Paul, Silas and Timothy

Review of the Birth of the Thessalonian Church and Abiding Lessons

0:06 As I announced last Lord's Day morning, we shall be conducting a series of studies in Paul's first letter to the church at Thessalonica, commonly called the book of 1 Thessalonians. We shall be going through verse by verse, phrase by phrase, and as I also mentioned last week, we will not make any predictions as to how long it will take us to get through, but we'll just play that by ear as it were. Now last week, taking Acts 17 as the background passage to 1 Thessalonians, we considered the birth of the church at Thessalonica. Paul, on his second missionary journey, passed through from Philippi and several other large cities and came to Thessalonica, and there, with at least two other companions, Silas and Timothy, he preached, for a minimum of three weeks, clear implications that he stayed longer, but for at least a three-week period, he concentrated his ministry, as he always did, the scripture says, as his custom was, in the synagogue. For there he could assume a basic conviction in the scriptures being a divine revelation of the mind and truth of God. The Jews never looked upon the scripture as an expression of their insights concerning God,

1:31 but they always looked upon the scripture as an expression of their insights concerning God. They looked upon them as a deposit of divine truth that came from God. And this is why they preserved with such carefulness the sacred writings, because they were just that, a revelation of the mind and the will of God to men. And there in the synagogue he preached, and you remember the basic details, very simple.

1:54 It happened wherever Paul went. There were some who cleaved to him and to Silas and wanted to hear more of the message. Others were disturbed. Others were disturbed and upset and tried to drive them out of town.

2:06 And after a short period of time, much opposition, Paul left behind him a band of believers, and he went on to other places to minister the word of God. Then from this narrative, we sought to bring into focus a few very vital lessons concerning the life of any church. For it's not enough to know how the church at Thessalonica was born. We must know how does God give birth to churches in our day.

2:33 How are we to distinguish a true church from a false church? For we read in our Lord's words that certain churches have become synagogues of Satan, assembling places that are under the direction of the prince of the power of the air. And I shall just mention without going into any detail those basic lessons that we considered last week, and then we shall move on into the first verse of Paul's letter itself. The one great lesson we learned, the first great lesson, is that the word of God, comes to men in the sovereign providence of God.

3:08 Paul had a vision after having been shut up from his attempt to go into Asia, and into Asia Minor, then the spirit of God in the vision said, come over and help us, and he came into Macedonia by the direction of the sovereign purpose of God. The second great lesson we learn about churches and their birth, is that a proclamation of the word of God is the essence of evangelism. Paul began, not by finding the poor people of the city and seeking to minister to their needs physically, but he began by going to the synagogue and preaching from the scriptures. That's how churches are born.

3:46 Now the church, once born and established, must have a concern for its needy and must have a general concern of benevolence. The scripture says, do good to all men, especially they of the household of faith. But evangelism is not, as we're being told in our day, burying oneself in the needy parts of society, finding a ghetto, and there losing oneself in ministering to the temple needs of men, and evangelizing the structures of society. That's downright heresy.

4:18 It's contrary to the word of God. The apostle Paul, the great pattern of true evangelism and church planting, put the proclamation of the word of God central in his evangelism. And then we saw, that all proclamations, the proclamation of the word of God must focus upon Christ Jesus and his redemptive work. We read in Acts 17 that Paul opened and alleged from the scriptures that Christ must suffer and be raised from the dead.

4:46 His preaching of the gospel focused upon the Lord Jesus, his person and his redemptive work. Then we saw the fourth principle, that the word of God is always the mother of the church and not the church, the mother of the word. Therefore, the church always stands under the censure of the word. The word of God always stands as judge over the church.

5:08 When our Lord Jesus gave the great commission, he said, make disciples, baptize them, teach them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you. This is a vital lesson. We must never forget it, that we here in this place are a true assembly of believers, a scriptural assembly, only so long as the word of God stands over us and above us, judging us, shaping our conduct, our doctrine, our church policy in every area. And then the last great principle that we saw was that, excuse me, the preaching of the word of God will always cause division.

5:48 Paul wasn't there long before he had a riot. Someone said it was always riot or revival, many times both. And we find that this is exactly what happened at Thessalonica. So much then for the birth of that church.

