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1 Thessalonians 2:1-12, "A Reminder of the Work of the Gospel" · Clifford Baptist

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  Speaker A: Welcome to the Feb. 15 sermon from Clifford Baptist Church, 635 Fletcher's Level Road in Amherst. Today's scripture is First Thessalonians, chapter 2, verses 1 through 12. And the sermon is entitled A Reminder of the Work of the Gospel delivered today by Pastor Jeffrey Campbell.
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  Speaker B: But I'm grateful for what God is doing. I'm grateful what God is doing through our little church nestled here in Clifford, Virginia. And the heart and the passion for missions work. And my prayer is that continues to develop as we see it grow, as we pour into the resources and the energy and the effort that it takes. But I'm grateful for leaders that pour into these young minds and hearts and showing them how important missions work is. So we are thankful for a Sunday to focus on that those who lead and teach and promote and demonstrate missions to, to our young folks and throughout our church. One of the primary messages, and you have heard this already, that these young minds are learning, is being compelled by the love of Christ to be generous in sharing and to serve with delight. And my prayer is that we as a church can grow in that area as well to recognize when we have opportunities that are around us to share the gospel. We fully think that to be on mission you need to go to another country that is far from the truth. We are grateful for those that give of their lives and give of what God has called them to do, to go and to be on that foreign field. And I'm grateful that God directs those of us that are not called to that to still be missionaries where we are. And so my challenge through this word today is that we will serve God with our whole heart. And maybe today God will stir that passion within us to look for those opportunities to share the gospel message. I'm grateful for Paul. Paul, arguably the greatest missionary ever, but he dealt with issues when he went to spread the message of Jesus. In particular, in what we're going to look at today, you can take your bibles, go to 1. Thessalonians is where we're going to be at today, but particularly in Thessalonica as he went there. Acts chapter 17 tells us that Paul and Silas were met by unbelieving Jews who stirred the city up. And those unbelieving Jews stirred and made it hard for them to spread the gospel message. But not only that, they pursued them to Berea afterwards and they stirred the people up there as well. And so we look as Paul is writing to those believers, to the church in Thessalonica defending his time and his work and, and God leading him There, as we understand, he's gotta face accusations. And I believe this. I believe if you are a worker in the gospel ministry, you are gonna face accusations. And so there are gonna be people that accuse you of doing the wrong thing or for the wrong reason or with the wrong heart. And you just gotta trust in the Lord through that. So if you are doing the gospel ministry and you get negative feedback, count it all. As I can tell you from experience, count it as joy and move on with where the Lord is directing you to go. I'm grateful that I did not lay down the banner, the first negative comment that I heard. And I'm grateful that men and women in this room didn't lay down the banner the first time they encountered something on the mission field. And so what we are reminded through the gospel and through the work of the gospel today is I'm going to give you five truths, five examples that I believe Paul spells out in the first 12 verses of chapter number two. As we look at God's word and we think on this, a reminder of the work of the gospel. So Clifford Baptist Church, we want to be in gospel ministry. Correct. We want to be a church that sends out people to the mission field. Amen. We want to see people called to the ministry from this congregation. Amen. And so what does that look like? That's the picture today. I'm grateful that as we've had the privilege to have one missionary in town, one of our own that grew up in this church that came through my youth group that is serving on the mission field. We anxiously await another one that came through our youth group. We wait for her to come home and hear the great stories of what God is doing there. But I'm grateful that the work of the gospel cannot be given to a hand or a select few people. It must be our job as the church. And there are five things that we need to see as we look at the work of the gospel. Let's look at one. Thessalonians, chapter number two. Starting with verse number one for yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you that it was not in vain. But even after that we had suffered before, we were shamefully entreated. As you know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you. The Gospel of God with much contention point number one. Today, the work of the gospel involves risk involves risk. Mission work involves risk. And there is a period after that statement in my notes. In America, our minds quickly run to that of death. And obviously that is true if you leave the comforts of our homes, of our nation and go to a foreign field, you have a higher percentage of risking your life for the work of the gospel. That's true. And Paul understood this. And here's what we need to understand as well. Here was Paul's mindset as he wrote to the Philippians. You see here he says that he encountered a lot of contention in Philippi. Well, he writes to the Philippians later on and he would say this. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But he would also add to that having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. The risk, the ultimate risk of sharing the gospel is when somebody lays down their life for Jesus. That is the ultimate risk. But Paul says that as he entered into Thessalonia, that there was some contention there and there was risk there as he went. But I want to break this down into two areas. Number one, when you go on mission, you've got to look at the reason that you go, the reason that you are sharing the gospel with a co worker or the reason that you're going to a different country to share the gospel. But the reason is vastly important. I want you to know this. You cannot go to another country on missions in hopes to learn more about Jesus. You can't go to another country on mission for a vacation or a getaway. No, the idea of mission work is a continuation of what you are already doing. And so when we look at the mission field and we see the reason that we go, Paul gives us the reason that he went. Look here in verse number two, he says at the end of verse number two, we were bold in our God to speak unto you. The gospel of God. The reason that we went was to share the gospel. Now listen, when we think about mission, is there risk in sharing the gospel in the workplace? Is there a risk in sharing the gospel with people that you live with and that you love? How many of us encounter that? Yes, yes there is. But the ultimate risk is life. But our risk that we face every day is being shut out or being turned away or being put down or being told to be quiet. I don't want to hear that stuff. That stuff's got to roll off your skin. If you are a believer, the reason that you go is important, but also the reaction. And I'm gonna be upfront with you. There's a lot of times that already planned the reaction in my head before I ever speak the first word. I already think people are gonna tell me, no, they hate my guts. You're just a preacher. So I defeat myself. And a lot of times when I feel the Holy Spirit prompting me to share the gospel, guess what? Jeffrey keeps his mouth because I'm afraid of somebody's reaction. And that should not stop us. That should not stop us. We understand that we're going to fail or we're going to be hated or that we can't do it or we're going to mess it up or we don't have the words. I'm grateful for little Naomi's prayer today because there's a lot of adults that wouldn't stand here and offer a prayer, but out of that little child's mouth, you heard, thank you for Jesus who laid his life down for all of us. That is the prayer of the heart of the believer, and I'm grateful for that. But the reaction, when you understand a reaction on the mission field that you may be hated or that you may be turned away, Paul says this. We suffered in Philippi. We were treated shamefully there. But that did not stop us from. From coming to you. Though they despised us there, we kept on and we came to you. But here's what Paul also says at the end of verse two, with much contention. He knew that he came to Thessalonica with contention surrounding the message that he carried. And so today, when we think about mission work, mission always has a risk. And we have to be willing to take the risk, not for our own sake, but for the gospel's sake. So we are reminded that the work of the gospel involves a risk. But what about the second thing? Look at verses 3 through 6. For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile, but as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak not as pleasing men, but God which trieth our hearts. For neither at any time used we flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak of covetousness. God is witness, nor of men sought we glory neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome as the apostles of Christ. So the second word, or the second thing I want you to understand about the work of the Gospel. It needs to be God pleasing. God pleasing. I love Paul's approach and I've got it circled and highlighted in my Bible. And when we understand what our job as believers is, amazing that we are God approved to carry the gospel. So as missionaries, our missionaries, maybe we send them off with a prayer and maybe we send them to the mission field with a pat on the back and a good luck and we hope things work well. But they are privileged by God to carry the gospel to another country. But have you ever viewed your walk with God as a privilege to carry the gospel where he has planted you to those that you work with? The hardest place to share the gospel is around the people that love you the most. Jesus shows us that in scripture. So within your own family and extended family, that's a mission field. It's a hard one, but it's our mission field. But when we understand that as Christians, we have the privilege, the God given privilege to carry the gospel, man, do your eyes open up to the opportunities that are around you. And so I challenge you church that as we understand that Paul says this, we did it the right way, correctly, in a pure way. We didn't try to flatter you with empty words. We weren't greedy. We didn't desire anything in return. God is our witness. He also said this, as apostles of God, we could have demanded things from you, but that would have caused a burden. So we didn't even do that as we came to this little church. We did not want to burden you as we came to you. So we understand they came to please God, not man. Now you've got to be careful here because as they are approved and entrusted to carry the gospel, there is a correct way to do that. And it is a way that honors God in what we say and how we do it. So it may take time, but we are to carry the truth of the gospel to to others and where the Lord leads you. And we are to please him with how we handle His Word, but we're also to please him with how we handle people. In sharing the word. Paul says we didn't come in there arrogantly and boastfully looking down our noses at you. I know you've met those type of Christians. I have. I don't want to be around that. Paul says, we didn't march into your church, we didn't march into your country looking down our noses thinking we're better than you. We simply wanted to bring to you something that God had entrusted to us, the gospel. And we wanted it to please God above all else, not man. When we think of the work of the Gospel, we should honor others, but we should allow it to honor our God. The work of the Gospel must please the Lord. There's point number three. Look at verses seven and eight. But we were gentle among you. Even as a nurse cherisheth her children. So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls because you were dear to us. The third word is affectionate. What a perfect timing on Valentine's Day, right? Day after Valentine's Day. I know as men, we don't like the words of fondness and tenderness and compassion. But here's what Paul says. He's showing us that soft spot in his heart for those believers in Thessalonia. And he is saying this, that he didn't carry that religious title and he didn't ask them to meet his demands. But he was gentle, like a mother is that nurses her own children. There's some of us can get that word picture of what it's like for a mom to take care of her child. And every demand that that child, usually most of the time, it's the mother that meets that demand. And the mother gives so much of her own self into taking care and rearing and raising their children. That's what Paul says. We loved you like this. We loved you enough not just to take care of your needs, but. But we loved you enough to share the gospel with you and to share our lives with you because you are so dear to us. As Paul writes this letter, these people personally received Paul. He loved them enough to share the gospel and he loved them even more to live out life with him. If you let somebody in your home, that's a guarded and sacred place. And as a pastor, I want you to know the most prized place that I could be in your life is when you say, jeffrey, come to my home and visit me. That's a place that's guarded. And here's what Paul is saying. We not only gave you the gospel, we lived life. We shared our life experiences because we loved you. Do you see that affection on Paul's heart and on his pen here? I love that it's a missionary's heart that you get to do life with the people that you love and you get to love them with the gospel message. But it's a pastor's heart as well. Let me ask you this. Do we have affectionate people in this church? Absolutely, we do. Do we have people in this church that are not so affectionate? Absolutely, we do. Praise be to God. It takes all kind. But here's what God is telling me. Because there's times I can put up that wall and I can be the pastor and then there's times that God breaks down that wall and I see people's heart, or maybe they. And Paul says, this church, we loved you. We loved you enough to give our time and our energy and our effort and our lives, not only to share the gospel, but to live out that time with you. I pray that God would give us an affectionate heart for our brothers and sisters in Christ. I pray that God would give Clifford Baptist Church a heart for sharing the gospel. But I also believe that God will give us a heart for those who. Who are lost. And I pray that God gives us a heart for those that need the gospel message. If you still can in your life, if you can go back and you can say thank you to that person that helped lead you to the Lord, that poured into you, just as Paul is writing about we poured into you. If you can go back and just simply say thank you to that one person that shared the truth of the gospel with you, that led you to the Lord. Please do that. Here's what we understand when we understand that our leaders, our Sunday school teachers, our small group leaders, our mission leaders, our children's Sunday school teachers, our King Jesus kids leaders, our shining lights leaders, Pastor Nathan and Pastor John, Pastor Clyde and Pastor Mike, they have loved king you with the gospel. We have had something for years that many churches starve for people that love you and love you with God's word. And that's what Paul says. We loved you. We did life with you. And you are a vital part of our ministry. I'm grateful for this. Here's what I want to say. May God grow my affectionate heart for Jesus and for those that need Jesus. Here's the fourth word. Look at verses 9 and 10. For ye remember, brethren, that our labor and travail for laboring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you. We preached unto you the gospel of God, your witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and blameably we behaved ourselves. Among you that believe, the fourth word is labor. When we think about the worst work of the gospel, the work of the gospel takes work. And when we understand that God has entrusted it to his church, I try to understand that. It blows my mind. And there are times I want to say, no, not me. I can't do that. I don't want to do that. I have to battle that myself. But when the Lord has given you the task to share the gospel and spread the gospel and love others with the gospel, I can't help but take up that banner and go with it in church. I charge us as believers to continue that work. Paul says this, that I tried to Work so that I couldn't be a burden to you. As Paul uses his own life's example in verse number nine. He says this. That we labored and we travailed. We worked hard. We labored night and day. That we didn't want to be a chargeable. We didn't want to be a burden to the church. So I worked outside of the church so that I could work inside of the church. Many of you don't get a paycheck, But ministry cannot be done without you. And here's what I want you to understand. Paul is saying, I didn't do it for the money. If it ever becomes a money issue, and I'm going to point at myself, for me, you kick me out of this place. You hold me accountable. It's never about money. You will not hear me demand a higher salary, more money, more days off. You will not hear that from me. It can't be about money. But I also don't want to be a burden to you. Paul says, I didn't want to be a burden. So I worked outside and worked night and day. I worked long hours outside of the church so I could work in the church. You may not be on the payroll of Clifford Baptist Church, but I simply want to say this. I cannot do what I do without you doing what you do. That's how the work of the gospel moves forward. And so we labor, some with a paycheck and some not. But for the same reason. It's not for the pay. It's for the glory of the gospel of God. And I want to work with every one of you. It's not just a select few. Not just the pastoral staff or the regular staff or the board of directors or the deacons. No, I want to partner with you and the work of the Gospel ministry in this area that we labor together. We work together because when you do your little part and I do my little part, it's amazing how God will bless both of our parts. But there are some people in here that desire to do everything. And that's not the way it works. If it falls on one person's shoulders, it will fail. Clifford Baptist Church. A personal note. Thank you for taking care of me, but I never want to be a burden to you. It's a joy to labor together in the work of the Gospel of God. I'm grateful that Paul says I worked out so that I could work in and build the church. Paul did not do it for a paycheck. He worked to spread the gospel. And I believe that's why he's one of the greatest missionary, if not the greatest missionary ever in this world. But it takes work and are we willing to endure that work? There's one more word as we close today. Look at verses 11 and 12. As you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth to his children, that you would walk worthy of God, who called you into his kingdom and glory. The last point, point number five. Today, when we think about the work of the gospel, it's a worthy walk. Paul referred earlier to mothers and a nursing mother taking care of her children. And now he refers to the father and what a father does to his children. Now, there are three things that Paul refers to and he mentions them here in verse number 11 that he needs to do for this church, just as a father would do to his children. And the first thing is this. The first thing he did was exhorted encouragement, encourage them in their faith. How many of you need some encouragement along the way in your walk with God? How many of you need to be encouraged to continue on in ministry? Yeah, yeah. If you're in a two and three year old ministry, that can become haywire, right? But listen, he exhorted them, he encouraged them along the way, and I'm grateful for that. This week there have been a couple of you that pulled in beside me and encouraged me, and I'm grateful for that. But what we understand is it takes the encouragement of brothers and sisters, one to another, to continue on in ministry. Paul says this church, I exhorted you, I encouraged you, I came in beside you and gave you exactly what you need. The language here is the idea that you come beside someone and encourage them. All right, let me ask you this. Is there someone that pops in your mind that's a part of this church that you know that's going through a rough season, that you can encourage as a believer? Just nod at me, yes or no. Is there someone that you know needs. Listen, listen, don't pray about it. Don't ask the pastors for permission. Go encourage them to keep on. Paul says this. I had to encourage the church. There's a second thing he said he had to comfort them, giving deep care and compassion and support. And when you put these first two words together, it is that pulling alongside and not only encouraging them, but also giving care for them. There's care that is needed. And so there are people in our midst that we can care for. But there's a third word, and that third word is this is. He charged them. He gave them something to shoot for. How many of us need that goal? How many of us need a target? How many of us need to be said, I need you to do this. And when somebody encourages you or charges you to do that, guess what? You'll go do it. But if nobody tells you what they need, guess what? I got a dear friend in this church. He's not on any committee, he's not on anything, but he calls me every week and says simply this, pastor, what do you need me to do? Give me a goal. And so this week we talked. I need you to go visit a couple people. And guess what? That was done. Maybe today part of my job is giving you that charge. Are you ready for it? Here's your charge, church. Here's our goal as we think about a world that needs Jesus, that needs the Gospel of God. Here is the charge. And guess what? I'm stealing it from Paul. Here is the charge. Verse number 12. That you would walk worthy of God, who hath called you into his kingdom and glory, that is your charge. What does it mean to walk worthy of God? It's not a casual walk to live how you want to, and it's going to be okay, or it's going to be what it's going to be. No, it's not a beneficial walk that will benefit your own growth or your own understanding. No, it's a walk that is worthy of God, and it's got to be important. And here's why I say that. Because not only did he charge those in Thessalonica, he charged the Colossians and the Ephesians as well, to walk worthy of God. And now I'm charging those Cliffordians. Paul tells the colossians in chapter one, verse number 10, that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all, pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. Those are beautiful words. He writes to the church in Ephesus in chapter four, verse number one, saying this I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called. And then to those in Thessalonica, that you would walk worthy of God, who has called you into his kingdom and to his glory. Here's what that means. Clifford Baptist Church. Here's what that means for us. Do you have a life and a talk that match up, that will testify to the goodness of our heavenly Father? And I'm grateful today as we think that our walk and our talk must be consistent to the Word of God. It must match what God would have us to do. But it is a walk that desires to know God and his Word in a more intimate way. If I could boil it down to two words. A walk that is worthy of God is faithful to God and fruitful for God. Faithful and fruitful. And that is the work of missions. This WMU Sunday. Has the Lord jogged something in your heart or in your mind? I'm thankful for a group that pushes mission, focuses on mission. But ultimately it is our job as Christians and believers to take the gospel message to the world. We must live on mission as God has allowed us to carry his gospel as believers. How will we do that? In a God pleasing manner? Will we share it with others in an affectionate way and not just beat them over the head with the Bible thinking? That's going to do the job. Will we love the gospel, but will we love others? To Jesus, it does take honest hard work. And my prayer today is that we will walk worthy of God. Christian, that's a challenge. But maybe you're here today and you don't have that relationship with Jesus. I'm grateful for Paul because in every area of Paul's life, he simply just pointed to Jesus. And I'm just simply gonna say this today. If you are not walking and you don't have a relationship with Jesus, I'm just gonna point you that direction and I'm gonna just say this. He loved you enough to go to an old rugged cross to take your sin there. God's plan of salvation went through his son, Jesus. Not only that he died on a cross, but he rose on the third day and he lives forever and he loves you and he wants a relationship with you today. If you know without a shadow of a doubt where you are sitting, you need Jesus. Here's the invitation. Just come to Him. Just come to him. Turn from your sin. Turn to Jesus and live for Him. Praise be to God. Clifford Baptist Church May we walk worthy of our Lord. Lord, let's pray. Father God, Lord, thank you just for the opportunity, the ability that you give us to carry the gospel message. Lord, I do believe that the days are coming where we will have to stand for you or stand against you in this country. God, will you begin the foundational work in the lives of your people that we can build on a heart that loves the gospel and loves others? There are families in this room, oh God, that you need to bring back together and only the gospel can do that. God, there are wayward children and families in this church that just simply need to come home and the love of the gospel can compel them to come home. God, there's people that need Jesus in this room. And oh God, we just trust your gospel and the truth of it, Lord, to lead that one home to you. As believers today, we want to know you, oh God. We desire to grow and learning more about how we can serve and, and how we can go and how we can support missions. But ultimately, Lord, you're calling every single one of us to go for you. Oh God, lead us I pray, in a moment of invitation, a moment of rededication, a moment of salvation that we come before you today asking that you lead us now in Jesus name. Clifford Baptist Church invites you to join us for worship every Sunday morning at 11am for more information about our church, please call our church office at 434-94-605 55.