***1 thessalonians

Understanding 1 Thessalonians (A Church with the Right Perspective (1 Thessalonians 5:12–14

1 Thessalonians 5:12–14 NRSV

12 But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; 13 esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them.

A Church with the Right Perspective

1 Thessalonians 5:12–14

How can a church be what God has called them to be? Individuals and corporations have visions of what they want to do and what they want to accomplish. They have a perspective of this world, of their desires and how they view certain issues. Denominations have certain beliefs that distinguish them from other denominations. Perspective has a lot to do with what an individual does and believes.

Many churches today are not doing what God has called them to do because they do not have the right outlook. If the church is self-centered it will never reach out, if the church is only mission minded and does only foreign missions, it will never reach their community. There must be a balance in our vision; we must remain focused on the Lord Jesus. Churches implement programs that never reach a lost and dying world, they go through classes that never teach and build up the body because they are going through religious motions. How can we keep from being ineffective? How can we accomplish, individually and corporately, what God has for us?

Paul informed the Thessalonians on how a model church functions. A church that God has His hand on will love and honor the leadership and minister to those within the body and those outside the body of Christ. Is your church a church with the right perspective? This text gives two challenges to the church. A church with the right perspective:

I. Has a call to respect the pastor. (vs. 12–13)

(A.) Because of his work. (12a)

“And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you,”

Paul uses strong language in the word urge. It carries with it the idea of prodding the church along. Paul reveals the secret to any healthy, growing, and vibrant church in this verse. A church with the right perspective will have a healthy respect for the man of God as he does the work of God. Pastors today are not respected in this world or even in the church. Pastors are called upon to do invocations and benedictions or when a family member is sick. Pastors are called on to marry the young and bury the dead. The church has lost respect for their spiritual leaders. When a pastor is living all out for Jesus and seeking to lead the church to glorify His name, much of the church and all the world will think he’s lost his mind.

We are called by God to respect those who are over us in the Lord. Great Biblical Truth: We are to respect the man of God, not necessarily for his person, but for his position. We are all called to be men and women of integrity, with strong character and we are all called to be holy saints. We must respect the pastor as spiritual leader and faithful brother as he works with the Lord. 1 Timothy 5:17, “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.” A church with the right perspective will heed the call to respect their pastor. Hebrews 13:7, “Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.”

It is high time that the church of God respect the man of God. Labor: (kopiontas) means to work hard, to toil to the point of weariness, to wear oneself out. It means to labor to the point of exhaustion, to work beyond what one is capable of doing. Pastors have a responsibility to work. No man of God should ever by lazy. We are to set the example for the flock by what we do and by what we say. Warren Wiersbe wrote, “Spiritual leadership is a great responsibility and a difficult task. It is not easy to serve as a pastor. The battles and burdens are many, and sometimes the encouragement is few. It is dangerous when a church family takes their leaders for granted and fails to pray for them, work with them, and encourage them.” Amen! Preach on Warren! Do you have respect for your pastor? Do you pray for him? Do you labor alongside of him? Do you seek to encourage him? Do you respect your pastor? We are to respect the pastor because of his work!

What work does a pastor do? The pastor is a teacher, though he has to solicit his own class. He heals without pills or knife. He is a lawyer, a social worker, an editor, a philosopher, a salesman, a handy decorative piece for public functions, an entertainer, a chairman of the building fund and a first class janitor. People come to him and he goes to the people. He rejoices when they rejoice and weeps when they weep. He visits the sick, marries the young, buries the dead, prepares and delivers speeches to every organization under the sun, and tries to stay sweet when he is abused for not calling on certain people. He helps plan the program of the church and meets with every group he can, which may mean that some nights he must attend two and three meetings. When he lies down at night, he is burdened and prays for certain ‘sheep,’ their weaknesses, their problems, and their absence from the service. And, oh yes, in his spare time, he prepares and delivers several sermons, Bible lessons, radio programs, and class messages. And when Monday comes and some chap roars, ‘what an easy job you preachers have.’ He tries to smile and keep sweet.

