Beloved congregation in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's no mystery, is it? There's great struggle that goes on in the life of the church. Start asking the question, why is there so much struggle that goes on in the life of the church? And you know, the answer to that, in a general sense, is because of sin. There is struggle in the life of the church because Satan hates the church because he hates Christ. And therefore, he continually and continuously attacks the church of Jesus Christ. He attacks the church by false brethren that come into the midst. We read of that as Jesus in the parable where the disciples asked the Lord, did you not plant good seed into your field? And he said, what about these tares? And the Lord responded and said, an enemy has done that. The disciples said, do you want us to go and then uproot them? To pluck them out? Do you want us to do that work? And the Lord says, no, lest you uproot the good with the bad. What does that tell you? It tells us we can't see the heart as God's people. So there are those that are in the life of the church, and they may be in the life of the church all their life long, and they die in their sin, but they're a member of the church, and yet it's not revealed to us what their heart looks like. So that's the idea, is that the Lord alone knows the hearts and those who are his, and we embrace one another by the profession of our faith. And so we have unity in doctrine, and we have the embracing of one into membership through profession. And that's how we embrace one another. But you'll always have those that come forward and profess something that they don't possess. And that causes difficulty within the life of the congregation, and they can be tears that are planted in the church by Satan himself. So you have that as a struggle within the life of the church. You have also in the life of the church the struggle of immaturity. You have those that have been in the church for years and years and have grown very little in their Christian life. They profess to be Christians, but they're not faithful in reading the Word. They're not faithful in the secondary means of prayer. They never read Christian books. They never really grow. They're like a pivot that is in a field that grows about, what, an inch an hour they move along. It's like you go one place, you come back, and it's still in that same spot. And that brings confusion, and it brings problems in the life of the church, because what do immature, what do children do? They cry, and they whine, and they cause problems, and they lament, and they want their way, and they stomp their foot, and they have temper tantrums. That's what children do. That causes problems and unrest in the church. Another thing that causes problems in the life of the church is false doctrine. That's so many that are undiscerning that they don't discern between that which is true and that which is false. They have a hard time discerning. So they glom onto false doctrine. And that permeates through the whole and causes problems in the life of the church. Another problem in the life of the church is that we're all partially sanctified, some more than others, but nobody's fully sanctified. We're all sinful, and we're all washed in the blood of the Lamb, but practically speaking, we're all sinful. And therefore, you have contentions, we're stones, and we rub up against one another. And there are problems and difficulties with one another. And we have a hard time forgiving. We have a hard time confessing. We have a hard time saying, will you please forgive me? I have violated the commandment against you. Pride, still there in the heart. It's got to be rooted out. It's got to be put off, as Paul says. Put on righteousness. Put on Christ. Put off these things. It's contention. It's fight. It's war. And that's where we live. We live in a battleground as the people of God, as the church. We are set amongst a hostile people in this world that hates God, hates Christ, hates the Spirit of God, hates the Word of God, hates the church, and every individual Christian. And this is the world in which we live, bringing the gospel to the darkness of this world, as we are light in Christ, exposing the darkness. And it's not received well in this world. So these are things that happen in the life of the church that brings struggle and contention. You have false pastors. Guys that are not born of the Spirit of God standing in pulpits and trying to instruct people with spiritual things that they don't even understand themselves. And they spawn false doctrine. And they are emissaries of Satan. And that's exactly what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 11. The ministers of Satan bring false doctrine into the life of the church and create schism and problems and difficulty. So with this, you have contention in the life of the church. And so Paul addresses that in the congregation in Thessalonica, which was a young congregation that needed elders in the life of the church. And yet, because of the newness of the congregation, how young the congregation was, there were not going to be a lot of experienced, wise, mature believers. which becomes then a struggle because what Paul did as he went about in Asia Minor was when he established congregations, well, he called them to appoint elders in the church. Acts chapter 14, Acts chapter 20, you read about it. First beginnings you see in Acts chapter 6. There is a need for the eldership in the life of the church. This is the authority that God