a few verses from Isaiah 25 and then we'll turn over to 1 Thessalonians to the last section of 1 Thessalonians 5. Isaiah 25 verses 6 through 9. On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well-refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever. And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces and the reproach of his people He will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, behold, this is our God. We have waited for him that he might save us. This is the Lord. We have waited for him. Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. And now let's turn over to that portion. 1 Thessalonians chapter five. The last section of 1 Thessalonians. God willing, we'll begin next Lord's Day in 2 Thessalonians, but the final section, verse 12 to the end of the chapter. We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the spirit, do not despise prophecies, but test everything, hold fast to what is good, abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it. Brothers, pray for us. Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read. To all the brothers, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray together. Our gracious God, be with us now as we sit at your feet, that we may hear your voice. Draw near to us, Lord, we pray. Give us grace in your sight that the words of these sinful lips and the meditation of all our hearts may in fact be pleasing in your sight. So help us in the preaching of the word and in the hearing of the word that we may see Christ, may be drawn to him, and may be made like him. And it's in his name that we ask it, amen. As I was thinking about this sermon and preparing for it, it dawned on me that I've been a Christian for nearly 40 years. And in fact, this very year I'll have been a Christian for 40 years. Apart from the fact that that makes me kind of feel old, apart from that, the reminder of it, right, that in 1983, November 16th, 1983, God's grace invaded my life. God's unlooked-for grace invaded my life. that God began his good work in me. And to be reminded of that, the amazing grace of God that saved a sinner like me. But that was the thought that struck me. But the thing that was getting me to think about that was, as I've gone on in my Christian life, If there's been trouble, and I mean trouble in the sense of unsettled conscience, or an unhappy restlessness about my Christian life, it isn't about doubting my salvation. I've been a Christian for 40 years now, and finally the penny's sunk in, and I know that I am His, and He is mine, and He will not let me go. So this unsettled conscience, this unhappy restfulness, what's the cause of it? Well, I don't know about you, but for me, it's those, you know, inconsistencies, little ones, but sometimes they're not so little, right? Those things that you have to go to the Lord again and ask him for forgiveness. Here I am again, Lord, 40 years I've been at this. And here I am again asking you, please cover this. If there's cause for trouble in my heart and life, it's disordered desires. That I desire, I want things that God says I shouldn't. Jim Packer put it like this, Christians are meant to become human as Jesus was human. We are called to imitate his character qualities with the help of the Holy Spirit so that the childish instability, the inconsiderate self-seeking, the pious play-acting, the undiscerning pig-headedness that so frequently mar our Christian lives are left behind. I know Jim Packer enough to know that those are the kinds of things that he looked back in his own life and experience and I could add my few things to that list of his, but I recognize myself in that. And so we need the work of God. We need the work of God so that the desires that shaped the life of Jesus are the desires that shape my life. So that the evident joy and the evident peace that was part of his life would be part of my life. And not this unsettled conscience, this unhappy restlessness that comes upon me because I'm not what I want to be. I'm not what I should be. And you see, that's sanctification. That's growth in the Lord Jesus Christ. And what we're saying is, you see, we should never set the bar too low. We should never try to settle for a sort of a comfortable Christian life. We shouldn't settle for a mediocre Christian, a lukewarm one, if you like. Right? The bar has been set for us. The aim is Christ-likeness. To be like the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's no good saying, well, one day I will be like that. What about now? Is that what you're aiming for now? Well, let me say, God is. He's aiming for that for you now. And the sooner it happens to me, the better. The sooner it happens to you, the better. There will be a day when it will absolutely happen. So let me ask you, is that what you're aiming for? Is that what you're aiming for? Because it is what God is aiming for. He's after your heart. The whole of your heart. To put the imprint of Christ on your heart and on your life. To make it Christ and to make it like Christ. To desire the things that Christ desires. That the joy and peace of Christ. would be yours. And in this letter, Paul has been aiming for exactly that. And as he brings it to a conclusion in this section, he wants them to know the God of peace and to enjoy the peace of God in their life together. As I picture in my mind this letter, and now Paul is ending this letter, it's that picture of the Holy Spirit hovering over creation. And you know that beginning of Genesis 1, this sort of chaos, and the Spirit hovers over the chaos and brings about order. and harmony and peace as he does that. And there's a sense in which the Holy Spirit is over his church, right, hovering. And what is he doing? He's bringing order out of disorder, right? Disordered desires to bring them to a place where the peace of God is evidently reigning. And that's what Paul is doing. It could, as you're reading through this, it kind of appears sort of quick fire, doesn't it? Kind of little bullet points that Paul is, it could feel kind of haphazard at what Paul is. It could feel like, you know, stuff that was on the cutting room floor, right, when he wrote the letter. And, you know, stuff that just kind of got on the floor and he just gathered them all together and then stuck them at the end of the letter. Well, that is what happened. That isn't what Paul is writing here because peace is the focus. Look what he says in verse 13, the end of that verse. Be at peace among yourselves. And then verse 23. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus. Christ. So his aim is real-time experience of the peace of God in ourselves and among one another. That's the aim. And really, this section is culminating, it's bringing the whole of the letter to a focal point, as we'll see, on this idea of the God of peace bringing about So his point here is it's a real time experience now of the peace of God in ourselves and with one another because each of us know the God of peace. You know the God of peace. I know the God of peace. but to be able to have that peace in ourselves and among one another. So it's living out His peace. It's God working peace among us so that your disordered desires and my disordered desires are brought under the gentle reign of Jesus so that there is real peace among us. So the question is, how do you do that? What steps do you take to pursue this peace that God promises to give us? There are four things I think that Paul says in this last section of 1 Thessalonians 5. Four things. The first one is this. Respect your leaders. Respect your leaders. So the first step to to peace is is Respecting leaders. Look what he says verse 12 and 13 We ask you brothers to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you To esteem them very highly in love because of their work So so Paul starts off by exhorting this congregation to recognize and to respect their church leaders. And Paul mocks out the church leaders in three ways. They work hard, they're over you in the Lord, and they admonish you. these three things. To respect those who labor among you, are over you in the Lord, and admonish you. The idea here of labor, who work hard, that's my translation, and it is that, right? It's the idea of having sweat on your brow because you're working hard. And the sense here then is a leader is committed to working hard as they teach the word, as they seek people, as they care for people, as they come alongside people. They're doing this as an endeavor for the Lord. The kind of people, you know, the first to arrive, the last to leave. They're doing the hard yards that leadership demands. And then, over you, this is overseer, elder, that is, this is one who has authority, authority given by Christ, but accountability to Christ. And so this is really important, that this is an individual who is recognized to have the authority of Christ and is recognized to be one who is under the authority of Christ. It's important, why? It's important because it says, they admonish you in the Lord. You know, not just anybody should be admonishing you in the Lord. So this is a person who, you know, is understanding their authority. They don't take it lightly, flippantly. They don't take it either too seriously. That is, they're lording it over. but rather a humble sense of being called by Christ to an office that reflects Christ but takes hard work. And then the last one is that word admonish. This is somebody who's loving enough to say things that are needed but that people don't want to hear. Frequently don't want to hear. Loving enough to do that, who will come alongside people and work hard, but also have these hard conversations that are sometimes necessary. And as an elder, as a leader, as a deacon, you're coming alongside somebody, right? And it may have a sense of tears because of the words you have to speak to a person in a certain circumstance. It can be very painful to do it. Sometimes it's rejected, the words that are spoken. But that's what Jesus calls leaders to be and to do. One of the commentators puts it like this on this passage. Nothing is more truly Christian than frank and affectionate admonishing of those who are going astray. We are too much afraid of giving offense and too little afraid of allowing sin to run its course. It's very wise. words. We need leaders who will not shirk their responsibility, not shirk this responsibility. There are times in which you have to step up and admonish. I think that there are some people who like admonishing people a little bit too much. Right? They need to get their zeal tempered by a little bit of grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. But I don't think that's the problem that most leaders face. Most leaders, I think, face the problem of wanting to avoid a confrontational conversation, a difficult conversation, to admonish somebody. Want to avoid that. And so an elder, a leader, needs grace, needs prayer, and needs to do this work of admonishing those that they are over. But look what Paul says. Respect those who labor among you and or over you in the Lord and admonish you. Esteem them very highly in love, because of their work. So let me ask you, do you love your leaders? Do you esteem them? Do you pray for them? Do you pray for your leaders? Do you honor them? Have you told them that you're praying for them, that you esteem them, that you honor them? You're not saying that they do everything perfectly. None of us do. But they labor for the Lord and for your sake and out of love for you and for your soul, and they'll speak to you in ways that are sometimes necessary, but they'll do it because they love you as Christ loves your soul. And so the question, respect, esteem them very highly in love because of their work. But listen, we do that because peace depends on it. Are you surprised by what Paul does next? Because what does he say? Respect those who labor among you, over you in the Lord, admonish you, esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. You read that and you say, well, what's that got to do with the previous? But you know, if you've been around a church for any length of time, you'll know exactly why the Apostle Paul says, be at peace among yourselves in the context of talking about leaders. Are you able to say, How do I want to put it? This is, I think, how we should think about it. If you're able to