Chapter 5

Operation light. As a means of becoming oriented to the subject of operation light we first must have some concept of dispensational teaching.

A dispensation is a period of time, a category of human history expressed in terms of divine revelation. It is the divine interpretation of history. The basic period of human history is the Age of Israel which occupies a great deal of attention in the Old Testament. In fact, most of Old Testament revelation deals with this segment of history. In the Age of Israel we have three unfinished beginnings. The first one is grace. The Age of Israel began with Abraham and concludes with the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ — from Abraham to Pentecost. During this period God started out by dealing with Israel, the special nation called out for a purpose, in grace. This grace came to an abrupt halt as far as modus operandi is concerned by the giving of the Mosaic law. However the grace concept is postponed and is fulfilled in the Church Age which is the grace age. During this particular period God promised after the Babylonian captivity 490 years to evangelise the world and to fulfill the principle of evangelism. But this 490 years was cut off by the cross seven years short. So we have the seventy weeks of Daniel cut off, not continued, but finished in the Tribulation, a period of seven years approximately. Then, God promised David he would have a son who would reign forever, and that was cut off by the crucifixion, and so the kingdom which was cut off in the Church Age is continued forever after the second advent of Christ. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God will reign forever. So we have three things which were started in the Age of Israel but which will finish in the final dispensation.

On the other side of the Age of Israel are also three dispensations. Israel is the fourth and basic dispensation. On the other side of Israel we have the Church Age, the Tribulation, the Millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are three dispensations prior to Israel, and these emphasise things such as salvation, but these three dispensations occupy very little of the Bible. For example, the first dispensation is innocence and it is covered in Genesis chapters 1-3. The second dispensation is conscience and it is covered in Genesis chapters 4-8. The next dispensation is nationalism, covered in Genesis chapters 9-12. So the first twelve chapters of Genesis cover the first three dispensations. This does not give us all the details of these three dispensations because they cover some 2000 years, but we do have one things emphasised in divine revelation and that is the establishment of divine institutions. a divine institution is for all members of the human race. God has ordained certain principles to keep the human race in order and to keep the human race from destroying itself. Were it not for these divine institutions we wouldn’t be here today, the human race would have long ago destroyed itself. There are four divine institutions brought out in these first three dispensations.

The first of these is volition — free will. This is brought out in the Age of innocence when Adam had the right to choose the fruit of the forbidden tree or not to choose. This introduces into the human race the concept of free will, that we all have volition. This is the basis of concept freedom.

The second divine institution was also brought out in the first dispensation, and that is marriage.

The next is the family, and this one came out of the next dispensation.

Finally, the fourth dispensation is national entity. There is no place in the scripture for internationalism until the second advent of Christ.

The greatest point and principle in dispensational teaching is a recognition of the fundamental difference between Israel and the Church. Israel: Abraham to the cross; Church: Pentecost to the Rapture. As far as Israel is concerned she always operated under a specialised priesthood. The dispensation of Israel is characterised by the priesthood of Levi. Over against that we must recognise the fact that to day under the Church Age we have a universal priesthood, and this is one of the greatest of dispensational distinctions. Along with Israel’s specialised priesthood there was a shadow Christology. Today in the Church we have an historical Christology. This means that Christ was revealed to Israel through shadows. For example, the Passover lamb was a shadow pointing to the cross. The cross had not occurred historically and therefore it was anticipated by shadows. The lamb represented the Lord Jesus Christ . The slaughtering of the lamb is a picture of Christ dying for our sins and taking our place. So in the Old Testament times they had Christ revealed to them very clearly. Now we have an historical Christology. Everything concerning the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, past, present and future is recorded in the canon of scripture. We now have it in writing and the scripture is disseminated throughout the world.

As far as Israel was concerned they had their own kind of positional truth, the four unconditional covenants — the Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic, and the New covenant to Israel mentioned in Jeremiah 33:3ff. These covenants all had as a central provision eternal life. And when any Jew believed in the Lord Jesus Christ his position was to be in the eternal life of these covenants. Old Testament saints who were Gentiles as well, they were all involved in God’s special promises for eternal life. On the other side of the fence, however, we now have since the death of Christ positional truth or the doctrine of positional truth which is, of course, every believer is in union with Christ.

