This is the Truth Network. Forever thy word is settled in heaven, O Lord. Psalm one nineteen, verse eighty nine. I'm Stu Arberson. Welcome to this special Wednesday in the Word leader podcast, where we prepare and equip our leaders of this special Bible study outreach breakfast every week to teach through the scriptures.
13 Dario locations. There's a men's group meeting and several of the Locations host the women on Thursday morning. Stay tuned. Be encouraged as we jump into this week's Wednesday in the Word. Everywhere the Apostle Paul went, Either one of two things happen.
Either there is a riot or a revival. When he went to Thessaloniki, you could argue that both happened. There was a great revival. These people responded. He was only there for three weeks, and we see their amazing response in this epistle of 1 Thessalonians.
But there was also a riot. They forced him. and his colleagues Silas and Timothy out of town. And Dr. Sam Horn.
There is a vibrancy of life. God left his mark through his man. On this area of Thessalonica, and we benefit from it, don't we, brother? Get to read these rich words this week. We're in chapter 2, verses 1 through 12.
But chapter one was great, talking about, you know, Paul just. Flowered them with not flattery, but just rich words of grace on how. They had encouraged him.
So much in their work of faith, labor of love, and their patience. Of hope. Dr. Horn. We're coming into chapter two of 1 Thessalonians, my friend.
Some good stuff in there, brother. Oh my goodness, it's wonderful. You know, as you were talking and just recognizing, The opening setup for this book, it is so relevant to what we do in our lives. as believers today. You know, sometimes it's easy to get discouraged, isn't it, in Christian ministry?
Think about all our brothers and sisters who are in these Bible studies, and I think about them often. I was praying this morning as I was doing other things and getting ready for. This podcast we do together of how many of them are in scenarios that could potentially be discouraging. You know, here is the Apostle Paul, and he goes to Philippi, he gets a vision. Remember the Macedonian call?
in acts he gets this vision from the lord and he goes over And he ends up in jail. And he ends up persecuted. And basically when he leaves there. He has delivered one little servant girl, one little slave girl from demons. And one Roman One Roman official, the jailer, has come to Christ with his family, and then he gets kicked out.
And it doesn't look like much. happened there. And he comes over to Thessalonica, and the same thing happens, except this time there is a visible response that God gives. They turn from idols to serve the living God and to wait for the coming of his son from heaven at the end of chapter one, as we saw. And so, as Paul looks back, you know, he's not in Thessalonica when he writes this letter.
He's looking back on what happened there, and God has helped him to see what happened there, maybe with different eyes than what he thought when he was there.
Now, that's speculation. We don't know that. But I've often experienced that. It's like, you know, you're going through ministry and you're being faithful. like these Bible study leaders that lead these Bible studies and they get up.
And they prepare and they come and they pray. and half the group doesn't show up on a Wednesday. Or the group that shows up, they don't remember a thing they talked about the week before. Or if they remember what they talked about the week before, it doesn't really seem like it's making a big impact in their life. A year later, somebody raises their hand or sends a little email to that Bible study leader and shares what was going on.
And it is so clear that the Word of God was going forward with power. And so I love this book. I love what Paul is doing here because it speaks to the heart of what a beautiful ministry really looks like. What does a beautiful ministry look like? And it may not look beautiful in our eyes initially.
It may not seem like all the pieces we would put are there, but a beautiful ministry is always in the eyes of God. And we see what it looks like here in 1 Thessalonians. Let me just remind us that. These five chapters sort of talk on five big themes. In chapter one, we have the theme of gospel evangelism.
What does it look like when you turn the gospel loose? A person's life, or in a community, or in a country, what does it look like? And then in chapter two, where we are, what does Christian ministry look like? What does it look like to serve people and to edify people and to equip people who have been converted by that gospel? Jesus said, go into all the world.
And evangelize, right? Make disciples and then baptize them, initiate them into the Christian community, and edify them, teach them all things.
So, what does that look like?
Well, chapter two is going to tell us what it looked like. At Thessalonica, in this early community of believers. And then in chapter three, Christian behavior. How do such believers live out their faith? In a beautiful way.
And then in chapter four, is Christian help? What is their confident expectation? When the world around them and the kingdoms around them are so dark and so hard and so opposed. And then finally, what does Christian community look like? What does a gospel church look like when it gathers together?
That's chapter five.
So lots of stuff here to talk about and super excited. About our journey. Wonderful. That's Dr. Sam Horne talking.
I'm Stu Epperson. This is our Wednesday in the Word podcast. Five chapters in 1 Thessalonians, 89 verses, about 20, 25 minutes to read. Dr. Horne, I've already kind of dropped the ball a little bit.
I've slipped a little bit. I'm trying to take Aleister Begg's challenge to read. First this. Once every day for the next 30 days.
So I've missed a couple days. I'm trying to get back on track. I may have to read it twice today. And every time I hear you talk about it, it makes me want to read it more. It is so rich.
And I hope everyone will go back. to last week's where we did a lot more review. of the the context, the history, what was going on in Thessalonike and what was going on in Paul's journey. He was there kind of between Philippi and then after his ministry to the Thessalonians. Just three weeks, brief time, he went on.
To Athens there in Acts 17, then on to Corinth, which is likely where he wrote this book, originated this book that we're reading in Thessalonians. Dr. Horne, so much in chapter one. We're going to jump right into chapter two. We got some good review.
Now we're going to do a preview of what's coming up and kind of help our different leaders. There's some pastors listening to this podcast to help strengthen them in their pulpit ministry. Chapter two, we're going to look at the first 12 verses and something to kind of. set this text up. This isn't a a direct Hit or attack from Paul on the false teachers.
But implicit in this text, there are attacks on Paul from them. Obviously when The word of God is sown, and hearts are grown, and things are happening in the Lord. It doesn't take long for the You know, for those tares to come among the wheat, for the wolves to come among the sheep. And so obviously, there's some discord and some undermining of Paul's authority. And so we have.
Paul takes a positive approach in chapter 2 and gives us this beautiful portrait of what a faithful Steward of God. Looks like. And so many pastors. I think John R. Stott wrote a book.
the portrait of a godly pastor. Others have written. From this text, these words are rich. Dr. Horn, you want to just kind of take us through these 12 verses just to kind of set them up, and a lot of folks will recognize.
So language in here. You know, it's just rich, and it's really kind of at the heart of Paul's heart for the church of Thessalonike. Absolutely.
Well, Stu, I'm so glad you mentioned genre stat. Because our Bible study leaders are really frontline co-laborers with you and with me and these podcasts. And actually, I see myself as just someone who comes along and serves you and serves them. And one of the ways I can serve is like tell you where some good resources are. And you just mentioned John R.
Stott in his little commentary on 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, the gospel for the end of time. Is an amazing, simple, helpful, practical resource. You know, I'm very fortunate. I have a very large library, and I looked on my shelf the other week when we were starting into 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and I have probably 20 commentaries on my shelf. And if I had to pick one, if I just pulled one off the shelf and said, This is the one that I'm going to just, I just got time for one, it would be John R.
Stott, the gospel and the end of time. And so let me just recommend that to leaders. You're talking about reading the book of 1 Thessalonians. Uh you know, every day for 30 days. What if you took a commentary like John R.
Stott and you didn't read it like you were studying for a test, you just did a really quick read. on uh on the five chapters. Uh, that makes up this book. You could read a chapter a week, and in a month, you would have read First Thessalonians 30 times, and you would have skimmed. And gotten yourself acquainted.
With the material in this little commentary.
So that's for free. And if you're one of our gospel leaders and you're leading one of these Bible studies, that is an incredible. Resource.
Well, let me just kind of give you how I think of the chapter. And uh, and then we can we can stop and park and uh and jump in anywhere we want.
So, the first thing I would do is I would sort of set the stage and say, Paul is describing his own ministry, these are people who have been transformed by a gospel. That he brought with him. And he says, our gospel didn't come in word only, but in deed. It was accompanied by these immense displays of gospel power. And we don't really know what all of those were.
You know, we don't know if there were apostolic miracles that happened. We do know that there were places where Paul did manifest apostolic power in his ministry. We're not aware of any here, but it is interesting that that comment is made by the apostle.
So we don't know what these people were thinking. Here come these two men into their city. They are carrying this message. It is accompanied by great power. All of a sudden, this move of the Holy Spirit comes and they're converted.
And so they may have some ideas. About the Apostle Paul and his ministry, that Paul is saying, no, no, no, I want you to understand something. I want you to understand the spirit of our ministry. and how beautiful ministry happens. You know, sometimes we think beautiful ministry happens when we have.
great resources and we do these huge things and all of these external uh you know accoutrements of success And Paul cuts right through that. And he's gonna say, let me tell you three things. About beautiful ministry and effective ministry. Number one, It must model sincerity and authenticity. Because we please men.
I'm sorry, we please God and not men. And you can see that in the first four verses.
So, so literally, sincerity and authenticity coming out of a desire to please God. And then in verses five through eight. He's going to say now. A ministry that is effective, this beautiful ministry must also be selfless. and sacrificial Because we love those we serve more than we love ourselves.
And he's gonna use the imagery there of a nursing mother. And then the third thing is, it must model this beautiful ministry that God grants Paul and us is a model of ministry that must display integrity and edification because our ultimate goal is not to produce people that follow us and that like us. but actually to produce people that love God and obey his word. And that's in verses 9 through 12.
So those are the three big sort of paragraphs in this chapter, in this section of the chapter. And they really do serve. as an important way. for us to um to catch and see how the Lord Uh opera.
So that's kind of how I'd break it out. That's a great breakdown. You know, one pastor in our notes, I send out leader notes as well with different sermons logged. One pastor. suggested that effectively the three fronts That Paul's attacked on, that he defends, then lays out his real heart, are first they attacked.
you know, his message. And then they attacked his motive. you know, thinking that, you know, calling him deceitful and this and that. and then they attack his methods. You know, that he's got this idea, this idea of a cloak of covetousness.
That he's coming with flattering words. You know, when you flatter someone, you're trying to get something from them, right? You wouldn't normally say such things about this person. if you didn't have some sort of sinister motive or some sort of selfish gain as a result. And so these are the kind of accusations they're coming at the Apostle Paul.
You know, it's interesting, Dr. Horn, Paul sets this up by saying, look. He says, our coming to you was not in vain, verse 2, you know, verse 1 of chapter 2. He says, But even after we suffered, before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, We were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God. in much conflict, For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was in deceit.
You know, Dr. Horne, you know, that's the mic drop right there, in my humble opinion. You know, without even all the other things Paul lays out, which you beautifully articulated just moments ago. Paul was, they were blistered, they were beaten, they were put in stocks in Philippi. you know, a hundred plus miles away.
And did they go on a retreat? Did they go to some kind of hospital? Did they go, you know, did they take a medical leave? Did they say, hey, if ever there was time for Paul to take a sabbatical, look, I'm a big fan of sabbaticals, but he and Silas and Timothy, they didn't go and take a break. Man, they soldiered through and went right to Philippi.
They said, hey, look, Paul, in effect, is saying, hey, look, let me lift my shirt. Look at my back. You know, look at these stripes. I mean, you know, the Philippian jailer and his family are still, they're still dripping wet from being baptized just, you know, not long ago. And here we come into your city.
Preaching the gospel.
So, you know, we're not just taking one for the team here. We love Jesus. And we are honored to suffer with him, like he says in Galatians 5, right? Or 6, he says, 'Hey, I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ.' You know, so Paul. Says, hey, just look at what we came from.
But you know, Dr. Horne, there's a warmth here because not only is Paul saying, Hey, we're not flattering, we're not deceitful. We, we, you know, he says, You are our glory and joy. He'll say that later in this chapter. And then he says, Hey, you know, we toiled, we labored toward the end of this little passage here.
He says, We, you know, we toiled, you know, night and day. We were like a nerd, gentle and tender, like a nursing mom, and we're firm and we're leading you and serving you like a father would. You know, so there's a there is a deep passion, you know, here. And I want you to, I want you to comment on that, Dr. Horne, but I want to tell you, Pastor Peter, who I play basketball with, Who's an older pastor who's been a mentor to me?
You'd love this guy. He says that his life verse, when he goes to take a church, he's done interim pastoring, he's done long-term pastoring. He says his verse that he hangs his hat on, he shares it with the church. He says, He says, I didn't come just to give you this rich verse over here. In verse 8, he says, look.
We were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but our own lives.
So that's what he hangs his head. That's his verse. When I said Thessalonians, he instantly quoted that verse. What are your thoughts on that part of Paul here for these people? What You know, you brought up something really interesting, and that is, you know, and I don't begrudge anybody who gets a sabbatical man, God uses those in so many different ways.
In 40 something years of ministry, I've never had one. But I have had my own season of difficulty and struggle. Just like I was thinking, you know, as you were talking about our Bible study leaders, you know, who knows on Wednesday morning what happened on Monday and Tuesday of their week, what news they got, what trouble came into their life, what affliction. They came under. It doesn't matter what went on in their life on Wednesday morning.
They got to get up in front of people and do what Paul did. And so this is a great reminder that we minister often, not out of the locker room where we come fresh. We minister after we've been knocked down. And we minister when like our world blew up. I mean, when Paul left Philippi, he didn't, I mean, he had been in prison.
He had been beaten. I mean, there were immense things, as you pointed out, that went on. And he comes in there and he says to the Thessalonians, I'm here to do it all over again. Just like I put my life on the line for the Philippians, I'm putting it on the line for you. I'm pouring out my life for you.
Ministry happens mainly and only because of the power of the word in somebody's life, but that word often comes through a delivery channel. And the delivery channel is the life of a person that God is putting through things that make the message credible. How do you know Paul loved these people? How do you know he treated them like a nursing mother? How do you know he cared for them like a father?
How do you know these things? How do you know that he was actually operating as a responsible steward of the things God entrusted to him? And the answer is: look at what he's doing. Look at what it's coming out of. The dude just got beat.
The dude just got stuck in a Roman prison, which was no picnic, and he's still doing this. Why?
Well, that's the proof of what he's saying. How do you know as a pastor that you love your people? How do you know that you really believe the word of God is going to make a difference in your heart or in their heart? You minister out of a heart that gets up. Every Sunday, or every time you are before them and you love them, even though you know some of them are going to turn around and bite you.
Some of them are going to just say some things that are the most difficult things you would hear. um but but at the end of the day when they're in trouble you're there to help them And that's what you find out here.
So Paul is ministering. Out of his life, and you and I have to minister out of our lives. That's what's happening here. And I really hope we'll take some time. Like this idea of Paul says, Hey, we were gentle among you like a nursing mother.
There's nothing more. gentle and tender. than a mom. Who she looks, she can't do anything, she can't go run a 5k, she got to feed that baby, and if that baby doesn't eat that mom's milk, that baby doesn't live, you know.
So, there's a sense to which Paul says, Hey, look, we were affectionate. We were taking care of you. We were feeding you, sacrificing. That's the most selfless act right there. And then, as a father, his own children, you know, Dr.
Horn, there's a few questions that come out of this, and we'll wrap up here, but you know. You know, one question is how can we identify authentic teachers. How can we beware and be cautious of charlatans, of false teachers who are, hey, they're dressed up like shepherds, they're flowery, they're sweet. A guy just got elected in Texas in the primary who's, man, this guy sounds like a great preacher. He's quoting scripture and all that, but he has a false view of God, has a false view of marriage, has evil, but he looks, he's so young and nice, and he's so charismatic.
How do we tell who's the true thing, the genuine article, and who's a fraud? And all you have to do is look at this passage. You know, to see. I'm glad you brought that up. I'm actually glad you brought that up because that is exactly what happens here.
So, remember, we said there were three things. that that happening and one of them is how you recognize A beautiful ministry coming out of an authentic life. And that's verses one through four. Paul says, You know, that are coming to you. In other words, you experienced us, you got up close, you touched our lives.
This wasn't delivered over a screen to people you never touched. Paul says, We lived in your midst. And here's what you know about us: number one, in verse three: our message was true. We grounded our method, our message in truth. The gospel that we declared to you, we declared it in truth.
Our motives in verse 3 were also pure. We didn't come with unclean motives or improper motives, and our methods were honest and they were above board. Our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt. And God approved of this. God approved of it.
Just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak not to please men, but to please God who tests. The word test there means to put under examination. for the purpose of proving its authenticity. And that's what happened here. Paul had been tested.
At Philippi, and now he's being tested at Thessalonica by trial and by pressure, just like Jane said. And what is coming out is authenticity. When we minister. Whether it's a Bible study on Wednesday morning or a church on Sunday or a staff meeting on Wednesday at noon, we have to minister out of an authentic life. That has a message that's grounded in truth with motives that are genuine and pure, and with methods that are above board.
There can't be any masks, right? There can't be any coveting. There can't be a cloak of covetousness that he talks about in chapter 2, verse 5. And there can't be any self-glory or any self-promoting. We didn't try to get glory from men, he said in verse 6, but instead it's marked by true gentleness.
We were gentle. I love how you talked about that. And it comes out of deep tenderness, like a nurse cherishing her children. And that tenderness. Is shown in how a mother sacrifices.
Their lives. And that's exactly what Paul does.
So, how do we know they're genuine? They're genuine because of these things that Paul talks about in these verses. How do we know? That this kind of a ministry will actually have. uh i its purpose.
How how how do we know that it will provoke Others to obedient living.
Well, look at verse nine. Paul says, We labored and we travailed.
So that we wouldn't have any, we wouldn't be a burden to you. We didn't come because we knew if we got to you, we could get money. And we could profit from you. But instead, You were witnesses in verse 10, how holy and just and unblameable was our conduct. Our devotion to God, our uprightness in our conduct, our testimony before our enemies.
all gave witness to this. and we were fervent. We were like a father. The Thessalonians understood that right away because if you lived in the Greek world, the father. Of the House had a responsibility not just to provide and not just to protect.
but to form up the children in his home. He was responsible to make sure they became useful and profitable citizens. in Thessalonica. They had to know how to read. They didn't know how to write.
And so the father was the one who took the responsibility to make this happen. Paul said, look. We are taking the responsibility to raise you up so you can be profitable servants. Of God in the church and powerful testimonies and witnesses of the gospel that we brought to you. And we're going to do it as a father would, as your own fathers did it to you, which is why you're so successful here in Thessalonica.
Your spiritual fathers, we are going to do it to you so that you become useful and profitable servants. In the kingdom of God.
So it's a wonderful passage, and you've got the imagery of a steward, the imagery of a nursing mother, and the imagery of a responsible father who are all working out of the same life. And that life is paul. And we have those same roles.
Sometimes we're going to be a responsible steward saying, Look, I don't please men, I please God who entrusted me with this truth.
Sometimes we're going to be like a nursing mother who we're just going to pour our life out, be gentle and tender to hungry, and fussy, and sick, and hurting people. And then we're going to be like a father. We're going to say, Look, I've got to teach you this if you're going to be useful and profitable in the kingdom of God.
