Open the Bible

Colin Smith: Christian brother and sister. The reason that on the last day you will enter into heaven is not because you are without sin, but because in Jesus Christ you are without blame.

Steve Hiller: Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and Colin, all of us know if we are honest that we fall short of God's standard. And so it's nice to know that it's not no sin in our lives that allows us to enter into heaven, but it's something that Jesus has done for us.

Colin Smith: Yeah, that's right. It's no blame. Your whole spirit, soul and body being kept blameless. In other words, if God wanted to bring charges against any Christian believer, there are there are charges he could bring. He chooses not to do that. And why does he not do that? Because these things have already been charged to Jesus Christ. And so although we are even to the end of our Christian lives a long way from what God is calling us to be, there are no charges and therefore there is no condemnation. We're not sinless, but we are blameless because he's not bringing that which he could bring as accusation against us and laying it to our charge.

That's the mercy of God. And of course it can only be in Jesus Christ. And that's why it's so important to keep coming back to this is the blessing that is ours in Christ. We're justified. We have peace with God in and through Jesus Christ because of everything that he did on the cross for us.

Steve Hiller: Well, I think you're going to be encouraged as you listen to today's message. So join us if you can in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 as we hear the second part of the urgency of spiritual vitality. Here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: We come to the last in our series from Thessalonians today, living like there's no tomorrow in which we've been looking at some things that are desperately needed in the church of Jesus Christ today. And when we come to the end of the letter, we're saying that Paul is very specifically speaking about life in the Holy Spirit. There's a sense in which the whole letter has really been about this, but it becomes explicit right here at the end and particularly in verse 19, which is our starting point today. Do not put out the spirit's fire. Do not put out the spirit's fire.

Now the surest way to put out the spirit's fire is to listen to the wrong voices and to follow the wrong people. That is why it is critical in the life of a spiritual church that God's people grow in this capacity of discernment, which is given to you because the Holy Spirit lives within you. Grow in discerning human words in your private life and in our shared life together. Now you say, how do I do that? John Stott in his commentary on Thessalonians gives five tests from the Bible that we can use in relation to this whole matter of discerning other people's words.

And you might like to note them down and remember them. I've found them to be very very helpful indeed. They're quite simple and I think as you see them fairly self-evident and clearly from the Bible itself. These are the five that John Stott suggests, the ways in which we test, the ways in which we discern. Number one, the plain truth of the scripture. Second, the human divine person of Jesus Christ. And then here's a third test, the gospel of God's saving grace. Let's take this one from Galatians chapter one, one of the strongest verses in the Bible, Galatians 1:8.

Even if we are an angel from heaven, Paul says, should preach a gospel other than the one we preach to you, let him be eternally condemned. Here's the fourth test, the known character of the speaker. And here's the fifth test, the benefit of the church. So scripture, Christ, gospel, character, church. And apply these tests, get used to thinking this way almost as it were subconsciously. Apply these in in relation to preachers, to all that you hear from any pulpit. Apply it to what you may be hearing from counselors or a therapist. Discern in relation to what your friends say.

Your friend may indeed have some prompting from the Lord that really helps you. And there may be other times when your friend is just saying what they think you want to hear. So you need to discern. And why does God call you to do this? Because he wants you to grow. Because he wants us to be sons and daughters who grow in wisdom and gain maturity and can be trusted with responsibility not only in this world, but in the new creation of which we will be stewards forever and forever. Now do you see what Paul is saying here as we put these things together?

Don't quench the spirit. Do not put out the spirit's fire. And if you listen to the wrong voices, you will quench the spirit. You will inhibit what he is doing in your life. And that has happened to many Christians and it has happened to too many churches. And Paul says now keep the spirit's fire burning. And if you're going to do that individually and we're going to do that together, we need to grow in this whole area of discernment in this world of so many human words. That's the first thing and it's so important. Here's the second.

If we're to keep these fires burning, we must grow not only in discerning human words, but grow by responding to God's word. Now I want to draw your attention for just a few moments to verse 27 because right at the end of the letter, there is a distinct change of tone. And there's a very good reason for it. Verse 27, I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. But you see what Paul is saying here, he's putting the words of this letter, first Thessalonians, on the same level as the Old Testament scriptures.

He's making it very clear that while human words are to be tested and discerned, that these words in this letter are not human words. They are on a different level. They're a different kind of word. They're on the same level as the Old Testament scriptures and therefore are to be read by the Lord's command to all of the brothers. Now the words of scripture being in a different category from other human words, that theme is reflected many many places throughout the scripture. Let me give you just one example this morning from second Peter chapter one and verse 20.

