Introduction

Good morning, everyone. Let us delve into the book of 1 Thessalonians. I intend to summarise these five chapters. If you wish to summarise, I suggest a good method: input the five chapters of 1 Thessalonians into an AI and ask it to summarise for you. It can provide an excellent summary. However, the problem arises that while the AI summarises well, your mind remains blank. It is not as if the AI's summary automatically enters your mind. You should summarise it yourself, just as the AI would.

I earnestly hope that brothers and sisters will cultivate a new habit. It is insufficient to merely listen. Those who only listen will not progress. I will demonstrate how to summarise. How should you summarise? Through sorting, abstracting, summarising, collating, and organising, your mind will remember.

Some say, "Teacher, I cannot remember." Why can't you remember? Because you have never abstracted, summarised, collated, or organised. You know, those who excel in learning, unless they possess special abilities, which are rare, solve these problems through abstracting, summarising, collating, and organising. After summarising, clarity emerges, an extraordinary clarity.

Do you know that whether I am preaching or conducting Bible study, I meticulously write my drafts? However, if I am elsewhere and someone asks, "Pastor, please share a passage," I immediately recall what is in my mind. The reason is simple: the contents of my mind are well-organised. Even if my memory is poor, I can retrieve my draft and share it again. Therefore, this habit of abstracting, summarising, collating, and organising is invaluable.

We had a brother who studied nanotechnology some years ago. After studying nano, he became nano himself. Upon graduation, he was unemployed because there were few opportunities in nanotechnology. Moreover, his knowledge seemed superficial. Unable to find work, I suggested he learn programming with me. Not to belittle him, but despite the large screen, he wrote little code. He lacked the ability to learn.

Five or six years have passed, and I am still reflecting on this. I found that his technical skills were lacking. Why? Because his learning was inadequate. What does inadequate learning mean? His ability to abstract, summarise, collate, and organise was too weak. I often found it particularly difficult for him to describe things clearly. Do we have such cases among us, where describing things clearly is difficult? If so, it means you have not mastered the skill.

How can you know if you have learned well or not? How can you know if you have understood or not? Can you describe the matter clearly? It is not that he cannot speak; he is fluent in Chinese, capable of telling jokes and tall tales. However, when he tries to explain what he has learned, he falters. Some might say, "Teacher, that is me." You are not alone. Therefore, if there are similarities, it is purely coincidental. Actually, it is not coincidental; it is a necessary coincidence because I have seen too many such cases. It is alarming to mention.

Like some brothers and sisters among us who say, "Teacher, I want to shepherd." I say, "Good, I will let you shepherd." I assign a small group leader and say, "Listen to what he says." He does not preach what we preach in the Chinese Mingding Doctrine. He preaches the rubbish he received from his previous church. I do not understand why he remembers that rubbish so well. Upon careful analysis and abstraction, those things are clearly nonsense.

A few days ago, a sister among us sent me a video. After watching it, I felt quite sad. Why? Because the video told the story of a worship team leader who experienced a series of tragic events. He had a condition where he would suddenly faint, fracturing his cheekbones. Oh my goodness! He had to undergo surgery for the doctors to piece his bones back together.

Therefore, I find that worship and praise are not very useful, so I abolished it. What do we do? We set the captives free and liberate the oppressed. Suddenly fainting is not a disease; it is a demon. You worship and praise all day long, focusing on inner life, but the demons will not leave.

Therefore, we must teach everyone how to be filled with the knowledge of God in their understanding. This learning ability is remarkable; it will truly make you smarter. How can you become smarter? By constantly realising, "I have not understood correctly; I do not fully understand." Some might say, "Let it be." Is that not foolish? It only leads to further foolishness.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, do not assume that you possess the truth. You may not possess the truth. Do not assume that what you are doing is correct. If you believe you are the embodiment of truth, that is terrible. A melodramatic tragedy will unfold in your life.

