[AI translation] We have come to the end of the first letter to the Thessalonians. Throughout the whole letter, and especially here at the very end, a picture of a vibrant, young, eager church emerged before us. It is a mirror in which the apostle shows us the sad fact that we, the churches of today, have moved away from the fresh, joyful Christianity of the early churches, from that era of early love. At such times we see how lukewarm, indifferent, apathetic we have become compared to them! Now, here, at the end of his letter, the apostle takes us to the workshop from which all this vibrant, lively life began. He shows us the secret of that church life. And that secret is that a living church cannot be made with human zeal, with human effort, it cannot be organised with ideas, with care. Life is a gift. A living church is where individual people allow God to put them to work. The livingness of our church also depends on whether we personally, who make up this church, are willing to give ourselves to God to be put to work, to be shaped, to be formed? Are we convinced that so much still needs to change in our lives?What does God want to do with us? Thus says the apostle: "But may the God of peace himself sanctify you from all things." (1 Thess 5,23a) So, the process that takes place in a person in the silent and hidden workshop of God: sanctification. It is not a sudden transformation, an overnight perfection, but a slow, continual renewal, a transformation to make man fit for the Lord God. The apostle says that God "sanctify you from all generations". So, in every detail, every particle, every manifestation, every aspect, every context of our life, God wants to work His sanctifying power. In the body and its instincts and impulses, as well as in the soul and its desires, feelings, mysteries, and in the manifestations of our spiritual life, that is, in our thinking and will, God wants to be there with His sanctifying power, with His work. He wants us to be truly what we are through faith in Christ: citizens of heaven on earth, the light of the world among men, the Word of Life in daily life.
God has a tremendous claim on those who know Him and believe in Him. But He also made such a sacrifice for Him in the death of Jesus that He can make such a claim on those for whom Jesus died and rose again! Are we willing to surrender ourselves to God, so that He may sanctify us as He wills, that is, in our physical, spiritual and spiritual reality, from the very beginning, to do this graciously transforming work on us?! It is precisely, of course, that I do not have to sanctify myself: I do not have to deal with my weaknesses, my faults, my sins, myself. I would not be able to. After all, we have had so many bitter experiences in this respect: how many times have we resolved that this time it would really be different - and the great effort ended in defeat again! It is so discouraging to try, to try again and again to renew oneself, and to fail again. It is from this convulsive effort that the apostle frees us when he says: "But may the God of peace himself sanctify you from all things." Not you yourselves, for that will not do, but God: he will! Do not take this work out of God's hands!
Sanctification, regeneration, is not an effort, but the object and the result of prayer; only God can do it in us and through us! Raw material cannot give itself a new form and a new purpose - it needs a Master to take it in hand and work it. And there is a promise: "Faithful is he who has called you, and he will do it." (1 Thess 5,24) Let us only let him do, let us only put ourselves in his hands, let us only entrust our bodies, our souls, our spirits to him: He will do it! Of course, He will not do it in such a way that we have nothing to do with it now, it is all His doing, we can do nothing! Not so! Yes: He will do it, He is the one who sanctifies, transforms, but with our cooperation. We also contribute something. This is also mentioned in the Word. That is why the apostle says: "Do not quench the Spirit!" (1 Thess 5:19) God does this transforming, sanctifying work in us with His Holy Spirit, by bringing to light something in our lives that we have been keeping hidden, dark. He turns our hearts to something we have been doing wrong, showing us a way to go. Well, it's not that we can put out the fire of the Holy Spirit, but we have the dangerous ability to quench its power within us. We can quench it, we can counteract it with indifference and disobedience. By not listening to Him, by ignoring Him, what He wants, what He warns us about. That is why the apostle warns, "Do not quench the Spirit." It may burn, it may want to burn out our selfishness, our vanity, but let us not extinguish its flame, let it burn what must burn, let it hurt what must hurt! Let its light penetrate into the innermost recesses of our soul, into the secrets that no one knows but us! "Do not quench the Spirit" - for that is how the Lord works!
