There's a lot of Old Testament imagery in the hymn. We sing it. We recognize that imagery. He speaks of being well supplied, springs of water, feeding with manna, this glory cloud by day and shade by night. What does that look like in a New Testament church? Well, in large part, that's what we'll see in our text, in our sermon. Those are glorious imagery. And it's a glorious reality that the people of the Old Testament did see a fiery pillar and cloud to shade them. But what does it look like for a New Testament church to be well supplied and fed? It's quite simple and ordinary. And it takes place through the ministry of the church, through the elders and the members and the public worship of the church. That's what our sermon is about this morning. So if you'll take your Bibles and turn back to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, I won't read the entire text again, but I'll just pick a few snippets from the various sections, and then we'll work through. We urge you, brethren, to recognize those who are over you who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you. And then he says to the brethren in verse 14, Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the faint-hearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. And then to the congregation he says, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks. This is indeed how a church is is fed, nourished, and receives that ministry of the Lord. As we come now to the close of the book, this section is entitled, Various Exhortations, and it gives the impression possibly that these are just a scattering of concluding remarks that are unrelated to the rest of the book. that Paul is maybe not sure how to end the book and so he'll just pin a few concluding exhortations. Yet, they're not disconnected from the theme of the book and they're not disconnected from one another either. Nothing could be further from the truth. They're very much connected to the whole of what he's been arguing throughout the book. And what is it that Paul has been arguing? What is it that he's been pressing upon the church in Thessalonica? Well, it's essentially this. in light of the sure return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Press on in maturity. Grow in holiness. Walk in the light. Develop these things that are so present in your midst. The Lord is coming. Indeed, in every chapter of this book, there's a mention of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're told, In chapter 3, that their faith was evident to all. In chapter 4, we're told, brotherly love is present among you. I need not teach you these things. These were characteristic of their life together. And yet, this commendation does not, at least in Paul's mind, mean that they had arrived. That there wasn't room to grow, room to develop, room to mature. There wasn't more progress and holiness to be made for all that they were. And as much progress as they had made, there were still areas to grow in. There were still places to improve. So Paul will say, I don't need to write to you about brotherly love, you do so toward all the brethren, but we urge you that you increase more and more. The theme here is growing in holiness, the Lord is coming. In other words, you're doing well, but go on in maturity, increase, grow. Deepen your love for one another. Experience the life of Christ as the ministry of the church takes place. This is how Christ feeds you. There are individuals in your midst that need to grow in maturity and holiness. So that's what we find Paul pressing upon them and praying for them in chapter 3 verse 13. He prays that He, God, may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints. In chapter 4 verse 3, we're told that this is the will of God, your sanctification, that His holiness is the will of God for your life. And in chapter 4 verse 7, for God did not call you in uncleanness, but in holiness. And so that brings us then closer to our exhortations. The first half of chapter 5, He's told them, don't go on living as if you're children of the night. People are drunk in the night. This is the time of ungodly living. But you are children of the daytime. Live this way. Press on living in holiness as if the light of God's glory is upon you. And it's on the hills of these just at this point that we find our so-called various exhortations. And the connections of these exhortations to the theme of holiness is that the primary and most important way that you and I grow in holiness is by valuing and participating in the life of the church. The most important way that you and I grow in holiness is by valuing and participating in the life of the church, the ministry of the church. However difficult, however messy that life together may be at times, however awkward or hard those relationships may be, it is here in living together as the church that you grow in holiness. And brothers and sisters, I don't really need to tell you this, but life together is hard at times. There are difficulties. It's not always rainbows and roses. And let me say here at the beginning by way of application, if you stay in Redeemer Baptist Church only as long as it is pleasant, only as long as things are easy and life is good, and you bail out as soon as things get hard, or your feelings are hurt, or you're corrected, you will inevitably retard your growth in holiness. That's just a fact. That is a scriptural fact. Now, by now, some of you will have heard the sad news that a very prominent Calvinistic minister has fallen in the past week and has been removed from ministry. He's been removed from his position on seminaries and boards. And many of the comments that I've heard from people are along these lines. Oh, I'm so glad that I've been done with brick and mortar churches for a long time. You just can't trust pastors. Churches and church leaders always let you down. Those types of thoughts. And yet, in the Lord's providence, as we come to the conclusion of our book, our text tells us that we are to