7 Final Instructions for a Faithful Church (1 Thessalonians): Of course, we must be faithful as individual Christians. But what does a faithful church look like? A faithful church will pay close attention to how we treat one another, the attitudes we share, and the kind of people we’re becoming together in Christ. Isn’t this the kind of church you’d want to be part of? Recorded on Jun 29, 2025, on 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 by Pastor David Parks.
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This sermon is part of our series on 1 Thessalonians called Faithful to the End. Being a Christian in the Greek, first-century city of Thessalonica was tough. Thessalonica was a big and prosperous city, but it was full of idols. The Apostle Paul and the first Christians there faced fierce religious persecution and tremendous political pressure to conform. But despite their suffering, they remained faithful. Our culture is different today, but following Jesus can still be very costly. Will we be faithful to the end?
Sermon Transcript
Well, we’ve come to the end of our sermon series on 1 Thessalonians called Faithful to the End. As I’ve said, I’m very excited to start a new sermon series for July and August called For Such A Time As This from the book of Esther in the OT. Esther is a wild story. Have you ever been in a messed-up situation and wondered, “What is God doing here? Where is God in this story?” Esther teaches us that God has faithfully worked behind the scenes in a lot of messed-up situations with messy people for a long time now. That will start next Sunday. But today, as we bring this series to a close, the Apostle Paul closes his letter to his dear friends with a series of rapid-fire bullet points that I’m calling “7 Final Instructions for a Faithful Church.” Is this a good idea? Probably not. It’s usually best to only have one big idea for a sermon, not seven. But here goes. Throughout this series, we’ve said that the Greek first-century city of Thessalonica was a tough place for Christians. The big city was full of idols, there was fierce religious persecution, and tremendous political pressure to conform. But thankfully, the early Christians there remained faithful. Of course, our culture is different today, but following Jesus can still be very costly. Will we be faithful to the end? How can we stand firm regardless of the cost? Well, we’ve considered a number of lessons from 1 Thessalonians about that. If you missed any of those sermons, you can always go back and watch or listen online if you’d like. But today, as we bring this to a close, I’d like to remind you that if you say yes to Jesus, it’s not just you and Jesus; you get the church, too. And we can’t only think about being faithful as individual Christians. We must be faithful as a church! And a faithful church is going to pay close attention to how we treat one another, the attitudes we share, and the type of people we’re becoming together in Christ. If you have your Bible/app, please open it to 1Th 5:12.
1 Thessalonians 5:12–13a (NIV), “12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work.” Now, Paul isn’t writing this because he’s fishing for compliments, or because he felt unloved in Thessalonica. He’s talking about the local leaders of the church. Lesson 1: A faithful church has faithful leaders. Now, we’re not sure if these elders/overseers were appointed by Paul before he left, which we see in places like Acts 14. Or if perhaps Timothy appointed them when he went back to check on them. Paul had Titus do that for the church on the island of Crete. Nevertheless, Paul asks the members of the church, his brothers and sisters in Christ, to acknowledge/recognize them for their work. He says these faithful leaders work hard among you. They care for you in the Lord. And they admonish you. Faithful ministry is hard work. Spiritual growth is painfully slow. Life can come at you quickly, and sometimes the needs of even a small church can be overwhelming. But a faithful pastor or elder or ministry leader takes on this hard work because they care. They are motivated by their love for people and their desire to see people come to faith in Jesus and grow in their faith in Jesus. As the Apostle Peter wrote, “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” (1 Pe 5:2–4). Whether it’s through being an example to the flock, as Peter says, or through admonishing the flock, as Paul says, we see that the primary work of ministry is teaching or instruction — this is what admonishing means, to exhort or instruct by the word of God. This is the ministry of the word. This primarily comes through the preaching of the word during worship, but it can also come through pastoral counseling, teaching in a class setting, in a community group at someone’s house, or through writing. Paul wrote letters; I write emails. Either way, we’re trying to admonish you. You won’t find a healthy, faithful church without pastors, elders, and other ministry leaders who are faithful to God’s word. Paul encourages the Thessalonian church not only to have faithful leaders but to hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. The author of the letter to the Hebrews writes, “Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.” (Heb 13:17). Now, we’re not to do this because every pastor or ministry leader is a perfect leader or is the smartest or the funniest leader, but because they work hard, they care, and they admonish you, because they are faithful. A faithful church has faithful leaders.
