God Says The Family Matters 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Transcription

1 God Says The Family Matters 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 Today we hear a lot about Policemen s lives matter, firefighters lives matter, black lives matter. Fact is, ALL LIVES MATTER. In a culture where the family is in trouble I believe we can find in the scriptures that God is telling us that the Family matters too. God must love the family because the enemy is attacking it daily. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 (KJV) 1Th 12 And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; 1Th 13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves. 1Th 14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. 1Th 15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. 1Th 16 Rejoice evermore. 1Th 17 Pray without ceasing. 1Th 18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1Th 19 Quench not the Spirit. 1Th 20 Despise not prophesyings. 1Th 21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 1Th 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. 1Th 23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Th 24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. 1Th 25 Brethren, pray for us. 1Th 26 Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss. 1Th 27 I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. 1Th 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Paul s letters to the Christians in Thessalonica, was to a group of believers who were relatively new in the faith. They had demonstrated what it means to have a model faith, a faith worth talking about, to have work produced by faith, labor prompted by love, endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was so proud of these new Christians in Thessalonica; He called them his hope and his joy. They were living in such a way that God could really do some powerful and incredible things through them. Ephesians 3:20 God is able to do FAR MORE than we could ever ask or even dream of - infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts or hopes... As Paul concludes this letter he reminds them of what they are... And in doing so also reminds us of what we are... Paul reminds the Thessalonian Christian s in the last 16 verses of this letter; that they are family. One of Paul s favorite terms for describing believers was brothers. In the 13 books of the Bible he wrote, Paul uses the word brothers over 60 times. Listen to a view in the scriptures that support this truth; 1 Peter 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Gal 6:10 calls us,

2 the family of believers Heb 2:11 says, we are of the same family... 1 Peter 4:17 calls us; the family of God... Paul wants the Thessalonians to keep growing, AND he wants them to grow as a family. And because the Family Matters (whether your physical family or your church family), Paul found it necessary as he closed this letter to talk about family matters. That s what we are going to do today There are two major heading for our discussion; 1) Family responsibilities. I heard about a Little League coach who during a game, said to one of his players, Do you understand what team work is? The little boy nodded. Do understand that what matters is whether we win as a team? The boy said, Yes. The coach continued, When a strike is called, or you are out at first, you don t argue or curse or attack the umpire. Do you understand all of that? The boy nodded. Good, the coach said, Now go over an explain to your mother! For a family to function and function well, it takes teamwork. Within any family there are many things to be done and it goes much better when we share the responsibilities; In a family it s someone s job to cut the grass; wash the cars, clean the bathrooms, pay the bills, empty trash cans, buy the groceries, sweep the floor, take out the trash, vacuum the house, do the dishes, wash the clothes, set the table...etc And let me say this, it s good even at any early age to give children some responsibilities so that they can be a contributing member of the family instead of enabling them by doing everything for them. Even simple things begin to start the pattern of teamwork. The church too is a family and different people have different responsibilities; Paul talks about this in verses of our text.. And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; 13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves. 14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. In these 3 verses Paul talks about the responsibilities of the leaders within the church family. 1. Work Hard. The word Paul uses here that is translated work hard or labour means, to toil, strive, to struggle, and to grow weary in doing so. Being the leader of a family is hard work; whether you are talking about a family at home or a church family. Now, Paul obviously has the elders of the church in mind, because he says in vs 12, that they are the ones who are over the congregation. Why is family work so hard? Because it involves people; people with feelings, struggles, hurts and problems, egos etc.. And to care for people is often hard work Be Worthy Of Respect.. It s hard to follow a leader that you don t respect. Question; what

