Good morning to everyone. Just had one announcement I neglected to tell Mark, but we're going to have a baptism two weeks from today. So if anyone's interested in being baptized, we'll do that right behind me here in the baptismal two weeks from this morning, and then we'll have a fellowship meal afterwards. I believe Debbie Brown's going to make lasagna, so that's the plan. So look forward to that. 

We've been studying in our Thursday night Bible study the Gospel of John in chapter 1, and I've also been reading lately Acts chapter 9 and the conversion, that wonderful story, the conversion of Saul of Tarsus into the Apostle Paul. And Saul asks an interesting question when Jesus comes and knocks him to the ground, blinding him with the light and confronting him with the truth that he was persecuting Jesus. 

And Saul says, who are you, Lord? As I've been thinking on this event, this passage, it occurred to me that this is the most important question a man could ask. Who are you, Lord? Who is Jesus? And of course, in John 1, the Apostle is explaining this very truth, who Jesus is. Jesus is God, the Word, the revelation of God to us in human flesh. Jesus is the creator of all things. 

We learn in Hebrews 1 that God, who in times past spoke in various ways, many ways He revealed Himself to men, now He speaks in these last days to us through His Son. And that Jesus holds all things together by the Word of His power. Colossians 1 tells us that He's the fullness of God, that in Him all the fullness dwells in human flesh. He's the preeminent one. All things were created by Him and for Him, as we were just singing about, and in Him all things consist. 

Who are you, Lord? Who is Jesus? He is God, He's the creator, He's the sustainer, He's the Savior, the intercessor, my High Priest. Jesus is the preeminent one over all the creation, the all-powerful one, the judge, the advocate. He's the way, the truth, the life, the source, the giver of life. He is the promise, He's my confidence, He's my hope, and He's my friend, Jesus. 

And as I've been thinking on these things and studying the text before us this morning, it's made me think about church, about fellowship, about what it is we're doing here and why we're doing it. And the bottom line, I believe, and we see it here from the pen of Paul in our text this morning, is that our confidence is in God, is in Jesus. And we should be doing what we're doing because we believe God. We trust Him and His plan and His purpose and His power to accomplish His will. 

I thought of it this way, I'll borrow an illustration. If you had to list the three greatest accomplishments, contributions to the world of America, what has America done in her history, what would you say are the three greatest things? If you think on that for a while, you might come up with things like the automobile, or the internet, or submarines, or nuclear reactors. These things have greatly changed our world. 

Here are the top three I thought of in the way of what man has done in America to influence the world. The greatness of man, his mind, his creative ability, his power to invent, create, and affect the world. Number three, the cell phone. When would you guess the first cell phone came into existence? I was surprised to learn that Motorola introduced the first cell phone in 1973. But my oh my how Apple has changed our world in the last 20 years with this little doozy, the cell phone. 

Number two, the airplane, air travel. Many inventors around the world in 1903 were working on manned aircrafts, but the Wright brothers from Ohio were the first to make it a reality. Unfortunately, they also invented the airplane crash fatality. Think about how this invention of man and where the technology has gone since that time has changed our world, the fact that man can fly across the world, can reach destinations safely in a short time. 

Number one, the man on the moon. That may have come to your mind, that America put men on the moon, and this may be the greatest accomplishment of America. The U.S. moon landing in 1969 and the subsequent lunar forays made the U.S. not only the first to the moon, but also the only country ever to accomplish a manned moon landing. We could look at hundreds of other things, inventions, discoveries, technologies, but these three are certainly near the top. And they illustrate the wisdom and the creative power of man, the amazing abilities of man. 

And we could marvel at these things. I mean, how does a cell phone work? I often think of that when I'm guiding the Swedes and my buddy Anders is here from Stockholm, and we'll be out hunting and I'll text him. And when I text him, I punch in those letters and that goes to Sweden, and then it comes back to him in a moment and comes up on his phone, even though he might be sitting right beside me. How does that all work? 

But did you know that God doesn't need a cell phone to communicate? When he appeared to Moses in the burning bush way back there in Genesis, God didn't have to check how many bars he had or worry about losing his signal. When God wants to communicate, he speaks to anyone, anywhere. A voice comes from heaven, thundering, smoke, shaking of the earth. 

And when God wanted to reveal himself fully, he sent his only begotten son to take on flesh and dwell among us, to communicate to us, to reveal to us who he is. How much greater is our God? Think about how the wisdom of man, the power of man, compares to the wisdom and power of God. The Wright brothers' first flight was 120 feet and the world marveled. And now with some difficulty through security at the airport and most of your day, you can get on a plane that'll travel 600 miles per hour. 

