PAUL'S DEFENSE (1 Thessalonians 2:1-6)
INTRODUCTION:
Everywhere Paul went he faced opposition. Those attacking Paul tried to bring his character into question and tried to challenge his authority. The opening statements in chapter two is Paul’s defense of his ministry to the Thessalonians. Those in opposition to Paul’s ministry were lying to the church in Thessalonica regarding his integrity and sincerity. Their goal was to ruin this new church by destroying the church’s confidence and trust in the person who had planted and founded the church. These attackers probably included both unbelieving Jews and pagan Gentiles, both of these groups were hostile to the gospel.
It must be understood that the first-century world was full of false spiritual leaders and charlatans peddling their own gods and religious practices. Paul’s enemies sought to lump Paul in with these false teachers and charlatans who traveled around the Roman Empire and “ministered” simply to gain personal power, wealth, and prestige. William Neil speaking of these false teachers of the first century wrote. “‘Holy men’ of all creeds and countries, popular philosophers, magicians, astrologers, crack-pots, and cranks; the sincere and the spurious, the righteous and the rogue, swindlers and saints, jostled and clamored for the attention of the credulous and the skeptical.”[1]
The fact that Paul had to defend the purity of his life and the transforming power of his message shows that those in opposition to him were bringing doubt and confusion to the Thessalonians concerning Paul and his co-laborers and their intentions. Were they self-seeking frauds like so many other “spiritual teachers” of that time? Paul takes these opening verses of chapter two to defend himself and his ministry. Let’s pray and then read the first few verses of chapter two.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to 1st Thessalonians 2:1-6, our passage for this morning where we will read Paul’s defense. Please, if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
1st Thessalonians 2:1-6,
“For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, 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. For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; 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. For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness— 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.” (1 Thessalonians 2:1–6, NASB95)[2]
MINISTRY NOT FRUITLESS (1st Thessalonians 2:1)
Paul’s opening line in the first verse sets the tone for his defense, and he begins by calling on the memory of the Thessalonian believers. Paul wants his readers to remember their own experience with him and Silas and Timothy, the Thessalonians’ memory of what took place while they were there would be obvious and self-evident. Remembering how Paul and his companions ministered among them was not something that they received second-hand, they were eye-witnesses to what took place, and their experience had transformed their lives.
The phrase “our coming to you” in that first verse just refers to Paul and his companions’ arrival in Thessalonica with the message of the gospel. The word translated “vain” is a word in Greek that means “empty” and also carries with it the idea of something that was without purpose, effect, or importance, in other words something that was insignificant. The ministry of Paul, Silas, and Timothy in Thessalonica was not inconsequential, but just the opposite, it had purpose, it had importance, and it had a powerful effect in the lives transformed by the message of the gospel and the ministry of these men. The evidence of the importance of their ministry is seen in the marks of genuine faith that we looked at over the last two weeks in chapter one. The Thessalonian church’s testimony, even after Paul and his companions had to leave was evidence that Paul, Silas, and Timothy had not labored in vain. Paul now goes on defending his ministry and he gives five factors that brought about the power that is seen in his ministry in Thessalonica. Those five factors are: Being confident in God’s power, being dedicated to God’s truth, being approved by God, being motivated by God’s omniscience, and being committed to God’s glory.
CONFIDENT IN GOD’S POWER (1st Thessalonians 2:2)
Paul was confident in God’s power in his life and ministry. God’s power energized Paul in the ministry, and God’s power was Paul’s protection in the ministry. Paul knew that nothing could happen to him until he had finished what God had appointed him to do. This power gave Paul boldness, courage, strength, and fearlessness in the face of opposition. Paul was thinking of those who opposed him when he reminded the Thessalonians of the mistreatment and suffering that he had already endured in Philippi. In my introduction to this series we looked at what happened to Paul and Silas in Philippi, how they were dragged before the authorities and accused of proclaiming customs not lawful for Romans to accept or to observe. This charge incited the crowd, and the authorities had Paul and Silas beaten with rods and then threw them into prison where they had their feet put in stocks.
