Gospel Motivation (1 Thessalonians 2:1-12)

1 Thessalonians chapter 2 1 through 12.

1 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

For you yourself know, brothers and sisters, that our visit with you was not without result.

On the contrary, after we had previously suffered and were treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, we were emboldened by our God to speak the gospel of God to you in spite of great opposition.

For our exhortation didn't come from error or impurity or an intent to deceive.

Instead, just as we've been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please people, but rather God, who examines our hearts.

For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy motives.

God is our witness.

And we didn't seek glory from people, either from you or from others.

Although we could have been a burden as Christ's apostles, instead we were gentle among you as a nurse nurses her own children.

We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you'd become dear to us.

For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters, working night and day so that we would not burden any of you.

We preached God's gospel to you.

You're witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believers.

As you know, like a father with his own children, we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to live worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

Let's pray.

Lord, I thank you so much for this morning.

I thank you for this amazing church body and these men and women who make it up.

And I thank you, Lord, for what you have been doing, are doing, and will continue to do.

I ask that you would fill me with your spirit to teach your word, that you would fill the hearers with your spirit to rightly divide and discern what is you, that we would grow closer to you, that we would be emboldened and empowered by your spirit to walk right by your side in all things.

And be glorified in your name.

Amen.

Alright.

So Paul in Thessalonians kind of got a slow roll going, right?

In this book, going up and leading into things, he's giving a lot of intro.

Normally you get like this much intro, and then he jumps straight into the uh encouragement and the exhortation and everything in between.

He's still kind of rolling with the intro and talking about what has happened and transpired.

So when he says here in 1, you yourself know, brothers and sisters, our visit with you was not without result.

It wasn't pointless that we visited you.

On the contrary, after we had previously suffered and were treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, we were emboldened by our God to speak the gospel to you in spite of great opposition.

So if we pause there for a moment, what Paul is saying here is that what happened in Philippi directly informed their ministry to the church here in Thessalonica.

So that minute that event that happened in Philippi, historically, you look at the book of Acts in Acts 16, you see whatever went down in Philippi directly impacts what then happened in Thessalonica.

So we want to talk about that for a moment here because, well, he brought it up, not me.

It counts as context.

So we're not gonna read all of Acts 16.

So I'm gonna give you a little bit of a summary, kind of a play-by-play, but I encourage you to read it for yourselves as well.

Acts 16.

For those of you who take notes, if you can take a look at that and write that down, you can see what happened.

This is the 25,000-foot view here.

So, first, what happens?

Paul and his crew, so you have Paul, you have Silas, you have uh at that point New Convert Timothy, which are all the people that we see mentioned in verse 1 of this book, they come to Philippi.

And they're looking for believers, people praying, people open to the gospel, and so they go to the river where it's customary for people to pray.

This is a Gentile area, right?

This is not, they don't have the big synagogues every middle of the.

So, with that in mind, Paul and his crew go there and they encounter Lydia.

And Lydia, we see according to this section in chapter 16, is a prominent member of that area, is most likely ludicrously wealthy given her profession that she gives, and she actually responds to the gospel.

So, uh, and then she says, Hey, come and stay in my house.

And the church seems to start for Philippi in her house.

And now, for those of you who have done any church planting, having your first convert be a highly influential, rich person sounds like the best path ever.

It doesn't quite go according to plan, however, because Paul and his crew are out and they're preaching in the marketplace, and there's a demon-possessed slave girl who constantly goes around and harasses them this whole time.

After many days, so you know it's not like this took 30 seconds, after many days, Paul, it says in the passage, gratefully annoyed, turns and commands a demon to come out of her.

And she is delivered.

And we should say, praise Jesus.

You know who does not say that?

Her slave owners.

Because they got a great deal of money in her slavery and her demon possession in so-called foretelling the future.

And so they are livid that this person made in God's image has been freed from demonic slavery.

And they take Paul and his crew and drag them before the magistrates and throw a whole bunch of accusations at him which are not true.

And the magistrate orders Paul and Silas to be stripped and beaten and thrown in prison.

