Someone might ask, “Is that not the case in all churches?” It would be good if it were true, but that is not the case.
Some believe the greatest harvest field is within the four walls of their church because although the people may attend church, give to the church and associate mostly with saved people, actually many of them have never been born again. These think just attending church makes them Christians.
Illus: If that were the case then:
• Going to a garage would make you a mechanic.
• Going to the hospital would make you a doctor.
• Going to a restaurant would make you a cook. And, we all know this is not the case.
All across this nation there are people in churches who think they are saved, but who have never been born again. Every Sunday they sit in church starring out into space.
Illus: They remind me of Melody Schick. She dressed as a rag doll, with a Teddy bear cradled in her left arm. She was seeking to beat the world record for sitting still. She sat in a Dallas shopping center, setting a new record of 5 hours and 32 minutes, only moving her eyes.
There are surely some saints in the church who could compete for that record. They have been sitting still in those pews for years, just staring into space.
However, the Christians at Thessalonica demonstrated that they were truly saved. They dwelled in Christ and Christ dwelled in them.
• In John 15, Jesus spoke to His disciples as being “in Him” as branches are “in” the vine!
• In I Cor. 12, Paul spoke of the church as being “in” Christ the same way the members of our bodies are attached to our bodies.
• In Col. 3:3, our new Christian life is described as being “hidden with Christ in God.”
The relationship between the church and the Lord Jesus is a vital one. It is an organic relationship--we derive our life from Him. The Thessalonians also derived spiritual life from Christ and had proof of it.
Look at what Paul said about them in chapter one. Look at:
• v. 5, “...our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance...”
• v. 6, Paul said that they received the gospel.
• v. 8, Then he said that the Lord’s message rang out from them.
Paul was saying that the gospel had come to them, they had received it, and they spread the gospel everywhere!
If we are to be the church God wants us to be, we must follow the same pattern the Thessalonian church chose to follow.
So far we have had much to say about the congregation, but let me show you how vital the pastor, and his relationship to God and the congregation are. First, let us look at...
I. HIS DUTIES
Because of the pastor’s duties, he is placed as a target of much criticism.
Illus: Three little guys were doing what little boys do so well: bragging about their dads.
• One said, “My dad owns a factory.”
• Another said, “So what! My dad owns a farm.”
• The third, a preacher’s son, said, “That’s nothing. My father owns Hell.” “Oh yeah” said one of the boys, “How can a man own Hell?” “Well,” the pastor’s son said, “I heard my mother tell my grandma that the deacons of our church gave it to him last night.”
Seriously, the ministry is one of the most stressful jobs in existence.
Illus: A study of 301 clergy revealed:
• 66% feel lonely and isolated.
• 80% sometimes experience feelings of futility.
• 90% suffer stress because of problems with parishioners.
• Many are tired after a 55 hour week.
• But still, most say they are 95% satisfied with their work.
Ministers are called on to do many things. In a spiritual sense you might say they are “general practitioners.”
One of the duties that has always traditionally been associated with the duties of a minister is visitation. This is not always easy.
Illus: Once a minister went to call on an elderly widow of the church. While visiting with her, he noticed a bowl of shelled peanuts on the coffee table. During the conversation he began nibbling on them and soon the bowl was empty. He then apologized to the woman for eating all of her peanuts.
She replied, “That is okay, Preacher. You see, three weeks ago I had all my teeth pulled. Since that time I’ve just been sucking the chocolate off the peanuts and putting them back in that bowl.”
Yes, a minister never knows what he is going to get into when he visits a home. However, that is not his primary job. His primary work is “To FEED THE FLOCK OF GOD!”
Illus: Every housewife can relate somewhat to the duties of a minister. That is, she knows if she wants her family to be strong and healthy she can not just feed them peanut butter sandwiches every time they get ready to eat. She knows if she is going to feed them properly, it is a time-consuming job.
It is this way with the minister of the gospel. If he is going to have a spiritually strong and healthy congregation, he can not just get up and tell a few jokes and send them home. He has to spend hours and hours studying and preparing spiritually “nutritious” food. He has to spend time in prayer, seeking the Lord for the right message that the Lord wants His people to have. He spends time in God’s Word, and in resources available to him. Preparing sermons is a time-consuming job!
If the preacher preaches Sunday morning and evening, and teaches Wednesday night and for Sunday School, he has to spend an enormous amount of time preparing if he is going to be effective.
Now I am going to let you in on a little secret. Many times he knows when he is preparing sermons that as he preaches the “whole counsel” of God’s Word, he is going to open a bucket of worms occasionally. But, a good minister, as he preaches the whole counsel of God’s Word, spends much time seeking how to deliver the message so the folks will benefit from it and not be upset. He has to be tactful in his preaching--but according to God’s Word, whether someone is offended or not should not be the primary consideration. What is really going to matter to God is that His Word is preached!
As we read Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonian Christians it becomes obvious to us that preaching that pleases God is given the first consideration. He did not hold back on giving them the gospel in that evil place. He told them that Christ must come, suffer, die, and be resurrected, and that Christ was the Son of God! That did not set so well with all of the Thessalonians, but nevertheless, Paul, being the good minister that he was, carried out his duty of preaching the gospel to them.
We have looked at the minister IN HIS DUTIES. Now let us look at him in...
II. HIS DEGRADATION
Look at I Thess 2:1-2. We read, ‘’ For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain: But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.”
To be called of God to preach His Word is the highest calling there is, but to listen to all the degrading things you hear about preachers you would think this was the lowest calling on earth. Because of this pressure, many ministers have left the ministry and sought employment in other places.
Illus: This reminds me of the story of the man who quit the ministry after 20 years and became an undertaker. When asked why he changed, he said,
• ”I spent 3 years trying to straighten John out and he is still an alcoholic.
