Overview of 1 Thessalonians 1-3

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We are going to turn to 1 Thessalonians. I am going to say a prayer. Let’s turn to 1 Thessalonians first, shall we? You have a handout. If you haven’t got a handout, that will be helpful.

And maybe at the same time you could find Acts 17 just quickly. We will be needing that.

Once we have done that, I think we are good to go.

Let me lead us in prayer. Our gracious Father, we thank you for your glorious gospel by which you called us to turn from idols to serve you, the true and living God, and to wait for your Son, our Saviour, from heaven. We praise you for your work in our lives and in each one of the gatherings, the assemblies, the churches that you’ve brought together this morning. We thank you for bringing each one of us to this point in our life where we can be here. Thank you that you know us through and through, that you love us more than we can imagine, that we are beloved to you, that you’ve saved us.

And that you sustain us. And we pray at the beginning of this new year that you would in your kindness speak to us and strengthen us, establish us, we pray, encourage us, we ask, that we may be able to stand fast in the Lord for your name’s sake. Amen.

Now for the last 5 weeks or so, 3 weeks in the West Country and then in earnest for the last fortnight, I have had the joy of being in 1 Thessalonians. I went away for the summer thinking how worthwhile it would be for us to spend at least the first of these 2 sessions in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 1 to chapter 3, verse 13, what is often described, I am not sure particularly helpfully now, as Paul’s defence of his ministry in Thessalonica. I also had some very big questions about 1 Thessalonians. I’ve never actually really got to grips with it. I look in my file and find I’ve barely taught in 1 Thessalonians for a number of reasons.

And I heard it taught a few times and I had a number of questions and I thought this would be a good opportunity to think them through. One, how long was Paul in Thessalonica and what was the point of him then writing? 2, related? What was the nature of the need for Paul to so-called defend his ministry, and is that actually what he was doing? 3, how do chapter 4 and 5 relate to questions 1 and 2, and are they really as bespoke, specifically tailored to Thessalonica, as everybody seems to suggest they are?

Much more on that tomorrow, the 3rd question. But question 1, how long was Paul in Thessalonica?

Wherever he was, Thessalonica? And what was the point of his writing? Now Acts chapter 17, Luke records Paul’s missionary journey. It’s AD 49 or 50 and we read there that Paul spent 3 Sabbaths in the synagogue evangelising Jews and devout Gentiles. When they 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 3 Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures explaining and proving proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, 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.

There is then a riot, mob violence and false accusation. Jason is arrested, Paul and Silas are evicted. Luke doesn’t actually tell us how long he was there. And because of the 3 Sabbaths, many assume it was a minimum of 15 days and a maximum of 20, I suppose. Verse 5, 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.

When they couldn’t find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, These men have turned the world upside down and have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying 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. Well, were they there 3 Sabbaths and then evicted, or were they there 3 Sabbaths and then in the house of Jason?

And then conducting an extensive ministry amongst the Gentiles and then evicted. Luke doesn’t make that plain. From our letter, 1 Thessalonians, Paul tells us that the Thessalonians became very dear to him. He was affectionately desirous of them. He was as a nursing mother to them.

He worked with his hands in order to sustain his ministry. Night and day he laboured. Really? Just in 15 days? I have always wondered that.

When he says, you became so dear to us, in 15 days? Well, maybe, maybe. From Philippians, Paul tells us that the Philippians sent aid to him once and again, that is at least twice. Philippi is a 95-mile journey from Thessalonica. The journey on foot there and back, the gathering of the collection, the mustering of it in 15 days, That’s quite something.

I’ve tried to time it. I haven’t tried walking it, but it’s quite something, isn’t it? So I’ve always been quite sceptical of the 15-day— well, relatively sceptical, and I say always, not always, but more recently sceptical of the 15-day claim. And I discovered that I’m not alone. So the most helpful commentaries I’ve come across— well, I read John Stott cover to cover, 1991.

Howard Marshall, 1983, I’ve dipped into. F.F. Bruce, There’s a fascinating commentary by somebody called Alfred Plummer from 1918, which is worth dipping into if you’re going to study 1 Thessalonians, I think, and Ernest Best, 1960. But the vast majority don’t think he was there for just 15 days.