value, to highly esteem the ministry of the elders. the mutual ministry of the members one to another in the public worship of the church. Leaders will disappoint you. The church will let you down at times. But our text says we ought not have those sorts of thoughts. We are to value our life together in the ministry that takes place from elders to congregation, amongst the congregation, and in the public worship of the church. You are to be participating in them regularly. And so I want to survey, and that's really all that I have time to do this morning, is to survey these three aspects of our life together. Number one, you are to esteem the elders for their work's sake. That's what he says in verses 12 and 13, and we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake, be at peace among yourselves." The reason you are to esteem the elders is because of the work that they're called to do. And it helps us to understand why we are to esteem them and how we're to esteem them if we can take a look at the work that they do among the congregation. It'll help us to understand our responsibility here. In the first place, we find in verse 12 that the elders labor among you. They labor among you. And I just mentioned here at this point that it's they. There's a plurality. The church is to have a plurality of elders laboring among the flock. The calling of the minister is a call to a difficult and a hard task, a laborious task. It's not uncommon in our day to think of the job of the elders and the ministers as simply preaching on Sunday, a sort of easy task where they have most of the week off to lollygag around and they show up and they say a few things on Sunday and that's really the extent of their calling. A life of ease and freedom. There are elders this way. You might know elders this way. You've seen it and heard of it. But Paul's view of the eldership is a calling to labor. It's a calling to effort. It's a calling to toil. It's not to be a life of ease and comfort, but really a life of hard, grinding labor for the good of the congregation, always with the congregation upon his heart and mind, always laboring, sweating, a toiling for your souls, that you might grow in holiness, that you might be blameless when the Lord returns, always keeping before his mind that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming and here is the flock entrusted to him. And how will it be with them in the day that the Lord returns? It's a burdensome task. That's really what the word means that Paul uses. It means an arduous toil, a sweating labor. It's a word often associated with farm work. John Stott says this, it means to toil, strive, struggle, and grow weary in doing so. It conjures up a picture, you might not have thought of this as you looked upon your elders, of rippling muscles and pouring sweat. Whether it's in the study and preparation of sermons, he says, or visiting the sick, or counseling the disturbed, or instructing people for baptism or marriage, or being diligent in intercession, these things demand that we toil, striving with all the energy which Christ mightily inspires in us. The work of the elders, you see, is an arduous task. And for that, Paul says, you ought to esteem They're laboring for your sanctification, that when the Lord returns because of their labors, He might say to you, well done, my good and faithful servant. It's often a physically exhausting work. It requires sometimes long days, late evenings, calls in the middle of the night. You move from one task to another, often with very little rest or break in between. It's also an emotionally exhausting task. It's full of highs and lows, marked by seeing those you work with come through the darkness and into the light. And what a glorious thing that is. And yet to watch others who labor in sin and groan under the weight of sin, who never seem to get victory and ultimately walk away. And so it's emotional. highs and lows. It's emotionally draining. And again, knowing all along that they will themselves give an account to God for how they have ministered among the flock. It's an arduous task. The elders of the church labor among you and they labor for you. The second aspect of the work of the elders is found in verse 12. They are over you in the Lord. They are over you in the Lord. Now what does this mean? What does it mean that the elders are over you in the Lord? Does it mean that the elders have all the authority in the church and therefore may dictate to the church and to her members every aspect of their life together? Is that the type of authority that Paul envisions? Well, I think there's certain statements in this letter that would lead us to a different conclusion. Look back at chapter two in verse seven. We find Paul, mind you, he's an apostle, uniquely gifted for that calling in the life of the church by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, and he's describing what his ministry looks like. Here's an apostle with real authority over the church. What does he envision that authority to look like? He says, we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. Look at chapter 2, verse 10 and 11. He describes it in this way. You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe, and how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you. Did you catch those words in our text this morning? As a father does his own children. So Paul is describing his ministry among them in the terms of a family, in affectionate terms. He says indeed in chapter 2 verse 8, so affectionately longing for you. Is there authority entrusted to the elders? Of course there is. But it is not an absolute dictatorial authority. The elders are not dictators in the church. It is the authority given to them by God to lovingly, affectionately care and guide and lead and set an example for each member of the congregation. That is the authority that the elders have. In fact, Paul will make one of the very qualifications for the eldership, how well a man rules in his own home. Is he a dictator in his home? Or does he guide and bring up his children in love and affection? Is he an example to his children? This is the type of authority that the elders have in the church. So we're beginning now to get a picture of what it means for the elders to be over you in the Lord. Not a dictatorial role. but a role rather of guiding and leading and setting an example. There's authority in it. There's authority in what is said from the pulpit because it comes from the Word. But notice how Peter puts it in 1 Peter 5, verses 1-3. The elders who are among you, I exhort. I who am a fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed. Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly." Now here it is, not as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. That's what the elders are called to. So the emphasis here in our text is not actually on rank, but on the calling to lead and to guide, to go out ahead of the flock, to sort of blaze the path for the flock, setting an example, teaching those entrusted to them. That certainly includes defending the flock, protecting the flock from false teachers and false doctrines. It includes at times the act of recommending to the congregation that certain members be removed from the flock. That's an act. that the elders participate in. Paul even says that there are some people whose mouths must be stopped. This is a place where the elders take the lead and lead the congregation through these actions. But in all of this, the elders are over you in the sense of leading and guiding, caring for and instructing you. It is a teaching authority by which the elders show and teach by doctrine and example how you ought to be preparing for the day that the Lord returns. And that leads us to the third aspect of the elders' calling. They are to admonish you. To admonish you. This authority, this oversight of the flock, this guiding and leading includes with it this negative aspect of admonishment. I mean negative in this sense. Not that it's a bad thing. All that the pastors are doing is not just to be positive instruction, positive encouragement, but there is this work of admonition to come along at times and say, brother, you're going astray. Sister, you're wrong here. You're not thinking about God in the right way. And this is a positive thing. This is how God ministers in His church. This is how He works to correct us. This is how He well supplies us. feeds us with manna. It's the elders who, setting an example, can come along and say, get back on the narrow path here. You're straying. It's not all positive here. There are times in the life of a church where these things must take place. There is a clear call for the elders to address these errors in the life. and doctrine of a church and individuals in a church. And that's not bad. It is a good thing. Blessed is the church that has elders who are willing to engage in this work. To confront you when you go astray. And even among the eldership, to be confronted when we go astray. To have someone come and say, get your feet back on the narrow path. This is a positive thing. And Paul's exhortation to you this morning is not to tolerate such work. It's not to endure such a calling from the elders. It's not to draw back from this work. It's not to avoid it. And it's not cynicism because a well-known pastor has fallen. It's to honor them and esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. That's the exhortation. Value them. Not in spite of this work, but because they do this work. Because they fulfill this task. Value their labor. Value their oversight. Yes, indeed, value their admonitions at times. That is to say you are to appreciate, know, and acknowledge the work of the elders among you. He even goes further. He says you should do this very highly in love's sake. The elders are not to be idols to a congregation. They're not to be put on a pedestal. They're not to be thought of as always unable to fall or stumble, or even as if they themselves never need admonition. But they are to be esteemed very highly because they labor and toil for your sanctification. You see, each of these three aspects of their work are aimed at that one primary goal, that you may be found blameless in holiness when the Lord returns. The work of the elders is aimed at your being prepared for the last day. And you see, to the degree that you value that, to the degree that you value holiness, to the degree that you long to hear Christ say, well done my good and faithful servant, to that degree you'll value and esteem the work of the elders in your midst. If you don't value holiness, you won't value those who labor for your holiness. Do you value holiness in this way? It's no wonder then that Paul can quote Isaiah saying, how beautiful, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace and bring tidings of good things, glad tidings of good things, because that is what makes us holy. Do you esteem the elders in this way? Do you value the work that they do? Do you attend to their ministry regularly? Do you pray for your elders regularly? This may be the true test of whether you really esteem the eldership, is how often do you labor in prayer for the elders as they labor under such an arduous task? In Pilgrim's Progress, there's a character named Evangelist. He's really Bunyan's picture of the perfect ideal pastor. And He comes along from time to time in the story, and He runs into Christian, and He's always pointing Christian to the celestial city. At times, He encourages him, Christian, this is the way. Go this way. This is the right way. At other times, He warns him sternly, there's danger ahead. You must be on guard here. This is a dangerous part of your journey. At other times, he rebukes him and says, how did you get here? Why are you off the path? Who came and drug you off the path? But in it all, he's laboring and working to see that Christian doesn't come short of the celestial city. Christian goes to the house of the interpreter, and on