Alright, so for the last time in this series, turn to 1 Thessalonians 5:23. Put your finger there for just a moment. Thank you guys so much. Yesterday was phenomenally awesome. I just had to describe it that way.

I mean, I love those days. Growing up, I went to church where we had annual revival meetings and And don't throw anything at me, no tomatoes. I didn't let you bring any in anyway. But one thing that bothered me about revival meetings is people waited till once a year to get revived. And the Bible says, "We gather together to spur one another on to love and good deeds." Right?

"Not forsaking ourselves as some are in the habit, but so much more as the day approaches." Like, we should be revived every week. Actually, we should be revived every day if we're doing it right, if we're following the Lord. And it got me thinking, like, don't wait till once a year to serve. God has called you. God has equipped you.

God has filled you with the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, and he has a purpose for you. So what is it? Like, if you're going to ponder any mystery of life, it should be that one. Like, God, where do you want me to be? And what do you want me to do?

That really is what's going to lead us into this message today as we bring this series to a close, is, all right, well, what do we do with this? How do we put our faith into practice?

It matters. What we do matters. But what matters even more is why we do what we do. Like, God knows He judges the intents of your heart and my heart. He knows why you do what you do.

We want to serve the Lord out of a heart transformed, changed, regenerated by the Spirit of God to do good works that please, honor, and glorify Him. And so I'm just asking you before I even get into a message, what is next for you? What is God calling you? What doors Is he's open? To me, it's fascinating to know God's got something for me.

And if I keep that at the forefront, then I'm not focused on the negatives of life, but on the newness that each day brings. Did the psalmist not write, "This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it"? Like, How many of you came in today and you rode in a car to get here and walked in the back door and just took a breath of air? Like, so many things in which we could be thankful for today.

And we ended last week on a positive note, even though there was some heaviness about the message. We ended with that last verse saying that we should encourage one another and build each other up. So did you see opportunity this week to Encourage somebody? Did you see opportunity this week to pour into somebody else for a moment and build them up? Did you just kind of float through this week?

Or was it the antithesis? Did you find yourself discouraging others and tearing them down? Like, we've got a choice. Two roads diverged in a path. Let's choose the one less traveled and be encouragers.

And that's where we're gonna pick up this week. Is continuing in that vein of how God has called us with directives, commands, to live life relationally with others in the body of Christ. All the things we're going to talk about— there's 17 commands in this paragraph, or these paragraphs. I'm going to summarize them in 5. We're going to go through them really quick.

Encouraging each other and building each other up. Why? Why should it matter about the person sitting next to me that I don't know today? Because that's a child of God with a purpose and a call in their life. The stranger— I love this— when we were in Edinburgh this last time, I remember I was just looking at people walking down the street.

I'm like, who knows that that person right there who's not saved, not in church, might be the catalyst in the next church plant.

We have such a myopic view of life, and our God holds the universe in his hand. That lights me up. And I mean, in that vein, even this morning, you've got your place marked. In just a minute, I'm going to ask you to stand. We're going to pray first and then read.

Here's why we're going to pray first. Noah and Vicki Lynn Smith— y'all put your hands up where they see you. They're going to be at the back of the room today. This might be the last time for a little bit that we get to see them because finally those visas came through and they're on their way to their new assignment very shortly. So, but the boys' visas haven't come through yet, so they've got a few more boxes to check before they can get on that plane or ship and get to where they're going.

And, uh, but we're going to miss you guys. You have been such a blessing to us during this interim time for you. And I hope we have to you as well. They're going to be at the back of the room. Noah has a book that he's written about memorizing scripture.

If you got $20 extra in your pocket, come drop it in his. And take— no, I'm serious. It's awesome. Hide the word in your heart that you may not sin against God. And he's got a technique that he's written about.

Let's support that. But let's pray for them this morning. So I'm going to go ahead and invite you to stand. And hold your place in your Bible. Reach toward Vicki Lynn and Noah and let's pray for them.