In addition to that there was a way of life for believers in Israel in the Old testament. This way of life is given in Codex III of the Mosaic law, it is a legal way of life. It depended upon human merit — “If you do certain things, I will bless you. If you do not do these things you will not be blessed.” But by way of contrast with that we have on this side of the fence the Christian way of life which is a supernatural way of life. It is high above the law, it supersedes the law, it a way of life which demands things which are impossible for the flesh to execute and consequently can only be executed in the power of the Spirit, demanding therefore the filling of the Spirit. So we have a legal way of life as over against a supernatural way of life.

In the Age of Israel God the Holy Spirit only indwelt a few very special believers. So we have a specialised indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This means that God the Holy Spirit indwelt certain people such as kings — David, Saul; He indwelt such people as prophets — Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel; he indwelt certain of the born-again priests, certain of the judges. But when these men became carnal they could lose the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. This caused David in Psalm 51 to make the prayer: “Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.” This was a bona fide prayer in David’s day because David lived in the dispensation of Israel and when he stepped out of line he was in danger of losing the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Remember that the Holy Spirit only indwelt a few believers for special jobs. One illustration of a man who lost the Holy Spirit is Saul, a believer who got out of fellowship and stayed out.

In the Church Age every believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, so we have the universal indwelling of the Holy Spirit. By universal is meant that every Christian is indwelt by God the third person. This means that every Christian has certain supernatural requirements before the Lord and the means of execution. In the Old Testament under the dispensation of Israel there were many ways of revelation. Revelation could be by a direct contact with God. Often the Lord Jesus Christ came to the earth in many forms. He appeared to Moses as the burning bush. He also came in the form of a man many times. For example, when Gideon was hiding from the Midianites. Now all means of revelation are reduced to one. We no longer have dreams and visions, God no longer speaks directly — Thus saith the Lord, God no longer comes down in the form of a burning bush or in the form of an angel; but God speaks to us through His Word. We have the completed canon of scripture.

These are only some of the distinctions between the dispensation of Israel and the dispensation of the Church. These distinctions are very important to us because they make the difference in our way of life, our modus operandi. These all add up to a supernatural way of life.

As far as our passage in 1 Thessalonians is concerned we are dealing with the Church Age. There are seven factors we should always consider in operation light.

a) You are in union with the person of Christ. The moment you received Christ as saviour you entered into union with Him.

b) Every believer is indwelt by the person of Christ. This is the meaning of the phrase in John 14:20 when Jesus said: “I in you, and you in me.”

c) Every believer in indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

d) Every believer is his own priest and therefore his own representative before the Lord.

e) The baptism of the Holy Spirit — Acts 1:5.

f) A complete canon of scripture. We have the mind of Christ in writing.

g) because of the first six factors we have a supernatural way of life to be lived in divine power, and to be used and to become productive with divine operating assets.

There are two aspects to operation light. The first aspect is evangelism. Jesus predicted this evangelism in Matthew 5:13-16 in the sermon on the mount. He said, “I am the light of the world” and then He went on to say, “You are the light of the world.” The first part of operation light is the fact that every believer is the recipient of the gospel, every believer is the custodian of the gospel. God has deposited the gospel with us and He intends for it to bear compound interest, therefore you and I as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ personally have a responsibility for witnessing. The second concept of operation light is amplified in Ephesians 5:8-18 where light is mentioned three times — verses 8,13,14 — and the filling of the Spirit is the general subject of the context.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-5, operation light is confined to the Church Age, not the Tribulation.

Verse 1 — “But” is the conjunction of contrast. This is a contrast with the previous chapter where we have seen that when we lose a loved one we sorrow not as others who have no hope. Why? Because we know that they enter into the presence of the Lord.

“of the times and seasons” — the word “of” is the preposition meaning “concerning.” We have two Greek words here: kairoj and xronoj. “Times” is kairoj; “Seasons” is xronoj. Xronoj means an extended period of time, a period of time which covers several dispensations. There came a time when Gentiles began to dominate Jerusalem, the fall of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar, and that was in the dispensation of Israel. That time of Jerusalem being dominated by the Gentiles continues in the Church Age and will continue in the Tribulation, and will terminate with the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. The word xronoj here means a period of time which overlaps any one dispensation. The period of time translated “times” is actually the times of the Gentiles or that period of history when the Gentiles dominate Jerusalem, starting with the fall of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar, going through the entire remainder of the Age of Israel, the Church Age, and through the Tribulation, and will terminate at the second advent. This is called in scripture the times of the Gentiles — Luke 21:24. The word “season” is kairoj which refers to a specific period of time, the Church Age. We should understand that there are times and seasons. We should understand the dispensations around us. We should understand Israel, the Tribulation and the second advent, and other factors in other periods of time, because this helps us to understand certain unique features of the Church Age in which we live.

