Peter Barnes: 1 Thessalonians 5:14,15
SERMON NOTES: RELATING TOGETHER (1 Thessalonians 5:14-15)
– John Chrysostom says that Paul is writing to leaders, but Paul actually says that Christians are to admonish each other (5:14a). Larry Crabb: ‘We tend to relate to one another with the hidden purpose of maintaining our comfort and avoiding whatever sort of interaction we find threatening.’
- Admonish the idle.
– 5:14a. People seem to have thought that the second coming was so close that it was not worth working. The idle may well be the unruly.
- Encourage the fainthearted.
– 5:14b. This is not a common word for ‘encourage’, and often has the meaning of ‘consoling’ as in John 11:19, 31. The fainthearted are literally those of ‘little soul’ (e.g. Ex.6:9; Judges 16:16; Jonah 4:8).
– Even the King of kings and Lord of lords came to earth to be a servant – Isa.42:1-3.
- Help the weak.
– 5:14c. To help here means ‘to be devoted to’. Who are the weak? Some say that is the physically weak; others that it is true believers who have weak views (Rom.14:1-2, 5, 21); others say it refers to the socially weak (1 Cor.1:26-29). We are all weak (Rom.5:6).
- Be patient with all.
– 5:14d. God is longsuffering and patient – Ps.103:8.
- Be good to all, even unbelievers.
– 5:15. Here is a rule for our relationships with everybody.
– Romans 12:17-21; for David, see 1 Sam.19:7-12; 24:1-4, 8-11. William Wilberforce used to say that it is the second blow that starts the fight.