the wall, there's a picture, a portrait of Evangelist. And this is how Bunyan describes it. It's a portrait of a very grave person. He had his eyes lifted up to heaven, the best of books in his hand, the law of truth written upon his lips, the world behind his back. He stood as if pleading with men and a crown of gold hung over his head. And Christian says to the interpreter, what does this portrait mean? And the interpreter answers this way. The man in the picture, he says, represents one in a thousand. You see, he's a rarity. It's something to be esteemed and honored. Why is he one in a thousand? The interpreter says, this is the calling of the minister. He can conceive children, travail in birth with children, and nurse them Himself when they are born. His work is to know and unfold dark things to sinners. He is authorized by the Lord of the place where you are going to be your guide in all things, in all the difficult places you will encounter on the way. You see then, that is a great work. It is a work to be highly esteemed, valued, participated in, rejoiced in even. So that's our first point. It's longer than the others, so don't lose hope. Number two, there's also a work to be done by the congregation. You see, it's not all the elders. Again, the elders aren't dictators over the congregation, but they're not the only ones who minister. They may be the only ones who minister by calling and authority from the Lord in that sense, but the congregation has a work to do. He says that in verses 14 and 15. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the faint-hearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. Here is Paul's answer to the age-old question, am I my brother's keeper? And Paul is saying in some sense, yes, indeed you are. You have a real responsibility to one another within the life of the congregation. There's a mutual ministry that takes place among the members. Remember, he's viewing this as a healthy example of church life. And he says, A healthy church is one in which the members are ministering to one another. Where this body life is taking place. Too often we look at this as only the elders work. There's a problem in the church, let's take it to the elders. Is there an issue in the church? Oh, let's get the elders to work on it. Paul says you yourselves ought to be ministering one to another within the congregation. The church, he says in Ephesians, is to edify itself in love. It's not only the elders who edify the church. The church, the elders certainly have a unique role to play, but so then does the congregation as well. We see it again very clearly in Ephesians 4. This is the passage where Paul speaks of the risen Christ giving these teaching gifts to the church, and then he gives this as their task. He gave some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints. Why is he equipping the saints? Why is the elder equipping the saints? for the work of the ministry. That is, that the body itself has a ministry to itself. To minister one to another. The elders are equipping each of you that you might minister one to another. For the edifying of the body of Christ. Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect or mature man. And he goes on to say a few verses later that the church, not the elders only, the church, Speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into Him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint, not only the joint of the elders, but every joint supplies, according to the effect of working by which every part does it share, causing growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." So you see then, The elders have a high calling, but you too have a high calling. You too have a ministry in the church. You have a part to play in the work here at Redeemer. No one, not a single member of this church may sit back and say, well, that's the job of the elders. Certainly there are issues in the life of the church that the elders are uniquely gifted to care for. That's true. There are issues that the elders need to be aware of. Individual lives that may require special elder care, but brothers and sisters, you, you are being equipped to do the work of the ministry here, that the work of the church may go forward. You see, it's too much work for the elders. If we had twice as many elders, it's too much work. You must minister one to another. And so Paul says in our text, we exhort you, brethren. He doesn't say we exhort you elders. He's already addressed the elders. You, brethren, must do these things, warn the unruly, and so forth. You must care for one another. You must see that not a single one of you are left behind. You must be pointing each other always to the celestial city. The reality, again, is that the work is too much for a small group of men in the church And really, it's a sad and unhealthy church when it's only the elders who labor, when it's only the elders who toil and work. It's surely to be a church with stunted maturity and a church that will be found wanting when Christ comes if only the elders are working. Now, I'm happy to say that this church does a good job with that. I think that the church honors her elders and labors in ministry one for another. But if I could piggyback on Paul's words, good, now press on. Grow more and more in this. Do even better at it. But what is that work that you're to be doing? What does it look like? Well, there's three things that are mentioned. One commentator describes it actually as the three problem children in the church. And it's worth noting here that the presence of these so-called problem children is no indictment against the church. Paul does not rebuke the church or say, how could you have these immature people in your body? People who are unruly, people who are faint-hearted, people who are weak. Why are they in your church? But he says, no, you have these people in your church. Even though you're an example to all around, this is how you are to minister to them. Indeed, every church