In fact, none of those think he was there for just 15 days for various different reasons. What appears to have happened is what I think is Paul’s normal practise that he went and preached in the synagogue, he got turfed out on his ear, and then he was in the house of Jason and conducted an extensive ministry amongst the Gentiles. And then the Jews developed this jealousy and formed a mob and had him thrown out. Paul’s normal practise on preaching the gospel and seeing the Lord establish a church was then to return. I’ve jotted down Acts 14:22 on your sheet there.

They returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. Read on through Acts and you’ll find Paul do that again and again and again. So, at the end of Acts 15, Paul said to Barnabas, let us return and visit the brothers in the cities where they are and see how they are doing. Acts 19, exactly the same. Acts 20, when he’d gone through the region and given them much encouragement.

Look at that quote from Acts 14. They returned strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, saying that through many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God. That’s interesting. Read Thessalonica again and again and again, you’ll find Paul saying, Timothy came to you to strengthen you and encourage you in spite of many afflictions. Paul prays that they will be strengthened and encouraged.

He wanted to come to them, he says, again and again, but he was prevented. Instead, he sent Timothy when he could bear it no longer, God’s co-worker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort And this letter is rammed with talk of fixing, strengthening, establishing, and encouraging in the face of much affliction. And just glance at the prayer in 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13. May our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you.

So that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. I think that’s the hinge of the letter. And then there are commands to encourage one another. And chapter 3, verse 8, I think, is an absolute peach verse. Is it the kind of purpose statement?

But it really captures the sense of it. Now we live if you are standing fast in the Lord.

Now, here’s my suggestion that after an extensive Gentile mission in Thessalonica, following his eviction from the synagogue, the apostle finds himself evicted then from Thessalonica itself. He travels down to Athens. It is 50 AD. He’s longing to hear how the gospel work’s going in that tiny, tiny fragile church plant up in Thessalonica. So he sends Timothy.

Following Timothy’s return to Athens, or more likely Corinth, 50-51, Paul writes. And in the absence of a personal visit, his instruction for a newly formed predominantly Gentile church is what we have here.

Now I think that is tremendously valuable for us.

That we have here a letter outlining Paul’s church-strengthening ministry with at least the broad contours of what Paul included in his church-establishing syllabus.

We used to have something called Just for Starters in the 1980s. Some of the old sweats will remember that, and it was a set of studies for the new Christian.

And I think 1 Thessalonians might fit in that category, a kind of just for starters.

For us personally, at the start of a new year, well, it’s tremendously encouraging to have a letter that will, if you like, hold up the benchmark for us of what is needed for the young Christian, the strengthening of the church and the ministry that does it.

And for those here as church planters, those seeking to disciple new disciples, those involved in pioneer gospel works. I mean, I think of the city works in many of the businesses around here with just 20 believers, very much like a first-century church meeting once a week. Great syllabus for them.

Now we’ll come to this tomorrow. Some suggest that the second half of the letter is purely reactionary to Timothy’s report. As we read it, I think it’s much less kind of bespoke than some people’s suggestion would have it. It’s much more representative of the material that Paul covered with young Christians.

The next issue we won’t spend long on, but the nature of the opposition and to what extent this really is a defence of Paul’s ministry. Certainly, it’s not on a par with 2 Corinthians or Galatians or even Colossians. There’s no description or correction of a doctrinally erroneous counter-gospel. Paul doesn’t stress his apostolic title at any point, though he writes as an apostle, but he isn’t saying, look, I am the apostle, I’m laying down the line. What he does do is describe his ministry and commend it, And we find that in chapter 2, which we’re about to go through.

He seems to be saying, chapter 1, there really was an authentic work of God among you. You really are a true church of the living God. Chapter 2, this is the authentic ministry of the authentic gospel worker that established such an authentic work of God. Chapter 3, we’re so thankful it really is an authentic work of God as proven by your standing in affliction.

And then the hinge, now we pray for your establishing. And then he tackles a number of key subjects which I would suggest, and I’ll talk about this tomorrow, is what he tackled in the church plants as he went round on his return visits. Again, mightily helpful. Either the earliest New Testament letter or one of the earliest, people argue about this, in Galatians. And a plumb line held up for us, a benchmark.

What does a true work of God look like? What is it that establishes a true work of God? How do we know that a true work of God is truly established?

The word establish is to root, to prop, to fix firmly. It’s Paul’s prayer that they will be established, rooted, fixed firmly, you might give a series title, Fixing the Church, with the word fixing rightly understood as fixing rather than mending.

And again, Christian unions, church plants, youth groups, I mean, what a great one-to-one to do with a young Christian to get them established. The more we mirror read 1 Thessalonians in order to find a very specific 1 Thessalonian problem, which I think is highly suspect, the more we double mirror read 1 Thessalonians and we read back in what we think the problem is, and the more eccentric the letter becomes and therefore the less used it is. Why hasn’t William preached on 1 Thessalonians? I think probably because he’s never really understood it. You may think I haven’t got much further than that anyway.

Now this is very much a first draught, and I’m sorry about that. It will be ragged. My plan is to come back to this when we have a big associates reunion later in the year and then take it and use it in all sorts of places, you know, if I manage to make any sense of it, or if you don’t tell me to go completely back to the drawing board. I have actually got 2 potential outlines and I am going to try the least tested of them. And I say it is least tested because I can’t find anybody other than myself who actually thinks like this about 1 Thessalonians.

So, we will give it a go and you shoot me out of the water afterwards.

So, I think we run from chapter 1, verse 2, we give thanks to God constantly for you.

Through to chapter 2, verse 13, we also thank God constantly for this.

And that then runs to the hinge, chapter 3, verses 11, 12, and 13, and then into his basic syllabus for young pagan Gentile believers. Everybody, you’ll find, puts the break in chapter 2, verse 16, at the end of verse 16, and I’m not quite sure that that is very helpful.

Okay, so first point, the authentic work of God established through the authentic, authentic gospel of God. Chapter 1, verses 1 through 10. We’re going to move through this very quickly and we’re going to spend the bulk of our time in chapter 2. Verses 1 to 12. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace to you and peace.

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope, in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word but also in power and in the Holy Spirit. And with full conviction you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

And you became imitators of us and of the Lord. For you received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.

For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come. For you yourselves know, brothers. And so he goes on. So here is the church that God established. I’m not going to speak much about this.

It is and contains among the clearest of explanations of Paul’s message for Gentiles in the New Testament. You see the series of fors.

So from verses 2 and 3, we can see that the Christians in Thessalonica were established in active faith, active love, and patient hope, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith, your labour of love, your steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. And you can see from verses 4 and 5 that they were established in these things by the powerful ministry of gospel proclamation. For you know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word but in power and in the Holy Spirit with full conviction. I take it that is the powerful speech of a gospel man convicted of the gospel. And you know what kind of men we proved to be among you.

For your sake.

And you can see from verses 6 and 7 that they were established in these things in spite of the inevitable affliction that came to every single church in the New Testament. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

And then you can see that this gospel was trumpeted out. Sounded forth is a wonderful word. It’s used of the waves breaking on the beach as they roll in from the ocean, or it’s used of the trumpet sounding forth. Not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere. You can just imagine ripples spreading out from Thessalonica.

It was a port, it was a trading city, it was described as the second Rome, it was the key city of Macedonia, and here is the gospel. What’s going on there? It’s going out across the globe. And verses 8 through 10, or 9 and 10 rather, the message that he preached. You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.

That’s a great gospel summary, isn’t it? And a great summary of the gospel Paul preached to pagan Gentiles. It’s confrontational. Idols are dead, God is living. Idols are false, God is true.

Idols are many, God is one. Idols are vain, God is real. You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. It’s theological. You turn to God, you turn to serve the living and true God, you turn to wait for his Son from heaven.

It’s eschatological, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. Our world is full of multiple so-called saviours, the therapeutic saviour, the financial saviour, the motivational saviour. There is only one Saviour from the wrath to come. Now, I think verses 4 and 5 are striking. He preached with Words, obviously, power, full conviction.

They had lives to match. I think verses 5 and 6 is striking, the joy that is there. With what joy they received the gospel in spite of much affliction. I mean, that’s a very important emphasis for us, isn’t it? What kind of joy do we have?

And then verse 8 is striking as the gospel just was gossiped and spread across the known world. And there’s a huge amount for us here, we’re not going to stop it. But if Paul’s aim is to stop— we’re not going to stop here for long. If Paul’s aim is to see this church established, fixed, and encouraged for the day of Christ, then the opening verses are to remind them of their true gospel roots. And it’s not at all a bad place for us to be at the beginning of the year.

You know, I return, the old people will know this, every year. You know, this is now my 29th time round the circuit, and every year I come back thinking, am I really going to give myself to this again? It’s a great place to be in verses 9 and 10. You did turn from idols to serve the true and living God. That’s who you’re serving.

He is the true and living God. Those other things are pure idolatry. And Jesus is coming to deliver us from the wrath to come. Keep plodding on. It was John Chapman, some of you will remember John Chapman, a great evangelist, and he would often say when asked, what’s it like being a Christian?

He would say, I never imagined how wonderful it was going to be, and I never imagined how tough it was going to be. And then he would say, just keep breathing, just keep breathing, keep plodding on. And I remember interviewing you know, when you do, when you’re younger, you always ask people of my sort of age and say, you say sort of, how do you keep going? As if it’s a miracle that, you know, somebody of my young age is still surviving and, uh, still going as a Christian. Speaking to people like David Jackman at the time, they would be saying things like, um, oh, it’s purely his grace, it’s purely his grace that keeps me.

You think, well, you know, sure, you know, look, come on, there must be something else. And, uh, and the older you get, the more you realise it really is purely his grace, and we need to keep coming back to this gospel, back to this gospel. And it looks like that is exactly what Paul did when he revisited a church, and unable to revisit this church, he reminds them of the gospel. Well now, chapter 2, verse 1 begins with a for and is part of the whole train of logic that runs from chapter 1, verse 3 right the way through to chapter 2, verse 11. So, we’ve had 1:4, 4.

1:6, 4. 1:8, 4. 1:9, 4. 2:1, 4. 2:3, 4.

2:5, 4. It’s a string of logic that runs right the way through. Verse 9 of chapter 2, for you remember. Verse 11 of chapter 2, for you know. Runs right the way through to chapter 2, verse 11.

And what I think we have here is the apostle’s commendation of the ministry that established the church.

It could be that in face of the affliction that they are experiencing, he feels the need to tell them that this really is the work of God. But Paul tells them that their affliction is no different to anyone else’s affliction. And as we have seen in Acts 14, he and Barnabas strengthened the souls of disciples and encouraged them, telling them again and again that they would face affliction. So there is nothing unique about the affliction of the Gentiles here. It’s just what every believer faces.

And therefore, the commendation of the apostolic ministry we have here is the commendation that he would have given had he been with them in person. Person. And it is not oh-so-unique for the Thessalonians, it’s just typical of what every church and every believer needs to hear in this just-for-starters phase, that this is a genuine ministry of God and that you know it’s genuine because it was exercised genuinely.

And I’m going to suggest that Paul runs through, and I’m running with the 4, 5, 4s, to show us that it’s given by God, it’s approved by God, it’s shaped by God, it’s honouring to God, and he is speaking for God. Chapter 2, verse 1: For you know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive. But just as we’ve been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man but to please God, who tests our hearts.

For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with pretext for greed— God is witness— nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ, but we were gentle among you like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you become very dear to us.

For you remember, brothers, our labour and toil. We worked night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct towards you believers.

For you know how, 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, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

Here then are the hallmarks of authentic gospel ministry that established the authentic gospel church. You’ll find quite a number of people like to follow the 4 images of steward, mother, father, herald. I don’t think that’s particularly helpful because you end up being dominated by the image rather than the content that Paul is wanting to drive through the image.

And so what I’d like us to do is to follow the structure given to us by the connecting fors.

So first, verses 1 and 2, this apostolic ministry is God-given, it’s God’s ministry.

For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. But though we’d already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. He is absolutely clear that this is God’s gospel and that he has got boldness to proclaim because it is God’s gospel. And if you read through the verses 2 through 12, you will find again, again, and again, we proclaim to you the gospel of God. We were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but our own selves.

We were entrusted with the gospel. And then verse 13, the word of God and the word of God. So, right up front, this I hope should be a great encouragement to us. Paul comes to Thessalonica knowing he has a message from God. It’s God’s message.

This is what God has got to say to the world. The word gospel, as you know, means announcement, and wherever Paul went, he went in order to announce. If you have the announcement, you have this word, This is the good news. This is the gospel of God. It’s what God has got to say to whatever city and town we find ourselves in.

And however we may feel at the start of a new year, not a particularly helpful question I must say, inadequate, unprepared, lukewarm, homesick, I don’t know how you’re feeling, you’ve got the gospel of God. Paul’s got the gospel of God. And the first observation then from verses 1 and 2 is that it’s the gospel of God. It feeds the second observation, from verses 1 and 2, that therefore he boldly and publicly proclaims it. I mean, he makes this point in chapter 1 as well.

Here it is again. The word is parrhesia, and it comes again and again in the New Testament and speaks of fearless outspokenness, fearless speech. You find it in 2 Corinthians, we do not lose heart in speaking fearlessly, we are bold to proclaim. It’s there at the start of Acts, filled with the Holy Spirit, they spoke the word with boldness. It’s worth getting a hold of that little word and spotting it when it comes.

It comes again and again and again. Because it is the gospel, so Christian disciples speak. Because it is the gospel of God, so Christian disciples speak with courage. And because he speaks with God-given courage, as he speaks the message of God, so inevitably he faces affliction and conflict. It’s a tremendous opening salvo, if you like, on the ministry that establishes the church.

It’s God’s ministry, it’s God’s gospel, it’s a fearless outspoken ministry. We’re going to speak it whether you like it or not, if you like. It is going to be spoken because we have the message from God. A courageous speaking ministry. And notice how verse 2 is topped and tailed with suffering.

Though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had parrhesia in our God to declare you the gospel of God in the midst of much suffering. A friend of mine told me that his 20-something-year-old child was entering into Bible teaching ministry, I said, how does it make you feel? Not a very clever question, but anyway, I asked it. How does it make you feel? And he said, well, we are delighted and we are filled with trepidation, because of the conflict.

Paul’s ministry is from God. Would that we all had this confidence in the church of Christ. Because it’s from God, he cannot but speak it. Because he cannot but speak it, he faces conflict.

But Paul’s ministry comes and carries God’s approval. I think it’s John Stott. I’ve jotted all sorts of notes down. If I was a cleverer sort of researcher, I would have done them separately, but I don’t do it like that. I jotted all sorts of notes down on a piece of paper, and I can’t remember who said it, It sounds like John Stott, doesn’t it?

His message is true, his motive is pure, his method is open and above board. I think that can only be John Stott, can’t it? But because Paul’s ministry comes with and carries God’s approval, verse 3 and 4, for our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God, to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man but to please God, who proves our hearts. Now the first century, full of multiple travelling magicians, teachers, life coaches, and spiritual gurus, self-appointed pretenders. What’s new?

Mindfulness counsellors, an army of people offering a multiplicity of salvation therapies.

But Paul sees himself as a trustee from God with an announcement to make, and verse 4 is topped and tailed with provenness. We have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak not to please man but to please God who proves our hearts. He is a trusted spokesman who can be trusted. Notice, not to please man but to please God. To be accountable to God is to be delivered from the tyranny of human criticism.

If I speak to please man, then I will be washed this way and that— look at the Church of England— by waves of popularity and approval. If I speak to please God, then I will be resolute and fixed in my direction.

It’s Kanishka Raffles whose first boss, when he was a curate, refused to give any feedback on a sermon for the first 3 or 4 sermons. And eventually, he couldn’t contain it himself and he said, I mean, they’re pretty tough, some of these Aussies. He said to his boss, than old tough Aussie. He said, you know, what did you think? And the old tough Aussie just said to him, we preach for an audience of one.

And that was it. That was it, the audience of one. Now, I have to say, I’m a bit softer than that, and I sort of need a bit of feedback and a bit of encouragement and all the rest of it. But the principle is right. We preach for an audience of one.

And Paul’s primary concern was approval by God. The word approval is of testedness. It’s what you do with a metal as you put it through the smelter and as you prove it. And notice, our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive. He’s not kind of uncleanness.

The impurity is uncleanness. It’s usually relating to sexual immorality. So, our appeal does not come from any sexual inappropriate motive. And we are giving you the true gospel of God. And we’re not trying to win you by soft peddling.

And when you look at what he preached, turn from idols to serve the true and living God and wait for his Son from heaven. You can see he’s not soft-pedaling. There’s no small print.

And so, he’s tested by God, approved by God, trusted by God, and pleasing to God. There is a fundamental God-centeredness to this ministry. And this is the kind of ministry that establishes the church, Apostolic ministry divinely approved with the hallmark of genuineness.

Notice at the end of the verse there that it is God who sees the heart and not us. Beware the kind of ministry that is trying to delve constantly into a person’s heart and inner motivations. In the New Testament, that’s God’s business. It’s not yours. In a therapeutic culture, everybody is going to be telling you that your business is to have the scalpel out delving into your one-to-one person’s heart.

