You open your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. We've been moving right along through this book. We're going to slow down just a little bit this afternoon. We're going to look only at three verses. As a way of reminding ourselves, Paul is writing to the church at Thessalonica, sharing some truths with them, reminding them of his desire to be there with them, also sharing with them truths that they needed to know that probably they'd never heard before, especially things like chapter 4, beginning at verse 13 where he talks about the Lord coming to take out the saints and bring those with him who are dead and who have preceded those who are alive and everyone being caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. And then he moves into chapter 5, the times and the seasons. Brethren, you don't need that I write unto you for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape." So he warns of God's judgment to come upon those who are unsaved. The day of the Lord, we touched on that last week. We'll deal with that more extensively probably at the end of this study. He says, but you brethren are not in darkness, verse four. that that day should overtake you as a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night." But let us who are of the day be sober." The word sober there is not abstaining from alcohol, it's serious-minded, sober-minded about these things that are occurring. And the analogy he uses there is those that are drunken with the world and the sin of the world, their life is full of that, but we are to be away from that, we're not to be a part of that. So he says, but let us, verse 8, who are of the day, those who know the Lord, John chapter 3 talks about that. We have come to the light. We're not afraid of the light because the light has set us free. Therefore, we of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain deliverance by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us that whether we are awake or we are dead, we should live together with Him. Wherefore, comfort yourselves together and edify one another, even as you also do. And so we find here, he says, I'm sharing some things I shared about the rapture. I told you to comfort one another with these words. I share now about end time things. It's not as pleasant, not as beautiful as the rapture of the church, but it's reality. It's going to happen. It's going to take place. But I want you to comfort yourselves because God has not appointed the believer under wrath. And therefore, we can comfort ourselves with these truths as we are already doing, let's continue to do, and let us edify one another." And then he goes to verse number 12, and he begins in these last few verses some just quick thoughts. like something, a thought flashing across a screen, bang, bang, bang. And that's how we see these last thoughts. And it begins with verse 12. We beseech you, brethren, to know them that labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly for their work's sake and be at peace among yourselves. 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 to all men. So we come to verse number 12, and he again kind of transitions into another thought, but it's an important thought because he begins it with this phrase, which is point A under number one, I beseech you. Or you would say, I ask you or I request that you. This is something that he is wanting them to take note of. This is what I want you to do. Don't just let this pass in one ear and out the other. But this is something I want you to be concerned with. And what does he say? I beseech you. I want you to know them that labor among you. The word know means to have an understanding of more than just a surface knowledge. It's kind of getting into those people's lives to some degree and learning more about them, learning more about their background, more of what they think, more of what they do. Why do they lead the way they do? Why do they make the decisions that they make? There is a purpose for it. There is reasoning for it. To know those who labor among us, we have to know a little more about them than just their name and what their address is. So he says, I want you to know them. Know who? A, those, one, them that labor among you. The word labor here, point A, is to toil or to work. Matthew 11, 28 said, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. I have a quote here for you, point two, used to denote not so much the actual exertion which a man makes, but the weariness which he experiences from the exertion. Designates that which we as Christians ought to render to the Lord as labor in Christian ministry. So he says, I want you to know them that labor among you. Point B, labor among you, or those within your body of believers. I want you to know those folks. Now, that would be twofold. One, it would be those who are in full-time ministry. And secondly, those who volunteer their time and talents for the Lord. Those who do the majority of the Lord's work are made up of volunteers. And I guess my question would be, do you know who does what around here? Do you know who teaches Sunday school? Do you know what class they teach? Do you know those that are involved in our children's church ministry? Do you know who the people are that work in the nursery? You see, we come and we can anticipate, okay, there's going to be a nursery worker, there's going to be a Sunday school teacher, there's going to be somebody to run the sound booth, there's going to be somebody to preach the sermon. There can be somebody clean on the week prior to the service on Sunday, but do we know who those people are? There'll be people to greet, but do we know who they are? These are folks that are laboring among us. These are folks that volunteer their time. Do we know the people that are involved in the American Heritage Girls Club? Patty talked about praising the Lord for the workers, the ladies at work, and do the responsibility that keeps this club going. It requires quite a few people. Do you have any idea who they are? What about the Good News Club? Do you know the people that volunteer to help in the Good News Club? Have you ever gone out and read the list of those who volunteer to bring treats for the Good News Club? And believe me, that's a real blessing. We're alive today because you have brought the treats to Good News Club. And we praise the Lord for that, seriously. But do you know these people? We're admonished here to know those who labor among us And it's a responsibility we should have. Why should we bother ourselves to take the time? We're talking a lot of names here. We're talking a lot of people. Why should I take the time to get to know these people? Because what goes on in their personal life affects the ministry of this church. If they're having physical needs or relational needs, if their family's going through a struggle, something that's going on in their world, the more you know about those people, the better you can pray for them. And indeed, you should be praying for the workers, because this ministry rises and falls not on the preaching, but on the workers who work here, who teach, who labor, who clean, who serve. Without you, we could not survive and keep this ministry afloat and going. And it's important that we know these people because they are very critical to the ministry of this church. And so we want to be sure that we are obeying, even in what we would consider a small thing, that I can tell who teaches what Sunday school class. I know who the nursery workers are. I may not know what week they show up. I don't necessarily have to know their schedule, but I know the people that are working in the nursery. And I can pray for them. I know those who do children's church. I know those who are on the cleaning list. And I'm there to pray for them and get to know them better so that I can, as a person, can minister in their life through prayer, through an encouraging word. When was the last time you went up to one of the Sunday school teachers and said, listen, I just want you to know I appreciate the fact that you're willing to teach the Sunday school class, even though I don't have any children in there. I just want you to know I appreciate your willingness to do that. And I want you to know I'm praying for you. Paul says, I want you, I beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you. And then he says, I beseech you to know them which are over you in the Lord. And the concept here is to preside in the sense of, to lead, to conduct, to direct. Again, that's a definition, and I give you the reference there from which I pulled it. And admonish you, or the idea of instruct, point three. They instruct you, they give friendly, earnest advice and encourage you, and as the Bible says, in the Lord. What do you know about the deacons of this church? What do you know about their wives? What do you know about myself and my wife? Those of us that God has placed in a position of leadership to instruct, to give friendly and earnest advice and counsel, to encourage, to admonish. We are called to get to know these people, know about them, know their struggles, know some of their history with their family. We don't have to know everything But I mean, we learned much about the McCall family as they shared with us what was going on with their sons and continues to go on with one of their sons. They transferred from one son to another son. And so do you know that? Do you have a clue what I'm talking about? Those are things we need to know. And let me put a little plug in here. One of the best places we learn these things is on Wednesday night, the time where we get together to get to know more about each other personally, to hear requests and praises and find out more about what's going on in these people's lives so that we can better pray for them and understand them. Our Wednesday service is extremely important because it's a time more informal than any where we get together for the purpose of fellowship and prayer and sharing what's going on in our world. And we are admonished to know these things. Paul says in Romans 15, 14, Colossians 3, 16, So Paul says, I beseech you, brethren, get to know the people that help make up the body of believers where you worship. Don't just come and warm a seat, but get involved. Now, I'm not necessarily talking so much about taking on a position in the church here, but get involved knowing who these people that serve, who they are. more about them so that you not only will be more aware of names and faces, but you'll also be aware of needs within the body so you as a prayer warrior can pray for all those folks that are giving of their time and their talents in service to God, knowing them. What about the two new faces on the block that are leading and playing on Sunday afternoons? What do you know about Jonathan? What do you know about Evan? Do you know what year they are at the university? Do you know what their major is? Do you know where they came from? Things that we need to know that help make us function better as a good, solid ministry. Now, that takes some effort. It's much easier for me to come to church, do my thing, and go home and not get involved, not get to know people, not involved in their lives. But we are admonished to do that. The second point, verse 13, he says, I beseech you to know them, and secondly, and to esteem them. I want you to get to know them, and I want you to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And then I want you to be at peace among yourselves. The word esteem here, point A, is to think and display with admiration, to value these people for what they do. Do you know how many hours that these folks spend in preparing for the services? How much time they give of themselves, a Saturday afternoon or throughout the week, time they could be using for other things that they're voluntarily giving of themselves so they can be here on Sunday and do their job well. He says, I want you to esteem them, to think and display with admiration. How do we do it? Very highly. an utmost admiration. Man, you know, when we admire what the folks are doing in this local body for the Lord, we're going to want to tell them, I really appreciate what you do. I really appreciate the fact that you are willing to do what's necessary. I told Lila this morning, I really appreciate the fact that she, at a moment's notice, was willing to step to the plate and play the piano. And in talking with her a little bit, I found out that she was also having a physical struggle herself. trying to decide whether she felt well enough to come this morning. But the text message she got answered that request for her, and she knew. I admire her for that, and I appreciate her willingness to do that. And we get to know these folks and tell them we appreciate their efforts and their work. We learn things about them, and we are to esteem them very highly for their work's sake, point two. Because the service they render for the work of the Lord, that's why we esteem them. Because they're willing to give their talents, their gifts, their abilities to serve God in a special way. And therefore, we let them know it. We need to have such a respect for God and His work. Such a high regard for the work of the Lord that when we find there are people serving in different capacities in the work of the Lord, we just rejoice in them. You know, we live in a section of the country where we think every church has multiple people where three or four deep and who can fill a class or who can teach a lesson or who can preach in the pulpit. Leave Greenville. Cross the Mississippi River. You enter into a different world. I know that because I pastored there for 21 years in the Midwest. There are many times that people are doubling up because you don't have anybody. In the first ministry we started in Nebraska, we went five years without a piano player. We sung a cappella for five years. And then when we got one, we wished that we were still singing a cappella. And that's a fact. But you know, that lady wanted to serve the Lord, and we let her serve. And we were thankful for it. And we worked around it as much as we could. But that's what happens. I mean, you know, we need to realize that these people who are serving are serving the Lord. And we have such a high regard for the Lord's work, not so much these people, but the Lord's work, that we are just so appreciative that these people are willing to get in there and do the Lord's work. And we express that, we hold them in great regard for the work's sake. You see, we need to have respect for God's work and we need to hold and esteem those whom He is using to fulfill His work. The people that serve voluntarily here in this church are not just people that just happen to be available. God has placed them in that position. They have a responsibility to God to do their best, but we have a responsibility to God to hold them in high esteem and know them and pray for them. And then point B seems a little based on what he's been sharing, how this would fit in. But I want to point out what I see as a pastor, because he says point B and be at peace among yourselves. You're talking about encouraging one another and praying for one another, knowing one another, esteeming one another, at peace among ourselves. Well, let's look at it. One, a respect for those whom God has placed in a position of leadership and laborer will result in peace among those who are being led and served. A respect for the ones God has placed in leadership or service will cause us to have a peace among ourselves who are being led or who are being served. Two, realizing God is the one who places people in ministry has a calming effect upon our hearts and our minds. After all, those who serve are answerable to the Lord for their laborers. whether they are good or whether they are bad. One of the things I've tried to make a practice of, I have enough to think about, I don't micromanage this ministry. Don't micromanage. I don't get in the Sunday school teacher's life and tell them how to do their job. I believe if God won them in that position, God is big enough to show them how to do the ministry. And I let them do it. Now, I know if God wants me to find out something that the teacher might be doing that I need to address, God will point that out to me, one way or another, through a discouraged or disappointed or unhappy parent or through a child. or through some other event. See, I just have enough belief that God's ministry is God's ministry, and God will guide and direct through that ministry, and I can just leave those people that serve. Do they all teach Sunday school like I do? No. Do they all conduct themselves like I do? No. Is there somebody here that could do a better job? I don't know. Obviously not right now because God has them where He wants them, the children's church workers, the nursery workers. But as I respect those people, as I get to know more about them, know more about their life, know more about their thinking, know better how to pray for them. I have a piece that God's in control. And when somebody's feathers get ruffled, I can believe that God is going to work it out. And he'll show me what I need to do to help get it taken care of. And He'll show me how involved I should be at that. And that's the same with all of us. As we are doing what God tells us to do individually, we're going to be at peace with one another because we realize that God's the one that placed these people in ministry where they are. And that brings about a calming effect to our hearts and minds. After all, those who serve are answerable to the Lord for what they do, whether it's good or whether it's bad. Then we come to point three, verse 14 and 15. He goes to a different thought. He says, 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 to all men." The first thought he shares with us here is point A, ministering to all the flock. The first part he says is, I want you to warn the unruly. In verse 14, the word warn means to admonish by way of reminding them. And what do we remind them of? We remind them of whatever they need to be reminded of. It may vary. It may be a Sunday school teacher or a children's church worker that fretting over a wayward child or a work situation or a financial problem. And I can go, or you can go, and we admonish them. We say, you know, I want you to know I'm praying for you, first of all. I know you're having this thing going on in your life, and I want you to know I'm praying for you. And I'm trusting that you'll keep your eyes on the Lord through all this. Now, what can I do to help you? Now, we can do the first two, but sometimes it's that third one that we don't want to do. What can I do to help you? So we warn, that's the admonishing by way of reminding. But here it's specifically related to the unruly. Who are the unruly? The ones that are spiritually undisciplined. That's what the word means, those who are spiritually undisciplined. It comes from a military term, meaning to march out of step. When I was in the military, I served in the Air Force Honor Guard in Washington, D.C., and we did a lot of marching. And those uniforms let you know anybody that's out of step, because they have these reflective leg stripes that go down, not down the inside, but down the outside. And when you're walking along, those stripes better all be together. And the step pace should be the same and everything should match. And when someone's out of step, not only is their stripes going the wrong way, but their head's going up and down. Everybody's head's going this way and their head's going this way. It's the opposite. It's always the opposite. It stands out. And so those who are unruly are those that are going to really stand out. It's obvious they've got a kink in their spiritual engine and it needs to be fixed. It needs to be dealt with. And so we are to admonish them. Look at 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 6, Now we command you, brethren, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us. For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us, for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you. And then verse 11, for we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. And so the unruliness that's going on that Paul talks about in the second letter to Thessalonica are those that are lazy, laziness. And he says, I want you to warn those people. Well, the second thing we do in ministering to the whole body is we comfort the feeble minded. The word comfort means to come alongside, so as to encourage and aid. The feeble-minded, it's not a good word in our 21st century that we think of. I think of somebody that's feeble-minded, you know what I'm talking about, I'm not even gonna go there. But the word here means faint-hearted. Those who are faint-hearted, those who are struggling in their faith. They're not strong-minded in the faith, they're feeble-minded. They're faint-hearted, they're vacillating, whatever it may be. And as we get to know folks and get to know more about their life and what's going on in the world, we know at times when we see them that maybe they're struggling. And so we can go alongside them and say, I may be wrong here, but I sense that maybe you're struggling with something. What can I do for you? Is there anything I can pray about specifically? Is there a special need that you have that maybe I can help to meet? And so we minister, we comfort the feeble-minded. Then three, we support the weak. The word support means to help, to hold up. The weak are those who are sick, both physically and spiritually. So we come along and we help them. They're too weak spiritually or physically to stand up on their own. So one person gets on one side of them, grabs one arm, another person gets on the other side and grabs that other arm and says, okay, let us help you get from point A to point B. And so we minister that way. Four, we're patient toward all. Now I'm good up to this point, but he says patient toward all. The word all, and it's used in the New Testament, has