July 28, 2025 • 50 mins
Pastor Lance continues our series in 1 Thessalonians, Modeling the Way. He focuses in on the Model Life, particularly the Model Life of Adaptability. As the bride of Christ, we are to be adaptable, not quarrelling amongst one another but being peaceable, so that we may be presented spotless, blameless to the Father in heaven.
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Take your Bible if you would please, and turn to 1st
Thessalonians chapter 5. As we look at verses 12 to 15
this morning, and as you're turning, I'm reminded of a of a
parable written by Karen Maines that she entitles A Brawling
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Bride. She paints A vivid scene
describing A suspenseful moment in a wedding ceremony.
Down front stands the groom in aspotless tuxedo, handsome,
smiling, full of anticipation, shoes shined, every hair in
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place, anxiously awaiting the presence of his bride.
All the attendants are in place,looking joyful and attractive.
The magic of moment finally arrives as a pipe organ reaches
full crescendo and the stately wedding March begins.
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Everyone rises and looks toward the door for their first glimpse
of the bride. Suddenly there is a horrified
gasp. The wedding party is shocked.
The groom stares in embarrassed disbelief.
Instead of a lovely woman dressed in elegant white,
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smiling behind a lace veil, the bride is limping down the aisle.
Her dress is soiled and torn, her legs seems twisted, ugly
cuts and bruises cover her bare arms.
Her nose is bleeding, one eye ispurple and swollen, and her hair
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is dishevelled. Does not this handsome groom
deserve better than this? Asked the author.
And then the clincher. Alas, his bride.
The church has been fighting again, calling the church a
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bride. Paul says these words in
Ephesians 5. Christ loved the church and gave
himself up for her to make her holy and clean so that he could
give her to himself as a glorious church without a single
spot or wrinkle or any other blemish being holy and without a
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single fault. That's the plan, to present a
beautiful bride unscathed, spotless, blameless to his
Father in heaven. And positionally that is true.
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That's exactly what's going to happen.
But practically everyday life isa lot different in the life of
the bride. Instead of being spotless, she
is filled with anger and bitterness, infighting,
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quarreling, arguing, conflict, unresolved happening all the
time, making her a bride that's completely dishevelled and
unlike the bride that will be presented to his Father in
heaven. It is true that the bride does
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survive the blows of the world. All the things the world froze
at. The bride she she can handle.
But it's the infighting that makes the bride so unattractive.
Puritan Thomas Brooks once penned these words.
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He said for wolves to worry lambs is no wonder, but for
lambs to worry one another, thisis a natural and monstrous.
So Paul in his own way is going to address how the church is to
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function, to show that the modellife is one that adapts to each
and every situation with the leadership and with the
membership, so that the fellowship of the bride, the
fellowship of the church, is allthat God designed it to be.
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And so Paul pins these words in First Thessalonians chapter 5,
verse 12 by saying this. But we request of you, brethren,
that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you and
have charge over you and the Lord, and give you instruction
that you seen them very highly in love because of their work.
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Live in peace with one another. We urge you, brethren, admonish
the unruly, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak.
Be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another
with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good
for one another and for all people.
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Fall very simply sums up how we as brethren behave and react and
adapt to those who lead us and to those around us, so that the
Church can be that which God designed it to be.
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So the model life is not just one of abstinence in chapter 4,
verses 1 to 8, or aspiration in chapter 4, verses 9 to 12, or
anticipation in chapter 4, verses 13 to 18, or alertness
chapter 5, verses 1 to 11, but adaptability, flexibility, the
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ability to get along one with another within the body of
Christ. And so he requests, He said that
in chapter 4 verse #1 as well. He appeals to them, first of all
in their relationship to the leadership and then in the
relationship to one another. Now, whether there was conflict
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in the church, we don't necessarily know, but we know
that the Church of Thessalonica was a young church, and so those
who led in the church were youngin the Lord.
They weren't mature men who had been around and seasoned in
their lives and walk with the Lord over a period of time.
They they were young like everyone else was young in the
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Lord, in the church. And so these men, young and the
Lord were appointed by Paul to lead in the church, doesn't call
them elders, but he says they dohave charge over you.
So they have some kind of leadership responsibility and
maybe there was conflict betweensome of the members in the
church. So he gives them exhortation as
to how it is you are to respond to the leadership.
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And then he gives them exhortation on how you are to
respond to the membership one one another.
And then he says this is how thefellowship of the church will be
all that God wants it to be. So when it comes to the
leadership, in verses 12 and 13,he gives 3 exhortations, 3
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responses, three ways that you are to deal with them.
Number one is appreciation for the person.
Number 2 is admiration for his position and #3A preservation of
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the peace. First of all, he says there
needs to be an appreciation for the person.
Look what he says. He says very clearly in verse
12, We request of you, brethren,that you appreciate those who
diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord
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and give you instruction. The reason you appreciate them
is because of the fact that theylabor among you.
They lead you, and they look after you.
That's why you appreciate them. And the word appreciate means to
to know intimately. And it's really interesting
because Paul is exhorting the church to know the leadership
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intimately. Usually the leaders are exhorted
to know the church intimately, but here the church is exhorted
to know the leadership intimately.
He puts a responsibility on the church to appreciate those who
lead them, who are over them in a way that they would know them
in an intimate manner. And so he puts the
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responsibility of the church to know them and to appreciate
them. Why?
Number one is because they diligently labor among you, not,
not over you, but but among you that they're working hard in the
word. They're working hard to, to, to
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treat you in a way that honors the Lord.
They're working hard at at leading you in in the proper
way. It it was used to Paul earlier
in chapter 2 when he said these words in verse #9 for you
recall, brethren, are labor and hardship.
How working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of
you. We proclaim to you the gospel of
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God. He says, you know, brethren, how
we worked hard among you. In fact, in chapter 2, we talked
about the model leader. He says, you know this about us.
You know that about us. You are witnesses about us.
You know us intimately because this is how we behaved among
you. And so now he's telling the
church at Thessalonica to appreciate those who lead them,
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who labor among them, that they might understand their
responsibility in terms of theirwalk with the Lord.
Now, I've been around a long time, and I've seen a lot of my
friends and colleagues in pastoral ministry go through
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churches unbelievably fast simply because they did not
sense any appreciation from those they led.
And there are various reasons for that, and I understand that.
But I'm a firm believer that youwork through those situations
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that that you stay long where you're at, that you just don't
come and because of conflict or because of somebody who's
irritated with you or doesn't like you, you end up leaving
because you can't get along withpeople.
No, you need to work through those situations.
I'm a firm believer that every pastor needs to stay in one
church and one church only. I'm a firm believer that I don't
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think you ought to change churches to churches.
I think that's wrong. I think that's instability for
the people. I think it's not good for the
church. You need to stay where God has
called you to minister. But even with some of those men
who stayed a long time, they were running out of the church.
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Take for example, Jonathan Edwards.
He was the the author of the Great Awakening, the the
greatest revival in American history, probably the greatest
theologian of his day. He pastored the same church for
23 years. So you're a part of this church
and in the 1700s, and you have Jonathan Edwards as your pastor,
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and he's the greatest theological mind of his day.
