1 Thessalonians 2:4

But as we were allowed of God,.... Or, "approved of God"; not that there were any previous fitness and worthiness in them to be ministers of the word; but such was the good will and pleasure of God,

But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel: this verse gives the reasons of what the apostle spake in the former about his sincerity. The one is taken from his trust; God intrusted him with the gospel, to preserve it from corruption by error, therefore his exhortation or doctrine was not of error or deceit, but he preached the gospel in simplicity and purity; he did not, he durst not, adulterate or corrupt it, for it was committed to his trust; as he calls the gospel his trust, . And the sense of this great trust kept him also from uncleanness and guile in the discharge of his ministry. And he had this trust by God’ s appointment or approbation, God approved of him for this trust, and that upon knowledge and judgment, as the word signifies, dedokimasmeya, and as he speaks, , he judged me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Not so before his conversion, being a persecutor, blasphemer, & c.; but God fitted him by extraordinary revelations, gifts, graces, and made him faithful, and then put him into the ministry, and intrusted him with the gospel. And because he speaks in the plural number, we were allowed of God, & c., therefore Silvanus and Timotheus, yea, and other apostles and ministers, are to be understood as comprehended with him in this trust. Even so we speak; that is, as men thus approved of by God, and intrusted with the gospel, that we may faithfully discharge our trust, and be able to give a good account of it, as stewards of their trust, ,2. Not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts: this is another reason of their faithfulness and integrity, mentioned in the foregoing verse, which was the sense of God’ s omniscience, knowing and trying their hearts. Trying imports more than mere knowing, it is a knowledge upon search and proof, as gold and silver are known by the touchstone. And though God trieth the hearts of all men, yet especially such as are intrusted with the gospel. Or these last words may have a more immediate reference to the foregoing; we speak not as pleasing men, because we know God trieth our hearts. And this confirms what he said before concerning his exhortation, that it was not of deceit, uncleanness, or guile. If it had, he would have so preached as to please men; the opinions, the lusts, the practices of men. In some cases the apostle did seek to please men, , even as I please all men in all things. But he pleased not men when it stood in competition with his pleasing God; we speak, not as pleasing men, but God. Otherwise the rule takes place with all, : Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. Ministers of the gospel are Christ’ s servants by office, and, as servants, they are to please their own Master.

4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. Ver. 4. But as we were allowed] Enabled and counted faithful, 1 Timothy 1:12. Not as pleasing men] Men be they pleased or displeased, God must not be displeased. But God] Who looketh upon displeasing service as a double dishonour. Which trieth our hearts] And so knoweth our aims, Quicquid igitur agas, propter Deum agas. Propter te, Deum agas, propter te, as he cried. It stands me upon, saith one, to see, that though my work be but mean, yet it may be clean; though not fine, yet not foul, soiled and slubbered with the slur of a rotten heart, since it is God I have to deal with. (Drus. Apophth.)

(4) Were allowed.—Rather, have been, and in 1 Thessalonians 2:3 is, not “was.” St. Paul is arguing from his habitual practice. “But we speak after the manner of men who remember that God Himself has tried them, and has been satisfied to entrust the gospel to them, making it our business to please, not men, but God who thus tries our hearts” (1 Corinthians 4:1-2). The word translated “allowed” implies examining and approving (as in Luke 14:19; 1 Timothy 3:10; 1 Peter 1:7; 1 John 4:1), and is repeated emphatically (trans lated “trieth”): “being examined and approved by God, we study to please Him who constantly examines and approves us, not to court those to whom we are sent.” St. Paul expresses here, as elsewhere, a total disregard of men’s opinions about him (1 Corinthians 4:3; Galatians 1:10).

Verse 4. But as we were allowed of God] καθωςδεδοκιμασμεθα. As we were accounted worthy to be put in trust-as God put confidence in us, and sent us on his most especial message to mankind, even so we speak, keeping the dignity of our high calling continually in view; and, acting as in the sight of God, we speak not to please or flatter men, though our doctrine is the most consolatory that can be conceived, but to please that God who searcheth the heart, and before whom all our motives are constantly without a veil.

4. but as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak] Again the A.V. misses the force of the Greek perfect: better, as we have been approved by God to be entrusted. “Allow” in older English bears the stronger sense of accept, approve (comp. Romans 14:22), but even so falls short of the meaning of St Paul. His word is the same that is rendered in the last clause of the verse as trieth (R. V., proveth); it includes both proving and approving, it is approving on trial, or testing: comp. ch. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (same Greek verb, “Prove all things); and 1 Corinthians 3:13, “The fire will prove each man’s work.” The Apostle had been tested for his work, and tested by it; God had made proof of him as a minister of Christ, and he was shown to be worthy of his trust: tried, then trusted (comp. 1 Timothy 1:12). “To be put in trust with the gospel” is the highest conceivable responsibility; the sense of it is enough to exclude every base motive and deceitful practice (1 Thessalonians 2:3). On Paul’s trust, read 1 Timothy 1:12-17 and Acts 9:15-16 : “He is a chosen vessel unto Me.”so we speak] under the sense of this solemn trust, with the sincerity and self-abnegation that our charge demands.not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts] R. V., proveth (see previous note): more precisely, pleasing God—Him who proves our hearts. This last is an O.T. expression, a standing attribute of God: see Psalms 17:3, Jeremiah 11:20, &c.; also Acts 1:24, “Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all.” “Unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid” (Book of Common Prayer).The “heart,” in the language of the Bible, is not the seat of the feelings alone; it is “the inner man,” the real self, the centre and meeting-point of all our thoughts, feelings, and resolves. It is there that God proves us: “The Lord looketh upon the heart.” No impure motive or crafty expedient, such as might deceive men, escapes Him. The sense of this continual and omniscient scrutiny makes any kind of dishonesty impossible to the Apostle. Read 1 Corinthians 4:1-5; 2 Corinthians 5:9-12 : “He that judgeth me is the Lord.”It is God’s gospel that Paul and Silas have to preach; God had trusted them with it, and given them strength and courage to proclaim it (1 Thessalonians 2:2); to God’s approval, therefore, they must look, and to that alone. “Men,” such as the magistrates of Philippi and the populace of Thessalonica, would be pleased only if the messengers of Christ were silenced. So the authorities of Jerusalem “charged Peter and John not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus;” but they answered: “If it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you rather than unto God, judge ye” (Acts 4:18-19).

But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel - Compare 1 Timothy 1:11-12.

4. God… gospel—His announcement was traceable to no mythology, but to God himself. And as in trust from the absolutely pure, we were pure above all mere human purity.