Motives in Ministry (1 Thessalonians 2:1-12)

You wouldn't want someone to teach you how to cook if there's

someone who burns all their food.

You wouldn't want someone to tutor you if they fail all their

tests. You don't want someone to teach

you how to hit a baseball. Who's the one known for striking

out? Who would you want to teach you

the Christian life? Who comes to your mind when you

think of a model pastor? Maybe someone you had growing

up, Maybe someone you got to see up close?

There's many that come to mind for me.

And John Bunyan's allegory of the Christian life, Pilgrim's

Progress. The main character Christians

LED into a room where he sees a portrait of a pastor hanging on

the wall, Bunyan wrote. The man whose picture this is,

is 1 of 1000. You see him with his eyes lifted

up to heaven, the best of books in his hand, and the law of

truth written on his lips. This shows that his work is to

know and unfold dark things to sinners.

You see him standing as if he was pleading with men, the world

behind him, a crown hanging over his head.

This shows that by neglecting and despising present things for

the love that he has for his master's service, he is sure to

have glory for his reward in the next World.

Now Bunyan is presenting an allegory of a story of the

Christian life. Why does he include this scene?

Because on our journey from the city of destruction to that

celestial city, we need faithful guides.

We need faithful guides to glory.

One of those guides was the Apostle Paul.

If you have your Bible, turn to 1st Thessalonians.

If you don't have a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand.

Somebody will bring you a Bible right now.

They're ready to go. Bible's at hand for anyone who

needs one. First Thessalonians is in the

New Testament near the end of the Bible.

As we read the text before we get there, just a brief context

which we discussed a little last week.

This church was planted about 3 weeks long.

That's how long the planting journey took the lead up.

Three weeks of preaching in the synagogues on the Sabbath, and

then the church in Thessalonica was born.

Paul was with them for just a few months and then he was run

out of town by the Jews. One day Paul was there teaching,

preaching, meeting with members for discipling, and the next day

he's gone, disappeared. Now we know in the book of Acts

he travelled to Berea, which is about 50 miles away, and he did

the same thing. He went to the synagogue, he

preached the word, people came to faith and the Jews in

Thessalonica heard about this and they hated Paul and his

message so much that they too took that 50 mile trek, followed

him to Berea, to persecute him there.

This is what happens when you preach faithfully.

When you preach faithfully, you are extending an invitation to

your enemies. And that's what Paul did in

First Thessalonians. It seems that Paul's ministry

was under attack. He had just been ministering to

these baby Christians and he's gone.

It seemed that those Jews who could no longer attack him

personally went after his followers.

In chapter 1, if you remember, Paul presented a picture of an

example church, the Church of the Thessalonians.

In chapter 2, Paul presents a portrait of a model minister

which is himself. Listen as I read First

Thessalonians 21 to 12:00. For you yourselves, no brothers

that are coming to you, was not in vain.

But though we had already suffered and been shamefully

treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God

to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much

conflict. For our appeal does not spring

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. 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 labour

and toil we worked 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 and God also.

How holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct

towards you believers. 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 and glory.

Brothers and sisters, that fruitful ministry you saw in

chapter 1 was there because of faithful ministers.

The point of the passage for us is this.

If you're taking notes, write this down.

Follow Paul to walk in a manner worthy of God to glory.

Follow Paul to walk in a manner worthy of God to glory.

On our journey to glory, we need faithful guides.

Friends, Paul is a faithful guide to glory and there's three

ways that we should follow him from the passage.

The first way, his courage, that's verses one and two.

Second, his character, verses three to six.

And third, his conduct, verses 7 to 12.

So courage, character conduct. First follow Paul's courage

verses one to two. Look at verse 14.

You yourselves know, brothers that are coming to you.

Was not in vain. Why might the Thessalonian

Church think that Paul and his missionary teams visit was in

vain? As I mentioned earlier, it seems

Paul's reputation was under attack.

We know the Jews from Thesalonica were jealous of

Paul. They even were so jealous when

he was there ministering they formed a mob and attacked the

house he was staying at. They ran him out of town.

So it should be no surprise that they now attacked his very

character. What else could undermine that

new found faith of the Thessalonian church?

In chapter 1, Paul already reminded the Thessalonians.

Chapter one, verse 5, You know what kind of men we prove to be

among you for your sake. Here he elaborates in chapter 2.

Five times in these verses Paul repeats that the Thessalonians

are his witnesses. Look throughout the passage.

Verse one, you yourselves know. Verse 2 you know verse 5 as you

know verse 9 for you remember verse 10 you are witnesses twice

Paul even appeals to God as witness.

Verse 5 God is witness. Verse 10, you are witnesses and

God also. Sure there are charges against

Paul, but despite the charges, Paul knows and they should know

and God knows He's in the clear. And Paul points first to his

courage. Look at verse 2.

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. You can imagine the scenario.

Perhaps Paul's opponents called Paul a coward.

After all, wasn't he smuggled out in the night in

Thessalonica? Didn't he even have to flee as

far as Athens to get away from these Jews?

Where's Paul now, They ask. Paul responds.

Church, remember my time at Philippi, right before I came to

visit you? They tore off my clothes, they

beat me with rods, they threw me in prison.

That did not stop me from preaching the gospel.

When Paul was in that jail cell in Philippi, he was preaching

the gospel and a Philippian jailer and his whole household

got converted and he baptized them.

Paul was not ashamed of the gospel.

He was not a coward. Even in Thessalonica, Paul

reminds them he declared the gospel in the midst of much

conflict. If Paul was scared of a beating,

he would have quit preaching. He was no coward.

He was courageous and perhaps Christian.

You're sitting there thinking, wow, Paul is extraordinary.

I, on the other hand, am ordinary.

I could never be bold like Paul. Friend, don't miss the source of

his courage. Look at verse 2.

We had boldness in our God, boldness in God.

Paul's boldness didn't arise from within.

The source was external. It was supernatural from God.

During the Reformation in England, Queen Mary required

Thomas Cranmer not only to submit to the Roman Catholic

Church's teaching, but to deny publicly the very Gospel he

preached. She imprisoned him for 30

months, 2 1/2 years, interrogated him often.

He had to watch as his own friends were burned.

His only way out, she told them, the only salvation was through

recantation. Deny the gospel you've preached.

Write it down on a letter. And after 30 months, Cranmer

succumbed to the pressure. He signed the letter of

recantation. It was when he was brought to

the trial to read the document out loud that he shocked the

crowd. In a moment of courage, he

denied his recantation, and he affirmed the gospel once again.

Immediately they seized Cranmer and they burned him at the

stake, but not before he freed that hand, the hand which signed

the recantation, and put it in the fire first.

Friends, that's courage and conflict.

How can we have this courage, this courage to declare the

gospel boldly in the midst of much conflict?

One way is just simple. Ask others to pray specifically

for your courage. You might think that's so

simple, but friend, in the Christian life you never

graduate from needing courage to share the gospel.

Paul himself didn't. He sent this prayer request off

to the Church of Ephesus. He said, pray for me that words

may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the

mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains,

that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak.

Even Paul needed prayer for boldness.

So friend, before you meet a Co worker, before you spend time

with your neighbor or visit family or head onto campus,

reach out to a member of the church, shoot off a quick text.

Ask them to pray for your courage, to share boldly another

way. Share the gospel together.

Paul and Silas preached in Philippi together.

They were beaten in Philippi together.

You know if someone has a cold, you want them to keep their

distance. If someone has courage, you want

some of that to rub off on you. Courage is contagious.

One of my dear friends, Welton, is a bold evangelist.

When I'm with Welton, it's pretty much guaranteed.

I know if we're at a coffee shop or we're at lunch, we're sharing

the gospel with someone. Someone's here in the gospel.

I love spending time with Walton.

It emboldens me in my own evangelism, You know, in my own

neighborhood. Hannan Eyes evangelism has only

been strengthened as other Christian members of the church

are involved. I walked to service today.

Somebody handed me Bibles for my neighbor.

We help each other do this. We help each other.

We strengthen each other. Which church member can you

recruit for your next evangelistic endeavour?

As you share share the gospel in your neighborhood and at your

workplace and at school, who can you recruit to join along?

But what if you're in the midst of conflict right now because of

the courage to share the gospel? What if you're facing opposition

because you're preaching faithfully?

Friend, if that's you, you're in good company.

You follow Paul and the apostles.

You follow the prophets who went before them.

But most importantly, you preach in the presence of God.

Who's with you at the workplace? Who stands by your side in your

neighborhood? Who travels with you on that

vacation to extended family? By the Spirit, Christian, you

have boldness in our God. I hope you've seen Paul was a

courageous preacher. It's because Paul was a man of

character. And for us, we have to ask who

are we on the inside? Point #2 Follow Paul's character

verses 3 to 6. In verses 3 to 6, Paul opens up

his heart for examination. He pops the hood open and he

reveals his motivations. Paul denies that hiding behind

the preacher was really just a man of vice.

There are 6 vices listed in these verses, 2 sets of three.

You can see the first set in verse 3, error, impurity,

deception, and the second set in verses 5 to 6, Flattery, greed,

Vainglory. If Paul's not motivated by vice,

what motivates Paul? Look at verse 4, right in the

middle of those two sets the driving motivation for Paul's

missionary team. Verse 4.

They speak not to please man, but to please God.

How different were Paul, Silas and Timothy from the many

travelling preachers that circulated the 1st century Roman

world? The Thessalonians themselves

would have heard brilliant speakers who gathered crowds

with their Polish preaching. But if you got up close, if you

listen carefully, if you examine their lives, you'd find they

were frauds. Their message was a lie, their

motives impure. They were often associated with

sexual immorality. They tickled your ears with

flattery. They were motivated by greed and

glory and friends. You can find the same speakers

today, sadly. Couple years ago, a celebrity

pastor in New York City was caught in adultery.

What was especially sad was the reaction from non Christians on

a podcast with 14.5 million subscribers.

One non Christian pointed out how he had already critiqued

this preacher before on his podcast.

He said I see what you're doing. You're pretending to be

profound. You're pretending to be pious.

You're pretending to be above it all.

But you're not. You're just one of us friends.

That was not Paul's ministry. There were no skeletons in

Paul's closet. The man you saw was the man you

got. Look at verse four.

He says this is because. Paul was approved by God to be

entrusted with the gospel. So when he preached, it was not

to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.

Paul was approved by God, He was entrusted by God, and so his aim

was to please God. His ministry and his motivations

were all about God. He preached to men, but he

didn't preach to please men. He knew he was accountable to

the one who weighed his heart, his thoughts, his desires, his

aspirations, his dreams. There's a God who knows you, the

real you, the you you are. When no one's watching the you,

no one else can see. Friend, if you're not a

Christian, how does that make you feel?

When the atheist Christopher Hitchens was asked about the

possibility of God's existence, he said I think it would be

rather awful if it was true. He said if there was a

permanent, total, round the clock divine supervision and

invigilation of everything you did, you would never have a

waking or sleeping moment when you weren't being watched and

controlled and supervised by some celestial entity from the

moment of your conception to the moment of your death, Hitchens

said. It would be like living in North

Korea if you're not in Christ. The gaze of God can only be a

terror because we've each done things that we know are wrong.

We've each said things that we wish we could take back.

We've each thought things we're ashamed of.

But Paul was not afraid of God's gaze after his conversion on the

road to Damascus. Paul knew he was approved by God

because he had trusted in Christ.

He knew that God isn't just aware of every waking moment,

He's aware of every motivation. But he knew that God's not like

some picky driving examiner eager to fail you for any error.

It was because Paul was approved by God and entrusted by God that

he sought to please God. It was the fear of the Lord that

drove him to God, not away from God.

Church, this is what you want your pastors to be made of.

You don't want pastors who fear you.

You don't want pastors that you can manipulate and control.

You need pastors who fear the Lord more than they fear you,

who care more about what the Lord thinks of their sermon than

what you think of their sermon. You need men who can stand

before the congregation with a clear conscience, men whose

ministry flows from their pure motives.

That's what you need. And I wonder, Christian, as you

consider these six vices that Paul denies.

He says I've had nothing to do with those.

Are there any that you see that you need to confess?

If they're our friend, talk. Talk to another member of the

church about that. The Christian life until glory

is character refinement. We're constantly seeing new

aspects of us that we thought we had mortified and that we need

to continue confessing and giving to the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, members of this church, I wonder what your

ministry in this church springs from.

Look at verse 3. That's the the phrase he uses.

His ministry didn't spring from error.

In other words, why do you do what you do?

Or more specifically, who do you do it for?

Is your ministry in this church to please man or is it to please

God? The Puritan John Flavell said

the non Christian fears man not God.

The strong Christian fears God not man.

The weak Christian fears man too much and God too little.

I wonder which one are you? How can you tell?

Fear of man goes by many names. Kids, we often call it shyness.

Teenagers goes by peer pressure. Adults we call it codependency.

It has many disguises. What are the signs?

Here's a few signs of fear of man from Ed Welch's book on the

topic. When people are big and God is

small, 1 is over commitment. Are you unable to say no?

People would just look at you and think, wow, they are just

serving the church. They never stop.

But inwardly you are just caught up in it.

You can't stop. It's a sign of fear of man.

Do you fish for compliments? Do you ever make small

compromises to fit in? Just little ones, little

adjustments to your character just to be around the people

you're with? Do you have a private life that

differs from your public life? Do you have a fear that at any

moment you'll be exposed as an impostor?

Those are all signs of the fear of man.

How can we find freedom from the fear of man?

Freedom from fear of man is only found in fearing the Lord.

The fear of the Lord is that fear that Spurgeon said that

leans towards the Lord. It is only a fear that a

believer can experience, a fear that marvels at God's goodness

in the Gospel. A fear that knows that in Christ

the sun has risen and God's face shines upon you.

It's a fear that trust God, even though he knows the depth of

your your darkness, He actually delights in you as one of your

children, as one of his children.

It's a fear that seeps into every aspect of the soil of your

heart and produces good fruit like joy and peace and

assurance. A fear that the psalmist says

the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him.

Paul feared the Lord. He wasn't a flatterer, He wasn't

greedy. He was a man of character.

His courageous preaching was just the tip of the iceberg

floating underneath. Paul was a man of substance, a

man who could refer to his own character and write the

Thessalonians in verse 5 and say, you know, God is witness.

That was the apostle Paul and friends, he was an apostle, but

there's principles we should derive from this for our own

ministry church. This is the type of character

you should expect from your pastors.

If you join another church, if you ever leave this area, join a

church across town. It's what you should expect from

those pastors. Paul actually gave Timothy 15

qualifications for pastors in First Timothy 3, 15.

One is about the man's ability to teach.

He doesn't need to be the best teacher.

He doesn't even need to be a good teacher.

Paul just says he needs to be able to teach, just able to

teach. In other words, he needs to be

able to open the Bible, read from it, explain it so that you

understand it. He must do that.

But friends, that's just one of the qualifications.

The other 14 all concern character. 14 qualifications

about character, one about teaching ability.

Brother, if you're here and you aspire to be a pastor, let your

training be appropriately weighted.

Yes, you should aim to make progress in your preaching.

Study theology, read good books. Do that, but don't mess with

character. Don't miss that.

Are there cracks right now that you're aware of in your

character? How many are there?

How deep do they go? Who knows about them?

Can you say of those who know you best?

If you're married, your wife, if you have kids, your kids, you're

best friends. You know my character.

Can you say before God you're my witness?

That's what Paul did. He wasn't perfect, but there was

no bait and switch. His motives were pure.

He practiced what he preached. He was the same man from the

pulpit as he was in your living room.

He was a man of character, and his character could be examined

on the basis of his conduct point #3 Third and finally,

follow Paul's conduct. Paul uses 3 familial metaphors

to describe his conduct in verses 7 to 12.

And we're used to kind of pictures of a pastor in

Scripture, a soldier. We're used to that one.

We just read a few, a shepherd with their sheep.

We're familiar with that. Even a father I think we can

resonate with. But he uses 3 here.

And I think the first two might surprise you.

First he points to an infant, then a nursing mom, and then a

father. You can see the last two pretty

easily. Verse 7, nursing mom, verse 11,

a father. But the first one takes a little

more work. So look at verse 7.

It begins with a contrast. But we were gentle among you.

The word in the ESV translates it as gentle.

We were gentle, but this could also be translated as infants.

The difference is just one letter, 1 little letter in the

Greek epioi or nepioi if you're interested.

And the manuscript evidence for both suggests that nepioi infant

is the earlier one that should be adopted.

I think it fits the context better too.

Infants. One reason because as you've

already seen, Paul seems to love these sets of three throughout

this passage. So this fits with three familial

metaphors for the pastor. It also is a contrast to the

previous section. So look at verse 7.

But Paul's contrasting with what he just said.

Paul wasn't greedy for money. He wasn't hungry for glory.

He could have made demands. But verse 7, he was innocent

among them like an infant. Paul's not saying infants are

sinless. That's not his point.

He's saying they're innocent. You know, we have many babies at

Trinity Baptist Church. None of them yet are greedy for

glory or gain. They mainly just want their

mother's milk, and that's where Paul goes next.

Verse 7, the second metaphor. Paul says like a nursing mother

taking care of her own children. How is a nursing mother a

picture of a faithful pastor? Have you ever thought about that

before in your life? Nursing mother, faithful pastor,

A nursing mom conforms her own life to meet the needs of her

new child. Many of you have done this.

She doesn't take, but she gives from herself during the first

month of a baby's life, which, Lord willing, soon in October,

we're going to experience that for the 4th time.

Those sleepless nights. The baby demands milk at least

eight times a day. If you're doing the math, that's

every three hours. Every three hours the baby cries

out. And though the mother is

exhausted from sleep deprivation, she does not just

feed the baby. She snuggles with the baby, she

plays with the baby, she nurtures the baby, she

sacrifices for that baby. And when that baby cries at 2:00

AM, she gets out of bed or she elbows her husband.

She says get out of bed, get the baby and she feeds that baby

because she cares. That's the word Paul uses in

verse 7 care. It's the same word in

Deuteronomy 22 six to describe a mother bird warming her baby

birds. A nursing mom loves her

children. Paul says the Thessalonians,

verse 8. 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. Paul gave the gospel.

He gave his very life because he loved them.

That's why verse 9, he laboured night and day.

I think there's still some play on the nursing mother idea here.

Night and day in Thessalonica Paul preached by day and he made

tents by night. He laboured and toiled for them,

so that even though he had the right to be paid as Christ

commanded, he didn't make use of that right because he didn't

want any confusion between them about his motives.

He wanted to make it clear, verse 10, that before them and

before God, His conduct was verse 10.

Holy, righteous, blameless pastors must not only share the

gospel, but themselves. Shepherds must smell like the

sheep. Their life is show and tell.

They open the Word, they open up their lives.

They speak, they show, they say this is how to live.

Then you watch them live. They must not only preach to

you, but love you. Brothers and sisters, members of

Trinity Baptist Church, on behalf of the elders.

I didn't ask them, but I know it's true.

We love you. You're very dear to us.

So you should reach out to any of your elders, to Bobby, to

Brandon right there, to Ashok, to myself.

Reach out to us. You don't have to be in a crisis

to spend time with your pastors. Reach out, we'd be glad to spend

ourselves for your sake and brothers aspiring to pastoral

ministry. Learn from the nursing mothers

in the congregation. Watch them care for and nurture

their children. See their sacrifice and their

affection. Observe how dear their children

are to them, and you're learning how to be a faithful pastor as

you do so. Members of Trinity Baptist

Church, this is how we should care for one another Now.

Sadly, this type of care is increasingly rare in America.

Sharing ourselves is not a strong American trait.

Derek Thompson, who actually lives in Durham.

Writing for The Atlantic, he describes what he calls the rise

of social isolation in America. He said in 2020, 374% of all

restaurant traffic came from off premises customers, that is,

from take out and delivery. That's up 61% before COVID and

according to data gathered by OpenTable.

Derek mentioned that solo dining has increased by 29% in just the

past two years and the top reason given was the need for

more me time. More concern for me equals less

concern for my brothers and sisters.

So if our church is going to be a caring community, we must swim

against the current cultural moment.

Brothers and sisters, don't live a socially isolated life.

Be someone who invites others into your daily activities.

Be someone who opens up your home, your dinner table, your

routines, your very life. And what you'll find is, as you

pour yourself out for the sake of others, they become very dear

to you. Friend, if you're a Christian,

you're not a member of a church. You can't have this depth of

community without commitment. Who do you belong to?

Who's looking out for your soul? Who are you caring for?

The church is a family. Who's expecting you at the

dinner table? Who's waiting for you if you

don't come home at 11:00 PM? We need to care for one another.

The 3rd and the final metaphor Paul uses is in verses 11 and

12. Look at verses 11 and 12.

He says, For you know how like a father with his children.

We exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you.

Here's Paul's depiction of a faithful father.

He's present. He instructs his children.

He gives them individual attention.

Look at that, Paul says, we exhorted each one of you.

He encourages his children. He's a tender father.

He knows their dispositions. He knows when they're faint

hearted and when they need comfort.

He also verse 12 charges his children 2.

Walk in a manner worthy of God, God who calls you into his own

Kingdom and glory. For Paul, this is what it was

all about. His whole ministry was aimed at

pleasing God and then helping others walk with God in a manner

worthy of God. This is the aim of every

faithful pastor, to please God and to help you walk in a manner

worthy with God. Friends, Paul is an incredible

model to follow, but Paul can't save you.

Paul said of himself. Follow me as I follow Christ.

As you look at this passage, every attribute that you

consider that you want to emulate, this is just the fruit

of a man who's being conformed by grace into the image of

another, into the image of Jesus Christ himself.

Friend, if you're not a Christian, can you say, like

Paul, I'm walking in a manner worthy of God?

Can you say with Paul how holy and righteous and blameless was

my conduct? Or do you see cracks in your

character? Do you see a double life even

when you don't want to? Do you see how you've been

controlled by living to please others, by desires for more and

more and more money? By greed, by hungering for

glory, recognition, fame. Paul actually saw these things

in his own life before coming to Christ.

He was not perfect. Paul reflects on himself and he

says, I was the chief of sinners.

So if you're a Sinner here, Paul actually says, I was worse than

you. I was the chief.

You don't beat the teeth. He was the chief of sinners,

which is why Paul needed the very gospel he preached.

And so do you, friend. If you're not a Christian, the

only one that can save you, the only one that was perfect,

righteous, holy, blameless, innocent, was the God man, Jesus

Christ, who died on the cross for those sinners who sought

their own glory, who sought to please man alone.

And he rose from the dead and he's risen now, and he will

return. And he invites all of you as we

sang just moments ago in Jesus, strong and kind.

If you're lost, he invites you come to him.

And He came to us on the cross. Friend, if you've not trusted in

this Saviour, if you've not repented of your sins, then

wrath remains upon you. You will not receive glory with

God at the end, but judgement. So turn to Him, trust in Him.

And brothers and sisters, this is what it's all about for us.

God calls us into His own Kingdom and glory.

You're heading to glory. If you follow Paul, you can walk

in a manner worthy of God to glory.

Earlier this week, a faithful guide, faithful pastor went to

glory. His name was John MacArthur.

He was the pastor at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley,

CA for 56 years. Wow.

Here's what John said about glory in a sermon about 46 years

ago. So maybe just four years into

his ministry, here's what he said.

He said, my son always tells me the first person I want to see

in heaven is Samson. And John reflected, That's hero

worship, I suppose. John said, ask for me.

I want to talk to David. I've always loved David.

And of course, I need to see Paul and Silas and Barnabas and

John. I just can't believe it

sometimes. Do you realize that we're only a

split second away from being with all of them?

John said, is it? It's incredible.

Sometimes it feels like they're so far away, but then someone he

knows dies. And John said, I think, wow, I

was looking at this all wrong. And John said the most important

reason I want to be with Christ, I just want to tell him and I

don't even know how to say it right.

Lord, thank you. I blew it so many times.

I failed so many times. My life was incomplete.

But I just want you to know that I really do love you.

I won't know how to say thanks properly, but maybe, just maybe,

something I did somewhere along the way made him smile.

And if it did, well, that would be everything.

I just want to be there. I've loved him, I've longed for

him, I've prayed with him, communed with him, and served

him, however limited I've been all my life.

I've desperately wanted to know His fullness, and more than

anything else, that's what I want to know.

His fullness and to experience His presence completely, without

hindrance, without hang ups, without the flesh in the way,

with no more obstacles. John preached that sermon 50

years ago and he walked in a manner worthy of God, and today

he's home in glory, where we will soon be if we've trusted

Christ. Let's pray.

Father, we are grateful for faithful models in the faith for

us to follow. Lord, we praise you for the life

of Paul, for his consistent character, for all the ways he

preached Christ even when he was persecuted.

Lord, we pray for us that our hearts would be such that we

could say before men and before you that we're holy and we're

blameless because we're in Him. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.