Turn with me, if you would, to
First Thessalonians, chapter five. First Thessalonians, chapter
five. At the end of this chapter, the apostle Paul gives about
16 or 17 different Exhortations that are so good
and so needful Some are are difficult Some are difficult, but they're
needful. They're so good For God's people and I would like
to look at the end of this chapter we've been going through first
Thessalonians and I'd like to look at the end of this chapter
as a whole and because collectively all of these things show us what
a grounded, mature believer ought to be. A mature believer on the
Lord Jesus Christ, how he ought to conduct himself, what his
actions ought to be, what his attitude ought to be in the congregation
and to the congregation. Each one of these we could have
a message by itself. And I thought about it. I thought
about being in First Thessalonians five for the next 17 weeks. And we may do that, who knows?
But collectively, if we read what he is saying to the church,
we see what our conduct and our attitude ought to be in the congregation,
toward the congregation. And we're not gonna make it to
the end. I did think maybe we can go all the way through this,
but there's too much. I won't make it to the end in
this one Bible study. But when we come back, we'll
come back to this one mindset of this whole outlook toward
the congregation. Now, concerning exhortations,
this is critical before we begin. Concerning exhortations, do's
and don'ts. People open up this word and
they read. Well, it says do this and don't
do that. And if you do this, these are
the consequences and if you don't do that. Concerning exhortations,
do's and don'ts. The gospel constantly declares,
the word of God constantly declares that we do not work our own way
to salvation. Concerning all of these do's
and don'ts We do not work our own way to salvation no exhortation
in the scripture Is given to tell a sinner what he has to
do in order to be saved no exhortation not even the exhortation of Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Isn't that
what the scripture says? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved the exhortation to believe on Christ is to believe
That he did everything that needed to be done that faith Only looks
to him that faith does not say believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved That's not the faith It only looks to
him He did everything that needed to be done. It's to believe that
even the faith that believes is not of ourselves, it's the
gift of God. So salvation is totally of the
Lord in choosing who he'd do it for and in performing everything
that needed to be done. Salvation's of the Lord. Either
he saved us or he didn't, period. Salvation's of the Lord. All
right, now, the apostle declared that to us in verse 9. If you
look at chapter 5, verse 9, he said, For God hath not appointed
us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live
together with him. He died bearing our sins for
us, bearing the punishment, bearing the payment for our sin for us. He died for us that we might
live together forever with him. Paul says for that reason, for
Christ's sake, for Christ's sake, because of what he did, here
are some exhortations to the entire congregation that he accomplished
it for. This is our response of love. This is our thanks and love in
response. Okay, here's where we pick up
verse 12. First Thessalonians 5 verse 12.
And we beseech you brethren to know them which labor among you
and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem
them very highly in love for their works sake. Now, to whatever
degree God gives each child of his, whatever degree or measure
that he gives to each one of his children, every believer
is called to the labor and the work of the ministry. every single
believer. If you'll hold your place and
go to Romans 12, we're going to come right back. Romans 12 verse 3 says for I
say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among
you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think
but to think soberly according as God has dealt to every man
the measure of faith. For as we have many members in
one body meaning this physical body has many members we have
many members in one body and all members have not the same
office. So we being many are one body
in Christ and everyone members one of another. Having then gifts
differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether
prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. If
God calls us to preach, then let us preach according to the
faith he's given us. Verse seven, or ministry, let
us wait on our ministering. If he's called us to handle things,
take care of things, and do the work of the actual ministry. Or he that teacheth on teaching. Or he that exhorteth. Some have
just been called to be great encouragements. Some people are
just great encouragements. He said just be an encouragement. Just be what God's called you
to be. He that giveth money, time, whatever he has. Let him do it liberally, generally,
that's what simplicity means. He that ruleth with diligence,
he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness. So every believer is called to
the labor and the work of the ministry. And back in our text,
no true believer, no true believer wants recognition. No true servant of Christ wants
a pat on the back. No true servant. No true child
of God wants any of the honor due unto his name. We do not
want it. With that being said, my calling
is to declare this word as the oracles of God. There are some
things that I think, how do I say this? But that's not my calling
is say it, say it. So with all that being said,
verse 12 says, we beseech you brethren to know them which labor
among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and
to esteem them very highly in love for their works sake. There's a reference in verse
12 to 1st Timothy 5 verse 17. If you'll turn over there with
me to 1st Timothy 5 verse 17. 1st Timothy 5 verse 17 says let
the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor,
especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. Our text is referring specifically
to those who labor in the word and doctrine. In our message
here in just a minute, we're gonna be in Ephesians chapter
four. And it says there in that text
that God gave gifts to men. And it goes on to say that those
gifts were apostles, prophets, evangelists, which we call missionaries,
pastors, and teachers. The calling of those positions,
they are gifts from God to his congregation. The men themselves are not the
gifts. The men themselves are not gifts
in the sense that they're better or they're different or they're
more valuable than any of God's people. The gift is not in the
man. The gift is in the message he
brings. It's in the message. How beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace? I love preachers
of the gospel of peace. I love those men. I love them. And they bring glad tidings of
good things. Oh, thank God. The gift is in the gospel they
carry. Every one of those men say not unto me, oh Lord, not
unto me. It's in the gospel they carry. Because of that gift,
back in our text in 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul said in verse 12, we
beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you. Know them means make yourselves
known to them. That's what it translates. Make
yourselves known to them. Get to know them. and make yourself
known to them. I'm gonna say this twice. I'm
gonna go ahead and tell you that I'm about to say this twice.