1 Thessalonians 5:13b-15 (NIV), “Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.“ As I said, a faithful church is going to care about how people treat one another, both how the leaders treat the members of the church and how the members of the body treat one another. Paul says to live in peace with each other, which leads us to Lesson 2: A faithful church is a place of peace. Now, this might sound easy until you actually try to live at peace with other human beings. This is tough! I don’t believe you can lose your salvation once you are saved, but some of you seem to be trying to test that theory. (I’m kidding!) But we all come into the body of the church from different places. Some of us grew up in church and have a lot of built-in Bible knowledge. Others of us didn’t and came in with very little Bible knowledge. That’s ok! But it takes years to learn and many more years to apply what we know to be true to our lives. Also, different people struggle with different things. Paul wisely urges the church to be thoughtful about how they treat different people. The church members who are idle and disruptive need to be warned. This probably goes back to the client-patron relationships that were common back in that day in Thessalonica that we talked about back in chapter 4. But those who are idle and disruptive need to be warned, not coddled. You need to mind your own business, work with your hands, and not rely on others unless you need to. On the other hand, those who are disheartened don’t need a warning. They don’t need a threat. They need to be encouraged. They need hope. They need someone to walk with them; they need a friend. For those who are weak, they need help! They don’t need to be told to pick themselves up by their bootstraps. But they might need to be gently shown how to do that if they are able. But if they are not able to grow in strength, then they just need patient help. In fact, Paul says to be patient with everyone. Let me ask you this: Is it easy or hard being patient with other people? It’s hard. At least it’s hard for me at times. I barely have patience for myself, much less for others. This is one of the things the Lord has been working on in me over the years. “Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.” Being a place of peace means being patient, helpful, and willing to forgive when someone sins against you. A faithful church has faithful leaders. But a faithful church is also a place of peace, love, and unity for the sake of the gospel.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV), “16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Ok! This is like the lightning round. Lesson 3: A faithful church is a joyful church. Listen, when you’ve gone from death to life in Jesus’ name, you’ve got a source of joy that can sustain you no matter what your circumstances are, amen? When you find out you’ve been loved by God from before the creation of the world, that he sent his one and only son into the world to seek and save you when you were lost, and who died and rose again so that you could be forgiven and freed from sin and adopted into his family for all eternity, it ought to change your attitude. How could it not?!? Christians ought to be the most joyful people on the planet. And a faithful church is a joyful church! It’s why we sing loud. It’s why we can’t wait to worship together. It’s why we love seeing people come to faith in Jesus. It’s the best! Lesson 4: A faithful church is a praying church. Rejoice always, pray continually. A faithful church is a praying church because a faithful church actually believes in God. We believe that God is alive and active in his world. We believe that God cares for us and hears us when we pray. We believe that God actually wants to talk with us and work for the good in our lives. We believe that God cares about the injustice and the evil of this world. He cares for our needs and loves to provide for us. For all these reasons and a million more, we pray. A faithful church starts everything in prayer. A faithful church ends by thanking and praising God in prayer. When we’re sick, we pray for healing, go to the doctor, and either thank God in prayer when we recover or trust him with our souls if we don’t. A faithful church is a praying church. Lesson 5: A faithful church is a thankful church. If we have been saved, loved, cared for, provided for, protected, and led every day of our walk with Jesus, we’re gonna be joyful, we’re gonna keep praying, but ultimately, we will be thankful. This isn’t so much about how we treat one another, like the first two lessons. This is more about our attitudes in response to the gospel. If you have an entitled mindset, you’ll never be satisfied. But if you have a grateful mindset, you’ll thank God for every blessing in your life, no matter how great or small. You’ll look for the good, even when goodness is hard to find. You’ll assume the best of others. And worship will come easily for you. Tears might even come easily for you. A faithful church is a joyful church, a praying church, and a thankful church. Isn’t that the kind of church you’d want to be part of?