Father, we love you and we're so blessed to know. I mean, even all this, these renovations and our regathering in a few weeks. This is a family that's a result of the ministry of this church. Who's going halfway around the world to learn a language. So that they can use it to translate the Bible for those people to read.

So they can know Jesus and grow in faith. Bless them. Bless their intellect and their knowledge. Bless their hearts and their lives that they will be a beacon and a light. Lord, give them favor with the people.

That they would be an attractant. That people would want to know, like, "What do you have that we don't?" Lord, make it evangelistic. Lord, Open up the door and let those visas come through and everything else that they're waiting on so that they can get on the field. And Lord, for their parents who are saying so long, see you later one more time. God, I pray you give them peace and comfort in that transition.

As I've heard Randy say before, I say in this prayer, I would much rather know that my child is 3,000 miles away in your will, not in my basement out of your will. And so Lord, I pray you bless them. And as we read into your word today, God, you know I can say a million things, but we want your word heard, not mine. So Lord, speak to us this morning in Jesus' name. Everybody said amen.

So stay standing, don't sit. Verse 23: Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit, soul, and body be preserved or kept complete without blame. And here it is again, at the parousia, the coming of of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he who called you, and he will do it. He will make it.

He will bring it to pass. Go ahead and be seated. I've loved this series. It's, it's created in me a recognition of what matters most. First message we talked about was being resolute in the word of God.

Resolute in the Word of God. Paul said to the Thessalonians, "The Word of God is sounding forth from you." Like, there's no denying that you are people of Scripture. Ebenezer, before we are anything else, we are people of the Bible. That whatever we do, say, or think needs to be scriptural, not philosophical. Sometimes not even logical.

It needs to be biblical. Biblical. Number 2, resolute in the call of God. That we have been called by God to walk worthy according to his kingdom. All of us have been called.

You're being called to know Jesus Christ. Yes. What's the call of God in your life to impact this world for the kingdom of God? We were called to be resolute in the purposes of God. In fact, I'll reference this verse again.

If you look at the end of chapter 3, verse 13, he's saying, 'So that he may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all of his saints.' Paul was serious about the holiness of God. You and I have been called to be a holy, set-apart people. That is His will. He says, 'For God has not called you for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. This is the will of God.' Verse 3, chapter 4.

'Your sanctification.' God doesn't want you to just come up here and make a decision at an altar and walk away. He wants to do a work in you. Separating us. We're not of this world. Our home is beyond here.

We long to breathe the breath of heaven. That's where we're headed. So we're resolute in, in the holiness of God. And then the last two weeks, just being reminded that we need to be resolute. Jesus is coming, folks.

He's going to raise the dead and rapture the church so that together we can be together with him forever.

Because of that, the day of the Lord is coming, a day of judgment, a the day of wrath. But we're not of the night, we are of the day. And he called us not to walk in darkness, to walk around drunk, but he called us to be sober. And in doing so, we realize we're impacting people around us. And so therefore, in verse 11, he said, encourage one another and build each other up.

Just as you are already doing. Oh, there's always room for improvement. Philippians 1:6 says, for I'm confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will see it to perfection, to completion, to the day of Christ Jesus. Remember I said last week, you don't wait to the last day to do all the living. You got to do the living now.

How are you practicing your faith on a daily basis? When we stand before the Lord, we know 1 Corinthians 3 talks about how, how our works will be tested by fire. That when, when he takes our stuff and he puts it under fire and all that's left is what's valuable, what will be there?

What will be left? When he comes back and I'm standing face to face with him, will I have the same confidence we just sang about, that I can stand before him perfect and complete because he's made me that way? Or will I feel ashamed because I wasted my talent? I buried it in the ground. Or will I have invested it?

That to me is what it means to practice faith daily? And if I don't, if I'm not practicing my faith, what's keeping me from doing so? Folks, we're not promised tomorrow. The strategy needs to be cultivated today. How will I live for Jesus now?

