God. And may I state, prayer is expressing our dependence upon God. The third perpetual responsibility is to give thanks in everything. In everything give thanks, perpetual thanksgiving. I hope you know these three things. Perpetual joy, perpetual prayer, perpetual thanksgiving. In all circumstances, whether persecution, whether bereavement, whatever the trial and difficulty, And whether it be joy or sorrow, the Savior himself thanked his Father when he was in adverse circumstances, knowing even that it was the will of the Father that was being done, how we need to have that spirit of being thankful in all things. All these three exhortations are the will of God, we are told for the believer, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. There are many other exhortations to follow. Quench not the Spirit, which means do not prevent. Do not obstruct the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in others, which can be done, by disobeying the very next verse. Despise not prophesying. And that means the ministry of God's word from others. In the early church, there was the tendency, especially in Corinth, to exalt the speaking in tongues. and to depreciate the instructive teaching of the Word of God. And even today, unfortunately, some Christians exalt their seeking to speak in tongues, which are outwardly a great show, but little value, as the teaching of God's Word will be, and which alone can edify the Church. "'Prove all things,' says the Apostle in verse twenty-one. What a responsibility this demands, spiritual perception. It depends upon the spiritual walk of the believer. No believer who is lazy and indifferent, refusing to study the Word of God will be able to prove or to discern what is truth and what is error. The plain reason that many Christians are led astray into error is because they have not devoted themselves to the teachings of God's Word. Every message you and I may hear or read, beloved Christian, should be tested by the Word of God. Prove all things. It is only in this way we can prove all things by testing them by and with and from the Word of God. Hold fast that which is good. When we prove all things and that which is tested, it suddenly reveals to the spiritual mind that what we have heard and can hold on to is originated from God and teaches us his will. Hold that fast. it will be beneficial, and its effect will be great because of the quality of its teaching. Abstain from every form or appearance of evil in verse twenty-two. For when the tongue, the prophesying, are tested, and if they are not approved, the saints were to turn away from it. From such turn away, said Paul in Second Timothy three-five. For we are not only to abstain from the appearance of moral evil, but even doctrinal evil. Every appearance of each should be certainly avoided by the believer. These exhortations, if obey, will increase the spiritual tone of the believer's life. But if not obeyed, the spiritual tone of the believer's life will be low in. There are closing admonitions in verses twenty-three through twenty-eight to the end of the book. There's Paul's prayer in verse twenty-three. What a prayer it is. Note it very carefully. And the very God of peace sanctified you wholly. And I pray, God, your whole spirit and soul and body, be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. How intense and comprehensive this prayer is for the saints. On behalf of their spiritual welfare, look at the words very carefully for the saints. had already been sanctified, they'd been set apart as God's chosen one. But if I may say, our verse is a process to be perceived. Paul was desirous that this work of sanctification would continue and be completed, that by God's power they might be enabled to live consistently to prove that every part of their being, the spirit, the soul and the body, belong to God, the whole man. My beloved believer, do we realize that this is a description of the whole man, the immaterial part as well as the material? The most important part is the spirit. This is the highest part of man. The soul is a lower part, but essential. And the body is the lowest, just the vessel in which the spirit and the soul dwell. How often, it's unfortunate how often, we know that many believers give more attention to the body than they do to the spirit and soul. My beloved, in respect to the house in which the spirit and soul lives, this body is but the shell. May we point out? As the Apostle is writing, the Spirit needs to be preserved from anything and everything that would defile it. The soul needs to be preserved also from defilement of evil thoughts and from fleshly appetites that war against the soul according to the Word of God and from contention and from strife. The body needs to be preserved from defilement of evil, reminding us that the life of Jesus should be manifested in us in our body, according to Second Corinthians chapter four in verse ten. May we not emphasize in these closing moments of our study the great important principle of preserving the spirit and the soul and the body to be preserved blameless. How long until the Lord comes? So then when he comes, We shall be free of blame when Christ appears. What a tremendous responsibility this is. Let us not minimize it, my fellow believer. You ask me, how can it be done? Well, look at the next words. I love them to realize this. Faithful is he that calleth you who will do it, writes the Spirit of God in