THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
75
build, each o ther up.” The reason why they should “ exhort one an o th er” and “ build each o ther up” is the fact th a t Jesus is coming and coming unex pectedly. P aul before he closes the sentence praises them because they are already doing th is to which he urges them.
bu t they suggest some things to us who are in au th o rity also, viz., th a t if we wish to be esteemed exceeding highly in love we should see to it th a t our work really is of th e ch aracter th a t merits it. Dissension was one of the commonest as well as g reatest curses of th e early churches (cf. Rom. 16:17 R.V.; 1 Cor. 3 :4 ; Phil. 2 :1 ; 4 :2 ). So P au l says, “Be a t peace among your selves” (cf. Mark 9 :5 0 ). The exhortation of v. 14 is to all the believers in Thessalonica b u t pre-em i nently to those in authority. The “ dis o rderly” (p articu larly those who would not work, cf. 2 Thess. 3 :6 /1 1 ; 1 Thess. 4 :1 1 ), they should “adm onish,” the “ fain t-h earted ” they should “ encour age,” the “w eak” (those spiritually w eak) they should “ support.” The word tran slated “ suppo rt” is a very expressive one, it means, to take hold of so as to support. T hat is our duty toward the weak (cf. Gal. 6:1, 2; Rom. 15 :1 ; 1 Cor. 9 :2 2 ). We should “ be long-suffering tow ard all.” It has been well said, “ th ere is no believer who needs not th e exercise of patience ‘tow ard ’ him ; th e re is none to whom a believer should not show it; many show it more to strang ers th a n to th e ir own fam ilies, more to th e g reat th a n to the humble; bu t we ought to show it ‘toward all men.’ ” “ See to it,” says Paul— and they needed to see to it for th is is a place where some are sure to fail unless we “ see to it ”— “ th a t none rend er unto any one evil for evil” (cf. Rom. 12:17; 1 P et. 3 :9 ). Under no circum stances must we pay back the evil th a t any o ther man does us. This is th e law of Christ (cf, 1 Pet. 2 :23 ; Luke 23:34; Acts 7 :6 ). So far from rend ering evil unto any man we should “ always follow afte r (as a m a tte r of eager pu rsu it) th a t which is good, one tow ard ano th er,” and no t only so, bu t “ tow ard all,” even th e b itterest infidel and persecutor. WEDNESDAY, Ja n u ary 22. 1 Thess 5 :14 , 15. THURSDAY, Ja n u ary 23. 1 Thess. 5 :16- 18. There are th ree things which every believer should do all the tim e— “ rejoice,” “ pray,” “ give th ank s.” T h at we should “rejoice always,” “ pray w ithou t ceasing,” “ in everything give th a n k s,” all th is is the “will of God
TUESDAY, Ja n u ary 21. 1 Thess. 5 :12 ,
P aul now grows very gen tie. “We beseech you,” he says, not command nor even exhort, bu t “ beseech,” i. e., in treat, or ask as a personal favor. In the Greek “ beseech” is emphatic because of its position in the sentence. W hat he beseeches them is “ to know them th a t labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you.” The force of the “ know” in th is sentence is to recognize or regard w ith th e esteem th a t is th e ir due (cf. 1 Cor. 16:18; 1 Tim. 5 :1 7 ). The officers of th e church in Thessalonica were, like th e other members of the church, recent converts, and it would be very n atu ra l th a t the o ther members of the church should say, “you do not know any more about th e Christian way th a n we do.” This would be subversive of all order. So P aul urges a recognition of th e ir posi tion and authority. His description of th e leaders is very suggestive: (1) “Them th a t labor (th e word tran slated “ labo r” is a very strong word, meaning hard wearisome toil) among you.” This suggests w hat every elder should do. (2) “Them th a t are over you in the Lord”-—while th e re is no priestly class in the N. T. Christianity (ra th er, all are priests— 1 Pet. 2 :9 ), still th ere is order and authority. Some are “ over” others (cf. Acts 1 4 :2 3 ). It is “ in the Lord” th a t some are over others. They obtain th e ir au tho rity front th e Lord and if they are tru e “ overseers” they exert it in union w ith Him and under H is direction (cf. Acts 2 0 :2 8 ). (3) “Them th a t admonish you (th e force of th e Greek word is, pu t you in m in d ).” This indicates th e business of the elder, it is his business to pu t those under him in m ind of th e tru th and of th e ir duty. P aul beseeches them fu rth erm o re “to esteem” these ru lers “ exceeding highly (.exceeding abund an tly ) in love for th e ir w ork’s sake.” The high and holy ch aracter of the work to which they have been called en titles them to abun dan t esteem in love. These words are greatly needed in our churches today,
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker