This is a subject that I have been treating at this conference for some years, working through the Epistles of Paul. The only ones left, after today, are Philippians and 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. So, if we\u2019re spared, you\u2019ve got an idea of what we\u2019ll be looking at, God-willing, this time next year. For the benefit of those of you who are new to the conference, these are not expositions of the Epistles, nor are they overviews or surveys of the Epistles. We are treating them as pastoral documents. Paul is a pastor, these are his flock. How does he shepherd them? How does he advise them in their different situations? What can we learn about pastoring people from the example of the Apostle? These Epistles have been described as the Cinderellas of the Pauline writings. They tend to be overlooked. They are brief. They don\u2019t have passages of enormous theological depth, and yet, 1 and 2 Thessalonians are extremely valuable for at least a couple of obvious reasons. They\u2019re among the earliest Christian writings in existence. We don\u2019t really know which were the first books of the New Testament to be written. The candidates, as I\u2019m sure you know, are Galatians, James, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and you can argue back and forth about which of those books were written first, but these are among the earliest parts of the New Testament that we have. They are written to brand new Christians, people who have been converted only a few weeks, and they are written to the only one of Paul\u2019s churches which is facing serious external pressure. So, it seems to me that that gives them a distinctiveness and a value. The Apostle is writing to brand new Christians under pressure from outside. How does he pastor them?<\/p>\n You remember the story\u2014Paul and Silas left Philippi, traveled along The Great Ignatian Way, which linked the East with Italy, 100 miles to Thessalonica, the capital of the province of Macedonia. In those days it was a city of about 200,000 people. It\u2019s less than half that size today. He preached three Sabbath days in the synagogue. I think it\u2019s probable that he stayed quite a bit longer than that in Thessalonica. I think it\u2019s possible that Luke doesn\u2019t give us a complete account, and he doesn\u2019t profess to do so. We know that Paul worked with his own hands as a leatherworker, and earned his living in Thessalonica. And we know that on at least two occasions the Christians in Philippi sent him gifts for his support while he was in Thessalonica. Philippians 4:16, \u201cOnce and again you helped me in my necessity.\u201d That would suggest that he may have been there more than two and a half or three weeks. In any case, he was forced to leave by mob violence stirred up by the Jews. <\/p>\n He went to Berea and then to Athens. He was very anxious about the spiritual welfare of these young Christians with whom he had spent such a short time. He had every reason to be anxious. He says in 1:6, \u201cYou received the word in much affliction.\u201d This probably wasn\u2019t official persecution, but it would be severe social pressure. Christianity was extremely counter-cultural. They separated themselves from the sexual morality of the day. They didn\u2019t get involved in the trade goods which controlled industry and commercial life. They didn\u2019t associate with the mystery cults. They had no allegiance to the civic gods on whose favor the prosperity of the city depended. So, they were seen as antisocial and treacherous. \u201cThey say that there is another king, Jesus\u201d (Acts 17:7). Society would pressurize them, harass them, shame them, embarrass them, intimidate them in many ways to bring them back to normal, respectable living. \u201cGet away from this strange, foreign cult, and live like ordinary people.\u201d<\/p>\n They were only a few weeks old, as Christians. Would they be able to face this pressure? As Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 3:5, \u201cWhen I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the Tempter had tempted you, and our labor would be in vain.\u201d He says again, \u201cWhen we could bear it no longer, we sent Timothy to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions.\u201d So, he\u2019s deeply concerned about these young professing believers. Will they stand firm? Timothy catches up with Paul in Corinth. He brings him good news about the infant church, but he says that they still need encouragement, and that\u2019s why Paul writes 1 Thessalonians. I think he\u2019s doing what he sent Timothy to do, \u201cTo establish and exhort you in your faith.\u201d A few months ago, I was speaking to our children, and in the course of my talk to them I said, \u201cNow, boys and girls, if you\u2019re naughty, daddy will have to give you a smack.