1st Thessalonians chapter 2 and
we'll read from verse 1. For yourselves brethren know
our entrance in unto you that it was not in vain but even after
that we had suffered before and were shamefully entreated as
ye know at Philippi we were bold in our God to speak unto you
the gospel of God with much contention. For our exhortation was not of
deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile, but as we were allowed
of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak,
not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. For
neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloak
of covetousness, God is witness, nor of men sought we glory, neither
of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome
as the apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you,
even as a nurse cherisheth her children. So being affectionately
desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you not
the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were
dear unto us. For ye remember, brethren, our
labour and travail, for labouring night and day, because we would
not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the
gospel of God. Ye are witnesses, and God also,
how wholly and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you
that believe. as ye know how we exhorted and
comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his
children, that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called
you unto his kingdom and glory. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. In the opening of his first epistle
to the Thessalonians. The apostle Paul speaks of the
confidence and assurance that he has concerning the election
of the believers in that city, in the city of Thessalonica.
We've learned that these were amongst the earliest European
converts to the gospel. And the Apostle Paul saw five
evidences of the fact that God had chosen these individuals
to salvation and elected them in his eternal decree of predestination
to be conformed to the image of Christ and made possessors
of everlasting life. And as we move on in the Apostles'
Epistle here, I want us all to appreciate that what Paul saw
in those believers in Thessalonica then is just as much indication
of our election today. We find legitimately grounds
for hope and we may discover and discern the work of grace
in our own life and in the lives of others by these evidences
that the Apostle points to. Election isn't a secret, it is
a revealed truth in scripture and it is a fact that is verifiable
by experience in the lives of individuals. And perhaps you
will recall with me from our last meeting what those five
indicators of election were that Paul spoke about. He said, it
was an evidence of their election that the gospel came to them
in power. It was an evidence of their election
that they could discern God's faithful servants and they could
discern a faithful ministry when they heard it. They knew when
they were listening to the truth and they knew when they were
listening to error. And it was an evidence of election
that the believer felt affliction of heart like perhaps never before,
yet at the same time there was a mitigation of that sorrow with
the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that there was a contrariness
within the heart of these people, both feeling their own unworthiness
and yet increasingly relying upon the Lord. Another evidence
of election was that they had become examples to other believers. That's what happens when the
Lord calls someone to a newness of life. We remarked upon that
at the weekend. They're a new creation and they
cannot but help live in a way that honours the Lord because
they now are possessors of God the Holy Spirit indwelling them. And the fifth example that the
apostle gave of a confirmation of election was that these Thessalonians
had a desire to speak about what they had seen and heard, what
they had learned, and the gospel that they had discovered. And
so these are examples, evidences, that confirmations, if you like,
that the apostle shows to approve the election of these Thessalonian
brothers and sisters. And I do believe that a major
purpose of the Holy Spirit in this epistle is to record this
testimony regarding our election so that every child of God may
enjoy a degree of spiritual assurance and be able thereby as another
apostle, the apostle Peter says, to give diligence to make your
calling and election sure. And many tried and tempted believers
ask the question in genuine doubt of their own soul's well-being,
am I one of God's elect? And Paul is saying here, if you
have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, yes, you are. If you
know the truth when you hear it, yes you are. If you experience spiritual trials
and blessings, conviction for sin and joy in a knowledge of
forgiveness in the gospel, then yes you are. And if you're altered
and changed by the hearing of the gospel, you're one of the
Lord's elect. And if you're burdened for the
