INTRODUCTION
• The church at Thessalonica was facing a lot of difficult times. The church today is facing many struggles also.
• Many people are struggling with various faith-related issues in their lives. There is a lot of conflict and turmoil in many of our lives.
• There are a lot of demands on our time. How many of you can hardly keep up now with all the time pressures you face?
• Now with all the pressures we face in life, do you want to come to a church where you have the same things going on?
• Throughout the book of 1 Thessalonians, Paul has reminded us of the second coming of Jesus and how knowing that event will happen should be something that should motivate us to be different.
• One of the areas in which we need to understand is that of relationships within the church family.
• Interpersonal relationships in the church can be a blessing to the churches evangelism and discipleship efforts or they can be a determinate to those efforts.
• What should a Christian’s conduct be towards those in the church?
• How do I respond to the leadership, is the leadership of my church in my church important? How am I supposed to deal with all the other people in the church?
• The church is to be a refuge, a place of harmony and peace. For that to happen, we must make sure we know how to act towards one another. The church is the most wonderful institution on earth! Let’s see what we can do to make it even better.
• READ 1 THESSALONIANS 5:12-15
SERMON
I. KINGDOM CONDUCT CONCERNING CHURCH LEADERS (12-13)
A. The church family’s responsibilities towards our church leaders.
1. We are called to appreciate them. (12)
• I find it interesting that Paul starts out the end of his letter admonishing us to be appreciative of our leaders.
• Why do you think Paul did this? A leaders job is tough, it can be a thankless job sometimes. This is one of the reasons that the first qualification for Elder found in 1 Timothy 3 is the desire to do the work.
• It is easy for people to take shots leaders, whether it is in business or in the church. Many times people, who want to lead, but do not want any responsibility will be very critical of church leaders.
• Appreciate. The connotation here is that believers are to know their shepherds deeply and respectfully and to value their service. Such knowledge is much more than the mere recall of their names or the general awareness of some facts about their personal lives. Instead, it entails a close, personal acquaintance that results in the caring appreciation of the Lord’s servant. (MacArthur Commentary)
• Another way to translate “appreciate” is to “know”. This word means to gain by experience. We have a track record with the leaders that help us to appreciate them.
2. We are called to esteem them. (13)
• Some of the brethren in Thessalonica had evidently refused to follow their leaders in church activities. We need wise leadership today, but still more wise following. An army of captains and colonels never won a battle. (Word Picture of The New Testament)
• Esteem ties in closely with appreciate. We are to have a personal attachment, respect their position and have a deep appreciation for what they do.
• We are to hold them in the highest regard!
3. We are called to submit to them. (13)
• One of the ways we show we respect, esteem highly and appreciate our leaders is by submitting to their leadership.
• HEB 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.
• This verse explains the God ordained work the Elders are called to do.
• I do not know about you, but I would not want to have to answer to God for being a source of grief for the Elders of God’s church.
• For peace to exist, we must be willing to submit to leadership of those we have chosen.
• Such submission, if done in a God-honoring way, would eliminate conflict, strife, and discord and promote peace, harmony, and effective ministry within the church.
• ROMANS 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
B. Church leaders’ responsibilities toward the church family.
1. Diligently labor for them.
• The Elders are called to work hard for God’s church. They are more than “board” members; they are shepherds of God’s church. (Acts 20:17-28; 1 Peter 5:1-4)
• Shepherding the flock takes a lot of time and energy. I am proud that our leadership understands the importance of shepherding the flock.
• I am glad they are making the effort to visit everyone’s home. He Elders of our church take their job seriously and they are growing more and more. Mike Wilson, Fred Manship Jr, Lou Ferris, Miles Featherstone, and Mark Huff. These are fine hard working men!
2. Have charge over them.
• Ultimately someone must be in charge. This is true in the home, in any business and in the church.
• A plurality of Elders is the way God ordained that the church we run. Jesus is the head, the Elders are the local leaders. We do not see “one man in charge” churches in the New Testament.
• The Elders are not to “lord it over” the flock. 1PE 5:2-3 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.
• To “have charge” over literally means “to stand before” and conveys the notion of authoritatively presiding, leading, or directing. A biblical elder is a servant leader, not a dictator.
