What a tremendous hymn. Our Bible reading this morning
is taken from First Thessalonians chapter 5, and
we're going to read again from verse 12 through to the end.
Let's hear the Word of God, reading, of course, as we've
often emphasised from the King James Bible, a most faithful,
reliable translation of the Holy Scriptures.
First Thessalonians, chapter 5, we'll read from verse 12.
Let us hear the word of God. 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.
Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly,
comfort the feeble minded, support the weak, be patient
toward all men, See that none render evil for evil unto any
man, but ever follow that which is good both among yourselves
unto all men rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and
everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit, despise
not prophesying, prove all things, hold fast that which is
good, abstain from all appearance of evil.
And the very God of peace sanctify you holy.
And I pray God, your whole spirit and soul and body be
preserved, blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it.
Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with
unholy kiss. I charge you by the Lord that
this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Amen and Amen. We pray that God will stamp with
His own approval and blessing this is reading of His own
precious and infallible Word. Amen.
Now this morning we are continuing with our studies in
the book of First Thessalonians, and my text today is found in
First Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 14 and 15.
Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly,
comfort the feeble minded, support the weak, be patient
toward all men, See that none render evil for evil unto any
man, but ever follow that which is good both among yourselves
and to all men. They have entitled the message
today, the pursuit of peace in the Church, the duty of every
member. Now when men speak of peace in
the Church, they often mean something very shallow.
They mean the absence of disagreement, the absence of
difficulty and tension and conflict.
However, the Bible teaches something about peace in the
church in a far deeper and in a far greater level.
You see, true peace is not silence.
It is not the avoidance of sin. It's not the toleration of
sinful practises. It is not even pretending that
all is well when it is not true peace.
The piece that Paul stated at the end of First Thessalonians
513 as a holy harmony in the church, It is produced by the
Spirit of God, it is grounded in the Word of God, it is guarded
by the love of God, and it's maintained by the act of
obedience of God's true people. Now, here's a great message in
our text. The true piece of the church is
not merely the work of the leadership of the church, the
minister, the elders, and the deacons.
No, it is the duty of every member of the local church.
Here is a basic exemption behind Paul's exhortation.
And we exhort you, brethren. You see, he's writing to the
whole church. Think in the reading of the
repetition of the word brethren, the leadership and the
membership. Here's the basic assumption.
Every true born again believer is a gifted spirit filled
Christian with a ministry to fulfil.
And this very text. First Thessalonians 5 verses 14
to 15 teaches us how we can minister spiritually and
scripturally to one another both inside the church and out in the
world. You see, what is the church?
What is this church? This is part of the body of
Christ. This church is looked upon as a
family of born again believers, but it's not just part of the
body of Christ. It's not just a family of born
again believers. Let me tell you this.
The church is also a hospital for people who know that they
are ill. It's a school for imperfect
people. It's a society or a community of
imperfect sinners. Now it is true, as we discovered
last week, that there has to be leadership over the church, but
there's also has to be a membership in the church.
Believing Christians decide and desire and dedicate themselves
to joining the local church. And while we believe of course
in a born again membership, I'm well aware and 1st to recognise
that the Church is full of problem people and I'm the head
of those problem people. Why yes, we're saved.
Yes, we're born again of the Holy Spirit.
Yes we know and love Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
But we are still problem people. Why?
Because we're still in the flesh.
Because we still are in a spiritual battle.
We're battling with the world and the flesh and the devil, and
daily we battle with the inward remaining sin.
Daily we battle with the world trying to squeeze us into his
mould. Daily we battle with the devil
who's trying to destroy us. The Bible talks about the sins
of the flesh and the sins of the Spirit, and the Apostle Paul
knows this, that the church is only as strong.
The church only blossoms and grows on the basis of how well
it deals and manages these problems, especially the problem
of sin. You see, there has to be a
process in the life of every church to eliminate the
manifestation of sin and iniquity within the ranks,
whether it's in the pulpit or in the Pew.
