Not in Vain (1 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Jeff Kliewer)

Cornerstone Church iconCornerstone Church

1 view

Sermon Notes: http://notes.cornerstonesj.org Not In Vain

0 comments

01:46
That's good. Well, good morning. All right, a few announcements, and then we're going to pray.
01:55
And we're going to pray for the mission team here, so you guys be ready. So we are having a movie night on January 6.
02:05
That's only for the men. So guys, we're going to go see American Underdog, the Kurt Warner story, have dinner before.
02:12
And so keep your calendar clear for January 6, guys. On the 1st, we're having a
02:19
New Year's brunch at 11 o 'clock. So show up here, 11 o 'clock.
02:25
Let Kimberly know if you're planning on coming, because she's planning the food. And I think that about does it for announcements.
02:32
Am I forgetting anything? Options, yeah. Options Pregnancy Center. We're doing a collection for options.
02:38
So here are some of the things you can take a shot with your cell phone, or you can get that on the app.
02:46
So please contribute to that if the Lord leads you to do that. So before we pray,
02:51
I would like to introduce you guys to some missionaries who have been studying in Hawaii.
02:57
That's a tough job right there, huh? Studying the Bible in Hawaii, that's like heaven on Earth. That's amazing.
03:03
But the harder part, then, is you're en route to Africa, Guinea -Bissau?
03:08
How do you say it? Bissau, OK. And so because of some technical snafus, you guys have a week between training and there.
03:19
And for this week, you're here with us in New Jersey. So we're going to ask you guys to come on up. If you could just stand right here.
03:25
We want to just pray over you. We know that there's been issues with passports, and COVID testing, and all kinds of things like that.
03:34
So we're going to pray for you guys that the Lord will open the door of opportunity, that his will will be done.
03:40
And also, we just want to pray for his power to be upon you. They're going to be going from village to village preaching the gospel.
03:46
So how long will the trip be? So it will be, I believe, two months.
03:53
So two months. OK, a two -month trip for the gospel. Amen? That's awesome.
03:58
All right, so guys, why don't we all just join together in praying for the mission team, that the Lord would bless them and help them.
04:05
So Father, we come to you now this morning, and we thank you so much for sending these missionaries to the ends of the
04:11
Earth to preach the good news of Jesus Christ. Lord, your word tells us, how will they believe unless they hear?
04:18
And how will they hear unless someone preaches to them? And how will someone preach unless they are sent?
04:24
And Lord, we thank you that you are sending these young people to share the good news of Jesus Christ.
04:30
Father, we pray for all the logistical details. Lord, for the one who's lost the passport, and that needs to come through.
04:37
We pray that a miracle would happen, Lord God, that you would provide that passport.
04:43
You are able to do it, and we're asking in Jesus' name. Father, we pray for those with the COVID testing and vaccination and all of that stuff,
04:52
Lord. We pray in Jesus' name that you would open the door for these young people to go, that nothing would hinder them from going on this mission.
05:01
Lord God, we ask that in Jesus' name. Father, we pray most importantly for the gospel to go forward.
05:08
Lord, we pray in the villages that hearts would be made ready, and that when they hear the good news of Jesus Christ, they would respond and believe.
05:16
They would turn from sin, from idols, to serve the living God. You are able to accomplish that.
05:22
Grant repentance and faith. Lord God, we pray that you would protect this team from the evil one, that your hand of favor would be upon them, that you would go before them, that you would be their rear guard.
05:33
Keep your hand upon them. Lord God, build that hedge of protection, Lord, that the evil one would have no foothold.
05:39
Lord God, protect them from the evil one. Give them protection from all dangers, Lord. We also pray that you would remove any fear that might be in their hearts,
05:48
Lord, that they would be free of fear, and they would walk with boldness in the gospel. Lord God, we pray for the anointing of your
05:54
Holy Spirit. We pray that your Spirit would fill them afresh, that they would be full of the
06:00
Spirit, and wisdom and power, Lord, that they would speak in the fullness of conviction and of the
06:06
Holy Spirit. Lord, we thank you for them as they're being sent out. We just cover them in our prayers,
06:12
Lord, and we ask that you would remind us when to pray throughout the time of their journey,
06:18
Lord God, that we would pray for these young people. Father, we thank you for what you're doing in sending missionaries to the ends of the earth, and we pray that you would send all of us to our neighbors and to those around us,
06:29
Lord, that your gospel would speed ahead. So we thank you and we give you praise. We submit all of these things also to your will.
06:35
If it be your will, we are humbly submitted to you, God, and yet we call on you to act powerfully.
06:42
We trust you for it. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Awesome, thank you guys so much. Appreciate it.
06:49
Thank you. We will be praying for you. Church, make sure you're praying. Awesome.
07:00
Come on in, guys, and let's pray again. This time praying for this worship service that the Lord would consecrate it unto himself.
