Let us turn once again to God's
Word. Turning to that first epistle
of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians. We want to read again in the
second chapter this time and reading the first eleven verses
you may recall that last Lord's Day evening we were considering
in particular the words that we find here at verse 7. But
reading now in the second chapter of his first epistle to the Thessalonians
and reading verses 1 to 11, Paul writes, 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 you 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 use 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 cherishes 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 you were
dear unto us. For you 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, your witnesses, and God also, how holily and
justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe,
as you know how we exhort it and comfort it, and charged every
one of you as a father doth his children." Paul then reminds them in the
opening part of this chapter of the manner in which he came
amongst them. We have the account, the historic records in the Acts,
that terrible persecution that came upon him and Silas in Philippi. and how it was there that God
granted to them a remarkable deliverance out of the prison
and the conversion of the jailer and those of his own family and
then how in chapter 17 they go into Thessalonica and begin to
minister the word there, but again there is persecution from
the Jews. He's reminding them of these
things here in these opening verses of this chapter and he
sets before them some of the marks of his ministry it was
very much a spiritual ministry of course that he was exercising
and as I said last time we looked at those words in verse 7 where
he speaks of his ministry as being like unto that of a nursing
mother But we were gentle among you, he says, even as a nurse
cherishes her children. I've often thought that nursing
is more of a vocation than a profession. The nurse is often so tender,
so kind, compassionate, in looking after the patients but here we
have the idea of not a professional nurse but a mother nursing her
own children and this is what we were considering last time
but now I want us to consider how he goes on at verse 11 to
use another figure with regards to his ministry he speaks in
verse 11 of his ministry in terms of that of a tender father a
tender father as you know he says we exhorted and comforted
and charged every one of you as a father doth his children
he's like a nursing mother but he's also like a tender father
This epistle is such a remarkable epistle because we see so much
of the kindness and the loving hearts of the Apostle in his
relationship to this Church of the Thessalonians. Let me just
remind you before we come to our text tonight of something
of what we said last week with regards to his ministry, how
he prevailed. how he travailed, literally he
travailed, he worked with his own hands he wouldn't be beholden
to them, he worked to keep himself as he says in verse 9, you remember
brethren our labour and travail for labouring night and day because
we would not be chargeable unto any of you we preach the gospel
that we preach unto you the gospel of God and not only in this epistle
but when he writes again in the second epistle he reminds them
he did have certain rights to live of the gospel but he didn't
do that there in that second epistle chapter 3 and verse 9
neither did we eat any man's bread for nought but wrought
with labour and travail night and day that we might not be
chargeable to any of you not because we have not power or
authority He had every right to expect them to support him,
but to make ourselves an example unto you to follow us. But not only did he know that
physical travail in order to provide for himself, but he was
a man who also knew what spiritual labour and spiritual travel was
as he was ministering the Word of God. Now he doesn't say it
here to the Thessalonians, But when he writes to the Galatians,
he reminds them of that. My little children, he says.
Think of him as a nursing mother. My little children of whom I
travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. All how he labored and travailed
that he might see those who were hearing his ministry brought
to that new birth to experience that grace of regeneration being
born again from above, born by the Spirit of God. How he lived
us to this end. He knew what it was then to travail
as a mother. But how he was also so gentle
as a mother. A real mother, as we said here
in verse 7, we were gentle among you. Even as a nurse, that nursing
mother cherishing her children. He is the servant of Christ,
He is the servant of God, and is He not therefore mindful of
that ministry that the Lord God Himself exercises towards His
children? And the figure that we find used
in the Old Testament there at the end of the book of the prophet
Isaiah, in Isaiah 66, And verse 9, God says, Shall
I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth? Shall I
cause to bring forth and shut the womb, saith thy God? Rejoice
ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her.
Rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her, that ye
may suck. and be satisfied with the breast
of her consolations, that she may milk out and be delighted
with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the Lord, Behold,
I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the
Gentiles like a flowing stream. Then shall ye suck, ye shall
be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees, as
one whom his mother comforteth. So will I comfort you, and you
shall be comforted in Jerusalem. It's speaking of the Lord's own
ministry. Not only putting the child to the breast, but also
downing the child upon her knees, taking the child in her arms,
caressing it. and loving it. This is the way
in which Paul sought to exercise his ministry, as he says in the
seventh verse. But turning tonight to the language
that we have now at verse 11, where we see him more particularly
as a tender-hearted father, as you know. You know how we exhort
it and comfort it and charged every one of you as a father
doth his children. The Apostle Paul often suffered amongst those
whom he had so libeled in the Gospel how he suffered at the
hands of the church at Corinth how false teachers had come in
and stolen their hearts and turned them away from Paul and yet he
can write to them as he does there in chapter 4 of the first
epistle, though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, he says,
yet have ye not many fathers for I have begotten you in Christ
Jesus through the gospel. Oh, he was the father to them,
you see. It was by his ministry that they
come to experience the grace of God in salvation. They might
have all these other instructors, but they don't have many fathers.
For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you, he says, in the gospel. And this is what we have here
in the text, you see. He has a father towards his children. Now, I want to mention some four
things with regards to Paul's ministry here. First of all,
Again, we have to mark and observe the truth of his great affection
to these Thessalonians. And he loved them. And we see
it in this word, comforted. He doesn't just exhort and charge,
but he says he comforted them. He comforted them. The old Scots
commentator James Ferguson understands this word in terms of him speaking
lovingly and affectionately to them. He doesn't just come you
see to to exhort in a hard, harsh fashion to give them a charge
he's not going to be burdensome in any sense as he says at verse
6 not going to assert his authority No, He will exhort and He will
charge, but how will He do it? He'll speak lovingly and affectionately,
because He's the servant of Christ. We sang just now that lovely
portion in the metrical version of Psalm 103, you know the passage,
like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that
fear Him. He knoweth our frame, he remembereth
that we are dust, O how kind and gentle the Lord is, and this
is portiously. He has such a love towards them. What does he say at verse 8?
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
in Wycliffe's version. I know Wycliffe was not translating
from the original Greek of the New Testament, but from the Latin
Vulgate version, but interestingly Wycliffe's rendering of the opening
part of this 8th verse is literally, desiring you with great love.
Desiring you with great love. How he desired them. He only
wanted what was best for them. And he was willing to make sacrifice,
imparting not only the Gospel, but also our own souls, he said.
Such was the greatness of the love that this man had. He says
to the Corinthians, the love of Christ constraineth us. What is the love of Christ? Why,
Christ having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them
to the end. Christ loved them to the death
of the cross. And it is that love, that sacrificial
love, that is constraining the Apostle Paul in all of his ministry. So affectionate, so tender-hearted,
Or as we have it there in that 7th verse, we were gentle, he
says. We were gentle among you. He is one who is the true servant
of the Lord. Remember what he says when he
exhorts Timothy, those pastoral epistles of 1st and 2nd Timothy
and the epistle to Titus. where he is giving charges to
these young men with regards to the manner of their ministry
and there in 2 Timothy chapter 2 at verse 24 he says the servant
of the Lord must not strive but be gentle unto all men, apt to
teach, patient or as Imogen said, forbearing in meekness instructing
those that oppose themselves if God peradventure will give
them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. And the things
that Paul is saying to Timothy or to Titus with regards to the
manner of their ministry this is how he practiced his own ministry.
He didn't strive. No, he was gentle and tender
because of the love that he bears towards these people that he
is ministering to. The great affection then of Paul But also
here in our text we are reminded of his authority. The authority
of Paul. Exhorting and charging them certainly
indicates that he had some authority. Has not God himself ordained
that there should be authority and that there should be order?
God has appointed that with regards to civil government, with regards
to how nations are to conduct their affairs. He tells the Romans
concerning the authorities, the powers that be, that they're
all ordained of God, and he's referring of course to Imperial
Rome, which was a totalitarian setup. that every soul, he says,
be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power or authority
but of God. The powers that be are ordained
of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth
the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that resist
shall receive to themselves damnation. And he goes on to speak of rulers.
as being ministers of God. All the powers that be, you see.
Peter says much the same. Fear God, honor the King. Recognize
authority. It's what God himself has appointed. And not only with regards to
government, but also with regards to the family. There's to be
proper order in families. Paul is the one who says it,
does he not? You're familiar with the chapter,
the 11th chapter of 1 Corinthians, that chapter that speaks of the
ordinance of the Lord's Supper, but also speaks of the woman's
head covering. And what lies behind that covering? Well, Paul says the heads of
the woman is the man. It's a recognition, you see,
of proper order. He's speaking of the church,
but that order also pertains to the family, does it not? He
speaks time and again of the relative duties of husbands and
of wives, but not only the Apostle Paul, we see it also in the epistles
of Peter. Look at what Peter says there
in the third chapter of his first epistle. Likewise ye wives, be
in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word
they also may without the word be won by the conversation that
is the manner of living of the wives while they behold your
chaste conversation coupled with fear whose adorning let it not
be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold
or putting on of apparel but let it be the hidden man of the
heart in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and
quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
For out of this manner in the old time the holy women also
who trusted in God adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their
own husbands, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose
daughter she are as long as ye do well and are not afraid with
any amazement, but it's not just exhortation to the wives, but
also to the husbands. Likewise, your husbands, he says,
dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto
the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of
the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered." There
are these duties there. There's to be order. there is
to be authority. Children. Children are to be
those who would obey their parents. And we have that again in the
writings of Paul. There in that 6th chapter of
the Ephesian Epistle, children he says, Obey your parents in
the Lord for this is right. Honor thy father and mother. which is the first commandment
with promise that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest
live long on the earth. God is a God of order. Be it
in society, be it in the family unit which is a very basic brick
of proper society and of course we know in our poor nation how
the very unit of the family is constantly under threat. What
a sad day we've come to. and yet we come to the word of
God and surely we are to be those who would have regard for these
things and contend for these things and so when we come to
the church let all things be done decently and in order says
the apostle to that disorderly church of the Corinthians let
all things be done decently and in order and it reminds this
church of the Thessalonians of what God's order is and we read
it we read it previously there in chapter 5 verse 12 we beseech
you brethren to know them which labor among you and are over
you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly
in love for their work's sake and be at peace among yourselves
all there is to be authoritative and Paul you see as an apostle
has authority he has authority yes he's a tender
hearted father but they're not to take advantage of his gentle
ways ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every
one of you he says as a father doth his children He's a minister,
he's a leader amongst them. But what is this authority that
he's speaking of in terms of exhorting and charging them?
Well, it is not in any sense a Popish authority. In fact, we see how he speaks
prophetically of that false church the Roman Catholic Church, that
false church. The Reformers and the Puritans
were at one in recognizing that in that second chapter of 2 Thessalonians,
Paul is speaking of that false church. Look at the language. There at verse 3 in that second
chapter, "...let no man deceive you by any means, For that day
shall not come except their falling away first, and that man of sin
be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself
above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that
he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that
he is God." What a description this is of the authority that
the Roman Church will vest in the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. how he exalts himself above all
that is called God. It is the false church. It's
not a popish authority. You know in the Roman system
we have the priest and the laity and all the authority belongs
to the priestly caste. That's not what Paul is speaking
of. It's not priestly authority that
we have here. There's no authority vested in
a man. I know there are those verses
that we have, when Peter makes his great confession at Caesarea
Philippi, thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and
Christ goes on to say, upon this rock he is going to build his
church, not building it upon Peter, but building it upon the
words that Peter had spoken in his great confession. And then
the Lord goes on to say this, verse 19, I will give unto thee
the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind
on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose
on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Now, these words are being spoken
specifically to Peter. because we have the singular
pronoun, I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom. But
later, in chapter 18 of Matthew, much the same is spoken to all
of the disciples, all of the apostles of the Lord. There at verse 18, in chapter
18, Christ says verily, Whatsoever ye, that's a plural. He's speaking
to all of these apostles now. Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, it's that power of the
keys. Is this the authority that a
man like Paul would climb. Is there authority that is vested
in a man? We've said that there's not authority
vested in the Pope, nor is there authority vested in a man. In some ways the key to those
verses that we've just referred to in Matthew 16 and 18 is found
in the language that we have in John's Gospel, where the Lord
Jesus speaks of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in John chapter
20. John chapter 20 and verse 22,
when He had said this, speaking to His apostles again, when He
had said this, He breathed on them, and said
unto them, Receive you the Holy Ghost, whosoever sins ye remit,
they are remitted unto them, whosoever sins ye retain, they
are retained. It's the Holy Spirit you see.
It's the ministry of the Spirit. The ministry of the Spirit in
association with the preaching of the Word. That's where the
authority is. It's not in a man. Not in a man
at all. And Calvin in his Institute says,
properly speaking, Christ did not give this power to men, but
to his words, of which he made men ministers. Oh, this is the authority. This
is the authority that the Apostle Paul has. He's a minister of
the Word. And that's where the power is. ye know, he says, how
we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a
father dot his children how did he exhort? how did he charge?
but he brings to them the word of God we have those exhortations
we read that passage at the end of this epistle and all those
many exhortations they are all in the imperative you see they
are words of commands those short sentences rejoice evermore pray
without ceasing, in everything give thanks, quench not the spirit,
despise not prophesying, prove all things, abstain from all
appearance of evil, and so forth. These are his exhortations. But
what are these exhortations? It's all the Word of God. And
so, having said something with regards to Paul's great love,
his affection for these people, and the authority that he has,
let us in the third place turn to the ministry of Paul. It is
the ministry of the words. It's the ministry of the Word
of God. When he gives charge to those young men, Timothy and
Titus, in those pastoral epistles, how he will bring them to the
Word of God. Study to show thyself approved unto God, he says to
Timothy. A workman that needeth not to
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Here it is,
you see. What is Timothy to do? He's to labour. in words and
in doctrine, labouring in the Word of God in order that he
might bring the Word of God to the people and expound the Word
of God and explain the Word of God. He says again to Timothy,
all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. All the profit is in the Word,
all the power is in the words. It is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
he says, that the man of God may be perfect, truly furnished
unto every good work. Where is the authority? It's
in the ministry. And that ministry is rooted,
grounded in the Word of God. And what does Paul do here? Why,
he exhorts them. He exhorts them. Ye know how
we exhort it. and the word that he uses it's
one of those we often have these words, these compound words two
words wedded and wounded together and the word that he uses here
rendered exhorted literally means to call to duty that's what he
did he called them to their duty he He goes on to speak of how
the ministry is to admonish in that fifth chapter. We beseech
you brethren to know them which labour among you and are over
you in the Lord and admonish you. You see they are labouring,
they are over you, what do they do in the course of that ministry?
They admonish. And what is the admonishing? Well it literally means to put
them in mind. put them in mind of what? the
Word of God to call them to their duties
what do we have when we consider the epistles of Paul we've often
spoken of this we know that there's a basic two-fold division normally
in the former part of his epistles we have the doctrine and then
in the latter parts we have the practice but then he also weaves
into his epistles the experimental because he speaks of his own
experience he's a pattern to them which would hereafter believe
he says and so we see as that the ministry of the word it affects
the head and the heart and the hand there's a doctrinal and God instructs us through
our minds he gives us the the power of a sound mind that's
a great favour is it not? not the spirit of fear but of
love and of a sound mind and he addresses us through our minds,
through our understanding there are great doctrinal truths that
we have to come to terms with the importance of these doctrines,
the doctrine of the of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the very foundation of the church. But then it's not
just a matter of the letter of God's truth, we want that doctrine
to touch us, we want to feel something. There's the experimental,
it comes to our hearts. We come to trust in the Lord
Jesus Christ as our Saviour. We know him. We feel something
of his gracious presence. That's what we should desire.
