1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse number 11. Wherefore, comfort yourselves together and edify one another even as also ye do. And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which 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, and be at peace among yourselves. The Bible said, now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and all men. evermore, pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the spirit, despise not prophesying. Prove all things. Hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. You may be seated. We'll stop the reading there. You're reminded that every chapter in this book of the Bible has a mention of the Lord's return for his bride. In verses 11 through verse 28, They are 22 commands in light of the Lord's return. In fact, all of these commands should be practiced daily. They are to be practiced in light of verse number four. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. That day is coming. THE DAY THAT CHRIST RETURNS. IN FACT, HE COULD COME BACK TONIGHT BEFORE WE FINISH THIS SERVICE, BEFORE WE SAY THE LAST AMEN. WE SAY IT SO OFTEN SOMETIMES, I'M AFRAID THAT WE TAKE FOR GRANTED THAT JESUS IS GOING TO RETURN AND YOU AND I ARE GOING TO FACE HIM. AND SO THESE COMMANDS are to be obeyed in light of the Lord's return. They are to be obeyed in light of that great day when Christ returns for his bride. In verses number 11 and verse 14, we coupled these two together and preached a message on being useful for God in the realm of our relationship one with another as Christians. The Bible said, wherefore, comfort yourselves together and edify one another, even as also you do. Verse 14 is in the same subject matter and category. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. And so Paul said, in light of the Lord's return, first of all, we need to be reminded that Christ would desire for us to be useful. And then in verses 12 and 13, he says to the church in relationship to their spiritual leader that they should be thoughtful. Verses 12 and 13 are very important verses. These are found in light of the context and very, very important. As I studied over these, I thought back through my mind, Lord, how often have I heard any message on these two verses in the Bible? And I can only recall two times in the 42 plus years now since I've been saved, I can only recall two times I reached out to those men of God that I have the utmost respect for, one preaching far longer than me. He said, I preached on those verses in my ministry only one time. And yet these verses are very, very important verses. Paul is encouraging them to be thoughtful in relationship to their pastor, their spiritual leader, because of the language here in this text and the accompanying responsibilities that Paul deals with in these two verses of Scripture. These truths apply to the relationship that a church has with her pastor. And the Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter number 13 and verse 7, Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Verse 17 said, Obey them that have the rule over you, And submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. In verse 24 he said, Salute all them that have the rule over you. and all the saints they of Italy salute you. And so there's no doubt that verses 12 and 13, Paul addresses the church at Thessalonica over their relationship and their responsibility to their pastor. He furthermore tells them that they should obey these commands in verse 13, and to esteem them very highly in love. for their work's sake and to be at peace among themselves. And I wanna say at an outset tonight, every Christian needs a church. And I don't just mean that you need a church when you're trying to get buried, amen. or when you're gonna have a child, or you're gonna get married, but you need a church every week of your life. Every community needs a church, a Bible-believing church, a Bible-preaching church. And Paul said to Titus, For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest ordain elders in every city as I commanded thee. And the assignment that Paul left with Titus was to plant churches in every city on the island of Crete and ordain preachers and see the work of God go forward. But every Christian and I needs a church just like every bee needs a hive. Just like every soldier needs a home base. Just like every student needs a school, just like every sheep needs a shepherd, every Christian needs a church. And not only does every Christian need a church, but every Christian needs a pastor. a shepherd, a man of God, a man to pray for you, a man to preach to you, a man at times to admonish you, as the text says. And it should be expected when the preaching time comes that the man of God would mouth the pulpit and tell us exactly what God said. And not only tell us exactly what God said, but to tell us how it applies to our life. And so Paul says you ought to be, in verses 12 and 13, you ought to be thoughtful in relationship to your pastor. In verse number 12, he begins to tell them that they should know their pastor. They should know their pastor. You say, why are you preaching this preacher? I'm preaching it because it's right here in the Bible. It's right here in the verses that we need to go through. And I don't want to sidestep it because I want to preach all the counsel of God. And so he tells them