“brethren” — this is information for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ; “ye have no need that I write unto you” — in other words, they already understand these distinctions and therefore he will move on immediately. The first things that is necessary in operation light is historical orientation — an understanding of dispensations. If you understand, at least to some extent, the various dispensations and periods of time, and as a result understand the divine institutions, the difference between Israel and the Church, the responsibility of the believer in this day, then you are moving right along and are able to orient and become productive as a believer.

Verse 2 — “For yourselves know.” The word “know” is perfect tense, it means they have learned this in the past and is something they still retain in their frontal lobes where they can apply it. This means to have doctrine in the soul.

“perfectly” — this is not perfectly at all but accurately. They have accurate knowledge of God’s Word, they have an accurate understanding of doctrine.

“that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night” — the day of the Lord constitutes a great problem for the Thessalonian believers. They had thought that in the Church Age the day of the Lord had already begun. The day of the Lord is a reference to the Tribulation, the second advent, and the Millennial reign of Christ. The day of the Lord does not begin until the Church is removed. This is sometimes called in scripture the day of Christ. These Thessalonians back in the first century were confused because someone had told them the Tribulation was already here. They were all upset because they thought now they were in the Tribulation. But they should understand that “the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night.” In the first century the idea of a thief coming in the night was to take by surprise. The Rapture of the Church will be very sudden, they will be taken out very suddenly and the very moment that the Church is removed the day of the Lord begins.

Just before the day of the Lord comes, just before this most awful time on the earth, just before the Tribulation, there will be a great apostasy throughout the earth. Ecumenical religion will be in gear and there will be a great deal of talk about peace and safety.

Verse 3 — “For when they shall say. Peace and safety; then cometh sudden destruction.” Who is going to say Peace and safety”? Any form of internationalism. Just when they say that the Church will be taken out of the way and the Tribulation will come, and the Tribulation is a period of sudden destruction.

People who say peace and safety — clergy, religious organisations, political organisations which think they can establish world peace — have ignored a great principle in the Word of God. First of all, the doctrine of the old sin nature. Every man has an old sin nature and it takes force to keep him in line. He cannot be kept in line with platitudes otherwise we could simply throw out all law and throw in a few brotherhood platitudes, and everyone would get along fine. But it doesn’t work that way. “Safety” means human security apart from the cross.

Verse 4 — “But ye, brethren.” Again we have the contrast — “are not in darkness” — you are not deceived by this type of talk. But there is something more important than even that. The darkness in one sense characterises the Tribulation and Paul is saying once again, You Thessalonian believers are not in the Tribulation, you are not in darkness, you are in the Church Age.

“that the day should overtake you as a thief” — you will not be overtaken by this day, you cannot be overtaken by this day because you are removed from the world. When the Rapture of the Church takes place then this sudden destruction will come, and this sudden destruction therefore cannot come at the present time simply because the Church is still here with the restraining ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 5 — the very important orientation point which reminds us of the fact that operation light is God’s plan for the Church Age. “Ye are” — the word “ye” is a plural pronoun and it refers to all of us — “You all are.”

“the children of light” — this means that regardless of who you are, what you have done, how you have failed, or even how you have succeeded, as long as you live on this earth you are the personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as His personal representative you are here for the purpose of glorifying Him through the witness of your life, through the witness of your lips, through the execution of phase two and/or the supernatural Christian way of life; “and the children of the day” — a reference to the day of the Lord Jesus Christ which is the Church Age.

“we are not of the night, nor of darkness” — we are not in the Tribulation, we are in the Church Age. We are here to represent the Lord Jesus Christ and as long as we live it is our privilege and our joy to represent Him.

Every believer is the representative of the Lord Jesus Christ and as such we are responsible to function under those things which He has provided. He has provided everything we need in order to glorify Him in time. So it is fitting that verses 6-8 cover the subject of opportunity for service.

Verse 6 — we have a negative plus two positives in this verse. “Therefore let us not sleep” — this is an analogy to believers being ignorant of God’s Word. Sleep is used in the sense of lacking awareness of what is going on around one, therefore in this case lack of awareness of what the Bible teaches. “Let us not sleep” is present tense, and when you have a negative plus a present tense it means keep this thing from ever coming to pass. The active voice: you, don’t sleep. Then we have a hortatory subjunctive in which the writer invites the readers to join him in a course of action. The course of action means to refrain from sleeping. Apparently this is a real danger to all who are in phase two. The reference to sleep here is a reference to ignorance of God’s Word, and this is the type of sleep we can do without.