souls of others, that they might have what you have, then yes,
you're one of the Lord's elect. so that having spoken about these
evidences as he has seen them amongst the Thessalonians, the
apostle in this chapter two gives more information about this ministry
that he had preached, the gospel of God that he had preached in
Thessalonica. And here in these opening verses
of chapter two, he appeals to the Thessalonians themselves
to verify the truth of the effectual work that has occurred amongst
them and especially how the apostles preaching amongst them was not
in vain but was attended with success. Maybe you remember with
me, it was a few weeks ago now, but we spoke about the fact that
the Apostle had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching
in Asia. That was the province of Asia,
which is part of Western Turkey. It was at that time. We might
have called it, well actually it was even less than Asia Minor,
but It was a province, a Roman province in Asia Minor called
Asia. But you'll remember with me,
I trust, that the Apostle Paul was prevented by the Holy Spirit
from preaching there. And actually the word that's
used by Paul is forbidden. We were forbidden of the Holy
Ghost to preach the word in Asia. Now the apostle is seeing the
reason why. One door had closed and another
had opened. And having entered the open door
of Europe and Macedonia, he says to these Thessalonians, you yourselves,
brethren, know our entrance in unto you. was not in vain. So here he's showing about the
positiveness, the fruitfulness, the success of this gospel ministry
amongst the Thessalonians. And I think that this too is
an important point for us to grasp because the preaching of
the gospel is not ever in vain. And sometimes we wonder why we
don't see more fruit. And sometimes we feel very small
and very isolated. And we think this is really a
very little work. And yet Paul saw the effect of
the gospel amongst these people. And he rightly concluded that
this work, this word, this message, this labour was not in vain. And it's a lesson that we should
all take to heart. The word of God shall not return
void. Isaiah 55 verse 11 says that.
This gospel that we preach is not in vain. And having been forbidden
to preach in Asia, Paul says in verse 4, we were allowed It's a lovely phrase. We were
allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel in Thessalonica. And having been so entrusted
with such a precious thing as the gospel of God, even so we
speak, not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. So that the apostle shows the
Thessalonians that while they benefited from his labor, he
was first and foremost answerable as a steward to God. His first loyalty was to the
Lord. We serve the Lord and those amongst
whom we serve are blessed and benefited by the grace of God
through us. And Paul gives this account here
in these verses, this account of his ministry amongst the Thessalonians,
perhaps because he knew that in his absence out of Thessalonica,
because he'd already moved on by now, remember what we said
about the fact that he had sent Timothy back to see how the Thessalonians
were doing, and this epistle appears to be the response to
Timothy coming back and saying, things are going well amongst
the believers there in the city. Paul wrote this letter to the
Thessalonians. But he knew that in his absence,
his enemies would accuse him of all manner of deviousness
and corruption. He knew that because that was
their pattern in other places. And so he calls upon the Thessalonians
to witness themselves to the truth of what he is saying. Basically,
if somebody attacks this gospel, attacks this ministry, this gospel
of God and the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, then you have
the right and the authority and indeed the obligation to witness
to the truth when the enemies and opponents of the gospel try
to slander and denigrate its ministry. And Paul gives us seven
characteristics of his ministry in Thessalonica. And I'm just
going to quickly run through each of these because I think
they're important and I trust it's not too much for a midweek
service. But there's a number of things
here that he says in these first few verses of chapter two. He says that he preached with
boldness in verse two. Bold in our God to speak unto
you the gospel of God. Now boldness means with clarity
and confidence. And Paul knew that his hearers
would never be convinced of a message that he was not himself personally
committed to and assured of. Remember he wrote to the Romans
in Romans chapter 1, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ
for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. To the Jew first because it had
first been preached in Jerusalem and in Judea and also to the
Greeks, that is to the Gentiles, those who were now being preached
to in Thessalonica for example. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the
just shall live by faith. And that's true for all of us.
