CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
1 Thessalonians 5:12. Them which labour among you and are over you in the Lord.—“A clear testimony, from this earliest New Testament writing, to the existence in the Church at the beginning of a ministerial order—a clergy as distinguished from the laity—charged with specific duties and authority. But there is nothing in grammar nor in the nature of the duties specified which would warrant us in distributing these functions amongst distinct orders of Church office” (Ibid.).
1 Thessalonians 5:13. And to esteem them very highly in love.—R.V. “exceeding highly”—the same Greek adverb as in 1 Thessalonians 3:10, the strongest intensive possible to the language. So deep and warm should be the affection uniting pastors and their flocks. Their appreciation is not to be a cold esteem (Ibid.).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13
The Treatment due to the Ministerial Office.
An excessive modesty prevents many ministers from calling attention to the sacred office they hold, and to the respect in which it should ever be regarded by those over whom they have the oversight. Such a modesty is inexcusable. To say nothing of the contempt with which the world looks upon the ministerial office, there are thousands within the Church who are utterly ignorant of its duties and awful responsibilities, and who have but vague, distorted notions of their duty towards the men who first led them to Christ, and who have been instructing them in the truths for years. Let not the minister hesitate, even at the risk of being thought egotistical, to speak on this subject, and enforce the New Testament teaching. The apostle was not withheld by any false sense of modesty from pointing out, with all emphasis and authority, the obligations of the Church towards those who minister in the word and doctrine. Observe:—
I. The distinctive duties belonging to the ministerial office.—
1. To labour. “Them which labour among you” (1 Thessalonians 5:12), even unto weariness, as the verb signifies. The work of the faithful minister is no sinecure; it taxes all the powers of the brain and muscle. It is a work demanding prolonged and earnest study, intense feeling, and ceaseless toil.
2. To rule.—“And are over you in the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 5:12). The minister is not simply a sort of popular delegate or hired agent, bound to receive the instructions, execute the wishes, and flatter the humours of his constituents. He is, indeed, the servant, in the proper sense of that word, but not the slave and tool of the Church. The right to speak and act in the name of Christ carries with it an aspect of pre-eminence and authority, and the same is implied in the very names that designate the ministerial office—as pastors, or shepherds, teachers, bishops, or overseers. On the other hand, the impressiveness of sacerdotal assumption is checked and limited by the words, “In the Lord.” The minister is to rule only in the Lord, recognising the joint union of himself and his Church with the Lord, and the principles and polity by which the Church of Christ is to be governed.
3. To admonish.—“And admonish you” (1 Thessalonians 5:12). These words also qualify the nature of the rulership. It must not be a despotic lording it over God’s heritage, issuing commands with absolute and arbitrary authority, and enforcing those commands, if not instantly obeyed, with terrifying anathemas. No; he is to rule by the force of moral suasion—by instruction, admonition, advice, warning. The verb means to put in mind. To gain obedience to the right, precept must be repeatedly enforced in all the varied forms of reproof, rebuke, and exhortation.
II. The treatment due to the ministerial office.—
1. An intelligent acknowledgment of its character. Think of its divine appointment, its solemn responsibilities, its important work, its exhausting anxieties, its special perils. Whatever the ministers seem to you, they are the eyes of the Church and the mouth of God. Acknowledge them; sympathise with and help them; give credit to their message; they watch and pray; they study and take pains for your sake.
2. A superlative, loving regard.—“Esteem them very highly in love” (1 Thessalonians 5:13). The adverb is particularly forcible, signifying super-exceedingly, more than exceedingly. There is a hint here to thousands in the Church at the present day, which it is hoped they will have the grace to act upon. The profound reverence and esteem to be shown to the ministerial office is to be regulated, not by fear, but by love. The hard-working, devoted, and faithful minister is worthy of all honour and affection.
3. The true ground of this considerate treatment.—“For their work’s sake” (1 Thessalonians 5:13). Love them for your own sake; you have life and comfort by them. Honour them for their office’ sake; they are your fathers; they have begotten you in Christ; they are the stewards of God’s house, and the dispensers of His mysteries. Honour and love them for God’s sake; He has sent them and put His word in their mouth. To love a minister is not much, except his work be that which draws out affection. He who can say, “I love a minister because he teacheth me to know God, because he informs me of duty, and reproves my declensions and backslidings”—he is the man who has satisfaction in his love.
III. An important exhortation.—“And be at peace among yourselves” (1 Thessalonians 5:13). Not simply be at peace with your pastor, but among yourselves. You are all the children of God. God is a God of peace. Discord, contention, and unquietness are fit only for the children of the devil. Live in godly unity as becometh the children of peace. This is a duty frequently enjoined (Hebrews 12:14; James 3; Psalms 141). Let there be peace especially between the minister and his flock—no rivalry between ministers, no disputings and contentions among the people. There can be no prosperity where peace is absent.
Lessons.—
1. The minister is accountable to God for his fidelity.
2. The people can never profit under the minister they have not learned to respect.
3. Peace is an essential condition of success in Christian work.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1 Thessalonians 5:12-13. A Public Ministry—
I. Is ordained by God.—“Over you in the Lord.”
II. Has clearly defined duties.—
1. To labour.
2. To govern.
3. To admonish.
III. Should be highly esteemed.—“Esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake.”
1 Thessalonians 5:13. “And be at peace among yourselves.” Church Concord—
I. Possible only where there is mutual peace.
II. It is the duty of every member of the Church to promote harmony.
III. Peace with God is the condition of peace with each other.
IV. Discord in a Church mars the usefulness of the best ministry.