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Sermon Notes: http://notes.cornerstonesj.org
Peace In The Church
It's a beautiful thing, you look outside and we got some flowers growing, you look at the trees, the forsythias are turning, it's a beautiful time but what makes it really special is when we come together and we join together in fellowship, we learn about the
Lord and grow into relationship with Him. I got a couple of announcements
I want to bring to us before we actually turn to a scripture and then prayer. The first one, if you have not yet heard, our congregational meeting, was that last
Wednesday or Monday? Last Monday, we presented a new option of land and we discussed it.
We had looked at an area of 70 acres on Phillips Road but that was not going to be attainable at a cost that we were okay with.
But then another plot of land of 27 acres, most of which or enough of which is suitable for what we have.
The congregation received that information with an overwhelming endorsement and so this week a contract was actually signed for $500 ,000 for that 27 acres.
We're looking at a lot of contingencies to be vetted through and to make sure we're good.
We're targeting the middle of June to actually sign the deed. But praise to God for how
He's provided for us and so this is coming up together. It was also very encouraging at that meeting as we had affirmation for the new board that's going to be coming on.
I encourage you to be praying for our new board members. The budget was approved. New members were approved.
That was an exciting meeting. It was all awesome stuff. Back in 2016 when
Pastor Jeff came, our first board retreat, we emphasized several things.
We were emphasizing growth, which wasn't just numbers. It was our relationship with God, our relationship with each other, sending, developing our relationship, our understanding and serving.
We're seeing God do things in and around us in an amazing way, whether it's apologetics classes, precepts classes, preaching camps, youth.
This has been an amazing time. So it's exciting. It's an exciting time. Come back tonight, please, at 6 o 'clock.
Pastor Jeff had this in his pastorgram on Thursday with exuberance. Yes, we do this occasionally.
We're going to come together for an hour. We call it a hymn sing. We're going to open the hymn books, and we're going to sing right out of the hymn books with a special treat this time.
There's a youth choir, and these are individuals that are under 20, 20 years and under.
They've actually prepared a couple of songs out of the hymn books that they want to sing, so they will be here for that tonight.
Please come back and join with us in that. We are in the midst of our starting point class.
It's actually the second one of this year already. If you have an interest, it's not too late.
If you come next Sunday for the last class, the first two are on video. You can actually watch them.
But if you're interested in who we are, if you're interested in becoming part of us, encourage you to come out next
Sunday during first service, and like I said, you can get caught up with the videos. We are also in the early stages of planning for a baptism service.
We're looking at June, so if you have a desire, if God's working in your heart to be baptized,
I really encourage you. See, Pastor Jeff, myself, one of the elders, we would love to get you involved.
We have a class that we give you before the baptism, but also to get everybody together to be together to celebrate.
We're deciding where and how and all that other stuff, but we're looking forward to looking into mid -June.
As far as being able to be of service and use here, it's important that each of us recognize
God's calling within our lives, and so we're going to highlight areas that you could be used if God is calling you in that way.
We have a need for ushers, for greeters, and even for the safety team.
If you're not involved and you're interested in being involved in that, next Sunday, that will be the 27th, after second service, there will be a meeting of individuals that are interested in being part of the greeters, the ushers, or even the safety team.
I want to read out of Zechariah 2. It says, Be silent all flesh before the
Lord. He has roused himself from his holy dwelling. What I get out of that is the noise of life that we even add to, because there's things that we're so excited about, we're so interested in, and we're telling
God how to do things. No. Be silent. Be silent before the
Lord. He has a plan, he is sovereign, and he actually, it says, has roused himself from his holy dwelling.
He is actively involved even today in who we are. Be silent before the
Lord. Let's go to prayer. Father, we come to you in rejoicing and thankfulness for the things that you've done, whether it's the conclusion of the
Phillips Road land purchase, and then the rest of the work to be done, or whether it's the new board and the budget, we see your hand.
We see your hand at work. Lord, we want to pray this morning for our brothers and sisters in the
Ukraine, not only just the believers, Lord, but all of the people in the Ukraine who are under a difficult regime and a difficult attack.
Protect them, my Father, we pray. We even pray, Lord, that you would work in the heart of Vladimir Putin and change his heart.
Call him, Lord, that he would rule and lead out of truth and not out of selfishness.
