Chapter 5: 12-22

“And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor 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. Be at peace among yourselves. ¹⁴ Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. ¹⁵ See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not despise prophecies. ²¹ Test all things; hold fast what is good. ²² Abstain from every form of evil.”

As I am writing, it is American Thanksgiving Day. We celebrated ours here in Canada back in October. Thanks once again for the lovely emails; it is good to hear from you.

Last week we took a long look at verse 14 of our passage, and today we are going to cover a few more verses, 15-18. In these verses, as we get to verse 18, we will be called to give thanks. I did not plan this, but as I mentioned, this is US Thanksgiving. We will talk a bit about thanksgiving as we get to the end of the lesson today. We are exploring the topic of Holding to What is Good. As we look around, especially as children of God who love Him and hold His Holy Bible in high regard, we can see that there is a serious problem in our society. We have run so far from God that evil is now being promoted as good and vice-versa. It can be sickening, and like Lot, we are troubled in our spirits by what we see and hear.

Those of us that have been around a while know that if what we see is bad, then what they have managed to cover is even worse. It would be easy to fall into the depths of despair and try to hide until Jesus comes to get us. It would be easy to cut ourselves off from the outside and retreat until Jesus comes, but we would be missing out on all that God is still doing. In contrast to running and hiding, God offers us some great actions that we can take to put our minds at ease; He is still in control. To be a source of strength and comfort to our saved siblings, obedience is still good, and to be a light to the lost that sees the chaos and seeks shelter in Jesus; Jesus still saves. Come with me and see how the Lord can use us to change the world for some of the people around us.

• Do not seek revenge, verse 15

We live in a time when we see a lot of people getting each other back. We see it online and on social media. People seem to lay in wait for a long time just preparing to pounce on others who have hurt them. They scheme and plan for revenge and act as soon as a door is opened. But God’s children should not be this way. Sadly, this kind of revenge has crept into the churches, and we see so many churches torn apart by a lack of forgiveness.

In Matthew 18:21-22, Jesus and Peter have a discussion about how often a brother or sister should be forgiven when they sin against you. He, Peter, tries to supply the answer – seven times? But Jesus says to Peter that he should be willing to forgive 70 times that amount. This is astonishing to us; wow, that is a lot! We are to forgive a sibling 490 times for the same sin. My, my, we are not helping them, and we are not standing for ourselves. The principle is this: we have been eternally forgiven for ALL the sins we have committed against God, and, in turn, we should forgive each other the same way without keeping score.

Now, this does not mean that there is no justice. If someone is murdered, kidnapped, raped, robbed, and the list goes on, there are to be legal ramifications. But we are to forgive that person. All too often, these are not the reasons we hold grudges. The offense is often more personal; something they said or did not say, something they did or did not do. We hold onto the grudge and wait in the shadows to hurt, shame, and call out our supposed brothers and sisters. This is wrong, evil. We are called to forgive and move on. Forgive and ask God to help us forget. Forgive and restore friendships.

Often, we say we have forgiven the offender, but then we cut off or limit contact with them. This is not forgiveness; this is fake forgiveness. The purpose of forgiveness is to restore fellowship; if the fellowship is not restored, then forgiveness has not been enacted.

Too many of God’s people and His churches are filled with unforgiveness. It is the very lifeblood of the Lord’s people. We have splits and destroyed and/or shrinking churches because of unforgiveness. People can’t seem to get past each other’s flaws and failures, so we go down the road and start a perfect church only to have the same thing happen time and time again. Pastors are run off, and the church never has to grow in forgiveness. Sadly, this means it never grows. We have a lot of immature churches that hinder the Kingdom of God; Lord, help us.

• Pursue what is Good, verse 15

Living for the Lord takes effort and deliberate actions. We are called to pursue what is good, not just for ourselves but for each other. This is agape love. But I want you to understand that you cannot love like this and not forgive. You cannot love like Jesus and seek revenge at the same time. We are called to take responsibility for each other. Notice that the verse says pursue what is good for ourselves and EACH OTHER.