\u201d One of the men in our church, a very, very godly man whom I admire, spoke to me afterwards with some concern, and he said, \u201cPastor, perhaps it would be wiser not to say that in public, because you could get into legal trouble now in the United Kingdom for saying something like that.\u201d I said to him, \u201cWell, the day is never going to come when I can\u2019t say what the Bible says in my own church to my own people.\u201d But, what worried me afterwards was that that good brother was beginning to censor himself. You see what I\u2019m saying? It was getting to him. He didn\u2019t realize it was getting to him. <\/p>\n I think there may be a lot more of that among our people than we realize. We may be noticing only the tip of the iceberg, and we may be hurting more from societal pressure than we are aware of. I think also that although many of our people may not chronologically be young Christians, many of them are immature, with not much Bible background, and not much knowledge. So, they\u2019re functionally young Christians. So, if we are looking at Epistles addressed to young Christians under societal pressure, I think we\u2019re looking at documents that are very relevant for our ministries. So, what I want to do is to take out five elements of the way Paul encourages these young Christians and to look at them with you briefly. <\/p>\n The first: Paul provides support. There was a classic form of literature in the Ancient World called \u201cThe Friendly Letter,\u201d it\u2019s sometimes called \u201cpar\u00e1klesis,\u201d from the Greek word \u201cto encourage or exhort.\u201d This letter could have been written by a Greek philosopher, if the content was different. It\u2019s the classic form (1 Thessalonians, especially 1-3) of \u201cThe Friendly Letter.\u201d Paul\u2014as much as already mentioned\u2014he\u2019s seeking to nurture and strengthen a loving relationship with them. <\/p>\n He annihilates geographical distance. He says, \u201cWe give thanks to God for you always, constantly mentioning you in our prayers.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019re thankful for you. We pray for you.\u201d He commends them. \u201cYour work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope.\u201d He reminds them. This was absolutely classical in the Greek writing\u2014he reminds them of how they initially received the message. 2:13, \u201cWe also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, that you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of man, but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.\u201d In other words, \u201cRemember how our relationship began. Remember the word you committed yourself to.\u201d <\/p>\n He didn\u2019t want to leave them. They meant so much to him. He says in 2:17 following, \u201cSince we were torn away from you, brothers.\u201d \u201cWe were torn away from you, brothers\u2014in person, not in heart\u2014we endeavored more eagerly with great desire to see you face to face. Because we wanted to come to you\u2014I, Paul, again and again, but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting? Before our Lord Jesus at His coming, is it not you? You are our glory and our joy.\u201d See the warmth of that? The passionate love? That\u2019s why he sent Timothy. That\u2019s why he\u2019s writing this letter, and it\u2019s not a one-way thing. <\/p>\n He\u2019s encouraged that the Thessalonians feel the same way about him! 3:6, \u201cTimothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and your love, and has reported that you always remember us kindly, and long to see us as we long to see you.\u201d Their spiritual well-being is his very life. 3:8, \u201cFor now we live if you are standing fast in the Lord.\u201d <\/p>\n Later on, in chapter 3, he\u2019s looking forward intensely to meeting up with them again. \u201cFor what thanksgiving can we return to God for you for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith? Now may our God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you.\u201d Brethren, this is very, very warm, positive, affirming, encouraging, emotional. He\u2019s using emotional language. <\/p>\n Now, supposing you read language like this in an uninspired evangelical book of pastoral theology. Tell your people you love them; they\u2019re dear to you; you long to see them. You would say, \u201cThis is some touchy-feely, feminine, positive-thinking, affirming kind of book.\u201d Does that describe our ministries? Is this the sort of pastors we are? Do we say, \u201cOh, you don\u2019t need to affirm people. You don\u2019t need to command people. We believe in the perseverance of the saints. That\u2019s a sissy, womanish sort of thing. We\u2019re not into that. We\u2019re manly, Reformed men. No time for feelings!\u201d Well, Paul apparently didn\u2019t feel that way. Paul understood that new Christians are very vulnerable. They\u2019re in a hostile world, and they need to be told that they\u2019re loved and valued. We think highly of them, and we\u2019re not going to leave them to fend for themselves. They need to be supported and cared and loved. We need to pay attention to them. We need to reassure them over and over and over again. \u201cWe\u2019re with you; we love you; we\u2019re in this; we\u2019re standing together.