A mother who is faithful to being what a mother ought to be. She sets aside her life for the life of her beloved baby. She is sacrificial. She is generous.
That life dominates her life. And so Paul says like a mother, we were so well pleased to give you not only the truth we gave you, but to give you our lives. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur.
I'm your host, Phil Johnson. It doesn't have to be Mother's Day to appreciate the unique role that moms play in the lives of their little ones. In fact, with just a few days until Father's Day in the United States, Canada, and the UK, John MacArthur is going to help you see how even men play a motherly role in the home, in the church, even in the workplace. John is continuing a message he began yesterday called Parental Pictures of Spiritual Leadership, and it's part of his current study titled Leading the Charge. So now take your Bible if you're able and turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 as John begins today's lesson.
1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 7 through 12. We've entitled this section Parental Pictures of a Spiritual Leader. It is essential to the well-being of children that there be a mother. It is also God's perfect plan and design that there be a father. And there is in that the perfect balance of gentle, nurturing care and loving example and authority. Mothering and fathering is God's design for the raising of children. And I believe when God created the church, He created the church very much like a family. And the church is not to be taken care of by surrogate mothers and fathers. Those in spiritual leadership are not to view the church with the indifference and with the independence that surrogate caretakers view little children in a daycare center. They are not to deal with those in the church as if they were groups, but they are to love them as individuals. They are not only to herd them around, but they are to love them and nurture them personally. They are not just to command them, but also to disciple them. The church is to be a family.
And just like a family has to have a mother and a father to have the perfect balance of leadership, so spiritual leaders in the church must mother and father the church. That is precisely what is on the heart of the Apostle Paul in our passage. In verse 7, he says to the Thessalonians, we were among you as a nursing mother. In verse 11, he says, we were imploring each one of you as a father. We treated you like a mother treats her children. We treated you like a father treats his children. From the opening picture here in verse 7, then Paul proceeds into verses 8 and 9 where he unfolds the role of mother in the beauty of its metaphorical meaning. I hope you can grasp this. Verse 8 says this, having thus a fond affection for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives.
Because you had become very dear to us. And now we're going deeper into this metaphor. The word thus or so is the connector. So or thus means as a nursing mother.
And thus he extends the metaphor into verse 8. Having a fond affection for you. Certainly this is true of a nursing mother. And we would say that a mother who doesn't have this kind of affection, a mother who doesn't see this as the sweetest moments of life for her to be nursing that little child has somehow lost touch with the intention of God's design for normal motherly love.
That's what Paul was saying that in the end times when he wrote to Timothy he said people will lose their family love, their normal natural affection for one another in family. But a mother with a little child in her arms has a fond affection. That's normal. That's very natural. That's God given. And that's what motivates her nursing, her gentle care. And as every mother knows there's no kudos for this. There are no laurels.
There's no awards for mothering. All you get is crying babies, dirty diapers, sleepless nights, runny noses, illnesses. It's hard.
It's consistent. Endless watchful care. I talk to grandparents now that I'm one and they always say, oh, we love our grandchildren so much. And often they'll say, and the best part is they leave with their parents or when it becomes fussy time, we hand them over. Well, that's that's simply a reflection of the hard part of parenting. And it's also a reflection of the fact that as much as we love our grandchildren, there is a bonding that occurs with our own children that makes that less than duty, that makes it supreme joy.
And even though we love our grandchildren, they're one step removed from that intimate bonding. A mother does what she does because she has a fond affection. You know that word a fond affection, that verb is a very interesting verb. It means to long for someone. It means to long for someone. In fact, we find it on some grave inscriptions where it describes a parent's sad longing for a dead baby, a child gone from their life. It indicates a deep affection that winds up as a passionate longing.
It's even painful. I remember when our children were being nursed all four of ours when they were little. It would be silent in the middle of the night and perhaps for whatever reason, I might have been awake. Perfect silence. Patricia would get up and I would say, where are you going? She'd say, well, I'm going to go nurse the baby. And I would say, the baby's asleep. I know, but I want to go nurse the baby.
Feel free. And I never really fully understood why till I began to realize that for her, the fond affection, the longing that she had precluded the love of sleep. And it was in her heart to give herself to her children. And even hours apart from the little life took something away from what she desired. That longing is what makes that mother want that little life in her arms.
That's the way God designed it. And Paul is saying that's a picture of a spiritual leader's responsibility to have a longing for a tender relationship with his people. A yearning, a motherly compulsion. That should be in the heart of the spiritual leader. And Paul says it was, verse 8. So we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives. When we came to you, it wasn't just duty. It wasn't just delegated authority.
It wasn't just responsibility. It was passion. We had a fond affection for you, so we were well pleased. That term, well pleased, means we were eager.
We were zealous. And it was generated by our affection. You're not a burden. You're a joy. In fact, in verse 20 of this chapter he says, you are our glory and joy. And so he says, we were pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God.
Stop at that point. First he imparted the gospel of God. The word impart is beautiful. It means to share. And the verb carries the idea of giving someone something of which you retain a part. And that's exactly what happens when you give someone the gospel, right?
You give them the gospel. But even though you've given it to them, you still possess it, right? And so you share. That's why we say we share our faith.
That's this word. We give it away and yet we keep it. And so there's a bond there. So Paul is saying, look, we had a fond affection for you and consequently we were well pleased to share with you the gospel of God. And I think when he's talking about the gospel of God, he goes beyond justification to embrace sanctification. He understands the fullness of the Great Commission not only to baptize but to teach them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you. So he is saying not only to give you that which saved you but to give you that which sanctifies you in that gospel. But it's more than that. He says we were pleased to give you that but not only that but also our own lives. Our own suke, our own soul. That means the totality of our earthly existence. I literally give up my life for you.
That's what he's saying. And that's what a mother does. A mother who is faithful to being what a mother ought to be. She sets aside her life for the life of her beloved baby. She is sacrificial. She is utterly unselfish. She is generous. She is profuse with that life. That life dominates her life.
You can't have a baby and go on living your own life and fulfill God's intention for a mother. That baby consumes your life. You're there to feed it.
You're there to love it, to change it, to put it to sleep, to wake it up, to dress it, to care for its every need. That's what God intended. There are many women. They don't want to have a baby because they're afraid it might affect their figure. They're afraid it might affect their lifestyle.
They're afraid it might affect their career. You want to know something? It'll affect all of that. You'll give away your life for that little life. But God said a woman finds her place in this world if God is so gracious to grant her that privilege in bearing children and raising them to love the Lord. Gladly then does a woman give her life for her child. And so Paul says like a mother, we were so well pleased to give you not only the truth we gave you, but to give you our lives.
Our lives. Not only were we like a nursing mother pulling you to our breast and dispensing you the life-saving milk of the word, but we also would give you our lives, time, energy, everything. It was so sad when he wrote back to the Corinthians, in 2 Corinthians 12, 14, and 15, and he says to the Corinthians, he says, I love you so much, and I'll love you even if you don't love me in return. And then he says to them, if I love you more, does that mean you're going to love me less? What a heartbreak it is for a mother who has loved a child and the child grows up to be what Proverbs called a thankless child who is sharper than a serpent's tooth. When a sacrificial mother has so loved a child who grows not to love in return, that is the deepest pain a mother's heart will ever know. Paul felt some of that pain himself as a spiritual leader and so does any spiritual leader. It was love spent in unselfish sacrifice. He gave his life. He even said on one occasion, if I be offered on the sacrifice of your faith, I rejoice. If I die getting you the gospel, that's fine.
That's fine. Far cry from the attitude today. We say we ought to abort a baby if it means the life of the mother. The godly mother says, I would give my life for the birth of my child.
But see, we've reversed all those kinds of values. Why? Why does a mother do this? The end of verse 8. Same reason a spiritual leader does it. Because you had become very dear to us, very dear. Beloved is the word.