Speaking of myself personally, I should not be coy about preaching
election. and about preaching predestination
and sovereign grace. I must be bold to declare total
depravity and effectual calling and limited atonement. Furthermore,
if you don't know the gospel, you can't preach it, whatever
else you do. And if you don't believe the
gospel, and you're not convinced of the gospel, and there is only
one gospel, You've no right to be preaching it, and you've no
reason to hope for success in doing so. So the first characteristic
of Paul's ministry amongst the Thessalonians was boldness. And then he goes on to say, we
also preached with honesty. Verse 3. For our exhortation
was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile. And Paul is saying effectively
what I trust every preacher is able to say. That I'm happy to
hold the light of scriptures to all that I say. I'm happy
that all that I say be tried and tested and examined by the
word of God. Because this message is nothing
less than the gospel of God. And as such, in full and complete
conformity to the Scriptures, we seek no more than honest preaching
and honest preachers who will preach according to the Scriptures,
not with deceit, not with uncleanness, not in guile. The third characteristic
that Paul leaves with us here is faithfulness. In verse five,
He's speaking here about preaching faithfully. Preaching the truth
of sovereign grace and imputed righteousness. Even when a slight
accommodation to the Jews and to Moses and to human effort
would have made Paul acceptable to many, many more people. and dispensed with all the persecution
that he had wherever he went. Paul was pursued and persecuted
relentlessly by the Jews from city to city by zealots under
a vow to kill him because he preached salvation by grace and
a righteousness apart from the law. to Jew and to Gentile alike. If Paul had just tweaked his
message a little, just softened his tone a bit, just moderated
his language, he could have flown under the radar and got by without
making himself a target. But that was not to be, because
Paul was faithful to the Gospel of God and he paid the price
for it. The fourth thing he said about
this ministry that he preached amongst the Thessalonians and
that he called them to witness personally was that it was done
beneficially. He says in verse 8, that he was
willing to impart to you the gospel of God. He wanted to give
them the gospel of God, the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. Paul knew that he was there in
Thessalonica to do good to the souls of these men and women
and boys and girls. He wanted to tell them about
the Lord Jesus Christ. He wanted to explain how God
had made a way of salvation, not by works, but by the cleansing
blood of Jesus Christ and by the endowment of the very righteousness
of God itself. This was a way of peace and hope
and everlasting life that would do the greatest good possible
to all who would believe and that was what Paul was called
to preach. The fifth thing he says in verses
six and nine is that he preached the gospel freely. He did not desire that any to whom
he preached were chargeable for the gospel that he declared. we would not be chargeable to
any of you. Our labour, our travail, we laboured
night and day for ourselves that the gospel would be freely preached
to you, freely available, freely accessible. And that doesn't
mean that there's no price to be paid in making the gospel
available. but it does not become chargeable
on the hearers at the point of hearing, but it is to be enabled
by all who gratefully acknowledge God's goodness to their own souls. The sixth thing that the Apostle
Paul says here is that he preached gently, and lovingly. Yes there was a boldness but
it was a gentleness and a love which characterised his ministry.
And he speaks in verses 7 and 11 of being gentle as a nurse,
affectionate as a father. You see Paul cared for the souls
of those to whom he preached. It wasn't just talk but it was
a genuine care and affection. Paul was unwilling to hurt or
harm the least of the Lord's little ones. And that doesn't
mean that there's no place for motherly guidance or fatherly
discipline, but let every pastoral duty be done with gentleness,
in love for the good of the souls of men and women. The Lord Jesus
Christ, it was said of him that he would not quench smoking flax,
he would not break a bruised reed. And these are principles
that characterised the Apostles' ministry as well. And finally
he says that he preached in verse 10 conscientiously. He says,
how wholly and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves. When Paul
and Silas and Timothy were there in Thessalonica, they behaved
themselves. They behaved themselves wholly
despite the persecution and justly despite the opposition and unblameably
despite the things that were said and done against them. Paul
was always aware of perceptions and he lived to the honour of
the Gospel. He did nothing that might bring
the Gospel into disrepute. That he and they, the Thessalonians,
would have this principle at heart, that they would walk worthy
of God who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. And that's what we desire too,
that we don't, we want to honour the Lord, that we want to walk
worthy of the gospel and of him who's called us into his kingdom. We don't bring down laws and
codes and rules and regulations on the free people of God. We don't need to do that. We
simply remind one another of the Gospel. We remind one another
of the Saviour. We speak often one another, to
one another, of the things of the Lord. We speak of our calling
by God, we speak of the privileges that we possess, and if those
things don't make us desirous of walking worthy of God, then
nothing will. So may we all highly value the
Gospel of God, and may we all recognise that having received
these things in Christ, by Him, we are blessed indeed. Amen.