the will of God concerning you. And it's kind of a follow-up on Sunday morning Sunday school, Sunday morning message. What a wonderful message this morning on your heart and how appropriate Valentine's Day, the heart, what a theme. So tonight the actual title of the message is taken from verse 18. And when you look at verse 18, the scripture says, this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. So it's not without saying, it's a good title, The Will of God Concerning You. And I have always a concern with being able to identify the will of God for myself in my life and as a minister and a pastor and a preacher and an evangelist, what God would have me to say to people that hear. So as you begin chapter five, the Apostle Paul takes the liberty to say a number of things that help the practical Christian life, the everyday Christian life. Verse one says, but of the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. In other words, he's giving them a lot of benefit to know exactly the season they're in, the actual times that they're living in. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. And he immediately comforts them with words about the coming of the Lord. It hasn't been long since he left, maybe 50 years or so, but he's still reminding them he could come at any time. And then verse three, as we continue, for when they shall say peace and safety, now the they always pay attention to the they, the thems, the these in the Bible. The theys in this case are the powers that be, the politicians, the leaders, the kings, the governors. It says, for when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as to avail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. Isn't that something? He said, you know what we're living in. You know the days we're living in. It's kind of like today. Our politicians are saying, oh, we need peace in the world. We need this. We need that. And peace is coming. We're going to have global peace. And you've heard our president say it. And they're looking for global peace, so on and so forth. Well, the indication is not so quick. Yeah, we'd like to see peace. We want peaceful times. Nobody likes wars. But we're in that time of wars and rumors of wars. And boy, we've sure had our wars globally. But ye, brethren, back to us, are not in darkness that that day, what day? The day of the Lord, the coming of the Lord, that that day should overtake you as a thief. In other words, we don't have to be in the dark here. Watch, ye are all children of light and the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as do others. There's an indication that some folks are asleep at this very important time. Paul talks about this again in Romans chapter 13, arise for his high time to arise out of sleep, let us awake. And he coaxes the Christian not to be slumbering or sleeping during these times. So therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. Now the word sober there is not inebriated. not the opposite of inebriated would be drunken. Sober here is the content of sober mindedness. So as he admonishes brethren to be sober, in other words, pay attention to what's going on. For they that sleep, sleep in the night and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. There's your reference. Everybody's not Got their ears on. Every Christian is not up to par here is what he's saying. But let us who are of the day that be Christians be so we're putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for an helmet the hope of salvation. That's where it all starts. For God hath not appointed us to wrath but obtained salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God. for the day of our salvation. Everybody got saved. There's some day that you kinda can go back in your mind and your memory and say, just thank God I trusted Christ. Thank the Lord. Somebody told me how to get saved. I read in the Bible, I read a tract. So that's a very important day, salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. And he reminds us who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore, comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also you do." Remember this morning I told you why we teach the Word of God, why we are truth tellers, and it's to edify the body of Christ, edify Christian people, to help other believers establish, grow, and strengthen in the spiritual things of the Word of God. We beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you." He's simply an admonition to your pastors, to your teachers, and to those men that handle the Word of God and teach the Word of God to show them some honor. In another place, he talks about giving them double honor. And then he says in verse 13, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work sake and be at peace among yourselves. And you know, there may not be peace in the world. but there can be peace among brethren. There can be unity among brethren. There may not be unity in the world or peace in the world, and I know they propagate it, they talk about it all the time, and it's not going to happen until the king of kings shows up and sets himself up on the throne of David and rules and reigns with a rod of iron for 1,000 years. That'll be a time of peace. Right now, We can only know the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts and in our midst. So he says, have peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all men. All he's doing is laying out a bunch of things that we're to be about and we're to be doing as saved Christian people, people of the church. Rejoice evermore, verse 16, verse 17. Pray without ceasing. In everything, give thanks. And here's my title to my message. This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Have you ever sat down and say, well, I don't know what the will of God is for my life concerning Jesus. And Jeremiah brought a wonderful message on the will of of God, which is basically the same for every man, and the plan of God, which may be a little different. He may have plans for you to do something else, but the will of God is always going to be to please God, to glorify God, and it's all the same for the same men. But watch. Quench not the spirit. Yes, save people can quench the spirit of God. So he says, quench not the spirit, despise not prophesying, prove