GraceLife Church Worship Service - Oct 25, 2020 (Living in Peace)

well good morning grace life good morning good morning maximilian i want to welcome you all to grace like church what a blessing it is to be here we have a full morning plan as we're going to come to the lord's supper and celebrate this most precious ordinance given to the church and so we're going to enjoy that we're going to hear the preaching of god's word pastor jake's going to bring us the word this morning and so we are looking so forward to all the lord has planned for us if you're a visitor with us this morning we want to extend you a warm welcome it's a blessing to have you with us we would love to connect with you this morning and so if you are here for the first time come see us at the door before you leave we'd love to connect with you get to know you a little bit answer any questions you have about our church it would be a blessing to be able to connect with you before you leave today we'll even give you a token of our appreciation for your visit a book called what is the gospel which will let you know what we're all about here at grace life church we're all about the gospel of our lord and savior jesus christ and so we want to connect with you answer any questions you have want you to feel warm and welcome and so we're so thankful that you are with us today there's not a ton to draw to your attention beyond that of course next saturday is october 31st we're going to be celebrating reformation night and it'll be the fourth annual reformation night celebration and so we want to encourage you to be here for that we're going to limit it to grace lifers and so if you are a regular attendee a member or even if you're becoming a regular attendee now um you're welcome to be there for that but we're not opening it up this year for other churches to come just to be mindful of spacing and all that kind of stuff you have a 55 plus announcement there for november 6th at 7 00 p.m and there's a note there in the library concerning the library as well and so that pretty much covers it if you're here for a membership uh one o'clock lunch we'll be here in the auditorium and then we will begin our time at 1 30 and go to about 3 30 so looking forward to that time with you for those of you who are in membership and i think that just about covers it we're here to worship our lord and so let's bow together in prayer as we prepare to do that well father we thank you so much what a blessing it is for us to come together and to come before your throne of grace together to take the name jesus christ upon our lips it's a sweet name the sweetest name there is and so father we we come before you to give you praise honor and glory for what you've done in our lives we want you to be exalted in this time glorified and so father glorify yourself we pray by your spirit empower your servants to bring forth your word and to do so with power and clarity and we pray that you would energize it in our hearts in jesus name amen please stand [Music] [Applause] he gave us [Music] praise is lord through jesus oh [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] jesus [Music] through jesus [Music] great things [Music] when [Applause] [Music] is [Music] through jesus and give him i'll ask you to remain standing as we continue in our scripture reading this morning we are going to be in deuteronomy as we've just begun moses's last his fifth book of the pentateuch and we're in chapter 2 and we'll read the entire chapter together deuteronomy chapter 2. then when we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way to the red sea as the lord spoke to me and circled mount seer for many days and the lord spoke to me saying you have circled this mountain long enough now turn north and command the people saying you will pass through the territory of her brothers the sons of esau who live and seer and they will be afraid of you so be very careful do not provoke them for i will not give you any of their land even as little as a footstep because i have given mount seer to esau as a possession you shall buy food from them with money so that you may eat and you shall also purchase water from them with money so that you may drink for the lord your god has blessed you in all you have done he has known your wanderings through this great wilderness these forty years the lord your god has been with you you have not lacked a thing so we passed beyond our brothers the sons of esau who live in seer away from the arabah road away from alath and from asian gibber and returned and passed through by the way of the wilderness of moab then the lord said to me do not harass moab nor provoke them to war for i will not give you any of their land as a possession because i have given our to the sons of lot as a possession the m lived there formally a people as great numerous and tall as the anakin like the anakim they are also regarded as rephaim but the moabites call them eminem the horites formerly lived in seer but the sons of esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place just as israel did to the land of their possession which the lord gave to them arise and cross over the brook zured yourselves so we crossed over the brook is a red now the time that it took for us to come from kadesh barnea until we crossed over the brook zored was 38 years until all the generation of the men of war perished from within the camp as the lord had sworn to them moreover the hand of the lord was against them to destroy them from within the camp until they all perished so it came about when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people that the lord spoke to me saying today you shall cross over r the border of moab when you come opposite the sons of ammon do not harass them nor provoke them for i will not give you any of the land of the sons of adam as a possession because i have given it to the sons of lot as possession it is also regarded as the land of rephaim for reform formerly lived in it but the ammonites called them zamzumin a people as great numerous and tall as the anakim but the lord destroyed them before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place just as he did for the sons of esau who live in seer when he destroyed the horites from before them they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day and the avim who lived in villages as far as gaza the kaftrim who came from kaftur destroyed them and lived in their place