The Situation Prompting the Letter to the Thessalonians

6:01 It's abiding lessons to us. Now, turning to the letter itself, I want us to consider this morning, as time permits, the situation which prompted Paul to write this letter, for this will give us some insight into the content of the letter. Then briefly, the general form of the letter. And then we'll begin our study of the salutation, Paul's greetings to the church.

6:26 What was the situation which prompted the writing of this letter? In most of his letters, Paul lets us know why he sat down and penned a letter to any given church. And the letter to the Thessalonians is no exception. And if we know the purpose which prompted him, then we'll understand something of the plan of the letter and something of its content.

6:51 Turning to chapter two and verse 17, the apostle tells us in very explicit terms why he wrote this letter. First Thessalonians, chapter two and verse 17. But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored the more abundantly to see your face with great desire. Wherefore, when we would have come unto you, even I, Paul, once and again.

7:20 But Satan hindered us. For what is our hope for joy or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ that is coming? For ye are our glory and our joy.

7:32 Wherefore, when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone and sent Timotheus, our brother and minister of God in our fellow labor in the gospel of Christ and our fellow labor to establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith, that no man should be moved by these afflictions. For ye yourselves know that we are appointed there unto. Verse five. For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you and so our labor be in vain.

8:08 But now notice the significance of verse six, chapter three. When Timotheus came from you unto us and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, that ye have good remembrance of us always greatly desiring to see us as we to see you, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith. Now, summarizing what I've read to you, I think it's obvious the situation which prompted this letter is as follows. Paul had to leave this infant church very abruptly.

8:42 He felt that he had not had sufficient time to establish them in the doctrines of the gospel. His heart is exercised, and so he makes several attempts. He said, I would have come unto you once and again, but I was hindered. He tried to go back to them, but he was hindered in the providence of God. Here he says Satan hindered him.

9:02 But never does Paul speak of Satan in a way that would make him someone outside the control of the living God. There was satanic opposition. But Paul recognized that he's God's devil in the sense that God says thus far and no further. So he said, I'll try something else.

9:18 I'm not going to be bullheaded. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. If then you don't succeed, try another method. Don't be foolish. So he said, all right, I'll try to get Timothy in there.

9:28 So sure enough, Timothy was able to go back to the church at Thessalonica. He spent some time with them. And then when Timothy comes back, he brings this glowing report that instead of the persecution causing them to stumble and fall and disintegrate, he said, I thought maybe my labors would be in vain. Instead, he said, Timothy brought back this glowing report.

9:50 How in the midst of your sufferings and trials, you've remained steadfast in the work of God. Now, when Paul, whose heart is full of anxiety for these people, receives this word from Timothy, his personal representative, he now sits down with a heart full of gratitude to God and then with some of Timothy's report before his mind, some of the problems and difficulties and questions that the young believers were having with this mingled attitude of concern for the problems that Timothy reported and great joy in the light of the progress that Timothy reported. He sits down to pen his letter. And in a very real way, this just makes the whole letter break open because you find that unlike so many of Paul's letters, there isn't much logical order, there isn't much what we call step by step progression. But you see these two attitudes throughout the warp and woof of the letter, a heart bursting with joy at what God is doing and a heart filled with tender concern over some of these problems with which he's going to deal in the letter. So much then for the situation that prompted the letter. Is there any lesson in this for us?

Pastoral Lessons from the Letter's Prompting Situation

11:03 So we know the situation that prompted the letter. Does it say anything to us? Yes, it has several profound words for us. First of all, it teaches us that we ought to beware of claiming infallible guidance.

11:17 The Apostle Paul said, I tried to get back to Thessalonica several times, but I missed it. So it must not have been the will of God. So I sent Timothy. I'm always fearful.

11:29 Especially when young Christians say, I know God wants me to do this. You just better beware. If Paul could miss, you and I might miss. And so often time and experience is proven that we have missed when we've made a certain judgment concerning some matter of guidance and we realize that this has not been the will of God.

11:55 Second great lesson is that we ought to be flexible in the means that we use to desire a certain end. Paul said, I would have come to you, but when that didn't work, I sent Timothy. One of the great problems that arises in the life of the church and in the life of a believer is this matter that we call plain old common bullheadedness. We get an idea in our head and we say the only way it can be accomplished is this way, that way, my way or no way.