will have such people in her ministry. the unruly, the faint-hearted, and the weak. And Paul says the way in which the brethren are to deal with them differs according to their unique circumstance or issue. Again, it's important to note, it's not that you're to be looking for these problems, it's not that you're going around prying into closets to see what's wrong with this person that I might minister to them, but when it is known, you dive in and you do the work of the ministry. That's what he's talking about. The unruly are what we might term disorderly. It's a military term. They're not marching in step. Their life is in disarray. There's a disordered characteristic to their life. They're in need of warning. They must be like evangelists would do with Christians. The warning that if you continue in this way, there's great danger ahead for you. And they need a stern word of warning to say, get it together here, put your feet back on the narrow path, go in this way, open up your scroll and see the way in which you must walk. They must be made aware of the danger that they are in because it endangers not only themselves, but the church as a whole. They're marching out of step, and it has a tendency to knock the cadence of the whole group out of step. In 2 Thessalonians, this is the category of people. that are mentioned as those who will not work. They won't go to work. They won't provide for themselves. They become a burden on the congregation. And so this warning here is not limited to merely to theological ideas and concepts, but ethical and moral behaviors in the life of the church. If you continue in this behavior or that behavior, this danger awaits you. This is the work that you are to do. The second group is the faint-hearted. We might call them timid. That's another way we could translate it. They're paralyzed with fear. Their faith is faint and weak, and they're unable to hold regularly to the promises of God. And so they struggle, and they seem not to be able to move forward in the Christian life. They struggle to live with and in the confidence of the Lord, and they're halting always in the Christian life. And Paul describes a much different treatment for them. Not a stern warning that was given to the unruly. But here he says you must come alongside of them. You must encourage them. They are tender. They cannot stand the stern warnings given to the unruly. They need to be gently led back again to the promises of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You must be able to make a discernment. between the issues in people's life. Come alongside those who need a helping hand. Warn those who need a warning. And then he mentions the weak. And this refers to those in the congregation who were giving in to sin and temptations. Being caught up in sinful behaviors. And it's noteworthy, to me at least, that he doesn't offer here the stern warning that he does the unruly. He makes a distinction between those who are disorderly in their life and those who are being caught up in sin through weakness. And he says here, He uses a strong word. They need to be comforted. That is really a word picture. You need to put your arms around them. They're weak and they're stumbling and sin has caught them. John Stott says the word has the idea of hold on to them and cling to them and don't let sin gobble them up. This class of people are not in need of warning. They need someone to hold them up in time of temptation, to sustain them in their weaknesses. And a great deal of wisdom is needed in how to deal with different issues in the life of the church. And there's a matter for prayer. God, give me, give us such wisdom. But one thing, so there's a difference we make between these categories of people. But one thing is to mark our relationship to each of the different categories, each of the different problem children. Verse 14, be. Be patient with all. Oh, how we need this grace in each of our lives. How easy it is to grow weary with those who are difficult. How quickly we shut them down and shut them out. How often do we grow frustrated and bitter, resentful towards them. They take up our time, our efforts, our energies. They won't get right. And Paul says, however you deal, and whatever differences you must make among the categories, you remember this, you be patient with every one of them. It's a fruit of the Spirit. It's a characteristic of God Himself. He commands us to be patient with them all. They may show up late to worship because they're disorderly. Their church attendance may be sporadic. They may be slipping into sin. They may be never seeming to make progress. Every one of us is in a different place in the Christian life. Every one of us has different struggles. But we must be patient, yes, even with those in sin, even with those who are difficult, even the difficult personalities. We must always keep in mind these two very important truths. One, you didn't arrive at maturity overnight. The Lord was patient with you. You didn't arrive overnight. It's taken you a lifetime to get to where you are. Be patient with others as they're on the path. Be patient with others as they sometimes fall and stumble. Be patient with them as they grow. Secondly, the Lord Jesus Christ has been, it's not past tense, is it? He is being patient with you now. And will you deny that patience to others? We're not to render evil for evil. We're to pursue the good of all. This is how we're well supplied. This is how we feed upon the manna. This is the fiery pillar that God feeds His flock with. Our third point, and it's even shorter, is public worship. Public worship. So there's the role of the elders, there's the role of the members one to another, there's public worship. Verse 16, really to the end, rejoice, pray without ceasing, give thanks, Don't quench the spirit, don't despise prophecies. This section is primarily about public worship. Of course, each of these exhortations have application to us as individuals. But he actually has in mind primarily