Sermon on 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 (Part Two)

15 Tuesday Dec 2020

Posted by memoirandremains in 1 Thessalonians, Ministry

Tags

1 Thessalonians 5, Esteem, glory, honor, love, Ministry, Paul

In sum, know these in men in their office, esteem them their labor, do this work in love.

How then are we to appreciate and esteem them? What labor is the congregation called upon to render as a fit reward for such labor.

Before we look to the text, let us consider the relationship between the work of the elder – that is to instruct – and the reward for such work. What actually convey esteem in such a context?

There are some who have coached a children’s sports team, gave instruction in piano, taught someone how to read. Parents teach their children how to drive a car. What is the joy of a teacher when seeing a student?

You are at a piano recital. The teacher is there with her students, the parents and other family are in the room. As each student comes forward and plays their piece, what does the teacher hope? What would give the teacher joy in that moment? Her students doing well; their success.

The coach rejoices in a victory. The school teacher rejoices in the students reading.

A teacher is rewarded by the student having learned the matter and putting the instruction into practice. And it is just this which Paul writes to this congregation. Turn to 1 Thessalonians 1:2

We give thanks always for all of you

Why is that. Look at verse 3:

Constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ

Go now to chapter 2, verse 19:

For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not ever you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming? For you are our joy and glory.

What then shows esteem and appreciation for the pastor’s work? Your labor, your love, your hope. Your sanctification is the honor shown to your pastor.

Think how wicked a thing it would be withhold this esteem and respect to your pastor. If you withhold your own life of holiness so as to refuse esteem because you have decided that the pastor is not worthy of such respect, it speaks of remarkable wickedness. You are injuring yourself to refuse such esteem.

You would like someone who be burnt to death in your own house because you have a personal grudge against the fireman who comes to save you. You clutch to the flaming beams and shout, I will die here before I give you the honor of saving me!

Now that you know what you are looking for you will see this point is made throughout the New Testament. Turn over to 3 John 4:

I have no greater joy than this to hear my children are walking in the truth.

Do you seek to honor your pastor, then honor the truth which he strives to teach you week after week. Walk in the truth.

This is for your benefit. In the Christian life, the giving what is due is a blessing to the one who gives. “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35. The work of the church is the work of everyone. Walk in the truth.

Who is the one who is blessed? As it says in Psalm 1:2, the blessed man is the one who delights in the law of the Lord. The 119^th Psalm begins with these words:

Blessed are those whose way is blameless,

Who walk in the law of the Lord.

The teacher teaches. You bless the teacher by showing that you have learned your lesson. But in this case, you are the one who is blessed. The pastor who labors to teach the truth and to show you the straight path which leads to the heavenly city is seeking your good.

And how do you bless him? By walking in that straight path which leads toward the heavenly city. And what is the cost to you? You will be blessed. This is like a magic treasure that the more you give the more have. Will you esteem your pastor? Then make much of his Lord. The pastor is a steward, the Lord is the pastor’s joy.

Do you think this wrong? It comes from Paul himself.

When Paul was in prison, there were Christians who sought to make Paul’s imprisonment more painful by preaching Christ. This thinking is sad and bizarre. But perhaps these preachers thought: See, we are preaching freely. We are the ones blessed by Christ! Paul is in prison. This only proves that Paul was not all he pretended to be.

It is such a strange thing that when we read of this in Paul’s letter to the Philippians, it seems it must not be true. Paul writes that these men “proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition.” Phil. 1:17. These were busy trying to dishonor Paul by preaching Christ. They thought they would “cause [Paul] distress.”

How does Paul respond?

What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice.

Phil. 1:18. You see, Paul was not looking for human beings to praise him; he was looking for praise which comes from Christ:

In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Let us think again about the fear that a pastor preaching our passage in 1 Thessalonians 5 to respect to esteem a pastor. We immediately think, Oh, we must place this man on a pedestal. This means he wants us to all give praise to him. But what does Paul say, My joy is in you and in your holiness. My reward is from Christ. Perhaps you did not anticipate that turn in our investigation.

