The gospel of God should not be conveyed in vain
[1 Thessalonians 2:1-6]
Did you have any experience in trying something and ending it with no profit? For example, at the beginning of last week, I planned to go to see a movie with my beloved family but we couldn’t watch it because we found out that the movie ticket was already sold out. Perhaps one of the words we can use in this situation is that was ‘vain effort’ or ‘a trip in vain’. Have you ever thought that after visiting someone and spending time with him or her and you felt that you made the trip in vain? Why did you think that way? Is it because you weren’t able to communicate with him/her well? Is it because your meeting didn’t go as you planned? If the meeting wasn’t profitable to both of you, I am sure you can think that you made the trip in vain. In other words, if the meeting wasn’t fruitful, then you many think that the meeting was in vain. But my personal thought is that our meeting in the Lord is not in vain. In other words, the Lord-centered meeting and the gospel-centered meeting is never in vain. Although it seems like the meeting isn’t helpful and profitable to each other, or at least to the other side so that we may think the meeting is in vain, I think that God never makes that meeting in vain.
In 1 Thessalonians 2:1, Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Thessalonians church saints like this: “For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain.” This letter states that the Thessalonians church saints knew that the Paul’s visit to the Thessalonica with his co-workers was not in vain. Here we should think briefly about how Paul went to Thessalonica, the capital of Macedonia, with his co-workers. To do so, we have to see Acts chapters 16-17. Although Paul tried to go to Asia during his second missionary trip, the Holy Spirit forvade him to speak the word in Asia (Acts 16:6). So Paul tried to go to Bithynia but the Spirit of Jesus didn’t permit him (v. 7). So Paul and his co-workers went to Troas and Paul saw a vision in the night: “a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us’” (vv. 8-9). Paul then talked to his co-workers and concluded that God had called them to go to Macedonia and preach the gospel to the people there (v. 10). And the first city they went to in Macedonia was Philippi (v. 12). Philippi was the first city of Macedonia and it was a Roman colony. There, when Paul and Silas were looking for a place to pray, they met a woman named Lydia (vv. 13-14). And the Lord opened her heart to listen to Paul's words and to respond to the things that were spoken by Paul (v. 14). She became a believer and her household had been baptized as well (vv. 14-15). Not only them, but the jailer who was guarding Paul and Silas who were in prison (v. 23) and all his household believed in Jesus and were baptized (vv. 30-33). But there Paul and Silas suffered and were mistreated (1 Thess. 2:2) and went down to Thessalonica (Acts 17). Paul, who arrived at Thessalonica, went into the Jewish synagogue according his custom and explained and gave evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead and said, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ” (Acts 17:1-3). When he did so, “our gospel did not come to you in a word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thess. 1:5). As a result, the Thessalonians turned to God from idols and served the living and true God (v. 9). And they waited for Jesus, the Son of God, from heaven who was raised from the dead (v. 10).
Therefore, Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians church saints in 1 Thessalonians 2:1 that “For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain.” In other words, Paul said that in the past he knew what happened when he and his co-workers arrived at Thessalonica and preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, as well as the Thessalonians church saints. What happened? When Paul preached the gospel, the gospel came to them in power, in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction and they had full assurance of salvation by the work of the Holy Spirit (1:5). As a result, the Thessalonians church saints turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God (v. 9). Also, they became people waiting for Jesus' return (v. 10). In thinking about this, Paul told the Thessalonians church saints that he and his co-workers’ coming to them was not in vain (2:1). Not only Paul knew it but also the Thessalonians church saints as well.
In order for the gospel of God not to be conveyed in vain, what should we do? I would like to receive two lessons from Thessalonians 2:1-6.
First, we must be approved by God in order to convey the gospel of God not in vain.
Do you think you should listen to your pastor unconditionally even though you cannot trust him? Can you still listen to your pastor’s sermon even though you know that he loves money more than God? Do you think you should listen to him even though some of the church members got hurt from him and left the church? As far as the credibility of priests (priests, monks, pastors) is concerned, in the 2015 survey, 29.6% answered that they trust the clergy and 35.3% do not. Among them, Catholic priest was the most reliable (51.3%). Only then was Buddhist monk (38.7%) and lastly pastors (only 17%) (Internet). I had meditated the Word of God in October 2011 under the heading, ‘How should we react to our pastor (our father) who is a hypocrite?’ The Word of God was Matthew 23:3 – “So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.” The word “hypocrite” (Ex. Mt. 23:15) refers to an actor who acts visibly or falsely as an "actor" " (Dictionary WSNTDICT). Jesus said in two things about the scribes and the Pharisees in the context of Matthew 23:3: (1) They do not practice what they preached (v. 3b). (2) They do things for men to see (v. 5). As I was meditating on this Word of God, I wrote these words in the introduction: ‘How should we respond to a situation where when we go to work and see our boss who is a Christian and a church officer but he is a hypocrite? How should we respond to a situation where when we go to church and see our pastor who is good at preaching and teaching the Bible but he is a hypocrite? How about when our father who is a church officer and is praised by the church members because he looks holy man but we see his hypocrisy at home? Maybe we don’t want to see our hypocrite boss. Maybe we don’t want to hear our hypocrite pastor’s sermon and teaching and we think about moving to another church. When we look at our father who doesn’t live a true faith life, we may lose our respect for him and may want to leave faith in disappointment and leave the church. What should we do?’ Perhaps we will not listen to the hypocrite.
