Paul’s Prayer and Prescription for the Thessalonians- I Thessalonians 5:23-28

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I Thessalonians 5:23-28 Outline with Blanks Completed Outline Scroll to 30:40 for sermon I Thessalonians 5:23-28 we’re going to read some Scripture this morning. Words will be on the screen, and we’re going to finish up the book of 1st Thessalonians this morning, so we’re going to read verses 23 through 28 of 1st Thessalonians chapter 5, and here’s how the Apostle Paul closes his letter to the church in Thessalonica. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. Brothers and sisters, pray for us. Greet all God’s people with a holy kiss. I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. All right, 1st Thessalonians chapter 5, we’ve been in this book for about four months. The theme is be ready. And what are we to be ready for? Well, we’re to be ready for the return of Christ. That’s the theme of the book. In every chapter, there’s five chapters, the apostle Paul speaks of the fact that Christ is coming again someday. And so, the theme is to be ready for the return of Christ. And this morning, we’re going to look at these six verses and just kind of unpack them and then think about what are some application truths from the passage that we’re looking at this morning. i. Paul’s prayer So, this is Paul’s final instructions. He’s wrapping up the book and he begins this last section here, I call it Paul’s prayer, by praying for the Thessalonian church. That’s how he started his letter, 1st Thessalonians 1:2, we always thank God for all of you continually mentioning you in our prayers. So, Paul was constantly praying for the churches and for the believers at Thessalonica and as he closes his book, he offers a short prayer for these believers. And I want us to look at just three truths from this prayer that’s found in verses 23 and 24. First of all, notice how Paul begins his prayer. 1. God is the God of peace Verse 23, may God himself, the God of peace. So, Paul refers to God as the God of peace. He is the source of peace. He is the maker of peace. He is the one who gives us peace. There is no true lasting peace apart from knowing God. And I like to talk about, and I’ve shared this many times, there’s a triad of peace in the Bible, three aspects of the peace that God wants to give you. First of all is peace with God. That’s Romans 5:1, therefore being justified by faith, we’ve made what? Peace with God. If we’ve not taken that step, we are His enemies. But Jesus rescued us, sent Jesus to the cross so we could make that peace treaty with Him. And the book of Ephesians says Jesus Himself is our peace. So, that’s the most important step, to make peace with God, to make peace with your Creator through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. But there’s a second aspect of peace that God wants to give us, and that’s the peace of God. This is the internal peace that we can have even when we’re going through the midst of a storm. It’s like the eye in the middle of a hurricane and there’s tribulation and troubles all around us, but we can still have peace. How do we get that peace? Well, Philippians 4:6, and 7, be anxious for nothing, but in everything with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. So, our first response to trouble needs to be prayer. And then when we do that, when we give it to God, here’s the promise, and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts, that’s our emotions, our minds in Christ Jesus. So, you can be going through a great, great trial, but God can still give you peace because you know Him, you know that He’s in control. And there’s a third aspect of peace that God wants us to experience, and that’s peace with others. That’s our relational pe

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