Here we are at the end
of 1 Thessalonians in our series “Follow Christ. He Comes!” But before we
start, let’s ask God’s blessing on our time in the word and then we’ll jump in
together.
Father, I do praise You
that we need no more than Christ. The work is finished, we can do nothing else.
Thank You for Your word that equips us for every good work and is profitable
for righteousness, instruction, correction, and reproof. Father, I just
pray that You will bless our time in Your word, that You would teach us, and
that we would have open ears and receptive hearts. In Jesus’ name, amen.
So, like I said, here
we are at the end of 1 Thessalonians. Paul at this point has his pompoms
out cheering on the Thessalonian believers who have worked so hard and faced
tireless persecution to keep on follow Christ. But he has a few final
instructions and prayers for the believers before he ends this short letter.
I told someone yesterday that this feels a bit like a “shotgun” message… he
gets it out and shoots and just sprays everything.
Starting in verses
12-15 Paul has three categories of attitudes and actions that he wants us to
follow, the first of which is in our relationships. And he starts off
with our relationships with church leaders and elders.
But we request of you,
brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have
charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them
very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another. – 1
Thessalonians 5:12-13
So we see that the
elders are worthy of respect because they diligently labor among us. That Greek
word translated “labor” has the idea of an occupation, growing tired or weary in effort. The
Greek word for “among” is translated into just about every preposition you can
imagine in the English language, most commonly among, in, with, by—so we get
the idea that we are their area of work, but you also get the idea that they
work alongside us. We also see that they have charge over us
and that their authority is from the Lord and wielded on His behalf.
Their work is the Lord’s work. And what is their work? It is to give us
instruction (admonition), which includes warning us of danger, exhorting
us—teaching us what to do instead of falling into the danger—or even gently
reproving us—correcting us when we do stray.
Paul says that we
should esteem them very highly in love because of their work. It’s not
easy, there is constant spiritual warfare. Even just preparing this
teaching, Satan does not like it when people prepare sermons. It seems
like every week I teach, or the week leading up to it I just get bombarded,
whether it’s busyness, or attacks on my walk, or trying to distract me.
It’s not easy. I Timothy 5:17 says, “The elders who rule well are to be
considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching
and teaching.” Another passage that addresses this is I Peter 5:
Therefore, I exhort the
elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ,
and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of
God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily,
according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor
yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be
examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive
the unfading crown of glory. You younger men, likewise, be subject to your
elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for
GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.—I Peter 5:1-5
Elders should serve
voluntarily. This doesn’t necessarily mean without pay, but we shouldn’t
just draft someone and say “You’re an elder now.” There should be a call
of God. They shouldn’t lord it over others, but be examples to the
flock. Leaders are to lead in humility. James 3:1 says, “Let not
many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a
stricter judgment.” I heard that not long before giving my first sermon,
and it scared the snot out of me. I’m under an extra amount of judgement
because I’m teaching and a greater amount of responsibility to make sure that
what I teach is Biblically grounded.
Hebrews 13 talks about
our response to our leaders:
Remember those who led
you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their
conduct, imitate their faith. ... Obey your leaders and submit to them, for
they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do
this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. –
Hebrews 13:7, 17
But then we move on to
the other aspect of our relationships, and that is mutual ministry among
believers:
Live in peace with one
another. We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the
fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. - 1 Thessalonians
5:13-14
Now, I only have one
child so far, but I know from my parents, the most difficult times for them
seemed to be when my brothers and I were arguing and bickering and
complaining—when we were not living in peace. So, Paul says, “Live in
peace, brothers and sisters, so that your elders can rejoice.”
But returning to the
work of ministry, this is not just for leaders and elders. We see this in
churches all across America. Unfortunately, it’s a common theme to think that
the elders are supposed to do all the work. But Paul implied Ephesians
4:11-12 that the work is for everyone. He said, “And He gave some as
apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors
and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the
building up of the body of Christ.” Elders equip the saints for the work
of service, which is the building up of the body of Christ. One Anglican
church bulletin reads this way:
Rector: His Name
Associate Rector: His
Name
Assistant Rector: His
Name
Ministers: Entire
Congregation
It’s not just the
elders or the leaders, all believers are to be engaged in ministry. And we see
that the charges in I Thessalonians 5:14 aren’t given to church leaders.