12:23 Now, Paul wasn't. With all of the strength of his character and all of the tremendous leadership ability and all of the authority committed to him, we see his flexibility. There never would have been, humanly speaking, a letter to the church at Thessalonica if Paul had not been flexible in seeking to accomplish a worthy end by using perhaps a different means than the one he had originally purposed. And then another great lesson is that we must never view the doctrine of God's divine sovereignty and the calling and the keeping of his people in such a way as to nullify genuine pastoral concern.

13:04 Paul said, as we read earlier, I was affectionately desirous of you. Verse eight of chapter two, willing to have imparted unto you. Chapter three, I'm sorry, not only the gospel, but my own soul. He says I was deeply concerned, deeply concerned.

13:21 He said I wanted to come to you. I was fearful lest my labors had been in vain. But wait a minute, Paul, aren't you the same Paul who wrote to those at Philippi? He that begins a good work in you will carry it on until the day of Jesus Christ.

13:38 Aren't you the Paul who believes that when God saves men, he not only begins his work of grace, but he carries it on and he'll culminate it. Paul says, I do with all my heart believe it. But I also believe that he's the God who's ordained the means. And part of the means that he uses in the keeping of his people is the counsel and prayers and godly concern and exhortation of more mature Christians, as the writer to the Hebrews reminds us, exhort one another daily while it is called today, lest you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

14:12 And so there's a great lesson here. The situation that prompted this letter was a man who, though he believed that God does a good job in saving his people, he didn't believe that that nullified the place of true pastoral concern and impassioned desire to be of help in their spiritual lives. And then there's one last lesson in this. I'm sure there are more, but these are the ones that occurred to me.

14:37 And meditating on the passage, we must beware of that kind of business which kills concern for others. When Paul wrote this letter, you know where he was? He wasn't on a three week vacation in the Mediterranean, sitting on a chaise lounge out in some nice sunny spot. No, you know where he was?

14:57 He was right down in the heart of a ministry in Corinth, in the midst again of opposition. Right in the seat of heathendom, this wicked city laboring in the gospel. But when Timothy comes back and brings word of what God is doing, he says, I'm not too busy to sit down and write a letter. Students, mom and dad nursed you in that nest and they pushed you out.

15:22 And now you're at school. I know you're awfully busy, aren't you? Awfully busy. You're too busy to show some real concern by picking up a pen, writing a letter.

15:32 Ever think you're as busy as Paul? See how practical these lessons are? The situation that prompted this letter was a situation in which a man was not so busy that he, as it were, wove a cocoon about him by his own busyness and his own responsibilities and became utterly blind and indifferent and boxed off from concern for others. Isn't this a problem that we all face?

15:57 We get our own little circle of activities, home and work and mom and dad and our own little circle of friends. And somehow we fail to have a heart that reaches out for others. We learn something from the very situation that prompted this letter. That should be a word of exhortation to each one.

The General Form and Structure of 1 Thessalonians

16:17 So much then for the situation that prompted the letter and some of its relevant lessons to us. Now, just briefly, what is the form of this letter? Well, it's obvious when you read it through. And I trust you will be reading it through often in these months of study.

16:32 It's obvious that it's not like the Book of Romans or like the Book of Ephesians in Paul's letter to the church at Rome. Even the average high school student could come up with a fairly good outline. And when he was done, it would approximate the outline given by a great theologian because of the structure of the Book of Romans is so clear. You have Paul's dealing with the great matters of sin and judgment and then is dealing with God's provision in justification and then in sanctification, then God's worldwide purpose in relation to the Jews.

17:03 And then in Chapter 12 to the end, you have a practical exhortation on various issues ranging from the gifts that God gives in the function of the church, the civil government and personal relationships. Why, the structure is very obvious. But you pick up the book of First Thessalonians, Paul's letter, and you try to find some kind of logical order and structure. And it's just not there.

17:25 One of the greatest proofs of this is to get any given Bible commentary and turn to the first page where they're going to outline the Book of First Thessalonians. And no two of them will agree. The form of the letter, you see, is not a logical dissertation. But remember the situation that prompted it.

