Sermons

The Christian life requires something of us. We do have to invest time, energy, and effort into living according to God’s Word. But in the end, even when we are faithless, he is faithful. Even when we fail, his promises remain true. Watch this sermon as we consider how the gospel and only the gospel ignites our worship, so that we might find our deepest joy and delight in Jesus.

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  Today we conclude our series based on the apostle Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians. As we've seen, the central theme of this letter from beginning to end is the power of the gospel to revolutionize and change our lives. When the gospel is placed at the heart and the center of an individual life or a community of people, it changes things. It transforms lives. It creates community. It catalyzes mission. It empowers sacrificial love. It instills devotion. It inspires our work. It generates hope. It provides encouragement. It multiplies ministry. And today we'll see that when the power of the gospel is unleashed in the world, it lights a flame and ignites our worship of God in return. 

  It's fitting that worship is our theme today, because this is the first day that we have heard our completely restored new organ. Our Möller Opus 8000 was installed in 1950 by the Möller Organ Company. It was the largest instrument they built after World War II, and it was intended to be their show piece instrument in New York City. Believe it or not, people once referred to Central as the Carnegie Hall for organ music. The only problem with our organ is that it soon became inoperable, and none of us have heard it for six years. But thanks to the generous support of many of you, and especially the generous support of Ray and Eva Marie Berry, now, after 75 years, this organ has been completely restored. So we'll have a proper dedication of the organ in April, but we're grateful to be able to showcase the Berry Organ for the first time today. 

  With this theme in mind, and coming back to what Paul has to say to us at the conclusion of 1 Thessalonians 5, here's what I'd like to share with you today. In order to get the most out of worship — and in fact, in order to get the most out of the Christian life — you could say that you have to 1) learn the notes so that you can 2) play the tune, so that finally you can 3) hear the music. 

  ¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray without ceasing, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰Do not despise prophecies, ²¹but test everything; hold fast what is good. ²²Abstain from every form of evil.

  ²³Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

  ²⁵Brothers, pray for us.

  ²⁶Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

  ²⁷I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

  ²⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

  1 Thessalonians 5:16-28 

  Learn the Notes

  If you want to get the most out of worship — or the most out of the Christian life — the first thing you need to do is learn the notes. The biblical scholar N.T. Wright offers this analogy: When we're first learning how to read or write, or when we're learning a new language, we're often taught little phrases or jingles as a memory aid in order to learn the rules of spelling or of grammar until you know them all by heart. So for example, when you were growing up as a kid, you might have been taught “I before E, except after C.” Or if there are two vowels side-by-side in a word, the first vowel is long and the second vowel is short, and therefore, “If two vowels go walking, the first vowel does the talking.” It's also true in music. When I was a kid, I was taught the line notes of the treble clef with this pneumonic device: Empty Garbage Before Dad Flips. Or when I was learning the six strings of the guitar: Every Adult Dog Grows Big Ears. 

  So we learn these little memory aids in order to get down the rules of grammar, spelling, or music, until we learn the notes by heart. In a similar way, Paul concludes this letter by laying out for us a series of compact little phrases in order to help us learn and remember how to live out the Christian faith in response to the message of the gospel. 

  As Christians, we're called not merely to believe certain things to be true but also to live our lives a certain way. But that only begs the question, how are we supposed to live? And the long answer to that question is: God has given us the entirety of the Bible. We need the whole Bible to understand the ins and outs of Christian behavior. But that's a lot to absorb all at once, so we need some “helps” in order to make it simple so that we can begin to learn the ropes. And so learning the ins and outs of Christian behavior is a little bit like learning a new language or a new instrument. You could think of these little sayings at the end of 1 Thessalonians 5 as similar to the rules of spelling or grammar. We rely on these little phrases, these little jingles, until we learn the language or the notes by heart: “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances.” If you want to keep it simple, there it is. That's how you live out the Christian life. 

  Now what you might not have noticed at first glance is that what's interesting about all these little phrases is that they're all talking about public worship. All these verbs are written in the plural. So Paul is not necessarily emphasizing our individual or private responsibilities, but rather he's highlighting our corporate and our public opportunities in worship. 