He's preaching and teaching, working hard, laboring among you
to teach you the truth of God's Word.
And in the 23rd year of his ministry, the people ran him out
of the church, ran him out. They were done with them in the
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end of this ministry, teaching adozen Indians the simple gospel
message. The church that he pastored for
23 years did everything they could to soil his reputation so
no one would hire him as their pastor.
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Think about that. The greatest theological mind of
the 17th century or the 1700s was booted from his church.
It gets worse. Move to the 1800s, You had the
greatest preacher, whoever lived, the Prince of Preachers,
Charles Spurgeon. He was a part of his church for
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over 30 years. He was so popular, he was so
great, that when he was done preaching, they would edit his
sermons, put them on every ship that left England so that the
world would hear the gospel message preached by the Prince
of Preachers. Think about that.
How long would it take a ship toleave England, to get to where
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you live? You'd be waiting weeks, months
to hear that message that was preached by Spurgeon.
But that's what they did. And they ran off all these
copies and they put them on the ships and they moved them out
all around the world. Here he was pastoring the church
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in England, and after 30 years of ministry, the Baptist Union
voted him out. And you know who the final vote
was? It was his associate pastor, who
just happened to be his very ownbrother.
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And he was booted out after all those years of ministry simply
because of a stand on truth and his uncompromising conviction of
the on the word of God. Think about that.
You see, it's one thing for a man to be in a church for two or
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three years and move on. It's nothing for a man to be in
church for a long period of time, 2 decades, 3 decades, 4
decades and the church rise up and say we're done with you, you
got to go. And Paul says to those in
Thessalonica, I I want you to appreciate those who labor among
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you. I want you to know them
intimately. I want you to value them.
I want you to realize the task before them.
You see, one of the one of the problems with with laboring
among the people is not so much the work involved, it's the
loneliness involved. I tell people all the time,
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listen, you want to go into the pastorate, that's great.
But I want you to know you must learn to love loneliness to be a
pastor, to be any kind of leaderworth any salt.
You must learn to love loneliness because you're
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isolated, you're on an island, you're going to make decisions.
Leaders are decision makers. You make a decision.
People are not going to like thedecision you made.
There'll be up in arms against your decision.
So you can't make decisions on basing what you do to please
people. You do it based on pleasing the
Lord and, and sometimes you're going to make decisions that
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people are not happy with, but it requires great loneliness.
Paul experienced that. Remember over in Second Timothy
chapter 1, Paul says these words.
He says to Timothy, You are aware of the fact that all who
are in Asia turned away from me.Here's the apostle Paul all
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right, and all those in Asia turned away from me, among whom
are fragilis and homogeneous. The Lord grant mercy to the
House of onociferous, for he often refreshed me and was not
ashamed of my chains. In other words, there were those
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who deserted him because they were ashamed of Paul and ashamed
of the fact that he was in prison.
But not onosiferous, whose name means bringer of prophet.
Onosiferous one to bring prophetto Paul.
So he says these words. But when he was in Rome, verse
17, he eagerly searched for me and found me.
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The Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day.
And you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus,
Paul says as he's riding away inthis Mamertine prison in Rome.
Everybody in Asia has forsaken me, but there is one guy on
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Luciferous who searched for me and found me.
The Lord granted mercy to his household, but Paul was isolated
because he was in prison. Look what it says earlier in
chapter 4. Later in chapter 4, he says in
verse #9 make every effort to come to me soon, For Demas,
having loved this present world,has deserted me and gone to
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Thessalonica. Demas deserted him, He left him.
Demas was a disciple of the apostle Paul, but there were so
many people that would desert him and leave him isolated.
And the later it says this in verse #16 at my first offense,
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no one supported me. No one but all deserted me.
Everybody left me. I was all alone.
May it not be counted against them.
This, this is so good. Listen.
But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me so that through
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me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all
the Gentiles might hear, and I was rescued out of the lion's
mouth. The Lord will rescue me from
every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly
Kingdom. To him be the glory forever and
ever. Amen.
So here's Paul at the end of hisministry, and he's in this
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memory team prison in Rome, and he's talking to young Timothy
because Timothy needs to be prepared for the fact that he's
going to be deserted. He's going to be left alone.
It's going to happen. If you're going to lead, this is
what takes place. But know this, that the Lord
stood with me. The Lord will always stand with
the leader who stands alone, andthe Lord will stand with that
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man and rescue him as he rescuedthe apostle Paul and
strengthened him to God be the glory.
And so you got to realize that the labor in the ministry is not
so much the, the preparation, the counseling, the teaching,
the late hours. The Paul would say to those in
in Ephesus. I labored day and night with
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tears. Acts Chapter 20, verse #31
Because I wanted you to hear thegospel.
And that's that's hard work, that's labor, that's strenuous
work. But but the hardest work is when
your friends desert you and theyleave you and they walk away
from the ministry and they want nothing to do with you anymore.
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And Paul experienced that all the time.
And so Paul says, and 1st, that's the way it's five.
I want you to appreciate those who, who labor among you.
And then he says this. Not only do they labor among
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you, he says, but he says they have charge over you in the
Lord. They have charge over you in the
Lord. In other words, they stand
before you. They, they stand ahead of you.
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Why? Because they're examples.
They're leaders. See all, all, all leaders are,
are examples. I, I want you to appreciate them
because they set themselves up as standing before you as
examples that they're, they're leading you.
You can't, you can't lead unlessyou're, you're in front.
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And so that they're in front, soyou can see their lives.
That's just so important. That's why Paul told Timothy in
First Timothy 412. Timothy, I know you're young,
but let no man look down upon your youth, but be thou an
example in your life, in your love, in your, in your faith, in
your, in your purity, in your devotion.
Make sure you set yourself up asan example for everyone to see,
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because that's the power of leadership.
It's influence, it's impact, right?
You know what? This has fathers, right?
You can, you can tell your children all kinds of things,
but if you don't lead by example, then they're not going
to follow. You have to lead by example.
You have to show them the way togo.
Just can't tell them the way to go.
You got to show them the way to go.
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And this is what this is what Paul does.
He says, look, they are those who who stand before you, they
lead you, not only the labor among you, but but they lead
you, they're in front. And so learn to know them
intimately. But that's just so important.
Let me give you an example. Number of years ago, a lady came
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up to me after our first serviceand she says, you know, I, I've
heard you talk about your wife over the years and say things
about her. But but I've been coming to the
church for a long time, but I'venever ever seen your wife.
So I just am curious as a pastor, why is that I never see
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your wife? I said that's a great question.
I said my wife, she works in thetwo and three-year old in the
first service. That's why you don't see her.
I said I assume you only come tothe first service.
She said yes, I just come to thefirst service.
I said if you would come to the second service you would see her
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sitting down front with me. I said better yet, you could go
to the first service and serve alongside of her in the twos and
threes. Then you would know her
intimately and then you could come and worship beside us in
the second service and you wouldsee her.
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Or even you could come on Wednesday nights.
Do you come on Wednesdays? She says no.
I said, well, if you came on Wednesdays, you would see her in
the Bible study. You would see her here.
I said it's important that you ask the question because as a
leader, if you don't see my wife, there is a problem.
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As an elder, if you don't see mywife, that's the problem, right?