arise set out and passed through the valley of arnon look i have given sion the amorate king of heshman and his land into your hand begin to take possession and contend with him in battle this day i will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples everywhere under the heavens who when they hear the report of you will tremble and be in anguish because of you so i sent messengers from the wilderness of kedamath to sion king of heshbon with the words of peace saying let me pass through your land i will travel only on the highway i will not turn aside to the right or to the left you will sell me food for money so that i may eat and give me water for money so that i may drink only let me pass through on foot just as the sons of esau who live in seer and the moabites who live in are did for me until i cross over the jordan into the land which the lord our god has given to us but sion king of heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land for the lord your god hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate in order to deliver him into your hand as he is today the lord said to me see i have begun to deliver sion and his land over to you begin to occupy that you may possess his land then sion with all his people came out to meet us at the battle at jahaz and the lord our god delivered him over to us and we defeated him with his sons and all his people so he captured all his cities at that time and utterly destroyed the men women and children of every city we left no survivor we took only the animals as our booty and the spoil of the cities which we had captured from error which is in the edge of the valley of arnon and from the city which is in the valley even to gilead there was no city that was too high for us the lord our god delivered all over to us only you did not go near to the land of the sons of ammon all along the river jabock and the cities of the hill country and wherever the lord our god had commanded us and that's the reading of the word this morning let's pray well father god even as we look at moses account of this historical piece of work that you did amongst the israelites we can see once again how you are sovereign over all the world you're sovereign over the hearts of kings you hardened the king's heart and caused him to fall in battle and to give the israelites a reputation that you are their god and that as a result of that victory and all the other victories that the hearts of the enemies around israel began to melt and they were able to occupy the land father we thank you that you were a god of planning and meticulousness even in the sense that you transitioned the israelites from depending upon you for manna and for water coming out of rock that moses was providing through your spirit and that you began to make arrangements for them to utilize their reason their own resources the money the the spoils of the egyptians to buy water to buy food and to make that transition back into a normal life and living and and work and and all those things that are part of nation building and so we thank you for even the way you arranged those things to take place and that you eased the israelites into that gently through the sons of esau and moabites father we just thank you for the way that you work in our culture in our society today as well you're a great god a sovereign god you're in control of all things and you have blessed us and kept us safe and secure even here in canada from the ravages of war of of natural disasters of vast proportions we recognize that you control the weather and you control the hearts and and minds of individuals we pray even now for our nation's leaders we pray for our provincial leader and we just ask that you would intervene and interject in a sovereign way to allow your people to meet and to live in freedom to enjoy the the privileges that we have and to live up to the responsibilities that we have as citizens we ask for your blessing upon those who've lost jobs who are seeking employment who are in in poor health and in need of respite and healing father we we pray that you would look after and continue to minister even to our our brothers and sisters that are even within our our congregation we think in particular stuart reader and his uh his battle with cancer that you have brought upon him we know that it is by your hand that these things happen and you have a purpose for them and uh even in the midst of suffering and pain that uh we just thank you so much for for stewart's uh his his humble attitude and his grace and his love for you and his faithfulness his testimony of your goodness to him and we're grateful for that father we just ask your blessing upon this time upon our worship upon singing upon praise upon the bringing the preaching of your word now even as uh pastor jake brings us your word and uh we would just also ask your blessing upon the celebration of your uh supper the lord's supper and we ask these things in jesus name and for his name's sake amen please be seated [Music] my hope is in the lord who gave [Music] and him the price of all my sinners [Music] for me for me [Music] he [Music] his anger to suppress my only hope is found in jesus and everlasting life and light he freely [Music] and now for me he stands before the father's throne he shows his wounded [Music] for me [Music] his grace has [Music] his work [Music] please [Music] and [Music] you stand and sing this next one with us please [Music] i still need [Music] is [Music] for me it was [Music] he had no tears [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] how is [Music] is [Music] it will be my joy through the ages to sing of his love for me how marvelous how wonderful and my song shall ever be how marvelous how wonderful is how wonderful and my soul shall ever [Music] [Music] is the grace of god is reached for me and [Music] the lord is my salvation i will not fear when darkness falls [Music] is [Music] is my salvation [Music] is when winter fades [Music] i know his grace [Music] one the lord is my salvation and when i reach my final day he will not leave the lord is my salvation [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] lord is my salvation face in a task that drives us the [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] foreign is [Music] but jesus christ [Applause] bear the torches [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] he goes [Music] the is [Music] constraints [Music] is [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] to [Music] let's sing the chorus [Music] thank you for singing with us you can be seated well good morning grace life thank you so much john and courtney for leading us in those songs when we sing the songs here in the morning we're taken back to grace life california because we sang these same songs and it brought such joy to our hearts that the lord would have us there for a time and then come here to a church that um makes those things those same confessions it's my privilege this morning to bring to you the word of god to bring this to bear on our hearts and minds as uh just a little bit of background for this morning's sermon the text election as ange and i sat last sunday in the membership class uh at some point there was a biblical defense given for membership and james um referenced first thessalonians chapter 5 and specifically verses 12 and 13 in pointing out that there's a leadership structure that is implied and obviously people coming underneath that leadership structure and so therefore membership within the church that you would identify under specific leaders and not only that but i also studied this text as i was in seminary i had the opportunity to go through it studying the exegesis but never getting to the point of putting together a sermon so i'm thankful for that and then on top of that there's mention of the one and others and next sunday it's my intention to begin a sunday school class that will focus on the new testament references to the one and others it's a lengthy list and so there were a number of things that kind of solidified in my mind why first thessalonians 5 this morning so please turn in your bible this morning to first thessalonians and we'll be reading out at chapter five in just a bit now many of you are aware that this past march at shepherd's conference i had the opportunity for the first time to meet with pastor james pastor mike and paul was there as well the three of us met and in that time of our sitting together and having a meal they shared with me this wonderful picture of a church back in my homeland of canada and this church greatly encouraged me even just from hearing the testimony of it it was a church that was described as loving gathering around the word of god which i have witnessed now firsthand and after i finished meeting with uh the three men i immediately ran behind the book tent and phoned home to to ange and shared the encouragement that these men had left on my heart and it was interesting that maybe one of the things that had the greatest impact uh that day was i bumped into mike just a few hours after our meeting and he added one tidbit of information to to everything he said jacob don't worry about moving to edmonton if you move there the people will care for you they will take care of you and those words really brought a lot of comfort to my heart and i shared those with ange as well as soon as i got home so my purpose this morning though i understand please is not to flatter you it's not even to pay you a compliment although you could easily receive it as such but really i want to just simply acknowledge that there's something characteristic in the people of god the people who have a genuine love for christ and it really serves as one of many markers in the life of a healthy church and the life of a model church and as i've reflected on mike's words my mind takes me to acts chapter two where the early church is described and how the the people the believers how they how their actions uh just shine forth and i'm i'm reminded of verses 44 and 45 specifically in acts 2 where we read and all those who had believed were together and had all things in common and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all as anyone might have need and the spensts have certainly felt as recipients the way you have shared the stewardship that's been entrusted to you on our behalf and we are eternally grateful for that we're thankful for the uh invitations into your homes back in august the warm times of fellowship that we had there we're thankful for your help in getting us moved over here unpacked and settled for the words of encouragement and certainly for the way you've lavished generosity on us again i just want to say thank you but luke actually shares more about this healthy church situation right at the earliest moments after pentecost and we read in verse 42 of acts chapter 2 they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship and to breaking of bread and to prayer and then jumping ahead a few verses to 46 day by day continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart so there was unity there was an investment shown and there was certainly a genuineness to their relationships in verse 47 praising god and having favor with all people and the lord was adding to their number day by day those who are being saved this is a this is a healthy church situation here this is a this is an example of a model church for us even in its infancy and we fast forward only about just over 20 years to 80 51 and we see another example of a healthy church situation a model church really as paul describes this he commends this young thriving body of believers comprised in large part of gentiles but also with some jewish believers and he commends them for their model conduct the church in thessalonica was vibrant and influential in their faith and paul's epistle here clearly demonstrates that and yet upon hearing timothy's report right that paul had sent timothy timothy brings back this report of this thriving church situation even though it's very young paul still desires to exhort them still more so they haven't arrived but they're certainly moving in the right direction and paul acknowledges that and so we conclude in this letter that this letter has more of a stay the chorus type of flavor to it then is meant to correct although that can certainly be taken out of the text as well the letter has this as a general flow we see in chapters in chapter one paul expresses thanksgiving for the thessalonian church and then in the next two chapters two and three he issues several reminders to them about his time together with them the impact that that had and then finally in the final two chapters he spends time in exhortation to believers and it's in these this exhortational section that we find ourselves you see in the beginning of chapter five you just glance down we see