  Rejoice Always 

  “Rejoice always.” Joy is the distinctive mark of a Christian. This is what sets us apart. Rejoice always. Now, Paul is not saying that Christians should always be happy or always wear a smile on our face, because we can't control our emotions. That would be emotionally dishonest. And so what we realize here is that Paul is saying that we can't always feel happy, but we can always rejoice. We can always rejoice in the Lord, no matter what we're facing. And so he's emphasizing here not so much the emotion of joy but rather the expression of it. We can always express our joy to the Lord, no matter what we may be going through, even in the midst of suffering. That's why Paul can elsewhere say, we may be sorrowful, but we're always rejoicing. Because as a Christian, in Jesus Christ, we possess a joy of such intensity that no sorrow in this world could ever overwhelm it. So rejoice always.

  Pray Without Ceasing 

  But then secondly, he says, “pray without ceasing.” Now that might be better translated as “pray continually” or “pray constantly.” Otherwise it might give the impression that we're not supposed to do anything but pray. We're not supposed to ever get up off of our knees. But there are other things that we're supposed to do. So we're supposed to pray continually, meaning that we're supposed to develop an attitude, a mindset that means that we're always open to prayer. We're always in communication with our father. There's nothing hindering our prayer, and prayer is never limited to a particular time or place. And so prayer becomes the permanent posture of a Christian. And that's consistent with what Jesus says in Luke 18 when he offers the parable of the persistent widow. He tells us that we should pray always and never lose heart. So by praying continually, we assume that humble posture of dependence upon God at all times, and we're continually in communication with him. 

  Give Thanks in All Circumstances 

  And then thirdly, Paul says, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Now he's not suggesting that you should give thanks for all circumstances, because some of our circumstances are truly dreadful. So we're not supposed to give thanks for all circumstances, but we are supposed to give thanks in all circumstances, because we know that no matter what we might be facing, no matter what life throws at us, we trust that God is always at work for our good and for his glory. And when we give thanks in all circumstances, we demonstrate our trust in him. I trust that you're there for me,  I trust that you're for me, and I trust that you are at work for my good. So we thank God in all circumstances. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Are you doing that? Am I doing that? 

  Play the Tune

  You get the idea. Paul gives us these little phrases to help us learn the basics. But of course, like someone learning a new language or a new piece of music, the goal is that we would learn the notes so well that they become second nature to us, and therefore we don't even need to think about it. And that's when, secondly, we can simply begin to play the tune. 

  Last week we hosted the second concert in our Central Chamber Series, and quite unexpectedly, our Artistic Director, Jia Kim, was unable to perform. And so she, at the last minute, reached out to a friend to fill in for her on the cello, and he did a masterful job. I asked him after the concert, “Had you ever played these pieces before by Felix Mendelssohn and Amy Beach?” And he said, “No.” And I was stunned, because he didn't have much time to prepare. And I watched him during the concert, and I noticed he was not sight reading. He was not reading the music. And I said, “If you've never performed these pieces before, how did you do it?” And he said, “I hadn't performed these pieces before, but I was very familiar with them both, and I just knew how they were supposed to sound.” And you see, that's true to the Christian life. We learn the notes, but we're supposed to learn them so well that they become second nature to us, and then we just know how the Christian life is supposed to sound. 

  And that's the work of the Holy Spirit. That's why Paul tells us in verse 19, “Do not quench the Spirit.” And that verb “quench” is also used in other contexts to describe the extinguishing of a light, or perhaps the putting out of a fire. So other people have translated this phrase as “do not put out the Spirit's fire.” And you see, it's the spirit who lights the flame and who ignites our worship of God in return for all that he has first done for us in and through his Son. The Christian life is impossible without the Spirit. Just think of what the Spirit does. The Spirit convicts us of our sin. The Spirit opens up the eyes of our heart to be able to see God for the beauty of who he really is. The Spirit helps us to understand the deep things of God. It's the Spirit that quickens us, that awakens us, that draws us to faith in Jesus. It's the spirit that fills us with boldness and courage, that moves us out into mission, and it's the spirit that assures us of God's love for us. Paul says in Romans 5 that God pours out his Spirit into our hearts to assure us of his love. 

