If you ever read or listen to anyone giving advice about writing (or how to be a good writer), there are a number of different bits of advice given. It seems that each has his own thoughts about what it takes to be a good writer. However, one element that everyone seems to mention is the need to read good writing. That is, read those who are themselves good writers. And in one sense that’s odd because this element that everyone seems to mention has nothing to do with the task of writing itself. I mean, telling someone to use active verbs, or use descriptive imagery, or the like at least pertains to the action of writing itself, whereas you could read an entire library of books and not make any ground in terms of actually writing yourself. But on the other hand, it’s not surprising at all that everyone mentions the need to read good writing. After all, aren’t some things better caught than taught? That is, aren’t there some things that are easier to learn simply by seeing how another does it? So, with writing, seeing an example of good writing is crucial as it aids you in catching on to what good writing looks like.
The same thing is no doubt true in terms of doing gospel ministry. There’s a reason why there have typically been apprenticeships in pastoral ministry, as there have been in other occupations like being a mechanic or a plumber. It’s a chance to see how someone actually does the task instead of merely receiving instructions without example. Well, I think what we have in 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 is an example of Paul’s ministry through the medium of writing. That is, I realize that we can’t see Paul doing ministry, since he died and went to be with the Lord hundreds of years ago, but this particular letter gives us a number of glimpses into how Paul actually carried out his task of ministry. And perhaps none more clearly than 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5.
In these five verses we get to see what are Paul’s priorities, how he comforts other believers, how he thinks about other believers, and what he believes should be our focus. It’s a great picture of how Paul does the work of gospel ministry and, therefore, a great example for us as we seek to carry out the ministry of the gospel. Therefore, as we look at Paul’s approach, motivation, and labors in these verses, I think we need to learn from him. Therefore, let me note a few things that we need to keep in mind and be about doing (in light of what Paul does and says here) as we think about laboring in the ministry of the gospel.
First, I think it’s fair to say from Paul’s example that:
Now, I don’t want to say this often from behind the pulpit, but do me a favor and don’t look at your Bibles for a second. Paul has just prayed for the Thessalonians, and then he begins chapter 3, saying, “Finally, brothers, pray for us.” So, since you’re not looking at your Bibles to see the answer to this (and maybe can’t remember from when we heard the public reading of the text earlier), try to guess in your mind how Paul finishes that statement. After saying, “Finally, brothers, pray for us,” what does he say? Maybe better, we could ask what we typically say when we ask others for prayer. What typically follows our request for others to pray for us? Perhaps our health, finances, children’s well-being, job opportunities, or something else? No doubt how we answer this reveals something about our priorities, doesn’t it?
Well, let’s look back at our Bibles and see how Paul ends this request for prayer. He writes, “Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you” (v. 1). Do you see that? Paul’s prayer request for himself and his companions isn’t about his health, safety, or prosperity in some way. It’s about the advance of the gospel.
Paul knows how the gospel came to the Thessalonians, how the Spirit moved them so that they saw it for what it really is – the power of God unto salvation – and believed, and he longs for that to happen with others. Even the second part of his request (“and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith.” v. 2), I believe, is also driven by his desire for the advance of the gospel throughout the world. I think the reason Paul wants to be delivered from those who do not believe and who oppose the gospel is so that he may not be hindered in his efforts to spread the gospel.
I think the reason Paul asks the Thessalonians to pray “for us” and then requests “that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored” is because the gospel and its advancement throughout the world is the most treasured thing in Paul’s life. That is to say, if you’d sat down and had a conversation with Paul and ended that conversation by saying, “Paul, what can I be praying about for you?” I think he would have said something like he said here – “that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored.” And if you followed by saying, “Paul, of course, as Christians, we all want the gospel to be heard, honored, and believed by many, but give me something personal to you, something that really affects you, or something that is going on in your life right now. What’s affecting you?” I think Paul would merely repeat himself. I think the gospel really was the thing that affected him most, concerned him most, and delighted him most.
And I say that because this is not a one-off for Paul. Remember when he wrote to the Philippians from prison? He wrote in Philippians 1:12, “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.” Then, he told them that this led him to rejoice. You see, if you gave Paul the option of staying out of prison but the gospel not being advanced or the gospel being advanced but him going to prison, I think we know his choice. If prison is the means of advancing the gospel, bring it on. The reason why is because he rejoiced more in the advance of the gospel than even his own well-being.
