1 Thessalonians chapter 2, 1 through 4.
For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain.
But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know,
we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.
For our appeal does not spring up from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive.
But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel,
so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.
Let's at least read verses 5 and 6.
For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed.
God is witness.
Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others,
though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.
Well, not to beat a dead horse, but just a couple of days.
Millions of Americans will head to the polls to cast their vote for who they think should be the next president of the United States.
And unfortunately, as you know, we live in a so-called battleground state
where candidates continue to spend millions and millions and millions of dollars
on the relentless barrage of political ads and emails and text messages.
And if you are like me, you cannot wait for it to be over.
I would almost vote for any candidate who promises to never text me again or send me another email.
But have you noticed that in most commercials and mailers, and this is always the case,
and it makes sense why it's the case, that in most of these advertisements,
little is actually said about policies.
Little is conveyed about plans for what a particular candidate envisions for their potential ascension to the throne,
if we can call it that, in the United States.
That's not really typically the focus, is it?
The vast majorities of the ads instead are focused on attacking the character of the opposing candidate.
And the reason for it is easy enough to see, isn't it?
If we call a person's integrity into question,
it works toward discrediting their message and their fitness for the role that they desire.
Now, that's just true, which is why typically in situations like this,
a campaign is not always so much for something as it is against someone,
and that's the shape that the advertisements take.
It's the same reason why character witnesses are so vitally important in lawsuits and in prosecution.
If a lawyer can persuade a jury to question the integrity of a defendant,
it will work in their favor even if their arguments against the defendant are weak.
Right?
So, on one hand, you could have a political candidate who has amazingly strong arguments for what should be done,
but with questionable character comes the diminishment of those good arguments.
And on the other hand, you can have someone with a really weak argument,
but because they're able to defame the character of another person,
their arguments look a little bit more enticing,
though they are not actually enticing or accurate or right.
We understand how it works.
That's the way of life, isn't it?
Well, the Apostle Paul was no stranger to these kinds of tactics from his enemies.
In almost every letter that we have of his preserved for us in the New Testament,
at some point, he defends his apostolic ministry,
and it appears that that is what he's doing now in the second chapter of 1 Thessalonians.
Now, why would he be doing this, and what's actually the motive behind this defense?
Now, if you're not careful to really see what he says
and to understand the context in which he says these things,
you might would be led to believe, well, Paul is just so self-obsessed.
Here he is, he's writing to these other people,
and all he wants to talk about is himself, and he wants to defend himself.
It's almost as if either he's just got such a big ego that,
and perhaps there's a piece of that that's true.
After all, it was Paul that wrote to the Corinthians and said that,
God has given me the messenger of Satan lest I get too big of a head, right?
Perhaps that was a temptation for him, but that's not why he does this.
His motivation in defending his apostolic ministry in all of these letters
was not to make himself look better just to make himself look better.
It was actually to build up the credibility of the gospel.
He understood what politicians understand.
He understood what lawyers understand,
that even though the gospel message is wonderful, and it's accurate, and it's true, and it's right,
that if his opponent could successfully diminish his character and defame his integrity,
it would actually work toward the discrediting of the message of the gospel,
and Paul did not want that.
So over and over and over, he defends his apostolic ministry.
He defends the way that he carried out that ministry,
not to build himself up, but to build Jesus up,
to make sure that people understood that the gospel was true.
Because, of course, one of the quickest ways to turn people away from the gospel
is to expose the seedy character of those who proclaim it.
And if we've learned anything in the last few years in the so-called exvangelical world,
this deconstructionist movement, it's that.
That the arguments that are coming from the deconstructionist movement
are not typically good arguments against the gospel or the credibility of the scriptures
or the validity of truth in Christianity.
The arguments are always against the character of those who have abused them,
even using the scripture and right theology for that abuse.
Well, as we launch here into the second chapter of 1 Thessalonians,
we find a noticeable change in the content.
Now, Paul's not changing the subject.
He's continuing in the subject of the church's founding,
but he shifts the perspective, whereas in chapter 1,
the perspective was focused in on the Thessalonian church's spirit-empowered conversion,
their spirit-enabled perseverance.
Everything was zeroed in on them.
This is what God was doing in them.