07:07
So Father, we do now come into a spirit of worship asking that you would help us to worship in spirit and in truth.
07:13
Lord, we are not here to go through motions. We're not following a script laid out for us,
07:19
Lord. We are here to follow your word. We are here to listen to your voice,
07:26
Lord, and we pray that you would help us now to worship you in spirit and in truth. God, only you can accomplish this in us.
07:34
So now come and help us fill your people that we would fill this place with praise, as you deserve, in Jesus' name, amen.
07:41
Let's stand. ♪
08:05
Worthy of every song we could ever sing ♪ ♪
08:13
Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring ♪ ♪
08:20
Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪ ♪ We live for you ♪ ♪
08:35
Jesus, the name above every other name ♪ ♪
08:42
Jesus, the only one who could ever save ♪ ♪
08:49
Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪ ♪ We live for you, we live for you ♪ ♪
09:01
For there is none beside you, open up my eyes in wonder ♪ ♪
09:15
And show me who you are and fill me with your heart ♪ ♪
09:22
And lead me in your love to those around me ♪ ♪
09:38
Jesus, the name above every other name ♪ ♪
09:45
Jesus, the only one who could ever save ♪ ♪
09:53
Worthy of every peace
10:12
I do, open up my eyes in wonder ♪ ♪
10:19
And show me who you are and fill me with your heart ♪ ♪
10:26
And lead me in your love to those around me ♪ ♪
10:33
I will put my trust in you, holy shaken ♪ ♪
11:08
I will put my trust in you, holy shaken ♪ ♪
11:22
And I will put my trust in you, holy shaken, holy ♪ ♪
11:37
There is no one like you, there is none beside you ♪ ♪
11:45
Open up my eyes in wonder ♪ ♪ Show me the way with your heart ♪
12:06
Lord we come before you as the angels do, bowing before your throne, declaring that you are awesome, that you are holy.
12:16
Holy, but willing to come and die for us. Willing to remove yourself from the holiest place, heaven, down to be with sinners.
12:29
So that we can be with you for eternity if we accept you. We are humbled before your throne,
12:38
Lord Jesus. You are
12:43
Lord God Almighty. ♪
12:53
Holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪
13:08
Earth our song shall rise to you ♪ ♪
13:22
Holy, merciful, mighty
13:36
God ♪
13:48
Holy saints adore
14:07
Lasting down their golden crowns
14:12
Around the glassy sea
14:18
Chandelier and seraphim
14:26
Falling down before Holy is
14:57
God Though at sea
15:23
He's God Perfect in heart
15:37
And soul Holy And sky
16:03
And sea Merciful and merciful
16:25
Blessed Trinity Three persons
16:40
Blessed Trinity And our only response of His holiness
16:51
Is our sacrifice in bringing Him an offering Of worship and praise to the
16:57
King Over the skies of Bethlehem Appeared a star
17:20
While angels sang to lonely shepherds
17:28
Three wise men seeking truth Traveled from afar
17:36
Hoping to find the child from heaven Falling on their knees
17:45
They bow before the humble Prince of Peace I bring an offering
17:56
Of worship to my King No one on earth
18:02
Deserves the praises that I seek Jesus may you receive
18:10
The honor that you're due Oh Lord I bring an offering to you
18:33
The sun cannot compare To the glory of your love
18:40
There is no shadow In your presence
18:46
No mortal man would dare To stand before your throne
18:54
Before the Holy One of Heaven It's only by your blood
19:03
And it's only through Your mercy Lord I come
19:11
I bring an offering Of worship to my
19:16
King No one on earth Deserves the praises that I seek
19:25
Jesus may you receive The honor that you're due
19:32
Oh Lord I bring an offering to you
19:39
I bring an offering to you
19:46
As a prayer, your prayer this morning
19:53
Let's sing that I bring an offering Of worship to my King I bring an offering
20:02
Of worship to my King No one on earth
20:09
Deserves the praises that I seek Jesus may you receive
20:17
The honor that you're due Oh Lord I bring an offering to you
20:27
I bring an offering to you
20:34
We bring that gift to you
20:41
Lord Jesus You may be seated All right let's pray and then open the word together
20:52
So Father We thank you for the offering That you gave for us
20:58
Lord Your one and only son to die in our place Rise from the dead
21:04
And Lord we pray that you would receive the offering That we bring to you Lord our lives on the altar
21:14
God we pray that You would come now and help us In opening the word that this time would be an offering to you
21:22
God I confess that I am a jar of clay Drop me and I'll shatter into a thousand pieces
21:31
But the all surpassing power comes from you and not from me You are that treasure in the jar of clay
21:37
So I pray that you Jesus Christ the hope of glory Would reveal yourself through the preaching of your word
21:44
Use this imperfect vessel To carry that all surpassing power God I pray for all of us who hear the preaching of the word
21:53
That you would grant us ears to hear, eyes to see, a heart to believe And Lord we pray that you would empower us for ministry going forward
22:03
In Jesus name we pray these things, amen The Syrian king
22:08
Ben Hadad Marshaled his troops against Israel The Israeli king at the time was
22:15
Ahab And you know him as a wicked king So when the Syrian king threatened him
