The Apostle Paul who wrote this letter is regarded as one of the most influential people in the history of humanity.
! He's often ranked up there in the list that the people make of these things.
He's in the top 50 or 25 or 10 and on some list he's regarded in the top five of the most influential people in human history.
What is remarkable about that is that Paul didn't have political power.
He didn't have armies at his command.
He wasn't a wealthy man. He had lots of money at his disposal.
He didn't have any position of authority and yet he changed the course of human history.
In fact he was the most significant Christian missionary in the first century.
So how did he become so influential even 2,000 years later when he had nothing of the trappings of power?
And in fact not just that but the content of the message that he spread as a missionary in the Roman Empire
was entirely unpalatable to both Jew and Gentile.
In other words it wasn't a message that anyone in the first century said,
Oh, that's a good idea. Yes, there's logic there. No one.
Richard Stengel was the managing editor of Time magazine from 2006 to 2013.
And in the introduction of Time magazine's 2007 list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
In that moment he actually gives us a clue as to the substantial influence of the Apostle Paul.
He wrote this.
Influence is hard to measure.
And what we look for is people whose ideas, whose example, whose talent, whose discoveries transform the world we live in.
Influence is less about hard power of force than the soft power of ideas and example.
Yes, there are presidents and dictators who can change the world through fear.
But we're more interested in innovators.
So what he's saying there is in the 2007 list of most influential people in the world is that power changes people from the outside in.
Conformity, coercion.
But influence through ideas and example changes people from the inside out.
And if you can change someone from the inside out, you get genuine change, not just compliance.
Genuine change happens from the inside out as a person's heart and mind and the driving force of their life is changed.
And we see in today's passage is that the startling endurance and influence of the Apostle Paul is a life of sacrificial service.
And a message that declares that Paul himself and all people have been served by God.
That's the astounding influence.
So I've got three points today.
And Paul here is defending his ministry amongst the Thessalonian church and giving us an example to follow in how we might follow in his steps and see more and more people influence for the sake of God.
And so three points, love deeply, speak the truth and receive the crown.
That's where we're heading today.
Now the first thing we learn here in Paul's defence to the Thessalonians is that he served them and others by loving them deeply.
The language is very strong.
Paul's life is bound up to their life.
He was so personally invested in them that when they were persecuted, when they were struggling, when they were hurting, so was he.
So was he.
It's sort of, you know, you put money into a business venture.
When it fails, when the business venture fails, you fail financially.
That is, you're bound to that business venture.
If it financially loses, you financially lose.
If it financially gains, you financially gain.
And Paul does the same here with the lives of these Thessalonians.
His investment to them is absolutely remarkable.
Chapter 2, verse 17.
Brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time, in person, not in thought.
That his concept here is he was torn.
He was torn away from them.
He was bereft of them.
He was orphaned.
He was ripped away from them in person, but not in thought.
Or quite literally, that I was ripped away from you in person, but my heart was still attached to you.
The image that he's using here is like the death of a loved one.
I lost your presence, but my heart and my life and my emotions is still bound to you.
That's the image here.
So strong.
That's the grief he is feeling.
And what he's expressing here is so rare these days when it comes to church.
We don't often even come to church with the longing expectations to see each other because we haven't done so in the last seven days.
It is possible, in fact, to have enduring connections with another person over a very long period of time,
but still have a barrier between your heart and theirs.
Too often our joy is not bound up in their joy, nor our pain in their pain.
It's much easier, I think, in today's day and age to, in fact, provide a meal than it is to give a heart.
To provide our hearts to bind our time for those who are suffering and afflicted.
Paul then adds,
Out of our intense longing, we made every effort to see you.
The statement there, our intense longing, literally means in the New Testament an over-desire.
It's normally translated in a variety of ways in the New Testament.
But the concept of an over-desire is the idea of an idolatry in the heart.
But the intense desire here expresses a very strong passion.
And virtually everywhere in the New Testament, this word, this statement is used negatively.
Only here and a couple of other places is it ever used positively.
And it's the word translated lust.
Lust.
He is so bound to these Christians that he is lusting after their personal presence.
There's more in verses 19 and 20.
For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown?
Is it not you?
Indeed, you are our glory and joy.
If their hope and joy is inhibited, so is his.
There's even more in chapter 3, verse 8.
You see, you read in chapter 3, verses 1 to 6, that Paul sent Timothy back to find out how they're getting on in the faith.
