"We Are Appointed" By Brother Parrish Lee July 30th,
2017
You may be seated. Giving honor to God, who is the Head of our lives. What a wonderful time, what a wonderful time in the Lord. Giving honor to You, Almighty God. You are the Head of our lives. Giving honor to You, and Your mercy, and Your compassion, and Your Grace towards us, Your longsuffering, Your peace, and Your love, God. Where would we be without You? Giving honor to You. And giving honor to all those who have gone on before us, throughout the Word, throughout the world, and in this ministry, who have paved the way. Giving honor to all of them, our founding pastor, he and his family, and our pastor, he and his family, and all those who have come to stand in the gap to make up the hedge. And, giving honor to all of y'all, who present yourselves before just the One true and wise God, saying, “Lord, I present myself to You, that You might give me my daily bread. Amen. We have been blessed, well, we have been blessed this month to be able to go over the Book of First Thessalonians. And, our Scripture verse, actually, our Scripture theme for the month, it's from the Book of First Thessalonians chapter two, verse twelve:
1 Thessalonians 2:12 That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.
And, what a wonderful time this has been in God. And, today, the fifth Sunday of the month, is for chapter five, chapter five. And, to read our Scripture theme for today, I'd like to ask Brother Rob Severance if he would come, and to read from First Thessalonians chapter five, verses one and two:
1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
Thank you, Brother Rob. Don't go too far; I'm going to be calling on you to help me read today. If we could bow our heads for just a moment. Lord, God, Almighty, who is like You in all the world, in all the Earth, in our minds, everywhere? There is none like You, Almighty God. We thank You for all that You have given to us, all that You have blessed us with. God, from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, we are blessed, blessed. We thank You for coming all the way from Heaven's throne to pay the price that none could pay, and that we might be redeemed back unto You. And we ask, God, as You poured out Your blessing today, God, in every way possible, we ask for a blessing, even now, on the reading of Your Word, that it might nurture us, that it might heal us, that it might do in our lives what You would have for it to do, for You sent Your Word not to return unto You void, but that it would surely accomplish that to which You sent it. And this we expect, we claim this in Jesus' name, and everyone said, amen. Amen. We're pretty excited about this, you know we've gone over so much in Thessalonians. I hope everybody's gotten a blessing; I've gotten a huge, huge, huge blessing, but I hope that everyone has gotten the blessing that God would have for you. And, you know what? God gives you a gift—you ever get a gift, maybe it was re-gifted or something, a gift that wasn't all that great for you? God ain't like that. When God gives you a gift, you don't even know the boundaries of how much of a blessing it is. Sometimes you think it was only for a certain period of time; you realize you keep getting blessed by that blessing days and weeks and months, sometimes years later, years later. I could speak about that, but we're not going to, this morning, but we are going to talk from the Book of First Thessalonians. And, to paint just a little bit of a stage, this, the Thessalonians, this was a newer church. Apostle Paul had gone around and he was establishing churches. This was the heed of the Macedonian call. This was one of the places that he visited that he got a chance to see the church being born. So, it's a relatively new church. He's putting a lot of lessons out, and this is at a time of the Roman Empire, the Roman Empire. And, as you can imagine, we've heard many stories about the Roman Empire, but, if you didn't go along with whatever the edicts were from Rome, you were in trouble. You didn't have any other appeal to go to. Rome was it. And then, of course, the Gospel came. And the Gospel was a Kingdom that superseded your eyes, your vision, what was in front of you, that could be ascribed to, that surpassed even this life. And Rome didn't have much to do with that. They could attack the flesh, but they couldn't quench the Spirit. And, so, as we go over this, we want to have that as a setting. Verse number one—we're not going to be able to go over the whole thing; after all, it's already the time that it is, and, this is a long chapter. People have dedicated and devoted much full time of their lives, there are whole courses given on this. And you could spend all day long on any one of the verses here; you could spend all week on any one of the verses here. So, this is to be an overview, and, if you would, instruction and, at a point, ammunition. Well-equipping for those of us. Verse number one:
1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