he's talking about the day of the lord he's giving them some instruction in that and he's telling them of a need to be alert and to remain sober in light of this impending day of the lord that is that is coming and paul then right after in rapid fire succession gives 15 imperatives on how the church ought to continue living as a model church and this is still helpful today even for us as we desire to excel still more so there's a lot to be gleaned out of these verses so let's let's read the text here follow along as we begin in verse 12 of chapter 5 and paul writes but we request of you brethren that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the lord and give you instruction and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work live in peace with one another we urge you brethren admonish the unruly encourage the faint-hearted help the weak be patient with everyone see that no one repays another with evil for evil but always seeking seek after that which is good for one another and for all people now i know that the bulletin this morning says that we're going to be going through to verse 22 but i've decided to turn this into a two-part series there's so much here that can be learned from this i don't want to gloss over things i'd rather spend a more in-depth uh study here in in the word this morning so let's consider these four verses and what paul teaches us from the my title this sermon this morning live in peace and it really stems from that that main imperative there that we see at the end of verse 13. and this morning in the text we'll see paul giving the thessalonians two sets of exhortations regarding christian conduct so that you will know how to live as a part of a model church so that's two sets of vector exhortations regarding our christian conduct so that you will know how to live effectively as part of a model church and i've just simply broken this into two parts so we'll see the christian's proper conduct towards first leaders in verses 12 and 13 and then towards believers and even unbelievers in verses 14 and 15. so proper conduct towards leaders and then proper conduct towards unbelievers so first paul exhorts the brethren in the conduct towards their leaders in verses 12 and 13. and let's just go through this text again here but we request of you brethren that you appreciate those diligently who diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the lord and give you instruction and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work live in peace with one another so paul gives us a string of exhortations here that really connect back to chapter 4 and verse 1. if you just glance over there where he says finally then brethren we request and exhort you in the lord in the lord jesus that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please god just as you actually do walk that you excel still more and here he he serves to bring a higher definition to what he has started in in chapter four and verse one and so and rather than calling for obedience and submission outright he actually appeals to the thessalonians sensibilities and he asks them to appreciate and to highly esteem a very particular group within the church and notice that paul doesn't name names here and he he doesn't list titles for us but rather he describes these individuals according to their effort and the responsibilities that they have and then also their purpose the purpose that has been given them so first we'll look at understanding who and identify who paul is exhorting them to appreciate and highly esteem and then secondly we'll we'll examine paul's specific requests of appreciate and to esteem highly so let's let's take a look at these first three greek terms that that really literally could be translated as such there are two they they are described as people who are strenuously toiling they are ruling and they are instructing these are the tasks that are given to them and the nasb translates this first word as diligently labor this is strenuous toiling even to the point of weariness this is physically and mentally and spiritually exhausting work that that these men have and and paul uses this same term in other letters when he's referring to ministerial labors we see this actually presented in two different ways first according to the physical labors that accompany ministry paul writes this in first corinthians chapter 4 and 11 and 12. he says to this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty and are poorly clothed and are roughly treated and are homeless and we toil working with our own hands we toil strenuous labor and then he also employs this same term to describe the spiritual nature of his labor and we read about this in first timothy 5 17 where he writes the elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of a double honor especially those who work hard who toil at preaching and teaching so individuals within the church that paul is exhorting the thessalonians to appreciate these are these are those who who are working in an especially toilsome manner and then secondly he describes them as the those who are having who have charge over you and this hard work includes ruling or governing it's uh describes a position of of leadership or authority and so the appreciation here that's demonstrated in part is through a submission to that authority that's been granted to them and so this this work as we if we think of it carries an extensive amount of responsibility really but there's a there's a second nuance to to this word this thought of having charge you see it also includes this sense of concern and nuance of caregiving and we we see this in this letter we see this as paul describes his work among the thessalonians where he uses a metaphor he he refers to himself as like a nursing mother to her own children or as a father who is exhorting encouraging and imploring his own children so there is this aspect of care nurturing protection modeling instruction exhortation all of these things and so we need to understand that what what paul is saying here is that this is governing together with caregiving and this is what describes further these people that are to be appreciated within the church and he modifies this one in one further way he says the those who have charge over you in the lord so their position of authority is only in association with christ they're not autonomous but rather they've been given that position and then finally we