True love requires us to take responsibility for another. Jesus took responsibility for us by coming to die on the cross for our sins, yours and mine. When we begin to learn to love like Jesus, we will be required to take responsibility for another, even at our own expense. Those of us that have children may understand that a bit more. But if you have truly loved anyone, the first sacrifice is yourself. Please notice the contrast in this verse; we are not called to get even when we are wronged, but even when we are wronged, we are to pursue what is good for the person wronging us. Jesus forgave those nailing Him to the cross. Stephen, in Acts 7, forgave those who were murdering him and left such an impression with Saul of Tarsus that he was never the same; and that Saul became our Paul.

To be able to pursue what is good, we must know what is good. We must spend a lot of time in Bible study, in prayer, and in seeking Godly wisdom. Seeking what is good takes discipline. Discipline takes work, and work is a deliberate action.

• Rejoice, Pray and Give Thanks, 16-18

Sadly, we hear more complaining, grumbling and whining than rejoicing, prayer and thanksgiving. We live in one of the most prosperous places on earth, and still, there is so much complaining among the Lord’s people. Sadly, my voice is among them. Lord forgive me! For those of us in the Lord’s churches, we have had hundreds of years of peaceful coexistence here, and no one has hurt, killed or really taken anything from us because of the Gospel. The poorest among us is still often richer than many in the world, and the things that we complain about are luxuries to the vast majority of the population on the planet.

We are saved. If we had nothing else, that alone should suffice for unfettered rejoicing. You and I are NOT going to Hell. That should lead us to a thankful life filled with gratitude and appreciation. But we are like the freed Israelites who complained to Moses that being slaves in Egypt was better than being free in the wilderness. Being killed in Egypt was better than being led by God in the wilderness. These grumblers made the 40 years in the wilderness feel like 400 for poor Moses. We are just like them; we have so much, and we should be thankful and full of rejoicing. But we are not, and we should be careful that God does not allow us to see what real suffering is all about.

Our lives should be filled with prayers of thanksgiving and rejoicing. Pray without ceasing; this sounds like monks tucked away in the hills somewhere out of touch with the world. Rather, this is a call to never hang up on God. At work, I will be praying, and a customer comes in to buy a car; I can just turn to that conversation and pick up with God when they are done. Maybe even talk to God in my mind as I am serving that person. Always be praying, always be listening to God with eyes open for the answers we need and seek. Pray for each other always, thank God always, rejoice always, and our perspectives will change. We will become more and more thankful for God’s constant presence in our daily lives; even in the very mundane events, we will see Him.

This is God’s will for us (verse 18). All too often, we say we are seeking the will of God. But God clearly states His will for us here in plain and unadulterated language. What if we actually began to do the will of God? Once again, we have to talk about actions, doing; yes, the vast majority of Christianity requires us to do, acts, participate in our growth and the expansion of the Lord’s Kingdom. This is how we continue to hold to what is good. We obey God’s clearly spoken will and change the way we and others live.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch
Online: https://www.mississaugamissionarybaptistchurch.com/ (under construction)
Email: missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

Chapter 5: 12-22

“And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor 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. Be at peace among yourselves.¹⁴ Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. ¹⁵ See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not despise prophecies. ²¹ Test all things; hold fast what is good. ²² Abstain from every form of evil.”

Last week we looked at the idea of taking care of those that labor among us as churches. I saw a post on FB from one of my dear friends who is also a pastor, and he pointed out that the only person in a church that does not have a pastor is the pastor. All too often, the pastor is required to carry the burdens of the people he ministers to, his family, and himself; he has no one to turn to.

I speak from experience, and it can get a bit lonely at times. I recall the very first day that I was in seminary. We had an assembly; there were 52 men in that assembly, and the president of the school had us stand and look to the left and the right. He made the comment that the person standing there would not be here at graduation. He was right; of the 52, there is just a handful of us that are still in the ministry and pastoring. Some of the men did not even last until the end of the first semester.

The burnout rate among pastors is very high, and I do not know about other church groups, but there are fewer and fewer young men willing to surrender to the ministry in our little association. I speak to a lot of young women who make it clear that they are not going to marry preachers. If you have a good pastor, praise him, thank him, thank God for him, support him and his family, and cherish them.

We also talked about the importance of peace among the Lord’s people and in the Lord’s churches. This does not mean that we do not face tough decisions and situations. Rather, we face these in the right mode, the right spirit, and seek to lift up the Lord and His people at all times. Peace requires strength. Peace requires tenacity, and it takes work. Chaos can take over at any time. Peace takes spiritual discipline; it takes humility, and it requires sacrifice on each of our parts. Today we will focus more on verse 14 and dissect it so we can put it into practice.

