I used to be the kind of guy who hate to follow instructions. I somehow thought that to try to figure out by myself how to put something together was smarter. And because of that, every time I got something from Ikea or from any place, I was always trying to do it without looking at the book. And the first thing that actually if you look at those IKEA books, the first thing that always show you most of the time is that you need two people to do everything. And I hated that because I didn't have somebody to do things with me. But also I hated to break things. And I broke so many things because many times you were not supposed to put two pieces together before you put the other one, and then you have to take it apart, and then by doing that, you break it, and then you put it, and at the end of the day, the end result was always not good. Actually, I was, today, right now, I was thinking that I still, I'm that kind of guy. This past week, and I keep sharing more stories with you, I got two sweaters, and as soon as I got home, I put it in the washer, And I went up and I told Sandra, don't put those sweaters on the dryer because they're going to shrink. But I forgot that the washer was on hot water. And when I went and take them, they were just for sand. My son, who is two years old, which is good. But I have learned the hard way that instructions are good, are very good. And when we come to passages like these that are full of instructions, we should not see them as, oh, there you go, instructions, boring. No, it's actually very, very important. It's for our good. And this set of instructions that we have here before of us is for members of the body of Christ, for Christians, for us. So there are at least three aspects that Paul is addressing from these verses. And we're gonna start with the first one, which is how they, or how us, as Christians, are to relate to our shepherds, or I would say the workers of God's kingdom. Because you can have others who are not shepherds that are also serving in God's kingdom. That's the first set of instructions that we find here By the way, this is the end of the letter for 1 Thessalonians. We'll continue next week with 2 Thessalonians. So as Paul is finishing this letter, he makes sure that he gives them this set of instructions that are important for this community of believers. So the first one, again, is how they, or how us as Christians, are called to relate to the workers of God's kingdom, or shepherds, or elders. So Paul starts by talking to the congregation. You see that from the beginning of verse 12 when he says, we ask you, Adelphois, which is brothers, but it means actually brothers and sisters. We ask you, brothers and sisters. And then he's gonna give the instructions to the congregation, to the members of the congregation, how they are to relate to their shepherds, to their leaders, to their workers of God's kingdom. But I wanna focus first on what actually Paul is saying indirectly to those who are workers of God's kingdom. Because by describing them, he is teaching those who are workers of God's kingdom, or those who aspire, because I know that there are some seminarians here, what they are to be as servants of God, shepherding God's flock. And then he uses three participles to describe them. The first one, he says, is those who labor among you. Those who labor among you. This word labor comes from the Greek kopiau, which means more than just labor, but it was actually a word used in reference to those who were working in a farm. It refers actually to very hard work. means to toil, to strive, to struggle, to grow weary in doing good, in doing so, in doing a work. So by saying that Paul is actually describing to those who serve in God's kingdom, those who are servants of God's kingdom, that this is actually hard work. This is actually hard work. And maybe if you are serving God's kingdom, if you feel like, well, this is actually like vacations. This is so light. This is easy. It might be that you are not doing all what you are supposed to do. And this is why you don't realize that it's hard work. It is hard work because it's engaging so many aspects of Christian's life. Therefore, Paul is saying, first, the first thing, or the first way that he described those who are serving God is that they are workers, or farm workers, or people who have to work really, really hard. The second participle that Paul uses here is those who are over you in the Lord. those who are over you in the Lord." He says, those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord. This also comes from a Greek word called, Greek word which is proistomenos. Which is not only translated as over you, but also, which I believe is a better translation, because in the context of how Jesus himself have described serving others, is those who care for you. Those who care for you. or those who guide, or those who are active helping you, those who are active helping you. So Paul is describing then those who are your servants, because these are those, the workers of God's kingdoms are servants of God, but are also servants of the community of God, those who care for you. I remember one time I visited a church that my uncle was shepherding for three months while another pastor who was the pastor of this church was on sabbatical. And it happened that in three months the church has grown exponential. It was like five times bigger than it was the three months before. And we were