Since Paul and his team had to leave Thessalonica under persecution.
And Timothy comes back with a report that is so encouraging that Paul writes in verse 8,
For now we really live since you are standing firm in the Lord.
It was like a death thinking that you had died in the faith.
And now we really live.
When Paul thought it was all going wrong for them, and he thought they were turning away from Jesus,
he was like he was dying inside.
And the news from Timothy about their progress in the faith means that he really lives.
This good report has revived him.
What we are seeing here is just how closely Paul has bound himself to his fellow believers,
brothers and sisters in Christ.
He loved them deeply.
Now we exist in a time and a culture where everything is telling us to hold ourselves back.
The safest option for you in life is to not love anyone.
You don't want your heart broken, don't love anyone as C.S. Lewis said.
Hold ourselves back.
Protect your hearts.
Don't give yourself away.
And so we don't invest in others unless there is some level of personal benefit out of it.
And there's most likely a raft of reasons for it in Western culture.
We are encouraged again and again and again to pursue your self-actualisation.
It's about you achieving who you are, regardless of people.
It could be that there's past hurts from broken relationships.
Things like divorce do untold damage to our hearts.
Not just those who are being divorced, but everyone around them.
It means it's difficult to trust and invest in others.
The death of a loved one caused the heart not to want to hurt again.
It becomes so fragile to hurt again.
Cancer culture makes us fearful of getting too close and revealing our heart too much.
Our mobile society of people moving regularly.
Even if they don't move house, moving jobs, moving churches,
has taught us that people aren't going to be in my life for too long.
So don't invest too much.
There are so many reasons why we have developed Teflon in our hearts.
And so when we get too close to someone else, they just slip off.
Don't get too close.
Don't invest too much.
And it's self-preservation is the reason.
So many reasons why we should push against the trends of individualism
and transactional relationships and shallow interactions and isolationism.
One of the main reasons is because you need it.
Personally, we all need it.
That is, none of us will see any change in our lives at all
if we keep beating people at arm's length.
We need them as much as they need us.
No one changes, me or you, without others.
And unless we invest in others by giving self away to them
and loving them like Paul does, we ourselves will never change.
That's the first thing, love deeply.
That's the remarkable impact of Paul's influence
was his example in loving others sacrificially.
But giving himself to the Thessalonians were not the only aspects of his service
and remarkable influence.
He gave away his heart, but he also spoke the truth.
And this one, I think, when you put these two together,
it's very interesting.
It's rare, so rare.
Paul is clearly emotionally connected to them.
He's given his heart to them.
He wasn't disconnected from them relationally.
He wasn't just an academic or someone with their ideas.
He had example in his life.
But that in itself is not enough.
Sacrificial love for someone in itself is not enough.
And it does not explain in itself the remarkable influence of his life.
If that was it, you could conclude that Paul was emotionally reliant upon them.
That is, the reason he so gave himself to other people
was because his ego was so fragile,
he needed their affirmation and love back.
We see here that Paul gives them his heart and his life,
and he speaks the truth.
Someone with a fragile ego does not do that.
That's how he served them.
And it's the secret of his great influence.
Have a look at verse 10, chapter 3.
Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again
and supply what is lacking in your faith.
New Testament scholar Leon Morris says the statement,
what is lacking, means quite literally deficiency, shortcomings.
He wrote,
in spite of his great enthusiasm for the spiritual achievement of these converts,
Paul recognises that they come short of what they should be.
Paul's saying here in this letter,
my heart burns, it burns to see you again
so that I can address your shortcomings.
How would you receive a letter like that?
We're longing to see you, Steve,
so that I can point out where you're wrong.
Delete.
That's the instinct of the heart, is it not?
Paul hasn't loved them in the hope that they're going to love him back.
He hasn't sacrificed for them
so that they could puff up his ego and make him feel important.
He is giving of himself,
is not hiding something of a deeper motive for their approval and affirmation.
He isn't afraid to bring feedback.
He isn't afraid to bring truth.
He isn't afraid to tell them,
you need to take your next steps,
to live what it is that you believe.
Crucially though,
it's not just his opinion.
It's not just his truth.
He's just not someone here who,
you know,
I'm loving you and you're not responding the way I want you to,
so let me just,
let me just shed some light for you.
He's not trying to attack them.
He's not trying to tear them down.
He's not trying,
it's not revenge.
It's not payback.
Back in chapter two,
verse 13,
he is thankful because the Thessalonians received the word of God,
which you heard from us.
