1 Thes 5:14-15 (2)

ANNOUNCEMENTS....

Bible Passages: 1 Thessalonians 5:14–15

OPENING PRAYER:

Lord God, I am not worthy to stand behind this podium.  I am not qualified to preach your words. But that's what YOU do.  You make the unworthy-worthy and YOU qualify the unqualified.  I ask Lord God that the Holy Spirit guide this message.  Father, I ask that you grant me wisdom and clarity of speech.  Lord God, I ask that only the words and the message that you chose for your children will be heard.  Father, if I speak incorrectly or against your will, let those words be immediately forgotten and let your will and your desires be stored in our hearts and minds.

In Jesus Name..… AMEN

OPENING STATEMENT

Please turn your bibles to 1 Thessalonians 5:14-15

As we’ve already learned,  the Thessalonians were concerned about believers who had died before the return of Jesus. They wondered what would happen to them when Christ came back. Paul reassured them that Jesus will return and that the dead in Christ will rise first. After giving them that encouragement, Paul gives the church instructions about how we should live while we wait.

We have already considered the relationship between pastors and their people—between the elders and the congregation.  Now Paul turns to his broader vision for the life of the church.

At the end of verse 13, which Joe covered last week…. Paul gives the general instruction, “Be at peace among yourselves.”

Now, in verse 14, he explains how we should respond to people in different spiritual and emotional conditions within the congregation.

Finally, in verse 15, he shows us how to build a church community characterized by forgiveness, servitude, kindness, and the pursuit of what is good. Basically, how Christians should respond when wronged—not with retaliation, but by actively pursuing what is good for one another and for everyone.

Ultimately, these two verses are about what it looks like for Christians to love one-another well.

Invite the congregation to stand.

Out of reverence for the reading of God’s Word, please stand with me as I read 1 Thes. 5:14 and 15

READ: 1 Thessalonians 5:14-15

“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, 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.” 1 Thes 5:14-15 ESV

OUR FAMILY

Paul begins this passage by saying, “And we urge you, brothers.”

To be part of the church means that we—brothers and sisters—have been brought together by the gospel. We would not belong to this spiritual family apart from the grace of God revealed in the gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit bringing us to faith.

The gospel teaches us, first, that God is our Creator and that we owe Him our worship and obedience.

Second, it reveals our great problem: sin. We have rebelled against God and deserve His righteous condemnation.

Third, it declares that Christ is our Savior. He died in our place and rose again so that we might be forgiven and reconciled to God.

Finally, the gospel calls us to turn from our sin and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

That is what brings the church together.

We are not merely a group of people who happen to meet in the same building every Sunday because we all happen to live in Pine Valley, Eagle Valley, or along the river.  

In Ephesians 2, Paul tells us that Christ has “made us both one”—Jew and Gentile—and that through Him we are no longer strangers, but “members of the household of God.”

That family language is not accidental.

Christ has brought us together so completely that we can call one another brothersand sisters.

In his book When the Church Was a Family,  Joseph Hellerman points out that Paul often used “brother” terminology when challenging believers to “change their ways and engage in proper family-like behavior.”

That is exactly what Paul is doing here.

He addresses them as brothers and then urges them to live like brothers and sisters.  In a way, Paul is saying, “You have been made a family by the gospel—now treat one another like family.”

We are a family saved by the same grace, reconciled to the same God, and given new life through the same Savior.

We have been freed from the bondage of sin, and now we are learning to live out that new life together.

Faith in Christ is not merely something we profess

Paul describes genuine Christian faith as “faith working through love” in Galatians 5:6

it becomes visible through INTENTIONAL acts of love, care, and support for the weak and weary among us.

In this passage, that family love takes a specific form:

Admonish the idle.

Encourage the fainthearted.

Help the weak.

Be patient with them all.

Community Care

Admonish The Idle:

We need to first break down the meaning of “Admonish” and “Idle.”

Without a clear understanding of those two words, we can’t have a clear understanding of what Paul’s message is here.

The word translated “admonish” means to warn, instruct, or correct. The construction of the word carries the idea of placing something into someone’s mind.

So, it doesn’t mean “admonish” in the sense of telling someone off …….

it means lovingly bringing God’s truth to bear on someone’s conduct. It may include reminding them of truth they already know and showing them how that truth should affect the way they live.

In this case, Paul was reminding them of something he had already taught them. Back in 1 Thessalonians 4:11, he told them “to work with your hands, as we instructed you.”

The idle need TRUTH that CORRECTS

(Q) What does Paul mean by Idle?