having a conversation with one of the members, and one of the members described my uncle as a man who smelled like sheep, which is different to how he was describing the other pastor, who was not caring for them, caring for those who were his flock. So again, that's why Working in God's kingdom or being a laborer for God's kingdom is hard work because they are called to care, or members, or pastors, or shepherds, or elders, or workers of God's kingdom are called to care for God's people in many areas. And the other aspect that he, or the other word that he used to describe them is those who admonish you. says, those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you. And that's not an easy thing, especially in our environment and how much we are influenced by social media. Everybody like to be liked. Everybody like to have many likes in your Facebook or Instagram or Twitter or whatever you use. But people like to be liked. And to be a worker of God's kingdom includes in the package that you are called to admonish, exhort members of the body of Christ. It's a difficult task. Now, again, when Paul wrote this, he wasn't writing to them, he wasn't writing to shepherds and elders in these verses, he was writing to the members of the church. But by describing the members, by describing the shepherds or elders, he's actually speaking to them, or to us, in my case, indirectly. But Paul was actually speaking to the congregation. and how they were to relate to them. And he described this in this way. He says, we ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and astonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. This can be misunderstood as as now you have to revere, they are special people. And I think that just Paul described it here very clear that the reason why you respect or you're stumbling highly is not because of who they are, but because of what they do. He says, because of their work. And what is their work? That they labor hard for the flock, that they care for the flock, and that they are called to admonish the flock. Now also, I think something important here is that Paul says, and to esteem them very highly in love. And in love is that you are called to, or we are called to see them as our brothers and sisters in Christ, who we love. Because there is nothing, in a sense, special about them. It is just that God has called them to shepherd the flock. So that was the first set of instructions that Paul gave to the Thessalonian church as he's closing the letter. The second one is how they are called to build one another. How the members of the body are called to build one another. You can see that verse 12 is very similar to verse 14, the way it starts. Verse 12 says, we ask you brothers, and here he says, we urge you, brothers. And there are three things that Paul is also urging you, or urging us, as members of the body of Christ, to do in relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. The first one, he says, is to admonish the idol. to admonish the idol. Actually, you can see that it's actually the same exhortation, or not the same exhortation, because in verse 12, admonish you is a participle, while in verse 14, it's an imperative. So in verse 12, Paul is describing the worker of God's kingdom, but in verse 14, he is exhorting us, as members of the body, to do something. Discipline does not start from the session or from the elders, but it starts from the body of Christ. We are called to admonish one another in the Lord. There is where the process of, in a sense, caring for the flock and helping those brothers and sisters in Christ starts from us admonishing one another. Now when Paul says admonish the idol, there is a connection here with what he has said before. It is not that he's talking about the idol, especially when he speaks to the Thessalonians in general. He is thinking about those he mentioned in chapter four, verses 11 through 12. If you remember, some of the brothers and sisters of the Thessalonian church have thought that the coming of Christ was imminent and they stopped working. and they became busybodies, and they were just supported by other members of the body. Now, when Paul is speaking to the Thessalonians, he is talking to them to, hey, admonish your brothers and sisters who are doing so. In a sense, they didn't need to wait for Paul to write to them, for the pastor to write to the flock, but they were called to build their brothers and sisters who were doing that. Now, you can remove the word idol here, because that is a specific, if you have, or we have, people who are going through similar things, yes, we are called to do the same, but you can put any other word where you need to admonish your brother and sister in Christ. Now, it is interesting that the next thing that Paul called us to do is encouragement. because we are good people in going streams. Now we start to admonish everybody, even those who need to be encouraged. But Paul is saying here now, you admonish the idol, but then you also encourage the fainthearted. Now, who is he talking about here, Paul? Well, Paul is also thinking about those he mentioned also in chapter four, verses 13 through 18. And if you remember, they were those who were discouraged because they have seen their brothers and sister in Christ who have fallen asleep, who have died before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember in chapter four, verses 13 through 18, especially in verse 