Something about Paul, he is a Roman citizen.

This, so therefore, what just happened should never have happened.

That is something that is a huge no-no.

The penalty for treating a Roman citizen this way is very severe.

And so, Paul, of course, starts screaming about his rights in prison.

No, that's not what happened.

The next thing we see, because that's not what goes down.

They are in prison, in the inner prison.

It's gross.

I'll just gonna say that.

The prison is not like one of those like things that you would see if you see like prison on TV where everyone has their own little cell and their beds.

It's gross, okay?

Paul and Silas are there.

They are praying and singing hymns to God in prison after being mistreated grossly and unjustly.

For commanding a demon to come out of somebody who was possessed.

That's why they're in prison.

Doesn't seem fair, does it?

So here's what happens: a great earthquake shakes the jail, it opens the doors, and it loosens all the chains.

So the power of God on display here is crazy.

That is a very specific earthquake.

That's not your normal run-of-the-mill earthquake.

You know, uh earthquake.

I've been to through through two 7.0 earthquakes, but that's not what happened.

And in that context, the doors open, the chains fall off, and then the jailer runs in and he is about to end his own life.

Why is he about to end his own life?

Because that's the gig.

Your whole job, your whole purpose is to make sure that these prisoners do not escape because you are a jailer.

There is no participation trophy for jailers.

And so he is intending to kill himself.

But the funny thing is that they're all still in the prison.

Paul says, Don't harm yourself, we're all here.

And then the jailer says, What must I do to be saved?

And he and his family are baptized.

Isn't that crazy?

This story started with Lydia giving her life to Jesus and being baptized, her and her household.

And then here, the jailer does that, and they tend to Paul and Silas's wounds.

The part of the story that's not in there, but you have to infer this, is then brings him back into his prison cell because otherwise the jailer's gonna be killed.

And the next morning, the magistrates go, send delegates and say, Hey, you guys get out, you're done, go away.

And Paul's like, oh no! No, no, no.

Because you see, we are uncondemned Roman citizens, and of course then the magistrates are terrified.

And then Paul goes, How about you come and bring us out yourself?

Now, at first glance, that may seem very, very, very petty, but what does that do?

That in no uncertain terms clears the jailer.

Nobody can go, hey, maybe the prisoners escaped, or hey, I heard a rumor that the jailer took prisoners out of prison to his house and fed them.

Because now the magistrate's like, well, they're they're they're in their cells.

I don't know what to tell you.

Like, normally people who get out of prison don't go back in unless they do something first.

So, and then Paul, and then they go, can you please leave town?

And Paul and Silas go, aha, one stop first.

They go back to Lydia's house, they encourage the church and depart.

Okay, why am I spending so much time on this?

In this story and this situation, the preaching of the gospel is met with gross injustice and persecution.

God's power is then revealed, and I'm gonna talk about this in a second, not for the purpose of making the believer more comfortable, but for the saving of souls.

And then Paul and Silas are therefore emboldened to preach the gospel in spite of great opposition.

You're going like, are we ever getting back to Thessalonians?

Yes.

So, with that in mind though, think about this for a second.

I want to plant the seed because we'll be talking about this a little bit.

Paul and Silas are wrongfully imprisoned.

They're being persecuted.

The doors open, the chains fall.

What happens?

They don't leave.

And then what happens?

The jailer and his family give their life to Jesus.

Why am I making a big deal out of this?

Because, now I want to be very, very, very, very, very, very, very clear.

I am not talking about eschatological theology at this moment.

Uh, end times theology, I'm talking about motivation.

If we are honest, our entire outlook and motivation as it pertains to the end time can be summarized in get me out.

We will push a person in a wheelchair down the stairs to get through that escape hatch.

And you're like, no, no, that's true.

Let's talk about how many of you would live through the whole rapture practice thing.

Really?

So, with that in mind, our theology is not in question.

Our motivation is something I really want us to take a really good look at.

Because what happens when they weren't so consumed with leaving, people gave their lives to Jesus.

Isn't that crazy?

That does matter for this passage, I promise.