“as do others” — “do” isn’t found in the original. The word “others” means “as the rest.” In this case the rest refers to, of course, the many people in the Thessalonian area who are ignorant of God’s Word.

Now by way of contrast, two positives: “let us watch and be sober.” The first verb is, again, a present active subjunctive. It means to stay alert. The principle is obvious: If sleeping is ignorance of doctrine alertness is understanding doctrine and applying it to experience. So first of all, if we are going to be effective in operation light we must have an understanding of doctrine which makes us alert, makes us aware of what is going on around us. Alertness is a byproduct of Christianity. This is alertness in the sense of discernment. Obviously, if someone is asleep they never know what is going on. There are Christians who never have enough doctrine and they never know what is going on around them or anywhere else. So if we are going to be alert, if we are going to be discerning, we must have a soul full of doctrine. The next positive is “be sober.” This word is not really connected with intoxicating beverage, it has to do with stability of mind — “be stabilised in the frontal lobe.” Again we see the implication of the positive: we must have doctrine for stability. Both of these verbs are very interesting in that they are related. Be sober has to do with what you think; be alert has to do with application of what you know to your experience. One is on the inside; one is on the outside. The two of them together make up for a very wonderful person, a person who knows God’s Word and a person who has the ability to apply it.

Verse 7 — “For they that sleep sleep in the night” — the night time here is anticipating something in the second epistle. First of all it is a reference to the Tribulation in contrast to the Church Age which is operation light. Light and darkness are used several ways in the Thessalonians epistles. First of all the Church Age is operation light. It is going to be followed by darkness. The Tribulation is a period of darkness on the earth. We are living in the daylight, not in the Tribulation. This is one thing that Paul emphasises in both I and II Thessalonians, that the Church does not go through the Tribulation and consequently we must orient ourselves to our own dispensation. We are not living in darkness we are living in the light, and therefore the darkness is the time to sleep. The Tribulation is possibly a time to be in a state of apathy, but not now. We should be alert, we should know what is going on around us.

“they that are drunken are drunken in the night” — the point is, we are not in the night. Operation darkness is reserved for the Tribulation. There is another concept here too. There is the darkness of ignorance. Today many are wandering around in their ignorance.

Verse 8 — “But let us, who are of the day” — to be of the day means the Church does not go through the Tribulation. We “who are of the day” belongs to this dispensation and no believer of the present time will ever have any part in the Tribulation, except to get out of the way and let it come and come back when it is all over. Then there is a second concept here and that is the fact that no Christian should be in status quo ignorance.

“be sober” — again, the verb connotes inner mental stability. It is present linear aktionsart which means keep on being sober, or make it a habit to be mentally stabilised. The habitual concept means that no matter what your circumstances, pleasant or unpleasant, be habitually stabilised.

In order to do so we have to put on something, as it were. We have a change of tense from the present linear aktionsart, subjunctive mood indicating the potentiality — mental stability is only potential, it depends on getting doctrine and using it, “putting on the breastplate of faith and love.” “Putting on” is an aorist tense by way of contrast. If we are ever going to get around to this business of having a stabilised mental attitude we are going to have to do so by in a point of time putting on a breastplate and putting on a helmet. The breastplate which we put on is faith and love. Faith is the faith-rest technique and love is the filling of the Spirit technique. So we are right down to the essentials of service in phase two. If we are going to serve the Lord in operation light we must use the techniques. These are not the only techniques but they represent two very important ones in divine service. We must utilise the promises and doctrines of God — application. The word for love is divine love which means the filling of the Spirit producing the fruit of the Spirit. But that isn’t all. While we are operating in the realm of the techniques we also must be anticipating the future. Therefore we have a helmet as well and the helmet is the hope. This refers to phase three. The helmet protects the head, the head should be anticipating the future — “the hope of deliverance.” We have a marvelous future and nothing can destroy it. The “hope of our salvation” is really “the hope of our deliverance.”

Verse 9 — “For God hath not appointed us to wrath.” Our future is not connected with the Tribulation. Once again, just as darkness connotes the Tribulation, the future dispensation, so wrath does as well. We are not appointed to the Tribulation. Things may get bad now but they will never be as bad as they are going to be in the future. “God” refers to God the Father who is the author of the divine plan for believers. “Hath not appointed” is an aorist tense which means He hasn’t even begun to appoint us. Middle voice: God is so benefited by keeping His plan separate and He keeps the Church out of the Tribulation. “Us” is a reference to the believers of this age, and “wrath” is, again, the principle that we as believers will not go through the Tribulation.

