1 Thessalonians No.9 The Pastor's farewell

Now we come to this final address that it's my privilege to bring to you on this letter that Paul wrote to the Christians in this very needy Greek city of Thessalonica. Let me explain for friends who are new to us here that the subject matter of what is preached from the Bible, especially on a Sunday morning, is directed by what happens to be the next passage of Scripture in the particular book through which we're working. And we've been looking into what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians some 2,000 years or so ago and we've discovered some rather remarkable things.

We've been telling folk answers to questions that puzzle you and me or might have done unless we had a prior knowledge of this epistle. For example, what's going to happen at the end of the world? What happens perhaps even more immediately for some of us if we die before the Lord Jesus returns? These are fundamental issues that need to be looked at and responded to and we're grateful for the curiosity of the Thessalonians that caused them to write a letter to Paul who in turn writes a letter back. And he shares his understanding, inspired by the Holy Spirit, of the answers to these great questions.

Now, every sermon comes to an end. Some of you may say, praise the Lord. It does from time to time.

Feeny, the end occurs. Now the Apostle Paul is a good example because he generally gets a couple of finales in before he comes right to the full stop. But he really is on the homeward track from this 12th verse through to the 28th of this 5th chapter.

He's taking his farewell, as far as this letter goes, of his people. And what you find here is perhaps not too easy to consider in terms of one main theme. Jewish teachers were not, in one sense, as methodical I don't use that word critically, but to explain their difference of approach than European teachers.

They didn't work so much from an outline. And outlines that I've been giving you tend to be imposed on the text to help you to understand what Paul has been saying. Well, here his instructions are even more fragmentary.

Jewish teachers had a sort of approach like a lady who may be making a necklace of beads. And she has a piece of thread and she takes a bead with a hollow inside, a hole inside it and she threads it on, one after another, after another. Well, so you discover in these verses beads that have been thread onto the string before the apostle comes through to his final comment with the request that the grace of the Lord Jesus might be the experience of these Thessalonian Christians.

He's going to tell them a little bit more about what he wants them to experience in their family life, in their church. He's going to make reference to charismatic gifts and he's going to preface this by some appeal for them to recognize the God-given leadership that there is within the church. Well, those are some of the subjects that he's going to bring to our attention right now.

So I'm going to offer you nonetheless a framework along which you can think. You may have a better structure than myself. Well, that will be fine.

Later on you'll work at it at home. But then I'm going to give you some headings so that those of you who do jot down notes, you will be able to follow my outline as we bring together this miscellany of teaching, of good pastoral advice that Pastor Paul gives to his beloved Christian folk in Thessalonica as he concludes this mighty epistle. It seems to me that we can look at it from three angles.

First of all, what he wants them to be. What he wants them to be. What Paul wants the Thessalonians to be, the Holy Spirit wants us to be these days.

Likewise. And then secondly, what he wants them to do from the 16th through to the 22nd verse. And then what he wants them to have from the 23rd through to the final verse.

Well, what does he want them to be? And you discover this teaching from the 12th to the 15th verse. What does he want them to be? Well, first of all, he wants them to be respectful to their leadership. To these men that God has placed in charge of that local church in Thessalonica.

Respect, verse 12, the heart of the verse. Respect those who work hard among you. There's no reference in this epistle to elders.

But we do know from Acts chapter 14 that wherever Paul went as he was spreading the gospel in the early days of Christianity as communities of Christians were drawn together there were men specially gifted by the Holy Spirit to lead those emerging churches. Never just one man, a group of men who have a collective description of elders. Or if you like, as bishops.

Because a bishop and an elder in the New Testament is exactly identically the same office. And wherever there are emerging churches so there's a leadership. For what reason? Well, so that there will be order in the church.

One of the most tragic verses in the Old Testament is at the end of the book of Judges where it says, every man did that which was right in his own eyes. The political situation in Israel in those days was one of anarchy. God doesn't want that in his church.

So what does he do? Well, by the Holy Spirit's power he brings into existence an emerging leadership. And Paul says, these men who are in charge of the work who labor hard among you who admonish you, warn you, advise you, look after you as a nurse looks after her children to employ another metaphor Paul used earlier on these men are to be respected. Respected not just because of who they are but who they represent.

The Lord Jesus Christ. They are not men who will lord it over you, however this will be no servility of slaves to masters 1 Peter 5 verses 3 and 4 makes that very very clear but they are men whose oversight you are to respect and respond to. That's what Paul wants from this congregation in Thessalonica.

He wants them to be respectful to their leadership. And as a result they'll live in peace, won't they? Look at verse 13 and the latter part live in peace with each other. It wasn't easy for the Greeks to live together even Christian Greeks.