Why? Because you need to see how we
interact, how we worship together, how we pray together.
You need to see the physical affection that we have one for
another that provides an example.
You need to be able to see my children.
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Why? Because it's the leader.
You're in a bubble, right? And everything about the leader
is magnified in the bubble. And so you have to be able to
say, look, follow me as as I follow Christ.
And so as people look into the bubble, everything is magnified
and bigger than than normal. But you must be able to see the
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leader's wife and you must be able to see the leader's
children because you want to know how he functions at home,
right? Does he lead his family?
Are his children in submission to his authority that he follow
his leadership right. Why because they are set before
you. They are examples, Paul says I
want you to appreciate these menWhy?
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Because they labor among you andthey lead you.
They're in front of you. Watch their lives, see their
lives, because you have to examine their lives and examine
them in light of the Scripture and, and to see the man's wife
and to see the man's children and see how he interacts with
them. Because that's the essence of
leadership, right? Because if a leader's
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effectiveness at home is minimized, then the ministry in
the church will never be maximized.
It will always be minimized. People need to be able to see.
And so therefore I told the lady, I said, that's a great
question that holds me accountable and I want to be
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accountable to you for that. That's great.
But I said, if you come to the second service, my wife will be
right down here with me sitting right here and you won't miss
her and you can, I'll introduce her to you.
And a couple of weeks later, shedecided to come to the second
service and I introduced her to my wife.
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She didn't get involved in serving at all, but she just
came to 1 service. And that's OK, at least at least
she came, right? But you see that that just
reminded me of the accountability that elders have
that leaders have in the church to make sure that they are out
front leading the way in their marriage with their children,
seen by the people of the church, so that the church can
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observe the leadership of the man in his family.
That is so incredibly important.And Paul says these men are out
in front. Appreciate them for their way
they lead you. Appreciate them for the way they
labor among you and pre appreciate them.
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Thirdly, simply because they looked after you.
He says they they give you instruction.
In other words, they put into mind those things you need to
know. That's very important.
Appreciate them because they're going to correct you, they're
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going to instruct you, they're going to teach you.
The reason you appreciate your leaders is because they want to,
they want to feed you the word of God.
This is so important. You see these, these are new
believers, right? And, and, and, and Thessalonica.
Well, what did new believers need?
What, what does your baby need? You, you, you have a newborn
baby and the baby comes out and,and, and what is the most
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important thing your baby needs?Your hugs.
Nope. Your kisses.
Nope. A new blanket, a new car seat, a
new stroller, a new bed. Those are all great things, but
that's not what they need them. What do they need the most?
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They got to eat. If you don't feed them, they're
going to die. If you don't hug them, they're
still going to live as long as they're fed.
If they have the bat, a terribleone wheeled stroller, they'll
still survive, right? If you don't kiss them, they're
still going to make it to the next day.
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But if you don't feed them, they're dead.
You got to feed them. That's what babies need.
And Paul says you appreciate them because they're going to
instruct you. They're going to put in the in
the into your mind the things you need to know in order to
live the way you need to live for the glory and honor of of
the king. And so you appreciate them for
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that. So many times people are
unappreciative of the fact that a leader would come to them and
and confront them on an issue ortalk to them about an issue and
they get offended. But they only care for your
soul. They're looking out for you.
They want what's best for you and your family.
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So Paul says appreciate them. Appreciate the person because he
laborers among you. He he leads you, he's out in
front and he looks after you. He looks after your soul.
That's why he instructs you and teaches you and put things into
your mind so you'll understand the way to go.
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So there's needs to be an appreciation for the person and
then an affirmation of his position.
Look what he says. He says these words in verse 13
and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their
work, their position, what it isthey're doing.
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There needs to be an elevation of them because not the person,
but because of their position, because the word God has put
them that that that's that's where they're at.
Esteem them very highly because of the work that God's given to
them. No, no, Remember Paul in Acts 23
when he spoke out against Agrippa.
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Remember what he says in Acts 23verse #5 he says, I was not
aware, brethren, that he was thehigh priest.
For it is written, you shall notspeak evil of a ruler of your
people. Paul apologized because he
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didn't know that Ananias was thethe high priest.
He spoke rudely to him. If God thinks that speaking
rudely to an unbelieving ruler or official is wrong, what do
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you think he thinks about those in the church who speak evil of
those who lead in the church? Think about that.
So Paul apologized, I was wrong.This is God put him in the
position, God has him there, andI was wrong to speak rudely to
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him. Well, how much do you think it
would be in the mind of God if you were to speak rudely, rudely
of those that God had placed in the position of leadership in
the church? He says esteem them highly for
their work's sake. What are they doing?
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They're they're in the work of the Lord.
They're they're serving the Lord.
A A number of years ago, John MacArthur was asked why he loved
the church. And so he began to to write the
reasons why he loved the church on a napkin in a restaurant.
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And the very first thing he wrote was this.
He says #1 I love being a pastorbecause the church is the only
institution Christ promised to build and bless.
Christ is only doing one thing in the world.
I know that might be shocking tosay, maybe sounds a little
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oversimplified, but it's actually the truth.
Christ is only doing one thing in the world, and that is He is
building His church. God is through the Holy Spirit
under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, calling out of people
for His name. The part of history that matters
is the redemptive part. All the rest of human history is
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simply backdrop. It's Decor.
It's the staging for the real drama, which is the drama of
redemption and how exhilarating it is to be in the middle of
that, to be a part of the only thing that Christ is doing in
the world and that is building his church.
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If I want to be at the epicenterof what God is moving, then I
need to be in the church. God's purpose in the world is to
call to Himself a redeemed people who will live to the
praise of His glory, to build His church, to build the body.
And there is no greater calling possible, conceivable than to be
a servant of Christ and under shepherd in the church.
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It is of great comfort and greatencouragement and great joy and
produces great gratitude in my heart that God has given me a
small part to play in the work of Christ, to build His church.
I wouldn't, he says, stoop to doanything else.
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What a statement. I'm in the epicenter of what God
is doing this. God's only doing one thing.
He's only involved in one building project, the church.
That's it. Why would I do anything else?
Why try to accomplish anything else?
I'm involved in doing what God Himself is building.
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He loved the church. He loved being a pastor of the
church. So for 50-6 years he remained
the pastor at Grace Community Church until God called him
home. That was his mission in life.
That should be the the the the church's leaders response and
everything. I love being a pastor because
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this is what God is doing in theworld and I'm at the center of
it. This is so great, so grand.
What? Who can do anything better than
this? That's why it says if any man
desires the office of an elder, he desires a noble work, a noble
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work. Why?
Because you're involved in the building project of the Lord God
Almighty. And therefore Paul says, I want
you to to admire these these people for their work's sake,
for the position that God's given to them.
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You might not like the person, but admire the position of the
person that's there. Appreciate the person, get to
know him, get to understand them, get to know his family.
Appreciate that person, but admire his position because God
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has placed him there. And then he says a presentation
of the of the peace. He says these words so good.
Live in peace with one another, live in peace, maintain peace.
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The unity that you have in Christ, you're at peace with God
because you have the peace of God.