see that they're described as ones who give you instruction literally we could say they give you admonition their their instruction includes this the sound of warning to avoid certain things or even to cease certain things all together and so from from these three descriptors from these three terms we really see that paul has elders in mind here these are the church leaders that he's exhorting the thessalonians to appreciate and to esteem highly but why why issue appreciation for elders or leaders do we do that just simply because the bible says so well yes yes certainly we do but we need to notice something here that that paul is is giving us and and really for this to understand this we need to look at these two imperatives that he gives us to appreciate and to esteem highly so bear with me for a moment here he he selects a term here that's very important for us to understand you see in the greek language there are two terms that actually can refer to knowledge there's oydah and then there's also gnosco and he's chosen oida that's the the root word here really that the word that he uses is is derived from so where gnosco means to know and that that knowledge comes by observation through observation um he he uses the word oida here and that that has a different sense it actually um it means that the knowledge that one has arrived at it's been arrived at through careful reflection based on what has been experienced so this this goes much deeper this understanding this knowledge there's there's a mental process that is based on intuition and this perception of these men their leaders has been more carefully formulated than just simply observing them the people are able to think through what they've seen and the the basis for it the reason for the character that these men show and the effort that they put in to their work and they come to this realization and it's a realization both in their minds and in their hearts that this work has been given to them it's ordained by god and they also understand that one day these will stand before god and give an account for the work for which they have been tasked we we know about this because the writer of hebrews shares with us in 13 and verse 17. where he writes obey your leaders and submit to them for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account now we need to understand that although the thessalonians the thessalonian church was a healthy church unhealthy churches dot our landscape certainly and they're plagued with conflict within them between congregants and leaders between sheep and shepherds and in some in some ways some of this can be i guess understood because some people in in within the church have remained ignorant or perhaps are carrying misconceptions regarding the character and work of elder and that's why i'm so appreciative for what paul does here in describing the work the labor of these men it's a it's a strenuous labor but it's a noble task and paul uses the present tense here in the imperative and really he's saying continue to appreciate these men not only at one point in time but continually and then secondly we see the second imperative of esteeming them very highly he calls for this and the imperative here means to think of them highly or to consider them or to believe something about them and while this second imperative stands in it stands parallel to the word appreciate he he gives in the second imperative he actually intensifies the expectation placed on the brethren and he does so by inserting an adverb and that adverb could mean super abundantly or beyond all measure and the nesb translates it as highly so not simply esteem them but super abundantly esteem them you know reach within yourself and draw out the greatest esteem that you could possibly show and so this thinking of them by far exceeds what would be the norm in society so notice that both of these imperatives really are appealing for us to go on a bit of an intellectual endeavor here and then paul also tells us the means by which achieving these imperatives is actually accomplished he says esteem them very highly in love and so the esteem for their leaders is only made possible by the christian love that they have for them it's done with a spirit of love but why ought the church appreciate and highly esteem those who are leading in the church and we see here in verse 13 now paul will explicitly state the reason for these imperatives he says it's because of their work right so we had to look at those three terms to understand the nature of their work and begin to understand the picture that paul is giving us here but now he just comes right out and says it esteem them highly because of their work do this in love because of their work and there's no greater example here in this this is really the first letter written in the canon and so this is the first letter to address christian leadership in the church and these are the first instructions the first imperatives that we have in the canon of how we ought to conduct ourselves and there's no better example than the men who are featured in the text here paul silas and timothy we can go to their example of their ministry to understand what does this look like what does this strenuous toil look like this labor that they did well we see that they proclaim the gospel in chapter 1 and verse 5 they lived christ-like lives that were worth imitating in chapter 1 verse 6. they persevered through tribulation and suffering and oppression and they did so in boldness with god they had a boldness in god in 1 and 6 and then 2 verse 2. they didn't speak from error or impurity or deceit in 2 3. they didn't use flattery in an attempt to please men in chapter 2 and verse 4 and 5. they were selfless they were not driven by greed and in fact they imparted not only the gospel of god but also their own lives they gave over they toiled physically and spiritually working day and night so as not to be a burden to you we proclaimed to you the gospel of god in two verse nine and they cared for these believers as a mother or as a father they modeled devout upright and blameless behavior in two verse 10 they were irreproachable nobody could hang anything on them and when they were instructing they exhorted and encouraged and implored these children so you see the work right here is that right grace life we see the work of leaders as modeled by paul timothy and silas and there's one other thing that we have to note here