We also pray, Lord, for our country. Similarly, Lord, that our President, our Vice President, our
Congress, our Senators, our Governors, Lord, that you would reach into them. We pray, Lord, for revival in our land.
We pray that your Holy Spirit would work in the hearts of each and every one here to be spreading your word, working in the hearts of pulpits,
Pastor Jeff and other pulpits, to preach truth, and that there would be a flame of your presence in this land, a flame of revival.
We continue to lift up our missionaries, and this month we continually, consistently, specifically think of the
Cantanese and the work that they have over in Portugal. Now, Lord, as Pastor Jeff is going to be preparing to come, as the worship team leads us in song, we pray for your
Holy Spirit's working in our hearts, preparing Pastor Jeff out of First Thessalonians as he talks to us about peace and unity within the church.
We put these things in front of you. We pray in your name, Jesus. Amen. Let's sing together.
Christ the true and better Adam, Son of God and Son of Man, Who when tempted in the garden,
Never yielded, never sinned. He who makes the many righteous,
Brings us back to life again. Dying He who birthed the cursed,
And rising crushed the serpent's head. Christ the true and better Isaac, Humbled Son of sacrifice,
Who would climb the fearful mountain, There to offer up His life.
Laid with faith upon the altar, Father's joy and only
Son. Their salvation was provided,
Oh, what full and boundless love. Amen, Amen, From beginning to end,
Christ the story, His the glory, Hallelujah, Amen.
Christ the true and better Moses, Called to lead a people home.
Standing bold to earthly powers, God's great glory to be known.
With His arms stretched wide to heaven, See the waters part in two.
See the veil is torn forever,
Cleansed with blood we pass now through. Amen, Amen, From beginning to end,
Christ the true and better David, Lonely shepherd, mighty king.
He the champion in the battle, Where, oh death, is now thy sting.
In our place He bled and conquered, Crowned Him Lord of majesty.
His shall be the throne forever, We shall e 'er
His people be. Amen, Amen, From beginning to end,
Amen, Amen, From beginning to end,
Hallelujah and Amen. To God be the glory,
Great things He hath done. So loved He the world that He gave us
His Son. Who yielded His life and atoned for sin.
And opened the life gate that all may go in.
Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Let the earth hear
His voice. Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice.
O come to the Father, Through Jesus the
Son. And give Him the glory, Great things
He hath done. O perfect redemption,
The purchase of blood. To every believer,
The promise of God. The ultimateless offender,
Who truly believes. That moment from Jesus to pardon receives.
He hath done. We're singing this morning about God's glory.
It's magnificent how the Bible has this theme throughout Scripture.
From His creation, to His providence, to believers like us,
His image bearers, and His redemptive acts. We continually see the glory of Him throughout.
Lord, we come before You this morning, standing in all of Your glory. That You've made it all, even us, in Your perfect will, in Your perfect plan.
And Lord, You know everything, and You know how things are going to go. And we sing praises to Your glory, to You alone are worthy of praise.
How great are You, Lord, and greatly to be praised. Sing with me.
How great is our God, and greatly to be praised. I'll bless
Your name, O God, each day that I'm awake. From dawn to setting sun,
Your greatness I'll proclaim. Your glory far exceeds all human thought.
So with each breath I'll bless Your name, O God.
Your name will be revered by children yet to come.
As generations sing the wonders
You have done, Your strong and mighty deeds are always near.
O God most high, Your name will be revered.
How great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.
How great is the Lord, our God. How great is the
Lord, and greatly to be praised. Your gracious hand provides for all who live and breathe.
Your mercy runs to find the helpless and the weak.
When we call out to You, You hear our cries.
And all our needs Your gracious hand provides.
Lord, and greatly to be praised.
Forever without end, creation will rejoice.
When works of wicked men You finally destroy.
Your power will proclaim till Christ descends.
And You will reign forever without end.
Lord, and greatly to be praised. Amen.
You may be seated. God, this morning we are so blessed to come into Your presence.
This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Thank You also for the peace of this church,
Lord. That there is the love of the brother. Not people at war, but people at peace.
Because of the blood of Your cross, You have reconciled us to Yourself. And made the two one.
Thank You for the unity that we have. We pray that as the word is preached this morning, You would preserve the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace. In Jesus' name, Amen. It was
Easter Sunday in the year 1054. The church was gathered in a building called the
Hagia Sophia. Anybody here ever heard of the Hagia Sophia? It's in Istanbul, in Constantinople.