has given. And so there is those problems and difficulties in the life of the church. But beloved, here's the positive. It's Christ who dwells in the church. He walks among the candlesticks. He is with his people. So we have the indwelling power of the Spirit of Christ within us. We are the redeemed of Jesus Christ. We are people that are called out from the world. The church is called the bride of Christ. The church is called the redeemed, the saints, the ecclesia, the called out ones, called out from the world into the marvelous light in Jesus Christ. We are the people of God. We are the redeemed, the sheep of His pasture. So then we have the power of the Spirit working within, protecting, guiding, keeping, instructing, leading, bringing conviction, having that then humility as He works within us, that we would confess, that we would forgive. And it would be reciprocal, back and forth in the life of the church. We'd be involved in one another's life. We would love one another. So that as Jesus said, that people would see that the love that we have for one another. And they would say they are the disciples of Christ. That's a positive. We have the Word of God as the standard by which we live. We're wrong on a particular doctrine? Show me in the teaching of Scripture. And that settles it forever. That's the mediator right there. That mediates all distinguishing problems and difficulties in the life of the church. It is the Word of God. What does the Scripture say that settles it? And we are to repent. We are to turn from this. Some things are difficult. We ask for the strength of the Holy Spirit to then respond biblically to what the Lord has revealed to us. You know, in a real sense, beloved, as you're cultivating the Word of God in your soul, it's preparing you to respond to the providential hand of God in a godly way. When we're not in the Word, when things come upon us that the Lord sends, we get angry. And we respond less than godly. And that's the struggle that we fight with the sin that is within us. And so, Paul calls the church the pillar and the ground of the truth in 1 Timothy 3. When Paul instructed Timothy, he instructed him in a way that you would know how to function, how to operate, how to live in the church of Jesus Christ. So there is a protocol. There is a way in which we are to live as the people of God. And Paul is addressing this in his final instructions that he's given to the church in Thessalonica. Now, you know this wouldn't be an issue. If this wasn't an issue, it wouldn't have to be addressed. But that it's addressed means that there is an issue that's going on in the life of the church. So look at our text and what he says. He recognizes in verse 11 that they were edifying and comforting one another. He acknowledges that. He recognizes that they were doing certain things in the life of the church, and he calls that good, and he says to keep on doing it. Keep on persevering. And that's why when he urges the congregation, he's not rebuking them. This is not even a strong command. It is really a godly, encouraging appeal to them to do something. Because they were doing, but they needed to continue to go forward, to grow, to advance in these things. And so, don't see this as a rebuke. See this as the encouraging appeal from the apostle who loved this congregation of how they are to continue to keep on moving forward. If we don't move forward, beloved, we're going to get stagnant. And any body of water that becomes stagnant stinks. I've told you and I've given you an analogy before about the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea stinks. No life grows there. And yet the richest body on earth, the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River, it dumps into the Dead Sea. But the Dead Sea has no outlet. It has an inlet, but no outlet. And as Christians, we can become stinky in that way as well, that we're constantly taking it in and we're not giving it out. You see that with the River Jordan flowing into the Sea of Galilee and then it flowing out. It's a rich body of water. It's vibrant. And that's how we need to be. We come and we gather together, and you receive the Word, and you take it in, and then you disperse, and then you give it out. You take it and you push it out to other people. That's what we are called to. So we are to keep on doing that and not become stagnant as the people of God. So Paul urges them. You notice in our text. We urge you, brethren. Now look, this is not self-serving. I'm going expositionally, sequentially through this particular book. This is the chapter that we come to, and this is the text that deals with how you, as members of the congregation, as the people of God, are to respond to your pastor and elders. And it also teaches how your pastor and elders are to respond to you and the functions that we have as well. So there's a two thing going on here in obligation of the pastors, the elders, and also the obligation of the members of the congregation and how they interact with those that are office bearers within the congregation. And so the Apostle Paul is going to deal with this. Now, beloved, I want to say this. You cannot, you cannot hate the church. I've heard people say that I love Jesus. It's the church that I hate. You cannot hate the church. The church is the body of people that Christ has redeemed. And we recognize that within any visible congregation, there are elect people and there are non-elect as well. There are tares mixed in with the wheat. So there's always going to be