and that is that all of their work and the heart required to actually fulfill that obligation was completely lay bare before an audience of one paul tells us that he says god is witness in two verse 5 and then again he says you are witnesses and so is god in 2 verse 10. so even the laborers know for whom they labor and whom they please and so it makes perfect sense that the thessalonians would be asked to appreciate and esteem the leaders modeled after the pattern that's set by paul and his ministry partners and then paul finishes these first three exhortations regarding the believer's conduct by saying this live in peace with one another and this is really an overarching imperative it considers everything that he has just said but also everything that he has even mentioned in chapters four and five and as i said earlier these imperatives are are really to remind them to stay the chorus to encourage them to continue along rather than to point out correction although there may very well have still been some discord that could have arose in thessalonica we read about you know him talking about sexual immorality and views on that we read about how he's he gives further instruction on those who had fallen asleep and the return of the lord and then certainly he in the beginning of verse or chapter 5 he talks about the day of the lord so there could have been some back and forth between people with different views but ultimately he says peace needs to rule throughout here and this is what we need to strive for what we need to continue in so believers in the church need to be at peace with their elders and elders in kind need to be at peace with people in the church and believers with one another which i believe is really a byproduct of good relationships between the congregants and those who are leading them and so appreciate esteem them highly live in peace and this is the proper conduct towards leaders now second we see paul exhort the brethren in the conduct towards one another in verses 14 and 15. and so direct your eyes back to the text we urge you brethren admonish the unruly encourage the faint-hearted help the weak be patient with everyone see that no one repays another with evil for evil but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people paul really uses a broad breaststroke here to give all the people in the church these next imperatives and he issues this in in a really strong appeal realizing that there may very well be people inside the body who are struggling in their walk of faith and we must mustn't overlook that he he refers to the brethren a second time here so he's expressing a close affinity with this these people that he's addressing the readers and he's addressing them on a really personal level he says admonish the unruly these need to be warned of behaving in a in a manner that's disorderly and he uses a term here that's that's used metaphorically to describe a soldier who who doesn't remain in the ranks he's he's left the ranks he's out of order he's out of place and he's not where he should be and this is describing behavior inside of the church that's uncharacteristic of what would and should otherwise be expected in the church now some commentators will understand this term to describe a laziness or an idleness or a carelessness on the part of the person and in a sense i would agree with that because if you have fallen out of the rank if you are not following the instruction if you are have put the the precept of that's been given to you as a member of the church if you've set that aside then you are in a sense idle because you are not doing as you ought to do you can't be moving forward and so you'd be unable to perform the task that is expected of you and this is due to an insubordinate attitude really you're not following orders and so the warning here is to fall in line as necessary and to come alongside these admonishing unruly behavior it's actually a requirement of a healthy church this isn't something that's absent from a model church no it's something that's actively ongoing we've seen this in the membership class there's already been reference to church discipline so this is this is a normal part of a healthy church environment and those to be found out of alignment with christian precepts need to be confronted and the position needs to be exposed to them to call them back to bring them back into alignment with the truth now there's a second group here that need to be cared for and those are those are the ones that are described as faint-hearted we're to encourage the faint-hearted these are those who struggle with discouragement and this may be for several reasons maybe there's persecution that has discouraged them maybe it's life circumstances or maybe there's a consciousness of ongoing persistent personal sin and they need to have others come alongside them to strengthen them and this imperative really could be defined in in a sense as to console them to give them comfort or to exhort them the term here literally means small soul there's a sense of despondency within the believer and a clear contrast here is really found when compared to the unruly right the unruly are quite different than the despondent and interestingly enough paul uses a middle voice term here so this encouraging to encourage the faint-hearted this actually results in a benefit also to the encourager the one that is doing the encouraging benefits from coming alongside and giving that encouragement and paul illustrates this coming alongside this encouraging the the faint-hearted when he when he's addressing those who had questions about about the dead in christ and that they might miss out on the return of the lord and he says in verse verse 18 of chapter four he says therefore comfort one another with these words comfort these faint-hearted who struggle to understand this and then next he addresses the need for direct physical and spiritual support to those who were weak he says help the weak show a strong interest in these help them lend aid to them come alongside them and give support and these are those who are without strength they're feeble perhaps spiritually or morally weak they very quickly give in to sin and paul gives us instruction and also gives us the initiative that should be taken for those who are immature in the christian faith here again we need to come alongside we need to bolster in some way these brothers these sisters and then finally in