It was the largest indoor space in the entire Byzantine Empire. Easter Sunday.
Songs were sung to the Lord. The word was read. When all of a sudden, in the back of the church, the giant wooden doors creaked and swung open.
And a procession of men, dressed in their priestly attire, marched from the back of the building to the front.
It was Humbert. Humbert da Silva Cantida. The special envoy of the
Pope of Rome. And he marched right in the middle of the service.
Like they're marching up right now. Just kidding. Marched up. And came to the front, and on the quote -unquote altar, slapped down a papal bull.
Excommunicating the pastor. What a scene. Easter Sunday.
Thousands of people gathered. Michael, the
Patriarch of Constantinople, was excommunicated from the church. Not exactly a scene that brought glory to our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, would you say? Well, how did he respond? He finished the service, and then, within a couple weeks, he excommunicated the
Pope. Tit for tat. And thus began what has been known ever since as the
Great Schism. A divide between the East and the
West. A line from North to South was drawn in 1054. It would only get worse, because the
Crusades began shortly after, and the West, the Pope's men, came to help the
East, but after they conquered some land, because the Muslims were coming up trying to conquer the
Byzantine Empire, after they won that land, they squabbled and fought for who would get to keep it.
And so the line between East and West was firmly established. What was the theological reason for the divide?
Why was Humbert sent from the Pope, Leo, to slap a papal bull on the altar?
Quote -unquote altar. Well, there was a number of reasons. One was unleavened bread.
The West had begun to use unleavened bread in communion, and the
East thought that they were Judaizing the Gospel by going back to Judaism in doing that. That was one thing.
Another thing was priests had to be celibate in the West. That was just totally made up, because you're not going to find that in this book.
And it's led to all manner of sin and debauchery and problems in the
Roman Catholic Church because of that made -up, man -made tradition. But that was coming into the
West. But the biggest theological problem was the addition of what was called the filioque.
Anybody ever heard of the filioque? The filioque simply means, and the sun.
The West added a one -word expression to the
Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed said that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the
Father. But the West decided to add this expression, filioque.
Que means, and the, and filio means, son. They added the expression, and the son, to say that the
Spirit proceeds not only from the Father, but also from the Son. And that is true! The Son does give procession to the
Spirit. But the issue in this East -West divide was not so much the theological truth of that addition to the
Nicene Creed. The issue was authority. You see, as early as 190, the
Pope began to be called Pope, Papa, whereas the Bible said we have only one
Father. And the Pope began to exert authority, the Bishop of Rome began to exert himself over the entire
Roman Empire. When a church out East wanted to celebrate on a different day, he brought the hammer.
As he took more and more authority to himself, he began to do things without the consent of the other bishops.
And before long, he saw himself as the ruler of Christendom. So his authority, as he claimed authority for himself, it began to clash with the
East. And in like manner, the patriarchs to the East saw themselves as something bigger than what they were.
It was ultimately a clash of authority. Men claiming authority over the church of Jesus Christ.
Let me tell you something, church. We have one head, and his name is
Jesus. Every congregation of the church of Jesus Christ exists under his headship.
Without an intermediary. Christ himself is the mediator between God and man.
So if you read the book of Acts, in the 13th chapter, you see Paul going out to Cyprus, and then
Pisidian Antioch, and then to Lystra, then to Derbe. On that first trip, he plants churches.
But if you read Acts 14, what does he do on the way back to Antioch?
Acts 14, 23 says, in every church he appointed elders. Every church was to be led by elders.
And you see that in Acts chapter 20, where the elders are the pastors, the shepherds, and the overseers.
They meet Paul on the beach, and they pray together. Paul has appointed this leadership over the church in Ephesus.
Every local church is led by elders. And what you will not find in this book is the
Pope! Or even a patriarch over the Eastern Empire. All of these things are man -made.
You saw the clash of authority, which completely disturbed the peace in the church.
And the ramifications of this are still being seen today. Did you know that in 2019,
Curl, who is the patriarch of Russia, has been having a squabble with the
Ukrainian archbishop? The Ukrainian bishop broke out from under Curl, and moved more towards the
West. The East -West divide, which began in 1054, is playing out right before our eyes, even in the political world.
Now, there are many things you'll read that people assume are in the Bible that are not. Like God helps them who help themselves, right?
God helps those who help themselves. Or God wants you to be healthy, wealthy, and wise.
