1 Thessalonians 2:1-9
A God Honoring Ministry
Introduction
In our look at chapter 1, we found that the church at Thessalonica was quite a remarkable church. This was a church made up of people who were clearly saved, they were faithfully laboring for the Lord, they were both evangelistic and mission minded, and they were anxiously awaiting the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In Paul’s mind and certainly in the mind of the Lord God they were a remarkable church.
Every church that belongs to the Lord can be a remarkable church if they will but strive to be so. We know that not every church will accomplish the same results, nor will every church grow to a large number. Some of the Lord’s most successful churches in the world today may be made up of just a few members. It is not the size of the work that matters so much as the church’s faithfulness to the ministries to which they have been called by God. Are they doing what Jesus has told them to do and are they doing it in such a way that God is honored?
Perhaps a more important question for us tonight is whether our church, Woodlawn Baptist Church is doing what God has called us to do and whether we are doing it in such a way that God is honored in it. Assuming we are doing what God has told us to do, from our text in chapter 2, tonight I want to deal with whether God is being honored in our work. Are the ministries of Woodlawn Baptist Church God honoring ministries? And the only way to appropriately answer that question is for me to address each of you individually – are your ministries God honoring ministries?
Consider for a moment the various ministries of our church:
· Perhaps you are a…
o Nursery worker
o Children’s chapel worker
o Sunday school teacher
o Discovery teacher
o Bus driver
o Singer
o Lawn keeper
o Helper, a volunteer in some ministry
· Is what you are doing bringing God honor?
That is the question we must all seek to answer tonight, for if God is not receiving the honor for what is happening in our respective ministries, then something needs to change, and that something is going to have to be you. I can’t change you, nor can anyone else. If God is not receiving honor in your place of ministry – if He is not the focus – then you are going to have to adjust your methods, your attitudes, your aims so that people quit thinking so highly of you and begin to consider what a wonderful God it is that we serve!
A God honoring ministry – that’s what we want. That’s what I want, and I hope it is what you want as well. If it is, how can you know? How do you know whether what you are doing, whether your ministry is bringing God honor or not? From the first 9 verses of 1 Thessalonians 2, I want to share with you 5 criteria that your ministry must meet if it is going to bring God the honor He deserves. If yours is a God honoring ministry, then …
It is a ministry that is producing results. (1)
As Paul addressed the Thessalonians, he said,
"For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain:"
When Paul and the others with him got to Thessalonica, they didn’t just come to town thinking it would be a nice place to stay for a while. They didn’t pick it for its wonderful architecture or beautiful scenery or even its abundant shopping. They got there on purpose with a purpose, and that was to preach the gospel of Christ. The word entrance means the beginning of their gospel work. He said that that work was not in vain. In other words, it wasn’t empty or fruitless. It was a work that produced results.
Every work done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the Lord Jesus Christ ought to be a work that produces results. It doesn’t matter if you teach or preach or pray or give or clean or mow or baby sit, your ministry ought to be a ministry that produces results. Does that mean that every ministry or every work for the Lord is going to be bringing people to the Lord? Yes and no.
First the no. Not every work is going to result in the salvation of souls directly. Mowing a lawn never won anybody to the Lord. Vacuuming a floor never got anyone saved, but every work for the Lord will draw men and women to the Lord either directly or indirectly.
When Paul and the others preached the gospel, the account in Acts 17 says that a lot of folk believed. Most were Gentile people; there were men and women, some influential women, and even a few Jews. But listen, that’s not the only result of their preaching. Another result was that the great multitude who rejected the message and refused to be saved heard the gospel and had the opportunity to be saved. Although that’s not the desired result, it’s a result nonetheless.
What we don’t want as a result of our ministries is anyone ever being able to say at the end of our labors is that they never learned how to enter a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a shame that some teachers teach for weeks and months and some even years, yet they never share with their students how to be saved. One of the most important things any teacher, whether Sunday School, Discovery, Vacation Bible School or some other kind of teacher can teach is how to be saved. If we fail to do that then our ministries will not be all that God intends for them to be. Imagine one of your students standing before the Lord one day as God questions why the boy or girl never accepted Him as Savior, only to hear that student say, "My teacher never told me."
Well that’s teachers, but what about ministries that don’t directly involve sharing the gospel? Can those ministries still produce results? You bet, because every work we do, no matter how seemingly insignificant, gives testimony to our relationship with the Lord. The results God is looking for is for us to bring Him honor – that’s why numbers don’t matter. That’s why financial success or material success and big buildings and lots of church plants don’t necessarily matter. What does matter is that whatever we do, we do for the honor and glory of God. You see, every ministry, no matter what that ministry is, either points people to God or it points people to people. What honors God is not that we won 20 people to the Lord, but that we honored Him by trying. What honors Him is not that we packed the house every Sunday, but that those who come honor the Lord with their faithfulness. When we serve and labor half-heartedly, that is a reflection of our relationship with God. When I do all that I do for God’s honor and glory, then I’ll do my very best in whatever it is.
Numbers do not necessarily reflect results. Sometimes we think that if we are producing results that great numbers will be involved, but the ministries of Noah, of Ezekiel, of Jeremiah, and of other faithful men of God would prove otherwise. Sometimes the greatest results of a God honoring ministry are simply what takes place in the heart of the minister. In some situations it is the teacher, or the deacon, or the preacher, or the dish-washer who encounters the greatest change, which is still a God honoring result of a good ministry.
It is a ministry that continues in opposition. (2)
"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."
You don’t have to dig around much in the book of Acts to find out that Paul knew what he was talking about when he mentioned opposition. In Acts 13 Paul preached at Antioch Pisidia and was persecuted and run out of town. In Acts 14 Luke records how the Jews persuaded the people of Iconium to stone Paul and then drag him out of the city where he was left for dead. When the disciples found him, he got up and went back into the city. In Acts 15 we find that Paul and Barnabas faced such sharp contention that their mission team split up. In Acts 16 he and Silas were put in the Philippian jail, then in chapter 17 he was chased out of Thessalonica. The Thessalonians hated him so much they chased him all the way to Athens some hundred miles away wanting to kill him.
This is the same Paul who now writes that in spite of all the opposition, he was bold to speak the gospel. How was Paul able to endure such hardship and keep on going? I think that from this passage in particular and then just from Paul’s life in general we can find at least four reasons.
His confidence was in God
Paul said that he was bold in his God. Had Paul had to rely on his own resources, on his own strength, on his own wisdom and power and might, he would have never finished the first missionary journey, but here we find him enduring trials and hardships most of us will never know. When he wrote back to the Philippians believers, he said,
"I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
Though it is quite a lengthy passage, I want you to turn to 2 Corinthians 11:23 and read with me…
"Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not? If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not. In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me: and through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands. It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ about fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven….And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong…Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you. For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you."
Over and over and over in Paul’s life and ministry, God gets the credit for his enduring all he encountered during his ministry, and because Paul knew the source of his strength and power, he kept on. Anyone who ever tells you that laboring faithfully in the Lord’s work is easy is lying to you. Sure it has its good, fun moments, and it has many rewards and is quite satisfying, but the Lord’s work is hard. There is always opposition for those who would do a God-honoring work.
All through the Scriptures we read of men and women who endured opposition because of their confidence in God. The ministries you undertake are going to encounter opposition. If you haven’t yet then just stick around and you will. The opposition may take many forms and come at the worst of times, but the test of your commitment is whether your confidence is in God or in yourself. If it is in your talent and ability and resources, then you’ll quit and settle for a pew or couch. If your confidence is in God and you are sure He has you right where you need to be, then you’ll continue on no matter what may come your way.
He knew that his life was not his to spend
Paul said that his life was not his own, it had been bought with a price. He said in another place that he was crucified with Christ. He said that he had crucified himself to the world and the world to him. Paul had transferred ownership of his life to the Lord Jesus Christ, and with that ownership came the privilege of saying what would or wouldn’t happen in Paul’s life.
God never has and never will make you do anything against your will. However, if you claim Jesus as your Savior, then you legally belong to Him. Now it is up to you whether you will belong to Him in practice. Let me give you an example of this. My first job in the public was for Wal-Mart. I was a Junior in High School and was 16 years old. When I punched that clock and put on my name badge, technically I belonged to them. They were paying for me. So long as I was on the clock and they were paying me, they had every right to tell me to get the carts, or sweep the floor, or clean the bathroom, or stock a shelf, or whatever else I was told to do. Why? Because I belonged to them. My time was not my own – I was being bought with an hourly wage. However, after working there several weeks, I discovered something I had never known before working on the farms I had been working on – lots of pretty girls came through the store! And some of them even worked in the store. Well you can guess what I spent lots of Wal-Mart time doing. I would talk to girls. I talked in the break room. I talked in layaway. I talked in the parking lot and anywhere else I could without getting caught. Even though I was bought with company pay, I was abusing the ownership they had on me. I wanted all the benefits of being on the clock without rendering what they rightfully deserved from me.
Now, think about how we treat the Lord. He shed His blood to purchase our pardon, and we willfully accepted that payment for our sin and asked Him to be our Savior and our Lord. We’ve been bought with a price, but are we so willing to render to Him what He rightfully deserves from us? Or have the attractions of this life caught our attention so that we are too busy pursuing our own goals to labor for the Master?
Paul continued in opposition because He remembered vividly that day that Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and changed his life forever. He remembered that he gave his life to Christ, the Christ he had helped to crucify, the Christ he had cursed and mocked, the Christ who loved him anyway. Paul continued because he knew that there was no way he could say no to the one who had done so much for him. What about you?
He was compelled by the gospel message
Paul said that he was bold to preach to the Thessalonian believers the gospel of God. He was sold on its worth. How do we know? We know because he kept on preaching it. Even though most found it to be a foolish message, Paul knew it to be the power of God unto salvation.
I wonder what would happen if you or I were to take off walking to tell people about Jesus, and everywhere we went they started beating us up and leaving us for dead – would we still want to tell them? Paul did, because he knew that there wasn’t another chance this side of heaven and hell for them to be saved. Peter said there’s no other name…Jesus said that He was the only way – no man gets to the Father except through Him.
Do we believe that? Does the gospel message compel us? When we think of Christ coming and dying and being buried and raising Himself from the dead, are we compelled to share it with anyone? When we think of the lost, our moms and dads, our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters, are we compelled? When you look around you and see the empty faces, the broken families, the moral meltdown in our communities, are you compelled?
There’s no lottery, no government subsidy, no police program, no nothing that can offer a person the hope he needs in Christ, and there’s no other institution on the face of this earth left to share that message than the Lord’s churches, and there’s no way for a church to share that message unless the members recognize that they are this church body in action – it is up to us.
He maintained intimacy with Christ
How did Paul endure such opposition? Consider again something he said to the Philippians.
"Yea doubtless, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death."
What was he saying? "I want to know Him! If it means that I have to suffer just like He suffered to know Him, then I’ll suffer some more! I want to know Him!"
Now, you put two women in the street, one of them is my wife and the other is a stranger, then tell me I have to risk my life to save one of them – I’ll dive for my wife every time. Why? Because I know her and love her and would give my life to prove that love. It’s the same with Christ. Why did Paul put his life in harms way to serve? Because of the great love relationship he maintained on a daily basis with his Lord. Why have people always struggled with making sacrifices for Christ? You figure it out.
If we are going to have God-honoring ministries, they must be ministries that will continue in the face of opposition. We must be willing to press on when service calls for great sacrifice. We must be willing to press forward when we walk alone. We must be willing to be opposed even if it costs us our lives. How does God receive honor from people who quit and walk away or those who simply refuse to do anything that costs them? A God-honoring ministry will continue on no matter what may come its way.
It is a ministry that is true to the gospel. (3-4)
"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."
Now up to this point we have said that God-honoring ministries are those that produce results, either in the lives of those to whom we minister or in ourselves or both. We have noted that God-honoring ministries continue in the face of opposition, and in verses 3-4 we find God-honoring ministries are true to the gospel message. When we realize exactly what Paul is saying in these two short verses, maybe we’ll get some insight into why his ministries produced the results they did and we’ll find another reason why he continued on.