Therefore, manifest that peace one toward another by
endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of
peace. Ephesians 4, three, because
that's what we do. This is how you preserve the
peace. How?
By by admiring the position of the leader and appreciation the
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person who leads and therefore there needs to be a preservation
of the peace. You know Satan is is is at work
in the church in the series you did when we did it now is it was
a whole series of 15 weeks series, 17 weeks series on the
church and that the church is a playground of the enemy of God.
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It is Satan wants to destroy thetestimony of the church.
If he can get you bickering and arguing and, and, and looking
down on one another and, and, and being upset with one
another. If, if, if he can get you doing
that, he can mar the testimony of the church.
There's a warfare going on. That's why Paul says over in, in
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Romans 12, these words he says in Romans 12 verse number #9 he
says let love be without hypocrisy.
In other words, no hypocritical kind of love.
Don't come on Sunday and act oneway and then go on Monday and
act another way. Your love needs to be genuine
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and needs to be sincere. So when you come to church and
you gather with the people of God, make sure that that what
you're demonstrating in your facial expressions, in your
words, in your, your relationship with one another is
true and genuine, not fake and phony.
We got a lot of fake people in the church today.
They come and they put on a on on their Sunday face on Sunday
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morning, but their Sunday evening face is not one you want
to see because it's diametrically opposed to the one
you saw on Sunday morning. Say, let love be without
hypocrisy. A poor one is evil.
Clean to what is good. Be devoted to one another in
brotherly love. Give preference to one another
in honor, not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit,
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serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, persevering in
tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the
Saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you.
Bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice.
Weep with those who weep. Be the same mind toward one
another. Do not be haughty in mind, but
associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own
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estimation. Associate with the lowly.
You ever notice that we come to church?
Who do we associate with? Our friends, our friends.
We we, we sit with our friends, we talk to our friends.
And then there are people that sit alone all by themselves who
kind of come in and and go out without anybody ever talking to
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them and imposter. Make sure you associate with the
lowly, those who are not the high position people who would
be good if if every one of us was to, to pinpoint someone
sitting by themselves, coming tochurch by themselves, leaving by
themselves and going after them and said, Hey, just want to
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introduce myself to you. I'd like to take you to lunch
today if you're you're available.
Just so that we can get to know one another.
I don't want you to feel like you're all alone here at the
church. Associate with the with the
lowly. It goes on to say, do not be
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wise in your own estimation. That's just so good.
We, we just think ourselves are so grand.
Don't we think of ourselves thatway?
We think we are so cool. We are so unbelievable.
And Paul says, you know what, you've overestimated who you
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are. Don't think that way.
Think in a lowly, humble manner.Having said all this, I want to
conclude with these words. I have been your pastor for just
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about 31 years, and in those 31 years, I want to let you know
that I have never, ever been under appreciated.
I've never been undervalued. I have never been treated
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inappropriately in 31 years. That is a testimony to you as a
church and your commitment to verses 12 and 13, the First
Thessalonians chapter 5. Not one time in 31 years have I
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ever wanted to go anywhere else.Not once, not one time in 31
years have I ever been discouraged.
Not once. Why?
Because there's something about the church that you have
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exemplified. So when my wife and I, I were
away this week on our anniversary getaway, I have to
get up early in the morning and and I would study.
I begin to write down certain things that I have seen in our
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church, never been under appreciated, undervalued or
under admired for that matter. But I have witnessed first hand
your submission to God's messageand His authority.
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I've witnessed that. I've seen that in you.
I, I've seen you embrace the message, as hard as it may be
for some of you, but to embrace it and say, this is God's word,
this is his authority. And, and you're willing to
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submit to the authority of God in your life.
It's not me you're submitting to.
It's, it's the word of God that you submitted to.
And so I sit as your pastor for 31 years and, and, and I see
your submission to the message of God and its authority in your
life. Are you perfect at it?
None of us are. But do you want to move in that
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direction? Absolutely you do.
That's why you're here. And then I, I I've also
witnessed your adoration, your adoration for our Master and his
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glory. You love the Lord, you love him.
Do you love him perfectly? No.
Do you love him sometimes, like Peter?
Yeah. And Peter said, Peter, do you
love me? Yeah.
I kind of like you a lot, but you love the Lord.
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And so for 31 years I have witnessed the the church's
Christ Community Church's adoration, adoration of the
Master for his glory. So the Bible says let there be
glory in the church. You don't want Ichabod written
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across your church. The glory of the Lord has
departed. In other words, there's no
manifestation of God's presence within the assembly.
So I've sat back and, and I and I have watched not, not just
your submission to the message and it's authority, not just
your adoration to the Master andHis glory, but I've also
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witnessed your demonstration of your maturity as you seek to
grow in your walk with the Lord each and every week.
I, I am truly a blessed man. I, I could, I could say as, as
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Paul would say in, in First Thessalonians chapter 1, I
could, I could say, I give thanks to God always for all of
you making mention of you in ourprayers constantly bearing in
mind your work of faith and labor of love.
Is that fastest of hope? And you excel still.
All the more so as I talk about leadership in the church, as I
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talk about your response to the leadership in the church.
I've experienced that. I've seen it in action.
I've witnessed that. And I am.
I am so blessed to be here. I am honored to be your pastor.
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I am honored that you've allowedme to come week after week after
week after week. I am honored that you sit and
let me repeat things over and over and over and over again,
week after week after week afterweek.
But I am truly a blessed man. God has done exceedingly,
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abundantly above all that I could ever ask or think.
And I'm grateful to you as a church.
I'm grateful that the Lord has allowed me to be here and be
your pastor and will continue tobe here for as long as I can
breathe. I can still stand up.
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My mind is still right, but I amblessed and I just want to say
thank you. Thank you for fulfilling First
Thessalonians 512 and 13 becausethat's what you do.
(47:38):
And I would be, it would, it would be wrong for me not to let
you know how God has used each and everyone of you in my life.
And for that I will always be grateful to the Lord.
(47:58):
So today, I applaud you. I thank you for your willingness
to do what God's Word says. Let me pray with you, Father, we
thank you for today. I thank you that I can be here.
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I thank you, Lord, that I had the opportunity to be here, that
31 years ago you opened the doorfor this to happen.
And through all the years, people have come and people have
gone and, and they continue to come and they continue to go.
But you've sustained the ministry, You have maintained
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the ministry. You have done great and
wonderful things in the lives ofpeople.
We could focus on the negatives.That doesn't do you any good.
But to focus on all the positives and to realize what
you're doing is, is fabulous. You've healed marriages, You've
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changed lives. You've saved souls.
You have brought rebellious children home.
You have answered prayer, You have done so many things, but
what I am thankful for, Lord, isthat what you have done in the
lives of your people, they wouldgrow to maturity in Christ and
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wanting to grow even all the more.
For that I'm grateful and I thank you and praise you for
what you have done and what you are doing and what you are going
to continue to do because of whoyou are.
So we thank you Lord, anticipateyour soon return.
(49:54):
Until that time, may we be foundfaithful in our service of the
King in Jesus name, Amen.
Take your Bible if you would please, and turn to 1st
Thessalonians chapter 5. As we look at verses 12 to 15
this morning, and as you're turning, I'm reminded of a of a
parable written by Karen Maines that she entitles A Brawling
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Bride. She paints A vivid scene
describing A suspenseful moment in a wedding ceremony.