But Jesus came from heaven and entered this world through a virgin birth as a human being. In Acts 1, you can see those disciples staring up into the heavens because when Jesus said the word, he just ascended from this earth right up into the third heaven. He walks through walls. He traverses from the earth to the third heaven at will. And my friends, he is with each believer. He lives in every believer on this earth all the time continually. How much greater is Jesus? 

But there's the greatest achievement of man, traveling to the moon, setting foot on the moon, even planting an American flag. Can I tell you a secret? My Jesus, my personal Savior and faithful friend, he created the moon. By the word of his great power, ex nihilo, out of nothing, he spoke it into existence, creating the universe. And it's by his power that it all holds together. 

And one day he will say the word and it'll all blow apart at the atomic level and the elements will melt with a fervent heat and God will destroy this old cursed world and the heavens and he'll make a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Who are you, Lord? Who are you, Jesus? That's a good question. Not only for the lost man, but for you and for me. 

And I'll tell you why and how this relates to the church and to our text this morning. The main intent of our text is to give confidence and assurance of salvation to the believers to whom it was written. They were struggling with many issues concerning their confidence in salvation, the persecution they were experiencing and false teaching that was plaguing them. And Paul wants them to know that they know that they are saved, and that Jesus is in control and that he will make good on his promises to come back and take them to be with him forever. He wants them to remember what they know. He says that over and over in this little letter. You know, you yourselves know, I taught you these things when I was with you. 

But at the same time he accomplishes this primary intent, Paul also gives us great insight into how an effective, faithful ministry of the gospel of Christ works. And it really comes down to a choice for each believer and for a local body of believers for the church. And the question is, where are we going to put our faith, our trust? And consequently, how are we going to act? Who are we going to follow? 

The local church has a monumental task, after all, to reach the lost, sinners, those who are against God, who are enemies of God, dominated by sin, filled with pride. How are we going to break down those barriers? How are we going to bring them to salvation in Christ? That's a big question. And there are those who have been saved, who are in Christ, in the church, how are we going to grow? How are we going to deal with all the difficulties of life, the hardships and sufferings, the sin, the failures and discouragements and doubts and fears such as they were experiencing in the church in Thessalonica? These are super practical questions. 

And the question is, will we put our trust in the wisdom and the means of men, the solutions of the world, or in the wisdom, the power and the commands of God concerning these things? Will we trust the men who were able through great trial and toil and billions of dollars over years to put a foot on the moon, or shall we trust the one who created the moon and keeps it in its place in the universe each moment each day? Super practical questions. 

Is the answer to the problems of believers the true real-life agonizing struggles of life? Is the answer the wisdom of Freud and Jung? Is it the science of our day? Is the way to reach men with the gospel bound up in the slick marketing techniques of the business gurus of our world? Is it in the giving the carnal man what he wants, supplying the felt needs of unchurched Harry and Mary? Is the answer a plethora of programs and help groups and twelve-step methods? Is this how we should organize our church? Are these the things that will accomplish the will of God? 

As Spurgeon once said, when we come together, are we feeding the sheep or are we attempting to amuse the goats? Should we place our faith, our confidence, our effort and resources in the wisdom of men or the power of God? That's the question. It's an important question. I believe we see the answers to these questions in our text this morning and in the example of the life and ministry of Paul. 

Let's look at 1 Thess 2:1, please. For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, but even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit, but as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. 

For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness, God as witness, nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. So affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. 

For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil, for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preach to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe, as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

I've given you five points on your outline. First, you know. Second, boldness in persecution. Third, pleasing God. Fourth, genuine care. And fifth, walking worthy. 

Well in our last couple of studies we saw that the intent of Paul in this letter is primarily to encourage and comfort the saints in Thessalonica. The text before us is very interesting because it has a polemic tone to it. It seems that Paul may be defending his ministry or the faith of the believers there, the truth, the gospel, against some false teaching or false teachers. But at the same time, the intent of the words is clearly to reassure the believers that their faith and salvation are real, and that the gospel came to them with power, that God was working. This was not some religious act run by charlatans. It was the real deal. 

He starts with the statement, you know, you yourselves know. What did they know? What had they experienced? Paul says that His coming to them was not in vain. The word vain means useless, empty, without fruit, not accomplishing a goal. We saw this back in chapter 1 at verse 5. He says, for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and the Holy Spirit and much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples to all. 

When Paul and his friends came preaching the gospel, it was not empty. It was not without power. But God was working through it, through the foolishness of the message preached, through the willingness of the fertile soil in the hearts of the men in Thessalonica, and the powerful gospel of Christ by the energy of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of willing men bore fruit. It transformed their lives and they became a witness to the world. 

How? Did Paul win the hearts of men by some great powerful and winsome speech, maybe some entertainment to warm them up, play on their emotions, and then some excellence of speech, wowing them with his words? Surely he was careful to not offend anyone, not to talk about sin or judgment or to say anything that might drive them away. And if there was any resistance, any pushback, uncomfortable moments, surely Paul would back off, reconcile, seek to meet the needs of the carnal pagan religious men or the legalistic Jews. 