that they should know him personally in verse number 12. He said, This is one of those truths in the New Testament that calls Paul to beseech God's people. It's such an important truth. It falls in line with Romans 12, one and two. Now we beseech you, brethren, the Bible said that you present your bodies to live in sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And so he encourages them to know them personally. And not only to know them personally, but to know their practice, to know their position, and to know the value of their life as a preacher of the Word of God. I'm afraid that America knows the cost of so many things today, but it does not know the value of things in this hour. We know how much a dozen eggs cost. Somebody say amen right there. I've been hearing about that. Thank God for those of you that are raising cackleberries. Amen. We love chickens in our house. We eat them before they're born and we eat them after they're dead. We eat them boiled. We eat them fried. Say amen right there. I like my eggs. I like deviled eggs. And I don't like the devil, but I do like deviled eggs. Amen. I love fried chicken. That's no secret. Say amen right there. But here in the Bible, Paul says you ought to know your pastor personally. And the word know here in verse number 12 means to be no stranger to him. It means to be familiar with him. It means to acknowledge him with due respect. It means to know the value of that individual. It means to appreciate that individual. To know implies that one has acquired information concerning a subject. And it falls along the same lines as Peter encourages men to dwell with their wives according to knowledge. That is knowledge that has been acquired, knowledge that has been obtained. And I'm thankful tonight the Bible tells us that Paul encourages these believers to know. It indicates that there has been a certain information that has been acquired concerning a subject. A person that has been looked into is now no longer a stranger. but they are familiar with him. That is that the church of God, the sheep in God's flock are to know their pastor. One writer said they should be personally acquainted with him. and they should make him their confidant and counselor in spiritual troubles. They are to know or regard him as their spiritual teacher and ruler, not to be strangers to the place where he preaches the word of life. I thank the Lord for God's people here at Unity Baptist Church. He also furthermore said, and not to listen to his admonitions and reproofs as those of a stranger, but as those of a pastor and friend. Thank God for God's men that stand behind the sacred desk and fill the office of the ministry. And those men that stand on the firing line for God, those men that are going with the gospel, that are caring for the flock, that are feeding the sheep of God, that are overseeing the work of the ministry, that are trying to get the gospel to the world. Hallelujah! for those men. Therefore, the first instruction that Paul gives is for them to know their pastor personally. Amen. That is, they ought to know his battles in life, his spiritual battles. What is it that he's most concerned about? Is he not concerned about the lost that they come to Christ? that these that are without Christ and without God and without hope, that he's a man of prayer. Not only a man of prayer, but he's a man that preaches the gospel and personally tries to reach people with the gospel of Christ. Thank God for the battle that he faces over the church. I believe that the church is the most important organization in the world today. Not just an organization, but an organism. that God has left us in this world, that the office of the pastor is even higher than the president of the land. That's exactly right. I remember in the 1980s, there was a real shift that there seems to still be to some degree of men that were leaving the ministry, entering into politics. I personally believe if a man of God steps down from his high and holy calling, that he's taking a demotion, that he's leaving the divine purpose. If God has put a call on a man of God's life, It is a high and holy calling. And so do those in the church house know the battles of their pastor. Do they know his burdens? Do they know how he's burdened over the church? Like Paul said in Galatians chapter three, until Christ be formed in them. In the book of Galatians, Paul said, my little children of whom I travail, in birth over you until Christ be formed in you. That is the likeness of Christ and spiritual growth. Listen, you can't thrive in the Christian life if you're not faithful to church, if you're not faithful to the house of God. Listen, when the dinner bell rings on Sunday, you ought to be in your place at the house of God. Thank God when the prayer room door opens up, You ought to be there in your place on Wednesday night at prayer meeting and Bible study and on Saturday at visitation and the man of God has a burden to reach the lost for Christ. Do you know how burdened he is to see the church move forward for God? Does the church know about the battles that he faces and the burdens that he carries? Do they know how to become a blessing to his ministry, a blessing to his family? I wonder how the church at Thessalonica understood this important relationship. It must be that Paul thought it so important that he emphasized it. You