all things, and that despise not prophesying here in the text, if we hold it to the letter of the law, it was those prophets that came before whom Paul was one of those apostles and prophets who have now passed away. So the prophesying that we linger into today would be the preaching and teaching of the word of God. And there are those that are saved that despise people that preach and teach the Word of God. You say, what is that? I don't know. But I know it's not right, it's not right. Watch what he says, abstain from all appearance of evil and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the introduction to the message this morning, it had to do with this very verse right here, the spirit, soul and body. And he talked about, the preacher talked about how that God wanted our hearts And so as we follow through on exactly what Paul says, God wants for us as the children of God, watch this, faithful is he that called you who also will do it. In other words, we get to thinking we gotta do it. No, he'll do it. Watch, brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. Now, back in those days, that was customary. But you're not gonna see me kissing Ted. Ted ain't gonna kiss me. And you say, what? Well, it's not our custom. We're Jindal dogs, remember? Say, really? So, you know, greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. But I've been down in the South and the men will greet and they'll basically a quick hug. And you'll see that guy peck that other guy right on the ear of the cheek. You say, what was that? Well, they still hold to that greet one another with a holy kiss thing. You just remember this. Judas betrayed the Lord with a kiss. So watch out, watch out. All right. I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. That's why I wanted to read it tonight. It's to be read to us. We're to be given to the reading and the doctrine of the word of God. Watch. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, thank you. for a chance to preach your word. We pray tonight, especially for our pastor, Brother Tom, and ask you to comfort him and give him the comfort that only you can give. I know they've medicated him, they've helped him, and he sought the medical advice for his injury. And I pray, God, you'd bless him, lift him up, heal him quick, keep him safe from other problems and complications until he can return at the point in time. Bless his wife, who will probably minister to him. Bless our congregation, bless the message, bless the preaching tonight, encourage the saints. It's in Jesus' name I pray and ask an amen. So this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. And when I say you, I mean me too, because I'm a brethren. It is about the last days, no doubt, and we live there. Times and seasons, verse one, we commented. It is about the Lord's coming. We know he's coming. We're to be looking for that blessed hope. That's what we're to busy ourselves with. The thoughts, we're to set our affection on things above, not on things of this earth. And we're to be concerned with heavenly things and spiritual things and biblical things, not so much physical and carnal things. A time when brethren are not in darkness. Could I say this? A lot of the church today is in darkness. They don't get it. And I blame the pulpits. They don't teach, they don't preach. They've watered down. Could I say it like this maybe? They've dumbed down what the scripture says, thinking they're making it easier for people to get a hold of it and they won't ruffle any feathers or cause any problems or any trouble. Look. That's selling you short. I have never felt like, matter of fact, I have felt least of all men to have to get up and preach to people that are highly educated, that are highly motivated and have great jobs, jobs that I could never do. I've been in I had a I had a man come one time. He was a farmer and his wife. He was a millionaire I found out years later and he come to hear me preach. What am I doing preaching to him? I've had doctors come in and sit down and listen to the message and he said what am I doing preaching to a medical doctor? I don't know and you preach to maybe some other dignitary or something like this, but I find the Apostle Paul, he preached to Agrippa. He preached to the kings. Other men went in and preached before Herod. Philip, he rebuked him. Man, we're the least. We're the foolish, the men of God that come in. and have to preach, thank God for the word of God, because I wouldn't have anything to say. So here, it is a time to be watching, verse six, as we said earlier, but whether we live in the light, verse five, it's a time to be sober, we said that, sober-minded. not to be fooled or duped into thinking, oh, all's well, there is no hell, you know, that kind of thing. There are many that are asleep, we said that, and I have about three or four things I wanna give you, and I could go through this list again, but I don't think it's necessary. Number one, I wanted to say this with the title, The Will of God Concerning You, wherefore, or because of all of these things he's said, comfort, and edify one another. That's one of the things that we ought to be about. Comforting and edifying or lifting up or building up. That's verse 11. He says, wherefore comfort yourselves together and edify one another, even so also ye do. Say, what is that? There is something about the assembling of God's people when they get around each other And he says, for sake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is in the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 25. And so there's something about that fellowship that we draw from, from other people. I just like to come to church because I'm around other Christian people, amen. I do. You say, you actually like people? Yeah, yeah, I do. And I like to talk to people. I like to see how they think. And sometimes I have a question for them. If they're specially educated and feel I know nothing about, I'll pick their brain. You say, why? Because there's a common denominator called the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost of God, that knits us together in a fellowship and we edify each other. We feed off of each other. The scripture says, iron sharpeneth iron. It's meaning that a man of God talking to a man of God, brother, it's