1 Thessalonians 2:10-12

Witnesses to Our Ministry

You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.  For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

Who knows us better than those who are related to us and who share our daily lives?  Those who live intimately with us, sharing our lives and observing how we respond to the pressures of daily living know us better than we might care to admit.  Ask yourself this question: were your life scrutinised by a judge and jury would you wish your relatives to reveal what they know of you?  Would you wish them to present for judicial examination your character?  Would you be embarrassed and uncomfortable at the thought of exposure by those who know you best?  The message this day is designed to encourage each of us to aspire to live such a life that we need never fear exposure.  The message is designed to equip each of us to live a life such that even those who know us best will be compelled to confess that we are holy, righteous and blameless in the manner in which we live.

The Power of A Life Which Blesses Others Lies in its Openness [verse 10a].  The Apostle appealed to knowledge which the Thessalonians' possessed of the life and ministry of the missionaries: You are our witnesses, and so is God.  The final clause of this sentence (and so is God) is significant since it tacitly acknowledges that any appeal to mankind is always subject to divine review; Paul understood this fact only too well.  In a missive to the Church of God in Corinth he boldly stated, I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.  My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.  It is the Lord who judges me  [1 Corinthians 4:3,4]. Writing that same church on a later occasion the Apostle to the Gentiles revealed this position, What we are is plain to God [2 Corinthians 5:11].

If we believe that the judgement which counts most is that exercised by God, what others think is relegated to secondary importance.  It is not that we are nonchalant about the judgement of others, but we are unconcerned in the final analysis.  The judgement of our peers is important in providing opportunity to reveal the perfection of Christ’s work in us as Christians, but we know that they cannot judge attitudes and motives.  Consequently, if we live for the approval of God and if we live to glorify Christ, we will reveal a life deserving of respect and admiration even should those witnessing our life disagree with the values we embrace.  Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?  But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed states Peter [1 Peter 3:13,14].

It is one thing to know that my life undergoes constant review by my fellow man, but it is sobering in the extreme to consider that God likewise reviews my life.  Ultimately, what others think about me matters very little, but what God thinks of me is vital in the extreme.  We are convinced that we please God when we wisely and honourably represent Christ before those who watch our lives closely.  As Christians we want to please both God and man.  We want to live a life pleasing to our fellow man so that we will have opportunity to tell them of life in Christ, and we want to live a life pleasing to God in order that we might receive His commendation when we give an account of our life before the Judgement Seat of Christ.

The Apostle makes a pointed and impassioned appeal to the Thessalonians.  Regrettably, his appeal is not readily evident in our English version.  You is emphatic in the original language. The emphasis given would cause this sentence to read You in particular are our witnesses.  It would appear that these converts had at some previous point spoken of the impact which the character and the conduct of the missionaries had exercised in their lives.  In other words, the missionaries' manner of life had had a powerful and lasting impact on the Thessalonians.  The lives of these godly men had served to provide a platform from which to speak, assuring a hearing.  Just so, our lives can now have an impact far beyond anything we might imagine.

Would you be a blessing to others?  I'm sure that each of us wants to be a blessing to others.  Would you be a source of strength and comfort to those nearest and dearest to you?  I know that each of us want to be an encouragement both to our loved ones and to our friends.  The secret to obtaining power to bless others lies in a life unfettered by deceit, a life which is open and free of fear should others carefully scrutinise or inspect our actions.

Samuel, in his final speech to Israel, openly challenged the people of God: Here I stand.  Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and His anointed [1 Samuel 12:3a].  That is a bold invitation; and the power of the invitation lies in the appeal to a life lived without guile and without fear of exposure.  Samuel was an institution in Israel, and yet could fearlessly invite minute scrutiny of every facet of his life.  Some of the leaders of the great nations of our world today could learn from this appeal.  In this context I think of the President of the United States and his wife, or I think of some of our Canadian political leaders.

Jesus, upon His arrest in the Garden, challenged the armed mob which had seized Him: Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs?  Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on Me [Luke 22:53a].  What a powerful statement from our Supreme Example!  An open life denies false charges by it very openness.

Paul, replying to the charges brought against him before Agrippa, boldly stated, The Jews all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem.  They have known me for a long time, and can testify, if they are willing… [Acts 26:4,5a]. Such boldness to appeal to life and to testimony flows from a life in which nothing is hidden.

Permit me to provide you a secret in life – a secret which will set you free.  Live your life openly without any attempt to hide from those who know you.  So live that you are free of the fear of exposure.  Do you fear revelation of past deeds?  Admit whatever may lie in the past that you might be freed of fear; then live from this moment free of all fear.

A story is told of a Presbyterian pastor in South Korea during those dark days when the communist North had overrun Seoul.  He had lived a life which was perhaps typical of any pastor so far as his congregation knew.  But the political rulers sought to degrade him in the eyes of his church, and digging through his past they discovered that he had once had an immoral affair.  Haled before the political officer, the Communists’ knowledge of the deed was revealed and he was invited to co-operate with the communists in order to compromise his members.

What would you do in such a circumstance?  The past is suddenly revealed and your dark secrets are known.  That Presbyterian pastor left the office of the commissar and on the following Sunday as he stood before the congregation he confessed the past deed and sought forgiveness.  The power of exposure was broken forever as the people revealed their love to their shepherd.

I do not say that it is necessary to drag into the open every misdeed of the past, that would be folly-wide-the-mark and of scant value to anyone.  Such actions may have a patina of righteousness, but it neither honours Christ nor frees us from censure and condemnation.  I do contend that it is necessary to admit both to God and to yourself past sin so that you will be free of fear.  After all, those about you will know whether yours is a life free of fear or whether you live in dread of exposure.  If you have sinned against the people of God, confess your sin explicitly and receive their forgiveness.

The Christian Faith represents a community based on love and we are each responsible to heed the Word of God.  You will no doubt recall the admonition given through the Apostle John: Perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love [1 John 4:18].  Our obligation is twofold – to receive the love of God extended through His Church and to avoid betraying the trust demonstrated by those rejecting the power of the past.

The Power of A Life Which is Pleasing to God Lies in an Appeal to Character [verse 10b].  It is vital that we be set free from the past if we will know the peace of God in the present.  But the present offers peace only as we please God, and the power to living a life pleasing to God resides in our appeal to character.  Someone has rightly said that character is what you are when you think no one is looking.  Paul employed three adverbs in his appeal to the memory of the Thessalonians.  He appealed to them to remember how holy, righteous and blameless the missionaries proved to be with the nascent church.  The use of adverbs instead of adjectives points to an appeal to the character of these servants of God.  We would anticipate an appeal to their conduct, but we are disarmed by this appeal to character.  In other words, the Apostle is inviting careful inspection of the motives for service and fundamental belief system of the missionaries.

Scope in on the three words for a moment.  Two are positive and one is negative.  All three are modified by the adverb how pointing to the degree to which the missionaries’ character controlled their actions.  We should be careful not to distinguish too carefully between the words, but yet recognise distinctions in the words chosen.  Holy speaks in koine Greek of a pious life pleasing to God.  It speaks of being religious in a positive sense.  The word is rare in the New Testament, being used only in this one instance.  The more common word speaks of separation from sin or of being reserved for special use.  Paul points to lives which were devoted to God.

The second adverb, translated righteous, perhaps points more strongly to our duties toward mankind, but the duties are those which result from religious convictions.  The word speaks of a life which measures up to the full standard of what is right and just.  It is the scrupulous observance of justice which is in view.

The third adverb is a negative, translated blameless.  The word claims an irreproachable conduct as a whole, indicating that no charges can be maintained against the person to whom the term is applied.  The word comprehends the two previous positive adverbs.

In our own strength we can be pious, but we can never be holy.  By our own power we can be just, but such justice will never reveal true righteousness.  Before God we may claim to be blameless, but we will always fall short of the standard of perfection.  We need to be transformed if we would be declared blameless, righteous, holy.  Our character must be changed, and that requires a new birth.

By our first birth we take on human nature, and our first parents brought a curse upon the race.  The Bible is quite emphatic in declaring: [S]in entered the world by one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned [Romans 5:12].  Be ever so pious, and yet death is our lot.  Be ever so just in our actions, and yet death is our fate.  Be ever so blameless by our efforts, and yet death is our destiny.  There is a fatal injury to our character, and we cannot please God nor escape this date with death.  What is required is a new life, a life pleasing to God and a life which transforms character.

That is precisely the offer of God to all who believe!  John, in the Gospel which bears his name, speaks of the purpose of Jesus' life in us.  He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognise Him.  He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.  Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God [John 1:10-13].

Born of God, what a delightful promise!  This amazing promise is given to all who receive … all who believe.  All who receive Christ as Lord, all who believe that He died because of their sin and that He raised for their justification, these shall be born of God.  If the sentence of death is associated with the human condition as result of the sin of our first parents and if the character of the human heart is actually at enmity with God, then by this new birth we anticipate a transformation as we are changed by God's power into that which we could only hope to be.  That is the promise of God.  Indeed, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ [2 Corinthians 5:17,18a].

The Power of A Life Which Honours God Lies in an Appeal to Conduct before Man [verses 11,12].  Not for a moment would I plead with anyone to become religious; there is no particular power in a devout life divorced from God's glorious power.  I urge nothing short of total transformation of life by the power of God.  If such transformation has come to pass, if you have a new character pleasing to God, I suggest it will be revealed through your conduct before man.  It is character which pleases God and character pleasing to God will be revealed through conduct before man.

The character of the missionaries led them to live a life which made a significant impact on those to whom they ministered.  Paul appealed to the character of the missionaries with these words, we dealt with each one of you as a father with his own children.  He points to the nature of their conduct as representatives of Christ.  The missionaries' actions were at once individual and fatherly.  I want to focus on this thought for a moment because we often forget that while we are to have friends, we are to be friendly to all.  It is anticipated that we will feel closer to some people than to others, but we are responsible to avoid favouritism in our conduct.

Closeness is not something which is planned; rather the sense of closeness flows from the development of trust which grows with time.  Why do we love our parents?  Is it not because we learned to trust them over time?  Why do we trust our spouse?  Is it not because we learn to trust our spouse with time?  Though we may feel affection for another, closeness is an expression of trust which grows out of bonds that require extended time to mature; and the bonds obtain strength as we treat those with whom such ties are developing with respect as individuals.

The missionaries expressed discrimination and exercised care in dealing with each individual according to his or her own needs; they treated the Thessalonians as individuals.  The New English Bible brings out the force of the Apostle's words through its translation of this verse: we dealt with you one by one.  Paul is probably speaking of an extensive program of visitation house-to-house.  The converts were made by slow, toilsome affectionate application of the Gospel to individuals one-by-one.  Then, when converted to Christ these new saints were followed up through intensive instruction in their homes.

May I say that this is precisely how we may expect to make converts in our world today.  I am all for mass evangelism, but the results of such mass efforts are conserved by individual Christians investing life and love in those coming to the Faith.  Likewise we should aspire to see instruction in the Word provided on the basis of individual need through home Bible studies as required by those in the Church.

The second portion of this apostolic picture speaks of the work of a father.  The simile indicates that the individual work was devoted to the task of training and instruction; it shows the sterner aspect of love.  While we are to be tender in our dealings with young Christians, as revealed in verse seven, there is likewise a responsibility to be intent upon training.  Too many Christians are weak in their expression of the Faith, hoisting a white flag at the first sign of disappointment.  They are prepared to retire if the cost appears to be excessive by their estimate.  The wise Christian must not be a "patsy," ignoring behaviour dishonouring to the Lord and destructive to the individual.  True love dares intervene in the life of those whom we love.  Tenderness does not free us from responsibility to confront and correct those whom we love.  This is the fatherly aspect of ministry to the people of God.

There is a false projection of love which has advanced to the fore in this day.  It seeks to avoid all unpleasantness in our relations as Christians.  It denies conflict and turns a blind eye to those attitudes which destroy relationships.  Love which is truly love is indeed sacrificial; and because it is love it dares rebuke when such is necessary.  Always love seeks to build the object of affection.  Always love seeks the higher good of the one loved.  Always love dares demand the best of the beloved.  We neglect this truth to the destruction of those we profess to love and to our own sorrow.  Loving those turning to the Faith, the missionaries dared demand the best of them.  Likewise we, also, must demand the best of those claiming to embrace the Faith.

This demand for the best in the new believers was revealed through their conduct as they encourag[ed], comfort[ed] and urg[ed] the young believers.  Again, the picture presented is pointed and particular.  Calvin remarks: Instruction given to all is sometimes of little service, and some cannot be cured or corrected without particular medicine.  Pastoral care is exercised through the pulpit, just as a father may speak broadly within the family; but effective care must sometimes be exercised in pointed fashion just as a father must often invest particular attention in a child.