So let's dig into this. I'm excited about it. In fact, you can see kind of 3 themes that lace this passage. Well, we're going to talk about relationships. In fact, we're going to really talk about being at peace in relationships for a whole bunch of verses.

And because of that, then there's this call of response that I have to the Lord and how my attitude and my reflection should be not focused on the cares and the worries of the world, but in gratitude and thankfulness in everything, finding something to rejoice about. And then Paul prays this prayer, this, this prayer of reliance, because I can't do these things on my own. I don't have the strength. I don't have the power. I don't have the knowledge.

Left to my own devices, I'll be lost in the wood like a blind dog. But he says, may God sanctify you wholly and completely. He told him that was his will. Now Paul is praying, "Let it be so. Body, soul, and spirit." In fact, you can kind of look at those 3 words and realize we relationally connect with people physically.

We relationally connect with ourself in our soul. And we relationally connect with God spiritually. Ooh. That's pretty neat, isn't it? But then he says something so powerful.

Faithful is he who calls you. You remember back in 1— Go, go back with me for just a minute to back to 1:4. Brothers, knowing those of you beloved— remember I talked about how that word was in perfect tense— beloved by God, you are fully embraced by the love of God. He called you. It's his choice of you.

And if he called you, he will supply. If he called you, he will equip you for the purpose that he has intended for you. Back in 1872, there was a, there was a something called the Great Diamond Hoax. It was two men from the East claimed that they found this field of jewels and they planted diamonds and other jewels and gems in this field to sell the property and get rich off of it. But scientists came in and began to dig and they found out that the field had been salted It wasn't genuine.

It wasn't going to produce the wealth that they claimed it did. And I kind of wonder if in our faith life sometimes we've been salted with good works, but they're not really deep down in us. They're not faith works.

And somebody, if they tested us, would find us to be a fraud. I don't want you to be a fraud, folks. I have the same desire for you and you joining us online that Paul had for the Thessalonians.. I want you to stand confidently kept and preserved on the day Jesus comes back. In fact, I'm just going to start.

Y'all ready for some meddling? I'm ready to meddle. Point number 1: Live in patient faith. Because this verse kind of takes a little bit of a tangent. Listen to what he says.

But we request of you, brothers, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, have charge over you in the Lord, and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. The first imperative: Live in peace with one another. Now I want you to pay attention as I read these other two verses because I believe they reinforce living at peace. I believe the other stuff about leadership reinforces this idea of living at peace. We urge you, brothers, then admonish the unruly, encourage the faint-hearted, Help the weak and 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. So let me back up.

Leadership.

Yes, God has a purpose for every part in the body, and some people are called to be leaders, pastors, teachers, Elders, deacons, and such.

And they've been given charge as undershepherds for the care of your soul. That is a great responsibility. Sometimes it makes me angry whether it's, whether it's a Democrat or Republican president, people will criticize the man in that office, but no one in this room has ever understood the responsibility responsibility that man holds. The nights of lost sleep. The pressure.

The backbiting. The complaining. The slander that they incur. I mean, we see that in media. Well, that happens in leadership in church as well.

And I think Paul was going ahead and said— this is a young church, remember? Right up to this point, they've known Paul. They've known Timothy and Silas. Paul's trying to help them last. They want— as a church, he wants them to make it.

He wants them to, to function and to thrive. And so God, according to Ephesians chapter 4, has appointed those in responsibility. Now let me just go ahead and say this: I do not believe pastors are called to rule over the church. I don't believe elders are called to rule over the church. Where do I get that?

Well, Jesus said— when all of them were arguing who would be on his left and his right hand, he said, "It should not be this way among you. Whoever is first should be last." Jesus himself said, "I did not come to be served but to serve and give my life a ransom." And guess what? Your pastors hear this often. We are here to be at the bottom of the rung and to serve. Not to rule.

Some of you have come in this room, you've been church hurt. You've been in churches where men of God stood on the platform and said, "Thus says the Lord," and told you, "This is my vision and my desires and my wants." I'm telling you, when you hear a man like me say those things, run.

