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Somebody used the word practical or daily life kind of things. Yeah. which on the face of it building what's spiritual about that but at every
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step he prayed about should he ask talk to the king and what he would say and then how he would gather people to do the work and explain
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to them to them what it meant. Yeah. And so And so is someone who every step
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before the Lord before he No, I I appreciate that. Thank you. Um that's an excellent reminder and an
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excellent figure and and I would further point out you know Nehemiah is is an exceedingly great example there because a he was uh attempting to seek
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the Lord's face and all of those things and he was also beset by those among his number who were trying to sabotage him. I mean there were people from the inside who were causing issues. He was
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Well, I think you're exactly right there. Um, it is it is in fact borne out in the history of Israel and that they persist in those things. It is done as they go forward. I would say I Again, I don't think we can map one to one
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exactly onto our situation because we we we don't even make up 250s, I don't think. Um, you know, in terms of who we appoint people over. Furthermore,
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though, your your point is is valid because what is it that we read again and again in the judges? What is the problem that is besetting Israel there is every man did what was right in his
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own eyes. Okay? They were not seeking the wisdom of God. They were not bringing the disputes before those representatives over them. They were not looking for what was good and right.
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They were not, as Paul says here, pursuing what is good for one another and for all people. Chuck, you had your hand. Just a parallel instance.
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yeah the scripture offers us no comment on that strangely sometimes we do
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so I think that helps answer your question in part
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God, if the loan comes through, I'm buying it. buying it. So, you know, difficult thing. I mean, put these things in front of him.
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It it is I will I will freely grant you it is hard at times to discern the Lord's will. Um and and and I am not alone in mentioning up here, you've heard it from from other folks up here
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the number of times that people have told the elders, well, it's God's will and then stating something that is exactly contrary to what it says in scripture. Okay. So, at some point, we have the scripture. We lean on the scripture. You
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know, we're told, of course, that in in a multitude of counselors, there is wisdom. There's a lot of different things we're looking at there in terms of finding wisdom. But to to try and
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draw us back to where we're at here, is in the conduct of the church, which is what Paul's got in view here in Thessalonians, in the conduct of the church, the principle should be that all
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of us are continually seeking the Lord's face and his purpose. that we are praying without ceasing, that we are aligning ourselves. I mean, cast yourself back however many weeks it was
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when we talked about being holiness as the idea of alignment towards God's will and his purpose. That's um I've got it in my notes I think four times this
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morning. The number of things that I wish that I and maybe it'll be what I do on our last one is read the entirety of First Thessalonians at one go because I think the thought goes all the way through for Paul here. The idea of the
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holiness that he's he's encouraging them in, that he's recognizing and encouraging them in from the first and second chapters carries all the way down to here, which is if we are aimed in this way, if we are guided in this way,
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if we are seeking what the Lord states and seeks, yes, there will be difficult practical issues that we have to at some point just get through. But overall, the body will be able to support and guide
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and direct one another in these things. that you won't be the only person thinking about that question or or dealing with it. Abigail
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I appreciate that. Thank you very much. Because that that is that is what we're talking about. And it we pointed out last week last week Paul's just had a sort of military picture here that he laid out for us in the preceding section. Again, to use my
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poor analogy, if you like, in a military, your sergeant isn't standing there saying, "You fight that guy. you fight that it's self-organized based on what presents in front of you. Okay, you have a purpose. Your upper level
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commanders have laid out for you. This is the objective. This is the goal. This is what's in front of us strategically here. Now go do what needs to happen to make that done. Right? So to your point
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from from Nehemiah, for example, I don't think Nehemiah was standing up there saying, "Okay, you're on mortar mixing duty. Okay, you're on, you know, stone cutting duty. You're going to scaven." like it was self-organizing to a certain
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extent that people are looking to the work that needs to get done and and laboring after that. And that's exactly what Paul the terminology he's using here. I would also cast you again back
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to chapter one. What are the things that he's so encouraged about when he opens this book? Your labor of love, your steadfastness in hope, the work of faith, the things that he sees them
8:56
You can come on in. No, that's all right. Okay. Yeah, we're um we're doing a Sunday school, so you're welcome to to come and and uh have a seat and and join the conversation. Um I Elie, I can't
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think of one off the top of my head. Um I know there are some moments in Kings and Chronicles and and maybe even one section in Samuel where we see some of
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the lower level interactions, but I can't think of one where it says it goes, you know, from this person all the way up to the king or the high priest, for example.