Down front stands the groom in aspotless tuxedo, handsome,
smiling, full of anticipation, shoes shined, every hair in
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place, anxiously awaiting the presence of his bride.
All the attendants are in place,looking joyful and attractive.
The magic of moment finally arrives as a pipe organ reaches
full crescendo and the stately wedding March begins.
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Everyone rises and looks toward the door for their first glimpse
of the bride. Suddenly there is a horrified
gasp. The wedding party is shocked.
The groom stares in embarrassed disbelief.
Instead of a lovely woman dressed in elegant white,
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smiling behind a lace veil, the bride is limping down the aisle.
Her dress is soiled and torn, her legs seems twisted, ugly
cuts and bruises cover her bare arms.
Her nose is bleeding, one eye ispurple and swollen, and her hair
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is dishevelled. Does not this handsome groom
deserve better than this? Asked the author.
And then the clincher. Alas, his bride.
The church has been fighting again, calling the church a
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bride. Paul says these words in
Ephesians 5. Christ loved the church and gave
himself up for her to make her holy and clean so that he could
give her to himself as a glorious church without a single
spot or wrinkle or any other blemish being holy and without a
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single fault. That's the plan, to present a
beautiful bride unscathed, spotless, blameless to his
Father in heaven. And positionally that is true.
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That's exactly what's going to happen.
But practically everyday life isa lot different in the life of
the bride. Instead of being spotless, she
is filled with anger and bitterness, infighting,
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quarreling, arguing, conflict, unresolved happening all the
time, making her a bride that's completely dishevelled and
unlike the bride that will be presented to his Father in
heaven. It is true that the bride does
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survive the blows of the world. All the things the world froze
at. The bride she she can handle.
But it's the infighting that makes the bride so unattractive.
Puritan Thomas Brooks once penned these words.
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He said for wolves to worry lambs is no wonder, but for
lambs to worry one another, thisis a natural and monstrous.
So Paul in his own way is going to address how the church is to
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function, to show that the modellife is one that adapts to each
and every situation with the leadership and with the
membership, so that the fellowship of the bride, the
fellowship of the church, is allthat God designed it to be.
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And so Paul pins these words in First Thessalonians chapter 5,
verse 12 by saying this. But we request of you, brethren,
that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you and
have charge over you and the Lord, and give you instruction
that you seen them very highly in love because of their work.
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Live in peace with one another. We urge you, brethren, admonish
the unruly, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak.
Be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another
with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good
for one another and for all people.
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Fall very simply sums up how we as brethren behave and react and
adapt to those who lead us and to those around us, so that the
Church can be that which God designed it to be.
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So the model life is not just one of abstinence in chapter 4,
verses 1 to 8, or aspiration in chapter 4, verses 9 to 12, or
anticipation in chapter 4, verses 13 to 18, or alertness
chapter 5, verses 1 to 11, but adaptability, flexibility, the
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ability to get along one with another within the body of
Christ. And so he requests, He said that
in chapter 4 verse #1 as well. He appeals to them, first of all
in their relationship to the leadership and then in the
relationship to one another. Now, whether there was conflict
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in the church, we don't necessarily know, but we know
that the Church of Thessalonica was a young church, and so those
who led in the church were youngin the Lord.
They weren't mature men who had been around and seasoned in
their lives and walk with the Lord over a period of time.
They they were young like everyone else was young in the
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Lord, in the church. And so these men, young and the
Lord were appointed by Paul to lead in the church, doesn't call
them elders, but he says they dohave charge over you.
So they have some kind of leadership responsibility and
maybe there was conflict betweensome of the members in the
church. So he gives them exhortation as
to how it is you are to respond to the leadership.
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And then he gives them exhortation on how you are to
respond to the membership one one another.
And then he says this is how thefellowship of the church will be
all that God wants it to be. So when it comes to the
leadership, in verses 12 and 13,he gives 3 exhortations, 3
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responses, three ways that you are to deal with them.
Number one is appreciation for the person.
Number 2 is admiration for his position and #3A preservation of
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the peace. First of all, he says there
needs to be an appreciation for the person.
Look what he says. He says very clearly in verse
12, We request of you, brethren,that you appreciate those who
diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord
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and give you instruction. The reason you appreciate them
is because of the fact that theylabor among you.
They lead you, and they look after you.
That's why you appreciate them. And the word appreciate means to
to know intimately. And it's really interesting
because Paul is exhorting the church to know the leadership
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intimately. Usually the leaders are exhorted
to know the church intimately, but here the church is exhorted
to know the leadership intimately.
He puts a responsibility on the church to appreciate those who
lead them, who are over them in a way that they would know them
in an intimate manner. And so he puts the
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responsibility of the church to know them and to appreciate
them. Why?
Number one is because they diligently labor among you, not,
not over you, but but among you that they're working hard in the
word. They're working hard to, to, to
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treat you in a way that honors the Lord.
They're working hard at at leading you in in the proper
way. It it was used to Paul earlier
in chapter 2 when he said these words in verse #9 for you
recall, brethren, are labor and hardship.
How working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of
you. We proclaim to you the gospel of
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God. He says, you know, brethren, how
we worked hard among you. In fact, in chapter 2, we talked
about the model leader. He says, you know this about us.
You know that about us. You are witnesses about us.
You know us intimately because this is how we behaved among
you. And so now he's telling the
church at Thessalonica to appreciate those who lead them,
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who labor among them, that they might understand their
responsibility in terms of theirwalk with the Lord.
Now, I've been around a long time, and I've seen a lot of my
friends and colleagues in pastoral ministry go through
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churches unbelievably fast simply because they did not
sense any appreciation from those they led.
And there are various reasons for that, and I understand that.
But I'm a firm believer that youwork through those situations
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that that you stay long where you're at, that you just don't
come and because of conflict or because of somebody who's
irritated with you or doesn't like you, you end up leaving
because you can't get along withpeople.
No, you need to work through those situations.
I'm a firm believer that every pastor needs to stay in one
church and one church only. I'm a firm believer that I don't
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think you ought to change churches to churches.
I think that's wrong. I think that's instability for
the people. I think it's not good for the
church. You need to stay where God has
called you to minister. But even with some of those men
who stayed a long time, they were running out of the church.
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Take for example, Jonathan Edwards.
He was the the author of the Great Awakening, the the
greatest revival in American history, probably the greatest
theologian of his day. He pastored the same church for
23 years. So you're a part of this church
and in the 1700s, and you have Jonathan Edwards as your pastor,
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and he's the greatest theological mind of his day.
He's preaching and teaching, working hard, laboring among you
to teach you the truth of God's Word.
And in the 23rd year of his ministry, the people ran him out
of the church, ran him out. They were done with them in the
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end of this ministry, teaching adozen Indians the simple gospel
message. The church that he pastored for
23 years did everything they could to soil his reputation so
no one would hire him as their pastor.
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Think about that. The greatest theological mind of
the 17th century or the 1700s was booted from his church.
