(Chapter 5:12-28)
Thus far in Paul’s exhortations, he has addressed the Thessalonian saints as individual believers. Now, in this closing section of the epistle, he exhorts them collectively as a company of believers (an assembly) that is waiting for the Lord to come (the Rapture). Thus, these exhortations address the assembly as a whole, and outline what a healthy assembly should be characterized by.
Vss. 12-13a—The first of these exhortations has to do with recognizing and respecting those who are in the place of leadership in the assembly. Paul says, “I beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you [take the lead among you] in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake.” This teaches us that those who compose a local assembly are to respectfully esteem the elders/overseers in that assembly on account of the place that they have and the work that they do. The “labour” and “work” that Paul refers to here are a local thing, for responsibility in oversight is purely a local function in the house of God. Thus, elders in one assembly do not function as such in other assemblies.
The KJV says that these men are “over you in the Lord,” but a better translation reads, “Who take the lead among you.” “Over you,” implies that they have a position in which they officially preside over the saints in an authoritative manner, but this is the very thing which Peter warns against (1 Peter 5:3). Rather, the elders/overseers are to move “among” the saints in meekness and lowliness, seeking to guide and help them in their particular difficulties, and thus, they “shepherd the assembly” (Acts 20:28).
It is noteworthy that when the function of elders/overseers is in view in Scripture, they are mentioned in plural (“them”), but when their moral qualifications are in view, they are mentioned in the singular (1 Tim. 3:1 – “If a man....”). This shows that the government of a local assembly is not to be in the hands of one man. God intends that they should function as a group of men, and thus, check and balance one another, if need be. This would give the assembly a greater immunity against an elder/overseer rising up and taking over. Diotrephes is an example of an overseer who had no check from the others, and sadly he went awry (3 John 9).
Regarding those functioning in this office in the house of God, Scripture tells us to “know” them (1 Cor. 16:15), “esteem” them (1 Thess. 5:13), “honour” them (1 Tim. 5:17), “follow” their faith (Heb. 13:7), “obey” them (Heb. 13:17), “submit” to them (Heb. 13:17), and “salute” them (Heb. 13:24). But it does not tell us to ordain them, simply because assemblies have no power to ordain elders/overseers. In every case in Scripture where assemblies had ordained elders, they were ordained for the assembly by apostles or delegates from an apostle. In spite of this, virtually every Christian assembly today attempts to appoint and ordain its elders!
There is wisdom in God not giving assemblies the power to ordain their elders. If an assembly did possess such powers, it might be tempted to appoint men who were biased toward its interests. To guard against this danger, God raises up these men by the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:28), and they will be known by their moral qualifications and by the work that they do. In the early days of the Church, the apostles, or delegates from an apostle, recognized this work of God in certain men and ordained them to this office (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5). The Spirit of God is still raising up men today to carry on the work of oversight in local assemblies. These cannot be ordained to that office officially, because there is no apostle on earth today to do that. Nevertheless, God would have local assemblies to recognize these men by their moral qualifications (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:6-9) and by the work that they do (1 Thess. 5:13; 1 Tim. 5:17-18), and thus, to allow them to “shepherd the flock” of God by “taking the oversight thereof” (1 Peter 5:2).
Those of whom Paul is referring to, here in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, had not been officially ordained by an apostle. Paul and Silas were thrust out of Thessalonica after being there only three Sabbath days, and thus, there had not been enough time for the new converts in that city to mature spiritually for them to be appointed to such a work. To ordain a babe in Christ to this place would be putting a “novice” in spiritual danger, whereby he could fall into “the fault of the devil”—which is “pride” (1 Tim. 3:6; Prov. 16:18). But now, at the time of the writing of this epistle, certain ones had manifested spiritual maturity and the Holy Spirit had raised them up for this work.
The point in Paul’s exhortation here is that the assembly should acknowledge them and “esteem them very highly in love” and support them in their work. This is a needed exhortation for all assemblies, for there is a tendency for the saints to treat the personal care that overseers might show toward the saints as an intrusion into their lives and become resentful of it. It may be asked, “How is an assembly supposed to ‘know’ these men if they have not been appointed?” The answer is simple; they will be conspicuous by their having “devoted themselves to the service of the saints” (1 Cor. 16:15). We should know them by the work that they do.
Vs. 13b—Paul then says, “Be at peace among yourselves.” It is not by accident that this exhortation follows his word on respecting those who take the lead. Peace usually resides in an assembly that accepts, rather than resisting and challenging its elders. Uprisings against leaders in the assembly have been the chief source of the disruption of peace and unity throughout Church history.