• I spent 6 months trying to straighten out Susan’s marriage and she filed for divorce.
• I spent 2 1/2 years trying to straighten out Bob’s drug problem and he is still an addict. At the funeral home, when I straighten them out--they stay straight!”
Yes, the minister’s job is difficult. Why? His job is a lot like that of parents whose children have become teenagers. During the process the family goes through, parents having to decide what privilege will be given and not given, and the teen straining for independence, there is often much stress on all concerned. Often during these years the young people believe, all of a sudden, their parents have become the meanest people on earth.
There is also stress on a pastor as he preaches God’s Word and draws lines. Some Christians do not want any lines drawn. They do not want God telling them not to cross certain lines. All of a sudden, to those who are immature, the preacher becomes the meanest man on earth. Yet he still has to PREACH THE WORD!
ANY TIME THE TRUTH IS PREACHED, THERE WILL BE OPPOSITION. That was true in Paul’s day and is still true. If you observe closely you will find that most of the very popular preachers are weak in that they tell people what they want to hear instead of telling them what God wants them to hear. Many preachers in this country are as rich and famous as movie stars. Why? Is it because they are so far above all the other Bible preachers in the land. No! It is because they tell people what they want to hear.
• If Jesus preached to please people, then why did they nail Him to a cross?
• If Paul preached to please people, then why did he end up beaten, shipwrecked, and imprisoned?
• If Peter and John preached to please people, why were they flogged?
• If Stephen preached to please people, then why was he stoned to death?
Ministers of the gospel do not seek out persecution or opposition. They simply know it will come if they preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Some day people will see that some of the best ministers in the land were those who have been faithful in preaching the gospel and did not neglect their duty.
Illus: A little boy lived next to his best friend. He thought his friend had the best mother in the whole world because she took him places, bought him all kinds of things for Christmas and threw birthday parties for him every year. This boy complained and stated that he wished he had a mother like that. Time went by. The boys were teens. The best friend’s mother ran off with another man and left him and his bothers and sister. All of a sudden this boy who had complained because his mother had always tried to keep a “tight line” on him, realized he had the best mother after all.
Today many of God’s children think some of these liberal preachers are great because they never place any “restrictions” on them, but on judgment day, as they give account to God for neglecting their duty, all will see what spineless men they had been.
Illus: The old evangelist, Bud Robinson, is reported to have prayed the following prayer every day, “O Lord, give me a backbone as big as a saw log and ribs like the sleepers under the church floor. Put iron shoes on my feet and galvanized breeches on my body. Give me a rhinoceros’ hide for skin and hang up a wagon-load of determination in the gable end of my soul. Help me to sign the contract to fight the devil as long as I’ve a tooth, and then gum him until I die!”
What was Paul’s trial?
• Acts 16 tells us that in Philippi he and Silas were stripped naked and severely flogged.
• They were also thrown into prison and their feet put in stocks.
• Then in Thessalonica the truth was soon brought home to him that there was a painful cost to be paid if he continued preaching the gospel there!
What is our opposition today?
• In some parts of the world it is still the same as the opposition Paul faced--physical persecution and death.
• In the United States we face those who reject Bible truths and who try to outlaw the very thing that made this country great.
Our reaction to the world’s opposition must be the same as that of the apostle Paul. We must stick to the preaching of the gospel as gum sticks to shoes. Paul said in I Thess. 2:2-6, “But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention. For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: 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. For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloak of covetousness; God is witness: Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ.”
Illus: Corrie Ten Boom said, “If God sends us on stony paths, He provides strong shoes.”
God will provide us with the weapons needed to win the spiritual battle. Paul said, I Thess. 2:3, “For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile.” He did not use “trickery” to try to win converts or finance his work.
The word translated “trick” or “guile” carries the idea of “baiting a hook.” In other words, Paul did not try to trap people into being saved. He presented the pure gospel and it was up to them to either accept it or reject it.
Salvation does not lie at the end of a clever argument or a fine presentation--it is the result of God’s Word and the power of the Holy Spirit!. Twice Paul said he did not preach to please men, but to please God. Many today seek the favor of men because they feel they need that in order to be successful--in whose eyes, God’s or men’s.
Winston Churchill knew public favor was no proof of real success.....
Illus: Once, after Winston Churchill gave a speech for which 10,000 people came out, a friend asked, “Winston, are you not impressed that 10,000 people came to hear you speak.” Churchill replied, “Not really, 100,000 would come to see me hang.”
If we are truly preaching the gospel “...entrusted to us by God...” then there will always be people who are displeased with us.
Conclusion/Summary:
The Thessalonian church was a great church because it was blessed with a great minister who did not compromise the Word of God. It is always hard to not compromise, for some do not stay to hear what God wants them to hear.
Illus: The story is told of a father who had a cattle ranch. He was asked how it was that he came to name the ranch “The Flying-W, Suzy-Q, Bar-J, Lazy-Y Ranch.”
He said, “Well, I wanted to call it the Flying-W.”
My wife wanted to call it the Suzy v-Q.
But, one of my sons liked the Bar-J.
And the other son preferred the Lazy-Y. So, we compromised and called it ‘The Flying-W, Suzy-Q, Bar-J, Lazy-Y Ranch.’”
The man inquiring about the name then said, “Well, where are your cattle?”
The farmer replied, “None of them survived the branding.”
A pastor can not compromise the Word of God. If he does, the church will be branded as a bunch of hypocrites! As we preach in our church and outside these walls we know not all will stick around to hear the message, but may we, like the Apostle Paul, seek to please God, and not man.
I. HIS DUTIES
II. HIS DEGRADATION
