sometimes I think we perhaps
go to the doctrine and work through some of the great verses of Paul's
teaching and the message that he's bringing of the gospel,
but there's some lovely, lovely themes and messages in these
more pastoral and personal aspects of the Apostles' letters as well. And we shouldn't neglect them,
we shouldn't read all the important doctrine stuff and then just
get done with the little doxology and the little advice part at
the end as if it wasn't particularly meaningful. So we're going to
spend a few minutes once again just thinking about what the
Apostle has to say to these young believers in Thessalonica and
I want to read 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 14. The Apostle says, Now we exhort
you, brethren, warn them that are unruly Comfort the feeble-minded,
support the weak, be patient toward all men. 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. Pray without ceasing. In everything
give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. And as I was suggesting there
just in the introduction, I think there is A loveliness in the
gentleness of Paul's closing admonitions. in these verses
to the believers at Thessalonica. The apostle doesn't end his letter
with a list of commands or some rigid framework of duties or
instructions or expectations as a man might who was whipping
a bunch of raw recruits into shape. So let us not overlook or fail
to notice the apostle's tenderness. and, as it were, his deft touch,
his sensitive hand on the tiller for the well-being of these saints. Because body, soul and spirit,
our physical frame, our emotions, our aspirations and ambitions,
our disappointments, our weaknesses, our longings, our concerns, these
are all part and parcel of our humanity. And the Lord knows
and the Lord deals with us as the fallen men and women that
we are in all of these aspects. And the Apostle is well aware
of that. And actually, I think what the
Apostle is telling us here is that the overriding motivation
for all of the exhortations that he gives to these Thessalonians
is that all our actions, all our conduct is to be characterised with gratitude, by gratitude,
gratitude to God. So that the way we act to one
another, the way we think in our own minds, the convictions
that we hold, the view that we have of those around about us,
let it be born out of gratitude towards God and a compassion
to one another. for what we have received in
the Lord Jesus Christ. And in a sense, in these verses
here, I'm going to begin at the end with these verses today,
because in verse 18, the apostle says he's giving us here the
incentive and the inspiration and the impetus for our service
to God and our worship for God. It isn't about obligation, it's
about appreciation. And the apostle says, in everything,
give thanks. In everything, give thanks. For this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. So it's this gratitude, this
thanksgiving, this recognition that we are in a position of
complete indebtedness to God that ought to motivate our approach
to God and our dealings one with another. So let us just understand
this principle for a moment. As believers, our relationship
with the Lord is not about doing things to please Him. It is about
thanking Him for the full and free and complete salvation that
He has provided for us. It's acknowledging gratefully
the supply of everything needful that has been done for us and
by responding appropriately in the way in which we live. in
our conduct and in our behaviour. First in our worship towards
God, that it should be earnest, that it should be sincere, that
it should be meaningful, that it should be thoughtful. And
thereafter in our conduct one to another, knowing that we ourselves
are debtors to the Lord and that we have nothing that we haven't
received. And actually, If you think about
it, it's the height of rudeness and ingratitude to do anything
else. Let me try and reinforce the
point I'm making here with an example. Supposing you move into
a new house. It's not a new house, it's a
new house to you, but it's an old house, and it's a mess. Its walls are dirty, the paint
is flaking, it's run down. And a friend says to you, I'll
send my boy round to fix this up for you. And the lad arrives,
and he does a fine job. And in no time, he's got the
place looking great. And a few days later, your friend
calls to say that he's coming round to see the job, And so
you get out the paint pots again, and you get your ladder out again,
and you start painting the walls again. What do you think your
friend would feel about that when he arrived? He would be
wondering, did his son do a bad job? Well, no, he did an excellent
job. Well, did he leave the job unfinished? No, it was finished perfectly. Well, what then? It can only
be that you're unhappy and ungrateful. What other explanation can there
be for you reworking what are the son's accomplishments? And
the only thing that we can do for God, the only thing, is to
say thank you. And thereafter, every service
that we perform, every deed that we do, every work, every good
work that we are involved in must flow from a heart of love
and gratitude. If we serve for a reason other
than love and gratitude, It's less than useful. It is openly
despising the work of Christ. It is sheer ingratitude. How dare we try to improve upon
the Son's work and the Saviour's accomplishments. Moving to verse
14 then, to think about how these things are put into action. I
think in verse 14, we read it together a moment ago, the apostle
says, Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort
the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. I'm going to suggest to you that
Paul is probably speaking here directly to the pastors of the
church at Thessalonica, the leaders in the congregation, the people
that he has been speaking about when he says in verse 12, we
beseech you brethren to know them which labor among you and
are over you in the Lord and admonish you. And then he goes
on in verse 14 to speak to them directly, these labourers amongst
them and those that are over them in the Lord and say, we
exhort you, brethren, Now, I won't argue with you if you disagree
with me because the same word brethren is used in verse 12
and verse 14. I think in verse 12 he's speaking
to the congregation as a whole. I think in verse 14 he's speaking
to the leadership of the church. Be that as it may, that's what
it seems to me. But what wonderful pastoral qualities
the faithful apostle promotes here. He says to these people,
whether it's the whole congregation or whether it's the pastoral
leadership, he says, warn them that are unruly. Comfort the
feeble-minded. Support the weak. Be patient
toward all. Let me just take a moment or
two with these points. Warn the unruly. warn them for
their own profit and for their own protection. Warn them that
their behaviour is unbecoming and inappropriate to the cause
of the gospel, to the peace of the church. But a warning is
different from discipline. The Apostle doesn't say here,
beat them up. He doesn't say kick them out.
