Today we have a lot of MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKERS in the pulpit.
The reason they are motivational speakers they do not know enough of the Word of God to be a Bible preacher.
But the apostle Paul was a MOTIVATIONAL PREACHER, and we can see that clearly in his writing to the THESSALONIANS.
Illus: Vince Lombardi, the football coach, goes down in the history books as one of the all-time greats, if not the greatest, coach ever.
Why?
Among other things, his team won three consecutive world championships at Green Bay.
Anyone who knows anything about professional football knows this is an incredible achievement.
There has to be a reason for a team to make such an outstanding achievement, and the reason was because of Vince Lombardi.
WHAT MADE HIM SUCH A GREAT COACH?
Lombardi had a very special talent.
WHAT WAS THAT TALENT?
He was able to look inside of a player, and he could see talent in a player that no one else could see, even the player himself.
What made him such a great coach was that once he recognized greatness, he knew exactly how to motivate that player to become what he was capable of becoming.
For example, during a practice session, the Green Bay Packers were not looking good.
Lombardi could see all the many mistakes his team was making. Rather than tackle all the problems, he singled out one big 6-3, 245-pound guard and zeroed in on him.
This is what he said to the guard, “Son, you are a lousy football player. You’re not blocking. You’re not tackling. You’re not putting out. As a matter of fact, it’s all over for you today, go take a shower.”
This big guard, Jerry Kramer did just that.
Now anyone could have done what Lombardi did up to that point.
However, about forty-five minutes later, the great Lombardi walked over to that same player in the locker room.
The guard had his chin on his chest and was a very discouraged football player.
Coach Lombardi said to him, “Son, I told you the truth. You are a lousy football player. You are not blocking. You are not tackling. You are not putting out. However, in all fairness to you, I should have finished the story, Inside of you, son, there is a great football player, and I am going to stick by your side until the great football player inside of you has a chance to come out and assert himself.”
With those words, Jerry Kramer lifted his chin off his chest straightened up and felt encouraged.
He was so encouraged by Coach Lombardi’s words that he went on to be voted the all-time guard of professional football.
That never would have happened had there not been a Vince Lombardi who recognized that talent and then motivated him to become the best he could become.
Coach Lombardi had the ability to inspire his men to use the talent they had.
We are quick to pounce on people when they make a mistake, but real leadership occurs when we go back and:
• Pick them up.
• Brush them off
• And nurse their wounds by speaking words of encouragement.
Later, when Vince Lombardi moved to Washington, everyone wondered how he would be able to control the talented, but undisciplined Sonny Jurgensen.
What kind of strategy would he use to motivate this player become the very best he could become?
This was heavy on the minds of sports’ journalists.
One of the reporters asked about this. This is what Lombardi did.
He called Sonny Juegensen to his side, put his arm around him, and said, “Gentlemen, this is the greatest quarterback to ever step on a football field.”
That year Sonny Jurgensen went on to have his best year ever.
The apostle Paul was the great VINCE LOMBARDI to God’s Church.
For example, the church of Thessalonicca had great potential.
I want to show you how God used Paul to MOTIVATE this church to greater GREATNESS!
He first used…
I. PRAISED
Paul wanted to come and visit them because he knew that the church was facing some tough opposition to the gospel in Thessolonicca.
He was concern about this opposition that some might throw in the towel and quit serving God. And if they did ALL HIS LABOR IN WOULD BE IN VAIN!
He wanted to come personally and see them, but he wrote and told them that “SATAN HAD HINDERED HIM.”
Satan can do this!!!
Illus: Remember he HINDERED Gabriel in the Old Testament for 21 days from carring the message to Daniel.
He hindered Paul, so, He stayed alone and sent Timothy to see how they were doing.
Timothy came back and gave Paul the good news they were STANDING STRONG FOR THE LORD JESUS and WAS NOT BACKING DOWN AT ALL FROM THE OPPOSITION!!!
After Paul received the message from Timothy, they were doing great, He wrote this letter to them AND PRAISED THEM FOR THE STONG STAND THEY HAD TAKEN!!!
Look at 1 Thessalonians 1:8-10 For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing. For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Paul praising the Thessalonians for their strong faith, hope and love that Timohthy told him about.
The church in Thessalonica was an outstanding church.
Paul used PRASE TO MOTIVATE THEM TO BECOMING A GREATER CHURCH.
It is amazing what praise can do to motivate people.
Illus: Someone said this, you can always catch more flies with HONEY THAN VINEGAR.
Paul PRAISED THIS CHURCH for their STAND FOR THE LORD AND SPREADING THE GOSPEL.