18, Paul says, at the end, encourage one another with these words, that they will not precede those who have fallen asleep. Meaning that at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, those who have died before Christ has come, they will be there. Paul is saying to them, to the Thessalonians, encourage your brothers and sisters when they go through this. In other words, you don't have to wait for me, Paul says, to encourage them. It is your call as the body of Christ to build one another and to encourage one another. Now Paul also refers to another group. He says, and help the weak. Help the weak. And probably when Paul is talking about the weak, he's referring to those who may have been struggling with sexual immorality. that he also mentioned in chapter four. So you see the three things that Paul is calling the Thessalonian church to do, as well as us, is to manage, encourage, and help those who are in need. Paul then says be patient because admonishing, encouragement, and help requires patience from our part. And the word that Paul is using here is the word that means actually long suffering. It's that attribute of God where he has patience with us who are sinners. Paul is calling us to have the same patience with our brothers and sisters when we do what? When we admonish them, when we encourage them, and when we help them. Now you can read or you should read what he says in verse 15 in light of what he has said before. One of the problems that some people have when they approach this test is that they look at all these various instructions and exhortations and they read them in this connection with one another. They're reading, oh, you have to do this and you have to do this. In another context, you have to do this and that. But here, all is connected. He says, see that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but all we seek to do good to one another and to everyone. This is all connected with admonishing, encouraging, and helping the members of the body. Remember, if you consider what Paul have teach in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, gift are given to the body of Christ to build the members of the body of Christ, to build one another. And these responsibilities that are clear here, instructions for the body of Christ are given to us to build or to do good to everyone, to do good to everyone. The next set of instructions is how they are called to worship when they come together. And that's not that obvious. When you read those verses, actually for many years when I read them, I just read them as imperative or as some exhortations that are all disconnected from one another. Sometimes having the verses, the numbers, facilitate that, that you don't read the flow. But all this, what you see here in verses 16 through 21 or through 22, is an exhortation or is an instruction from Paul how they are called to worship when they come together. He says in verse 16, he says, rejoice always. Now, think about every time Paul says rejoice, as he says here, he means rejoicing the Lord. This is not, don't worry, be happy, or be happy, or just be happy. And this rejoice, not just that feeling of happiness, but actually rejoice means praise the Lord always. When you come together, praise the Lord always. And there are moments when it is not easy to come and praise the Lord, especially when you might be going through difficult times. But that's, again, the exhortation. Praise the Lord always when you come together. Now he says, pray without ceasing. And this verse is, I think, very used by many of us, many times, in many occasions. And it is good that we say to Christians to one another pray without ceasing because that's actually the Christian life. It's a life of prayer. But here Paul is actually referring to worship. He's saying pray without ceasing when you come together to worship God. That's why we should never feel Oh, we pray too much when we were at worship service. Too many prayers. We start with prayer, we finish with prayer, we pray in three languages, we pray for the offering, and we continue to pray. The reality is that you should be praying right now as I'm preaching. You should be praying for me, but you should be praying for yourself that God applies his word to you because that's That's when we come to worship is what we do. We communicate with God. We bring before God not just our petitions, but we are praising the Lord. So in churches, people say amen. And when they are saying that, they are actually saying that to God, amen. You can say amen in your heart if you also continue to pray without ceasing. But now, that doesn't mean that that is stopped when we leave this building. Our prayer life or our life is a life of constant prayer without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances. So we praise God by coming together to worship is a worship of thanksgiving. And he says in all circumstances. He doesn't say for all circumstances. And I think that there is a big difference between in and for. Because when he says, in all circumstances, many of them that are difficult, meaning that if you are in these circumstances, you remember that God is sovereign, and he has a plan, and he loves you, and all things are working together for your good. This is that you are conforming to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then when you come together, you praise God, rejoice always, you pray without ceasing, and you give thanks