So it's a wonderful passage. And I hope our people will be blessed by it. Amen. Before you pray us out of here, Dr. Horn, two quick things.
One, I just can't think of a dad who's delivering pizzas and working three jobs to put his kid through Bible college. You know, he's toil. And I can't help but think of the question that maybe someone would ask this week. What am I sacrificing? How am I laboring so that others can grow closer to Christ?
What am I giving up so that others can have you? You know, have spiritual fruit. You know, I just think about that. I think about all the pastors and all they do, and all we need to pray for them. And the second thing, as we wrap up, and I want you to pray, is you know, I just really want everyone to lean into verse 8, you know, where Paul says, hey, we've not just given you the gospel.
We've given you our very lives. And implicit in the gospel is giving your life. And I think the beautiful thing is, aren't you glad Jesus said that to us? He said, hey, I'm not just giving you this message. Follow me, but I am going to the cross and I'm the good shepherd.
I'm laying my life down for the sheep. And as the Father has sent me, John 20:21, I'm sending you. And this is what the Christian life is. It's selflessly following, walking with Jesus. And then laying our lives down for others.
Paul did it for Thessalonians, he's calling them to do that. In their world, and the gospel sounding forth because of it, Dr. Horne, how encouraging! Yeah, amen, amen. You know, as you were saying that, and we'll pray on this, I love the line at the very end of verse 8.
You know, we were affectionately desirous of you. We were ready to share with you the gospel and not just the gospel, but our own lives. And then he says, This, because. You had become very dear to us. That is stunning to me, right?
I mean Somehow, these Thessalonians had become dear to Paul. How did a Jewish rabbi who used to hate Gentiles? Look at a group of people who he formerly hated, who worship gods he despised. Come to love them. How could he talk like this?
And there's only one force, there's only one thing big enough. to produce that in the heart of two people who normally in their past lives would never have tolerated each other. And it's the gospel. The gospel brought this about. How can you learn to love your enemies?
How can you learn to do good to those that hurt you? How can you restore love to a marriage where you're not even sure you want to be with this person? And you certainly, if you could go back 20 years, you wouldn't do it again. How does God fix that? And the answer is the gospel.
The Spirit of God does a work. In the heart of the people who receive it and who are trained by it. Paul said in Romans: We have delivered you over, we've handed you over to a standard of truth. that is training you. And that standard of truth is the gospel.
And you know, if we can just help our people understand that we don't just need the gospel as a ticket to get to heaven, the gospel is a teacher that trains us on the way to heaven so that our lives become like Paul. And we can look at people in our family, we can look at people in our community, we can look at even our enemies and say, with sincerity, you have become very dear. To me. Only the gospel can do that. And that's what's happening here in the life of Paul.
And that's what I want to happen in my life. And that's what we need to pray will happen in the lives of all of our listeners. Lord, we are grateful for your kindness. to us in giving us such a powerful word. and not just a word in Thessalonians, but the word about your son, the gospel that changes us.
Lord, when it showed up at Thessalonica, it worked powerfully in the lives of people. When it showed up on the road to Damascus, it worked powerfully in the life of Paul so that years later, he could look at these people who he would have formerly despised and hated and said, You are dear to me. And so, Lord, the gospel takes enemies and makes them friends. And you did that, Lord. We were at enemy with you.
We were in open hostility against you. And the gospel didn't just make a peace. It turned us into friends. And so, Lord, we thank you that you love us. And the testimony of that is the witness of the Spirit that sheds that love abroad in us.
And I pray as we go through this book that it would be powerful. In Jesus' name. Thank you, Dr. Horn, and thank you for joining us for this Wednesday in the Word podcast. Learn more at wedintheword.com.
Follow us on YouTube, Facebook, and all social media, including in Stu Graham. And be encouraged, stay in the Word. Read it. Share it, study it, memorize it, and Meditate on God's Word. Every word of God is pure.
He is a shield to those who put their trust in him. Proverbs 30 verse 5.