3 does a leader do to be worthy of respect. He works / leads by example; He practices what he preaches; His word can be trusted, he is honest, kind, compassionate and caring... He treats others with respect... another responsibility of the leaders is to 3. Correct Wrong Behavior. One of the responsibilities of the family leader, is to correct wrong behavior. Now this is not easy to do, but it is necessary. Heb 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it... Why is it necessary to correct wrong behavior? Because wrong behavior effects a persons relationship with God. Not only does Paul talk about the responsibilities of the Family leaders, he also talks about the responsibilities of the family members. First In Regards To Their Leaders Show them you respect & hold them in the highest regard in love. Why? Because God has placed them over you and they work hard. How? By letting them know that you appreciate them. The burdens of leadership are many and often times the encouragements are few and far between. Most of the time leaders don t hear from people unless they are doing something wrong or there is a problem that needs fixing. What are some practical ways to show them you appreciate them? A card or note, a phone call, invite them over for dinner, ask them is there anything going on anywhere that you can help? Another responsibility of the family members. 2) Accept Correction. The word translated admonish means, to warn against bad behavior and it s consequences... One of the biggest tests we ever face in our Christian walk is our ability to accept correction. How well do you accept correction, especially from those, 1 Peter 5:5-7 who are over you in the Lord. **Pr 10:17 He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray. **2. Responsibilities In Regards To Other Family Members. Not only to do the leaders have a responsibility to the members of the church, so do the members themselves, they have mutual responsibilities towards each other. Like what? Well; **1) Warn The Idle. Vs 14.. The work that the Thessalonians were a part of is the most important work that there is. Getting people ready for the second coming of Christ. They need to warn the idle because the more who are busy warning men, the more people are saved. Another reason to warn the idle is that there is a danger in lagging behind - in not doing the Lord s work, they may get picked off by the enemy. **2)Encourage The Timid. The word that is translated here as timid or feebleminded- is best

4 understood to mean discouraged. Do you see anyone who is discouraged, or feeling down in the family here at CLC? Encouragement is a powerful tool, one that when used the right way can make an incredible impact on the life of another person. It can enable them to hang in there when they feel like quitting... Understand that in the church family; ** encouragement is like a peanut butter sandwich; the more you spread it around the better things stick together. We all (and not just the leaders) as members of God s family, have a responsibility toward the idle - the timid. and 3rdly to: **3) Help The Weak. Paul is not hear talking about those who are physically weak but rather those who are spiritually weak... And literally he is saying; hold on to the weak! Don t let them fall. Help them... We re not to sit back and let the weak fall, we re to help them overcome their weakness, help them grow in the Lord, so that they in turn will be able to help and support others. Now the other major heading for our discussion Paul goes one to mention Family policy. 1 Thess 5:14b-28. Family members should not only have responsibilities BUT they also have to abide by certain policies, those rules that help the family function smoothly... Policies like: clean up after yourself, no hitting-put downs-or fighting, each other, If you take the clothes out of the drier you fold them, if you got it out - you put it away, 2 wrongs don t make a right, never lie, if you force me to give an answer right away the answer will always be no, your bed has to be made before you go out to play, Don t run around the house with dirty shoes, knock before going into someone s room, give thanks before you eat your meal, replace the toilet paper when only a empty cardboard cylinder is left, always flush the toilet and put the seat down when you are done. I m sure your family has some rules just like that. In Paul s final words of these letters - it s like he is saying, okay here are the rules for all the members of the family... Here are the ways you are to be and the way to act, if you guys do this, then the church family will run smoothly... 1 Have The Right Attitude. Here are 4attitudes that are standard family policy for the church. Be Patient With Everyone. If there is one thing we all can use a little more of, it is patience. And in a church family with all kinds of different people and with people at so many different places in their Christian life, we need patience. A hot tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel. - Pr 15:18 Attitude 2 that is standard family policy Don t Be Vengeful - Be Kind. Two rough & tough looking bikers were eating in a truck stop, they spotted a rather small

