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STUDIES IN I AND II THESSALONIANS

STUDIES IN I AND II THESSALONIANS

BY GLENN PEASE

 

INTRODUCTION

 

These messages are among the first I ever did in my first full time church. They were preached in the evening service. They do not have the depth that I would put into them were I doing this study today, but they are still relevant studies of this portion of what God has revealed to us through the Apostle Paul.

 

 

CONTENTS FOR I THESSALONIANS

 

1.    THE MASTER MOTIVE   Based on I Thess. 2:3-4

2.    AN APOSTOLIC ATTITUDE   Based on I Thess. 2:5-6

3.    GOD’S GENTLEMAN   Based on I Thess. 2:7

4.    BLAMELESS   BEHAVIOR Based on I Thess. 2:8-12

5.    FRUITFUL FRUSTRATION  Based on I Thess. 2:13-20

6.    THANK GOD IT WORKS   Based on I Thess. 2:13

7.    FIGHTING GOD   Based on I Thess. 2:14-16

8.    SATAN’S HINDRANCE   Based on I Thess. 2:17-20

9.    APPOINTED TO AFFLICTION   Based on I Thess. 3:1-4

10.  A STEADFAST FAITH   Based on I Thess. 3:5-8

11.  THE IMPOSSIBLE IS INDISPENSABLE  I Thess. 3:9‑10

12.  DIVINE DIRECTION Based on I Thess. 3:10-13

13.  SANCTIFICATION AND SEX   Based on I Thess. 4:1‑8

14.  REVOLUTIONARY RESOLUTIONS Based on I Thess. 4:9-12

15.  NO REST FOR THE RIGHTEOUS   Based on I Thess. 5:6-11

16.  LEADERSHIP IN THE EARLY CHURCH    I Thess. 5:12-13

17.  THANKFUL NO MATTER WHAT!  Based on I Thess. 5:18

18.  LET THE FIRE BURN  Based on I Thess. 5:19

 

 

CONTENTS FOR II THESSALONIANS

 

1.    THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST   Based on II Thess. 1:1f


2.    UNFULFILLED PROPHECIES   II THESS. 1:9 TO 2:2 

3.    THE MAN OF SIN AND THE SECOND COMING.   2:3f

4.    THE MAN OF SIN   Based on II THESS. 2:5f

5.    THE LAST DAYS   Based on II Thess. 2:7-10

6.    THE DAY OF JUDGMENT   Based on II Thess. 2:18-f

7.    WHEN WITHDRAWAL IS WISE   Based on II Thess. 3:1f

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.    THE MASTER MOTIVE   Based on I Thess. 2:3-4

 

      How should a Christian defend himself when his character and motives are attacked in an effort to belittle the Gospel which he proclaims?  Paul had to face this question everywhere he went, for the Judaisers were hot on his trail trying to destroy the fruit of his labors.  From the defensive nature of this chapter it is clear that they had arrived at Thessalonika as well, and they were trying to discredit the whole revival experience.  You can imagine the subtle attacks they would use to undermine these new converts and cause them to question. 

 


       They would say something like, “O you say that Paul was the man who got this new movement going.  Isn’t he the man with the prison record going around stirring up trouble everywhere?  He is a brave man doing what he is doing, but then a man would do almost anything if there is enough money in it.  Just get a few good speeches together and you can make a mint feeding people fancy ideas about religion.  I wouldn’t mind starting my own religion either if I was free, like Paul, to be able to hit and run.”  Others would be far less subtle, and they would just accuse Paul outright of being a religious racketeer out to get all he could from anyone sucker enough to fall for his deception. 

 

       We need to keep in mind that this was a new thing.  Paul appeared on the scene with the Gospel.  They believed and then Paul had to move on, and they had no Bible or long history to fall back on.  Attacks like this would be serious.  Paul was worried about how they would hold out under tribulation and these attacks on the one who brought them the Gospel.  In this chapter we see him defending himself, and we want to look at the two fold approach he uses in his defense.