He's not leaving the subject altogether,
but he is shifting the perspective away from the Thessalonians
and the effect of the gospel on them to his ministry to them
and what his ministry to them was like.
And it would seem that the enemies of the gospel in Thessalonica,
which we know were many,
that they had charged Paul and Silas and Timothy with some impropriety
as it related to their motives for ministry.
And though the Christians in Thessalonica,
those who belonged to the church, were not persuaded,
by those accusations,
Paul still felt it was necessary for their sake
and for the sake of the gospel
to reflect on the true nature of his entrance to them
or his coming to them.
And we praise the Lord that he did this
because we are greatly benefited by what he writes in this chapter,
not just in these four verses,
but as he continues on in chapter 2 and chapter 3,
we see really a wonderful portrait
of what a pastor is supposed to look like,
what a minister of the gospel is supposed to portray.
And in the first few verses of this section,
we have this snapshot of faithful gospel ministry.
Faithful gospel ministry.
This is the model that the Thessalonian Christians imitated.
Paul mentions that in verse 1.
They became imitators of Paul and Timothy and Silas
and ultimately of the Lord.
And it is precisely the pattern that we must follow as well.
If we and all of us,
I don't just mean those who would be in vocational ministry,
I mean all of us are giving a ministry of the gospel.
If you are a Christian, you have a gospel ministry.
It may be different in scope than mine or someone else's,
but you have it.
You have a gospel ministry to your children if you're a parent.
You have a gospel ministry to your spouse if you're married.
You have a gospel ministry to your neighbors
and to your coworkers and to your friends and to our community.
We all have a gospel ministry.
If we are going to live out that gospel ministry faithfully,
this is the pattern that we need to follow.
This is what we must imitate.
Now, regarding the structure of these four verses,
there are three not-but statements.
Not-but statements.
And I want to use them as a guide.
In fact, so if we're going to use something
to kind of trace our way through the argument here,
that's the way that I would like for us to do it this morning.
These three not-but statements.
Each contains a negation, what faithful ministry is not,
and each contains an affirmation, what faithful ministry is.
And in these three statements, I think we can discern
the manner of faithful gospel ministry,
the motive of faithful gospel ministry,
and the mission or the goal of faithful gospel ministry.
So the first thing I want you to see is the manner of faithful gospel ministry.
Look with me again at verses 1 and 2.
Paul writes,
Now, the first negation comes in verse 1.
Paul wrote that their coming to Thessalonica,
their entrance, you might say, into Thessalonica,
was, quote, not in vain.
Not in vain.
Vain here is used in the sense of empty, hollow, wasted.
Our coming to you was not empty.
Our coming to you was not wasted.
It was not vain.
And at first glance, we might suppose that Paul refers to the fact
that their coming to Thessalonica was effective,
that it wasn't in vain because it was effective
in that many who heard the gospel were actually converted.
And that indeed happened,
but I don't think that's what his emphasis is here.
It's not what he's intending to communicate,
at least as a matter of first importance in the text.
And we know that because the affirmation that pairs with the negation,
the but statement here,
does not focus on the effect of Paul's ministry,
but on the reality of God's work in his own life.
So that the not emptiness has to do with the manner
in which Paul and Silas and Timothy ministered in the city.
Now let's put it together.
There's all these different phrases, right?
Let's take the two main phrases, the not but statement,
and put them together.
Our coming to you was not in vain,
but we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel.
Do you see what I'm getting at?
Of course, this was effective.
That's a part of it.
His ministry was not empty because it was effective.
That's certainly a part,
but that's not what he intends to communicate
as the primary issue here.
He's saying that our coming to you was not in vain,
but we, not you, we,
we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel.
So what was this manner like?
What was his manner of gospel ministry?
Well, in a word, boldness was bold.
And the context of Paul's boldness was suffering,
shameful treatment, much conflict.
And he cites his experience in Philippi.
Acts chapter 16, verses 11 through 40,
they tell us about Paul's experience there.
You know the story well, probably.
He and Silas, after having success initially
in gospel preaching,
were dragged into the marketplace,
stripped naked before the people and the magistrates,
beaten almost to death,
and thrown in prison.
That's pretty extreme.
Can you imagine?
You decide this afternoon, you know what?