If we are hypocrites, do you think that the people will listen the gospel that we preach to them? Do you think they will listen to us if only our lips resemble Jesus, but our hearts, our actions and our lives don’t resemble Him? If we say to them 'Believe in Jesus,' will they hear us? That’s why it is very important for us to live the right life as those who proclaim the gospel and not just preach the right gospel. Then what should we do to live a right life as those who proclaim the gospel? Look at 1 Thessalonians 1:6 – “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” We must be imitators of the Lord. Then we must proclaim the gospel. In other words, not only we proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ with our lips, but also at the same time we must show people the image of Jesus, the core of the gospel, in our lives. Not only that we should proclaim the gospel, but at the same time we must draw it through our lives. This is our mission and calling as the gospel preacher (Kim Seyoon). Not only did the Thessalonians church saints imitate Paul and his co-workers, who were gospel preachers, but they also became the example of the Lord Jesus Christ whom Paul and his co-workers draw in their lives for the Thessalonians church saints. How was this possible? It was because they received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit and obeyed it (v. 6). The work of the Holy Spirit makes us more and more eager to hear the Word of God when we are in a lot of suffering. Not only that the Spirit enables us to receive His Word humbly and to obey God's will that we have realized through that Word. As a result, the Holy Spirit makes us holy and made us to be like Him in the midst of sufferings.
Look at 1 Thessalonians 2:4 – “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.” Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians church saints and said that he and his co-workers (Silas and Timothy) had been approved by God. The meaning of this word is that Paul and his co-workers were recognized by God. In other words, Paul knew that God had recognized him as a faithful worker (Kim Seyoon). Consider this word once from Paul's point of view. Before he believed in Jesus, Paul persecuted the church (1 Cor. 15:9). So he wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:13 like this: “Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, ….” But he wasn’t only saved by believing in Jesus, but also he became an apostle to the Gentiles. And the Lord considered him faithful and appointed him to His service (1 Tim. 1:12). So in 1 Corinthians 15: 9-10 he confessed: “For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” Paul knew that he was not only saved by God's grace, but also by the grace of God, he became the apostle to the Gentiles and the Lord considered him faithful and appointed him to His service. So he gave thanks to God and worked faithfully in the Lord's work with the God's grace. He even regarded his life worth nothing to himself, if only he could finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus had given him – “the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24). One interesting point is that Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 2:4 that he had been approved by God and it means God tested Paul with trials and he passed.
A good example of this is the story of God testing Abraham in Genesis chapter 22. What was God's test given to Abraham in that story? It was offering Isaac, whom God promised to Abraham and gave to him when he was 100 years old and whom Abraham loved, by going to the region of Moriah and sacrifice Isaac there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains God told him about (v. 2). How did Abraham respond to this test of God? Abraham went to the place God had told him about and built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. And he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on the top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son (vv. 9-10). Then the angel of the Lord called out to Abraham from heaven and said to him, “Abraham! Abraham! Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son” (vv. 11-12). Abraham passed the test of God. This was how the psalmist prayed to God: “Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind” (Ps. 26:2). I think we should pray like the psalmist too. The reason is because our hearts and our minds should be tested. It is because our will should be consistent with the Lord’s will through the test. It is because our conscience must be clean in front of the people as well as in the presence of the Lord, even through the test. Though we may had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials, if we pass the trials with the God’s grace and faith in Him, then our faith will be refine by fire and may be proved genuine (1 Pet. 1:6-7). Apostle Paul who preached the gospel of God with this kind of genuine faith that was tested and refined by fire didn’t please men but God who examined his heart (1 Thess. 2:4). This is what Dr. Seyoon Kim said: ‘Paul was always conscious of the fact that he had to report to the Lord in the final judgment how he proclaimed the gospel since he was approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. So the only purpose of Paul’s life was to please God. It wasn’t to please people. He tried to be faithful in fulfilling his duty which the Lord had entrusted to him in front of God who examined his heart.’ His logic was based on 2 Corinthians 5:10 – “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” So Paul wrote the letter to the Thessalonians church saints and said to them without any hesitation: “For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed--God is witness--” (1 Thess. 2:5). Paul didn’t preach the gospel for his own interests by being cunning and cheating on others with vile words (Park Yun-sun). In other words, he didn’t choose the words that the congregation liked to hear in order to be applauded by people and to become popular. Also he didn’t even preach the gospel of God to receive more money (Kim). According to Professor Kim Seyoon, Dio Chrysostom criticized the wandering philosophers during Apostle Paul’s time that they were speaking flattery to get money from the audience. So the wandering philosophers didn’t teach the truth clearly, but always taught it distorted (Kim). I think there is no difference now. Many pastors aren’t speaking the truth but distorting it in order to receive offerings from church members. Now, rather than preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ at the pulpit, we the pastors are tempted to speak out in flattery to the people in order to please them. ‘This is the reason why the gospel in Korea seems to be powerless. The gospel is incredibly distorted.