 

I.  HE REJECTS THE FALSE CHARGES.

 

      Paul just flatly rejects any such charges that he was trying to trick them with impure motives.  Peter likewise had to defend himself as he wrote, “We have not followed cunningly devised fables.”  Men do not go around defending themselves unless there is an attack on them, and so these verses reveal the constant battle the Apostles had with public relations.  This has been a major area of conflict through the ages.  Christian schools and organizations need public relations offices constantly keeping people informed that the charges against them are false. 

 

       In Paul’s day many false prophets were already active, and as things went on they got worse.  John later says that anti-Christ is even now already at work in our midst.  In such a situation you have counterfeits at large that men can point to as examples of falsehood and deceit.  Paul could do what many evangelists since could not do.  The whole profession of evangelism has been given a black eye by the false and deceitful methods by which some get decisions.  Paul used no such methods, and yet he was of the greatest success.  He respected people and did not take them for fools.  There were no tricks when Paul preached.  He presented the Gospel in its simplicity.


 

        We never read of Paul trying to get hands up and then pressuring those people to come forward.  Paul believed in the sovereignty of God when it comes to evangelism.  You do your best and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.  This is why I appreciate Billy Graham.  He gives the message and offers those who want to receive Christ the opportunity to come.  There are no tricks or pressure.  If God does not move them there is no point in trying to get a decision.  It is only a Spirit induced decisionthat is a saving decision.  Knowing that, Paul avoided all appearances of evil.  He could say in perfect confidence that he has rejected all deceit. 

 

       Even if deceit can sometimes get more results, honest dependance upon God is the only way to go.  You might wonder about what practical value this is to us.  I can’t speak for everyone, but my experience has been that a good many Christians feel that the end justifies the means.  They feel that when it comes to getting a person to decide for Christ anything goes.  I use to think it was very clever of a student I knew to think up unique ways of witnessing.  He would go into a restaurant and sit downby some man.  Then he would have a friend come in and sit by him.  He would begin to witness to his friend as if he was a stranger, and do so loud enough to make sure the other man heard. 

 

       Such a method is highly unlikely to be effective, and the whole thing is based on deceit and the philosophy that the end justifies the means.  Since the motive is worthy, it is felt that deception is legitimate.  Scripture says this is not so.  Such a method could possibly lead someone to respond to the Gospel, but they would find out that they were involved in a plan of deception, and they or friends would accuse us of being fanatics and deceivers.  We would in a position of being tempted to carry on further deception, or admit it and give the unsaved ground to stand on in their charges.  We would leave the convert in a very troubled and dangerous state.


 

        Deception is of the devil, and it cannot play a part in the communication of the Gospel.  Paul knew it from the start, and with a clear conscience before God he could write to his converts and reject all such charges as false.  His attitude was like that of the noble who was asked by his King to practice deceit.  His response was, “O King!  Believe me, rather much would I fall by virtue than rise by guilt to certain victory.” 

 

II.  HE REVEALS HIS TRUE MOTIVE.

 

       We sometimes think we are pretty sharp with all our studies in modern psychology.  We have learned that the best way to treat a so-called bad boy, or anyone who has rebelled against the standards imposed on him, is to take him into your fellowship and confidence and give him responsibility.  God, of course, did not need to wait for modern psychology to discover this before He put it into practice.  He took the man who was out to crush the advance of His kingdom and made him chief embassador for His kingdom.  He entrusted Paul with the Gospel.  He went from antagonist to ambassador, from enemy to emissary, from persecutor to preacher.  God not only gives us the gift of salvation, but He trusts us to carry the gift to others.  This is an amazing fact, for every time a person puts their trust in Christ, Christ puts His trust in them.  He trusts them to share  the good news with others.   