Look at verse 2. Even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. What's Paul talking about here? Let's go back to Acts 16 and look at this account in Philippi. Acts 16 at verse 6, this is real people in real time, in real ministry. 

Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the Word in Asia. After they'd come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them, so passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. When a vision appeared to Paul in the night, a man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. After he'd seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. 

Now look at verse 16. Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl, possessed with the spirit of divination, met us, who brought our masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation. And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out that very hour. 

But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. And they brought them to the magistrates and said, These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city. And they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe. Then the multitude rose up together against them, the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. 

And when they'd laid many stripes on them, they threw them into the prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them in the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. Now look at this. But at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed. 

And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, Do yourself no harm, for we are all here. Then he called for a light, ran in and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and he said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? So they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household. 

Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him, they preached the gospel to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and immediately he and all of his family were baptized. And when he brought them into his house, he set food before them and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. 

We see this as the absolute rule of the ministry of Paul. What does he do? He goes into a place, a town, he preaches the gospel of Christ. He reasons from the scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. He preaches Christ crucified. And what happens? Some believe and some attack. Paul ends up in prison more often than not. In every city the Holy Spirit says, Bonds and chains await me. Jesus said to Ananias, Go to Saul of Tarsus, I will show him how many things he must suffer for my sake. 

My brothers and sisters, the gospel is offensive to carnal men. It's not our desire to offend. It's not pleasant to offend. And we certainly strive to never offend unnecessarily. But at the point of the gospel, there must be an offense. In our day of political correctness, cultural Marxism, the greatest sin a man can commit is to offend. Everyone is waiting to be offended. And the prevailing wisdom of the world, and I'm afraid as much of the church, is to never violate the holiest of commands to never offend. 

But do you see, this is putting our trust in the wisdom of men rather than the power of God. We love men. We want more than anything for men to believe Jesus and be saved. This is why we live. This is the passion of our lives, our reason for remaining on this planet. But we must understand that there will be an offense at the point of the gospel, and there will be a resulting persecution by some. 

Here's the interesting thing I want you to see in verse 2 of our text. Paul had just been beaten, chained, imprisoned in Philippi for preaching the gospel of Christ, for upsetting the apple cart of religion with his bold words. And God delivered him from that prison, and off he goes to Thessalonica. Now if you sat down with the leading pastors in the church today, what kind of counsel do you think they would give Paul after such an experience? What plan would they devise for Paul going into the next city? 

What does Paul do, filled with the Holy Spirit? We were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. He was just beaten. He was just imprisoned. And he goes in there and boldly preaches the gospel. He does the same thing he always does. And he meets more resistance. Much conflict. 

There's a clear example in Acts 14 where we read about Paul going into Lystra, and you'll remember when he goes in there preaching the gospel, the Jews got wound tight. And they grabbed him, and they drug him out of the city, and they stoned him and left him for dead. And if you read that text, what's it say? He stood up and went back into the city. They stoned him. Now, I could maybe take a couple days off and heal up after that, right? He went right back into the city and preached the gospel. 

This was an unstoppable, unwavering man in his commitment to preach the gospel, to preach Christ and nothing else, but why? Why did he do that? Because he believed firmly that this was God's way. That this was the commission, the command that he had been given. And his trust was not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. He said, we believe, therefore we speak. 

Verse 2 again, but even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit. Look at verse 4. But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak. God is pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. 

For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness. God is witness. It's easy to get distracted from the simplicity of Christ in this world. It's easy to start to be drawn to the wisdom of men to read a book, because preaching Christ is hard sometimes. Being offensive at the point of the gospel, experiencing conflict is difficult. And we sometimes fail to trust God and do what He has told us. 

Because we start to be deceived by men and the world that there might be another, perhaps a better way. But Paul says, you know. You know, my brother, my sister in Christ. We know. We know that God is right. We know. We've been taught. We've read the clear word of God. It's not ambiguous. We've seen the fruit of a faithful witness, trusting in the power of God. We know. Sometimes we forget. 

Paul says we must be bold if there is persecution. Continue in boldness. Preach the truth. Believe God. Trust His methods, not our own. Vance Havner said, if there are some glad, some sad, and some mad, you're getting across okay. And again, I want to emphasize, and we'll see in our text in a moment, that it's not our desire to cause conflict. It's hard. We don't want it. It's not our joy to offend. And we should seek to never offend except at the point of the gospel. 

But in all this, our goal must be to please God, not men. As we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. Do you know that? You've been entrusted with the gospel. You're an ambassador for Christ. You've been given the words of reconciliation. Even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He did not say go into all the world and entertain the world, please the world, and meet the felt needs of the world. He said preach the gospel. 