Therefore, I say again from the bottom of my heart, I earnestly hope that brothers and sisters can become smarter. How can you become smarter? You must become a learner. A self-righteous person is certainly a foolish person. What you think is far from the true nature of things and the laws of development. Much of what we learn needs to be scrutinised. Upon scrutiny, we find that it is not quite right.

How can you know that you are wrong? Look at the state of your life. Upon examining your life, you realise that the state is not right. When you look in the mirror, you do not see the image of God, so you need to change. Some might say, "Teacher, aren't you supposed to summarise 1 Thessalonians?" What I have said so far is to show you how important summarising is.

What is the main theme of 1 Thessalonians? The theme of the summary is "to make you completely holy." This is interesting. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul wrote many things praising the brothers and sisters of the Thessalonian church, but that is not the focus. It merely establishes a relationship, drawing us closer. Then, he shares some substance: "May you be completely sanctified." That is, you are not yet sanctified. If you were sanctified, there would be no need to be completely sanctified. He is not saying that you are already sanctified. Therefore, I want to summarise the first point.

A Newly Born Small Church Experiencing Persecution

The Thessalonian church was not large. Do not imagine that it had five thousand or three thousand members. No. How large was the Thessalonian church? At most, it was the size of a slightly larger living room, accommodating a few dozen people.

This newly born small church was experiencing persecution, which is bad. I ask you, will the feeling of persecution cause distress? It will cause distress, much distress. Moreover, Paul was on a path of persecution when he went to Thessalonica. They might have thought, "What is this faith? Should I continue to believe in this Lord? How can I believe in this way?" In fact, this persecution is part of being completely sanctified. Do not think that persecution is bad. This persecution immediately separates those who truly believe from those who falsely believe.

If the church has sausages, ham, and braised beef, without persecution, only good food and drink, what will happen? You will not be able to distinguish those who truly believe from those who do not. In Singapore, a brother told me, "Our Chinese ministry is thriving." I asked, "How many Chinese people are in your church?" He said, "More than forty." I asked, "When are there more than forty?" He said, "During the Spring Festival when we make dumplings." I asked, "How many attend services regularly?" He said, "Seven or eight." I asked, "How many give offerings?" He said, "One or two." I asked, "How many give tithes?" He said, "None." Why give offerings? Chinese people care about face, so they take out fifty cents and drop it into the offering bag. Some clever Chinese people, pretending to have earned a lot of money, reach into the offering bag, grab a handful, and take it out. They take out more than they give.
This newly born small church immediately separated the true from the false. Therefore, I tell you, I think persecution is good. Can braised beef distinguish true faith from false faith? Do they believe in braised beef or Jesus Christ? Are they eating braised beef or the flesh of Jesus Christ? Braised beef is far from becoming the flesh of Jesus Christ. If it were braised lamb, it might be closer. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God. But that is not quite right either.

This is a test of faith, but thank God! The Thessalonian church overcame it. I tell you, God is truly amazing. This persecution came fiercely but weakened and was dissolved by God. When Paul heard that their tribulation and persecution had dissipated, he was moved to tears. He had worried for a long time. "Oh, I preached the gospel to them, bringing them much trouble and persecution. I am truly sorry," he felt somewhat distressed. When Timothy returned from there, Paul was comforted. God is truly a God of comfort! The Thessalonians had overcome in the face of tribulation with faith.

Were the Thessalonians clear about their understanding of tribulation? Not really. I must tell you today, did the Thessalonians have faith? Yes, they had faith, very strong faith. However, their understanding of tribulation in their understanding was still vague. Therefore, Paul wrote to tell them.

In fact, throughout this process, I want to tell you that the fleshly will always persecute the spiritual. This is a natural logic. The fleshly is at enmity with God, while the spiritual takes God as God. This is the first thing.

