Preventing Revenge in the Church

1 Thessalonians 5:14

ICC’s PM service ( DATE \@ "M/d/yy" 5/28/23)

Introduction

Prayers

We have a responsibility towards one another, so we ask your help oh God, show us how to respond with wisdom

Catch- Do you know what chart is used for?

This is NASA decision flow chart regarding environmental impact

These flow charts help make the decision between alternative courses of action that will lead to and effect how people respond

Procedures can be a little bit stringent at times.

We all know how frustrating the TSA can be with their polices

But we’ve also been confused… what should I do? How can I help?

Well, at times, we just need to open our eyes and look as passages like tonight’s, which tell us how we should respond and while it does not give us all the specifics we’d like, it gives us commands we must follow

Review on the context

We’ve reach the last section of the book

Chapter 1-3 are Paul reminding them of the relationship they have with each other and with Jesus Christ, their savior

Then chapters 4-5 are a series of instructions and commands Paul gives them

Paul has written to correct some of their theology, stating they need to know more about the end times to help them

Here he gets to final commands

Where he addresses respecting leaders, loving difficult members(wv. 14-15);, worshipping correctly 16-18); and testing prophecy(vv. 19-22).

The command, we implore is plural… you all need to do this

The term, brothers, means all those who are the family of God

So, it’s a call, a charge, that says all you average people must participate in the one another ministry as well as the pastors

The same people who need to respect their pastors, also need to love one another

4 ways to TEST how to respond rightly to challenging Christians

If they’re out of step, Tell them the danger

Explanation- He starts off with a challenging one

Admonish is an unusual word that we don’t often use

I asked googled to use it in a sentence and got:

Because my kids were running around the store, knocking over merchandise, I had to admonish them

The Greek word nuthoteo means the rebuke for a wrong done or to warn, advising someone for wrong decision

This is a strong word, but not necessarily a harsh word as Paul used it to describe his deep care and concern for the Corinthians or Ephesians

1 Corinthians 4:14- I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children

Acts 20:31- Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

This is a word of a caring concern

There’s a hurt in it that says, “I don’t want you to keep going in that direction because God will chasten apathy and rebellion.” When you truly love someone, you don’t hesitate to warn him or her.

And it is directed towards

The idle

It is only used here in the New Testament, and some of your bibles may say unruly, or disorderly

The Greek words comes from A- meaning not, and tasso, meaning to set in orderso it literally means one who is against the

so it literally means one who is against the order

Consider someone in the army who is breaking rank… that’s annoying during training.But pastor Yurie, what is the danger of that in an actual battle, not being where they should be?

But pastor Yurie, what is the danger of that in an actual battle, not being where they should be?

See, the person who is idle may be lazy, or prideful, or just absent minded, but they’re not with the program and not following God’s ways

This is someone full of hard-heartedness, lying, open resistance, and evasion.

in some ways it is the easiest sort of counseling because the problems are clear

The solution may not be easy, but you can know what is wrong

Illustration

Those out of step need to be warned of the danger

Love means we do not ignore the danger

A read a helpful analogy of child rearing

If my three-year-old was acting like a three-year-old, I didn’t discipline him for being three, but I tried to help him learn how to behave in a more mature manner.

But when your three-year-old is defiant, you must deal with his rebellion.

If a believer is overcome by a sin, but is repentant and wants help, you help him. But if he says, “I have a right to do as I please,” then he’s defiant and needs stronger confrontation.

Dangers must be warned

Application

This must be a call to action here

It is a face to face interaction that can be awkward

But it’s loving to use bible passages to tell them what God says,

So how do you know you must say something

Kevin Deyoung wrote this helpful list for when to rebuke

The more hurtful the action or error. when someone’s sin is ruining a marriage, killing a church, grinding down your small group, or destroying their own soul, you had better get on the rebuking train.

The more potential there is for the issue to escalate into a bigger problem.