contention. We are called to love the church. If you love Christ, You love His church, His bride. Christ never hates His church. And we are never to hate the church either. We are to bear long. And I get it. It's hard. It's difficult to see many times the slow going in the life of the church. It's hard to see the contention and the struggles. It's hard to see the petty things that go on in the life of the church. It's hard to hear it. People bringing up petty things. That'll tear people and families and congregations apart quicker than you know. Pettiness. We are to love the church. This is our responsibility. So, this is what Paul gives us for the growth that goes on in the congregation. And he says, we urge you brothers, right? So here is the encouraging appeal to recognize those who labor among you. All right. So you as a congregation have a responsibility to recognize something. Now this recognition, the Greek word doesn't mean, oh, I recognize his face. No, it has a deeper meaning that there is an intimacy with relationships, that you know one another. How often times have you heard somebody say something about someone else that you are good friends with, close friends with, and this person's rattling off and you're saying, you don't even know them. If you knew them, there's no way that you could say that. That's what unbelievers do. Unbelievers prat against the Lord Jesus Christ continually, and they know not Jesus Christ. If you knew him, you never would say that. So this recognition that he's speaking about here, it's deeper than just a recognition, okay, that's my elder, that's my elder. But it has an idea of being involved in life with one another. Because notice that the apostle says they labor among you. So it's among the congregation. So there is a responsibility to get to know one another, to know each other, to make the effort to know one another. And a lot of things I'll tell you in the lives of individuals would be dealt with quickly if we knew one another in a deeper way. Paul is saying, and all the verbs here are present tense. So when he says, we urge you, he was saying, we keep on urging you. We keep on telling you the same things. And as he said before to the Philippians, it's not tedious. It's safe for us to tell you the same things again and again. So he's talking to the brethren at Elphos. These are fellow believers, children of God, the redeemed, to recognize those who labor among you. Now, ministry is labor. The idea of the labor has to do with to the point of exhaustion. To the point of just simply being worn down in ministry. And I'll tell you, the congregation of Christ is like a train that keeps on moving down the tracks, and it's run by, let's say, coal. And so the coal has to constantly be shoveled in so that it can produce the combustion, the heat, so that the train can keep going down the tracks. Now, when Paul uses the imagery in 1 Corinthians 4, he calls himself and the stewards of God, he calls the Greek term, hooparetos, and it means an under rower. It's a galley slave. That means a man who is chained to the oars that keeps on rowing and rowing and rowing to the point of exhaustion, but needs to keep on rowing so that the ship can keep on moving. Now, I heard all the jokes, you know, I mean, he only works one day a week or actually it's two when I have catechism, right? So that's on Wednesday as well. And I hear people saying all that stuff and you know, it's laughable to me because it's like an iceberg. All you see is Sundays. You don't see the rest of the week. You don't see what goes on the rest of the week. All you see is that one tip of the iceberg. 90% of it is under the surface. And that's why people make light of the ministry and he doesn't do nothing. He golfs all week long. I mean, I'm not a golfer, but people want to make jokes about that because they don't know. It's interesting because it's easy to put down those who labor among you. It's easy to find my faults, right? I'm in front of you. And that's what it means that I stand before you. You see them. If anybody doesn't stumble in word, he's a perfect man. Well, I'll stumble. But people like to zone in and exemplify my stumbles with speech. I've always said, if I treated the people of God the way many in the congregation treat me, you'd hate me. You wouldn't have me as your pastor. You don't have carte blanche. to insult a minister of the word any way that you please. There's a way that we are to deal with one another, to address one another. I'm not saying that I don't have faults, I don't make mistakes. But when I do, and you come to want to correct, there's a way that you come. And you don't, and then you sin when you come any other way. These are elders laboring among the congregation to the point of exhaustion, sweat. And that's what it takes. It doesn't stop. When you have a death in your family, and it's three o'clock in the morning, you don't hesitate to call me at three in the morning and ask me to come to the nursing home where there has been a death. Or somebody out on the farm. Or a car crash. You're not going to wait until 8 o'clock in the morning to call your pastor when there has been a car crash at 1 o'clock in the morning out on the highway and your child is dead. You're going to call immediately. And that's the strain with the work of ministry. It never stops. It goes on. You leave your job and you go home and you're done for the day until you get back the next day. My phone doesn't get shut off from the people of God. It's a constant thing that goes