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Um it was your question wheers directly into our practice in Christ or were you just wondering if it was in the biblical history whe
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So I I can't think of one that I I know of where it goes from the bottom to the top like that. Um, I I would also though second what Gabrielle said, which is we do see repeatedly throughout the history of Israel when things are working the
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way they're supposed to. There are a number of moments in which Joshua, for example, says, "Okay, we're going over here and it then filters down through those layers of people, right? That it's
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communicated that way." Um, as far as the reverse, I I can't think of a specific example. No.
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It does. It does speak in a general way, right, in the passage. Yeah, I guess I was trying to think of a like a named example of like this person had this issue when it went up. Um, I do want to move us forward here though. You you had your hand up for a minute. Yeah, I want to get back to what you
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were saying about about the nature of the military leadership in Paul's Paul's context. what you're talking about sergeant is pretty good because the the common foot
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soldier was to in fact follow his leader into battle. into battle. were exposed at the corners and in front right so the example of their labor and in
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fact following that example in all things very present you using a military analogy definitely is military analogy
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and it's really important to understand that it's not just about directives they are in fact following the example of their leaders in war and
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Yes, thank you. So I I think that brings us to to root here, which is that that's what Paul has in mind is again the thought runs all the way through here. Go go go back to what he says in chapter
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one. You have become imitators of us and of Christ. You know, the idea that there are leaders there ahead of you who are doing that work that you are imitating, that you are following the example, that
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are leading you towards the objectives that we find laid out in scripture. And I and I do want to move us forward a little bit here because the question has come up a couple of times of uh the
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frankly human tendency of which I will also admit to having which is just tell me what to do. Okay, just tell me what I'm supposed to do. Well, guess what? Here it is. Paul tells us live in peace
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with one another. Okay, so um I want to mention one other comment um Tim brought to me at the end of of the class last week. Um, and again I I wish when you
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guys have these thoughts, please tell me because I want to talk about them. Um, I was making abstract hand gestures trying to indicate my thought of how the elders fit with the congregation and the fact
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that the elders are not separated. They're not some other echelon. They are among the brethren, right? It's not unclear at any point in scripture that the elders are from among you. Um, and
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yet he he seems to be indicating here a a he's entailing on the people first love and respect for those who are teaching you and then he says to those
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it seems to those who are teaching be patient with them all. There is an up and a down sort of connection here of both of you have a respect for each other in these things. We are all
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together in the Lord. We are all laboring for the objective of his glory. And so highly esteem and love those who are leading and are teaching and who are putting themselves out there on the
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front doing that hard work. And those who are doing those things, be patient and at peace with those who are supporting you and esteeming you. Okay? So you have an up and a down connection
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here between these things. And it this this idea that he says here um be at peace among yourselves or live at peace with one another is central to this whole grouping of things that he's
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talking about here that you live at peace with one another. When the camp is in disarray or there is infighting we're not we're not making any progress towards the objective. Chuck,
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Right. mentioned this several times about how in a sense approval comes from
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church that's not that's not that's not in place
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Yeah. Yeah. Yes. So, we talked about that just a little bit last week and and it's a valid point here. Um because he's he's saying here, live at peace with one another. You're right. There are of course I'm sure all of you can think of there are disciplinary measures talked
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about in the f in the New Testament again to speak to things in practical terms especially where we live in practical terms if someone is disciplined in the church what are they going to do they're just going to go find another church okay so there is and
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I and I will also lean again on on what Gabrielle pointed out which is central to all of this and he is not unclear here it's hard for me to hold all of them together at once
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He says, of course, don't quench the spirit. All of this is relying on the fact that we are together in the spirit oriented towards God's objective. Right? That's we've been talking about this all
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the way through. There is an element of trust in involved in here and that we are trusting one another, that we are believers who are seeking one another's
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good, who are seeking the things that God has said in his scripture. Please him, honor him that he desires to see. Okay. So saying live at peace with one another. There's a lot of argument in
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among the commentators about whether or not he's dealing with a very specific issue here or if this is a general comment. I think it's more of a general sense that he's giving here, but it is connected with what he's talked about
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all the way through here. And Chuck is exactly right that it relies on love and peace among one another because if we don't have those things, everything else
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that he's asking us to do is at some measure uh play acting.
