The Thessalonians 1 Of 12 (2 Of 2)

The Thessalonian Christians made up a tremendous church but Paul knew that in order that they may stay that way there had to be some things brought to their attention. Such as, THEY HAD TO HAVE RESPECT FOR THE SERVANTS.

As mentioned in a previous message, all churches are not able to pay large salaries to their pastors, but the people can be RESPECTFUL.

Many in our churches today seem to want to show how ugly they can be.

Illus: Many remind me of a funny scene on one program of “All in the Family.” Edith, on the show, was known for her “saintly” behavior. However, her saintly behavior got under Archie’s skin. One day he said to her, “That’s you all right. Edith, the Good. You’ll stoop to anything to be good. You never make nobody mad. You think it’s easy living with a saint? Even when you cheat you don’t cheat to win. You cheat to lose. Edith, you ain’t human!”

Edith answered, “That’s a terrible thing to say, Archie Bunker. I am just as human as you are.”

Archie retorted, “Oh yeah? Then prove you’re just as human as me. Do something rotten.”

It seems that many in today’s churches want to prove they are human. One might expect lost people to operate that way, but we who are saved are supposed to be saved from acting that way.

That was why Paul told the young church at Thessalonica, verses 12-13, “And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves.”

The only way you are going to have PEACE in the house of God is to have RESPECT FOR THE SERVANT OF GOD.

Also, Paul knew, in order to continue to grow and spread the gospel, they had to have...

II. RESPECT FOR THE SAINTS

Often churches have sweet slogans on the church sign that advertises their church like, “Fellowship of Love.”

Illus: Many churches that advertise in this manner remind us of the story of a visitor in a strange city. He had eaten supper and was on his way back to the hotel when a sign in a store-front window caught his eye. The sign said, “Chinese Laundry.” He made a mental note of the location because he had been traveling long enough to have need of a good laundry. Early the next day he went down to the store with a bag full of soiled clothes. He piled the clothes on the counter before a shocked attendant. “What’s that?” the attendant asked. “My laundry, came the reply. “I’ve always heard that Chinese laundries do excellent work.” The startled clerk quickly informed the visitor that the establishment was not a Chinese laundry. “But what about the sign in the window?” “Oh, this is not a laundry,” the attendant said, “”No, this is a sign shop.”

Sometimes the church sends out false signals about its purpose. Often needy people bring in their “dirty laundry” only to discover that the “attendants” are not equipped to handle soiled lives.

The family of God should be a loving family; a family that cares about all the members of the family. However, often it is true that a family has members in it who are difficult to love. It is the same for the family of God. Every church has members that make life difficult.

Notice, Paul reveals the various kinds of people you find in a church.

Look at verses 14. We read, “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.”

Paul reveals three classes of people you will find in churches. In verse 14 we see...

• The unruly.

• The feebleminded.

• The weak.

Paul said we are to be patient in helping all three. Why? Because we want to strangle all three of these sometimes.

Notice, we are to help all three IN DIFFERENT WAYS. Such as, look again at verse 14.

A. WE ARE TO WARN THEM THAT ARE UNRULY

The word translated “unruly” is ataktous, which means: “Those who are out of line or out of step.” This is a military term. The unruly one is as a soldier who breaks rank with the others.

How are these to be dealt with? Paul said they are to be “admonished.” They are to be warned. They are to be told they are “walking on thin ice.” They are to be told they have “broken rank” and that they need to “get back into step” before something happens that makes them wish they had!

Paul did a lot of admonishing.

• In 1 Cor. 4:14, Paul said, “I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.”