1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and
verse 12. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and
verse 12 and I really just want to read a couple of verses if
I may. The Apostle Paul is writing and he says, And we beseech you,
brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over
you in the Lord, and admonish you. and to esteem them very
highly in love for their work's sake and be at peace among yourselves. So, Amen. May the Lord bless
to us this little reading from his word. A few weeks ago, when
we began thinking about Paul's letter to the church, in Thessalonica. We mentioned that this is likely
one of the earliest, if not the first of the Apostle Paul's epistles. It was a letter to the congregation
in Thessalonica, which was a European city in Macedonia, It was a big
city, it was an important city, as important as Corinth and Ephesus
were in their day as far as the amount of trade and business
and activity that went on in it. And that was in what we call
now modern day Greece at the time, it would have been Macedonia.
And Paul had travelled to Philippi, first of all, and he had established
a small work there, a little church there in the city of Philippi. That was his first entry into
Europe as such. And you'll remember that there
was where the Philippian jailer was converted and his family.
And there was also where Lydia, the seller of purple, was converted. and from Philippi he had moved
on to Thessalonica and there together with his friends Silas
and Timothy, they began preaching. They went to the synagogue and
they preached there for a number of weeks. There was some contention.
We don't know necessarily how long Paul was in Thessalonica.
We do know that he preached in the synagogue on three consecutive
Sabbath days. But the apostle was threatened
while he was in Thessalonica. Jason, the person with whom he
lodged, was assaulted and nevertheless we find that Paul's ministry
was exceeding profitable. We're told that in Acts chapter
17. Let me just read a couple of verses from that passage. It says in verse 1 through to
4, Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they
came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his manner was,
went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them
out of the Scriptures." So he took the Old Testament Scriptures
that they had available, And we're told, opening and alleging
that Christ, or the Messiah, as was spoken of in the Old Testament
scriptures, must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead
and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. and some
of them believed, we're told, and consorted with Paul and Silas,
and of the devout Greeks, a great multitude, and of the chief women,
not a few. So within a short time in Thessalonica,
the apostle had a large congregation, a great multitude, and of the
chief women, not a few. And I mention this again to remind
us that this considerable group of believers was established
here under the apostles' preaching. And there was a subsequent visit
by Timothy to set in order this thriving, if opposed and persecuted,
church. And Paul says in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 1, in the letter that he wrote to them subsequent to
Timothy's return, he writes, but also in power and in the
Holy Ghost and in much assurance. So the Apostle Paul knew, he
saw first hand that the preaching of the Gospel had a tremendous
effect in the lives of these Thessalonian people and they
had been converted and they had proved their election to be sure
for the power of the Holy Spirit and much assurance was gained. And so the Apostle has written
this letter and he's touched upon a number of things in the
letter as we've seen. And here towards the end of his
epistle Paul directs the believers to encourage one another and
comfort one another in Christ's doctrine. especially the doctrines
concerning, for example, his return. And we've seen that in
chapter five already. The apostle says in verse 11,
for example, comfort yourselves together and edify one another,
even as also you do. So there was this instruction,
this request, this direction from the Apostle that the believers
should encourage and comfort one another in Christ's doctrines
and that they should share together the gifts of grace that they
had received from the Lord. to the end that they might edify
one another in the preaching of the gospel and in the establishing
of this work of gospel preaching. And what I would like us to notice
from these little verses that we have before us today is, first
of all, the ease and informality with which the Apostle sets forth
this pattern for the Thessalonian believers. Now remember he said
that it was a big church, so it's not just that this was a
little group of half a dozen people. But nevertheless, there's
no talk here of formal structures, or layers of authority, or courts
of discipline, or in any way promoting denominationalism. Paul is simply saying, know them
which labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish
you. It is true that Timothy had returned
to Thessalonica to establish the believers and comfort them
according to the faith. But this was helping them in
their understanding of the gospel and of doctrine. It wasn't the
case that he was there to establish church order or put in some sort
of hierarchy. There's no indication in this
earliest of the epistles of anything other than mutual respect and
love and honesty and peace and commitment that was to characterize
their fellowship and rule their congregation. And I would like
to recommend that to us as a principle. I would like to recommend it
to us even as a feature of our own little fellowship here and
our own little congregation together. We've not got a rigid structure. We don't have a hierarchy of
positions. There's nothing to be signed. There's no courts of discipline. There's no rules to be obeyed. There's no covenants to be confessed,
no organizing structures to be supported. simply the Lord's
people coming together under the sound of the word of God,
sharing, encouraging, edifying one another in the things of
Christ and the scriptures. And here we see that the apostle
is enjoining this as a two-way relationship whereby the believers
know one another. And that's not just that we know
our names or we know who we are. It's that we are honest and open
with one another. We're not content to remain at
arm's length or to stay at the edge of the group. in what used
to be called like sermon tasting or mere adherence, but we are
men and women who are committed to one another and devoted to
the cause of the gospel and the witness that Christ has established
in our little fellowship. We're not simply looking to hear
what we want to hear. But we're ready to be challenged
with the Word of God and stretched in our thinking that we might
deepen our knowledge and experience of the things of God. We're not
to be easily offended because things don't go our way or go
as we want. We're a family together in the
body of Christ. And as we all know, family life
isn't always easy. but the body of Christ is a family
and Christ is our head. So when Paul says, know them
which labour among you, he's saying that we are to, or he
is advocating an openness and a sharing and that when we have
concerns and problems and trials, then we share them together.