A number of sayings that people attribute to the Bible that are not in the
Bible. One of those is, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Not so. It's possible for the West and the
East to be led by ungodly men in clash. And I think that's what we're seeing in the world today.
Ungodly policing is peace in the church.
Nobody here delights to see babies killed in hospitals in Ukraine.
It grieves our heart. And most people around the world, by God's common grace, they're grieved by death and destruction and war.
But there are spiritual forces in heavenly places that love war.
Satan is giddy about the war in Ukraine. He's called the devil, the adversary, the slanderer,
Hasatan, Satan. And he's described as a thief who comes to, what? Steal, kill, and destroy.
He delights to see war in the world. But you know what makes him even happier?
War in the church. He loves to sow discord in a body of believers.
He loves to see the church on the world stage discredit itself with things like what happened in 1054.
He loves to see the divisions in the churches beginning in 2020 in this country.
These things delight the devil. So wouldn't it be great if the Lord, our head, gave us instructions on how to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace?
In the words of Ephesians 4, 2, and 3. He's given us that.
He's told us how to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.
We're going to read it from 1 Thessalonians 5, 12 to 15. 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 in love because of their work.
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. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil.
But always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.
Amen. Now, before we go verse by verse and unpack and apply the meaning of these words, let's remember what
Paul has said so far in the book of 1 Thessalonians. We won't read the whole thing, but I just want to spotlight that banner.
Do you see it? Thank you, Michael, for getting this banner, by the way. It says, future hope.
Future hope is a great expression to summarize the big idea and contribution of the book of 1
Thessalonians. It's a book about hope. It is the most eschatological book in the
New Testament with the exception of Revelation. 1
Thessalonians is about end times, future things, and it teaches us to have hope in what
God is going to do. So look with me at chapter 1, verse 10, and I want to show you that every chapter in the book of 1
Thessalonians ends with this future hope, pointing to the second coming of Christ.
Now, of course, when the book of 1 Thessalonians was written, it was just a letter. It didn't have chapter divisions.
But there are sections of thought, which later editors put numbers to, and it shows that with each thought,
Paul ends with this future hope. So chapter 1, verse 10, and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead.
We are to be waiting on the second coming of Christ. Chapter 2, verse 19, for what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before the
Lord Jesus at his coming? Chapter 3, verse 13, so that he may establish your hearts blameless and holiness before our
God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Chapter 4, verses 13 to 18, which culminates in the rapture at verse 17, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. And then finally, chapter 5 in the benediction, verse 23, now may the
God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Jesus. It ends every chapter of 1
Thessalonians, the coming of Jesus. Now, if we're being taught that Jesus is coming soon, what potential danger does that pose to the church?
Or what, better said, what would be an overreaction or a misunderstanding that the church could take from that?
Jesus is coming. Let's just wait on his coming and do nothing.
The potential would be laziness, idleness, not doing the work of the
Lord. I can picture someone just going and sitting on a hill and looking at the clouds.
In fact, hasn't the Roman Catholic Church done that by creating these things called monasteries where monks go and sit around and do nothing?
Not active, not a labor of love, not a work of faith or a steadfastness of hope, but a sitting around and waiting.
We are to wait on the Lord, but that doesn't mean there's not something for us to do.
And so in chapter 2, verse 13, we find
Paul encouraging them, the believers, to walk in a manner that's worthy of God.
We also thank God constantly for this, that when you receive the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
Paul will set himself up as a father figure. He says, like a father,
I set an example for you. You saw how I toiled. Night and day, he would preach the gospel and teach, as we're doing now, during the day.
But at night, he would spend his time working with his hands, physically making tents so he would be able to sell them and have something to provide for his own needs and to provide for the needs of others.
He modeled work for them, and then he exhorted them to work, not to be idle.
This is a major theme of 1 Thessalonians. It teaches the
Protestant work ethic. What happens in church is not the only holy thing that you do.
Your ministry is very much connected to and part of the work you do with your hands.
Your secular employment is holy to God, and as you work and toil at it, you honor
God because you work as unto him. This is the teaching of 1
Thessalonians. Get to work, don't be idle. A common theme. So now, go with me to 1
Thessalonians 5. That's all big picture 1 Thessalonians stuff to drive us into this text.
The question is, how do we have peace in the church? And the first answer is found in verses 12 and 13.
