Concluding Exhortations and Commandments (1)

First Baptist Church Leominster

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

00:39

Let's turn in our Bibles, please, to 1 Thessalonians 5. We're coming to an end of our study of this epistle, and the plan now, at least, is to immediately go into 2

00:54

Thessalonians. Last Lord's Day we gave attention to the paragraph of verses 1 -11 of chapter 5, in which he gave his concluding remarks in this epistle regarding the second coming of Jesus Christ.

01:13

The day of the Lord will arrive one day, he wrote, in which unbelievers will be taken by surprise.

01:20

The Lord will come suddenly, unexpectedly, as a thief strikes in the night. But in contrast to unbelievers,

01:28

Christians will not be overtaken as a thief in the night, but they will be ready for the coming of the

01:36

Lord. And so, Christians need not fear future judgment, because, thankfully,

01:44

God has not destined us for wrath, in other words, for condemnation and for eternal punishment.

01:51

That is not in God's purpose and plan for us. He didn't decree that those who are Christians, those who truly believe in the

01:57

Lord Jesus, He has not destined us for wrath, but rather to obtain salvation. He decreed it will come to pass.

02:05

It will most certainly come to pass. And that, of course, is through our Lord Jesus, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with Him.

02:13

But thanks be to God for the consolation that there is in the Gospel. Now beginning with verse 12, the

02:21

Apostle gave forth his concluding remarks to this church. And from verse 12 until the end of the epistle, which is verse 28, you have a series of exhortations and commands.

02:36

In fact, there's quite a few of them. Actually, there are 16 individual exhortations or commands in these verses.

02:46

And if you include the benediction, there's actually 18. And so there's a whole series of them that we have to work through.

02:53

It's going to take a couple of weeks, of course. We get through about half a dozen of them today, I believe. Now we might just at the outset say a word about the nature of these injunctions before we consider them individually.

03:07

There are some evangelicals who argue that Christians in the church age are no longer under the law, but rather grace.

03:16

And certainly that's a true statement when you understand it rightly, covenantly. We're no longer under a covenant of works by which we relate to God, but rather our relationship with God is based upon the grace of God that is in Jesus Christ.

03:31

We've sung about that. We've read about that. That's certainly true. For we believe that through the grace of the

03:38

Lord Jesus Christ, we should be saved. Acts 15, 11. But some have taken this truth, we're not under the law as a covenant of works, but rather we're under grace.

03:49

They've taken that truth and how we relate to God due to the grace of God, and they've twisted it into a distorted principle of living.

03:59

They say, since we're no longer under law, but rather under grace, Christians no longer have any obligation to obey

04:06

God's laws. We're under grace, not law. And that's an aberrant view.

04:13

That's a twisting of what the scriptures teach. We're only required to believe, they say.

04:19

You don't have to do anything. They say, therefore, there are no laws that govern us, for we're under grace.

04:27

But this is a distortion of the grace of God that is in Jesus Christ. And this is evident before us.

04:32

For again, in these final verses of 1 Thessalonians, we have a number of commandments issued to us.

04:40

They are laws that God has laid down for us. Now, we don't earn our salvation by those, obviously. That would be error, great error.

04:47

But they are commandments. The fact is, God still governs our lives by His laws.

04:55

And there are many of them. But due to the grace of God that is in Jesus Christ, God not only gives us grace so that we desire to keep

05:03

God's laws, but through His grace, thankfully, He gives us also the ability to do so.

05:10

Christians have the capability of ordering their lives according to God's law that they never had before they became

05:16

Christians. In fact, Paul wrote of this in Romans 8. And so clear, you wonder why people don't fall back on this.

05:28

Paul wrote in Romans 8, verse 3, "...for what the law could not do, and that it was weak through the flesh..." That's the law as a covenant.

05:36

The Ten Commandments could not produce holiness. God did, however.

05:42

So what the law could not do, God did. How did He do it? By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin.