The fire must also be fed so that it does not go out. It will go out by itself if there is no fuel. It is in vain for God to kindle the flame of the Holy Spirit in a man if he is then deprived of the fuel: the Word, the word of God. If a person neglects to study the Word of God regularly and to attend preaching meetings, he will soon find that he has gone down a path that leads to the quenching of the Spirit. (1 Thess 5:20) It is through prophecy, through the divine message interpreted by the human word, through His Word, that God does His work of cleansing, encouraging, strengthening, comforting in our lives. Those who do not live by the Word as daily nourishment are withdrawing themselves from God's sanctifying, regenerating work. Let us see the Bible as a tool with which God Himself works on us, like the sculptor with the chisel and the hammer on the block of stone. Let him cut into our lives, for he only cleanses us from what does not belong there! "Do not despise prophecy."
The third tool we can use in order for God to do His sanctifying work on us is this, according to Paul: "Pray without ceasing." (1 Thessalonians 5:17) We know from war how important it is for a fighting team to have a good, secure line of communication with the rearguard to supplement its ammunition supply. For us, such a link to the rearguard is prayer. We must make sure that the enemy does not manage to break this line. Our ammunition is heaven, from heaven we get all we need for our earthly struggles. "Pray without ceasing" - but that does not mean to walk and live with our knees bent, our hands folded, our eyes closed - for that is only the outward side of prayer. Here the apostle is not so much warning about the practice of prayer as about the state of prayer. Remain in a state of prayer even when you are not praying with words. That is, in the knowledge that without Him we can do nothing, nor do we want to do anything without Him. The state of prayer is the state of humility in which one expects everything from the Lord, depends on Him for everything, accepts from His hand pleasant and unpleasant, serene and sorrowful. There he keeps himself, his thoughts, his will at the disposal of God, in constant readiness for whatever his Lord may will. So in this sense, "pray without ceasing"!
In this way we can place our life in God's hands, in His workshop, so that He may work in every area of it, transform it, shape it to His will, and thus sanctify it from the very beginning. This great work is not yet finished in any of our lives, but those who allow themselves to work in this way are already showing something of the new, something of the divine work. For example, what the apostle says: "Rejoice always" (1 Thess 5,16). It is a serenity that does not depend on external circumstances or on the emotional state of the moment. A true Christian man is among men as a decoy among other birds. When darkness falls, the song on the lips of other birds is silenced. But the decoys still sing on. This joy is the result of reconciliation and justification with God. An inner joy over God's forgiving and redeeming love. This is why the believer can be serene even in suffering and in the midst of the most unmerciful treatment. The tears of his eyes cannot quench the joy of his heart. Do we know this joy? If we allow our Lord to take us more in His hands, to reach deeper into our lives, we will experience more happiness!
Then, too, there is the radiance of the new life that is being formed, which the apostle says: "In everything give thanks." (verse 18a) To God, of course. For those who love God know that everything is for their good. They know it, even if they cannot see it at the moment. Just as we know that the sun is high in the sky at 12 o'clock, we know it even when it is obscured by thick clouds and we cannot see it because of them. So we know - even if we cannot see - that God is doing everything for our good. And that is reason enough to give Him thanks in everything. To give thanks to God at all times, in all things, is to recognize the work of God's fatherly hand in my life. The keynote of a sanctifying life is gratitude. Gone are the restlessness, the murmurings, the discontent: thankful for the rod!
Such great new lives are being formed in the silent studio of our Lord. He is willing and able to work such miracles on us too, if only we let Him! Let us not hinder! Please! May the God of peace himself sanctify you from all sources, and may your whole being, both soul and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he who has called you, and he will do it." (1 Thess 5:23-24)
Come, let us pray in the words of the hymn writer:
"Fill my heart.
The power of your grace
With fervour!
You died for me;
Give: my heart and my life
May my life burn for thee
With a hot flame!
(Song 466, verse 2)
Amen
Date: 14 March 1954.
Lesson
1Thessz 5,16-28