That’s why there is no manifestation of power in changing the values, the ethics, the lives, and the culture’ (Kim). I agree. Why is there no change in our lives? Isn’t it because the power of the gospel isn’t manifesting? Why isn’t there the manifestation of the power of the gospel? Isn’t it because the distorted gospel is being preached? Then why is the distorted gospel being preached? The reason is because we, the pastors, are only trying to please people rather than to please God. This isn’t the attitude of the person being approved by God. Rather, this is the attitude of the person who wants to be approved by people. We must be approved by God. We must please God who examines our hearts. In order to do that, we must preach the gospel of God. We must preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must preach the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In doing so, there will be a remarkable work of salvation, as "our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction" (1 Thess. 1:5).
Second, we must speak the gospel of God boldly with the help of our God in order to convey the gospel of God not in vain.
At the beginning of the year 2017, I learned from internet news that a new book was published by Kim Hyung Suk, the author I like from high school. The title of the book was ‘I survived a hundred years’. When I saw the title, I wanted to buy it and read it. Perhaps it was because the Lord has given me the attitude that we should live in the perspective of death as I had been serving the elders in our church. I wondered how he wrote the book from his perspective who is almost 100 years old. So I bought it and read it. I would like to share with you some of his writings that made me to think: ‘When we are young, we need courage. When we are adult, we need faith. And when we are old, we need wisdom. There must be courage for good will and noble goal. There must be an ethical belief of knowing what is good and what is evil. There must be a firm belief for a clear goal and purpose of life. There must be wisdom to withdraw and inherit. There must be wisdom that doesn’t take office or position until death. There must be wisdom to prevent intellectual regression.’ What do you think of this? Among the three things that Kim Jyung Suk talked about, that is “courage”, “faith” and “wisdom”, I would like to take a moment to think about "courage" in relation to 1 Thessalonians 2:2. According to Kim, we need courage when we are young and that courage is for good will and noble goal. I agree. And I think that "good will" and "noble goal" should go together in courage. The reason is because if the young man doesn’t have the good will but have evil will and does his best to pursue his noble goal, I think he will be harmful rather than beneficial to the kingdom of God. On the other hand, if the young man has a good will but is without noble goal, no matter how courageous he can be in achieving his goal, it is questionable how much it will benefit the kingdom of God.
Whenever I remember our church young people and pray to God, I am praying that the Lord to raise each one of them up to be a Christ-centered visionary leader to go out and to expand the kingdom of God. Also I pray that the Lord to build them up as the courageous soldiers of Jesus Christ, such as Gideon's 300 soldiers. I want to see our church young people to stand firmly on the rock of faith to carry the dream of the Lord with courage and to fulfill that dream for the glory of God. In that process, I am sure there will be many challenges. They will meet many difficulties. But in the midst of all those challenges and difficulties, it is my prayer that they will look upon the Lord and walk the way of the Lord faithfully. A good model is a young missionary Jim Elliot. Although he was martyred at the young age of 29 for doing mission work in Ecuador, I think and believe that he is the good model for all of us, especially the young people in our church. The noble goal of his life was to go to Ecuador and preach the gospel to the native people with confidence in God's calling after he graduated from college. As he prepared for mission and to to preach the gospel to the native people in Ecuador, he met with a former missionary to Ecuador who had previously did mission work to the natives, and he found out that the native people were very violent and dangerous. And his parents and friends thought that it would be more effective for Eliot to stay in America and do youth ministry than to be in the dangerous mission field. Nonetheless, Eliot took the risk and went to Ecuador with four other missionary co-workers. Eventually, on January 8, 1956, he and his four co-workers were killed by the native warriors. Although they had guns, they didn’t use them. The reason was that their guns were meant to protect themselves from the wild beasts of the jungle and not to protect themselves from dangerous natives. They were killed as they tried to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. They were martyred. Do not you think that Jim Elliot had lived a courageous life with the noble goal?