The pastor’s work consists of admonishing the church. The pastor is the spiritual leader in the church; he is the theological gatekeeper of the church. That means that the pastor teaches the doctrine and no one in the church should teach a doctrine that contradicts the pastor, unless the pastor teaches a doctrine that contradicts the Bible. If the pastor teaches false doctrine the church must get rid of that pastor. We have a call to respect the pastor because of his work. In verse 13 we see that we have a call to respect the pastor:

(B.) Because of his worth. (13)

“and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves.”

A church with the right perspective will respect the pastor because of his work and because of his worth. What does a man of God mean to you today? In the 1st century church, the congregation valued the pastors because of their work for the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul tells the church to esteem the man of God very highly. Jimmy Draper wrote, “We are to acknowledge them for what they are worth. We are to appreciate them for their value. They admonish us and challenge us. They direct us and encourage us in the decisions that we need to make.” Thomas Constable wrote, “Church members are to esteem, value, and respect their leaders for their works’ sake. This should be a continuing attitude.”

Paul tells the Thessalonians to “esteem them very highly” Very highly: means beyond all measure. John MacArthur wrote, “This phrase calls for limitless respect for church leaders.” Great Bible Fact: The man of God will stand before God and be judged how he has led the flock in which God has entrusted to him. James 3:1, “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.”

When something is of worth to you, you take care of it, watch out for it, seek to protect it, provide for it, love and care for it. In the same way the church is to respond to the man of God that God has placed over that particular congregation. The pastor has a responsibility to meet with God before he meets with God’s people. A genuine man of God will not stand before God’s people and preach without preparing to preach God’s word. A true man of God is of great worth to a local flock. Great Bible Truth: When the pastor is led by the Spirit of God and the people of God love and support the pastor, then God is freed up to work in the midst of that congregation.

Paul tells the Thessalonians that they are to work together with their spiritual leaders for the kingdom of God. There should never be a tug of war in the church. God has not called the pastor to do all the work of the ministry. Christians must come alongside of their pastor to accomplish the will and work of God. We are to make the pastor’s work a joy because of his worth and value to us. Great Bible Challenge: Would you begin today to start to pray for your pastor, to work with your pastor, to support your pastor, and to seek to make his work a joy? Hebrews 13:17, “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable to you.” One of the major jobs a pastor does is watch out for the souls that God has entrusted to his care. That is why the pastor is of great worth! We have a responsibility under God to make the pastors work a joy and not a burden. John MacArthur wrote, “Stubborn, self-willed, and unsubmissive sheep steal the joy from their shepherds and give themselves and their leaders nothing but pain and an unprofitable relationship.”

In verse 13 the Bible says, “Be at peace among yourselves.” In the context Paul is teaching that when a church respects the pastor they will be peace in the midst of the congregation. Thomas Constable wrote, “The third exhortation is to live in peace with each other. This results from obeying the former instructions. Much dissension in modern churches is traceable to church members disobeying these commands.” Paul exhorts the church to be at peace with each other. Believers are not to criticize, murmur against, grumble against, or envy the leaders. We have a call as a church to support God’s leaders financially, physically, and spiritually. We help pastors financially by giving to the work of the Lord and taking care of the pastors needs. A church should never ask the pastor to work a full time job in the world and try to shepherd the flock of God when they can afford to support him and his family.

We help pastors physically by going on visitation with them or without them. We help the pastor by visiting the lost, the sick, the hurting, and by physically being available to work with the Lord.

We help the pastor spiritually by consistently lifting him up to the Lord in prayer. Pastors face great spiritual attacks and constant spiritual warfare and we must support the men of God in prayer. We are to support the men of God spiritually. No church that has strife and dissension and a lack of respect for the leadership is filled with the peace of God. We are called to support the pastor financially, physically, and spiritually.