The second thing he did to MOTIVATE THEM, he used…
II. JOY
Look at 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13 But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you: Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith: For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord. For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God; Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith? Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
First, He encouraged them by PRAISE and now he is encouraging them into greatness by using JOY.
Paul mentioned in this passage of scripture when Timothy reported how they were doing it brought JOY TO HIS LIFE!
JOY INSPIRES OTHERS!!!
Illus: It is always good when we can hear “Atta boy!”
Illus: When a child brings home their report card and it is all “A’s” and the parents light up like a Christmas tree it encourages the child to continue in his studies.
Let me give you another illustration.
Illus: Did you know that the fans at a football game have a lot to do with a team winning a football game.
It has a psychological impact on the players,
In fact, it has such an impact that the fans are called the 12TH MAN ON THE FIELD.
For example…
(1) During COVID when fans could not attend the games because of Covid it affected the players tremendously. The stadium was empty of fans joyfully pulling for them.
Some teams even cut out cardboard figures and placed them in the stadium to encourage the players to play their best.
(2) Also, fans yelling and screaming is affected by HOMETOWN ADVANTAGE.
A lot of players when they are the visiting team are not mentally capable of overcoming the home support. This affects their performance because it gets under the skin of the players and cannot play their best.
(3) The game of football is affected by the weather. One of the reasons they are building football stadiums that is not OUTDOOR STADIUMS BUT INDOOR STADIUM for the FANS TO ATTEND AND BE THE 12TH MAN ON THE TEAM.
It always encourages us when we feel that we are doing a good job and bringing JOY to other.
Ilus: I remember playing high school football out coach would encourage us to get our parents to attend the game. They knew it motivated us to play our best when we hear they are pulling for joyfully.
This is why they have CHEER LEADERS on the sideline screaming with joy.
Paul wanted the church in Thessalonicca he was JOYFUL when Timothy told him the good news of how they were STANDING FOR THE LORD DURING HARD TIMES.
WHY WAS PAUL JOYFUL?
If you remember, Paul could not go to the Thessalonians.
He said, 1 Thess. 2:18, “...but Satan hindered us.”
However, he was so concerned for them that he sent Timothy to them to find out how they were doing.
Timothy went and came back and gave his good report to Paul that they were doing GREAT!!!
Paul was thrilled at what Timothy told him! That was why he was JOYFUL!
The Thessalonians need to hear from Paul the STRONG STAND THAT THEY WERE TAKING BROUGHT JOY TO THE APOSTLE PAUL.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Christians would be JOYFUL upon hearing good things about others.
The word of God tells us Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.”
There are two REASONS why some Christians cannot WEEP AND REJOICE with others.
(1) Selfishness
Some people lives are so WRAPPED UP IN THEMSELVES there is no room in their life for anyone but themselves.
So, they cannot cannot WEEP with others who are hurting.
Why?
Because they are so full of themselves, they do not care if someone is hurting!
Also, they cannot REJOICE with others who have had good things to come into their life.
Since it did not happen to them and that is all they care about they cannot rejoice with others.
A SELFISH PERSON IS A TERRIBLE HUMAN BEING!!!
Illus: You may have heard the story of two friends who met for dinner in a restaurant.
Each requested fish, and after a few minutes the waiter came back with their order.
Two pieces of fish, a large and a small, were on the same platter.
• One of the men proceeded to serve his friend. Placing the small piece on a plate, he handed it across the table.
• He said "Well, you certainly do have nerve!" exclaimed his friend.
• "What's troubling you?" asked the other.
• "Look what you've done," he answered.
• "You've given me the little piece and kept the big one for yourself."
• "How would you have done it?" the man asked.
• His friend replied, "If I were serving, I would have given you the big piece."
• "Well," replied the man, "I've got it, haven't I?" (Daily Bread, August 11, 1992.)
But there is another reason some cannot REJOICE AND WEEP with others.
(2) NECATIVISM
Illus: Someone asked Tom Brokaw, “Why doesn’t the network news report good news each evening?”
He explained that basically people are negative.
That is people would much rather hear something bad than good. If all they reported was good news very few people would listen.”
Illus: If a thousand people got saved in some church it probably would never be mentioned on national news, yet if a gang of evil men entered a church with knives and machine guns and killed a thousand people, that would be front-story news for newspapers across the country.
Why? Yes, people are basically negative.
• You can go into a barber shop and hear men talking about a church down the street having some trouble and there will be a lively discussion, but if someone talks about God blessing a church down the street and souls coming to Christ, it gets quiet, and someone wants to change the conversation.