Now, this is a good time to evaluate ourselves, isn’t it? I mean, Paul really is an impressive individual in the Bible, but he doesn’t have some superpower that makes him unlike us. There’s nothing that stops us from loving the advance of the gospel as much as Paul did. And I think this needs to be our prayer for ourselves as individuals and as a church, “Lord, please give us a passion for the advance of the gospel. Make us driven by a desire to see those who haven’t heard the gospel, hear it, and those who believe the gospel continue to grow and be shaped by it.” This is the first element we need if we are to be faithful laborers in the ministry of the gospel.
But that’s not all we see here. We also can note that:
We might find it surprising that Paul ends verse 2 saying, “For not all have faith.” I mean, this is fairly obvious, isn’t it? The Thessalonians had been the recipients of persecution for believing the gospel and obeying Christ. If anyone knows that not everyone is a believer in Jesus Christ, they would. But I think Paul describes the unbeliever this way to play off of two things. First, he’s contrasting the nature of his prayer request in this phrase. That is, when he says, “Pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you,” he’s saying, “Pray that the gospel will be heard and received in faith.” That’s what it means for the gospel to be honored. It means that the gospel will be heard and believed. So, the phrase, “For not all have faith,” serves as a contrast for what Paul is making the focus of his prayer in verse 1, namely, that people would have faith when they hear the gospel.
But it also serves to contrast what follows. Those who reject the gospel do not have faith, but their lack of faith serves as a contrast to the Lord who is faithful. That is, this is a play on words. The word for faith (pistis) and faithful (pistos) are right next to each other in this text in the original language it was written in (Greek). So, you can see how the reader of the text would see this contrast immediately.
After praying for the advance of the gospel and part of that being that Paul and his companions would be delivered from wicked and evil men, Paul perhaps realizes that this could conjure up fears in the Thessalonians. They haven’t been delivered, it seems, from wicked and evil men because they’re being persecuted. But Paul takes this as a chance to remind them of God’s preserving grace. He writes, “But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one” (v. 3).
Yes, they may be persecuted. Yes, they may be greatly harmed, suffer, and even die, but the Lord is faithful and will guard them against anything that could shipwreck their faith. Satan may unleash all kinds of havoc, but nothing can pluck them out of the Lord’s hand. You may remember how the Lord Jesus Christ communicated this same truth to the churches in the book of Revelation. He had the angel put the seal of the Lord on the foreheads of believers so as to show that these may suffer, but their salvation is not at risk. They belong to the Lord.
Now, why would Paul take this opportunity to remind the Thessalonians of this in the midst of requesting prayer for the advancement of the gospel? I mentioned one reason already, namely, to relieve any fears that might creep up in their hearts at the mention of wicked and evil men. But I think there’s another reason. I think it’s because when we realize that the Lord will preserve our souls for eternity, it frees us up to take great risks in obeying the Lord.
Any dad whose stood in the pool begging his young son to jump into the water understands this reality. In this drama, every individual has a role he or she plays. The dad stands in the pool, and you say to your young son, “Jump in, and I’ll catch you.” And your son’s job is then to tell you how scared he is, that he doesn’t want do it, and that he’s afraid you’ll miss or he’ll get hurt. You repeat this a few times, and then it’s the mom’s job to jump in and say, “Well, maybe he’s not ready for that yet,” and the dad answers, “No, he’ll be fine.” And so you keep this up until finally the son jumps in (where hopefully you catch him), and you’re off to the races of pool jumping throughout the summer.
The reason the dad tells the son he’ll be okay over and over is because he wants his son to take an action that in the son’s mind seems like a great risk, right? Well, I think that’s one of the reasons the Lord continues to remind us of the fact that we are kept safe by his preserving grace. We don’t have to worry about going out into a hostile world with the gospel. Yes, they may harm us and even take our lives, but no wicked man nor Satan himself can pluck us out of the Lord’s hand. Because the Lord has established us and will guard us against the evil one doing anything to make shipwreck of our faith, we can be radically obedient to Christ and take the gospel to people and places that are difficult.
And there’s another element that Paul reveals about how his heart works that is encouraging and I think essential for gospel ministry. Let me apply it to us, and then I’ll show you how Paul reveals this about himself in the text.
Let me show you what I mean by that. Paul has laid out much for the Thessalonians to do (i.e. commands to be obeyed). So, what is Paul thinking as he does this? Is he thinking, “I’m just wasting my breath. I know they’re not going to do this.”? I mean, we’ve thought that before haven’t we? Have you ever sat down to talk to someone that you were sure was not going to be repentant or were certain they’d be unwilling to hear what you are saying, and then by your amazement, they are soft-hearted, repentant, or willing to listen with great care? That’s an opportunity, for us, I think to repent ourselves. After all, I think we should anticipate a display of grace in the lives of our brothers and sisters.