That's the essence of a mother's love, a strong, compelling sense of the preciousness of the child. You were dear to us. You were a value. You were worthy. You were priceless to me. No way could I shuffle you off.
No way could I treat you with indifference. There is a strong affection. There is a longing that fills my heart for you, not out of duty, but because you were dear to me. That has to mark spiritual leaders. The metaphor extends then into verse 9. Still the word for carries us through into transition, leading us out of the analogy of verses 7 and 8 into the application here in verse 9. For, you recall, brethren, and here's another mother metaphor, our labor and hardship. How working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaim to you the gospel of God.
There's a mother working, laboring night and day, providing for her children so that she has no burden for them. You recall, don't you, brother? And he says, you recall, you remember, don't you, how it was when we were there with you? You know what our heart attitude was. Listen, if anybody tells you that we came to take and not to give, why don't you just recall?
Why don't you just think back and remember? Were we aiming at wealth? Were we aiming at power? Were we aiming at prestige, popularity, possessions?
Were we aiming for sexual favors? If we were, we didn't take any. As he says in 2 Corinthians 6, 10, we were poor, making many rich, spiritually. Our lives were marked by poverty, disrespect, disrepute, trouble, persecution. We weren't takers, we were givers. You recall, don't you? Don't you recall our labor?
Don't you recall our hardship? Those two words sum up the whole of difficulty. The first word emphasizes the difficulty of the deed itself. The second word emphasizes the toil and the struggle and the effort in the doing of the deed. But both of them come together to say, don't you remember what a difficult thing it was, what a trial it was when we were among you?
You go back to Acts 16 and reread it, how it was when he came to Thessalonica, how difficult it was. It was always sacrifice for Paul. It was always sacrifice for Silas and Timothy. It was always a life-giving kind of ministry. They didn't covet any man's silver, any man's gold.
They rather sacrificed everything they had in this world for the sake of taking the gospel to other people. That's the mother's picture. What does a mother want? What can a child give a mother?
Absolutely nothing. What price can a child pay for a nursing mother? What price can a child pay for deep affection? What price can a child pay for the longing of a mother's heart that lifts it up and embraces it in love?
There's no price. The child has nothing to give and nothing can be given. Paul says, we just gave.
Don't you remember that? And how working night and day, so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaim to you the gospel of God? We were working night and day, he says.
Literally, night and day. Now we remember he was a tent maker and when he went to Thessalonica, he was there three Sabbaths, but he must have stayed a few weeks after that, long enough to sort of set up shop and get some business and do some work in order to support himself and those with him. The church, by the way, in Thessalonica was very poor. 2 Corinthians 8 talks about the poor church in Macedonia. They were very generous and sacrificial and sent an offering to Paul to take to the poor saints of Jerusalem, but it's clear there they were very poor and he didn't want to put an undue burden on them. Also, he didn't want people to think that there was a price for the gospel.
The Philippian church, according to Philippians 4 16, did send some money to help him in his ministry. But he really earned his own way. And he worked night and day because he didn't want to be a burden to anybody. That's a mother. That's why it's so very hard sometimes when a woman has been a godly mother and she gets to the point in her older years where she can't support herself. She finds it very difficult to be supported by her children.
She finds it very hard to accept that because she has always known that she was fitting the role of never being a burden but always lifting the burden of her children. But it is by God's design that her children in gratitude be able to meet her need if that comes. So Paul said we made the maximum effort to feed our spiritual children. We provided the tenderness, the intimacy, the nourishment, the care, so that you wouldn't have to carry the load and we carried it all.
That's a mother. And that's how we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. God's gospel. The source is God. The subject is God. The great truth of salvation with all of its implications. We proclaimed it to you without ever being a burden. And on our own part we labored hard night and day to keep you receiving the nourishing truth. Hey, it takes long hours to be a mother. It takes great sacrifice to be a mother.
It changes your whole life. Paul says that's how it is in spiritual leadership. Around the clock care is the picture of a mother. And that is part of effective spiritual leadership.
Let me just say this personally. There is no way that any spiritual leader can be all that he should be because we are in the flesh. But this is a very clear mandate from God to us. And I just want you to know that it is my heart's desire that the elders, the pastors of Grace Church be mothers as well as fathers. Not just holding authority over you but being intimate and available, tender and kind, sympathetic and compassionate. That's part of the joy of pastoring. Most people in the world who know me only know me as a voice on a tape, a voice on a radio. And I'm sure 90% of them have an imbalanced viewpoint of me as a spiritual leader.
There must be more than that. And that is by God's design to bring leadership into balance. The tender relationships that we build in our ministry are the richest and most fulfilling. All people in God's family must have some spiritual leaders, whoever they are, who are there to be that spiritual nurturer who warms and cherishes that person. For one who champions truth, like I do, and whose zeal knows no bounds when it comes to attacking the enemy.
It's a good reminder, isn't it? Of the balance of spiritual leadership. Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for the simple beauty of your word. Thank you for the beauty of the mother, the nursing mother, and the picture of spiritual leadership that it gives us. Help us to be gentle, tender-hearted, kind, patient, thoughtful, sensitive, compassionate, caring. That we might be assured that the church is not a daycare center with substitutes, but it's a family being mothered and fathered out of love. We so much need your spirit to enable us to do this. And may the children of our love be thankful children. We pray in Christ's name.
Amen. You've been listening to John MacArthur, pastor, author, chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary, leading the charge. That's the title of his current series on spiritual leadership here on Grace to You. Well, in the parental pictures of spiritual leadership that we're seeing in this study, sacrificial love is a characteristic of that leadership. And John, sacrificial love is also what our listening family continues to show us, and I know you have some thoughts on that. If anything defines Christian life in terms of how the fellowship works, it's love. I mean, love is above all things, the virtue of all virtues, loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving our neighbor as ourself. And in the New Testament, it comes down to the life of the church being a life of love, and love is humble and love is sacrificial. And we see it exhibited all the time in our church where we live together as a congregation. But we see it as well in Grace to You, because there are so many men and women who sacrifice to make this ministry possible. And that's always an act of love. Sacrifice is expressed by love. We don't intimidate people.
We don't manipulate people. We simply do what we do and ask that if God is using it in their lives, they participate with us. And when you support programs that feed you the Word of God and help you to understand and apply what you're hearing, that has a cascading exponential effect. You grow spiritually. You bless people like you and families like yours grow. You help strengthen churches in your community and beyond. And your gifts are not taken for granted. They don't go unnoticed by us, by me, but particularly by the Lord. You are, in a sense, placing your gifts into His nail-scarred hand.
It's that personal. So we appreciate everything you do to urge us on. Sustain the work for God's glory and His people's gain. Pray for us. Let us know how Grace to You has helped you in understanding God's Word and your walk with the Lord.
And if you can, drop us a note. Let us know what you're learning from our verse-by-verse teaching and how God is using that in your life. It's really important and encouraging for us.
Thanks for getting in touch. Yes, friend, thank you for your prayers and for your partnership, and thanks for letting us know how God has used Grace to You in your life. If you've been strengthened by John's teaching, we would love to hear from you, so get in touch with us today.
If you prefer regular mail, you can write to Grace to You, Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412, or you can email your note to letters at gty.org. And as John said, praying is a vital way for you to support this ministry. Pray that John and our staff would be empowered with the strength of God, and pray for those who hear this broadcast to be changed by God's truth.
And thank you for your faithfulness. I'd also encourage you to visit gty.org to review any part of John's current series, Leading the Charge. We have the MP3s and the transcripts all available free of charge. You can also download thousands of other free sermons by John. And to listen on your mobile device, just download the Grace to You app. It gives you access to all of John's sermons wherever you are. The app and the sermon archive are available for free at gty.org. Now for John MacArthur, I'm Phil Johnson. Watch Grace to You television this Sunday on DirecTV channel 378. And be back tomorrow as John shows you the importance of exercising fatherly spiritual leadership, even if you don't have kids. It's another half hour of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time, on Grace to You.