light of all of these imperatives these imperatives addressed to the the church with amongst one another there's a need for patience and that it would be applied in all situations in all circumstances he says be patient with everyone and we can understand this as be patient with everyone to the exclusion of no one right this is a patient this is a patience of uh being expressed to to all who are in the thessalonian church without distinction and this list of imperatives given to the brethren was given not only to a select few but it was issued to all as we see no one's exempt from these inner workings this this is healthy fellowship and these are the proactive steps of a model church a model church addresses issues within it and comes alongside of people in need and then finally we see in verse 15 here where paul then warns the thessalonians to pay careful attention to their behavior while examining the motives behind the behavior so we can come alongside people but with the wrong motives here he gives us the correct motives and he really puts this out in front of us by using a term here that the nesb translates as c but it could also be translated as behold or take heed pay careful attention to this this is to heighten the reader's awareness so that no one or so that one guards against what paul is about to say we need to guard against this and paul's expressing and a prohibition here one commentator says that this is a categorical prohibition against retaliation whether that be injurious harmful or of evil intent it's a wide-ranging prohibition meant to stop acts of revenge meant to stop trading evil for evil exchanging evil for evil and we must ultimately remember that vengeance does not belong to man paul wrote in romans 12 never take your own revenge beloved but leave room for the wrath of god for it is written vengeance is mine i will repay says the lord so the believers never to respond with revenge when one finds himself the recipient of evil that doesn't mean that we're not going to experience it within the church yes we can be mistreated we can have others sin against us but we don't retaliate we don't do anything that would be bad wrong or harmful even if that is done to us and yet how quickly our hearts and our minds our thoughts can turn towards revenge you know even i i was thinking yesterday as we were meeting with the the men's ministry how easy it it was as some shared how easy it was to just snap at it's not back at a child for their poor behavior and rather than model good behavior we actually we repay evil with evil essentially and we ought not do that but to contrast this negative command paul then issues this positive command which we'll end with on insisting that the appropriate conduct is to eagerly seek after doing good for all seek after the good of all whether believer or unbeliever here again we're always to seek after to make this our pursuit to do morally good to do that which is beneficial to others and acceptable to god this aids the christians witness to the unbelieving world and it certainly maintains fellowship within the church so paul provides us with exhortations to apply immediately within the church for the benefit of all and we need to remember here again that we need to live in peace with one another that's really what he's gotten at here in these four verses get peace with your leaders with elders in the church and be at peace with one another by exercising these imperatives that he's given us and so paul teaches us a lot actually about the work of leaders and how we must view them and how we are to contribute to the overall health of the church by coming alongside one another in the face of problems that are common to man and think of it this way maybe what would paul say to us regarding all this well we know what he has said a couple of times in this epistle he says excel still more excel still more and that would be my exhortation this morning is to excel still more at these very things but i understand at the same time that although paul commands to be at peace to live it live in peace with one another that some here may very well think they're able to do that in amongst other people but they're not currently living at peace with god they have no peace with god and so rather than be able to truly appreciate and esteem highly the work of christ on the cross on behalf of sinners they have disregarded that you have not received god's mercy or grace that's a concern because it's given can be given freely you haven't acknowledged christ's death on the cross and what it has accomplished and you need to come before god and confess with your mouth that jesus is lord and believe in your heart that god raised them from the dead and there's a promise there that you will be saved friend if if you have concerns this morning about where where you are at spiritually there are elders here in the church that would love to talk to you perhaps it's the person that has invited you here this morning ask them ask them to explain this to you further ask them to tell you how you can be reconciled to god so that you too can live in the church appreciating and esteeming highly those who will disciple you leaders that will teach and and preach to you and also how you can live with one another in peace let's pray father again we're so grateful for all that you have shown from your word god there is so much in your word that it's so easily to to glance over and and not really come to terms with what you've said but here we see that you give through paul's pen very specific instructions for us to stay the course to continue on appreciating to continue on esteeming highly those whom you have tasked with the role of elder leaders in the church and lord help us to be submissive to them help us to walk in obedience and father not only to be at peace with them but also with one another lord help us to recognize and come alongside of people who are struggling in a variety of ways father we know that the answer is found in your word so i pray that you would enable us further to continue to give biblical counsel to those who are unruly and and faint-hearted and weak and lord that we would show the greatest of patience only patience throughout all of that thank you for this morning lord it's in christ's name that we pray amen well thank you jake for bringing us the word this morning it's at this time that we now come to the lord's supper this moment when we remember the