It gets worse. Move to the 1800s, You had the
greatest preacher, whoever lived, the Prince of Preachers,
Charles Spurgeon. He was a part of his church for
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over 30 years. He was so popular, he was so
great, that when he was done preaching, they would edit his
sermons, put them on every ship that left England so that the
world would hear the gospel message preached by the Prince
of Preachers. Think about that.
How long would it take a ship toleave England, to get to where
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you live? You'd be waiting weeks, months
to hear that message that was preached by Spurgeon.
But that's what they did. And they ran off all these
copies and they put them on the ships and they moved them out
all around the world. Here he was pastoring the church
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in England, and after 30 years of ministry, the Baptist Union
voted him out. And you know who the final vote
was? It was his associate pastor, who
just happened to be his very ownbrother.
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And he was booted out after all those years of ministry simply
because of a stand on truth and his uncompromising conviction of
the on the word of God. Think about that.
You see, it's one thing for a man to be in a church for two or
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three years and move on. It's nothing for a man to be in
church for a long period of time, 2 decades, 3 decades, 4
decades and the church rise up and say we're done with you, you
got to go. And Paul says to those in
Thessalonica, I I want you to appreciate those who labor among
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you. I want you to know them
intimately. I want you to value them.
I want you to realize the task before them.
You see, one of the one of the problems with with laboring
among the people is not so much the work involved, it's the
loneliness involved. I tell people all the time,
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listen, you want to go into the pastorate, that's great.
But I want you to know you must learn to love loneliness to be a
pastor, to be any kind of leaderworth any salt.
You must learn to love loneliness because you're
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isolated, you're on an island, you're going to make decisions.
Leaders are decision makers. You make a decision.
People are not going to like thedecision you made.
There'll be up in arms against your decision.
So you can't make decisions on basing what you do to please
people. You do it based on pleasing the
Lord and, and sometimes you're going to make decisions that
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people are not happy with, but it requires great loneliness.
Paul experienced that. Remember over in Second Timothy
chapter 1, Paul says these words.
He says to Timothy, You are aware of the fact that all who
are in Asia turned away from me.Here's the apostle Paul all
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right, and all those in Asia turned away from me, among whom
are fragilis and homogeneous. The Lord grant mercy to the
House of onociferous, for he often refreshed me and was not
ashamed of my chains. In other words, there were those
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who deserted him because they were ashamed of Paul and ashamed
of the fact that he was in prison.
But not onosiferous, whose name means bringer of prophet.
Onosiferous one to bring prophetto Paul.
So he says these words. But when he was in Rome, verse
17, he eagerly searched for me and found me.
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The Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day.
And you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus,
Paul says as he's riding away inthis Mamertine prison in Rome.
Everybody in Asia has forsaken me, but there is one guy on
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Luciferous who searched for me and found me.
The Lord granted mercy to his household, but Paul was isolated
because he was in prison. Look what it says earlier in
chapter 4. Later in chapter 4, he says in
verse #9 make every effort to come to me soon, For Demas,
having loved this present world,has deserted me and gone to
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Thessalonica. Demas deserted him, He left him.
Demas was a disciple of the apostle Paul, but there were so
many people that would desert him and leave him isolated.
And the later it says this in verse #16 at my first offense,
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no one supported me. No one but all deserted me.
Everybody left me. I was all alone.
May it not be counted against them.
This, this is so good. Listen.
But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me so that through
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me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all
the Gentiles might hear, and I was rescued out of the lion's
mouth. The Lord will rescue me from
every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly
Kingdom. To him be the glory forever and
ever. Amen.
So here's Paul at the end of hisministry, and he's in this
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memory team prison in Rome, and he's talking to young Timothy
because Timothy needs to be prepared for the fact that he's
going to be deserted. He's going to be left alone.
It's going to happen. If you're going to lead, this is
what takes place. But know this, that the Lord
stood with me. The Lord will always stand with
the leader who stands alone, andthe Lord will stand with that
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man and rescue him as he rescuedthe apostle Paul and
strengthened him to God be the glory.
And so you got to realize that the labor in the ministry is not
so much the, the preparation, the counseling, the teaching,
the late hours. The Paul would say to those in
in Ephesus. I labored day and night with
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tears. Acts Chapter 20, verse #31
Because I wanted you to hear thegospel.
And that's that's hard work, that's labor, that's strenuous
work. But but the hardest work is when
your friends desert you and theyleave you and they walk away
from the ministry and they want nothing to do with you anymore.
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And Paul experienced that all the time.
And so Paul says, and 1st, that's the way it's five.
I want you to appreciate those who, who labor among you.
And then he says this. Not only do they labor among
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you, he says, but he says they have charge over you in the
Lord. They have charge over you in the
Lord. In other words, they stand
before you. They, they stand ahead of you.
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Why? Because they're examples.
They're leaders. See all, all, all leaders are,
are examples. I, I want you to appreciate them
because they set themselves up as standing before you as
examples that they're, they're leading you.
You can't, you can't lead unlessyou're, you're in front.
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And so that they're in front, soyou can see their lives.
That's just so important. That's why Paul told Timothy in
First Timothy 412. Timothy, I know you're young,
but let no man look down upon your youth, but be thou an
example in your life, in your love, in your, in your faith, in
your, in your purity, in your devotion.
Make sure you set yourself up asan example for everyone to see,
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because that's the power of leadership.
It's influence, it's impact, right?
You know what? This has fathers, right?
You can, you can tell your children all kinds of things,
but if you don't lead by example, then they're not going
to follow. You have to lead by example.
You have to show them the way togo.
Just can't tell them the way to go.
You got to show them the way to go.
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And this is what this is what Paul does.
He says, look, they are those who who stand before you, they
lead you, not only the labor among you, but but they lead
you, they're in front. And so learn to know them
intimately. But that's just so important.
Let me give you an example. Number of years ago, a lady came
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up to me after our first serviceand she says, you know, I, I've
heard you talk about your wife over the years and say things
about her. But but I've been coming to the
church for a long time, but I'venever ever seen your wife.
So I just am curious as a pastor, why is that I never see
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your wife? I said that's a great question.
I said my wife, she works in thetwo and three-year old in the
first service. That's why you don't see her.
I said I assume you only come tothe first service.
She said yes, I just come to thefirst service.
I said if you would come to the second service you would see her
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sitting down front with me. I said better yet, you could go
to the first service and serve alongside of her in the twos and
threes. Then you would know her
intimately and then you could come and worship beside us in
the second service and you wouldsee her.
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Or even you could come on Wednesday nights.
Do you come on Wednesdays? She says no.
I said, well, if you came on Wednesdays, you would see her in
the Bible study. You would see her here.
I said it's important that you ask the question because as a
leader, if you don't see my wife, there is a problem.
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As an elder, if you don't see mywife, that's the problem, right?
Why? Because you need to see how we
interact, how we worship together, how we pray together.
You need to see the physical affection that we have one for
another that provides an example.
You need to be able to see my children.
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Why? Because it's the leader.
You're in a bubble, right? And everything about the leader
is magnified in the bubble. And so you have to be able to
say, look, follow me as as I follow Christ.
And so as people look into the bubble, everything is magnified
and bigger than than normal. But you must be able to see the
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leader's wife and you must be able to see the leader's
children because you want to know how he functions at home,
right? Does he lead his family?