Second Peter chapter one and verse 20 because Peter there uses the word prophecy. But he uses it in a special way. He says there, second Peter 1:20, no prophecy of scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. No prophecy of scripture. Now you see he's using this word in a completely different way. In Thessalonians, Paul's talking about human words that a person may feel or claim come from the Lord. And he says when that happens, don't despise it, but whatever you do, test it and discern it. And we've looked at how we might go about that.

But Peter talks about prophecy of scripture and that's in a different category. Prophecy of scripture never came from human imagination or from human interpretation. The words of the Bible, in other words, the old and the New Testament scriptures, and Paul is putting his letters written under the inspiration of the scripture at the same level of authority as the Old Testament. These are different from any other words that we hear today. That's the point. So you do not test the words of Isaiah or Jeremiah or John or Paul or Jesus. What you do with these words is that you respond to them and you respond to them in repentance and in faith and in obedience.

That's our calling as Christian believers because we have received the word of God. Now put these two things together. The spiritual temperature of any local church can be determined in large measure by the discernment among God people in relation to human words and the responsiveness of God's people in relation to God's words. The question as we come to the end of this series is well now how are we going to respond to God's word? To this letter of scripture given to us by the inspiration of the spirit, the same level of authority as all of the Old Testament scripture and all of the rest of the words of your Bible.

How are we going to respond to it? I'm not asking how do you respond to every word that the preacher has said over these last two months because I'm sure that in that there's chaff as well as wheat and you have to sift it and some things can just be left. But with an open Bible, surely you have seen as I have seen that God's word is pointing us to the urgency of gospel centered ministry. And in chapter two, as we saw, he's calling us to push beyond our own comfort level and desire for approval, which is natural to us.

And he's calling us to stand firm even when we like the Thessalonians face severe trials and strong temptations. Surely you have seen with an open Bible from first Thessalonians in chapter four that God is calling us through his word to the pursuit of practical purity in marriage and outside of marriage. And surely you've seen with an open Bible that God is opening to us the hope of heaven and that in the light of it he's calling us to willing work, which is one of the marks of those who have grasped the gospel and been grasped by the gospel that we throw ourselves into service for Jesus Christ for as many days as he gives us until Jesus Christ shall return.

And surely you've seen from the scripture that God is calling us to the pursuit of persistent prayer because what is accomplished is only accomplished by his power and not by our skills and our abilities. Now the word of God always has an effect. It always has an effect on us individually and as a church. And it will always push us one of two ways. As you receive the word of God with repentance, faith and obedience, that word itself in being received will make you more receptive. And if we were to resist the word of God, just to push off not human words, but what is being said to us here.

If we just push that off, resisting the word of God actually makes us more resistant. It kind of hardens a shell which is why you can find people who've been in church for years who however clearly they hear the Bible expounded and however often it is just like water off a duck's back. And they do not change because they've become used to passing it off, passing it off. And so they become like the folks our Lord spoke of. They're always hearing, but never understanding, always seeing but never perceiving. So do not put out the spirit's fire.

We want to see this fire kindled to a flame. We got to be real discerning in relation to human words. And we've got to grow in responsiveness to God's word.

Steve Hiller: You're listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. And the final message in our series, living like there's no tomorrow. It's really a study of the book of first Thessalonians chapter five. And if you missed any of the programs in our series, come and listen online at openthebible.org. Let's go back to the message. Here's Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: Now there's one more thing before we close. We just got a few minutes to touch it here, but it's very wonderful. I want to draw your attention to verses 23 and 24. Don't put out the spirit's fire, Paul says. And then he exhorts us to be discerning in relation to human words and responsive in relation to God's word. Then here's the last thing that we should grow through trusting in the work of Jesus Christ, God's work in us through him. I want to read this prayer with which Paul ends the letter. And there are two requests that Paul the apostle brings before God in relation to these Christians who have been brought together under his ministry.

And he says, here's the first prayer, may God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. And here's the second prayer, may your whole spirit and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who calls you as faithful. And he will do it. Now earlier in this series, you may remember that we learned just a little bit about the two Bible words, justification and sanctification. Remember that? Justification, Christ's completed work for you on the cross. Sanctification, Christ's continuing work in you by the Holy Spirit. These two together always joined as one in the life and experience of a Christian believer.

Now I want you to notice how Paul brings these two beautifully together in this concluding prayer that he brings to the Lord for these Christians he loves so much. Notice that the first request relates to sanctification, verse 23. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. And then in the next verse he says, God who calls you is faithful and he will do it. Now thank God for that. That is so wonderfully encouraging. Do you not have times in your Christian life when you look at yourself and after all the years that you may have been a Christian, you say, I am still so far from what God calls me to be.