Paul uses two terms to describe how he and Silas were persecuted in Philippi because they were actually harmed in two ways. The first word that Paul uses is “suffered” and that describes the brutal treatment of being beaten and imprisoned in stocks. Suffered refers mainly to the physical abuse. The term “mistreated” refers to the false accusations and the illegal punishment they received. Mistreatment refers to public disgrace or legal abuse. They were unjustly judged and made prisoners when they had committed no crime. Which was illegal to do to Roman citizens. In Paul’s day, the word translated “mistreated” meant to treat shamefully, insultingly, or outrageously in public—all with the intent to humiliate. What they suffered in Philippi might make you think twice before preaching the gospel again.
But not Paul, when they arrived in Thessalonica they had the boldness in God to speak the gospel of God. This preaching of the Gospel brought opposition again when they were accused of treason. Even though Paul and his companions experienced such terrible persecution in Philippi when they preached the gospel, they came to Thessalonica with the same boldness in God to preach the gospel of God to them. Paul is clear that bold, biblical preaching does not make one popular, rather his experience was that it leads to conflict that requires courage and boldness in God to carry it through.
Paul’s confidence was not in himself, but he states that his confidence or boldness is in God alone. Paul believed and trusted that God would sustain him. He later told the Ephesians that true strength and power came from being strong in the Lord, in the strength of His might. (Ephesians 6:10). Paul also later confessed that God’s power is perfected in human weakness. (2nd Corinthians 12:9-10) Paul understood that the gospel would always bring opposition and that in ministry there would always be the pressure to lessen the message of the gospel, to make it inoffensive to sinners, to lessen the hostility toward it. But such a compromise had no place in Paul’s preaching. Paul had full confidence in God’s power to overcome all opposition and to achieve the redemptive purposes of God. Paul and his companions preached the true uncompromised gospel that God had laid out in His Word that had been revealed to Paul by revelation from God; that is the only message that can be preached. Paul and his co-workers preached for the sake of the truth, never for personal gain but instead staying obedient to God’s calling in their lives. When opposition came, they trusted in the power of God and remained obedient. They had counted the cost of faithfully confronting sinners with the truth and rested boldly in the sovereign supreme power of God.
DEDICATED TO GOD’S TRUTH (1st Thessalonians 2:3)
Paul knew that he could be confident in God’s power because he was dedicated to God’s truth. This dedication was true not only in his preaching but also in his everyday living. Enemies of the gospel message often try to destroy those who share the good news by persecution. If this fails to stop the messenger, as we see in Paul, persecution did not stop him from preaching the gospel. If this fails, then these enemies will try to undermine people’s trust in the messenger’s message or they will attack his personal integrity.
More than once this happened to Paul and his co-workers, so he thought it necessary to defend his integrity by affirming his steadfast, unshakeable dedication to God’s truth. This was seen both in his preaching and in the way he lived his life. In verse three he begins by saying, “For our exhortation does not come from error…” (1st Thessalonians 2:3a, NASB95)[3] The Greek word translated “exhortation” is a word that means an urgent cry, an appeal, or a call often with an emphasis on coming judgment. Paul was emphasizing for his readers the urgency and directness of his preaching and in doing so he did not stray from the truth that he had received by direct revelation. Paul assured the Thessalonians that there was no error in his words or conduct.
Paul continues and from his words it seems that those trying to undermine Paul’s message not only accused him of error but also of outright heresy. The unbelieving Jews may have accused Paul of not knowing or understanding the Old Testament. But such charges were completely false and fabrications of his critics. From the time that he put his faith in Christ and was called into the ministry as an apostle, Paul had been a guardian of God’s truth. Three times at least in the books of 1st and 2nd Timothy Paul admonished Timothy on the importance of guarding God’s Truth so that he did not stray from it.
