Sermon Tone Analysis

Be Bold

 

June 28, 2009

 

1 Thessalonians 2:1-12

 

This morning I’ll continue in the book of First Thessalonians, so please turn there and we’ll read chapter 2, verses 1 through 12 in a couple of minutes.

While you’re turning there, I want to share with you some words of wisdom from Henry Blackaby.

Blackaby’s key Scripture this morning is found in Mark chapter 1, verse 22, where God’s Word tells us that* */They were astonished at His teaching because, unlike the scribes, He was teaching them as one having authority/

Jesus was not the first person to teach the Scriptures to a group of disciples.

The people in Jesus' day had heard other teachers of the Scriptures.

What set Jesus apart was that He taught with authority.

To many of the scribes, the Scriptures were meaningless, dry collections of theological speculation, but Jesus taught them as the living words of God.

John the Baptist claimed that a man could only receive that which had been given to him by God (John 3:27).

When the religious leaders searched the Scriptures, they came away empty-handed.

When Jesus read the same Scriptures, the Father gave Him a full measure of His wisdom and His authority.

There is a radical difference between practicing religion and sharing a word directly from the Lord.

There is a significant difference between worldly reasoning and counsel that comes straight from the living word of God.

Is it possible to teach a message from the Bible but not from the Lord?

Yes!

The scribes and Pharisees did this regularly and left their listeners spiritually destitute.

Is it possible to counsel someone with advice that seems appropriate and reasonable and yet is contrary to God's word?

Of course!

Whenever you teach, counsel, or share a word of encouragement, be very careful that the words you share are indeed from the Lord and are not just your own thinking.

Otherwise, you could become a false prophet (Deut.

18:20–22).

God promises to stand by every word He has ever spoken (Isa.

55:10–11).

When you share a word that has come from God, you can do so with utmost confidence!

/ /

Now, for those of you who have your Bible open to the book of 1 Thessalonians we’ll read chapter 2, verses 1 through 12:/ For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition.

For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men but God, who examines our hearts.

For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness—nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority.

But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.

Having thus a fond affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.

For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

/

This text teaches us why boldness is so necessary, and where you get it and what has to happen inside in order to be a bold person.

If you have a longing to be an influence for Christ and his kingdom, and if you have a longing to be and authentic person, then the answers to these three needs will ring as relevant for you today as they did 2,000 years ago.

Because God has never changed and human nature has not changed.

Those three needs, again, are a longing to be an influence for Christ’s kingdom, a longing to be real and authentic, and a longing for boldness – to be bold as our sermon title this morning entreats.

Boldness is necessary because we don't want our lives to be lived in vain.

We don't want to come to the end of our lives—our jobs, our ministries, our families—and say, "It's empty.

Nothing happened.

There was no effect that mattered.

It was all in vain."

We don't want to feel that or say that.

And so boldness is necessary to keep that from happening—so that our lives are not in vain.

I see this in 1 Thessalonians 2:1–2 where Paul describes what happened when he came from Philippi to Thessalonica, and lived and ministered among the Thessalonians:

/For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain [why not?], but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition.

/

Paul's life in Thessalonica had not been in vain—even though he stayed a relatively short time.

And the reason his life there was not empty and ineffective was because he had boldness in God, and spoke the gospel with courage.

So what we learn is that the reason boldness is needed is that it keeps our lives from being in vain.

It makes our lives count.

It keeps us from coming to the end and saying, "Nothing happened.

There was no significance.

I lived in vain."

To make this clear and sure let me point out something remarkable about this text.

It starts in verse 1 by referring to what happened to the Thessalonians/: "Our coming to you was not in vain."

/That is, something happened to you, the Thessalonians.

I, too, look for change in YOU, so my ministry is not in vain!

Something happened to me: I was called, I was directed to preach the Word, I was given boldness by God! Now, something must happen to you so my words are effective.

Right?

We did not minister without effect, says Paul.

You were changed.

Now what I would expect after a statement like that is some illustration of the effect of Paul's ministry in the lives of the Thessalonians.

Something like: /"You know that our coming to you was not in vain . . .

for you turned from idols, and trusted Christ as Lord and Savior, and you stopped lying and stealing and hating, and you started caring about each other and sharing things and loving your enemies and worshiping the true God." /

But the amazing thing is that for 10 verses (2–11) there is not one word about the effect of Paul's ministry on the Thessalonians when he came.

Instead the whole 10 verses describes Paul's life and ministry.

Ten things:

       2a—We suffered and were mistreated in Philippi.

2c—We had boldness to speak the gospel to you.

3—Our exhortation doesn't come from error or deceit.

4a—As we have been approved by God so we speak.

4b—We speak to please God not men.

5f—We did not flatter or covet or seek glory from men.

       7f—We became gentle as a nurse and shared ourselves.

9—We worked night and day not to burden you.

10—We were devout, upright, and blameless to you.

11f—We exhorted and encouraged as a father.

Now why is this?

What is Paul saying?

Why does he begin by saying, "You know that our coming to you was not in vain," and then tell the ten things about his ministry rather than its effect on the Thessalonians?

There are at least two reasons I think.

One is that Paul is being slandered by his opponents in Thessalonica.

We meet them in Acts 17. Turn there with me now and we’ll refresh ourselves on what happened to Paul in Thessalonica.

I’m going to read the first eleven verses: /Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

\\ And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, \\ explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ."

\\ And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.

\\ But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.

\\ And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, \\ and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus."

\\ And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things.

\\ And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

\\ The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.

\\ Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

/They were jealous of him and stirred up a mob and took church leaders before the authorities.

Paul is still concerned about the persecution the church is experiencing.

Turn to 1 Thessalonians, chapter 3, where Paul states his concerns in verses 3 and 4: /Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, \\ and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, \\ that no one be moved by these afflictions.

For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.

\\ For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.

/

.

Evidently Paul's enemies were saying that he was deceitful and that he was only after the praise of men and that he was covetous and wanted their money and that he used flattery to get it.

So Paul responds in verses 2–11, our key passage this morning,  by reminding the Thessalonians of what they really know about him.

Six times he says /"as you know" or "you recall" or "you are witnesses"/ (vv. 1, 2, 5, 9, 10, 11).

But Paul's concern here is not primarily with himself.

The real issue is that the discrediting of Paul and his message would also discredit the authenticity of the Thessalonians' faith.