Mothers & Fathers, 1 Thessalonians, 2
1 Thessalonians 2 · Vern Peterman · Sep 4, 2005
Ephesians & Colossians, No. 80
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4826233262854

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

One of the things that we're doing here, we've been through six weeks on marriage. We are now in the second of two weeks on Christian parents and children. There's a supplemental handout in the lobby on the cabinet on the right as you exit. Feel free to take advantage of that if you would like. And as we have this passage here, I'm not trying to duplicate the colors of the flag of Gambia. That just happened to be how it worked out in order to make the differentiation. And that's this.

The first section, the red section there, is Paul makes reference to a nursing mother. The next section there is as a father. And finally, how you received the Word of God. And what we're doing is this. We're looking at this passage here from this standpoint. Paul has just been to this church like months before. He's now writing them a letter. Timothy having brought word of how things are going with the church there and As what happened from time to time there was a sense of one reminding them of the closeness that they felt and how they sacrificed on behalf of these people and And then additionally, as Paul did so, he made comparisons with a nursing mother and a father and how they received it. And so we really get two lines of lesson here. Let's take a look at the background.

Here's Paul, and he takes off on this missionary journey, roughly around 50 AD, and months later, riding the first Thessalonians. And so the time of his writing was shortly after he had been there himself. He was writing from, you know, recent contacts, recent memory, and with Timothy having come down to see him with the latest news, how are they doing? Now, here's the map of Paul's second journey, and we're going to zero in on this section of it here. So ready for the zoom? Okay. All right. There we are.

Thessalonica is the church that he's writing to. And he himself, Paul himself is in Corinth, and his friends who have been in Thessalonica have now come down to give him the news. How are they doing? Thessalonica is now a major city with urban development, but it also has remnants, as you see in the foreground of this picture, of the old city. And Corinth is still very much visible and available for people to look at.

Now, Paul is writing about this ministry and the believer's reception of it. And so there's a couple of ways that we can take from this, learn from it. One is simply to say, I'm going to learn from this passage about what's the characteristic of ministry. How should I carry on my own personal ministry? I'm not talking about just someone who's in a position of being an elder or a pastor, but talking about the ministry that all of us have as believers. Every one of us as believers has some ministry. And so we can draw from this passage lessons of that kind.

There also, however, is a comparison that he makes because he says, I was like a mother. And he lays out what that was like. And he says, and we were all also like a father. And he describes what that's like. So it gives us essentially the characteristics of a godly mother and godly father. What does that look like? What does that look like in real life? Now, so here's the comparison that he makes here. We proved to be gentle among you as a nursing mother. Wait a minute. Well, there's one of those that's a little funny. Anyway, okay.

What Paul does, he describes a godly mother here as the characteristic of the team's ministry among the believers there in Thessalonica. And one of the things I think to keep in mind as he is writing this, he's writing to young believers. These are people who have been believers for at most some number of months and no longer than that. So they're all young believers.

So his comparisons are along that line. One of the words that he uses here, he talks about gentle. He says, we were gentle among you. And so he describes this calm kindness towards the children, and that's one of the godly characteristics that he has.

And by the way, he also exhorts Timothy, 2 Timothy 2.24, Paul's last letter that we have possession of. He exhorts Timothy to show that same gentleness, uses the same word, towards everyone that he has ministry with. Now he says, among you, and you might just look at that and say, well, that's fine and pass on it.

But one key thing, and that is that ministry, whether we're talking about ministry of ourselves among others, or the ministry of a mother with the children, it's among. It's among. It is in contact with, it's not separate from, isolated from, aloof from, but it's among. It's right in the thick of things. Sometimes you might think a little too thick, but nonetheless, it's right in the thick of things.

How did he describe it also? He says that she tenderly cares. It's the same word that Paul has used to describe the way that Christ cares for the church. There is a caring for, a tenderness, and the idea is that it's a nourishment towards growth. A nourishment towards growth. It's the idea that I care about this person, or in the case of a mother, this child, and I wish to nourish towards growth.

That's what I long to do. That's what's deep-seated in the heart. And he describes a so fond affection, it desires a personal closeness and it cherishes, it looks towards the well-being of the one that is being cared for. All those things wrapped up into one. Now, and notice how he carries that out.

We had so fond an affection for you that this We were well pleased to impart to you not only the Gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you have become very dear to us." There was an increasing dearness in the relationship, and that's something that's also described here. He says, because you have become very dear to us, and you could kind of turn it around, because you've become very dear to us, what? We were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our very own lives.

This is also the description of a godly mother. It's not only a self-giving, but it's also a giving of the Lord. What does the Lord have from me that I can pass along to my children? That's the question that Paul is answering here. A godly mother then is motivated, she gives of her life and also to impart the gospel. Why? Because in Him is life. He is our life. And she wishes to impart that as well. So it's not only all the things at a physical and emotional level, but at a spiritual level as well.

Now, the word behind well-pleased here is interesting. It has the idea of both taking pleasure and making a choice. Nice combination there, huh? There is a choice to be made there, to impart, and there's a pleasure in it, both. And he connects those up in one word here. And this word imparting also has an interesting implication to it.

It's giving a part of what one has so as to share. Giving a part of what one has so as to share. There is a continuous sharing that characterizes the ministry, It also characterizes this mother's love, this godly mother's love for her child. This godly mother then, if we put these thoughts together, she chooses and takes pleasure in sharing. Sharing what?

Sharing from who she is and what she has physically, emotionally, and spiritually. As a matter of fact, you could keep adding to that list, couldn't you? Things like wisdom. Along with that, some life experience. Things to share in terms of skills. Bring along, here's some practical knowledge you need to have. All these things she is sharing. And notice something about this sharing.

The sharing doesn't diminish what you have. When you share the Lord with someone else, does that diminish what you have? No. So it's a sharing, especially in the spiritual realm, where the sharing does not reduce what you have. I'd even venture to say it increases what you have to share.

Now, then he spells out here, he says, For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship for how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaim to you the gospel of God. Now, the truth is, what's Paul describing? He is describing the difficulty that he and his ministry team had, because they didn't want to go and burden people by constantly going around asking for money. So they worked day and night, probably in Paul's tent making trade. I can imagine Paul saying, look, you cut along here, and you sew this together, and you go and buy this stuff, and when we get this thing done in the morning, we'll go out and sell it, okay? Things like that, and he would work just constantly in order not to burden the people.

Well, this isn't necessarily an automatic comparison to mothers, but there's no question, being a mother is tough duty and calls for a lot of work, okay? So, he's perhaps not describing the mother's situation explicitly, but the comparison is still realistic. Oh boy. Now, then he goes on to as a father. Here, what is he doing?

He is conveying to these people the way that his team carried on ministry, and he makes the comparison to a godly father. So we both have instruction, insight into what godly ministry looks like, and we have insight into the characteristics of a godly father. What is the place and the role of a godly father? What should a godly father be living out?

These are good things to know. Notice, he says, you are witnesses, and so is God. And it's interesting. Among human witnesses, it is possible to fool people. People can, for periods of time, be fooled. God is never fooled. God always sees things as they are. And one of the key things to look at in both parenting and ministry, while certainly the witness of other people is valid, what God thinks and what God sees is ultimately the most important, isn't it? It's how does God view this? What's God's perspective on this set of circumstances that we're in? How does God see this?

Now he begins to describe the characteristic of that father, or how they ministered as a father, and he uses this word devoutly. We have the word that's translated holy and the related word saint, and we've seen that described in a number of the books that we've studied, certainly in Ephesians and Colossians. But this is a word that kind of goes a little different direction It isn't holy in position or holy as a purely spiritual characteristic, but it's holiness lived out. It's what does holiness look like. What does it look like? It's when it's got flesh and skin on it. It's real time, real life reality. That's what he's describing here.

He says, the way that we lived among you was not hypothetically holy. It was real holy. Not real holy as being unworldly or just outrageous, but it was in real life had a character of holiness that you could see. It was real. Next, he says, uprightly and besides just standing up, the idea here is this is righteousness lived out. There is a righteousness that is characteristic of Christ Himself that gets lived out. Christ the Righteous One lived through us. That's the way to carry on ministry.

And it's also what children need to see, and certainly both the mother and father, but he's describing it here as the father particularly. The next one he has is blamelessly. Now, blame is something That's easy for human beings to fall into, isn't it?

But he's saying we lived blamelessly. What does that mean? It means no basis for a charge or accusation. No basis for a charge or accusation. Somebody couldn't point the finger and have a justifiable claim. This father lived out his life. in this godly father he describes, in such a way that no charge could be made, no blame could be pointed to him. Just as you know how we were, and now he begins using verbs that are not just description of characteristic, but action. We were exhorting each one.

This is parakaleo. It is a word that means one call alongside Parakletos is the word used for the Holy Spirit as the comforter. It's a word used repeatedly in the first chapter of 2 Corinthians. And it's one to come alongside. This goes along with the among that we saw earlier describing the woman. The father is one who needs to not be aloof, distant, and constantly gone, but needs to come alongside. That's the character of, first of all, godly ministry. It is the calling of the Father, and secondly, of the Father, one who comes alongside. And that calling alongside is not just being there, but it comes with a kind of a double force of action.

It is calling to a specific action, as well as the comfort and encouragement needed to carry that out. Even if you're raising a couple of cowboys, Then there was this encouraging. What he's done is the word used for exhorting has an implication of encouragement in it. Now he just comes and says it flat out.

Because there's not only a need to motivate and direct and urge towards a particular direction, but to encourage in that direction. One of the things that easily happens is that it's nice we can get an idea in our mind, oh yeah, this would be a good thing to do, but often discouragement can set in and keep us from heading off on that path. This is where this is particularly valuable, because the encouragement gives one the support to sustain and maintain the direction and the character of life. that the child has begun in, or if we're in ministry, the person we're working with. The encouragement is the next step and a necessary part of it.

So, then we find this word imploring. Now, imploring, what are you doing? This is kind of the next stage in what he had initially as the exhorting. You are continuing to call them along in a direction. You've done the initial directing, you've done the encouragement, now you're saying, I urge you to continue coming along and here's why. And you lay that out. So that's what this is. Maintain the path that you're on. I urge you to continue in that right path. It's the idea of a witness and a solemn charge in the direction that the one has been headed initially.

Now, we realize that a dad may have to persuade his son that he can go somewhere with a family without taking his computer along. There may be those kinds of circumstances. A dad may be called on for that kind of exhortation. Now, there is this so that. This little so that gives us the idea, here is the outcome we're aiming for. We're not just doing this to do this. I know sometimes parents can say, why am I doing this? And there is a reason for this. There is a purpose. And that's why he includes this word so that, the end goal.

What do you want? You want them to walk in a manner worthy. It is to have the result that we see described here in verse 12. So, there's no doubt you're going to have to teach kids mundane things, things that are wise about this world. You're going to, for example, have to teach them how to drive, you know. That's going to be expected. You know that the first thing, you talk to a kid about getting his license, he wants to drive the latest thing that's out there, and you know you're going to have to talk him out of it or get him to settle down to something a little more realistic.

That's just the way it is, you know. And that's part of the imploring and the exhortation here. And then if you get them to settle down for something realistic, they'll be all right, but you need to implore them and exhort them along that line. If they settle down for something more realistic, they'll still have a great time. Believe me, they'll just have a ball, okay?

No problem at all. And now, you'll also need to let them know they need to be careful of certain circumstances. It's a whole lot easier to drive a Jeep when it isn't frozen. So, things like that. You'll need to talk to them about these things. But, ultimately, you're not concerned about the frozen jeep and the car on the side of the building.

The ultimate concern here is pointed towards walking in a manner worthy of the Lord. It's the character of their walk and the character of their relationship with the Lord that you're concerned about. You're going to be looking at the spiritual aspect of their walk and focused upon that. We don't want kids that are just spiritual theoreticians, that know it all up here, but notice the focus here is on walk, that there is a reality to it in their lives, and that's what it's centered upon. Not just understanding it, oh I know all that, I've heard all that, but living it out, carrying it out in life.

In the end of verse 12 there, of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. You see, there are lots of different things that the world out there is calling kids to. Aren't there? Lots of different things. And those voices are all out there. And notice something else here. We know from 2 Timothy, and there are other passages, that we were called as an initial calling to be saved and to be the Lord's. That's at the outset. Notice that he puts it here in the present tense for those who already believe.

There is a continual calling, because in the midst of the noise and the siren call of the world, we need to be able to talk to them and continue to convey God's calling to them. What does God have in mind? What's God's perspective? What does God see as important? Now, we take a look at the verse that describes how is this message received. He uses a couple of descriptions there.

You received and you accepted the message. And this is a desired response of children, or if we're talking about somebody that we're ministering to, we're looking for receptiveness, aren't we? We're looking for acceptance of this critical and essential message. We're not just offering them some spiritual alternative, but rather God's message, God's truth, the gospel.

So, for this reason, we also constantly thank the Lord. When we see something that is saying they're getting it, they're receiving it, they're accepting it, they're understanding it, we're thankful to the Lord. It's not time to pat ourselves on the back, but to thank the Lord for His work. Because after all, it's His doing. It's His message. He's ultimately the one that is responsible for it and energizes us for that.

You accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God. You see, it isn't just some stack of human words. Oh boy, more words. Instead, it's God's words. And there's a distinction in that recognition, isn't there? It's not just saying, oh boy, here I got some more words from mom and dad or from the people that are ministering to me. It's not just more words, but recognizing this is the Word of God. These are words that are inspired, that are conveyed by God's intent. These are words that God wanted me to have and to see and to know.