And He said that it's a gospel that is the power of God unto salvation, that the foolishness of the message preached is the wisdom of God. This is His way, His means, His method, and we are not to come up with our own, but rather we are to believe Him and trust Him and do what He says. 

And next we see in our text that all of this must be genuine, genuine care. Verse 3, for our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit, but as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak of covetousness. God is witness. 

Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. So affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. 

For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil. For laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God. You are witness, and God also. How devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe. As you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. 

Pay attention to the words, the heart of Paul's ministry. He was bold. He offended with the gospel. He experienced conflict. But in all of this, what was his heart motive? Love. He told them the truth because he loved them. And as they came to faith and God produced fruit through the message preached, Paul gave his life to these people, to teach them, to guide them, to grow them in Christ. 

His ministry was not like the religious charlatans that plagued the world of his day and of ours. Our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit. It was not religious lies meant to manipulate men for the gain of the preacher. It was not error, but truth that Paul preached. It was not uncleanness. This word speaks specifically of sexual immorality, and Jude and Peter tell us that this is always what characterizes the false teacher and false religion. 

And there was not deceit in Paul's ministry. He had no angle, my friends. Do you know that for the first 26 years of my life, I never met a man who didn't have an angle, who wasn't looking out for his own benefit, who didn't want something from me? Even if he was doing something for my benefit, the underlying motive was what he could eventually gain from me. 

And I was the same way as a lost man and Adam. But when I was 26 years old, I met the first Christians, real biblical Christians, who were genuine, who were only interested in my good, particularly my salvation. They had no angle. There was no deceit. Just the love of Christ poured out through their lives, and the power of the gospel preached. 

They were willing to give to me not only the good news of the gospel, but their very lives, their time, their resources. This is the way Paul was, so affectionately longing for you. What amazing words. Did you know that we have a new member in the Fellowship of Living Hope? My daughter Ashley had a baby boy Friday morning, Silas Miles Anderman. 

Paul uses words here that specifically refer to a mother nursing her baby. The care and intimacy. So affectionately longing for you, Paul writes. This is the picture he gives us. They imparted to them not only the gospel, but their own lives. The believer in Jesus Christ, the ambassador of God, the one who brings the good news of the gospel, genuinely cares for all men, and strongly desires for them to come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved. 

And my friends, this means that we must give to them the truth. We must speak the truth in love. This is the need of the lost, and this is the need of the saved. We need the truth too. In our text, we see you know. We see boldness and persecution. We see pleasing God. We see genuine care. And the fruit, the result of this kind of ministry is believers who are walking worthy. 

Verse that's 2:9, you remember, brethren, our labor and toil for laboring night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you. We preach to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe, as you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father does his own children. 

Why? That, see the purpose word, that you should walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. The idea of walking worthy is literally equal weight. See the same thing in Ephesians. Equal weight, walking worthy. We are to live outwardly in a way that is consistent with who we are inwardly in Christ. New men, new creations with a new heart and a new spirit, Jesus Christ living in us. 

Paul was like a mother, a nursing mother caring for her infant. He was gentle. He had that kind of love for the saints. And he's also like a father, exhorting, charging, comforting. All of this, Paul's ministry was centered on the Word, the truth, and trust in the power of God to sanctify, to produce fruit through the believers. So that they would walk worthy as witnesses, glorifying God in all that they do and serving as witnesses to the other churches and to the world. 

My brothers and sisters, we must believe God. We must trust His Word, trust His plan and purpose because it is His power that accomplishes His will. It's not in the power and wisdom of men, it's not in the latest idea. The gospel is the power, the Word, the truth is the power. Jesus said, sanctify them by your truth, your Word is truth. We just need to preach the truth. We just need to love men like God loves men. We need to live lives that are worthy of our calling so that we don't undermine the message that we preach. 

I want to close with Ephesians 3:14-21 because it summarizes this truth so well, God's plan for the church, His way. Ephesians 3:14, Paul's praying for the believers in Ephesus, For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man. 

That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 

Look at verse 20, Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever, Amen. 

Whether it is evangelism, justification for the lost man and Adam, or sanctification for the believers in Christ and the church, the answer is God's answer, the gospel, the Word of God and His grace and power. May we please Him in all that we do and trust Him to work out His will through us. 

Closing prayer. Father, we're so thankful. Thankful for Your faithfulness to us, for the power that works in us, for Your purposes, for Your glory. Thank You for salvation, thank You for the promises that we have in Jesus. Father, I just pray that You would help us to believe You, to look to You, to trust You, not to the ways of the world, not to our own means, but to the Word, the truth, and the gospel, knowing that You are faithful, that You are able, and that You will work out Your will through our lives for the salvation of men and for Your glory. We thank You and praise You, in Jesus' name, Amen.