Paul uses the word “Ataktos” (AT-ak-tos) here. It means disorderly, unruly, undisciplined, or out of line.

Paul is not criticizing someone who is resting, unemployed, or physically unable to work. In the Thessalonian letters, this disorder included people who were unwilling to work and had become busybodies.

(Q) How should we respond to them?

Biblical admonition does more than say, “Don’t do that.” It identifies the disorder and calls the person back to God’s truth.

We are warning them in a loving way. It’s for their benefit, not their humiliation.

We are WARNING them in a loving way. It’s for their benefit, not their chastisement.

The goal is restoration—not simply winning an argument or expressing our frustration.

where does Jesus show me this example?

We see the spirit of this kind of correction in John 4, when Jesus speaks with the woman at the well.

How did He admonish her?

Jesus did not ignore her sin, but neither did He use it to humiliate her.  He truthfully exposed the brokenness of her life—she had had five husbands, and the man she was currently with was not her husband.  But He also offered her living water, taught her about true worship, and ultimately directed her to Himself.

His correction was truthful, but it was also restorative. He used the truth to lead her toward the Savior—not to crush her beneath her past.

Encourage The Fainthearted: The word “Fainthearted” is from the Greek word oligopsychos (ol-ig-op'-soo-khos) and is made up of two words...

One part, oligos, means “small” or “little.” The other, psychē, means “soul” or “life.” Together, the word carries the idea of being “small-souled” or “fainthearted.”

It doesn’t mean they have less of a soul.

We might think of this person as someone whose “inner courage” has become small.   They may be discouraged, fearful, overwhelmed, or losing heart.

Maybe they’re worn down, they’re anxious, or they just feel fragile.

The verse distinguishes these people from the Idle and the weak.

The fainthearted need WORDS that ENCOURAGE

We must encourage those whose courage is running low.

Again, we can look to our Savior as an example.

In Luke 8:50 - Jairus is told that his daughter has died.  At that moment, he had every reason to feel his courage collapse. Jesus does not give him a lecture.  He speaks directly to his fear and says, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.  It’s a very simple and direct reassurance to someone who is fainthearted.

Jesus gives him the truth in the form he needs at that moment: words that restore courage.

Help The Weak

The word “help” comes from a verb that can mean “hold firmly to,” “cling to,” or “support.”

This describes more than momentary assistance. It carries the picture of holding onto someone, so they do not fall.

We’re not “fixing” weak people; we’re notscolding them.....

WE ARE STAYING CLOSE.

We stay close enough to hold them up when they cannot hold themselves up.

The weak need more than a few encouraging words…… They need PEOPLE who will STAY.

Paul tells those who are strong to bear with the weak. Romans 15:1 says, “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”

To help them means that we hold firmly to them, carry their burdens, and refuse to walk away simply because their weakness becomes somehow inconvenient to us.

In Galatians 6:2 Paul reinforced this picture

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Patience Nurtures Peace

1 Thessalonians 5:14

“Be patient with them All”

This is where the rubber meets the road, and it may be the most difficult part of these commands to follow.  It certainly is for me. 

The first three instructions require us to discern what the person needs. Do they need to be admonished, encouraged, or supported……

But caring for people in any of these conditions can test our patience.

The idle may frustrate us.

The fainthearted may need reassurance again and again.

The weak may exhaust us and require more support than we expected.

So, Paul gives us one command that governs how we treat them all:

“Be patient with them all.”

Jesus is our ultimate example of longsuffering patience. His disciples repeatedly misunderstand Him, fail Him, and respond in fear rather than faith.

Yet Jesus continues to teach them, correct them, restore them, and love them without giving up on them.

After Peter denied Him three times, Jesus did not discard him. In John 21, Jesus restored Peter and entrusted him with the care of His sheep.

Patience is THE attitude—and THE atmosphere—that allows admonishment, encouragement, and support to bear fruit.

Christ has shown that patience to every one of us.

Paul understood this personally. In 1 Timothy 1:16, he said that his own salvation displayed Jesus Christ’s “perfect patience.”

God has been patient with us, so we can be patient with one another.

(Q) How can we grow in patience?

Before we consider these three practical steps, I want to remind you that patience is ultimately produced in us by the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22–23 calls patience a fruit of the Spirit.

So, these are not techniques for manufacturing patience through our own strength. Instead, there are three practical ways we can walk by the Spirit and submit to His work as He develops patience within us.

1. Surrender your timetable

I am not saying that we should have no expectations for those with whom we fellowship. 

What I am saying, is that we need to surrender our timetable for how quickly God should change someone else.