No, it’s God who sees the heart. You can’t see a person’s heart. Testedness comes in what is seen before man. And as we proclaim the Word of God, God works on the heart and we deal with what is seen. Confusion in that area has caused tremendous damage in the Christian world, and it’s inevitable in a therapeutic culture that that idea comes into the church rather than a plain speaking of the gospel and God working on the heart and us dealing with what we can see.

Everybody’s delving into everybody else’s heart and sharing what they think they’ve found on social media. That’s entirely wrong.

The ministry— and it will cripple people in ministry as well, won’t it? And it will turn us all into nosy busybodies and amateur psychologists, which is very dangerous.

Third, the ministry that established the church was shaped by God. Verses 5, 6, and 7: For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed. God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.

So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become beloved to us.

Now I say shaped by God because the language and imagery of verses 5 through 8 oozes so much of the life and teaching of Jesus. The image of verse 7 is very powerful, like a nursing mother. The vast majority of us here will have had mothers who loved us, and even those who don’t have mothers who have loved us will know what a good mother ought to be. And it’s a nursing mother.

So you consider the nursing mothers. She provides, she cares, she goes without, she puts the child first. We were like a nursing mother. The affection, the tenderness, the gentleness. It’s a beautiful image, isn’t it?

The Apostle Paul, a nursing mother?

And then when he says in verse 7, we were gentle, the word is the word nepioi, and it’s used of little ones. And Paul says, we were little ones among you. Again, isn’t that a beautiful description? You’ll find it all over the Gospels, one of these little ones, little children. We were like little ones among you.

The humility of it is beautiful, isn’t it?

So if you look at the first part, verses 5 and 6, we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed, God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands. He didn’t stand on his rights. He wasn’t on his high horse. We were little ones among you, like nursing mothers, utterly concerned for your need.

He didn’t flatter to deceive. He didn’t pretend to serve while secretly wishing to be served. We’ve just rewatched the whole of the BBC Pride and Prejudice, 6 episodes. I mean, Janet and I binge-watch, I’m afraid. I think we watched them in 2 nights, something like that.

It’s great. I mean, it really is great. It’s shocking, really, isn’t it? Pride and Prejudice, it gets me every time. We had to break halfway through one episode, and I insisted that we went back and watched the moment that whatever her name is sees whatever the place is, you know, and, you know, it’s pure— anyway, she definitely only fell for him because of the money and all the rest of it.

But Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice, I mean, he’s such a pathetic specimen, isn’t he? Hand-wringingly sucking up to Lady Catherine de Bourgh or whatever her name is, you know. And look at that, and Paul, there was nothing, there was none of that And I know he’s a comic character, but he’s a comic character based on observation.

And Paul was not after their approval or their praise or their pounds or their pats on the back, their plaudits. And Christian ministry can feel so exposed that we find ourselves hungry for compliment. And it can be so discouraging that we find ourselves desperate for affirmation. And it’s God who looks on the heart. And Paul found his sustenance and strength from the Lord.

And he wasn’t greedy. There was no humble service in the limelight. Have you heard that phrase, humble service in the limelight? It’s a great phrase, isn’t it? Here I am doing the humble service in the limelight.

I hope everybody can see. Paul wasn’t needy. Or self-important, or arrogant, or overbearing.

And verse 8 has it so beautifully, topped and tailed with affectionate love. Do you see it? Being affectionately desirous of you, ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but our own lives, because you had become beloved to us. We were little ones among you.

This was challenging to me as I sat in my funny shed for 3 weeks pondering it all and whether I actually wanted to come back to St Edmund’s. We were affectionately desirous of you. Come on, William, what’s the matter with you? Have you lost sight of the gospel?

I think in our London churches, beware arm’s lengthness in ministry.

Distancing ourselves from people. There can be, I find there can be so many people at St Helen’s that you kind of never actually get affectionately desirous of anybody, if you know what I mean, in ministry. Because there’s churn and it’s overturn, turn over and turn over, and there can become a kind of armed lengthness. That’s not Christian ministry.

Beware insecurity in ministry, the kind of needy parent syndrome, desperately on the coattails of their children. Now beware insecurity in ministry, that’s not Christian ministry.

Beware parasitical ministry, feeding off them.

And I’ve put this in, I don’t know if you’re happy with this, I’m Beware over-ownership in ministry. My little project, taking the decisions for them, them taking decisions to please me. I don’t think the mother seeks that. Beware that.

God-given, God-approved, God-shaped. And then verses 9 and 10, he moves from his motive of to his conduct, God-honouring. For remember, brothers, our labour and toil. We worked night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how holy, righteous, and blameless was our conduct towards you believers.