I have authority over no one. I have responsibility. Look at how that's described. Told you I was going to meddle. Because I think leadership should be held accountable.

I think they should. How they're held accountable is important too. I won't meddle on that one though. He says, "Those who," one, "diligently labor among you." Pay attention to those men and women who sacrifice and serve and give and study and pray and encourage and give up time. I mean, all the things they do, labor among them.

Paul's already established the fact that when he came there, they weren't meeting his needs. He worked for it. Y'all get that? So he said, pay attention to them who have charge over you, not rule over you, but have charge over you. They've been given Responsibility.

All of us in this room can think of somebody that is— whether it's a Sunday school teacher, whether it was a pastor, whether it was a professor, somebody who poured into you faith and teaching.

They're important. Because then he finally says the third one here is that they give you admonition. Now you got to hold that word to the side. In just a minute, I'm gonna bring it back up. That means they can instruct you.

Now I am going to meddle. Because in America, in American church, we think church membership is I sign up and I get stuff. Come on! When you become a Christian, you become a part of the body of Christ. You become accountable to one another.

Ephesians 5:21 says we should submit one to another. And I can't tell you how many times in churches somebody will sin and a church leader will go to them And they'll blow up because they won't submit to this. Not a title. You know, one of the problems we have in America today, especially with some of the stuff going on in the Southern Baptist Convention, is people want titles. They want to be called a pastor.

They want to be called a deacon. Folks, do the work of those things. Don't worry about a title. If tomorrow the government came in and shut this down, I won't stop being a pastor because it's what God's called me to do. I will find somebody to take care of.

I will find a way to proclaim the word of God. It's not about title. It's what God's doing in your life. And if you're doing it right, then you can say, just like John the Baptist, I must decrease so that he can increase. So what do we do in that response?

Yes, we hold leaders accountable, but then he says 3 things. Number 1, he says to appreciate those who do these things. The root of that word is the same one as know. Remember, 13 times in here Paul has said, "You saw this in me, you know it. You saw this in me, you know it.

You saw this in me, you know it." The greatest way that you can appreciate those who lead you is to mimic them. Leaders appreciate— I mean, your teacher, your group leaders, whoever it might be, appreciate the thank yous and the cards and stuff. But to me, listen to Hebrews 13:17. 'Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.' Guys, that scares me to death. I don't think you realize that.

My wife knows the Saturdays that I'm in my back room laboring over, 'What am I going to say tomorrow? Am I going to screw this up? Am I going to say something that deters somebody?' I don't want to do that. Why? Because I'm going to stand before the Lord for that someday.

And I start thinking about the times I have said stupid stuff over the years and want the opportunity to redeem. That's where the peace is coming in in a few minutes. But he says, "Let them do this with joy, not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you." What did he say? He said when we don't submit to leadership, submit to one another, it causes chaos. And I believe that's how the rest of this unpacks.

I believe that's why the third thing here in the first imperative is live in peace with one another. To be peaceable. To be peacemakers. I mean, the truth is, I can be at peace with somebody else. Why?

Because I'm saved by the grace of God. He's given me His love. I can extend love and choose to forgive somebody else. Even if they don't apologize. And even if they don't reciprocate that.

But to make peace with somebody else involves both people.

Now I'm going to get in your stuff. This passage right here is telling us we need to make peace with one another. And if our attitude is such that, you know what, no, no, no, no, no, no, you don't know what they've done with me. I'm going to repay them. I want vindication.

I want revenge. I want them to pay back everything that they've done with me and experience the same pain and hurt and loss that I did. But then we forget our Savior who said, "If he strikes you on one cheek, turn the other. If he takes your coat, give him your cloak as well." The same one that after he was whipped, beaten, and nailed to a cross, raised up, looked at, and said, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing." You know how much more unified the church in America would be if we would just learn to extend grace and forgiveness and suspend judgment, we would be.