\u201d Hands-on shepherding. Close contact. They\u2019re not lions; they\u2019re sheep. The cults understand this. How many people have we lost through pastoral remoteness or inattention? Support your people. There\u2019s nothing wrong with that. That\u2019s apostolic. That\u2019s biblical. <\/p>\n Secondly, set an example. Here\u2019s where ancient education was light years ahead of modern. Ancient education, in the Greek model, involved showing as well as telling. It wasn\u2019t purely academic. It wasn\u2019t carried on purely in the classroom The philosophic teacher was expected to model the behavior that he wanted his pupils to follow. He did what he taught. He was the incarnation of his instruction, and that was the approach of all the Greek philosophers and all the Jewish rabbis. It was a given in ancient education. It was a feature of our Lord\u2019s teaching. John 3:15, \u201cI have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.\u201d Profound statement in Luke 6:40, \u201cEveryone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.\u201d Not just know what his teacher knows, not just have the same information. He\u2019ll be like him! He\u2019ll be an imitator of him! And for all that we abominate clones and following men blindly, there is also a clear, biblical principle here: that we are to be like those who have trained us and taught us. Paul uses the same method. <\/p>\n 1 Corinthians 4:16, \u201cI urge you, be imitators of me.\u201d 1 Corinthians 11:1, \u201cBe imitators of me, as I am of Christ.\u201d Philippians 3:17, \u201cJoin in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.\u201d That\u2019s the way babies learn. They imitate, and these are spiritual infants. So, Paul says in 1:5-6, \u201cYou know what kind of men we prove to be among you for your sake, and you became imitators of us and of the Lord.\u201d He doesn\u2019t say, \u201cYou know what we taught you. You know what we said to you.\u201d He says, \u201cYou know what kind of men we were, and you became imitators of us. You became imitators of the kind of men we were.\u201d He set them an example. <\/p>\n Now, it might appear that the Apostle wasn\u2019t a good example, because it\u2019s clear that he had been criticized by his enemies in the city. They criticized him, obviously, as being a spiritual charlatan, somebody interested only in money, a coward who had run away when the going got tough, and had left his dupes to face the music by themselves. So, in chapter 2 he defends his character, you remember? \u201cOur appeal does not spring from error or impurity; we speak not to please man. We never came with words of flattery nor with pretext for greed, nor did we seek glory from people. But we were gentle among you.\u201d Paul said, \u201cYou\u2019ve seen the sort of men we were. You know my character. You know my ministry.\u201d <\/p>\n He\u2019s exemplary also in a more active sense. Not just his character, his godliness, but in the sense of modeling the precise behavior that he wants them to follow. For example, he wanted them to witness courageously in the face of persecution. In 2:4 he writes, \u201cThough we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.\u201d He had done what he wanted them to do, and they had seen him doing it! He wanted them to be industrious and diligent in their daily work. So, he says in 2:9, \u201cFor you remember our labor and toil, we worked night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you while we proclaim to you the gospel of God.\u201d When he\u2019s rebuking the idle, he\u2019s able to say, \u201cI wasn\u2019t an idle now. I was hardworking.\u201d He wants them to live holy lives. <\/p>\n He says in 2:10, \u201cYou are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct towards you believers.\u201d These believers learned the principles so well, that they in turn became a model or an example for other Christians. 1:6-7, \u201cYou received the word in much affliction, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.\u201d He set an example. <\/p>\n Now, it\u2019s a commonplace, of course, that pastors need to lead exemplary lives in our walk with God, in our homes and families, in our relationships, in our behavior. We need to be men of transparent integrity: sexual, financial, every way. Too many pastors haven\u2019t been, and we know what havoc that can cause. So, we\u2019ve a heavy responsibility. We need constantly the grace of God. <\/p>\n What, perhaps, isn\u2019t so widely recognized is the second part of the modeling: the power of practical example in teaching, showing people what we want them to learn, letting them see us doing it, so that they can copy us. That, again, is the way small children learn. A mother doesn\u2019t say to her little daughter, \u201cNow, you go up and make your bed.