17:41 Here came the report from Timothy to the anxious heart of a concerned pastor, evangelist, missionary named Paul. And so we're going to find those strains of joy and concern breaking out alternately and sometimes at the same time throughout the entire letter. But there is one division that to me seems quite obvious is that the first three chapters, Paul is narrating basically almost everything's in the past tense. This is what happened to you people.

18:12 This is what happened to me when I ministered amongst you. But with chapter four in verse one, we find a basic change where we see the first words in chapter four are these. Furthermore, then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you. And then about four or five times throughout the fourth and the fifth chapters, you will find these words we beseech, we exhort changing from the past tense where he's narrating the experience of the Thessalonians, his experience in ministering to them, he moves now to these practical areas of exhortation and he's beseeching them, exhorting them, pleading with them concerning some of the problems about which Timothy had spoken when he came back with his report. Now, is there any lesson from the form of the letter? You say, Pastor, you look for lessons and applications everywhere. Precisely does no good to simply know these things objectively.

Lessons from the Form of the Letter: Against Rigid Expectations

19:14 What is God saying to us? Well, I believe he's saying something to us that's very significant, especially in our day. Did some of you read the article where some man fed into the computer all of some of the all of Paul's letters in their different thought forms and vocabulary? And he came up with the conclusion that only two letters in the New Testament were actually written by Paul, that wonderful conclusion.

19:39 So we all bow down to the shrine of the computer and say, well, the whole doctrine of inspiration and all the rest, apostolic authority and historical textual criticism and all of us chuck it all out the window and we shall bow down before the computer while some of us are not about to do that. We learn a tremendous lesson here. Some of the critics said, you know, there can't be one author of Isaiah. It's ridiculous the change in in the whole climate of writing in Isaiah one to thirty nine in Isaiah 40 to 66 is so absolutely different.

20:10 One man could not have written it. Well, let's not be quite so quick to make conclusions like that. But we find looking at the letter of Paul to the church at Thessalonica that it bears very little basic resemblance to Paul's letter to the church at Rome in his letter to the church at Rome. The thing is shot through with Old Testament quotations.

20:31 There's not one direct quotation from the Old Testament in the whole letter of First Thessalonians, not one the Book of Romans logical order. Not once do you find this in the Book of First Thessalonians. There is no logical structure laying one issue on top of the other and drawing conclusions from those issues that are laid out. And so there is a good lesson for us here in that we must never, never conceive of the Holy Spirit in ministering through his servants to give us the word of God as doing that in a mechanical, stilted, kind of a way that does not leave room for a different form as the expression of a different purpose.

21:13 And then there's also a good lesson that I'll say in defense of the preacher. Don't put God's servants into a mold. The same Paul wrote Romans wrote first Thessalonians. And there are some who by nature they love the logical and the clear that which is laid out line upon line, others why they just sort of like a rambling dissertation.

21:35 Well, the Apostle Paul is both in given instances. And some of God's servants are more the one and more the other. Now, I'd ask you a very simple question. Do you receive with more authority the letter to the Roman church or the letter to the Thessalonians church? Why you say I don't do either.

21:53 I received them both as the word of the living God. Well, then let's learn to receive that same word expounded and preached by his servants, even though it may come in different forms. And may God forbid that. We shall build up in our minds what we feel is the ideal kind of a ministry to expound the word of God and set up arbitrary laws and rules that would cramp and would impinge upon the liberty of God's servants.

Identification of the Senders: Paul, Silvanus, and Timotheus

22:20 So much then for the situation that prompted the letter, something of the general form of the letter. And now let's look at the salutation of the letter itself. The first verse of the first chapter, Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus. Unto the church of the Thessalonians, which is in God, the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.

22:44 Grace be unto you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We have in this salutation, first of all, an identification of the senders. Who is sending this letter? Then we have an identification of those who are receiving the letter.

23:04 The church of the Thessalonians, which is in God, the Father. And then we have this general, natural, traditional, apostolic blessing. Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Time will only permit us to spend a little bit of thought upon the senders of the letter.

23:28 They are identified here as Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus. When I looked at this verse, I told my wife, a few days ago when I started working, I said, dear, you know, there's nothing like the discipline of verse by verse exposition. I said, how in the world can this be a living word from God to some hungry hearted people on Sunday morning, Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus? But the more I dug into this and tried to see if there were something God had to say to us, my own heart has been enriched in meditating upon the significance of those who sent this letter.

Paul: A Display of God's Grace in Conversion

24:07 Paul, of course, the chief spokesman. But being accompanied at this time by Silvanus, Silas and Timothy, he mentions them as the senders along with him. Let's take the first one, Paul. Paul, Paul, what is he saying?

24:24 Paul to the church, grace to you from Jesus Christ. Putting those words together should be a constant source of amazement to us. For remember who this Paul was, formerly Saul of Tarsus, that keen young man who sat at the feet of Gamaliel, this one of whom the scripture says that he made havoc concerning the church. Acts 8 in verse 3.

24:51 We read in Acts 9 in verse 1, Luke's very graphic portrayal of Paul's zeal to blot out, as it were, the very remembrance of Christ. Paul yet breathing out threatenings and slaughters against the church. Some of us growing up, we learned some of the tales, some of the idyllic tales and the rest of some of the great princes who fought with dragons and the dragon was always pictured, you see, with the fire coming out of his nostrils. There's the picture of Saul of Tarsus, far belching from his nostrils.

25:23 And wherever he finds the saints, he tries to consume them and he gets letters of authority to go up to Damascus. And if he finds any who profess that name, he's going to commit them to prison and to jail and possibly ultimately death. Now, this Paul, Saul of Tarsus, wrecking havoc in the church, breathing out threatenings and slaughters, this same Paul who says when he was Saul, 1 Timothy 1.13, I was injurious to the church, a persecutor, a blasphemer.

25:57 Now we read him saying, Paul, to the church of the Thessalonians, in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus, grace to you. From the Lord Jesus. Do you catch the tremendous contrast from breathing out threatenings and slaughters and blaspheming the very name of Christ? Now, as it were, he lifts up his hand from Corinth and stretches it across to Thessalonica.

26:24 And he says, blessing and peace in the very name that I once blasphemed. How did this happen? Well, some man wasted his time writing a book to show that he had an epileptic fit on the road to Damascus. And as Dr.

26:40 Lloyd-Jones of London says in the sermon where he comments on this, he says, oh, blessed epilepsy, oh, for an epidemic of epilepsy. You see, if this is epilepsy, no, Paul's description of it is very clear. Listen to him as he gives his own testimony. He says in Titus chapter three, chapter three.

26:58 For we ourselves were one time foolish, disobedient, serving divers lust and pleasures. But when the goodness and kindness of our God appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Here's a man with all his mental faculties in his possession. He says, I'll tell you what happened to me when the kindness of God appeared.

27:28 There was a mighty work involving the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. I was made a new creature by the spirit. Listen to this same Paul as he describes what happened in Galatians chapter one in verse 15. But when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace to reveal his son in me, he said, I'll tell you what happened.

27:58 A sovereign God who was there when I was separated from my mother's womb, when it pleased him, he revealed his son to me. I had a revelation of Christ that transformed me from a persecutor and blasphemer into one who loved him and longed to herald abroad his gospel. That's what happened. Listen to him as he describes it in second Corinthians four in verse six.

28:22 But God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, had shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, Paul says the change occurred when there was a revelation to his heart of the glory of God. Of course, that's what takes a man who's a persecutor, a blasphemer, injurious to the church and makes him lift up his hands and pronounce blessing in the very name that he was seeking to blot out from the earth. Now, does this say anything to us? Should this say anything to the Thessalonians?

29:03 It should. Just the mention of Paul's name in connection with Christian truth should, first of all, fill us with awe and wonder at such a display of God's sovereign grace. This man who in his course, headlong moving in that direction of persecuting the church, instantaneously arrested, bowed and changed by sovereign grace, should cause us to place our hand upon our mouths and press our faces to the dust and cry out amazing grace, amazing grace should not only fill us with awe at such a display of grace. But it should fill us with gratitude that God has given such a gift of grace to his church. We do not worship Paul. But have we ever thanked the God who gave such a blessed gift to his church? Ephesians 4 says when he ascended up on high, speaking of our Lord, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men and he gave some apostles for the perfecting of the church, for perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministry, to the building up of the body of Christ.

30:16 Have you ever consciously, deliberately thanked God for the gift that he gave his church in the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul? Have you ever done it? Think how much you owe under God to this servant of his. Think how much you owe.