You accepted it not as a human word,
but as it actually is the word of God,
which is indeed at work in you who believe.
He wants to come to bring God's word to bear on their life,
that they might progress in the faith.
That's his service,
not just in serving and loving them,
with his life,
but with the gospel,
the word of God.
The late theologian J.R. Packer wrote that preaching is the event of God
bringing to an audience or a congregation,
a Bible-based,
Christ-related,
life-impacting message of instruction from himself
through the words of a spokesperson.
What he unpacked there was the preacher doesn't bring a message about God.
God brings a message to the people through the preacher.
That's what he's saying.
Every time the church gathers under God's word,
in corporate worship,
every time you meet together as a community group,
you are experiencing a word mediator encounter
between your soul and the living God
as the scriptures are open.
And the whole purpose of it is life-impacting instruction.
Transformation is the word that Packer would use.
Paul gave his life to them
and spoke the truth of God's word to them
for their progress in holiness and joy in Christ.
That is his remarkable service.
Not just an example,
but a message.
He wasn't seeking the transfer of information.
The goal was transformation,
bringing God's word to bear for progress.
I remember sitting on the bank of the Namoi River,
fishing one afternoon
with the pastor of the church in Narrabri
as I was a very young trainee under him,
talking loads of questions.
And he said to me,
Steve,
as a pastor,
if this is what you're going to do
for the rest of your life,
you really have one job.
And that is to bring God's word to bear
in the life of the people who are there.
And you do that,
not just through teaching,
but through a life that's living it.
I think that's what Paul's saying here to the Thessalonians.
Paul is modelling,
I think,
a very rare balance
in terms of personality.
Some of us like the first bit
about Paul loving people.
You know,
we have a natural disposition
towards kindness
and gentleness
and love
and compassion for people.
It's who we are.
And normally,
in that scenario,
those who have such a deep compassion
and forgiveness
find it hard to bring God's word to bear.
Find it hard to speak truth.
I find it hard to see someone
make actual progress.
You might be able to see error.
You might be able to see patterns of behaviour,
bad behaviour,
and say nothing.
It's just more loving to have compassion on the person
than to speak truth.
That is,
some of us are quick to compassion,
but slow to assessment
and seeking,
bringing God's word to bear for progress.
others have a natural disposition
towards logic and facts
and arguments
and truth and theology,
much slower towards compassion.
You need to know something.
There's something I need to tell you.
Quick on assessment,
but slow on compassion.
As I said at the beginning of this year,
King of Our Vision series,
that's my natural bent.
That's who I am.
God's working on me,
but it's my natural bent.
All of us are like,
I forget who used this illustration,
we're all like the drunk peasant.
We fall off one side of the donkey or the other.
None of us can stay up straight
on one way or another.
Whatever your natural bent is,
you need to be pushed in the other direction.
Love without truth
and truth without love
are both distortions.
And neither of them
brings about the change in life,
in our life or the life of others,
that the Apostle Paul had
on the Thessalonian church
and on human history.
One of the greatest examples
of someone who was closer
to staying up straight on the donkey
was,
and therefore a challenge for me personally,
the famous English pastor,
John Newton of Amazing Grace,
him fame.
He was a,
if you read his life,
he was a,
he was formerly a slave trader
and in fact,
a very cruel slave trader
who mistreated people brutally,
so badly.
And then he met Jesus.
And as a pastor,
people who,
not just his friends,
but people who disagree with him theologically
or thought he was weak personally,
they,
as a pastor,
he was described as someone
who had a theological backbone of steel,
so fixed on speaking truth,
but a heart of tenderness,
like clover,
described by one biographer
as a mighty,
you know,
the massive trees in California,
redwood,
massive redwood
of theological truth and conviction,
and yet like a field of clover
with a heart towards his pastor,
towards his people.
He did not string back
from proclaiming the truth
of God's word to correct,
but it came from a heart
and a life
and actions of compassion.
I want to be more like him.
I want us as a church family
to be more like that,
to be known for that.
Church that gives itself in love
for all,
the joy of all people
while speaking the truth
of the gospel
and not shrinking back
from that at all.
That brings me to the last point.
Why would we want to do that?
We actually sung it
in one of our songs,
I saw it there
right at the beginning,
about the world needs to know.
What is it?
Why would we want to
pursue such a life?
This is the fight.
What Paul had here
was he actually had a vision
for everyone's life,
for all relationships,
for all people.
He had a particular vision
for their life.
Chapter 2, verses 19 and 24.
What is our hope,
our joy,
or the crown
in which we will glory
in the presence
of our Lord Jesus Christ
when he comes?
Is it not you?
Indeed, you are our glory
and our joy.
When he writes,
you are our glory and joy,
he means that
the life that you are living,
Thessalonians,
are doing us credit.
You're imitating the gospel.
It means that they were clearly
a product not just of his life,
but also his message.
And it validated his service of them.
As I said last week,
we know that Paul is defending
his pastoral ministry
amongst the Thessalonians,
and he's setting an example
really for pastors in this,
but not just that.
We know it's crucial
that the life
of the pastor
matches the message
that they preach,
that they're in sync.
Belief and behavior must align.
But it's also
not just for the pastors.
He's writing to the Thessalonians church
that your belief
and your behaviors
are aligned.
So I want to ask you,
have you ever thought about that?
Have you ever thought
about how
you reflect the gospel
that is preached here
week in and week out
in this church?
When someone
not known to us
walks in amongst us,
is there sometimes,
and I do this myself,
I sometimes go,
I hope it's a good day.
Nothing goes wrong.
I hope the preacher,
normally me,
makes sense.
I hope the music's good.
I hope the video works
this week.
The slides appear
when they're made.
I hope it works well.
And the idea is,
behind all that,
that somehow that might be
an influence on those people.
Do you ever think
that maybe people
aren't just looking at me
and what happens
on the platform,
that they're actually
looking around at you too,
assessing you as well?
Do these people's lives
reflect the priority
of the gospel message
that's currently being preached?
Do their hearts appear
to be lifted to this message?
That's what Paul's
actually saying here
in verses 19 and 20.
There is a sense
where a church,
a congregation,
is the minister's glory
and joy.
And why should anyone
listen to
and honour the gospel
if the Christian community
does not reflect it
in any way?
Why would I believe that
when it doesn't seem
to impact here?
And he's saying something
even more than that.
He's saying that he
and his team
live
because the Thessalonians
stand firm
in the Lord.
Remarkable.
Absolutely remarkable.
Paul gives them his life
and God's word
for their progress
in the faith.
He is so bound up
in their life
that if they're not
progressing in their faith,
he himself is dying.
So discouraged.
There is,
I can tell you this
because I've done it
for three decades.
There is nothing
more discouraging
to a minister of the word.
Nothing more draining
than to preach
your heart out
week after week,
year after year
and see no change.
See no change.
I've been there.
I'm not there at the moment.
I want you to know
I'm not there
although I do have
fleeting moments.
Generally don't talk to me
until midday
Monday morning.
Please do though
if there is an emergency.
I'd be more than happy to.
But as a general rule,
there's a slump
on a Monday.
It's an all minister thing.
But I read during the week
a sermon
that Charles Spurgeon
once preached
on this passage.
And specifically
just on verse 8
of chapter 3.
For now we really live
since you are standing firm
in the Lord.
And he said this
to his church
in that sermon.
I live by your spiritual joy.
I suffocate
under your spiritual indifference.
I choke to death
on your spiritual misery.
I am tied to you.
I can't help it.
That is why Paul
calls the Thessalonians
his joy
and glory.
His service of them,
his vision
for them
to not just start
as Christians
but to make progress
in the faith
in such a way
that they
cross the finish line.
It's there
at the end of verse 19.
We will glory
in the presence
of our Lord Jesus
when he comes.
Paul there
is referring
to the future
when Jesus Christ
comes back,
breaks into human history
at the end of time
as we know it,
winds up things
as we know it.
Paul's vision
for the Thessalonians
is that they
would be his crown
on that day.
And he says
the same thing
at the end of chapter 3.
May he strengthen
your hearts
so that you
will be blameless
and holy
in the presence
of our God
and Father
when our Lord
Jesus Christ
comes with all
his holy ones.
Notice the word
blameless there.
That's his goal
for the Thessalonian church.
Blameless and holy
in the presence
of God.
