Be Patient with Them All

“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. 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. 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.” (1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 ESV)

This was the apostle Paul writing to the church in Thessalonica. And he was giving them all sorts of instructions, counsel, and encouragement, so this is not about just one subject, but regarding several topics. And the first subject is with regard to how we are to treat those who labor for the Lord among us who are true servants of the Lord Jesus and are genuine followers of Christ. These are people who are living lives above reproach, who are living in moral purity, uprightness, integrity, faithfulness, and in obedience to the Lord.

So, this does not include every person who calls himself a pastor or elder or deacon or missionary or who has credentials from Bible colleges and seminaries. And these are not people who are leading the church to market the church to the world just like any other business and who are altering the divine character and will of God, and who are diluting the gospel of Christ, and who have turned the church into a business and so have changed its character in order to attract the world to their gatherings. So be discerning!

In other words, you do not have to give respect and honor to those who labor among you from the flesh and from what they are learning from marketing books and seminars and some seminaries on how to “grow their churches,” like businesses market their businesses and products to the people of the world. You should be kind, and you should love all people, but the people you are to respect and honor who labor among you are those who are following the Lord Jesus with their lives in surrender to his will.

And then we who believe in Jesus, who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and to his righteousness, we also have a responsibility to the body of Christ. We are to be co-laborers in the work of the ministry in admonishing those who are not living for the Lord and who are spiritually and physically lazy. And we are to be encouragers who help those who are fainthearted to keep moving ahead.

And we are to help those who are weak physically, emotionally, and/or spiritually in any ways that we are able, and as the Lord lays it upon our hearts to do so. Obviously we can’t be all things to all people, so we just need to pray for direction in this and then go wherever the Lord leads us, but we must be encouragers and those who speak the truth in love to one another and who help one another wherever possible. This is what all of us are supposed to be doing, encouraging each other in our walks of faith.

And when this says to be patient with them all, it reminds me that I am 74 years old, and a lot of my friends are the same age (close to) as me, and we are all beginning to show our age physically and mentally, too. My brain is definitely slowing down, and writing takes more time now because I am digesting everything at a much slower pace. And I miss words sometimes and have to go back and make corrections, and in conversations I am at a loss for words sometimes. So especially be patient with the elderly. 

And we must be people who make it our practice to forgive those who have sinned against us or that we perceive have sinned against us in some way. We must not hold grudges, nor are we to be those who repay evil with evil. When we have no direct knowledge of anything, we need to give people the benefit of the doubt. And we are to love everyone, even our enemies, with the love that comes from God and which prefers all that is holy, godly, morally pure, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord.

Now when it says to rejoice always and to pray without ceasing and to give thanks in all circumstances, this is not to say that we can’t grieve, or that we can’t call out to God in our suffering. Even Jesus did that when he knew he was about to be hung on a cross to die and to take the sins of the world upon himself. Paul even stated how he and his companions despaired even of life, their trials were so difficult (2 Corinthians 1:8). But we must not get grumpy and gripe and complain, but we must praise God even in our trials.

And then we must be very careful that we do not quench the Spirit. For the Spirit of God within us speaks to us and he speaks through some of us. And to prophesy in this regard is merely to speak messages (like sermons) from God. But they must be biblical in nature, and not contrary to the teachings of the Scriptures. So we are to test everyone and everything against the teachings of the Scriptures, in context, and in prayer. And then we are to hold on to what is good, and abstain from every form of evil.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

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