They are given to the body. So what should the body be doing? We
should be admonishing the unruly. The Greek word for unruly here has the
idea of a soldier who has stepped out of line, or is derelict of duty.
He’s idle. Paul seems to be focused on idleness with the Thessalonians as
he addresses this issue 3 times in I and II Thessalonians. In I
Thessalonians 4:11 he gives the command to believers to work with their hands.
II Thessalonians 3:6 says to keep away from being unruly or idle, and II Thessalonians
3:11 is a statement against leading an undisciplined life.
We are also supposed to
encourage the fainthearted, those who are easily discouraged, or who tremble
easily. The Greek literally means “little souled.” Our response
should be encouragement, giving reminders of biblical promises, support in
prayer, and examples of others who struggled, but continued. Even
Paul encouraged the Thessalonian believers facing persecution by reminding
them:
For God has not
destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus
Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live
together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build up one another,
just as you also are doing. – 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11
Jesus told the
disciples in John 16:33,”These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you
may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I
have overcome the world.” Last year in our series on I Samuel, we talked
about David and Jonathan. In I Samuel 23, Jonathan came to David when
David was discouraged and spent time with him and “strengthened David’s hand in
God,” meaning he reminded David of God’s promises from the past and for his
promises for David’s eventual success (I Samuel 23:16).
Thirdly, back in I
Thessalonians, we see that we are to help the weak. The Greek for “help” has
the idea of “to lay hold of” those who struggle to abandon sin. For
example, if someone is falling off of an edge, say the edge of the stage here,
we can’t just touch that person to keep him from falling. We have to hold
on tightly and pull back, lest he pull us with him. But if I’m grounded in
Scripture I can use the strength of the gospel, the strength of God, to support
and encourage that person. Paul instructed Christians to turn from
patterns of sin, but he wouldn’t allow believers to be abandoned. Again
from a military perspective, this gives the sense of literally dragging them
out of harm’s way.
Fourthly in this verse
we see we’re to be patient with everyone. I have to admit, for me that’s
the hardest one of all. No matter what a person is going through, we
should be patient with everyone, believer or unbeliever. Moving on to
verse 15:
See that no one repays
another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one
another and for all people. – 1 Thessalonians 5:15
Our good deeds, should
be for everyone, even for our enemies. The word for “seek after” comes
from a word often translated “persecute, flee, run swiftly to catch, or run
after. So we’re not just looking for it, we’re chasing it with a goal in
mind. We should make it a habit to go out of our way to bless others.
One commentator wrote, “If Christians today will commit ourselves to a
similarly gracious attitude toward everyone, we may see an increase in our
influence.” We have the following examples in Matthew 5 where Jesus says:
But I say to you, do
not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the
other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let
him have your coat also….But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those
who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for
He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the
righteous and the unrighteous. —Matthew 5:39-40, 44-45
For you have been
called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you to follow in His
steps, … and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering,
He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges
righteously.—I Peter 2:21, 23
The second of the three
categories, which we are finally going to look at, from in verses 16-18, is
piety. These are short verses:
Rejoice always; pray
without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in
Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
A Christian’s life
should be one characterized by joy that comes from looking at the Father’s gift
of the Son as our Savior and Redeemer. There are many verses to support this.
The most famous would probably be Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always;
again I will say, rejoice!” Here are a few others:
He who did not spare
His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him
freely give us all things? – Romans 8:32
Therefore, having been
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in
which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this,
but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about
perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;
and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out
within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. – Romans 5:1-5
So, we should have joy,
even amidst our trials. This passage from the Old Testament, from
Habakkuk is very encouraging:
Though the fig tree
should not blossom
And there be no fruit
on the vines,
Though the yield of the
olive should fail
And the fields produce
no food,
Though the flock should
be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle
in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the
LORD,
I will rejoice in the
God of my salvation.
