Question

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NOT AS A HUMAN WORD, BUT THE WORD OF GOD

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

Key Verse: 2:13

1. What did Paul¹ want the Thessalonians to realize (1)? What had been Paul’s condition and how could he preach the gospel to them (2; Ac 16:22-25)? How is God’s intention and purpose revealed through this (Ac 16:9)?

2. How did Paul defend his ministry from false accusations (3-6a)? What motivated him to preach the gospel (4; Ac 9:15; Gal 2:7)? What can gospel workers learn about motivation?

3. What authority did Paul have and how did he use it (6b-7a)? What do the words “nursing mother” imply (7b-8)? How had Paul expressed his love for them? Why is it important to share life together as well as the gospel message?

4. How did Paul live a life worthy of God among them (9-10)? How did this affect his gospel preaching? What do the words “as a father deals with his own children” tell us about their relationship (11)? What did he do and for what purpose (12)?

5. Read verse 13. What did Paul continually thank God for? What did he mean by “the word of God”? What difference does it make to view it as the word of God, not as a human word? Why is it so important to accept the word of God as it actually is (2Ti 3:15-17)?

6. In what respect did they imitate God’s churches in Judea and how did this encourage them (14)? How does Paul describe the enemies of the gospel (15-16a)? What happens to them (16b)?

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Attachment

• 1Th 020116.que.docx

Message

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Pure Motive and Genuine Love

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

Key Verse: 2:8 “so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.”

Last week in chapter 1 we learned about Paul’s thanksgiving for the Thessalonians’ faith. Paul was thankful for their faith - that they turned from their idols to serve the living and true God. Paul was thankful because the Thessalonians had received the word of God in the midst of severe opposition and persecution. Their life of faith became a good example and a role model to other Christians in Macedonia and Achaia. Paul said 1:2, “We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers”. We sent out Michael’s family yesterday. Let us pray for them to live lives worthy of God’s grace so that they may also be good examples as a house church and as Christian role models. Amen.

In chapter 2 Paul teaches us how he served the Thessalonians while he stayed there. In chapter 1 we learned about the characteristics of the Thessalonians’ faith and in chapter 2 we will learn about the characteristics of Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica. Through this passage may God test our hearts and purify our motivations in doing God’s work so that we may live lives worthy of God. Amen.

First, he served the Lord with pure motives (1-6) Paul and his companions stayed in Thessalonica for three weeks and preached the gospel in a Jewish synagogue. Then they left hurriedly for Berea, escaping persecutions from the Jews. Their sudden departure seemed like a failure of Paul’s ministry. But that was not the case. Paul said in verse 1. “You know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not without results.” Here, ‘results’ indicates fruits. Indeed, Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica was fruitful despite the shortness of his visit. The Christians in the Thessalonian church were God’s fruits through Paul’s ministry. Later Paul said to them in 2:20, “Indeed, you are our glory and joy.” Paul’s labor for the Lord was not in vain. Our labor for the Lord is not in vain, either. As you know, God’s love never fails. God’s love won’t fade. Sometimes our labor of love seems to be useless. Our effort and sacrifice for God’s kingdom look fruitless. Our daily fishing, weekly serving, and monthly offering seem aimless. But this is not true. There is no losing business in God’s ministry. In all things God works for the good of those who love him and for his kingdom. Therefore, Paul said in Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Amen.

While Paul and his companions stayed in Thessalonica, they served the Thessalonians with motherly love and fatherly care. In verse 7 Paul said, “…Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you”. In verse 11 Paul said, “For you know that we dealt with each of you, as a father deals with his own children…” But after Paul left for other cities, some in the church falsely maligned Paul’s motivation in his ministry. The doubters did not understand Paul’s genuine love and care for the Thessalonians. Paul and his companions were strangers in their eyes. The strangers were too nice for them to accept. People don’t put their trust in strangers or foreigners as much as they do in their neighbors. As a landlord, I demand more creditable and reliable references from non-resident applicants than from local people. To the eyes of the doubters, Paul’s preaching and serving seemed to have hidden motives, mainly for financial benefit or his self-glory. According to 2 Corinthians, Paul encouraged the Thessalonian believers to contribute for relief of the poor in the Jerusalem church. Above all, Paul’s sacrificial love and care for the Thessalonians looked too good to believe.

When American missionaries arrived in Korea at the end of 19^th century, Korean people were afraid of the missionaries. This was not because the missionaries were tall and looked different, but because some people believed that American missionaries would kidnap their children and eat them. It took quite a long time for Koreans to change their view of American missionaries and to appreciate their sacrificial love and care. When we invite students to Bible study with big smiles and with kindness, they may become suspicious about our motivation. They wonder why we are so nice and humble to them, whereas other many people they meet are rude and arrogant. So some students close their hearts immediately when we are too nice to them. This is not only our story, but Jesus’ story, too. Jesus had compassion on a Samaritan woman who suffered from her sin, and he wanted to help her. So Jesus initiated a conversation with her with great humility and sincerity What was her response to Jesus’ favor? Her response was very defiant. She did not understand Jesus’ genuine love and compassion for her. The Thessalonians did not understand Paul’s genuine love and care for them. So some maligned Paul and his companions.

How did Paul defend himself and his ministry? Look at verses 3-6. “For the appeal we make does not spring from error of impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed---God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from people, nor from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority.” Paul said that he did all this with pure motives and genuine love. Here, the word “error” means “deceit” or “trick.” Paul did not serve them with deceitful desire or impure motives for the sake of his selfish benefit or glory. Instead, he did all for the glory of God. He served and cared for them in order to please God. Paul said that God would test his heart. He meant that he did all this with a clear conscience before God, and that God was the witness of his genuine love.

Here we learn about the first motivation of Paul’s ministry. Paul did it all to please God. Whether he ate or drank or served or cared, he did all these for the glory of God. What is your motivation for your fishing, teaching, caring, serving, and even worshiping? It should be for the glory of God. We must do all to please God. How can we please God? We please God when we do his will. What is God’s will? God’s will is to bring His kingdom to this world. This is why Jesus asked his disciples to pray like this, “Our Father in heaven. Hallowed be Your name, Your Kingdom Come, and Your will be done…” (Mt 6:9,10) Paul brought God’s kingdom to the Thessalonians by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. According to Acts 17:2,3, “…Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days, he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.” In the past, the Thessalonians worshiped idols. When they served their idols, they were possessed by all kinds of evil spirits. They were slaves to Satan. But since they accepted Jesus Christ as their Messiah and Lord, they were free from the hand of Satan and they became children of God. They shared God’s promises and inheritance as the Jews had. When they repented based on the gospel, the kingdom of God came into their hearts.

This hour, God will test our hearts and our motivations in following him, worshipping him, and serving his sheep. We do all these for the glory of God, in order to please Him. Let us pray that God’s kingdom may come and His will be done on this earth through us. Amen.

Second, Paul served them with motherly love and fatherly care. In verses 7-12 we learn how Paul served the Thessalonians. Look at verses 7b-12. “Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.” Paul served the Thessalonians like a nursing mother. How does a nursing mother care for her baby? A nursing mother doesn’t care about herself and sacrifices everything for her baby. She often wakes up in the middle of night in order to feed her hungry baby and to change his or her diaper. She cares for her baby 24/7 as the apple of her eye. The Thessalonian believers were just like spiritual babies. They needed spiritual care from their shepherd, Paul. Paul served them and cared for them with motherly love.

Paul also served them with fatherly care and discipline. Look at verses 11 and 12 again. Here the word, “encouraging” means “admonishing” in Greek (parakalountes). Paul served the Thessalonians with great patience. He also admonished them to live lives worthy of God. He did not condone their sin, but challenged them to repent so that they might turn from their idols to the true and living God. Paul also comforted them with the hope of God. While living as Christians, they received lots of challenges. Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:12, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” The Thessalonian Christians received persecutions from their own people. Paul encouraged them and comforted them with heavenly hope. What is the image of a father? The image of father is protection, provision, and guidance. It is the image of a good shepherd. Paul was a good shepherd for the Thessalonians.

Some might ask, “Why?” Why did Paul serve them with motherly love and fatherly care? Why did Paul sacrifice himself for the Thessalonians? He answered this in verse 8. “...so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much…” Here we learn Paul’s second motivation for serving the Thessalonians. It was because he loved them so much. How could Paul, a Jewish stranger, love the Thessalonian gentiles so much, sometimes like a mother and sometimes like a father? Don’t ask about the motivation of love. There is no reason in love. If love has any reason to be answered, it is not love anymore. You can’t ask a nursing mother, “Why do you love your baby so much?” She will just answer, “I love my baby because she is my baby!” To Paul, the Thessalonians were his children who needed his care and love. Paul gave his heart and all his affection to them. He could do so because Jesus did this for him. Jesus loved Paul so much, even though Paul did not deserve it. As Paul confessed in 1 Corinthians 15:9, Paul was a persecutor of Jesus. He arrested many Christians in Jerusalem and put them into prison. He was the worst enemy of Christians. But Christ forgave Paul. Christ Jesus first visited Paul, forgave him, and called him to be a blessing to the Gentiles. Paul did not love Jesus first, but Jesus loved Paul first. Paul was moved by Jesus’ love. He confessed, in the book of Romans, “But God demonstrated his own love for us in this; while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Ro 5:8)

American missionaries suffered much in evangelizing Korea in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Many of them were killed by ignorant Korean regimes. As our HBF reported in the Missionary Symposium during the Easter Conference, an American missionary, Robert J. Thomas, was killed by a Korean mob even before he set his foot on Korea. When we visit the missionaries’ tomb in Seoul Korea, called “Yang Hwa Jin”, there are several tombs of missionaries’ little children who had died of illness. These little flowers fell even before they blossomed. Why did the missionaries sacrifice their family, career, and even their lives in this foreign land? It was because they loved Jesus and Korea so much. It is not difficult for us to love good people. But it is difficult for us to love rebellious, proud, and ignorant people. To the eyes of the American missionaries, all the Korean people were their children, who needed God’s salvation. Do you love your students as Paul loved the Thessalonians? For what purpose do we sacrifice, serve, and care for others? What is our motivation in doing all these things? I pray that all our labor, love, toil, service, and sacrifice may be done in order to please God. I pray that all these may be done with the genuine love of Christ Jesus, who loved us and died for us. Amen!

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• 1 Thessa 2- message-revised.docx