“but to obtain deliverance” — this is our deliverance from the Tribulation mentioned in the previous verse; “by our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is true and it is taught elsewhere in the Bible that we are delivered salvationwise from sin by our faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins. However, this is another deliverance of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the Rapture of the Church. “To obtain” is not a verb, it is a noun — “but to the obtaining of deliverance.”

Verse 10 — our future is connected with the Rapture, therefore. “Who died for us” — first deliverance. The word “who” is a relative pronoun referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ who died for us. “Died” is an aorist tense, it refers to a point of time in which the Son of God hung on the cross between heaven and earth.

“that whether we wake or sleep” — the word “whether” is literally “if,” and it is a third class condition. We have two third class conditions here and they express the alternatives of the Rapture. It doesn’t make any difference whether you are awake or asleep when the Rapture takes place. All believers are going to be removed from the earth.

“we should live together” — it is quite obvious that members of the human race cannot live together. Man has an old sin nature. The only answer is for man to come to the cross. The solution to man’s problems is the cross, not improved environment. Many of the Thessalonian believers had already died. Others were all shook up because they didn’t live long enough to see the Rapture. They thought that any Christian who died before the Rapture took place was going to miss the whole thing. The two third class conditions indicate the alternatives. It doesn’t make any difference whether you die before the Rapture takes place or whether you are alive when it comes, you are going to be included. “We should live together” is an aorist tense, a point of time divorced from time and perpetuated forever. We are going to live with Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, forever and ever. This makes us realise that we have a life with a future.

Verse 11 — the present results of the Rapture. The Rapture is something glorious to contemplate in the future, this is the helmet which is mentioned in context, the hope of deliverance. Our hope of deliverance is meeting Christ in the air. In this verse we have three sources of hope. “Wherefore comfort yourselves together” — we do this by understanding the doctrines of the future and by applying them. The Greek says, “Comfort yourselves of the same kind.” You cannot comfort the unbeliever, that is impossible. The only comfort for the unbeliever is to find Christ as saviour and the only issue for the unbeliever is that he might personally receive Christ as saviour. But we can comfort each other.

“and edify one another” — “keep on edifying.” This is an imperative mood, an order; “even as you already do.” Apparently the Thessalonians were beginning to catch on and they were helping one another with this particular problem.

Verse 12 — the third facet of operation light is recognition of leadership and authority. Wherever you go there must be leadership, there must be those who assume responsibility for the sheep. In verses 12 and 13 we have the principle of recognition of leadership and authority.

“And we beseech you brethren”— beseech means to request, to ask. “We keep on asking you,” present linear aktionsart; “to know them which labour among you” — the word “know” is a perfect tense meaning to have doctrine in the soul. It is a perfect tense used as a present. It is an active infinitive, an infinitive of purpose. It means to have information, to be able to recognise your leaders. Obviously you cannot operate under the leadership of any local church unless you know the leadership. There were two characteristics for joining the early church: you had to be born again, and you had to submit to the leadership and the authority of the local church leadership.

“which labour among you” — the first characteristic of leadership is labour. This is a present active participle and it means to labour to the point of exhaustion.

“and are over you in the Lord” — the second characteristic. This is a present middle participle. The middle voice: the subject is benefited by the action of the verb. They benefit goes all the way around to have leadership.

“and admonish you” — the word “admonish” means to put good sense into a head where there is bad sense already. Good sense is the doctrine of God’s Word.

Verse 13 — after recognition there comes an advance. “And to esteem them very highly in love.” The word “esteem” means to have high regard, to have high thought for. It is a present active infinitive expressing an habitual purpose. “Very highly” is an adverb meaning beyond measure, super abundantly, “in the sphere of love.”

“for their work’s sake” — not because they are nice people. This is a preposition with the accusative case which means here “because of their work.”

The third characteristic: “and be at peace among yourselves.” The word “and” does not occur, and the Greek makes it very clear from its structure that peace in a congregation depends upon leadership functioning as leadership.

Out of verses 12 and 13 we have a principle. Biblically authorised leadership is the basis of peace in any congregation. The absence of such leadership means perpetual trouble in a congregation and one purpose of leadership is to maintain the peace of the assembly or the congregation of believers.