It's not easy for the Africans to live together. I've had disturbing reports only during the last few days of problems in the churches where I was ministering in North East Zaire just at the turn of this year. The basic problem, tribalism.

Ah, you shake your heads. But my friends, we have that in our own churches. Go to Northern Ireland.

Come to the mainland here. It's not always the case, it should be but it's not always the case, is it that Christians get on with one another as they ought. So the Apostle Paul, rehearsing what Jesus has said to his disciples time and time again enjoins the church to be at peace.

One member with another. Respecting the leadership that God has placed there. What does he want them to be? Respectful to their leadership.

But secondly, resourceful in relationships. Look at verse 14, will you. There were some interesting people in the congregation in Thessalonica.

There were some who split into categories described as idle and timid and weak. Now that doesn't mean that that was the total spectrum of the congregation but there were these type of people. Three types of people to challenge.

To challenge other Christians. To minister to their weaknesses. They are to be resourceful in relationships.

For the idle, well they were not to be told to sit comfortably doing nothing. The authorized version translates the word as unruly. And the idea is of a group of people in Thessalonica in the church who weren't engaged in any spiritual duty at all.

As Dake puts it in his reference Bible they were out of step. What do you do with people who are out of step? Well says the apostle, you enjoin them. You urge them.

You warn them. You try to help them. To encourage them into the right pathway.

Not only were there those who were idle but there were those who were timid. These are people who are faint hearted. The authorized version puts it perhaps a little unkindly.

The feeble minded. Now don't look round the congregation at the moment and work out who slips into that category. It could be you.

But this we are to realize that whatever the condition of our brothers and sisters may be in our kindly estimate we are to minister into their weakness and deficiency. As they too are to minister into our own. It's part of being resourceful in relationships.

There were those who were timid. There were those who were idle. There were those who were weak.

Who found it very difficult to confess Jesus in Thessalonica. Do you find it hard to confess the Lord Jesus today in Worthing? Well of course you do at times. At any rate if you say you never have then you're a very unusual Christian.

Now what are we to do when we see brothers and sisters whose faith is somewhat weak. We are to encourage them to be strong. To help the weak.

Did you have an opportunity, I'm not asking you to do it now, to look at that little cartoon at the back of Notes and News. It's rather significant. It talks about the next virtue that is to be shown to people in the church and those outside the church.

Says the apostle, be patient with everyone. Patient means well being able to endure people's blemishes. Those things that would cause you to be ruffled otherwise because of the Lord Jesus Christ and the grace of forgiveness that he has granted to you.

So what does Paul want these people to be? Well he wants them resourceful in relationships. And there are three types of people as I say that challenge them. Now there are also three traits of character to cultivate.

You'll find that in the 16th verse. But we can't skip over the 15th. Because squeezed in between these three types of people to challenge and the three traits of character to cultivate is reference to the golden rule.

Look at verse 15 again will you. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong. But always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

You remember the golden rule? The first text I recall ever being given when I went to Sunday school in the north of England was a little plaque and it had written over against a blue background in silver letters Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do you also to them. Now those are the words of our blessed Lord Jesus. You find them in the Sermon on the Mount.

Paul has been taught by the Lord Jesus perhaps not physically but certainly by the Spirit of Jesus. And he says that basic to the life of the congregation of Thessalonica and every other congregation of God's people must be this fulcrum must be this golden rule that regulates relationships. Somebody does you wrong, what do you do? No, that's the Old Testament, isn't it? An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

Isn't it amazing that some people take their doctrine of forgiveness from the New Testament and their pattern of behavior from the Old Testament. Jesus has come to fulfill the Old Testament law and to elevate it. So if you have hard change given to you in some dispute if you are badly done by you don't repay with the same currency.

The Old Testament, yes, admissible. Even though there was a change in the ethic actually towards the end of the Old Testament and it was heightened considerably but Jesus makes it very clear you have been forgiven an enormous amount by the Heavenly Father you have been forgiven the major so when someone offends against you on the minor level and doesn't in any way apologize for that you nonetheless exert a spirit of forgiveness. That is the teaching of the golden rule.

So squeezed in between these two injunctions or these two bits of teaching three types of people to challenge three traits of character to cultivate is this lovely golden rule. I and the Lord Jesus speaks through Paul to us and says don't just apply that to one another in the church. Apply it to your neighbor next door.

Apply it to the person who who gets under your skin from time to time at the sixth form college. Or the impetuous individual who comes into your shop and always wants your attention at the time when you are occupied with someone else. See it's not too difficult maybe it's a challenge in some areas but it's not generally too difficult when we come together in community on a Sunday morning to sing the praises of God and to radiate love to one another.

