The Thessalonian church began through an apostolic Word brought by the Apostle Paul on his second missionary journey. The people were not brought into a walk with God by his shaking their hands and talking to them; rather, a living Word pierced the inner area of their spirits, their souls, and their minds.
In the second chapter of I Thessalonians, Paul described the bringing of the Word to them: For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming (entrance) to you was not in vain, but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi (their imprisonment until the earthquake), as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition (conflict).
Today’s disciples experience more conflict than opposition. In the spiritual battle that is taking place, it is not the opposition to the Word that hurts, but rather the spiritual conflict which they must constantly rise above. Paul said, 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. I Thessalonians 2:1–4.
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, telling how he came to preach to them. He viewed the Word that he brought as a trust. In this day, too, the living Word is a trust. Those who are moved by it have a responsibility to take it to others. It is the gospel of the Kingdom that must be preached to all the world. God’s end-time disciples are trustees of the gospel of the Kingdom.
Paul continued, 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 (or, “been burdensome”). I Thessalonians 2:5, 6.
Ministry can come with a heavy hand. Much instruction is found in the Word concerning the exercising of authority. The Word is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. This should be the basis by which the majority of reproof and rebuke comes. There should be a minimum of reproof or rebuke ministered from brother to brother.
An apostolic ministry desires to see the people grow as much as possible, and any reproof or correction comes by holding the plumb line of the Word before them. II Timothy 3:16–17 says, All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
When someone has a self-appointed ministry of rebuking, it is usually done with a wrong spirit. It is difficult to rebuke with a right spirit. Most of the time encouragement or a rebuke automatically comes through the ministry of the Word. Paul was saying that he and Silas did not come being burdensome, and he had not come with a heavy hand as an apostle. But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. (The mother-father ministry of the apostle is clearly delineated here.) Having thus a fond affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us (the mother spirit). For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. I Thessalonians 2:7–12.
Both the nursing mother and the exhorting, pressuring father were necessary to mold and shape the course of the Thessalonian church.
Paul and Silas had been like nursing mothers, and yet they also gave that imploring, demanding, encouraging, and exhorting ministry that comes from the father.
Everyone needs a mother, and everyone needs a father. It is good for the ministries to have that combination because it is like the Heavenly Father, El Shaddai: the Great All-Sufficient One, the Great-Breasted One. God feeds every baby in a beautiful way. At the same time, He reaches out and scourges every son whom He receives. He blisters them and teaches them how to walk. He makes them sons of God through the things they suffer in learning obedience.
God has two sides—He ministers to us and He loves us. He says, “Can a mother forget her nursing child? I will not forget you” (Isaiah 49:15). God has a good mother’s heart. Two kinds of people are needed in the church—fathers and mothers. Women are needed as well as men. When a church is predominantly women, it becomes off balance and does not reach the people. But if it is a man’s church, and the women do not feel free to minister, it is austere; and the babe does not get the help he needs. Both men and women are needed.
Paul was like a nursing mother, tenderly caring for the children. At the same time, he was encouraging and imploring each one of them as a father would his own children, so that they might walk in a manner worthy of God who called them into His Kingdom and glory.
The book of Thessalonians was constantly laying out the way they were to walk and the way they were to live. They had been rather fickle, and they had probably been victims of the customs and the age in which they lived.
In I Thessalonians 4:1, 2, Paul wrote: Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you may excel still more. For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
If there are no apostolic commandments from the Lord Jesus, then everyone does that which is right in his own sight, as in the period of Judges (Judges 17:6).
The commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ come from an apostle, along with confirmation. The apostolic Word should not come independently, but it should have the confirmation of the revelation ministries, in order to be a confirmed voice of the Word of the Lord.
Paul continued, For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. Verses 3–7. Believers are not to romance as the unbelievers do.
They must not possess their vessels in the lusts of the world. This is not the age of the caveman—the believer is not to seduce or to be motivated by stirred passions. The vessel is not to be possessed in lust, but in sanctification and in honor.
Among the young believers, the prevailing attitude in their courtships must not be according to the ways of the world. It must not be in the same manner of lust. The Lord created male and female, and sex is a strong force in the world. But through sanctification, God looses people from allowing a sex drive to influence a person’s choice for a whole lifetime—binding people together whom God never intended to be together, merely because the flesh was appealing. Paul was indicating that this cannot be.