God’s timing is perfect. Our timetable is not.

It took me more than forty years to submit to God’s will. Yet God patiently continued working on my heart through all those years.

I have the patience of a two-year-old in a checkout line and I can’t imagine where my life would be if God had shown me only the amount of patience that I sometimes show others.

The more firmly we trust that God’s will and timing are perfect, the less likely we are to treat every delay as a personal insult.

Paul shows us this division of responsibility in his second letter to Timothy:

“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,” 2 Timothy 2:24–25

Notice the division of responsibility: we patiently and gently correct, but God grants repentance. We cannot force spiritual growth or dictate its timetable.

We are responsible for speaking the truth with kindness and gentleness. God is responsible for changing the heart.

How can I refuse patience to someone else when Christ has been so patient with me?

2. Create a prayerful pause between your feelings and your reactions

Patience does not mean that you never get bothered. It means that being bothered does not control how you respond.

Jesus Himself experienced frustration with His disciples, but He did not abandon them or respond sinfully. He continued helping, teaching, and correcting them.

That small prayerful pause between your emotion and your reaction is critical.

It gives you time to bring your feelings before God, remember what is true, and submit your response to the Holy Spirit.

Learning to pause can keep frustration from becoming sinful words or actions.

James tells us:

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” James 1:19–20

3. Focus on what GOD requires from you

We often lose patience because we are focused on the outcome:

 I’m very new and unpracticed in discipling.  Because of that, I often find myself asking: Why aren’t they changing?  Why aren’t they listening? Why haven’t they figured this out yet?

But you cannot control the outcome.  You cannot change another person’s heart.  You are responsible for obeying God in how you treat them.

Of course, that does not mean the outcome is unimportant.  We should long for change, pray for change, and work toward change—but we cannot produce it.

So instead of spiraling over the results, look to God in prayer. Look to the example of Jesus in Scripture. Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom, self-control, and patience.

Ask yourself, What does obedience to God require from me right now?

You may admonish, encourage, and support—but God is the one who produces growth. Your responsibility is to love that person faithfully while He does His work.

Paul describes this division of responsibility in 1 Corinthians 3:6–7:

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”

We plant. We water. We faithfully do what God has commanded. But God produces the growth.

So, we surrender our timetable, submit our reactions to the Holy Spirit, and focus on faithful obedience. These steps do not manufacture patience; we practice them while trusting the Holy Spirit to produce His fruit within us.

How the church responds when wronged

“See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.” 1 Thessalonians 5:15

See that no one repays anyone evil for evil

it means what exactly what it says.......As Christians, we are not to retaliate.

EASY! RIGHT????

I want to draw your attention to the words “see that” and “no one.”

This includes both personal responsibility and responsibility for one another. Paul does not merely say, “Don’t retaliate.” He says, “See that no one does.”

Paul is addressing the whole church here.

WE are responsible not only for guarding our own hearts against revenge, but ALSO for helping one another resist bitterness and retaliation.

The church should help KEEP ONE ANOTHERfrom bitterness, revenge, and sinful retaliation.

Paul gives the same instruction in Romans 12:17:“Repay no one evil for evil.” Then he concludes in verse 21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

When we repay evil with evil, we allow someone else’s sin to determine our response. But when we return good for evil, Christ—not the offender—governs our conduct.

“Always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.”

Christian love does not stop at refusing to do harm. It actively pursues what is good.

Paul does not merely say, “Do good when the opportunity presents itself.” He says to seek it. The word carries the idea of pursuing something intentionally.

And notice the details of the command:

Always—our pursuit of good is not determined by our mood.

To one another—we actively pursue the good of our brothers and sisters within the church.

And to everyone—our pursuit of good extends beyond the church, even to those who have wronged us.

Seeking someone’s good does not mean pretending that evil is acceptable, removing every consequence, or refusing to establish necessary boundaries. Sometimes admonishment is part of seeking their good. But our purpose must be restoration rather than revenge.

Christian love does not merely ask, “How can I avoid hurting this person?” It asks, “What can I actively do for their good?”

CLOSING

As we look at these commands, one thing becomes very clear:

There is not one command here that we can obey in isolation.

They all require us to live in relationship with other people.

You cannot know if the person sitting in the back of the church needs admonishment, encouragement, or support……… if you never take the time to fellowship with them.

When Maureen and I first started attending this church, a group of men were preparing to paint some barns for Jo Vowell before the winter storms damaged the wood. I said I couldn’t help that weekend, but I volunteered the use of my paint sprayer.

Somehow …..although that has become less of a mystery now that I’ve spent time with the men in this church—the project got moved back a week.

