1 THESSALONIANS 2:1-122007 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2007.

We learned about the Thessalonians and the common theme of the chapter was their faith, their love, and their hope. And Paul talked about those things and how it made them, because they had received the gospel message and because they received the message that Paul brought to them, their faith, love, and hope were given by God and they were focused on the Lord. And as a result, they were given the gospel.

They became examples to all believers and also as a result of their faith and love and hope, the word of God sounded forth from them. They became a witness to all the area, so much so that Paul says, hey, I don't even have to say anything, but they just find out that I was there and they begin to tell me the story of how God changed your life and turned you away from idols to serve the living God.

Well, this week, as Paul goes on here in chapter two, he's sharing with them, reminding them the things that took place while he was there and how he lived and how he acted among them and the ministry that took place. And from Paul's description here, we find some important principles about ministry that we need to take note of. In fact, five things I want to point out to you this morning from Paul's examples.

The principle behind it or the thought behind it is this. How do you recognize true ministry? How do you really know when when ministry is taking place, when God is at work? How can you be sure of that? And we find from the Apostle Paul five ways to recognize true ministry. Number one, we'll see that you recognize true ministry when the person speaks the gospel, even in conflict.

Number two, true ministry is recognized when the aim is to please God and not man. Number three, true ministry is recognized when it's not for selfish gain. Number four, true ministry is recognized when there is sacrificial love. And number five, true ministry is recognized.

These five things we'll see in Paul's life and God will use, I pray, to challenge our own hearts and our own walks with God. Now, these things are so important. In the Old Testament, God and dealing with his people would send the prophets and they were always contending with, there was always amongst the group, false prophets. There

They were people who claimed to have the message of God. They claimed to be sent by God. They claimed that God had commissioned them to do this work or deliver this message. But the reality was God had not sent them. And if the people would listen to them, they would be led astray. And we know from the example there in the Old Testament that the majority of the time,

the body of Israel, the congregation together, would listen to the false prophets and not the true prophets that God had sent. They would reject the true prophets and hold on to the false prophets. We find that in the New Testament, as the apostles went forth sharing the gospel message as Jesus sent them to do,

They're also just like there was false prophets in the Old Testament. There became now false apostles. And these people would come in the same method, claiming to be sent by God, claiming to be commissioned by God, claiming to do the work of God. But the reality was that God had not sent them. God had not called them. And if the people would listen to them, they would be led astray, led away from God and not to him.

And just as it was true in the Old Testament, and just as it was true in the New Testament, it continues to this day. There are false teachers. There are false ministers. There are those who come and say, I've been sent by God to do God's work. But the reality is, they are not sent by God. And if we follow them, we will be led astray. We'll be drawn away from God and not closer to God.

That being the case, since there are false teachers, since there is this great danger and really eternity is at stake, how can you be sure? How can you tell if you're being ministered to by someone who is legitimate? We need to be careful about who we allow to minister to our hearts, to lead us, to be an example for us, to give us counsel and insight.

I would encourage you to spend some time on these things. This is one of those messages where I wish we could take the time. God has not allowed me, and so we don't. But to meditate on each one of these five points, we could do a whole series on this. One message for each point, even more than that if we endeavored to do so.

Because there's great depth here and insight and there's powerful challenges that God will give to our hearts if you will take the time and meditate on these things and allow him to speak to you. And I would encourage you, if God is speaking to you in this area and the Lord is speaking to you throughout the message this morning, I would encourage you to spend some time reading 2 Corinthians 6, verses 1-10. There in 2 Corinthians 6, 1-10, Paul gives us the marks of ministry.

some other indications, some other ways to validate what is it? How can you tell when real ministry is taking place, when someone is truly ministering the gospel of God and sent by God? This morning, as we look at these five points, I want to encourage you to look at them from three different perspectives, three different angles, so to speak. The first perspective is as you look at these five things, I would encourage you to meditate on

Amen.