\u201d She says, \u201cYou come up with Mommy and I\u2019ll show you how to make your bed. You do it this way and you get the sheet and you do it like this.\u201d The little girl watches that. Then she does what she has seen her mother doing. That could be the subject of our whole hour together. <\/p>\n It cannot be right to train ministers by taking them away from the environment in which they\u2019re going to be working, by having 30 year old PhDs who have never preached or pastored being their sole instructors, and by putting them into a classroom and giving them cerebral instruction and nothing else. That simply can\u2019t be the way to do it! That\u2019s not showing. That\u2019s just telling. Quite often, perhaps the ones who tell might be able to show. It speaks to us of openness in our pastoral work. That is the important thing. <\/p>\n Paul says in 2:8, \u201cSo, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become dear to us.\u201d We\u2019ve got to be open and vulnerable to our people, and let them see the men we are. Men, you cannot be remote! No matter what it costs you. No matter how much you have to violate your own inhibitions. You can\u2019t hide away from your people! Paul says, \u201cWe shared our own selves.\u201d He was a fallen son of Adam like the rest of us, great man that he was! No doubt there were things his people saw that weren\u2019t always absolutely perfect and wonderful, but he showed them. <\/p>\n More and more I think we\u2019re going to have to show people how to pray, show people how to study the Bible, show people how to have family worship. It\u2019s not just enough to say, \u201cYou must have family worship.\u201d You\u2019ve got to say to that young head of the home, \u201cI\u2019ll come round to your house, or one of the elders will come round to your house for three or four nights. He\u2019ll lead the family worship. You\u2019ll see how he does it.\u201d It\u2019s the with-him principle. Mark 3:14, \u201cHe appointed 12, so that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach.\u201d I haven\u2019t time to get into it, but it makes one-man ministry impossible. You cannot pastor a group of people if you\u2019re only pastor, the only person. You\u2019ve got to have several men. You can\u2019t cover it. You\u2019ll not be able to do the work. Setting an example.<\/p>\n Thirdly, he confirms their identity. Perhaps this is the most important aspect of pastoral encouragement here. What has God made them? Who have they become? Who are they? Paul says they are a separate people set apart by God from the rest of humanity. In other words, he stresses the difference, the separateness of it all. He begins by writing to the Ecclesia of the Thessalonians, \u201cAnd God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The called out ones, the separated body, brothers, loved by God, He has chosen you.\u201d They are the elect. They are the saints. They are the different people. They are the distinct community. <\/p>\n We heard the other evening that key-fold description in 1:9-10. \u201cYou turned from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven.\u201d That\u2019s a magnificent statement of Christian conversion and life. The turning and the serving and the waiting. I know at least three implications. <\/p>\n As a separate people, they are to live differently from the world. 4:1, \u201cHow you ought to live and to please God.\u201d 4:3 following, \u201cThis is the will of God, your sanctification; that you abstain from sexual immorality; not in a passion of lust, like the Gentiles.\u201d 4:7, \u201cFor God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.\u201d 4:12, \u201cLive properly before outsiders.\u201dAnd from 2 Thessalonians, \u201cDo not grow weary in doing good.\u201d They\u2019re in the world. They\u2019re playing a positive role in the world, but their behavior is to be radically different. <\/p>\n Secondly, they are to disregard the praise and the criticism of the world, because of who they are, because of their identity. The world, are \u201cthe Gentiles who do not know God.\u201d Paul describes them as the night, of the darkness, sleeping, drunk. That\u2019s who they are. They\u2019re befuddled, confused, unaware, ignorant people. 2 Thessalonians, \u201cThey\u2019re perishing, because they refuse to love the truth.\u201d Who would want the praise of such people? What is the praise of such people worth? Who would be intimidated by the criticism of such people? What does their criticism matter? He says, \u201cRemember who you are, and remember who they are.\u201d <\/p>\n Thirdly, he moves on to say that they should learn to accept suffering as a badge of honor. It\u2019s not that they are deviant or abnormal or out of touch; it\u2019s the reverse! This is the normal experience of the children of God. It\u2019s not surprising; it\u2019s absolutely predictable! \u201cYou, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things as they did.