And he uses
the same word
in Ephesians
chapter 5
when he writes
to husbands,
husbands love
your wives
just as Christ
loved the church
and gave himself
up for her
to make her holy
to present her
to himself
as a radiant church
holy
and blameless.
so this passage
is not just about
you know
ministers be like me
pastors
do what I do
it's actually
about relationships
within the church
it's about every relationship
and it is
absolutely remarkable
that what Paul
does here
in using the word
blameless
he actually
connects
the goal
of
our relationship
as a church
family
with the goal
of Christian marriage
and that is
to present
each other
perfect in Christ
blameless
in Christ
has the same purpose
the same commitment
the same goal
the final glory
of each other
not my final glory
but the final glory
of each other
in the presence
of God
and so why
would Paul do that
why would he
serve the Thessalonians
why would he
give himself away
why would he risk
them being ticked
off with him
because he speaks
the truth of God's
word to them
as he has
suffered
persecution
throughout
the Roman Empire
already because
of this gospel
his life
of service
in love
and truth
was not
a principle
it was not
an ideal
he wasn't
brought up
by his parents
saying
Paul
when you grow up
be a person
of service
of others
it's not like
it was a value
that was instilled
to him
it was not
his natural
disposition
he was a lecturer
!
a lawyer
a legalist
he persecuted
Christians
he was brutal
he did not
have a victim
mentality
what drove him
the gospel
message
that he spread
throughout
the Roman Empire
it's about
what Jesus
has already
done for him
at the beginning
of chapter 3
Paul talks
about his loss
his pain
the great
risk he took
as he sent
Timothy
back to
the Thessalonians
to
as he says
to strengthen
and encourage
them in their
faith
in the hope
that it would
not be a
vanity
that their
faith in
Jesus would
not be a
vanity
Paul
Paul talks
about the
great loss
of sending
Timothy
so dear
to him
so loved
to him
and in
1 Timothy
chapter 1
verse 2
he calls
him my
true son
in the
faith
and he
sent
Timothy
away
his love
for the
Thessalonians
sent him
away
sent Timothy
his son
away
and in
doing that
he's reflecting
the gospel
that saved
him
for God
so loved
the world
that he
gave his
one and
only son
that whoever
believes in
him should
not perish
but have
eternal life
it's the
sending of
the son of
God
Jesus Christ
as a
sacrifice
for the
sin of
all humanity
that changed
absolutely
everything
for Paul
Jesus
Christ
according to
Hebrews
chapter 12
is the
author and
the perfecter
of our
faith
Jesus
has lived
the life
of trust
in his
father
that we
should have
lived
and he
died the
death
that we
should have
died
because we
have failed
to do
that
and as
Jesus
was crucified
on the
cross
his enemies
mocked
him
they mocked
him
for his
claim
to be
the king
of all
kings
and so
they
wound
together
a crown
of thorns
and stuck
it on his
head
there's your
crown
the king
of the
universe
the one
who owns
absolutely
everything
the one
who flung
stars into
space
and put
the planets
in their
orbit
the one
worthy
of all
praise
of all
honour
of all
glory
the one
who already
had
the ultimate
crown
the greatest
crown
surrendered
his hands
and his feet
to nails
on a cross
he lay
aside
his power
he lay
aside
his glory
he lay
aside
his crown
why
Hebrews 12
for the joy
that was set
before him
and the joy
that was set
before him
the vision
that was
before him
the goal
that was
before him
the aim
of his life
of his death
that was
before him
was to bring
us back
to God
holy and
blameless
that was the
goal
that was his
vision
that was his
joy
he gave
away his
life with
joy
so that we
might receive
forgiveness
his
approval
the presence
of the
holy spirit
eternal
life
and that
we might
receive
the crown
that will
never perish
spoil
fate
he lay
aside his
crown
that we
might have
his
see jesus
had a vision
for what paul
could be at the
throne of god
and that
broke into
the heart
of paul
and entirely
changed his
life
and paul
had a vision
for what the
thessalonians
could be
at the throne
of god
and paul
gave away
his life
for them
and our
vision for
each other
should be
the same
vision of
what we
could be
each of
us
before the
throne of
god
paul's
joy
and goal
is their
final glory
their
crown
he is so
filled with
joy
that they
make
that they
are making
progress
he is longing
for them
to see
them to
just continue
to take
their next
steps
next steps
and so
chapter 3
right at the
very end
there is
paul's
prayer for
the
thessalonians
it's a
summary of
his service
to them
and he
prays that
they will
do the
same for
each other
may the
lord make
your love
increase
and overflow
for each
other and
for everyone
else
just as
ours does
for you
may he
strengthen
your hearts
so that
you'll be
blameless
and holy
in the
presence
of our
god and
father
when our
lord jesus
christ
comes
with all
his holy
ones
won't