Actually that's not a bad thing because anyone who looks into the brightness of the glory of Christ will feel that everywhere else he looks is actually quite dark. And you will feel that often about yourself as a Christian believer. I'm so far still from what Jesus Christ calls me to be. Now Paul is saying, be encouraged because God has begun by his spirit to work in your life and he will complete it. There will be a unique and wonderful reflection of the Lord Jesus Christ completed in you. That's what sanctification means. And God will take the good things in your life and even the bad things in your life as well.

And out of it he will forge a reflection of the glory of Jesus that will be for his honor and for your ever increasing joy. And God who called you, God who brought you into this relationship with Jesus Christ so wonderfully, he's faithful and he will do it. He'll not abandon his own work halfway done. He will bring it to completion. I'm praying, Paul says, that God will sanctify you. And I know that he who has called you is faithful and he will do it. There will be a perfect complete reflection of the glory of Jesus Christ in you.

And it will be the work of God and it will be your ever lasting joy. But I want you to notice that the second request relates, I believe, to justification. The first to sanctification, the second to justification. Look at this just for one moment with me. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, kept blameless. Now look carefully at what he says. He doesn't say may God make you blameless. He says may your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless, implying that that is the position you are already in.

Kept blameless. You say, well, I don't think that could be said for me. I I don't feel I'm so far from being a perfect Christian. I I how could that possibly be said of me? Well, look at what he says again. He doesn't say may you be kept sinless. Now you and I are very far from being sinless. That's why every week when we gather in church and surely every time we come before the Lord personally in prayer, we have to confess our sins because we all sin in many ways. He doesn't say may you be kept sinless.

He says may you be kept blameless. What does that mean? Well, I looked up the word blame in my dictionary. And here's what it says. To blame, to find fault with for an offense, to fix responsibility on or to hold a person responsible. Now folks, here is the very heart of the gospel. We all sin in many ways, but in Christ God has chosen not to fault you over that. He has decided in his incredible mercy not to fix responsibility for that on you. How could he do that? Because he put the blame for your sins on his son Jesus Christ.

God held Christ responsible for your sins. He took the blame. God faulted him. He bore the wrath for you on the cross. And Christian brother and sister, the reason that on the last day you will enter into heaven is not because you are without sin, but because in Jesus Christ you are without blame. Because the responsibility, the faulting has been placed on him. And what Paul is saying to us here is that God who placed that blame on Jesus, the God who moved that guilt, the God who faulted him will keep you so that at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ you will be blameless, not because you're sinless, but because he took the fault for you.

God reconciles us to himself how by not counting men's sins against them. That is why Jesus Christ who never sinned became sin for us so that in him we should become the righteousness of God. Now notice how these two things are so beautifully brought together at the end of this letter. The security of the Christian believer through justification in Christ God counts you blameless and he keeps you blameless. And the growth of the Christian believer through sanctification in Christ God will sanctify you through and through. And what God has joined together, justification and sanctification in Jesus Christ, let no one ever separate.

So Paul says, do not put out the spirit's fire.

Steve Hiller: What a way to wrap up our series living like there's no tomorrow, taking a look at the urgency of spiritual vitality. Our series has been on the book of first Thessalonians in chapter five. And if you missed a broadcast in the series, you can always come and listen online at openthebible.org. Open the Bible is a listener supported program. It's your generosity that allows us to bring you Pastor Colin's teaching each day. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to send you a copy of Tim Keller's book called What is Wrong with the World?

And Colin, tell us about this book.

Colin Smith: Well, I think everybody's heard the phrase that a picture is worth a thousand words. And the Bible answers the question, what is wrong with the world? With the age old answer, the unchanging answer that it is sin that's got into the human bloodstream. But you see what God has done so wonderfully is he speaks to us in language that we can understand. He uses pictures. And what Tim Keller has done so wonderfully here is he's drawn out the pictures that God has used in scripture to explain what's wrong with the world, to tell us what sin is and what it's like.

So for example, it's like a predator, like an animal in the story of Cain and Abel. God says sin is crouching at the door as if it was ready to attack and to destroy. Or it's like leprosy, which we have in the story of Naaman. This goes through and it gets at the question, what is it that's wrong with the world? That's a question that any thinking person really needs to grapple with. And it enables us to grapple with it in a way that we are able to understand. It's beautifully written. It's an easy read and it answers one of the most important questions we can ever face.

Steve Hiller: Well, we would love to send you a copy of this book again. It's called What is Wrong with the World? As our thank you for your financial support this month. You can give online at openthebible.org or when you call 1 877 Open 365. That's 1 877 673 6365 or openthebible.org. For Pastor Colin Smith, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening and I hope you'll join us next time. This program is a listener supported production of Open the Bible.

Colin Smith: Jesus said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. God's word is the food that will nourish your soul. You need it every day. And open the Bible daily is a daily devotional that will open the word of God and lead you to Jesus. It's available for free on our website openthebible.org. For more information, visit openthebible.org/daily. That's openthebible.org/daily.