So, that's the backstory.

And then they go to Buria, and then they go to Thessalonica.

And it doesn't go well for them there either.

Alright.

There's a certain point where, like, you know, we we think of Paul as a spiritual, you know, pillar and a hero, and I rightfully so in that way, but like I really wouldn't want him as a guest speaker because of all the heat.

Honestly, at that point in time, we don't have enough ushers at this church to deal with the drama that comes with Paul.

So, here, keep this in mind.

Great opposition stirred up great boldness in them.

So, it went bad in Philippi.

People were saved.

They gave their lives to Jesus.

They went to the next place, and then they went to the next place, and people were saved and gave their lives to Jesus, even though it went bad.

Why is that important?

Because that's the life that the Thessalonians live.

It's not easy.

In great persecution, in great opposition.

Their church started with great resistance, and Paul is constantly encouraging them that's part of the gig, guys, and it's worth it.

So, we will have to talk though about how do you navigate that?

Because that doesn't seem fun.

I don't want persecution.

I don't want hardship.

Yeah, I mean, we I can pretend that that's true.

I just don't want it.

I don't want to deal with it.

And so, how do we navigate that?

Well, let's take a look here.

So, in verse 2, they were previously suffered and were treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know.

We were emboldened by our God to speak the gospel of God to you in spite of great opposition.

We are emboldened to preach the gospel to you even though it was hard.

And then in verses 3 through 6, we're gonna give a little bit of insight.

Because he's gonna talk about what they didn't, what they didn't do and what they did do.

It wasn't like this, it was like this.

Why?

Why is he saying this?

Uh, two possible things that I personally say.

Number one, um, it might be what they're accused of by their foes.

Of what they're going, oh yeah, well, Paul's preaching because of this.

Number two, this also just might be what's common.

You get these preachers who roll through, and this might be how they commonly act.

And I guess I would say number three, too, because it gives the Thessalonians an idea of what to expect.

So, verse three, our exhortation, it did not come from error or impurity or an intent to deceive.

So, we're talking about authenticity here.

It didn't come from a misinterpretation.

So, they were not um just preaching incorrectly in that way.

It didn't come from impurity, it wasn't there wasn't a mixture of corruption.

Think of like the the terrors, someone among the uh the wheat or the leaven in in the the uh dough, that kind of thing.

And then also it didn't come from an intent to deceive.

Persecution has a good way of shaking out authenticity.

It's really hard to be that motivated to preach a false gospel when it gets hard.

And so here they are emboldened, they didn't preach from error or impurity or an intent to deceive.

Verse 4.

Instead, as we've been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak.

So the commission here.

Paul is making a bold statement.

He is saying, Who commissioned me to preach the gospel?

God! We have been approved by God.

Sounds a little a little like puffed up, except when you read the rest of his passages, like, and he's talking about how he is the least of all apostles.

He doesn't deserve to even be there.

He persecuted the church, but by the grace of God, they took him who is the least and made him an ambassador of the gospel.

So, approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.

That wording shows that the gospel is precious to him.

He's carrying precious cargo, he treats it like it's valuable.

And he's been approved by God.

I I don't um I don't want to disappoint God.

I'm not making a statement about that.

Like I'm not saying I'm not saying God is constantly gonna be disappointed, but with that in mind, I want to always work in such a way that he would approve of.

And so he's been commissioned by God to preach the gospel.

Now I'll pause for one second.

Gotta be said.

The gospel is a very Christian thing to say.

The gospel.

It means good news.

What it means is that we, by we, I mean all human beings, in our sin were separated from a righteous God.

And we were his enemies, and therefore under wrath.

But because God loves us so much, his son Jesus, who is God in the flesh, fully God, fully man, sinless sacrifice, offered to pay the price on the cross, a sinless sacrifice to take our guilt upon himself, so that we could be given his righteousness.

It's gonna be like that.

Sorry.

Um, and therefore, by faith in Jesus alone, we can be made right with God.

That's the gospel.

There's no nothing we can do to earn this, and it was offered to us, and all we have to do is accept it.