And the more and more there's a manifestation of sin that's
being dealt with, the stronger and the better the church is.
The opposite is true. The less sin is dealt with or
not dealt with at all. The church doesn't grow strong
and blossom. The church grows weak.
It's loses its purpose. It begins to lose its light and
the minute it does that, there's a process of decay and departure
from the word of God. And let me say this this
morning, I'm going to deal with this in a few weeks time.
Many churches have fallen prey to a spurt of backsliding and
many churches are on the road to apostasy.
And when did that start? It started with a failure to
deal with sin in the pulpit and a failure to deal with sin in
the Pew. Now I've got three things this
morning. Bear with me.
One, the peace that is mentioned, you see in the
context here, and be at peace among yourselves.
Now exhort your brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort
the feeble mind that support the weak of peace, and toward all
men see that none render evil for evil unto any man, but ever
follow that which is good both among ourselves and to all men.
Here's the peace that is mentioned, and I want you to
notice this. The ground of peace is built on
God's order. Before we get to verse 14, look
at verse 12 and 13 again and these two verses.
I told you this last week. Paul addresses the leadership of
the church, the teaching elder, the ruling elder, and the
deacons. You're to know them.
You're to esteem them very highly.
Now do you see the connection? The ground of peace flows from a
right order. God has appointed the labour,
the leaders to labour, to oversee and to admonish, and the
membership of the church are called upon to know the leaders
and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake
and submit to their oversight. And of course, this reflects the
teaching of the Bible. Remember we read in Hebrews
chapter 13, verse 17. Obey them that have the rule
over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls as
they that must give an account that they may do it with joy and
not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you.
You see, the leaders have been gifted and equipped to exhort
and to courage the Saints. And then of course, the Saints,
in light of that encouragement and exhortation, they're to
execute a spirit of peace within that local assembly or body.
Remember what Paul says in Ephesians 4?
And he gave some apostles and some prophets, and some
evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.
What purpose? Here's the answer for the
perfecting of the Saints, Ephesians 4 and 12, for the work
of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ,
till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge
of the Son of God onto a perfect man, onto the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ.
See John Calvin, one of the reformers, said in Geneva,
Pastors are not set over the church to do everything
themselves, but to train the whole body to act.
So verses 14 and 15 shift the focus from leadership
responsibilities to the members responsibility.
Now, now, let's be clear. There's no true peace in the
church when and whenever God's order is despised.
The confusion of the church often arises when the leadership
is not recognised and regarded, or when the leadership is not in
a right relationship with the Lord.
And that can often happen, or even when the leadership is not
redeemed at all. And I know that there's a
difficulty if the leadership is not recognised and regarded, not
the right relationship with the Lord and not redeemed at all.
But let's suppose that it is. Then verses 14 and 15 take in,
because when the leadership is redeemed and recognised and
regarded and a right relationship with the Lord, then
the responsibility and duty of the church members follows on.
So that's the ground of peace is built in God's order that I'm
mentioning that. The second thing is this, the
groups of people built in God's order for they're mentioned as
well. Look at the text, it says in
verse 14. Now we exhort your brethren,
note the word brethren. So he's not really addressing
just the minister of the church alone or the elders.
This is addressed to the whole church.
Every believer is addressed, I believe, in the mutual ministry
of the Saints. I minister to you, you minister
to me, and you minister one to another.
The word exhort here is a very strong word.
It it means more than comfort and courage.
It means admonish. It means come alongside each
other to help and to strengthen. Why?
Because we're all brothers and sisters in Christ.
We're part of the body of Christ.
Remember, we're a hospital of ill people.
We're all battling and struggling with sin in one form
or another. And in that sense, we're
spiritually ill. In that sense, we're spiritually
sick. And let me tell you, every
member has a responsibility for the spiritual well-being and the
good of others in this fellowship.