• Warn the Unruly

The word ‘unruly’ refers to those that are out of order. In military terms, according to the Guzik commentary, it refers to a soldier who has broken ranks and is marching out of step with the rest. This is a self-willed person; he or she demands that their preferences be done. They want to interject their opinions even when it is in opposition to the word of God. We, the leaders especially, are called to warn these folks that they are making bad choices. Often these folks leave or threaten to leave, and we panic. This is especially true in smaller churches; we are afraid to lose even one. But if they are out of step with the clearly spoken Word of God, we are required to warn them that they are wrong and that God will not tolerate their divisive behavior.

Sadly, these types of folks run from church to church causing havoc, and no one stops them. I have seen this time and time again. If people turn up to your church and want to be members, find out where they were before and make a phone call. It may confirm that they have just moved and are looking for a good church, or it may save you a world of trouble. They are out of fellowship with their last church, and rather than be humble, they repent and get right; they have just run to your church to repeat the dangerous pattern. Do not take them; warn them and send them back to get right with the last group.

• Comfort the Fainthearted

The word here is ‘small souled.’ They tend to be timid, lack courage, and need constant comfort. Now, the idea is not to comfort them in their faintheartedness but to comfort them into being stronger and braver in the Kingdom of God – stepping out of their comfort zone, maybe as a greeter or someone to make sure that all the bulletins are handed out if you still do that. Maybe they can take up the offering; the idea is to get them into situations where they can expand their souls and God can grow them. Many have come through and come from painful situations; they are acquainted with failure, hurt, and being put down. They become timid and would rather not even try. We are to help, comfort, and lead them to service. They are children of God as well, and God can use them if we help them to be useful.

• Uphold the Weak

These tend to lapse into sinful temptations. We all sin. 1 John 1:8-9 reminds us of this fact. We sin. But some will fall into temptations that can take them away and cause them to fail. Don’t write people off; uphold them. In 1 Thessalonians 4:2-8, we are called to learn how to possess our ‘vessel,’ our bodies. This is the idea of spiritual discipline. We are not to be given over to lust or to deal fraudulently with a brother. We are called to live clean in these verses. When we see a brother or sister who has failed, lift them up, hold them, help them; one day, you will need them to help you. Call out the sin, uphold the sinner; do both lovingly with the intent to gain and restore, not to destroy and cast aside.

• Be patient with All

Man, this is hard. Let us be honest; patience is not our thing. At least for most of us. I am not a patient person in many cases, okay to be honest in most cases. However, we expect God and all of mankind to be patient with us. We are to be patient with the unruly, the fainthearted, and the weak. We are to lovingly and carefully encourage them and nurture them in Jesus and for Jesus. We are to be gentle and kind, merciful and gracious as we would have God be with us. There are no perfect people to minister to. None!

Right up to the very night before the crucifixion, the apostles and many others there with them were timid and unruly; weak and all, not just Peter, forsook Jesus. Thomas doubted, and as for Peter, he went back to fishing in John 21. He gave up, and many of the apostles followed him. BUT… Jesus; He came and gently encouraged Peter to come back (John 21). He made him breakfast (verse 12), performed a miracle with a huge load of fish (verse 6), and took him as he was able to begin again (verses 15-19). Jesus was patient with these men, and they went on to change the world. Without these men, most likely, you and I would not have heard the Gospel.

Take a look at the commands; warn, comfort, uphold and be; these are action words. God is telling us that they are things that we have to do in the Kingdom. There are things and, more specifically, people that we are responsible for in our local churches. We need to be involved and invested in the people that God sends our way. We need to be hands-on in our churches, helping and serving. The pastor cannot do all of this on his own. This also means we have to form relationships and let people in. We have to become disciple-makers and be wholly invested in our brothers and sisters. These kinds of efforts stop or diminish the back-biting and division that plagues all too many churches.

When we understand that the highest calling in the Kingdom of Heaven is to be servants, then we can make progress and truly lift, hold, and carry each other when needed. Let us be determined to do church better. This is how we hold on to what is good. This is how we make good churches and good families that lift up Jesus and make Him the focus of this life.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch

Online: https://www.mississaugamissionarybaptistchurch.com/ (under construction)

Email: missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca