1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 ESV
“We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.”
Now, who is this talking about? This is not talking about
everyone who calls himself “pastor” or who has the title of “Reverend” in front
of his name. Too many charlatans and wolves in sheep’s clothing exist in today’s
modern market-driven “churches,” which are not the church, the body of Christ,
but which are businesses of men which are being marketed to the world, but
which have some true believers in Jesus attending their gatherings.
So, for us to follow this directive, number one we need to
be just the body of Christ following Christ and not men in their deceitful
scheming. We can’t be this mixture of the world being led by men of the world
who are following what the world is telling them to do. That is not the church,
and those are not the men this passage of Scripture is talking about. The men that
this passage is referring to meet the biblical requirements for overseer.
These are men who are teaching the truth of the gospel, that
Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his
righteousness. They are teaching that we must repent of (turn away from) our
sins and that we must, by the grace of God, and in his power and strength, walk
in obedience to our Lord Jesus in doing what his word commands that we must do.
And they are those who are exercising true biblical disciplines for the body.
So, this in no way is referring to men in positions of
pastor within the institutional market-driven and flesh-driven “churches” (businesses)
of today here in America and in other nations. We are not to esteem men who are
following after other men and their marketing schemes, and who are running the
church gatherings like any other business being marketed to the world. And we
are especially not to esteem those who are diluting the gospel.
“For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.” Phil. 3:18-19
And the Bible directs us that we are not to make God’s
house, which is (us) the body of Christ, into a marketplace. We are also not to
be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, which is what the institutional
church is, a bond between the body of Christ and the world and the state and
big business. And it is being run just like a business. So, we are to come out
of “Babylon” so that we do not share in her sins and in her punishment, for her
sins are piled high to heaven (Jn 2:13-17; 2 Co 6:14-18; Rev 18:1-5).
1 Thessalonians 5:14-15 ESV
“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.”
So, for us to follow this whole passage we need to be in a
biblical setting for what we call “church.” We need to be gathering together
with the body of Christ for mutual encouragement where we use the gifts God has
given to us in the assigned roles he has for us to help the body of Christ to
maturity in Christ and to not be led astray by men in their deceitful scheming
with their false doctrines of salvation and with their man-made religion.
And then we need to be going out into the world with the
truth of the gospel, not bringing the world into our gatherings and thus
altering both our gatherings and the gospel in order to attract the world. We
aren’t supposed to attract the world to us, but we are to tell them the truth
of the gospel that they must die with Christ to sin and live to Christ and to
his righteousness in the power and working of God in their lives, as they cooperate
fully with God in his work of transformation in their lives.
So, who are we to respect and honor? Those who are following
the Lord Jesus with their lives, who are walking the walk and who are not just
talking it, who are living in moral purity, who are students of the Scriptures,
and who are themselves following the Lord in obedience to his commands. They
should be people who are sharing with us the truth of God’s word and not this
modern cheap grace gospel which does not put sin to death.
We are to respect and honor those who are bringing to us the
truths of the Scriptures and who are admonishing us to walk in holiness and
righteousness and who are teaching biblical principles for godly living,
whether or not they are in positions of authority over us, or whether or not
they go by any particular title. Now we don’t have to obey those not in
biblical authority over us but we can still show them honor.
And please don’t give honor to those who are not living holy
lives, above reproach, who are just following other men and their marketing
schemes and their books, much of which do not teach the truth of the gospel and
which incorporate all sorts of humanistic philosophy and worldly thinking and
worldly practices. Be those who test everything against the Scriptures and make
sure you are following people who teach the truth and not the lies.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 ESV
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”
And don’t shut out those who are truly following the Lord
Jesus with their lives just because they don’t fit with today’s modern
marketing schemes and just because they are teaching the full gospel and not
this half-truth (false) gospel which does not teach dying with Christ to sin
daily and walking in righteousness and holiness in obedience to our Lord’s
commands. Don’t follow men in calling the Lord’s servants hyper-religious or
crazy.
Don’t join in with the charlatans who are calling the Lord’s
servants teachers of works salvation. Don’t quench the Spirit of God by
stopping up your ears when you hear the words “obedience” and “repentance.” But
test everything against the word of God. But do this in biblical context of
what the Scriptures are actually teaching. For many false doctrines come from
Scriptures taught outside their context and twisted to say something else. Be
people of truth!
For the Scriptures teach that for us to be in Christ, by
faith in him, and to have our sins forgiven, and to have the hope of eternal
life with God, we must have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we
must have been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to
be like God in true righteousness and holiness. And then we must daily die to
sin and to self and daily follow our Lord in obedience to his commands.
For if we don’t, and if we continue to live in sin, making
sin our practice, deliberately and habitually doing what we know we ought not
to do, living for sin and for self, and we do not walk in obedience to our Lord
in holiness and in righteous living, then we don’t have the hope of eternal
life with God. For Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter into the kingdom of heaven but only the one DOING the will of God
the Father who is in heaven (Matt 7:21-23). So, please take this to heart.
[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn
15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1
Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Gal
5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal
6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb
10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Ac 26:18; Rev
18:1-6; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
For
Our Nation
An
Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: we’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
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