WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.480 Thanks very much, Jamie and Fiona. Good evening, everyone. Delighted to have you with us. I know 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:09.380 there are a few visitors here this evening. You're very, very welcome at our evening service. 00:00:10.099 --> 00:00:16.000 We continue tonight looking at the first letter of Paul to Thessalonians, this young church which 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:21.320 Paul had established, which he had had to leave quite suddenly, and which had given him such joy 00:00:21.320 --> 00:00:26.179 as he thought about how his reputation had spread throughout the world, and yet which he had some 00:00:26.179 --> 00:00:31.039 concerns about that he will deal with later in the letter. We're going to be looking at the 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:35.920 most of chapter two, the first three quarters or so of chapter two this evening. So if you have a 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:40.140 Bible you might like to turn to it, I'm sure John will put the words on the screen. We're using the 00:00:40.140 --> 00:00:46.359 New International Version, 1 Thessalonians chapter two, reading from verse one. You know, brothers, 00:00:46.820 --> 00:00:53.060 that our visit to you was not a failure. We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, 00:00:53.060 --> 00:00:59.359 as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:07.159 opposition. For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to 00:01:07.159 --> 00:01:15.939 trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not 00:01:15.939 --> 00:01:22.099 trying to please men, but God who tests our hearts. You know we never use flattery. 00:01:22.099 --> 00:01:29.959 Nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed. God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from 00:01:29.959 --> 00:01:37.159 men, nor from you or anyone else. As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, 00:01:37.899 --> 00:01:41.500 but we were gentle among you like a mother caring for her little children. 00:01:42.619 --> 00:01:48.179 We love you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, 00:01:48.180 --> 00:01:56.040 but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. Surely remember, brothers, our toil and 00:01:56.040 --> 00:02:02.420 hardship. We worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel 00:02:02.420 --> 00:02:10.760 of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous, and blameless we were among you 00:02:10.759 --> 00:02:16.319 who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:24.039 encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom 00:02:24.039 --> 00:02:31.079 and glory. And we also thank God continually, because when you received the word of God which 00:02:31.079 --> 00:02:37.599 you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is the word of God, 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:44.319 which is at work in you who believe. For you brothers became imitators of God's churches in 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:51.879 Judea, which are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own country in the same things those churches 00:02:51.879 --> 00:02:57.299 suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and also drove us out. 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:04.280 They displease God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles, 00:03:04.280 --> 00:03:09.979 so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. 00:03:10.840 --> 00:03:18.539 The wrath of God has come upon them at last. I'm sure God will bless us as we consider together 00:03:18.539 --> 00:03:24.139 this passage this evening. One of the most significant events, I guess, for Christians over 00:03:24.139 --> 00:03:29.599 this year has been the death of Dr. Billy Graham. Dr. Graham was a very good age, but very sad, 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:37.000 his passing away. When you looked at the obituaries for Dr. Graham that appeared, most of them talked 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:42.799 about how many countries he preached in, how many millions of people had listened to him at his 00:03:42.799 --> 00:03:48.859 crusades, but they also, almost without exception, talked about Dr. Graham's character. 00:03:49.979 --> 00:03:55.680 So this I copied down from Martin Bashir, who did the report in BBC News, and he said about Dr. Graham, 00:03:55.680 --> 00:04:02.140 it was the simplicity of his message and the sincerity of his life that will be his legacy. 00:04:03.040 --> 00:04:08.700 What a great tribute on national television to a preacher of the gospel. He kept his message simple 00:04:08.700 --> 00:04:15.100 so that people could understand the gospel, and he lived his life in a way that was consistent with it. 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:22.819 He was utterly sincere. There was no hint of any scandal about him. Dr. Graham himself spoke on 00:04:22.819 --> 00:04:29.360 a similar theme. He said, what our young people want to see in their elders is integrity, honesty, 00:04:29.860 --> 00:04:38.300 truthfulness, and faith. What they hate most of all is hypocrisy and phoniness. I don't think that's 00:04:38.300 --> 00:04:43.860 just true of young people either. As people look at Christians, as they look at the church, the church 00:04:43.860 --> 00:04:52.160 leaders and church members, what they want to see in us is people of integrity, people who are open with 00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:58.120 their lives and who are seeking to do what is right by God's grace, and are trying to put aside 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:05.480 hypocrisy and phoniness. And that's what Paul's dealing with in this passage from Thessalonians 00:05:05.480 --> 00:05:12.319 we're looking at this evening. He is mounting, as he does in a number of epistles, a defence of his 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:18.860 ministry in the gospel. Now we don't know exactly what the circumstances here are. When Paul wrote 00:05:18.860 --> 00:05:23.720 to Corinth, for instance, we know there were people in the church who were trying to put him down and 00:05:23.720 --> 00:05:29.660 to suggest he wasn't as good as they thought he should be. There's no real evidence that that was the 00:05:29.660 --> 00:05:36.200 case in Thessalonica. More likely, the Jews who were the instigators of the original trouble that made 00:05:36.200 --> 00:05:43.120 Paul have to leave Thessalonica, more likely they were putting about rumours about him and about his 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:48.740 life. And Paul decides at the start of his letter to Thessalonians, before he goes on to give them 00:05:48.740 --> 00:05:55.980 instruction, and in some cases to rebuke them, he needs to put this straight. He needs to present his 00:05:55.980 --> 00:06:03.500 credentials and say, I am what I preach. You're not getting one thing in what I say and another thing 00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:13.800 in what I do. My lifestyle is consistent with my message. How important that is for us as well, 00:06:14.300 --> 00:06:22.200 that we are people of integrity and our lifestyle is consistent with our message. Well, we're not going 00:06:22.199 --> 00:06:27.259 to save anyone by our lifestyle. That can only be done through the grace of God and through the work 00:06:27.259 --> 00:06:35.639 of the gospel. We can easily put people off Christian faith if our lives are not right. If they look at us 00:06:35.639 --> 00:06:41.459 and say, these people, they're hypocrites, they're not practising what they preach, then we have lost the 00:06:41.459 --> 00:06:47.459 right in their eyes to preach to them at all. Why should they believe what we say if it's not reflected 00:06:47.459 --> 00:06:55.019 in what we do? So what Paul is saying to us this evening, as he defends himself, is also important 00:06:55.019 --> 00:07:02.120 in our lives and is relevant to us today. So the passage we have this evening divides broadly into two. 00:07:02.199 --> 00:07:09.000 There's quite a long section up to verse 12, where Paul is talking about himself. And then from verse 13 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:14.639 to verse 16, he's talking more about the Thessalonians and about their faith. We'll probably spend most of the 00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:20.839 time in the first long section, and we'll talk more briefly at the end about the last section. 00:07:22.300 --> 00:07:29.639 So what Paul is saying to the Thessalonians is that he is a faithful teacher. As he teaches, 00:07:30.039 --> 00:07:38.039 he lives out in his life. And he uses certainly two and possibly three analogies from family life 00:07:38.039 --> 00:07:43.060 to help explain this. I say possibly three, you can judge for yourself whether I've interpreted the third 00:07:43.060 --> 00:07:48.519 one right, but he certainly talks about mothers and about fathers. And in the opening verses, 00:07:48.899 --> 00:07:55.060 I suggest Paul's talking about himself as a steward. Now, I suspect most of us don't have stewards 00:07:55.060 --> 00:07:59.279 in our families. Unless you are royalty or something, that wouldn't be something that you get 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:05.300 in our time today. But if you were in a first century family, and it was reasonably well to do, 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:11.639 and had a number of servants or slaves, one of them would probably be the steward. And in many ways, 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:17.560 the steward was the most important and the most trusted of all the servants in the family. 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:24.079 The steward was the one to whom the master entrusted the running of the household and the 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:28.159 things that were really important to him. It was very important that you got a steward who was, 00:08:28.159 --> 00:08:35.580 as I said, very conscientious, who was honest, who was trustworthy, and who was someone you could rely on 00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:41.320 and who wouldn't get things wrong. So why am I suggesting that Paul might be thinking of himself 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:47.980 as a steward? Well, it comes in verse four, where Paul says, we speak as men approved by God 00:08:47.980 --> 00:08:57.759 to be entrusted with the gospel. Entrusted with the gospel. And in the family of God, in the Christian 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:05.840 church, the gospel is the thing which must be God right and which must be preserved. And the work of 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:13.519 Paul is the work of a steward in God's household to preserve and to make sure that the thing that is 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:22.240 most important is not lost or neglected. Paul is the conscientious servant of Christ who is seeking 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:31.600 to preserve the gospel and to preach it to others. And three things that Paul brings before us that 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:38.879 mark him out as a conscientious steward. So in the first couple of verses, Paul says that he was 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:46.060 unafraid. Now, Paul went to Thessalonica from Philippi. And the story of Paul's time in Philippi is fairly 00:09:46.060 --> 00:09:51.120 well known, how he ended up being beaten and thrown into jail. Then there was this miracle in the middle of 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:56.060 night, the earthquake, everyone was freed. And eventually the jail and his family came to trust 00:09:56.060 --> 00:10:03.139 in the Lord Jesus. But in Philippi, Paul had experienced really strong opposition. He'd experienced 00:10:03.139 --> 00:10:08.340 beating. He had experienced imprisonment. And you might have thought, well, the next place he goes, 00:10:08.580 --> 00:10:15.060 he'll be a bit more cautious. Having been beaten up and imprisoned in one place, why would he go and 00:10:15.059 --> 00:10:23.439 risk the same thing in the next place? But Paul says, no, that wasn't my thinking. Having been at 00:10:23.439 --> 00:10:30.319 Philippi and having suffered everything there, I decided I dared to go and to preach the gospel and 00:10:30.319 --> 00:10:40.419 to do it without any fear, without any desire to water it down, to do it conscientiously and to present 00:10:40.419 --> 00:10:46.799 the full gospel message. And again, in Thessalonica, there was opposition, not quite as bad in some ways 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:53.099 as in Philippi, but there was opposition. But Paul said, I've been entrusted with the gospel message as a 00:10:53.099 --> 00:11:00.919 steward and come what may, I'm going to preach it. I'm not going to be afraid to tell others the truth 00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:07.039 of the Lord Jesus. I was very challenged this morning, and I hope others were too, by what Alistair 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:14.819 had to say as we were looking at Joel. And how often do I draw back from talking to others about 00:11:14.819 --> 00:11:21.500 the gospel, and in particular about the great danger they're in if they don't trust in the Lord Jesus? 00:11:21.620 --> 00:11:26.899 I'm sure we all have that experience. Some undoubtedly are better at talking to others about the gospel than 00:11:26.899 --> 00:11:32.959 others. But yet, all of us probably have that experience, where we are afraid of men, or afraid 00:11:32.959 --> 00:11:40.319 of the action that may come if we present the gospel message. Paul says, that's not me having been 00:11:40.319 --> 00:11:47.139 persecuted in one place. I went to the next place. I wasn't afraid. I didn't change my message. I preached 00:11:47.139 --> 00:11:53.179 the gospel that God had given to me. And we need in our lives not to be afraid of men or of the 00:11:53.179 --> 00:11:59.459 consequences of speaking the truth. We need to do it in love and with gentleness, but we need to make 00:11:59.459 --> 00:12:08.319 sure that we don't dilute the message of the Lord Jesus. Paul was unafraid. Second thing I was 00:12:08.319 --> 00:12:14.620 stressed with Paul as the steward was that he was unblemished. In other words, there was no charge that 00:12:14.620 --> 00:12:20.519 anyone could hold against him that would say, you have done this from a wrong motive, or to get personal 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:30.159 gain for yourself or for some kind of impure idea of things. So in verse 3 and 4, Paul talks about that. 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:36.899 He says, the appeal we make does not spring from error. We're not preaching lies. Or from impure motives, 00:12:37.480 --> 00:12:42.819 that we want some kind of gain for ourselves. The impure motives may be sexual, but not necessarily so 00:12:42.820 --> 00:12:50.920 in this verse. And we're also not trying to trick you. The gospel is in some kind of confidence trick 00:12:50.920 --> 00:12:59.180 to get you to trust in something that actually has no substance. Paul said, as the steward of the gospel, 00:12:59.340 --> 00:13:06.160 as the one who has been trusted with the gospel by the Lord Jesus, I presented it clearly and faithfully, 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:13.279 and I didn't do it from any kind of wrong motive. There's nothing you can look at in my life as I was 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:18.579 among you in Thessalonica and say that drags down the gospel. That means the gospel is not believable 00:13:18.579 --> 00:13:26.199 because of something in Paul's life. He was unblemished. And a similar kind of theme in the other 00:13:26.199 --> 00:13:32.539 verses, we can say he was unconceited. So this is from the end of verse 4 onwards. We're not trying to 00:13:32.539 --> 00:13:38.059 praise God, but men who test our hearts. We know we never used platterly, nor did people on mass to 00:13:38.059 --> 00:13:46.459 cover up greed. We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else. In the ancient 00:13:46.459 --> 00:13:51.219 world, there were a lot of itinerant preachers, not gospel preachers, just people who went around 00:13:51.219 --> 00:13:58.839 peddling some form of religion or a superstition. And one of the things they were trying to do was to 00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:04.280 build themselves up to get people to think how wonderful they were, and very often to get a lot 00:14:04.280 --> 00:14:10.639 of money out of it as well. So you kind of con people into believing what you have to say. They 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:16.399 think you're wonderful, and they keep praises on you, and you probably get some kind of financial and 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:24.600 perhaps other gain as well. Paul says, that's not where I was. I wasn't coming with a message that 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:31.820 people wanted to hear a nice, simple, easy message that didn't really challenge you at all. I didn't 00:14:31.820 --> 00:14:39.540 come to build myself up. Rather, I came to preach the gospel and to build God up and to please him 00:14:39.540 --> 00:14:47.600 only. Again, very important for us that our lives are unblemished and our motives in serving the Lord 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:54.159 are not self-serving. That we're not trying to get favour from men or to have people look at me and say, 00:14:54.259 --> 00:15:00.440 how wonderful you are because you do this or because you do that. But rather, we're trying to win the praise 00:15:00.440 --> 00:15:07.779 of God as good and faithful servants, and we're trying to bring glory to God as we serve him and as we seek 00:15:07.779 --> 00:15:15.800 to bring others to know the Lord Jesus. Paul was a conscientious steward. He was unafraid to preach the truth. 00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:22.039 He had a life that was unblemished. He was unconceited. He wasn't in it for his own good. 00:15:23.339 --> 00:15:28.679 So that's about Paul's character and about his preaching of the gospel. He then moves on the 00:15:28.679 --> 00:15:35.779 following verses to compare himself to a caring mother. So this is from the second half of verse 6 00:15:35.779 --> 00:15:42.979 onwards. As apostles of Christ, we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you 00:15:42.980 --> 00:15:53.019 like a mother caring for her little children. We were gentle. The picture here perhaps is of a 00:15:53.019 --> 00:15:59.460 nursing mother, of a mother who's got her baby to her breast, is sharing the milk with her, is giving 00:15:59.460 --> 00:16:07.159 the baby love and concern, and is being really, really gentle and making sure it doesn't get hurt 00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:16.219 in any way. Babies, young children are so helpless and so dependent on others, and it is vital that 00:16:16.219 --> 00:16:22.079 they have those who are caring for them who are really gentle with them and to have their best 00:16:22.079 --> 00:16:29.219 interests at heart. And Paul says, when I came to you, I wasn't one to be a burden to put lots of 00:16:29.219 --> 00:16:35.720 things on you. I was like a nursing mother just caring for you and nurturing you as babies in the faith 00:16:35.720 --> 00:16:40.060 and those who had only recently come to know the Lord Jesus. 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:51.200 He also said that he was genuine. So this is moving on to verse 8. Paul says, 00:16:51.300 --> 00:16:57.340 we loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, 00:16:57.420 --> 00:17:02.600 but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. 00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:10.660 It would be very easy in a gospel context to preach the word, to preach it perhaps faithfully 00:17:10.660 --> 00:17:17.039 and powerfully, but then just to kind of leave it behind. So people get the message, 00:17:17.299 --> 00:17:26.440 but actually they get nothing of you. And Paul says, I was not like that. You could look at my life as I 00:17:26.440 --> 00:17:34.700 came among you and I shared my life with you. I was open with you. I was someone who's approachable to you. 00:17:34.860 --> 00:17:38.360 And you could see through that that I was genuine. 00:17:39.360 --> 00:17:45.059 As a mother, a good mother has to give so much for their child and to share so much of their life and to 00:17:45.059 --> 00:17:53.119 give up so many things for their child, to show how genuine they are. So says Paul, 00:17:53.319 --> 00:17:59.799 I was like that as well. I didn't just show the gospel at you and say, take it or leave it. 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:08.119 I believe what I say. Rather, I got in among you and I cared for you and I showed how much I wanted 00:18:08.119 --> 00:18:14.819 you to grow in your faith and to become healthy babes in Christ and ultimately healthy adult 00:18:14.819 --> 00:18:21.979 Christians. And what I did among you was genuine. It was sharing myself with you. 00:18:24.439 --> 00:18:29.439 And then finally, Paul says he was generous. So that's verse 9. 00:18:29.539 --> 00:18:35.399 Surely remember, brothers, our toil and hardship. We worked night and day in order not to be a burden 00:18:35.400 --> 00:18:42.320 to anyone while we preach the gospel of Christ to you. Work night and day. Isn't that a picture of 00:18:42.320 --> 00:18:47.940 what so many mothers do? At the beck and call of their children all day and certainly when their 00:18:47.940 --> 00:18:57.180 babies all night as well. There to work hard and to do whatever is needed for the welfare of their baby 00:18:57.180 --> 00:19:05.900 or their young child. Well, Paul says, when I was with you, I worked hard. Now, Paul later in writing 00:19:05.900 --> 00:19:10.660 to Thessalonians is going to condemn those who don't work hard, those who are lazy and said, let's down 00:19:10.660 --> 00:19:17.440 tombs because the Lord is coming soon. And perhaps he's building up to that at this stage. But here he's 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:26.160 saying, I worked hard. I toiled night and day. So when Paul was in Thessalonica, he wasn't just preaching 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:32.420 the gospel. He wasn't just encouraging the young Christians. He was also pursuing his occupation as 00:19:32.420 --> 00:19:40.240 a tent maker and he was making sure that he was able to provide for himself. Perhaps the people in 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:44.800 Thessalonica weren't that wealthy and it would be quite a big burden on the young church to be able to 00:19:44.800 --> 00:19:52.600 support Paul. And he made sure that he didn't become that kind of burden to them. Perhaps also, 00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:59.399 as was the case in Corinth, Paul was very keen and eager to ensure that people didn't think he was in 00:19:59.399 --> 00:20:06.859 it for the money. I preach the gospel, you give me lots of money. No, he said, I came and I worked 00:20:06.859 --> 00:20:14.740 among you and I didn't take anything from you. I don't think we're to read into this anything about 00:20:14.740 --> 00:20:22.339 how Christian workers should be paid or not be paid. There are Christian who divide, side to devote 00:20:22.339 --> 00:20:29.439 their lives to studying God's word and to building up the church and to give all their time to that 00:20:29.439 --> 00:20:36.379 and who rightly are supported by the church financially. Equally, there are Christians who 00:20:36.379 --> 00:20:44.679 say, I want to pursue an occupation outside the church. In my spare time, I will give to God's service. 00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:51.299 Both of them can do it well or badly. Both of them can do it in a way that is really sacrificial. 00:20:51.960 --> 00:20:58.200 And we need to appreciate both those who have taken the decision to devote themselves wholly to the 00:20:58.200 --> 00:21:05.160 gospel work and to serving in the church or in Christian organizations and those who do it alongside 00:21:05.160 --> 00:21:11.000 a secular occupation. So Paul's not saying one or the other is right or is better. In other places, 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:16.519 he makes it clear that those who live for the gospel, those who devote their lives to the gospel 00:21:16.519 --> 00:21:22.640 should be supported by others. But for him, in this circumstance in Thessalonica, 00:21:23.140 --> 00:21:28.980 it was really important that he didn't become a burden on the church and that he was generous 00:21:28.980 --> 00:21:37.039 in giving his time and also in supporting himself financially. Paul came to the church of Thessalonica 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:45.299 and he had the love of a mother for them. That compassion, that gentleness, that care that a 00:21:45.299 --> 00:21:52.460 good mother brings to her children and nurtures them and brings them up well and makes sure that 00:21:52.460 --> 00:22:00.720 they're provided for, makes many, many sacrifices for them. Part of his work as a faithful teacher of 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:06.620 the Lord Jesus and of his people was to be like a caring mother. 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:16.360 And then as well as that, Paul says, I was like a concerned father. So in verse 11, he talks about, 00:22:16.519 --> 00:22:22.400 we know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children. 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:27.200 Two things about how Paul was a concerned father. 00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:33.460 Few are all familiar with the phrase show and tell. It's when particularly young children, 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:38.740 they go along to school and they take an object along and they stand in front of the class and 00:22:38.740 --> 00:22:42.920 they say, here's this pencil case I got when I was on holiday. Look, here's a picture in the front 00:22:42.920 --> 00:22:47.620 and I want to tell you about how I got it and what it means to me, that kind of thing. 00:22:47.619 --> 00:22:56.519 Show and tell. Well, Paul says here, when I was with you as a concerned father, there was some show 00:22:56.519 --> 00:23:05.559 and there was some tell. So verse 10 is the show, not show in the bad sense, show in a good sense, 00:23:05.659 --> 00:23:12.079 demonstrating what he was like. He says, you are witnesses and so is God of how holy, righteous, 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:19.639 and blameless. We were among you who believed. So this is parallel to what we looked at a bit earlier 00:23:19.639 --> 00:23:26.439 on when we're looking about the unblemished steward. Paul says, as I stood among you and I was a bit 00:23:26.439 --> 00:23:33.819 like a father to you, a father in the faith. So I gave a life that you could model your lives on 00:23:33.819 --> 00:23:42.439 because what I did was holy, righteous, and blameless. If you wanted to know what to be a good 00:23:42.439 --> 00:23:49.700 Christian means, then you could look at me. You remember last week, if you were here in chapter one, 00:23:50.039 --> 00:23:57.559 Paul talked about the Thessalonians being imitators of Christ and of himself. He, as a father, demonstrated 00:23:57.559 --> 00:24:04.379 to them how they should live, what their life should look like. And if they wanted to know what 00:24:04.379 --> 00:24:12.559 a Christian values and priorities should be, Paul says, you can look at me and I can with a clear 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:19.740 conscience say that I was holy, righteous, and blameless among you. What a great testimony to be 00:24:19.740 --> 00:24:26.359 able to have. I wonder how many of us could go to others and say, look at me, I am holy, righteous, 00:24:26.359 --> 00:24:32.259 and blameless in my dealings with you. I think many of us, to our shame, would have to say, well, 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:38.939 I couldn't really say that. But Paul could, and all of us should be striving for that, that we, 00:24:39.379 --> 00:24:42.819 in front of others, in front of the church, particularly in front of younger Christians, 00:24:43.199 --> 00:24:49.079 and those perhaps who are weaker in their faith, we should model what it means to be a Christian 00:24:49.079 --> 00:24:57.419 devoted to the Lord Jesus and to be holy, righteous, and blameless. So that's the show. 00:24:57.919 --> 00:25:03.899 And then Paul moves on to the tell. You know, verse 11, you know that we dealt with each year as a 00:25:03.899 --> 00:25:12.439 father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of 00:25:12.440 --> 00:25:21.039 God who calls you into his kingdom and glory. The responsibility, Paul says here, of a father 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:26.799 is not quite the same as responsibility of a mother. The mother does much more usually in the care and 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:33.440 the upbringing of the children. But the father is called to be the leader and to be the one who is 00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:42.240 able to encourage, to comfort, and to urge. To help the children to grow up in a way where they 00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:48.660 understand what is right and what is wrong, where they're encouraged to live the best life that they 00:25:48.660 --> 00:25:55.380 can to fulfill their potential, and where necessary to give them a little bit of a prod to do things a 00:25:55.380 --> 00:26:00.460 bit better. Now again, many of us can look at ourselves as father and say, well, perhaps I don't 00:26:00.460 --> 00:26:08.819 model that as well as I really should. But Paul says, as a father in the faith, that is what I did 00:26:08.819 --> 00:26:18.039 among you. I encouraged, I comforted, I urged, and I reminded you that you have been called by God, 00:26:18.380 --> 00:26:26.579 and what really matters to you and to me now is God's kingdom and glory. It's not my glory, 00:26:26.579 --> 00:26:33.179 it's not my kingdom. God calls you into his kingdom and glory, and we need to exhort and encourage one 00:26:33.179 --> 00:26:41.939 another to build each other up in our faith. The work of the father, showing and telling. 00:26:43.199 --> 00:26:47.319 One of the things that's really striking in these 12 verses that we've just looked at 00:26:47.319 --> 00:26:54.779 is that again and again, Paul says, you know. Verse 1, verse 2, verse 5, verse 11, 00:26:54.779 --> 00:27:00.960 verse 9, he says, surely remember. Verse 10, he says, you are witnesses. Paul talks to these Thessalonians 00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:07.700 and says, just think back. Think back to the time I was with you, and this isn't something you've heard 00:27:07.700 --> 00:27:13.700 about or something that's a bit of a rumor, as other people were putting about. Think back to the fact 00:27:13.700 --> 00:27:19.899 what you saw yourself, and what you saw was that I was someone who was totally committed to the message 00:27:19.900 --> 00:27:26.940 of the gospel, and I was also totally committed to you. I was showing you the love of a mother, 00:27:27.400 --> 00:27:34.180 I was showing you the concern of a father, I was seeking to build you up in your faith. 00:27:34.920 --> 00:27:38.620 As a real challenge here, I think particularly for those of us who are in positions of leadership 00:27:38.620 --> 00:27:44.200 in the church, but indeed for all of us, if we are slightly older children, older Christians, 00:27:44.200 --> 00:27:51.480 what kind of example do we give to others? What do people see when they look at my life? 00:27:52.620 --> 00:27:59.880 Let's move on briefly and look at the remaining verses. So verses 13 to 16, they say Paul is moving 00:27:59.880 --> 00:28:06.180 the folks away from himself, and he's moving it on to the Thessalonians. In a sense, he's saying, 00:28:06.180 --> 00:28:15.860 here is the fruits of what my labor for the Lord has produced. I have been a faithful minister of the 00:28:15.860 --> 00:28:22.420 gospel, teaching you the truth, and you have been fruitful learners. You have learned the word of God, 00:28:22.539 --> 00:28:32.620 and you have applied it in your lives. Two things are important here. The first is that Paul talks about 00:28:32.619 --> 00:28:39.379 what the Thessalonians have believed. As they preached the word of God to these people, 00:28:40.139 --> 00:28:46.519 they heard it, and they said, this is not just someone giving their own opinions. This is not 00:28:46.519 --> 00:28:53.019 something that someone has made up. We recognize and we believe that this is the word of God, 00:28:53.019 --> 00:29:00.439 that this is the truth that comes from heaven. That word which can work in us, that gospel, 00:29:00.440 --> 00:29:08.100 which is the power of God, to salvation for all those who believe. And the Thessalonians, 00:29:08.180 --> 00:29:12.900 as they listened to Paul, and as they saw the witness, a testimony came through his life. 00:29:13.420 --> 00:29:19.440 They came to that firm conviction. They believed the gospel. They believed that the words they were 00:29:19.440 --> 00:29:27.160 hearing were the words of God himself, and that they were words that could give eternal life. 00:29:27.160 --> 00:29:35.980 Again, very important, as we, as Christians, talk to others, that we do it with that real conviction, 00:29:35.980 --> 00:29:42.220 that it is the word of God that we are bringing them, and that they can see through what we say, 00:29:42.560 --> 00:29:50.120 and through what we do, that the word that is coming to them is true, and is the means of salvation, 00:29:50.119 --> 00:29:59.019 if they will accept it, and believe it. The Thessalonians first, as they came to know the Lord Jesus, 00:29:59.019 --> 00:30:05.179 they came to that firm conviction, that belief that they were hearing the word of God. 00:30:06.359 --> 00:30:14.599 And having heard the word, they were obedient. And their obedience, says Paul, resulted in persecution. 00:30:14.599 --> 00:30:20.980 And I'm sure one of the reasons why Paul is writing this letter is to encourage the believers in the 00:30:20.980 --> 00:30:28.659 persecution that they were facing. And to say to them in particular, this persecution you're facing 00:30:28.659 --> 00:30:35.939 actually is not different from the persecution that others are facing. If we're going through times 00:30:35.939 --> 00:30:41.319 of difficulty, times where perhaps our faith is under attack, particularly from others, 00:30:41.319 --> 00:30:46.379 it's very easy to think, well, this is something that's happening to me, and other people don't 00:30:46.379 --> 00:30:53.000 experience it, and perhaps don't understand it. Paul says to the Thessalonians, that's not the case. 00:30:53.679 --> 00:31:00.879 Anyone who is faithful in their presentation of the gospel, and in showing others the truths of the 00:31:00.879 --> 00:31:08.700 Lord Jesus, they are liable to face persecution in one form or another. And Paul says, actually, 00:31:08.700 --> 00:31:13.480 what's happened here is you're not just imitators of Jesus Christ, you're not just imitators of me. 00:31:13.860 --> 00:31:19.120 In a sense, you're imitators also of the very first Christians back in Judea, who undoubtedly they would 00:31:19.120 --> 00:31:26.279 have heard about while Paul was there. They suffered in a similar way. Their fellow countrymen 00:31:26.279 --> 00:31:34.319 turned against them and persecuted them for their faith in the Lord Jesus. And Paul really gets quite 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:41.720 excited, doesn't he, at this point, about the great injustice that has been suffered by the Christians 00:31:41.720 --> 00:31:49.079 in Judea. That these people who persecuted the Jewish Christians were also those who killed the Lord 00:31:49.079 --> 00:31:55.939 Jesus and the prophets before them, and they were subject ultimately to the wrath of God. 00:31:57.119 --> 00:32:02.819 Now, we need to be quite careful with these verses, how we apply them. I think there has been a 00:32:02.819 --> 00:32:07.779 temptation at times for people to apply them in a kind of anti-Semitic way. You see, the Jews all 00:32:07.779 --> 00:32:13.859 abandoned God, and they're all under God's wrath. I don't believe that's what Paul is saying here. 00:32:13.980 --> 00:32:21.240 Some Jews definitely abandoned the faith, and first of all, got the Lord Jesus crucified, 00:32:21.679 --> 00:32:27.460 and then persecuted his church. But we don't, we can't generalize that to the nation. 00:32:27.460 --> 00:32:35.500 Nevertheless, Paul says, those who do reject the gospel, there is the wrath of God that they have 00:32:35.500 --> 00:32:40.840 to put up with. And again, Alistair very clearly presented that to us this morning as we were 00:32:40.840 --> 00:32:47.819 thinking about Joel. But for us as Christians, if we come across times when we feel there's been 00:32:47.819 --> 00:32:54.420 some unfairness for us, some persecution, probably in a fairly mild sense, in this country, 00:32:54.420 --> 00:33:01.360 we can know that that will come partly because we have believed God's word and we have been obedient 00:33:01.360 --> 00:33:09.500 to it. And we can recognize that we are not alone and that in it other Christians are suffering probably 00:33:09.500 --> 00:33:14.500 far more than we are in many countries of the world, Christians suffering in dreadful ways. 00:33:15.560 --> 00:33:20.860 And we're only bringing about what the Lord Jesus has said in the upper room, in this world, 00:33:20.859 --> 00:33:28.699 you will have trouble, you will have persecution. But take heart, I have overcome the world. 00:33:29.459 --> 00:33:35.500 So the Thessalonians were those who had heard the word, who had believed it, who had obeyed it, 00:33:35.719 --> 00:33:41.199 and who could take some heart in their persecution from the fact that they were not alone and that 00:33:41.199 --> 00:33:49.759 they were suffering for the sake of the Lord Jesus. Let's just bring things together as we close. 00:33:50.859 --> 00:33:56.979 A few weeks ago, I did a DNA test. These kind of tests are quite widely advertised these days, 00:33:57.240 --> 00:34:02.299 where you basically spit into a test tube and send it off and you get the results back a few weeks later 00:34:02.299 --> 00:34:08.219 telling you who you are. Well, there were no surprises in terms of my ethnicity when the results came back. 00:34:08.559 --> 00:34:15.839 What did surprise me, though, was I came back with a list of people who they believed were related to me. 00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:19.220 And one of them definitely was, they said, this person is your second cousin, 00:34:19.720 --> 00:34:24.780 and I happen to know who the person was, lives in New Zealand, in many ways quite a distant relative, 00:34:24.860 --> 00:34:30.539 who I don't have contact with, but they were right, and maybe they were right with some of the more distant ones as well. 00:34:31.000 --> 00:34:38.660 That is the marvel of DNA. Bit of saliva in a test tube, and they can analyse it, 00:34:38.659 --> 00:34:44.460 and they can very precisely say who you are and who you are related to. 00:34:45.539 --> 00:34:50.659 And I guess in this passage, we're looking at the DNA of a Christian. 00:34:51.379 --> 00:34:54.440 That if we are a Christian, if we are a believer in the Lord Jesus, 00:34:54.899 --> 00:34:58.519 there will be certain things that characterise us. 00:34:59.559 --> 00:35:00.579 And why is that? 00:35:00.579 --> 00:35:05.039 That is not because of all the efforts we make, although we do need to make effort, 00:35:05.119 --> 00:35:08.239 and Paul clearly has made a lot of effort in Thessalonica, 00:35:08.739 --> 00:35:12.799 and to be a faithful servant, and to live for Jesus. 00:35:13.900 --> 00:35:20.480 We have that because our DNA is the DNA that God has given us as his children, 00:35:20.940 --> 00:35:24.079 and with his Spirit living in us. 00:35:24.079 --> 00:35:28.219 And many of us, I think, will look at these verses and be quite daunted 00:35:28.219 --> 00:35:32.639 as we look at the standard that God is setting for us. 00:35:33.059 --> 00:35:35.480 Do I live up to that? Perhaps not. 00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:37.340 Can I live up to that? 00:35:37.699 --> 00:35:44.179 Well, with the power of the Spirit, I can certainly become more and more of a family resemblance 00:35:44.179 --> 00:35:48.799 as part of the family of God, as a child of God, 00:35:48.800 --> 00:35:54.880 and as a co-heir with the Lord Jesus of all that God has promised to me. 00:35:55.940 --> 00:36:01.180 And I think if we know the Lord Jesus this evening, if our faith is in him as our Saviour, 00:36:01.539 --> 00:36:07.000 we can take this away, that we have his Spirit in us. 00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:13.060 And the Spirit, part of his work, is to make us more like Jesus. 00:36:13.059 --> 00:36:19.400 To bring out of us the fruit of the Spirit that Paul writes about in Galatians, 00:36:19.779 --> 00:36:26.579 to be that guide and mentor that the Lord Jesus talks about in John's Gospel in the upper room, 00:36:27.019 --> 00:36:31.500 and to be enabled to live in the kind of way that we should. 00:36:32.559 --> 00:36:34.820 We need to be people of integrity. 00:36:35.480 --> 00:36:38.539 We need to be people who model what we preach, 00:36:38.539 --> 00:36:45.420 and to have as far as we possibly can lives that are above reproach in the church 00:36:45.420 --> 00:36:49.259 and among those whom we would seek to bring the Gospel to. 00:36:49.980 --> 00:36:52.079 But we don't do it in our own strength. 00:36:52.539 --> 00:36:55.279 We do it because we are part of God's family, 00:36:55.559 --> 00:36:58.739 and as part of God's family, we have the Holy Spirit. 00:36:58.739 --> 00:37:05.480 We have in our DNA what can enable us to live more and more like Jesus. 00:37:06.239 --> 00:37:08.119 So let's take that away with us. 00:37:08.539 --> 00:37:13.039 Let's try, strive to live lives that are pleasing to God. 00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:17.679 Let's keep hold of the Gospel and be firmly convinced of its truth, 00:37:18.039 --> 00:37:21.980 of the change that they make in our lives and in the lives of others. 00:37:22.659 --> 00:37:25.320 And let's go trusting that through the Spirit, 00:37:25.779 --> 00:37:32.519 God will help us to live for him and to become daily more and more like his Son. 00:37:32.900 --> 00:37:33.719 Let's pray together. 00:37:35.039 --> 00:37:37.279 Father, we thank you for your word to us this evening. 00:37:37.280 --> 00:37:44.500 We thank you for the way that Paul could so firmly testify that he has been in Thessalonica. 00:37:45.220 --> 00:37:49.720 The life that he lived was consistent with the Gospel that he preached. 00:37:50.560 --> 00:37:54.460 I could testify, too, that he didn't just come and preach and go. 00:37:54.460 --> 00:37:58.000 Rather, he came and he shared life with the church. 00:37:58.079 --> 00:38:03.920 He nurtured them and he helped them to understand what God's will for them was. 00:38:04.740 --> 00:38:12.420 Help us to be people who hold on to the Gospel, hold on to your word, who treasure it, and who are faithful to it. 00:38:12.420 --> 00:38:21.619 But help us also to be people who are consistent in our lives and who daily seek to live and to serve the Lord Jesus. 00:38:22.760 --> 00:38:28.079 That as men and women look at us, they may see something of the character of Christ in us 00:38:28.079 --> 00:38:34.180 and may be drawn to him and come to know him as their own Saviour and Lord. 00:38:34.579 --> 00:38:36.039 Thank you for this time we've had together. 00:38:36.159 --> 00:38:37.159 We thank you for your word. 00:38:37.159 --> 00:38:40.399 We commit ourselves to you now in the name of the Lord Jesus. 00:38:41.199 --> 00:38:41.559 Amen.