Verses 14 and 15, an index into the responsibility of leadership.

Verse 14 — “Now we exhort you brethren.” This is to the minister. We now have the six-fold exhortation to leadership.

a) Warn the unruly. The word “warn” is a present active imperative and it means to put sense into the unruly. “Them that are unruly” means those who break ranks. It is a verbal adjective, it is a military word which means to get out of step or to break ranks. It is the responsibility of leadership to warn those who are out of step. Out of step with what? Out of step with the doctrine of God’s Word. So it is important that anyone in a position of leadership must know doctrine, otherwise you cannot do this.

b) “Comfort the feebleminded.” This does not mean feebleminded. The Greek word means literally, “the small-souled, the fainthearted. This is the hysterical psychopath. There are people in life who get their way by throwing tantrums, by being hysterical. There are people who want to impose their ideas on everyone else. They keep on raising a fuss until everyone gets with it the way they want it. The word “comfort” means to exercise gentle influence by words. In other words, these people have to be encouraged.

c) “Support the weak.” The word “support” means to exercise zealous care over the weak. There are two kinds of weak individuals among believers. First, new babies in Christ who haven’t learned doctrine yet, or are just in the process. They should be protected. This means keep them away from legalism, from asceticism, from bullying, from negativism, etc. Secondly, there is another kind of “weak” found in Romans 14:1, the believer who has been a believer for a long time but is still ignorant of doctrine. He is really a spiritual moron.

d) “Be patient” — exercise long-suffering toward all believers.

Verse 15 — e) “See that none render evil for evil” — the word “see” is a present imperative, it means keep on seeing to this. Don’t let Christians bully other Christians. The word “render” means to recompense or pay back. There are three categories in this regard: i. The devil’s man. He repays evil for good; ii. The world’s man. He repays evil for evil and good for good; iii. The Lord’s man. He repays good for evil. So to replace good for evil is to place injustice in the Lord’s hands instead of using natural laws of retaliation.

f) “follow that which is [always the ]good.” The word “follow” means to pursue or to chase. “Good” is good of intrinsic value, good which is always good, referring to doctrine.

“among yourselves” — among believers, “and furthermore to all,” to the unbeliever as well.

There are two points of introduction to the next section. First of all, Christian responsibility deals with phase two of God’s plan. God the Father is the author of the divine plan which is called operation grace and it deals with the human race. In phase one of the divine plan we have salvation. God has provided eternal life for all members of the human race by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in dying on the cross, taking our place, and becoming our substitute and sin bearer. Christ rose again, ascended, and is seated at the right hand of the Father; and with the doctrine of the session phase one comes to its conclusion. The executor of phase one is the Lord Jesus Christ. One minutes after we are saved we enter into phase two which is God’s plan for the believer in time. The executor of phase two is God the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer. The reason that He indwells every believer is because the Christian way of life is a supernatural way of life and demands a supernatural means of execution. Phase two ends for any Christian as of the point of death or resurrection, whichever takes place first. Then we enter into eternity which is phase three of the plan of God for the believer. The executor of phase three is God the Father. Every Christian alive on this earth in time has a purpose. We together represent the Son of God as His ambassadors on the earth.

Secondly, there is the subject of good verses evil. The Bible is very clear in its delineation of what is good and what is evil. God’s criterion, the scripture, is very clear in establishing the standard. But there is also a second factor which is generally ignored and yet clearly described in God’s Word, and that is good verses good. All good is not spirituality. There is a difference between that which is spiritual and that which is good. Many unbelievers are capable of performing good deeds. Many commendable things are accomplished by unbelievers and are all accomplished in the energy of the flesh or human power. All of this may be good but it is definitely not spirituality because an unbeliever cannot be spiritual. Before anyone can be spiritual he must first of all be born again. He must become a regenerate member of the human race. The responsibility of the Christian is in the realm of good which is executed in the power of the Holy Spirit as over against good which is executed in the power of the energy of the flesh. Any good thing which can be performed in the energy of the flesh is not the Christian way of life, the Christian way of life is a supernatural way of life executed in the power of the holy Spirit.