05:49

He condemned sin in the flesh. For what reason? So that we might simply be forgiven?

05:55

He's not talking about that. He's talking about sanctification here. No, so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.

06:05

He sent His Son not just to secure pardon for our sin, but to enable us by His power to be delivered from the power of sin and live a life in accordance with God's law,

06:19

His righteousness. And so, God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the

06:34

Spirit. We still don't have the ability to order our lives according to the law of God, apart from the power of the

06:43

Holy Spirit, whom the Lord Jesus gives freely to His people. And that's one of the great lessons of Romans 8.

06:50

You can, though you're a Christian and you have the desire to please God and order your life according to God's will, you don't have the power to do so.

06:59

He gave you that desire when you were born again, but He only gives you the power to do so day by day as you look to King Jesus, who gives you the

07:08

Holy Spirit to enable you. And so basically, we see a command before us in the

07:14

Scriptures. We have to first acknowledge we don't have the power to do that, apart from grace.

07:20

And then we trust the Lord Jesus to enable us by the power of the Holy Spirit to do the things that He commands us.

07:27

And He enables us, He infuses us with an ability, a power that is beyond us, a capability to do the things that please

07:37

Him. That's what He's saying. And then in verse 5, He begins to contrast those who live according to righteousness, according to the law, and those who don't.

07:48

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the

07:54

Spirit. And within the context here, the things of the Spirit are the righteousness reflected in the law of God, as we see.

08:04

For to be carnally minded is death. This is to be, you know, the mind of a non -regenerate person is death.

08:13

But to be spiritually minded is life and peace. In Romans 8, to be spiritually minded is to look to and love the law of God and be empowered by the

08:23

Holy Spirit to do it. This is what it is to be led as children of God.

08:30

He states, again, for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

08:36

And then verse 7, because the carnal mind is enmity against God. Now this is the unregenerate person.

08:42

It is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. It's impossible for a non -Christian to be subject to the law of God, because he's an enemy of God, and he's in very enmity with God.

09:00

He's opposed to God's law. No, I want to set the laws for how I live, not God. But when a person becomes converted, that all changes.

09:11

So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But verse 9, you are not in the flesh, but in the

09:18

Spirit, if indeed the Spirit dwells within you. And so, because we're in the

09:24

Spirit, not characterized as ones with carnal minds and as unregenerate and unconverted minds, our spiritual minds are indeed subject to the law of God.

09:34

The carnal mind can't be, it's impossible. But not with the spiritual mind, he is indeed subject to the law of God.

09:41

And that's why Paul could write at the end of Romans 7, So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God.

09:48

That's Paul the Christian, Paul the Apostle. And yet he acknowledges, you know, he had sin still.

09:54

And with the flesh, the law of sin. Now let's read this passage in its entirety, and again, we're only going to get through a few verses here this morning.

10:06

But first Thessalonians 5 verse 12. And just consider all the imperatives, all the commands, as well as the exhortations.

10:20

We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly and love because of their work.

10:31

Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint -hearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

10:41

See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.

10:49

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

10:58

Do not quench the spirit, do not despise prophecies, but test everything, hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil.

11:09

And then the benediction begins. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our

11:18

Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, he will surely do it. Brothers pray for us, greet all the brothers with a holy kiss,

11:30

I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers, the grace of our

11:35

Lord Jesus Christ be with you. And that's the conclusion of Paul's first epistle to the

11:40

Thessalonians. Let's take these in turn. First of all, we read in 1

11:48

Thessalonians 5, 12 and 13, we have Paul's exhortation to show regard to church leaders.

11:57

And so this is the first command he gives to this church, to respect and honor those in leadership.

12:03

We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you, who are over you in the

12:08

Lord, and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work.

12:15

Now some might look at this and conclude that Paul is talking about three different kinds of leaders in the church.

12:23

Those who labor among you, first, second, those who are over you, and third, those who admonish you.

