What to Do ‘Til Jesus Comes, Part 2: 2 Thessalonians 5:16-22

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I Thessalonians 5:16-22 Outline Scroll to 36:28 for sermon 2 Thessalonians 5:16-22 This is from the Apostle Paul writing to the church at Thessalonica, his closing words, and we’re going to read verses 16 through 22, just seven short verses. The Apostle Paul writes, rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the spirit, do not treat prophecies with contempt, but test them all, hold on to what is good, and reject every kind of evil. All right, 1st Thessalonians. We’ve been looking at this letter from Paul to the Thessalonian church, and the theme is, Be Ready. And what are we ready for? It’s the return of Jesus. And I don’t know about you, but I hope you’re ready. I’m ready for that. It’s all throughout the book, five chapters. At the end of every chapter, Paul gives a reference to the fact that Christ is coming again. And so, we’re in the final stages of 1st Thessalonians. We’re in chapter 5 this morning, and Paul’s giving some, like, final instructions to the church. He doesn’t know if he’s ever going to see them again, so he, like, gives us, like, almost rapid-fire all these final instructions. And last, two weeks ago, actually, we looked at verses 12 through 15, where Paul reminded the church to recognize and respect their spiritual leaders and to hold them highly in esteem for what they’re doing. So, respect your spiritual leaders, but then he goes on and gives some instruction of what we’re to do amongst ourselves as believers. Live in peace, warn the unruly, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone, don’t retaliate or seek revenge, always strive to do what is good. And now, Paul has some more final instructions of what we’re to do until Jesus comes. There are six of them. And so, we’re going to look at verses 16 through 22 this morning as we think about what to do until Jesus comes. You know, there’s two categories of sin in the Bible. There’s sins of commission. That’s when we do something that God tells us not to do, lying, stealing, cheating. We all understand that. But there’s also another category of sin in the Bible, and it’s called sins of omission. This is from James chapter 4 verse 13. James says, if anyone then knows the good, they ought to do and doesn’t do it, this is what James writes, it is sin for them. Well, that’s interesting. James says, if we know what we’re supposed to do, if God tells us to do something and we don’t do it, then James says, and God says, that is sin. And so, here’s some things that God’s telling us to do this morning as we wait Jesus’ second return. And let’s look at the first one. i. Rejoice always Rejoice always. Rejoice always. This is all through Scripture, isn’t it? If you look at the book of Philippians written from a prison cell, it’s called the Joy Epistle. The apostle Paul wrote it 16 times. He mentions the word joy and rejoicing. Philippians 4:4, rejoice in the Lord. And again, I say rejoice so you get the impression that God wants us to experience joy in our life. And here Paul writes and he says, I want you to rejoice always, always. It’s actually one of the fruits of the Spirit. In Galatians 5:22 and 23, there’s nine-character traits that as a believer, the Holy Spirit wants to develop in your life. Love, joy, peace, gentleness, patience, goes on to list nine-character traits. God wants us to experience joy. Even in difficulty? Well, the answer is yes. And to be able to do that, we need to know something. And so, James gives us some help in James chapter 1. You don’t have to turn there, but I’ll share these verses, James chapter 1 verses 2 through 4. James is writing to people who are under persecution, and they’ve been scattered out of their homeland because of persecution. And he writes to them and he says, consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds. I have to admit, wh

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