like a piece of iron whetting a knife blade. It sharpens the one and it helps the other. And it's just something that we can't live without. Can you imagine not having the fellowship of the brethren? So one of the things, the will of God concerning you is to assemble. to assemble, to comfort, and to edify one another. You ever come to church kind of dragging, you know, you come in, you look around, look around, and you just ain't really doing real good, and then the little jarred kids get up there and sing, and cut the rug, and have a big time, and sing so good, then all of a sudden they belt it out, and you're thinking, And when they come up here, I said, out of the mouth of babes, man. They don't want anything. They're here because their parents are training them how to praise the Lord. You say, what is that? I feed off of that, amen? And then when my grandkids get up, oh man, it's Katie, bar the door. You say, what is that? I don't know, it's something I need. And I look here, the will of God concerning you is that we comfort and edify one another, that we assemble and that we get together and that we feed off of this so that we might be fortified in the spiritual sense. So find a way to build up and to comfort one another. 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 18. I don't mean to get on singing, but has there ever been a time that, you know, you come to church, you say, you know, if somebody had just get up and sing that one song, and you think, if they'd just sing that, but you won't say anything, you won't say anything, but if they'd just sing that, it'd make my day. You say, what is that? That's you feeding off an edifying, you're trying, and then all of a sudden they get up and sing it, and you say, oh my goodness, tears come to your eyes, your heart melts. You say, what's going on? God is doing something to your soul and your spirit. He's feeding you. And brother, that's the will of God concerning you. Let me give you something else. The will of God concerning you to know them and honor them which are over you. Okay, let's go to the pastors. You know, we're a little down tonight. You say, why? Pastor ain't here. We don't get to hear his corny jokes. We don't, I can't hardly keep time playing the piano because he keeps time. He plays that bass, man. And I tell him, I said, when you're not here, man, I miss you because I'm by myself. I was trying to coax Lonnie in to come up and play the banjo to keep time so I can stay on time. I can't stay on time. I said, what's going on? If somebody's not here, especially our leadership, and he's a leader, you miss him. Now, I know Jeremiah did a wonderful job. He stepped up, but he's not Pastor Tom. And I'm not being mean or facetious, but you get the idea. Amen's all over the house, Brother Tom. Are you listening? Take notes, man. Anyway. You see what I'm saying? When they're gone, we miss them. I miss hearing his corny jokes. You say, you like his jokes? Well, most of them. I even know some of them by heart, but don't tell them. Okay, got it, got it. but nobody can do them like he can do them, amen. And then he gets sincere. You ever watch it when God kind of gets all over him and man, he just, and you know, he kind of melts down and man, the next thing you know, he's about half crying, half choked up and trying to preach, trying to tell you what's right. And he knows well on what's right because he's been down that other road and done all the stuff that's wrong, so he knows what's right. And when he's not here, I miss him, you miss him, we miss him. Do you realize if something should happen to Brother Tom, there'll be a lot of folks that won't come back? You say, what is that? Well, they honor that leadership and they're gonna miss him and they're gonna be hurting and it's gonna be hard. Now, I'm not trying to get rid of him, I'm just simply saying the will of God concerning you, know them and honor them which are over you. Just think, if I hadn't have shown up tonight, Jeremiah had to preach and you'd say, oh no, not Jeremiah again. Honor them, 1 Timothy 5, 17. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of, there's that verse, double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. Aren't you glad somebody does? Aren't you glad this morning it went smooth as clockwork? Jeremiah got about 10 minutes to get ready, and obviously he'd probably been working on that message. I don't know if he was ready to preach it, but he did preach it, and it come across well. Say, what is that? I don't know. But it's a man that stays in the Word of God and studies the Word of God and wants to put the Word of God out. And the will of God concerning us is to know them and honor them, that preach and teach. Let me say this on the practical sense. Know your responsibilities concerning, and he covers the unruly. You say, there's unruly? Sure, sure. Treat them with kid gloves, defuse it. There's the feeble-minded. You're going to get people in that, you know, they just, they're not going to all be there. You don't run them off. You bring them in, shake hands with them, give them a cup of coffee, do something. I mean, make them feel at home. Amen. Say, well, they're not right. They're a half a bubble off. Get over it. You're supposed to comfort the feeble-minded. Amen. Yeah, the will of God concerning us. He says, responsibility is concerning the feeble-minded, responsibility is concerning the weak. We've got weak among us, especially Sunday morning, some can't get back Sunday night. You say, what do we do? We have a responsibility toward them, pray for them, hold them up, give them a phone call, talk to them. And he says, and all men, all men, I mean, find a way to reach out to others. 