  I remember years ago when my son was very young, I was in a church service like this, explaining the work of the Spirit — that the primary job of the Spirit is to dwell within those who put their faith and trust in Jesus, and to continually remind them, to assure them, to tell them how much God loves them. And when my son heard this, he tried to lift his heart up to his ear, and then he said, “I can hear him.” But that's the job of the Spirit: to assure you of God's love for you. The Spirit applies the beauty, the truth, the goodness, the power of the gospel to us so that we might progressively be changed by it. So that we might progressively be transformed into the image of Jesus. The Christian life is simply impossible without the fire of the Spirit.

  Years ago, one of the things that first attracted my wife Ashley and I to come to Central back in 2011 is that for whatever reason, it just seemed as if the Spirit was at work within this church, the Spirit was at work within this community. There were so many things that really should not have happened, humanly speaking, but the Spirit continued to open doors. And therefore, despite the fact that the long-term prospects for success were not very good, despite all odds, we figured, it's always a good place to be where you see the Spirit at work. For whatever reason, God seemed to have his hand on this little church and wasn't going to let go. And that's what Paul’s talking about. If the Spirit is trying to work in you, if the Spirit is trying to work within our church, don't throw cold water on what the Holy Spirit is trying to do. The Spirit is likened to both fire and light. So rather than putting it out, let him burn. Let him shine within you and within all of us.

  Now specifically, Paul seems to be talking about the role of the Holy Spirit in the context of listening to God's Word, especially in the context of public worship. So he goes on to say, “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” So Paul seems to be suggesting, listen. Listen to whatever messages, whatever exhortation, whatever teaching, whatever preaching you're hearing that may be coming from God. Do not reject that message, unheard or untested. And both are important. 

  And so the question really is, what does Paul mean here by prophecy? “Do not despise prophecies.” On the one hand, God had long promised that one day he would pour out his Holy Spirit on all those who put their faith and trust in Jesus, and on that day, everyone, without distinction, would have the ability to discern God's will and God's ways and to communicate them to others. In other words, God would pour out his Spirit on all his people so that they would all prophecy. But then, on the other hand, there are specific places in the New Testament where individuals are referred to as prophets, like Agabus in Acts 11.

  So what are we supposed to make of this language? Some of our Pentecostal or charismatic brothers and sisters in the Church today would say that there are still people functioning in that role, that God continues to pour out the Spirit in the same way and in the same measure as during the time of the New Testament. Now this can be a somewhat controversial topic, but let me just say this. We all agree on this. No matter what your theological background or perspective might be, we would all agree on this: that the thing that causes our time to stand out from the time of the New Testament, the early Church, is that we now have a complete Bible. 

  We have the entirety of the Old Testament based on the inspired word of the prophets, and we have the entirety of the New Testament based on the inspired word of the apostles. Now that wasn't true during the days of the early Church. When they gathered together for worship on the Lord's Day, Sunday, they would read not only from the Old Testament scriptures, but they would also read the letters of the apostles, like Paul, that they were beginning to collect, and they treated those words as being on par with the words of the Old Testament prophets. They received those words as Scripture, and that's why they were read in the context of corporate worship. But of course, nobody today, if they claim to have some kind of prophetic gift, no one today would claim that they were on par or comparable to the prophet Isaiah in terms of authority, or that they were on par or comparable to the authority of the apostle Paul or the apostle John. If they did think that they spoke with that kind of authority, then you know what we'd have to do? We'd have to take their words, their letters, and insert them into our Bibles, and every Christian would be obligated not only to listen to what they have to say, but to obey every word. So of course, when we talk about prophecy today, we must be speaking about something different than Old Testament prophecy or New Testament apostleship.

  So I think it's safe to say that there are no prophets with a capital P today. There are no apostles with a capital A today. But if that's the case, then what does Paul mean by prophecy? I think when people hear that word today, we tend to think that prophecy is about foretelling the future. But actually, if you look more carefully at 1 Corinthians 12, where Paul addresses this topic directly, he says really the heart, the essence of prophetic speech is not foretelling but forth-telling. It's not ultimately about telling the future; it's about telling the truth. It's not about trying to predict the future, but rather it's about taking God's Word and applying it to present circumstances. And in that sense, prophecy in the New Testament — the way that Paul is talking about it here — is really more like preaching, teaching, issuing an exhortation based on Scripture, and applying it to specific circumstances. And I'm sure we've all met people like this who just seem to have deep insight, not only into the meaning of Scripture, but they had an unusual gift for then applying it to particular people and communities and situations. And that's what Paul is telling us not to despise but to test, and to hold fast to what is good and to get rid of the rest. So this is what John Stott once wrote, he says: 

  For God undoubtedly gives to some a remarkable degree of insight either into Scripture itself and its meaning, or into its application to the contemporary world, or into his particular will for particular people in particular situations. It seems to be quite legitimate to call this insight ‘prophetic’ insight and this gift a ‘prophetic’ gift. Speaking personally, I think we would be wise to limit ourselves to this adjectival use (‘prophetic’ gifts and ministries), in order to reserve the nouns (‘prophet’ and ‘prophecy’) for the inspired biblical authors.