That does not mean we forego truth. If somebody has sinned, the Bible says go to them. Not if you're offended. God, that drives me insane. "Well, they hurt my feelings." Your feelings doesn't have anything to do with sin.

If they've sinned, you want to go to them for their benefit, not your pride. You want me to preach on that one for a few minutes? Some of you have been holding grudges for 40 years and it's time to let it go so that you can be all that God's called you to be. So you can come into the fullness of bloom God wants you to be. And part of the reason you're not there is because you refuse to be a peacemaker.

He says, listen, he says, "We urge you, brothers, admonish." That's the same word that he used up there for instruct. The unruly. Why? Because unruly people cause division.

If you're an unruly person, you need to be admonished. You need to become teachable. You need to listen to reason. Because you're causing division. And we're only as strong as a church is our weakest link.

And if we cannot be unified, we can't storm the hill. Number 2, he said to encourage the faint-hearted, the weak-minded. Who are these? Well, these are the same people— like when an unruly person gets upset, they'll blow up. You know what a faint-hearted person will do?

They cower and hide, but they're still not at peace with somebody.

These are the ones that might cower and hide, but then they pick up the phone and they call and say, "Hey, you know what so-and-so did to me?" You should not go to their house anymore. Like, they will sow that discord to drive the wedge. Who does that sound like? Satan. Divide and conquer.

Why? Because we're not at peace. He says to help the weak. You know, some people just can't take another step. Some of you came in here today and you don't know the next step you're going to take.

You're so weary and you're so hurt. And you're so fed up. You're so tired.

You just want to be refreshed. Can I tell you? God will refresh you. And He's calling us to be peacemakers. Look at the last one.

He said, "Be patient with everyone." Huh. Some of us will jokingly say, "Well, I know the fruit of the Spirit is patience. So then God will put something in my life to test my patience." Um, let me tear that apart for you. He said right there to to be patient with everyone. Who does everyone include?

He includes the person driving slow in front of you and the person honking at you because you didn't go when the light turned green.

He's your family member that doesn't call you when you want him to. These are those people that constantly talk about you at work. But he said, don't repay evil with evil. I love this. You ready?

Circle it. Highlight it. Star it. "Seek after that which is good for one another and for all people." Not some people. Not my select people.

Not my clique. Not my closest friends. He said, "All people. Seek good." That word seek means to run after. Pursue it.

Like, I'm talking, folks. Listen to me. We can do Love Tekoa events all day long. But what would it look like if the people of God got so excited that they wanted to run after people? And tackle them to the ground just so they could do something good for them.

In the name of Jesus, I'm tackling you to the ground so I can do something good for you. Like, to get up in the morning and strategically say, like, how could I do good for somebody today? That's exciting to me. That's the be encouraging. That's the building one another up.

But I got to get through this peace part. And so my question to you today is, are you at peace with everybody?

Today, can you choose to elevate the idea that I want to be a peacemaker? Blessed are the peacemakers, for they be called sons of God. Romans 12:18, whatever hinges on you, be at peace with all men. Why? Because we're in relationship with other people.

We are brothers and sisters. With the same blood coursing through our veins from our Lord and Savior. If we want to see God do mighty things among us, we have to be a unified people. Number 2, I'm gonna go through these kind of quick. Man, I spent like 20 minutes on that.

Live— thank you, Joe. Live in prayerful gratitude. I don't know if that meant— Joe meant I need to shut up or I need to keep going. He said just keep going. All right.

I love this passage. We've used it at Day of Prayer. And I believe it flows out of this idea that if I'm wanting to be at peace, God made peace with me through his Son. I have peace. Sometimes I may not feel it, but truth's not determined by a feeling, is it?

But look at the outflow here. Listen to these imperatives. Rejoice always.

Pray without ceasing. In everything, give thanks. Now let me kind of pull this together. We came up with this phrase, or I came up with this phrase. I've been saying it often.

Pray first, pray always, pray together. Where does it start? It starts with a joyful heart. You may not feel joy today, but can I remind you that you can have joy in the Lord?