22:21
Ahab was ready to crumble The king Ben Hadad said Give me your silver
22:28
Your silver and your gold are mine And your wives are mine and your children are mine
22:35
Well Ahab of course being a coward and not a man of God He completely cowered to that demand
22:41
And said fine And then Ben Hadad realized what Ahab was up to He was going to get rid of the wives that he didn't want
22:51
And so Ben Hadad said well wait a minute I'm going to send my servant to watch you in your home
22:56
And then I'm going to take the wives that you like And that was too much for Ben Hadad Now he sent back the word to the king of Syria The answer is no
23:08
You're obviously looking for a war And Ben Hadad at that time was furious
23:16
He in fact had been camping in front of Israel He was in a booth and he was getting drunk And he writes a reply saying
23:24
I am going to wipe out Israel It'll be like the dust in Syria The number of people I take captive to my homeland
23:31
Well finally the wicked king Ahab Actually said something good
23:37
And it's one of my favorite expressions in the Bible You know they say that even a broken clock is right twice a day
23:44
Well King Ahab was a broken clock And yet what he said here was good
23:50
He said The one who straps on the armor Ought not boast like the one who takes it off The wicked king from Syria Was boasting about what he was going to do
24:08
But king Ahab said The one who straps on armor Should not boast like the one who takes it off The one who takes off his armor has already won a war
24:16
And he survived it The one strapping on the armor shouldn't be in a place of boasting James said something similar in chapter 4
24:26
He said in verses 13 and 14 Come now you who say today or tomorrow We will go into such and such a town
24:33
And spend a year there And trade and make a profit Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring
24:41
What is your life For you are a mist That appears for a little time and then vanishes
24:48
Instead you ought to say If the Lord wills We will live and do this or that As it is you boast in your arrogance
24:58
All such boasting is evil We ought to say
25:04
If the Lord wills we will do such and such If the
25:09
Lord wills Cornerstone will continue to grow the way it's been growing Over the last few years we've seen the church grow from 40 to 60 to 80
25:18
To 100 now we're between 200 and 300 people This is the Lord's doing
25:24
In the last few years If the Lord wills The church will outgrow this building
25:30
And will build something here or on another site If the Lord wills
25:37
This year we saw the most baptisms in our history If the Lord wills we'll see more in 2022
25:43
In coming years If the Lord wills we'll plant more churches
25:51
And the gospel witness will continue to extend In this area And the gospel will begin to infect the culture
25:58
Like salt and light And politicians in this area would be thoroughly ashamed
26:03
To admit that they're pro -death And the gender dysphoria that they're pushing
26:10
On our children Will become a relic of the past And the new attempt at socialism
26:17
As socialism is tried again and again From generation to generation Once again it will be put down The church will begin to have an influence
26:27
In the culture beyond what we've already had And push back the forces of darkness
26:33
If the Lord wills This would be our desire Our plan as a church
26:40
But all of it depends on the power of God The results, the fruit, the productivity of a church
26:48
Is in the Lord's hands We ought not boast in what we're going to do
26:55
We ought to do what God calls us to do And measure success by faithfulness
27:03
Faithfulness is the indication of what pleases God Now that being said
27:09
Is there anything in God's word That teaches us What we are to do
27:15
That he is pleased to bless Sadly many ministries exist in the world
27:22
And they're vain They come back empty They attempt things
27:28
And they expect big results But they inherit the wind Vanity upon vanity
27:35
It's like chasing the wind Why is it that some ministries turn back void
27:42
And others progress in power The all -surpassing power does not come from us
27:48
But from God We are just jars of clay So where can we look? The answer of course is in the scripture
27:54
Turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 2 And here in this passage We have 8 verses to explore today
28:06
And Paul will teach us Why it is that his ministry Progressed in power
28:12
It did not return void It was not vain It was not arrogant And it didn't return empty
28:20
Two major points will be made The first is that Paul's ministry Was marked by an unflinching
28:28
Uncompromising pursuit And proclamation of truth There was no shading the truth
28:38
It was unadulterated truth And then secondly His ministry was marked by love
28:46
The apostle poured his very life Into the disciples that he was making
28:51
He did not stand on high He didn't appear on a stage With dimmed lights
28:58
Proclaim a message And then disappear into a backroom office He came and poured himself
29:05
His very life into the people That he was ministering to So ministry with unflinching
29:11