So we need to take heed. And I would encourage you to look at these things and consider who is it that is examples to me? Who is it that ministers to my heart? And then the second perspective, as we look at these five points, I would encourage you to consider ministry that's done by you. And I would encourage you to consider, are these things in place in my heart? Because we know, as we talked about last week, and we've talked about very often, you and I,

As believers in Jesus Christ, we're all called to the ministry. You might not call to pastor a church, but you are called to full-time ministry, to be an example to believers and to be a witness to the world around you. It's every believer's calling, every Christian's calling. You've been gifted by God, by the Holy Spirit, to serve him supernaturally and to minister and to edify the body of Christ. And in that ministry, in the role that God has called you to,

I would encourage you, I would challenge you to examine yourself by these five things and see, are these things taking place in my life? And then thirdly, really most importantly, I would encourage you as we look at these five things to stop and consider how they took place in the life of Jesus Christ, the perfect minister, the perfect man, our Savior, how he walked and how he lived. And as we recognize what he did and how he did it,

We will learn, first of all, a greater appreciation for who he is and what he has done for us. And we learn by his model, by his example, to walk in those same ways. I may not touch all three perspectives in every point, but I would encourage you to do so this week. Spend some time and allow God to speak to your heart. But let's look, beginning in verses 1 and 2, it says this.

For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you is not in vain. But even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. The first point this morning, the first way to recognize true ministry is when you speak the gospel even in conflict.

Paul is sharing with them and reminding them, hey, you guys remember how I suffered and how I was spitefully treated in Philippi. You can check that out for yourself in Acts chapter 16, where you read about Paul's illegal trial, being a Roman citizen, and they laid many stripes on him, beat him up, and then threw him into the lowest portion of the prison. He was spitefully treated. He was abused for sharing the gospel message. Now, do you think...

Being beaten, being imprisoned, being spitefully treated. Would you be a little bit shy about sharing the gospel after that? Would that hinder you?

Your message, your ministry, not Paul. Paul says, look, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict, even though we had just come from Acts chapter 16 is Paul's ministry there in Philippi. And then Acts chapter 17 is when he goes to Thessalonica. It's immediately after that Paul goes there and he reminds him, look, when I came to you, I had just come from this bad situation, this difficult problem.

This abuse and suffering and being spitefully treated and coming from that, I continued. I came to you and I continued to be bold and sharing the gospel. I didn't hold back. I didn't just kind of do it, you know, quietly in a corner. He don't let people know they get upset. The word boldly means openly and frankly. He says, I openly declared to you.

I didn't shy away from it. And he says in much conflict, even though in Thessalonica, he found it yet again, there was trouble opposition to the gospel message. Paul says, I still spoke the gospel of God boldly to you to speak the gospel of God in and of itself does not prove true ministry to just relate the message. It doesn't prove true ministry. True ministry is proven when you speak the gospel of God boldly.

much conflict when there's opposition not just when it's popular or acceptable but when it's something that's gonna cause trouble for yourself the real test is will you be bold to speak the gospel even when it's politically incorrect even when it's spoken against even when it's punishable by death which has been the case

At many times throughout history and is the case still in many areas of the world. Now, that can only happen when a person is fully convinced of the truth of the gospel message, when they're convinced of eternity and they're convinced that without Jesus Christ, we are lost and doomed to eternity in hell. Only when a person is.

Fully and truly convinced of that, will they be able to share the gospel message no matter what the opposition is, even on the pain of death? Paul came to Thessalonica. He had just suffered persecution. He was beaten and imprisoned, yet he still boldly spoke the gospel. And notice what he says in verse 1. He says, For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain. This is something else that's so important. It's not just the conflict between

That's an important element of speaking the gospel. But it's the gospel message itself. See, understand what Paul is saying here. Our coming to you is not in vain. Why? Why was his coming not in vain? He goes on to say, even after we suffered these things, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. Why wasn't it in vain? Because he brought to them the gospel. See, what Paul is saying is this. Anything else...

It would have been in vain if I had shared any other message, if I had shared any other gospel, if I had shared any anything else besides Jesus Christ and him crucified. My time there would have been in vain. The work would have been in vain. The time would have been wasted. It would have been useless. Why? Because the gospel, only the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.

Because there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Because Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. And no one comes to the father except through him. Paul says any other message, anything else, it would have been wasted. My coming to you wasn't in vain because I shared the gospel message to you. Yes, there was trouble. There was problems. In fact, Paul was run out of Thessalonica, but it wasn't in vain.

Because the gospel of God was shared and it took root. I was talking with Pastor Louis of Calvary Chapel Norco sometime back. And he's involved in doing ministry in Thailand. The body there has sent someone over there. And they're learning the language. And they're beginning and preparing to plant a church and start a work and everything.