on. I mean, that's part of the calling. But I'm just telling you, that can be exhausting at times. So Paul is speaking about the ministry work of elders, pastors, as labor. And that's what we're doing, and we're doing it among you. So I get to know you. I know you, you know me. And there's some that don't. Why? Because, you know, service is over, they run out the doors, can't track them down, you don't see them during the week, they don't come to any other events of the church. It's hard to get to know people. It's hard to be involved in one another's lives. But this is what is needed if there is going to be that biblical recognition that Paul is referring to. And he also tells them, notice, that they are over you in the Lord. That means there is a spiritual authority over members of the congregation that the elders of the congregation, pastor, the elders are given by the authority from God. And notice the authority is in the Lord. The authority comes from the Lord. It's Romans 13. There's no authority that is not derived from the Lord. God gives that authority to rule over in the congregation according to the word of God. Now, I have been in a number of churches and I know what happens. The fourth vow that is taken when somebody comes into membership is that if they be found delinquent in doctrine and life, that they will heed the instruction and correction of the elders of the congregation. That is the first thing that's thrown out the window. That's the first thing that's gone when somebody doesn't like what's going on in the church. I'll do what I want, I'll go where I want, I'll do what I please. They don't talk, they don't ask for, can I sit down, can I talk to you about some things that are concerning me? No, they just get up and leave. That's a sin. You're sinning against the Lord and his church. And I'm not saying that people can't go to another congregation. You're not locked in here for life. But we are to discuss, we are to sit down, we are to deal with problems, difficulties, things that you might have, don't understand, why are we doing this? And it is the responsibility that I have to explain things to the people of God. That's why I want you to know why we worship, the way that we worship, how we worship, when we worship, because the Scripture teaches it. And you explain it and you walk people through that. I don't have any problems doing that. I have a problem when people walk away and don't talk. And you do too. You say you don't, but if your spouse up and left you with no word, no conversation, no nothing, you'd be angry. You'd be confused. You'd be grieved. You'd be disheartened. But when people don't have to deal with that in the church, see, they don't say anything. They just up and leave and do their thing. That's a sin. There is real, genuine, spiritual authority in the life of the church. So that there is church discipline that goes on in the life of the church. You think about the elders in Corinth. And this is what the Apostle Paul said with the man who was committing adultery with his father's wife. The Apostle Paul instructed them to cast that man out of the church. They had the authority, the office of the keys. to admit and to exclude people from the covenant community. And that authority is derived from Christ. It is not our own authority. It's the authority divested by Christ. And so there is a responsibility that the pastor and the elders have to love you and to labor among you and to oversee and to protect and to guard. And there are a number of Greek terms that refer to that, you know, episkopos, presbuteros, poimen, hegemon. It all refers to the authority of the pastor and the elder and the function that they have in the life of the church. And so Paul then says, we also admonish you. In that realm, that spiritual realm of the Lord's people, and that's what it means, the dative of sphere, the Greek phrase there. It means that we belong to the Lord. We are in union with Christ. And the authority is divested by Christ. So these are the people that are in the Lord. Authority is coming from the Lord. And we are called to encourage and admonish. What is the admonishment? Well, the admonishment can take different forms, but the Greek term, neutrathao, means then to put something to mind. It's a reminder. It can be a warning. It can be a reminder of encouragement. It could be a reminder of rebuke. But it's a reminder in some way of putting something to mind. Apostles, you think about this, when Christ rose from the dead, and here they are, they're coming to the tomb, and have you stolen away the body? Tell me where he is. And, you know, did he not say this? Don't you remember? Remember while he was with you, this is what he told you? That's what it means. It's putting something to mind, a reminder. So this is a labor that we have as office bearers in the life of the church. to rebuke, exhort, admonish, and encourage. And here's the difficulty. With all long suffering and patience. Now you know what it's like. You know what it's like dealing with your kids. You know what it's like telling them again and again and again. And we use this hyperbole of saying, I've told you a thousand times. It's an exaggeration of speech. You just simply mean you've told them a lot of times. And this is what Paul is saying. Patience and long suffering. And it's not easy. And apart from the ministry of the Spirit, I would say it's impossible. Because it's easy to just throw in the towel and be done. I don't have to deal with this anymore. But he continues, right? The