We can turn again in your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5 verses 12-15 is the goal this morning. I'm not entirely sure that we're going to make that goal. That's why I have Part 1 on there. The title of the message is, Until He Comes, Part 1. If you've been tracking along with us as we've been making our way through 1 Thessalonians, you will recognize a tremendous shift in what Paul is saying in these verses compared to what he has already said. And if you haven't been with us through this study of the book of 1 Thessalonians, you may be saying to yourself, wow, This is difficult. This is what Paul talked about, what we read in our scripture reading this morning. Man, this is typical Christianity, a list of do's and don'ts. And you people are just a bunch of hypocrites. You don't do what Paul is saying here. Why are you expecting everybody else to do the same thing? I would say, if that's what you're thinking about what we read, I would say, yeah, you're on the right path. We are, as believers in Christ, whether we want to admit it or not, we are kind of hypocritical in some sense in that we don't live up to God's perfect standard. We don't come close to living up to God's perfect standard. That's really hard to do. One could even say that that is impossible to do. And you would be correct if that's what you were thinking. It is impossible to live up to God's perfect standard. And the good news is that God has provided a way for us to be forgiven even when we don't live up to his perfect standard. And that is by faith. in Jesus Christ and what he has done for us. That is the only way that we can have righteousness. That is the only way that we can be forgiven of not living up to God's standards, what we read about here in these verses 12 through 24. We're not going to do that. But God has provided a way for us to be forgiven when we don't. And that is faith alone in Jesus Christ and what he's done for us. Now, the good news, another piece of good news is that God gives us resources to be able to live in a way that is pleasing to him. And that is when we trust in Christ, he indwells us with the Holy Spirit. He has given us his word. He reveals himself to us. He tells us what he expects of us and then tells us when we don't live up to that, he will still forgive us of our sins. And in 1 Thessalonians, Paul has been spending a tremendous amount of time talking about the fact that Jesus Christ is coming again. Now, the Thessalonians, of course, are a church. They are a church body. And a church is simply a gathering, a local gathering, like we studied this out when we were introducing the book, a church, one aspect of a church is just a local gathering of people who have trusted in Jesus Christ. A church is not made up of people who have come forward at the end of the service and pledged to be faithful to this church and signed some agreement that said they believe all the same things. That's not what makes you a member of the overarching church, and really that's not what makes you a member of this church. a person is a member of the church, big C, capital C, by trusting in Jesus Christ, at that moment you are given the forgiveness of sins and you become a member of the church. Now the Thessalonians were a local group of people who have trusted in Jesus Christ. Flushing Bible Church is a church that is here for people in this area who have trusted in Jesus Christ to come together to study His word, have fellowship with one another, serve one another, use our spiritual gifts that God has given to us to build one another up, be a light in the community, give out the gospel, these kinds of things. That's all part of of being a church. And that's what the Thessalonians are. So Paul is writing to this group of believers, encouraging them about the fact that Jesus is coming again. So we've studied a lot of doctrine about that actual event. Jesus Christ coming again. That is promised to happen one day in the future. Now, this fact that Christ is coming again should motivate us as believers, as people who have trusted in Christ. And for that matter, if you haven't trusted in Christ, it should motivate you also, because we've studied Beyond the fact that Christ is coming in the air for believers, 1 Thessalonians 4, 13-18, we also have seen that He is coming to this world in judgment. In judgment of sin. And when that day happens, it's not going to be a pleasant situation. So, the fact that Christ is coming again should motivate us as believers to live in obedience to Him, desiring to be faithful to Him, desiring to be faithful to the One who has provided so much for us. For unbelievers, it is a call to trust in Christ because He is coming again in judgment. And so in these verses, 12, beginning in 1 Thessalonians 5, really all the way down through verse 24, we have what the church, what individual believers should be doing, as well as what the church, the local church should be doing also until he comes again. The last time we saw that we will live with Him. We have this promise of deliverance, 1 Thessalonians 5, 9, for He has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. The wrath that he is speaking of there in 1 Thessalonians 5-9 is the same wrath that he has been describing throughout this entire letter. He's not going to switch horses in midstream. And now when we see wrath, that's talking about being delivered from hell. That's God's wrath. Everybody knows that. Well, that would be contrary to what he has been describing with this term wrath leading all the way up to that. And in 1 Thessalonians, his wrath is literally the day when he's coming again to pour out his wrath upon the earth that really so much of the Old Testament is about, the prophets specifically. describe God, describe the Messiah coming in judgment because the world is sinful. That is this wrath that he has not destined us for. Strongest possible negation in the Greek language. We are not destined for the day of Christ's wrath being poured out on the earth. As believers in Christ, we are promised to be delivered from that day. 1 Thessalonians 4.13-18 That there is a day coming at some point in the future. We don't know when that is. It could be any day. It could be today. It could be next week. It could be next month. It could be a hundred years from now, a thousand years from now. We do not know when Christ is going to fulfill verses 16-17 of 1 Thessalonians 4. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. We know from the Gospel accounts, particularly the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, that when Christ died, he was resurrected. He lived on the earth for 40 days and he ascended and went back to heaven. Very clear testimony from the Gospels, the Book of Acts, the lives of The apostles who literally saw that take place, there's a tremendous testimony of that. Paul says that there was an occasion when 500 people saw the risen Christ at the same time in 1 Corinthians 15. There is as much evidence for Jesus Christ being risen from the dead as there is that George Washington was a real person. We can know this is testified as much as any event in ancient history. It is a fact that Christ is risen from the dead, and the apostles saw Him return to heaven, Acts 1. In John 14, Jesus says, verses 1-3, that if He goes away, which He did, He will come again to take us, believers, to be with Him that where He is, we can be also. He is coming to take us from this earth back to heaven. That's what Paul is talking about in 1 Thessalonians 4. That is the deliverance from the day of wrath, from his wrath that is spoken of in 1 Thessalonians 5. 9. Then we saw in verse 10 that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. We saw that that is an indication that whether we are ready for Him to come or not ready for Him to come, He is coming again. for us. Oftentimes we think of that language of being awake or asleep indicating whether we are alive or dead like he spoke of in First Thessalonians 4 that we will be with him. What we actually saw is though that there's a different Greek term is used there for asleep and it is an indication Like earlier in chapter 5, it's the same word that Paul used to indicate those who are asleep or sleeping or those who are not paying attention to what's going on around them. They are living contrary to God's Word. Opening verses of 1 Thessalonians 5. That is describing those who are asleep. So verse 10, same word, same context, indicating that whether you are awake or asleep, we will be alive with Him together forever. So whether we are ready for Him as believers or we are not ready for Him to come again, He is coming again and we will be with Him. And we saw in Sunday school this morning that there is a judgment that is awaiting us. The judgment seat of Christ is awaiting us when He comes again. So we should be ready for Him to come again. and then we have a duty therefore encourage one another verse 11 and build up one another just as you are also doing so we we are going to live with him that is a fact and now we get into what we should be doing this is literally the practical section of the book so we've been studying this for quite a bit quite a bit of time and now we finally get to the daily living part of the book of 1st Thessalonians and this time we will see some words about pastors in verses 12 through the beginning of 13. The fact that we should be living in peace with one another. The second half of verse 13 into verse 14. And then finally, that we need to be putting others first. And really, this is probably the message that I have been looking forward to the least. from the time that I decided that we should look into 1 Thessalonians. There's so much incredible information here. This verse, these verses, verses 12 through the first half of 13, aren't something that I would look forward to teaching. I guess that's just kind of my personality. That I don't want to teach on things that may be uncomfortable. And as we just read these verses, you can see that it's talking about me and how you should react to me as a pastor or someone who gives you instruction in the Lord. And that's difficult for me to do. That's the good thing about teaching through books of the Bible, I believe, why that's the best way to do that. First of all, we understand the context. We should at least understand the context of the books. We can get a clearer picture of what the Bible is actually about. And there are a whole host of things that we have to discuss that I wouldn't otherwise choose to do. I'd love to teach on the rapture or salvation or the future of Israel and these kinds of things. Those are great. And although they may be controversial, they're things that are not unpleasant to talk about. However, When we study books of the Bible, the whole books of the Bible, we have to talk about things that are kind of ugly, like various types of sin. We have to talk about divorce that affects so many people in the community, in the church. Something I wouldn't really, would rather not talk about. We have to talk about the role of women in the church. Wow, that's a topic that we don't typically want to discuss. We need to talk about the roles of men and women and families and these kinds of things. Marriage, man and a woman, these are kinds of things that any more could potentially get you thrown in jail. So at any rate, as we go through books of the Bible, we are remiss if we do not talk about the topics that we come in contact with. And so that begins with pastors in verse 12 through the beginning of verse 13. Notice what 1 Thessalonians 5 says, but we request of you brethren that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Now as we make our way into these verses 12 through 24, what we're going to find is that there are 19 commands in this section of the book. Well, really, the first command is found in 