Follow-up & The Care Of New Christians1 Thessalonians 2:7-12

July 21, 2013First Baptist Church

Jackson, Mississippi, USA

July Memory Verse:John 14:1-3 HCSB14“Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.”

John 14:1-3 HCSB

Galatians 6:7-10 KJV7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

9 And let us not be weary in well doing (1 out of 4): for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Galatians 6:7-10 KJV

Start asking God now who He wants you to invite into your home in November.

Why do some unbelievers not understand the Gospel as we communicate it?

All unbelievers are spiritually blind and cannot understand the Gospel without God’s intervention (2 Cor. 4:3-4).

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 KJV 3 But if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 KJVW hat can be done in the hearts of those who will attend the presentation of the Gospel between now and November?

Jesus said: Matthew 16:19“whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:19

So, one way to pray for your loved ones who are not saved is to pray that God will bind that work of Satan that has blinded their mind and is holding them captive.

Pray that God will bind Satan's work in their lives that has prejudiced and poisoned their minds against the Gospel, in order that they may be able to consider the Truth of God without this ungodly pressure from Satan.

So God, through prayer, can set them free from Satan's power, and once set free from this blinding influence of Satan upon their minds, can accept this gracious offer that God has made to everyone through Jesus Christ.

Make that the direction of your prayers.

Pray that God will take away the blinders that has been put over their mind, and they'll be able to see rationally and clearly the offer that He has made through Jesus Christ.

Loose the work of the Holy Spirit and the conviction of the Holy Spirit upon their hearts and the drawing of the Holy Spirit of their hearts to Jesus Christ.

You can't just say, "O Lord, save him."

God will not save them against their will.

There has to come the change of will and that desire in their heart and that asking of God for salvation.

Jesus said,

John 6:37bhim that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

John 6:37b

So, our prayers are to set them free so that they can see the Truth and respond to it of their own free will.

The Holy Spirit must work in the hearts and minds of lost people to make the Gospel clearly understandable to them.

That is why it is so very important for you to be praying about who you invite into your home this November.

God will then put into your mind who He wants you to invite.

In addition to spiritual blindness, when an unbeliever’s worldview is very different from the essential Gospel truths of the Bible, worldview noise makes it even more difficult for him/her to understand the Gospel message.

As we present the Gospel, we must understand this worldview noise problem.

We must then deliver God’s message of salvation in such a way that the worldview noise can be penetrated and the unbeliever can clearly understand the Gospel.

1. Worldview: Perspective through which a person sees and interprets life.2. Worldview Noise: Unbiblical elements in an unbeliever’s worldview belief

system that ( )1 confuse his understanding of essential gospel truths and/or that( )2 predispose him to reject the gospel.

How do we learn what another person’s worldview is? In one very important sense, all humans are like onions—we all have layers.

Our worldview layers are covered with an external layer of human commonalities: the needs, wants, and interests that we have just because we are human.

As we initiate “entry conversations” on topics of common interests, we look for entry points that allow us to transition to deeper worldview issues.

Appropriately sensitive “investigative questions” help us learn more about their behavioral patterns, personal choices, and internalized values.

Ultimately, we want to learn what their core beliefs are in order to know what worldview noise we may encounter as we engage in “conversion discussions.”

How can we help an unbeliever to clearly understand the Gospel?

When presenting the Gospel to an unbeliever who knows very little or nothing about the Bible and the Christian faith, it is likely that his or her worldview noise will be very dense.

In order to penetrate that worldview noise, we need to explain the Biblical facts that are essential to understanding the Gospel.

But for those facts to make clear sense, we also need to set them in the historical context of the overall redemptive story that unfolds through the Bible.

Luke 15:7a KJVJoy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth

Luke 15:7a KJV

How do you take care of a new believer?

How can we help a new believer to become not only a disciple but a disciple-maker?

1 Corinthians 11:1 KJV1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:1 KJV

Just as evangelism is a combined divine-human process, so it is with discipleship.

Once they pray to receive Christ, you then have the opportunity to become their mentor.

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God has chosen to use you to “make disciples.”

Matthew 28:19-20 KJV19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Matthew 28:19-20 KJV

FOLLOW-UP & THE CARE OF NEW CHRISTIANS

1 THESSALONIANS 2:7-12

1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 KJV7 But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse (mother) cherisheth her children:

8 So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.

9 For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.

10 Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:

11 As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children,

12 That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.

1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 KJV

The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Copyright © Moody Press and John MacArthur, Jr., 1983-2007.

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In 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 the apostle views the outward functions of an effective mentor – what a good mentor looks like.

Paul could have presented these functions by discussing: discipling, protecting, and overseeing.

But as the New Testament writers often did for the sake of vividness and richness, the apostle used a metaphor.

He could have chosen any one of several metaphors: a steward or household manager (1 Cor 4:1-2); a bond-slave or servant (Col 4:12); a herald or proclaimer of the message (1 Tim 2:7); the common image of a shepherd (1 Peter 5:1-4; Ps 23); a teacher, athlete, farmer, or of a soldier (2 Tim 2:2-6).

All those metaphors are replete with significance and paint helpful pictures.

Soldier by Eddde on Newground s

However, Paul chose to use the most intimate, compelling metaphors of a mother and father, which illustrate the primary kinds of spiritual care a mentor must provide.

Such metaphors are not limited to this epistle. In Galatians 4:19 he wrote, as if a mother calling believers, "My children, with

whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you." He pictured himself as a mother who first labored to give birth and then, as it

were, labored longer to bring her children to spiritual maturity.

In 1 Corinthians 4:15 Paul pictured himself as a spiritual father:

1 Corinthians 4:1515 For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the Gospel.

1 Corinthians 4:15

He was the human source of their spiritual life as well as their teacher and protector.

Paul's use of these familial metaphors emphasizes the care and affection of shared life that he had with those he brought the Gospel to.

THE SPIRITUAL MENTOR AS MOTHER

1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 NASB 7 But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. 8 Having so fond an 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.

1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 NASB

As mothers are absolutely and indisputably essential to the well-being of children, so spiritual mentors who minister with a mother's gentleness, intimate affection, sacrificial love, and unselfish labor are essential for the health of the new believers and the church.

G ENTLENESS

1 Thessalonians 2:7But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother mother tenderly cares for her own children.

1 Thessalonians 2:7

The term gentle is at the heart of this verse. It means to be kind to someone and encompasses a host of other virtues:

acceptance, respect, compassion, tolerance of imperfections, patience, loyalty, and tenderheartedness.

The Compassionate OneGod's Revolution Today

As the phrase her own children indicates, Paul was no paid surrogate mother or modern-style, hired day care worker.

As good parents are concerned about their children's hearts, so are good mentors.

Mentor the soul: 668 Park Avenue, the concerned next door neighbor .

The verb rendered tenderly cares literally means to warm with body heat.

The loving mother would take the little one in her arms and warm the child with her own body heat.

Such a vivid metaphor perfectly illustrates the kind of personal care the Thessalonians received and those that we mentor need to receive.

INTIMATE AFFECTION1 Thessalonians 2:8a8a Having so fond an affection for you,

1 Thessalonians 2:8a

In extending the metaphor of a nursing mother, it was logical for Paul to mention the motive for such nurturing gentleness — love.

He possessed fond affection for the Thessalonians as we should for those we are discipling.

A mother who carries an infant son or daughter on her breast has a naturally fond affection that is unequalled in other human contexts.

The Greek word translated fond affection (himeiromai; him-MER-oh-my used only here in the NT) means to long for someone passionately and earnestly, and, being linked to a mother's love, is intended here to express an affection so deep and compelling as to be unsurpassed.

Ancient inscriptions on the tombs of dead babies sometimes contained this term when parents wanted to describe their sad longing for a too-soon-departed child.

Paul acknowledged that God naturally designed such intimate affection into the hearts of mothers.

The hearts of all righteous spiritual mentors are supernaturally given the same type of affection for their people, even as Paul and his companions had for Christ’s followers.

That desire defined an eagerness and zealousness generated from love-filled hearts.

SACRIFICIAL LOVE 1 Thessalonians 2:8b8b 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.

1 Thessalonians 2:8b

They came first of all to impart . . . the Gospel of God.

The verb translated impart means to share, or give someone something of which one retains a part. (impart)

That is exactly what happens when Christians impart to other people divine truth.

They give someone else the Good News of salvation, yet without losing possession of it themselves.

It is like sharing your candle flame with another person.

Paul and his fellow workers taught the transforming truths of the Gospel of God and yet retained those truths, even strengthening them by the giving (as all good mentors know), thus forming a loving, enriching fellowship with those who accepted the message.

SACRIFICIAL LOVE 1 Thessalonians 2:8b8b 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.

1 Thessalonians 2:8b

The term Gospel of God appears three times in chapter 2 (vv. 2, 8 & 9) as well as in Mark 1:14; Rom 1:1; 15:16; 2 Cor 11:7; and 1 Peter 4:17.

It describes the Gospel from the perspective of God as the Source.

Implicit in the expression Gospel of God is a doctrinal fullness that encompasses: justification, sanctification, and glorification.

Paul and friends exhorted the Thessalonians to repent and embrace Christ's death and resurrection (justification).

They also instructed them on how to live holy lives in obedience to Scripture and in the power of the Holy Spirit (sanctification) and to wait for their eternal glory at the glorious coming of the Lord for His beloved church (glorification).

In reality, all New Testament teaching relates to the complete Gospel in some way.

As you mentor new believers, you want to help them understand justification (past), sanctification (present) and glorification (future).

SACRIFICIAL LOVE 1 Thessalonians 2:8b8b 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.

1 Thessalonians 2:8b

Besides imparting the complete Gospel, Paul, Silas, and Timothy shared also their own lives.

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Literally, they gave up their souls — their real inner beings — for those they were mentoring.

There was nothing superficial or partial about their sacrificial service.

The chicken made a contribution to breakfast, but the pig made a total commitment to breakfast!

Someone else has poured their life into yours, now it is your turn to do the same.

A woman who fulfills the Biblical role for motherhood does the same thing when she, at great cost to herself, unselfishly and generously sets aside her life for the benefit of her beloved children.

Paul ministered to his people with that same attitude of all-out commitment because, as babies to a mother, they had become very dear to him.

SACRIFICIAL LOVE 1 Thessalonians 2:8b8b 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.

1 Thessalonians 2:8b

The maternal metaphor, however, only partially describes the effective spiritual mentor.

Describing the spiritual mentor as a father completes Paul's picture.

THE SPIRITUAL MENTOR AS FATHER1 Thessalonians 2:10-1210 You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; 11 just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, 12 so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God Who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

1 Thessalonians 2:10-12

THE FATHER AS MODEL1 Thessalonians 2:10“You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers;”

1 Thessalonians 2:10

Devoutly means "in a holy manner" and emphasizes how Paul, Silas, and Timothy lived before God.

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The adverb uprightly ("righteously") refers to how well the men dealt righteously toward both God and man.

And finally, the word blamelessly pertains to their reputation before people.

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In every respect, they were exemplary spiritual fathers, setting the standard for all who have followed.

1 Timothy 4:12 NIV12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12 NIV

THE FATHER AS TEACHER AND MOTIVATOR1 Thessalonians 2:1111 just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children,

1 Thessalonians 2:11

As a father would his own children expresses the natural, normal function of a father concerned about the well-being of his own children.

Fathers are not only examples, but also instructors.

So the spiritual father is not to be merely a model but also a personal teacher and motivator.

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This fatherly instruction Paul uses in 1 Thessalonians is conveyed in three verbs describing what fathers do and what Paul had done continually.

THE FATHER AS TEACHER AND MOTIVATOR1 Thessalonians 2:1111 just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children,

1 Thessalonians 2:11

1) Exhorting 2) Encouraging3) Imploring

Exhorting is from parakaleo, (para-kal-EH-oh) literally "to call alongside," and is related to the noun parakletos, "one who comes alongside," which is one of the titles for the Holy Spirit.

The apostle referred to coming alongside for the purpose of aiding, instructing wisely as a source of character.

1) Exhorting2) Encouraging 3) Imploring

THE FATHER AS TEACHER AND MOTIVATOR1 Thessalonians 2:1111 just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children,

1 Thessalonians 2:11

Encouraging comes from paramutheomai, (para-moo-THEH-oh-my) meaning to encourage in the sense of comfort and consolation, is so critical in assisting towardspiritual growth because of the many obstacles and failures Christians can experience.

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Used in John 11:19 and 31 for the consolation given to the grieving family of Lazarus, the word was reserved for the tender, restorative, compassionate uplifting needed by a struggling, burdened, heartbroken child.

This beautiful expression of natural fatherly kindness also fits the spiritual father.

1) Exhorting2) Encouraging3) Imploring

1 Thessalonians 2:1111 just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children,

1 Thessalonians 2:11

Finally, Paul reminded the believers that he had been imploring each one (singling them out personally).

Imploring is the Greek participle marturomenoi, (mar-TOO-rome-my) which is usually translated "testifying," or "witnessing," is related to the word martyr because so many faithful witnesses died for their boldness.

Paul warned the Thessalonians that any deviation from the divinely prescribed course of conduct had serious consequences.

The warning was an admonishment that if they did not follow the course laid out for them, they, as disobedient children would receive from a father, could expect to receive spiritual discipline from the apostle.

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THE FATHER AS PRODUCER1 Thessalonians 2:1212 so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God Who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

1 Thessalonians 2:12

Like a father whose goal is the mature wisdom of his children, the apostle Paul concluded his exhortation by affirming that a spiritual father will endeavor to continue his efforts until he produces sons and daughters who walk in a manner worthy — live mature lives.

Walk refers to daily conduct.

Colossians 1:1010 walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

Colossians 1:10

THE FATHER AS PRODUCER1 Thessalonians 2:1212 so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God Who calls you…

1 Thessalonians 2:12

In referring to the God Who calls, the divine call, as always in the epistles, refers to the effectual saving call.

By it God, through the faith graciously granted to sinners, justifies and sanctifies them.

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Paul stated the singular end of that saving call — entrance into God’s own kingdom and glory.

1 Corinthians 3:6-7 KJV6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

1 Corinthians 3:6-7 KJV

What is the number 1 thing?

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Though they had not yet seen either the millennial kingdom or the eternal kingdom, they were already citizens of the redeemed kingdom over which God now rules.

Romans 14:17 KJV17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Romans 14:17 KJV

Thus they had a present share in the glory of God as well as a promise of the future glory in the kingdom yet to come.

All believers (that would be us) look forward to sharing in the full glory of the heavenly kingdom when God raises them to be like Christ and with Him for eternity.

The parental pictures of spiritual mentorship in 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 clearly demonstrate that it is not enough for mentors just to be compassionate, tender, and caring as spiritual mothers.

We also need to live uncompromising, pure, and exemplary lives as spiritual fathers — lives that, in their motives and actions, set the standard for all to follow.

Furthermore, we need to teach the truth faithfully, building up the saints in spiritual wisdom (Ephesians 4:11-16) and display the courage of conviction to come alongside and exhort and call our spiritual children to obedience, through both strong discipline and tender consolation.

These efforts lead those we mentor to live in a way that honors God, Who has called them to His eternal kingdom and glory.

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