A Biblical Model of Discipleship (1 Thessalonians 2:7-12) | Adult Sunday School

Good to see you all. It's 931. That extra minute is

Daylight Savings Time Minute of Grace, okay? All the ones who have successfully sprung forward are here.

So, we're glad you're here, no matter what time you get here. And so, this morning we're going to open our

Bibles to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. When you're asked to lead a

Bible study or preach or fill the pulpit, you know, one time, it's always a bit of a challenge, at least it is for me, to kind of come up with a message and decide on what you could start and stop in just one session, right?

I mean, because you don't want to start something brand new and you don't want to finish what you haven't started. So, it's always a little bit of a challenge to maybe find a passage that's sort of self -contained that you can work your way through and in just one session.

And I know personally, I've always been very much edified by the biblical basics, right?

No matter how long I walk with the Lord, I'm always edified when I hear the basic story of the

Bible, the gospel. And so, I thought what I'd do this morning, and since there's nothing more basic to historic orthodox biblical

Christianity than discipleship, I'd pick a passage that dealt with biblical discipleship.

And I think this passage from 1 Thessalonians 2, and we're going to be looking at verses 7 -12 this morning, is a good model of biblical discipleship from the

Apostle Paul. There's an outline, and if you haven't picked one up, there are some back there, and there have been floating around.

So, it's there for you to follow along with. Going to have a few blanks for you to fill in this morning. Not too many, just a few to help us on our way.

So, this morning we're going to be looking at a biblical model of discipleship from the

Apostle Paul, or maybe you'd like to call it a model of a discipleship model from the

Bible. There are many places we could look, as you well know in Scripture, for models of discipleship.

Of course, there's what we call the Great Commission from Matthew 28, 19 and 20 where our risen

Lord said to His disciples, go, make disciples, baptizing and teaching, and so on.

And many other ones throughout the book of Acts, and so on as we move into the

New Testament. But I've always felt like this one from the Apostle Paul really does capture what it means to disciple people.

And so, this morning we're going to be looking at 1 Thessalonians 2, 7 -12, a biblical model of discipleship.

And let's commit our time to our Lord and ask His blessing on our study. Our Father, we know we are totally dependent on You and Your Spirit to lead us and teach us this morning.

And so, as we open up Your Word this morning, Father, I pray that You would show us what You have for us.

That You would be our teacher this morning. That You would show us how we are to disciple like Paul did.

And Father, would You be glorified in all things through it. In Jesus' name we ask it, amen.

Well, when the Apostle Paul set out on his second missionary journey, the Holy Spirit directed him and his little band, which included

Silas, to visit the churches they had planted on the first missionary journey. This is recorded in Acts 15, verses 35 -41.

So, when Paul and Barnabas had come full circle back to Antioch on the first missionary journey, where they had started from, they decided to go back and check the churches that they had planted.

And so, it says in that passage, after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaim the

Word of the Lord and see how they are. We are told that Paul and Barnabas then separated over the issue of John Mark.

You remember Mark had abandoned them on the first journey. And so, when it came to taking him on the second one, there was a disagreement.

And so, they separated. And it says in verse 39 of that chapter, Barnabas took

Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the

Lord. And he went through Cilicia, strengthening the churches. So, Barnabas and John Mark went the same way they did on the first missionary journey.

They sailed to the island of Cyprus. But Paul took Silas and went the northern route, the land route.

Acts chapter 16 opens with the little group moving through the cities along the northern route, and Luke records it this way,

Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there named

Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer. But his father was a Greek.

He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him.

And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places. Remember your genealogy was determined by your father.

And even though Timothy's mother was Jewish, his father was a

Gentile. So, all the Jews would have considered him a Gentile. So, that was the reason that Paul circumcised him.

So, he would have some inroad with the Jewish people. That would have made him a proselyte to Judaism.

You have a couple of different levels of converted Gentiles to Judaism in Scripture. The full conversion would be called a proselyte.