12:29

But in the Greek text, the language in which Paul first penned this epistle, it's clear he is writing to a single group of leaders who perform all three of these functions within the church.

12:42

They're laboring, they're overseeing, they're admonishing. And the way that's very clear in the Greek text is there's a definite article.

12:49

In English we have a definite and an indefinite article. The definite article is the word the.

12:55

An indefinite article in English is the letter A or AN in front of a vowel.

13:03

So there's definite article pointing to something, or A, a general word or noun that does not have a definite article is indefinite.

13:14

But in Greek, there is no indefinite article. The absence of the definite article means that it's indefinite.

13:23

But when you take a definite article and you put it in a series like this, you have three verbs or actually participles that are described, and you put this singular definite article in front of all three, it's talking about a group of people that do all three things, rather than three different groups of people.

13:42

You follow what I'm saying? It's clear he's talking about one group of leaders and probably elders, although he doesn't state it, and these elders are performing this kind of work within the church.

13:58

Paul was telling these Christians that they were to have regard for the elders of the church. And I conclude elders, even though Paul doesn't state that directly here, because we can see elsewhere where he is speaking of elders directly, that he used the same two verbs he used here, rule and labor, and he applies it to elders.

14:18

1 Timothy 5 .17 Let the elders who rule, there's one, who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.

14:28

And so there you have two words that Paul uses here, and they're applied directly to elders in another context.

14:36

We might ask the question, why did Paul see the need for this exhortation to the church at Thessalonica?

14:44

Timothy had returned from Thessalonica recently with a favorable report of this church. That is, favorable for the most part.

14:53

But the church was not perfect, and apparently there were some in the church at Thessalonica who were idle, or perhaps better, disorderly or unruly.

15:05

These Christians in the church refused to work, assuming that the Lord was coming very soon.

15:10

What's the point? The Lord's coming back. And so rather than supporting themselves, they had become a burden to the church to support them, and apparently they refused the admonition of the elders, who told them, hey, you need to get to work and support yourselves.

15:28

We can read of these people in the church at Thessalonica in 2 Thessalonians.

15:36

Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you receive from us.

15:47

For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you.

16:02

It was not because we do not have the right but to give you, in ourselves, an example to imitate.

16:08

For even when we were with you, we would give you this command, if anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

16:17

Nothing like hunger has a strong motivation to go to work, isn't there? We seem to lose that in our current society to a large degree.

16:26

For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies, such persons we command and encourage in the

16:33

Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Now in that second epistle,

16:41

Paul gets very direct with them. You deal with these people who are idle, you rebuke them, you get them back to work.

16:49

But here in 1 Thessalonians 5, I think he's being more subtle. He's writing to the church that all the members should have regard for and obedience to those who are over them in the

17:01

Lord, who serve them, who labored among them. But perhaps Paul here in 1 Thessalonians 5 was subtly addressing these disorderly persons, ones to whom he would become more direct in the second epistle.

17:13

They had failed to be responsive to the instruction and admonition of their church leaders. And here he's telling them, you need to do so.

17:21

Respect them. Have regard for them that are over you, who admonish you. Without being self -serving, let me urge us to take this matter to heart.

17:35

I would never bring this matter up if it were not in the text staring me in the face. I don't want to be self -serving.

17:43

But the fact is, church members are to have a high regard for their elders, they are to receive their admonitions even as they labor among members.

17:51

And again, I say this because it's in the text. Certainly, I don't say it because I feel it's a weakness in our church, not in any way whatsoever.

18:00

For this church, in the 19 years I've been here, and before too,

18:05

I suspect, has always held its leaders with the utmost regard and have treated the leaders respectfully and honoring them for their work.

18:15

And I thank the Lord for that. I've got friends in the ministry who do not have churches like that, believe me.

18:26

I know of one church in the area who has had a series of pretty good pastors, and the church seemed to burn them out within two or three years and send them down the road.