5 truck driver sitting alone, and they began to pick on him. Since the guy was ignoring their verbal rants, one of the bikers walked up to the man s table and dumped his food on the floor. The man said nothing just quietly got up, paid his bill and left. The bikers said to the waitress, He sure wasn t much of a man. She paused looked out the window and said, He isn t much of a driver either, he just ran his rig over all your motorcycles on the way out. Paul says in our text; Make sure that no one pays back wrong for wrong, but always be kind to each other, and everyone else. Now, that s a pretty tall order - don t pay back wrong for wrong is tough enough - but Paul says we need to go a step farther and be kind to those who wrong us... And not only to our church family but to everyone else as well. Attitude 3 that is standard family policy Be Joyful Always. Be joyful always, now that s another tall order... That word always doesn t leave any room for debate. How in the world can we be joyful always? How can joy be commanded? Because joy comes from the inside - it is independent of any outside circumstance... joy is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of Christ. And joy is one of the fruit of the spirit... Joyful people are just fun to be around... Attitude 4 that is standard family policy; Pray Continually.. Now this doesn t mean we must always be prayers with eyes closed & out loud. The word means to constantly be in an attitude of prayer. Something comes up. You re troubled about something. You have a question or a concern. You want to say thanks for something good that just happened. You don t have to close your eyes or bow your head. You don t even have to say it out loud - just say, Oh God, I then whatever you want to say. When we pray continually - it hooks us up to God s power and keeps us always mindful of His presence. Let me ask you a question, do you ever feel that maybe your spouse, kids or parents take for granted all the things you do. Sometimes a simple thank you can go such a long way & create a great atmosphere. We need to thank God more -- and we need to thank each other more. There are a lot things that people have to do in order to keep a church family functioning smoothly. And chances are, at times what they do is taken for granted... When is the last time you thanked the person who teaches your children s class, keeps the nursery, run the sound and media from the back, the ones who prepare the communion table, take care of the flowers or the garden or the ones who sing in the praise band, keeps up the building, those who labor in kitchen clean up...etc... The church is a family and let s not take it s members for granted... Find someone you can

6 thank every Sunday. The right attitude will go along way in keeping a church on target - keeping them growing in the Lord...So then the church family runs smoothly if 1 st you Have The Right Attitude. And 2ndly; you 2. Don t Put Out The Spirit s Fire. Can we put out the spirit s fire? Have you ever been in a church where you didn t feel the spirit, at least not God s? How do we keep from putting out the spirit s fire, here are 2 ways; #1; When we have the proper attitude; of patience, kindness, joy, prayer and Thanksgiving. #2; We also keep the fire going when we listen to God s word, Apart from God s Word we have no certain revelation from the Lord. Worship that ignores the Bible is not spiritual. There may be emotion and even commotion but unless there is spiritual truth, the Spirit of God is not at work. At CLC God s Word rules - this is what it s about... The Word of God is powerful, it s sharper than a doubled edge sword, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart, it is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe, it is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path Be Careful In All You Do. Paul gives 3 quick exhortation that deal with being careful in all you do... We need to test everything... Don t just believe things because someone says it. Just because you may see it on Christian TV or hear it on Christian radio doesn t mean that is true. Just because they look like clean cut boys wearing shirts and ties doesn t mean that what their peddling is of God. How do you test everything. With the Word of God.The classic example of this is found in vs 21 PROVE ALL THINGS Next; Avoid Every Kind Of Evil Evil is all around us and we need to avoid, to stay away from it or else we will get sucked in. Too many times we want to see how close we can get to something sinful without being taken in by it. Can men scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without is feet being scorched... Pr 6:27,28 Don t mess around with evil avoid it - this means there are certain things you shouldn t do, places you should go and people you shouldn t be with. You mess with fire you will get burned. For the next thing to be careful about I want to jump down verse 26.. Be Careful To Greet All The Brothers Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss... Want to be a real close FAMILY OF GOD? Know that it matters to God so heed the instruction you heard today. I pray the scriptures have clearly stated to you that God Says The Family Matters to Him..