 


        There is a story that Jesus was asked before His ascension, “What are your plans for the spread of the Gospel?”  “I shall leave that to my disciples.”  “But what if they fail you?”  “I have no other plans.”  Our part in God’s plan is tremendous.  He intrusts us with the Gospel, and if we don’t circulate it, it will be of no more value to others than is the misers treasure.  We are not to be Gospel collectors, but Gospel communicators.  We are not to be Gospel misers, but Gospel messengers.  How can others hear it if we have it but hoard it? 

 

        The Gospel falls into Aristotle’s category of the undiminished giver.  It is of such a character that the more you give it away the more you have.  Anything material I would share with others would leave me with less, but to share ideas and truths not only leaves my stock undiminished, but increases their strength by repetition.  For example, I have an idea right now, and I am the only one here with it.  I will share it with you.  In verse 4 Paul uses the plural we.  He is taking Silas and Timothy in with himself, and by implication includes all of us who have received the Gospel. I have now multiplied that idea by as many as are here, but I still have all of it, and plus it has been more deeply impressed on me for having shared it. 

 

        Paul says that God trusted us with the Gospel, and we are honoring that trust when we speak it and share it.  The reason we do not use any deceitful means to get it across is that our own master motive is to please God.  Even success through deceit would not be pleasing to God.  Here is the motive that explains the conduct of Paul, and of all who give their lives to be used for His glory.  Someone wrote,

 

Not for the eyes of men may this day’s work be done,

    But unto thee, O God, that with the setting sun,

My heart may know the matchless prize

    Of such approval in your eyes.

 


         With this as a driving motivation, life takes on a consistency and unity that nothing else can produce.  One author said, “We found out to our grief that in a world in which anything goes, everything is soon gone.”  When our master motive is to please God, then only that which is pleasing to Him is allowable.  In verse 1 and 2 we see that Paul received courage from God for communicating the Gospel, and now we see that the means must correspond with that end.  Not only is it important to reach people, it is also important how to do it, for that how must be pleasing to God. 

 

       It is a worthy end to want to support your family, but to sell dope as a means to attain that end is so unworthy of the end that the whole plan is evil.  It is having this master motive of Paul of desiring in all that we do to please God that keeps our means worthy of the ends we seek.  Without it we cannot tell a Christian from a non-Christian, for many non-Christians do good deeds, but they have no desire to please God necessarily.  Their master motive is to please self.  If the Christian does not have the master motive of pleasing God he may do much good, but the motive is selfish.  T. S. Elliot said, “The last temptation is the greatest treason, to do the right deed for the wrong reason.” 

 

       Most of our problems as Christians are related to our motives.  The reason we often face frustration and anxiety, just as the world does, its because  we lack a definite conscious of just what we are doing and why.  If things don’t go well, we feel like giving up, but Paul didn’t, and neither would we if we were constantly conscious that the purpose for which we do anything is primarily to please God.  It pleases God that we study His Word, and so we should be doing so constantly, even if it is difficult, and we do not always grasp its meaning. 

 


        This is the secret of Paul’s constant drive, for even with all of his trials and frustrations, he could rejoice in the Lord always because his master motive was to please God.  George A. Coe in his book The Motives Of Men wrote, “The disillusionment that creeps over 20th century man concerns, not the ability of the universe to supply what he desires, but his own capacity for really desiring anything greatly significant.”  Only the person with a master motive greater than life itself can find ultimate satisfaction and purpose to life.  That is why there is no greater goal for the Christian than to follow Paul in developing his motive for living as our master motive.  

 

 

 

 

2.    AN APOSTOLIC ATTITUDE   Based on I Thess. 2:5-6

 

        We have all heard it said that is doesn’t make any difference what you believe as long as you are sincere.  This is true only if what you are talking about doesn’t make any difference.  If you sincerely believe that white potatoes are better for you than red potatoes it will not make any great difference if you are right or wrong.  If, however, you are as equally sincere in your belief that rotten potatoes are as good for you as fresh ones, it can have a great deal of difference on your health.  Whether corn or wheat would be the best crop to raise can be debated by farmers, and men can have sincere convictions either way, but when it comes to the matter of the best time to plant-January or April-one might be sincere in his conviction that January is best, but the consequences will be tragic.  The point is, sincerity is only enough when the question involved has no great significance one way or the other.  Are dogs or cats the best pets is a good example. 