18:37

And our friend David Green said of this church, you know, some churches don't deserve good pastors. And that's a sad thing.

18:48

However, even as we talk about the need to obey and have regard for leaders, we're mindful of those leaders of churches that are abusive in their authority.

19:00

And that's a great problem today. I can cite examples of these churches in our region, too, if it was of mine, too.

19:10

The leaders expect and demand that they're treated as though they were better and superior to their members.

19:16

And that's never right. But notice the manner that this verse is worded really has a corrective for this kind of abuse.

19:26

The elders are not to be regarded for their own sakes, but because of the nature of the work they perform.

19:35

I was in South Africa a couple of weeks ago, and there's something about the African culture.

19:42

India, too. He's the man of God. They elevate in an unhealthy degree some of these men.

19:51

And you can tell, you know, there's a dynamic in which there's some abuse that goes on or neglect by the leaders of their flock because they are elevated in this unhealthy way, in my opinion.

20:06

But you notice, Paul wrote, they are to be respected and esteemed, very highly loved because of their work.

20:12

That's what gives them value and importance. Not because of them, that it's inherent in them, but because of the work they're called to.

20:20

That's why they should be highly regarded. And so I would say that, you know, if a person is not doing, if a pastor is not doing his work, if an elder is not doing his work rightly, then he loses the ability or the, you know, he certainly should forfeit the expectation that his people hold him in high regard and respect him.

20:44

Back when we were in the ABC USA, this was, you know, 15 years ago, and the church voted to come out of that liberal denomination.

20:54

But in our central association of 33 churches here in Worcester County, there was a lesbian pastor living with her girlfriend in the

21:02

Parsonage. She was actually a nice person to talk to, very pleasant. About half of the 33 churches were really strongly in favor of this woman and her role as a pastor.

21:15

They were promoting, welcoming, and affirming, which was not just accepting gays and lesbians into the church, but were pushing them into leadership positions.

21:25

And I had a talk with this lady, and again, very pleasant to speak with. And she asked, you know, she says, can't you just respect me because of my office?

21:37

You know, I've been ordained, you know, I went to seminary, can't you just respect me? And I said, you know, I said to her very, very forthrightly, you know, kindly as best

21:45

I could, but clearly, I say, you and I, you know, can only be regarded and respected in the ministry if we're true to the work, and if we're true to the

21:54

Word. And that, you know, that our position of, you know, in which people respect us is not inherent in our person, just because we assume a position, but it's the work that we do.

22:07

And so if we're not faithful to the work, if we're not faithful to the Word, we're not deserving of respect, just the opposite.

22:16

Of course, that wasn't received very well, but again, she was actually quite pleasant in the way we were able to visit, not so much with some of the others that were trying to push her forward.

22:27

But the thing that only gives these elders their, this position in which respect is to be rendered, and honor is to be given to them, because they have a wonderful and glorious work to perform, which gives them, puts them into this position.

22:45

It's the high regard for the work of the ministry that is the reason for treating these men with high regard and respect.

22:52

It's not inherent in their person, or even position. I would say it's because of the work that they're doing.

22:59

They ought to be appreciated and valued. And I think that's important. Well, the second command is, be at peace among yourselves, verse 13b.

23:11

This may be connected with the exhortation that we just considered. Several commentators

23:16

I've referred to, William Hendrickson, paraphrase the apostle, stop your carping, instead of continually criticizing the leaders, follow their directions so that peace results.

23:29

In other words, an absence of dissension in the church. An older commentator,

23:34

G .G. Findlay, also linked this command with what went before, the general peace is to be kept through affectionate loyalty to the approved leaders.

23:43

They're connecting it together, and it does flow together, they're not just 16 or 18 individual separate commands, but there seems to be a flow, a linkage with these two.

23:58

Matthew Henry seemed to concur with these two men, I included this quote here. Some understand this exhortation as referring to the people's duty to their ministers to lead peaceably with them, and not raise nor promote dissensions at any time between minister and people, which will certainly prove a hindrance to the success of a minister's work and the edification of the people.