Commitment to truth And genuine care for the people Served to not prove vain
29:18
Truth and love empower ministry So turn with me now to 1 Thessalonians 2 1 to 8
29:25
For you yourselves know, brothers That our coming to you Was not in vain
29:32
There's the title of my sermon today Not in vain Paul's ministry was not in vain
29:40
And here's why But though we had already suffered And been shamefully treated at Philippi As you know
29:45
We had boldness in our God To declare to you
29:51
The gospel of God In the midst of much conflict For our appeal does not spring from error
30:01
Or impurity Or any attempt to deceive But just as we have been approved by God To be entrusted with the gospel
30:10
So we speak Not to please man But to please
30:16
God Who tests our hearts For we never came with words of flattery
30:22
As you know Nor with the pretext for greed God is witness Nor did we seek glory from people
30:29
Whether from you or from others Though we could have made demands As apostles of Christ But we were gentle among you
30:38
Like a nursing mother taking care Of her own children So being affectionately desirous of you
30:45
We were ready to share with you Not only the gospel of God But also our own selves
30:52
Because you had become Very dear to us So notice in verse 1
30:59
That Paul sets himself up As the paradigm for ministry
31:05
That might seem a little bit arrogant But Paul was uniquely gifted and called As an apostle for this purpose
31:13
And given scripture to write He says to the Corinthians Imitate me as I imitate
31:21
Christ And he says to the Philippians Follow my example brothers
31:26
And take note of those who live According to the pattern we gave you For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ Their destiny is destruction
31:34
Their God is their stomach Their mind is on earthly things But Paul sets himself up As the example to follow
31:40
So in verse 1 You yourselves know brothers That our coming to you
31:45
Was not in vain He reminds them of what they saw in him
31:52
So Paul came to Thessalonica And was there for three weeks He with Silas and Timothy And they watched him
32:01
And they met him Rubbed elbows with him And they saw how he conducted himself
32:08
And his ministry It was the example There are many men who have set out To follow the example
32:14
The pattern of ministry That we see in Paul One was Charles Spurgeon He always made
32:22
Paul the example That he was trying to follow Another was George Whitfield Recently I heard
32:28
John MacArthur say My pattern in ministry That I follow is the Apostle Paul That's a wise course of action
32:36
The Apostle Paul set a standard For us to follow So what are a couple of the things
32:44
That we can notice from the Apostle Paul Here we have them in verses 2 -4
32:49
Notice first of all An unrelenting Tireless pursuit of the truth
32:58
And willingness to say the truth No matter what Comes Verse 2
33:04
Though we had already suffered When had he suffered? Well the previous town
33:11
In which he ministered of course Was Philippi And there in Philippi He was beaten with rods
33:17
And he was strung up in a prison And the Lord shook the prison
33:22
And set him free And after talking to the officials To secure the blessing of the people
33:28
He was leaving behind He traveled from Philippi To Thessalonica So imagine this
33:33
Paul did not come In full strength of body To Thessalonica The wounds from Philippi Were still on him
33:42
The scabs were still fresh And not yet fully healed The muscles were still sore
33:49
And yet despite that It says in verse 2 We had already suffered And been shamefully treated at Philippi As you know
33:58
It didn't slow him down I use the word in first service
34:05
Indefatigable And one of the English professors said You said that wrong I don't know how to pronounce that right
34:11
Somebody who's better at words Could tell me that But the point is
34:16
Nothing could fatigue him Nothing could tire him Nothing could slow him down He says here
34:22
We had boldness in our God To declare to you The gospel of God In the midst
34:28
Of much conflict The suffering
34:35
That Paul was experiencing in the body Indicated how much
34:41
Paul treasured the truth That he was bringing It was so valuable to him
34:48
That he was willing to suffer for it The suffering didn't stop him
34:54
He kept pressing So he tells us why Verse 3 Our appeal does not spring from error
35:03
Or impurity Or any attempt to deceive So the way
35:09
Paul taught the Bible The way he preached the gospel Sprung from It came from Not error but truth
35:17
Not impurity but purity No attempt to deceive But a forthrightness A genuineness
35:23
So let's look at each of those words for a moment And consider the time in which we live
35:28
Error Nowadays in ministry Error is tolerated
35:35
The mantra is that what really matters Is that we love one another And not
35:42
Squabble about minor differences The teaching is that Truth needs to take a back seat to love
35:52
And you see this manifest In a variety of ways
35:57
Many churches that are willing to tolerate Certain levels of error
36:02
Even things that they probably know are error For the sake Of winning approval
36:09
To be approved not by God But from men Where do we see this in the churches?