But that love is not only to be practically shown in the church but outside the church so that the gospel that we believe is illustrated to men and women who know very little about it. Well then there are three traits of character which follow on that we are to cultivate and they all have a common denominator be joyful, pray and give thanks. The common denominator always continually in all circumstances.

You're a joyful Christian? You say I can't be joyful always well then the apostle Paul got it wrong didn't he? No he didn't get it wrong. Although there is a sense in which that superficial joy is not always evident in our lives after all how can you mourn with those who mourn and still be joyful externally? You can't. But you can have in the midst of a great period of mourning because a loved one has been taken from you you can have that deep down joy can't you that your security and in God's grace their security is with him.

There is a joy that knows no limit. There is a gladness in my spirit. Did you think that that jockeyed along a little bit too quickly almost like the Grand National which I didn't see yesterday at least I didn't see it all I think they should ban it to be quite frank but that's just a personal viewpoint that I'll not publicly proclaim.

Be joyful always yes this is a possibility in the way that Paul expresses it. Pray continually. Prayer is not just the speaking of the lips it's the attitude of the heart to the Father God who never leaves, who never forsakes who's got a listening ear directed towards you.

Be joyful, pray continually and give thanks. Our Catholic friends keep what they call the Eucharist. I love that word Eucharist.

I'd employ it here but I've got no problems in in plundering the establishment church and bringing their good prayers and their creeds and some of their good anthems too and anything that's biblical surely we're for at the tab we're not anti anything are we? We're pro the gospel pro belief in our Lord Jesus and the explanation of the good news. Now the Eucharist really means giving thanks. Eucharisto, it's a Greek word we've come to give thanks, not so? We'll be around the Lord's table looking to Calvary looking on to his soon coming and we're giving thanks to God for the means of our salvation.

Oh but not just now says the apostle around the table always having a thankful attitude. What does he want them to be? He wants this congregation to be respectful to the leadership. He wants them to show resourcefulness in relationships and it's very important that they take this teaching to heart isn't it? Very much so because tucked in at the 18th verse and the tail end there is for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

This is what God wants of you and me. So that's what he wants them to be the apostle Paul. Here is what he wants them to do from verse 16 through to the 22nd verse.

Yes the 22nd verse. What does he want them to do? Well he expresses it negatively and positively. We'll turn the negatives into a positive so that it helps my outline.

First of all he wants them to fan the Spirit's blaze. Look at verse 19. Do not put out the Spirit's fire fan the Spirit's blaze.

What's the standard of the Salvation Army? Blood and fire isn't it? Blood and fire. The blood of our Lord Jesus the fire of the Holy Spirit. The old Salvationists excused the term they had fire in their belly.

They were concerned to tell the Gospel of Jesus Christ to working class people and all honor to their memory. Fire. I baptize you with water says John but one comes after me the sandal of whose shoes I am not the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to tie he will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