24:20

This is certain, that ministers and people should ignore affections from one another, and the people should be at peace among themselves, doing all they can to hinder any differences from rising or continuing among them, and using all proper means to preserve peace and harmony.

24:36

Amen, Matthew Henry. I believe we can say this, that when a church has faithful elders who are laboring diligently among the people of the church, leaders that are faithfully watching over the people, admonishing those who are unruly within the church, as Paul had instructed, there will be a proclivity for that church membership to be characterized by peace among them.

25:05

I think it is a matter of top -down. If you have weak or poor leadership, you're going to have an absence of peace within the congregation.

25:19

Thirdly, Paul wrote, we urge you, brothers, admonish the idol. So, in verse 14, we actually read of three types of people within the church at Thessalonica that need ministry, and the first is the idol, or perhaps referred to as disorderly.

25:38

The second are the faint -hearted, and thirdly, you have the weak, and they are to be dealt with, helped, assisted by the church, as well as the elders.

25:49

And so, we urge you, brothers, admonish the idol. Again, we already gave attention to this problem.

25:56

The church had some who refused to work. They were idoled, depending on others to support them.

26:03

These were not needy people in that they could not work. These were people who did not want to work, and therefore refused to work.

26:12

Paul said they need to be admonished, and this involves a strong and direct rebuke of their idleness and perhaps laziness.

26:23

I've got an appointment with someone this coming Saturday morning. I'm going to have to do this very thing. He's not within this church, but I have an appointment with him.

26:36

It's necessary. Again, we have this problem in our society.

26:42

There are many who are able to work, but choose not to do so. They burden their neighbor rather than bear their own burdens.

26:50

But if there were anyone in our church who was of this sort of person, it would be our responsibility to admonish him or her.

27:01

This would entail teaching that we are to live as Christians. As Paul set himself as an example, not to be a burden to others, but rather in sincerity, purpose to support ourselves as the

27:13

Lord enables us. These idol people are to be told their behavior discredits their

27:20

Christian witness. Paul indicated that. They need to be warned of the danger that they are before a holy

27:29

God who will hold them accountable for their behavior. So they are in need of being urged and perhaps directed how to correct their behavior.

27:39

And again, our whole society seems to have lost this.

27:49

I get myself in trouble when I infuse my own political views, but this is in the founding of our country.

27:57

All of these matters were taken care of on a local level where there is accountability. But now it's all centralized in Washington, D .C.

28:06

with this bureaucracy where they just send out debit cards and whatnot. There's no accountability whatsoever where behavior is taken into consideration with support and in my opinion that just is a terrible precedent and dynamic that results in real problems in a culture, in a society.

28:34

Well fourthly, Paul wrote, encourage the fainthearted. Here is the second group of people that need ministry.

28:42

There are often fainthearted people in the church. These may be discouraged or depressed people.

28:48

Perhaps they were here in Thessalonica, these distressed people about their loved ones who had already died in the

28:56

Lord. Remember Paul wrote about that in 1 Thessalonians 4. Now you're going to be reunited with them one day when the

29:02

Lord comes. They'll be caught up and then we'll be caught up together to meet them in the Lord, meet them in the air so we'll ever be with the

29:10

Lord. So perhaps these are the fainthearted ones Paul was talking about. But there would be others of course fainthearted for other reasons.

29:19

Perhaps they were fearful of the difficulty they encountered for being Christian. We're not all as brave heart, we'll be considering brave heart in Sunday School, the second part of Pilgrim's Progress.

29:33

That these Christians were suffering due to their faith is clear. Again in the second epistle, and we'll be here in a few weeks,

29:42

Paul wrote, We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly.

29:47

Your love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure.

30:00

I suspect there were some in the church that were fainthearted because of these persecutions and tribulations.