1 Thessalonians 4.13, therefore comfort one another with these words. We saw that that was a command. And then there isn't another command until we get to this section. of the letter and what we find is however in first Thessalonians 5 and verse 12 we see this phrase but we request of you brethren this is not one of those commands which is in keeping with Paul's outlook on the Christian life, really, and the walk of faith. He's not going to command people to appreciate those who diligently labor among you. It's not a command to esteem them very highly. Instead, this is a request, just like it says, we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you. And I'm not going to change the Word of God and change it into a command. I command that you appreciate me and that you esteem me highly. Instead, we'll just read it just like it is on the page. You know, people in positions of authority, to use a word, in the military in particular, or in my current job as being an airline pilot, you have a position of authority, but you cannot command people to respect you. Those were the sorts of people in the military who probably got the least amount of respect. At least behind their backs I can assure you that those sorts of people get the least amount of respect. Those who demand it. Those who order people to appreciate them and esteem them highly. This is not something that you can command. Instead, it is something that you request of people, that you earn from people, and these kinds of ideas. And this word for appreciate is really the the Greek term oida it is the term to know them to to recognize them essentially when he says but we request of you brethren that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you it is it is to know them by by personal experience that term oida means there's Usually two words that speak of knowing things or having knowledge of things in Greek, oida being one of them, gnosko being the other. And this oida is a personal knowledge, a personally getting to know someone is the idea here. And so you have a relationship with them, understand who they are, these people who are diligently laboring among you. Now, if there is one example from the Scripture of a person who diligently labored for people, In the Word of God, it is the Apostle Paul. He is absolutely the number one example of a pastor slash missionary who labored for people. 1 Corinthians 15, 10. Paul says, but by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain, but I labored even more than all of them. Even more than all of the other apostles, he is saying there, yet not I, but the grace of God within me. That's an indication that Paul was not doing this. He did not do all of the incredible things that he did that you can read about in the book of Acts. Three missionary journeys around the known world. His life in danger, almost constantly shipwrecked, imprisoned, beaten, literally stoned to death in Acts 14. Stoned and left for dead there. in Lystra. But he continued on, not in his own strength, but by the grace of God with me, he says. 1 Corinthians 15.10. An indication that the Christian life is lived by faith. Colossians 2.6, we walk the same way that we received him. We walk by faith. So Paul isn't, although it may sound like he's kind of tooting his own horn that, yeah, I worked way harder than everybody. That is true, but he did it by God's grace, in God's strength, he was able to do these things. And he talks about kind of the role of the pastor and what the pastor should be doing in Acts chapter 20. A very important section of scripture concerning the role of the pastor and what he should be doing. Paul here, towards the end of his third missionary journey, as he was going back to Jerusalem, he met with some of the leaders of the church in Ephesus, and he gave them this encouragement, knowing that he was not going to ever see them again. Acts 20 and verse 17 says, From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them, You yourselves know from the first day that I set foot in Asia how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews, how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable in teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." And then he goes on to tell them about how he's going to Jerusalem. Essentially, he's going to be put on trial, which is exactly what happened to him. But he was faithful in this time. He diligently labored for these people, for those who would hear him. He talks about imparting them with the word of grace, leaving these leaders of the church, these elders from Ephesus, with the one thing that is going to carry them through. Verse 32, And now I commend you to God into the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. He left them with this word of His grace, this fact that they need to walk by faith, trusting in Him moment by moment to diligently labor for the Lord. Same thing that Paul is talking about here in 1 Thessalonians 5, that he requests of them to know these people, this one or this group of people who have been given this position, that you recognize them. the ones who are diligently laboring for you. Now Paul gave this same kind of command that he gave to the elders in Ephesus to another young pastor by the name of Timothy who actually was left as the pastor in Ephesus later in his life, 2 Timothy 2.15, Paul says, be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. This is the role for the pastor. This is the thing that the pastor should be diligently laboring for, or his diligent labor entails studying the Word of God, accurately handling it, and presenting it to people accurately. That is the number one role of the pastor, the number one thing that he should be laboring towards. The pastor of a church, contrary to much of Christendom today, is not a CEO. He doesn't need to go to business school to learn how to run a corporation. Instead, he needs to go to God's Word and learn how