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Introduction
Our study in 1 Thessalonians so far, can be summarized as a message for the Christian, the church and the understanding that there will those who are critical.
Paul, Silas and Timothy have written the church of Thessalonica to help Christians with their spiritual health.
Nothing does that better than when leaders like Paul, Silas and Timothy take the time to encourage those in that church.
Hopefully, when you come through these doors each week, you are encouraged.
Most churches now are meeting back in person in some format.
Hopefully the spiritual of Christians will begin receive more nourishment and strengthened as a result.
As we are meeting together, just like the Church of Thessalonica, we will recognize that our spiritual heartbeat is fellowship we receive from meeting together.
The Church of Thessalonica also experiences the negative impact as well.
There are those that will exhibit hatred toward the church and always be critical.
Sometimes that comes from outside the church, and sometimes it comes from within.
We learn in a parallel passage of scripture, Acts 17:1-9,
that there were those that opposed the work of the church and they started a riot in protest.
Paul and his companions were unfortunately used to this as we will see in our text for today.
The health of the Christian, the heartbeat of the church, and the hatred of the critical carry over into our study as we look at chapter 2.
Now, as I have studied this passage, more than ever I am reminded that if you are a Christian, you are also a minister.
So many folks think that being a minister involves a calling, seminary and being ordained.
However, we are all called to be ministers.
Many of you have ministered to me over the years with your love and service.
You have come alongside with me and walked through life with me.
I want expound on that ministry today with you as we continue our journey through 1 Thessalonians.
As we study these four verses today, I want you to see that the Thessalonians were approved and yet oppressed.
They had a message, they had a motive, and they had a ministry.
The Message
Paul, Silas and Timothy acknowledge what the Thessalonians know.
There is a reminder that their visit was not a failure.
Part of the idea of encouragement is acknowledging the commonalities people face.
I can’t help but wonder how many times the Thessalonians had felt like failures.
Even though it seemed like the visit did not go as hoped or planned, it was not a failure.
Isn’t that the timeliness of the gospel?
At just the right time, the good news happens.
I am reminded of Psalm 30.
How many times in your life have you felt like you were going under and just at the right time, you heard the good news of the Gospel?
Paul, Silas and Timothy write that they suffered and had been insulted, yet despite this opposition, they knew the truthfulness of the Gospel.
Only a true gospel will compel one not to give up.
Only a true gospel will shared in spite of opposition.
The message of the gospel is one that has already been proven over and over.
However, the message of the gospel has always been hard to swallow to those that have been in established religion.
That is what happened in Thessalonica.
The established religion developed by mankind did not jive well with the message of the Gospel.
In Acts 17:2-3 we learn that Paul did three things that put made the opposition happen:
Paul reasoned, explained and proved.
He discussed, he offered dialogue and he debated.
The Jews had a problem with this and they opposed the gospel.
The Jews felt their motive was for personal gain.
It is interesting to see this because that is why they opposed the gospel.
They would lose their power as well as their personal and financial positions.
Paul was quick to show his motive.
The Motive
First, we see in 1 Thessalonians 2:3 that the appeal was not from erroneous teachings or impure motives.
The appeal was not establish financial gain.
Instead, the appeal that was made was for the glory of God.
Paul ministered for God’s glory and not for his own.
Many tricksters existed during this time.
“The Christian faith is not the accumulated wisdom of pious souls, nor the insight of men of religious genius, but the divine plan for dealing with sin.”
Leon Morris
The approval Paul, Silas and Timothy were seeking was not from men, but from God.
In fact, God approved them “to be entrusted with the gospel.”
This is a phrase seen in other places as well.
The word entrusted means they were committed unto and trusted to carry forth the precious cargo of the gospel.
What a gift they were given!
Paul recognized how important it was to be entrusted with the gospel.
“The gospel is not simply an announcement of good news, but also a call to respond to the divine initiative contained in it.”
Gene Green
When one understands the salvation that comes with the gospel, they will understand the Savior that makes it happen.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the real deal.
The authenticity of the gospel was ultimately found in God Almighty.
The Gospel of God, communicated by God’s men, was true teaching.
The message was not false.
It still is not false today.
The motivations were not impure and the methods were not deceptive.
By the way, because the message has a pure motive, it can be easily obeyed.
When we apply the message with pure motives, we all become ministers of the gospel.
As a result, we need to see ourselves in that way.
The Ministry
If we know the gospel and have received the gospel, we are just like Paul, Silas and Timothy and have been entrusted with the gospel, not to try to please men, but to please God.
So, we have three bits of instruction.
First, don’t give in.
We are not looking to be selfish by having impure motives or trickery.
Allow the Spirit of God to guide you!
Secondly, don’t give up.
We mentioned this verse last week and it is worthy to mention again now.
Lastly, don’t give out.
Run the race.
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