30:07

Paul went on to say, Which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer, since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us, when the

30:23

Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know

30:29

God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. That looks like Psalm 35 coming into realization one day, the

30:39

Lord dealing with those who trouble His people. So here in 2

30:46

Thessalonians 1 that we just read, we read of Paul doing exactly what he commanded the church to do here in 1

30:52

Thessalonians 5. He encouraged the fainthearted, and that they were undergoing difficulty, discouragement, but he showed them that their difficulties were actually a reason for their rejoicing, by asserting that the

31:11

Lord would administer justice in His own time. And sometimes the fainthearted are so, because they sense that they are being maltreated, and that justice is not being seen.

31:28

Oftentimes when you find a bitter person, it's because that bitter person does not think that justice has been served, and so they become bitter.

31:39

We are, of course, to trust the Lord that He deals rightly and justly. He is a good

31:45

God and a just God. There is not one act of injustice in all of history that shall go unpunished.

31:51

God is a just God. And they'll either, those that perpetrate their injustices, acts of injustice, will either receive the consequences for that in this life, or on the

32:05

Day of Judgment, and of course in eternal hell. But no act of injustice goes unpunished.

32:14

Except thankfully for us, of course, we escape because the justice of God was satisfied in the death of Jesus on the cross on our behalf.

32:25

So we escape wonderfully, thankfully. But even there, again, justice was rendered upon our

32:34

Lord Jesus. And so these fainthearted need to be encouraged, because they are discouraged, sometimes depressed.

32:44

That's a ministry that has to take place within a church. And then next, he says, help the weak.

32:50

This is the 5th Command. The 5th Command, but the third group of people in the church that need help, need ministry.

32:57

Again, verse 14. We urge you, brothers, admonish the idle as one, encourage the fainthearted, too, three help the weak.

33:07

Perhaps the weak were ones who were struggling with temptation and the sin of immorality. They're weak in this area.

33:15

Paul addressed this back in 1 Thessalonians 4, and just to bring us up to speed, refresh our memories,

33:21

Paul wrote there, Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more just as you receive from us how you ought to walk and to please

33:30

God, for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you should abstain from sexual immorality, that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel, that is, body, in sanctification and honor, not an impassion of lust like the

33:48

Gentiles who don't know God. You shouldn't be living like non -Christians. That no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter.

33:56

Why? Because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified, for God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.

34:06

And so, when he says help the weak, he may be referring to the ones susceptible and vulnerable to this sin.

34:13

They're easily, perhaps, and powerfully tempted to indulge in matters of immorality.

34:20

And so it's our responsibility to help them. This suggests several matters.

34:27

It certainly means we're to be a church fellowship in which we are approachable by believers with these kinds of problems.

34:35

And they are prevalent, aren't they? I know that porn is a scourge on our society.

34:42

And I know that some in our congregation have struggled with this.

34:50

They've informed me of this. And they've gained victory over it, thankfully. But it's a problem.

34:57

They're weak in this area, perhaps because in the past, before they were Christians in the way they lived, or perhaps after becoming

35:04

Christians, in things they yielded to. And it's always a snare, isn't it?

35:10

It catches you. And then you're caught. And then you're weak. Perhaps that one who maybe struggles with this, is weak in this area, is afraid to be discovered, fearful of the shame which would attend exposure.

35:25

But we as a church need to be open and desire to help people.

35:31

And we hope that they would feel comfortable coming to us. Not all churches are that way.

35:37

When I was working through this, I remembered a friend out in California. He was in our church.

35:46

But he and his wife, largely because of her influence, left our church and went and joined another church, another

35:52

Reformed Baptist church in the Sacramento area. It tended to be a legalistic church.

35:57

It had high standards, moral standards. It had many good points. But it didn't encourage weak people to come for help.

36:06

And months later, I ran into Steve, and I asked him how it was going, and he said he and his wife really liked the church.