to divide it, learn how to study it, learn how to present it, learn what it says, and then accurately deliver it to others. And of course there are other things that go along with the role of the pastor, but that is Item number one on the agenda for the pastor to do. And Paul here is requesting that the brethren, that's a term that describes those who have trusted in Christ, you members of this church, you who have trusted in Christ, brothers in Christ, appreciate those who diligently labor among you. Notice this next phrase. Those who diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord. In verse 12. This term for have charge over you is very important also. This reads very much like a demand to respect and honor those who are in charge of you. That's what it says in the New American Standard Bible, but that's not the best translation of this term, proistimi. That we see that's the term for have charge over you, but it literally means who are in the position of leadership now Being a leader is not just Giving orders and expecting people to follow them there's so much more to it than just that and that Those other ideas are what's encapsulated in this term, proistimi, that Paul uses. And it literally means to take care of, to have an interest in the people over which you have been set, essentially. shepherd the people. That's what a shepherd does for the sheep, literally in agriculture. You still see shepherds in the Middle East and even in Italy, you'll see shepherds leading sheep around. You don't really see that too much in America anymore in our sort of Not big ag isn't the correct term or monstrosity agriculture that we have in America today. You don't see shepherds leading sheep around too much, but they still do. the shepherd is not constantly whacking the sheep with his crook, getting them to do what he wants them to do. Instead he cares for them, he leads them, he brings them to a place where they want to be as sheep. He brings them to the the lush pastures, essentially. And he gives them what they already want, whether they know it or not. That's the role of the shepherd. And he cares for them. He has an interest in them. He doesn't just drive them into the dirt and kill them, leading them to the next pasture. Instead, he provides a way that is that is good for them and provides for them along the way, cares for them. When something goes wrong, the shepherd needs to be able to help the sheep physically and these sorts of things. That's the imagery of the shepherd. The pastor is oftentimes linked to a shepherd. That's Jesus in John. At the end of John, when he is with Peter and he's telling him to feed the sheep, this is kind of the imagery that's often connected to the pastor, that he is the one who is to care for the people in the local congregation. Again, the number one way that he does that is by teaching them God's Word. It shouldn't be my opinion that I'm giving to you. Rather, that's why we treat God's Word the way that we do here. It's not just based on my opinion and my thinking of what it says. It's based on what it actually says. not opinion, not presuppositions and these kinds of things, but rather what God is communicating to us through his word. That's the role of the pastor, to give that to the people for their good. And this role of the pastor is a God-designed entity. Again, this should not be a role that we develop based upon our opinions. Rather, it should be based upon what God's Word says. And this is where the Bible goes contrary to Postmodern thinking, thinking that is in the world today. Again, things that don't just thrill my soul to teach on, but they're in the Bible. 1st Timothy chapter 2 and verse 9, Paul says, So Paul is there, I don't believe, laying out a concrete list of what women should and should not wear. The key is in verse 10, they should clothe themselves with good works. Just like he got done saying about men earlier in chapter 2, he's describing men being prayerful in these kinds of things a description of a good work that should that we should bear as believers in Christ and so now he turns the focus towards women that they too should be clothed with good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness. Essentially, okay, you claim to be a godly person, well, live like it, essentially is what Paul is saying. And then verse 11, a woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. but I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man but to remain quiet." Now we just have spent the last 20 minutes or so discussing the role of the pastor and his role primarily is to teach the Word of God in the church. And so verses 11 through 12 would exclude a woman from fulfilling that role in the church, teaching men, having positions of authority over men within the boundary of the church. 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy is all about the local church and the role of the pastor. That's the entire reason why Paul wrote those letters. And then he gives a reason for it. Verse 13, for it was Adam who was first created and then Eve. So it's kind of keeping in step with the way creation is. A man having this position of leadership within the church. Verse 14, And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint. That verse 15 is very interesting. That's one for a confident conclusion someday, what that actually is teaching. It doesn't necessarily mean that if you as a woman you're living a good and holy life that you will never die in childbirth. That's not what it's saying. That word for preserved is saved and this would be an indication or this would be one case where The word saved doesn't mean, like we were talking about in Sunday school, doesn't always mean being delivered from hell into heaven. Here it's speaking of the Christian life. And if you are a woman who has had children, you know And I can speak of this second-hand knowledge. I'm not a woman who's had children, but I've