Can I remind you that joy is a fruit of the Spirit? And if it's not, then we're going to read this in a few minutes. Maybe the reason joy is not in your life is because you're quenching the Holy Spirit, the source of our joy. He said to rejoice always, to pray without ceasing. Does that mean you just go around mumbling all over No.

But you can stay in that attitude of prayer. Go back to a little while ago. Like, you're driving down the road and you come up on a— there's been a wreck. You're like, "Oh my gosh, I gotta be in work in 10 minutes." Then you realize it's a pretty bad wreck.

You go, "Lord, I don't know who this involves, but Lord, I pray that they're okay. I pray that if they're hurt, they'd be healed." I pray if someone's lost their life that you comfort their life. Like, that's staying in an attitude of prayer, attitude of worship. He says, in everything give thanks. So tonight, today, I invite you right now, Lord, thank you for the breath that I just took.

Lord, thank you for the air that we feel in this room right now. That's very self-centered, isn't it? Expand it out. Lord, I thank you for Noah and Vicki Lynn giving up life in America to go translate the Bible. I thank you for Josh and Amy Carpenter who live in North Italy who have labored for years to witness.

I can go on and on and on. I thank you. I thank you for my predecessors who faithfully preached the word of God from this pulpit. Go all the way back to the family that donated the land that this building sits on. Come on, guys, we can, we can sit here and find something to be thankful for.

It's not— it may be bad in your life, but I can tell you the only way you're going to ignore the bad is to focus on the good. Philippians 4:6-7 says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. If I spend 80% of my time praying and focusing on the negative, I may never see where God's already at work in that. Listen, he said his will for you was sanctification. Then he said, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus— what?

To pray always, to rejoice, and to give thanks. My sanctification and gratitude go hand in hand. Let's learn to live in prayerful gratitude. So when was the last time you did count your blessings, naming them one by one? And just say, "God, thank you for this.

Thank you for this. Thank you for this." Today, when you get home, I want you to take a piece of paper and write down 10 things you're thankful for. I know that seems so elementary, doesn't it? But when was the last time you did it?

I'm a proud dad. Can I brag on my kids for a moment? All 3 of my kids last week were serving at a camp together. I'm proud of my kids. Thank you, Lord, that you gave me 3 kids that have ministry-mindedness.

Amen. For some of you, you're like, "Well, my kids aren't that way." I didn't say that to make you feel bad about your kids. But maybe you could just say, "You know what? My kid's still alive.

I still have a connection with my kid." You could choose to focus on the negative Or find a way to focus on the positive. Number 3, let's live in spiritual discernment. Why? Because we live in a spiritual world that we can't see. And though the angels of God and the Spirit of God dwells in us and we're surrounded by that, we're also surrounded by the forces of darkness and evil and Satan.

So listen to what he says. He says, "Do not quench the Spirit." The Spirit. Envisioned this fire. So if a fire is quenched, it's diminished. It's being choked of oxygen or choked of fuel.

So it's not able to burn as bright and full as it can. And folks, we do that in our lives. And we can quench it in the lives of others. How? Because the next verse goes right along.

Do not despise prophetic utterances. Does God still speak today? Yes or no? Do we believe like some of the founding fathers that God kind of just spun things into motion and stepped away? Like, otherwise, if God is not active with us, stop praying now because he's not hearing you.

That's not what we know to be true. How do I know that? Because it's in here. The first prophetic utterance is staring you in the face right here. That's why for me, I don't trust a pope to tell me additional information about this.

This contains everything I need to know how to be saved. Faith in Christ alone, grace alone, word alone, all the alones right here. I don't need anybody to do that. I don't— listen, folks, I don't need a Joseph Smith to give me a modern revelation. I don't need a Joseph Rutherford to tell me to be a Witness of Jehovah.

I mean, some of us remember David Koresh back in the '90s, who out of the Seventh-day Adventist took a group of people and convinced them that he was the lamb opening the seals of Revelation. Did y'all know that? All you know is that people died in a fire that followed him. Here's the sad reality. Those people loved the Word of God so much they trusted him to teach them.