We respect, in love and esteem, the elders of the church.
Notice it says nothing about the Pope or any high -ranking person.
It refers to those who have the leadership within the local assembly.
It says, 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 in love because of their work.
Be at peace among yourselves. We live in a culture that hates hierarchies.
It's a very egalitarian culture in which we live. So there is no distinction between parent and child, between teacher and student, policeman and citizen, pastor and congregation.
Our culture teaches that everything is flat and equal. There is no authority.
Dismantle the patriarchy. Tear down every oppressive structure.
That's the water that we swim in. That's the air that we breathe. Egalitarianism.
And it results in great conflict in churches that drink that water.
Where there is no clear authority in the church, there is disruption and peace is squandered.
Now there are three reasons given why there needs to be respect given to the elders.
Now I'll say before I read them, elders need to be respectable. That's why
I thank God for Pastor John and Michael and Drew and Rob, and I pray by God's grace that I would likewise be respectable.
We must read 1 Peter 5 and say, this is God speaking to me.
I am to shepherd the flock, not beat the sheep. And I need to exercise the authority that God has given me not as one domineering over the flock, but setting an example for the flock, feeding the sheep, the word of God.
That's our charge. But now listen, the thrust of this passage is to the congregation to be willing to follow that lead for three reasons.
The first is, they labor among you. The work of the elder.
The work of the elder is to lead the church and it is the value of our collective work that's so important.
We as a church are stewards of the revealed mystery of God.
That God in Christ Jesus is reconciling the world to himself. That anyone who calls upon the name of the
Lord will be saved. We are entrusted with a mission to go and preach the gospel to all creatures.
Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that Christ has commanded.
This is our job as a church. It's our work. It's our labor. And the elders are to lead us in that work, but think about the gravity of what we do.
Christ himself was born to the Virgin Mary, born of the line of David.
That's his life. He died on the cross to take the penalty of sin into himself.
And he rose from the dead. He did this. Then he ascended to heaven and he gave us this charge, this trust to do the work of making him known to the world, both in our word and in how we live.
I like how the Moravians summed it up. They were these early missionaries who went out to the ends of the earth.
And their rallying cry was this. Win for the Lamb the reward of his suffering.
They were willing to lay down their lives to go give themselves entirely to the work because they recognized the
Lamb of God bled on Calvary's tree. He died the death that we deserve.
He then deserves to be honored among the nations. And we're like those men who were walking in a field and we stumbled across a treasure in the field.
And we went and we sold everything we had to buy that field because the treasure was there.
You see, the treasure of Christ becomes everything to us. He is our treasure. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the all -surpassing power comes from God and not from us.
Church, our work is sacred. It's weighty. It has gravity.
It's important. Because of what we are called to do, peace in the church is absolutely essential.
If we start turning on one another and fighting, backbiting and squabbling, we show that we do not understand how weighty this mission really is.
Jesus is coming. And those who believe in Him will be gathered with Him in the air.
And the rest will fall under the heel of His judgment. Eternal heaven or eternal hell is at stake in the work of the church.
What could be more important because of the work we have to do? You must respect your elders.
That's Paul's argument. The second thing is the position. Respect those who labor.
That's the first thing. And are over you. That's the second thing. That is to say, there is a hierarchy in the church.
God has appointed, first of all, apostles and prophets. But they were foundational, according to Ephesians 2 .20.
After them, teachers. Those who handled the Word and admonish from the pulpit.
God has created these authority structures. So it is essential that we respect those who are over you in the
Lord. And then lastly, the third reason is they admonish you. Admonish means to take the
Word of God and apply it to your life. When I became pastor here,
I was installed in March of 2016. And we had a fellow pastor from Calvary Chapel, Marlton, come and lay hands and pray.
And then he preached a word of admonition to me. And there was one thing he said over and over again.
Came from 2 Timothy 4 .2. Preach the Word. Preach the
Word. Preach the Word. I have a solemn charge on my life and I tremble at the weight of this.
I must take what God has written and deliver it fully to you. Without shading or compromising any point.
Without blunting the edges. But to admonish you with exactly what this Word says.
Because of this work of admonishing, it is essential that the church respect and hear.
Because it is not just the Word of man. I don't stand here to preach opinion.
I exposit the Word of God. And we must be submissive to that Word.
It's important. Now you keep reading in verse 13, it says, esteem them very highly in love.