the public gatherings of the church. We see that in the fact that the three verbs are plural. Rejoice, pray, and give thanks are in the plural form. It's not that you're to pray without ceasing on your drive to work. You should do that. But it's plural. We should come together as the church and always be rejoicing and praying and giving thanks together. We see it again in the exhortation dealing with prophecies. This is the public ministry of the Word. Whether that's special gifts in that day or today, the ordinary ministry of the Word. This is a public matter. And in verses 26 and 27, He speaks of greeting the brethren with a kiss and reading all this letter to the brethren. That's public. It's a public gathering of the church for worship. And so here, then, we see that you cannot, you cannot be maturing in holiness while absenting yourself from the public worship of the church. You cannot be prepared for the day of the Lord's return when you absent yourself from the public worship of the church. You cannot be well prepared when your attendance at worship is sporadic. And I might say here that evening worship is equally as important as morning worship. It is the Lord's day given to the Lord where you are to hear from Him in the Scriptures It is completely foreign to the Scriptures that a Christian would live a life apart from or unattached to the public gatherings of the church. You see, it is in this way that Christ Himself ministers to us. It is in this way that He communicates grace to us. And no, this may be a controversial statement. I hope that it's not. No amount of private or family worship, no amount of listening to sermons online, no amount of watching sermons on YouTube can ever, ever take the place of public worship. Public worship is one of the most important things you'll ever do in your life. It is to be highly valued and participated in. It's why he says, don't despise prophesying. I know there's controversy. I know there's discussions about whether that's a special revelatory gift. I'm not even going to get into that. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter for this sermon. The point of that is, when the Word is declared on the Lord's Day, you ought to be present. Don't despise it by absenting yourself from it. Because you can't grow in holiness without it. You cannot be prepared for the return of the Lord. And these things should mark our worship. It is to be a rejoicing. a happy thing. Yes, it's sober. Yes, there is a seriousness to it because God is serious. We ought to come and to worship with our hearts prepared because God is in this temple. Yes, all of that is true, but it's not incompatible with the joy and rejoicing. It ought to be reflected, if not in the quality, you can't do much about the, at least I can't do much about the quality of my singing, but it can be reflected in the volume of our singing. Are we happy? Are we joyful? Do we delight to come and have this ministry of Christ and His church? We ought to be rejoicing always. And our worship is to be heavy on prayer. Praying without ceasing. My house shall be known as a house of prayer. You see, our prayers as a church are not transitions from one part of the service to another. They're not fillers. They're a part of the church life that you participate in. You join in with the amen, either to yourself or out loud. They're vital parts of our worship. Paul says your worship, your public gatherings, should be full of prayer. We're to gird up the loins of our minds here in prayer as much as we are in the sermon and the reading of Scripture. And then there's to be this valuing of the ministry of the Word, not despising the prophecies. However you want to take that, one thing is certain. We are to value the ministry of the Word amongst us. The Word is to be central to our life together as we come to worship. These are the means by which the Spirit works in us. And to absent ourselves from them is to quench the Spirit, which He says, don't do that. Don't quench the Spirit. How do we quench the Spirit when we don't attend those means that He works through and in us? You cannot expect the Spirit to work in you if you're not using the means He has given you. So I conclude with this. When the elders are laboring as they should, when you are participating in the work you are called to, ministering together, And when we are gathered for worship and all the elements are there, not despised, then we can surely trust the faithful God to do His work in us. That's what Paul says. He is faithful. He will do it when the church lives this way. We can trust Him to mature us in holiness. We can expect that He Himself will sanctify us completely, spirit, soul, and body, and that in this way, He will preserve each one of us blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's very interesting to me that archaeologists are finding grave inscriptions I don't know if you would call them tombstones exactly, but these inscriptions in Thessalonica from biblical times that just read, blameless. He's faithful, and they will rise from those graves blameless. God is faithful, and in this way, this corporate life together, we experience the very life of Christ in our midst, and oh, what a blessed life that is. Let us value it and be faithful to participate in it. Amen. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank You again that You have well supplied Your church. You feed us, You care for us, You minister to us, You give us all the grace that we need. And so we pray that You would do a work in our heart, that You would cause us to delight in it, to value it, to participate in it, And may we look back in years to come and see sometimes it was slow, sometimes it was by great leaps and bounds, but always you were faithful to sanctify us completely, preserving us blameless. And Father, may we have a great reason to rejoice at the coming of our Lord, knowing that we have used well and rightly the means that you have given us. In Christ's name I pray, amen.