1 Thess 2:5-8 – Good ambassador is genuine.
length: 67:47 - taught on Mar, 23 2023
Class Outline:
Thursday March 23, 2023
Theme of Thessalonians: encouragement of believers to boldly live godly lives.
Subtheme (chapter 2): The effective witness has a heart that seeks God’s pleasure. He loves those he witnesses to.
For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, 2 but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition. 3 For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts.
We seek to please the only One who can truly examine our hearts.
Paul has boldness to speak the gospel because the opinion of men are not his top priority. He suffered in Philippi and in Thessalonica, and still he went right on teaching the gospel because God’s approval was far more important to him.
Because of his love for God, Paul loved mankind.
And remember, Paul wasn’t all that powerful a speaker nor had an appearance that would soften a crowd’s heart. He didn’t care. He let others see Christ in him. If you are a believer, you can do the very same thing.
He was given a stewardship, one that he loved (and we all must love our own stewardship), and he cared for it. The good steward cares about the opinion of his master.
Parable of the good steward.
“Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”
For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward
If our heart is pure, will we always say the right thing in the right way?
For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
A pure heart is still within a person who can be weak at times. We are not going to say the right thing in the right way at the right time all the time. However, if our hearts are pure, then we will, for the most part, speak that which pleases God and is therefore righteous.
We never stop growing and learning how to live in a way that pleases the Lord.
Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.
walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects,
The key is faith and faithfulness and not inherent talent. Develop a good heart by understanding of God’s word (read and study daily) and doing your solid best to live that word by faith in the Holy Spirit and then the light in you will shine.
For some believers, Christianity is not their first love; and therefore Christ is not their first love. They love other things or other people more, and Christianity is okay when convenient or useful to their purposes. The Lord Jesus and the Father are not the love of their life.
If God is not the love of your life, the solution is to get to know Him through His Word. Read and study the Bible every day with the intent of knowing God. If you seek Him with all your heart, you will find Him. He promised that and He can’t lie.
We see by Paul’s behavior what exists within his heart, that he trusts God and loves what God has entrusted him with.
Now to some specifics which flow from the condition of Paul’s heart in vv. 1-4.
For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed — God is witness — 6 nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority. 7 But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. 8 Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.
We never came with flattery or deceit, seeking the glory of men; and this refers back to 2:1-4 …
For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain … (boldness, approved and entrusted by God who examines their hearts)
“you know,” and “God is witness.”
What God saw in their hearts was manifested openly to people. Good loves to show itself. Evil hides behind a veneer of good.
2TI 3:1-2, 5
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money,… holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these
We never came with flattering speech …
Flattery is the desire to give someone else pleasure but with the motive of self-interest.
nor with a pretext for greed …
Along with this is “pretext for greed.” A pretext is an assuming of something in order to disguise one’s real motives. The Greek word can be rendered a cloak. The cloak is used to hide the festering greed underneath (covetousness, desire for more).
The cloak that hides greed partners nicely with flattering speech.
We can see behind the cloak if we are patient enough. Don’t judge until you can, but in time people reveal their fruit.
The third player in this unholy trinity is seeking glory from men. The Greek verb means to seek or desire. Glory from men is praise from them. Paul did not seek the glory of men, not from those who believed nor from others.
nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority.
Paul points out these three evil practices because they were common and always will be.
Unholy trinity for false teachers:
Flattery, pretext (cloak) for greed, seeking glory from men.
"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. 41 "I do not receive glory from men; 42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. 43 "I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? 45 "Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. 46 "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. 47 "But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"
Moses said: DEU 18:15
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.”
[shemah means to listen and obey.]
Shemah video from the Bible Project: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/shema-listen/
The Jews were listening to Him alright. They heard Him say that God was His Father and they witnessed Him heal [in this case, the man at the Pool of Bethesda], but they sought to kill Him. They listened audibly, but that is not what shemah means. It means to hear and obey - “Hear O Israel…”
Isn’t it interesting that sin and evil desires to hide under a cloak of good. It chooses not to reveal itself.
"He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."
In contrast to the lust of false teachers, what was Paul and his fellow workers for the gospel after?
For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed — God is witness — 6 nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority. 7 But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. 8 Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.
Paul and his did not want to impress others with anything else but the gospel nor did they seek anything from others other than faith in the gospel. The opinion of others concerning their persons or appearance meant nothing. The opinion of others concerning the gospel was all that mattered.
And to this point, Paul had seen the resurrected Christ, he has been called as The apostle to the Gentiles. He could have asserted this.
Paul asserted love rather than his credentials.
People are not impressed with us, so we might as well show them Christ and let them be impressed with Him.
And this could be construed as coldness and impersonal, but notice how Paul describes his manner among them while imparting the gospel. If he is imparting the gospel, then they are still in a state of unbelief, and still Paul describes himself as a nursing mother tenderly caring for her own infant child.
God, gospel, truth, and saving the souls of others being more important than life itself is what pleases God.
By far, most of us will not be called by God to become a martyr, but the attitude in our heart is what the great examiner, our God, is looking for.