So, you notice the imitation that you’ve got in the first chapter you became imitators of us. It’s as if Paul was a living, breathing exemplar of what he taught. So, we exhorted— sorry, wrong verse, verse 10, you are witnesses, and God also, how holy, righteous, and blameless was our conduct before you. It’s interesting, isn’t it, that rather than be a burden to them, he worked in toil and labour, I guess as he did when he was in Ephesus, tanning and tent-making. I think that’s quite helpful as we think about our remuneration, what we get by way of allowance from the church to live.

Yes, the worker deserves their wages as the ox deserves their nosebag. Not a very flattering comparison.

But the apostle never seems to stand on his rights And there is a kind of healthy independence about the Apostle. And I take it that if he’s not being paid, he’s prepared to go and work in McDonald’s and still do the work, or shelf stacking and still do the work. He warns in 1 Timothy and Titus that we’re not to be lovers of money, The gospel worker should, however, be given what they need. But the gospel worker should be content with what they’re given.

It rather sickens me when I read the salaries of some gospel workers in the States where they are paid pro rata according to the size of the congregation, the importance of the congregation, or the output of their pen. I’m not sure that’s right. I’m very thankful for a fixed, and it’s an allowance, that is paid in the Church of England, a stipend, not a salary, which is also very helpful. It’s a living allowance effectively, that’s what we’re given, not a salary.

And I have to say, I am in awe of and so thankful for the many partners of Gospel Workers across the works who go out to work to enable Gospel Workers to do the gospel work even as they are given an allowance. To work. And I think that’s been a very healthy thing, and a certain amount of independence then develops. And Paul appears to be prepared to put up with anything, to go anywhere, the size of the house, the state of the neighbourhood, the schooling situation, and all the rest of it. Not that he had kids, but you know what I mean.

And Paul is holy, that is devout, pious towards God, with a sincere reverence in his conduct. That’s the word, you know how holy we were among you. Because I’m a kind of happy-go-lucky sort of person, jovial, don’t like being too intense, this was a challenge to me. This sincerity of holiness and piety without being kind of pretending, but a serious devoutness. And righteous, that is in their conduct it was pure, not angry, violent, abusive, coercive, manipulative, drunken, or dissolute.

And blameless, that is above reproach. Have you noticed all the way through how often he says, you are witnesses, God was witness, you were witnesses, you remember, you know, you know what kind of men we were among you? So motives, hearts, and inner lives are lived out before God. He weighs our heart. His job, He moves us.

We are not to pry there. Lives are lived out before men, and there has to be a sufficient proximity and transparency about that.

But they can say, verses 9 and 10, that they saw and that they were holy and that they were righteous and that they were blameless.

Now, I think this is extremely helpful for us as we set out on the year. Is there an area of repentance needed? Has there been some habit? Is there some area of lack of sincerity and piety? Is there something that is profoundly unrighteous?

It will be good to turn to God in repentance as we pray shortly.

And then verses 11 and 12, I’ll just sketch out, don’t worry, we’re not going to go right the way through to chapter 3, verse 10. It should read 3:10, sorry, I put 3:8 on the handout, but we’re not going to go right through to 3:10, we’re just going to look at verses 11 and 12 here. He is speaking for God. So, it’s given by God, it’s approved by God, it’s shaped by God, it’s honouring to God, And Paul is speaking for God. For you know how, like a father, here’s this next image, like a father with his children, we exhorted, notice, each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

Paul’s picture of perfect parental care is beautiful, isn’t it? The mother, gentle, their needs first, the father exhorting and encouraging. Exhortation is to urge. Remember, fathers don’t exasperate your children, but he did urge them. Best suggests it carries the sense of an appeal.

He did appeal to them. He was not just putting spam on a plate, as it were. Some of you don’t know what spam is. It’s kind of, it’s it’s gross anyway. It’s not just sort of cardboard on a plate for lunch and here it is.

No, there is an urgency, there is an appeal. The gospel is an exhortation and we shouldn’t be ashamed of that. And it’s an encouragement. The word is close beside, comfort and consolation.

With to counsel. So, he comforted, he counselled, he was close beside, he encouraged, he exhorted, he urged, and he charged. Now, that is interesting, isn’t it? He finishes the letter by saying, I charge you to read this gospel out. It’s it is the gospel, this letter out, it is the gospel.