 

        If the consequences of our belief are important it is not enough to be sincere.  We must also be right or suffer the consequences.  This conclusion holds true on the natural level, and is even more significant in the realm of the spiritual.  No body with an ounce of conviction can believe that sincerity is adequate in our theological beliefs unless he is willing to conclude that the consequences of being wrong are insignificant.  In other words, are theological issues on the same level as opinions about red and white potatoes? 

 


        As evangelicals we are ready to say in a moment that sincerity is not enough, for you can be sincerely wrong.  We are so on the defensive against the idea that sincerity is enough that we neglect the positive truth that though it is not enough, it is still essential.  Water is not enough to get your clothes clean, but we do not ignore it on that account.  We just add soap.  Sincerity is not enough to save us, but salvation without sincerity is just as inconceivable.  Sincerity means being in reality what one appears to be.  It means to be genuine and honest in intention.  It is the opposite of hypocrisy. 

 

         Paul in his defense to the Thessalonians stresses the fact of his sincerity in all areas of his conduct among them.  Paul would not have deified sincerity as Lady Chudleigh did when she wrote,

 

Sincerity’s my chief delight;

    The darling pleasure of the mind;

Oh, that I could to her invite,

     All the whole race of human kind;

Take her, mortals, she’s worth more than all your glory,

     All your fame,

Then all your glittering boasted store,

     Then all the things that you can name.

She’ll with her bring a joy divine,

     All that’s good, and all that’s fine.

 

       Paul would not give sincerity the place of the Savior, but he would, no doubt agree with Mencius who said, “There is no greater delight than to be conscious of sincerity on self-examination.”  Paul does just that as he reviews his life before them and notes 3 specific areas in which sincerity characterized him. 

 

I.  IN THE MATTER OF SPEECH.  v. 5

 


     Almost every man of literature from the ancient Greeks on down had something to say about the dangers of flattery.  The power of words does not depend upon their truth.  There is great power in falsehood when that falsehood is pleasing, or in accord with what people want to hear.  Hitler proved that a big lie told often enough can sway a nation.  Flattery played a part in the first sin, for Satan appealed to Eve’s pride by suggesting, “Surely you realize you are capable of being like God, knowing good and evil.  Such capacity should not be held back.  Exert yourself and become the great one that you are.”  Eve was the first, but far from the last, to be flattered into thinking they could disobey God and come out on top.

 

        Man is an easy target for flattery.  Robert McCraken says there are praise records that tell you how good you are.  Man has such a craving for acceptance and praise that he is capable of believing anything good said about him.  He does not like flattery as such, but he likes to believe that what is said about him is simply stating the facts.  The Roman Emperor’s stated Emperor worship just to unite the people, but some of them got to the point where they believed they deserved worship.  The power of positive thinking works even if it is not true.  Because this is the case, it is a powerful means of persuasion for gaining allegiance. 

 


        Paul could have come to the Thessalonians and gained a greater following if he had flattered the people and told him how truly pious they were, and that God would certainly welcome such good people as themselves.  But he appeals to their memory and reminds them that he said no such thing.  The implication is that Paul preached that all were sinners, were lost and the only hope was in Christ who was crucified and risen again.  There was no flattery, but just the pure Gospel that flowed from his tongue.  He never used flattery in his teaching.  It can never be a proper means for any goal in the Christian life, for it means false, and insincere praise.  There is a true praise, and we ought to exercise it constantly.  We ought to express appreciation, but we must avoid trying to build the kingdom of God by use of insincere speech. 

 

        What Shakespeare said of a character in Two Gentlemen Of Verona fits Paul perfectly, and we need to pray that we fit this description as well. 

 

“His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles;

    His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate;

His tears pure messengers sent from his heart;

    His heart as far from fraud, as heaven from earth.

 

II.  IN THE MATTER OF SUPPORT. 

 

        For Paul, Christianity made good armor, but not to be used as a cloak.  The idea of the cloak gives the thought of insincerity, or of seeming one thing on the outside, but underneath the facade, something different.  Let us remember that a number of the upper class received Christ at Thessalonika, and so the standard charge of Paul’s enemies in such a situation would naturally be that he comes with all this sweet talk of good news because he has an eye on your purse strings.  He is out finding lost sheep alright, and the woollier the better, for under his cloak he carries his shears.

 


         This is as contemporary as today’s paper.  You hear every once in a while of someone in the church who runs away with all the funds, or that people are threatened into giving.  We must be prepared to face such stories with an answer.  We can point out that it is never proper to judge anything by a poor example.  You do not judge a rose by a wilted one, or the taste of milk from a sour carton.  The folly of men does not take God by surprise.  He knew the corruptions that would enter the church, and that is why He warned in II Peter 2:1-3: “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.  They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them-bringing swift destruction on themselves.  Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.   Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” 

 

       Covetousness and greed cover over with flattering words would play a large part in the history of the church, and the very fact that it was known from the start assures us that we need not be shocked, for we are not ignorant of Satan’s devices.  This makes it all the more important that we be completely sincere in all matters of financial support.  Billy Graham recognizes this.  All evangelists have been accused of making a haul by preaching the Gospel, and so he publishes his income in the papers of the cities where he has crusades.  He follows Paul’s example of complete honesty in avoiding all appearance of evil.

 

        There is a fable of the fox who was flattering the crow for her lovely singing because he wanted what she held in her mouth.  If Christians cannot make it plain that this is not our motive in trying to reach people, we shall fail.  The world has evidence galore that this is the motive of so many who approach them, and so only honest and open sincerity can convince them that this is not our motive. Only the sincere Christian really has an offer of this kind to the world.  There are motives of greed to one degree or another in every appeal that comes to men.  Even the salesman who has a good product and knows it will be for your benefit has another motive besides concern for you, and that is that there will be gain for himself.  But we have the privilege of offering good news with the power to save without asking any price.

 


        The tragedy of many money making schemes in the churches is not only that they brainwash people into thinking that the end justifies the means, but they also convince the world that the end, which is salvation, is not free at all, and like everything else it is going to cost you.  What the world hears is not justification by faith alone, but justification by faith, plus cash, and especially the cash.  Paul avoided all possibility of such charges, even if he had to work nights to make a living.  He wrote in Acts 20:33, “I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel.”  In II Cor. 12:14 he wrote, “I will not be burdensome to you, for I seek not yours, but you...”  His complete sincerity in all matters of speech and support was the Apostle’s attitude, and it must be ours.

 

III.  IN THE MATTER OF SUCCESS.

 

        Success never went to Paul’s head.  He could have stood on his dignity as an Apostle, and from a pedestal of superiority thrown his weight around, but he never did.  Here again we see Paul’s absolute sincerity, for he knew he only had the position he did by the grace of God.  He was the chief of sinners in his own eyes, and honesty with the facts demanded that he not use his position of power for self-advancement. 

 

        It was said of Leonard Bacon of Yale, “Dr. Bacon’s idea of heaven is a great debate in which Dr. Bacon had the floor.”  The same motives that operate in Hollywood often operate in the church, and unless a Christian is characterized by the attitude of sincerity in all that he does, he can forget he is a servant, and begin to think he has some claim to honor. 