Are his children in submission to his authority that he follow
his leadership right. Why because they are set before
you. They are examples, Paul says I
want you to appreciate these menWhy?
(25:29):
Because they labor among you andthey lead you.
They're in front of you. Watch their lives, see their
lives, because you have to examine their lives and examine
them in light of the Scripture and, and to see the man's wife
and to see the man's children and see how he interacts with
them. Because that's the essence of
leadership, right? Because if a leader's
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effectiveness at home is minimized, then the ministry in
the church will never be maximized.
It will always be minimized. People need to be able to see.
And so therefore I told the lady, I said, that's a great
question that holds me accountable and I want to be
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accountable to you for that. That's great.
But I said, if you come to the second service, my wife will be
right down here with me sitting right here and you won't miss
her and you can, I'll introduce her to you.
And a couple of weeks later, shedecided to come to the second
service and I introduced her to my wife.
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She didn't get involved in serving at all, but she just
came to 1 service. And that's OK, at least at least
she came, right? But you see that that just
reminded me of the accountability that elders have
that leaders have in the church to make sure that they are out
front leading the way in their marriage with their children,
seen by the people of the church, so that the church can
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observe the leadership of the man in his family.
That is so incredibly important.And Paul says these men are out
in front. Appreciate them for their way
they lead you. Appreciate them for the way they
labor among you and pre appreciate them.
(27:18):
Thirdly, simply because they looked after you.
He says they they give you instruction.
In other words, they put into mind those things you need to
know. That's very important.
Appreciate them because they're going to correct you, they're
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going to instruct you, they're going to teach you.
The reason you appreciate your leaders is because they want to,
they want to feed you the word of God.
This is so important. You see these, these are new
believers, right? And, and, and, and Thessalonica.
Well, what did new believers need?
What, what does your baby need? You, you, you have a newborn
baby and the baby comes out and,and, and what is the most
(28:01):
important thing your baby needs?Your hugs.
Nope. Your kisses.
Nope. A new blanket, a new car seat, a
new stroller, a new bed. Those are all great things, but
that's not what they need them. What do they need the most?
(28:21):
They got to eat. If you don't feed them, they're
going to die. If you don't hug them, they're
still going to live as long as they're fed.
If they have the bat, a terribleone wheeled stroller, they'll
still survive, right? If you don't kiss them, they're
still going to make it to the next day.
(28:43):
But if you don't feed them, they're dead.
You got to feed them. That's what babies need.
And Paul says you appreciate them because they're going to
instruct you. They're going to put in the in
the into your mind the things you need to know in order to
live the way you need to live for the glory and honor of of
the king. And so you appreciate them for
(29:09):
that. So many times people are
unappreciative of the fact that a leader would come to them and
and confront them on an issue ortalk to them about an issue and
they get offended. But they only care for your
soul. They're looking out for you.
They want what's best for you and your family.
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So Paul says appreciate them. Appreciate the person because he
laborers among you. He he leads you, he's out in
front and he looks after you. He looks after your soul.
That's why he instructs you and teaches you and put things into
your mind so you'll understand the way to go.
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So there's needs to be an appreciation for the person and
then an affirmation of his position.
Look what he says. He says these words in verse 13
and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their
work, their position, what it isthey're doing.
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There needs to be an elevation of them because not the person,
but because of their position, because the word God has put
them that that that's that's where they're at.
Esteem them very highly because of the work that God's given to
them. No, no, Remember Paul in Acts 23
when he spoke out against Agrippa.
(30:44):
Remember what he says in Acts 23verse #5 he says, I was not
aware, brethren, that he was thehigh priest.
For it is written, you shall notspeak evil of a ruler of your
people. Paul apologized because he
(31:06):
didn't know that Ananias was thethe high priest.
He spoke rudely to him. If God thinks that speaking
rudely to an unbelieving ruler or official is wrong, what do
(31:26):
you think he thinks about those in the church who speak evil of
those who lead in the church? Think about that.
So Paul apologized, I was wrong.This is God put him in the
position, God has him there, andI was wrong to speak rudely to
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him. Well, how much do you think it
would be in the mind of God if you were to speak rudely, rudely
of those that God had placed in the position of leadership in
the church? He says esteem them highly for
their work's sake. What are they doing?
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They're they're in the work of the Lord.
They're they're serving the Lord.
A A number of years ago, John MacArthur was asked why he loved
the church. And so he began to to write the
reasons why he loved the church on a napkin in a restaurant.
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And the very first thing he wrote was this.
He says #1 I love being a pastorbecause the church is the only
institution Christ promised to build and bless.
Christ is only doing one thing in the world.
I know that might be shocking tosay, maybe sounds a little
(32:54):
oversimplified, but it's actually the truth.
Christ is only doing one thing in the world, and that is He is
building His church. God is through the Holy Spirit
under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, calling out of people
for His name. The part of history that matters
is the redemptive part. All the rest of human history is
(33:18):
simply backdrop. It's Decor.
It's the staging for the real drama, which is the drama of
redemption and how exhilarating it is to be in the middle of
that, to be a part of the only thing that Christ is doing in
the world and that is building his church.
(33:38):
If I want to be at the epicenterof what God is moving, then I
need to be in the church. God's purpose in the world is to
call to Himself a redeemed people who will live to the
praise of His glory, to build His church, to build the body.
And there is no greater calling possible, conceivable than to be
a servant of Christ and under shepherd in the church.
(34:01):
It is of great comfort and greatencouragement and great joy and
produces great gratitude in my heart that God has given me a
small part to play in the work of Christ, to build His church.
I wouldn't, he says, stoop to doanything else.
(34:22):
What a statement. I'm in the epicenter of what God
is doing this. God's only doing one thing.
He's only involved in one building project, the church.
That's it. Why would I do anything else?
Why try to accomplish anything else?
I'm involved in doing what God Himself is building.
(34:44):
He loved the church. He loved being a pastor of the
church. So for 50-6 years he remained
the pastor at Grace Community Church until God called him
home. That was his mission in life.
That should be the the the the church's leaders response and
everything. I love being a pastor because
(35:04):
this is what God is doing in theworld and I'm at the center of
it. This is so great, so grand.
What? Who can do anything better than
this? That's why it says if any man
desires the office of an elder, he desires a noble work, a noble
(35:25):
work. Why?
Because you're involved in the building project of the Lord God
Almighty. And therefore Paul says, I want
you to to admire these these people for their work's sake,
for the position that God's given to them.
(35:46):
You might not like the person, but admire the position of the
person that's there. Appreciate the person, get to
know him, get to understand them, get to know his family.
Appreciate that person, but admire his position because God
(36:11):
has placed him there. And then he says a presentation
of the of the peace. He says these words so good.
Live in peace with one another, live in peace, maintain peace.
(36:32):
The unity that you have in Christ, you're at peace with God
because you have the peace of God.
Therefore, manifest that peace one toward another by
endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of
peace. Ephesians 4, three, because
that's what we do. This is how you preserve the
peace. How?
By by admiring the position of the leader and appreciation the
(36:56):
person who leads and therefore there needs to be a preservation
of the peace. You know Satan is is is at work
in the church in the series you did when we did it now is it was
a whole series of 15 weeks series, 17 weeks series on the
church and that the church is a playground of the enemy of God.