and I have a relationship to God and we have a relationship to our Savior. That is the first relationship in our life as a Christian. My relationship with Christ affects every other relationship in my life. Not only do I have a relationship with Christ as my Savior, I've got a relationship with my wife as my spouse. That is a very important relationship. I believe that my relationship to my Savior and to my spouse come before my relationship to this church. I don't want to have to find another wife, and if I have to find another wife, I'm going to be in big trouble. But I can find another church, and I'm not being snide or sarcastic at all. But I'd rather find another church and take care of my wife like God has required. than to lose her along life's journey. And so I wonder how they understood this important relationship. Because under Christ and under your spouse, the very most important relationship that you have in this Christian life is the relationship that you have with your pastor. Your spiritual progress many times can be attributed to the Word of God and the spiritual ministry. Thank God for the man of God that brings us in the green pastures and besides still waters and takes us through the Bible line by line, word by word. Precept upon precept. Thank God our spiritual growth many times can be strengthened because of the atmosphere of the house of God. Thank God for the word of God and then the development of our family. And you see, you need a man of God to help you as a spiritual leader of your family to show you the path that God has planned for godly men. to fall in line with the plan of God. One of the greatest needs of the modern church is for men to rise up and become the spiritual leaders of their households and thank God become the kind of bridegroom that the wife needs, the kind of parent that the children needs, the kind of leader that the church needs, amen. And so much of the spiritual usefulness along life's way in the work of Christ come because of the great ministry that God has placed and the great relationship that he's placed between the pastor and the church. I believe tonight that the health and the strength and the well-being of any local assembly is dependent upon a good and growing relationship with the pastor and his people. And so Paul said, first of all, I believe you ought to know him personally, amen. Secondly, not only should you know him personally, but you also ought to know his practice. He said in verse 12, and we beseech you brethren to know them which labor among you, to know his practice. You know, Baptists have all kinds of ideas about what the preacher should be and what he should do. The sad thing about that is a lot of them are not even in the Bible. Now God, the Holy Ghost, gave an overseer for the church. And God, the Holy Ghost, gave Emmanuel a book here before us called the Holy Bible that tells us not only who the man of God is, but it also tells us his practice among the people of God. It tells us what he should do. I met a lot of Baptists that know all about what the preacher is to do, but they don't seem to know anything about what they're to be doing. I'm going to be looking for you on Wednesday night. You know all about what the preacher ought to do. Where are you going to be Wednesday night? I'm going to be looking for you on Saturday at visitation. I'm going to be looking for you to go with the gospel and to share the gospel of Christ. Their practice, the Bible said, they're to know him personally and know his practice. They labor among you. There are many misunderstandings about what the man of God ought to do. God has put in His Word the labor and practice and the divine assignment of the man of God. Sometimes he happens to be just like the cleanup man or the one who fills whatever gap is left empty at that particular time. You see, the pastor's the only one that inherits everybody's job when they decide to lay down on theirs. So when you decide to laze out and not fill the gap that God has called you to, your pastor has to try to pull things together to find somehow, some way to make it all come to pass. And the Bible tells us that he is this man that labors sometimes when a person is absent and when they can't fill the task that is before them. Somebody else has to be found to fill that task. and it's left in the hands of the pastor. The pastor becomes that immediate one that has to fill every vacant position in the church. But what is his primary responsibility? The Bible said in Acts chapter six, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. His primary labor is to seek God in prayer and labor in the scriptures. We will give ourselves, they said, continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. They labor in the word and doctrine. Everybody has an impressive job in the eyes of most Baptists except the man of God. But when the time comes to have an answer from the Bible, you want somebody to know that book, don't you? When the time comes to solve a problem biblically, you want to know a man that knows how to handle that book. When it comes preaching time, you don't want any kind of funny business behind the pulpit when it comes time for the flock to be fed, or when it comes time for the flock to be fleeced. You see, the shepherd not only fed the flock, he also sheared the flock, and he led them in green pastures, and he