But there is more. In John chapter 5, and you should turn there now to see these words for yourself, Jesus is speaking with the crowd at the temple. And as seems to have always happened, there at the temple a dispute broke out. These people were seeking proof of Jesus’ claim.

In verse 41, Jesus says, I do not receive glory from men.

Then Jesus applies this principle to all of the people present:

How can you believe, when you receive glory from one-another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?

Now think we me along these lines. The esteem which are to show to your pastor is not directly give glory to him. It is not praise for his brilliance. That is not the way to esteem him.

There is a story told of the great preacher Charles Spurgeon. After a sermon someone said, “That was a great sermon.” He answered, “I know, Satan already told me.”

I do not mean that you should never encourage him. The work of being a pastor can be mighty discouraging. To pray for him, to show friendship to him is all very good. When he has helped you learn a thing, it is right to thank him. But do not think that esteeming the pastor is about praising him as if he were some vain entertainer. That is not the point; but do treat him as a dear friend. We do not give vain to our praise to our friends, but we do encourage them.

You know how to encourage those you love. Do that.

So we have established that walking in the truth is the way in which you actually esteem your pastor. Your holy life is proof of his labor and will become his joy and reward on the day of judgment.

Let me show you this one more time how this works. Paul writes to the church at Corinth. Turn to Second Corinthians chapter 3.

He begins by telling them he is not trying to commend himself: that is, Paul is not seeking to be praised by them. Instead, he writes the Christians of Corinth are actually a letter written by the Spirit:

2 Corinthians 3:1–4 (NASB95)

1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you?

2 You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men;

3 being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

4 Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.

The steward of Christ’s riches; the minister of grace; the pastor who teaches you truth looks to see if this truth is written in your life. If you walk in the truth, the pastor is blessed and you are blessed. Your life is proof and reward for his work. And a life of holiness is blessing to you, to your pastor, indeed to everyone about you.

Paul’s command to know, to esteem the pastor is no burden to you. The command is seeking your blessing. But we need one more qualification as we examine this matter of walking in the truth.

There is a way in which walking in the truth – or at least an appearance of the truth – can actually be sinful. It sounds so strange that I will need to prove this to you.

The Pharisees were known to be precise in their obedience to the law. They, of all people, could be said in a way to be “walking in the truth.” They have, but in a wrong way. Paul, writing to the church at Philippi writes in the third chapter of his life before knowing Christ. Paul writes of himself

As to the law, a Pharisee… as to the righteousness which comes from the law, found blameless.

You can take hold of the truth and misuse it. The wrong use of the law can make one rigid, proud, unloving. The truth can make one positively evil, when it is ingested in the wrong way. But the fault does not lie in the law, the fault lies in us. As Paul writes in the 7^th chapter of Romans, the “law is holy, and the command is holy and righteous and good.” (12) But sin in us take the law up in the wrong way and turns that which is good to evil. That is the work of sin.

How then do we walk in the truth such that it does not turn to sin? The truth taken up in the right way causes no sin; rather, it brings a blessing as we have seen.

Look over the 2 John 6 and read:

2 John 6 (NASB95)

And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.

Now look at 1 John 2:5,

but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.

The truth of God, the command of the Lord is kept in love. It is not a rigid, joyless obedience to a tyrant it is love toward God and love toward man. This is what the Lord himself said:

Mark 12:28–31 (NASB95)

28 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?”

29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord;

30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’

31 “The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

What would true obedience look like? It would look like love. Love fulfills the law. This is what Paul wrote to the church at Rome:

Romans 13:8 (NASB95)

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

Do you hear that? Do you want to truly fulfill the law, love. Paul continues on this point:

Romans 13:10 (NASB95)

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

You are supposed to esteem your pastor. How do you do that? You walk in the truth. What does that look like, living in love with one another. And what does love look like? Turn to 1 Corinthians 13. You know the passage well; we always read it at weddings. But I want you to understand something important: Paul wrote this to a church. Yes a marriage should be filled with such love. But it is to a local congregation that Paul gave this instruction.