1 Thessalonians 5, 14 through 15. I won't go back. I've already read the chapter. Warn them, comfort them, support them, be patient to them. That's just responsibility on our part. That's the will of God concerning us. Follow that which is good. And be good to folks. I was headed downtown Saturday, downtown Cincinnati. I had a late appointment at the V8. Their scheduling's all messed up and they had me at a four o'clock schedule. And I thought before I left the house, I wonder if that guy will be standing on the corner of Hopple Street and the exit ramp where he's always standing when I go down. And I'm digging around, you know, fumbling around in the car, and I always keep a couple dollar bills there in the glove box, that open glove place, and a couple gospel tracks there. And I stuffed two $1 bills in a track called God's Simple Plan of Salvation that had Hope Baptist Church, Dillsboro, Indiana on it. I said to myself, if he's there, even if the light's green, I'm going to stop. I'm going to pull over to the curb. I'm going to do that winded end, I'm going to go like that. And he's going to come over there and I'm going to give him that track and them two bucks. Say, well, $2 ain't going to do nothing. Well, McDonald's right around the corner, that dollar menu, you look pretty good if you're hungry. Say, what'd you do? What are you doing? I give that guy... I don't know him, I may never see him again, but I give him a gospel track and $2. You say, do you do that? All the time, all the time. You say, why? I just think it's the will of God concerning us to care about those that aren't so fortunate and not just the folks in the church. So warn them, comfort them, support them, be patient to them, follow that which is good, the Bible says. Did you ever pay it forward? Did you ever get in the Skyline Chili line? You're going to get you those two cheese coneys that you're not supposed to eat, but they're so good. Or White Castles. Or maybe you're upscale. Maybe you go to Burger King or McDonald's. I don't know. I'm in the Skyline Chili line. Yeah, you can tell I frequent the place. I look behind me, there's a cop car behind me. I thought, huh, I wonder what he's getting for lunch. And so I told the lady at the window, I said, put his on my ticket too. He must've been broke. It was about $2.85, a cup of coffee and something else. I felt bad for him, but I paid for it. I didn't say nothing. I paid for mine and I drove on. You say, why'd you do that? I don't know. Because I think as a Christian, We might ought to have a heart for somebody else, not just ourselves. And we don't always have to know what's going on. And I didn't know that cop from Adam, but I just felt like as a Christian, maybe I could do that. Let me give you one more spiritually speaking in God's will. First Thessalonians 5, 16, 20. Pray, give thanks, quench not the Holy Spirit, despise not a prophesying or preaching of the teaching of the word of God. We kind of covered that earlier, but that's one of our that's that's the will of God concerning us. They enjoy the preaching, enjoy the teaching and enjoy the spiritual side of things. It's not all physical. It's not all fulfilling the physical appetites of the world. There's a spiritual appetite that needs to be fed also. Concerning yourself, just you. The will of God concerning just yourself. Look at verse 21. Prove all things. In other words, you have a responsibility to yourself. Hold fast that which is good. Now, come on, you do it every time you go to Kroger's. If you're doing your own shopping, you pick up that banana and you look at that thing and you prove that thing. You say, that's a little too green. I'm gonna wanna eat that in the morning. Let me lay that one down. You say, what are you doing? You're proving all things. You're judging it. But when it comes to yourself, spiritually, physically, whatever, prove yourself and prove all things, hold fast to that which is right. I think the indication is probably more along the spiritual lines than the physical lines, but the banana works. In other words, we have that responsibility. So do you have a belief, a doctrine, an idea? Prove all things, the Bible says, verse 22, abstain from all appearance of evil. And we could go everywhere with that, and I'll let you, I'll let the Holy Ghost paint that picture. Abstain from all appearance of evil, separation, loud and clear, as far as I see it. Lastly, let me say this. The will of God concerning you, this week, right on through, it is His will to establish, that's Old English, same as establish, your hearts, Unblameable, watch it, in holiness. Yeah, that's, take your Bible and go, and I'm not gonna run a wild goose chase here, but back up to chapter three, 1 Thessalonians 3, 13. To the end, talking to the Christian, to the end, verse 13, chapter three, he may establish your hearts What did we talk about? What did the preacher say this morning? Talked about our heart. God wants our heart. Establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints. Man. You say, what is that? according to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 23 where we were reading, and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's something about you walking hand in hand with God, something about you abiding in Him and Him abiding in you, John chapter 15 through and through. Say, what are you talking about, preacher? I'm talking about how to get through Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday until we can meet back again and fellowship and draw and feed off one another. I enjoy working with those that labor in the Word of God, with those that minister in music. I get to minister in music so I get to minister with other people that sing. I enjoy watching others come up and sing and listening to them like the children tonight or anybody that comes and sings. It is an all comprehensive plan, the will of God concerning you. It's a total package for living here until we can live there. I like that statement. It's about being able to live here until we can live there, meaning heaven. Philippians 2, 12 through 16, I'm not going to turn. More of the same. Last verse and I close, 1 Thessalonians 5, 24. Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it. Could I say this tonight? Will you just let God do it? You just say, okay, I heard it, I see the word of God, do it, I want it. Just let God do it. And then lastly, and I did say lastly twice, But verse 25, I need verse 25. It's me asking you, brethren, pray for us. Amen. Something about those that will pray together, stay together, something like that. Songwriter said, will the circle be unbroken? Those that pray together, stay together. Songwriters have written about it. Preachers have preached about it. Teachers have taught on it. Writers have written on it. There's something to that. If we pray together, I think we can stay together. Let's stand.