014 Striving For Sanctification – Part 3

(Adjust Your Attitude)

1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 (16-18)

March 20, 2011

When last we studied this great fifth chapter of Thessalonians

We realized that Paul is in the middle of a very important study.

He is talking about the process of sanctification.

Now again,

We know this is a process that ultimately God works out in our lives.

He is Jehovah Mekadesh – The LORD who sanctifies you.

We realize that if we are to ever achieve perfect sanctification

It will only be because God has accomplished it for us.

In fact, as we have noted, that is where this passage ends.

(Vs. 23-24) “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”

And so even this passage ends with a tremendous promise

That God will eventually completely accomplish our sanctification.

One day you and I will be just like Jesus.

1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”

And so we all do take extreme comfort in knowing

That our sanctification (like our salvation or our security)

Is not entirely up to us, but will in fact be fully accomplished by God.

That is a great truth!

However, even though God will ultimately bring it about,

That does not mean that we are completely passive in the process.

No different than Missions

We witness, although God is at work reconciling the world to Himself.

No different than Salvation

It is God who chooses, calls, justifies, and seals, yet we still are required to repent, trust, obey, and persevere.

That is also true of sanctification.

God will ultimately accomplish it in our lives,

But that does not mean we just sit back and do nothing.

That is what 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 is all about.

Paul here gives 8 commands

Which together outline our role in being sanctified.

The first had to do with how we respond to our leaders.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-13a “But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work.”

We all recognize that part of God’s great plan to sanctify us

Included His providing anointed leaders to guide us.

Paul taught us in his letter to the Ephesians:

Ephesians 4:11-12 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;”

God ordained leaders to guide or “shepherd” His flock.

And the undeniable purpose of these men is

To guide the flock to the sanctification that God wills for them.

And therefore our first step in achieving God’s sanctification

Is to honor those leaders whom God has ordained.

Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”

And so the first step we found as we strive for sanctification

Is to honor our leaders.

Two weeks ago, we saw the second phase.

And that was to REFINE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS

And in this phase we found the next 3 commands.

1 Thessalonians 5:13-15 “Live in peace with one another. We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.”

Here we found the three commands to:

Live in Peace

Encourage One Another

Love One Another

And there again the application is obvious.

While God has supplied leaders to guide us to sanctification,

They are not all He supplied.

God has also supplied other believers.

This could be those Solomon spoke of

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another”

This could be those Paul told Titus about,

“Older women…encourage the younger women”

And we quickly realize that pushing others to sanctification

Is not a job limited only to the leadership.

It is the corporate responsibility of every Christian.

We all “admonish the unruly”

We all “encourage the fainthearted”

We all “help the weak”

We all “be patient with everyone”

Of course this is all done in a spirit of love and with a desire for peace.

And as we do this we help each other become more like Christ.

And so these first 4 commands make perfect sense.

Honor Your Leaders

Live in Peace

Encourage One Another

Love One Another

Each of these helps us to achieve the sanctification

That God will ultimately bring about.

Tonight I want us to look at the next 3 commands in this list.

They are found in verses 16-18

“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

There we see three distinct and clear commands.

And yet, like the previous commands,

These can also be grouped into a theme.

The first command dealt with our SUBMISSION

The next three commands dealt with our RELATIONSHIPS

These three commands obviously deal with our ATTITUDE

And this may be the most critical step of all.

We know that God is the one who is achieving our sanctification.

John 15:1-2 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

God is the One who is actively pruning the branches

To make them even more fruitful.

Philippians 2:12-13 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

God is doing it, yet we all must understand

That we must make it easy for Him to do so.

We are not called to resist God’s sanctifying work, but to embrace it.

That is why Paul goes on to say:

Philippians 2:12-16 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.”

You can see the obvious element of a proper attitude

To willfully accept all that God desires to accomplish.

God is working but we must learn to humbly accept

And submit to all that He desires to do.

Remember the beatitude?

Matthew 5:5 "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.”

And it is a truth that permeates Scripture.

Isaiah 45:9-10 "Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker — An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, 'What are you doing?' Or the thing you are making say, 'He has no hands'? "Woe to him who says to a father, 'What are you begetting?' Or to a woman, 'To what are you giving birth?'"

Romans 9:20-21 “On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?”

Jeremiah 18:1-6 “The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying, "Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will announce My words to you." Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, "Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.”