I'm gonna go where people are lining up to vote,
and I'm gonna just,
I'm gonna preach the gospel,
and initially, as you're preaching that gospel,
you see wonderful fruit of it.
There's this lady over here named Lydia,
and she, the Lord opens her heart to believe,
Acts 16 tells us,
and she trusts in Christ,
and you rejoice with her.
And then you've got this other girl over here.
She's being abused.
She's being abused by people
who are making money off of her.
She's possessed by a demon,
and people are taking advantage of her.
And so you preach the gospel,
and the Lord delivers her,
and she comes to faith in Jesus Christ.
And then, because those people get mad at you,
they just lost their income.
They were abusing this girl.
They just lost their income.
And their response then is to take you
and drag you in the town hall in Cornelius,
strip you naked before everybody that's there,
beat you almost to death,
and then cast you in prison for the night.
Now, would you say that's a pretty successful day?
The next day, the magistrates,
they should have done their homework first.
They didn't do that.
They realized the next day,
Paul's actually a Roman citizen,
which means what they did was illegal.
And they were the ones who were gonna
face a significant punishment
if they didn't try to right the ship.
So they come to Paul,
and they say,
sorry,
but we want you to leave.
You can't stay.
So Paul goes where?
Thessalonica.
Now, he's got an opportunity here.
When he gets to Thessalonica,
he can do the same thing that he did in Philippi.
Now, can you imagine the anxiety
that you would feel in that situation?
Chris goes to Cornelius.
All this stuff happens to him.
The next day,
Woody Washam comes to Chris
and says,
Chris, sorry,
shouldn't have done that to you yesterday,
but we'd like for you to just go
and take your message to Davidson.
Just leave us alone here.
And Chris says,
okay, and he walks to Davidson.
Now, what do you think the anxiety level
is gonna be like for Chris
when he is presented with an opportunity
to preach the gospel there?
Or he's gonna think,
oh man, I don't know if I can go through that again.
That was hard.
That's suffering.
That's shameful treatment.
That's much conflict.
And when he got to Thessalonica,
it wasn't really much better, was it?
We read in Acts chapter 17
that eventually the effectiveness of his gospel
made the Jews in the synagogue mad.
They became jealous of him
because people were converting to Christianity
and they didn't like that.
So they wanted to punish Paul.
So what they did is
they made up some lies about him
and they incited a riot,
a bloodthirsty riot in the city.
That's much conflict, isn't it?
Think about that.
Can you imagine what Paul and Silas looked like
when the Thessalonians first met them?
Undoubtedly, they were bearing fresh wounds.
The fresh marks of their experience in Philippi.
For Paul's coming to have been in vain
would mean that his suffering
caused him to shrink back
from preaching the gospel message in Thessalonica.
Thessalonica.
I think that's what he means.
That though we had this experience in Philippi,
though this was our experience,
even when we came into you,
our coming to you was not in vain
because we were still faithful to do it.
We were still bold
and it took great boldness and courage
to do what they did after what they experienced.
That's not what happened, is it?
He didn't shrink back.
Despite the reality of persecution,
Paul and Silas and Timothy,
they dared to proclaim the gospel of Jesus anyways.
Why?
Why would they go through all of this?
That's really what this set of verses answers,
is the why question.
But we can't escape the fact
that their confidence in the gospel message itself
drove them to this.
Why would they subject themselves
to such difficulty
knowing that there is an inherent offensiveness
to the gospel message?
You know that, right?
Of course you do.
There is an inherent offensiveness.
Now we understand it as Christians.
We look at the gospel
and we see the glory of the gospel.
Unbelievers do not.
They do not see the glory of the gospel.
They see the offense of the gospel.
You're telling me that God will not accept me?
I'm not that bad.
You're telling me I'm that bad?
And the Bible's answer is,
you don't even know how bad you are.
It's deep.
It's rooted deep.
But we have the answer, right?
And we want to take that to people.
Paul and Simon and Timothy,
they're so confident in the gospel message
that they were willing to preach this truth to people
even though they knew of its inherent offense
and that this was probably going to be their experience
almost everywhere that they went.
And yet they still did it.
The effects of the gospel
are not favorable to the world.
In Thessalonica,
it was jealous Jews.
Their egos took a shot
when people in the synagogue
started converting to Christianity
and following Paul
and Jesus.
In Philippi,
it was the pocketbooks
of the people
that were abusing this girl
that incited the violence.
Same thing in Ephesus.
In Ephesus,
Paul comes preaching the gospel
and what do people do
when they believe the gospel?
They turn away from idols.
Well, that was big business in Ephesus.
You can go back,
you can read in the book of Acts,
the whole riot in Ephesus
had everything to do
with the silversmiths losing money.
The gospel effect
is not favorable to the world
in this world system.
And when you start hitting people's pocketbooks
and you start hitting their power,
they get angry about that, don't they?
Let me tell you,
you preach the gospel long enough,
the effect of that gospel preaching,
it's going to offend somebody
and it's going to offend somebody
in such a way
that they're going to come after you.
And what's to be our response
when the world does come after us?
How can we manage to be so bold?
Well, the same spirit
that was at work
in the conversion
of the Thessalonians
was at work
in the evangelism
of Paul and his team.
Isn't that his point here?
We were bold.
But we must not miss,
we were bold in our God.
We were bold in our God
to proclaim the gospel to you
in spite of the conflict.
Now let's think about this phrase,
we had boldness in our God.
What does he mean by that?
I think it's layered.
I think there's at least three senses
in which we can glean
from this phrase.
First,
he was bold,
his boldness was from God.
His boldness was from God.
So lest anyone think Paul
is taking credit
for what happened
in the Thessalonian Christians,
he was quick to say
right off the bat
that their boldness
was sourced
in the grace of God.
Do you see that?
He doesn't say,
I was bold,
there ain't nobody like me.
If you want somebody
to come in
despite the struggle,
you better call Paul.
That's not what he says.
He says,
no,
I didn't want to do it probably.
I was aching,
hurting
from Philippi.
But God's doing something in me
that I can't explain.
My boldness was from God.
He's crediting God
for the work that's happening.
Now we know that's the case
because he's already done that
so many times in chapter one.
And he hasn't left
that subject altogether.
He's just shifted the perspective.
It is God's grace
that was at work
in the conversion
of the Thessalonians
and it was God's grace
that was at work
in Paul and his team
as they had boldness
to preach the gospel.
So his boldness
was from God.
I think there's a second way
for us to understand this.
Their boldness
was toward God.
Boldness was toward God.
And what does that mean?
God's grace
had produced in them
a confidence
in the gospel
that could not be shaken
by conflict.
They were bold
because they were convinced
that Jesus really is
the Messiah.
That he really is
the sinless son of God.
That he really did die
as a propitiation
as we read earlier
for the sins
of the elect.
That he really did
raise from the dead.
That he really does
invite all
to come and believe
and receive salvation
from him.
They believed.
They were fully convinced.
Their confidence
came from God
and that grace of God
at work in them
produced a confidence
toward God.
Toward his gospel.
And it motivated
their preaching.
But there's a third way here
and we'll get to this
a little bit more
towards the end
but at least it's worth
noting here
that their boldness
was before God.
It was in the presence
of God.
That's their mindset here.
God is watching.
Everything that we're doing
is before his face.
It was his call
on their lives
that produced
such courage.
You say,
well what does
faithful ministry
look like?
Well,
at its heart
is the gospel message,
isn't it?
If you're not
proclaiming
the gospel of Jesus
then you don't
have a ministry.
But once you've
got that settled
and that's assumed
here in the text,
once you're preaching
the gospel,
what does it look like
for that to be faithful?
Well,
you're going to have
to be bold
when it's not real easy
to do it.
And there will come
a time where it's
not very easy
to do it.
All of these things
working together
in Paul and Silas
and Timothy
produced this boldness
that resulted
by God's grace
in effective ministry
in Thessalonica.
We know that
suffering is guaranteed
in the scriptures
for those who are
faithful to Christ
and faithful ministry
in the name of Christ
is bold
through the conflict.
Okay,
so what's the manner
of faithful ministry?
Well,
it's bold.
It's bold even when
things are hard.
Okay,
number two.
Notice the motive
of faithful gospel ministry.
The motive.
Look at verse three
and the beginning
of verse four.