Christian people a Christian congregation is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul writes to Timothy Timothy, Timothy and he tells him 2 Timothy 1 verse 6 stir up the gift that is in you fan it out to a blaze are you spiritually aflame with the power of the Holy Ghost you should be you can cultivate this this is something that you can do this is something that you can ask for more and more we don't want to put out the Spirit's fire rather we want to greet the Spirit's gifts look at the next injunction do not treat prophecies with contempt Paul writing to the Corinthians says despise not prophesying so what is prophecy well it's the foretelling of what God's will is for the congregation it could even be but it's often at a lesser level the foretelling of events that are yet to be when people get up and share scripture in the name of the Lord they are foretelling the mind of God I do believe in the corporate worship of the saints it's right to have public meetings for the exposition of scripture like this one is, Paul had this in Ephesus you remember for 3 years night after night he expounded the gospel as I do on a Sunday morning but when together we're worshipping the Lord in community it is right and proper for someone to reveal the scripture the Lord has placed on their heart expound that scripture or bring to the company of people a word that they believe that the Lord has entrusted to them you see there's nothing that's unusual about sharing together the things that God has given to us and the Lord has enveloped the possibility of these ministries within the ninefold and perhaps even a greater number, gifts of the Spirit well says Paul what he wants them to do he wants them to fan the Spirit's blaze, he wants them to greet the Spirit's gifts now of course when some people have an opportunity to speak publicly, they don't always speak wisely if there's oral communication, if there's an openness to that in a church well it brings its attendant dangers somebody might be out of order now that's nothing to get over worried about you take that risk but you see backed up in Paul's injunctions is this, fan the Spirit, greet the Spirit's gift, judge the varied claims how masterful is his logic test everything there have been these people in Thessalonica who are very concerned about the second coming of the Lord it appears that some of them got it all wrong some were making not only proclamation but speculation some decided they wouldn't work anymore Jesus is coming therefore let's not do anything let's just wait you remember the stance of the disciples I'm not criticising for this but I'm using it as an illustration, when our Lord's been taken into heaven, the angelic messenger said, ye men of Galilee why stand ye gazing up into the skies, this same Jesus shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go, but into the interval, get on with something do something you're not called to idleness you're called to a propagation of the gospel so we need to judge we need to test what people are saying to us and if they've got it wrong, we just dismiss it, we don't dismiss them we dismiss it, and pray that they may have a greater spiritual maturity test everything, hold on to the good and here's the fourth little injunction shun the devil's taunt avoid every kind of evil as the devil slid alongside our saviour so he slides alongside us so he comes into a church community and tries in some way to cause problems and difficulties and compromising on the part of Christians faith and testimony whilst as the apostle shun that fan the spirit's blaze, greet the spirit's gifts, judge the very claims shun the devil's taunts that's what he wants them to do and then, as we try to close down what he wants them to have, verse 23 to the end, and there are two things here, there is what they are to take from God verse 23 and there is what they are to share with one another, verse 25 what they are to take from God well first of all an appreciation of what God wishes them to do or rather, an appreciation of what God wishes to do with them you see, all the previous injunctions really depend upon God blessing the Christians doesn't it? I mean, they can't baptise themselves in the spirit they can't, of their own initiative, move into spiritual gifts it's all a question of God wanting things for his church so the apostle speaks about what he wants them to have what they are to take from the Lord well, may God himself, verse 23, the God of peace sanctify you through and through may God do the work of sanctification making you the people that you ought to be you see, they haven't arrived at this stage yet, this is petition, it's not possession this is Paul asking that more and more maturity might come through to the Thessalonians, now you and I are on the road to maturity we're not at the end, you will never get there until Jesus comes that's what Paul says, isn't it? to be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus positionally I'm blameless all my sins have been nailed to history but there are imperfections in me there are imperfections in you but what God wants is to reduce the number of imperfections that there are, so the apostle speaks of an appreciation of what God wishes to do, and more than this a realization of what God can do, verse 24, the one who calls you is faithful and will do it, you're having problems with a habit that you can't kick, with a tongue that you can't bridle with worries that you can't tame, God can do it for you, in you, through you, do you believe this? This is part of the legacy that is ours, this is what Paul the beloved pastor wants for his church, they are to take these things from God you know in the early cemeteries in Thessalonica the cemeteries that mark the graves of Christians apparently there's a number of tablets with just one word inscribed upon them, gravestones and the one word is blameless blameless Christians who are moving on toward perfection is that the word that we would seek to take descriptive of you at a memorial service blameless my eye just catches Tony Beal in the gallery there, one of the first memorial services I had to take at the tab of our elders was his father and I remember the word that came straight into my mind, and I'm going back ten, I don't know how many years now the word that came straight to my mind was the man of God has passed this way, now that was what old Mr Beal senior was like, the man of God has passed this way, it was easy to preach about him because he fleshed out the text blameless that's how the Thessalonians were enjoined by the apostle Paul to live through the grace of God, what they are to take from him, finally what they are to share with one another, well verse 25, they are to share in the ministry of intercession, not only for themselves but says Paul pray for us the ministry of intercession they are to share in the gift of love I charge you sorry verse 26, greet all the brothers with a holy kiss it had to be an Englishman who gives the paraphrase, give a handshake all around the brotherhood well at least it's safe isn't it but however you express your affection you are to do it my friend, that's what the apostle Paul says, however you feel comfortable show something of that holy love of God for one another, that love that you take in the first instance from the Lord, share it with each other and then the exposition of scripture, Paul takes the stylus from his secretary's hands and he says I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers, share the word of God and finally enjoy together the grace of the Lord Jesus, Paul finishes in verse 28 as he started in the opening verse of the first chapter grace and peace to you, why? because the gospel is a sandwich which has grace at the outside and grace at the end and all that is in the middle is part and parcel of God moving towards you and me with the blessings of salvation so there you have it these miscellaneous comments of the apostle Paul which I summed up as the pastor's farewell what he wants them to be respectful to the leadership resourceful in relationships what he wants them to do and what he wants them to have, may it be that what Paul shared with his people yesteryear we react to and flesh out in our experience in Worthing Tabernacle in 1988 for the honor and glory of God, Amen let's sing together and go again to the Wesleyans To live, live on, let me sing Suddenly, return and never, Nevermore I can complain Every war, it always ended Suddenly, I find a way And faith is without ending Knowing it, I'm not afraid To face death, I'm not afraid To face death, I'm not afraid