say, when you're able to say that I can do nothing apart from Christ and I have nothing apart from Christ, I admit that I can't actually fix things or fix people, that I'm not the solution to every problem, that I'm utterly dependent on Jesus. Now, when you have that kind of attitude, that kind of spirit, then you begin to respect, esteem, receive leadership from others, to be held accountable by others. Now, I think particularly this is important because, you know, in our cultural moment, being a leader, any kind of leader, is to put a bullseye on your back. And we're not immune from it in the church as well. It is all too easy in our cultural moment to be, you know, restless, critical people, especially of leaders, of, you know, bleacher quarterbacks, you know, what I call that you're up on the bleachers, you're watching the game unfold, and you can see everybody's mistake, and you can point it out, right? They're doing that wrong, and they're doing that wrong. I mean, not playing in the game, no interest in ever playing in the game, but here I am, I'm sat in the bleachers, and I can see everything that's going wrong. and everybody that's doing it wrong. It's easy to have that attitude, particularly in the cultural moment in which we are in. But Paul says, respect those who labor among you, over you in the Lord and admonish you, steam them very highly in love. And to do that, because that's the first step to having peace among you. The second thing he says is to love your brothers and sisters. Love your brothers and sisters. Look what he says in verse 14. We urge you, brethren, admonish the idle, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. I think that little verse is a perfect picture of a New Testament church, right? Messy and difficult. If ever there was one, right? Here you have, admonish the idle, encourage the weak-hearted, help the weak, and be patient with them all. What does it mean? In this case, idle. In 2nd Thessalonians, when we get there, you'll see that he talks about idol in the sense of people that have given up work because they're waiting for the second coming. But I don't think that that is what this word here means. The particular word here, it's the only place in the New Testament that it's here. And I think it has the sense of disorderedness. He says here, so in other words, admonish the disordered. Admonish, you know, rebellious people or awkward people or, you know, contrarian type people. Admonish them, right? People that won't honor their leaders in the Lord, for instance. The fainthearted, who are they? Well, those whose faith is fragile. What about the weak? The weak are the people who are losing the plot in terms of the Christian life. They profess the faith, but their lives frequently don't match the profession. That's the sense of Paul's word. And so he asks, so how are you to treat these individuals, idols, faint-hearted, weak? How do you treat them? Well, it depends on the person. The person, differently, depending on what it is that they're exhibiting. So the disordered are admonished. You warn them. The fainthearted, you encourage them. You come alongside them and you help them in the areas in which they are fragile. You apply the gospel, the hope of the gospel, the encouragement of the gospel to them. The weak. Well, you help the weak. You disciple them. You come alongside them and help them, right? This is the way we walk, you know, as a Christian and so on and so forth. But the challenge, of course, is who's who, right? As you're looking out, right, in a car, you know, who are the idle? Who are the faint-hearted? Who are the weak? And not only who is who, but who needs what and when? And that's part of being leaders. And it's part of growing up in the Christian life and understanding the Christian life and then having wisdom to apply it. And it may be that, you know, this person needs this at this point in their life. But it may be that somebody needs all of the things all the same time. All of these things. But Paul says that love shapes our response to all of them. But one thing specifically stands out that must be in all our dealings with everyone. Be patient with them all. I don't particularly like this part of the verse, if I may say. Be patient with them all. It says here, patient with everybody. Patient. What is this? There's a wonderful little book I have, Respectable Sins. It's a great book and the author defines impatience as a strong sense of annoyance at the usually unintentional failures and faults of others. And Paul says here, be patient, not impatient, but patient with them all. In other words, God, in his goodness and grace, does not treat you and me as our sins deserve, and therefore he calls you and me to be patient. He's patient with you, and we're to be patient with one another. He calls us to be patient with, you know, wrongheaded people and faint hearted people and weak people to be patient with them because it's it's what Christ like love does. But it continues, look at verse 15, he says there, see that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to That's another verse that's, you know, it would have been nice if he'd left it at, seek good to do good to one another. But then he has to go and add, and to everyone, right? So it's, he's saying, right, that we're not to take vengeance ourselves. It's so easy to pursue vengeance, either in our head, our heart, or in actuality. But it's sinful. Only God can bring His final judgment upon everybody's sin. But there's one thing, and it's this thing here that's getting out. Be patient with them all, but also this seek to do good to one another and to everyone. If you asked a question, what made the early church stand out? You know, when the world is turned upside down in those first 300 years, what was the thing that made the church stand out that people said, you know, this is different. These people are really, really different. And it was this principle that they sought to do good to everyone. You know, if there was a plague in a city, or a contagious disease that was in a town. The Christians were the ones that set up the hospital and the care unit and the people that were dying. And they were