That is the good news of the gospel.

So when we say gospel, it means God loves you so much, he offered to pay the price so that instead of having eternal damnation, we can spend eternity with him.

Through no work of our own, just acceptance, which is awesome.

So that's what we see by the gospel here.

So, approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, and so we speak not to please people, but rather God who examines our hearts.

He works for God.

God examines his heart.

Now, it's easy to say only God can judge me.

Um but he does.

And so be careful, like with that mindset.

But here he takes it with us with a sober-mindedness.

They are working to please God, who commissioned them with the gospel.

That's the motivation for why they go through the hardship they go through and preach the gospel.

That's one of them.

There's a bigger one coming.

Verse 5, continuing forward.

We see motive here.

Never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy motives.

God is our witness.

So, when they were preaching, it was not to build their own kingdom, it was not to pad their own wallets, it was not to build their own influence.

And again, those kinds of things tend to die off when the heat rises in persecution.

It's really, really hard to be committed to building your own platform when it actually costs you something.

And so, with that in mind, it is not flattering speech.

I don't think Paul knows how to even do that anyway.

Reading his epistles, I don't think flattering speech is part of his tool set.

But, or greedy motives.

And then verse 6, we didn't see glory from people.

Here's the goal here.

Didn't see glory from people, either from you or from others.

In fact, there's a story in Acts where Paul and his partner arrive at a place and preach the gospel, and they call them God in the flesh.

And it freaks them out to no end and says, Stop it! Stop worshiping us.

And so they decide to beat them instead.

So, but with that in mind here, the motivation for preaching the gospel.

He is telling the Thessalonian church in no uncertain terms.

The ostent authenticity, not from error, impurity, or intent to deceive.

The commission from God.

The motivation not to please people, but to please God, who examines our hearts.

The motive, never using flattering speech or greedy motives, and then finally the goal, not seeking glory from people, from them or from others.

So this is the core of why he preached.

But it's a whole lot of knots.

Not like this, not like this, not like this.

So where is the uh is in that statement?

Well, we're gonna we're gonna see that here.

Verse 7, although we could have been a burden as Christ's apostles, instead we were gentle among you as a nurse nurtures her own children.

So, the imagery here in verse 7.

We could have been a burden to you, but we did not want to do so.

Instead, we were gentle among you as a nurse, nurses nurtures her own children.

He's gonna talk about this in a moment, but it has a whole lot to do with the fact that he didn't take commission from them for the work.

He did not ask them to support him while he preached the gospel to them.

Imagine a nurse nurturing her own children, feeding her baby, and then finishes and says, that'll be 1075 you can pay at the counter.

That's crazy.

That's not how the and some of you are like, can we do that?

Can I get away with that?

No.

Children do not pay their parents.

It's just how the life, how life works.

The whole idea of parenting, parenting well, as God designed, is that the parents, because they love their kids, spend themselves on their kids in ways their kids will not understand until they're 25.

And that is the heart behind this.

Paul preached to the Thessalonians, he invested in the Thessalonians because he loved them.

He preached the gospel to them because he loved them.

So, as a nurse nurses her own children, there's a couple of parenting metaphors in that, but that was the whole idea of why he preached that way.

Now, I talked about with Philippi.

Paul had opened doors and he did not escape.

Why do we have, painting with huge broad strokes, the culture of just wanting to escape?

May I present to you, we do not love the lost like Jesus does.

Now, before you get offended, hear that I said we don't love the lost like Jesus does.

There is no other human being, past, present, or future, who has loved the lost like Jesus loved.

So even if you don't like it, I'm still right.

So the motivation there sometimes is not for the salvation of the lost.

And I know there are some people gifted, specifically gifted in evangelism in this room who are like, that just bugs me so much.

That's not true.

Um, but uh with that in mind, by and large, culturally speaking, as a church, oftentimes we can sometimes think of the lost as a really irritating roommate.

And basically what we want to do is have a house meeting so we can establish rules so they can stop being so annoying until we can move out.

Broad strokes.

What would it look like to love the lost?

Not in a way that we're influenced, not in a way that we compromise, but in a way that we are burdened by and love them.

And are I'm not just going, ooh, I bet Jesus wants me to give them the gospel, but I feel weird and I don't want to, but that you can hardly contain yourself.

Full disclosure, I don't live that way.

So I am not condemning you guys in a way that I'm not actually having to wrestle with this in my own self.

So just know that.

Pressure's off.

But it's something to think about.

Why don't we love the lust?

Those of you who are part of the Calvary brand and tradition, what was it that started the Jesus people movement and revival?

It was the bringing in the lost that nobody wanted in their church.

Just throwing that out there.

That's kind of stressful, but at the same time, we're running out of time.

So love is the motivation not only for going through persecution in this way that Paul did and continues to, but also for the Thessalonians to stand strong in that, but then also to preach the good news of salvation.

Now I want to say, I'm just gonna say this.

Obviously, I'm saying this relatively heavy-handedly to make a point.

I am not naturally gifted in evangelism.

I'm just not.

Yeah, and and so like I see people who actually like the Lord uses them in a way to where they basically like accidentally burp and someone gives their life to Jesus.

And it is so cool and amazing.

I'm not gonna stand before you say, I'm not that guy, and it's an exercise and a difficult thing in that.

So you're not alone in that.

And so don't feel the heat of that, don't feel a disapproving parent in that.

More say, hey, how do we love the lost more?

In a way that we are proclaiming the gospel.

That's something I struggle with.

So, continuing forward.

You become dear to us in verse 8.

Who cared about you so much that we were pleased to share with you.

They put themselves in the fire, not only for the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you become dear to us.

And then here in verse 9, this is interesting.

You remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters, working night and day so that we would not burden any of you if we preached God's gospel to you.

Okay.

What is Paul saying here?

Instead of seeking payment from you, commission for it from you, we worked night and day.

Couple of things on this.

This is clearly Paul's MO.

Why do I say that?

We see this come up in Acts 18.3, Acts 20, 34 through 35, 1 Corinthians 4, 12, 1 Corinthians 9, and 2 Thessalonians 3, 7 through 9.

This is not a one-off.

This is his thing.

He works, functions as a tent maker, and he is working hard so that he is not taking money from the church.

Now, one thing I want to say, Paul's an overachiever.

He was a Pharisee of Pharisees.

So long before he was a follower of Jesus, he was the most A-type person that ever be.

So just know that.

If Paul is the bar, good gracious.

Here's another thing.

This is not normative.

How do I know that?

Well, Paul himself in 1 Corinthians 9 15 is talking about, like, hey, look, don't we have a right to take commission from you if we had?

And he's gonna say, but we didn't, but don't we have a right to do that so that you would actually support us while we are proclaiming the gospel in your area and supporting the church and growing you guys and discipling you guys?

We have a right to do that.

We're gonna see also in 1 Timothy 5, 17 through 18, speaking about elders, the elders who rule well are worthy of double honor, don't muzzle the ox while it's threshing the grain.

So there's specific statements here about hey, you should actually support those who are doing the work and ruling well and shepherding well in that way.

So this is not normative, it's Paul's conviction as an example of his love for them.

And here's the thing: the pro of this conviction is that it keeps us from exiting the world.

Um I've talked to many pastors that say that the first thing that shocks them about when they go into full-time ministry is that they stop interacting with unsaved people.

I can say this because it's not me.

I get to do a shameless plug.

That's one of the cool things I love about our setup because Pastor Chris is actually in an office that is a mixture of saved and unsaved people, and uh I have heard from other people, not from him, that he's basically the unofficial office pastor.

So, with that in mind, I'm praise God that's not the case here.

Praise the Lord for that.

So we're in a little bit of a different setup with that.

We don't have our own building to where it's very, very easy to go and to be inside, and that's something that a lot of pastors struggle with.

Um, I will also say, we live in California.

It is very common for a lot of us of the people of our tribe to have you know bigger churches, lots of people and stuff.

That is not the case always everywhere.