\u201d Paul had warned them. 3:3 and following, \u201cYou yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction; just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.\u201d \u201cI told you this, guys.\u201d He says, \u201cThis is the deal.\u201d Instead of being disturbed by their sufferings, they should see this, in suffering, as a sign of God\u2019s approval, attesting the reality of their salvation. \u201cWe boast about you in the churches of God,\u201d (2 Thessalonians 1:4), \u201cFor your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in afflictions you\u2019re enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgement of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God.\u201d \u201cBe glad you\u2019re suffering, [he says] it\u2019s a sign of your salvation. It\u2019s a sign of God\u2019s approval.\u201d The laughter and mockery and intimidation of the world should lead you to go down on your knees and praise God. \u201cBlessed are you when men revile you and persecute you. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words, brethren, this is war talk. The church is an embattled community, assailed by enemies. We are a different people. Now, most Christians in history and most Christians in the world today know that. If I were to say to Arif Khan, \u201cArif, as you live and work each day, has it ever crossed your mind at all that you\u2019re in a hostile society?\u201d What would he answer? See, brethren, we in the Western word, we have been lulled into a sense of security by living in a Christianized society in which the basic hostility to the things of God has been painted over and covered over, and we have been kidding ourselves that they don\u2019t hate us and that they\u2019re not against us. We have been seduced into seeking their praise and trembling at their criticism. We need to impress on our people our radically different identity. I can\u2019t believe I\u2019m about to say this, but we need a bit of the Anabaptist spirit, of a separateness. We are a separate people, a different people. <\/p>\n We need to point out to our young people who these stars of entertainment and sport and the media and academia really are. Why should we listen to these people? What do they know about anything? We need to stop squealing in protest when the world starts persecuting us. That\u2019s what these parent church organizations do. They send out these enormous letters to get funds and support. Millions of dollars roll in. \u201cListen to what the cruel world is going to do to us.\u201d Well, of course it is! We\u2019ve always known that. \u201cIn this world you shall have tribulation.\u201d We need to wear it as a badge of honor! We get into trouble when we forget who we are, and that\u2019s why Paul is teaching these young believers. \u201cRemember who you are. Remember who the world is.\u201d Confirmed identity.<\/p>\n Fourthly, he builds community, and this follows from the previous point. This body, which stands separate from the world and against the world, needs to be solid and cohesive and united. We need to stand together. We\u2019re disconnected from society, and it\u2019s important to derive strength from each other. So, Paul assumes and encourages a high level of community involvement. You get the one-anothers (1 Thessalonians 5). \u201cEncourage one another; build one another up, just as you’re doing.\u201d \u201cBe at peace among yourselves.\u201d \u201cEncourage the fainthearted.\u201d Are you teaching your people to do that? \u201cHelp the weak, be patient with them all.\u201d He makes the same emphasis elsewhere, \u201cMinister to each other.\u201d \u201cHold each other together.\u201d \u201cYou yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that, indeed, is what you\u2019re doing. We urge you to do it more and more.\u201d \u201cEncourage one another with these words.\u201d <\/p>\n He himself had set a good example before them. \u201cFor 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.\u201d The leaders themselves need to be ministered to. The leaders themselves need to be built up. Respect those who labor among you and are over you. Esteem them very highly in love. Brethren, pray for us. Pray for us! It builds community, builds a strong, united, cohesive community. <\/p>\n Community building also has a negative side. 2 Thessalonians 3:6, \u201cAny brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the traditions you\u2019ve received from us.\u201d I don\u2019t know why ESV translates it that way. \u201cDisorderly\u201d is a much better translation. The word is atakt\u00f3s; it\u2019s a military word. It means \u201cnot drawn up in line.\u201d \u201cAny brother who\u2019s not standing in the line and in accord with the traditions that you received from us.\u201d The British army was invincible in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries because of two tactics they had. They fought infantry, columns with a thin, red line, and they fought cavalry with squares. The British square was invincible. It didn\u2019t work very well in America, but it worked pretty well everywhere else, as long as there wasn\u2019t a gap. There couldn\u2019t be a gap. There couldn\u2019t even be a one-man gap in the square, because if there was a gap the leading horse would go through, and once he went through, the square would collapse in a minute. As long as the line stood steady and there wasn\u2019t a gap, you couldn\u2019t beat the square. The only thing that would beat it was artillery, but you\u2019d never beat it with cavalry as long as everybody stood in the line.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the word Paul uses here. If there\u2019s a brother not standing in the line, you\u2019ve got to deal with it. You can\u2019t have a gap in the line, because if you have a gap in the line, the enemy will get in; and he will destroy you. You can\u2019t tolerate it, for the safety of the body. \u201cIf anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed.\u201d So, building community isn\u2019t just positive; it is also negative. Church discipline is not cruel. It is kind. It is kind and loving and positive for the sake of the body.<\/p>\n I leave this with you to think over. Is it possible too that what we might call \u201cthe informal, social, brotherly discipline of the whole body\u201d may be just as effective as the formal from the top-down discipline of the elders? Isn\u2019t that part of what Paul is saying here? He\u2019s speaking to all the body. Don\u2019t just look at the disorderly brother and say, \u201cWell, we\u2019ve got elders. They can look after him or her.\u201d No. Paul says, \u201cYou\u2019ve a got a responsibility here.\u201d So much good may be done in our people if they would exhort and advise and admonish one another. There would be a lot of issues that would never reach us, because they\u2019ve been solved the best way.<\/p>\n We can\u2019t have preaching centers where there\u2019s no vital, multi-level interaction among the members. That is not a Reformed church, and there have been examples of that in the past, where there has been a notable pulpit ministry, people have come to hear the preaching, but there has been no body life, there has been no togetherness. When the preacher is taken away, then the preaching center disintegrates, because they were neglecting these principles.<\/p>\n This brings us to the last emphasis, which I\u2019ve called, \u201cclarify perspective.\u201d You may have been wondering when I would come to this, because theologically, of course, the most notable feature of the Thessalonian writings is their eschatological and apocalyptic emphasis. A quarter of 1 Thessalonians and nearly half of 2 Thessalonians deal with eschatology. You\u2019ll know, I\u2019m sure, that 1 Thessalonians refers to the second coming towards the end of every single one of the five chapters. It is the major theme.<\/p>\n 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 is one of the great passages. 2 Thessalonians 2 has unique information about the End Time, that we have nowhere else in the Bible. Why such a marked focus in a letter to young believers? Well, it seems to reflect the pattern of apostolic missionary preaching. They seem to have preached eschatology when they were preaching the gospel. 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, \u201cYou turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven.\u201d That seems to have been part of their gospel proclamation. It was more than personal salvation involved. <\/p>\n We\u2019re living at the end of the present age of rebellion. God has acted in His Son. His Son is waiting at His right hand till His enemies are made a footstool. He\u2019s going to return from Heaven in triumph. He\u2019s going to render judgement for the wicked. He uses the Greek known parousia (of the return of Christ) six times. Parousia is used in 1 Thessalonians 2:19, 3:13, 4:15, 5:25, and then in 2 Thessalonians 2:1,8. That Greek common word in the Greek of the day referred to the triumphal arrival of an emperor or an army in one of his cities. The day was coming when the emperor would come to his city, and actually, the Greek word \u201cto meet\u201d was a word which was used of the citizens of the city going out to meet the emperor as he approached the city, and exhorting him in triumph to claim his own possession. It\u2019s fascinating that that\u2019s the word Paul uses for us going to meet the Lord in the air: His subjects going out to greet Him and to accompany Him into His own realm.