And most of them were women because it did require the men to be circumcised. The second, the little lower level with many of the men would have been what is called a

God -fearer in Scripture. This would have been Cornelius in Acts chapter 10. He was a Roman, and he was a

Gentile, but he was a God -fearer in that he had converted to worshiping the

God of the Jews. But then it says, Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the

Jews who were in those places. For they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the

Apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. And you remember this was the issue of the Gentiles being admitted into the

Church. Can Gentiles actually become Christians without first becoming

Jews? That was the issue. And of course the answer was yes, because salvation is by God's grace through faith alone.

That includes the Gentiles. The Gentiles don't have to convert to Judaism first. And Luke records the result of that ministry that they had through those cities in the fourth of his six progress reports in Acts.

There's these series of progress reports all the way through Acts. And of the fourth one in chapter 16, verse 5,

Luke says this, so the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.

These progress reports are designed, they are put there to show God's success in what

He's doing in the first 30 years of Church history. He is building His Church.

Luke then records in Acts 16 that Paul wanted to travel northeast, but was redirected by the

Holy Spirit through a vision to go west to Macedonia. This is also when

Luke himself joined Paul and his team. So, traveling northwest they crossed the upper part of the

Aegean Sea, and when they landed at Neapolis they began traveling through the cities of Macedonia with the

Gospel of Jesus Christ. We're told that from Neapolis they went to Philippi, where they won some to Christ, including

Lydia and her family. Paul's first place Paul went when he would go to a city would be to the synagogues where the

Jews were. This is in his obedience to Romans 1, verse 16.

We like that verse, right? Because it says, the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. I hear it quoted all the time, but rarely do

I hear the whole sentence quoted. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe, all to the

Jew first, also to the Greek. And if you track through the book of Acts this is exactly what

Paul did all the way through, clear to the end even. At the end when he was in prison he couldn't go to the

Jews in Rome, but he invited them to come to him, which is what they did. He obeyed that all the way through.

And by the way that is still in force. The Gospel must go to the Jew first. There are those that say, even in our day they say, well, now see because they rejected their

Messiah. And when they did that God was done with the Jews, okay? There is a little problem though because in that verse there is a single verb that governs both those clauses.

The little Greek verb is, it's present tense, it is the power of God unto salvation.

So, if it used to be to the Jews first, but it's not anymore, guess what?

Then it's not anymore the power of God to salvation, correct? I don't think you want to go there do you?

It has to go to the Jews first, that's the priority. Well, when he's in Philippi he had a little bit of a busy day.

In one 24 hour period in the city of Philippi after he led Lydia to Christ he cast a demon from a slave girl who was saved and who then quit her practice of divination for profit, which enraged her owners who couldn't use her to make money anymore.

And who then dragged Silas and Paul into the marketplace before the city rulers falsely accused them, which attracted a large crowd who also attacked them.

And the magistrates then ordered Paul and Silas stripped of their clothes and beaten with rods.

After which they were incarcerated in the innermost part of the prison with their feet locked in stocks. But that only lasted until midnight when a massive earthquake wrecked the jail, opened the doors, busted loose all the prisoners from their chains and stocks.

The jailer thought everyone had escaped, so he was going to commit suicide with his sword. Instead, the

Apostle Paul led him and his whole family to Christ. The jailer then washed Paul and Silas' wounds, and Paul and Silas baptized him and his whole family.

After which they all shared a fellowship meal in the jailer's house. Just another day in the life of Paul.

Eventually they left Philippi, passed through the next two cities along the Roman Highway, which is called the

Via Ignatia, and they arrived in Thessalonica. Since its founding in 315

B .C. Thessalonica had become a very significant city. It was not only the largest city in the province, it was also the provincial capital.

And we are told by Luke in Acts chapter 17 that Paul went to the Jewish synagogue in Thessalonica as was his habit in obedience to Romans 1 .16

for three Sabbaths to reason with the Jews from the scriptures that Jesus was the

Messiah. Again, in obedience to Romans 1 .16. And in Philippi there were many converts, both

Jews and Gentiles because he did that first with the Jews.