In fact, where I am moving to, um almost all of the Calvary pastors I know are bivocational.

They have a full-time job, and then they pastor on the side, and then pastor church is about the size of our church or less.

So that is a common thing, but I want to tell you a hundred percent of those people would prefer not to be doing that full-time job so they can spend more time on ministry.

So there's no words at a point.

Why am I making a big deal out of this?

Because Paul is giving an example here that I just want to say it's just not normative in that way.

You don't want to start looking at your pastor side-eyed like, should you be, should you be supported or whatever?

I thank God that um we have at a bite been able to actually support and pay for Pastor Chris full-time.

And we've actually had conversations, if I'm allowed to say this, we've had conversations early, early on where I've had to say, look, we are a church plant.

If you have to choose between your salary and rent, what are you gonna pick?

And you're like, rent, absolutely, 100%.

So that has never been an issue, but praise the Lord and and praise the Lord for you guys.

Because that comes from somewhere.

Praise the Lord for that.

Please skip it up.

I get to say that because I'm leaving.

So I'm making a point of saying that here just because I don't think Paul is saying that people preaching the gospel should not be supportive.

What he's saying is, this is how much we love you guys.

Okay, let's keep rolling here.

Verse 10, you are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believers.

He took this seriously.

He took his action seriously, he took his witness seriously to do so in a way that does not harm the message of the gospel.

Are we getting the idea here that nothing that he's doing here in this example is for his own benefit?

Right.

So, which is cool.

Praise the Lord for that example.

Continuing forward, verse 11.

As you know, like a father with his own children.

Second parent metaphor here.

We encouraged, we comforted, and we implored each of you.

Encouraged, comforted, and implored.

It's uh another way to put some of these words here is that he to encourage is to admonish or exhort.

To comfort is to encourage or console.

To implore is to exhort solemnly.

Implore.

We need to use that word more.

But with that, doesn't that sound like a healthy parent?

To both admonish and exhort so that a child grows in a healthy manner.

To comfort, to encourage, and console.

You can't have one without the other and have health.

You need both.

And then to exhort solemnly, to warn when you see problems.

You need to have those in balance and intention in order to be healthy.

Spoiler alert, none of us do that in perfect balance as parents.

Praise the Lord for grace.

But we try.

The goal is to try and balance those.

And he's saying, look, as a parent example, we encouraged, we comforted, and we implored.

What did he encourage, comfort, and implore?

To live worthy of God.

Bringing it all together.

That's what Paul has been saying, this whole passage.

How do you use yourself as a positive example without coming across as incredibly arrogant?

It's hard.

It's really, really hard.

And so that's why we talk from don't do it.

We should go out of our way to actually build each other's horns rather than our own self.

But with that, this whole passage, he's giving that model.

How do you live worthy of God?

In righteousness, not with unjust gain, not with impurity, not with flattering speech or greedy motives.

Sharing your own life, even in hardship, loving to the extent that we proclaim the gospel.

To live worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

As a response to God's calling.

Not initiating it.

Going, man, I need to set forth my five-year Jesus plan, and I need to get it actually approved by the archdiocese, and then by this person, and then by God, and then we're gonna do it, and someone's gonna stand over my shoulder with a clipboard and check on all those different things.

We live as a response to what God has already done.

And I want to make that important thing.

It's not just God who called us and commissioned us, but God who already did the real hard work of salvation.

Isn't that cool?

He did it.

And then we respond to that.

Now, what do we do with this?

Where do we go from this?

Um, point number one, Romans 116.

The gospel is the power of God to salvation.

What is effective for salvation?

The gospel.

Paul says, I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it's the power of God for salvation.

And this is important.

If I can say this, and say this with all charity and best intention, sometimes, painting with broad strokes, we live as if legislation is the power of God for salvation.

Christian culture and media is the power of God for salvation.

Now those things aren't bad, though they're not bad things.

Hear me on that.

But it is not what saves souls.

You cannot legislate people into the kingdom.

There is nobody who enters eternity and says, I'm here because they made me, because they passed a law.