36:13

However, he made this comment to me, I would never disclose to anyone in that church the personal struggles

36:19

I'm having in life. Not like I used to be able to do in this church. And I learned some years later that he and his wife separated and divorced.

36:32

He was weak in this area. He needed help. But he didn't feel, apparently, the leaders in his church or the people in his church were a source of help for him.

36:45

I might be drawing too many conclusions from the information I have, but I know that that is the case, and it shouldn't be.

36:54

However, the Apostle may have been not talking about weak Christians in that sense, but he may have been speaking of weak

37:02

Christians who were in need of help because they were newer Christians, who were young in the

37:08

Lord, who had convictions about the nature of the Christian life. But convictions that were wrongly drawn or shaped, maybe by previous experiences, or by previous church experiences they had been involved with.

37:26

And they were weak, and they needed help. Paul addressed both strong and weak

37:32

Christians in both Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8. We don't have time to talk about the differences between those passages and what it is to be weak or strong.

37:42

But it would seem that the issue that resulted in numbers of people being weak in the church was that they were

37:47

Jewish Christians, converted out of Judaism, who all their lives had been subjected to the

37:54

Law of Moses with all its dietary laws, all its laws regarding what was clean and unclean, and now they become

38:01

Christians, and they are mixing it up with Gentiles in the church who didn't have these scruples.

38:07

And so these weak Christians tended to gravitate toward one another, and they had a tendency to look down or condemn those

38:15

Gentile Christians who didn't distinguish between these things. And Paul described these

38:21

Jewish Christians, we might think as strong because they had been among the people of God all their lives, but Paul regarded them as weak.

38:33

Paul himself sought to help the weak, or commanded to help the weak, 1 Corinthians 5 .14.

38:40

But Paul in 1 Corinthians 9 said that he made great effort to help the weak.

38:48

Verse 19 of 1 Corinthians 9, For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win them all.

38:56

And to the Jews I became a Jew, that I might win Jews. To those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law.

39:02

To those who are without law, that would be Gentiles, as without law, not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ, that I might win those who are without law.

39:11

And then here, verse 22, to the weak, I became as weak, that I might win the weak. He wanted to help the weak.

39:19

And so I became all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this

39:25

I do for the gospel's sake, that I may be a partaker of that gospel with you. Interestingly, Paul wrote about this in detail in Romans 14.

39:36

I don't think we'll go through that, however, because of the time. Page 8 in your notes, if you're following along.

39:47

Right in the middle of the page. We're skipping over the first four verses of Romans 14.

39:53

Right in the middle of page 8, roughly, a little lower. We want to return to 1 Thessalonians 5 .14.

40:02

Before we leave these three types of people in the church at Thessalonica who needed ministry, let's be clear on this point.

40:09

Paul was not giving instruction here to the elders only. This is what you do within the church. He's giving instruction to the whole congregation.

40:18

And so as a member of this church, this is your responsibility. He wrote, we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint -hearted, and help the weak.

40:33

This is the life of the church. This is what should be happening among us, seeking to encourage others, sometimes warning others, admonishing others.

40:46

Sometimes there's that need. You've all heard my stories over the years, but one just comes to my mind now vividly about the need for admonishment and warning.

40:58

And years ago, I remember Tony coming to me, a member of our church, before church.

41:05

He was a young Christian, but very, very zealous. And he had a situation, and I warned him,

41:13

Tony, you better be careful. You know, he was all too confident that he had it licked.

41:19

And I said, Tony, you know, you need to be careful, please. You know, heed what

41:25

I say. Be humble before the Lord. Pastor, I got this. Don't worry about me.

41:32

I got this. I got a handle on it. And that very week, he took a fall. And the next

41:38

Sunday, he was standing there, shaking his head. He wouldn't even look at me. He was so ashamed. Pastor, I should have listened to you.

41:46

And even when I, and we were standing there, even after he finished that, one of the other two young men came up.

41:53

And somehow, the same kind of discussion arose that we had the previous week. And Tony was sitting there with his head, just shaking his head.