30:33 Think what your life would be like if you took out all the Pauline epistles. Pretty impoverished, wouldn't it, in many ways? We should be filled with gratitude to God for this gift of his grace to the church. The third thing that should happen to us when we read at the beginning of a letter to a Christian church the word Paul is that we should be filled with hope, filled with hope.

31:01 And Paul seems to indicate that this is what the contemplation of his name and his person in connection with Christian truth should do for us. For he said in 1 Timothy 1 verses 15 and 16, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief, how be it for this cause I obtained mercy that in me first Christ Jesus might show forth all long suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. What about those loved ones for whom you were praying and have prayed for years? What about those to whom you witness as one of our member has been by letter, someone who was among us at one time and no longer with us, never a member, and I read the letter this morning and it just went sort of like a knife into the heart. It was very politely saying I'm content with my religion. Don't talk to me anymore about yours. Stings. Very polite.

32:06 It was said very in a very cultured way. But that's the substance of it. If I read the letter right, you can write to me from now on and we can be friends. But don't talk about religion.

32:19 Does God have something to say through this salutation? Paul to the church? Yes, he's giving us a word of hope for certainly no matter what problems we've confronted in witnessing and in seeking to communicate the gospel to some of our loved ones and friends and neighbors and work companions. I doubt we've had any of them who have blasphemed the very name of Christ in our presence, who have sought to marshal all of their existing powers and abilities and influence to actually block out the Christian witness in a given community.

32:54 Any of your loved ones? Anyone's actually done that? And yet that's the kind of person who's now writing this letter. Paul to the church of the Thessalonians.

33:04 And so God would fill us with hope, fill us with courage. They could yet sit down one day and write you a letter that will be filled with giving praise and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, you say I can't I can't conceive of it. All right, then sit down and read first Thessalonians and then go back and read Acts chapter eight and nine.

Silvanus (Silas): A Display of God's Grace in Humility and Subordination

33:25 Wrecking havoc, persecuting the church. Now, he says, grace to you in the name of the Lord Jesus. And so as we look at Paul's name, we should be filled with awe at such a display of grace, gratitude for this gift of grace and filled with hope in the power of God's grace to operate in others. And then briefly, let's look at this fellow Silvanus.

33:53 Paul uses his more formal name. Luke, when he writes in the book of Acts, uses his informal name, calls him Silas. You see, some of your less lesser known friends might call you Richard and the others call you Dick. Well, Luke calls him Dick.

34:11 Silas, Paul calls him Richard. Silvanus uses the more technical, formal name. Who is this man? Silvanus. Silas.

34:20 Well, very briefly, the scripture reveals that he was a Greek member of the Jerusalem church, Acts 15 and verse 22. He's called one of the chief brethren. Apparently, a place of leadership was known for his spiritual stability and insight and his grace. And he joined Paul at the beginning of Paul's second missionary journey, and he stuck right with Paul.

34:42 There's a section there. We don't have time to look at all the verses between Acts 16 and Acts 18, where Paul's name is continually mentioned in conjunction with Silas. Paul and Silas are thrown into jail. Paul and Silas sing praises at midnight.

34:58 Paul and Silas are released by that visitation of God in the midst of the jail. Paul and Silas are together until Paul later on asked Silas to go to another place as his representative. And so we see that this man, Silas, was an apostolic companion. At times, he just meekly submitted to the directions of the Apostle Paul.

35:20 When Paul told him to go here, it's a lesson from his life that's appropriate and applicable to us. Well, if the name Paul in this letter is a display of the grace of God in conversion, then the name Silas is a display of the grace of God in humility and in subordination. Say, how do you get that? Well, you know, it's a common experience of human relationships, but it's no easy thing to work next to a great man, to a strong man, to a strong leader.

35:54 The one who's always praised and lauded, the one whose opinion is always sought. And yet again and again, the scripture records Paul and Silas, Paul and Silas. And yet Silas was never an apostle. He was never the instrument to give commands to churches with apostolic authority.

36:14 He was never the one to be an instrument to compose a letter that would go into the canon of scripture. He was Paul's little sidekick. He was always right. They're taking orders, submitting.