The Lord GOD is my
strength,
And He has made my feet
like hinds' feet,
And makes me walk on my
high places. - Habakkuk 3:17-19
No matter what
happens we have the joy of the Lord through our salvation. And our lives
should be ones that are filled with prayer. In other passages, “prayer”
often follows the concept of “joy” or “rejoice.” For example, right after
“Rejoice always” in Philippians 4:4, verse 6 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but
in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be
made known to God.” We should live in an attitude of continual
prayer, continual communion with God, constantly checking in throughout the day.
Romans 12 has some of the same thoughts as our passage in I Thessalonians
5:
Be devoted to one
another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging
behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope,
persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, - Romans 12:10-12
Finally, our life
should be filled with thanksgiving, realizing that God is sovereignly working
in all of our circumstances. Knowing the faithfulness of His love, we thank the
Lord at all times. Our gracious responses to trials are God’s will in Christ
Jesus for us. God’s grace is revealed to us in Christ. To
paraphrase another commentator, “We achieve joy, not through seeking to be
happy, but by seeking Christ and reflecting on His sacrifice for us and our new
relationship with the Father. We achieve prayer, not by means of rigorous
schedules, but by realizing who God is and all He has done for us in Christ.
We achieve thankfulness, not by reminders on our calendars, but by coming to
know God better and reflecting on everything He has done for us, especially
through His Son.”
So, joy, and prayer,
and thanksgiving are by-products of a life consciously opened to the Father’s
love. And this is the second time in I Thessalonians that Paul has said
“this is the will of God.” The first time was in your sanctification,
with special emphasis on your sexual morality. This time, he says that
the will of God is for us to be joyful, to pray without ceasing, and to always
give thanks. Psalm 16:8-9 says, “I have set the Lord continually before
me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my
heart is glad and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will dwell securely.”
And finally, in the
first part of our passage here, we should be receptive to God’s revealed word.
Do not quench the
Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully;
hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. – 1
Thessalonians 5:19-22
“Do not quench” what
does that mean? The Holy Spirit’s work is often compared to a fire or a
flame (Matthew 3:11, Acts 2:3). We douse the fire of the Holy Spirit with
earthly pursuits of sinful pleasures. So how do we avoid quenching the
Holy Spirit? We do it by devoting ourselves to Scripture. The new
believers only had the Old Testament, or apostles and prophets speaking new
truth. But Paul told them not to blindly accept everything they heard;
there were a lot of new false doctrines that were arising rapidly after Jesus
went to heaven. He told them to test everything.
This morning in the
guys’ Bible study we talked about this again. How do you test a person
that’s teaching to make sure that it’s a faithful man? We summarized it
by saying that we should look at the qualifications in I Timothy 3 for an elder.
Not everyone is called to be an elder, but there’s nothing wrong with making
sure that making sure that those who are teaching have those same
characteristics. We fuel the flame of the Holy Spirit by devoting
ourselves to ministry of the word: feed the Spirit and starve the flesh.
We devote ourselves to the ministry of the word by personal Bible study.
I chose the word “study” because a lot of people will say, “Just read your
Bible.” Now, there’s nothing wrong with reading your Bible, but study it,
dig into it. And, we can listen to Biblical teaching. I don’t like
working late, but when I do work late and come home after a certain time the
radio station I listen to has various preachers and it is always refreshing to
listen to them and get a different perspective.
Paul says we are to
examine everything on the basis of Scripture. We have the example of the
Bereans—Paul left Thessalonica, and in Acts 17 it says, “Now these were more
noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great
eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily [to see] whether these things were
so.” They were even examining what Paul said. I think of
anyone, if Paul were to show up here I wouldn’t worry about examining anything
he said, but the Bereans were even examining his teaching. The Greek word
translated examine has the idea of proving metals. We should be looking
for genuine Biblical quality in teachings. Not listening to messages that
just make us feel good or work on our emotions, they should be doctrinally
sound. If what was taught aligns with Scripture, hold it fast. If it
didn’t, abstain from it. But this passage also has the idea of hold onto
anything good, and stay away from every kind of evil.
