Page 34 - Pauline Epistles Student Textbook

Study Section 7: Final Instructions; Acknowledgement of Leaders,
Caution and Encouragements, and Commands.

7.1. Connect.

When a good friend comes to visit you, there comes the time when they must leave
and go home. It is a difficult and emotional task to say goodbye. Sometimes I even tear
up and have a big lump in my throat. Just before the departure, you normally carefully
select what you want to say that will encourage them so they depart with a blessing.

Paul is coming to the end of his letter and wants to include a few admonitions to the church. He
fires them at them in short sentences. Do this. Do that. Don’t forget this. It’s Paul’s way to make
sure that the church receives the challenges they need before he concludes the letter. Let’s take a
look at how Paul closes out this letter to the church at Thessalonica….

7.2. Objectives

1. As we get down through this section, we will come into grips with the manner for the
acknowledgement of our church leaders and holding them in the highest regards.

2. We will learn how to caution our brothers and sisters while being patient with everyone
without ruining the cemented relationship in the body of Christ, the church.

3. We will close out this section while pondering on some crucial miscellaneous commands.

7.3. Final Instructions; Acknowledgment of Leaders, Cautioning and Encouragement,
and Commands (1 Thessalonians 5:12-28).

Acknowledgement of our Leaders by means of Holding them in the Highest Regards
(1 Thess. 5:12-13).

12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the
Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their
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work. Be at peace among yourselves. (ESV)

Until this text, Paul had changed the topic of discussion twice (“now concerning . . .” Initially, he
changed the topic when he began discussing about loving each other (1 Thess. 4:9). Then, he
changed the topic of discussion when he began to discourse concerning the place of the deceased
brothers and sisters at the Parousia (1 Thess. 4:13). Again, for the third time, Paul changed the topic
of discussion. The word ἀδελφοί (adelphoi [contextually, brothers and sisters]) appears 16 times in
1 Thessalonians alone (1:4; 2:1, 9, 14, 17; 3:7; 4:1, 10 [x2], 13; 5:1, 4, 12, 14, 25-27). Usually, when
you see many appearances of a word/phrase/clause, pay close attention to it. It might be a key word
in helping you understand the passage. In this case, “brothers,” is used generically. It involves both
men and women in the church. So, Paul is asking the church to not only know those who work hard
among them—suggesting these who are congregational leaders—care for them in the Lord and
respect them a (v12). Those who are supposed to be acknowledged are described to have had three
distinct functions, namely; 1) those who were working hard among them, 2) those who were caring
for them in the Lord, and 3) those who were admonishing them.

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