work of our lord and savior jesus christ for the forgiveness of our sins and this is obviously an ordinance that's been given to the church specifically for believers that it's the believing community that's to come together and to partake of the bread and of the cup as we remember the work of christ on our behalf and and even as we think about that we understand that in christ we have this judicial forgiveness that we have been washed judicially in the blood of christ but there's this ongoing cleansing work of the blood of christ that we read about in first john for example and i i want to introduce that to you or remind you of it in first john chapter one and verse six john says if we say that we have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness we lie and do not practice the truth and then he says this but if we walk in the lightest he himself is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of jesus his son cleanses us from all sin there's this ongoing cleansing work in the life of the believer because though we have been justified and declared righteous in in our trusting of christ we are in this this period between justification and glorification being conformed ever more into the image of christ and continuing to battle the flesh within us and so john goes on to say if we say that we have no sin we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us and then he says this if we confess our sins he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and so in this season of sanctification that we're in we can come and confess our sins lay them before god acknowledge them and be washed afresh in the blood of our lord and savior jesus christ and as you think about that and as you spend some time even in your heart now acknowledging those things that need to be acknowledged and receiving this cleansing work keep in mind there's a warning that jesus gives in matthew 6 and this is a warning that's given not to the unbeliever but to believers because in context jesus is instructing his disciples and in the lord's prayer he's just finished explaining that we're to where to pray forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors and then he gives this warning for if you forgive others for their transgressions your heavenly father will also forgive you but if you do not forgive others then your father will not forgive your transgressions and the point there is that as believers who are in need of this ongoing cleansing work of the blood of christ to harbor unforgiveness against others is to withhold that blood from us so that our fellowship with god is going to be hampered we're not going to be receiving that that daily forgiveness we need to be able to walk in close fellowship with him and so this is a time to release those of any offense they've committed against you it's even a time to consider whether you're out of fellowship with anybody in the body of christ and and to even do so now or purpose in your heart to do so to go and make things right as soon as you can for otherwise you would come and even partake of the lord's supper and amanda that's not not worthy of it and so there's no excuse here if you're a believer you're in christ and you've confessed him as lord you have believed just as pastor jake said that god has raised him from the dead then you must come to this table and you must acknowledge your sin as you do so and you must release others of their offenses against you and that will be doing so remembering our lord in a worthy manner giving him glory for the work that he has done on the cross and celebrating the good work that he's accomplished and so let's pray together as we ready our hearts to partake of the bread and of the cup well father we thank you for this again most wonderful ordinance this blessing of being able to remember our lord and savior jesus christ in this way and so father we pray that you would bless this time we recognize that in christ all sin is forgiven past present and future sin judicially cleansed and washed and even now as we acknowledge sin that is an aspect of our ongoing sanctification father we do so that we might know the sweetness of fellowship with you even wanting to experience the ongoing cleansing work of the blood of christ and so we pray that you would use this time to minister to us to cleanse us and wash us to renew us in the inner man that we would walk in a manner worthy of christ and so bless this time we pray maybe release everyone of any offense we could count against us and hold against them and father we release it now and we pray that you bless this time in jesus name amen just to give you a little bit of direction the two front sections are going to come forward to these front two tables the sides will go to the back and uh it makes the most sense for the folks at the back of that section to go first and and then follow thereafter [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] the apostle paul writes this the lord jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me he goes on to write this in the same way he took the cup also after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me let's pray together well father we thank you what a wonderful morning we've had and still so much to enjoy so much fellowship even teaching and instruction in some cases and so father we just thank you for your blessing the grace that is ours in christ and even for this time at the lord's table we pray that father god you would help us not to sing and to celebrate yet again the wonderful gospel the glorious work of our lord and savior jesus christ it's in his name we pray amen please stand there is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] space [Music] is [Music] is away is [Music] is be saved [Music] know is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] love has been my feet is [Music] [Music] is [Music] i see how do you see to see hebrews 13 verse 20 and 21 say this now the god of peace who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant even jesus our lord equip you in every good thing to do his will working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through jesus christ to whom be the glory forever and ever and all god's people said amen you may be seated [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

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Length: 122min 34sec (7354 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 25 2020