For our appeal
does not spring
from error
or impurity
or any attempt
to deceive.
But,
just as we have
been approved
by God
to be entrusted
with the gospel,
so we speak.
This is the issue
of motive here.
Now,
it is entirely possible
it may even
in some cases
be common
to engage
in gospel ministry
sinfully.
Now,
think about that.
Process that
for a second.
We use phrases
like the ends
don't justify
the means,
right?
Well,
most people
don't live that way.
Most people
live as if
if the result
is good,
then it doesn't
really matter
how you got it.
And as sinful
people,
we bring that
into our faith
as well.
We bring that
into our gospel
ministry.
It is entirely
possible
to engage
in gospel
ministry
sinfully
with sinful
motive.
And that is
the issue
I think
that Paul
takes up
in this
second
not-but
statement
of the text.
You know,
apparently
it was common
for there
to be
itinerant
philosophers
at the time
of Paul's
life
and ministry.
And according
to scholars,
they were known
for entering
cities with
great pomp
and circumstance.
And the reason
for that
is so that
they might gain
a greater
following.
Because their
following,
the greater
it was,
the result
meant more
notoriety,
more power,
more honor,
more money,
right?
And at our
hearts,
that's really
what we're chasing
most of the time
isn't it?
We're chasing
money,
we're chasing
sex,
we're chasing
notoriety
and power.
And that was
no different
for the people
of Paul's
day.
According to
some ancient
sources,
among the
plethora
of greedy
motivations,
sometimes people
just simply
desired to
deceive people.
They were
sociopaths,
psychopaths,
they literally
made up things
that they knew
were wrong
just so that
they could
assert some
type of power
over other
people.
Now that's
just as common
today as it
was then.
And so
when Paul
comes preaching
the gospel
and people
begin to
turn to
the gospel
in Thessalonica,
the enemies
of the gospel
in Thessalonica
began to
accuse Paul
of being such
a charlatan,
saying that he
was preaching
this gospel
for personal
gain.
And there's
three sinful
motives that
Paul enumerates
here for us.
first he says
our appeal,
our preaching
of the gospel,
it did not
spring from
error.
Error is the
first sinful
motive.
Error here,
in this case,
it suggests
fraud,
fraudulence,
so like a
knowing error.
And that's
further confirmed
in verse 5
where Paul says,
he kind of
reiterates these
three things.
He says,
I did not
come with
flattering words.
I didn't come
to you with
fraudulent
flattery.
No, how did
Paul come?
Well, Acts 17
tells us.
Acts 17
verses 2 and 3,
Paul went in
as was his
custom on
three Sabbath
days, he
reasoned with
them from
the scriptures.
He didn't say,
sit down, let me
tell you something,
don't talk back.
He reasoned
with them.
That's not a
sign of impure
motive, is it?
He's reasoning
with them.
And what is he
reasoning with
them about?
He reasoned
with them
from the
scriptures.
This wasn't
Paul's idea.
This wasn't
Paul's opinions.
He was
reasoning with
them about
the text
itself,
explaining and
proving that it
was necessary for
the Christ to
suffer and to
rise from the
dead, saying,
this Jesus whom
I proclaim to
you is this
Christ.
Paul's gospel
was rooted in
the scriptures,
not in
flattery, not
in fraudulent
opinions.
This was his
appeal.
In fact, that
word appeal is
unique here.
In fact, if you
make it on
Saturday night
to Laurel, I
might just come
back to this
text and really
just focus on
this one word,
appeal.
This urgent
request, that's
what the gospel
preaching actually
ultimately is.
It's not just a
dissemination of
information.
It is an
appeal.
It is an
urgent request
that people
would act
upon this
information.
And that's
what Paul was
doing.
He wasn't just
preaching a
philosophy.
He was calling
for people to
respond.
And he was
calling for them
not to respond
to him.
He wasn't
building his own
following.
He was calling
for them to
follow the
Christ.
to follow
Jesus.
That's a key
difference between
him and the
charlatans of
his age.
These other
people coming
into Thessalonica
and they're
saying, follow
me.
I've got great
ideas.
I've got wonderful
charisma.
You follow me.
You'll be safe
with me.
