THE PASTOR’S POINTS
sermon ministry of
CEDAR LODGE BAPTIST CHURCH
Thomasville, NC
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October 12, 2003
1Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone; 2And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith: 3That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. 4For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know. 5For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain.
6But 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: 7Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith: 8For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord. 9For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God; 10Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?
11Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. 12And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: 13To 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.
1 Thessalonians 3:1-13 (NLT)
On our signboard outside the message reads,
Oct. is Pastor Appreciation Month¡K
Have You Hugged Your Pastor Today?
In light of that I was going to invite some of our guys to the platform for a ¡§group hug¡¨. I decided to keep my job instead!
It is an interesting coincidence, though that this is ¡§Clergy Appreciation Month¡¨ ¡V and, in our study of Thessalonians we come to this part of Paul¡¦s pastoral letter to a congregation which really opens up the minister¡¦s heart for the reader. A Pastor¡¦s heart; what do you find when you open one up? Among the normal stuff for a man, you will also find these four items¡K
Need for Co-workers Who Share the Same Burden
Wherever Paul was geographically and whatever his situation at the time, his mind was on the little congregation he had left back in Thessalonica. He had held off going there for as long as he could, and then he just had to know about them¡K
1Finally, when we could stand it no longer, we decided that I should stay alone in Athens, 2and we sent Timothy to visit you. He is our co-worker for God and our brother in proclaiming the Good News of Christ. (NLT)
Paul had a strong co-worker in Timothy. Timothy was young man, but evidently strong in the faith. Paul sent him to see about his friends in Thessalonica; he also wanted Timothy to accomplish some very important business (v.2b):
We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith, 3and to keep you from becoming disturbed by the troubles you were going through. But, of course, you know that such troubles are going to happen to us Christians. 4Even while we were with you, we warned you that troubles would soon come¡Xand they did, as you well know. (NLT)
Co-workers in the faith are important because troubles come. Paul knew whenever Christ is honored and people come to faith, the next scene will have the enemy¡¦s turn at bat. Satan shows up after victories! The folks in Thessalonica had their share of persecution and there were those who were attempting to lead them astray. Paul sent his trusted co-worker to strengthen and encourage the brethren in their faith.
There have been times in our own church when the winds of trouble have blown. I can tell you we¡¦ve got some Timothy¡¦s in this place ¡V men (and women) who are trustworthy co-workers who can shore-up our faith. There are those you can count-on in this local body of Christ.
Trouble will come ¡V that is never in question. What is always in question is what will rule; will faith and the Word of God rule, or will it be popularity and selfishness. God wants to know that; He really does! He wants to know if we will choose to stick with popularity and ties of this world, or if we will honor Him with genuine faith, approved and tested by the Word of God. He wants to know if we will be like Timothy, co-workers with Him, sharing the burden of reaching the lost with authentic faith. God has a need of co-workers, that¡¦s why Pastor Paul had that in his heart too.
A second ¡§item¡¨ you¡¦ll find if you open up the heart of the pastor is¡K
Worry for the Spiritual Health of the Congregation
5That is why, when I could bear it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong. I was afraid that the Tempter had gotten the best of you and that all our work had been useless. (NLT)
Most pastors I have ever met are faithful men of God; most of them will also admit to worrying about their flock¡¦s spiritual health. (Those who don¡¦t wouldn¡¦t admit to lying either).
Pastors are right to be concerned for the spiritual condition of their flocks ¡V it¡¦s part of being a shepherd; there ARE wolves out there! Satan is a strong foe in the struggle for souls; some don¡¦t make it!
Part of the understandable worry Pastors have comes from the lack of knowledge many people have about the Word of God and how to use it in their daily lives. My friend if you are not studying the Word on your own AND in Sunday School and worship, and every opportunity you have, you are allowing yourself to be a weak Christian, someone ripe for Satan¡¦s deceiving.
Some folks don¡¦t believe they can be deceived ¡V they imagine that¡¦s for other, weaker folks. Well, there are no exceptions to the rule.
12If you think you are standing strong, be careful, for you, too, may fall into the same sin. 1 Corinthians 10:12 (NLT)
We just sometimes have very little idea of how powerful life can be when you¡¦re not spiritually-strong. It¡¦s like in marriage. Have you ever talked with a starry-eyed young couple about to be married? They say, "Oh, we just can’t wait. It is going to be so wonderful to be together twenty-four hours every day."¡KW. A. Criswell, [the late pastor-emeritus of First Baptist, Dallas] who’d been married for fifty years when he said, "Sometimes I love my wife so much I could just eat her up. Sometimes the next day I wish I had." [1]
But, now, there is the other side of that coin. If you allow your faith to be developed, there can be good news¡K
6Now Timothy has just returned, bringing the good news that your faith and love are as strong as ever. He reports that you remember our visit with joy and that you want to see us just as much as we want to see you. 7So we have been greatly comforted, dear brothers and sisters, in all of our own crushing troubles and suffering, because you have remained strong in your faith. 8It gives us new life, knowing you remain strong in the Lord. (NLT)
Pastors shouldn¡¦t worry, that¡¦s counter-productive, but the flock ought to give little reason for the pastor to worry. Be strong in your faith and your love. Then the worry of a pastor will be more like concern for leading the flock to the next level, not how to put out the fires of discontent. Your spiritual condition is so important to God, and that¡¦s why you can find it in Pastor Paul¡¦s heart as well.
A third item in this investigation of the pastor¡¦s heart is¡K
Prayer for the Spiritual Progress of the Congregation
9How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy in the presence of God. 10Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill up anything that may still be missing in your faith.
11May God himself, our Father, and our Lord Jesus make it possible for us to come to you very soon. (NLT)
Praising God, great joy, praying earnestly ¡V how the words of fervent prayer drop from the lips of Pastor Paul. It is easy to sense the great love and concern he had for his flock. There are two other things to note;
„Ã Paul was hopeful. He had a deep desire that God would allow him at least one more visit with this church body.
„Ã Paul was purposeful in all this; his desire was to take them deeper, to fill up any missing holes in their relationship to the Lord.
The good news Timothy had brought had kindled the fire inside Paul. He saw potential in this church. They had weathered the storms and were standing strong for Jesus. Now he wanted to bring out that potential in magnificent service. It was like
¡§¡KMichelangelo, the great sculptor and painter, [who] was pushing a heavy rock up a small incline to his work area so that he could do some sculpting. A neighbor watched him for over an hour as he worked to get this rock in place. Finally he asked, Michelangelo, why do you labor so hard over that ugly, heavy piece of rock? Michelangelo said, Because there is an angel inside that wants to come out. [2]
What kind of angel did Pastor Paul think was hiding inside that church that was longing to be released? What was it about them that made him want to take them deeper, to fill-up what was missing in their faith?
I believe you can read between the lines of the last two verses of the chapter, in light of the previous three facts¡Krecall:
Pastor Paul¡¦s heart contained a need for co-workers to share this burden¡K
Pastor Paul¡¦s heart contained worry that Satan had wrecked their progress¡K
Pastor Paul¡¦s heart contained continual prayer of joy and purpose¡Kand the potential is contained in a
Benediction for the Congregation¡¦s Love, Strength and Purity
12And may the Lord make your love grow and overflow to each other and to everyone else, just as our love overflows toward you. 13As a result, Christ will make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy when you stand before God our Father on that day when our Lord Jesus comes with all those who belong to him. (NLT)
There is nothing more vital in our connection to Jesus, than the condition of our love towards Him and each other. Remember what Jesus said,
35Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:35-40 (KJV)
The heart of Pastor Paul was filled with these four items:
need for co-workers to share a burden for reaching others
worry or concern for the flock
prayer of gratitude and joy, hoping to bring them along
and benediction, that their love might grow and purify them into God¡¦s choice flock.
Hettie Green was a famous millionaire. She lived in seclusion and became a virtual recluse. She had only a few friends and an ugly mongrel dog that kept biting the few friends she did have. One of them said, "You’ve got to get rid of that dog." Hettie refused. She said, "That dog loves me and he doesn’t even know how rich I am." [3]
The bottom line here is that God is a lot like Hettie Green, and we are much like the dog. We sometimes can¡¦t possibly understand all of what God is doing, but we love Him. And on God¡¦s part, He¡¦s not particularly interested in what the world thinks; if you love Him, He wouldn¡¦t get rid of you on a bet. This morning, that¡¦s what¡¦s inside this Pastor¡¦s heart¡KI got it from Paul, who got it from Jesus. He wants you to have it too!
[1] R. L. Russell, "Triumphing over Trials," Preaching Today, Tape No. 119.
[2] Dave Stone, "Keep the Dust Off the Highchair," Preaching Today, Tape No. 143.
[3] Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997)