In Israel’s fight against the Amalekites we see a good illustration of supporting spiritual leaders. Exodus 17:8–13, “Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.’ So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.” In verses 12–13 we’ve seen that a church with the right perspective has a call to respect the pastor. In verse 14 we see the church:

II. Has a commission to reach the people. (14)

We have a commission to reach people in this world for Jesus Christ. In the great commission Jesus tells us what to do. In this passage Paul explains to the church how we are to do that. Verse 14 gives 4 exhortations on how to accomplish this. How can we reach the people in this world?

(A.) By being stern with the wayward. (14a)

“Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly,”

The pastor and the parishioners have a responsibility to reach this world with the good news of Jesus Christ. We are to hold forth the warning to the wayward saint and to the wayward sinner. We are to be stern with the wayward brother and sister, in love admonishing them in hopes that they would repent. Paul reprimanded the Corinthians for immorality in the church and they repented. 2 Corinthians 7:8–10, “For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” Great Bible Truth: To practice church discipline takes strong spiritual leadership, but it also takes strong spiritual laity.

A man came up to two boys who were fighting in the park. He took one aside and began to spank him for his behavior. An observing bystander came up to the man and asked indignantly why he didn’t do anything to the other boy. The man responded that this one was his son and the other was not.

Paul tells the church to warn the unruly. Unruly: (ataktous) those who are out of line, the loafers, or the disorderly. Unruly is a military term that referred to the soldier who broke rank and did not stand in his place. 2

• We are to warn those who are out of line,

• warn the disobedient,

• warn the disruptive,

• warn the backslidden,

• warn the offensive,

• warn the selfish,

• warn the arrogant,

• warn the obstinate,

• warn the faithless,

• warn the absent.

Warn: carries the idea of putting sense into someone’s head, or alerting him of the serious consequences of his actions. The first responsibility of the church in reaching the people is by being stern with the wayward. We also see in Verse 14 we are to reach the people:

(B.) By being sensitive with the worried. (14b)

“Comfort the fainthearted,”

Paul clearly teaches the church that it is our responsibility to comfort those who are down. The church of Jesus Christ must be filled with the Holy Spirit of God to know how to handle each and every situation in a godly manner. God calls for us to be stern, but He also calls for us to be sensitive.

Fainthearted: (oligopsuchous) means the timid, reserved, dispirited, cowardly, those who fear difficult situations. In the church there are those who are fainthearted in their witness, in their testimony, and in their living. Some Christians get pushed around by the world and beat down by Satan, and they need us to be sensitive and help them stand strong for the faith.

Peter was in a fainthearted shape, after the resurrection, Jesus sent word by an angel and said, ‘Tell My disciples and Peter,’ but why did He say and Peter? Peter was one of the disciples. Why single him out from among all the rest? Was Peter any better? No, he was, if anything, a little worse. He denied his Lord three times and with oaths. And he was feeling very bad about it. He was cast down, heartsick, and almost overwhelmed. And Jesus knew it full well, and it was just like Jesus to send a special word of comfort to Peter. It must have cheered the apostle beyond words to be told that Jesus had mentioned him especially as one to be given the news of His resurrection.

People in church worry about health, worry about family, worry about job security, worry about finances, worry about the pressures of life! We must be sensitive with the worried. The lives of people matter to God and they must matter to the church as well. Paul is commanding the Thessalonians to minister in this world for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whenever we are stern with the wayward it is in hope to restore them to fellowship with God and when we are sensitive with the worried we seek to encourage the fainthearted to stand strong for Jesus. A church with the right perspective will be stern with the wayward, will be sensitive with the worried and next we see:

(C.) By being strong for the weak. (14c)

“Uphold the weak,”

Paul tells the Thessalonians to uphold the weak among you. The church must minister to the wayward, to the worried, and to the weak. Great Truth: God has gifted His people to do all that He’s called His people to do. The weak are those who yield easily to temptation, those easily burdened, discouraged, defeated, and led astray. The word (uphold) can be translated support. Uphold: This word means “to cling to and hold to.” Those who are weak in the faith need us to hold them up and support them, to encourage and strengthen them by being there for them. Great Bible Truth: We uphold the weak by living in a godly manner and by loving in a godly manner. When we do not care about the condition of others that shows that we are not a church with the right perspective. We must seek to bring back to the fold those who are weak in the faith, those who have sin in their lives, and those who have yielded to temptations.

