1 Thessalonians 5:14 - Brothers in Need

And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

Target Date: Sunday, 30 April 2023

Word Study/ Translation Notes:

Admonish - νουθετέω nŏuthĕtĕō – to caution or warn gently.

The verb means “to impart understanding,” “to set right,” “to lay on the heart.” The stress is on influencing not merely the intellect but the will and disposition. The word thus acquires such senses as “to admonish,” “to warn,” “to remind,” and “to correct.” It describes a basic means of education. Philo and Clement of Alexandria speak about God or Christ warning, censuring, and encouraging us in this way. The idea is not that of punishment but of a moral appeal that leads to amendment. In this sense it takes on the meaning “to discipline.”

Idle - ἄτακτος ataktŏs – unruly, undisciplined, lazy

átaktos means “disordered,” “disorderly,” “undisciplined,” “unbridled,” “without law or order.” ataktéō means “to set oneself outside the order,” “to evade obligations,” “to act without discipline, or irresponsibly.”

ἀτάκτους has two possible meanings, either of which is appropriate to the context. The original denotation of the word concerned undisciplined or disorderly actions or persons, but in papyri from the Hellenistic period it is used of idle or lazy individuals as well.

With 1 Thessalonians 4:11 and 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15, the greatest chance of the meaning is of those who have ceased being productive and living off the charity or aid of others. There are certainly other meanings for the word, and those might be true as well, but the immediate context drives us to this particular interpretation.

Thoughts on the Passage:

This verse is a real exploration of how to deal with brothers and sisters we might see as weaker in the faith.

Their weakness might be caused by a later conversion to Jesus Christ, or to personal predilections that work against full obedience to Christ.

In that day, everyone was a convert. Certainly none whom the apostles were addressing directly had been raised in the faith, as so many in our day have been raised in church.

For us, there is the real danger of a blasé attitude toward our Lord or His church, having, as many of us have, plentiful examples of those for whom religion is simply an identity or a label, but is not at the heart of their life.

The idle would be those who refuse to take on the greater discipline of being a believer. Following Christ is not a vacation or a rest; it is enlistment as a soldier, acceptance of a greater responsibility than you ever had before.

This idleness could manifest in simple laziness, living off the charity of others.

It could also manifest in someone who is trying to gain from the association with the church, such as someone who bolsters their business or political resume with church association or responsibility.

The idleness spoken of here is not simply the sponging off the church, but in that case would be an external action caused by a spiritual problem.

Sermon Text:

As we come this morning to look at verse 14 in chapter 5 of this great letter, I would like to remind you to whom the apostles were writing.

Because it is really easy, as we go through this letter in verse-by-verse detail, to lose sight of the tone and the theme of the letter.

Because what was, for us, a study done more than a year ago was, for the reader of this letter, a mere two minutes ago in the text.

So when we dive as deeply into the passages as we do, it is important that we continue to hold in mind how these final instructions fit into the letter as a whole.

I invite you to remember the state of this church the apostles describe in the first chapters:

You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. – 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7

Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. – 1 Thessalonians 2:8

I mention this now because we are entering the final section of the letter.

This is the section that contains many short instructions in a small space.

The nice thing about having these instructions in this way is that they are easy to memorize and, thus, apply.

And while these are indeed Scriptural instructions, many of them are offered as reminders or reinforcements of what has already been taught.

He is not, in general, correcting major issues in the Christian conduct of this church.

Certainly not like he corrected the Corinthian church – at least twice.

The things he brings out in this final chapter are not where the church has gone off the rails;

They are much more reminders to continue the good conduct of the gospel in their lives.

Now certainly, if any of them – or any of us – were sloppy in obedience to these things, we should expect correction from the Holy Spirit in these things.

But if you look at the list of things in the remainder of the letter, they are presented in POSITIVE terms, not negative.

I mean by that: almost each one is presented as something to DO rather than something to AVOID.

This is not, then, a new table of the Law of Moses to be rigorously obeyed at our peril;

What it tells us are the practices and habits that make us better servants of our Lord,

More ready each moment for His appearing.

It tells us the way we can live in community with each other despite our different backgrounds, spiritual maturity, and even secondary opinions.