As I already stated Paul did not only speak and guard God’s truth, but he lived it out in his life. He goes on in verse three that the exhortation does not come from error or impurity. The term impurity can refer to physical uncleanness or social uncleanness, but most often it referred to sexual uncleanness. The mystery religions and Greek cults that existed in Paul’s day practiced and even exalted sexual perversion. These cults and false religions were very popular because in most of them the primary religious experience centered on the followers having sex with a ritual temple prostitute or the cult leader. Sex had a central role in these pagan religions because the members believed that when one had sex with a male leader or a female prostitute—those who were supposed to be closest to the cult’s false god—by having sex with them the member connected with the gods. It was believed that through sex the members achieved some sort of mystical or metaphysical union with the gods. For this reason, evil deceitful “spiritual” leaders would seek converts for the purpose of have a sexual encounter with them. The New Testament has some references to these type of practices that show how common such perverse teaching was promoted in Paul’s day. The apostle Peter wrote in 2 Peter 2:1-3, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” (2 Peter 2:1–3, NASB95)[4] John recorded Jesus’ warning to the church in Thyatira in Revelation 2:20 Jesus said, “But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.” (Revelation 2:20, NASB95)[5]
Paul’s enemies were accusing Paul of the same kind of impurity as the false teachers, saying that he was seeking converts for sexual favors. Paul’s preaching and conduct make that unimaginable, but his denial of such accusations makes it clear that Paul was not like the false teachers of the day. The apostle and his co-workers had no impure motives, their pure lives were a testimony that what they spoke that it was God’s truth.
Paul ended his defense on his dedication to God’s truth by stating that he had not come to the Thessalonians by way of deceit. By using these words Paul makes clear that they came with no ulterior motives, rather their intentions were honest and straightforward. False teachers in those days often used sorcery, magic, or theatrics to appear as if they had some supernatural power to lure unsuspecting converts both for sexual favors and for money. Paul’s motives were righteous and he lived and ministered with complete integrity. Paul and his co-workers wanted nothing more than to fulfill their responsibility of speaking and living the truth entrusted to them, without any kind of deception whatsoever. Paul was the opposite of the false teachers of his day; his message was God’s truth; his life was pure; and his ministry was honest, not cloaked in hypocrisy or deception.
APPROVED BY GOD (1st Thessalonians 2:4a)
The third feature of Paul’s defense was that his ministry and that of his companions was approved by God. The fact that Paul’s ministry was commissioned by God is the very reason that he was completely dedicated to God’s truth. The Greek verb translated “have been approved” in the first part of verse four means that Paul was tested and found valid by God, and was given lasting approval, in other words God had validated and continued to approve Paul’s ministry.
God had called Paul to be an apostle, he was not self-appointed. Remember how he opened the book of Romans, in verse one he states, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,” (Romans 1:1, NASB95)[6] In other words, he was not ministering on his own authority, here in 1st Thessalonians 2:4 he writes that he had been entrusted with the gospel. His authority was from God who had approved him and entrusted him with the gospel. Just shortly after Paul was saved, God spoke to a man named Ananias who was to go and lay his hands on Paul so he would receive his sight again. The Lord said to Ananias, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;” (Acts 9:15b, NASB95)[7] Paul in several of his epistles reminded his readers that God had chosen and approved him and entrusted him with the gospel. (1 Corinthians 15:10; Ephesians 3:8; 1 Timothy 1:11-12; Titus 1:3)
Paul was an apostle under God’s call, command, and authority, a man to whom God had given a huge responsibility for preaching the gospel, as well as establishing the church and writing Scripture. This service of Paul’s was approved by God, and Paul ministered under that calling as one who had divinely delegated authority and was promised supernatural blessing.