  So it's precisely because these prophetic words are not equivalent with Scripture that they need to be tested. That's why he's saying we test them. We test them against Scripture. To what extent do they line up? Are they helpful? Are they accurate? Are they encouraging? Are they edifying? Well if they are, hold fast to the good; if they're not, forget it. And of course that's what we all do naturally. I mean, if we hear a preacher, a teacher, or a speaker, we listen to see to what extent it lines up with Scripture, and we hold on to what is helpful, and we forget the rest. And that's what we should do. But we have to be discerning. 

  Now I'll tell you a funny story. And if you know me at all, you might find this story rather surprising, because most people think I've got a reputation for being deeply theological and maybe overly rational. But when I was in college, I was experimenting with different forms of Christianity, and I began exploring Charismatic expressions of Christianity. And I met a man who claimed to have a prophetic gift, and he said to me, “Young man, I perceive that you are going to become a minister, and I'm receiving a word from the Lord: Do not become a Presbyterian.” The funny thing was that becoming a Presbyterian wasn't even on my mind. And so as I look back on that moment, I think to myself, you know, I think there's probably something there. I think he was probably in touch. He was receiving something from the Lord. He just got his wires crossed a little bit. I think he was supposed to say, “This man is going to become a minister, and he's going to become a Presbyterian.” But it was probably hard for him to deliver that message as a Pentecostal pastor. 

  Which reminds us that we just have to remember the human element. Sometimes we get our wires crossed, and that's why we should be very, very careful before ever saying, “I’ve received a word from the Lord” or “The Lord spoke to me.” Because how can you ever argue with someone about that? The only word that we know that we have received from the Lord is right here. It came to us through the inspired authors, based on the writings of the prophets and the apostles. And so before we ever say something like, “I received a word from the Lord” or “The Lord spoke to me,” we should always introduce one single word at the beginning of our sentence: “perhaps.” Perhaps the Lord has said this to me. Perhaps I received a word from the Lord, because I could be wrong. So we have to test everything and hold fast to what is good.

  Hear the Music 

  But when it comes to worship and living out the Christian life, we not only need to learn the notes, but we need to learn them so well that they become second nature to us, so that we can play the tune of the gospel, because we just know how it's supposed to sound. But then finally, the final stage — and the ultimate goal — is that we would stop to hear the music and to enjoy it. You're not really hearing the music, you're not really enjoying it if you're focused on getting the notes just right. So we have to learn the notes in order to play the tune so that we might hear the music and enjoy it in all of its fullness. You haven't really heard the music of the gospel until you understand that the center of the piece, the light motif, the theme that ties it all together is the message of grace.

  And that is how Paul ends this letter: on a note of grace. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” You see, grace reminds us that, yes, there's all kinds of things that we're supposed to do in order to live out the Christian life, but ultimately it's not about what you do for God; it's all about what he has already done for us in and through his Son. And so throughout this letter, Paul has reminded us that we're not supposed to be passive. No, faith works, love labors, hope endures. We're supposed to exert ourselves. When God calls us into a relationship with himself, we're not supposed to just sit there. We're supposed to do something. And yet, underneath and behind it all, Paul wants to assure us that none of it is really our doing. As he says in Colossians 1:29, we labor and we toil, and yet we strive with everything that Jesus inspires within us. Ultimately, it's all his work. He's the one who, through his Spirit, ignites our worship and our work in return. Look then at how Paul puts it in verses 23 and 24. He says, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” That sounds like a high calling to be blameless. But then he says, “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” 