36:15
There are the happy clappy churches Happy clappy churches by which I mean
36:20
Churches that are concerned about Making people feel good Motivational speaking
36:30
And there will be pastors who will deliberately Exclude from their preaching Anything negative
36:37
And even say I don't talk about sin Because people already know that They need something encouraging
36:42
And positive, inspiring Caleb Positive and inspiring
36:50
Becomes a lens and a grid Through which everything is read And therefore
36:56
Error enters into the teaching Because the harder things of scripture
37:02
Are deliberately put to the side Other teachers preach health and wealth
37:08
Right? Prosperity preachers And whereas there is truth in the department
37:13
That obedience results in blessing There is also truth In the way that suffering is to be expected
37:21
As part of the Christian life And if we so minimize The suffering that we must go through To enter the kingdom of God And only emphasize
37:31
The blessings of the Christian life We begin to distort the truth Error becomes the foundation of our teaching
37:40
There is of course the social justice Teachers Which is pretty much all of liberalism
37:46
Having exchanged the truth of God for a lie Having left behind substitutionary atonement
37:52
For the individual redemption of sinners All they have left is social religion And so the goal becomes to find out
38:01
Where somebody has been aggrieved The power dynamics of who has power over who
38:08
Who's been the victim of who And trying to right those wrongs Becomes the lens through which they see the world
38:15
And it ignores the full counsel of God And the concerns of the scriptures
38:22
Again and again we see teachers Who leave behind the full counsel of God In order to pursue some agenda
38:31
And this is precisely what Paul is against Look what he says in verse 3 Our appeal does not spring from error
38:43
Paul is worried about error Paul is concerned that something that he would teach
38:50
Would be contrary to the word of God And so how can he be sure that he's not teaching error
38:58
I mean after all we're all fallen right Nobody's perfect He concerns himself with the text of scripture
39:08
And saying nothing beyond what is written in the book And as he brings new revelation as an apostle of Christ He has that authority to do that As he refers to here
39:19
As an apostle, verse 6 He can bring new revelation But we in following his pattern
39:26
Must stick only with what has been written And clearly taught The church doesn't need the opinions of men
39:34
The agendas of men We need the full counsel of God The full truth and nothing but the truth
39:43
Many will say doctrine doesn't matter That theology is just a matter of preference
39:48
And what matters is that we simply have orthopraxy Nothing could be further from the truth
39:54
Theology matters Error always causes sin, division
40:02
And all manner of wickedness Being doctrinally pure and true absolutely matters
40:08
Error is in the crosshairs here Secondly, impurity Impurity, this
40:15
Greek word for impurity Always refers to sexual sin And it was the case that in Thessalonica Like Philippi and all of the pagan cities of Rome The priests and priestesses
40:28
Were involved in abominable practices As part of their religion That would come to town peddling their message
40:36
Often involved sexual rituals In what they were teaching So when
40:41
Paul came into town The Thessalonians would assume he has some impure motive For being here
40:49
Like Rasputin in Russia before the First World War It's common for peddlers of religion
40:57
To actually be pursuing sexual impurity Paul names it
41:03
And says that the truth has none of it He was genuine and pure In his life and in his teaching
41:13
Or lastly, any attempt to deceive Now to understand what
41:20
Paul means here By any attempt to deceive We need to look at the next verse Because he expounds by contrast
41:27
In verse 4 it says Just as we have been approved by God To be entrusted with the gospel
41:34
So we speak Not to please man But to please
41:39
God who tests our hearts Now this is very important Because what Paul is saying
41:44
We make no attempt to deceive And then he defines that As preaching or speaking
41:54
As one who's being watched by God And the audience that he's preaching for Is God himself, not the listener
42:04
Many preachers err at this point Because reading the audience They lean this way
42:10
Or lean that way In order to approve And be approved by the listener
42:17
This capitulation to the opinions of man When the cultural winds blow this way
42:23
The preacher leans with the wind The attempt to deceive
42:29
Is the shading of truth Withholding certain things Because they're not popular at the time
42:38
Saying things in a certain way To look good to the listener Because the preacher is actually posturing
42:46
For the audience And guys I speak of preachers
42:51
Because this is what Paul is referring to But notice from the scriptures Every Christian is a minister
42:58
Of the gospel of Jesus Christ It does not apply to the pulpit alone
43:03
But to every Sunday school class Every community group leader Every women's teacher
43:12
Every leader Every Christian Every father teaching your children Every mother teaching your children
43:18
It is very easy to begin to lean with the culture
43:25
To appease the person that you're teaching Rather than to hold with fidelity
43:32
The truth of God And here's the secret to ministry When you don't try by your own effort
43:40
To massage the truth To win approval and to please The most number of people
43:48
You actually tap into The power source itself You see power in ministry
43:56
Comes not from the man or the woman But from the word of God This word is our strength
44:06
The power comes from here All of the outward appearance of success
44:12
Crumbles if it's not built on this foundation You could have a church of 30 ,000 people
44:17
And half of them could be goats It could look to the world
44:22
Like this is the most successful church But if you've gained the whole world And lost your soul
44:28
What have you gained? Spurgeon lamented that it seems
44:33
That preachers in his day Were more interested in entertaining goats
44:38
Than in feeding sheep And if that was true in the 1800s
44:44
How much more in 2021? So we want ministry From the pulpit in the classroom
44:50
In the churches we plant That are not based on man -made methods But are empowered by the living
44:57
God We want ministry that does not return void It's not empty It's powerful
45:02
It's effective It changes things for eternity As God is working in the world
45:08
That's what we want, right? So turn with me to Isaiah 55 Verses 10 to 13
45:26
For as the rain and the snow Come down from heaven And do not return there
45:33
But water the earth Making it bring forth and sprout Giving seed to the sower
45:40
And bread to the eater Stop there in Isaiah 55 10 Here's the simile
45:46
The comparison As snow falls from the sky Or rain from the sky
45:52
And it accomplishes something in the ground It waters the vegetation And it brings forth life
45:58
And it provides bread for people to eat It does that before it evaporates
46:04
And goes back to the sky And the cycle repeats It accomplishes something In that way
46:10
Look at verse 11 So shall my word be That goes out from my mouth
46:18
It shall not return to me empty But it shall accomplish that which
46:26
I purpose And shall succeed in the thing For which I sent it
46:32
The word of God is like rain and snow Falling from the sky It will accomplish the purpose
46:38
For which it was sent When the preacher And each of us as ministers
46:43
In our own context Teach the word of God accurately We let it fall from our lips
46:50
To the ears of a person listening If it's true and unadulterated And unflinching and bold Nothing but the truth
46:59
It will accomplish the work For which it is sent And it will result in the kind of joy
47:05
That this world cannot match Look at verses 12 and 13 Having been ministered to Under the power of God's word
47:16
You shall go out in joy And be led forth in peace The mountains and the hills before you
47:24
Shall break forth into singing And all the trees of the field Shall clap their hands
47:30
Instead of the thorn there Shall come up the cypress Instead of the briar Shall come up the myrtle
47:37
And it shall make a name for the Lord An everlasting sign
47:43
That shall not be cut off This is what the word accomplishes
47:48
This is the Christian life That we get to live Making a name for the Lord As Christian parents
47:57
Go forth having children And raising them in the knowledge of the Lord By the way
48:03
What becomes of the culture of death? It dies
48:09
So a culture of aborting children And the LGBTQ agenda
48:15
Which is contrary to the production of life What comes of a culture that turns towards death?
48:21
That culture cannot sustain itself But what comes of a church
48:27
That is built upon the principle of life? We have as many children as we can
48:33
We win as many souls to Christ as we can And raise them up We bring life
48:38
And by nature That seed multiplies So if you look out at the culture
48:44
Should the Lord tarry for 10, 20, 30, 40 years Our expectation Is that the culture of death keeps dying
48:52
And the culture of life keeps growing And what looks like Death and hopelessness
49:01
Because the church has been departing From the truth If we return to this foundation
49:08
I expect victory not defeat I don't know when Christ is coming I hope it's really soon
49:14
And there seem to be signs of the times That it could be definitely within our generation But what if he tarries for another hundred years?
49:22
By then we should have been able to plant enough churches To turn New Jersey opposite of where it stands now
49:30
That's how we need to think This scripture teaches us about what's effectual
49:35
What's productive, what's powerful And that is the word of God Do you trust it? Moses told the
49:42
Israelites After he sang them a song He gave them the law of God And then he said to them
49:48
This is your life He tells them to hold on to the word This is your life
49:56
Paul tells Timothy To rightly divide the word of truth
50:04
He understood He had left Timothy with everything he needed For life and godliness We have the sword of the spirit
50:14
Which is powerful for conquering We have what it takes Through the power of the word of God Secondly and lastly
50:24
Look at verses 5 to 8 Ministry will prove to be vain
50:37
Without genuine care For the people served It says we never came with words of flattery
50:50
As you know Nor with the pretext for greed God is witness When someone brings words of flattery
50:57
Are they genuinely interested in building you up? No, they're interested in getting something from you
51:04
They're flattering you with words So that you in turn will give something to them Job said
51:11
I don't even know how to flatter someone God would cut me off if I did
51:18
Paul is saying here He wasn't preaching to get something from the
51:23
Thessalonians He didn't want their esteem He wasn't looking to feel good He was there genuinely concerned for them
51:33
Look at verse 6 Nor did we seek glory from people Sadly many preachers rise in popularity
51:41
And become more and more distant from people What they want is the glory of the spotlight
51:47
And after they preach the sermon They disappear They say of Ravi Zacharias Who it breaks my heart about his fall
51:56
That he had gotten to the point After so many years of popularity That nobody was close enough to him
52:02
To question him He was above everyone And so when he opened a massage parlor
52:09
And then had a masseuse traveling with him No one began to question him
52:15
Is this wise? What's going on? He was just unquestionable He was Ravi And he fell
52:24
How many preachers On conference circuits Want the limelight?