Vs. 14—Four exhortations follow in this verse, and they seem to be addressed particularly to the elders. Paul says, “Warn them that are unruly [disorderly].” God’s house is a place of order, and unruly/disorderly persons should not be found there doing as they please. Therefore, all such are to be corrected. Note: he does not tell the assembly to excommunicate them, but rather to “warn [admonish]” them, and thus, restore them to an orderly walk (Gal. 6:1). This exhortation would particularly apply to the “busybodies” who were “walking disorderly” among the saints in Thessalonica (2 Thess. 3:6-15), but can apply to all such who walk disorderly.
Paul then says, “Comfort the feeble-minded [faint-hearted].” This refers to those who are discouraged. Comforting the downcast is an important work because a discouraged Christian is in danger of falling prey to the enemy and getting taken away (1 Peter 5:7-8).
Paul adds, “Support the weak.” He is probably referring to those who were weak in the faith—that is, deficient in their understanding of the liberty of grace (Rom. 14:1; Gal. 5:1). He may be referring to those who had been converted from Judaism who had certain scruples concerning foods and feast days.
Lastly, they were to be “patient [longsuffering] toward all.” This means that we need to have special grace toward those who irritate us, and are not to allow our spirits to get provoked in a fleshly way by such persons.
Vs. 15—Paul then warns against retaliation when we have been wronged. “See that none render evil for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.” To retaliate among brethren will surely disrupt peace in the assembly. The proper way to deal with personal offences and wrongs among brethren is taught by the Lord in Matthew 18:15-17. The remedy for all animosity shown towards us is to return goodness to such who do us evil (Rom. 12:18-21). This is to be done among our Christian brethren, as well as to those of the world (Luke 6:27-29). Retaliating against unbelievers will surely render a bad testimony before the world.
Vs. 16—Next, Paul says, “Rejoice always.” We may think that this is not humanly possible because there are occasions when we simply can’t avoid sorrow. We are even told to go into “the house of mourning” and to “weep with them that weep” (Eccl. 7:2; Rom. 12:15b). However, Paul is not speaking of these exceptions, but rather, of the general tenor of our lives—of what should characterize us normally as Christians.
Vs. 17—Paul then says, “Pray without ceasing.” Similarly, in Ephesians 6:18, he says, “Praying always.” (Compare also Luke 18:1.) We might wonder what he meant when he knew that the saints had daily responsibilities to attend to. They simply didn’t have the time to stay on their knees all day long—even the Lord Himself “ceased” from praying! (Luke 11:1) However, Paul was not referring to set times of private prayer (Matt. 6:6; Eph. 1:16, etc.), but to the instantaneous attitude of prayer that Christians should live in as they go about their daily responsibilities. We should live and move and have our being in on-going communion with the Lord, and this should take the form of the spirit of prayer. This can be seen in Nehemiah. As he worked for the king of Persia, the king asked him a question, but he didn’t have time to steal away to his closet to pray, so he prayed on the spot by sending up a swift little prayer to the Lord, and then he answered the king (Neh. 2:4-5).
Vs. 18—Paul then says, “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” This shows that we need to have a spirit of submission and thankfulness regarding everything that happens in our lives. It is easy to thank the Lord when good and pleasant things come into our lives, but when negative and trying things come our way, we will need special grace to take those things from His hand. The Lord Himself is our great example in this. When He came to His own, they would not receive Him (John 1:11). He accepted it with a spirit of submission, saying, “I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth....Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in Thy sight” (Matt. 11:25-26). We will only be able to do this by believing that God is over all of the circumstances in our lives, and that He will only allow things to touch us that are absolutely necessary (Lam. 3:37; Matt. 28:18; Eph. 1:22; Col. 1:17). Faith that believes that He is truly a good God (Psa. 73:1), and that He is only interested in our good and blessing (Job 23:14; 2 Cor. 4:17) will submit to what He has allowed, and will even thank Him for it—even if it is something disappointing.
Vs. 19—Next, Paul says, “Quench not the Spirit.” God wants to use us as channels through which His Spirit would work for the blessing of others. The Lord said, “He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive” (John 7:38). God desires to work through us by the Spirit, and we are to let the Spirit have that liberty. We must not hinder Him in this. If we do, we are quenching the Spirit. It is like a garden hose that has water running through it. If someone were to take the hose and bend it together, the water flow would be shut off, or at least it would be greatly impeded. Similarly, the Spirit of God may want to lead us to do something for the Lord, but our wills may be opposed to it, and so we refuse to follow His promptings. By resisting in this manner, we have quenched the Spirit. The context of this exhortation may be in the assembly, but quenching the Spirit could also take place outside the assembly in the course of daily life.
Quenching the Spirit is illustrated in Scripture in the story of Abraham’s servant (Gen. 24). He is a type of the Holy Spirit who has been sent into this world to secure a bride for Christ (of whom Isaac is a type) Having secured her for Isaac by the giving of gifts etc., Abraham’s servant rose up to take her to Isaac, but her mother and her brother interfered and wanted to detain him “for a full year” before letting him go with her (Gen. 24:55 – margin). This is a picture of quenching the Spirit. The servant then answered, “Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master” (Gen. 24:56). The Spirit is, likewise, saying to us, “Hinder Me not.”