Notice there's a word for the wayward, he says here in the
text. Warn them that are unruly.
The word unruly means disorderly, undisciplined, out
of step with the leadership, and not in fellowship with the rest
of the community of God's people.
Now we're not saying this unruly person as a heretic, but he's an
individual or she's an individual who is spiritually
careless, spiritually idle, feeling to do their duty as a
member, not interested in helping or serving in the work
of God. Someone has said that this
person's a loafer, not a labour. Someone who behaves disorderly.
Someone who's argumentative all the time.
Contentious, as we would say in Bushmills.
They're throng. That's a good Scots Irish word,
isn't it? Or, or they're difficult or or
they're crooked to work with. Why?
Because they want their own way. And when a person's like that,
they're not living according to the word of God.
And how do we deal with such an individual in the church that's
like this? Will we warn them?
That's strong, isn't it? We lovely.
We lovingly confront them face to face.
We do it not publicly, but we do it privately.
We refuse to ignore their sinful attitude and sinful behaviour
for the sake of peace. It's not true peace.
And John Calvin said where there's no correction, there's
no care for salvation, and this wayward person is straying
spiritually from the Lord. And it was Richard Baxter that
said to leave a man and sin. There's not peace but cruelty.
Are you spiritually straying from the Lord?
Are you behaving disorderly and in a non disciplined way, out of
step with the Lord? There's not only a word for the
wayward here, but there's a word for the worried.
Notice again in the text it says comfort the feeble minded.
Now who are the feeble minded? The word feeble minded means
little. Sold a believer who is worried
sick or overcome by fear, motivated due to a lack of fear
and courage about things he or she feels to step out on the
promises of God. Tells himself, tells herself we
can't do it. And they can give you 10 reasons
why a thing, project or programme should not be
attempted or can't be done. I remember being at the funeral
of the late Robert Graham, relative of CD Graham's.
The funeral was in Paris church at Saint Field.
He was a man with a big disability.
Some of you remember Robert Graham and I remember the
minister saying he was not a what if man, he was a why not
man And a why not man is the type of man that we need in the
church. Far too many are what if and
they are worried sick about things and they're struggling
with that and sin is a worry and we're to be anxious for nothing.
But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with Thanksgiving,
let your request be made known unto God.
And many have no sense of adventure.
They have a fear of the unknown. They're not full of faith.
They'll not take a risk. And because they're full of
worry, they worry about everything.
My mother-in-law used to worry. I tell her about the grass
going. And many are like that.
Many in the church today are discouraged.
They're full of anxiety for themselves, their family, the
church, the community and the future.
And it's a big job. What are we to do with the
feeble minded? Or to comfort them or to
encourage those who doubt? Encourage those who are full of
fear and casting, Not rebuke them, but speak the promises of
God to them. Remind them.
Second Corinthians 1 and 24, All the promises of God and him are
yeah, and in him. Amen.
There are 7300 promises in the Bible, according to Herbert
Lockyer. And they're all in Christ.
You can claim them by faith. So I'm asking today, are you one
of the worried ones? Are you full of fear?
And if you are, I just want you to remember there's comfort for
the faint hearted in your discouragement and in your
anxiety and in your fear. Let the Lord come to your side.
Let the Lord say to you, fear not, I will help you.
And if you're a struggling believer, and I know there's
many are struggling and overwhelmed by stress,
struggling and overwhelmed by a lack of assurance, struggling
and overwhelmed by fear. You see, there was fear in
Thessalonica. There was fear because believers
were overly concerned about their loved ones who had died
before the Lords returned. What's going to happen to their
bodies? What's going to happen at the
resurrection? Are they even going to be
resurrected from the dead? And they were just worried sick
about that. And they may have been
struggling as well through fear and worry due to the trials of
persecution and opposition. And what do they need?
They needed a wee word from the Lord.