Spirit of God continues to give strength to do the work. So you're admonished, you're reminded. You're loved in that way. Maybe you don't see it this way, but me telling you the truth of God's word, I'm not screaming at you, but simply telling you, this is what the word of God teaches. That's my love for you. Whether it hurts you or whether it doesn't, the truth always brings healing. And that is a love for you to tell you the truth. And Paul said to the Galatians, have I become your enemy because I tell you the truth? People don't always respond favorably when the truth is spoken to them. And yet we are called to keep on speaking the truth. The writer of the Hebrews, he mentions this twice in chapter 13. And in verse 17 of chapter 13, he writes this way. Obey those who rule over you and be submissive. because they watch out for your soul. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable to you. It's an interesting text. It means that there is a responsibility and obligation before Christ for office bearers to rule over a congregation with spiritual authority for the good, for the edification, and for the instruction and guidance protection of the congregation. And yet it also speaks about a congregation having a responsibility to be in submission to those who lead with the Word of God. I'm not going to tell you what kind of car to buy. It's not my realm of authority. I'm not gonna tell you you can't buy that car. That's your Christian liberty. If you wanna buy this or you wanna buy that, that's your choice. But if you start stealing and embezzling from your job so that you can pay for that car, now I'm gonna speak up. You start robbing the things of the Lord, because you can't pay for your new house, and your car, and your boat, and your beach house, and all the other things. Well, now I'm going to speak up, because now you're sinning. You have Christian liberty. Go down to eat this afternoon, and you can have this, that, or the other thing. I'm not going to say anything to you about it. But when you start to the realm of sinning against the Lord, then I'm going to speak up. You have the right in the Christian liberty, if you wanted to have a beer or a glass of wine, you have the right to do that. I'm not gonna tell you you can't do that. But when you get drunk, then I'm gonna tell you. Then I'm gonna tell you you're in sin. You need to repent of that. That's the realm of authority that the Lord has given to the office bearers in the church, specifically pastor and elder. And when the writer of the Hebrews then says that, obey them that rule over you because they watch out for your soul. Sometimes, beloved, it's been a grief. Sometimes with some church members, I mean, it's a minority, they cause grief. And you groan, and that's what it means. Let them do so with joy and not with grief. I need to go visit the, oh, man. Because I know it's going to be contentious. I know it's going to be constant problems, difficulties, impudency, argument about this and argument, and you don't do, and you don't do, and I don't like, and I... Constantly. That's a grief. Who wants that? I mean, I've been on spiritual councils where the elders have gotten a certain list of, these are your... Oh, man. Can I trade that one? I'll take three of those for this one. That's not good. That's not good for you to be on that list. And that's a reality check, isn't it? And so he moves on and he says, verse 13, to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. So it's a recognition of the labor of the word in the midst of the congregation, and you are to have an esteem for that office. and those that are faithfully and diligently serving. Paul went so far in 1 Timothy 5 to speak of those that labor in doctrine are worthy of double honor. Well, there is an honor that's given. And some say, well, that's where the title reverend comes. I never used that. I sign things, I usually always sign pastor. Poemen, that's the Greek term for pastor, shepherd. I hardly ever use that, reverend, because I think that's straining. When somebody says, I have this title because I'm worthy of this honor. There is an esteem for the office. And for those that really care and love your soul. Speaking the truth to you. And Paul says that we are called to continually love and esteem and honor them. It's a continual action. And love them for their work's sake. To love them. Isn't it great to be loved? Don't you know when you're loved? You know when somebody truly loves you? Somebody truly loves you, they tell you the truth. They're involved in your life. They're there for you. Sometimes they're there and they don't say anything to you. They're just there. And their presence demonstrates a love for you. You love to be loved and I love to be loved. We love to be loved. We want to be loved. Divorce has happened when somebody says, I don't feel loved. Well, love is a commitment. There are feelings that are involved, but it's not essentially a feeling. But I'm just saying that that's how the world views that, that they don't feel love. I went to this congregation and we say, it was a cold congregation. What does that mean? It means I didn't feel loved. I didn't feel the love. When you have people that come alongside of you and talk to you and are inviting and welcoming and warm, you say, I felt like I was loved. We want to be loved, beloved. We want that. There are times that we don't act lovely, do we? There are times that we don't act loving. I've always said in the life of the church, as a Christian, I have