The seven principles of spirituality

1. Jesus Christ fulfilled the law — Matthew 5:17. The Mosaic law is divided into three parts. Codex #1 is called the moral law and this includes the ten commandments and other moral and ethical issues. Codex #2 is a complete shadow Christology, it pictures the Lord Jesus Christ presented through the Levitical offerings, through the holy days, the feasts, the tabernacle, and the modus operandi of the Levitical priesthood. The moral law proves that I am a sinner, the shadow Christology shows me the answer in the person of Christ. The third phase of the Mosaic law is a way of life for believers who accept Christ as saviour, a way of life which protects them during that particular time. Jesus did not set aside the moral commandments, He fulfilled Codex #1 by living a perfect life on earth. He fulfilled Codex #2 which was shadow Christology in that He executed everything that was declared in the shadows. With regard to Codex #3, once He was ascended and once phase two began on the day of Pentecost Jesus Christ provided a way of life which in every way was a supernatural way of life. It is impossible to execute the Christian life in the energy of the flesh.

2. Christ is the end of the law for all who believe, for those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in this age Christ is the end of the law — Romans 10:4; Galatians 5:18,23.

3. Since Christ has fulfilled the Mosaic law He has provided a new law as a substitute for the Mosaic law — Romans 8:2ff.

4. The new law is accompanied by a new commandment — Ephesians 5:18, “Be habitually filled with the Spirit.” Only as the believer is filled with the Spirit is the believer able to produce the righteousness of the law and execute the supernatural Christian way of life.

5. The purpose of the new law is to glorify the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. This means that our life has a purpose. But we cannot glorify Christ in the energy of the flesh, we can only glorify Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit; therefore we have a new commandment, “Be habitually filled with the Spirit.” Cf. Galatians 4:19. When the Holy Spirit controls the life of the believer the same characteristics are formed in us as were formed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and by means of the filling of the Spirit we glorify Christ by the reproduction of His character, even at the present time.

6. There is only one person who glorifies Christ and that is the Holy Spirit — John 16:14; 7:39.

7. Glorification is an inside job — 1 Corinthians 6:19,20.

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, as we are commanded to be, there are certain results. For example, other passages tell us about the production of the character of Christ — Galatians 5:22,23; the absorption of the Word — John 14:26; 16:12-15; guidance — Romans 8:14; assurance and confidence — Romans 8:14,15; worship — Philippians 3:3; prayer — Ephesians 6:18; witnessing for Jesus Christ — Acts 1:8.

Verse 16 — other results of the Spirit-filled life. “Rejoice evermore” — the shortest verse in the Greek in the New Testament. The word “rejoice” has a different meaning from what we think of today. This is not simply some sort of an ecstatic stimulation. In the Greek it is a word which means to have inner happiness at all times because of one’s relationship with the Lord. We are commanded to keep on having inner happiness — present tense: habitual; imperative mood: an order; active voice: subject produces the action of the verb — believer, you are the subject, you do it. Translation: “Keep on having inner happiness.” Your happiness as a Christian does not depend upon outer circumstances, pleasant surroundings, or some successful activity of your own.

The second word, “evermore”, is an adverb and it means at all times. When God the Holy Spirit controls the life of the believer you can have a perfect inner happiness, a perfect stability, at all times. And your happiness does not depend on circumstances.

Verse 17 — another result. “Pray without ceasing.” The word “pray” is present linear aktionsart, habitually pray, keep on praying. Middle voice: subject is benefited by the action of the verb. We are benefited by habitual prayer. Subjunctive mood: maybe you will and maybe you won’t. We miss one of the greatest blessings in life by our failure to spend time daily before the throne of grace. God in His Word speaks to us, we through prayer speak to Him. The Greek word for “without ceasing” is used for a hacking cough. How often does a hacking cougher cough? That is how often we should pray. It is an adverb, and the best we can do with it is Make it a habit of praying.

This means also that we should always be in a position to pray.

The nine reasons why prayer is not answered

1. Lack of faith — Matthew 21:22; 18:18-20; Mark 11:24.

2. Selfishness — James 4:2,3.

3. Carnality in general — Psalm 66:18.

4. Lack of compassion — Proverbs 21:13.

5. Lack of domestic tranquility — 1 Peter 3:7.

6. Pride or self-righteousness — Job 35:12,13.

7. Lack of the filling of the Spirit — Ephesians 6:18.

8. Lack of obedience — 1 John 3:22.

9. Non-compliability will the divine will — 1 John 5:14.

Verse 18 — “In everything give thanks.” Literally, “In all things give thanks.” Be thankful for the blessings of life, be thankful for the adversities of life. We are to thank the Lord for everything that comes into our life, and the reason is Romans 8:28.

“this is God’s will concerning you” — it is God’s will that we be thankful for everything. Why? because of verse 16, we have inner happiness in the midst of every circumstance of life.