But also like Philippi in Thessalonica there was tremendous opposition. And if you read the account you see that after those three

Sabbaths he essentially got kicked out of town. He had to leave. Paul was more than an evangelist.

As much as he could before he was forced out of town, or beaten, or you know stoned and left for dead, he would do what he could to bring his converts to spiritual maturity in Jesus Christ.

In other words he would want to disciple them. And he understood that it involved sharing

Christ and sharing the Gospel, but it was more than that. It was sharing his own life in the discipling process.

We think Paul was in Thessalonica somewhere around three weeks, that's not much time before he got kicked out.

But when he wrote back to them in 1 and 2 Thessalonians he relies on his spirit -led memory, of course, to recount what he did there.

But he also relies on the memory of the Thessalonians. Having only been there for three weeks that's not much time to make an impression on people, right?

But apparently he did. So, if we want to carry out the Great Commission to make disciples this account

I think is a great model. It's not the only model but it's a really good one I believe. And it's an excellent one.

So, this morning from the example of Paul we are going to see this model of biblical discipleship.

And we are going to see four gifts every Christian can give those he disciples, he or she disciples, okay?

Four gifts every Christian can give those he disciples. The first thing we see, this is verse 7, 1

Thessalonians 2, give them tender affection. Give them tender affection.

Now it might seem a little strange to hear the Apostle Paul talk like this, okay, describing his ministry to believers in this way.

But this was a man who was not afraid to express his deep concern and his care to those he ministered to.

To the Roman Christians when he wrote them, of course this is considered his most doctrinally profound letter that he wrote, right?

But he begins by expressing gratitude to God for their faith. And then he says this, I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you.

Later on in that same letter he exhorts them to love one another with brotherly affection.

Outdo one another in showing honor. And to the Christians at Philippi he wrote this,

I am sure of this that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

It is right for me to feel this way about you all because I hold you in my heart.

For you are all partakers of me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

For God is my witness how I yearn for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.

And as he closes that same letter, Philippians 4 .1, Paul says, therefore my brothers, summary statement, whom

I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the

Lord my beloved. He ends that letter using the very same word. Our Lord was called by his father at his baptism when he said, my beloved son.

It's of course the very familiar word agape in the Greek which speaks of God's faithful undeserved covenant love.

Covenant love. It's not love that's just based on emotion or feeling, even though emotion and feeling are there, it's based on a covenant commitment to love that other person.

Even to the Corinthian Christians, this is the one that I get a real kick out of, to the Corinthian Christians, okay?

The Apostle Paul still considered them, and the way he identifies with them, he's in the

Apostle Paul and yet he identifies. Now, if you didn't know anything about the Corinthian assembly, and they had some serious problems, right?

I mean, they got some problems there. But listen to how Paul addresses them. This is the first nine verses of his first letter to them.

If you didn't know anything about them, but you just heard this from the Apostle Paul, what would your impression be? He says,

Paul called by the will of God to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ, and our brother,

Sosthenes, to the Church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our

Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours. Grace to you and peace from God our

Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in Him in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our

Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our

Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ, our

Lord. Now, if you didn't know anything about that congregation, what would you think from that introduction, the way

Paul describes them? I mean, that almost reads like a soteriological study of this group of people, right?

You can almost check all the boxes of salvation, they're elect, they're gifted, they're called and so on.

And Paul is identifying with them. He doesn't say, well, you Corinthians got so many problems.

No, he doesn't do that. Your Lord and ours. They're part of the church. They're part of the whole church.

This is how Paul related to people. And even though the very next verse, he begins dealing with all of the problems in the

Corinthian assembly, right? As you walk through 1 Corinthians, Paul probably got a list from somebody that said, here's what's going on at Corinth.

And yet when he wrote them back, he still first commends them for who they are in Christ.