Look at 1 Thessalonians 2:2 – “We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition.” In fulfilling the God’s calling of preaching the gospel of God’s grace, Paul boldly preached the gospel in spite of strong opposition. And he got that strong opposition in his preaching ministry when he was in Philippi, before he came to the Thessalonica. And this fact was also known to the Thessalonians church saints. Why did Paul mention this to them even though they already knew that Paul had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi? I am not sure why Paul mentioned this to the Thessalonians church saints who were also going through severe suffering (1:6). I think the reason was that Paul tried to encourage them who became imitators of Paul, his co-workers and of the Lord and were participating in suffering for the gospel. The reason I think this way is because the word “boldness” in 1 Thessalonians 2:2 contains the meaning of ‘honesty’ and ‘courage to speak’ (Kim Seyoon). Paul encouraged the Thessalonian church saints to be courageous in the midst of suffering as well as to convey the gospel of God in transparent and honest manner (Kim Seyoon).
We must convey the gospel of Jesus Christ in a transparent and honest manner with the help of our God. When we do that, we will have difficulties and hardships. In particular, we may suffer from those who dislike, oppose, and mock the gospel of Christ. Nevertheless, we must boldly proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. We also need to pray to God like the apostles: “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness” (Acts 4:29). We also have to ask a prayer request to our church members, like Paul: “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should” (Eph. 6:19-20).
Third and last, we must not seek glory from people in order to convey the gospel of God not in vain.
It seems so sweet to be praised by people. I think if we take that sweetness we will keep on trying to get praise and respect and glory by more and more people. Then when we become addicted to that sweet taste, we will surely become slaves of people and not the servants of the Lord. Imagine when we become slaves of people and keep on trying to receive recognition and exaltation by people. Then we will live in an ugly shape that is falling apart as we do whatever we can to receive them. I think a good example is King Saul in the Old Testament. Paul considered himself small before he became a king (1 Sam. 15:17). But after he won the battle against the Amalekites, he set up a monument in his own honor (v. 12), even as he disobey God's command (vv. 3, 8-9). King Saul disobeyed the Lord and pounced on the plunder and did evil in the eyes of the Lord (v. 19). Nevertheless, he caught hold of the hem of Samuel's robe (v. 27) and begged him to honor him before the elders of his people and before Israel (v. 30). What an ugly scene. Do we want to be exalted by the people?
Look at 1 Thessalonians 2:6 – “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.” Not only did Apostle Paul didn’t try to please men (v.4), but he also didn’t seek glory from men (v. 6). If he sought glory from men, he could have asserted his authority as an apostle (v. 6). If he did, he would have received at least some of the service and hospitality in the church. And he didn’t even have to work night and day (v. 9). The reason was that he could ask the Thessalonians church saints to support his living in order to get his living (1Cor. 9:14) (Kim Seyoon). He could just live a life of being a burden to them (1 Thess. 2:9). But he didn’t. Not only he didn’t assert his apostolic authority (v. 6), but he also didn’t abuse that authority. The reason was because he wasn’t a preacher of the gospel who sough glory from men.
The more we seek glory from men, the more we will want to receive glory from them. Not only it is dangerous to have a desire to possess, but also it is dangerous to have a desire for honor. What good it is if we have a glorious honor in people’s view? Don’t we all have to go back to dust? What is the use of a glorious resume during funeral service if he is already dead? It is all meaningless and meaningless. God didn’t give his begotten Son Jesus and died on the cross for us to waste our lives like that in vain. Let us all recall the words of Jesus: “"If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing ….” If we glorify ourselves, it is of no value. Let’s not forget and pray to God this way: “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth” (Ps. 115:1).
We must convey the gospel of God not in vain. To do that, we must be approved by God. We must pass the God’s test through trials. Therefore, we should be the ones who please God who examines our hearts. We should never use flattering speck with a pretext for greed in order to please people (1 Thess. 2:5). We must boldly proclaim the gospel with the help of God. As we all follow the Lord’s example and participate in His suffering for the gospel, we shouldn’t be afraid but courageously preach the gospel of Christ. Like Paul and the Thessalonians church saints, we must convey the gospel courageously and in a transparent manner in the midst of suffering. We must not preach the gospel to receive glory from people. We must preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to glorify God!