Verse 19 — “Quench not the Spirit.” “Quench not” is present linear aktionsart, habitually quench not. This means to extinguish, to dampen, to hinder, to thwart. Don’t get in the Holy Spirit’s way. We do that by rebound when necessary.

Verse 20 — “Despise not prophesyings.” Don’t despise the Rapture of the Church, don’t despise the second advent, don’t despise the Tribulation, don’t despise the Millennial reign of Christ. Cf Revelation 19:10. The word “despise” in the Greek means “Don’t belittle. don’t make light of, don’t treat with scorn or contempt, don’t neglect, don’t disregard.” The word “prophesyings” is a noun which means the teaching of prophesy.

Verse 21 — “Prove all things.” The word “prove” means to test for the purpose of approval. How do you test for the purpose of approval when it comes to doctrine? First of all you listen. Then you check whether this fits with the rest of God’s Word. Then you put it in its proper category.

“hold fast that which is the good,” literally. That means doctrine.

Verse 22 — “Abstain from all appearance of evil” is a mistranslation. It should be “Abstain from every category of evil.”

Verse 23 — “The God who provides peace sanctify” — that means to set you apart — “wholly.” This means the whole of each of you be set apart, “spirit, soul, and body.” When they are, then you avoid every category of evil.

Verse 24 — “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” God’s faithfulness is based upon a principle: the doctrine of divine essence. The pertinent area of the essence box is immutability, which means unchangeableness. God cannot change and He is therefore faithful. So if God cannot change it means simply to us that He is always faithful to us who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is faithful in saving us, we can’t lose our salvation; He is faithful in keeping us, we cannot lose our eternal security; and He is faithful to us in phase two. Cf. 1 John 1:9; 2 Timothy 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 1 Corinthians 1:9;10:13; Hebrews 10:23; 1 Peter 4:19.

“he that calleth” is a present active participle, He keeps on calling people in this world. As long as there are members of the human race God is going to keep on calling. This is the presentation of the gospel to all members of the human race. And He who calls us is also the one who performs it. He performs for us salvation, He provides for us everything we need in phase two, and He has provided for us for all eternity. So “he will do it” also goes to phase three.

Faithfulness in this verse also has to do with dying grace. Remember that He will provide for you in your dying moments just as He provided for you in your living moments, and that after death you are going to enter into His presence where there is no more sorrow, no more tears, no more pain, no more death, the old things are passed away. God can never change His attitude toward the believer, He is faithful as of the moment of salvation. The calling has to do with the moment we receive Christ as saviour.

Verse 25 — God has seen fit to make us depend upon one another. This is the teamwork verse. The first word in this verse is “brethren” which means only believers should pray. This is a request to other members of the team. We are all on the same team and we are independent, we depend upon each other.

“pray” — present tense, keep on praying. it is in the imperative mood, an order. It is middle voice, the subject is benefited by the action of the verb. You personally will be benefited by praying.

“for us” — “us” refers to the ministerial team here: Paul and the members of his team.

Verse 26 — a holy kiss was simply a means of greeting. This did occur in the ancient world. There is a concept behind this, concept fellowship.

Verse 27 — teaching the Word. “I charge [command] you by the Lord that this epistle be analysed.”

“be read” — Paul did not get up and tell them to read this. The word for “read” means to analyse, to explain verses by verse, line by line. They are not going to get it all by simply skipping through it. In other words, this refers to teaching. The word is in the aorist tense, that is, at certain points of time. This should be analysed at the point of time of the worship services. Passive voice: the subject receives the action of the verb, the Thessalonians are to receive information from this epistle from the ministry of teaching. Then we have an infinitive which expresses purpose. It is the first purpose of a worship service to analyse, to study God’s Word — “unto all” is dative of advantage. It is for the advantage of believers to have an analysis of every book and every line of God’s Word.

Notice that while they are getting this they are no “brethren” any more, they are “holy brethren.” So if you want to know what constitutes holiness it is getting a little doctrine in the frontal lobe, not your overt behaviour pattern.

Verse 28 — the conclusion: concept grace. We don’t earn it, we don’t deserve it. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen [I believe it].” When you believe God’s Word you put it into action. When you put God’s Word into action you personally have peace and happiness and you become a source of blessing to all members of the human race. To the unbeliever you become a source of information regarding the gospel, to other Christians you become a source of comfort and blessing and stability and peace to them. You cannot lose, you cannot fail by using God’s Word for the Word of God never returns void.