36:27 It's a lot of grace. Or maybe you're not so bad then to take grace for you. It's a lot easier to be your own little king on your own little throne in your own little castle and appear humble as your own little king. See when you've got to be sidekick to some other king and still maintain the grace of humility, this is quite another thing.

36:51 And so we see in the life of Silas, no indication of anything other than a gracious humility and subordination. When Paul said, go here, he didn't say, now, wait a minute, wait a minute. I believe in equal rights for everybody. And I've got the same union card you've got.

37:07 No. When Paul said, you go here. He submitted to the God appointed authority and was content to have the place that God gave to him. Great lesson for us, Paul and Silas.

37:21 And the only reason Paul could write that, knowing that Silas' heart beat with his, his was that Silas was willing to accept his place in a secondary role in the will of God, continually moving under the great shadow of the great man of God, the Apostle Paul. Are you content for that, if that's God's lot for you? You see, when the tenor sings his note and appreciates the bass note and the bass sings his note and appreciates the tenor's part, that's beautiful harmony. But when the bass gets jealous of the tenor and tries to sing tenor, and the tenor gets jealous of the bass and tries to sing bass, that's terrible noise.

37:59 They just aren't cut out for it. And the poor bass is straining and popping on his jugular vein. And and he's just having a terrible time. And the poor tenor, he's dropping his jaw and growling and ruining his voice.

38:11 Terribly grotesque thing, isn't it? Yet isn't that what happens within the Church of Christ? When God's made you a bass, you sing bass. Appreciate the tenor, but sing bass.

38:24 When God's made you the tenor, you sing tenor. You appreciate the bass. And that's the lesson, I believe, of Silas, as Paul could write, knowing that there was no friction, no desire to cast off his place in the purpose of God. And then just a few brief words in closing about Timothy.

Timothy: A Display of God's Grace in Weakness

38:42 Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus, again, the formal name for Timothy. Who was he? Well, he was the youngest of these three. Paul picked him up on his journey through Lystra, on the second missionary journey.

38:59 Acts chapter 16 in verse one gives us the factual account of this. Timothy had the blessing of a godly heritage. Paul said in Second Timothy three and verse 14, from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, he was schooled up in the teaching of the word of God. His mother was a Jewish.

39:18 His father was a Greek. And he had the privilege of having all this tremendous background in the word of God. And then apparently on Paul's first missionary journey recorded in Acts 14, when he went through Lystra, Paul's grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice were brought to faith in Jesus Christ. And then subsequently, Timothy himself was brought to faith in the Savior under Paul's ministry, for he addresses him in both first and second Timothy.

39:45 The first chapter of both letters. The second verse, Timothy, my own son, Timothy, my own son. So much then for the background of Timothy, his conversion and his apparent call to the ministry and then his association with Paul. Does the Bible reveal anything about his character that is significant?

40:05 Yes, it does. Three things specifically. He was relatively young. Paul said in First Timothy 412, let no man despise thy youth.

40:14 Now, we've got to qualify that in this day. If you're over twenty five, you've had it. You're on the way out. You're on the downhill.

40:21 This is the now generation. But you see, this was a day that still had no respect for the hoary head or for the the hoary hair or the no hair. It was a day when a man wasn't really considered a man, even beginning to be a man until he was thirty and hadn't begun to reach his prime until he was forty. And so Timothy was relatively young, not young in the sense that we use the term in our day.

40:46 But of Paul and Silas, he was the youngest of that group. So his youth was something that could militate against him in an age when the hoary head was respected and the youth was suspected. Would to God, we'd have a little bit of that in our day. Second thing about him, the scripture reveals, is he was a rather diffident fellow, rather retiring tendency to be fearful.

41:09 First Corinthians 1610, Paul says, now receive Timothy that he will not fear. He exhorts them to receive him in such a way that there be no fear. He says in Second Timothy one, seven and eight, God has not given to us a spirit of fear, but of power. Of love and of a sound mind.

41:27 Be not ashamed, therefore, of the Lord or of me, his prisoner. Some indication that Timothy was not only young, but that he was rather diffident and had a tendency to be fearful in retiring. And then the scripture clearly revealed that he was weak physically. Paul said in First Timothy 523, take a little wine for thy stomach's sake and by and all infirmities.