MOTIVATED BY GOD’S OMNISCIENCE (1st Thessalonians 2:4b-5)
Paul knew that he was called by God and he rejoiced in that high-calling, but a strong sense of accountability to God balanced Paul’s authority to preach the gospel. Paul’s sense of accountability came from the constant realization that the omniscient Lord knew and examined everything in the apostle’s heart and life. This knowledge motivated Paul to live a life worthy of the Lord, and it made him fully aware that it was not to men that he was ultimately accountable, but to God. Paul wanted the Thessalonian believers to know and understand that when he spoke God’s Word it was never to please men, but God alone, as he wrote in the end of verse 4 of our passage. Paul in his defense in Galatians wrote in Galatians 1:10, “For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10, NASB95)[8]
Paul’s consuming passion was to please God because he knew and understood that only God truly examines the hearts of those who serve Him. Paul’s understanding of the omniscience of God is what motivated his service. Because of this truth, Paul left the final assessment of his faithfulness to his omniscient Lord all the while seeking to keep his heart pure.
Paul goes on in verse five, calling on God as his witness, that Paul and his co-workers did not come to exploit the Thessalonians with flattering speech. When someone uses flattering speech it is usually a ploy to win favor with the person or to gain power over him. Paul did not sin by using flattering speech. False teachers not only seek to gain power and influence through their flattering speech, but often their underlying motive is greed. Paul makes clear to his readers that they neither came with flattering speech nor with a pretext for greed. This word translated “pretext” is a Greek term that means “cloak.” What Paul is saying is that he, Silas, and Timothy did not come to Thessalonica with a cloak hiding greedy intentions. Unlike the false teachers who traveled from town to town cloaking their real desires for sexual favors and money, using flattering words to win over an audience, and then exploiting them for all sorts of personal satisfaction and gain. In stark contrast to them was Paul’s ministry in which he worked with his hands and supported himself and his companions so that he would not be a burden on those to whom he was ministering. Paul did not preach the gospel for monetary gain or for personal satisfaction. God knew his heart and his motives, and Paul called God to be his witness because God was the One to whom he was truly accountable.
COMMITTED TO GOD’S GLORY (1st Thessalonians 2:6)
False teachers and spiritual deceivers are glory seekers, Paul did not seek glory, honor, or praise from men. He writes in verse six that they did not seek glory from men, not from the Thessalonian believers or from others. The only glory Paul ever sought was eternal. Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20–21, NASB95)[9] Paul was not an apostle or in ministry because he had chosen the profession for himself. God had gifted, prepared, called, and placed him there, so as far as Paul was concerned he did not deserve any commendation because it was all God’s doing.
Paul goes on in the end of verse six and says, “…even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority.” (1st Thessalonians 2:6b, NASB95)[10] Paul is saying that if they had wanted some prestige or glory, they could have asserted their divinely delegated authority, but this was not what they wanted, their desire was to give all the glory to God. Paul’s use of apostles here it not clear. Is he using it in the generic sense which means that he and his companions are specially called messengers, or is his use of it here to link him to the Twelve so as to identify his unique authority as one who had seen the risen Lord and had been personally commissioned as an apostle.
Paul never abused the authority he had as an apostle, he always balanced it with accountability and humility. He knew that then omniscient Lord discerned every thought and intention of his heart, so he was careful not to desire praise from men but always to seek to give all the glory to God. He was committed to giving God the glory due Him. Romans 11:36 says, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36, NASB95)[11] This expresses the mind and intentions of Paul’s commitment to give all the glory to God.
CONCLUSION:
Within these six verses, we have Paul’s defense of his ministry in the face of opposition which seemed to follow him wherever he went. But within this defense, we find five qualities of a spiritual leader: 1. Tenacity or persistence, because the leader trusts totally in the power of God; 2. Integrity, because the leader is fully dedicated to the truth of God; 3. Authority, because the leader is approved by the will of God; 4. Accountability, because the leader knows that the omniscient God examines his heart; and 5. Humility, because the leader is consumed with the glory of God. If the spiritual leader has these qualities, he will be on his way to exercising fail-proof spiritual leadership.[12]
[1]Cited in Leon Morris, The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI : Eerdmans, 1989.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995. (Emphasis mine)
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995. (Emphasis mine)
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[12]Adapted from MacArthur, John, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Chicago, IL : Moody Publishers, 2002.