As
we now consider the second chapter of
Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians,
under the general heading, “A
Portrait of a God centered Church“,
I want us to
remember that this a
letter, and not a systematic theological
outline on “how to be a God-
centered church.” The Bible
is in that sense not a “how-to-book.”
The Bible is a ‘ God- inspired -book ‘ –
full of grace and truth. It is meant to be meditated upon , to be pondered, to
be prayed over, and as we do so we
receive wisdom and insight (see Proverbs 2). So, as
we read this letter slowly and observantly,
we learn how
to be a biblical church
by understanding that we need to (i)
pray for Divine enablement (1:2;3:12-13; 5:17-18) to be the church and to (ii) follow human examples who are themselves divinely enabled to lead us and to teach us
(1:6).
And
so we note that this letter is
written to a people who
are collectively called
“the church of the Thessalonians”
(1:1). These are people who have been touched and affected by
God in a remarkable way. They are a role model to us and
they provide an example for us in our day as to what
God centered Christians should be
like. Here is a quick reminder of what we learned from Chapter 1:
1.
They are in the church because
they are in God the Father and in the
Lord Jesus Christ (1:1)
and they are in the Holy Spirit (1:5,7)
2.
They demonstrate
the key ingredients of faith, love
and hope in the Lord
Jesus (1:3)
3.
They were chosen by God (1:4) and this was evidenced by the fact that they had received
the gospel in power, and in the Holy
Spirit and with full conviction (1:5). They were not just
convinced, and this in the midst of much affliction (1:6), but they were truly converted! It was clear to everybody.
4.
They became
missionary Christians, for they
had not only received the gospel
but they shared the gospel freely
in Macedonia and Achaia. Their faith became known everywhere (1:7,8)
5.
They demonstrated
true repentance by
turning from idols to the Living God (1:9)
6.
They were waiting
for the return of the Lord
Jesus (1:10).
And
now as we come to the second chapter the focus shifts from
the church to those who under God
were instrumental in giving birth to this church, namely Paul , Silvanus and Timothy (1:1).
Therefore we will now focus on the kind of
ministry that produces God centered Christians.
Once
again I want to remind you not to expect a presentation
on “An Easy Guide for Leaders on how to produce a God centered church in 10 easy steps”. God
centered Christian leaders and God
centered churches are not mechanically
produced by working through a
workshop manual. While the
Bible gives us true knowledge, the Bible is not a
workshop manual in that sense. Rather, it is
a book that inspires confidence
in a great God, and which teaches His people
to trust Him as He leads them in the
midst of a spiritual wilderness
and in the midst of a
spiritual war. We have recently seen this in our exposition
in the Revelation to John.
So then, here are a few observations about
what a God centered ministry that
produces God centered churches looks like:
1.
Expect a God centered ministry to face hostile
accusations and opposition . This sounds negative, but this is where Paul
begins. It has always been this way. You will remember that the ministry of the
prophets of the OT was conducted
in the midst of adversity. The
ministry of the Lord Jesus happened
against the background of constant opposition and criticism from the religious hierarchy. The
ministry of the apostles and of the
early church was mainly accomplished among hostile
accusations and opposition.
The Church of God is built in
hostile territory. And so, we do not
find it surprising that the apostle
Paul was dealing with the same thing
here.
In the opening verses
of the 2nd chapter Paul
was appealing to the Thessalonians, because there had been people that were accusing him
of error , impurity and
deception (2:3). He also reminds them that he had been
shamefully treated[1] at
Philippi (2:2
cf. Acts 16:11-40). Philippi was were where Lydia had been converted. Here a slave girl
who had a spirit of divination was delivered. Here Paul
and Silas subsequently were charged,
badly beaten and put into prison. It was
here that God freed them miraculously and it was here that the Philippian jailer was miraculously
converted. It was also from here that Paul and Silas went on to Thessalonica “explaining
and proving that it was necessary for
the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead.“ (Acts
17:3) In Thessalonica a good
number of people were converted, but once again a group of jealous Jews formed a mob and made trouble for Paul and his
companions there. All this forms the
background to the frequent mentioning of
suffering and affliction and conflict in the
Bible. Here in 2:2 , Paul says “we had
the boldness in our God to declare to
you the gospel of God in the midst of
much conflict” (Gr. agon)
[2].
The Christian church is born in conflict, and our own church has experienced this!
Conflict
happens not because this is what
we choose, but because this is what happens when we lead people to Christ and helping them grow
in Christ. It is a spiritual struggle; it is a spiritual war, and in the process Satan, the sworn enemy of Christ and His
church uses all the tricks of his trade,
persecution, murder and slander
and misinformation.
And so we find that
Paul and his companions had
been accused of deception
(2:3) and flattery of the crowds that they had preached to in
Thessalonica (2:5). They were accused of
doing this because of greed and personal gain and being in this for their own
glory. (2:5,6)
So, Paul needed
to correct all this by way
of this pastoral letter. Here then
is the first thing I call you to
observe: A God centered ministry building God centered churches must expect opposition from Satan and his protagonists! If this happened to the prophets , and to John the Baptist, and
the Lord Jesus, and the apostle,s and
the early church, then we must not be surprised if this happens to us , if indeed we pursue a God centered course in our ministry.
2.
Expect a God centered ministry to
produce spiritual fruit : Positively speaking now, a God centered ministry produces spiritual fruit.
Though they are presently being slandered, the apostle Paul is able to appeal to
the Thessalonian Christians on
the basis of what
they know of Paul and his team. Notice how he
says in 2:1 “For
you yourselves know…” (see
also 1:5; 2:2,5,11; 4:2). Here’s a wonderful truth : Their personal
lives spoke much louder than the vicious accusations against them. He even appeals to God as his witness that he
had not brought the gospel to
the Thessalonians with a pretext for greed (2:5).
So, yes there was
evident success in their
work at Thessalonica, and so Paul
could speak of the fact , “that our coming to you was not in vain[3]”. But what was
the nature of their success? Not financial gain, nor self - glory, but men and women
who turned from idols to serve the true and living God (1:9). Paul
is
referring to the success of their ministry among the Thessalonians who now glorified God.
The evidence of what we saw in Chapter 1
speaks for itself!
3.
Expect a God
centered Church to be like a loving home (see vss. 7-12). Make no mistake! Paul and his
team came with
the apostolic authority
conferred upon them by Christ (2:6), “but”, says Paul , “we did not come as authoritarians! We did not bully you with the gospel. Quite on the
contrary, we came gently” (Gr. epioi) [4].
We came like
a nursing mother [5]taking care[6]
of her own children (2:7). “We
came like a father with his
children, we exhorted each one of you
and encouraged you and charged you to
walk in a manner worthy of God…” (2:11,12). What
can you expect from a God centered ministry? You can expect mother and father- like
behaviour. The details of motherly and
fatherly behaviour are filled in for
us in the text. Paul and his team were “affectionately desirous “ [7]
(2:8) of them . They were
ready to share not only the gospel of God , but also their own selves. It does not get better than this. Many are willing to give out the Word of God, but few are willing to give themselves
. Notice further …“because
you had become dear[8]
to us” – this highlights the reason.
New
converts are loved like little
children , And this is shown by the personal care, protection, and the nourishing milk of the Word of God that is given to them.
Giving out the gospel and giving
ourselves to new converts takes time and requires patience, pain and inconvenience. We don’t raise children overnight!
The fatherly
aspect of a God
centered ministry is that Paul, Silvanus and Timothy did not put financial
burdens on these young converts , but worked for their own means (2:9). This is not a general
rule in the church , but it is a wise
rule in church planting . The Bible
teaches that ministers of the gospel had the right to be
supported for their work in preaching and teaching, but Paul had forfeited that
right when planting new churches. We do not
expect people to support a work
before they become converts and before
they have learned the grace of giving. Other fatherly aspects of the ministry reveal that of concern and involvement :
·
being
holy and righteous and blameless (2:10).
We cannot communicate to others what we
don’t have ourselves.
·
Exhorting [9], encouraging [10],
charging [11]
each one of the new converts to walk in
a manner worthy of the Lord (2:12). While
they must have taught them as a group, they also dealt with them as
individuals.
The nature of their motherly and fatherly ministry to
these believers was God centered – they wanted
their converts to walk in a manner worthy of God who calls you into
his own kingdom and glory .” (2:12). A God centered ministry cannot be self centered. In true pastoral ministry there can be no place
for our own reputation, or our own egos . The goal
of the God centered ministry that
produces God centered Christians is the glory of God and the spiritual blessing
of others.
Note the phrase, “His
own kingdom and glory.” This strongly reminds us that there are other
kingdoms and other kinds of glory that are constantly competing with our work. Therefore
we need to be aware of these false influences and take precautions to guard against their
influences. In the latter part of chapter 2 and the next, we will take note of Paul’s deep concern for this very thing.
[1] hubrizo, “to abuse, to treat
shamefully.”
[2] 1 Thess. 1:6 ; 2:2,14; 3:2,3,4
[4] Alternative reading : nepioi -
“ we were like children”
i.e. a a non-threatening presence. The sense is
really not affected.
[5] Gr. thropos - nursing
mother
[7] Gr. ishomeiromai
- “to have a kindly feeling, to long for
someone.” This is a rare word and refers to a mother’s strong affection for her
child.
[8] Gr. agapetos, a verbal adjective which
means “beloved.”
[9] Gr. parakaleo - has both a prospective appeal, in the
sense of “obey, respond,” and a retrospective appeal in the sense of “comfort,
encourage.” Children need both encouraging and challenging.
[10] Gr. paramutheomai, “encourage,
cheer up, console.”
[11] Gr. marturomai from martus, “witness.” It means “summon to witness,” “to
bear witness,” and then “to solemnly charge, adjure, beseech.”
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