1 Thessalonians - Leading and Following In Peace

Don't add to the burdens of your leaders. Make them joyful. Be obedient to the word of God, submit to the word of God. And if you do, you're going to bring joy to them today as they serve, and it'll be joyful for you tomorrow when they give an accounting of their ministry to the Lord. 

Now we look at 1 Thessalonians 5 and we pause to pray. Gracious Father in heaven, this word is living and help us to receive it and to receive life. This word, oh God, is our nourishment, it's our encouragement. Help us to receive it now and then to practice it. We pray that you will do in our lives what needs to be done. There are many today with heavy burdens and fighting battles. We pray you'll encourage them now and use the word of God in all of our lives, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 

The Christian life is a very practical thing. It's too bad that many of us don't get our lives integrated into the word of God. Some people have a Christian life that is wholly intellectual, it's all in their minds. They like to study and mark their Bibles; nothing wrong with that of course, but it has to go beyond the mind. It must not simply be an intellectual experience. By the way, one evidence that people live this way—that is, their Christian living is primarily mental—is that they like to argue. They enjoy making distinctions where there are none; they enjoy fussing about things that are not really important because the only way to make themselves feel like they are Christians is to go through intellectual exercises. 

On the other hand, there are those whose Christian life is only emotional. They live on a religious roller coaster and they're up one day and down the next. They're always looking for some new experience, and this is too bad because even though emotion is certainly a part of the Christian life, it's not the greatest part of the Christian life. There ought to be balance. 

Paul tells us that the will is the thing that is involved. Down in 1 Thessalonians 5:18: "For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Back in 1 Thessalonians 4:3: "For this is the will of God." The will of God is not just something we study with the mind or something that we feel emotionally in the heart; the will of God is something that we do, doing the will of God from the heart. And so the Christian life ought to be an integrated life where we are interested in the admonitions of the word of God as well as the revelations of the word of God. 

And this is why at the end of 1 Thessalonians 5, we have Paul giving this series of exhortations. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13: "And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor 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. Be at peace among yourselves." 

What is God looking for in the local church? Well, he's looking for purity. Back in 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8, Paul talks about sanctification, keeping our bodies clean before the Lord. He certainly wants love, 1 Thessalonians 4:9, brotherly love, loving one another. And he wants people to edify one another. 1 Thessalonians 4 he talks about this and 1 Thessalonians 5:11: "Therefore comfort each other and edify one another." The local church ought to be a place of purity, a place of love, a place of growth and encouragement. And then he says in 1 Thessalonians 5:13: "Be at peace among yourselves." Be at peace. The local church ought to be a place where there is harmony and peace because there is love and purity. 

Alas, too often in local churches, we find disagreements and divisions and competition. It must break the heart of God when he looks down and sees what's going on in some places. First, he exhorts the leaders and he gives them a threefold exhortation: they are to labor and lead and admonish. Then he talks about special people in the church who need special help in 1 Thessalonians 5:14-15, especially 1 Thessalonians 5:14: "Now we exhort you, brethren, to warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak." 

Here we have three exhortations concerning special problems in the church. Then he has a word for everybody. There's a threefold exhortation regarding everybody. The end of 1 Thessalonians 5:14: "be patient with all." 1 Thessalonians 5:15: "See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all." So the threefold exhortation to all is be patient with all, forgive all, and pursue good for all. 

So he has exhorted the leaders to labor and to lead and to admonish. He's exhorted people to minister to the unruly, the fainthearted, and the weak. He's exhorting all of us to be patient, to forgive, and to pursue what is good. Then he deals with our relationship to God, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22. First, our inward responsibility: rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks. Then our public responsibility in worship: do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophecies, and test all things. A series of triple admonitions in our relationship one to another. 

Now we're going to look at leadership. Everything rises and falls with leadership. God has ordained that though all of us are members of the same body and we have the same equal standing before God, some are called to places of leadership. This is the way God's worked it out. This is even true in our bodies. In the human body, there are some organs that are far more important than others. They're made of the same material, but they're far more important than others. I can lose my little finger and get away with it; I can't lose my heart or my brain and get away with it. I can damage my earlobe and somehow survive, but if I damage my pancreas or my liver, I may be in trouble. They can take out my appendix, but they can't take out both of my lungs. You see, there are certain parts of the body of Christ that are more important than others. Doesn't mean that these people are necessarily better than anybody else. In fact, we should all esteem one another better than ourselves. It just means God has called them to places of leadership. 