Which is awkward for me to say. Love me. Love me. Love me, church.
Church, listen. I love you guys. I love this church. And I feel your love for me.
I have a friend who is a pastor in Detroit. And there's another in Pittsburgh.
And all three of us handled the last two years pretty much exactly the same. When the government overreached and tried to take authority over the
Church of Christ, all of us did the same thing and said, there is a jurisdiction that belongs to Christ that we will not compromise.
And we made certain stands against the encroachment.
And we spoke out against the lies that crept into the churches after the
George Floyd thing in 2020 and the so -called social justice. But I want to tell you something.
The one church in Pittsburgh doubled in membership, just like ours did.
The other church in Detroit was cut in half. And the difference was not the preaching.
The difference was the people. There were some who were willing to hear the word of God and be corrected where needed.
But because of love and esteem and respect, whatever reason, the church grew through the word.
But there was discord in another. And this played out all over America. Thousands of churches experienced this.
Terrible infighting in the churches the last two years, to the extent that right now 40 % of evangelical pastors are considering resigning, according to a recent study.
Think about that. I want to tell you, Cornerstone, it never crossed my mind for a second.
Never crossed my mind. I hope, I hope you're clapping for you.
Because this is the respect and love that we share. And it's because you are obeying verses 12 and 13.
There has been a godly submission to leadership, a mutual love and respect and esteem.
And the church has been willing to follow. I took some controversial stands, but you let me lead.
You let me lead. And it doesn't mean that I was perfect in everything. In fact, I probably misspoke a few times.
I think there was one time I called face masks face diapers. I don't mean to say that it's funny.
No, I think that was probably overstating and probably disrespectful. Because I don't mind if somebody wants to wear a face mask.
That's up to them. But the point is, as a church, in the course of the last two years, you respected the elders enough to let us lead.
And as a result of that, we have had perfect peace in the cultural storm that overtook this country for two years.
COVID. All the social justice nonsense. In all of that, we only got closer to one another, deeper in the word and larger in number.
And that was God's work in you. Because of this. And this is so important. Without it, you have divided churches.
We're halfway done. Verse 14. It says in verse 14, and we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint -hearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.
This is the second great and important key to peace in the church. The first is submission to leadership.
The second is admonishing, encouraging, and helping.
Now notice, that implies three different categories of people.
Or better stated, three different kinds of trouble that come into the lives of people that need to be treated differently.
Each of these situations needs to be handled appropriately. What's the first one?
Admonish the idle. Now we already said that the preacher is the one who admonishes, meaning
I take the word of God and admonish, but notice who's addressed in verse 14.
You! It says, we urge you, brothers,
Adelphoi, the church, to admonish the idle. That word for admonish in the
Greek is nuthetete.
Now you know filioque and nuthetete. We're not just doing Latin and Greek for no apparent reason.
Listen, nuthetete, I only bring it up because it's important. From it we get the word nuthetic.
Nuthetic. The word admonish, nuthetete, can be translated in these different terms.
Admonish, warn, counsel, exhort, put in mind, caution, reprove gently.
There are two schools of thought when it comes to biblical counseling. Christian counseling.
There are some that take a therapeutic approach and there are others that practice nuthetic counseling.
The Bible prescribes nuthetic counseling. Meaning, what we are to do is to take the truths of God's word and apply it to our lives.
Guys, if every person in this room, all of the Adelphoi, brothers and sisters, would take this seriously and see yourself as a nuthetic counselor, the
Christian counselors in this area would be put out of business. Sorry, guys.
No, there would still be a need for professional counseling for certain things, like sexual abuse and certain trauma, things that require professional training.
But the idea here is that every believer is a nuthetic counselor. True biblical counseling is nothing but Christian discipleship.
And every Christian should and ought to be doing it. That's what it says here. Admonish nuthetete, the idol.
Idol here means unruly. It's like a soldier who's kind of getting out of line. That's going to cause peace in the ranks when the soldier goes
AWOL. Well, what this is calling on us to do as fellow soldiers, fellow brothers, fellow workers, for each of us to be willing to admonish.
That means you need to be willing to say hard things to other people in the church.
It's not only the pastor's job. It's all of us. When we see that unruly idleness that Paul addresses throughout the book of First Thessalonians, if somebody's just sitting in a monastery or sitting on a hill waiting for the
Lord to come, there needs to be admonishment to go and counsel them to be active in the roles they're called to do.
