Latest / HBCWestminster / Not to Please Man, But to Please God - 1 Thess 2:1-12

Transcript

Not to Please Man, But to Please God - 1 Thess 2:1-12 · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  1 Thessalonians chapter 2. We said last week that our nation's churches are plagued with those who claim the name but who don't actually believe the story. Those who claim the title but don't actually live it out. Our churches are full of counterfeit gospels, counterfeit Christianity. 1 Thessalonians describes people like us. Real people with real problems who need the real gospel. It cuts through the act. It's for people who are tired of church pretending. Believers who are okay letting people know that their lives, their jobs, their marriages, and their kids aren't perfect.
• 0:34
  Believers who need a Saturday evening Savior, not the Sunday morning paper Savior for people who pretend like they never sin. Last Sunday we said that if these words are truly God's words and if the gospel really is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe, then we would expect it to work. If it's the real gospel, it will transform our hearts, our minds, our lives, and it will have influence on those within the church, on other churches, and even in the community in which we dwell.
• 1:05
  Well, we pick up in chapter 2 and verse 1. Our text this morning goes through verse 12 and allow me to read it. We'll begin. Chapter 2 verse 1 says, 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.
• 1:28
  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, not to please man, but to please God, who tests our hearts. 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, but we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.
• 1:58
  So being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own selves because you had become very dear to us. For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil. We work night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you while we proclaim to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses in God also. How holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you.
• 2:26
  and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. Would you pray with me? Lord, we do ask blessing of the reading, hearing, and preaching of Your Word. May You be glorified, God. Send Your Holy Spirit to help us to discern truth from error. Teach us according to Your Spirit and according to the words of this book. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Do you care about other people's opinions?
• 3:00
  Whose opinion do you care about? Whose opinion of you would you say matters to you the most? We try to teach our kids from very early age that other people's opinions don't matter. But that's hard to hold on to when kids at school are so mean. We tell them sticks and stones, right? But man, words hurt too. Words will never hurt me is not a true statement. There have been words that have been said to me that are so damaging. To be honest with you, I'd have rather been hit by a rock.
• 3:32
  They hurt. People's opinions of us hurt. One of my sons this week was being made fun of by another kid in his class for his crooked teeth. I just thought, you know, taking him to the orthodontist. Orthodontist hasn't said it's time to get braces yet. He'll get braces. But he was hurt. He was hurt by it. Another kid in his class and junior hires, as you guys know, are rotten.
• 3:58
  They can be rotten. They're wonderful and I love them. Junior high, of all the demographics in the church, I believe is the most strategic. It's the most fun to minister to. But man, they can be so mean. And he came home from school and he was hurt by it. This boy in his PE class or whatever that was just making fun of him. He said, Dad, what am I supposed to do? What do I say? What do I do? And I was proud of him. He handled it really well.
• 4:25
  He didn't retaliate. He didn't strike back in kind. He didn't do that. He just said, Dad, what am I supposed to say? And I said, well, if you can let it roll off your back, then let it roll off. If you need to tell him to stop, then tell him to stop. What if he doesn't stop? Well, then you tell him, you know, someday I'll get braces, but you'll be ugly forever. He said, Dad, can I really say that? And I said, absolutely, you can say that. Make him cry, son. Make him cry.
• 4:58
  You know, Hallie came back to me this week. Hallie came back to me. She said, are you kidding me, Pastor Danny? She said, you are not to repay evil for evil. You have given your son bad advice. I had to go back. Day before yesterday, I went back to Zach. I said, Zach, I probably gave you bad advice. You're probably not supposed to do that. You know, in my heart, I'm thinking, you know what? Keep making fun of my teeth and I'll knock yours out. That's what I kept thinking. Like, but that's probably not how we should respond. I did share a story with him though. I hope that comforts him.
• 5:29
  I said, Zach, I don't know if you're aware of this. I don't know if you know this. But I said, your father, I am bald. I'm bald. And he's like, yeah, I noticed. I noticed. I said, you know, Zach, what's weird is, and I'm like the fraction of the percentile of humanity. I went bald when I was 16. I was 16 years old. Most men, you know, 30s, 40s.
• 5:54
  They have some massive midlife crisis. They lose their hair. They don't know what to do. It becomes such a part of their identity that they really do. I mean, they suffer for it. I was 16 years old. My senior pictures, I had a receding hairline. I was made fun of a lot. And I had to decide from a very early age whether I was going to let other people's opinion of me matter to me. I had to decide how much I was going to allow.
• 6:20
  their mocking and jesting and all of that to hurt, whether I was going to let it hurt or whether I was going to strengthen my own heart and mind and determine my own value. I've met a lot of people who say they don't care what other people think. Everybody says that I'm not one of those people who cares what other people think. You know, I've discovered that very few actually mean that most, it seems just use that statement as an excuse to be mean. They want to keep being mean. And so they'll say, well, I don't care what other people think as if they're bragging about it. Most, I think.
• 6:52
  cover their rudeness by saying, well, I'm just not a people person. Well, no, I don't think that's it. I think you're just rude. Many use that statement to justify their complete lack of self-control. Beloved church, that's sin. If you lack self-control, it's not because you don't care what other people think. If you lack self-control, it's because you don't care what God thinks. In verse four of our passage this morning, you see it there. It's open on your lap. Look at it. Verse four says, as we have been
• 7:25
  approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak. And look at the next phrase. Not to please man, but to please God. To please God. I have a friend who states it often this way. Where do you get your strokes? Where do you get your strokes? Whose opinion of you matters? Another friend said very few people's opinion matter. He was telling me, if your wife thinks you're the man, it doesn't matter what everybody else thinks.
• 7:55
  If your wife thinks you're the man, Danny, who cares what everybody else thinks? And that's true. But what about the opinion of the Lord? Do I concern myself with God's opinion of me? Because if I can get to the place where I'm okay with people laughing at me, there will be no end to what I can accomplish. If you can get to the place where you're okay, if people are making fun of you, and honestly, just you can let that roll off.
• 8:22
  There will be no end to what you can do. The same is true in the kingdom. If your heavenly Father's smiles mean more to you than man's laughter, you will become unstoppable. If the Father's smiles matter to you more than mankind's laughter, there's nothing you can't accomplish through His Holy Spirit. In our passage this morning, the Apostle Paul begins the body of his letter to the church. Chapter 1, you'll remember from last week, he commended the church for being truly called out.
• 8:51
  of the sinful culture in which they live. The gospel transformed their lives to the point that they became the model church in their region. Even though they were still babies in Christ, they became the model. In chapter 2, he changes gears slightly, reminding the church that because the gospel had been entrusted to them, they had a responsibility to entrust it to others. We know that the Lord calls all people to himself. Men and women, rich and poor.
• 9:19
  Noble and common, powerful and weak, Coke people and Pepsi people, mountain people and beach people, shoe wearers and sandal wearers, extroverts and introverts. But no matter who God has designed you to be, if you have been entrusted with the gospel, then you have also been given the task of entrusting that gospel to others. It doesn't matter whether you're a people person or not. If you've been entrusted with the gospel, you have been called by God, commissioned by the Lord to entrust that gospel.
• 9:48
  to others the the message this morning is a challenge for the church to speak knowing that the message we preach is foolishness in the eyes of the world knowing that the opening of our mouths will bring about the persecution of man and yet not to please man but to please god we become ambassadors of christ to a lost and dying world if you're taking notes i have three points this morning the first verses one and two talk about how we speak how we speak matters
• 10:18
  How we speak matters. And notice in verse one, for you yourselves know brothers that are coming to you was not in vain. How you approach people when you're about to entrust them with the gospel, how you approach people matters. And notice how he says our coming to you. That phrase coming to you literally could be translated coming in.
• 10:43
  Among you it's the same idea that john chapter 1 verse 14 has when it says that the word became flesh and dwelt among us That jesus setting aside of his own glory came took on the form of a man and came in among us. That's the idea The apostle paul was saying when I came to you. I did not preach the gospel to you from afar This was not distance learning. I came and lived among you
• 11:12
  I became one of you. Paul didn't just preach the gospel. He became the gospel. And Jesus Christ in the same way became a man laying aside his eternal glory and position. He became our servant, Scripture says, and even ultimately became our sin. To whom are you becoming the gospel? To whom are you living it out? To whom are you willing to set aside your own glory, although it is small?
• 11:47
  okay our glory doesn't amount to much but to whom are you setting aside your own glory and becoming the gospel willing to take the form of a servant in order to proclaim the one who became sin for us that's what the apostle paul says he became one of them and he continues in verse 2 says but though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at philippi as you know we had boldness
• 12:14
  And our God noticed as he came among them, he also proclaimed the word of God boldly among them. And even in the midst of being shamefully treated, that phrase shamefully treated means humiliated, publicly, outrageously treated with the intent of bringing shame. That's how they were treated.
• 12:34
  As we discussed last week in Acts 16, Paul and Silas had been beaten, falsely accused, imprisoned, humiliated publicly in Philippi, all on their way to Thessalonica. That's what they endured in order to reach this city, and yet they were undeterred. Their courage didn't come from their own fortitude. Their boldness, verse 2 says, was boldness in their God. Boldness in their God.
• 13:05
  As Ephesians 6, verse 10 says, they became strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. As he would later say in 2 Corinthians 12, Paul's personal weakness became the power of Christ. And we have been given that same power. If you feel weak in your declaration of the Gospel, praise God, because in your weakness, God has proved strong. Don't let your weakness, your fear,
• 13:38
  deter you from doing what is right willfully publicly humiliated and he says we became bold in our god and he continues we became bold we had boldness in our god verse 2 says to declare to you the gospel of god in the midst of much affliction to declare to you the gospel here's something i learned this week i was previously unaware of
• 14:02
  That phrase, we declared to you the gospel, literally means, an actual literal rendition means freedom of speech. We had freedom of speech. Now, this is not biblical backing for the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights and freedom of speech. That's not where we get that as Americans, okay? That's a whole different thing. But isn't it interesting that he said our speech was free? We were not shackled.
• 14:33
  or bound. We declared it without bonds, freedom of speech. They were completely unencumbered. They declared the gospel openly and fearlessly. Once we have been entrusted with the gospel, how do we share it with others? How do we share it? First, by laying aside our own glory the way that Christ did for the sake of others hearing the good news. It's not about us. It's about him getting to know them.
• 15:01
  Second, we declare it with boldness, even in the midst of persecution, if need be, and public humiliation. We may not always have the type of freedom in this country that we enjoy. There may be times, and you feel that sentiment growing of negativity and hostility toward the gospel and his church. There may not be times where I can stand and publicly proclaim the truth without fear of being made fun of, mocked, and even imprisoned that may come. We pray that it would not. But even then, church, we'll declare it with boldness.
• 15:34
  Last, we exercise our freedom of speech, unencumbered, open, and fearless. How we speak matters. But notice he continues, verses 3 and 4 say, that we speak matters. That we speak matters. You notice in these two verses, there is a three-step progression. Verse 3 says, our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive. And notice this progression. But just as we have been approved by God,
• 16:02
  To be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak. Three steps. Approved. Entrusted. Speak. The Apostle Paul had been approved. He was not self-appointed. He was not man-appointed. His commission and apostleship had come from God himself. The authority with which he spoke was God's authority. And our approval and authority are the same. We need not concern ourselves with the approval of man.
• 16:34
  Because we already have the approval of one far greater. 1 Corinthians 4, verse 5 says, each one will receive his commendation from God. It's his opinion that matters and no one else's. If we have been approved by God, then who cares who disapproves? And if we've been approved, notice it says, then we will be entrusted. We have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. The apostle was a man under God's calling.
• 17:04
  and command. He was commissioned to become missionary to the Gentiles, preaching the gospel, establishing churches to write a bulk of the New Testament. He had been entrusted with a heavy and glorious task. And brothers and sisters, so have we. We are now the missionaries to the ends of the earth. We are those jars of clay filled with the glorious gospel to be poured out.
• 17:28
  for the nations you have been approved by god because of the blood of his son you have been entrusted with the gospel your jar clay worthless and meaningless has been filled with something eternally valuable to be poured out for the sake of the nations and because of that we should also speak verse 4 says to be entrusted with the gospel so we speak not to please man but to please god who tests our hearts the apostle paul knew
• 17:59
  that the gospel was not meant to die with him. And it's not meant to die with you either. I shudder to think that the journey that the gospel has taken for the last 2,000 years as it has been passed on and passed on and passed on and passed on, all of these, if you can imagine it this way, like streets on a map, all of these through streets eventually passed on to us only to die because we are a cul-de-sac. Can you imagine?
• 18:33
  What if at the head of your personal street, there's a sign, a yellow sign that says not a through street, like the gospel was given to you to be passed on. But we've put up a roadblock and said this far and no farther. The apostle Paul knew I've been approved by God. I've been entrusted with the gospel. And so I speak not to please man, but to please God. If you're in Christ church, then you have been approved.
• 19:00
  If you've been approved, then you have been entrusted. And if you've been entrusted, then you must speak. You must speak. So how we speak matters. That we speak matters. Notice third in the bulk of our passage, why we speak matters. Why we speak. The motivation counts. The apostle in this passage gives his motivation for coming to Thessalonica. But first, he dispels some myths about why he came. Look at verse five. It says, for we never came with words of flattery, as you know.
• 19:32
  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. Why did the apostle Paul come to Thessalonica? Was it for flattery? He says, no. Was it for money? No. Was it for fame? No. You don't become a pastor for the money, right? I mean, we even scoff at that. It's like, well, yeah. I mean, if I was in it for the money, I'd do something else.
• 20:03
  And don't get me wrong, this is not a complaint. I love it here. I can't believe, honestly, I cannot believe how well taken care of our staff is. I love it. In fact, a couple of Januaries ago at one of our annual meetings, I said this in front of the congregation. I said, if one of the staff ever complains that they're not being taken care of, tell me which one, I'll rip off their arm and beat them with it. Right?
• 20:26
  Just because I do, I believe that we have been called and I cannot believe we get to work for such a gracious church, a generous church. So this is not a complaint. He says, I didn't come to you for money. That's not why I came. Didn't come to you to flatter you or to flatter me. I wasn't trying to deceive anybody. That's not why I came. 1 Peter 5, verse 3, talking about shepherds, pastors. He says, do not shepherd the flock of God under compulsion or for sordid gain.
• 20:58
  That's not why we come. Then why did the Apostle Paul come to Thessalonica? And he gives the answer in verse 8. Why did he come? So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share not only the gospel, but our very selves. Affectionately desirous of you. The Apostle Paul came because of genuine affection and love. And he describes it two ways. First, like a nursing mother.
• 21:30
  Look back at verse 7. But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. Being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own selves because you would become very dear to us. You remember, brothers, our labor and toil. We worked night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses. God also, how holy and righteous.
• 21:59
  and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. In my opinion, some of the tenderest of all of the apostles' writings. He likens himself to a nursing mother. And of all people on earth, nursing moms know how their bodies are not their own. Until their children are grown, a nursing mom's body is basically a jungle gym.
• 22:26
  completely at the disposal of their baby. For the first months of a child's life, 100% of its sustenance comes from its mother. It's not like a mom can just say, I'm done. Especially back then, now you're like, oh no, Formula One. You just go to Walmart and you're like, I'm done. But not then. 100%, if that kid doesn't eat, he doesn't eat. If he doesn't eat from his mom, that's it. 100% of its sustenance. Man, can you remember?
• 22:56
  When your kids were still nursing, the care that your wife showed, the soft voice, the slow movements. I remember at times scaring the crud out of my little boys simply because I moved fast. They twitch and like, wait, because they're just not used to that. Even quick movements scared them. I can still hear my wife's soft voice, gentle, slow.
• 23:26
  The multiple feedings each night when those babies were brand new, two of my three kids were enormous when they were born. They had to eat constantly. They still do. 16 years later, man, they are still eating. And I just, can you imagine every three hours, every four hours for months? And then at the end of that, her being willing to do that again, to start over for months, every three, four hours.
• 23:59
  having that kid within 10 feet of her all the time. I can still hear middle of the night. I can still hear the little sound of our babies breathing and eating and squeaking in the middle of the night with the lights off the way that she cared for them. What a picture of the pastor's relationship with the church. Gentle, slow moving, providing sustenance. His body is not his own.
• 24:29
  He eats so that others may eat. Can you imagine? What a picture. What a vivid picture. But that's not where the apostle ends. He also likens himself to a father. Did you catch that? Pick up in verse 11. For you know how like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom.
• 24:54
  and glory. There is a massive difference between the care that a mother gives and the care that a father gives. A massive difference. I have no idea what it's like to raise daughters. God never entrusted me with one. But I'll tell you, with my sons, my existence mattered not for the first few years of their lives. The first few years, they didn't care one way or the other whether I was there. Everything they wanted was from mom.
• 25:25
  Every owie, every need that they had was mommy. It was never daddy. It was only daddy if mommy wasn't around. They would settle for me for the first few years. But what's been interesting is as they've grown out of that kind of toddler phase into being boys and then into being young men, as they've grown into that, I'm being consulted more. I am being asked for advice more often, way more than before they were three.
• 25:56
  Then it was mom, and now it's dad. As they've grown, my role as their father has had greater and greater significance. As my sons develop more and more independence and begin to interact with the world on their own, my advice, my counsel is sought to a greater degree. They don't need their owies kissed as much anymore. Their owies now are hospital trips. They need to be told the truth, sometimes even the brutal truth, about how the world works.
• 26:30
  They need to be told at some point to put on their big boy pants and get to work. This is the job of the father. And notice how he even contrasts that in verse 11. He says, I, like a father with his children, exhorted you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God. There have been times where I have eye to eye conversations with my boys.
• 26:53
  And they really are closer and closer and closer to eye to eye. I mean, we're looking level at each other and saying, this is what you need to do. This is what you need to tell your friends. This is what you need to tell your teacher. Let me explain to you how to treat young ladies that matters. You don't treat them like your buddies. They're not your buddies, right? You have respect for them and for their parents.
• 27:17
  This is how the world works. And that's more like what he says, exhorting, encouraging, charging you to walk in a manner worthy of God. I use this proverb frequently, Proverbs 27, 6, where it says, wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. Wounds from a friend can be trusted.
• 27:40
  But an enemy multiplies kisses. He says, not only was I like a nursing mother to you, gentle, nurturing, sustaining, but I was also like a father to you. I was willing to tell you the truth. I was willing to tell you the truth. And you can trust me because I'm willing to say the hard things. You know, your high school kids mostly get lousy advice from their friends. The advice of high schoolers is the worst. I mean, it is the worst.
• 28:11
  Follow your heart. No, the heart is deceitful and wicked above all things. Beyond cure. Don't follow your heart. It's going to deceive you. There's a way that seems right to a man. Follow that way. That's not what Proverbs says. There's a way that seems right to a man, but its end is destruction. Don't go that way. The advice of your parents can be trusted. Why? Because they'll tell you what they don't want to hear. What doesn't sound fun.
• 28:42
  Whatever the hardest thing is, that's probably what God is calling you to do. And that advice can be trusted because it's from a friend. But an enemy multiplies kisses. The Apostle Paul exhorted the church. He encouraged them. He charged the church to walk like they were supposed to walk. And in both of these instances, whether he was treating them like a nursing mother or whether he was the truth-telling father, his motivation was always a genuine love for those people. The same is true for us.
• 29:14
  We don't share the gospel for the money or for the fame, but because our genuine love, sincere love for the people the Lord has called us to. Church, where do you get your strokes? Whose opinion of you matters? If your answer is man's opinion, you'll never speak. You'll never open your mouth. Only those who have decided that the smiles of the Father are greater than the laughter of man will truly be able to accomplish everything the Lord has planned for them. Amen?
• 29:44
  Amen. Let me pray. Lord, we are so grateful to be here this morning to hear from your word, to sing praise to your name. And Lord, as we worship now, be pleased and honored. God, I pray that we would focus on, remember, be reminded of heavenly smiles from our heavenly Father. And may your opinion of us matter above all else. May we speak and encourage and evangelize, not to please man, but to please God.
• 30:13
  Lord, we want to hear well done, good and faithful servant, even if we have to endure mockery and suffering before that. Thank you, Lord. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.