He was sharing with me that there in Thailand where they're seeking to minister, there's lots of relief organizations. There's lots of companies and organizations bringing aid, bringing relief and helping the poor and meeting some of the needs of the people. But he was sharing with me the vision that he has and the body has for Thailand is to go there and to plant churches because help and relief will come out of that.

That's an important element of the church. But first things first, he says, the biggest need, the greatest need is not the food, not the medical attention. The biggest need and the greatest need is the need for a savior. If we go somewhere and bring medical help only, if we bring food and clothing only, it's in vain. But if you don't want it to be in vain, you bring the gospel message.

Because that is something that will last for eternity. It's like if you were facing a crisis or a situation. If a paramedic comes to the scene of an accident, they assess the situation. Who needs attention? What's the biggest need? Whose life is threatened? Someone who is injured, maybe badly, but not life-threatening, will be attended to after the person whose life is threatened dies.

is taken care of. Because you have to assess what's the greatest problem here? What's the biggest issue? What's the thing that needs the attention first? And Paul says, look, man's greatest need is not these outward and physical things. They are needs. They're legitimate. But if you meet those needs and don't meet their greatest needs, it's like putting a band-aid on a mortal wound. It's in vain. It's useless comfort. The most important thing is

that you and I need, that every person on the face of this earth needs, is a Savior. Paul says, when I came to you, it wasn't in vain. It wasn't useless. It wasn't just temporary. Man's biggest need is salvation. The only way we can be saved is by receiving the gospel message. And when a person is convinced of that, they will speak the gospel message even in conflict, even if it costs me something, even if it costs me my life.

I will share the gospel message because that's what man needs the most. So the first way, the first thing we see to recognize true ministry is when you see the gospel spoken, even in conflict. Now, again, think about the three perspectives and those that minister to you and those that you allow to influence and encourage you in your life. Is this characteristic in place?

Do they speak the gospel message in conflict? Even when it's not popular, even when it's not politically correct, even when it's difficult, when it's hard, even when it's costly. How about you? In the people that God has brought you to, or that God has brought to you, in the areas that you serve around the body of Christ, in your use of the gifts of the body of Christ, or the Spirit,

Do you speak the gospel of God? Is that your primary message? Is that the thrust of what you say and who you are and why you minister? That people might come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ or be drawn closer to him. It needs to be. First things first, the greatest need of the people in your life. Parents, kids need a lot of help. But you know the greatest need? It's not your checkbook. It's not the keys to your car. The greatest need is the Savior.

neighbors, co-workers, people that you minister to. Your primary message, your ministry needs to be centered around the gospel. Think about Jesus' ministry. Did he share the gospel even in conflict? Oh yes, absolutely. He began his ministry, repent. Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. It was the message he gave throughout his time and much opposition from the religious leaders, from all around him.

Jesus Christ spoke the gospel at the cost of his own life. He's our example. The second way to recognize true ministry found in verses three and four is the aim to please God and not man. Verse three says, for our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit. But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak in

Not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. Bless you. Paul here is talking about his trustworthiness. He says, look, our exhortation when we came to you, it didn't come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit. Error is the wandering away. In other words, oops, you know, sorry, we shared the wrong gospel message. Silly me.

Paul's saying, no, it wasn't an error. It wasn't an accident. We didn't have a misunderstanding of the gospel and that's what we shared. No, we had the truth and that's what we shared to you. It wasn't with uncleanness, Paul says, or impurity, impure motives. There wasn't things going on behind the scenes or there wasn't lustful things and things that we were trying to do behind the scenes. It wasn't with deceit. We didn't walk away going, ha ha, we got another one.

No, it was the truth. We shared the gospel to you. In verse four, he says, as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak. Paul says we were entrusted with the gospel by God. It's the truth. It's not made up. It's the message that he has given to us. Now, do you see Paul's sense of accountability to God? Here in verse four, he says, as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.

And he says, we speak not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. Paul had a healthy fear of God. He understood God gave me this message and he gave me the task of sharing it. And so I will do so at all costs. I will not compromise the message for my own purposes or will I change it to please man?

Because God tests my heart. I'm going to have to stand before him one day and give an account for how I presented the gospel message to the people around me, to those that he brought me to. Paul says, he's going to test my heart. And so I'm not going to compromise. I've been entrusted with the gospel. Paul explains it as well in 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

He says there in verse 9, Paul says, look, here's our aim. Here's our focus. Here's our goal. We want to be well-pleasing to God. Why? Verse 10 of 2 Corinthians 5, Paul says,

Paul has a healthy fear of God. He understands, I have been entrusted with the gospel message. God has entrusted me to deliver it to his people.