But then of course, he has to deal with the spiritual problems that are in that church. But even as he does later on in chapter 4, verse 14,

Paul says, I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.

That's what he says about them. Paul discipled with gentleness and care.

Unlike the false preachers and teachers of his day and our day, he didn't use or abuse the sheep.

And he was not afraid to express his love, his concern, like a loving parent with beloved children.

He, in fact, over 100 times in his letters Paul identifies with the

Christians that God has given him to minister to. This is the Apostle Paul. But no matter who they are, if they are people he is ministering to, he identifies with them.

He calls them brothers, or brethren. And of course, it's not just the men, it includes the women, all believers in these congregations.

He uses this term 20 times in his letter to the Romans. Ten times in Galatians. In these two letters, 1 and 2

Corinthians he uses it 50 times, he calls them my brothers, you are my brothers, brethren. And in these two letters, 1 and 2

Thessalonians, 28 times he refers to them as brothers. This is how

Paul ministered. He ministered by identifying with the people he ministered to. He didn't lord his apostleship over them, even though he could have, he does say that elsewhere, you know.

But he identifies with them and he gave them tender affection. Now, if you think that Paul was some kind of a wimpy weakling because he ministered with gentleness, okay?

Let me remind you of some of what he endured. His life was not easy. His second letter to the

Corinthians gives us a little snapshot into what he went through. He says in 2 Corinthians 4, we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but not driven to despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed, always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our flesh.

Did you get what he said there? His suffering and the death that he had to deal with all the time was a prerequisite for him to share the life of Christ in other people's lives.

That's amazing. He also told the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 6, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way, okay?

Now, you might think, Paul, this is the Apostle Paul, he's going to commend himself to people, okay? Yeah, I'm the Apostle Paul. I'm a brilliant Old Testament scholar.

I was trained at the feet of the foremost Jewish scholar, his name was Gamaliel. You know, he's a former rabbi, teacher, he was an expert in the

Old Testament, and called to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ. But he doesn't say that here.

How does Paul commend himself? Every way, by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, and hunger.

How's that for expressing your spiritual bona fides, you know, to congregations, you know? That wouldn't go over too well today on social media, right?

Hey, let's get this guy to speak at the next big conference. What happened? What's he been doing? Well, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, yeah, let's get that guy, right?

But this is how Paul commended himself. And that same letter he gives this amazing description of his ministry, 2

Corinthians 11, he says, with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, often near death, five times

I received at the hands of the Jews forty lashes less one. Now, what that is, this forty lashes less one, or 39 stripes, it's referred to elsewhere.

In the Jewish law, and this is Deuteronomy 25, 1 -3, one of the punishments for a convicted person for certain transgressions was being lashed, right?

But what they did in order to not make it too severe they limited it to 40. But you know centuries later the

Jews had taken the law and they had built this massive structure around the law to protect the law from being broken, right?

Because they were good law keeping people, they thought. And so, what they did they subtracted one from the 40.

First lesson there, don't try to be more holy than God, okay? Don't do it, it doesn't work. But they wanted to protect the law so they subtracted one.

So, when they would beat some guy, you know, they would only whack him 39 times.

What this involved was basically they would strip your clothes off and wrap you around some immovable object, like a tree or something, and they would take a rod, you know, something like a nice green broomstick size stick, you know, and they would get some linebacker type and he'd swing that thing with both hands and he'd lay that across your back and your backside, according to them, 39 times.

They took away one, you know, because when you're beating the living daylights out of some poor pilgrim, you know, and all the excitement, and the blood, and the gore, and the screaming, you don't want to break the law and hit him 41 times, you know, oh, that would be terrible.

But that's what Paul is talking about here. He had that treatment five times. And by the way, if you got that from the

Romans, the Romans weren't under the law, okay? They would just beat you with a cat and nine tails until you were almost dead.