Do you want respect your pastor? Do you wish to obey the commandment of this passage? Then live like this. When the members of this congregation come together, this is precisely how we should live. This is the fact of a congregation that esteem the pastor:

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 (NASB95)

4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,

5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;

7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

You want to bless the pastor, live like this. You want to esteem his labor, bear with one another. You wish to show respect for the Word of God diligently laid before you, explained and made plain? Be patient, be kind. Stop with your arrogance; put an end to seeking your own.

And do this to and for your pastor. He is a shepherd, but he is also a sheep. Show him patience. Be kind to him. Don’t engage in any silly jealousy. Don’t brag and speak as if you could all of this better. Do not seek your own. Don’t be provoked when he fails, because the work of a pastor does not confer perfect sanctification. Bear with him. Believe the best of his family. Weep with him when he weeps. Rejoice with him when he rejoices.

And a last note. Part of the love you must show this man and his family is to provide for their livelihood. You have determined that your congregation would best be blessed by a pastor who can devote himself full time to this work.

Sadly, it is at this point, that many, many congregations and pastors have come to conflict. Congregations routinely begrudge the pastor’s family sufficient money that they should live without constantly burdens. I have known truly sinful ways in which congregations have abused their pastors.

It would not profit at this time to rehearse the history of such stories. But know that it seems to be a mark of pride for congregations to impoverish their pastor; as if his poverty was a mark of their holiness! These same people would think it a scandal if they had to live in such straits. But to starve their pastor they excuse because the pastor will receive some heavenly reward.

Are their pastors who live too well, who abuse their congregation and “fleece the sheep.” Yes. But stealing from the congregation is the mark of a false teacher.

And starving the pastor is the mark of a selfish and sinful congregation.

Why should a pastor live worse than a plumber or painter? The plumber and the painter do good honest work and are rightfully rewarded for their skill. But the pastor? It takes years of education to become a pastor. The work and skill needed to become a pastor could easily have been turned to any number of careers such as being a lawyer or professor. The pastor has given up those opportunities to do good to you.

We want to pay for the best doctor, because we think the doctor can do good or evil to our bodies. And we treat pastors as if their work could be done by anyone, and we pay them accordingly.

The pay of a pastor is not the primary point of this passage. The point is to live in love with one another. But one application of that command to live in love is to care for and protect the pastor and his family – just as you should care for and protect the reputation, and the health, and the well-being of everyone in the congregation.

Esteem the Lord, walk in the truth, live in love. And in so doing you will become a blessing to your pastor.

[A Final Note: I wrote this sermon for a friend’s congregation. The structure is primarily such that someone who was not a member of the congregation would preach this. The reason for that structure is that in 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul is not commending himself but the current leadership of the church. He is not writing, “esteem me”, but “esteem them”.]

Sermon on 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 (Part One)

13 Sunday Dec 2020

Posted by memoirandremains in 1 Thessalonians, Sermons

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1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, Esteem, Pastor

1 Thessalonians 5:12–13 (NASB95)

12 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,

13 and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.

There is an awkwardness in any pastor standing at his home pulpit to preach this passage. A man stands before you to read a text which says to acknowledge or respect or honor him to show him great esteem. What we hear in such words is honor me, highly esteem me. This easily leads us to rebel against such an apparent display of pride: Who does he think he is? Why does he think himself so very special? There are others who preach better, who pray better, who care better, who live better. There are others who are more holy, and so on, as think how to knock him down from his perch.

How does any man preach this passage faithfully and avoid sounding like a egotist? How can he tell you to esteem those who teach, all the while referring to himself, because we know the application is he is the one who is teaching you.

And even if we surmount that first barrier, what could it possibly mean to esteem, to respect? Is the congregation subservient to some man who happens to have the job? Can we disagree with him, ever?