It's not popular. It's not well received. It will probably inflict pain and cause divisions in my life. But I will stand before God one day. I'm going to stand before him and give him an account. I'm going to receive reward for what I've done in this body, for how I've lived, for how I presented the gospel message. And so Paul says, knowing that I'm going to stand before him and he's the judge and

Make it my aim to please him not man. Not anybody around me. Not even myself. I'm Seeking to please God because I will stand before him and give an account Paul's not trying to make friends and influence people He's not trying to be popular socially accepted. His aim is to please God and not man This is a huge danger a huge temptation and

When Paul says, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts, this word please means to strive to please. It doesn't mean that Paul is saying, you know, I try to be offensive to everybody. That's not what he was saying. He's saying, look, I'm not striving to please man. I'm not going out of my way, going the extra mile. I'm not trying to change things and adapt myself in order to please them. Another way that it's defined is,

To accommodate oneself to the opinions, desires, and interests of others. To accommodate oneself to the opinions, desires, and interests of others. Here's what Paul's saying. Look, we're not changing the message. We're not changing what God has called us to do. To conform to the opinions, desires, and interests of others. You know, people aren't really interested in the Bible. Okay, well, we'll just kind of not really look at the Bible so much and just talk about, no, you can't do that. You can't change the message. You can't change the message.

Now, they're not interested in that. It doesn't matter. I'm called to share the gospel message, Paul says. I'm not going to change what God has called me to do or change the message that God has called me to deliver. Understand that when a minister, including you or me, when a minister begins to accommodate themselves to the opinions, desires and interests of others instead of God, then true ministry ceases. It's no longer true ministry anymore.

It's a whole different category. Paul talks to Timothy about it in 2 Timothy chapter 4, where he tells Timothy that a time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, notice it's their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. If we bend and compromise, if we change the message, change the focus,

We're just scratching the two years and it's no longer the gospel message. Now it's just fables. How to recognize true ministry when the aim is to please God and not man. And again, I would challenge you, those who minister to you, is that their aim? Is that evidence that the gospel message is not changed?

That the ministry God has called them to is not changed. That the aim is not to accommodate man and accommodate their desires and interests and opinions. But the desire is to please God. And he's first and foremost in the ministry that you do, that God has called you to. And you're sharing with friends and family and neighbors. Is that what's most important to you?

Are you more concerned about being popular? Are you more concerned about keeping them as a friend? Or are you more concerned about pleasing God and sharing the truth according to the word of God? That doesn't mean, again, you offend people on purpose, but you don't compromise. You don't change the message in order to keep the friend, in order to keep the relationship. No, you stand for what the word of God says. Now, some will say,

But I need to and I just kind of befriend people in that way. And so I can share with them because if I don't do that, how are they going to hear the gospel or how are they going to be ministered to? It's a bad practice. Think about what we're insinuating when we say that or try to do that. Like we're going to sneak in. It's a covert operation. Before they know it, we're going to have them saved and they won't even know it. We'll just kind of slip it in the back door and boom.

No, that's not how the gospel works. God calls us to be set apart. Second Corinthians chapter seven, Paul quotes the Old Testament. He says, look, come out from them and be separate. We're called to separate ourselves, not on purpose and not to make enemies and make people mad. That's that's not the goal, but to stand for the word of God, to stand for the gospel message, to stand for the truth, to please God and not man. And as you come out and be separate, you're

As your aim is to please God and not man, ministry will be able to be accomplished. There's so much we could talk about here. If you look at Lot, he worked that practice. That was the mentality. Hey, pitching my tent near Sodom. Hey, living in the city, standing at the gate. Hey, guys, destruction's coming. What are you talking about? You're crazy. There was no witness. There was no power. True ministry couldn't happen because the message had been compromised.

The aim was not to please God. And so when the time came for ministry to take place, there was no power. But when you separate yourself, when you stand out, people know who to turn to. People know who to come to when God stirs their heart, when the hurt hits their house, their heart. They know who to turn to. It's so important. We're not to be of the world. We're not to be involved in the things of the world.