 

        Goodspeed translated, “We might have stood on our dignity.”  Luccock wrote, “More institutions have died of dignity than for any other cause.  Or, if they have not actually died, they have been so crumpled up with rheumatism that they could not get up from an invalid’s chair.  The church has had tragic seizures of the paralysis of dignity, when she has been unable to rise, gird herself, take a towel like her master, and follow him in lowly service.” 


        Success is dangerous to the insincere person, for he cannot say with Paul that to please God is his highest motive, or that he seeks not the glory of men.  The danger is that his dignity will lead to the decay of his devotion to Christ, and self will again take the throne.  Many of the problems in the Christian life, and in the relationship of the Christian with the world would be eliminated if the apostolic attitude of sincerity in all things became the attitude of all believers.  

 

 

 

 

3.    GOD’S GENTLEMAN   Based on I Thess. 2:7

 

       History is the record of the battle of competing ideas and philosophies that clash with one another in their effort to gain the allegiance of men.  The whole world is under the pressure of such competing ideologies.  Is theism or atheism the truth?  Is liberalism or conservatism the way to go in politics and theology?  The whole question of force or freedom is ever with us all the way from international relations to our own family relations.  The question is, which is best, which is right, which is most effective in a given situation?  Is it ruthless self-assertion or gentle self-sacrifice?  Which is most effective in dealing with a nation you have defeated, or in dealing with a criminal or a person with anti-social behavior? 

 


        The natural tendency of man is to choose force, for any thing else is a sign of weakness.  Peter was a good man, but he was persuaded that the sword was the best way to handle things in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus rebuked him and told him that those who lived by the sword will perish by the sword.  Paul was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, and he was zealous for God.  He was throughly convinced that force was the best policy.  He persecuted and arrested Christians.  He was involved in the stoning of Stephen.  Paul received authority to do this, and he asserted that authority.  Might is right was the philosophy controlling him, but he met a greater master on that road to Damascus, and he received a new heart and new instructions.  He was now given the authority to go to the Gentiles with the good news that Jesus Christ died for them, and if they would believe they could be released from the chains of sin and darkness.  We want to look at the way in which Paul carried out these new orders for his life.   In contrast to his old ways, we see him being God’s gentleman for the Gentiles. 

 

       The first thing we notice in this statement is the contrast from what he was as a faithful Jew.  Paul did not come to the Thessalonians with an army, and with a sword in hand.  What has happened?  Is Paul less zealous for Christ than he was when he was against Christ?  Has he lost his zeal?  No!  He has gained a new and greater zeal and power, and it is the power of gentleness.  He has discovered that you only win a person when you convince them, and not when you coerce them.  Many have tried to force people into the kingdom of God, but it is folly, for it does not work.  People only really become a part of the family of God by choosing to receive God’s gift in Christ.  You cannot force people to love Jesus.

 

         Jesus had all power, and He sent disciples into all the world to teach and preach.  Paul was under that same commission, but he was no longer to go with a sword of steel, but with the sword of speech.  He was not to go with weapons to cut and blast, but with words to convince and bless.  He was to go, not with soldiers to compel, but with the Spirit to convince.  Paul was to enter the Gentile kingdom of darkness with the gentle weapon of light.  Jesus, the captain of our salvation, holds us each responsible for the use of this weapon.  He said, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”  The Gospel is to spread by the power of gentleness and not force. 

 


        When the church has forgotten this, and began to use physical force to compel people to believe, it became corrupted by paganism.  Force has always failed to advance the faith, but love has never failed.  This is a principle in history that the philosopher Locke observed as applying to all of men’s efforts.  He wrote, “Gentleness is far more successful in all its enterprises than violence; indeed, violence generally frustrates its own purpose, while gentleness scarcely ever fails.”  We see this principle illustrated in so many ways Western and gangster films.  The bad guys are often defeated by their own greed for power and possessions.  They double cross and betray one another.  Little do the producers of these films realize that they are promoting the principles of God. 

 

        Paul and many others since have proven the same true: “Gentleness wins more hearts than sternness.”