The more the person is blind to it. But if they were blind to their problems, someone needs the courage to confront.

The more habitual the problem is. An errant swear word is bad, but depending on the situation may not require your rebuke. But where there’s a habit of letting the filth fly, reproof is in order.

The more the name of Christ is dishonored. These are especially harmful to our Christian witness and deserve a sterner rebuke.

But there is a second group to run through the test besides the out of liners

If they’re scared of change, gently Encourage them

Explanation

The fainthearted are those of little soul

This is those who are discouraged by life’s events

Consider those who are like dried fruit, all shriveled up from the pressure of life

It seems some were beginning to wither while they grieved the loss of loved ones (1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:11), or are exhausted by the persecution

This is someone who is fearful, worried, melancholy, depressed, or despairing,

We are to encourage the fainthearted

The Greek term pictures speaking to someone side-by-side

it means to speak kindly, to comfort

SO it used of people comforting Mary and Martha after their brother Lazarus died

John 11:19- and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.

But Paul used it to word to give a different idea saying

1 Thessalonians 2:11–12- For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

Like a coach- It means to speak kindly in regards to achieving a goal

Fatherly love sometimes is a firm hand. Not harsh, but a firm reminder to strive for something great

Illustration

Come alongside a person whose soul is shriveling

Dehydrating food is a great tool at preservation and also making it lighter for carrying and easier to compact

But the food is not very delicious for eating

But there is a simple method to reconstitute Dehydrated meals generally require equal parts water to food and about 15–25 minutes.

Step 1- put food in pot and add an equal amount of water. Let soak for 5 minutes.step 2-

step 2- Bring water to a boil.

It can be hard at times, but it is worth doing as Mark Twains said, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.”

Application

Hebrews 4:15- For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Christ understands our struggles, so we want to enter into our someone’s world and understand their weaknesses.

Sometimes, a newer believer is in sin due to ignorance of God’s Word. He is weak. He needs to see a different way

So ask, does this person even know better? Maybe not.

Think about what may be going on in their life

Spiritual maturity does not mean living a no tears life; rather, it means we grow into becoming good lamenters and thus grow in our need for God.”

But two caveats that I think we sometimes forget in our always affirming culture

Encouragement doesn’t mean saying, you’re great, you’re amazing all the time

We know the greatest encouragement comes from God, often what we’ve seen in our own lives

2 Corinthians 1:3–4- Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

We have to know the difference though, because if you encourage the idle person you just insulate them in their sin.. and they will get worse

Trans: We’ve seen the fighters, the dried up ones and now

If they’re afraid, Strengthen them

Explanation

Weak is a word that is without and strength put together

could signify people who lack strength or were physically ill as well as those who were spiritually weak or immature

We should relate as this described all of us before salvation

Romans 5:6- For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

In Thessalonica that may be those who are beat down by the ongoing persecution, or those anxious about the day of the Lord

These are probably believers who are so hypersensitive to sin that they see things as sin that aren’t really sin at all

Help means to support, to keep one’s self directly opposite to another so as to sustain them

It is the same word used in Titus for clinging to faith

Titus 1:9- He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

Or is translated devoted in Luke 16:13- No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

So help means to say, the weak person might not be able to hold on to much, so we, the church, will hold onto them

Illustration

These people need to be carried

There have been men and women over the centuries who have been there to hold the burden of a loved one

the great Albert Einstein is one example.

His sister Maja had suffered a stroke in her mid-sixties and remained bedridden for the rest of her life. According to a charming account in the New Yorker, Maja's brilliant older brother would go up to her room in the evenings and sit for an hour or so, reading

In her worry and pain, he was saying simply… I’m here for you… I’m committed to you and you can do this

Application

I think often when we think of help, we only think of physical helps

And for those physically weak, ministry like the meal planning that Barbara Kaye plans are so essential

Spiritual strengthening help

But a lack of faith and obedience stems from spiritual weakness that is the result of poor theology

A diet of milk without meat might keep a sheep alive, but it won’t grow them into the strength of maturity

These sheep need to be helped through sound instruction of God’s word

You can tell them… I’m hear for you, can I read a passage that I think may be a help? And do so

Also, we can help people through prayer

Not just I’ll pray for you… but ask, “can I pray for prayer right now?”

And do so, asking the lord to strengthen

Whatever we do, The key message here is to let people know you are committed to them

If they’re there, Tolerate their pace

Explanation

The word patience is a combination of words long and anger

It means to endure instead of getting angry quickly

We have to be patient with the weak because they need more than most…

they don’t get better right away

If help means holding with them when they can’t hold themselves… then they’re heavy and we get tired

We have to be patient with fainthearted because they get more easily discouraged than most

They often despair of their burdens, struggling to see how life will ever be more bearable. And we all already have our own burdens to bear,

so regularly speaking grace into someone else’s emotional and spiritual needs can feel especially taxing over time

And we have to be patient with the idle or out to step because they’re frustrating

They could do more, help more, carry more, contribute in more significant ways, but they’re content to do just enough (or less), which means someone else has to do more.

They’re not keeping up and acting oblivious to the dangers

Does patience come to an end?

Kinda. The form of our patience changes as our response to the person changes

Go to 2 Thessalonians 3:6-8

2 Thessalonians 3:6–8- 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 received from us. 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.

Paul tells them to keep away from these idol people

These people that Paul told them to warn have not changed and in his second later he says enough is enough, they need to be separated, they need to be church disciplined

Matthew 18:15 ESV

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

Matthew 18:17- If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

But look at 3:15

2 Thessalonians 3:15- Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

1 Corinthians 5:5- you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

Patience doesn’t really come to an end, it does change forms

Marshall Segal at Desiring God writes, “it probably needs to be said that good rebuke itself is an evidence of patience. It’s easy to give up on sinners. It’s easy to lash out and tear down someone who has sinned against us. Those who rebuke well — who aim to restore someone through honest and gentle confrontation and correction — demonstrate that they haven’t given up”

So there there is still a longing patience for the brother or sister to return… a prayer that even if church discipline is enacted, they

Illustration

We need supernatural patience

Marshall again,

“Patience is a virtue we admire, and even aspire to, from afar. The closer it comes to us, however — the more it invades our schedule, our plans, our comfort — the more uncomfortable it becomes” -Marshall Segal at Desiring God

Impatience grows out of our unwillingness to trust and submit to God’s timing for our lives. Impatience is a war for control. Patience, on the other hand, springs from different soil — from a humble embrace of what we do not know and cannot control, from a deep and abiding trust that God will follow through on all of his promises, from a heart that is profoundly happy to have him.

That means that real patience is not only inconvenient, difficult, and wearying, but, humanly speaking, impossible

So, be patient

Application

To be patient requires a lot of listening

And we need to listen to their answers

Because we need to know what kind of person this is

1 Thessalonians 5:14- And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

Which approach do we take

John 3 with Nicodemus being rebuked

John 4 with the Samartian woman at the well being encouraged

Don’t answer any question that can be answered yes or no

Are you angry at your God?

What do you think is missing in your life?

Thus it is important for all of us to listen well

These conversations are not sermon time

You need to engage with discussion now

Therefore

Since we have seen (Cohesion)- Test First, then speak

Tell them the danger if they’re idol

Encourage them if they fainthearted

Strengthen them if they’re weak

Tolerate their pace if they’re a person

We know we must (Resolution)- Seek to know the person enough to help truly

We cannot be like the pharisees

Matthew 23:2–4- “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

Or like Job’s counselors.. saying you’ve done something wrong!

biblical conception of love is giving practical help to those who need it

We need to listen and then be willing to offer rebuke, encouragement, or help as needed

Closing prayer

Lord, let us be a patient people, to the glory of your name

Amen