seeks to edify the body of Christ. God's true men are serving faithfully, standing in the gap, and laboring for God. He's a prayer warrior. Thank God he's a man that lives in supplication. Not only that, he preaches the scriptures and he stands in the gap for God. He watches over the flock. The Bible said you ought to know him personally. Not only that, you ought to know his practice. And then thirdly, you ought to know his position. And this is a highly challenged one in modern eras, but it's still true. The scripture said that they are over you in the Lord. Amen. God has placed him in a place of leadership. God has given him what the Bible calls oversight. That is, God has given him that position of authority in the church as an overseer. I read the story some time ago about a textile mill, and every machine in this particular department had a sign on it. And it said, if problems should arise with the machine, please see the supervisor. and this person was working there in that shift at night and something went awry with the machine. I mean, threads went everywhere. Things looked like they were all out of sorts and the person stuck their head down in there and started trying to untangle everything. The supervisor come by and said, hey, what are you doing? Said, I'm trying to fix this. He said, no, you're not supposed to fix that. The sign on your machine, what does it say? It said, if problems should arise, see the supervisor. Oh may God help us in this hour to realize that the church has been given an overseer over every ministry, over every function, over every aspect of the church. Three times we read at the opening of the service, that he has that place where he rules over by the divine authority of God. Peter said he takes the oversight of the house of God. I'm thankful that God's men still feel this position. He oversees the ministry. He sets the pace for leadership. You see, leadership has to be exemplary. Paul said, In the things which thou hast heard of me the same, commit thou to faithful men the truth of God, so that they may be able to teach others also. 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 2. He is to oversee the leadership of the church. The church is not a body and a monstrosity with multiple heads. It is a body that has an overseer. So the church is to understand and know his person, his practice, his position. Not only that, also to understand the ministry of preaching, amen. The Bible said they're over you and they admonish you. That means that there are times when someone has to be dealt with in the way of warning. The Bible said in verse 14 that every believer is to warn them that are unruly. But the pastor at times has the authority from God to admonish individuals. I have met a group through the years that they don't want anybody to tell them what to do. Well, I just gotta tell you, you're at the wrong place. Absolutely. Because there are gonna be times when you're gonna have to be warned and admonished from the scriptures. It means to warn or notify of a fault. And that is in 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 15. That is sometimes a person is out of line. I honestly, I never have addressed my pastor the way people have addressed me through the years. You can talk to my pastor personally. I wouldn't dare talk to him the way I have had people talk to me in the days of my ministry. He is to warn and notify of a fault. Secondly, there's times he's to counsel against wrong practices. That is, you may be headed in the wrong direction. He's trying to admonish you, counsel you about your direction or wrong practices. Thank God for Brother Nathan. When David got out of touch with God, Brother Nathan came, and he came all the way to the palace, had access to the king, and gave him a rebuke from God, an admonition about his guilty life. Hallelujah for the men of God that are not afraid to stand up and tell it. Like it is, amen. It means also to reprove a member of the church for a fault. The majority of admonition takes place from the pulpit. I said it when I came here over 20 years ago. We can go hunting together, we can fish together, we can have good times together, but when I get behind this pulpit, I don't have any family and I don't have any friends. I'm gonna tell you just exactly what God said, and if you wanna hear what God said, I'm gonna tell you just exactly what God said, and tell it like the Bible said. You and I are sometimes to be addressed forthrightly. And by the way, the kind of preaching that I come up under, a lot of believers today, you couldn't take it. You know why you couldn't take it? Because they'd leave no doubt who they were talking to. Amen. Me and Brother Gary were laughing over one day we were talking about, and I was talking to Brother Bobby Barnes. Even one morning we had breakfast together, and he got saved. Kind of come up in the same era that I did. I remember that revival in June of 1982. That preacher would be out here. He'd be walking up and down, walking up down the pews, and he'd just look right at you. And I remember some of those guys like me were on the front row and he would get this far from your face and preach to you. He just let it rip. The Bible said, them that sin, rebuke before all that others also may fear. And so he said, you ought to know these things about your pastor. First of all, he said to them here