And Paul writes to the membership and says comfort the
feeble minded. Remember the Lord Jesus gave
them a word, a bruised Reed. Shall he not break?
Are you a bruised Reed today? Can you receive and lean on the
words of Christ? Receive and rest in His word of
promise. I say to you this day of you're
a child of God, You're cast down.
You're not cast off. And if you're cast down, you
don't need me to correct you. You don't need me to come and
give you a slap along the the the back of the the head.
You need me to console you. And we as members must comfort
the feeble minded. We must be sympathetic.
We must be have a feeling for people in their trials.
There has to be a word to the weak.
Notice he says support the weak. What does that mean?
The word support means to hold them up, to take them by the
arm, to cling to them and let them cling to us, to stay by
their side. Do not let them fall.
They are those who are weakened. Faith this morning we can
conscience we can understand, thing we can their battle with
sin we can assurance. And what are we told in
Galatians 6 and 2 bear one another's burdens.
We here strong, we are debtors to the weak, and the strength of
the church is not seen in its gifted and it's minted members,
but in how we treat the weak ones.
We're to support the weak, we're not to slander them.
We're not to slaughter the weak. Remember, the Church is a
hospital for sinners. Many are weak and easily succumb
and give in to temptations. They're tempted to send an
iniquity that they're tempted to struggle with their disease and
and their physical disabilities and their, their, their
financial hardship and, and and all of these things are coupled
together because of someone's weak in faith and then they get
worried sick about themselves in the future.
Then they're prone to be wayward.
Notice. Also hear a word to the
wearisome. It says in our text, be patient
toward all men. What does that mean?
I, I, I want you to think of a race.
OK, And suppose I'm not in the race.
OK, But you're running in the race and you're looking around
and you see some of the people that you know and love, and
they're very far behind. And they're like slow coaches.
And you're thinking to yourself, well, I wish they would catch
up. These slow coaches seem to be
slow at everything. And some people are naturally
slow and some are also spiritually slow.
They're slow at growing, they're slow at going, and maybe even
slow in relation to the grace of God.
And when someone's like that, it's easy to get exasperated and
you have difficulty focusing on what that individual is doing.
And you'd wish, well, I wish they didn't try because I could
have it done in 5 minutes and they're taking an hour to do it.
We need a spurt of patience, and I say that to me.
We need understanding. You see, patience governs all
the rest, patient with the wayward, the worried, the weak,
the wearisome, Paul says in Ephesians 4 and 2.
With all loneliness and meekness, with long-suffering
for bearing one another in love. You see plainly, without a spurt
of patience, none of the words, none of the duties will be
fulfilled. And let me just say, Saints will
disappoint you. Saints will let you down,
they'll feel you, they'll frustrate you, and some will
even frighten the life out of you.
And yet we're called to be patient to all men, all kinds of
men. He says be patient toward all
men. Stephen Charnock said this.
We are never more like God than when we are patient.
There's a word to the wayward, the worried, the weak, and the
wearisome. But there's also a word to the
wicked. Notice these words.
See that none render evil for evil.
We'll just highlight the word evil professing Christians who
openly commit sin. And that could be the sin of
immorality. It could be the sin of lust and
slander, lies, defilement, could be a false accusation, could be
thrift. And every one of these, of
course, is a departure from the Word of God.
And this is not a failure. In a lot of churches, professing
Christians who openly commit sin, sinned against God, sinned
against the Word of God and some of the leadership event, they're
just errors into the church and that has not been stood against
and not been dealt with. You, you think of women
ministers being ordained women elders.
You think of a woman being an Archbishop of the Church of
England. It's an abomination unto God.
It's contrary to the Holy Scriptures.
It's not in God's plan, it's not in God's order.
And churches have changed. Why?
Because they haven't closed the door to the introduction of sin
and iniquity among their ranks. And of course, that's why many
churches have changed their Bible.
That's why many churches have thrown out their handbook.
