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I Thessalonians 2:1-16
!
Introduction
- ladder
- EMC day of prayer for missions
- I am always busy, but am I busy with the things that matter?
- I Thessalonians 2:1-16,
- how the gospel came to the Thessalonians
- persecuted in Philippi
- physically mistreated
- illegally abused
- persecution did not scare them off.
- a new community
- risk of further persecution
- passage does it say, “go and make disciples of all nations,”
- thought permeates everything
- the meta- message
- “is your~/my life involved in mission?”
- Are you~/am I doing the work of an evangelist?
- From the passionate and motivated ministry of Paul and Silas, we are encouraged
- not the message of this passage, however.
- what will help us to do the work of evangelism well
! I.
Not Methods That Lack Integrity
One of the things that I find very hard to take is if someone accuses me falsely.
If I am accused of something that I have not done, then I become a little defensive.
That is why I understand Paul in I Thessalonians 2 when we find that he is defending the methods of his gospel proclamation.
On several occasions in 2:1-6, Paul declares that when they proclaimed the gospel, they did not do so in a way that lacked integrity.
Although it does not say that Paul had been attacked, it is possible that there were detractors who had tried to speak negatively about his ministry.
It is also possible that some were comparing Paul to many of the other teachers who came around proclaiming various philosophies and teachings.
Paul is very careful to distinguish himself from these.
He speaks about the appeal they made to the Thessalonians to receive Christ and describes how they did not make that appeal.
The first list of things they did not do is found in verse 3.
This appeal did not “spring from error.”
Every word that Paul spoke to them was the word of truth.
There are still a lot of teachers out there who teach error.
We can find them on TV and in various books.
Those who proclaim that if we are Christians we will never be sick and we should be wealthy are among those who proclaim error.
There are other false teachers who do not accept Jesus as God and others who value other books as equal to the Bible.
I am not here to condemn them as much as I am here to challenge all of us that when we proclaim the gospel, we must do so with accuracy and faithfulness to the Word of God.
The appeal of Paul and the others also did not come from “impure motives.”
There were many teachers at that time who were involved in sacred prostitution.
Their motives were obviously suspect.
We have heard of the same thing today, of teachers who claim to be teaching a Christian message, but whose morality is not in line with the word they speak.
Paul also indicates that he did not try to trick the people.
The word guile or trickery means catching fish with bait.
Deception is so common in advertising that we don’t even listen any more.
Sadly, as Christians we have sometimes been deceptive in our methods.
Some would say, that it doesn’t matter as long as people are saved but the Word of God would not agree with that.
In proclaiming the gospel, we need to be up front and honest.
Therefore, our friendships must be genuine and our invitations clear.
A further list of things Paul and Silas did not do is found in verse 5.
There we read that they did not use flattery.
To genuinely complement someone is a good thing, but to tell them things they want to hear in order to get what we want from them is not right.
They also did not put on a mask to cover up greed.
Some of the televangelists get large amounts of money.
They say it is for the ministry, but that is truly questionable.
Many have tried this and succeeded, but it is not worthy of us who are involved in gospel proclamation.
The last item is that they did not seek praise from men.
How dangerous such a practice would be.
If we are seeking praise from people, then we will be willing to compromise the message in order to receive that praise.
Although some might be attracted to a gospel that makes sin smaller or that suggests that there are other ways to God than through Jesus Christ, we must continue to preach God’s truth, even though some will not accept it.
I really appreciate this discussion of Paul’s methods, because they are methods of integrity.
Sometimes, in order to get quick results, we may be tempted to use methods that are not pure and faithful.
In the end, such methods undermine God’s work.
One writer says, “It is important not only to be honest, but also to appear to others to be honest.”
!
II.
Approved By God
If we are tempted to use these methods, there is something wrong deeper in our hearts.
Paul and those with him were solid to the core, they were approved by God.
Rather than any of these methods, Paul and those he had come with were “men approved by God” as we read in verse 4. What made them approved of God?
First of all, they were entrusted with the gospel, which means that they were first of all recipients of the gospel themselves.
If for some reason we find ourselves involved in gospel proclamation, but we have not really experienced the power of the gospel ourselves, how will we be able to tell others?
If we are not free from the burden of sin, how can we tell others that there is freedom in Christ?
If we are not filled with hope in the promise of eternal life, how can we tell others that there is hope?
If we are not filled with the Spirit, how can we invite others to experience the life of the Spirit?
In other words, if we are not Christians, how can we call others to Christ?
Furthermore, their whole lives were lives of integrity.
In verse 10 Paul appeals to them to affirm that when they came among them, they came as people who were holy, righteous and blameless.
They could not be accused of wrongdoing, of immorality or of anything else.
They did as Jesus says, lived as salt and light, giving evidence of the life changing power of God.
They were, as verse 6 further indicates, men whose whole life was about trying to please God.
This is a difficult matter for I know, as a minister, how hard it is to keep this as one’s primary motive.
It is sometimes appealing to seek the praise of people.
Even as Christians who want to do the right thing, it is tempting to serve God because our parents or friends will be impressed.
We want people to notice us, even to notice that we are doing good things.
If people are impressed with our ability, our sacrifice, even our faithfulness, we are tempted to play to the crowd.
If we do that, will we still be willing to please God and do whatever He wants?
Is our genuine desire the desire to please God and bring honor to Him?
I keep a saying in my office, “by God’s grace and to God’s glory” to remind me of the importance of doing everything to the glory of God.
Paul and Silas were this way because they were very much aware of one other important truth and that is that God was watching.
Three times this idea comes out in the passage.
In verses 5, 10, he affirms his actions by saying, “God is our witness.”
In verse 4, he declares that “God tests our hearts.”
This idea is found many times elsewhere in the Bible.
In I Samuel 16:7, while choosing the next king of Israel, who was David, God said to Samuel, “the Lord looks at the heart.”
When we are reminded of that, we need to open our hearts and lives before him and test our hearts and seek the approval of God and seek to bring glory to Him in all we do.
!
III.
Through Loving Relationships
One of the most significant ways in which we can make an impact for Christ is wonderfully presented by the work of the apostle Paul as described in I Thessalonians 2:7-11.
!! A. Like a Mother
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