Grieving the Holy Spirit is slightly different (Eph. 4:30). It has to do with us going out and doing something that the Spirit has not led us to do, whereby He is grieved by our actions. It is sin that grieves the Spirit. When the believer sins, the divine Guest within us feels it and will exercise us to judge it. Simply put:
• Quenching the Spirit is not doing something that He is leading us to do,
• Grieving the Spirit is doing something that He hasn’t led us to do.
Vs. 20—Next, Paul says, “Despise not prophesyings.” Again, the context would indicate the assembly setting where prophesyings are usually given, but it could also refer to a brother or a sister prophesying outside the assembly as well. This exhortation is needed today as much as ever, because we tend to “lightly esteem prophesyings” and to take a disliking to the person who prophesies in a way that touches our consciences. If the person ministers in the Spirit, and we disregard it, we are turning a deaf ear to what God may be saying to us. Wicked king Ahab is an example. He said of the prophet Micaiah, “I hate him, for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil” (2 Chron. 18:7). He saw Micaiah’s prophetic ministry as evil because it rebuked him. Naturally, we like prophets who “speak unto us smooth things” (Isa. 30:10), but there are times when “a word of exhortation” to our consciences is needed (Heb. 13:22). Let us not resent it; God may be using it to correct us in some needed way. Prophesyings are a God-ordained way of communicating to us.
Vs. 21—Then Paul adds, “But prove all things; hold fast that which is good [right].” The fact that he put a conjunctive, “but,” into the text here, indicates that he was connecting the foregoing verse (20) with this statement. It shows that prophesyings need to be tested as to whether they come from God or not. This is a necessary precaution—especially in these last days when the Christian profession has many “false teachers” (2 Peter 2:1) and “deceitful workers” (2 Cor. 11:13). The point here is that not all prophesyings may be of God and from God. The believer is not to be naive and gullible, but to “prove” these things by the great standard of the Word of God itself (Isa. 8:20). The question is: Does it coincide with the Scriptures? If it does not, then we are to set it aside. If, on the other hand, it is according to the Word, we are to “hold fast” to it.
However, if we do not know the Scriptures as we should (perhaps because we are new to the faith), we can rely on the “unction from the Holy One” (1 John 2:20-26). This refers to the presence of the Spirit of God in us giving us to discern the truth when it is presented, and contrariwise, giving us to discern error. But this necessitates abiding in Him through communion.
Vs. 22—God desired that the Thessalonian saints would keep themselves apart from every kind of evil—for their personal preservation and for the testimony’s sake. Hence, Paul says, “Abstain from every form of evil” (W. Kelly Trans.). This may take spiritual discernment because sometimes “evil [wickedness]” can manifest itself in subtle forms.
Vss. 23-24—W. Kelly indicates that these verses are the substance of the Apostle’s prayer for the Thessalonians. He says, “Now the very God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly: and your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.” In chapter 3:10, Paul told the Thessalonians that he prayed regularly for their spiritual perfection and understanding; now in these verses, he tells them that he was also praying for their preservation. The subject here, as in chapter 4:3, is practical or progressive sanctification. The order in which he speaks of the three parts of our humanity is significant and gives us the key as to how we are preserved. He says, “Spirit, and soul, and body....”
• Our spirits are our God-conscious, intelligent (rational) part of our beings (Job 32:8; Prov. 20:27).
• Our souls are the seat of our appetites, emotions, and desires (Gen. 27:4; 34:3; Deut. 12:20; Mark 12:30; 1 Peter 2:11).
• Our bodies are the physical part of our beings (Gen. 2:7).
Thus, the way in which we will be kept from evil is to always have our spirits in the place of taking the lead in all matters and decisions in life. If we let our soulish emotions lead in making these decisions, we will soon be led astray, for our heart’s affections and emotions can be deceptive (Jer. 17:9) and fickle (2 Sam. 13:15). Hence, we are not to be guided by what feels good or by what our hearts lust after. We are to buy things, eat things, go places, and to do things which the intelligent part of our beings believe to be according to the will of God. This is determined by principles from the Word of God. When these choices are good and right and according to God’s Word, then we can engage our souls and bodies. Herein lies the way of our preservation. The men of the world turn this order around, and say, “Body, soul, and spirit.” They live predominantly for what pleases the body and soul, and neglect the spirit—and all manner of sin results.
Vs. 25—Paul then solicits the prayers of the saints regarding His work and service for the Lord. This shows that prayer before the throne of grace is reciprocal. It is a privilege to pray for the saints.
Vss. 26-28—Paul closes the letter with his usual greetings, desiring that “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” would be with them.