52:32
It's not the ministry of Paul Look at verse 7 and following This is a strange analogy for a man to make
52:40
He says, we were gentle among you Like, simile, a nursing mother
52:46
Taking care of her own children This is not Pete Buttigieg kind of stuff This is a different era
52:53
This is a different context altogether here But why would Paul make this analogy?
52:59
The analogy is not to him The analogy is to caring He's saying how much he cares
53:08
For the Thessalonians It was not this distant ministry kind of thing He loved them
53:15
And there is nothing more beautiful And demonstrative
53:23
Of care and concern for another Than a mother nursing her children
53:29
Husbands, you understand this When you've seen your wife When we had babies
53:37
How she cared for that baby It's got to be the purest picture in the
53:44
Bible Of care And so Paul uses that analogy To teach what ministry is really like You care about the actual people you're preaching to Community group leader
53:58
It's not just about gathering One day a week It's about caring for every person
54:06
That you're shepherding The love in the body I've seen it this year
54:11
Probably greater than ever before in our church The true love and concern
54:19
Of the body for one another That's ministry It's not a detached thing
54:25
And so Paul will say In verse 8 So being affectionately desirous of you
54:31
We were ready to share with you Not only the gospel of God But what? But also our own selves
54:41
Because you had become very dear to us That's ministry
54:48
I was talking to Tim Robinson Our youth pastor And thinking about how We got together in ministry
54:55
And it actually started Tim wasn't yet believing He started listening to the gospel
55:00
On Bill Lubkeman's Hope FM And became saved And then we started
55:06
What was called the discipleship table So we played basketball together At Lifetime Athletic But afterwards
55:11
We would go sit at a table And just spend a couple hours Talking about life Ministry but life
55:19
Everything going on And talking about the Bible And so that discipleship table Was how he began to grow in the faith
55:27
And now we've seen him grow To become the youth pastor And he does the same thing With our youth It's life on life
55:33
Going to somebody's game One of the teenagers Going to their basketball game
55:39
That's ministry Sharing life together Young adults
55:44
We have a new ministry That we've been doing recently Called the discipleship table It came from that basketball scene
55:51
Now we just meet here At the church On the second and fourth Friday We get together
55:57
And we talk theology And we talk about life And whatever it is that comes up That's where ministry happens
56:06
Life on life And all of us need to be involved in that Are you here this morning?
56:13
And the only time you're involved At Cornerstone Church Is Sunday morning You need a little bit more contact than that There are community groups
56:24
On Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday There's a women's Bible study Tuesday morning There's a men's group
56:31
Monday night Prayer meeting Sunday night Discipleship table on Fridays Youth group on Fridays There's something happening
56:39
Every night of the week I want to encourage everybody here To get involved beyond Sunday morning
56:46
It's very important Because we don't just share the gospel We share our very selves
56:52
And ministry is caught as well as taught And this is what Paul is saying
56:58
We didn't just preach the gospel We shared our very lives with you If we will do those two things
57:04
In closing If we will be a church that is I almost said indefatigable
57:09
But I know that's not pronounced right That's tireless In preaching the truth
57:16
That no matter how the cultural winds blow We remain more and more steadfast in the truth
57:24
Think of this The church now is facing a godless culture A wicked and depraved generation
57:33
Which means When we hold fast to the word of life Shining like stars in the universe
57:39
When we hold fast The contrast will be all the more stark When you preach the whole counsel of God In this culture
57:49
People will call you names You'll be slandered on account of his name And who knows what other kind of persecution is coming
57:58
But Paul models for us A tireless, relentless Preaching, proclaiming of the truth
58:07
Are you willing to do that? Notice also there's a boldness that goes with that He's speaking particularly of the gospel
58:14
But it extends to the whole counsel of God Are you willing to take the gospel To someone you know and preach?
58:21
Are you willing to go into your neighborhood? Or go to the ends of the earth to another country? The boldness of preaching
58:29
That's the first thing The second thing is to pour your very life out Paul says in Philippians That he's being poured out like a drink offering
58:36
On the sacrifice and service coming from your faith He's willing to invest his life in other people
58:45
That's what we need to have power in ministry If each of us has those two things Relentless commitment to the truth
58:51
And a life poured out into one another There is no limit to what
58:57
God will do with this church And the other churches that we influence Amen?