So, they weren't constrained by any numbers. But Paul suffered that. And then he says, three times

I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift at sea on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, in toil and hardship through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

And apart from other things there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

Paul just didn't have one church he was concerned about, all the churches. This man was no weakling, okay?

This is one tough, salty apostle, okay? And yet he says, we were gentle among you, okay?

Didn't get bitter, didn't get angry, didn't take out his frustrations on the people he ministered to.

We were gentle among you. The word gentle is actually the word for baby or infant. Very interesting sentence the way he constructs it.

Almost like a two -fold metaphor there because we were gentle like a baby, but like a nursing mother.

And of course there is no more tender picture in life, in my opinion, than a mother nursing her baby.

Even us men, if Paul could do it, so could we in the power of the Holy Spirit.

All of us big, rough, tough, rugged, elk killing, football watching, oil changing, tree chopping, firewood cutting, barbecue bratwurst consuming, hairy armed and back macho men, we too can and should disciple with gentleness.

So, give them tender affection. The women are laughing, the men are all looking at their arms. So, if the concept of discipling with gentleness describes the how of discipling, maybe we can put this second gift in the category of the what, okay?

So, no matter who you disciple, make sure you give them the gospel because that's what Paul did.

This is Roman Numeral 2, give them the gospel. Verse 8, so being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God.

Stop right there. Notice how the gospel presentation is with in the sphere or the context of his close, gentle, caring relationship with the people he ministered to.

You might say, well, first step of discipleship, share the gospel. Well, it's important to share the gospel.

But Paul did it within the context of his relationship, his care, and his concern for the people he ministered to.

But he did share the gospel from the earliest days of his ministry. Paul proclaimed the gospel. The good news that God sent

His Son, Jesus Christ, to die as a substitute on the cross. Full substitute, full payment for all of the sins of all who would ever believe in Him.

And that Paul would always call those he preached to turn from their sin and trust in Jesus Christ as their

Lord and Savior. This was his message. His gospel message included calling people, urging people to repent of their sins.

In Acts chapter 20 when Paul met with the Ephesian elders at the end of his third missionary journey, remember he spent three years in Ephesus.

And so when he was headed back to Jerusalem he didn't travel up to Ephesus but he called those elders to come meet him at a town near the coast called

Miletus, because Paul had to get back down to Jerusalem. And when he did that in Acts chapter 20 he said this, you yourselves know how

I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia serving the Lord with all humility, and with tears, and trials that happened to me through the plots of the

Jews, how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our

Lord Jesus Christ. Later in verse 27 Paul said, I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

For Paul sharing the Gospel included calling people to repentance. The whole counsel of God had to include urging people, encouraging people to turn from their sin.

Paul preached repentance. And it is an amazing thing to see in some circles of Evangelical Christianity today.

That message is carefully avoided. They don't do it. Even though the Biblical definition of the

Gospel includes calling people to repentance. Maybe they think they are going to offend people by the sharp tone of the message, or a message that indicts them in their sin.

But that's like inviting somebody to come to the hospital and just sit in the waiting room, right? Never be seen by a physician.

Never be diagnosed. Never be treated. You can't do that. In Luke 24 which is

Luke's version of the Great Commission, you know we have Matthew 28, but at the end of Luke's Gospel the resurrected

Christ is meeting with His disciples on the road to Emmaus. And listen to what it says,

Those are clear instructions from the Lord Jesus Christ, the risen Savior, to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins.

Even in His own ministry recorded by Mark, in Mark's Gospel, the first chapter, right after he was tempted by Satan in the wilderness,

Mark records this, verse 14 of chapter 1, Jesus preached repentance.

That's a definition of preaching the Gospel, okay? It's there. And this is exactly what

Paul did as well. And if we are to obey our Lord's command, follow the example of Paul and our

Lord we must proclaim the Good News, the Gospel, and call people to repent of their sins.

Because when He comes back He's going to come back as judge. And He's coming back here to this planet to judge.

It's exactly what Paul did with everyone he ministered to, including the Thessalonian Christians. And how did they respond?

Well, we're told in chapter 1, verse 9, and he's commending them for their faith.

Even though he was only there for three weeks or so. He commends them for their faith, for their walk with Jesus Christ.

And he says, not only has the word of their salvation gone forward, in verse 8, for not only has the word of the

Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere so that we need not say anything.

For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true

God. That's repentance right there. Repentance is something that you can see, right? If somebody says, yeah,

I know the Lord. Well, that's a statement of their internal spiritual status, right? But what the

Bible does it talks about that but then it gives you something that you can verify objectively.

And this is what Paul is talking about here. You turn to God from idols to serve the living and true

God. And that was something that was visible, something that was obvious. The repentance was something that you could actually see.

Paul's message, his Gospel message was always the same, clear, bold, pointed, Christ -centered, and uncompromising.

Listen to what he says in chapter 2, verses 3 through 6 of 1 Thessalonians. And he describes his own

Gospel preaching. This is a passage that is right before the one we're looking at. He talks about how he preached the

Gospel, and that he was absolutely true to it. He said, He says a very similar thing to the

Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 4. He said, Paul didn't come to the

Thessalonian Christians to get, he came to give. To give them the Gospel because he knew it was and still is the power of God to salvation.

So, give them tender affection, but in the process of that relationship give them the

Gospel as well, and call them to turn to Jesus Christ. Well, there's a third gift we can all give those we disciple.

And this one is really personal. How personal is this? Well, Roman Numeral 3, give them yourself in authentic spirituality.

It doesn't get much more personal than that. This is 8A. Paul says, and we go back to, this is 8B, but we go back up to the first part of that sentence, so 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 very dear to us.

How personal is that? Give yourself, right? Paul did. Very interesting, he uses when he says, that word selves there is the

Greek word psuche. Psuche is the word we get the word soul from. The innermost part of our being,

Paul says, that's what we gave. And again, he gives the reason, because you had become very dear to us.

Again, Paul's whole ministry, it was in a context of care, and concern, and personal involvement with people's lives.

If you want to put this in the category of a what along with the Gospel, you can do that, that probably works.

But notice again, this term of endearment, you had become very dear to us.

Bracketing the giving of the Gospel and the giving of yourself are these expressions of care and of fellowship.

Even that word translated dear, okay, the root word of that, back to the word agape, the root word of that word is the word agape, that covenant love, okay.

It was always Paul's goal to preach Christ and further the Gospel of God, but he always did it in the context of sharing his own life self -sacrificially.

Self -sacrificially. Give them yourself in authentic, spiritual spirituality.

And then he tells us what that looks like. Paul spent time with those he ministered to. He preached, he taught, he hung out, he did it all modeling authentic spirituality.

Before he left on that first missionary journey it is recorded that Barnabas went and found him, and brought him back to the city of Antioch, north up in Syria where the missionary endeavor started.

And it says that he was there for an entire year teaching those people.

An entire year before they launched that first missionary journey. He was in Corinth for 18 months on the second missionary journey.

He just stayed there and ministered to those people. And on the third journey he stayed in Ephesus three years ministering to them.

And so he was willing to spend time, spend his effort, all of his effort, in fact his entire self.

And he did that in three basic ways we're told. He says in verse 9, "'For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil.

We work night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you while we proclaim to you the

Gospel of God.'" Once again, the context for proclaiming the Gospel for Paul was in this sphere of ministry.

Elsewhere Paul makes the case that a preacher of the Gospel should be supported by those he ministers to. The workman is worthy of his wage.

This is a biblical principle, right? But Paul was always being accused by the false accusers of preaching for money, or preaching for whatever kind of services from people.

And so in order to dispel that, in order to be an example of hard work, he just forewent being supported by these people at certain times.

And you remember in Corinth he worked with Aquila and Priscilla making tents. And he worked not only to support himself and his ministry, but also to just short circuit anybody who said, well, this guy is probably preaching for money.

