Thank God for the Word of God at Work in You

Good morning. For a small group of people in this room, probably a small percentage

of us here, there are some of you who can't remember a time when you were not a Christian.

From a very early age, you were convinced and convicted by the Holy Spirit for

your need of salvation, and you believe the good news of the gospel,

that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, that he was buried and he rose again three days later.

And to this very day, you are still believing that, and you are living your

life trusting and following Jesus.

Now, I realize if you ask a five and six-year-old who professes to be a Christian,

I doubt they say it exactly like that, like they were convinced and convicted of the Holy Spirit.

Five and six-year-olds, they don't talk like that.

However, it doesn't change the fact that that is his, the Holy Spirit's role in the situation.

And eventually, as that child gets older and his or her faith grows and develops,

they are going to have a better understanding of the Holy Spirit and how he works in them.

Really, it's the same for anyone and everyone who becomes a Christian,

regardless of their age.

We start out knowing something, understanding some things.

Sometimes we barely understand anything, but as we go, we understand more and

more and more that yes, the Holy Spirit does convince and convict.

That's one group of people in the room. However, there's another group in the

room, probably the vast majority of people here this morning,

that we have a much higher percentage of us.

We realize, we remember, we have a vivid memory of knowing what life was like

before we became a Christian.

And boy, are there some whopping stories of how you and I lived before we came to Christ, how we acted,

It's not really a laughing matter. We aren't necessarily proud of those days.

Yet sometimes we might catch ourselves snickering of what we once were because

now of what we now have become and are becoming since becoming a Christian.

Like once upon a time, you can remember not reading the Bible,

thinking it was boring, total waste of time, pointless.

But now as a Christian, you're loving it.

There is something to say to the christian who doesn't remember never not being a christian

and to the christian who has this vivid memory of what life was like before

becoming a christian we say the same exact thing to both we say thank god for

the word of god at work in you.

We are a non-denominational church. See, like at a Baptist church,

you say something like that, and there'd be like a lot of amens.

Maybe the Pentecostal church, they'd be like running up and down.

I know we don't do that here. Settle down, settle down.

Thank God for the word of God at work in you.

Oh, you are.

The frozen chosen Presbyterian. Never mind. First Thessalonians.

Is where I want us to go today. And we don't do this often around here, but I want to do it today.

If you are able, would you stand in a way of honoring God's word as I read these

verses aloud? You can follow along in your Bible or on the screen.

First Thessalonians chapter 2, 13 through 16.

1 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you receive the word of

God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men,

but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

For you, brothers, became imitators of the church of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea.

For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the

Jews who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets and drove us out,

and displeased God and opposed all mankind by hindering us from speaking to

the Gentiles that they might be saved.

This is the word of God. You may be seated.

When Paul wrote these words, he was in the middle of writing a letter when he did it.

He, Paul, had wrote to these Christians living in the city of Thessalonica.

Thessalonica would have been one of the 50 plus cities that Paul had traveled

to, sharing the gospel and planting churches on his missionary trips.

In the book of Acts, which was written by Luke, chapter 17, Luke states that

Luke 17 · chapter mention

Paul spent at least three weeks here in this city.

And many people had believed the gospel that he was preaching,

before he was running for his life, literally escaping a mob of people who didn't

want anything to do with hearing the gospel or having someone named King Jesus

threatening their king, King Caesar.

But now here in 1 Thessalonians, Paul is writing a letter to these Christian converts.

It's probably just a few months after he escaped from this area.

Earlier in the letter, back in chapter one, Paul is ecstatic to hear that these

baby Christians had not given up on their faith despite some horrific living circumstances.

During that time and in this city, and there are other cities nearby doing the

same thing, for a person to put their faith in Jesus, it would cost them physical

persecution, loss of employment, they would get disowned from their family, and possibly death.

Like that's what these believers were facing daily.

Look back to 1 Thessalonians 1, verses 2 and 3.

1 Thessalonians 1:2

This is the report that Paul gives describing how they are living.

He says, We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers,

remembering before our God and Father your work of faith, your labor of love,

and your steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

So these brand new believers are rock solid in their faith, knowing what they

believe and why they believe it.

They are laboring in love, no lazy love here, but they are working hard to make

sure that everyone is being cared for. They are loving one another,

especially in these difficult circumstances of these days.

And they have this steadfast hope in Jesus, no wavering.

Somehow they had this incredible understanding that whatever may happen now

in the moment however bad it might get maybe even death it didn't compare to

all the good that would be waiting for them in the future,

the future good far outweighed the present bad.

How do baby Christians think like this? How do they act like this?

How is it that now only a few months into all this Jesus stuff,

that their faith is firm, their labor is laborious, and their hope is constant,

it is confidently in Jesus? How is that possible?

The verse that we just stood to read has the answer.

Thank God for the word of God, which is at work in them.

This morning, I have a very simple outline for us. You can follow along this way.

And as we dig into this this morning and ask ourselves, how does the word of God work in us?

A, the word is preached.

B, the word is received. C, the word is not hindered.

Let's start with A, the word is preached. Back to verse 13, 1 Thessalonians

chapter two, it says, and we also thank God constantly for this,

that when you receive the word of God, which you heard from us.

For whatever reason or reasons may be, God's plan for hearing his word primarily

comes from human beings.

You ever wonder, why us? Like, aren't we severely underqualified for such a holy task?

Why not let the angels do it? It seems when they show up in the Bible stories,

they make this big splash.

They have a way of getting people's attention. That certainly seems way better

than having a bunch of hypocritical humans trying to do it.

Or God, why don't you do it yourself, God? Like you are not limited in any way.

Use your outside voice. And from heaven, yell down to the people.

Shout it out from heaven. That would work. Oh, that's a big attention getter.

God's word coming through the clouds?

Sounds way better than humans with our teeny-weeny little brains,

finite brains, and our understanding, limited ways, trying to share and explain the gospel for others.

Why not, with the big development that's all going on with AI, let robots do it?

God could program these robots, parachute them down from heaven.

Can you imagine the kind of preaching? Spot on doctrine, perfect theology.

Let AI do it.

That's not God's plan. His plan is that he would delegate the preaching of his

perfect holy word to be accomplished through imperfect, sinful men.

And God calls this a good idea. He guarantees that the results are going to

be successful based on according to his will.

I think it's important for us underneath here, point A, I want you to hear some

of the commitments that are required by God for people who share the word of God with others.

This should matter to everyone here who is a Christian. One,

because to some degree, these commitments apply to all Christians.

Because everyone has responsibility for people to hear God's word from you.

Like, it is not just the preacher's job.

All Christians have a responsibility in sharing God's word.

But two, this should matter to every Christian here, because this is an absolute

must for any preacher who preaches.

When it comes to preaching, God tells pastors how to preach. Did you know that?

And everyone, anyone who is sitting underneath the teaching of pastors,

you should know what is committed from a pastor, what's required. Right?

It just so happens that the 12 verses above the verses that we read this morning

when we stood, there is a decent-sized list of do's and don'ts when it comes to preaching.

Right here included in Paul's letter to the Thessalonians. I'm going to share

that list of commitments with you.

Starting in verse 2, pastors must preach the gospel despite any suffering that

might come their way from doing so.

This is not a martyr complex. Pastors are not gluttons for punishment. At least this one isn't.

We are not super tough guys. I get all that.

But pastors need to know that if they are going to stand for the gospel,

there will come a time when people will want to shut them up and sit them down.

And because we can't sit down, we must be willing to suffer for the sake of the gospel.

Y'all i was listening to some sermons this week on church history,

there is gruesome story after gruesome story,

of pastors and missionaries being executed in horrific ways that have happened

to part of our history like they they the stories would make an r-rated movie blush.

I am very thankful for very little persecution here now in America.

But it is not like that everywhere. And there could be a day when we suffer for the gospel here.

Two, it's also in verse two, preachers must preach boldly.

Pastors cannot shrink back from preaching the whole counsel of God.

Another way of saying it, maybe in a more modern term, would be pastors can't

chicken out from saying the uncomfortable parts of the Bible.

Preaching boldly means saying what God's word says, even when the whole world

doesn't want you to say it.

Three, verse three, pastors preach, don't preach, trying to trick and deceive people.

Pastors are to preach pure motives

no self-advancing agendas for preachers preach to please god not people,

the preacher who dodges the text or changes the meaning of a text because he

knows others won't like it or they don't want to hear it can i be very frank

that preacher ought not be a preacher.

But preachers do like people to like them. We don't go around trying to get

as many enemies as we can.

But if it comes down to preaching to please God or people, pick God.

Verse five, number five. Preachers don't preach to flatter.

Encourage, yes, to build you up, absolutely.

But flattery is saying something nice about someone so that you get something from them that you want.

That's flattery. Preachers, don't do it.

Six, verse six, pastors are not to be greedy.

Being consumed with money and possessions is not good for anyone, especially pastors.

Seven, verse six, Pastors are not to seek their own glory. God hates pride.

Preachers who preach striving for popularity and doing so in a way that puts

the word of God in the backseat or on the back burner, that preacher ought not be a preacher either.

Eight, verse seven, pastors are to be gentle.

Just like a nurturing mother is to her children, caring, compassionate, having empathy.

Nine, verse eight, pastors share their own life.

They are not only committed to sharing the gospel with others,

but to sharing their very life with others.

Pastors are not off limits to people. The senior pastor, the lead pastor,

isn't just this elevated guy who preaches sermons and then escapes the crowds

going through the back doors.

Pastors must freely give two things. They must freely give the gospel,

the word of God, and they must freely give of themselves.

10, verse 9, pastors labor.

Early mornings, late nights, it comes with the territories. Pastors must commit to working hard.

Not to the point of workaholics, not neglecting their family,

not neglecting rest, not neglecting personal self-discipline things,

got to exercise, None of that, but pastors are to work hard.

Now, if I have heard it said once, I have heard it said a thousand times.

Most of the time it comes in joking manner, though sometimes I'm not quite sure.

Some of you might know what I'm about ready to say.

Boy, pastor, it must be nice to work only one day a week.

I think I have a good response for that now that am I getting a little older,

maybe a little cranky, I don't know.

And my response would be, well, for your sake, it's a good thing it's on Sunday.

Joking. But I get it. The perception is real.

Pastors, we often set our own schedules. We do not sign a time sheet,

at least not here at Good News. We do not do that.

But pastors can't be lazy, right?

11, verse 10, pastors must live holy, righteous, blameless lives.

Not perfect, that's impossible.

But pastors must be a godly example in pursuing personal holiness and righteousness

in their own lives before ever asking someone else to do it in their life.

And 12, and the last one on this list is verses 11 and 12, pastors are to be like a father.

Pastors are to be mother-like, gentle, and nurturing, and father-like,

firm, and correcting, giving instructions, exhorting, teaching.

So 12 commitments every pastor must make.

Want to know how you can pray for Mario, Daniel, and myself?

Take a picture of this and make it into a prayer postcard and pray for us as

it pertains to being a pastor.

That's all underneath point A. When the word is preached with committed pastors

following God's preaching requirements,

the church has reason to give thanks and it is a key part of the word of God being at work in you.

B, the word is received. Back to 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13.

1 Thessalonians 2:13

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of

God, preaching is good, preaching the word is good.

When it is received, that's great.

I enjoyed working hard this week for you to study this word receive.

It comes from the Greek word describing a tutor instructing a student,

and the student accepts that teaching in a way of owning that information for himself or herself.

In other words, the student fully believes what the tutor is teaching.

Like not just listening to the tutor not just in one ear out the other,

not not sort of paying attention distracted by my phone or something but receiving

the word and being captured by it now look at the rest of verse 13,

and we also thank God constantly for this that when you receive the word of God,

you heard it from us, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word

of men, but as what it really is,

the word of God, which is at work in you believers. That is amazing.

That is a miracle. That is the power of God's word. That's how it works.

To hear something spoken from the lips of a man, like there is no doubt about

it, a man is talking, but as he's talking.

The receiving person accepts it as what it really is, the word of God.

That's a miracle.

When God's word is faithfully taught, it's as if God himself is speaking to us and not a man.

I find that wild and crazy exciting.

Have you ever had an experience like this? I hope you have.

Some of you need to have it for the very first time. Others of you have had

it. You've told me about it.

I've got two examples in my mind here of hearing about this.

Some of you, you are like way into note-taking.

Good job for you during sermons, right? Good job for you, right?

But there are times, you have told me, there are times where you are frantically

writing everything down. Got to get all the notes. Got to get all the information.

And all of a sudden it comes to a hard stop because it's as if God himself is

saying something directly to you even though it's coming out of a mouth of a person.

Like the highlighting stops, the pen gets put down and you listen and you receive the word of God.

You receive the word that a man is saying as the word of God because that's what it really is.

Let's pray for that to happen every Sunday around here that when we get together

and we hear the preaching of God's word by a man that God's word would be preached

and received as if God himself is speaking.

Others of you have come up at the end of a service, and you'll say something

like this, Pastor, today the sermon was like just for me.

It's like you were only talking to me. I was the only one in the room.

Ever heard someone say something like this? Yeah.

And to that, we say, Amen. Now, it is interesting, and this happens more than I realize.

It's even a little funny that sometimes as this person keeps talking about what

was so impactfully preached that I realized I didn't say any of that stuff.

Yeah, somehow that's how the Holy Spirit preached it. And that's how they received it.

Can I tell you, pastors should be really good with that. Like let's have the

Holy Spirit do all the preaching around here.

And let's thank God for that because that is how the word of God being received

and is at work in our lives.

Then the last point, C, the word is not hindered.

In verses 14 and 15, Paul has some harsh but true words to say about those who

are in opposition to the gospel.