A Newly Born Small Church Lacking Understanding of Shepherding

The Thessalonian church lacked a great deal of understanding of shepherding. They had only listened for two weeks. Our small group leaders listen to me every Monday, and I share a passage with them. Even after so many years, they still lack understanding. How could the Thessalonian church, established in two weeks, not lack understanding? Did they know what shepherding was? They did not know.

As a result, lacking an understanding of church shepherding, they did not know how to manage strictly. A church without strict management is like letting sheep roam freely. A church without strict management cannot thrive. Some people bully brothers and sisters in the church, some sell insurance, some engage in pyramid schemes, and some develop their organisations and recruit subordinates. Do you dare to manage them? Some bosses recruit workers in the church and then exploit them, turning the church into a small society. Do you dare to manage them? Why don't you dare to manage them? They do not know how.

Therefore, I tell you, our church certainly manages. Why must we manage? Must we not manage the shepherding of the church? I ask everyone, what kind of people enter the church? They are all fleshly people. What is shepherding for? Shepherding is for dealing with the flesh. If I do not deal with your flesh, you will deal with me. Of course, it is okay if you deal with my flesh. We deal with each other. We have a common goal, not to harm each other, but to put to death the evil deeds of the flesh. Therefore, shepherding is very important.

I tell you, ask any ordinary preacher what shepherding is, and they will not be able to explain it clearly. Let me tell you my understanding of shepherding. First, casting out demons and healing the sick is shepherding. Second, dealing with the flesh. Why? Because after casting out demons, if they are fleshly, the demons will return. Fleshly people naturally attract demons. To solve the problem completely, you must deal with the flesh. Whether you have cancer, ankylosing spondylitis, or whatever else, back pain, leg pain, or leg cramps, I tell you, many problems will naturally disappear for a spiritual person. So what do you do in shepherding? You make people completely holy. Is that not the work of the church?
Therefore, Paul wrote this letter in an interesting way. It is like my shepherding. Today, when I was shepherding someone, a sister was listening to how I shepherd. After listening, she said, "Teacher, you are too good at this." You establish a relationship, connect emotionally, and then what? Build faith, and then what? Deal with the flesh. Deal with the foolish things inside them. Therefore, healing, deliverance, and dealing with the flesh are the second point.

Thirdly, it is about preaching the word of God, so that people may know God and understand the truth. Fourthly, it is about solving their problems. If a person is delivered, demons are cast out, the flesh is dealt with, they know the word of God, and they fully understand God in their minds, and they have sufficient faith in their understanding, would they have many problems? No, they would not.

Then why do some people have so many problems? Firstly, they do not know God. Secondly, they are very carnal. Thirdly, they are very good at attracting demons. Isn't that deadly? Some people say, "Teacher, if I deal with the flesh, will I no longer be lazy?" Laziness is a fleshly thing, and dealing with laziness is dealing with the flesh.

Some say, "Teacher, why can't I finish dealing with it?" I think, when the Japanese devils come and capture you, that would be good. In the Japanese concentration camp, you would work honestly without any problems. Repairing railways? No problem. When the whistle blows in the morning, you get up. You couldn't get up before, but now, if you don't get up, the whip will come. You'll get up quickly. I ask you, where is the laziness then? It's gone. The Japanese devils' whip is more effective.

Don't say you are human. Even my dog knows if I beat it. When it sees me, it lowers its head. So I tell you, whether it's people or animals, "If a young tree is not pruned, it won't grow straight; if a person is not disciplined, they will be stubborn." So this shepherding is called discipline. Many churches are full of chaos because no one disciplines. Try that with me. I will discipline, I will definitely discipline.

Building a church requires clearing out the garbage. Not knowing how to clear out the garbage is like Peter building a church and suddenly having three thousand people, then five thousand people. As a result, all kinds of garbage came in, and it became a chaotic church. Later, Pharisees, Sadducees, and all sorts of people came into the church. After they came in, even James, who wrote the Book of James, didn't dare to discipline them, and neither did Peter.

