Good morning, or afternoon, good afternoon. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions, the last one of 2022. We'll finish up First Thessalonians today. I'm so glad to be with you. This is where every day you and I, we get together. We have a little bit of coffee, we get into God's word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. Why don't we have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's word. Let's pray. Oh Father, we thank you so much for the gift of your word. Lord, we know that it's only by the power of your Holy Spirit that we could actually not just read these words, but understand them. We thank you that you have given us your whole counsel to instruct us and to lead us. Lord, we pray that we would know you better this morning, or this afternoon, and that we would follow in your ways. In Jesus' name, amen. All right we're at 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and we'll wrap up that chapter today. So beginning at verse 23. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, he also will do it. Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Well, we need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to this? So what's this about? This is the goodbye part of the letter, right? Paul's saying sayonara, adios, ciao, right? He's out of here, but he wants to tell them a few things. Now, may the God of peace himself, right? He has a prayer for them, a benediction for them, a pronouncement upon them, and he wants the God of peace. How sweet is that? Not the God of wrath, not the God who is going to come down and squash them like bugs, but the God who has redeemed them by the grace and blood of Jesus Christ himself. Sanctify them. God doesn't want his children To be unholy but to be holy and this idea of sanctification is a he is he is Purifying us he's making us more and more like Jesus He is turning us from sin and more to walk as children of the light. And so it's the God of peace himself Who sanctifies us completely and may your whole spirit soul and body be be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus, right? He wants them, their whole person, body, soul, and spirit to be preserved for that inevitable day when our King will return, when Jesus will come back, like he talked about in the earlier part of chapter five and the latter part of chapter four. And so he wants them to be preserved. It's not just spiritual, but it's also physically. God cares for his people, mind, body, and soul. And he says, he who calls you is faithful who also will do it. It is God who has called us, who has drawn us, who has saved us, who has redeemed us, who has bought us and loved us. And it is God who has made promises to us and it is God who can fulfill those promises. And so he says he wants that God to interact with them. He wants them to have that confidence that it's God who sanctifies and it's God who preserves. And he asks them in verse 25, pray for us. And then he tells them in verse 26, greet all the brethren with a holy kiss, right? This is culturally acceptable at that time and in that way, in that place to greet one another. Most likely just a kiss on the cheek. You see this in some European countries even still today. And so he says, you know, hey, you guys pray for us. Notice even the apostle himself and his ministry team is not above the need for prayer. He says, greet each other. Just before he had talked about living at peace with everyone and here he's talking about praying for them and greeting them. I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren. So he wants them to actually take this letter. Epistle is just a fancy word in the Greek for letter. And so he wants them to take this letter of 1 Thessalonians and not just read it just the elders, but the whole church read this letter. This is one of the reasons why we go through the Bible together. The whole thing, cover to cover, book to book. We don't shy away from hard sections. And we read the whole book together and find out what God has for us. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Is the final benediction. The grace, the unmerited favor, the shining face of God be upon you. And this is a truth statement. Amen. May it be so. Well, what's the best verse to summarize this section? Well, I would probably say verse 23 and 24, maybe verse 27, but then I'd be tempted to do 28. This is the goodbye section. What would you underline in your Bible as the best verse to summarize this? Well, last, seek calling. What are we called to do? Are you trusting in the Lord for your sanctification? Are you pursuing holiness? Are you reading God's word? and pleading with him that he would conform you more and more to the image of Jesus. There's all sorts of people today who will think that somehow the church is just about being loving to one another and letting people do their own thing. But that's not God's will for your life if you are a holy child of God. God does not want you to stay stagnant. but to be sanctified completely. Now that completely doesn't happen until we're done and gone and glorified. But in this life, as God is continuing to conform us more and more to Jesus, we ought to be changed. The things we think ought to change. The things we love ought to change. The things we say ought to change. The things we do ought to change. Because we should be conformed more and more into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. And as we are together being sanctified, as it is we are together growing in Christlikeness, that we have peace with one another, that we're able to greet one another with a holy kiss, that we're able to love one another, that we're able to know that these benedictions are real, that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is upon us. So what are you called to do from this? Love God and love others. Starts with that vertical relationship and expands horizontally. Love God and love others. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much. for the grace that you have shown us in Jesus Christ. We thank you, Lord, that earlier this year you started us off with the book of Acts and you have led us all the way through the book of First Thessalonians. Lord, we thank you. We thank you so much for your word. and for the work that your spirit has done this past year in our lives. God, we pray that you would please bless us. May your face shine upon us. May the grace of Jesus Christ always be with us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. May the Lord bless you. May He preserve you body, soul, and spirit. And may you be sanctified completely by the power of His Holy Spirit. I'll see you in 2023. Bye. Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.