verse twenty-four. How precious to realize we have a faithful God. He abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself. It is required of a steward that he be found faithful. But oh, the joy of knowing this, your faithfulness and my faithfulness cannot be manifested unless we experience his faithfulness to us. The psalmist wrote these words many centuries ago in one of his psalms concerning God. Thy faithfulness reaches under the clouds. Remember the words also of Lamentations of Jeremiah? Great is thy faithfulness, O God our Father, we sometimes think. What a joy to realize. Let me quote the words of Paul in Galatians two-twenty. Very similarly, when he said, I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. My beloved, don't boast about your faith. Don't even boast of your faithfulness. Minimize this, but magnify his faithfulness, and you'll get through. For, as Paul says, regarding the preservation of the Spirit and the soul and the body unto the coming again of our Lord Jesus, Faithful is he that calleth you. Who will do it? One thinks of the words of Paul written to the Philippians, chapter two and verse thirteen. When he marveled regarding that wonderful descent of the Lord and speaks of the humiliation of Christ and the coming exaltation of the Lord Jesus, and he reminds the saints that they should indeed be true and faithful and to do all things without murmuring. But he added, and to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. God provides the ability. You don't provide it yourself. You don't have it. But thank God he has. He has all of it. And so thus Paul begins and closes this wonderful epistle. with these words, and ask for the prayers of the saints as he comes to the close. And Paul said, Pray for me. Even Paul needed to be prayed for. And so do we, as we note in verse twenty-six. And you have the closing greetings of salutations as you come to the end of the letter. But may I be reminded, together with you, of this lovely epistle that Paul wrote to the youngest church at Thessalonica that he may append the letter to. They were converted within the space of two or three weeks, but they went on so graciously and faithfully for the Lord. It was an amazing thing to see their development. And to these saints at Thessalonica, the Apostle wrote this lovely epistle. how it brought them, must have brought them great encouragement and comfort to have the revelation concerning the blessed coming of the Lord would gather together all the saints in one, and that they themselves would never go into the great tribulation that great and terrible day of the Lord. My beloved friend, you and I who are believers, please let me ask the question. Do we appreciate properly that the Lord is going to take us out of this present evil world? Paul writing in Galatians one, verses part of verse three and into verse four, said, Our Lord Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us out of this present evil world. My beloved fellow believer, it's my joy to say, I am anticipating with delight the keenest anticipation getting out of this world by the coming again of the Lord Jesus. What a prospect. For the longer I live in this world, as often I have said to others, the longer I live in this world, the less I feel like living much longer in it. For as you see the rapid deterioration and the rapid vortex of the stream of sin and iniquity, filling the cup of iniquity to the foe, the day of judgment for the world is very near. As that judgment draws nearer, may I say, may I illustrate it, if you've ever stood at the brink of Niagara Falls and looked at the mighty body of water that dashes over those rocks, and the precipice underneath. You have been amazed at the mighty cataract and the rushing swell of the waters that none could even swim again. Were you to go up a mile up the river, or maybe even half a mile, that river may seem to be a placid, quiet stream. But one thing is noticeable. As that mighty river comes nearest to the precipice, of the Great Falls, it goes down the river with a quicker tempo of speed, and it rushes over the mighty cataract in great speed, as you may have witnessed if ever you stood there. Beloved, may I say that the stream of this world is coming near the precipice of judgment. And as it does so, The human family is being swept more rapidly to the doom that awaits it under the destruction of God and His beloved Son, the day of His coming wrath. Beloved, don't be caught in that sudden destruction. Make sure that you're saved, the Lord Jesus your Savior, and certainly in the words of the poet be able to say, Rock of ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. And in the words of the other O hymn, Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly, while the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is nigh. Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storms of life be passed, save into the haven guide, O receive my soul at last. It's a grand thing to be saved. I trust that you are. Blessed Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus, we thank you for the study of thy word, which we have briefly, and we trust to some measure, clearly explained for the blessing of our hearers. May it magnify the Lord Jesus and exalt him. May it bring the saints to be edified, and may it win some poor last sinner to trust the Savior before it will be forever too late. We ask it in his worthy name, for his glory. Amen.