It comes with all of God’s authority. And so, there is a right charging individuals to live, and it’s personal, each one of you. And so, Paul sees himself as a spokesman for God. It seems to me this is very important for us given some of the parameters of safeguarding that are beginning to unfold amongst us. And I want to just have a quick word on that.

We had a very helpful session with Paul Harrison, Chairman of Christian Safeguarding Services. Paul is now our parish safeguarding officer, and they are taking on all of our parish safeguarding, which is immensely helpful. We have an administrator, wonderful Rachel, doing a great job, but he is now our parish safeguarding officer. The session with him, he told us that safeguarding now embraces not only the prevention of harm but also the promotion of well-being, with well-being largely undefined.

With promotion of well-being being undefined, That opens a huge amount of uncertainty to us because somebody can write to us after a camp, as I believe happened this summer, or 10 years down the track saying, your ministry with each one of you, your one-to-one ministry, well, I don’t think you were promoting my well-being when you said that the gospel says I should not do this, that, and the other. Do you see the sort of issues?

Now, Paul was very helpful and he said the danger is we may find ourselves, some of us, almost crippled by this. But so long as it is clear as a church that we understand what we are doing, we are then free to do it within the parameters that we set ourselves as we set ourselves parameters as a church. And here Paul finds himself with great authority charging, with real urgency exhorting, and great love and care encouraging. But he is doing so on behalf of God who calls us to his kingdom and glory.

And I suggested to Paul that actually 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 1 through 12, would be a wonderful statement to have, as it were, on a website so that people knew this is what we are about. Notice, it is not Paul saying, by the way, I think you must go to Abu Dhabi as a missionary and use your life. No, he’s on behalf of God laying before them the gospel, and I take it leaving them to make gospel decisions. But he is on behalf of God laying before them the gospel and showing them true gospel lifestyle. And I think a talk like this, and as we develop 1 Thessalonians 2 and think more about it, could form a very helpful basis of what it is we think we’re doing.

So that if you come to St Helen’s, you should expect this. And if you work on a team at St Helen’s, you should expect us to charge, to exhort, to encourage with the gentleness of a mother and the seriousness of a father as trustees of the gospel of the living God. Well, I hope you find this helpful. What I’m suggesting, and I hope it’s been plain, is that this is much more generic than I think many have suggested it is. It’s much more generic because what Paul is doing is he’s simply following the programme that we read in Acts 14 he had in every church.

And part of his basis of following the programme that he had in every church was to assure them that they were genuinely Christian, a true work of God has started. And then, if he was in person, he would have been able to do this in person, and I think we can be thankful that he wasn’t in person in Thessalonica. And then, in his sovereignty, he had— in God’s sovereignty, he had to write, and therefore, we have a model of the ministry that established the church. And chapter 3, verses 1 through 10, it should read, there we have Paul underlining that they really are an authentic work of God, tested and standing. Just worth noting when you read through it that there is an enemy in the work.

We were prevented by Satan that you might be tempted to fall away. There is much affliction. There is an enemy in the work. Don’t be surprised this year if mighty blows strike you in the ministry. There is an enemy in the work.

There is extraordinary emotion in the work. I mean, the way Paul talks, you know, we longed to come to you. One of my headings for this section was Paul’s Longing And when he says, you know, if you stand, now we truly live, he’s so wrapped up in it. It’s one of the things that makes Christian ministry so exhausting, that there’s such emotion in it. There’s an enemy, there’s emotion.

There’s an end to the work, you’ve got the future of the work there. You are our glory and our joy. What is our hope? Or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?

There is a goal. There is an end to the work, that actually every individual, as we see them established in the Lord, will stand before the Lord for eternity. And then there is the final goal, that they stand firm and be established. Well, tomorrow we are going to look at the syllabus that Paul has as he then takes them through Christian behaviour in a number of key areas that will be vital for us as we seek to establish individuals in gospel living. Let’s pray together.

We thank and praise you, our Father, for the gospel of God, your gospel. We thank you that you have called us from idols to serve you, the living and true God, the only true God.

We thank you for the Lord Jesus, and his coming to deliver us from the wrath to come.

We praise you for faith, hope, love that you have planted within us. And we thank you for entrusting us with this gospel and for the reality of the fruit of the gospel that we see before us just as we look out today on one another. Gospel works established.

And we pray that in your great goodness and kindness, you would enable each one of us to exercise such ministries to your praise and glory. Amen.