Listen, it is the responsibility and privilege of every child of God to be true to the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is our message. If our church is to have God-honoring ministries that are true to the gospel, then the people who labor in those ministries must be true themselves. I don’t know what you do or what you teach in your classes if you teach anything at all. I can’t police what happens in Bible studies or ladies meetings or youth fellowships. It is the responsibility of every member to be true to the gospel. Paul defined for us what that gospel message is in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 when he said,
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures."
Paul said that he declared the gospel…
…how that Christ died for our sins…
Listen, the message we teach and preach and counsel must contain the redemptive work of Christ. People don’t need to know what they can do to help themselves so much as they need to know that Jesus Christ died for their sins.
When we preach that Christ died for our sins then we necessarily must teach the virgin birth and the sinless life of the Savior. We necessarily must preach the cross of Calvary. We necessarily must share the truth that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." We necessarily must tell people that because of their sin they will die and go to hell unless they do something about their sin. "The wages of sin is death." "It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this, the judgment." Jesus said, "you will die in your sins: for if you don’t believe that He is the Savior, you will die in your sins." We need to tell people all of that, but when we finally help them to see they are lost, we can tell them that "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord who died for our sins."
…according to the scriptures…
How do we know that Jesus died for our sins? The Scriptures say so. I’m not talking about the gospel of Matthew or Mark or Luke or John. I’m not talking about Paul’s writings or Peter’s or John’s. Paul preached the saving death of Christ from the Old Testament Scriptures – they were all he had! Listen, Jesus and salvation are all through the Bible. Don’t tell people what you think or what you believe or what Brother Kevin said. You tell them how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures!
…and that he was buried…
After Jesus was crucified He was put in a borrowed tomb that had been prepared for a man just like you and me. This was no hoax. It wasn’t some cruel prank. The man was dead just like the folks filling the funeral homes. Those women who came to anoint his body came to finish the job. Those disciples gathered in the upper room weren’t up there crying because Jesus went away on a fishing trip – the Savior was dead and buried – and they thought it was over.
When Christ was buried He buried with Him your sins and the penalty they carried. He finished the work on the cross, and that grave is an eternal reminder that they have been put away forever. Your sin has no power over you except the power you give it. Those worries and anxieties and fears and doubts and troubles? They’re dead!
As Paul wrote the Roman letter he was perplexed how we humans continue in sin in spite of the fact that we are dead to it. He said,
"How shall we, who are dead to sin, live any longer therein?…Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin."
If we are going to preach or teach or share the gospel, it’s not necessary to run down a list of Scriptures every time. You may be just conversationally talking to someone and share with them that Christ died for our sins according to the Bible and he was buried. The pain and hurt your friends suffer, the struggles they have and habits they can’t seem to break – you can tell them that all those things are powerless because of what Christ has done, but we’re not through, for not only was He crucified and buried, but
… he rose again the third day according to the scriptures."
Don’t ever forget to share that part of the message, because without the resurrection of the Savior we don’t have a Savior. Good people die every day. False Christs have come and gone – and their bones are still in the grave. Had Jesus only lived a good life, had Jesus only been crucified and buried, salvation would not be complete. That’s why later in the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians, after Paul stated what the gospel is, he said, "if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain."
Now, if our ministries are to be God-honoring, then all of them, from the tape ministry to the monthly newsletter to our preaching, counseling, visiting, and you name it will be true to that message. Look back at 1 Thessalonians 2:3. Let’s make note of what Paul said.
First he mentions their exhortation. The word exhortation simply means their call to the people to respond to their message. They were urging the people to accept what they were saying. He said that exhortation was not of…
· Deceit – the word deceit means seductive.
· Uncleanness – means they had no impure motives
· Guile – is a fishing term that means to bait for entrapment, or it means fraud
Think about it from a lost person’s point of view in today’s televangelistic society when so often what they see on television are represented by the Robert Tiltons of the world. They preach a deceitful, impure, fraudulent gospel for personal gain. Certainly there’s nothing wrong with wealth – but when it comes at the expense and well being of those who respond it is wicked and evil.