Let us take the objection first. Until we get over the trouble here, we can never get to the application. Even if it is not everyone, someone will be fussing the entire time, ready to object about the apparent self-serving nature of this passage.

Let us then concede that one could easily preach this passage as the work of a vain egotist, seeking to gain adherents for himself. But such vanity is not in the text; it is nowhere to be found in these words. The vanity would be in the man. And it is a real temptation for a pastor to take up these words and misuse them for his own ends.

When a judge applies the law, the judge does not make himself a king over others. The authority which the judges exercises is in his robes and in his seat. The judge is given authority to apply law. When he takes off the robes and steps down from the bench, he lays that authority aside. If a judge pronounces sentence in a courtroom, the sentence stands. If he pronounces judgment in his living room, it means nothing more than the sound of the words.

The authority is in the office and the exercise of that office. The authority is not in the individual human being.

And so it is with the pastor. The pastor’s authority lies in the office, not in the man.

But that still needs some qualification. The authority of the pastor is not precisely the office, either.

If a judge begins to make-up rules and apply his own whims and claim the authority of law for his imagination, he loses that authority. Other judges will reverse his decision, because he has become a lawless judge. He will be removed from his office, because he has abused the authority of his office.

A pastor has authority only so far as the Word of God has authority. His authority is in the Word, not in himself. Look down at the text. If you start in the middle of verse 12 you will this:

Appreciate those ….

And now go to the end

Who give you instruction.

It does not say that you are to give this appreciation to a bishop because of his consecration. It says that appreciation is to be given to those who teach. If someone takes the office and exercises the apparent authority and then also does not do the work of the office; if he does not instruct, the office has become a weapon and the outcome is merely sin. If a police officer uses the authority to stop and search to harass and abuse, the officer is a criminal even though he wears a badge.

Appreciate those who give instruction. And it is right you should.

The work of delivering a sermon may look easy. Someone stands and speaks for some period of time and then is done. It all seems so easy. But the hour on Sunday comes after hours and hours throughout the week. And that comes after years of experience and school.

Every task appears simply when it is done by someone with skill. To see a task performed well is to hide all the difficulty which came before. Watch a musician or athlete. The great ones look like they are at perfect ease. When we watch them we say they play. They play an instrument; they play a game. This wor looks like play. But that play comes after years of work.

That does not mean that you show this appreciation and esteem to the pastor because he has worked hard. It is just to say that you should not despise his work because it appears easy to you.

Moreover, you are not respect the pastor because he has done a good job. It is not the appreciation of his personal worth. Perhaps you respect the athlete because of his performance, but the appreciation of a pastor is not a matter of appreciation his effort.

You are showing respect for the office he holds; and even more than that, you are showing respect to the Word of God which establishes the office and gives authority and worth to what he does.

There is another way which showing esteem for the pastor shows esteem for the Word of God. Look down at your Bible. This instruction to appreciate, to esteem those who teach is an instruction found in your Bible. By complying with this instruction, you are showing that you give honor to the Word of God. You cannot say that you honor the Word of God and then decide which commands you will abide. If you refuse a command, you are refusing the one who gave the command.

But someone will say, This particular ma nis not as good a pastor some others I have known. He does not preach as well Mr. X, or whatever comparison you may wish to make.

Now if the concern with the pastor is one of sin; then the Scripture is clear on how to respond. If the concern is the pastor is not truly fit for the work, then perhaps he should find another way in which to serve. But I hope that you had made such a determination before you retained him for the work.

But if the concern is merely a matter of preference, what is it that you are truly seeking to do? Is your concern first for the honor of God and good of the Church? Or is you concern rather for your own control, your own taste? Perhaps it is you are wrong in the matter.

Moreover, there are many directions which God gives for us to follow in the matter of relationship. And in these directions, God does not specify that you must be personally pleased before you give obedience.