42:00

I forget who it was now. I don't remember.

42:05

Let's call him Steve. Steve came up and was talking about some situation that used to trouble him.

42:12

He said, but I got a handle on it now. I got a lick. And I cautioned him in the same way

42:17

I cautioned Tony before. Tony was just there shaking his head with his head down. No, Pastor, I got it.

42:23

Don't worry about me. That very week, he took a fall, big time. And the following Sunday, they were both standing in front of me with their heads down, shaking.

42:34

They needed to be admonished. And the Lord taught them a valuable lesson at that time.

42:41

You need to take heed. You who think you stand, because you're due to take the big fall.

42:47

That's what happens. But again, the whole issue is that we all, you brothers, admonish the idol and encourage a vain heart and help the weak.

42:57

Now, the last clause of verse 14 reads, be patient with them all. People have problems, and those people are among us.

43:08

In fact, we are they. We've got problems in various ways, to different degrees.

43:16

And if you don't have right now, you will have. It's coming, isn't it?

43:21

Because this is what life is about. Well, nevertheless, we are to be patient with them.

43:27

They don't always respond to our admonishments, our instruction. They don't always receive our help.

43:35

You can't write them off. You've got to be patient. Let the Lord deal with them, and you'll be ready to receive them when they come back, perhaps a little more humble, a little more prepared to listen and learn.

43:49

Matthew Henry again summarized the matter well. We must bear and forbear. We must be long -suffering and suppress our anger.

43:58

If it begin to rise upon the apprehension of affronts or injuries, at least we must not fail to moderate our anger.

44:05

And this duty must be exercised toward all men, good and bad and high and low. We must not be high in our expectations and demands.

44:14

That's a great danger. Nor harsh in our resentments, nor hard in our impositions, but endeavor to make the best we can of everything and think the best we can of everybody.

44:27

Amen, Matthew Henry. This is the nature display of biblical love.

44:32

Love suffers long. It's patient. It's kind. Does not envy.

44:38

Does not parade itself. Is not puffed up. Does not behave rudely. Does not seek its own.

44:44

Is not provoked. Thinks no evil. Does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth.

44:52

Here it is. Bears all things. Believes all things. You give them the benefit of the doubt. You hope all things.

44:58

Somebody treats you badly at church. You assume that person must be under a great deal of weight because this isn't how this person acts or reacts.

45:07

I'm going to let it slide. I'm going to pray for this person. Rather than taking it to heart and bear a grudge.

45:16

I was reading Leviticus. If you're following in the Bible reading chart, we were in Leviticus not long ago.

45:22

We just finished it. And there. You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the children of your people.

45:28

It's a law in the Old Testament as well. Bearing a grudge. That is not good.

45:35

So Paul urges patience toward all at this point. For all need our helping, our encouraging, and our admonishing at one time or another.

45:46

And we won't always see, necessarily, positive responses and immediate results.

45:53

So we're to be patient, knowing that sanctification is not a work accomplished in a few moments, but often occurs only by slight degrees and over prolonged periods of time.

46:05

And so we need to be patient with them all when we're working with them all in one way or another.

46:13

And I think that our church, for the most part, is characterized by these things. Again, for what

46:18

I'm wonderfully grateful for. Thanks be to God.

46:25

Amen? Let's pray. Father, we pray that you would help us to follow these commands, to be obedient to these commands, and to heed these exhortations, that we would be the kind of brothers and sisters to one another that can be best used of you,

46:43

Lord, to encourage one another, strengthen one another, enable one another to live before you.

46:50

We pray, our God, that you would help us as a church to grow and mature. We pray that you would help any of us,

46:58

Lord, who are struggling with these issues. We pray that you would strengthen the weak. We pray that you would encourage the faint -hearted.

47:07

We pray, our God, that you would strengthen the weak. Help us all, our God, before we ask these things in Jesus' name.