We're not to compromise the message in order to maintain relationships. No, we stand firm on the word of God. We stand firm with the truth and let God take care of the rest. The third way to recognize true ministry when it's not for selfish gain. Verses five and six. For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness. God is witness.

Paul's been saying, look, even when there was trouble, even when it was with conflict, we preached the gospel. And we weren't trying to please man. Our aim, our endeavor was to please God. And not only that, but we weren't trying to gain something for ourselves.

financially, politically, personally, whatever. There was no attempt for gain. He says, we didn't use flattering words to butter you up, to make you our friends so that we could get something from you. We didn't have a cloak for covetousness. That word cloak, it's interesting. It's the idea of a pretense or a show. We didn't put on a show in order to get something out of you, to satisfy some type of greed or covetousness that we had. Paul's saying, look, we didn't fake it.

In order to gain something ourselves. We weren't motivated by greed. We weren't just trying to get some money from you. Not only that, but he says in verse 6, nor did we seek glory from men. It wasn't trying to get glory to us. It wasn't trying to get fame or honor or power or prestige. We didn't come and demand your respect. We didn't come and demand that you pay us attention and honor us. Notice what it says at the end of verse 6, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ.

There is an order that God has given. Paul gives it to us at the end of 1 Corinthians chapter 12. He says God has appointed first of all in the church apostles and then the rest. There is an order. God has given a priority on the ministry that Paul was a part of. But Paul says, look, I didn't come in there demanding that you pay me respect and give me honor and do all these things for me. Oh, it's such another. It's another great danger. The temptation to to seek glory from men.

Seek glory from the people around us to demand honor and respect. And we need to stay away from that. This can happen in a variety of ways. Sometimes I think it's more subtle than we might know. You know, when a person has the attitude that says, I'm owed something because of what I've done for God. I'm owed something because of the way that I've served you or ministered to you. I'm owed something because of the things that I've accomplished. That's wrong.

Check out Luke chapter 17. Jesus tells us there, hey, we're just unprofitable servants. And at the end, we should just say, I've done what I was supposed to do. We have a debt to God. God does not have a debt towards us. We have a debt to the people around us to love and serve them. They don't have a debt to us. They owe us some respect or honor or glory.

When we have the attitude, hey, I do this and so I should receive this or I'm a minister, I do the work of God, you should serve me, you should buy me lunch and you should give me a discount because I'm a pastor. No, that's a wrong attitude. That's seeking selfish gain. If you have the attitude, I've come to be served. Here I am, serve me. That's the wrong attitude. In the church, in the home, wherever you go, Jesus said, I came to serve, not to be served.

He's our model. He's our example. Many times we have it backwards. Minister, it means servant, and it's what you and I are called to be and to do. We're called to serve. You can tell a minister not by how much he's served, but by how much they serve others. So the third way to recognize true ministry is that it's not for selfish gain. Again, those who minister to you, is it not for selfish gain? No.

Is there a demand for honor or glory? Is there a cloak for covetousness? Be warned. Be wary. Be careful. Don't allow those who are out for selfish gain to minister to your heart. Be careful. Ministry that's done by you as you serve the Lord, as you use the gifts that God has called you to do, as you minister to the people around you. Is it for selfish gain? Is it so that you get something back? Is it so that you obtain something?

something out of it, even if it's simple and maybe not malicious, but just that you get the same in return or you get this relationship or this friendship or this something out of it. No, it cannot be for selfish gain. Jesus in his ministry, it wasn't for selfish gain. He came and lived and died for us selflessly, not selfishly. The fourth characteristic of

How to recognize true ministry is sacrificial love. We see it in verses seven through nine. It says, but we were gentle among you just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. So affectionately longing for you. We were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives because you had become dear to us.

Sacrificial love we see in the heart of the Apostle Paul here. Look at some of the loving language that Paul uses. He says, first of all, we were gentle among you. We didn't come with harshness, but we came with gentleness.

He even elaborates further. He says, as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. And so you get the picture of a mom cradling her child with protection, with gentleness, not dropping it on the floor, kicking it around. No, but protecting and harboring and caring for. He says, in verse 8, we are affectionately longing for you.

There was this great fervent love that Paul had, this great affection. He says, we were longing for you affectionately. We wanted the best for you. We were seeking to minister to you. He says there at the end of verse 8, because you had become dear to us. That word dear, it's based on the word that we know as agape. It's the perfect, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. Paul says, hey, we did all this because you had become agape by us. We had this great love for you.