Paul comes in
and he says,
I'm not coming
with flattering
words.
To the
Corinthians, he
said, I
didn't come
with this
lofty speech.
No, I just
want you to
follow Jesus.
It doesn't
matter about
me.
Just follow
Jesus.
He's the
Christ.
He'll save
your soul.
That's not
error.
That's truth.
And that's what
his appeal was
based on.
There's a
second sinful
motive here
though, and
that is
impurity.
Impurity.
Every other
time Paul uses
this word in
his letters,
every single
time except for
this one,
it's always used
in reference to
sexual sin.
sin.
So why is he
using it here?
What he
means is that
he did not
prostitute the
gospel message
for personal
gain.
He wasn't
prostituting the
gospel.
He wasn't
preaching the
gospel in
order that he
might get
something from
the people
that believed
it.
Whether that
be glory,
whether it
be money,
or sex,
whatever it
might have
been.
And again,
he restates
this in
verse 5.
He says that
when they
came, they
had no
pretext for
greed.
Later in
the chapter,
he even
recalls how
they refused
to take
money from
the Thessalonian
Christians for
this very
reason.
They didn't
want to be
accused of
being like
the philosophers
who were
known to
come to
the city.
There's a
third sinful
motivation.
Deceive is
the last
thing.
Our appeal
does not
spring from
error or
impurity or
any attempt
to deceive.
This is
trickery.
It's
baiting
somebody is
the idea
behind this
one.
It wasn't
a made-up
story meant
to deceive
people into
following Paul.
He says in
verse 6,
we did not
seek glory
from people.
That's not
what he was
motivated by.
Now,
let's look at
the big picture
here.
Though this
isn't unheard
of and it's
certainly possible,
it's very
unlikely
that these
motives would
have produced
the kind
of boldness
that we see
in Paul
in Thessalonica.
If you're a
charlatan
who is beaten
nearly to death
and shamed
in front of
an entire city
in Philistine
and you know
that what
you're doing
isn't real,
why do you
just subject
yourself to it
all over again?
That just
doesn't logically
make sense.
I think that's
what Paul's
saying here.
There is
credibility to
the gospel
message because
he did not
come as a
charlatan.
So then what
was his true
motive?
The true
motive for
Paul's ministry
to the Thessalonians
was very simple
actually.
Look at verse
four.
But,
here's the
affirmation,
just as we
have been
approved by
God to be
entrusted with
the gospel,
so we speak.
What's his
motive?
Simple.
God has
called me to
do this.
He was
motivated
entirely
by God's
call on his
life.
That's amazing.
He wasn't
motivated by
money or
power or
sex.
He was
motivated by
a desire to
fulfill his
call.
And he was
far more
concerned with
obeying God's
call than
even preserving
his own
life.
And since
God had
entrusted the
gospel message
to him,
Paul was
then entrusting
his own
life to the
sovereign will
of God.
Faithful
ministry is
motivated by
God's truth
and it is
motivated by
God's call.
Which,
by the way,
is something
that all of
us have.
my call as
a pastor
might be
unique in
its scope
and in
its context.
But that
doesn't mean
that I'm the
only one in
this room
that has a
call of God
to proclaim
the gospel.
That belongs
to all of
us.
We've already
mentioned the
various ways
that that will
be lived out
in your life.
But it belongs
to each and
every one of
us.
Now, how
will you be
motivated to
fulfill that
call?
Or do you
even care that
the call is
there?
If it's for
any other
reason than
simply to
obey the
Lord, then
you will
inevitably fall
into error
and impurity
and deception.
Third, I
want you to
see the
mission, or
what I mean
by mission
here, because
I just needed
another M.
It made me
think better.
I mean the
aim or the
goal.
What was
Paul's ultimate
goal here?
He and
Silas and
Timothy.
The last
part of
verse 4.
So we
speak, not
to please
man, but
to please
God, who
tests our
hearts.
He doesn't
just see what
we do, he
knows our
hearts, and
we desire to
please him.
This third
not-but
statement, it
gets to the
heart of the
matter, revealing
that the
ultimate goal of
Paul's ministry
in Thessalonica
was to
please God, not
men.
Which is
instructive for
us, isn't
it?
When our
primary objective
is to please
men, we
will succumb
to the
pressure to
diminish the
gospel message.