I find it strange that Peter, the leader of the church, the top man, was afraid of those Pharisee Christians who came from Jerusalem. What kind of thinking is that? The church Peter built was like that. Did that kind of church have shepherding? No shepherding. Then you say he talks about shepherding in 1 Peter? If he himself didn't shepherd, and he tells you to shepherd well, I can't do it, can that work?

So not just anyone can mix into the church. Don't think that everyone is brought in by God. It's not just that God adds those who are saved to them every day, but the devil also adds garbage to them every day. Everyone needs to know that many companies, you take a car and I take a car, you build a house and I build a house, and then everyone competes in the same market. What do you find? Smearing, throwing mud, right? Yes. The church is the same. The devil sees it and says, "Great, you go too, join their church. You go too, join their church." As a result, a group of chaotic demons came.

Sometimes I tell a joke, don't take it too seriously. You go into a church and look up, oh my, it's all weasels, not sheep. Shepherding a group of weasels. Looking down, it's like opening a zoo, with hedgehogs, all prickly, and monkeys with sharp mouths and cheeks, horses, weasels, everything. And the sheep? The sheep have all been eaten by them. One sheep is missing today, another is missing tomorrow. Where did they go? They were eaten. If you mix them together, they will all be eaten.

It's the same with raising fish in a fish tank. If you raise a few fierce fish and then put another fish in, that fish won't survive the night. So the shepherding of the church is to shepherd God's flock, not to shepherd a zoo. This is the second point. The small church didn't understand this, so Paul wrote about what to do and what not to do. Thirdly, they didn't know that shepherding requires emotion. So Paul wrote many words, and if you read them carefully, you will find that Paul is very good at building emotions and relationships. Then, he encouraged the Thessalonians to imitate the Apostle Paul and imitate Jesus Christ. That's how it is. Thank God! The Book of Thessalonians is full of emotion. This shepherding is also an emotion.

A Newborn Small Church's Lack of Knowledge of God.

You will find that the Thessalonians have faith, right? They have faith. But their knowledge of God is just beginning. How much do they know? A little bit, a tiny bit. They don't know how to please God. Do people need to work? Is working loving the world? What is the relationship between working and loving the world? They don't know. I tell you, those who don't work may love the world, and those who work may not love the world as much. So it is necessary to encourage the Thessalonians to do honest work, to find honest work to support themselves so as not to be poor, to do honest things.

I often see Christians confused about this. Are we still confused today? If we are still confused, I have to encourage you to do honest things. This is not what I said, this is what Paul said in the Bible. If you don't do honest things, something will definitely happen. So doing honest things has nothing to do with loving the world.

Then, they are not clear about what salvation is all about. They are not clear about sanctification either. They are quite interested in the Lord's return, but they don't have a rigorous attitude towards studying the Lord's return. So Paul went to Berea. He said that the people there were more noble than the Thessalonians because they carefully examined the Scriptures, which at that time was the Old Testament, to see if what the Apostle Paul said was true or not. So the Thessalonians actually did not have a rigorous attitude towards studying, which is a problem that Paul wanted to highlight because they did not have enough knowledge of God.

So they saw God's curse and thought that God was a very evil God because God is a God who disciplines people. People must know that those who do evil all day long will definitely be punished. God is a God of retribution. Our God both sends disasters and gives blessings. Our God both curses and blesses. Our God keeps His covenant and shows loving-kindness to those who love Him. Our God will punish the sins of those who hate Him, from father to son, to the third and fourth generations. Many Christians don't know this. The Thessalonians also didn't know this.

In a small church, what is God like? They discuss what God is like there. Is God a Trinity, with three heads? Or one body? Three bodies? One head? What is it? Three heads and six arms, isn't that Nezha? So the entire Thessalonians were in this kind of situation.