When Paul walked into Thessalonica he physically had nothing to gain and everything to loose. He didn’t try to manipulate people into making some emotional response. He didn’t try to cry them into heaven. He didn’t try to woo them or convince them of how much better off they would be with a heath and wealth gospel of prosperity. He didn’t throw them some lure that once they accepted would have them hooked and wishing they could get off. When Paul came to town he preached Jesus. He told those people and all the people to whom he would ever preach that Jesus died for them, was buried and rose again to pay for their sins. They could have victory because of Christ. They could have eternal life in Christ. They could have the forgiveness of sins because of the shed blood of Jesus – and if they didn’t want it he wasn’t going to resort to deception and manipulation to get it.
Was Paul interested in numbers? Only in the sense that they represented lost souls. Only in the sense that they represented the saved who wanted to follow the Lord Jesus in living holy and unblamable. So, yes, Paul was interested in numbers – he wanted to see thousands, hundreds of thousands of people saved and in church, and if that’s a sin then I am chief among those who commit it. I like small churches. I like the fellowship we enjoy, but if liking small churches means that the rest of Denison can go to hell then God forgive me. I want to see us build the biggest church in town if it means leading people to Christ and teaching them how to live for the Lord. And get this – if we’re true to the gospel doing it – then it is God-honoring.
Now look at verse 4 and notice two very interesting words. They are the words allowed and trieth. What makes them so interesting is that in the Greek text that Paul wrote they are the same word. Not that you really want to know, but the word is dokimadzo, and it means to test, to prove, to examine or scrutinize. It means to put to the test and to prove something worthy. You might think of what you do when you go to make some major purchase. When you go to the car lot to spend $30 or $40,000 on a new car or truck, you test it, prove it, drive it. You scrutinize all the details, putting it to the test, and you will either find it worthy or you won’t. Well that’s exactly what God did with Paul and Timothy and Silas, but here’s the kicker – it’s what He’s done with all of us.
When God told His church to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, He was putting His faith in the members of that church and every true church to follow. Paul says that they were put in trust with the gospel. The word trust is the same word that you have in John 3:16, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosover believes…" It is the same word found in many other verses and it means to put your faith in. Think about it! God took His Son, His only Son Jesus and put Him on that cross to pay for the sins of every man, woman, boy or girl who would ever live, He wrapped that message up in the gospel, and then handed it to the very people He came to save to share it with the rest.
So Paul says, "even so we speak." He says, "Look, God has found in me something to believe in. He has placed His faith and trust in my ability to share the most important message ever known to man – so I share – I speak." That’s why he could say that he didn’t speak it to please men, but God, who tries or tests or proves our hearts.
Let me ask you something – are you being true to the gospel? Do you realize that God has handed you the torch so to speak? God has tested you and has found in you something worthy of sharing the message of His Son so that others might know Him. He’s not asking you to twist people’s arms or trick them into being saved. It’s not important whether you ever get anyone saved or not really – God will take care of that. What He wants from you is faithfulness in sharing the message with which He has entrusted to you – so speak, share it with those you know who need it.
The temptation we have was the same men struggled with in Paul’s day, because he said in verse 5,
"For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness:"
Evidently, flattery and deceit have always existed when presenting the gospel. We don’t have to butter people up or try to make them something they’re not. People need to hear the exact truth – that they’re sinners, that without Christ they’ll go to hell and so forth. These are the things we most often leave off to try to make people feel better about the situation – but what we do is keep them lost.
The word cloke is an interesting word that means that you put something forth to hide the true state of things. Paul testified that he was not guilty of resorting to such low means to preach the gospel, and may we never either. When he was the pastor of the Methodist church in Scarborough, William Sangster had an eccentric member who tried to be a zealous Christian. Unfortunately, the man was mentally deficient and usually did the wrong thing. While working as a barber the man lathered up a customer for a shave, came at him with the poised razor, and asked, "Are you prepared to meet your God?" The frightened man fled with the lather on his face!
At least he tried! Most studies show that 98% of Christians are not sharing their faith. I think Howard Hendricks, a seminary professor and author is right when he says that in a world that is searching for answers, Christians are stuttering. Let us determine to know the gospel, to believe deep in our hearts that without it people will miss out on Christ and the blessings of salvation, and may we determine to share that message in whatever forms we are able to use without compromising, without resorting to deceit, to flattery or any other means that will not be true to the precious life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ.