If you look ahead to 2 Thessalonians 3, verses 6 -8, Paul says this, "'Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our

Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition you received from us.

For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you.

Nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you.

It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate.'"

Paul was confident in how he had related to these people, right? And he repeatedly calls back on their memory to remember what it was like when he was with them, okay?

So, Paul gave himself an authentic spirituality by modeling hard work. Another thing he did, this is verse 10, he modeled holiness.

He says, "'You are witnesses, and God also. How holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers.'

As he gave his life in authentic spirituality he not only modeled hard work, but in everything he did he modeled holiness, so critical to the discipling process."

This word holy here, the requirement for an accusation was one or more witnesses, or two witnesses, right?

A dual witness. So, when he uses this word witness here he calls on the

Thessalonian Christians, that's one witness, and God as well. And he modeled his holiness, probably how he related to God, the reference to God witnessing this.

And then he says, "'And righteous,' probably a reference to how he related to men. And then blameless speaks about both areas, his duties to both

God and man. Holy toward God, righteous toward people.'" Remember what the Old Testament said, "'You will love the

Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and,' what? "'Your neighbor as yourself.'" There is always this dual relationship, relationship to God, and relationship to people that is seen all through Scripture.

Paul is living that out. If you look at the little letter of Jude where Jude deals with apostates and false teachers he makes mention of the fact that they don't feed the sheep, they feed on the sheep.

This was also an indictment that the prophets made of the priests and the people that were supposed to be feeding the sheep of ancient

Israel. They don't strive to live holy, righteous lives. They are sensual. They are carnal.

They are feeding their own lusts. But the biblical model of discipleship must include modeling holiness toward God, righteousness toward people, and the result is a blameless life.

Even if you look ahead in this same letter, 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul prays at the end.

And he says, "'Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely.'"

And this is what we are talking about. We are talking about this issue of sanctification, being set apart for God's purposes. "'And may your whole spirit, and soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our

Lord Jesus Christ.'" Giving yourself an authentic spirituality includes modeling hard work, but also modeling holiness.

But also, very important, verses 11 and 12, model a positive influence.

So, Paul says, "'For you know,' again, he's appealing to their memory, appealing to the time that he was with them, "'You know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you, and encouraged you, and charged you.'"

Now, Paul completes the family metaphor, okay? Starts out talking about the tenderness of a mother nursing her little child.

And he ends this section talking about the ministry of a father. So, our discipleship must include this part of this as well.

And he has these three areas, he says, "'Like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you.'"

Don't miss that. There was no unimportant people in Paul's ministry. Each one of you.

The nursing mother pictures the gentleness that must permeate our ministry. Paul now brings the other imagery in, the imagery of a father.

Sometimes a father has to say things that may be a little more strict with the children.

So, he uses this word, exhort. Translated here, exhort. Very common word in the New Testament, parakaleo.

Sometimes compound words, you take the word apart, and look at each word that doesn't make as much sense, you know, as it does when it's compounded, right?

I mean, in our language we have the word butterfly. Well, that image is a little bit different than butter and fly, right?

But here the compound word, parakaleo. Para means alongside. We have para church ministries.

And kaleo means to call. To call alongside. And it's used in the Scripture, there's a real broad semantic range of how it's used.

It simply means to call somebody alongside, to speak to them, to produce some kind of change, okay?

So, it has a range. It might be a warning. It might be a rebuke. It may be, and it's very commonly translated in English translations, comfort, okay?

Comfort. But remember the word comfort is a Latin transliterated and drug -read into our language.

Cumporte, with strength, right? So, in our kind of contemporary psychologized evangelicalism, comfort, you know, it comes across comfort, my feelings.

Well, maybe that comfort means, come on, stop whining, and get busy, and get to work, that type of thing.

That's still comfort, encourage, or with strength. So, but this word has a range of meaning.

It could be a variety of things. To speak near, to draw somebody alongside, to beseech, to urge.