He had this genuine love for the Thessalonians. It was a tender and affectionate love. And this is so key. Because when there is true love, sacrifices are given willingly and not reluctantly. Understand that in ministry, the ministry that you are called to, and using your gifts and serving the body, you will have to make sacrifices. Sacrifices need to be made. But when there's true love...

Those sacrifices are given willingly, joyfully, not reluctantly or grudgingly. What were Paul's sacrifices? He says there in verse 8, We were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives. We were well pleased to impart to you not just the message. We didn't just deliver the envelope and take off. No, we gave to you our own lives.

We gave to you of our time, our energy, our blood, sweat, and tears. We gave to you of ourselves. We shared our life with you. Paul says, that was a sacrifice. It wasn't no longer, you know, whatever I want to do, I do. But no, I'm at your disposal, Thessalonians. I didn't just give you the gospel, but I gave you my very life. He goes on in verse 9. He talks about the labor and toil, the sacrifice that he gave. He says, laboring night and day.

that we might not be a burden to any of you. Again, we see the picture of the woman cradling her child, making sure that none of the pressures of the world or none of the pains or the things that would inflict pain, that they're protected, that she receives those things instead of the child. Paul says, I did everything I could. I labored night and day so that I wouldn't be a burden, that you wouldn't feel the pressure, that you wouldn't have to face some of the difficult things. These are things that Paul did not do grudgingly.

He wasn't bummed out about it. Grumbling. I wish you Thessalonians would realize and step up. Why don't you support me more so I don't have to work so hard. Gosh. No, he didn't do it grudgingly. He did it. He says, I was well pleased. We were well pleased to do this. It was something that brought us joy. It was something we willingly did. There's a story. It's been around for a long time. You probably have heard it, but I'll share it again. About a man named Billy. Sunday morning.

He's in bed. There's a knock at the door. Billy, time to get up. Time for church. Billy says, I don't want to go to church. Come on, Billy. It's time to get up. You need to go. I don't want to go. Why don't you want to go? Oh, man, the people are mean. Nobody likes me and everybody just tells me what to do. That's a horrible place. I'm always miserable there. I don't want to go. The voice comes back, Billy, time to get up. You need to go. Why do I need to go? Someone's trying to get a hold of people in here.

Why do I need to go? The voice responds, well, because God told us not to forsake the assembling together of the brethren. It's important. It's important for your spiritual growth. But not only that, Billy, you need to go because you are the pastor. You need to be there. Sometimes that's how it can be, can't it? You know, you're scheduled. You signed up for the list and you're like, why do I have to be there? It's grudging. Yeah.

Those kids never listen to me anyways. There's tons of room in the parking spot. Why do I got to be there to park the cars? Why do I have to do this? It's something that's given reluctantly. It's at a cost. It's at a sacrifice. You have to give of your time. You have to do something. Maybe that's not super duper exciting, but it is serving the Lord. Paul says, look, we gave of ourselves.

We gave of our time. We worked hard. It cost us much, but it was given willingly. We were well pleased to do it because there was true sacrificial love. Are you well pleased to sacrifice? Well pleased to share your life with others? You know, sometimes sharing the life is the most difficult thing, isn't it? You're on the phone with the person that just drives you insane. They never want to hang up.

I just called you to tell you one thing. That's it. I want to give you the message and get off the phone. No, but God calls us to something greater than that. To share our lives, to labor and toil, to sacrifice in our ministry and our service to others. Are you well pleased to do what God has called you to do? Jesus was. Hebrews tells us that it was for the joy that was set before him that he endured the cross.

He did it. It was difficult. It was painful. It cost him his life. It cost him more than we could ever understand and know. But he did it for the joy that was set before him. He was well pleased because of you, because of me, to sacrifice because of his great love. The fifth and final thing, the way to tell true ministry, the way to recognize ministry that is really from God.

is when there is a walk that's worthy of God. Verses 10 through 12. Paul says,

The final area, Paul says, this is how to recognize true ministry. It's in the area of behavior. Paul says, you are witnesses. Remember, think back at how we lived, at how we walked. Look at how we behaved ourselves. And he ends by encouraging them and how we always encourage you, remember, to walk worthy of God. We're doing it. We're modeling it for you so that you can follow our example. There's a saying, remember,

The proof is in the pudding. Anybody familiar with that saying? Not very many people. I say it all the time and my wife gets mad at me because she doesn't know what it means. And she says nobody else knows what it means. So I'm going to tell you what it means so I can keep saying it. The proof is in the pudding. It actually comes from it's a shortened version of the proof of the pudding is in the eating is how it was quoted many, many years ago back in the 1600s. But it basically means that the true value or quality of a thing only can be judged when it's put to use.