Each of the participles is in the present tense, indicating that it was the constant habit of the missionaries to engage in a ministry of encouraging, comforting and urging.  Furthermore, this ministry, while focused on the individual was yet exercised to the whole congregation as distinct from the remainder of the world.  In other words, the Apostle saw that his responsibility as a father was restricted only to the believers.  The ministry of the Church is not to transform the world, but to win people to the faith that those won may be transformed by God's power.

Focus with me for a moment on the elements of pastoral ministry, and especially as they relate to us in our work with others.  Encouraging indicates the strong appeal made to converts to the Faith to adopt a life pleasing to God.  It is the word used in Romans 12:1 to urge on believers a life which is submitted to Christ.  It is the command to encourage which was given Timothy in the exercise of his ministry in 2 Timothy 4:2.

The second word under consideration, comforting, focuses on the soothing side of the former participle.  The word is similar to the first participle, but employed as it is in this verse, it expands the meaning and the impact of the Apostle’s teaching.  Jesus comforted Mary and Martha in the loss of their brother [John 11:19] and John uses this word to inform us of Jesus’ ministry to the grieving women.  Later in this same letter Paul, using the same word, admonishes readers to encourage the timid [1 Thessalonians 5:14].

The final participle in the series Paul uses speaks of urging the readers to live lives worthy of God.  The word, rare in the New Testament, means basically to invoke witnesses, hence to insist. That is how it is used in Ephesians 4:17.  The employment of this verb points to the solemn and earnest nature of the missionary appeal and instruction.  The missionaries’ ministry was that of encouragement, comfort and insistence upon liv[ing] lives worthy of God.

Review your ministry to those whom you profess to love.  Does your life speak of respect for them as individuals?  If you fail to intervene, you neither love nor respect the individual.  You value the lack of disturbance more than you value their welfare in that instance.  Listen up!  When we fail to demand responsibility for actions, we essentially say that we do not respect the individual.  That may be one reason our justice system has failed so miserably in this generation. To fail to demand accountability is tantamount to saying that an individual is unworthy of respect.  A parent must demand an accounting of the child; and as Christians we expect accountability from those professing the Faith.

I note that Paul spoke also of his purpose in conducting this ministry.  His purpose was that the converts would live lives worthy of God.  Every effort by the missionaries had this singular purpose; this was their supreme desire for the Thessalonian Christians.  No worthier goal is conceivable. Why preach as I do this day?  Why teach the Word of God as I do with all diligence?  The reason I preach and the reason I teach is that I long to see each of you live lives worthy of God who calls you.  I can do no greater work than this.  No greater reward is mine than to know that your life is brought into conformity with the will of God.  In this belief I align myself in a lineage reaching back to the Apostle who wrote to the Corinthians, I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy.  I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to Him [2 Corinthians 11:2].  Reviewing his ministry to the Colossian church he wrote: We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ [Colossians 1:28].

But this is not a work which is restricted to me alone; rather this is a work which each of us share as believers in Christ.  Recall that though we view the Church as distinct from the world, and therefore as receiving a ministry distinct from that extended the inhabitants of the world, we are responsible to invest our life in each individual as an individual.  That work is greater than the Pastor; it is the work of all of us united.

May I make the issue plainer still.  When I preach, standing before you, it is as though I am using a shotgun, and though some may be wounded by the words they are yet unconvinced of the application.  When you, as one who shares the life of Christ and as one who learns from the ministry God has given me, you are able to employ as it were a rifle.  You are enabled to go pointedly to the heart of the issue to deal in particular with the issues at hand.  Together we become God's fellow workers.  Together we reach out to our friends and loved ones.  Together we become missionaries bearing the message of life.

The manner in which we conduct our ministry is important.  The elements of our ministry include encouraging, comforting and urging those we love to live lives worthy of God.  Our conduct ever points to the aim of our service, an aim which is noble and worthy of the Name of Christ, for we seek nothing less than that others may live lives worthy of God, who calls.

One moment and I am finished for this day.  God calls, and His call is always with purpose, for He calls us into His kingdom and glory.  The promise points beyond the moment and toward a broader horizon.  For Christ has promised to return and we shall then share in His kingdom.  That would be sufficient were it all, but He has promised that we shall share His glory. There is a day in which He shall return that He might be glorified in His holy people.  At that time, according to His glorious promise we shall be like Him.  I would not that any of you should be shut out from the fulfilment of this promise.  Therefore, I urge you to now believe this Gospel, being saved today.  Amen.