<\/p>\n So, this is a redemptive, historical gospel, and we all know that there are excesses and problems with that, but he sets their salvation in the realm of redemptive history. Why, then, does he emphasize it again as he writes to these new converts? Because he wants to clarify their perspective that they are God\u2019s chosen people in the End Time. I want to make three points of that. <\/p>\n First of all, he does it to correct misunderstanding. Luke Timothy Johnson has a very perceptive and a comical statement which applies to a lot of our preaching. He says enthusiastic reception of his message did not necessarily mean a thorough grasp of it. So, remember that, brethren, \u201cEnthusiastic reception doesn\u2019t necessarily mean a thorough grasp.\u201d What do we mean? Well, let\u2019s think about this for a moment. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians that you\u2019re to wait for His Son from Heaven, doesn\u2019t he? Well, it looks as if some hearers took those words with absolute, exact literalness, and dropped their tools and gave up their work and started waiting. \u201cThe Apostle told us to wait, and we\u2019re waiting.\u201d I think that\u2019s what happened! \u201cLet us keep awake,\u201d he writes in 5:6. \u201cRight, that\u2019s what the Apostle said? We\u2019re going to focus on nothing else than the second coming of Christ.\u201d \u201cThe day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.\u201d Could be tomorrow, so they stop working. They misunderstood his teaching.<\/p>\n Or, again, Paul had spoken of their affliction. Thl\u00edpsis, that\u2019s an End Time word, an eschatological word. You get it in Daniel 12; you get it in Matthew 24; you get it in Mark 13. There\u2019s going to be affliction at the end. So, they\u2019ve taken this word \u201caffliction\u201d and they\u2019ve said, \u201cOh, we\u2019re being afflicted. This must be the Great Tribulation. We must be living in the last days. This is what Scripture is forecasting.\u201d<\/p>\n Or, again, some members, as you know, of the church, have died greatly disturbed about this. Have they missed the glory? Have they lost out on the Second Coming? So, Paul has to write to explain these things, to correct these misunderstandings, to set them straight. <\/p>\n We\u2019ve always got to be aware of the fact that we may say one thing, but our people may hear something else. I learned that very early in my ministry when a young woman who had recently been converted asked to come and see me. She said, \u201cI was very interested on what you said last Lord\u2019s Day, that all the Jews would go to Heaven whether or not they ever believed in Jesus.\u201d Until this day, it\u2019s utterly beyond me how she got that out of anything I said. I went over my sermon notes. I\u2019m not even sure that I mentioned the Jews. There was nothing that you could twist. That\u2019s what she heard. I\u2019m really thankful that she came and asked me about it, but it made me a very nervous preacher for the next few months! What are these people going home with? We\u2019ve got to be aware. You teach somebody Reformed theology, six months later you\u2019ve got a Hyper-Calvinist. \u201cBut you said that pastor.\u201d \u201cNo, that\u2019s not what I said.\u201d So, this is pastoral clarification.<\/p>\n Secondly, he\u2019s emphasizing this to put their present difficulties in context, and I\u2019ll not take time over this, because we\u2019ve covered it already. He\u2019s saying to them, \u201cPeople, your persecutors, they\u2019re not strong, they\u2019re not successful, they\u2019re not triumphant. They\u2019re moral, eschatological losers.\u201d When they say, \u201cPeace and safety,\u201d sudden destruction will come upon them, and they will not escape. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might. These people, they\u2019re doomed, they\u2019re gone. Look at it on the Day of Judgement. Look at your persecutors in the light of the Day of Judgement. Keep reminding yourself that these people are giving you a bad time. What\u2019s going to happen to them?<\/p>\n Look at your sufferings in the light of the Day of Judgement. They\u2019re going to add to your glory; they\u2019re going to secure you everlasting honor. 2 Thessalonians 2:14, \u201cFor to this He called you, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d Look at death itself in the light of the last things. We do not grieve as others who have no hope. God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. The dead in Christ will rise first. Encourage one another with these words! Whether we are awake or asleep, we live with Him! We\u2019ve got to teach our people to keep looking at the Last Day and eternity and the things of Heaven more and more and more. These are brand new Christians starting out in their Christian life, faced with persecution. How does Paul pastor them? Teach them eschatology. It\u2019s not an esoteric little subject that we come to when we\u2019ve covered everything else. It\u2019s right in there from the beginning. <\/p>\n Our forefathers centuries ago, when two or three children from every family died in their infancy and when disease and death was commonplace, they were more aware of eternal things and of life and death and the world to come than we are. And this is such a helpful emphasis from Paul.