Someone says, "Well, the church is an organism, it's not an organization." Well, that is not true. If an organism is not organized, it's going to die. My body is an organism, but it is an organized organism, and when it gets disorganized, then I have to go to the doctor and get it organized again. Yes, the church is an organism, but an organism has to be organized or it's going to die. And therefore, God has ordained that there are leaders in the local church. These are gifts of God. God gives gifts to people, then he gives gifted people to the church. And the local church is the place where you discover, discipline, develop, and dedicate your spiritual gifts and use them to the glory of God. 

I find people who like to linger in the doctrinal sections of scripture or the prophetic sections of scripture, but when you start talking about the practical part of the word of God, they're not too interested in that. And yet that's the important part. The doctrine is the foundation for duty. All doctrine must give forth duty, and all duty must be based on doctrine. And this is why at the end of 1 Thessalonians 5, we have Paul giving this series of exhortations. 

Now in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, he exhorts the leaders and the members of the church. Now if our churches are going to be all that they ought to be, we must have a proper relationship between leaders and followers. Once again, it doesn't mean one is better than anyone else; it just simply means that we are different from each other in that God has called each of us to a different ministry. 

What are the responsibilities of the leaders? And then secondly, what are the responsibilities of the members? And then thirdly, what's the result of all of this? Well, the responsibilities of leaders are threefold: to labor, to lead, and to admonish. 1 Thessalonians 5:12: "And we urge you, brethren, to recognize"—to know, to believe who they are and accept them and honor them—"to recognize those who labor 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. Be at peace among yourselves." 

Now here's a threefold responsibility of the leader. Number one: to labor. This word means to toil to weariness. It's a word used back in 1 Thessalonians 1:3: "remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love." Paul uses it in 1 Thessalonians 2:9: "For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; laboring night and day." 1 Thessalonians 3:5: "For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you and our labor might be in vain." Paul was a worker. 

Now the purpose of an office is service. A lot of people fill offices who don't use the offices. If you're an officer in a local church, a leader in a local church, that leadership is a responsibility for work. Ministry is hard work. People don't believe that, but it's true. Ministry is hard work, watching for souls, watching over the family of God is hard work. It requires diligence, vigilance, courage. Ministry is hard work if it's faithful. 

I know some nominating committees who sit down, you know, and they're going to choose the officers for the next year and somebody says, "Well, you know, so-and-so hasn't been coming to church too much lately, let's make him an officer so he'll start coming." You don't do that. That's the worst way to get an officer. Or someone accepts an office and has no intention of using that office. Someday you're going to give an accounting of what you've done with your opportunity as a church officer. And therefore the job we have is to labor, to use the office, not just to fill it. 

Secondly, to lead. Recognize those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord. Not over you in themselves. They aren't dictators. No, no. You don't drive sheep, you lead sheep. You don't drive children, you lead children. To lead means to stand before, to take a place of leadership. The church is organized and has to have leaders. The church is a family. Are there not leaders in our family? Have you ever been in a home where everybody did whatever he wanted to do? Our family wasn't raised like that. 

The church is an army. Paul talked about that back in 1 Thessalonians 4:2: "For you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus." That word "commandments" means a military order handed down from the officer. The church is an army. If an army is not organized with leadership, it's not going to win the battle. The church is a body, a building—whatever image of the church you look at in the Bible, there is orderliness attached to it. And the leaders have the responsibility of leading. 

Now look at the problem that they have: "And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you and are over you." That is a difficult posture—to be among them as well as over them. Now some people are very good at being over and don't want to be among; they don't want to mingle with the saints. Some people are very good about being among and don't want to be over. Now for officers not to be among the people is sin. Pastors and elders and deacons, we need to know what is going on among our people. We have to be among them as well as over them. 

That's why a pastor has to visit his people and get to know them and feel the burdens of their heart. We're not bossing, we're serving. The source of our authority is the Lord Jesus Christ, not our office. They are over you in the Lord. And how was the Lord in his leadership? He was a servant. If you hold a church office as a point of pride, something to brag about, then you've got the wrong attitude. We accept a church office, a church place of leadership, because we want to serve. If we don't want to serve, we ought to get out, let somebody else do it. 