So verse 14 begins with the familiar “urging” or “exhorting” the apostles have done throughout the epistle.

Remember that this word means, at its heart, to call someone closer so they can walk along with a good example.

And in this verse we see three exhortations to the church, with a fourth that ties them all together.

Admonish the idle.

Encourage the fainthearted.

Help the weak.

And, applying to each of these: be patient with all.

Perhaps it occurs to you that, in other places, I might have split this into four separate sermons over four different Sundays.

There is certainly enough underlying each of these to warrant detailed study and meditation.

And, if I can be quite open with you, I did plan to deal with these in detail over a month.

But as I studied and prayed about this verse, it seems as if Paul is giving a four-fold answer to a single question.

And that question is based directly on what has been written before.

Where this church has, as a whole, been great imitators of the apostles, even though their direct instruction from the apostles in the Christian faith was brief.

So the question comes: what about those who are not doing so well in obedience?

I want you to consider that no one in this church had grown up in a Christian home.

Not a single one.

Not even many of them had grown up in Jewish homes, where they would have at least been acquainted with the Scriptures and with the God of the Bible.

These were idolaters, converted by the work of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel to them;

Converted from fallen rebels alienated from God into God’s people through Jesus Christ.

Not one of them had been raised with a catechism, a Bible, or any other instruction in truth.

All they had were the philosophies of men as to how to live a “good life” or how to get along in the world by working within the world’s system.

It was, truly, a miracle of the Holy Spirit that the gospel resounded to the brothers and sisters in this church, calling them

from idols to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead - 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10

It is no less a miracle for us in our day, considering the worldly influences on us from birth.

That is why the words of Jesus in John 6:44 are so true:

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him

So for those truly called by God, professing faith in Jesus Christ, but seeming to lag behind in their obedience to Christ, what should be done?

Let me be clear, this is not lagging behind SOMEONE ELSE, in the sense that we compare one believer to another.

That is certainly the most natural – and the most wrong – way to assess the state of a believer.

But we do that sometimes, don’t we?

“I don’t know how a follower of Jesus Christ could…” – you may have finished that sentence.

“I would certainly never…”

“Everyone knows better than to…”

So the apostles did not offer a human standard for seeking to help these who are struggling with the faith.

They didn’t say, “For those who don’t progress like Jason.”

Or “For those who are not trying to imitate us…”

There was no human standard they were seeking to establish.

They are also not advocating for the more extreme forms of church discipline that are often advocated today.

Although I would say that churches fail to seek the repentance and restoration of sinning members far too seldom in our day.

Paul is not above censuring a willfully-sinning member, as he commands in 1 Corinthians.

But here, they identify three reasons the believer may be lagging in his devotion and obedience to Christ, and in the same breath, speaks to the whole church about their responsibility for them.

Because we are our brother’s keeper.

The first reason they mention is that the believer may be generally undisciplined.

That is what is meant by the word “idle”, or, as King James puts it, unruly.

These believers don’t discipline themselves, relentlessly searching for things that are displeasing to God and putting them away, putting them completely to death, in themselves.

Now, much is made in the commentaries about the physical “idleness” Paul deals with in the second epistle to the Thessalonians,

With them equating these two subjects entirely.

Because, it seems, that some members of the church, to whom Paul speaks in the second letter, were actually not caring for their own needs, living off the charity of others by choice rather than by need.

And even worse, they had become busybodies, self-appointed “Junior Holy Spirits” who had pushed themselves forward as teachers when they were not fitted for the role.

I would say that the problems addressed in the second letter were intensifications of what was being addressed here, mainly because the apostles deal with it so generally.

And the laziness, gossip, and general busy-bodiness we see in the second letter is a later state of those who did not discipline themselves sufficiently after this first letter.

While here, the apostles are speaking of something much more in the hearts of these people.

I assert that with confidence because the other two primary obstacles they deal with – faintheartedness and weakness – are SPIRITUAL issues, not physically-manifested issues.

So the three, treated in this verse as parallel causes, are all found and corrected in the same realm of the person’s spirit.

And the correction prescribed for the spiritual obstacle is to admonish the persons – to WARN them.