Look at what Paul says in verse 4. He writes, “And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command.” Paul trusts that they’ll respond positively to his commands. He is quite optimistic toward his brothers and sisters in Thessalonica. And this isn’t some exception for him either. Remember how he wrote to Philemon, fully trusting that Philemon would demonstrate the fruit of gracious obedience in his life. Paul wrote to Philemon, “Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say” (Philemon 21). He trusted that Philemon would demonstrate holy obedience in his life.
Why? I think it’s because of the same reason Paul was confident that the Thessalonian believers were doing and would continue to do what he commanded. He said that his confidence was “in the Lord.”
You see, our trust in believers responding in obedience in certain circumstances may well say more about our trust in the Lord than our trust in that brothers or sister. After all, if the person we’re dealing with is a child of God, then shouldn’t we trust that the one who gave them grace to believe the gospel will give them grace to continue to obey the gospel? And if we don’t, then we reflect a lack of trust in the Lord to work in such a way that our brother or sister is more and more conformed to the image of Christ.
And this reason this attitude or expectation is crucial for gospel ministry is because ministry is a task of the whole church. The Lord has called all of us to fulfill the great commission together. He’s called us to live holy lives as a community of believers. He’s called us to bear one another’s burdens and share in one another’s joys. So, if we’re supposed to labor together, then it involves us walking in great grace with one another. And one way we do that is by trusting in the Lord to give grace for us and our brothers and sisters where necessary.
A church full of people who simply expect their brothers and sisters to do the unloving thing will isolate themselves from the body, backbite, and stir up disunity. These things grieve the Spirit because the Spirit is working to mobilize the people of God as a community of believers. We aren’t healthy, do not grow, and do not carry out the work of ministry unless each of us is faithfully laboring together.
Therefore, one of the great needs for a church to do ministry well is a trust (in the Lord) that your brother or sister is going to demonstrate that they are recipients of the Lord’s grace in situation after situation. We may well face disappointment when someone won’t repent or abandons the faith, but let this indeed be disappointment because we fully hoped for, anticipated, and expected a gracious response from our brother or sister. Any other stance toward one another except that of gracious expectation is simply unloving.
And, finally, one more note:
Paul ends this short section by sharing with them a prayer of blessing and desire for them. He writes, “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.” I think this is a reference to the work of redemption accomplished by the Father and the Son. A desire for Christ to direct their hearts to the love of God is a desire for the Lord to direct their hearts to God’s redeeming love. After all, the clearest manifestation of the love of God for us in the Bible is seen as he sends his Son to die for us while we were still his enemies.
Likewise, the steadfastness of Christ, I believe, must refer to his steadfastness in being obedient all the way to the point of death. He obeyed and persevered when it was unpopular, when men opposed him, even when he could say, “Not my will but yours be done.”
Therefore, if Paul’s prayer is that the Lord would direct their hearts to God’s redeeming love seen in the gospel and Christ’s redeeming steadfastness as he laid down his life for them, then this is a prayer, we can say, wherein Paul wants their hearts to be directed to the gospel and what has been done for them therein. Perhaps the greatest need in doing gospel ministry is not to lose sight of what has been done for you in the gospel. If you lose sight of this, you begin thinking that you’re laboring unto the Lord in order that he might accept you as righteous. However, if your hearts are directed to the gospel, you know that you are already accepted as righteous because God loved you and sent his Son for you and because Christ was steadfast in living perfectly righteous all the way to the point of laying down his life for you. Then, you can labor as one who has been made right with God, not as one trying to do enough to be made right with God.
And I think you see why this last step is crucial for gospel ministry. We only love rightly when we realize we have first been loved by our God. We love because he first loved us. And if we love, then we’ll obey. And obedience requires steadfast perseverance, which is best pictured for us by setting our eyes on the steadfastness of the Lord himself. Therefore, fix your hearts on the gospel again and again, remembering God’s love and Christ’s steadfastness throughout life.
What can we learn from Paul’s example and instruction in this text? We can see that the advance of the gospel must be our priority, that we must trust the Lord to preserve our souls, that we must trust the Lord to show great grace in the lives of our brothers and sisters with whom we minister, and that our hearts must always remember what has been done for us in the gospel, through the redeeming work of our Lord.
And on this last point, we have an opportunity, by the Lord’s design, to do that every week as we come to the table. Therefore, let us come this morning, directing our hearts to the gospel, to the love of God and to the steadfastness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.