Paul commands childlike
faith, receiving God’s Word in simplicity and love, but never a childish faith
that is easily tossed back and forth by every fad and deceitful teaching.
“Christians” today have a glaring lack of knowledge about the Bible and basic
doctrines. They are superficial about their faith, and many don’t know
what they believe or why. As I Peter 3:15 commands us, we should be ready
to always give an answer of anyone who asks us to “give an account of the hope
that is in” us.
Here at the end of the
chapter, Paul has some more encouragement for us.
Now may the God of
peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be
preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. – 1
Thessalonians 5:23-24
The God of peace will
sanctify us. I over simplified this last time I taught by defining it as
holy living. It is better defined as the process of growing in Christlikeness.
The word “entirely” is a compound Greek word meaning “complete to the end”
For I am confident of
this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the
day of Christ Jesus. - Philippians 1:6
Paul says that God will
sanctify every part of us, material and immaterial (soul and body). Our
sanctification will be made complete at the second coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. The encouraging thing is that our sanctification is done by God
Himself. Believers do not sanctify ourselves, God sanctifies us.
The phrase, “God of
peace Himself” is a common phrase in Scripture. Many commentators suggest
that the peace referred to here is the peace that comes through salvation.
There’s an unspeakable joy and peace that comes over us when we are right with
God. But I want to be careful here because this does not give rise to the
“Let go and let God” concept of sanctification. Scripture plainly teaches
that believers must be willing and work toward sanctification. But in the
end, God does it.
Finally, Paul writes:
Brethren, pray for us.
Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. I adjure you by the Lord to have this
letter read to all the brethren. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
you. – 1 Thessalonians 5:25-28
Paul closes this first
letter with several short thoughts. “Pray for us”—Paul recognized his
frailty as a sinner saved by grace and asked for prayer. I’m sure he welcomed
prayers for his own spiritual growth, safety, and health.
“Greet all the brethren
with a holy kiss.” In the east, the custom is a kiss on the cheek.
Western churches abandoned this practice around the 13th century,
but we can still use a handshake or a friendly hug. “Forms may
change; but the same spirit of brotherly love, and cordial recognition…, should
ever characterize those who know the love of a common Savior and have thus
entered into the communion of the saints.” (Phillips Reformed Expository
Commentary I & II Thessalonians p. 265) Don’t leave anyone out.
Make sure all feel welcome.
Paul again emphasizes
Bible study and public reading of Scripture. I don’t know whether Paul
felt the inspiration of the Holy Spirit when he wrote this or not, but he felt
that it was important enough that he commanded it be read publicly. And,
Paul closed both letters to the Thessalonians with “the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ”, as well as the book of Romans. He opened with grace and peace,
and finishes with grace again. May we have the favor of our Lord Jesus
Christ with us.
In closing, let’s look
at some practical applications:
1. Do I respect, honor, and pray for my leaders (those who
have authority over me)?
2. Do I think that
ministry is only for the leaders? Am I engaged in ministry? Do I admonish
the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, and help the weak?
3. Am I one of the unruly,
fainthearted, or weak? Do I need to ask for help?
4. Am I patient with
everyone?
5. Is my life
characterized by joy, prayer, and gratitude?
6. Do I need to spend more
time studying the Word to develop a closer walk so that joy, prayer, and
thankfulness come easier?
7. Do
I just read my Bible, or do I study it? One idea might be to write a
verse from your quiet time on a 3x5 card and meditate on it throughout the day.
Meditating is much like a cow chewing cud. We cannot “digest” God’s word
in one quick swallow. Memorization is helpful to keep it in our minds.
Let’s be joyful, let’s
be thankful, let’s have those two be characteristics of our lives. Let’s
pray.
Holy Father, You are so
good to us. You have given us salvation. You have given us a
renewed relationship with You through Your Son. Father, the demonstration of
Your love that You poured out in the Lord Jesus Christ is immeasurable, so deep
that we don’t understand it. But we thank You for that, we praise You, we
ask, Lord that we would be a people that are devoted to the word. That we are
so focused on You that we are characterized by joy and people would want to be
around us. I pray now that You would use Your word in our lives. In
Jesus’ name, amen.
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