1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 (NIV), “19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.” Only two more lessons, friends. Lesson 6: A faithful church is a discerning church. One of the most important responsibilities of the pastors and other ministry leaders of a church is to protect the flock. Protection most often isn’t against a physical threat, but against theological or doctrinal threats. False teaching has always been a threat to the church. The Lord Jesus warned us about the wolves of false teachers, false prophets, and even false messiahs. He said we will know them by the fruit of their lives. But what happens when someone comes to you or to us claiming to have a word from the Lord? Paul says we’re not to quench the Spirit. We shouldn’t reject someone who believes the Lord spoke to them outright. But instead, we must be discerning and wise. We should test so-called prophecies, hold on to what is good, and reject every kind of evil. How do we know if a word is not from the Lord? The best test is to see if what is shared agrees with God’s word already revealed in the scriptures. God will not contradict himself. If someone teaches something from the pulpit or shares something in a small group that disagrees with God’s word, they are wrong. But if someone teaches or shares something, especially if it’s helpful in applying God’s word to a particular part of life, it would be wise to consider the message. If it is true, take it to heart and try to obey it. One of the truly great distinctives of the EFCA is that we try to major on the majors and minor on the minors of Christian doctrine. But there are plenty of secondary matters that mature, Bible-believing Christians might disagree on. That’s ok! Those things shouldn’t divide us. But that’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about testing and accepting or rejecting a word that supposedly is coming from the Lord. Of course, this is also true for things in our culture. We must be thoughtful and discerning about what we accept and what we reject from our culture. Either way, a faithful church is a discerning church.
1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 (NIV), “23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” Here we have our final lesson. Lesson 7: A faithful church is a holy church. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross was the ultimate sacrifice we needed once and for all to pay the price for our sins. In Christ, we can be forgiven and freed from the power of sin. When we believe the gospel and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are declared righteous before God in an instant. However, this is just the starting line for a race that takes the whole rest of our lives. And we saw this unfolding work that God is doing in our lives, helping us grow, mature, and become holy, helping us become the men and the women he intended us to be, especially back in chapter 4. This process is called sanctification, and we said that you can be saved in a moment, but sanctified over a lifetime. We can help or hurt this process. We have the ability to say yes or no to the way of Jesus. We can listen to the Spirit or ignore him. But ultimately, sanctification is a work of God. Sanctification is the process that God the Father is working in the lives of his children, transforming them into the likeness of his Son, by the truth of his word and the power of his Spirit. Here, at the end of his letter, Paul gives us his third prayer. He started his letter with a prayer. He had a prayer serve as the middle turning point in the letter. And here he ends with a prayer. And his prayer is all about their holiness. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wants them to be sanctified in every way as whole people. May God sanctify you through and through! A faithful church is a holy church. Sin must be repented. Evil must be rejected. And any tiny part of life, including every thought, that is not aligned with the gospel must not be swept under the rug, but it must have the bright light of truth shone on it, and it must be brought to obedience in Christ. A faithful church is a holy church. This isn’t a harsh or oppressive truth; it’s a freeing/liberating truth! If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed! Holiness is freedom. Holiness is life. But maybe you’ve been trying to be faithful, but you’ve been struggling. You’ve let sin win more often than not. Don’t forget, my friend, “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” You can trust him, lean on him. He will carry you home if he has to. We can be faithful because he is faithful first. Let’s finish this letter with v. 25.
1 Thessalonians 5:25–28 (NIV), “25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us. 26 Greet all God’s people with a holy kiss. 27 I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” This is God’s word. Do you think Paul knew this letter would be read and studied some 2,000 years later? I wonder. Well, my friends, it is my prayer that we, too, would be a faithful church. That no matter who the pastors are or who the elders are or other ministry leaders are around here, they would be faithful. That no matter what the needs are or whoever walks through those doors, this would be a place of peace. That no matter what our circumstances might be, even if we face persecution one day, we would be joyful, we would keep praying, and we would be thankful. That no matter what we might hear or might be shared, we would be a discerning church. And, finally, that God would finish what he started and would transform us in every way into the likeness of his son, that we might be holy and sanctified through and through. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Isn’t this the kind of church you’d want to be part of? I think so. Well, guess what? Let’s make this church that kind of church! By the grace of God, the truth of God’s word, the power of His Spirit, and for the glory of his name. Let’s be a faithful church. Oh, Lord, may it be! For your glory! Let us pray.