In fact, in chapter 5, verse 14, Paul says, and we urge you, brothers.

Same word. It's just translated urge. Peter's pointing at the clock.

And so, how he uses it here is that he wants to, he calls back on how he encourages his people.

There's another word here he uses. He not only exhorted each one, or encouraged, but he exhorted and encouraged you and charged you.

The second word has more to do with a calm speaking to someone, or to console them or comfort them, much like a father should do at times, right?

Sometimes a father just needs to be a person of strength in a family, and a calming influence in people.

And the third one has the idea of bearing witness, to exhort you. In other words, almost like a football coach who during the halftime, you know, he might speak to individual players and say, you know, you missed that block.

You need to make your block. You need to do this. We need to do this better. You're doing this really well, but you need to do this.

But then he urges them, okay, now get out there and win the game, he might say. All fathers, by the way, all fathers need to do this in their homes with their wives and with their children to be examples of tender affection, but to give themselves an authentic spirituality.

If a father's not doing this, he's not obeying the Word of God. And in the case of discipling people, unlike a football game, discipling people has eternal consequences.

And this brings us to the final gift we can give those we disciple, very important, give them the goal.

This whole thing is moving forward to an endpoint, to a goal. Going back and reading the full sentence, for 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 who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

You gotta give him the goal. We teach the Word of God, we preach the Word of God, we disciple people for life change, okay?

Not for entertainment, not to make you feel good about this or that or the other, but to change your life.

That's the goal, to walk in a manner worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

That word occurs 97 times in the

New Testament. Got them all right here. Number one, no I'm not going to do that to you, 97 times.

Now as you work through the Gospels it's all about actually physical walking, talking about walking, right?

And the word is peripatetic, you've heard of a peripatetic ministry, somebody who they walk with their ministry back in the old days, you know they walk from town to town, that's what

Paul did, that's a peripatetic ministry. But when you get out of the Gospels into the letters it changes the usage into more of a metaphor.

And it's used to talk about how we live our lives out in the world, how we walk as Christians in the world.

And Paul uses this 35 times in his letters to encourage Christians how they walk in the world.

And that's what he's doing here, to walk in a manner worthy of God. That's what the discipling is all about in the here and now.

But look what else, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. That's where this is all heading.

And that word call, same word that we saw before, kaleo, to call, except here Paul uses the present active participle.

So you could read it this way, who is calling you into his own kingdom and glory.

You see the present sense of being called on a continuous basis into the kingdom and glory of God, that's what

Paul is talking about here. So, every Christian can give four gifts to those who are disciples.

Tender affection, give them the Gospel, give them yourself in authentic spirituality, and make sure you focus on the goal to walk in a manner worthy of our

God who calls us into His kingdom and glory, because that's where we are headed.

Amen? Time for a question or two? Maybe? I'm sorry.

It was several years. What was the time frame from Paul's conversion in Acts 9 on the road to Damascus to when he started his first ministry, first missionary journey?

Several years. He spent several years alone, and he comments about in Arabia. I can't remember how it all added up, but it was more than a few years.

It was a length of time. There weren't, and even you can see the amount of time he would spend discipling people, and teaching them in Antioch first, and then

Corinth, Ephesus. The second missionary journey probably took maybe three and a half years, something like that, if not more, because of how long it was.

But it was several years, and it does tell you in the book of Acts, and in his own testimony how long it took.

Any other questions or comments you might have? Okay, well let's pray before we close.

Father, thank You for Your Word. Thank You for being our teacher this morning. Help us to put into practice what we hear, what we learn.

Help us to not only follow the example of our brother, Paul, but to make sure we listen to and obey our

Lord Jesus Christ. And now Father as we gather to fellowship, to worship You, pray

Father that You would be right in the middle of that, especially Father for those who would lead us this morning, who would lead us in worship and in preaching.

May You give them great strength, and freedom, and joy as we worship You. We thank