Not to simply warn them that their behavior is unacceptable.

Or that it is detrimental to the church.

Those are things we might look at today.

Because we believe that we have to guard ourselves from the very beginning from the question, “So, what is it to you?”

It is so often thrown in our face:

What does it matter if two men get married?

What does it matter if we legalize recreational drugs with no medicinal value?

How does that hurt you?

And, church, we have floundered in the face of that question, stammering our answers, justifying the damage it does to us or to society.

And these are, we know, damaging to society, but if that is our MAIN concern, we are WAY off-base.

What warning are the apostles urging the church to give to these undisciplined believers?

It is the warning that our Lord Jesus Christ will be returning, and He will execute the judgment of God on the Day of the Lord.

Believer, you don’t have TIME to be undisciplined.

We must do the work of the gospel both in our hearts and in the world while the Lord tarries.

And, by the way, in answer to the same question for unbelievers – what does it matter – the right answer is: because I love you and care for you, and this sin you are reveling in keeps you blind to its danger and the love of God.

The problem is: we can’t say that if we don’t mean it.

If the unbeliever is our opponent or our enemy, we will never love them sufficiently to be able to answer their question rightly.

The second reason a Christian is struggling with devotion is that they are fearful.

The “little-spirits” who shrink from threats or, worse, potential threats.

Thessalonica was filled with persecution – enough to drive the apostles of God from the city borders.

But it wasn’t always hot. More often, it seethed, simmered, threatened.

Those fainthearted believers could be stopped in their devotion to Christ, kept from worship, severed from association with the church, simply on their belief that something bad might happen.

There is the old saying that “three drops of rain will keep 4 Baptists from going to church.”

How many believers are stopped in their tracks from obeying the Holy Spirit in the gospel because of what MIGHT happen?

A person who is called to be a missionary to some other place kept home because of the dangers to be found there, or the loss of something here at home.

A person whose mouth stays clamped closed at work when a friend there is having difficulties or questions the Holy Spirit has brought into their life to draw them to Jesus Christ.

All because of what COULD happen.

The remedy prescribed: encourage them.

Not like telling them “You are doing great!” or any other such drivel.

That would be a lie.

Encourage as in “helping fill them with courage.”

To give them some of the courage God has given you, even if you think it is a small amount.

If God can feed a woman, her son, and His prophet for months on a single measure of flour and oil, how much can he do with your small bit of courage?

Even if your courage is barely enough for you, share it through Jesus – He can use it to encourage thousands.

In this, perhaps the most important question we can ask the fainthearted is “Who should you obey – God or man?”

And encourage them to not only do the right things, but in the right ways and for the right reasons.

That is crucial.

God’s ends are unreachable by man’s means.

The final group are those who are weak.

The ones who do not have strength.

In most cases, these will be new converts, spiritual newborns, who must be carried, fed, taught, and trained.

This does not, however, necessarily mean their strength can be measured in merely how long they have been in Christ.

It is possible to be an “old baby” in Christ, still needing spiritual milk because a person has not allowed themselves to be trained or strengthen.

Perhaps they began further back in sin or rebellion than you did, and they have a farther way to go.

Or perhaps they have endured a greater trial that sapped their strength or damaged their faith.

So what is the remedy? A swift kick in the pants?

No, of course not. It is to help them.

To help steady them, to support them, allowing them to lean on you and utilize your strength.

To “stick to” them, like cement or glue, not leaving them to fall again, but to walk attached to them until their strength is built up.

It is no shame to use a crutch if you are weak, wounded, or crippled.

So the church is called to stick closer than a brother to those who are weak, bringing them to strength in the faith.

Which brings us to the final, overarching instruction: Be patient with them all.

Be long-suffering, uncomplaining with those who need your help to become strong believers.

Don’t talk ABOUT them; talk to God ABOUT them.

Because the Christian life is not just about growing for yourself;

It is just as much about being there to help your brother or sister grow.

Cancelling your plans when your brother or sister is in need.

Loving one another more than your plans, time, or resources.

That word we use often – fellowship – means at its heart – together-growing, becoming together in Jesus Christ.