And then he— did y'all know that he changed his name to David Koresh? David because he believed he was in the line of David, and Koresh because he believed he was in the line of King Cyrus of Persia.

And they believed it. You know why? Because they didn't do 21: Examine everything Carefully hold fast to that which is good and abstain from every form of evil. I think I've mentioned to you before, I had a lady years ago come to me and tell me God told her she could divorce her husband after 2 weeks of marriage because she didn't love him anymore.

I said, this doesn't say that. But no, he came to me in a vision. He came to me in a dream. No, these people that stand up and say, thus says the Lord, Y'all know in the Old Testament they stoned prophets to death if they said something that didn't come about. Now I'm not saying we do that.

We're under grace.

I'm not encouraging that. I'm just saying that's how serious it was in the Old Testament. If somebody uttered a prophetic utterance. In fact, that's what happened with Jeremiah. Jeremiah 29, he talked about how in Babylon they were telling— there were prophets telling them, "Don't worry about this.

You're going to go home in a few years." And Jeremiah's like, "Nope." Uh-uh. Bible— God said 70 years. We need to test. We need to be like the Bereans in Acts 17. We need to test everything.

So what that means for us is that don't just walk around going, "Well, God can't speak to me today." But don't go around taking everything in as if it were thus says the Lord. This right here is our standard. So what does that mean? We need to know this. That's why the first message of this series said, "Be resolute in the Word." Let's wrap this up real quick.

Point #4: Live in utter dependence. Look at how he went from being at peace relationally, living with God in gratitude. That's our response to Him. Listening to what the Spirit is saying. Acting on that.

But then he gets to Paul's prayer. "Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you." You can't sanctify yourself. "And may you be preserved completely." You can't do that. That is the work of God in your life. It is his work.

How many of you in this room saved yourself? Well, some of you might believe you saved yourself. Say, "Well, you know what? I went down to an altar." Now that's a work. Going to an altar didn't save you.

Well, I prayed a prayer. The prayer didn't save you. Well, I was baptized when I was 7. That baptism didn't save you. Who saves you?

And what's the conduit? It's faith. Faith is the tube through which salvation comes. Remember, he said in that passage last week that we are to embrace, to own and possess salvation, but you can't create it. He's praying, be set apart and be preserved.

Why? Because Jesus is coming and you're going to stand before Him someday. So he says— I love again this verse— it says, faithful is He who calls you and He will do it. You know what I love about that verse? It's in the future tense, but it's the same word we see In Ephesians 2:10, where he says that you are his workmanship.

It's the same word. He is creating in you to be his artwork, his masterpiece. He can't do that if I don't yield to the work of the Spirit. If I'm quenching the Spirit. How do I quench the Spirit?

Well, number one, I reject the sayings of Christ and I reject Christ himself. The only unforgivable sin was blaspheming the Holy Spirit, which is the rejection of Christ's work as Messiah. Is Jesus number one? When I separate myself from the body of Christ, when I stop getting in, into this word, I begin to quench the Spirit. When I begin to harbor unforgiveness so that I'm not at peace, I'm quenching the Holy Spirit.

The opposite of that is just being utterly dependent about what God's doing in my life. Folks, what's he, what's he doing in your life? How are you speaking and saying things that for those around you that's building them up to follow Christ? Last point is to live in authentic community. Capitalize on what you have in this room.

The people sitting beside you, if they know Jesus, they're not against you, they're for you. They want you to succeed. Now I know there's bad grapes in every bunch, and we know that Satan plants people among us to destroy, to be unruly. But when our standard is here Then we're operating as a family. Listen to some of the things he described.

Brethren, pray for us. He just prayed for them. Now he's saying pray for us. When I'm concerned about what's going on in somebody else's life and I'm following the command to pray continually, then I'm going to pray. When you see somebody in the grocery store, before you ask them how they're doing, pray for them.