It is a message that's designed to make a difference. It performs the work in those who believe. One of the things that we pointed out in times past and just recently again here is that there is a spiritual growth process. There is a work going on in the life of the believer.

It is God's work and His word is a key agent in that work. when Jesus was praying, and this is really the Lord's Prayer, by the way, because the Lord Himself was praying it to the Father. He says, sanctify them in the truth, praying for us. Your Word is truth. And then He finishes in verse 19, that they themselves may also be sanctified in the truth. Sanctified, made holy, put to God's intended purpose.

2 Corinthians 3.18 But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, a mirror the word of God, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. The Lord does the transforming through his word as we behold the Lord Jesus Christ through his word.

And finally, Hebrews 4.12 here, the word of God is not just words on a page, but it is alive and active and sharper than a two-edged sword. piercing as far as the division between soul and spirit.

And you know, that's something that it's hard to get to. Ever notice that? It's hard to touch that. At various courses in, you know, psychology and sociology and things like that, they didn't touch that. In fact, I had a sociology class on marriage and family life. The instructor said, the first day, if you're wanting me to have any wisdom on marriage, forget it, because I've been married three times and I still haven't figured it out. God's Word gets where no amount of scholarship in the secular world can reach. What's the saying? You can't touch that, except with God's Word. That's why it's so effective and so essential. Now, one of the things we've got to ask is, we just went through this list, this description of a godly mother and father and the response of the child.

It's one of the questions, why isn't this just a measure up? Why isn't this just, well, now I see how I blew it. Or, now I see how I'm going to blow it. So, some key things to live here. The key thing, for one, is it's from here on out. that he's focusing on. It's what do you do from here on out?

And you may even be in a spot where your kids are already raised and out the door. But you still have opportunity for ministry, whatever that opportunity is. It may be different ministry than it was, but that's still there. It's Christ's life and not ours.

The other thing is that Paul is spelling out here these things to people who had horrible histories. A person could go down to the slave market and buy boys and girls for whatever purpose and sell boys and girls for whatever purpose, even your own children. And some of those were rather disgusting purposes. Paul knew he was writing to people here who needed lots of grace. And that's why the first verse and the last verse of this book start with the word and end with the word grace.

Paul didn't write to his readers here as if they were people that had always been living this way. These people had been believers for less than a year, most likely, many of them even less than that. They had lived as Jews or pagans before that time, but not putting their trust in the Lord Jesus. This was new to them, and he knew that. They did not have some long past they could point to and say, see, I've been a great guy for years.

No. It was all learning from here on out. And we can be in that spot too. Paul had in mind that they grow from the place where they'd begun. He says, I know your past. to the church at Corinth, he says, you are this and this and this and this and this, but the Lord has washed you and changed you and sanctified you. These people were no different. It's what is the Lord going to do in our lives from here on out? That's what's going to matter.

Ephesians 5, 1 and 2, remember when we studied that, therefore be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love. Isn't that a similar exhortation? There are a couple of words here that speak out of the Greek New Testament. Mimitis, we get our word mimic from that. And the idea of imitate the behavior of another in a positive way. We're not talking just an acting job outwardly, but from the inside out. In addition to that here, we also have the word tupos, which means example.

And as we look at this here, we find that, as we saw in Ephesians 5, 1 and 2, and we see in this passage, that Paul makes reference to this imitating. And isn't that something that kids do? Kids will look at the parents. Sometimes you wish they wouldn't, but kids will imitate parents easily. You might also have noted that they're very good tape recorders. Their play function isn't always under control as you would like, but nonetheless, They're good tape recorders. But look at what Paul does here.

Before he even entered this passage, he talked to them and he uses this imitating idea because after all, they're young, growing Christians. He says, you also became imitators of us and of the Lord. Notice it's not just look at our outward behavior and mimic it externally. but of the Lord. And he says in 1 Corinthians 11-1, be imitators of me just as I also am of Christ.

It's ultimately looking to the Lord. And the children have a place of looking to us and saying, oh, I understand. They see not just in the external behavior, but they also see the walk with the Lord. They see the relationship with the Lord. And as they see that, Then they begin to understand in their own lives. They learn by seeing. They learn by hearing. And they follow the example.

And the example needs not just be the external behavior, but the walk with the Lord that they see going on underneath the surface. Let's pray. Lord, as we look at this passage and others related to it here, we see that indeed you have an intended character for those who have a relationship with you and are thus in a position of being in ministry, as we all are, or of being parents. And Lord, we pray as we look at this that we would learn not the condemnation of the shortcomings, but we would learn your grace, and that in relationship with you, we might live out your very life. We thank you for that marvelous opportunity that we have. In Jesus' name, Amen.