That's why many churches have removed the pulpit and put a
stage in its place. Not for the better, let me tell
you. That's the peace that is
mentioned. And that's only .1.
Very quickly, the peace that is maintained.
You see, the church must guard against a false peace.
A false peace, a false tolerance has invaded the Church.
And that's true locally, but it's also true universally.
Look at verse 15 again. See that none render evil for
evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good, both
among yourselves and to all men. Here's one of the big threats to
the Church's peace. See that none render evil for
evil unto any man. And one of the big destroyers in
the Church is retaliation, vadnais, or bitterness, a
personal vendetta. I don't get mad, I get even but
this peace, remember that we're talking about that produces
harmony in the church is produced by the Spirit of God
who indwells us. It's grounded in the Holy
Scriptures and therefore this peace rejects sin in the pulpit
and in the Pew and it rejects even things like gossip and tale
bearing and, and, and backsliding and, and
indifference and, and also blatant open sins of the flesh.
And it, it, it says these are wrong to the leadership and
among the membership. What happens when someone hurts
you, when someone sins against you, when someone wrongs you,
how do you repay them? Do you strike back?
Do you withdraw? Do you adopt the attitude?
I don't get mad. I I get even.
I'll set a trap for them. The Bible says no.
Romans 12 and 17 recompense to no man, evil for evil.
And I would urge you, guard against a personal grunge, guard
against a personal mandata. Don't be.
Allow yourself to be filled with a spirit of bitterness, even if
someone has wronged you and genuinely wronged you and hasn't
yet repented. Sadly, a spurt of unforgiveness
can eat into us, can destroy us, end up leaving a spiritually
cold and destined, and destroys the fellowship of God's people.
To return evil for evil is to behave in a British way.
To do good in the face of evil is the blessed Christian way.
I want you to think about a Muslim soldier and he captures a
brother and sister and they're Christians, and he murders the
brother in cold blood in front of the sister and he violates
the sister in a very disgusting greeting way.
He leaves her in the state that he's left her.
Sometime later, she ends up she's working as a nurse in a
military hospital. This soldier is brought in from
the battlefield and he's bleeding and dying.
And she recognises him and she's thinking to herself of
vengeance. She's thinking of getting evil.
She's thinking, I, I, I'll do something that's maybe medically
not right and he'll end up dying.
That's what he deserves, and that's what he did deserve.
But you know, she chose love. She chose grace.
She chose kindness and she nursed that enemy soldier till
he was back enough to health and strength and he at least he
could talk. And whenever he could talk, he
recognised her. And he said, I, I, I, I, I, I,
I, I, I, I know you. And then speaking to him, she
told him that she was a Christian.
She loved the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Bible says love your
enemies. And she says, even though you're
my enemy and command to, to, to love you in Jesus name.
And I tell you to repent and believe the gospel.
And before that man left the hospital, that Muslim man had
put his faith and trust in Christ as Lord and Saviour.
We're to follow that which is good, actively doing good, not
merely avoiding doing harm, but intentionally and deliberately
and continually doing good. True peace is not passive, it is
pursued. Psalm 3414 says seek peace and
pursue it. True peace must be chaste, it
must be worked for, it must be maintained.
True peace in contrast to a false priest, because true peace
doesn't consist in idleness, it doesn't allow sin to manifest
itself either in the pulpit or Pew.
True peace is in reality a state of doing good to all the
household of faith to all men. If we are truly love the Lord,
then that love will be seen in flow to all men.
The third thing is this. Some of us I finish the peace
that is to be ministered. You see this ministry of peace
one must be personal. You see all of us this morning,
every believer, all of this assumes that we are connected,
that we are in a relationship to each other, that we are truly
joined one to another, that we are brothers and sisters in
Christ. Are you saved this morning?
Do you know love Christ? Are you sanctified?
Are you seeking to be holy unto the Lord?
Are you serving the Lord? You see, the Bible knows nothing
of isolated Christianity. We are members of 1 body.