had more joy as a Christian serving as a pastor in the life of the congregation. My greatest joys as a Christian have been while I've been a pastor. Being involved in people's lives, as Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 2, is not only imparting the gospel to you, but my life as well. Being involved in your lives. There is great joy for that. But on the other hand, as a Christian, the greatest grief and sadness that I've ever had as a Christian has been while I've been a pastor. And I don't know how that balances out, but you get them both. And that could be the taxing thing. I don't desire ill, evil destruction for any of you. I desire the work of the Spirit in your lives. I desire the fruit that abounds to your account. I desire you to grow in the knowledge of the truth to a deep and abiding way. I want you to experience the work of the Spirit in your life. I want you to have that work of the Spirit and so that He testifies to your spirit that you're a child of God and you have comfort and you have peace of knowing that you are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. I don't want you to have ambiguity about that. I want you to grow in the knowledge of the truth. I want you to grow up in the life of the church, to be involved in other people's lives, to use your gifts in the lives of other members of the church for the glory of God and the good of the church. I want that for you. And it comes by way of rebuke, exhortation, admonishment, and encouragement from the Word. And it's not always received that way, but that's the desire that I have for you. And so that's the love, as Paul says, esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. Would you say that you're there with your pastor and your elders? Because I can tell you, some of you I don't know, and in my ninth year here, that that's not good. And it wasn't because I didn't want. It's because you weren't involved. You call yourself a member of the body, and then you're not engaged or involved as a body ought to be. Well then, how do we entangle our lives together? How do we walk together as believers? How do we grow in our understanding? How do we demonstrate our love, our compassion? How are we involved in one another's lives? How are we sharing in things of the gospel and imparting gifts to one another and back and forth reciprocally? if we're not gathered together as the people of God are called to be. You see, Paul has to say at the end, is that be at peace among yourselves. Why does he have to say that? Because there are always those in the congregation that are for war. They want to fight. But this pettiest thing, they want to fight. They want to cause schism. They want to cause dissension. They want to be a person that causes ruckus that goes on within the life of the church. That's not good. That's not godly. That's not Christian. So Paul calls us to be at peace, to harmony. When you're at peace with God, there's no more war. God is no longer at war with us as the people of God because we have peace. Greek term, Irenae. We have a harmony. Our relationship with the Lord is no longer one of hostility. We no longer have enmity towards God and God is not at enmity with us because of the Lord Jesus Christ. We now have peace. And now we are called to be peacemakers. People that promote peace. Be at peace among yourselves. Strive for peace. Paul says, as much as lies within you, be at peace with all men. You know, sometimes it's hard, isn't it? Even as David says in the Psalms, I'm for peace, but they're for war. Doesn't matter what I come with, they always want to fight. Well, you know, one of the ways you can be at peace is just avoid it. Be away from that. This is, again, as Paul is saying, a present tense meaning a continual action. Keep on being at peace with one another. Strive for that. Dissension among your office bearers is not boding well in the church. going out and doing your own thing and thinking, I'm not under authority by anybody. I can come and go as I please. That is not a good thing. You are under authority from Christ, and Christ then exercises that authority with the office of the keys through the elders of the church of Jesus Christ. That, beloved, is the responsibility. Pastors to preach, to teach, to minister, to guard, to protect, to feed, to nourish faithfully, diligently, with the word of truth, and a congregation to love, to esteem, to be involved, to recognize the work and the labor, to be involved in one another's lives. That's what brings harmony in the life of the church. Without strife, formalism, the difficulty of constant contention, bickering, nitpicking, you know, I mean, We're banging people's heads in because we're looking for that little toothpick in their eye, and we've got the great big plank in our own eye. And we're constantly banging somebody to the ground with that two by four, trying to get at that little toothpick in their eye. Jesus said, get the plank out of your eye. Deal with that first. There'll be time that you could speak something into another individual's life that you see a toothpick in their eye. But first, let's get rid of the plank in our own eye. Because don't we not have enough problems of our own? Let's deal with that so that can be a promoting of peace and harmony in the life of the church. This is final instructions that Paul gives to this young congregation. And in this way, Peace will be seen, will be felt, almost like smelled as a savor in the life of the congregation to the glory of God. Amen. Shall we pray?