in all circumstances. Why? Verse 18 says, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. He is prescribing for us what we do as we come together to worship God, but also what we do as we go out to the world and we have our own devotional life before God. Now, how then I continue to infer that Paul is talking about here worship, you look at what he teaches in verses 19 through 22. All these verses, verses 19 through 22, is about one subject or one theme. And sometimes again, we tend to break this as, do not quench the spirit, this is one thing. And do not despise prophecy, this is another thing. But test everything, and that's another thing. But at the end, all of them are talking about the same thing. They are referring to prophecy. Now, the application of these verses, let me be clear, is different to what it was for the Thessalonian church to what it is for us today. Because the canon is closed. Because we have God's revelation, which is his word. But for them, they were receiving God's revelation. In fact, as they were reading this letter that was inspired by God, they were receiving that. What is the exhortation? Is do not quench the spirit. How you do that, he says, when you despise prophecy. When you despise the exhortation that comes from God is when you quench the spirit of God. So he's saying do not despise what God is sending you through his word. Now is he saying, okay, welcome everything. and hear everything, and accept everything, and follow everything. No, he says, but test everything, and then you have to exercise this wisdom. Hold fast what is good, and abstain from evil, from every form of evil. And he's referring again from any prophecy that is not from God, and from anything that is from God. What is the way to do that? How do we test everything? 2 Thessalonians 2 15 teaches or Paul reminded them about the traditions that they have received. Now how is this applied to us today? Do not quench the spirit but I not despise prophecies. When the word of God is proclaimed to you, you welcome. the Word of God in your heart, the exhortation of the Word of God in your heart. But you are called to test everything. In fact, I know that you are there checking the passage. Some of you might be checking even the languages and making sure that I'm preaching what the Word of God says. Hold fast to what is good, and abstain from every form of evil. Now, after Paul give us these three sets of instructions, then he closes with a prayer. Look what the prayer says. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it. And you may wonder, what is the connection between this and the set of instructions that he has said before? So first of all, let's look at what Paul is praying for the Thessalonian church and for us today. He's praying for our sanctification. And remember, we read it before, the will of God is our sanctification. He is concerned that they will stand blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. That all the attacks that were around them will now distract them from the ball, which is the gospel. But then again, what is the connection between our sanctification and this set of instructions that are focus on the community of believer. Is that sanctification doesn't happen isolated from the body of believers. God sanctifies the members of his body through the members of his body as well. This is why that theory of like the monks going somewhere and being by yourself there as if you are gonna be away from all the sin and evil of the world, the problem is that you are taking it with you. And that is not gonna help you. But God is going to sanctify you, how so? Through those who labor hard, through those who care for you, through those who admonish you that are your shepherds, and elders, and people who minister to your life, but also through the members of the body who are managing you, encouraging you, and helping you when you are idle, when you are fainthearted, and when you are weak. Now the beautiful thing of all this is the promise that you have at the end of these verses which is, he who calls you is faithful, he will surely do it. God will preserve you till the end. God is sanctifying you daily. Remember, while our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is growing day by day, and this is because God is at work in your life. So at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, you will be ready. Why? Because God is committed to that. But remember all this set of instructions. Many times I'm concerned that we move on so quickly, week after week, we hear a sermon, we have some things to do about it, and then next week we hear something different, and we move on from what we learned last week, but here we have some things that are very important. And I encourage you, brothers and sisters, that throughout this week, you think about what God is teaching you here, as you relate to those who work in God's kingdom, but also as you build and do good to the members of God's body. Let's pray. Dear God, we thank you for these words that you have given us. for the opportunity that we have to read it with our brothers and sisters, for the Holy Spirit that is in us that give us understanding and conviction and faith that they are truth, that they are your truth. Help us, Lord, as we go on our weeks to build one another. Help us to admonish, to encourage, and to help our brothers and sisters who are in need. We pray all these things in Jesus name. Amen.