A Ministry That Shepherds The Soul

‘A MINISTRY THAT SHEPHERDS THE SOUL’—

—1Thessalonians 2:1-12

‘A faith that soothes the soul’(1:1-10) leads to....

‘A Ministry that Shepherds the Soul’(2:1-12)

Paul, Sylvanus & Timothy exhibited a ministry that shepherded the soul of the Thessalonian Christians.

God-called men have a ministry that shepherds the soul.

What characterizes a ministry that shepherds the soul?

3 characteristics of ministry that shepherds the soul.

1—A ministry that shepherds the soul

Exhibits a SUBSTANCE(:1)

—Explanation:(:1) Lack of Vanity

:1—For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain,”

“Coming to you/Entrance in unto you”—eisodoV—An entrance

“Not in vain”—kenoV—Empty, vain, devoid of truth.

‘NOT with outward pomp & splendour, as the public entrances of ambassadors into cities usually are; but with great meanness, poverty, reproach, & persecution, having been lately beaten & ill used at Philippi’—Gill

—Argumentation:

Lk. 1:67-69—“And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, & prophesied, saying: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us & accomplished redemption for His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant--”

Lk. 18:7-8—“now shall not God bring about justice for His elect, who cry to Him day & night, & will He delay long over them? “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?””

Rom. 15:17-19—“Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word & deed, in the power of signs & wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem & round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.”

Rev. 10:7—“but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets.”

—Illustration:

Our baseballs & softballs/15-20/1 is spongy rubber(full of air pockets) &1 is hollow plastic/Can’t get it across the plate or distance on the hit—too flimsy/SUBSTANCE missing

Car with no engine/SUBSTANCE missing

—Application:

?Your Pastor/Elders/Deacons exhibit a SUBSTANCE in their approach to ministry?

?You under a Ministry that Shepherd’s the Soul?

2—A ministry that shepherds the soul

Exhibits UNRELENTING CONFIDENCE(:2)

—Explanation:(:2) Unfaltering in Opposition/Boldness

:2—“but after we had already suffered & been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition.”

“Mistreated”—ubrizw—To be insolent, to behave insolently, wantonly, outrageously.

Philippi—Acts 16:14-40—1)Lydia & family baptized; 2)Drove the possessing spirit out of Slave-girl with a spirit of divination;3)Master’s profit gone they beat & imprisoned Paul & Silas; 4)City officials begged them to leave the Philippi.

“Boldness”—parrhsiazomai—to use freedom in speaking, be free spoken; To speak freely; To grow confident, have boldness, show assurance, assume a bold bearing.

“Opposition/Contention”—agwn—The assembly of Greeks at their national games; An assembly, an arena or place of contest; A battle, struggle or contest. From agw meaning ‘to lead away from’.

—Argumentation:

1Jn. 4:15-19—“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, & he in God. And we have come to know & have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, & the one who abides in love abides in God, & God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, & the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.”

1Tim. 1:7—“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power & love & discipline.”

2 Corinthians 4:7-12—“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God & not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you.”

—Illustration:

Our return from St. Joseph’s Penninsula St. Pk./Missed my turn off of FL 20 at Bristol,FL/Wife concerned/I continued heading east knowing that there were at least 3 more exits north/UNRELENTING CONFIDENCE