Christians, Christians are not supposed to overtaken by the things that's going on in the world. Christians are not supposed to be the ones who fall to everything that comes along in life. Christians aren't supposed to be the weaklings of the time. And why? Because, number one, that we believe the Lord is coming again, number two, we believe in the day of Judgment, when all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and we believe that Christ, as we give account to Him, we believe that the devil has a stake in this matter, and he's after us, and we also believe greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. We believe that there is no failure in God. We believe that there's nothing is too hard for God. Christians believe that. So, we're not supposed to be taken by surprise. We're not supposed to be caught unawares, and we're not supposed to be found helpless. Verse number three:
1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
This is why Christians watch. Because the attitude you want to hear is peace and safety, and everything's going to be okay. But the Bible says, the Bible says, sudden destruction is out there. And we see God working in our lives and the lives of those around us. And this is not our message today, but, this has got to be said. A few weeks ago I heard of this company in Sweden, and, this company in Sweden, they came up with the idea that, You know what? People are getting into their company by—what do you call it—tailgating? They had people that didn't have the proper I.D. to get into their building, and they had some highly classified, secretive stuff, stuff that they didn't want everybody else to know. And companies have that, they have that within their companies. They don't want their secrets out. Coca-Cola defended, all the way to the Supreme Court, their secret to the formula for their soda. But this company in Sweden, said, “We have an idea. Because people lose their ID's, and they lose their money, and they lose all kinds of information, we need to have it a certain way where they won't lose it anymore.” And they came up with the idea to have a microchip. And they said, “We'll make it real simple. We'll just implant it, right in their right hands. So, no matter where you go, you can just swipe to get into the building. Your hand's always with you. You'll never lose your hand, hopefully.” And they also said, “For those of them who say, 'That is too bothersome,' they also will be able to put it in their forehead. You'll be able to have that.” And, on that little microchip, it will have all the information you need. It will have your information to be able to get into the building, but, it will also allow you to buy in the cafeteria, and to go to company bank, and be able to put money in and take money out. And, also, it will have your medical records on there, And you'll be able to have your security clearance on there. They'll be able to know what levels of the building you can get to. This little microchip in Sweden. And I thought, “That's dangerous! Any Christian would be alarmed at that! Oh, but we ain't got to worry about that, you know, because, it won't be coming to this country. After all, we've got a lot of Christians in this country.” The Scripture that Christians would go to, from the Book of Revelation, chapter thirteen, verses sixteen and seventeen, the Bible says:
Revelation 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
And I thought, “Wow! That is really setting the stage for something, but, we in America, we won't have to worry about that, because we're going to be on our arms. We know the Bible; we're a Bible-based nation, of course we're not going to stand for that. And, then—that was two weeks ago—last week a brother sent me a text, on my phone, with a link, saying that they're doing this same thing in Wisconsin, in Wisconsin. A chip in their hand. It didn't say about the chip in your forehead, but the stage is being set. Now, you're saying, “Oh, Brother Parrish, are you saying that's the mark of the beast, right there?” Not necessarily. What I'm saying is, the stage is being set, that the Christians would not be caught unawares, unawares. And that isn't the message today. It could be; but it's not.
1 Thessalonians 5:4-5 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
Whether you know or not, whether you feel it or not, whether you believe it or not, you are a child of the day, a child of the knowledge of what God has for His people. Verse number six:
1 Thessalonians 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
Watch and be sober. Let's skip on down to verse number eight:
1 Thessalonians 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