Preachers of God's gospel are great encouragements to God's
people. And God's people are great encouragements
to preachers of God's gospel. Just declared that preachers
of God's gospel are great encouragements to God's people and God's people
are great encouragements To preachers of the gospel. So Paul says make
yourselves known to them seek them out For the gospel sake
seek the message they preach Let them know how the Lord is
using the message for the good of your soul the comfort of your
heart and Those who preach communicate to God's people. They study and
they try as hard as they can to literally get across and communicate
to God's people. And Paul says, communicate back.
Communicate back to them. You'll never know. You will honestly
never know. If I told you in the words that
are in my heart, you still wouldn't know. You'll never know how when
I am beating myself up, when I'm in a fight with me, just
pulverizing myself, I never win. I never win. And when I am beating
myself up over being such an insufficient servant of God,
what am I doing here? And such an insufficient servant
of God's people, insufficient to clearly declare the glory
of the gospel. When I'm just killing myself,
you'll never know what that text or that phone call or that email
means to me. That just says, the Lord blessed
that message to my heart, just wanted you to know. Because what
that tells me is, oh, you removed me. You removed me from the equation. You wadded me up and threw me
away. You spoke directly to the heart of your own child. And
that's all God's preachers want. And it's what I need. That's
what I needed. Now, I do not tell you that for
my own sake. I do not, I do not, I do not
tell you that for my own sake. The Lord has currently provided
four other men in this congregation that labor among you in the Lord. None of them want recognition.
They do not want recognition. None of them want an ounce of
the honor that is due unto his name. That's why they've been
called to do it. None of them want that. But four
other men stand before you and preside. That's what over you
means. If you look at verse 12, we beseech
you brethren to know them which labor among you and are over
you in the Lord. Over you means stand before you
and preside. And it goes on to say, they admonish
you. They admonish you in the word. They stand before you and they
tell you what the word says. They stand up and preside. Along
with those four men that the Lord has provided to this congregation,
God has currently provided three Sunday school teachers. And I
beseech you brethren to know them which labor among you. And verse 13 says, to esteem
them very highly in love for their works sake. It is a work. It's a work. Nobody wants esteem,
nobody wants recognition, but I can tell you on their behalf,
it is a labor. It's a labor. It's a labor. It's a burden. Preparing messages
and preparing Sunday school lessons takes hours and hours and hours. You don't just whip something
up. When a man whips something up,
that's a man who's not ruling well, and he's not worthy of
double honor. But, oh, it's a lot of work. It's a labor. None of them get
paid. None of the men who fill in for
me get paid. None of the Sunday school teachers get paid. It's
a labor of love. It's a love for God. It's a love
for God's people. It's a love for the good of the
congregation and the ministry. So I beseech you, make yourselves
known to them. Reach out to them, esteem them,
appreciate them, communicate that to them. They won't get
a big head. they will not get a big head.
I know from experience, they beat themselves up way too much. And if they do get a big head,
God knows how to shrink it. So don't worry about that. All
right, here is the next exhortation to the congregation. The end
of verse 13 says, be at peace among yourselves. Always make
peace. Always make peace. Always be
a peacemaker. Blessed are the peacemakers. At the first hint of war, throw
up the white flag. Just throw it up. Because of
the degree of peace that Christ made for us, because of the degree
of suffering it took, the bloodshed, the death, Because of the degree
of peace that Christ made for us peace with God and Because
he did that while we were at war with him enemies of his Because
he broke down that middle wall of division so making peace For
that reason let's not ever willingly now we will do it, but let's
not ever willingly Think anything, say anything, or do anything
to disturb that peace. Lord, help me to keep my tongue.