seen it take place. However, I've seen a personal experience with a woman who bore children, who raised children, teaching them to continue in faith and love, and she was Sanctified through teaching her children. That's my wife I got to witness that verse in action on almost a daily basis and if can see it over 25 years a picture of a woman who's grown from a really great young Christian lady into a mature Christian woman and that Took place in large measure because of the way that she raised her children And that's what verse 15 is talking about. See, I don't have that same promise for me in the Bible. So I'm not going to get upset and yell and scream because I want to be sanctified too by raising kids. As a man, I don't necessarily have that promise. A woman does. A man also has the responsibility of teaching in the church. That responsibility has not been given to a woman to exercise the position of authority. This is God's design for the church. And his main role, again, is to be about the Word of God, to give instruction. It is a God-given position. the ones who are giving instruction. Have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction. Again, 2 Timothy 2.15, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. Be diligent. A very strong word there used to indicate that this is not an easy thing. It takes work to be able to do that. Ephesians 4, Paul lays out a teaching on spiritual gifts within the church, their purpose, and he begins with those who teach the Word of God. Ephesians 4.11, and he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers. First two, apostles and prophets, faded away as time went on. Apostles are those who have seen the risen Lord. There were twelve of them. Paul is included as an apostle. He saw the risen Lord. He was given instruction directly from the Lord to give to others. There is no one alive today who fits the biblical qualifications of an apostle. Prophets were necessary before the Word of God was completed. Before what we refer to that as the canon being closed, the canon of Scripture being closed, prophets were a necessary thing for God to give His Word to people. Now He has already done that in the Scriptures. He's given us His Word. And so now we need evangelists and pastors and teachers. An evangelist is a person who goes out with the main purpose of giving the gospel to people. And then we have pastors and teachers. For the equipping of the saints, for the work of the service, to the building up of the body of Christ, Ephesians 4.12 says. This is the role of the pastor. Paul talks about it in another letter that he wrote to Titus, another young pastor. Titus 1 and verse 7. For the overseer, that's another term for your Bible may say bishop or elder or something along those lines that's speaking of the same office. For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict." This is what the pastor needs to be about. Being one who is diligent, laboring among the people. He's caring for the people. That's what it means to have charge over them. Caring for them, leading them, directing them, feeding them, and giving instruction. from the Word of God, not based on opinion and presuppositions, but rather what the Word of God says. Now, by the way, before we leave this idea, pastors aren't the only ones who labor in the church. I can assure you of that. Even in our little congregation. There is a tremendous amount of work that goes on behind the scenes so that we can have church on Sunday. It really is incredible how much work goes into just this, let alone if we had an entire stage production and the concerts and all of this stuff. that goes into the local church today, it's phenomenal how much goes into that. But the building has to be clean. The garbage is taken out. The money is collected. It's counted. The bills are paid. Food is prepared. We have fellowship in between services. People are cared for. People are invited to church. They're picked up, taken to church. All of those things make a church go in addition to just what the pastor does. Notice also that Paul says that the Thessalonians are to esteem them very highly. Verse 13. that you not just appreciate those who diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, verse 13, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Now this term for esteem is hegiomai and it is in the present middle infinitive. So it is the middle voice. Very important for us to see that. The middle voice again is an indication that the person should be doing this action or is doing this action for their own good. I use the example a lot Pontius Pilate washing his hands at the crucifixion of Christ that's in the middle voice Pontius Pilate was washing his hands of the guilty verdict of Jesus Christ. He was doing that for his own good, trying to absolve himself of the fact that Christ was made guilty. Now this is that same term, hegeomyer, that same voice is used here, the middle voice. So this esteeming of the pastor is not for my good. It's not to build up my ego and think, oh, everybody loves me. Isn't that awesome? It is actually for your good as the congregant. And the term higiyomai means to consider them, literally to think highly of them. And again, this is for your benefit, not mine. Hebrews 13, 17, Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls. As those who will give an account, let them do this with joy and not grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. So if every Sunday, every week, I'm just dreading Sunday because it isn't a joyful experience, I come here and get beat up every time I come, that's not good for you. I'm not saying that that happens. That most certainly does not happen. But if you appreciate the pastor, appreciate Mike, and like I know that you appreciated Terry when he was here teaching, it makes it a joy. It makes it so, oh so much easier to do. Acts 20 and verse 28, Paul says, Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified." When