• The phrase “in the Lord” emphasizes that true shepherds are not self-appointed, and their authority does not derive from fallible human beings. Equipped and appointed by God, it is their duty to lead the sheep for His sake, and never because they want power, prestige, wealth, or an advancement to their own careers. (MacArthur Commentary)
3. Give instruction to the family.
• The purpose of giving instruction is for correcting and changing people. It is not an issue of just laying out a bunch of facts. It is not like teaching math tables (EXAMPLE 1+1). The instruction is meant to correct belief and behavior especially as it addresses some problem or deficiency in our lives.
• ACT 20:28-30 "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. "I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
II. KINGDOM CONDUCT CONCERNING THE CHURCH FAMILY (14-15)
A. Conduct towards the wayward family member. (Admonish the unruly)
• Paul identified the wayward by the term unruly, which in Greek culture often occurred in a military context and referred to a soldier who was out of rank and behaved in a disorderly, insubordinate manner. The word came to refer to anyone who did not perform his duty or follow through on his responsibility.
• The unruly were those who were out of step with the direction everyone else was headed. Being unruly doesn’t necessarily mean we are perpetrating evil.
• We can be unruly if we fail to use our gifts (material, spiritual, or other areas of giftedness) for the betterment of God’s kingdom and His church, or if we refuse to be supportive of the leadership.
• People may become unsupportive because they did not care, or because they were angry, rebellious, and contentious. Such people, if not dealt with, tend to become bitter. They can become criticizing benchwarmers and eventually rebels who undermine church leadership to justify their insubordination. Both are, obviously, divisive.
• We are to admonish, or offer correction for the unruly in a loving manner.
• Spiritually healthy people need to put a sense of alerting a person of the serious consequences of there actions, but with a judgmental or critical spirit.
• ACT 20:31 "Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.
B. Conduct towards the worried family member.
• We are called to encourage the worried or fainthearted.
• A person who is fainthearted is in a state of discouragement, they are in grief or pain. Whereas the unruly were pushing on the edges of acceptable Christian behavior, these were the worried sheep, huddled in the middle and afraid to get near the edge.
• To encourage means to “speak alongside.” To offer comfort and consolation.
• There are those in the church who are bold and courageous, unafraid of persecution or difficulty, and willing to put their lives on the line for a noble cause or principle of truth. In contrast, the fainthearted lack the boldness to accept a challenging new ministry, fear change and the unknown, and want a risk-free ministry that is traditional, safe, and absolutely secure.
C. Conduct towards the weak family member.
• Weak means fragile. These brethren have a weak faith beleaguered by doubts. Their faith may not be strong enough to enjoy their freedom in Jesus Christ. They are certainly more susceptible to error, temptation, and sin than stronger believers.
• Some weaker believers have such sensitive consciences over their past sins that they perceive things as sin that are not sin at all (cf. 1 Cor. 8:7).
• We are called to help them to be strong. To help means to “hold on to”, to “cling to.” The weak need to know they are not alone
D. Conduct towards the wearisome family member. (Be patient)
• Being patient means “the restraint of anger”.
• Are there some folks who just get under your skin? We will have brothers and sisters in Christ who for whatever reason will make you want to lose patience with them. It can be tough dealing with wayward, worried, and weak brethren.
• As we are helping folks, it is tempting to just throw up our hands and walk away. We must be patient with all people.
E. Conduct towards the wicked family member. (15)
• Verse 15 tells us we are not to repay evil with evil. I know you will not believe this, but sometimes we do bad things to one another and there are some who do this frequently to other brothers and sisters.
• This verse is a warning against revenge or retaliation. We are not to “get even” with those mistreat us.
• We are to look at what is best for them, as a matter of fact, we are supposed to “seek after” what is best. We are to be in active pursuit of what is best for others. Always means we are to as a matter of habit seek out good for others.
CONCLUSION
• If you are honest with yourself, how many times have you wanted to write off an unruly brother? How many times have you wanted to walk away from one who is fainthearted because you did not want to put the time and energy into encouraging them?
• How many times have you looked at a weak brother who is susceptible to falling to temptation with disgust instead of coming along side to help them? How many times have we lost patience with everyone! How many times have we looked to do what is spiritually best for a person who perpetrated evil against us?
• How many of use take time to appreciate what our leaders do for us?
• If we are going to grow and mature as Christians, we need each other. Instead of kicking a struggling brother or sister to the curb, let’s help them grow.
• Let’s work on being a blessing to our leadership. Let us realize we are a family and let us make sure our conduct toward one another is a true reflection of the kingdom we belong to!
