1 Thess. 2:1-16 “Commending the Truth We Proclaim”

1:11It is to prevent employees from intentionally or unintentionally exceeding that speed limit and therefore driving in an unsafe manner. And as I was preparing to preach this morning, in this text in 1 Thessalonians 2, where it talks so much. About Paul and all of the sacrifices that he and his companions made for the sake of the gospel, I began to wonder: does my Christianity have a governor on it? In other words, is there a certain limit to how much time and money and energy and effort that I'm willing to put into my faith in Jesus Christ?

2:05Is there a point at which I would say, I'm willing to spend this much, I'm willing to do this much, I'm willing to give this much, but no more. I think the reality is, for myself and for every one of us, our faith probably does have a governor on it. That's a hard thing to admit because no Christian wants to say that they're anything less than fully committed to Christ. And while I think that most of us would say, I'm willing to die for Jesus, I'm willing to die for my faith, and I think at whatever level we really mean that, the reality is that our day-to-day lives tell a different story.

2:56That maybe we're not as committed as we should be or as we. We think we are because our Christianity, in some sense, has this governor on it. In our text this morning, Paul is going to defend his ministry from the slanderous charges that were leading the young believers in Thessalonica to doubt both his message and his character. And as you may recall, Paul and his companions came to Thessalonica, but they only ministered there for a brief period because the Jews stirred up the crowds against them. It was so bad that the Christians smuggled Paul and Silas out of the city in the middle of the night, and Paul had not been back to visit these young Christians ever since that happened. And the fact that they stayed such a short time and left in the middle of the night gave his critics ammunition.

3:49They said, Who is this guy? He showed up out of nowhere. He taught you some strange things for a few weeks, and then as soon as things got hard, he ran away in the middle of the night. He only wanted your money, he only wanted your approval. And now that he can't have those things, he's gone. So just forget him and his message. So today, Paul is going to refute those charges by reminding them of the way that they lived the entire time they were in Thessalonica, which couldn't be denied because these men and women were eyewitnesses. Of these things. They knew that this was true.

4:34So in the text, we're going to see that our lives must commend the truth, that the Word of God is the truth, and that we will suffer for proclaiming the truth. All of that can be boiled down into the statement: our lives must commend the truth we proclaim. Let's take a look at the text together here in 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 1. Paul begins, For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain.

5:10You yourselves know. Paul reminds them again and again of what they saw with their own eyes. Look at the middle of verse 2. As you know. Look at the middle of verse 5. As you know. Look at the beginning of verse 9. For you remember. Look at the beginning of verse 10. You are witnesses. Look at the beginning of verse 11. For you know. People had been spreading lies about Paul and Silas, their conduct and their motives, and it was having an effect on this young church. If it wasn't having an effect on this young church, he wouldn't have bothered to say anything. The haters are going to hate. What's the point of addressing something when most of the time it's not going to lead to any changes or any good outcome? But in this case, he can't ignore them because what they're saying is having an effect. They're calling his character and their character into question, which calls their entire message into question.

6:23Because, friends, the simple truth of life is that our lives either reinforce or call into question what we say. We all know that. That's why you can't trust a politician who cheats on his wife. You can't trust a politician who steals money. Because we know deep down inside that our lives have to back up what we're saying. And so Paul has to address these things. And to do that, in verses 2 through 12, he's going to contrast the motives and the actions of false messengers with the motives and actions of God's messengers. Let's start with the marks of false messengers, which we can summarize as fear of man, selfishness, and a life of hypocrisy. First, false messengers are marked by fear of man.

7:29You can see All throughout these verses, that these false messengers are afraid of suffering and conflict, and that's because they idolize comfort and the praise of men. So they do the opposite of what Paul and Silas did. They teach error because it's more palatable. And they flatter their hearers to win their applause because what do they want ultimately? They want the praise and approval that comes from man. That's what's most important to them. They fear man.

8:02Second, false messengers are marked by selfishness. They're marked by selfishness. Unlike Paul and Silas, these men are not willing to work hard, but they expect other people to work hard to support their indulgent lifestyles. They're unwilling to share their lives and they don't take responsibility for their hearers because, after all, to them, this is just a business transaction. I come and teach you things, you pay me money. I say things that you like to hear, you give me more money. That's how they operated.

8:40Third, false messengers are marked by a life of hypocrisy. Externally, they might say the right things, but Paul says very clearly here that internally they are marked by greed. They are marked by this desire for glory. They pretend to love people, but they use people to become rich and famous and to build their own platforms. So as soon as an opportunity arises to become wealthier or more famous, they leave the people that they profess to love so dearly.

