FINALLY AND FAREWELL
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Opening Prayer
Father, use the truth of your Word to sanctify me and make me better able to serve you.
Read 1 THESSALONIANS 5:12–28
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Final Instructions
12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us. 26 Greet all God’s people with a holy kiss. 27 I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Reflect
Imagine you are saying farewell to dear friends. What would you say to them? What might they say to you?In these final verses, Paul instructs the Thessalonians to continue living the Christian life. In verses 12–15, Paul addresses issues of their attitude toward their leaders and community life. How might these instructions help a church now to avoid division, particularly in times of change?
Paul then turns to maintaining holy attitudes in the face of suffering (vv. 16–22). What three holy habits does Paul tell them to cultivate and why (vv. 16–18)? They are to avoid quenching the Holy Spirit by treating prophecies with contempt and must reject every kind of evil (vv. 19–22). Holding on to good (v. 21) was essential for living out these holy habits.
Paul follows with a prayer for peace and holiness (vv. 23, 24). He knew that they might be tempted to give up under stress and suffering. How would verse 24 have encouraged them?
Finally (vv. 25–28), Paul asks them to pray for him and his co-work- ers. He assumes that they will know what to pray for. The ‘holy kiss’ (v. 26) was a well-established practice in the early church, symbolizing the strength of their relationships with each other. Paul finishes as he began (see 1:1), with a blessing of grace.
Apply
Choose one of these verse sections. Pray through the verses either for yourself or for your church community.
Closing prayer
Father, thank you for your Word that teaches me how to live in ways that please you and for your covenant promises that give me reason to live a life of worship.
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