59:03
I close with a quick story and a poem The story was told by John Piper about his dad
59:11
Who was an evangelist And the poem comes from The first part, something that you'll recognize
59:18
Only one life, it will soon be passed Only what's done for Christ will last
59:24
That poem is to remind us You only have one life
59:31
Why not invest it in ministry? Whether you become a pastor Or something else in the church
59:38
These are the works that matter For all eternity
59:46
So I added to that poem My own story, and I'll share that But first,
59:51
Piper's story He said that the one thing that he remembers the most
59:57
About growing up with his dad as an evangelist Is a story he would often tell How an elderly man, 80 -something years old
01:00:06
Had year after year rejected the gospel But here in his elderly years
01:00:14
He heard the gospel and he believed Piper's dad was preaching And the man came forward
01:00:20
You can picture it like those big tent revivals Have you guys seen old footage of Billy Graham crusades? Sawdust Trail This old man comes to the front
01:00:29
And accepts the Lord With great joy But then
01:00:35
John Piper's father went down to minister to him And before long
01:00:41
The man crumbled In tears Of sorrow He was distraught and inconsolable
01:00:50
And he began to cry out I wasted it
01:00:57
I wasted it I wasted it The thought gripped him That his life was past And all these years he had rejected
01:01:09
Christ And done nothing for the kingdom of God No productive ministry No chance to go tell the world
01:01:15
Now we know That what the locusts have eaten away God is able to redeem
01:01:22
Even if someone is quite old God can still redeem what time is left In fact,
01:01:28
Jesus tells a parable About how anybody who comes to him Is paid the same thing
01:01:35
He gets the same forgiveness of sin Same eternal life But in that moment he was distraught
01:01:42
Because he realized his whole life was gone And he would never have a chance to live it again It was only one life
01:01:48
You don't want to get to the end of your life And cry I wasted it
01:01:54
You have one life to live And so my poem Only one life
01:02:01
It will soon be past Only what's done for Christ will last I used to read those words
01:02:08
On my grandma's wall And I was there that day When I saw her fall
01:02:13
I watched the medics come And press her chest Until my dad spoke up and said
01:02:19
Let her rest She lived her life and now it's past She lived for Christ Her reward will last
01:02:27
When my eyes were young I couldn't see that far I heard the eternal song
01:02:33
But only read the first bar Now my eyes are older And I'm looking out
01:02:38
To an eternal kingdom I've been reading about This life is heavy, man It disappears like a mist
01:02:46
Two thousand years are like two days When life flowed from the wrist
01:02:52
Of the Savior once given And now calling for this Here I am
01:02:58
Letting this life go For the eternal bliss Let's pray Father We have only one life to live
01:03:08
We want our ministry To be productive And effective We want it to count for something
01:03:15
And so Lord I pray for myself first And for everybody
01:03:22
Hearing these words today That our ministry would be
01:03:28
According to the pattern set for us That we would be a people
01:03:34
Unflinching with the truth That we would never shade the truth
01:03:40
For man's approval That we would uphold the whole Council of God Without compromise
01:03:50
That we would love the truth God I'm reminded of John saying
01:03:56
I have no greater joy than to know that my children Are walking in the truth Let your children walk
01:04:04
In the truth And Lord I pray for us That we would be loving
01:04:09
That we would throw ourselves into this Community, this body of Christ And be part of the body
01:04:17
I pray that in the new year We would have many more community groups More people involved in Men's studies and women's studies
01:04:28
More at youth group That all of us would be a part Of the life of this church Lord we want to ask
01:04:35
That you would make this ministry Powerful and effective For years and years to come
01:04:44
That we would plant more and more churches And influence the culture
01:04:49
Like salt and light God our prayer is that you
01:04:55
Would be the power working in us The all surpassing power comes from you
01:05:05
And not from us Christ in us the hope of glory
01:05:13
So Lord empower your people This morning I pray that you would give somebody a thought
01:05:18
Of what they are to do A ministry that they are to be a part of Help us to do
01:05:26
These two things well To uphold the truth And to love one another
01:05:32
In Jesus name we pray, Amen Let's stand and sing Once was lost
01:05:58
In darkness night Yet thought I knew
01:06:03
The way The sin That promised joy
01:06:10
In life Had led me to The glory
01:06:17
I had no hope That you would hold
01:06:23
To your hand If you had
01:06:29
Not loved me First I would refuse You still
01:06:39
But as I Read My hell bound ways
01:06:45
Indifferent To the Calls You looked upon My helpless state
01:06:55
And led Me to The cross
01:07:01
And I beheld God's love Displayed You suffered in My place
01:07:11
You bore The wrath Reserved for me
01:07:16
Now all is Great Jesus is
01:07:42
My life The Lord I would
01:07:49
Be yours alone And live So all
01:07:55
May see The strength to Follow your
01:08:00
Commands Could never come From me
01:08:07
Oh Father Use my ransom Life In any way
01:08:14
You choose And let my Song forever
01:08:21
Be My only post Is you
01:08:29
Hallelujah Is Christ Hallelujah Jesus is
01:08:47
My life Hallelujah All I have
01:08:57
Is Christ Hallelujah Jesus is
01:09:08
My life And Jesus came and said to them
01:09:16
All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to me Go therefore
01:09:22
And make disciples of all nations Baptizing them In the name of the Father and of the
01:09:28
Son and of the Holy Spirit Teaching them to observe all that I Have commanded you and behold