Do you not
feel that?
I feel
that.
That if
there's a way
to water it
down so people
aren't so hateful,
we're tempted
to it, aren't
we?
No, if
we're aiming
to please
God, we
will not
succumb to
that pressure.
We'll be
bold in the
conflict, right?
When we
aim to
please men, we
will inevitably
engage in
fraudulent
flattery, we
will prostitute
Christianity for
personal gain, and
we will
willingly deceive
for our own
glory.
However, when
our sole
mission is to
please God, we
test our
hearts, we'll
proclaim the
truth in
conflict, and
we'll avoid the
sinful motivations
that take so
many captive.
Now, is
this not why
at the end of
his life, Paul
writes one more
letter to
Timothy?
And what is it
that he says?
Timothy, I
charge you, in
the presence of
God, who
test our
hearts, in the
presence of God
and of Christ
Jesus, who is
to judge the
living and the
dead, and by
his appearing in
his kingdom.
Preach the
word, Timothy.
Just be
faithful.
Preach the
gospel.
Do it when it's
in season, he
says.
When people are
believing, and
they're friendly to
it, and God is
working, do it when
it's out of season,
when people are
unfriendly to it,
and you suffer
because of it.
Reprove, rebuke,
exhort with
complete patience
and teaching,
patience there
being endurance,
enduring what may
come as a result.
For the time is
coming, Timothy,
when people will
not endure sound
teaching.
Now, it's amazing
that Paul says the
time is coming as
if it's something
future.
He's the one getting
beaten near to death,
which only means that
there's no end to
this, not until the
Lord returns.
It should be our
eager expectation
that this would be
the result of
faithful ministry,
right?
Having itching
ears, they will
accumulate for
themselves teachers
to suit their own
passions, and will
turn away from
listening to the
truth and wander
off into myths.
But as for you,
Timothy, keep your
head, be sober
minded, endure
suffering, do the
work of an
evangelist, preach
the gospel, and
fulfill your
ministry.
Do you see what
he's telling young
Timothy?
This is going to
get worse and you're
going to feel
pressure.
You're going to
feel pressure from
people who say that
they're Christians.
You're going to feel
pressure to water
down the gospel, to
soften it up a bit,
to not be so
demanding of people
to believe and to
be faithful.
They're going to
have itching ears.
They're going to
want you to preach
to their own
passions.
and they're going
to threaten you in
the process.
Don't do it,
Timothy.
Just be faithful
because that's what
faithful ministry is.
It endures.
Why does it endure?
Because we're not
trying to please men
who just want to hear
a particular thing.
No, we're trying to
please God who has
actually put a call
on our lives to take
his message, not our
own, or one that may
be suitable for the
hearer.
No, we take his
message.
It's his call that's
on us, and it's his
power that goes with
us.
You want to finish
this way?
In light of
Reformation Week
last week, perhaps,
if you want to think
of it that way.
There was a Latin
phrase.
I think Luther might
have been the one
that really popularized
it.
Corum Deo.
You've probably heard
it before if you've
studied much about
the Reformation.
Corum Deo.
It's a Latin phrase
that means before the
face of God.
And it was used by
the Reformers to
describe the essence
of the Christian
life, that all of
life is lived before
the gaze of God,
right?
R.C.
Sproul said it this
way, to live
Corum Deo is to
live one's entire
life in the presence
of God, under the
authority of God, to
the glory of God.
Now, I think that's a
pretty good summation
of the model of
faithful ministry
presented in these
four verses.
Paul and Silas and
Timothy understood
that all of life is
lived before the face
of God.
And their supreme
desire was to glorify
God in what they did.
That's why they were
bold in conflict.
That's why they avoided
sinful motivations.
Their lives were
oriented to the glory
of God, so their
gospel ministry was
as well.
And if we are going
to be faithful in the
gospel, if we're going
to be fruitful in just
our Christianity, then we
must also learn to live
all of life Corum Deo,
recognizing that we live
before the face of God,
that we are his people,
and that our aim in all
of life, the very purpose
for our being and
existence is his glory.
And we should let that
be the motivation of
what we do, even when
things are tough.
I think that's what
faithful ministry looks
like.