But then after that there's also the outworking of these things,
the practice. All these are the things that they are to remember
that they are to call to their minds. He's exhorting them. This is the ministry that he
exercises and then he charges them. You know how we exhorted,
he says, and comforted, and charged every one of you. Now this is
an interesting word. To charge, the verb that we have
here is derived from a noun. And the noun is that word from
which we have our English word martyr. It's the Greek word martyrs. and it literally comes over into
our English it's transliterated as the word martyr or they are to be those you see
who are as it were martyrs in the service of the Lord Jesus
Christ our witnesses that's what he's calling them to summoning
them to be witnesses this is a charge that he brings to them
Oh, but what is it? It's to be a witness, it's to
be a martyr. Joseph Hart says, see the suffering Church of Christ
gathered from all quarters, all contained in that red list, were
not murdered martyrs. Saints who feel the load of sin
yet come off victorious, suffer martyrdom within, though it seem
less glorious. Oh, we're all involved, you see,
in a conflict of warfare. with sin, with Satan, with the
world. This is all part and parcel of
our witness, we're different. This is according to Paul's ministry
then. He is a minister of the Word
of God. And then, finally as we think
about Paul as a tender-hearted father, we have to take account
of his example. As you know, he says, how we
exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father
doth his children. What is the real substance of
Paul's charge to the Thessalonians or to any of these churches where
he had been so instrumental under God in establishing them in those
various journeys that we read of in the Acts of the Apostles
Here he is, he's called to be an apostle to the Gentiles and
how he engages in that ministry, he goes from place to place and
through his ministry people are saved and churches are established. But what does he say to them
time and again? Be ye followers of me even as
I also am of Christ. That's what he says to the to
the Corinthians and he says it on two separate occasions here.
He says it in chapter 4 verse 16 and then again in the first
verse of chapter 11. They are to be followers of him.
But only as he is a follower of the Lord Jesus. And look at
what he says here in verse 10. He says, Your witnesses and God
also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves
among you that believe." Oh, they saw the manner of his living.
He didn't just preach, he practiced the things that he was preaching
to them. Why? He says much the same to the
Philippians. Those things which you have both learned and received
and heard and seen in me do. that's what he says to the Philippians
or you've seen the manner of my ministry well you've heard
the manner of my ministry you've seen the manner of my living and when when he exhorts Timothy
does he not tell Timothy that he should be an example also
to the flock verse 12 in chapter 4, the first
epistle, he says, let no man despise thy youth, but be thou
an example of the believers in words, in conversation, in charity,
in spirit, in faith, in purity, till I come give attendance to
reading, to exhortation, to doctrine, neglect not the gift that is
in thee which was given thee by prophecy with the laying on
of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things, give
thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear to all."
Oh, this is Paul's ministry, you see. He's an example. And these young men, Timothy,
Titus, as they exercise their ministry, they are to be patrons
also. But is there not that sense in
which all of us, all of us, we're all to be these witnesses. We're all to walk as children
of light. We're not in the darkness. We've
been delivered from all our ignorance. if we've known the grace of God
in salvation it's been a glorious deliverance and we're to walk
in the light of that Peter says show forth the prizes of him
who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light all
this is the high and the holy calling of the people of God
and this is the point and purpose of the ministry of the Apostle
as he reminds these Thessalonians as he reminds us of the manner
of his ministry he was one who was truly like a nursing mother
how gentle he was we were gentle among you even as a nurse cherishes
her children but then also we had all the affection but also
all the authority of a father as you know 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. Our concluding hymn this evening
is Hymn 624, tune Augustine, number 3. 624, the Lord Jehovah is, our
Father and our Friend. Immortal majesty is His, nor
can His glory end. Through all the scenes of time,
He'll make His goodness known. his sons in every age and clan. His sovereign grace shall own
him 624.