Ask them like, hey, how can I pray for you? Some of you, I've seen you start practicing. If somebody comes, you know, I got this test next week. Let's pray right now. And you'll stop right in the middle of the lobby and start praying.

Like, let's be a prayerful people. And then the next one, greet all brethren with a holy kiss. I'll be at the door today. I'm tagging every one of you. You know what?

No, do you know what that means? That means stop being stoic with other people and be affectionate. You don't have to kiss somebody. You don't have to be a hugger. But at least pretend you like them.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I thought it's funny.

Some of you act like that somebody like took concrete and poured them in your cornflakes. Like, like seriously, when you come into the room, let the joy of the Lord exude from you. And don't blame it on being an introvert. Like, act like you genuinely are happy to see somebody else. They were kissing each other.

We're not going to do that. I've got a friend of mine who kisses me on the cheek, and every time he does it, he goes, "Ugh." But I have no doubt that my friend loves me and he's for me. And then Paul shifts to the first person. He says, "I adjure you by the Lord to read this letter to everybody." to the brothers. Why?

So they can be encouraged, they can be built up, so that they can tap into what I would say being resolute in the will of God, so that result in life-directing commitment. You know, I had somebody tell me one time, said, you know, I'm gonna go back to church when I just really take it serious. Well, you can't do that. You'll never take it serious on your own because you got all these other things to distract you.

But when you really find Jesus, there is nothing else on your horizon. When you fall in love with our Savior, nothing else matters. Everything else becomes secondary, or as a result of my love for my Master. Have you met that Jesus today? Does following Him— because we believe we own our own faith, and part of owning our own faith means we follow Part of following means obedience.

The Great Commission said, "Teaching them to—" what? "Obey." Like, I don't know where you are in your walk, but if Jesus did come back today and you stood before him, are you going to be proud of your walk? Because if you've messed up and you failed, guess where that is? It's under the blood of Jesus. So let's live a life of gratitude that results in obedience.

I love the movie Amazing Grace. If you haven't seen it, I encourage you to watch it. It's about the abolitionist William Wilberforce.

In 1787, he wrote in his memoirs, in his diary, God Almighty has set before me two great objects: the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of these manners.

It was his life's endeavor to end slavery. It wasn't an emotional promise. It was a commitment. In fact, if you study the history, it probably cost him his life. But he pursued it till his dying day.

After 20 years of struggling, in 1807, Parliament abolished the slave trade in Britain. It had been outlawed, but just like in America later, there were still people enslaved, and he didn't give up. In July of 1833, on his deathbed, word reached him that legislation had finally been passed after decades of work that the British Empire had outlawed slavery. He lived long enough to know that the cause he dedicated his life for was achieved. His friend and fellow member of Parliament Thomas Buxton would write this: On the very night on which we were successfully engaged in the House of Commons passing the clause of the Act of Emancipation, The spirit of our friend William left this world.

I want you to hear this quote. I want this quote to be your life quote. You ready? "The day which was the termination of his labors was the termination of his life." I don't want you to stop laboring for the Lord until you take your last breath. And I don't want to either.

What can God do with your life when you realize your call, trust you've been equipped to live out a life of practicing your faith?

If we are resolute in how we live for Jesus, then when we— when he comes, we will stand there kept and preserved and ready. What's your next step? Is it to live in peace? Discover gratitude? To practice discernment?

To start leaning on God more than you lean on yourself? Is it to take another step in authentic community? In a minute, Kevin's going to tell you one way you can do that. What I want to do right now is pray for you, that God will speak to you and call you to your next step. And that's exactly my heart's desire today, Lord.

You know that just like Paul said to the Romans, that God, I want to see fruit in my life. And Lord, I'd love to see fruit in the people of— people's lives that I graciously and hopefully humbly lead. God, I pray that you would impact them today to take these teachings, to put them into practice, and commit to a life of serving you. There is no other life. As Peter said, if we turn away, what, what else do we have?

You have the words of life. So Lord, let us experience those today. In Jesus' name, amen.