It can be judged or you know that it's really pudding if people eat it or if you eat it and go, hey, that's pudding. That's when you know it's pudding. Now, think about this with me, OK? There's a lot of things that look like pudding, that move like pudding, that can be served like pudding that I don't want to eat. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. When you taste it, when you know, oh, that's pudding.

Maybe you could sniff and kind of get a sneak preview. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating is the idea. That's basically what Paul is saying here. Look, the reality, the proof that true ministry is taking place is when a person walks worthy of God. That's the point. You can have all the outward appearances of ministry. You can look like a minister, talk like a minister, act like a minister. But the way that you walk is what proves whether you're truly ministering or not.

See, people can speak the gospel in much conflict. They can appear to be loving and humble, but the way that they live their life shows what they really believe and who they really are. Paul says, when we were there, we were devout, we were just, we were blameless. We always encourage you to walk worthy of God. That's the life of a real minister. That's the life of someone that you want to be able to receive from.

That's the life you want to live in order to minister and meet the needs of others. It's the life that Jesus lived. Now, Paul, in saying that he was devout, just and blameless, he's not talking about perfection. He's not saying, hey, guys, you remember, we never sinned once while we were there the whole time. No, that's not what he's saying. He's not talking about perfection, but consistency. Consistency.

When things aren't right, they are corrected. When God brings them to our attention, we dealt with them and we allowed God to correct us and we continued to go forward in his work. We all sin. That will always be the case for us. There will always be issues and things that God is working in our lives. But to be devout, just and blameless, to walk worthy of God doesn't mean to walk perfect without sin. But as God deals with

with areas of our hearts as he brings them to light through his word through others in our life then to walk worthy of god to be devout just and blameless it is to deal with those areas and allow god to change us and transform us and be obedient to what he speaks to our heart paul says look we didn't just preach it we didn't just tell you how to live it we were the examples and lived it for you to witness so paul encourages them to walk worthy of god

The people that minister to you, that encourage you, the people that you receive from, that counsel and give you advice, do they walk worthy of God? Yes, there's problems, there's lapses, there's difficulties, but the whole of their life are they walking worthy of God? You, called to minister, called to be an example, called to be a witness,

Are you walking worthy of God? Have you dealt with the things that he's been speaking to your heart about lately? The things that he's been ministering to your heart this morning through his word. Will you deal with those things devoutly? It means to be devoted. Will you walk devoted to God justly? It means to do what's right or righteousness. Do you walk rightly before God? Blameless. It means that when something is an accusation is made that it doesn't catch that, that nothing grabs on, that there's, there's no truth to it. It won't even stick. Right?

Is that how you walk? Is that your life? It's the life Jesus lived, and it's the life he calls us to live. As I shared at the beginning, there's so many ways we can consider these things. I beseech you, meditate on them. There's some powerful challenges for all of us in here. How do we recognize true ministry when the gospel is spoken, even in the midst of conflict?

When the aim is to please God and not man. When it's not for selfish gain. When it's with sacrificial love. When it's accompanied by a walk worthy of God. You know true ministry is taking place. You know God is at work. All five are important. All five need to be there. You can't just be charismatic or persuasive. You can't just...

Speak the gospel message and live however you want to live. That's not true ministry. That's not what God has called you to. You can't be in it for some type of gain for yourself. You can't compromise the message. No, all five need to be in place in all of our hearts, in all of our lives, that we might be effective in the role that God has called us to. Those who minister to you, do you see these things? Those that you allow to influence you, do you see these things?

It's not trivial. It's important. We talked on Wednesday about the fool. The one who disobeys God or is rebellious against God, rejects God's word. To reject a part of God's word makes you a fool and affects every part of your life. And you do not want to be led by one who is in rebellion to God, rejecting his word. You don't want to have that person as an example, as an influence in your life.

