Heralds Digest

"Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good." (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 NKJV) God's grace does not only provide man with good Spirit, it sustains man in godliness. Without the influence of the world and its worldliness, man has unlimited access to cruise from the terrestrial to the celestial. Therefore, man is daily saddled with the responsibility to response to the demand of the good Spirit and not the dictates of the flesh. Unfortunately, human sense of good is highly subjective to the interest of the flesh, even when the demand of the Spirit is clear. The rule of the thumb is that what is good for the flesh often disagrees with the tenets of godliness. And to quench the Spirit is to procrastinate the service of the Spirit in order to satisfy the interest of the flesh.

“See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.” (1 Thessalonians 5:15 NKJV) Goodness is an unreserved trait of godliness; and it is resident in everyone who is created in the image of God. Conversely, wickedness is an evil trait and alien to anyone. Unfortunately, evil rendering for evil appears a sign of good control. Actually, evil doers cover their weaknesses with wicked practices. A good strength of courage is measured by the resilience of a man to pursue goodness, especially in the midst of hostility. Evil spirit knows not the path of goodness; but good spirit does good always both for self and everyone.

“But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.” (1 Thessalonians 5:8 NKJV) As we engage in a constant cruise past life events, it is almost impossible to hold on to a commendable impression from relationships with people (including the influence of God) behind these events. While faith is required in order to keep trusting in God’s promises, love covers multitude of inadequacies in human relationships. Without the breastplate of faith and love, Apostle Paul knows there is little or no hope of salvation for the brethren in Thessalonica. Likewise, our souls sleep-off and no longer await the coming of the Lord when we speed on without a consistent sober break. A sober drive in faith and love guarantees the salvation of the soul.

“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17 NKJV) A life without virtue is one without essence for living; and a life with a completely spent virtue is possibly wasted without a single trace of mourning from acquaintances. On the other hand, the demise of a virtuous life represents a significant mourning and loss of courage for the remaining uprights, especially when little hope of gain beyond the grave is secluded. That the dead in Christ (those who held on their love and righteous virtues to the very end of their lives) will rise first, to meet the Lord in the air, is a great source of comfort for the souls. A virtuous life promotes a victorious living for virtue and hope of eternal fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

"But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another." (1 Thessalonians 4:9 NKJV) Life makes no meaning without love, especially brotherly love, which means living for others' values and emotions. Unfortunately, the pervasive version of love (lust) promotes the affection for living under selfish taste. Genuine love cannot be self-driven; God must lead the way and order every action. Therefore, in every circumstance of life, there is a divine purpose for everyone to extend the hand of pure love to another. Otherwise, a self-driven affection and motives will cross the safe boundary from brotherly love to lust.

“And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.” (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 NKJV) The fearlessness of love is demonstrated by Apostle Paul, even in the midst of affliction and distress. In times like this, the natural instinct remains a self-care. That is, to care for the alleviation of the source of affliction and distress does more harm to the soul, by creating hatred and bitterness against the source of our pains. Whereas by focussing on love and the faith of the Thessalonian believers, affliction and distress appear to lose its sting on the blameless Apostle. It implies that the secret of a blameless heart is the unrestricted expression of a borderless love.

"For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe." (1 Thessalonians 2:13 NKJV) It takes the inspiration of God for the word of men to be transformed to the word of God. Otherwise, the most refined words of men are generally subjective and motivated toward the fulfillment of human agenda. When supplication for grace to effectively prosecute divine agenda supersedes man's selfish desires, the inspiration of God upon every word of men become evident. Only the inspired word can expose the corruption in the heart for cleansing by the power of conversion at the cross.