Tag: 1st Thessalonians 2:3-8
Powerful Gospel preaching!
Scripture reading for June 16th: Proverbs 24-25, Psalm 41, 1st Thessalonians 2
1st Thessalonians 2:3-8 “For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God Who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed–God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 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.”
Paul reminds these faithful believers of how he presented his Gospel appeal. Paul and Silas had just come to them after their experience of beating and imprisonment and then God freeing them from the jail and the jailer and his family getting saved. Paul had simply and powerfully preached the Gospel to these Thessalonians, not holding back anything for fear of man but to fulfill God’s commands to him. He had been gentle among them and loved them in the short time he was there with them. He treated them with integrity and sacrificially served them. God was his witness! Paul had done his part and God had done his part and the believers there had responded in faith in the midst of affliction!
Psalm 41:12-13 “But you have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in Your presence forever. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen!”
Prayer: Father God, thank You for calling me to preach Your Gospel of grace through Your Son Jesus Christ! Thank You for this example of grace among the Thessalonian believers through the simple and powerful preaching of Paul in the Holy Spirit. Help me to love the people deeply and share my life and Your Word with them through Your Holy Spirit. Use me to rescue those being taken away to death!
Proverbs 24:10-12 “If you falter in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not He Who weighs the heart perceive it?”