9:19These, friends, are the characteristics of false messengers: fear of man, selfishness, and a life of hypocrisy. But Paul and Silas did not bear these marks. Instead, they bore the marks of God's messengers, which we can summarize as fear of God, sacrifice, and a life of integrity. First, God's messengers are marked by a fear of God. You might remember that right before they came to Thessalonica, they were preaching the gospel in Philippi. And as their ministry had a great effect and lives were being transformed, they were arrested and beaten with rods and thrown into prison. And so it would be perfectly understandable upon their release if they just went back home and said, you know what? We've suffered a lot. We've done our part. Now it's time for other people to pick up where we left off and carry the ministry forward. But they didn't do that. They went straight down the road to Thessalonica, where they knew that they would probably encounter marriage. More opposition and even possibly opposition from the exact same group of people, which is what happened. Many people rose up and opposed them. Although they were experiencing those things, they still went to the synagogue, they still declared boldly the gospel of God, aware that they could suffer the same fate or worse.

10:49But, friends, they weren't trying to please man, they were only aiming to please God, who tests every heart. God's messengers are marked by fear of God. Second, God's messengers are marked by sacrifice. Paul says in verse 6 that they could have made demands as apostles of Christ. In other words, they could have made financial demands. They could have said, We, according to Jesus, are worthy of our wages, and so you need to support us. But they didn't do that. Instead, they made the sacrificial decision, if you look at verse 9, to work night and day that they might not be a burden to any of the Thessalonians. Additionally, they describe their demeanor as that of loving parents. Look at verse 7.

11:43But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. Look at verse 11. For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a Manner worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. See, false messengers don't sacrifice for the good of others, but God's messengers do. They look at the people that they're serving like a mother, like a father, look at their own children. That life requires constant sacrifice. It requires daily, hourly, minute-by-minute decisions to do the hard things that are required if you're going to raise up someone, a child, to full maturity. That's how they describe their ministry. It was marked by sacrifice.

12:41And then, third and finally, God's messengers are marked by a life of integrity. Take a look at verse 3. He says, for our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive. Instead, look at verse 10. He says, you are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. If you think back to Jesus' ministry in Matthew 23, he is pronouncing woes on all of these different religious leaders. And he has especially harsh words for the scribes and the Pharisees. And the reason for that is they preach, but they don't practice.

13:31They do all their deeds to be seen by others. In other words, they are hypocrites. They say one thing, but then live a completely different life. But, friends, Paul and Silas weren't like that. They did not take advantage of anybody. They did not have inappropriate relationships with women. They did not mishandle finances. They didn't flatter because they were greedy and glory-driven. No, instead, their motives were pure. Their conduct was above reproach. Nobody could make a credible charge against them.

14:14And so, friends, this provides us an opportunity for self-reflection this morning. Would you say that your own life is characterized by the fear of God, by sacrifice? Is your life one of integrity? I think if we're honest, we would say that there have been many instances where we have feared man rather than God. Over this past week, I started and almost finished Charles Coulson's autobiography called Born Again. It's such a great read, and he was talking about these early days after he became a Christian. And this is in the wake of the Watergate scandal, and he's appearing on TV. And he has chances to talk about his new faith in Christ. But again and again, in those early days, he found himself stumbling along and unwilling to make a full-throated defense of his faith in Christ and of the gospel itself. And as he reflected on that, he realized this is because of the fear of man, that there was still this pride in him that said, I want to be perceived and thought of highly by others because he had spent his whole life searching for those things.

15:35And friends, we may never be special counsel to the President of the United States as Charles Coulson once was, but all of us, if we are honest with ourselves, do care about what other people think. Does your life reflect a fear of God or a fear of man? What about sacrifice? We talked about that concept of having a governor on a car. What about the governor on our lives? Have you in some way said that I am willing to give this much time to my own discipleship or to the discipleship of others, but no more? I'm willing to give this much energy to my non-Christian friends and neighbors and coworkers, but no more. I'm willing to give this much money to my local church or to missionaries or to other great causes, but no more. No more.

16:32Is your life marked by sacrifice? Or do you have that governor on it that says, I'm willing to go this far, but no further? And then is your life a life of integrity? Is there any reason that your coworkers could look at you, the way you spend your time at the office, the way you use the company credit card, the way you handle yourself while you're there? Is there any part of your life where people might look at it and say, oh, I didn't know that he or she was a Christian because I didn't think Christians did those kinds of things.

17:16Is your life above reproach? Not that you're perfect. No one is perfect but Jesus. But is your life lived in such a way that no credible charge could be made against you? That you are sinning in some open or hidden way that others know about. Friends, these are the things that must mark our lives, and they are the things that mark the lives of Paul and his companions. Our lives must commend the truth. So let's look now at verse 13, where we're reminded that the word of God is truth.

17:54Verse 13. And we also thank God constantly for the truth. This, that when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the Word of men, but as what it really is, the Word of God, which is at work in you believers. There are a handful of statements in the New Testament that reveal that the apostles knew that they were speaking and writing the very word of God. And this is one of them. Paul understood that what he spoke, what he wrote, what he proclaimed to the Thessalonians was not his opinion or someone else's opinion, but the word of God. And God's Word is truth.

18:53Remember John chapter 17 when Jesus was praying the high priestly prayer? He prayed this: Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth. When we preach through the Gospel of John, we noted that Jesus does not pray, Your Word is true, as though the Word of God has to conform to some external standard that exists out there in the universe known as truth. He doesn't say, Your word is true, He says, Your Word is truth. God's Word. Is the standard by which all other things are judged. Things are only to be judged true or false insofar as they conform to the Word of God. Your Word is truth. Anything that contradicts God's Word is false.

19:50So Paul thanks God that when the Thessalonians received the Word of God, which they heard from him and his companions, they did not accept it as the Word of men. That is, they didn't just hear it as another teaching that you could accept or reject if you were so inclined. No, they heard it. They received it. They accepted it for what it really was, the very Word of God. And according to Paul's final phrase, that was made all the more clear because the Word was at work in you believers.

20:28Look what Isaiah said about the Word of God and its power. He said, For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose. And shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

21:06Friends, God's word never returns empty. It always accomplishes the exact purposes for which he spoke it. Through his word, he raises those who are dead in sin to new life. Just as he physically, Jesus physically rose Lazarus from the dead by simply speaking his word into the tomb. Lazarus, come out. That is how powerful the word of God is. And we're told in Acts chapter 17 that when Paul and Silas went to Thessalonica and they preached the word, that some of the Jews and many Greeks and many devout women came to faith because the powerful word of God brought them new life. It took them from a place of spiritual death to a place of spiritual life.

22:02And now God's word is sustaining them through this long period of suffering and persecution that they're enduring at the hands of their fellow countrymen. Again, we saw in Acts chapter 17 that Jason, who was housing Paul and Silas and his companions, that he was dragged along with some of the other Christians before the officers of the court, that they were reprimanded and fined, that his house was attacked. This man is a new Christian, and right away he's experiencing suffering for the Word of God. Right off the bat, he paid a price for following Jesus. His home, his reputation, his wallet all took a hit for receiving the word of God.

22:49Brothers and sisters, what we have received and what we proclaim to others is not the opinions of men and women, they're not our own opinions, but it is the very word of God. Look on the screen, it's 2 Peter chapter 1. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Knowing this, first of all, listen to this, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

23:45What we believe and what we proclaim did not come from man, but from God. The apostles, the authors of Scripture, spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. They preached. Christ, His message, His miracles, His life and death and resurrection, and their word resulted in the greatest miracle of all. People dead in sin being given new life and being raised up to walk forever, completely transformed. So, when you, like the Thessalonians, ever begin to doubt what you believe and begin to have questions, as we all do from time to time, about the scriptures and where they came from, remember that the authors of Scripture claimed to be speaking the very word of God.

24:41And the fact that it is the very word of God can be seen in its effects in bringing the dead to life and bringing the complete transformation in your own life that you have enjoyed for a few weeks or a few months or many decades. God's Word is powerful. Our lives must commend the truth we proclaim, and the Word of God is the truth. What we see in the last three verses is that suffering, then, comes from proclaiming the truth. Let's pick up in verse 14.

25:23For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are. In Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind, by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But God's wrath has come upon them at last.

26:03To the natural person who is dead in sin, the gospel of Jesus Christ is an offensive, foolish message. That is what Paul writes to the Corinthians. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 1 on the screen. For Jews demand signs, and Greeks seek wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews, and folly to Gentiles. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Look at 1 Corinthians 2:14.

26:45The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. A stumbling block. Foolishness. This is what the gospel is. This is what the gospel sounds like to the natural person, to the one who is dead in sin. That's how some of the Jews and the Gentiles in Thessalonica heard the gospel. That it was nothing more than foolishness, that it was just a stumbling block. And so they persecuted the new believers, which is what Paul is talking about in verse 14.

27:28And friends, by bringing up the churches of Judea, Paul is reminding them that what is happening to them is normal and expected in the Christian life. Persecution is normal and expected in the Christian life. And the Christians in Judea had been going through this for years. The Jews of that area had already killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets. The Jews in Thessalonica drove Paul and Silas out. Then they pursued them to Berea and drove them out of that city. Then they followed them all the way down to Athens and created trouble there. They hindered them at every stop from proclaiming Christ to the Gentiles. And by doing so, they displeased God and opposed all mankind, filling up the measure of their sins. But Paul says that God's wrath has come upon them at last.

28:28And if you think back to Jesus' Ministry. In some of his last public statements in John chapter 12, God answers Jesus from heaven. And then the crowd says that it had thundered. And here's what Jesus says in response: This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

29:06Now is the judgment of this world. Earlier in his ministry, he was meeting with Nicodemus privately. And he told Nicodemus that whoever believes in the Son is not condemned. But whoever does not believe in the Son of God is condemned already. Now is the judgment of this world. But until Christ returns, unbelievers are not going to experience the wrath and the judgment against them for their sin. And they will go on persecuting Christians. So, friends, we must be ready. We must be prepared to be persecuted. Look at what Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

30:00He says, all, not some, not most, all who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted. Look what 1 Peter says, chapter 4. Peter says, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. Here in verse 16, Paul is reminding the Thessalonians that persecution is to be expected. It is normal for every follower of Jesus who himself was persecuted. We go on living lives that commend the truth. We proclaim the truth in the face of persecution because we believe that Jesus rose from the dead.

30:56Because we believe with all of our hearts that he's coming back again to make all things right. Friends, those who have received him and his word by faith will not bear God's wrath because Jesus bore all of God's wrath on the cross for us. There is no more wrath to bear. We don't fear death or judgment. Instead, we look forward to the day when Christ returns and his glory is going to be revealed, and we will all be rewarded.

31:30Because on that day, perfect justice will be executed. And all of the suffering and the persecution that we endured will seem light and momentary and worth it. Those who have not received him and his word by faith will bear God's wrath. Because that is the just punishment for anyone who has rebelled against the king and creator of all of the universe and of each and every one of us individually. If you have not repented of your sins and turned to Christ in faith, confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will bear the wrath of God when Jesus returns. That is his promise, and that is what is just. Because God is perfect and holy, and he cannot allow any sin, any injustice, to go unpunished. We would not want there to be a God like that who overlooked sin, who overlooked injustice. That would be a terrible world to live in. Instead, the world that we do live in is one in which God perfectly punishes all evildoers, or he punishes his son in their place. No sin goes unpunished. That is the hope of the gospel: those who trust in Christ have their sins placed upon him, all of God's wrath. Placed upon Jesus, and all of his righteousness and truth and justice is credited to us in his place.

33:12Brothers and sisters, our lives should be marked by fear of God, by sacrifice, and by integrity. Because, like Paul and his fellow ministers, we have been entrusted with the gospel. We are God's ambassadors. We represent him, and we want his name to be honored and his message to be received. Perhaps our lives are undermining the gospel that we have been called to proclaim because we aren't willing to sacrifice time, energy, and money for the cause of Christ. Leading unbelievers around us to conclude they don't really think that this is worth it.

33:58Or maybe we're undermining the gospel because we're afraid of people and what they think of us rather than being afraid of God and what he thinks of us. Leading unbelievers to conclude they don't really believe that this is true. Paul and Silas lived the way that they did because they believed the glorious gospel of grace. It had captured their hearts and minds. And so, Christians, let us. Allow the gospel to capture our hearts and minds afresh this morning. Consider the wonder of the fact that Jesus lived and died and rose again for us to give us a hope in a future and has called us to be his ambassadors on this earth until he returns. What a wonder. What a privilege. May we live lives that commend the truth we proclaim.

34:57Let's pray. Father, the gospel of your son, Jesus, is our great hope. We have no hope apart from his sinless life, death, and resurrection. So we pray this morning that we would believe the gospel to the extent that there is no discernible governor on our lives. There is no limit to what we will give in terms of energy, time, money, resources for the cause of Christ. We pray that you would help us to fear you rather than to care about what other people think about us at work, in our classrooms, on our teams, in our neighborhood.

36:29May we live for you and you alone. Help us, Father, to live lives that commend the truth we proclaim. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.