<\/p>\n Then, lastly, he\u2019s explaining the nature of the eschatological life, and there\u2019s a paradox here. On the one hand, he wants them to live\u2014as one commentator says\u2014on the eschatological edge. To live every second ready to meet the Lord, to be so aware of future realities that they\u2019re with them at every minute. What will such a life be like? Here\u2019s the paradox: it will be a diligent, hardworking, focused, productive, earthly life. You see the paradox? The more aware we are of the future realities, the harder we will work at our daily jobs. The more we\u2019d be committed to our families and our communities, and to do our duty each day. <\/p>\n They were getting one side of it. We\u2019ve got to be ready. They were neglecting their present life. He says, \u201cThe way to be ready is to be busy for the Lord here and now in this world.\u201d I think that\u2019s what he\u2019s doing in 2 Thessalonians 2. I think what he\u2019s doing there is that he\u2019s developing a wider perspective. Here are people who are facing local affliction, and he\u2019s saying to them, I think, in 2 Thessalonians 2, \u201cFolks, this is not the climax to world history.\u201d There\u2019s more involved than the persecution of a single church. God works on a wider platform. God paints on a wider canvas, and there\u2019s a great deal that has to happen before Christ returns. <\/p>\n It is true, verse 7, that the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. That\u2019s why you\u2019re being persecuted, but it\u2019s all going to culminate in the man of lawlessness, a Satanic parody of Jesus. He\u2019s going to stage his own parousia, a pseudo parousia. He\u2019s going to gather his own people. He\u2019s going to take his seat in the temple of God. He\u2019s going to imitate the Lord and stand in the place of the Lord. Don\u2019t become obsessed with looking for signs of the end. Don\u2019t listen to some fake prophecy or some fake Pauline letter. Not yet. There\u2019s an indefinite period still to be lived through, and in the meanwhile, aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, to work with your hands, that you may live properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. \u201cRejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances. Abstain from every form of evil.\u201d \u201cDo not grow weary in doing good.\u201d <\/p>\n So, he\u2019s explaining to them the nature of the eschatological life. It\u2019s not ignoring it. It\u2019s not becoming totally obsessed by it. It\u2019s being constantly aware of it, and then living for God productively in the present. I submit to you that that is sane, wise advice. Thank you.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Edward Donnelly This is a subject that I have been treating at this conference for some years, working through the Epistles of Paul. The only ones left, after today, are Philippians and 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. So, if we\u2019re spared, you\u2019ve got an idea of what we\u2019ll be looking at, God-willing, this time … Continue reading Help for Today’s Pastors #7![\"donnelly\"](\"http:\/\/heraldofgrace.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/donnelly.jpg\")
<\/a>Edward Donnelly<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nFirst of all, we look at 1 and 2 Thessalonians. I have entitled it \u201cEncouragement for New Converts.\u201d That phrase comes from Gresham Machen in his New Testament Introduction, a vastly underrated book. He doesn\u2019t follow the modern fashion of giving us huge lists of footnotes and bibliography, but please don\u2019t be deceived by the simplicity of that book. That is the distillation of vast learning. It\u2019s a very valuable book, the New Testament Introduction. So, he calls it \u201cEncouragement for New Converts.\u201d <\/p>\n
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\nShortly after that, he writes 2 Thessalonians to correct problems which are still existing. Andrew Young, in the introduction to the Let\u2019s Study series, the Banner of Truth commentary on Thessalonians, says, \u201cThese letters are thoroughly pastoral in character.\u201d Well, maybe not wise talking about \u201cThe Pastoral Epistles.\u201d I\u2019m referring to just three Epistles. These are all pastoral Epistles, and these are very pastoral Epistles. I think that\u2019s the chief value for us. You may say, \u201cWell, are we persecuted?\u201d No, we\u2019re not\u2014yet. \u201cAre we experiencing much affliction?\u201d Well, no, we\u2019re not\u2014most of us. But, brethren, you know that the pressure of society against Christians is pervasive; and it is increasing. It is being increased year by year. I am coming to think that it\u2019s far more damaging to our churches and to our people than we may realize, that we are subconsciously censoring ourselves and limiting ourselves without realizing what we are doing. <\/p>\n
Encouragement for New Converts<\/span>