Be careful who you allow to minister to you. Understand, we can't evaluate things by the world's standards. If we look at the world's standards, if we look with our physical eyes, we could say, look, this person is a successful minister because look at how many people follow them. Or look at how many radio stations they're on. Or look at how many TV shows they have. Or we could look at all the outward things. But let me tell you, if you're looking at those things...

then you are prepared to receive the Antichrist because he's going to have the biggest following. In fact, the whole world is going to be deceived by him. He's going to be able to work miracles and call down fire from heaven and do marvelous and miraculous things. And from the world's eyes, he'll be awesome. He'll be the Savior, but he's not of God. Real ministry is proven in these areas. Now, God still may use a person who is not right in all these areas.

Don't mistake the work of God and God allowing things to be his stamp of approval. God's going to use anyone. He uses the enemy. He uses the devil to accomplish his work, to bring glory to him. The proof in these areas. That's when true ministry is taking place. You want to make sure that you're being ministered to by someone who practices true ministry. The ministry that you do, are you living out these things?

staying true to the gospel message, even though it's difficult, not seeking to please man, not bending it, conforming it, compromising to please man, not for selfish gain, but with sacrificial love and a life lived worthy of God. Is that how you live? That's how God calls us to live. You know, let me say, if it's not real ministry, don't do it. If it's not well-pleasing to you to make the sacrifice, don't do it. Don't pretend. Don't be a hypocrite.

Well, I signed up. I'm committed. I'm supposed to be there. Hey, I release you from any commitment that you have that you're not well pleased to do in this body. It's not about filling a spot. It's not about accomplishing something. It's about ministering to one another. And that takes place. True ministry happens when our hearts are right with God. That happens when these characteristics are in place in our life.

Jesus Christ, the ultimate example, the ultimate model. He exhibited all of these things. And as we prepare our hearts now for partaking of communion, it's appropriate that we consider what Jesus did for us. If I could have the worship team come up and the guys make ready for communion. Jesus demonstrated these things. He spoke the gospel, even in conflict, even at the cost of his life.

He came and he said, I was sent to do the will of God. He wasn't here to please man. No matter who came to him, rich or poor, full or hungry, religious or rebellious, no matter who came to him, the message was the same. You need to be born again. You must be born again. Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. He wasn't in it for selfish gain. It was out of sacrificial love. And he lived a life worthy of God.

It's important for us and it's relevant for us to meditate on who Jesus is. As we look at the cross, what these elements represent, the cup which represents his blood that was shed, the bread or the cracker which represents his body that was broken for us, we are reminded of what he did for us, of the life he lived, the example he gave, of the love that he has for you and me.

First John tells us that we love because he first loved us. As we understand his love, we respond in love towards him and towards those around us. Which means that if you're struggling in one of these areas, true ministry, if God's dealing with your heart, if there's an area that's really lacking, the way that you allow God to work in that

is to understand and have a greater appreciation for the way Jesus demonstrated it. Having a fuller understanding, revelation of what Jesus did for us is what equips us, enables us, and really drives us to live the same in our lives. And so I would encourage you this morning as we approach the communion table, meditate. If God's speaking to your heart, ask him to reveal to you

In the life and death of Jesus Christ. Those things. That you might see him high and lifted up. Because when you see him high and lifted up. When it's not just a ceremony. When it's not just something someone said. Or you know is true. But when you see him. And it's for you that he died on the cross. When it's for you that he did. What he did. As you see him high and lifted up. And places you. Right where you need to be. At the foot of the cross.

That's where we need to come. And that's what we come to this morning. This morning, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, we invite you, partake with us. Remember the cross. Jesus said to remember him as often as we do this. Let your mind be consumed with Jesus Christ as we remember what he did for us. But this morning, if you're here and you're not a believer in Jesus Christ, I would encourage you, don't partake. Because to partake...

And yet being rebellion is for you to say, I know the gospel message. I know that Jesus Christ died, but I don't want to walk with him. I don't want to receive his love. Paul says you're condemning yourself. But if you know the truth, you know the gospel message. Jesus Christ died on the cross for you. Believing in him, you have everlasting life. You receive forgiveness and release from the guilt, the bondage to sin. If you want to receive that, then I would encourage you to partake with us.

And as you do, pray in your heart, "Yes, Lord, I receive your gift to me." It's as simple as that. So let's worship the Lord now and allow our hearts to be consumed and enraptured by the God who sent his Son to die for us. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.