There is nobody, nobody's tough.

Not, there are not, is a small percentage who goes, I'm here because I saw an alternative Christian movie that kind of preached prosperity gospel, but somehow I still got saved anyways.

The gospel is the power of God to salvation.

That doesn't mean good things are not good things.

They are good things.

We should be involved in those things, and that's good.

However, they cannot replace the gospel.

Who has the gospel?

We do.

We are his ambassadors.

Now, if you live like I'm tempted to live, you go, who has the gospel?

Other Christians! Okay, yet that's also true.

However, we carry that within us.

And we overthink it.

We overthink it.

It's easy and hard, but easy to be able to talk about how Jesus has pulled us out of hell and saved us.

And people will think that's weird.

That's okay.

If you're anything like me, they probably already think you're weird.

But with that in mind, let that be something that's shaped up with that.

The power of God, step point two, is for the salvation of the hearer, not for the comfort of the saved.

Now I want to point something, I'm gonna put this down because I'm feeling weird shaking that.

I want to point something out.

Um, after Philippi, Paul still got them out of prison.

They were still comforted and tended to and cared for.

So it's not like God doesn't care about his kids.

He does.

But it is interesting to me that some that we see sometimes in scripture that the most powerful manifestations of God are for the salvation of souls, not for the life-betterment of those who have already given their life to him.

Also, point three, difficulty and injustice is expected in the sharing of the gospel.

It's just gonna happen.

So we should probably like be ready for that.

Uh if you see the punch coming, it's easier to take.

But that's that's not life advice, by the way.

Um, sorry.

But with that in mind, it's just gonna, it's just a part of the deal throughout all of Scripture.

But then the point four, the best motivation for the sharing of the gospel is love, not um uh compulsion, not guilt.

Please don't come out of this feeling that I'm pushing guilt on you.

It's more like we can do it, guys.

And I need to grow in that too.

Not compulsion, not guilt, not trying to earn favor that God has already given you.

But rather because we love those and want them to see them saved.

Want to see them saved.

John 3 16.

God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten son.

That whoever believed in him would not perish but have everlasting love.

The motivation there is love.

So, what do we do?

We just ask God to shape us.

If what we come away from in these things doesn't just drive us to go straight to God, then uh I didn't do a good job.

I'll put it that way.

May we always hear this and go straight to our Father.

Because our Father is not a disapproving father.

We said this a lot at this church, but it needs to be said.

God likes you.

Is that unsettling to hear?

Like, is there a certain point of like I don't think I should, I don't think I'm allowed to receive that?

God likes you.

If you have given your life to Jesus, you're his child.

There is no more enmity.

There is no and so with that in mind, we just go to him and go, okay, God, what do I do with this?

How should I be?

How should I live?

How should I grow?

And that's it.

Pressure's off.

Who doesn't want to go to the best father in history and go, hey God, how do I how do I grow in this way?

That's all I ask.

So let's pray.

Lord, I thank you so much for today.

I thank you for your word.

I thank you for your gospel, the power of God to salvation for those who believe.

For the Jew and the Gentile.

There's no distinction.

I thank you so much, Lord, that when we were your enemies, you provided a way to salvation.

I thank you for those who preached the gospel to us.

I thank you for those, for some of us who preach the gospel repeatedly despite our resistance.

I thank you for your Holy Spirit, that is the catalyst for salvation.

And I ask, Lord, that we would lean into you.

That we would not feel guilt, that we would not feel shame, that we would not feel condemnation.

I ask that we would be stirred up for the work of your kingdom in such a way that we're motivated by your love for the lost, by your love for the saved.

I ask, Lord, you would grow us in this way.

And for those who have not given their lives to Jesus, it is the best.

There's nothing greater in this life than the freedom we have by surrendering our life to Jesus.

And Lord, by your spirit, I ask that you would work on hearts to desire to have that gift to receive it.

And be willing to accept that.

For those of us who walk with you, Lord, just continue to guide us and grow us.

Let us not be motivated by a whip of guilt, but rather by the delight of our Father.

Be glorified.

Amen.