Could be that a person is apparently very active, but their activity is entirely online.
They're always reading and thinking and studying, but they're not doing the things that they're called to do by God.
A brother or sister needs to come and correct that and admonish. That's the first treatment.
But catch this. If the only tool you have in your toolbox is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
You need different tools in your toolbox. Christian, if you want to minister to keep the peace, to grow the church in holiness, not just in number, if you want to do that, you need different tools in your toolbox.
Look at the second. Encourage the faint -hearted. That word faint hearted in the
Greek comes from small soul, little soul.
It speaks to a person whose soul has become fragile and small and gentle.
It's a wounded person. And what the wounded soul needs is not the hammer of admonition on their head.
Sometimes it's not that you need to tell a person to go and do better. You need to be that voice of encouragement saying, you're doing great, man, you're doing awesome.
And to notice something they do well, to build that up, to encourage them in the Lord. We need more encouragers in the churches.
My kids go to a great Christian school in town. And at the door when we drop them off in the morning, there's this guy there named
Lou. He's the plumber. And he does things around the church.
But man, I barely know this guy but I love this dude because he is the most encouraging guy I think
I've ever seen in my life. Every day when you pull up, the kids get out, he's standing out there holding the door, giving high fives.
He's almost jumping up and down. Abby! Well, he's happy. He encourages something in her and then in my son and then in every kid that gets dropped off, he has a gift of encouragement.
And church, I want every one of you to sharpen that skill in your toolbox.
Every young child, small soul developing, or even teenagers as they come into their own.
They need to be glad to see you when they walk in the doors of this church. You need to be given high fives to every kid.
You need to be encouraging people and those who are weak or wounded in this life.
Maybe because of a divorce, being abused, who knows what they've been through.
We need to encourage one another. That needs to become a huge part of what we do and I see it here as well.
We need to grow in that grace and with that, there will be peace like a river. Encouraging words spoken over.
Lastly, help the weak. Just like the wounded person doesn't need the hammer all the time, they need encouragement.
Likewise, the weak doesn't even just need encouragement.
They need help. You don't say to a widow or an orphan, be warm and well fed.
You don't say to the little child without father and mother, you can do it, champ.
Run along, tiger, you got it. You don't encourage, although that's fine to do, what they need is a dad.
You adopt a child who's an orphan. There are in the church those who need help and when you see that, the answer is not encouragement or admonition, but help.
We have a brother who's here first service who's from Malawi and in June, he heads back to start an orphanage.
That's helping the weak. We want to support that how we can and there are others in the church with needs that we look to meet.
So church have the full set of keeping the peace. Sadly, I've seen churches get into trouble when someone only has the hammer and they think it their duty to rebuke anybody and everybody all the time.
I call that the mad rebuker. I've seen it in churches over the years and they're rebuking somebody every
Sunday for something. That gets tiresome but the peace is kept by admonition.
We need to say hard things but we need to be the kind of person that makes a lot more deposits into the love tank than withdraws from the love tank.
If you're an encourager, people will listen when you have something to say. Amen? Lastly, we're done with this one.
See that no one repays anyone evil for evil but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.
There will, from time to time, be evil intrusions upon the church. This is not the ordinary troubles of church life that we see in the previous verse.
This is what Paul calls evil. It is the attack of the enemy against a local church.
We saw it in 2020 when pastors began to propagate this idea of social justice which was so fundamentally divisive that you say to people we need to judge based on the color of skin and make discriminate between people based on pigmentation in the skin?
Such a fundamentally divisive factor. And because of that, churches were absolutely divided for the last two years.
Sometimes these things come upon churches. Now we must be careful not to repay evil for evil.
But do good. So what does that look like? I have coined or I'm using the term here benevolent force.
When something wicked comes into the church it might be a divisive person who's intent on spreading gossip and undermining leaders.
It might be a deceitful ideology like celibacy for leaders or something that the
Roman Catholic Church has preached or social justice or whatever the modern thing is. Soft peddling of sexual morality is a big thing now.
Whatever it is, we must meet that with force but benevolent force.
It is because we love what's true that we stand with force against these things.
In closing, we're just going to read Psalm 55 verses 12 to the end of the
Psalm to make a very important point. Be aware church even in the body of Christ there will be intrusions of evil that take you completely by surprise.