41:49 Now, that's an abused verse. I've had fellows with bleary eyes and red face. Quote that to me as a justification for their alcoholism, they said, well, the Bible says, you know, drink a little wine for thy stomach's sake. But the fact remains that Paul did give that injunction to Timothy, indicating that he had many physical weaknesses.

42:09 Now, put those three things together. His youth in an age when youth was suspect, his diffidence in a task that required the greatest kind of boldness. He was physically weak in an enterprise that demanded unusual strength. And then he had the ability to drag around after a fellow like the Apostle Paul in and out of jail, in and out of riots, in and out of mobs.

42:31 And that's no task for a fellow's probably popping ulcers every other week and all kind of other problems. That's that's a job that requires a man with a strong constitution. And yet, listen, Paul and Sylvainus and Timothy, here's an apostolic companion. And what's the great lesson of Timothy's life?

42:53 Just as surely as the name Paul is a display of the grace of God in conversion. The name Silas is a display of the grace of God in subordination and humility. The word Timothy, the name Timothy is a display of the grace of God in weakness. His youth was against him, his retiring nature against him, his physical weakness against him, and yet wonder of wonders.

43:19 He becomes an apostolic companion and a great instrument in the cause of the founding of the early church. I was with Dr. Packer over in England a few weeks ago, as I mentioned to some of you when giving the report the other night, and I was sharing with him a situation that causes constant amazement to him and to me. I was asked he was asking me about the seminary down at Westminster where I've been privileged to bring this series of lectures.

43:47 And I told him, I said, well, you know, Dr. Packer, it just causes a real amazement at times. I want to chuckle. I said, I see myself.

43:54 I stand up and there's Dr. Van Til, probably one of the greatest living Christian philosophers. And there's maybe Dr. Young, one of the greatest linguists.

44:04 And then there's Mr. Cushke, librarian, brilliant man. I said, what in the world am I doing here? Bible school graduate standing up and facing these men.

44:18 I said, it just seems so absolutely ridiculous. I want to laugh. He said, well, you know, it sounds just like God to me. He said, it sounds just like God to me.

44:27 You know what he was talking about? He was talking about first Corinthians chapter one. For ye see your calling, brethren, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty and the things that are not to bring to naught the things that are.

44:44 Why? That no flesh should glory in his presence. You see, if you and I were called and we were looking for a young man to sort of be our understudy and representative, we'd find that young man full of vibrant health, full of all kinds of bombastic. and zeal and enthusiasm and strength and all the rest.

45:03 What does Paul do? He chooses fellows a little bit diffident and retiring all the time. I don't feel so good. I need a few aspirins, wheat.

45:17 See what God does. Oh, how God delights to confound the mighty. And oh, beloved, may God never let us depart from that biblical principle. We do not conquer the world by standing up to it.

45:31 In its strength. But by sinking down before it in weakness and conquering by the strength of our God. That's the lesson of Timothy. That's the lesson of Timothy.

Concluding Applications from the Senders of the Letter

45:42 He takes the despised, the weak to confound the mighty. Well, so much then for the senders of the letter. Paul, display of the grace of God in conversion. Silas, demonstration of the grace of God in humility and subordination.

46:03 Timothy, display of the grace of God in weakness. Certainly, you ought to find a little bit, a little bit of nectar for your own soul this morning. Where do you fit in? Are you one of those discouraged as you've prayed for those loved ones?

46:18 Are you one of those who feels that perhaps your own sin is such God can't forgive? Then listen, here's Paul writing to a Christian church as a display of God's grace. Are you having trouble accepting your place? Some of you ladies.

46:33 I've got talents, I've got abilities. I want to make a mark in society and I'm tied in by family duties and children and all the rest.

46:42 That's where God puts you. That's where God puts you to sink down in and embrace that place from the heart. Be a little base note in the will of God. Some of you feel your weakness, sense perhaps the call of God upon your life.

47:00 Some of you parents as you pray for your children and you see the weaknesses and failures and you're discouraged. Paul, Silas. Take courage from tempting the grace of God in weakness. And I trust that each one of us will find some word from God to our hearts.

47:17 The Lord willing, next week we'll look at the receivers of the letter, the Church of the Thessalonians, which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray. Oh, God, we worship thee this morning for thy manifold grace and mercy. We praise thee for thy grace.