The Risings of the Spirit
Posted 1/28/2008
"12 And we
beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you, and are over you in
the Lord, and admonish you; 13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their
work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves." (1Th 5:12-13)
Just as insurrection against the legitimate authorities in the civil realm,
insurrection against the officers of the church is contrary to the Christian
faith and can be justified only on a very narrow basis.
The work of the church authorities is described in three verbs: "labor
among you," "are over you in the Lord," and "admonish
you."
It is the express command of the Lord that His people live under the authority
of the officers that He has appointed. They are to "labor" in the work
of the Gospel and their role is clearly defined: "reprove, rebuke, exhort,
with all longsuffering and doctrine." It has been the experience of this
poor minister over some 50 years of ministry that those who so harden their
hearts against this work of Christ will not end well.
It is not the nature of the flesh to endure reproofs, rebukes, exhortations no
matter how longsuffering the minister is or how sound his doctrine, so the
apostle begs the people of God to "know" their ministers and esteem
them highly in love because of their work. It is a thankless job, but the work
of the ministry is performed for the good of the church.
"Be at peace among yourselves" is a direct command and not a
"beseeching." "Peace" and "rest" are mentioned
directly at least 150 times in the New Testament, and "war" and
"fight" and such words are used less than one fifth as much.
In addition there is the command that we "study to be quiet, and to do
your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you."
(1Th 4:11) The word quiet literally means to be silent, to stay at home and
mind your own business, to be at rest.
This is the reason that the constitution of the Reformed Church expressly
requires that contentiousness be dealt with by discipline, for there is no
greater work of the devil than a refusal to live at peace and a refusal to be
reconciled to the people of the God. In fact, Jesus said that we "Leave
there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy
brother, and then come and offer thy gift." (Mt 5:24)
Solomon understood this well: Pr 25:28 "He that hath no rule over his own
spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls." Self
control means to control the risings of the spirit--the anger, distress, hurt,
strife, pride, and such--that destroy the peace and tranquility of the church
and allow it to be raided by all sorts of bad things. It is the duty of the
officers of the church to see that this does not happen, to see that the walls
are intact and in good repair.
"For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil
work." (Jas 3:16)
