We beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you
Faithful ministers worthy of respect
I. The particulars upon which this claim for the ministers of Christ is founded.
1. The influence of the ministerial office. They are “over you in the Lord” by a Divine appointment, by your own choice; not as task masters, nor by mere human patronage. Their influence is full of care, exertion, watchfulness, responsibility.
2. The employment of the ministerial office. They “admonish you.” Ministers are builders, watchmen, teachers, soldiers. Their labours are--preparatory in studies, executive in duties, solitary in trials.
II. State the nature and press the duty of that respect which Christian Churches owe to their ministers.
1. The due proportion of that respect: esteem them in love.
2. The motive which should influence: “for their work’s sake.” A high valuation of the ministerial office.
3. The evidences which prove it is genuine. Attention to the comfortable support of a minister. A regular, devout, conscientious attendance on his ministry. A tender regard for his character.
4. The mode by which the text enforces the duty.” I beseech you, brethren.” (E. Payson.)
Ministers and people
I. Christian ministers as here described. Not by titles indicative of earthly honour or human power, not by any natural excellencies of temper or mind, nor by any acquired advantages of knowledge and skill, nor by any peculiar measure of spiritual gifts; but by their work and office.
1. “Them which labour among you.” The original signifies to “labour with unremitting diligence, even to much weariness.” This involves--
(1) Due preparation for public services--the preparation of the man as well as of the sermon, etc.
(2) The work--preaching, administering, visitation, etc.
2. They that “are over you.”
(1) Not by usurpation of the office or human commission (Mark 10:42-44).
(2) But by Christ, the Head of the Church--
(a) As examples.
(b) Guides.
(c) Governors and administrators of Christ’s law.
3. Those who “admonish you.” This is needed by the ignorant, the negligent, the inconsistent.
II. The duties of Christian Churches towards their ministers.
1. To know them.
(1) As Christian friends.
(2) Their character.
(3) Their religious principles.
(4) What belongs to their office and work, and their fitness for it.
2. To “esteem them very highly in love.” The world may treat them with aversion; hence the Church should treat them with affection and regard. And the text warrants the very highest.
III. The reason for these duties.
1. The plain command of God.
2. The work’s sake. (A. Wickens.)
Pastoral claims
Your pastor claims from you--
I. Proper respect for the office he sustains. It is a most sacred office, and because some men have disgraced it, and others made it the engine of priestcraft, or for other reasons, the minister is not to be stripped of official superiority and reduced to the rank of a mere speaking brother. Regard your pastor, then, not with feelings of superstitious dread, or slavish veneration, or frivolous familiarity. Hold such in reputation as your friend, but also as an ambassador of God.
II. Due regard for his authority. Office without authority is a solecism. “Let the elders rule.” “Obey them that have the rule over you.” This is not independent, but derived from and resting on Christ. It is not legislatorial, but judicial and executive. “Thus saith the Lord.” Should the minister advance anything unscriptural, they must try the minister by the Bible, not the Bible by the minister. Not that this confers the indiscriminate right of criticism, as if the end of hearing were to find fault. In performance of his duty it belongs to your pastor--
1. To preside at the meetings of the Church. His opinion is to be treated with deference, even when it should not secure assent.
2. To be responsible to Christ for the peace and good order of the Church, which should secure for him freedom from obnoxious meddling.
III. Regular, punctual, and serious attendance upon his ministry.
1. Regular. There are persons upon whose attendance it is as impossible to depend as upon the blowing of the wind. How disheartening this is! What are the causes?
(1) Distance, which reconciles them to one service on the Sabbath and none all the week besides.
(2) The weather.
(3) Home duties.
(4) Sabbath visiting.
(5) A roving spirit of unhallowed curiosity.
2. Punctual. Late attendance is a great annoyance to orderly worshippers, disrespectful to the minister, and an insult to God.
3. Serious. Come from the closet to the sanctuary. The fire of devotion should be kindled at home. Remember where you are, whose Presence is with you, and what is your business in the house of God.
IV. Sincere and fervent affection. This love should be--
1. Apparent; for however strong, if confined to the heart, it will be of little value. A minister should no more be in doubt of the attachment of his people than of his wife and children.
2. Candid: for charity covers a multitude of faults. Not that you are to be indifferent to character. This candour is not asked for the manifestly inconsistent. The minister, like Caesar’s wife, must be above suspicion. The charity asked for is not for an unholy, but for an imperfect man, for those infirmities which attach to the best, the candour which thinks no evil, etc. It is surprising what insignificant circumstances will sometimes, quite unintentionally, give offence to some hearers.
3. Practical. It should lead you to avoid anything that would give him even uneasiness. His work is difficult at its easiest. Therefore you should be--
(1) Holy and consistent.
(2) Peaceful among yourselves. He cannot be happy with an inharmonious people.
(3) Generous contributors to his support.
4. Minute and delicate in its attentions.
5. Constant.
V. Respectful attention to his counsels, either public or private.
VI. Cooperation in his schemes of usefulness for--
1. The Church, whose interests should be his and your first concern. Sunday schools, sick visiting, etc.
2. The town. The Church should not be behindhand in great public movements.
3. The world at large--missions, etc.
VII. Your prayers. The apostles needed this much more than uninspired men. Pray for your pastor at home, etc. (J. A. James.)
Pastors and people
I. The pastor’s work. The Thessalonian elders--
1. “Laboured among” the people committed to their charge. And the labour of a faithful Christian minister may be regarded as comprehending--
(1) The physical labour of preaching the gospel in public, and of visiting the people in private.
(2) The intellectual labour of study.
(3) The moral labour of keeping his own soul in order for the right discharge of his vocation.
2. They were “over” the people “in the Lord.” The original denotes superintendence, and from the view given throughout the New Testament of the functions of Christian office bearers, that it comprehends both pastoral vigilance and ecclesiastical rule.
3. They “admonished,” i.e., did not confine their instructions to general and abstract statements of Divine troth, but brought that truth closely to bear on particular circumstances and character.
II. The duties of people to minister.
1. They were to “know” them, i.e., own or acknowledge them “in the Lord,” i.e., in deference to the authority and according to the wise and salutary regulations of their Master. This acknowledgment, of course, was to be practical as well as verbal. The Thessalonians were to render it, not only by speaking of these office bearers of their Church as their spiritual guides and overseers, but by attending to their ministry, asking their advice, submitting to their discipline, and providing for their maintenance.
2. They were to “esteem” them “Very highly in love for their work’s sake”; that is, regard them with mingled emotions of respect and affection, because of the nature of their office and because of their fidelity in fulfilling it. This twofold mode of treating ministers was calculated to promote the religious improvement of the people and to encourage, pastors.
3. “And be at peace among yourselves.” Social peace among true Christmas is highly important, both for their own mutual improvement and personal comfort, and for the recommendation of religion to the world; and it is to be maintained by the cultivation both of unanimity of sentiment and of kindliness of feeling (Col 3:12-16; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13; 1 Corinthians 3:3-7). (A. S. Patterson, D. D.)
Appreciation of a clergyman’s work
The incumbent of Osborne had occasion to visit an aged parishioner. Upon his arrival at the house, as he entered the door where the invalid was, he found sitting by the bedside, a lady in deep mourning reading the Word of God. He was about to retire, when the lady remarked, “Pray remain. I should not wish the invalid to lose the comfort which a clergyman might afford.” The lady retired, and the clergyman found lying on the bed a book with texts of Scripture adapted to the sick; and he found that out of that book portions of Scripture had been read by the lady in black. That lady was the Queen of England. (W. Baxendale.)