We are accountable to our leaders, you to the elders, the
elders to the presbyty. We're responsible for one
another. Remember, there is such a thing
in the church as church membership.
It's not a modern invention. It's it's a covenant reality.
Acts 4 and 2. Not just a name and a role, but
part of a a visible community of believers walking in mutual
watchfulness unto the Lord. A shared lace of responsibility.
Not a a spectator, but a participant and you know the
names and needs of the people. You're responsible to know one
another and to know the needs of one another.
And then you're to be active. It must be practical.
It must be done with a deep love and concern.
Do you love deeply and care one for another those that are
hurting? You see, when one hurts, we all
should hurt. When 1 feels down and sad, we
all should feel it. When another is happy, then we
all should be happy and glad. It's done with the goal of being
spiritually mature in Christ, helping individuals to grow in
Christ, to grow in grace, to grow in the knowledge of the
Lord Jesus. This peace must be ministered in
a personal way, in a practical way, but also in a pure way.
You see, not one ounce of this is possible without the Lord
Jesus Christ. It says in Ephesians 2.
For He is our peace. Out of Christ.
We're dead in trespasses and sin.
Out of Christ we're blind spiritually.
Out of Christ we're diseased in our affections.
We have no love and thought for Him or of Him.
We are enemies of God. We're without strength to save
ourselves. We're at war with Him and His
law. Now listen to this, John Calvin
said all gospel peace is purchased by the blood of Christ
and because of the blood of his cross that was shed in Calvary,
we have peace, peace with God. You can know the peace of God
that passes all understanding. Romans 5 and 1, Philippians 4
verse six and seven. So I asked this question, is
Christ your peace? Because you'll never personally
minister peace, and you'll never practically minister peace until
you know the purity of this peace in your soul.
The peace that must be ministered is personal,
practical, and pure. And lastly, it must be precious.
Is the peace of the Church precious to you?
Oh, it's not easy, let me tell you as I finish.
It requires courage to warn the unruly and the wayward.
It requires tenderness to comfort the worried.
It requires strength to support the weak.
It takes grace to bear with the wearisome.
I wish she would hurry up or he would hurry up.
It takes patience and wisdom to confront the wicked.
It takes a spirit of love and forgiveness and zeal to pursue
this peace. Jeremiah Burry says the peace of
the church is precious. I finish.
You're being very patient. Thank you.
Do we want a healthy church? And carried off FPC.
Sin must be addressed, not ignored, not buried.
The weak and the worried and the wayward believer must be helped,
not hindered, not sidelined, but strengthened.
Conflicts must be resolved, not regurgitated.
Let the past be in the past. We've all made mistakes.
I have made mistakes in my ministry here.
But mistakes can be rectified. An unhealthy church is the
opposite. An unhealthy church is a church
where sin is not dealt with. An unhealthy churches of sin
were tolerated. Sin is tolerated.
There's silence. The leaders, of course, are not
equipped. The members are not exercised.
They withdraw from their responsibility.
I would say this morning to us, do not be passive in your
membership. Don't avoid responsibility.
Taking this passage serious, a word to the wayward, a word to
the worried, a word to the weak, a word to the wearisome, a word
to the wicked. And don't mistake silence for
peace. The church needs the peace of
Christ. The peace of Christ is precious.
But we must have truth over comfort.
We must have love over ease. The Lord bless you today.
Thank you for coming and thank you for taking the time to
listen to the Word of God. I'm just going to close in
prayer. I'm not going to sing the
closing hymn as our time is well gone.
Let's just close in prayer. Heavenly Father, take what has
been of thyself. Now we pray You'll write it on
our heart by Thy Holy Spirit, and you'll use Thy word.
We ask for Thy glory. Part us now in Thy fear and with
Thy blessing take us to our homes in safety.
We pray that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of
God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit will be upon us both
now and ever more. Amen, Amen.
Thank you today.