And of course that is why we sing, “Have Thine own way Lord, have thine own way. Thou are the Potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me, after Thy will. While I am waiting YIELDED and still.”

We understand that God is the one doing it.

God is molding.

God is shaping.

God is pruning.

God is sanctifying.

Yet we also recognize the importance

Of our being fully surrendered to the fact.

And this comes when we ADJUST OUR ATTITUDE

In other words, don’t resist what God seeks to do in your life.

THINK OF IT THIS WAY:

We are all familiar with the promise.

Romans 8:28-29 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;”

We are all familiar with that promise of good in our lives.

If God is good…

If He cares for you…

Then why would we resist Him when He actually starts His work?

The only reason we would is if we have a bad attitude.

So these next three commands Paul gives, all deal with the attitude.

And they form a great passage on how to make sure that you are

As moldable and pliable as possible

When the Potter puts you on the wheel.

So we’ve already seen the first 4.

Honor Your Leaders Live in Peace Encourage One Another Love One Another

#4 REJOICE ALWAYS

1 Thessalonians 5:16

Now there is a simple and straightforward command for you.

“Rejoice always”

It literally means “to be glad, at all times”

And even if we were to take this verse completely out of its context

And let it stand alone (as so many often do), it still makes sense.

It makes sense for a Christian to always have joy,

The reason is because true joy is not a byproduct of the human nature,

But is instead a FRUIT of the divine nature.

Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,”

Joy is an attribute of God’s Spirit which dwells within us.

It is a supernatural emotion.

No different than a command to love…

No different than a command to be at peace…

No different than a command to be kind, or good, or faithful…

God can easily command us to be joyful

Because joy is something that He provides.

That is why Paul could say:

Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”

Furthermore any true Christian should always be aware of

Their reason for rejoicing.

Psalms 103:10 “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.”

All it takes is just an ounce of perspective, and we realize that

Regardless of our present condition, it could indeed be way worse.

And so joy is not only provided for us supernaturally,

But in reality it makes sense.

And that makes sense even taken out of context.

However, we know Paul is not just giving an open command for rejoicing,

But is doing so in light of the sanctification that God is providing.

And the idea here is this.

Sometimes when God begins to work on our lives

It is not always pleasant.

Remember what the writer of Hebrews said about discipline?

Hebrews 12:11 “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

So we know that when God begins His sanctifying work on us,

There is a chance that the method He uses will not be pleasant.

And this can be true on a variety of scales.

Certainly things like sickness and pain are not pleasant…

Certainly financial strain can be less than pleasant…

Personally I’m not even fond of conviction in a church service…

Yet, the fact is, any time God begins to prune the hedge or to squeeze the lump of clay, it may not initially be a pleasant thing.

And yet, in spite of the lack of comfort Paul gives this command.

“Rejoice always”

(be glad at all times)

Even when it is hard rejoice.

Even when you are sick, rejoice.

Even when you are convicted, rejoice.

Even when you hurt, rejoice.

And think about it:

If God causes ALL THINGS to work for good,

Then can you rejoice in the ALL THINGS

Or only in the things that makes sense to you?

We must come to an understanding that if things are painful,

Then they are painful for a glorious purpose.

Let me give you some examples:

Take a man in prison:

Acts 16:24-25 “and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;”

Take two men who have been beaten:

Acts 5:40-41 “They took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.”

Take those who are slandered:

Matthew 5:11-12 "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

And it helps us understand that we are to view our hardship

Through spiritual eyes.

James said:

James 1:2-4 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

And that helps us out.

We don’t rejoice because it is fun,

We rejoice because we know that our great God

Is taking this trial and using it to make me more like Christ!

And when we realize that we can rejoice.

And how much easier is it for God to complete His work on a rejoicing subject rather than a complaining one?

Honor Your Leaders, Live in Peace, Encourage One Another, Love One Another, Rejoice Always

#6 PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

1 Thessalonians 5:17

And again we have a straightforward command.

That a Christian is to never stop praying.

Romans 1:9 “For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you,”

Colossians 1:9 “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,”

We understand that prayer must occur

Even when we are not in a position of bowed head and bended knee.

(For there is no one who is forever in this position)

And even beyond that, there must be a type of prayer that can occur

Even when we are engaged in other things.