and especially with those who pastor the congregation and who
serve and minister in the gospel. Those who have responsibility
for bringing the word of God and spiritual direction to the
fellowship. Because each of us individually
gain little by standing apart, by standing aloof or maintaining
a distance. It's when we come together in
mutual support and encouragement that we gain from that openness
and that sharing and that knowing and being known in our needs
and for our gifts and for our strengths and our weaknesses.
The Lord having brought us into this little fellowship has done
so that we might share our gifts one with the other and each with
each other. And it's true that it's the pastor's
role, having been equipped and gifted by Christ, to labour in
the gospel and to guide the fellowship and direct the congregation as
shepherding a flock, for example, or tending a garden, or parenting
a family, or nurturing little ones. That's the spiritual role
of the pastor. But a preacher's work, as the
apostle here directs, is a conscientious service for the cause of Christ
and the progress of the gospel. A minister My role as the minister
of this little congregation is as a servant. A pastor is a labourer. He works at the job he has been
called to do and he gives himself to the study of the word to reading,
to praying, to engaging with his congregation, to serving
the needs of those whom he guides into the things of the gospel. And in this role, the apostle
says, he is over you in the Lord. And that's an interesting little
phrase and an interesting concept because it directs us to respect
and honour the minister and the ministry that we receive by this
man as coming itself from the Lord. So at the same time, it
also teaches us that it is to be limited to spiritual matters. A preacher is not to become involved
in extraneous matters. He's not a family counsellor,
or a marriage guidance counsellor, or a financial advisor, or an
employment consultant. And that's not to say that he
won't have advice if he's asked. But his authority is in preaching
the gospel and ministering to the flock. And there are some
churches that try to take a heavy shepherding role over their congregation
and demand all sorts of information from them and even make decisions
on their behalf. But outside of the pastor's area
of authority, he must always tread carefully. His responsibility
is the spiritual ministry and guidance of the people. And the
Lord has provided pastors and teachers for his flock, for our
instruction and to teach us what is true and good and wholesome
for the strengthening of the church and for the comforting
of our souls. These are the things of the gospel
and the doctrine of Jesus Christ. And the pastor may have to warn
us about sin and reprove and rebuke as from the Lord, but
he is to do so with a faithfulness and a tenderness for the well-being
of our souls. So that this relationship that
we have together in the Lord is one which is special relationship
with each other together in the Church of Jesus Christ which
is like nothing else in this world. It is our union in Christ
that brings us together and whether we think of our group as a fellowship
or as a flock or as a family it is unique and and it is to
be highly valued for its rarity, its origin, and its usefulness
to our souls. And the apostle continues and
he says here that the Thessalonians are to esteem one another very
highly in love for their work's sake. So let us highly esteem
all those who labor faithfully in the gospel. He says that we
are to esteem one another very highly in love, not out of duty,
not out of fear. It is love that is the source
of the bonds of this relationship that we have. Brotherly love,
love for one another, the love of Christ in us being shed abroad
around each other. love for the gospel, love for
the extension of the work of Christ and the prosperity of
preaching. And it's not only preachers and
pastors that are involved in this, but others such as writers,
such as comforters, such as listeners, such as prayers, such as consolers,
and every form of service that is supplied for the cause of
Christ and for his glory. It is to say, what can we do? What can we give? What can we
bring? for the well-being of the Lord's
people that he has engaged together with us. We're members of one
body and we're co-workers together in the cause of God and truth. Tabitha made coats. Jason gave
food. Nathan provided accommodation,
Priscilla and Aquila supplied tutoring, the Philippians gave
gifts and the body of Christ worked in concert together for
the glory of their head. And Paul says finally in this
little passage, be at peace among yourselves. How we ought to be
at peace amongst ourselves who have peace with God. How we ought
to be at peace among ourselves who have been reconciled to God
and made at one with our Creator. We have experienced the peace
that passeth understanding. We have been taken from our place
of rebellion and opposition, from that place of condemnation
for our sin, and brought into union with the Lord Jesus Christ
through His death upon the cross and His sacrifice. And He is
our great example. This is the blessedness of the
Gospel. It changes people. It alters
our nature. It alters our opinions. It alters
our attitudes and our conduct. And when the Holy Spirit moves
into a sinner's life, things don't stay the same. Like the
Thessalonians, we here this evening, we here today, we here on a Sunday
when we gather to worship, we have been gathered under the
preaching of the gospel and united together by the grace of God,
brought into union with the Lord Jesus Christ and the body of
his church. And it is our joy and privilege
to look for opportunities to honour the Lord by doing good
to his people. and highly esteeming one another
in love. May the Lord encourage us to
do so. Amen.