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when we have this question of tell me what to do. This is not the only one of these examples you can find, but I think he's got a couple of them here. Admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted, help
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the weak, be patient with all. Okay. So, if you want to start with tell me what to do, start with those four. Um, we also have looked, of course, as we've gone through here, I pointed out a
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couple of times um the parable of the sheep and the goats that Jesus speaks in which he says he's got a list in there of the things that the father looked at at the at the judgment. Um, you know,
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visiting those who were imprisoned, visiting them when they are sick, giving clothes to those who were naked, feeding those who were hungry. If you're looking for something to do, you could find a
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worse list to start with. Okay? So, there are examples in scripture of things that we are told to do. But, as we've been looking at all the way through here, what we're finding primarily from Paul is that he doesn't
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give you a list of thou shalts and thou shalt not. Because Paul is expecting all of us in the spirit to have the wisdom of God, to be able to adapt to whatever is in front of us and follow it to the
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glory of God. Okay, that's the point here is a lot less of a thou shalt and thou shalt not and a lot more of the here is what it is to be wise. Here is your training in the scripture to be
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prepared for those things that that face you. So, um I I also think it's it's connected and I I don't have time to do all this because
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we're running out of time for this morning, but if you haven't been attending or you haven't listened to the Thursday night classes, I highly recommend them to you. I thought Thursday's discussion of the witness of
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the church that we talked about a little bit also really connects to a lot of the thoughts that are here. I'm also aware that the things that Paul says right here are almost a one for one overlap
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with where dad is in first Peter chapter 3. Um because of course the sermon last week was on do not repay evil for evil. Paul says here see that no one repays
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another with evil for evil. Literally the exact same phrase in the Greek. I mean one for one to the point shows up in a couple other places. People speculate that this was some particular phrase. It probably was the same way we
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use it in English. It's a known phrase in the culture, evil for evil. Fine. Um, and I and I will not rehash everything that was said in that sermon, but I think it was an excellent sermon, and I
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would commend that to you. He says here, and I want to make this point. Um, he says, "Always," my my version in the New American Standard says, uh, "Always seek
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after that which is good for one another and for all people." Uh a sort of almost uh painfully literal version of it would be something to the effect of um
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always pursue no sorry always the good pursue also toward one another and to all. So always looking for good to one
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another and to all. Okay. So he's got the body in mind but he's not curtailing you to only doing good to one another. It relates, I think, to the sermon of
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last week. Don't repay evil for evil is applicable within the church. It's also applicable without the church. That is part of your witness before the world is not repaying evil for evil and for doing
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good. These are fundamental principles of how the church behaves. um to to again just indicate here as we're wrapping up the time that we have this
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morning, the principles that he's laying out here, the principles that he's laid out through First Thessalonians is a form of, and I don't really want to use the word policing, it's an idea that the body is
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looking to its whole conduct. So if you look at the change here, um there is a change in wording and not to get too deep into the Greek here, but the pre preceding verses were sort of second
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person commands. And in verse 15, he uses a third person. See to it. He goes out into a sort of a broader view here. And I think the idea here is that it's
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not merely that each man heeds his own conduct. It's that the community is responsible for the members that make it up. Okay? It's not just that we are also
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thinking about our own conduct. We're thinking about how we as a body are functioning, conducting ourselves and behaving. Okay? So when he says see
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to it, he's moved grammatically out of the you individually into y'all see to it that no one repays evil for evil. That you all pursue what is good for one
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another and for all men. Um, I wanted also to talk about the phrases here of um of praying without ceasing and in
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everything giving thanks, but I guess that's going to be next week at this point. So, point. So, I'll leave us with this one, I guess, which is that he's got these principles that he's he's gone through here in
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First Thessalonians that he's expecting of the church. Again, there is something he's responding to in writing First Thessalonians. I think it's the report that Timothy brings him.
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We're not given the details of what was going on in the church the way we were in Corenth, for example. It seems for the most part that Paul is very pleased with the Thessalonians and what he
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hears. But this section also seems to be addressing some outstanding frictions among them. Okay? Because he's asking them to be patient with one another. He's asking them to be kind. He this
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section is phrased very politely for the most part in his grammar. It's not his strongest or sometimes harshest commands. These are very polite in treaties. He says, "I I beseech you."
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It's it's very much the sense of please, will you guys do these things? Um, that makes them no less commands, but he's he's asking of it of them in the
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expectation that they will willingly comply, not that he has to browbeat them into these things. So, let us take these phrases, these thoughts again. If you're looking for tell me what to do, let's
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start here with admonishing the idol, strengthening the weak, supporting the faint-hearted, and seeking good for one another. And let's close in prayer.
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Our Father, we do thank you for this time that we can spend in your word. We thank you for the blessing of being able to to swim in these waters. The the the depth of things that you have given to
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us, the the the magnitude of your word that we have so much to read and to chew on, to digest. We do pray that the spirit would be at work among us this morning to teach us to help us to ingest
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these things and to understand them rightly. As we go now upstairs to worship you in song and in prayer and in the hearing of the word preached. We ask
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that you would please be active and stirring up among us. that we would be encouraged, that you would be magnified,
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that the glory of your name would shine forth from this place. We ask in Jesus name. Amen.