The television show M.A.S.H was all about doctors and nurses who would help wounded soldiers. The wounded would be brought into the camp by way of helicopter or by jeep and truck. When the soldiers were wounded the army did not just leave the soldiers on the battlefield to die. The army carried the wounded to the medical facility. The doctors and nurses responsibility was to do surgery on the wounded and to seek to spare their lives. In the M.A.S.H unit there were tents set up for those who were recovering. They sought to take care and heal the wounded. The church can learn a great lesson from this. We are in a spiritual warfare against Satan and the demons of hell. Many Christian soldiers have been wounded on the battlefield and have been left for dead. A church with the right perspective will seek to go in and get the wounded, bring back and bandage the wounded, and do surgery and minister to the wounded. The church must seek to operate, bind up, and heal up those who have been wounded in spiritual warfare. Galatians 6:1–2, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Romans 15:1–2, We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.” Are we upholding the weak? Do we seek to restore those who have fallen?

A preacher, one Sunday morning, noticed a man in the congregation in his Sunday best. In the evening that same man was there in his work clothes. The preacher afterward spoke to him, ‘Are you going to work?’ The man replied, ‘No, but this morning something was said that stirred me to go and seek my brother. I knew that he had no Sunday clothes, and I knew that he would not come if I put on my Sunday clothes. So I put on my work clothes for him, and here he is.” We have a commission to reach the people by being stern with the wayward, being sensitive with the worried, by being strong for the weak, and lastly Paul reveals that we are to reach the people:

(D.) By being steadfast in the world. (14d)

“be patient with all.”

Patient: (makrothumeo) word carries with it the idea of being constantly patient. Paul tells the church to be patient with a lost and dying world, a sinful and sick world, and hurting and helpless world. Great Biblical Truth: Being patient does not mean that we condone sin or never confront people with the gospel. Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” The church must live in this world in such a way that a lost world takes notice that we are different. A church that is not seeking to win the lost to Jesus is not being steadfast in the world.

My brother, Donald Andrews who pastor’s Haven Baptist Church in Kansas City, said, “If you are not fishing you are not following.” A church that does not share the gospel in the world is not a church with the right perspective.

God is patient and if God is in us and we are controlled by His Spirit we too will be patient. We have a commission to reach people for Jesus Christ and we will never do that if we are not patient and persistent. Paul tells the church that we are to be patient with all. That means everyone in the world. It means that we are to be patient with the hard hearted, the murderers, the drunkards, the prostitute, the child molesters, the rapists, the homosexuals, the bank- robbers, it means that we are to be patient with the lowest of the low. We are also to be patient with the doctors, the lawyers, the bankers, the CEO’s, the pilots, the policemen, the firefighters, family, and friends. 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” God loves every person that He has created and He does not want any to die and burn in hell. In 1 Timothy 2:3–4 the Bible says, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” God calls for us to be patient with all.

A wise physician once said to a polio victim’s parents, ‘Your child will walk again if you keep up a regular course of exercise that I will prescribe for him, and if you do not wait on him more than necessary, but insist that he try to help himself.’ At first the exercises were painful, and the child cried out. But though the parents’ hearts were full of pity, their concern for his future would not let them give in. They continued hour after hour, day after day, month after month, kindly but firmly encouraging their little boy to exercise his partly paralyzed legs, and to follow as nearly as possible the routine of a normal child. Now a young man, this once crippled youngster walks without a trace of a limp. This is an illustration of the way that God loves us, the way that we are to love and help others.

I do not know of any church that God is using in mighty ways to bring glory to Jesus, people to Jesus, and honor to Jesus; that does not respect their pastor and seek to reach the people. Are we reaching people for Jesus Christ? Are we a church with the right perspective?