Look at these statements. Verse 14, they killed Jesus.

They killed prophets. They drove us out. Verse 15, they displeased God.

They opposed all mankind.

I just want to touch on the very last part of verse 15. They opposed all mankind.

It seems easy to understand that God would be displeased when you kill his son,

Jesus, when you kill his prophets, and when you kill out his gospel messengers.

That seems easy enough to understand why God is displeased.

But what does it mean in verse 15 when Paul says they opposed all mankind like

that's a big group of people to oppose.

Well, verse 16 gives the answer. They opposed all mankind, all the human race,

by hindering the gospel to be shared so that mankind might be saved.

Have you ever thought of that before and how it is still true today?

That there are people and groups and organizations in the world right now who

think that they are doing the world a favor by attempting to shut down and silence

the preaching and receiving of God's word.

Some even call it an act of love to mankind.

Like it is their due diligence in the world. Don't let the gospel go anywhere.

Don't let anyone receive that.

When these people, whether they are acting individually or in a group,

when they silence the word of God, they are not only hostile to God, hostile to Christians,

They are being hostile to all mankind because all mankind are sinners and in need of a savior.

And there is only one name given among men, given among all mankind,

whereby we must be saved.

And that name is Jesus.

And the church is to do the opposite of opposing mankind.

The church is to love mankind and there is no better way to love humanity than

to give them what they need most,

and that is the gospel as it's presented in God's word the word is not hindered,

and definitely we should thank God for churches who take this seriously and

share the gospel sure at a church service on a Sunday morning but at home at

work at the parks at the supermarkets, and around the world, everywhere.

So I want to end this morning with two closing statements.

Number one, in just a few weeks, by the grace of God, Good News Church will

be turning 15 years old. Ooh!

Come August 14th, it will be happy birthday to us.

A very small percentage of you have been here for the entire 15 years.

Most of us have been here far less than that, including me, myself,

my family, five and a half years.

Closing statement number one, all three of your pastors are going on the record,

that just as the previous 15 years have been committed to preaching God's word

with all the commitments that come with it,

that will not change moving forward.

You should say amen, or clap, or do something.

Smart move that's right like we didn't figure that out on our own that is the

spirit of god saying that uh i have their permission to say that mario is finishing up a vacation,

daniel is here i have had a conversation with them we are committing to this,

i don't know how long i'm going to be here none of us do but god willing,

the preaching of god's word the receiving of God's word and not hindering God's

word will be a top priority at Good News Church.

And I do not say that like, oh, Doug, you're all that. No, no, no. God is all that.

And statement number two,

the word of God, which is at work in you, is not a one-time thing.

It's an all-the-time thing.

Like the word didn't just save you and then go figure it out.

It's with us all the time. Let God's word do its thing.

Let it be the very thing that keeps changing you. Make it your greatest,

most cherished possession.

And so I want to leave you with an example. Like, oh, okay, well,

how does that work? How does God's word work in my life?

Say you are tempted to be fearful.

You're tempted to covet, to be greedy. You're tempted to be bitter.

Literally, you can put any sin temptation into this example.

Pornography, lying, stealing, any sin.

And when temptation comes your way, and it does, you admit it.

You admit the struggle. You admit you can't shake it. You admit it is grabbing

you and you pray for help. And then you know what you do?

You cling you grab you hold on to one of god's blood brought bought promises from his word,

and you trust it you do not believe the thinking that's going on in of culture

you just believe in yourself and you do you you can get through it that's nonsense.

Struggling with fear, Isaiah 41.10, fear not, for I am with you.

Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with all my righteous right hand.

You cling to that.

You're struggling with covetousness, greed, Hebrews 13, 5, and 6.

Keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have.

Put your money back in your pocket. You probably don't need it.

I will never leave you nor forsake you. You cling to God's word.

That's how it's at work in you.

Bitterness. Treat it unfairly. It's not right. I'm not liking this. Romans 12, 19.

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.

For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

You receive his word, and you trust his promise, you trust his word,

and you move forward in righteousness.

Thank God for the word of God at work in us. Let's pray.

Father, I thank you for your word.

I thank you for what it does subtle ways drastic ways.

And all the hustle and bustle that goes on in our busy lives,

help us to carve out quality word time.

I pray that, again, this morning, we'd be reminded of its importance,

of its power, of its work that is in us.

Do this kind of miracle in us.

Do this miracle in some of us here for the very first time.

Having ears, let us hear, having eyes, let us see the truth of your word.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

I'll leave you with this, Hebrews 4, 12. For the word of God is living and effective

and sharper than a doubled-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation

of the soul, the spirit, the joints, and the marrow.

It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart. That's good news.