How practical and yet how revolutionary was the teaching Paul brought. What a great ministry he had! In essence, he was saying to them, “I came to you, and I was as a nursing mother and an exhorting father to you. I brought you the Word.
You saw how Silas and I preached to you—we were entrusted with the gospel. We would have imparted our very lives to you, because you were so dear to us.”
That was one side of the true apostolic ministry in the true spirit as the Word came. The other side had to do with the people’s reaction to that Word: And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. I Thessalonians 2:13. The King James Version says, “Which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”
The apostolic Word is effective in those who will receive it as an apostolic Word. Paul said, “You received the Word not as the word of man, but you received it as a Word of God, and it is working effectually in Your life.”
A Word can be received, but become dormant. It becomes worse if it is received and not united with faith by those who hear it. It reacts against them.
Faith is the key—not only a mental acceptance, but an absolute trust in a living Word from God. Received that way, it becomes effective in a person’s life. It starts working down deep within the believer. Great changes take place in the person who hears the Word.
A true man of God does not try to use a large vocabulary to express profound truths. That only complicates them until few of the people understand them.
He will present the Word in the simplest yet the most descriptive language, so that it will begin to live for the hearer. He is not concerned about impressing anyone. He is not waiting to hear, “You are a wonderful preacher,” but rather, “That was a real Word from God.”
The Word gets through to people and begins to live in them. Consequently, when they receive it as a Word from God, its simplicity explodes with all of its profound potentials within their lives. It effectively works in those who believe. They are changed from glory to glory, and by that living Word they constantly behold His face; it performs its work in those who believe (II Corinthians 3:18).
For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea (being an imitator of the churches is important), for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews (the Jews persecuted Judean Christians, and the Greeks persecuted the Thessalonica church), who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost. I Thessalonians 2:14–16.
Paul was saying that amid all the hostility and persecution, they had pleased the Lord. They became imitators of other churches. That is the advantage of being a younger brother or sister. They take their cue from seeing how an older brother reacts to things.
People imitate their pastors. Because people become imitators in the church, variations of spirit are contagious. If those in authority have a right spirit, the people will imitate that. If there is a spirit of fighting, they will want to fight. If a church shows love and the grace of God, other churches imitate it. What could be more blessed!
Paul was able to say, “Be imitators of me as I am of the Lord Jesus Christ,” because he had a beautiful spirit. People will be imitators of the worship that is in the pastor’s spirit. If there is no fight in him, then there is no fight in the people. There is no battle if there is none presented to them—only the victory of Jesus Christ so that they can worship Him in spirit and in truth. People will watch and reflect the leader’s spirit. Sometimes only raising an eyebrow can be the wrong move. A pastor should be careful to show in his spirit, in every way and manner, the peace and the victory that belongs to those who walk with God.
Paul told the Thessalonians that those who rejected them and their walk with the Lord were not pleasing to God. These were both Jews of Judea and Greeks: those who had killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and those who had driven off Paul and the brethren and were hindering them from speaking to the Gentiles. Nevertheless, many of them were praying people. Many of them were people who professed faith. The Jews were sincere in thinking that they were saving the synagogue when they tried to stone Paul or plot his death. This raises a question. How effective are the prayers of the rebellious? The effectiveness is known of those who receive the Word. They receive it as a Word of God, and it works effectively in them. But what about those who will not receive the Word, who are rebellious and pray against it? How effective are those prayers? They are harmful.
Sometimes there is a calculated disobedience. A person may think that his pastor is wrong; therefore, he decides not to be submissive to him. He cannot just decide to generally be submissive to God and the word that he thinks God gave him. He cannot always rely on a Word that God gave in the past. He must have a confirmed witness from those who are in authority in the present. That should determine whether something is pleasing to the Lord.
King Saul disobeyed God. He had prophecies over him by none other than Samuel himself. But when rebellion came, he took it upon himself to usurp the priesthood. He was raised up to be king, but when things did not please him he took the spiritual decisions upon himself.
When he refused to kill King Agag, Samuel said to him, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination,” (or witchcraft) “and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the Word the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.” I Samuel 15:22–23.
