Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20101003.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
1 Thessalonians: Discipling Afflicted New Christians
Part VIII: Discipling Afflicted New Believers On Godly Church Life
(1 Thessalonians 5:12-15)
  1. Introduction
    1. When new converts to Christ face tremendous affliction in the world, they stand in special need of a wholesome and nurturing "Church home" where they can relax and be truly edified in the Lord.
    2. Sadly, wholesome Church homes are not always available, but Paul's 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15 admonitions provide guidelines for its development as follows (Bible Know. Com., N. T. , p. 707-708):
  2. Discipling Afflicted New Believers On Godly Church Life, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15.
    1. We have found in this study series that 1 Thessalonians was written to new believers under trial for their Christian faith who were opposed by unbelievers impacted by Satanic influence, Thessalonians 3:1-5.
    2. However, in countering the damage they faced from this godless pressure, Paul provided guidelines for the development of a nurturing setting in the local church in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15 (as follows):
      1. A nurturing Church environment comes from rightly relating to the overseers, 1 Thess. 5:12-13a:
        1. Paul called new believers to "know" (KJV), better, to "appreciate" [eidenai], those who oversaw the congregation and labored by admonishing it unto a godly walk, 1 Thessalonians 5:12; Ibid., p. 707.
        2. These overseers were to be highly esteemed in love for the sake of their work, implying their work was valuable to the congregation before the Lord, 1 Thessalonians 5:13a.
        3. Such an attitude of the congregation makes it much easier for leaders to do their job, and to be motivated to do it lest they be repressed to the congregation's discipling harm, cf. Hebrews 13:17.
      2. A nurturing Church environment comes from right relationships to one another, 1 Thessalonians 5:13b:
        1. Paul called new believers to be at peace among themselves, 1 Thessalonians 5:13b.
        2. The context implies this means peaceable relationships between leaders and subordinates (1 Thess. 5:12-13a), but it can be widened to include relationships between all believers the local church, especially in view of Paul's shift to writing on such relationships in 1 Thessalonians 5:14.
      3. A nurturing Church environment comes from rightly addressing spiritual needs, 1 Thess. 5:14: Paul's commands at 1 Thessalonians 5:14 is directed at handling people in need of specific discipling adjustments: (a) The idle were to be warned, especially those who refused to work and lived off of the charity of others, cf. 2 Thess. 3:10-11. (b) The fainthearted (oligopsychous, lit. "short of soul") needed encouragement (Ibid., p. 708); (c) the spiritually weak (who had not yet come to trust the Lord for strength for spiritual needs) needed help (Ibid.) and (d) everybody who was not yet perfect, that is, everybody else, needed everyone else to be patient with them for God to complete His work in them!
      4. A nurturing Church environment comes from a willingness to do good when wronged, 1 Thess. 5:15:
        1. In summing up his word on creating an atmosphere conducive to discipling in the church, Paul charged everyone to avoid repaying evil for evil to anyone in or out of the church, 1 Thess. 5:15a, c.
        2. Rather, each was to follow what was good, meaning there had to be a willingness on the part of all to absorb wrongs done by others for the good of the rest of the Church body, 1 Thessalonians 5:15b.
        3. The need for this command comes from the reality that many wrongs are often inadvertently committed in an immature church because of the "baggage" immature believer bring into the church from their pasts. Thus, especially the more mature, must show forbearance to produce a peaceable atmosphere that allows immature people to relax enough to see their needs to adjust and thus grow.
        4. Failure to be forbearing produces defensiveness in the body where no one grows, cf. James 3:14-16 versus 3:17-18 [Note how verse 18 NIV says: "Peacemakers who sow [teach] in peace raise a harvest of righteousness [in the hearers]." The atmosphere must be peaceful, requiring forbearance from the mature for a harvest of righteousness to occur in the church's discipling ministry!
Lesson: Paul directed that a nurturing church be formed toward discipling new converts, and that by appreciating laboring overseers, striving for peace among all believers, rightly addressing spiritual needs and a forbearing spirit in the body, making room for imperfect people to relax and be discipled.

Application: May we ever apply Paul's directives in our local church that its people might be discipled!