Suddenly, I couldn’t come up with a valid excuse to get out of it. So, I begrudgingly showed up that fall Saturday morning in my paint clothes, ready to help.

We spent the morning and the early part of the afternoon working—only to run out of paint before we finished.

Everyone was a little disheartened…. We began cleaning the equipment and making plans to come back the following Saturday.

I don’t know whether anyone here has ever cleaned a commercial paint sprayer, but I can tell you that it involves patiently running the equivalent of the Snake River through the machine while waiting for all the paint to clear from the lines. Then, you have to take it apart and carefully clean every individual part of the sprayer itself. 

It takes a considerable amount of time and patience. 

Tim Binford had just finished cleaning the final part of the paint sprayer when someone shouted:

HEY! I found another bucket of paint!

 {pause……..}

Shawn cheered, “That’s great! Glory to God! We can get it all done today.”

Tim simply said,

“Well, at least I know how to clean the paint sprayer now.

It will be easier next time because I won’t have to read the instructions.”

And I thought to myself:        

What is wrong with these people?

And I’m not just talking about Tim READING the instruction manual.  Who does that? 

Nobody cursed.

Nobody threw anything.

Nobody kicked an empty paint can across the barnyard.

Instead, they rejoiced.

They thanked God that He had provided what we needed to finish the job.

Again I thought……    What is wrong with these people?

I stood there taking it all in—watching behavior I had never witnessed under similar circumstances.

What is wrong with these people?

Then the question changed:

What is wrong with me?

I wanted to be like these men. I wanted to be able to give thanks in all circumstances. I wanted that joy, that self-control, and that kind of Christlike character.

To Shawn, Tim, Joe, or Al, that moment probably seemed completely ordinary.

For them, it was just another Saturday spent serving God and helping someone else.

But for me…………… it was everything.

God used those men in that ordinary moment to soften my heart, break down my defenses, and show me the kind of man Christ was calling me to become.

That is why these commands cannot be lived out alone.  We affect one another.

God uses our words, our attitudes, our patience, and even our reactions when somebody finds another bucket of paint.

We all know the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Wesley Huff, the vice president of Apologetics Canada, has described the life of a Christian as a kind of “fifth gospel.”

Now, he does not mean that we are the gospel.  The gospel is the good news of what Jesus Christ has accomplished through His death and resurrection.

But our lives bear witness to whether we truly believe that gospel.

For some people, your life may be the first evidence of Christ’s transforming power that they ever see. They are watching how you respond when you are inconvenienced, disappointed, mistreated, annoyed, or exhausted.

Sometimes God uses an ordinary moment—like finding another bucket of paint—to show someone what Christlike character looks like.

That is what God did for me through those men.

So live out your faith well. Live it intentionally. Live it consistently.

Let people see the difference Christ has made in you.

But our lives cannot replace the proclamation of the gospel. We must also tell people who Jesus is and what He has done.

Paul tells us to pursue what is good not only for one another, but for everyone.

That pursuit moves us toward people and gives us opportunities to demonstrate the love of Christ. But Jesus calls us to do more than demonstrate the gospel with our lives. In the Great Commission, He commands us to proclaim the gospel and make disciples.

We cannot make disciples while remaining disconnected from people.

We must be willing to enter their lives, build relationships, show them the love of Christ, and tell them the good news of Christ.

If you are new here, if you spend your days surrounded by people but still somehow feel completely alone—I have been there. I know that feeling all too well.

But I want you to know that you are loved. I love you. This church loves you. Most importantly, Jesus Christ loves you.

That emptiness points to something no human relationship can completely fill.

You were created to know God, but sin separates us from Him. Jesus died and rose again so that sinners could be forgiven, reconciled to God, and given new life.

If today you recognize your need for Christ, please tell someone before you leave. Reach out to me, Shawn, Kevin, Josh, Chris, Jodel, Joan, or the person that invited you here.

Please, give us the privilege of introducing you to our Savior.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: I encourage you to look at the reflection questions on the screen or in your handout.  Ponder on these questions and honestly examine yourself in light of God’s truth. 

CLOSING PRAYER:

Lord God, I THANK YOU. I thank you that you have given us the ultimate example of relationships. Father, I ask that you move the hearts of each of us. Let us be intentional in our relationships with one-another and to everyone. Father God, I ask that you build up relationships within this church. I ask that you draw people through these doors not with the expectation that they need to change first and grant us patience to wait for YOUR timing. Lord God be with this group of people that I can call my family. bless them as they move about the community and let you be glorified in all that they do.

AMEN