Then I have to tell everyone that the logic of the Trinity has been around for a long time. But I am a person who examines the Bible. I read it carefully and I didn't read out what the Trinity is all about. Later, someone wrote a book called "The True God of the Trinity." Later I found out that there are also evil gods of the Trinity. It's not that the Trinity is the true God. There are many things that are the Trinity.

So this matter, the Thessalonians may have fallen into this kind of confusion. How do Christians fall into confusion? They just talk nonsense: "Oh, the Lord is coming, what's going on?" How did people die? They just believed in the Lord for a few weeks, and then someone who believed in the Lord died. They are very confused and also confused about the Lord's coming. So these problems will bring great trouble to a newly established church. So in the past few years, we have encouraged everyone to strive to pursue. Don't talk nonsense, don't mess around. If you mess around in a muddle-headed way, it will be troublesome.
We must strive to pursue to fully know God in our understanding. This is Paul's theology. You just believed in the Lord for two weeks and you think you are a saint? There is no such thing. I tell you, there is a very clear thing in the Apostle Paul's letters, which is a drawback that many Christians commit today. That is, many people talk nonsense to each other: "Oh, what year did you believe in the Lord?" "I was baptized in 2012 and received grace and salvation." Is there such a thing? I don't think it looks like it. Who saved you? This is a very strange logic.

In fact, the Thessalonians also had this kind of logic. They believed in the Lord, were saved, and could go to heaven after death, and then they messed around and talked nonsense. I ask you, what do you believe in Jesus for? They don't know, with a confused look on their faces, they don't know anything, and they do whatever they want. If there is a group of such people in the church, isn't that very sad?

So brothers and sisters, start striving to pursue from today. Paul wrote here, and I have made a general summary. First, a newborn small church is experiencing persecution, and Paul wants to explain it to them. Second, a newborn small church lacks knowledge of shepherding, that is to say, they lack knowledge of building a church. Third, a newborn small church lacks knowledge of God.

In fact, we all need to adjust ourselves in this way. Some people say, "Teacher, I have believed in the Lord for three years." Believing in the Lord for three years is just the beginning. Then some people have believed in the Lord for ten years, and they have eaten more salt than you have eaten rice. So they become stupid. What can believing in the Lord for ten years prove? It proves nothing. So it is necessary to have a rigorous attitude towards studying and to have a very clear understanding of these things.

God did not predestine us to suffer punishment, but God predestined us to be saved through Jesus Christ. This path of salvation has just begun. So let's summarize the whole thing and re-recognize the Apostle Paul's theological concept. It turns out that Paul's theological concept is to be completely sanctified in Jesus Christ. This is very similar to what we say today, that we can live out the image of God, or even identical, a wonderful harmony!

So let's brothers and sisters start to understand Paul's theological concepts and carefully look at Paul's theological concepts. Then we know that it is like this. Then I will tell everyone, did Paul write about worship and praise in the Bible? Did he discuss worship and praise in detail? Rarely. He discussed in detail knowing God in understanding.

This is what I later felt, that even today, the church still has many problems. Why do they have problems? Because they don't read the Bible much. Oh, I am very emotional. It's not that people don't know, everyone knows. Even if a very large church of ten thousand people is built, I tell you, many times there is no Bible study, just preaching a sermon on Sunday, worship and praise, and then prayer.

If such a church can solve people's problems, I also thank God, but there is really a lack of knowledge of God in understanding. It's not because our church studies the Bible so much that we boast about anything. But I tell you, it's not Bible study that is worth boasting about, but fully knowing God in understanding is our daily pursuit. And it's still far from enough.

So re-recognizing the Apostle Paul's theological concepts, this is a very general summary of 1 Thessalonians. But I think my summary may not be so good. But now I see, oh, I understand, 1 Thessalonians is talking about these things. It turns out that if faith is very strong, as strong as the Thessalonians, then this faith should be used to fully know God, to build the church, and to shepherd. Then I tell you that faith cannot replace understanding. In fact, the Apostle Paul's faith is a faith that has sufficient understanding.

May God bless everyone!

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