And so we have the responsibility of laboring and of leading. And thirdly, of admonishing. They are over you in the Lord and admonish you. That word "admonish" means to warn or to instruct. It has to do with the sharing of the word of God. Now believe me, I've pastored three churches and I've preached in hundreds of churches; it's no fun to admonish people from the word of God. It's no fun to sit down with someone and say, "Look, you are not obeying the word of God." 

Hebrews 13:7: "Remember those who rule over you"—that's talking about spiritual rule, the spiritual guidance—"who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow." We don't just teach, we practice it. "Considering the outcome of their conduct, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines."

Now get the connection there. God gives leaders who teach us the word of God. They admonish us, they warn us. Why? Because there are strange doctrines abroad. Oh, how many times I've had to go visit people and say, "Look, I understand that you're moving in this direction, you're starting to believe things that are not true to the word of God. Now let's stop it because we had better do the word and the will of the living God." And people say, "Well, Pastor, thanks for warning me." We don't like to be admonished, but we have to accept it. 

Now what are the responsibilities of the members? The leaders are supposed to labor and lead and admonish. What should the members do? Number one: recognize them, know them, accept them. Recognize those who labor among you. Why? Because they are working for you and for the Lord. You say, "Well, I can't respect some of the people who are in leadership in our church." Then you respect the office because we better respect God's leaders. Doesn't mean you have to agree on everything, but you better respect the office because it's the office that carries the authority, not the personality of the leader. So my responsibility as a church member is to recognize and know the spiritual leaders in the church. 

And by the way, the spiritual leaders in the church ought to let us know who they are. I've often been in services where the pastor will say, "Now if we can be of any help to you, contact one of the deacons." And I'm a visitor in the church; I don't know who the deacons are. They ought to identify themselves. We should recognize them. 

Secondly, we should honor them. Esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. Notice this: if they are faithful to do the work God has called them to do, honor them. Now some don't work. It's amazing in local churches how people will take an office or responsibility and not do anything. Well, you can't honor people like that; they ought to be replaced. We should esteem those highly who are faithful in doing the work of the Lord. And oh, how much work there is to be done. 

Let me say a word to elders and deacons and trustees and committee members and Sunday School teachers: your pastor needs your help. He cannot do the job alone. Pray for him every day. That's your first responsibility; pray for him. Pray for him, encourage him. Be in the services. Be faithful in your giving, in your stewardship to your local church, and encourage him as he seeks to expand the work of the Lord in that church. Oh, it is a hard job and you can't do it by yourself. 

Let me tell you a story from my own ministry. I was at Calvary Baptist Church in Covington, Kentucky, and our dear beloved senior minister had a heart attack, was called home by the Lord. And on a Wednesday, I had the sorry responsibility of conducting the funeral service, and then that evening the church called me to be his successor. And the next morning, one of the deacons came to the church office and he said to me, "I want you to know I'm a deacon in this church, I have been a deacon here for many years. You are now my pastor. Anything I can do to help you in your ministry, you let me know. I will polish your shoes, I will wash your car, I will do anything you need as long as it helps you in the ministry of the Lord." Well, that's the kind of deacons you want to have, and that's the kind of a man he was. 

Well, esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. Do it in love. There must be love between the leaders and the followers. We do not lead people by force; we lead them by love. And then our responsibility is to follow them. We should listen to their admonition, esteem them highly, and obey what they have to say, and do it joyfully. 

There's an interesting word in Hebrews 13 that we should notice. Hebrews 13:17: "Obey those who rule over you"—that means spiritual rule—"and be submissive, for they watch for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you." You know what he's saying here? Don't add to the burdens of your leaders. Make them joyful. Be obedient to the word of God, submit to the word of God. And if you do, you're going to bring joy to them today as they serve, and it'll be joyful for you tomorrow when they give an accounting of their ministry to the Lord. 

I think some of these church problems are going to be settled at the judgment seat of Christ. I believe there's going to be some apologies made. Our job is to follow and to obey those who have the spiritual rule over us. This is not dictatorship; this is in the Lord Jesus Christ through the word of God. And therefore, it is important for us that we should walk with the Lord and follow our leaders. 

What's the result? Be at peace among yourselves. By doing what? Following your leaders, doing what God wants you to do because he is the one who brings peace to our hearts and peace to the church when we are following our leaders as we ought to follow them. Therefore, let us be obedient to the word of God and follow our spiritual leaders.