(Paul preached, Paul debated, Paul testified,

Yet he is said to have never ceased praying)

We then understand that prayers is not always about

Bowing our knee and offering up requests or praises to God.

PRAYER IS ALSO A STATE OF BEING.

A person in prayer is a person whose ear is always bent toward God.

It is like that horse I have told you about several times,

Whom you know is listening to you because his ear is turned back to you.

Every step is taken while listening to God,

And while mentally seeking out His direction and will.

And it is this state which Paul tells every believer to be in all the time.

Always in a state of prayer.

And that again makes sense

In regard to God’s sanctifying work on our behalf.

In fact, I’ve noticed that when believers are walking in the midst of God’s sanctifying work, most of the time no one has to tell them to do this.

This prayerful state reveals yet again a person

Who is ready to let God have His way.

TO ILLUSTRATE:

My dad taught me how to work, but teaching me that I had better always have my focus on where he was headed next.

Now, while we never try to anticipate where God is headed

(that can get you in trouble too)

We do live with that same level of alertness to what He may ask next.

And when hardships come, don’t run from God, or avoid Him.

Instead report for duty.

Turn your ear to Him, “pray without ceasing”

You see prayer reveals a person

With a true perspective of God’s Sovereign will.

“A lack of prayer is a believer’s declaration of independence”

And a lack of prayer is an indication that one

Is no longer concerned with God’s will in the situation.

And that is not the attitude of a person seeking sanctification.

So you want to be sanctified?

Honor Your Leaders, Live in Peace, Encourage One Another, Love One Another, Rejoice Always, Pray without Ceasing

#7 IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS

1 Thessalonians 5:18

And we have here one more straightforward command.

Only this one is a little different.

The first two in this section were “time” words.

- be glad at all times

- pray without ceasing (or constantly)

But here the phrase literally says “to be thankful in all circumstances”

So in one sense we have been told to rejoice no matter WHEN,

And here we are taught to be thankful no matter WHAT.

And again we could pull this verse out and just talk about

The importance of thankfulness in a believer’s life.

Colossians 3:15-17 “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”

It is obvious that God has blessed each of us far beyond what we deserve

And if all we did was show Him gratitude for the rest of our lives,

We could never say it enough.

But again, here we are dealing specifically of the area of sanctification.

And the idea here is that of all the things you thank God for:

Your food

Your health

Your family

Don’t forget to include to thank God for never failing

To work out His sanctification in your life.

And obviously this gratitude should be expressed

Even when the sanctifying work is the most difficult.

Obviously here, thankfulness and rejoicing run very close together.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?

Whereas rejoicing deals with the perspective of a heart,

Gratitude deals with where the credit goes.

Not only do I rejoice in the work occurring in me,

But I give all the credit for the accomplishment to God.

We see this all the time in Paul’s letters.

Even though Paul worked hard to plant churches and push them to Christ-likeness, he still knew all the credit went to God.

Romans 1:8 “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.”

1 Corinthians 1:4 “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,”

Philippians 1:3 “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,”

Colossians 1:3 “We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,”

1 Thessalonians 1:2 “We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers;”

Paul understood that even though he labored intensely, everything that was accomplished, was really only accomplished because of God.

1 Corinthians 3:6 “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.”

And this is an attitude that we must apply in our lives as well.

Regardless of what God is doing in your life,

Rejoice, pray, and be thankful.

You see, these attitudes make it much easier

For God to accomplish His work.

BUT THAT IS NOT ALL

For it is not as though God needs you to be compliant in order for Him to work.

He could cause you to lose your reason and eat grass like a cow for seven years if He wanted to.

While our attitude does make it easier for God to work,

That is not the only reason we have a good attitude.

Here is the other reason.

A good attitude will make God’s sanctifying work easier on you.

If you show me two people enduring the same discipline.

And one is rejoicing, praying, and grateful

While the other is depressed, sullen, and bitter.

God may be doing the same work in each of them,

But I can tell you who will have an easier time with it.

You see, when we talk about striving for sanctification

You cannot remove the important role your attitude plays.

Make sure that as God promises to shape you,

That you do everything you can to be as shapeable as possible.

“for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

He wants you, not only to be sanctified,

But to have the right attitude about it.

He wants you to want sanctification for yourself

As badly as He wants it for you.

And your attitude reveals that.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”