the pastor does his job, this is for your benefit, then you can in turn do things to benefit them by considering them, thinking highly of the job that they're doing as long as they're doing it properly. That would be something that can be for your benefit. The pastor isn't supposed to be someone who's just the larger than life personality that's looking to be esteemed rather he should be pointing people to Christ pointing to people to the salvation that they have through faith in Christ and essentially people think what you're doing as the pastor is great because Jesus Christ is great, not because I'm great and a great speaker and these kinds of things, which is so far from the truth. However, if pastors are faithful, they can receive a crown. They can actually receive a reward. They can look forward to receiving this reward in the future at the judgment seat of Christ. Paul calls it a crown of glory, or Peter, excuse me, calls it a crown of glory in 1 Peter 5, verse 1 he says, therefore I exhort elders among you as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you. exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God, and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness, nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory." What an incredible promise that is, and motivation for me personally. See, most of this message is actually for me, not for you. But the goal of instruction is love. That's the number one thing for us to understand, that we don't sit here and learn these things so that we can just spout off facts and We can be happy knowing that we learned something new about God today. That's not the goal, although that is important. Obviously, it's very important to learn and to know who Christ is and what He's done for us. That is for the purpose of love 1st Timothy 1 5 Paul says but the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith so The goal of the pastor is to teach you about Jesus Christ and what He has done for us and His incredible love that He has for us so that you can then in turn love one another. That's essentially what the church is all about. Loving God and loving other people. We love God by understanding who He is, who we are, and what He has done for us in the person of Jesus Christ. And when we read through these verses again, it seems like it may be a list of do's and don'ts. Do this, don't do that. Do this, you'll be pleasing to God. Don't do that, God will be happy with you. And you can take those verses out of the Bible and then say, man, I've got to do this, I've got to do that in order to be right with God. And nothing could be further from the truth. These verses, like every verse in the Bible, is given within a certain context. We cannot do anything to make ourselves right with God because sin is inherent within us. It is a part of who we are. It's literally in our DNA, in our makeup. We are sinful and separated. from God, there's nothing that we can do about that. There's no amount of good works, no amount of appreciating the pastor, no amount of esteeming the pastor very highly, no amount of admonishing the unruly, encouraging the faint-hearted, helping the weak, being patient with other people. No amount of that can cover up for the part of your DNA that is sinful and separated from God. However, the good news is that Jesus Christ, perfect God, perfect man, humanity, on the eternal God, the eternal Son of God, that's what the incarnation is, eternal Son of God, taking on human flesh, being born into this world, living a perfect, sinless life, and then giving that perfect life as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. That's what he did on the cross when he came so that we could have the forgiveness of sins. The Bible clearly teaches that the result of sin is death from the very beginning when Adam sinned against God. Part of the curse was death. He would return to the earth that God formed him from. He would turn back to ashes, dust. He would physically die because of his sin against God. Jesus Christ came along as the second Adam, as the one who lived a perfect life and gave himself on that cross for our sins. Our sin separates us from God. Jesus Christ took that separation out of the way by dying on the cross for us. And now we simply must trust in what He has done for us. Rest in what He has done for us. Change our minds about what He has done for us. How we can be right with God. Understand that, yeah, I'm a sinful person. I'm separated from God because of that sin. There's nothing I can do to take that out of the way. I need to trust in what Christ has already done for me. And at the moment that you do that, you receive the forgiveness of sins, you receive eternal life from God, and now you can start living the daily life of being a Christian. Now these things that we read in verses 12 through 24, start to make sense. Oh, okay, I need to, since God has done this for me, now I can start living in a way that's pleasing to him by doing these things that he has talked about. in these verses. That is the good news of salvation through faith in Christ. That is how we can love God in this life by accepting the fact that we are sinful and that Jesus Christ is the only way to have the forgiveness of sins. That's essentially loving God. The role of the pastor is to tell people about that and how we can receive this forgiveness of sins. That's how we can take care of this incredible problem that we have with the God who created us. And that's as far as we're going to be able to make it today in our study of Until He Comes. The role of the pastor, very, very important in the life of the local church. We need to understand that Paul is requesting these things of the Thessalonians. He's not commanding them. He's not ordering them to respect the pastor, but rather he's requesting that you do that. And if you do, it will be for your own benefit. Let's go to the Lord in prayer.