If you're of the day, be sober. Don't be drunk with the things of the world. And you can be drunk off of a lot of stuff. I think we know that. There's some people who listen to—what is that station?—CNN, MSNBC, and Fox all day, all week; they can't get enough. And that's what their conversations are about. You can be drunk off of politics; is the point. But you don't have to be drunk off of politics; you can be drunk off any of the things of the world, and, yes, you can be drunk off of the vices of the world. Yes, it is talking about every vice that holds God's people, that comes and tries to get God's people. Everything from drugs to alcohol. Yes, be sober, because we are children of the day. And it absolutely means to be careful and circumspect in our speech and in our actions. To watch and be sober—to be careful and circumspect in our speech and in our actions. Putting on the breastplate of faith, the breastplate of faith. Now, he specifically says—he's talking to the Thessalonians. The Thessalonians, they are a relatively new church, and these things, they have to—you know, we've been around for a while, but, this new church needed to learn how to hold this Gospel. He said, the breastplate; they know what a breastplate is, because they've seen Romans before. The breastplate is that which protects your vital organs, because, if you take a hit in your vital organs, yeah, you're pretty much going to be a goner. They didn't have that intrinsic surgery way back then. So, put on the breastplate of faith and love. Now, putting is an action. This, specifically, he says to put it on, you put this on. And, this that is supposed to be your protection to your vital organs, he makes that analogy, this is supposed to be whatever is vital to your Christianity, you protect that. What is vital to you staying a Christian, you protect that. And, how do you protect that? By your faith, and by your love . By your faith, and by your love you protect it. And then he says, “an helmet.” “Breastplate of faith, and an helmet, the hope of salvation.” “For an helmet, the hope of salvation.” And, we all know, we all know, that your helmet protects your head. I mean, this is not something that is foreign to us, but, he was saying, “Let the hope of salvation protect your mind, let it protect your thoughts.” And this is easy to see, this is easy to see, because, you know, sometimes, you get in a little trouble, and the devil comes along—well, maybe not you, but, me, the devil might tempt me—put it on me, “You don't want anybody to know what you did. You might as well just tell a little lie, a little lie...” But Christians know that every lie stands before God. So your mind is protected when the devil says, “Tell a little lie. Steal a little something.” “Well, devil, that sounds good, but I'm protected in my thoughts with the hope of salvation. I'm hoping about this being saved thing.” “Oh, you know what? You can go ahead and entertain a little lust.” “Lust sounds good and pride sounds good. It's good to be jealous, and I want to have some vengeance, but my mind and my thoughts are protected about being saved. I can't give heed to that because I've got Heaven on my mind. Oh, and when I think of the goodness of Jesus and all He has done for me. When I think of, when I think of it in my mind, my soul cries out, 'Later, devil. Get thee behind me, devil. No place here, devil. Full up, devil, no vacancy, devil.'” The hope of salvation for a helmet. Protecting your mind, yes, protecting your thoughts. Being, when your tempted, it runs back to, “I'm saved, devil!” And verse number nine:
1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, [and that is the title of the message today: We Are Appointed. The title of the message: We Are Appointed. God hath not appointed us to wrath,] but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
This is the second time in this letter that he uses people being "appointed." The first time was in chapter three, when he mentioned the Apostles were appointed to affliction, they were appointed to affliction. Here he says that God hath not appointed us to wrath. And these, even though they are the same word, they don't have the same origin. The 'appointed' that's used in chapter three, that's talking about setting something in place so it can be used right away. But this is a passive 'appointed,' this is talking about waiting for something to happen. We know this, we know this. Because there are things that we have that we want to use right away, it has a purpose, and its purpose is coming up immediately. And there are other things that we know we're going to get to; we know we're going to use, but the time is not yet. So, even though it says appointed, he says, “God has not appointed us to wrath, God has appointed us unto salvation.“ And we make the point that, in this life, many things are divinely appointed. From the Book of Genesis, chapter eighteen, and verse number fourteen:
Genesis 18:14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
So, there is a time for life. There is a time to bear children. There is a time for birth. The Book of Numbers, chapter nine, verse number two:
Numbers 9:2 Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season.
There is a season for Passover. There is a season of forgiveness. There is a season for the blood of Christ applied to our lives. There is a time appointed for that. The Book of First Chronicles, chapter six, forty-eight:
1 Chronicles 6:48 Their brethren also the Levites were appointed unto all manner of service of the tabernacle of the house of God.
There is a time appointed to serve and worship God! There's a time to be in the sanctuary. There's a time to serve Him, in the House of His. Job chapter seven and verse number one:
Job 7:1 Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?