For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; 11 just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, 12 so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
13 For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. 14 For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, 15 who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, 16 hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost.
Thursday March 23, 2023
Theme of Thessalonians: encouragement of believers to boldly live godly lives.
Subtheme (chapter 2): The effective witness has a heart that seeks God’s pleasure. He loves those he witnesses to.
For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, 2 but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition. 3 For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts.
We seek to please the only One who can truly examine our hearts.
Paul has boldness to speak the gospel because the opinion of men are not his top priority. He suffered in Philippi and in Thessalonica, and still he went right on teaching the gospel because God’s approval was far more important to him.
Because of his love for God, Paul loved mankind.
And remember, Paul wasn’t all that powerful a speaker nor had an appearance that would soften a crowd’s heart. He didn’t care. He let others see Christ in him. If you are a believer, you can do the very same thing.
He was given a stewardship, one that he loved (and we all must love our own stewardship), and he cared for it. The good steward cares about the opinion of his master.
Parable of the good steward.
“Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”
For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward
If our heart is pure, will we always say the right thing in the right way?
For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
A pure heart is still within a person who can be weak at times. We are not going to say the right thing in the right way at the right time all the time. However, if our hearts are pure, then we will, for the most part, speak that which pleases God and is therefore righteous.
We never stop growing and learning how to live in a way that pleases the Lord.
Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.
walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects,
The key is faith and faithfulness and not inherent talent. Develop a good heart by understanding of God’s word (read and study daily) and doing your solid best to live that word by faith in the Holy Spirit and then the light in you will shine.
For some believers, Christianity is not their first love; and therefore Christ is not their first love. They love other things or other people more, and Christianity is okay when convenient or useful to their purposes. The Lord Jesus and the Father are not the love of their life.
If God is not the love of your life, the solution is to get to know Him through His Word. Read and study the Bible every day with the intent of knowing God. If you seek Him with all your heart, you will find Him. He promised that and He can’t lie.
We see by Paul’s behavior what exists within his heart, that he trusts God and loves what God has entrusted him with.
Now to some specifics which flow from the condition of Paul’s heart in vv. 1-4.
For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed — God is witness — 6 nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority. 7 But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. 8 Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.
We never came with flattery or deceit, seeking the glory of men; and this refers back to 2:1-4 …
For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain … (boldness, approved and entrusted by God who examines their hearts)
“you know,” and “God is witness.”
What God saw in their hearts was manifested openly to people. Good loves to show itself. Evil hides behind a veneer of good.
2TI 3:1-2, 5
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money,… holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these
We never came with flattering speech …
Flattery is the desire to give someone else pleasure but with the motive of self-interest.
nor with a pretext for greed …
Along with this is “pretext for greed.” A pretext is an assuming of something in order to disguise one’s real motives. The Greek word can be rendered a cloak. The cloak is used to hide the festering greed underneath (covetousness, desire for more).
The cloak that hides greed partners nicely with flattering speech.
We can see behind the cloak if we are patient enough. Don’t judge until you can, but in time people reveal their fruit.
The third player in this unholy trinity is seeking glory from men. The Greek verb means to seek or desire. Glory from men is praise from them. Paul did not seek the glory of men, not from those who believed nor from others.
nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority.
Paul points out these three evil practices because they were common and always will be.
Unholy trinity for false teachers:
Flattery, pretext (cloak) for greed, seeking glory from men.
"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. 41 "I do not receive glory from men; 42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. 43 "I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? 45 "Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. 46 "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. 47 "But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"
Moses said: DEU 18:15
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.”
[shemah means to listen and obey.]
Shemah video from the Bible Project: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/shema-listen/
The Jews were listening to Him alright. They heard Him say that God was His Father and they witnessed Him heal [in this case, the man at the Pool of Bethesda], but they sought to kill Him. They listened audibly, but that is not what shemah means. It means to hear and obey - “Hear O Israel…”
Isn’t it interesting that sin and evil desires to hide under a cloak of good. It chooses not to reveal itself.
"He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."
In contrast to the lust of false teachers, what was Paul and his fellow workers for the gospel after?
For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed — God is witness — 6 nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority. 7 But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. 8 Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.
Paul and his did not want to impress others with anything else but the gospel nor did they seek anything from others other than faith in the gospel. The opinion of others concerning their persons or appearance meant nothing. The opinion of others concerning the gospel was all that mattered.
And to this point, Paul had seen the resurrected Christ, he has been called as The apostle to the Gentiles. He could have asserted this.
Paul asserted love rather than his credentials.
People are not impressed with us, so we might as well show them Christ and let them be impressed with Him.
And this could be construed as coldness and impersonal, but notice how Paul describes his manner among them while imparting the gospel. If he is imparting the gospel, then they are still in a state of unbelief, and still Paul describes himself as a nursing mother tenderly caring for her own infant child.
Connect
Subscribe to our mailing list |
Grace and Truth Ministries 1900 Hines S.E. Salem, Oregon 97302 |
 |
letters@cgtruth.org |
|
© Grace and Truth Ministries All Rights Reserved. |