in the context, be personal. Secondly, he says, be respectful. He said, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake and be at peace among yourselves. To esteem them very highly. That word esteem means to set a value upon. There's a lot of things I really don't know the value of them. I could invest money in it and try to hope to make a profit because I don't know the value of them. I don't know the price, Brother Mark, of a certain type of tractor. I know what tractors do, but I don't know the value of these things. I'm not experienced in the value of these things. I do not know, Brother Bobby, the value of the Rottweiler dog species. I don't understand the value of those because I'm not skilled in that. But I will tell you that you, as a child of God, you ought to understand the value of God's man among you. It means to regard with reverence, to regard with reverence, respect, or friendship. Paul not only tells them what to do, he said to esteem them. You know, I noticed this, I've been in court a few times, don't ask me for what, but I've been in the courtroom a few times. I noticed that when the bailiff calls for all men and women to rise, guess what they do? They all rise. I was in the courtroom one day and this young man was in the courtroom that day for a number of offenses. And he said, young man, would you approach the bench? He said this out loud. He said to the young man, he said, where did you think you were going this morning? This young man had a tank top on, a pair of tennis shorts, and tennis shoes, and he had sunglasses up on his head like he was headed for Myrtle Beach. He looked at the man, listen, this is in front of everybody. He said, young man, where did you think you were going this morning? And he went, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. He said, did you realize you were coming to my court this morning? And the young man said lowly, yes, sir. He said, the next time you come to my courtroom, he said, you dress yourself like you're coming to court. He said, or bring your toothbrush. I'm going to send you somewhere if you don't. Amen. I'm talking about that's, that's how people would respect a judge. They'll respect their doctor. They'll respect a real estate agent. They'll give more respect to those men than they give to a man of God. The Bible said that the church is to esteem him very highly in love for their work's sake. Their pastor was to be esteemed highly for his work's sake. How valuable is a man of God in this society? I'd say he's not worth very much in this day and hour. And to many people, he's not worth anything at all. They were to remember in this realm of esteem his high and holy calling. So your modern Baptists have pushed it all the way down to where a pastor is hired and fired by a board. And they really look bored, I guarantee you that. by board and they change pastors every several years and they do not reap the benefits of the ministry. They are to esteem him highly because of his high and holy calling, because of the gifts that God has given him, his place in the church as the shepherd and his place in the work of Christ as the pastor of the church. Thank God for this man of God. God tells them what to do and how to do it. Then the last thing he tells is very, very important. He said, be at peace among yourselves. That is, don't make your pastor a referee. between you and your carnal ideas and carnal things. You know it's really heavy. I think the only way to compare it is a mother watching her children bicker among themselves. Through the years I've had the untimely responsibility to pastor people that they not only didn't love each other they didn't even like each other. And it becomes evident because they get their carnal ideas and the next thing you know, they want to drag the preacher into some kind of conflict they got with somebody else in the church. Listen, the pastor is not a referee, he's a shepherd. not here to referee, but he is a man of God. The Bible said, be at peace among yourselves. What reduces the church to less than what God wants it to be, but friction and factions among the people of God. How sad it is to see people whose entire life is filled with envy, strife, and division. A pastor is not a referee between carnal groups in the church that have declared war on each other. The Bible teaches us that you and I ought to be at peace among ourselves. We're in the same family. We're supposed to have the same goals. We're supposed to have the same desires. We're supposed to have the same direction. We're supposed to have the same aspiration. God wants us to be a testimony for the world. In this very town there's a church right now and it never has really amounted to anything. One day they got so at odds with each other that they wanted to literally fist fight among themselves. They got to challenging each other in the church. Got out in front of the church in the road and got to doing like school kids do and drawing lines and challenging each other to a fight. Boy, you know the devil's happy with that. He certainly is. God's not in the midst of all of that when our hearts are so upside down before God that we think our will is so great that it's greater than the will of God. And I say tonight God help us tonight to be at peace among ourselves. Let's stand together with our heads bowed and our eyes closed this evening.