(37:17):
It is Satan wants to destroy thetestimony of the church.
If he can get you bickering and arguing and, and, and looking
down on one another and, and, and being upset with one
another. If, if, if he can get you doing
that, he can mar the testimony of the church.
There's a warfare going on. That's why Paul says over in, in
(37:39):
Romans 12, these words he says in Romans 12 verse number #9 he
says let love be without hypocrisy.
In other words, no hypocritical kind of love.
Don't come on Sunday and act oneway and then go on Monday and
act another way. Your love needs to be genuine
(38:01):
and needs to be sincere. So when you come to church and
you gather with the people of God, make sure that that what
you're demonstrating in your facial expressions, in your
words, in your, your relationship with one another is
true and genuine, not fake and phony.
We got a lot of fake people in the church today.
They come and they put on a on on their Sunday face on Sunday
(38:26):
morning, but their Sunday evening face is not one you want
to see because it's diametrically opposed to the one
you saw on Sunday morning. Say, let love be without
hypocrisy. A poor one is evil.
Clean to what is good. Be devoted to one another in
brotherly love. Give preference to one another
in honor, not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit,
(38:47):
serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, persevering in
tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the
Saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you.
Bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice.
Weep with those who weep. Be the same mind toward one
another. Do not be haughty in mind, but
associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own
(39:10):
estimation. Associate with the lowly.
You ever notice that we come to church?
Who do we associate with? Our friends, our friends.
We we, we sit with our friends, we talk to our friends.
And then there are people that sit alone all by themselves who
kind of come in and and go out without anybody ever talking to
(39:33):
them and imposter. Make sure you associate with the
lowly, those who are not the high position people who would
be good if if every one of us was to, to pinpoint someone
sitting by themselves, coming tochurch by themselves, leaving by
themselves and going after them and said, Hey, just want to
(39:57):
introduce myself to you. I'd like to take you to lunch
today if you're you're available.
Just so that we can get to know one another.
I don't want you to feel like you're all alone here at the
church. Associate with the with the
lowly. It goes on to say, do not be
(40:18):
wise in your own estimation. That's just so good.
We, we just think ourselves are so grand.
Don't we think of ourselves thatway?
We think we are so cool. We are so unbelievable.
And Paul says, you know what, you've overestimated who you
(40:38):
are. Don't think that way.
Think in a lowly, humble manner.Having said all this, I want to
conclude with these words. I have been your pastor for just
(41:02):
about 31 years, and in those 31 years, I want to let you know
that I have never, ever been under appreciated.
I've never been undervalued. I have never been treated
(41:29):
inappropriately in 31 years. That is a testimony to you as a
church and your commitment to verses 12 and 13, the First
Thessalonians chapter 5. Not one time in 31 years have I
(41:52):
ever wanted to go anywhere else.Not once, not one time in 31
years have I ever been discouraged.
Not once. Why?
Because there's something about the church that you have
(42:13):
exemplified. So when my wife and I, I were
away this week on our anniversary getaway, I have to
get up early in the morning and and I would study.
I begin to write down certain things that I have seen in our
(42:34):
church, never been under appreciated, undervalued or
under admired for that matter. But I have witnessed first hand
your submission to God's messageand His authority.
(42:58):
I've witnessed that. I've seen that in you.
I, I've seen you embrace the message, as hard as it may be
for some of you, but to embrace it and say, this is God's word,
this is his authority. And, and you're willing to
(43:19):
submit to the authority of God in your life.
It's not me you're submitting to.
It's, it's the word of God that you submitted to.
And so I sit as your pastor for 31 years and, and, and I see
your submission to the message of God and its authority in your
life. Are you perfect at it?
None of us are. But do you want to move in that
(43:42):
direction? Absolutely you do.
That's why you're here. And then I, I I've also
witnessed your adoration, your adoration for our Master and his
(44:03):
glory. You love the Lord, you love him.
Do you love him perfectly? No.
Do you love him sometimes, like Peter?
Yeah. And Peter said, Peter, do you
love me? Yeah.
I kind of like you a lot, but you love the Lord.
(44:29):
And so for 31 years I have witnessed the the church's
Christ Community Church's adoration, adoration of the
Master for his glory. So the Bible says let there be
glory in the church. You don't want Ichabod written
(44:49):
across your church. The glory of the Lord has
departed. In other words, there's no
manifestation of God's presence within the assembly.
So I've sat back and, and I and I have watched not, not just
your submission to the message and it's authority, not just
your adoration to the Master andHis glory, but I've also
(45:16):
witnessed your demonstration of your maturity as you seek to
grow in your walk with the Lord each and every week.
I, I am truly a blessed man. I, I could, I could say as, as
(45:38):
Paul would say in, in First Thessalonians chapter 1, I
could, I could say, I give thanks to God always for all of
you making mention of you in ourprayers constantly bearing in
mind your work of faith and labor of love.
Is that fastest of hope? And you excel still.
All the more so as I talk about leadership in the church, as I
(46:00):
talk about your response to the leadership in the church.
I've experienced that. I've seen it in action.
I've witnessed that. And I am.
I am so blessed to be here. I am honored to be your pastor.
(46:27):
I am honored that you've allowedme to come week after week after
week after week. I am honored that you sit and
let me repeat things over and over and over and over again,
week after week after week afterweek.
But I am truly a blessed man. God has done exceedingly,
(46:54):
abundantly above all that I could ever ask or think.
And I'm grateful to you as a church.
I'm grateful that the Lord has allowed me to be here and be
your pastor and will continue tobe here for as long as I can
breathe. I can still stand up.
(47:16):
My mind is still right, but I amblessed and I just want to say
thank you. Thank you for fulfilling First
Thessalonians 512 and 13 becausethat's what you do.
(47:38):
And I would be, it would, it would be wrong for me not to let
you know how God has used each and everyone of you in my life.
And for that I will always be grateful to the Lord.
(47:58):
So today, I applaud you. I thank you for your willingness
to do what God's Word says. Let me pray with you, Father, we
thank you for today. I thank you that I can be here.
(48:18):
I thank you, Lord, that I had the opportunity to be here, that
31 years ago you opened the doorfor this to happen.
And through all the years, people have come and people have
gone and, and they continue to come and they continue to go.
But you've sustained the ministry, You have maintained
(48:41):
the ministry. You have done great and
wonderful things in the lives ofpeople.
We could focus on the negatives.That doesn't do you any good.
But to focus on all the positives and to realize what
you're doing is, is fabulous. You've healed marriages, You've
(49:07):
changed lives. You've saved souls.
You have brought rebellious children home.
You have answered prayer, You have done so many things, but
what I am thankful for, Lord, isthat what you have done in the
lives of your people, they wouldgrow to maturity in Christ and
(49:32):
wanting to grow even all the more.
For that I'm grateful and I thank you and praise you for
what you have done and what you are doing and what you are going
to continue to do because of whoyou are.
So we thank you Lord, anticipateyour soon return.
(49:54):
Until that time, may we be foundfaithful in our service of the
King in Jesus name, Amen.
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