Illus: I could tell someone that helped a widow lady by giving her a hundred dollars and it would go in one ear and out the other!!!
But if I tell someone that someone beat up
and old lady and stole a hundred dollars, it would get some attention.
Listen, lost people have their NEGATIVE conversations, but we who are saved should leap for joy when we hear that God is blessing someone.
Timothy told Paul SOME GOOD NEWS and it brought JOY TO HIM!
Why was Paul joyful?
Timothy came back with a good report of the Thessalonians, and it was an ENCOURAGEMENT to Paul, and it brought JOY to him.
In verse 6, Paul describes the news of their faith and love as “good tidings.”
Illus: The words GOOD TIDINGS are the same words when the angel appeared to the shepherd in their field and announced that Christ has come to save us from our sins.
That was GREAT NEWS THEN and it was GREAT NEWS when Paul heard about this great church.
WHY WAS THEIR FAITH AND LOVE FOR GOD CONSIDERED GOOD NEWS?
Because in preceding verses, 1 Thess. 3:3-5, Paul was concerned that Satan might tempt these new converts and draw them away from the will of God.
We make a big deal, and rightfully so, about a person’s coming to Christ, but we should be EQUALLY JOYFUL when a person CONTINUES TO FOLLOW THE LORD, ESPECIALLY DURING HARD TIMES!
Our joy should not end at the baptistery!
Instead, our joy should continue as we see Christians grow in love in their faith in Christ.
Paul was joyful OVER THEIR CHRISTIAN GROWTH.
Illus: As I look across this congregation my heart greatly rejoices because I have seen CHRISTIAN GROWTH in many in this congregation here at THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.
Also, he was joyful...
III. MEMOIRY
Look at 1 Thess 3:6-9. We read, “But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you: Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith: For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord. For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God.”
Timothy reported that the Thessalonians had pleasant memories of Paul and his friends, and they longed to be with them.
MEMORY IS A WONDERFUL THING THAT GOD HAS GIVEN TO US.
Someone jotted down what memory is to them.
• “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.”
• “Memory… is the diary that we all carry about with us.”
Memory is a wonderful ability God has placed in our life.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger said he remembered growing up and his dad had made a thing to carry his tools in THAT WAS made out of leather.
He often thought of IT and wondered what ever happened to it.
One day someone surprise him and gave it to him. He thought it no longer existed.
And to most people it would not mean a thing but to him it was something valuable. IT BROUGHT BACK MEMORIES!!!
There are all kinds of memories, GOOD AND BAD!
There are some memories I wish I could not remember.
Illus: I am sure the apostle Paul felt that way when he remembered how he once opposed the Lord He later came to love.
But thank the Lord for the GOOD MEMORIES.
Paul said in Phil 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
SOME PEOPLE are worthy of remembering.
Illus: One of the reasons we have the Lord’s supper in our church every quarter is because the Lord said, AS OFTEN AS WE DO THIS, WE ARE TO DO THIS IN REMEMBERANCE OF HIM.
Some churches do it more frequent. But we at the First Baptist do it every quarter because we do not want the Lord’s Supper to be a ritual that we do, and it not be special.
The Lord does not want us to FORGET how he:
• Left the portals of heaven
• Died for our sins
• Buried
• Raise to life again
SO THAT WE HAVE A SAVIOR WHO DIED FOR OUR SINS.
He does not tell us how often we are to do this, but He said, AS OFTEN YOU DO THIS, DO IT IN REMEMBERANCE OF ME.
But many Christians have SPIRITUAL ALHEMIZER they have forgotten all the blessings of God He has bless them with.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger had a family in his church that attended faithfully. They had five children that attended with them.
Sadly, they moved away to another town and years went by before he saw them again.
Dr. Belger asked the man of the house how the family was doing.
This is what he said, “Pastor, we talk about all the good times we had at the church. The children literally start laughing about some of the things that took place at the church.”
This is one reason that parents should bring their children to church so that when they grow up, they can have some good memories of God and His church.
Some Christians were talking about some of the great Sunday School teachers they had as they grew up.
Illus: One man spoke up and told how as a young man he had come to know the Lord as His Savior.
He told how as a teenager a particular Sunday school teacher played such a major part in his life as a young man.
• He told how he would call his friends during the week and ask them to come to Sunday school with him.
• He told of how he would pick them up and sometimes he had a car full of them.
Someone asked him, “WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO DO THESE THINGS?”
He said, “It is simple, when I walked into that class with my friends, I saw that teacher’s JOY in her smile and that made it worth it all.”
Paul found PLEASURE in God’s blessing others.
As they saw the pleasure, they brought him, it was an encouragement to them to become everything God wanted them to become.
We derive joy and encouragement from our memories of the times we have had together in Christian fellowship.
Paul not only REJOICED over them
• Christian Growth,
• Fond Memories of each other
We have looked at HE ENCOURAGED THEM BY HIS PLEASURE
I. He praised them
II. He was joyful because of them
III. He had good memories of them
But also, he did something else to MOTIVATE THEM.
IV. PRAYER
Look at verses 9-13. We read, “For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God; Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith? Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”
Notice, Paul shows in these verses what we can do for each other.
Even though Paul could not be with them, he could PRAY FOR THEM.
Isn’t it wonderful how God has made it so we can pray for people who may live thousands of miles away.
Illus: We can pray for missionaries, thousands of miles away, and their needs can be met as a result of our prayers.
Notice how Paul prayed for them.
A. HE PRAYED THAT THEY MIGHT BE MATURE SPIRITUALLY
That is, Paul prayed that he might be able to supply what was lacking in their faith.
Look at verse 10. We read, “Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?”
Illus: Paul wanted to do what we saw Vince Lombardi do--see the inner man and find out what it would take to make them to be effective for Christ.
They were new Christians, babes in Christ and they brought great joy to Paul, but every baby has to grow.
Christian growth comes through much praying.
Paul said, in verse 10, “Night and day praying exceedingly...”
HE PRAYED THAT THEY MIGHT BE MATURE SPIRITUALLY.
Also,
B. HE PRAYED THAT THEY MIGHT INCREASE IN LOVE
If you are ever praying and do not know what to pray for, PRAY FOR LOVE.
Why?
Because you can never get enough love.
Verse 12 says, “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in loved one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you.”
Paul made it clear there is no room for hate in a believer’s life.
Illus: Napoleon thought he could be great because he founded a kingdom on force. Perhaps it’s worth listening to his words of warning at the end of his life.
Napoleon said, “Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ alone founded His empire upon love. And at this hour millions of men would die for him.”
Paul said he was not only praying that the Thessalonians would love him and each other, but that their love would increase that they could love total strangers.
Oh, how God could use us if we could increase in love!
C. HE PRAYED THEY MIGHT INCREASE IN STRENGTH
Look at verse 13. We read, “To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”
Illus: The story has been told that there was once a man who had a heart transplant, but the operation was a total failure.
It is said that the man was a very mean man. The donor had been a very kind-hearted man.
The transplant patient’s body simply rejected the heart of this kind of a man.
The Bible tells us, however, of a heart transplant that is successful.
Look at Ezekiel 11:19-20 says, “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.”
Paul said that God wanted to give people a KIND HEART. We must not reject it.
In verse 13 he said, “To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God...”
Conclusion:
The Green Bay Packers did not become winners for three consecutive years by accident. They became champs because a coach by the name of Vince Lombardi saw talent in the players and knew how to motivate them to become champs.
He taught them they are only strong and at there best when they learn to play as a team.
Let me illustrate…
Illus: A train was full of people on its way to Nashville, TN. Most of the passengers in the train were newspaper reporters as it had been chartered by a large newspaper company in Nashville. The conductor asked one of the passengers for his ticket. The man did not have his ticket, so he immediately told the conductor he was with the newspaper company. The conductor told him he would have to check with the editor who was riding in the rear of the train. If the editor would verify that he was a journalist, he would not have to pay. The editor was summoned forward. The editor took one look at the man and immediately identified the man as one of his reporters. The man later approached the editor and asked him why he had covered for him. The man answered, “Why? Because I’m not the editor. I am traveling on his pass and was scared you would give me away.”
That’s teamwork!!! It was not the right kind of teamwork, but no one could say that it was not teamwork.
Those men knew that if they were going to get to their destination, they had to cooperate with each other.
One of the great lessons we, as a church, need to learn is, if we are going to reach the goal God has set for the church to meet, we also have to learn to cooperate and work together as the body of Christ.
Illus: Casey Stengel said, “It is easy to get good players. Getting them to play together, that’s the hard part!”
What’s true in baseball is also true in the ministry of the local church.
One of the great lessons we, as a church, need to learn is, if we are going to reach the goal God has set for the church to meet, we also have to learn to cooperate and work together as the body of Christ.
The church in Thessalonica did not become the great church that is was by accident.
They became great because the apostle Paul saw the talent that God had instilled in them and he knew exactly how to motivate them to become what God would have them to become.
He accomplished this through two things...
I. HE ENCOURAGED THEM WITH HIS JOY
II. HE INTERCEDED FOR THEM IN HIS PRAYERS