We have an appointed time while we're here. This time—my time is appointed. God knows what that time is. I don't. I'm trying to make it longer. I'm going to do some things to try to stretch that thing out. But God knows the appointed time that I have, that all of us have. We have an appointed time. Job chapter fourteen, and verse fourteen:
Job 14:14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
I have a time appointed to be changed. Hallelujah! A time appointed to be changed. So, it says God has not appointed us to wrath, what are we appointed to? We are appointed to obtain salvation. We are appointed to that. Yes, there are many appointings, but we are appointed unto salvation. Where you at, Brother Rob? Come on back up. I'd like for you to read verses ten, eleven, and twelve:
1 Thessalonians 5:10-12 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 ye do. And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
Thanks, Brother Rob. Let's go to verse twelve: “And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;” Specifically, now, see, once again, this was a newer church, a younger church, if you will, and there were things that it was important and necessary for them to know. These things help make your ministry successful. These things perpetuate life and growth in ministry. “...know them that labor among you...” And, when he says, 'know,' here, it specifically means both to consider and to understand. Know them, consider them, and understand them. And this is easy to figure out. Because, it's so easy, I mean, whether we work, or whether we have family, whether we have friends, we have to know the character and the state, how your friends, how your family, how your co-workers are. Now, if you know that some of them don't eat pork, don't give them a ham sandwich. What is that going to do? You know them that labor among you. If you know they can't stand balloons popping around them, then you know if you pop a balloon around them, you know it's going to get up right next to them. Some people it's—yeah--chalk on a chalkboard, whatever. And I'm being a little facetious about this whole thing, but, the important part is to know them, consider them, understand them to have successful ministry. And he says, them that labor among you, them that do the work in ministry. And we have many areas of ministry that we're talking about this. If somebody works with the youth group, know them that labor among you. If somebody works with the praise and worship team, if somebody works with the ushers group, if somebody works with any facet of ministry, those that labor in the ministry, in the evangelical heart, know them that labor among you. And every, every, every bit of labor in the church, every bit of labor in the church is important. Every bit of labor in the church is important. Here, specifically, he goes on to talk about those who are in leadership. And he goes on to say, in verse number thirteen:
1 Thessalonians 5:13 And to esteem them very highly in love [Why? So they can get a big head. Esteem them highly in love so that they can think that they're over everybody else. Esteem them highly so that they can be as big as any other church around. Esteem them highly, the Bible says, here, in love:] for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves.
Honestly, this is where some people in ministry get off track. It's all about love. It's all about the love of God in ministry. That's what it's all about; that's what it's all about. It's not about being able to bring roses and meat at somebody's feet, and kissing their feet, and—I can't imagine that—but, it's not about that. It's about the work's sake, the work of the Lord's sake. That's what it's about, that the work be not hindered, that the work of the Lord might go forth, that more souls might be added to His kingdom. And verse number fourteen:
1 Thessalonians 5:14-15 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil...
Each one of these verses, I hope we see, we could spend far more time than we have here, today.
1 Thessalonians 5:15-16 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore.
Easily, you could spend the rest of the week talking about rejoice forevermore. Because of the great things that God has done in your life, you want that to come out, rather than complaining and squeal evermore. And, verse seventeen:
1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
“Pray without ceasing.” When I first looked at that, as a young Christian, I thought, “Man, that is one hard thing to look at. Pray without ceasing? How can anybody pray without ceasing? Your knees would be hard.” But, you know what? You don't have to be on your knees for all your prayers. You have to be on your knees for some of your prayers. If you have a physical condition, can't get on your knees, then in your attitude should be on your knees. You have to be on your knees for some of it. “Pray without ceasing. How in the world can that be accomplished? It's hard to pray, let alone without ceasing.” I heard this story, yesterday, they were talking about the Bears. The Bears had a practice, and, I don't know if y'all know this, but the Bears got a new quarterback. I'm a Raven's fan, so... So the Bears have a new quarterback, and he wasn't doing so good in practice, he wasn't doing so good in practice. Yeah, this is getting to a point. I'm not making fun of the Bears; I could, but I'm not. So, he wasn't doing so good in practice. And they interviewed him afterwards. The first half of practice, he was missing the snaps, he couldn't get the ball out, he didn't know how to throw it properly. And they interviewed him, and they said, “What was the cause of you having a problem with the first practice? You got in tune, as practice went on, in the second half, but, in the first half, you didn't give us a lot of hope.” And he said, “Well, the truth is, I can't take any days off. If you're supposed to be a quarterback, you've got to be ready to show up. I can't take any days off. I have to have this on my mind all the time. They're looking for it from me.” That's what he said. And, I heard the story of a prominent, prestigious musician. And, as they were interviewing him, they asked him, “Why do you practice every day?” And he said, "I'll tell you why I practice every day. Because, if I miss a day of practice I can tell. But,if I miss two days of practice, all my critics, the ones who know music, they can tell. But, if I miss three days of practice, the audience, they can tell.” So, it doesn't matter, Saints, if you're the quarterback of an NFL football team, or if you're a prestigious musician, or if you're a child of the most high God, you have to be in the game all the time; you have to be ready. You have to be ready, for that is what we are appointed to. Verse number eighteen:
1 Thessalonians 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Thankfulness in every thing: this is the will of God. That could be the entire message. Thankfulness in every thing: this is the will of God. If you find yourself not being thankful, you've got to know, somewhere along the line, God's will ain't going on if I'm not showing some sort of thankfulness. You've got to let it come up in your mind. And this is what he's sharing with the Thessalonians: Christians get thankful. And, verse number nineteen:
1 Thessalonians 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.
“Quench not the Spirit.” “Quench not the Spirit.” “Quench not the Spirit.” The Bible says that in the latter days God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh. And the Lord Jesus said that which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of Spirit is spirit. We quench the spirit when something of God doesn't mesh with something of our flesh, and we go to choose the something of our flesh over the something of God, we begin to quench the Spirit. Some years ago, when I was much younger and a much younger Christian, we were having a wonderful worship service, and I thought it was great. The worship service was great, the preaching in the service was great, and, afterwards, we were having some fellowship, and one of the brothers, who was a Children's Church teacher, we were all together, and he said, “Man,”—I was saying how great service was—you know, I get to talking sometimes, and the brother said, “Well, we had a really great time in Children's Church, too, and it was amazing!” And l looked at him—as I said, I was much younger in the faith—and I looked at him, and I said, “Well, it couldn't possibly compare to what we had in adult church; I mean, it was off the chain.” And a brother there—thank God for brothers and sisters who have a Godly countenance, and a Godly heart, and a Godly mind—a brother there withstood me, and he said, “I don't think that's right, Brother Parrish. The same God who blessed in this service is the same God who blessed in that service. He is not divided. He does hold back His blessings on one group over another group. It is the same God!” Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I learned a real important lesson from that: To not quench the Spirit by thinking that the ministry of my brother might be, in any way, lesser than whatever my ministry might be or might have been. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! It is God who blesses, and He chooses how He's going to bless! That's God! And, then, going along with that same thing, and I've got to say this one, because, there was a woman, who was just, she was in love with the Word. And she would just grab another sister, or younger ladies of the church, or even not even in the church, she would just have Bible study with them. She was having a Bible study, and she was going over some Scriptures, and a brother, he kind of got a little insecure about his ability to teach, because she was so zealous. And he listened to part of her Bible study, and he came back, and he waited to talk to a group of guys, and he said, “Yeah, I listened to part of her study, and, you know what? She ain't as good as I am.” True statement! Thank God for some brothers who had the mind of the Lord, and he said, “Bro, that is not right! That spirit you have, that is not right. If you think that God gave you something so that you could be over people, that's not God! God is blessing her study like He blesses your studies. And, God, if He gave it, He can take it away.” Hallelujah! Hallelujah that there is just one God. And the point: Quench not the Spirit. Quench not the Spirit. How do we make sure, how do we make sure that we know the Spirit? Three things, three things: Number one: Spend more time with the Spirit. Spend more time with the Spirit. Number two: The Bible says to try the spirits to see whether they be of God. Try the Spirits, spend more time with the Spirit, and, Number three: 1 John 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: If that Spirit is talking about the goodness of Jesus, if that Spirit is talking about how God good to him, how much more He is doing for him, they may not be completely right. There are people who—I was talking to some people, just at work, I was talking to some people, “Well, you can tell a little white lie.” I said, “No, you can't.” “Well, I don't really know the ways of God, I only know God has brought me a mighty long way.” That's true, no matter who you are; God has brought you a mighty long way. “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God...” confessing that God is who has done these things. And, yes, there are many Apollos's out there. There are many Aquila's and Priscilla's in church work who have to go to those Apollos's and expound unto them the way of the Lord more perfectly. Verse number twenty-two:
1 Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
“Abstain from all appearance of evil.” Why? Because we are His ambassadors. We are the light of the world. People look to us, and expect to see some sort of representation of the Lord that we serve. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And, lastly, verses twenty-three and twenty-four:
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
Amen. Can we give the Lord a praise?
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