  Some of you know that I'm friends with N.T. Wright, who's a biblical scholar and former Bishop of Durham in the Church of England. So I want to tell you a little story that Tom shared with me. Tom grew up in the north of England, just above Newcastle upon Tyne — coalmining country. And he had an Aunt, Aunt Linney, who was a very devout, faithful Christian and a person of prayer. She prayed for Tom from the time he was a little boy through the end of her life. And when he was very young, maybe 8, 9,  or 10 years old, she sent Tom a postcard for his birthday. And on the one side of this postcard — he showed this to me — was an illustrated map of the north of England, where they were all from. And on this illustrated map, you could see the two great cathedrals up north, the Cathedral of Newcastle and the Cathedral of Durham, where he would eventually become a bishop. And this illustrated map also contained figures of prominent people who played important roles within the Church of England. One of them was the Venerable Bede from the 8th century. I'm sure you've all heard of him. There was also an image of Westcott and Lightfoot, bishops of the Cathedral of Durham in the 19th century. So she sends this little postcard kind of highlighting the religious history of the Church in the north of England. And then on the flip side of the postcard, she writes this to young Tom Wright:

  My very dear Tom,

  Very many happy returns of the day. And may God bless you and keep you all this coming year. You can see from this card that our Lord JESUS had some very great friends long ago in the North of England and he still has — and I hope and pray that you may grow up as His friend too.

  Much love from Auntie Linney.

  Now to me, that's such an encouragement for why we should always pray and never lose heart. Aren't you grateful for Aunt Linney's prayers? And what an encouragement to us as parents, as aunts and uncles, to pray for our children, our nieces, and our nephews. Because who knows? Who knows how God might answer those prayers? Maybe there's a bishop in your family. 

  But to come back to this letter, 1 Thessalonians 5, Tom also told me that when he was eventually ordained as a minister of the Word and sacrament, he then also received lots of little letters of encouragement upon his ordination. One of those letters stood out in his memory, because the person who congratulated him upon being called into the ministry quoted 1 Thessalonians 5:24 in the original Greek: Pistos Ho Kalon — faithful is the one who calls you. You see, God calls all of us to follow him, to be in relationship with him. He gives all of us work to do. And sometimes it might seem like an overwhelming burden, but faithful is the one who calls you. He will surely do it. It's not ultimately up to you. It's all about him. It's all about the work that he inspires within us when he ignites the flame through his Spirit. 

  So here we see that God calls us to be holy. Living out the Christian life takes hard work and effort. And yet, after all of our thinking and acting and doing and praying and struggling and suffering, we have to remember that God is the one who ignites our worship and our work. And even if we are faithless, he remains faithful. He will surely do it. It's all of grace, from beginning to end. And that's why he deserves our praise. So are you starting to hear the music?

  Let me close with one final thought about the relationship between praise and enjoyment. Early in his life, the Oxford professor C.S. Lewis wrestled with the idea that we're supposed to praise God, and in fact that God demands our praise. He was stumped as to why the psalmists in particular were almost incessantly calling us to praise God. And he thought to himself, what's God's problem? Is God insecure? Does he suffer from low self esteem? Is he a narcissist? Does he constantly need us to praise him in order to prop up his weak ego? So this was a great stumbling block for him, until he came to see that by commanding us to worship him, God was inviting us to enjoy him. He saw that there's an integral relationship between praise and joy, and this is how he put it: 

  But the most obvious fact about praise - whether of God or anything - strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honour. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless (sometimes even if) shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it. The world rings with praise - lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game…I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.  

  It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in a ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with…This is so even when our expressions are inadequate, as of course they usually are. But how if one could really and fully praise even such things to perfection - utterly ‘get out’ in poetry or music or paint the upsurge of appreciation which almost bursts you? Then indeed the object would be fully appreciated and our delight would have attained perfect development. The worthier the object, the more intense this delight would be…The Scotch Catechism says that man’s chief end is ‘to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’ But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.

  The gospel ignites our worship so that we might find our deepest joy, our deepest delight, in Jesus. 

  Let me pray for us.

  Father, we thank you for this letter to the Thessalonians. We thank you that when the gospel is lifted up and announced, and when it's received in faith, it unleashes the power of God to the world, and it changes everything. And so Lord, we give ourselves to you afresh today. Light the flame of the Spirit within us. Fill us afresh with your goodness, your power, your beauty, your truth. And Lord, we pray that you would ignite our worship of you so that we might find our deepest joy and delight in you now and forever. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.