Just help me to keep my tongue. Help me to not be easily offended. That's one thing I promise you
that I am, and we all are, easily offended. So easily offended. Lord, help me to never be offended. Based on how I've treated you,
why should I ever be offended? So this is a mature congregation.
It's a grown, grounded, mature congregation. They communicate
with each other. They esteem each other. They
love each other. They try with all their might
to be at peace with each other. Behold how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Now our Lord has plainly
declared that there must be heresies in a congregation. Heresies means
division. There must be division. Concerning those who want division
and create division, the apostle Paul said in verse 14, now we
exhort you brethren, warn them that are unruly. Charles Spurgeon
said, there are some that will never be ruled. They're unruly. There are some who will never
bow to the authority and the rule of the Word of God. They
want to operate under their own rule. That's the way of the flesh. It just wants to operate under
its own rule. They're an authority in their
own mind. I have the authority to do what
I want to do and handle what I want to handle and not willing
to be led. That attitude is the margin says
disorderly. If you have that center margin
in your Bible, it's disorderly. It's a distraction to the worship
of God, a distraction to the message of Christ. It's a distraction
to the unity and peace of the congregation. So he says in verse
14, we exhort you brethren, warn them that are unruly. How do
we do that? We're doing it right now. We
do it through the preaching of the word. God's word warns all
of us. We warn every child of God. The warning goes out. It's not
an individual warning. It goes out to all of us. All
of us are capable of being unruly. Starting with me. And as long
as we are still in sinful flesh, we're capable of anything. So
all of us need to hear the warning. Now there may be times when we
get so far out of line that we're such a distraction to the worship
service and a distraction to our brethren, so much so that
we begin to quench the spirit of worship, which the apostle
Paul mentions in verse 19. And if that happens, someone
may need to come to us and say, dear brother, these things can't
be. It's just, it's a hindrance and
a distraction. And there are times that that
needs to happen. With that being said, until the
Lord gives us the wisdom and the right spirit to do that in,
let's not become the church policeman. Not even me. You know what I
need to do? Preach Christ. That's what I
need to do. You know what will take care
of all of God's people? Preach Christ. Preach Christ. Let's not become the one who
gets it in his or her mind. I'm going to go around and straighten
everybody out. Usually that's the one who needs to be straightened
out. The one who will not leave it in God's hands. Leave it in
God's hands. Just leave it in God's hands.
That's what makes us unruly. He told them in chapter four,
verse 11, study to be quiet and to do your own business and to
work with your own hands as we commanded you. Our Lord himself
said, don't go around trying to pick the moat, that little
splinter out of your brother's eye when you have a beam, a two
by four coming out of your own eye. Maybe the Lord will let
me just focus on my own two by four. And uh, not be unruly,
but we need wisdom on this. Wisdom comes through the word.
We need Christ. We need his word. We need his
spirit. He said in verse 14, chapter five, verse 14. Now we
exhort you brethren, warn them that are unruly. But then he
said, comfort the feeble minded. How do we do that? We do it through
the preaching of the word. Christ is our comfort. Christ is our comfort. You know,
you talk about these things and it's uncomfortable. It's uncomfortable. You want to get comfortable again?
Christ. Let's get back on Christ. Let's
come back to Christ. Let's talk about Christ. Let's
say Christ. Christ is our comfort and Christ
is our support. He went on to say in verse 14,
support the weak, preach Christ, preach Christ, preach Christ. And he said, be patient toward
all men, be patient toward each other. The long suffering of
the Lord, the patience of the Lord is our salvation. His patience toward us is what
saved us. He patiently endured the cross. He patiently endured the grave that he might save us and God
might save all of us. So let's be patient. Wait on
the Lord, wait on his will, wait on his way in all things. A grounded
congregation of believers is a patient congregation of believers. Patient, patient. And then here's
the last thing we'll look at. Verse 15, he said, see that none
render evil for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which
is good, both among yourselves and to all men. Let me just read
something straight out of one of the commentaries to you. Evil
for evil is not the way of Christ. Getting even, retaliating, Seeking
revenge is not for the believer. Rather, endure injuries and misunderstandings
with patience, showing kindness toward all and seeking the good
of all, both in the church and out. Did our Lord not do that
for us? Oh, he didn't render evil for
evil. Not at all Not at all that that perfectly describes what
he did for us and our hearts desire as his congregation We
are his congregation Our hearts desire is to be more like him
We want to be more like him. We want to grow more into his
image We want to grow more in his word. We want to grow in
grace. We want to grow in love We want
to grow in unity Mature, grounded, settled believers by the light
of the sun and by the water of the word. Maybe he'll cause that
to happen. Maybe he'll cause us to grow,
grow in these things, grow together to be his congregation. All right,
you're dismissed.