The Thessalonians who heard the Word and rebelled against it had a force like witchcraft. The same signs that come from witchcraft come from the rebellious; there is no difference.
The rebellion of Satan against God is the source of witchcraft. Therefore, the prayer of rebellion is not true prayer, but the force of it comes through like witchcraft. It hits hard and slows things down.
The false prayers of the rebellious are not heard by God, but there is a satanic cooperation that turns the rebellion against divine order and the authority into a spiritual force that strikes. Weigh this truth before you reject it.
If people are praying against a person, he will find himself being constantly affected with signs like witchcraft. It is nothing more than the rebellion of people. It is the same rebellion that marked the rejection of King Saul.
When a living Word comes with apostolic authority, and you use your own judgment to reject it, thinking, “I know better; that is not true; it is not accurate; the man is deceived,” your rebellion against the Word may set up a force, but it will also destroy you from your place in Christ. Beware of rebellion.
However, if a Word comes that you do not understand, and yet you receive it and submit to it as a Word from God, it will begin to effectually work in your heart.
The carnal mind, which is slow to progress, will ultimately have to give way to an understanding of the truth that your spirit embraces in submission in a divine witness, even though your mind does not understand at the time.
Strengthen the hands of those who minister to you the Word of God. Hebrews 13:7, 8 exhorts the believer, Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the outcome of their way of life, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.
Go along with that which God is doing. Let Him anoint your ears to hear. Stifle every bit of rebellion in your spirit. You may look at your pastor and see that he is just a man, fallible as you are. But when you see that which you believe to be a mistake, hold it in your heart in complete submission, until God rectifies it.
Do not push the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Heavenly Father off the throne while you crawl on it to judge. That is the sin of idolatry. Rebellion is as witchcraft and insubordination as iniquity and idolatry.
What is an idol? An idol is something that replaces God. Who is ruling your life when you walk in disobedience and get out of divine order? You are. Would you rather be the ruler? Would you rather take the authority and the responsibility for your own life than to leave it in the hands of those who have the rule over you and must give an account for your soul?
When you are submissive to the authority of the elders and ministries over you, the responsibility is placed upon them. Never forget that.
If you are rebellious, then you have moved onto the throne. Instead of God’s divinely appointed leaders to lead you, then you are responsible: you must have the word from God; you must be God. If you cannot go along with what God is doing and saying today, hop right on the throne and see how far you can go. God is sifting out the rebellious.
When He deals with you, lay everything before Him, saying, “Lord, it is all yours.” Relinquish the right to yourself. The moment that you are rebellious and go against the ministries, then you are taking back the right to yourself.
Do you maintain, “I have my rights”? Many people say that. You actually have no rights. You relinquish them to Jesus Christ, and He places people in authority over you. He gives you shepherds after His own heart, and they lead you.
Many Christians do not want elders. They do not want shepherds. They do not want anyone to lead them. They take that responsibility upon themselves, thinking that they have the right to their own opinions.You do not have the right to your own life, nor the right to your own opinions.
But the necessity of waiting on the Lord, until a witness comes to your spirit of the total acceptance of every Word, is your responsibility. You might reject many truths if you depend on your own ability to reason. But if you submit to the Lord, He will lead you into the truth.
Try to be like the Thessalonians, and receive the Word as the Word of God. Watch it effectually work in your life. Why be rebellious until you find yourself under judgment? Jesus said, “The Word shall judge you at the last day” (John 12:48). Let the Lord judge the rebellion in your heart. Let Him take away the arrogance of reason and self from you.
If you have been straddling a fence, and you do not know which way to go, submit it to the Lord. No one knows all the answers, but God gives the Word day by day. He will lead His people in the divine order which will bring them through. They must have faith to that extent. If they believe that they have to be infallible, they will eventually give up.
Believe that the Spirit will lead you into all the truth. Believe that He will lead the elders. The elders will not know all the answers, nor will the prophets know all the answers. Still you can believe that they are appointed by God to find those answers and to lead the flock of God.
They are God’s appointed conscience to the people. They are the shepherds who shall guide them in the way that they ought to go. Believe that the perfect work of God will come forth through all the imperfect channels that He has chosen to manifest His will.