You are to honor your parents. Not because they are the best parents, but because they are your parents.

You are to honor governors. Not because you have the best governor, but because the governor is the governor.

Wives are to respect their husbands. Not because they have the best husband, but because he is her husband.

Husbands are to willing lay down their lives for their wives. Not because they have the best wife, but because she is his wife.

You must fulfill these duties because God has told you to do so. You are not given some veto.

An old illustration may help you understand this. Let us say I have lent to you one million dollars. You are to pay me back $100 per week. On the first week you come to me with your crisp $100 bill. I tell you to give the bill to so-and-so, who happens to be someone you dislike.

You refuse.

I remind you, that you owe me the money and you must pay it as I direct. You pay the money, not because you owe so-and-so. You pay the money because you owe me.

The illustration is imperfect, but it should help. Our Lord has the right to demand of you, even your life. How many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world, throughout the history of the Christian Church have given their liberty or even their lives because they would not refuse to obey Christ?

They have been obedient even to death. And yet you think that you should not be troubled to even hold your tongue? Your children must honor you, but you have no duty to esteem the pastor?

This I trust is sufficient to deal with the most troublesome objections to this passage, but there is one further matter to consider before we move on to the matter of what does it mean to appreciate and show esteem.

Ask yourself, Why does it irk me so to be told to honor my governor, honor my spouse—especially when they have not pleased me.

We must admit that there is rebellion here, a refusal to obey a direct command of God. Nowhere does it say to honor the governor because I think it is a good idea. Nowhere does it say submit to your husband because he is particularly amazing or because he thinks what I think is best. Nowhere are children permitted to cast the vote on honor, nor may husbands refuse to love their wives, even to the point of giving their own lives.

Can you see, that this rebellion is because we want to make our own rules. Can’t you hear an echo of the Serpent’s, ye shall be God in the refusal to give honor to whom God says we must?

But to the actual command in this verse? So far we have seen that the command is binding upon us, but what does the command entail?

First there are two sets of commands. One command is to the congregation, and that is clear. But there is a second command implied: this the command which describes the work of the pastor, to work diligently, to keep charge, to teach. We will leave the pastor’s duty to the side.

What then are the commands to the congregation? Paul gives two commands, first, “appreciate”; second, to highly esteem. We will look at those two commands, and then spend some time figuring how we actually do the work of appreciating and esteeming.

The command to appreciate comes in verse 12. Look at the beginning of the verse

But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate ….

If you have another translation than the NASB, you may read, “acknowledge” or “respect” or “honor”. The reason for the differences in the translations is because the original word simply means “to know.”

But here the word cannot simply mean to know about the pastor, nor can it mean to simply have acquaintance with the pastor. That is certainly part of the idea, but it does not meet the usage here.

Here it means to meet him in the context of a particular relationship. You know this pastor in the context of the work which he does.

Let us say Mrs. Smith, you neighbor is a heart surgeon, but you know her as your neighbor. You know that she smiles and waives. You know how she keeps her lawn. You know when she takes out the garbage cans. There is not much in that to esteem her.

But then the day comes when your infant child comes near to death. The baby needs heart surgery. In the hospital, it is Mrs. Smith who is now Dr. Smith you operates and saves your child’s life. Before you knew her as your neighbor. Now, you know her as the surgeon who spared you untold sorrow. When you look at her, you look at her now through the prism of his new relationship.

Before you had an opinion about how she kept her yard. But now you know her, you respect and acknowledge what she has done for you. Your knowledge of her takes on a new and very special color because you now know her as a doctor.

The same is true of your pastor. One time you may have known him only as your neighbor. But now you know him as one who painfully labors to teach you the Word of God. And this is precisely how you are to know him

In 1 Corinthians 4:1, Paul writes

Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of mysteries of God.

Such knowledge is precisely how Paul instructs the Thessalonians in his letter. Look down at verse 13

Esteem them very highly in love because of their work.

It is the work which is the basis and sphere of your knowledge and esteem.