Jesus had his Judas and we must likewise be aware in Psalm 55 we're just going to read 12 through the end the first part is a lament because David is so wounded but here's why
David is hurting so deeply watch this for it is not an enemy who taunts me then
I could bear it. Pause here church if all of our attacks were just out there the
Vladimir Putins of the world we could bear it but what hurts so bad is when one of our own begins to attack a fellow sheep look what it says it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me then
I could hide from him but it is you a man my equal my companion my familiar friend we used to take sweet counsel together within God's house we walked in the throng let death steal over them let them go down to Sheol alive for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart evil now of course here
Paul is lamenting I'm sorry David is lamenting and this is between him and God in the personal relationship he'll bless the one who curses him
Jesus would teach us that but here this is a lament in verse 16 but I call to God and the
Lord will save me evening and morning and noon I utter my complaint and moan and he hears my voice he redeems my soul and safety from the battle that I wage we wage not a war of flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of evil but we are in a battle and it says for many are arrayed against me
God will give ear and humble them he who is enthroned from old because they do not change and do not fear
God now read this in verse 20 my companion stretched out his hand against his friends he violated his covenant his speech was smooth as butter yet war was in his heart his words were softer than oil yet they were drawn swords that verse is so instructive many of the people who will come preaching a false deceitful ideology will have words that are smooth as butter they'll be oily smooth but war is in their heart their words are drawn swords many have criticized me because I'm very direct if I'm fighting an apologetic battle online
I name who I'm talking about I say what the problem is and sometimes with benevolent force
I call it out I call that masculine communication I think it's good it's direct it's honest and sometimes it stings but the bible doesn't warn us about those who speak directly and say exactly what they mean you know what it warns us of?
those who tickle ears to say what itching ears want to hear there are many and be careful of this who will butter you up and they will sound like the nicest guy in the world sounds so nice but the gospel is not the gospel of nice it's the gospel of grace and we must be on guard for verse 21 his speech was smooth as butter yet war was in his heart do you hear that?
his words were softer than oil yet they were drawn swords
Judas's kiss faithful is a slap from a friend and that's to be preferred than the kiss of an enemy so in closing when the church has peace through the blood of his cross and in relationship with one another as we're brought together in one body the church is a force that the world cannot resist the gates of hell will not prevail against us the danger is drama in the church it's war in the body of Christ and I thank
God that we've been protected from that let us do everything we can to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace there must be a loving respect for the elders of the church to let the elders lead very important every person must be willing to admonish the unruly to encourage one another to help the weak and we must collectively have discernment to stand against the evil intrusions of the enemy on the church because he does seek to divide us he comes to steal, kill, and destroy but we overcome him by the blood of the lamb and the word of the testimony we are so blessed to have a church at peace and that's why we're taking ground but when you stand strong, be careful because the enemy gets more and more angry the more ground we take so this is how we do it and by God's grace we do it and overcome we open today talking about the folly of the
Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox collision in 1054 we close by saying when the church is following the word of God not adding to or taking away anything that is written we are a benevolent force that can't be stopped believe that and let's pray now for peace in the church
Father God thank you so much for the peace that you have given us Lord I thank you from the bottom of my heart for this congregation that I love with my whole heart thank you for the love that we have for each other
I thank you for the respect that's given to me and to the other elders as we shepherd the flock that is among us
Lord we ask that the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace would continue unabated
Lord it is our desire to go take ground for the kingdom we thank you for the rock which we planted last year which is now a hundred people meeting in Rancocos woods we pray that we would plant other churches and continue to take ground we are the church militant against the world the flesh and the devil but Lord we thank you for the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace in the fellowship of believers please help us
Lord to obey this text in Jesus name we pray let's stand and sing we will trust
God's word alone where his perfect will is known our tradition shift like sand while his truth forever stands we will live by faith alone clothed in merit not our own we would claim his
Jesus Christ and his finished sacrifice glory be glory be to God alone through the church he redeemed and made his own he has freed us he will keep us till we're safely home glory be glory be to God alone we are saved by grace alone undeserved yet freely shown no accomplishments on earth can achieve the second birth we will live in Christ alone the unyielding cornerstone nations rage and devil's war still he reigns forevermore glory be glory be glory be to God alone through the church he redeemed and made his own he has freed us he will keep us till we're safely home glory be glory be to God alone now may the
Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Come back tonight. We're going to be singing hymns, worshipping here tonight at 6pm.