a very interesting Greek meaning to it. In the Greek, the word means A-L-L. In the English, it means all. But we're to be long-suffering toward every believer in our midst. Long-suffering. And in some situations, that's how we get along with them. We suffer long. We bite our tongue. We don't tell them what they ought to do or how they ought to do it. We don't go behind them and correct everything they've done wrong. We want to, but we don't. We don't go to them and tell them, you're in this mess because, and no, we are patient toward all, long-suffering. Point B, everyone in the local assembly is not like you or like me. Long-suffering toward each other believer, especially those who may hold differing views than ours, is a must. Those who do things differently than we would do them requires us to be long-suffering with them. They're the one doing it, not us. When we have an opportunity to do it, we'll do it our way. But if they're doing it, we'll be long-suffering with them, because that's what the Scripture says. You see, after all, God is that way toward you, long-suffering. There's not a one of us here that would do it the way God does it, but He is long-suffering with us. You see, the admonition of verse 15.5 is to be flexible and not so disciplinarian. The body is diverse and has diverse strengths and weaknesses. As a fellow member of the body, we must be willing to be used of God to serve the whole body, not just the ones that think and act like I do. but we must minister and serve the whole body. And then he says, I want you to exhort or warn the unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. Verse 15, see that none render evil for evil or leave the vengeful spirit alone. You will never get what you want. You'll never accomplish what you set out to do by being vengeful. It will make you worse by going down that path. So leave the vengeful spirit alone. Render to none evil for evil, but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all men. See, be attracted to that which God calls good. Now, it's not many verses, but there's a lot of stuff here. We've just scratched the surface. May God help us to not just take this lightly, but that we'll think about it and meditate on it throughout the week, and that we'll be willing to change. It may require us to make a phone call to somebody and say, you know, I just need to get to know you better. I want to know better how to pray for you. Or, you know, I don't know a whole lot about you. Where are you from originally? Do you have any children that are not in the church? How about your husband? Do you guys have any special needs that I could be praying for? Or is there something that you need help with in your family or in your home? Is there something I need to go and talk to the pastor about? Maybe something he's not aware of that would be of help to you. It may require that. It may require you having them in your home. It may require you just to get along with them in the church and just pick somebody out on a regular basis and say, you know, I don't want to hoard their time. And I don't want to rob them from ministering and speaking to others, but I'm going to take just a few minutes of their time and find out what I can about this person so I can pray for them better." You might be amazed. Some people might look at us and say, what are you up to? But it shouldn't be. We should have enough confidence in each other that we believe that every person here wants to have the other person's back. And as we do that, God will be honored, and Satan will be made mad. And we're wanting to make him good and mad while we serve God faithfully. And God will honor us and bless us for it. Help us, Lord. I thank you for the people of this church, for their desire to serve you. And many of them are already doing what I preached about. Many of them know so much about different folks. Many of them let me know things about folks that I wasn't aware of. And I appreciate that, Lord. I appreciate that people here want to be involved in other people's lives. But maybe there's someone here or several someones here that have just kind of gotten off to the side and not necessarily because they don't want to know about people. They are a little apprehensive and they're not sure how people might respond to them. Help them to understand, God, that these verses give them license to go to anybody in this congregation and say, you know, I want to get to know you better. I want to know more about you so I can pray for you, so I can serve you as God allows me opportunity. So help us to be that way, Lord. When new people come in, help us to want to know who they are, where they're from, why they're here, what we can do for them. Help us to get to know these college young people. Lord, you've blessed us with an opportunity to touch the lives of young people that will go out and serve you as the Lord tears his return for many years to come. And I thank you for that opportunity. Help us take the time to get to know these young people, spend time with them, talking to them, encouraging them, letting them know that we are thankful they're here. and that we value their presence in our midst. Help us, Father. We want to serve you well, and we just pray that this ministry will be a well-oiled machine that functions the way the Bible tells us, that we can see your continued blessing upon it and growth in it. Keep us throughout this week. Bless the choir as they practice, and we will thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.