the ones, not just taking care of Christians, but everybody's dying and everybody's sick and trying to bring them to health again. It was the early church that was doing that very thing. It was what stood out. But loving the brothers. And then the third thing that we're seeing here. First, he has respect your leaders. Second, love your brothers and sisters. And third, press on together. Press on together. Verses 16 through 22. Paul has eight commands that he joins together and taken together, they encourage us to press on together no matter what. He has some positive ones, and then you will see in a moment he has some negative ones. But verse 16 and 18, he says this, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. So he says, rejoice all the time. Why? Because you belong to Christ's everlasting kingdom and nothing can touch that kingdom of his. Pray all the time that his kingdom will come in its fullness. Give thanks all the time because everything that can happen to you will result in your growth in Christ or the glory of Jesus. Everything and anything. We'll do that. Now to you and me, when we read through that, we've been Christians probably for a long time, we've heard that before, and it kind of sounds, you know, normal. I think sometimes you have to step back and ask how radical this is, what these words are, because you know what he's saying, rejoice all the time, pray all the time, give thanks all the time, because being a Christian, it's a whole new way of looking at life and the events in life. The best expression I have for it is a little hymn that we sing sometimes. I belong to Jesus. I am not my own. All I have and all I am shall be his alone. And because that's true, Paul says, pray all the time, rejoice all the time, give thanks all the time. I belong to Jesus. I am not my own. And then lastly, in this section, he talks about the negatives. He says, do not quench the spirit, do not despise prophecies, test everything, hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil. So he doesn't want these Christians, these early Christians to be gullible, to be wide open to everything and anything all the time, so they're not blown off course. by false teaching, by everything that comes their way, you know, taking this direction and this direction and this way. But he also doesn't want them to be cynical, to have a cynical attitude, to not be so doctrinally focused that they forget the purpose of doctrine. What's the purpose of doctrine? To have a relationship with the living God and to love the living God. To be so focused on doctrine and precision and so on that we forget the purpose of it. And then he says don't despise prophecies. Don't despise prophecies. What does he mean by that? 1 Thessalonians is one of the very earliest letters in the New Testament. And at the time when Paul wrote, you know, they had the Old Testament scriptures, and then they had the prophets. You know, people that would come with the word directly from the Lord that would be to that corrugation. And Paul is writing a letter of, if you like, prophecy when he writes this New Testament document. He's speaking a word to that church from God himself. But as the apostles left the scene of the church, what we find is more and more is, don't go beyond what is written. That's the word of the apostles, right? 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus. as Paul is preparing the church for him being gone and off the scene. He's saying to them, don't go beyond what is written. And so there's a reliance, not on prophecy, but on the written Word of God. So when Paul says to us, do not despise prophecies, what does he mean? Don't despise the preaching of the Word of God? Sunday by Sunday, preaching of God's word, that that's the prophetic word from God to us as that's read and then open to us and explained to us. This is God himself speaking. But then also in your own daily reading, opening the Bible, expect God to speak to you. Expect God to speak a word that will change your life. And then finally, The fourth step, expect God to do what he has promised to do. Look what Paul says, verse 23. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it. I think this is one of the most encouraging verses in all of the New Testament. It really sums up the letter, this whole First Thessalonian letter. What's he saying? He's saying this, if I summarize it in this way, ask God and expect God to create in you the likeness, the desires that belong to Jesus, to clean you up on the inside and to make you holy so that when Jesus comes again, you will have nothing at all to worry about. That's what he's saying, right? That ask God and expect him to create in you the likeness, the very desires of Jesus to clean you up and from the inside out to make you holy so that when you see Jesus again, you'll have nothing at all to worry about. And the only one who can give you peace, he's the one that will make you holy, putting your heart at rest so that you can enjoy God. That's what Paul's saying in these beautiful words. Now, may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely from now onwards until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. So let me ask you, do you struggle with the lack of change in your life? What's the antidote to that? What's the encouragement when the wicked one says, right, you're struggling with the lack of change that you see in your life. And the wicked one comes in and pray, you know, insinuates, whispers, you fraud. What's the antidote to that? The God of peace himself is sanctifying me completely. And my whole spirit, soul, body, my whole of me will be kept blameless until the coming, at the coming of my Lord Jesus Christ. And he who calls me is faithful and he will surely do it. That's the answer. So we've seen four steps to peace. Four steps to God's peace being among us. Respect your leaders, love the brethren, press on together, expect God to do what he's promised to do. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this your word. Blessed to our understanding, grow us in Christ that the peace, your peace, may reign more and more among us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.