He doesn't say excommunicate or discipline them. Too much
harshness and not enough love characterises many church leaderships. More measures may be needed in
time to win with wise and gentle warnings these unruly people
before having to come to sterner measures. But certainly the apostle
is dealing with these problems with a gentle hand, and that
is worth noting and remembering. He goes on to say, comfort the
feeble-minded. Comfort the feeble-minded. It's a lovely little phrase. Hands up all those who are feeble-minded
amongst us today. Well, I think the older I get,
the more feeble-minded I become. And with all due respect, the
more feeble-minded I see those around me to be. Our stout hearts morph into feeble minds. Our confidence gets shaken with
age and experience. Our ability to cope wanes with
failures and disappointments in this world. We become fragile,
we become more easily upset when perhaps we might even imagine
that we ought to be more resilient. But feeble mindedness is a characteristic
that we all suffer from. Maybe you've lost a friend. Maybe
you're struggling with pain. Maybe you're anxious about your
health. Maybe you're worried about the
future. Maybe you're worried about your children's future.
or your grandchildren's future. Maybe you're concerned about
their eternal well-being. It's the pastor's job to comfort
such feeble-minded brothers and sisters. And how do we do that? How do we warn the unruly? How do we comfort the feeble-minded? Well, we do it with the gospel,
of course. What else? And what better? What more fitted to the task
of warning and helping and comforting than the message of Christ's
sovereign power, his complete salvation, his unconditional
love and the full free provision of all our needs, according to
his riches in glory. Provide me with a better message
for any ailment and I'll give up the gospel and I'll adopt
it. The point is, and Paul knew this,
we preach the gospel because it works. We preach the gospel
because it helps. The gospel addresses the deepest
needs that we have as individuals. And it is the best guide, and
it is the best direction, and it is the best leadership for
our lives. The apostle goes on, he says,
support the weak. And it's just true that we are
all different. There are some who are stronger
in faith, some who are stronger in doctrine, in knowledge than
others. Therefore, we support the weak. And especially pastors, bear
them up in prayer. help carry their burdens, hear
their problems, share their fears, share their hearts. Paul tells
the Romans, the church at Rome in chapter 15, verse one, he
says, we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities
of the weak and not to please ourselves. So if you think that
you're strong in the faith, I will happily point out some weaker
brothers and sisters whose infirmities that you can help with and assist
in easing. The apostle says, be patient
toward all. Be patient toward all. What a blessed injunction this
is and how hard it is to fulfil it. It's easy to be patient with
some people, and it's nigh impossible to be patient with others. But
we have to be patient with everyone. Paul doesn't make this easy.
It would be hard enough if he only meant fellow believers. But what about the people who
oppose us? What about the people whose lifestyles and values we
reject and maybe even abhor? What about the people who are
thoroughly impatient toward us? Paul says, don't render evil
for evil. And the Lord says, whatsoever
ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. It would be easier if it said,
be as patient as you can with as many as possible. That would
be fine. That's how I would write it.
Be as patient as you can with as many as possible. But that's
not what it says. The apostle says, be patient. toward all. How much grace we
need to be able to live to such a high standard. Anyone who thinks
that sanctification is about what we eat and how we dress
has no idea what they're talking about. Let me just say a couple
of more things very quickly. The Apostle says here, rejoice
evermore. I like the evermore. I like that. The apostle is telling
us here, follow that which is good. Follow that which is good. And this idea of rejoicing evermore,
I think, flows from following that which is good. The word
evermore there, does it mean forevermore in the sense of everlasting,
in the sense of eternity? Or does it mean evermore in the
sense of more today than you did yesterday? Well, I think probably both are
acceptable. Soon we shall rejoice in eternity
evermore, as our sister Tracy is doing right now in the presence
of her Saviour. And yet too, we rejoiced evermore
each day with fresh views of Christ in the gospel. As we hear the gospel, as we
are refreshed by the gospel, as we are edified in contemplating
the things that the Lord Jesus Christ has done, we rejoice ever
more every day. Thinking about the sufficiency
of the cleansing blood of the Lord Jesus Christ ought to cause
us to rejoice. Thinking about the perfect righteousness
that has been provided for us by the Lord Jesus Christ, surely
this is what it means to follow that which is good. Let our minds
follow Christ. Let our minds follow and pursue
the things that he has done and the things that he has said.
Let us reflect on the pardon that we have by the blood of
Jesus Christ. Let us meditate on justification
by righteousness. freely imputed to us. Let us ponder the atonement by
the sacrifice of such a suitable saviour, to be reconciled to
God by the work of Jesus on the cross. Do these things not tend
to joy for a believer? I dare say the closer we get
to heaven, the sweeter such meditations will become. And perhaps the
greater will be our joy, day by day, evermore, until the moment
we enter into the joy of our Lord forever. And hear the Saviour
say to us, well done thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast
been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many
things. Enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord. And let us remember, there is
always reason, there's always grounds, there's always a foundation
for rejoicing as believers, no matter what our circumstances
are. Pray without ceasing, Paul says,
not in the sense of time, but in the sense of need, either
our own need or the needs of others. We should never be in
want of something or someone to pray for. We should always
be ready to intercede and to return thanks and to praise and
to worship and to employ prayer for God's glory and for our help. As the Lord burdens us with knowledge
and an awareness of the needs of our brothers and sisters in
Christ, it is our privilege to pray frequently, regularly, and
meaningfully for them. And we do so knowing that at
the same time they are interceding for us, just as the Lord himself
appears in the presence of God for us all. May the Lord bless
these thoughts to us. Amen.