1 Thessalonians 2, 1, for yourselves
brethren know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in
vain. Now, let's go back and read about
five or six verses in chapter one, and I believe it'll bring
us back into perspective on this first verse of our text this
morning. So beginning in verse five, For
our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power. In the Holy Ghost and in much
assurance, as you know what manner of men we were among you for
your sake, and you became followers of us and of the Lord. Remember
we saw in that passage where the Lord said in John 10, my
sheep hear my voice and they follow me. They're his sheep,
verse four, knowing brethren, beloved, your election of God. That's his sheep, he chooses
and saves his sheep. And then what happens? They follow
me, a sheep, my elect. They know me, they hear me and
they follow me. That's what Paul's saying here,
they saw it in action. You became followers of us and
of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction,
and yet with joy of the Holy Ghost, so that you were in samples
to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia, for from you sounded
out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but also in every place your faith to God were to spread abroad,
so that we need not to speak anything, for they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you
turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to
wait for his son from heaven. How do you serve God? Remember
we talked about that word wait, to look to like a handmaiden
to her master. That's how you serve God, you
look to his son. God spoke from heaven, this is
my son hearing. hearing Whom he raised from the dead
even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath To come the wrath is still to
come he's already saved us from it Verse two, that's where our verse
begins. Now yourselves, brethren, know.
Now, he's talking about the Holy Spirit and power. You know, the
gospel came to you in power. We can see the evidence of that.
You can't see the power of God, is it? But he's saying these
things, you know, you saw these things that he's about to talk
about in chapter two. But it was not in vain. You saw
that. There was a profound effect upon
these people In Thessalonica caused by the gospel The gospel
is never brought in vain. It's never preached in vain The
title of the message this morning is the gospel manner and there's
a lot of ways we could have titled this but What we'll see in the
next verses is how the gospel came to these people And you'll
see that the how has a lot to say about the what. How the gospel
came shows what the gospel is, what it does, why it does it,
the certainty of it, the success always of it, and just the beautiful
manner in which the Lord speaks to the heart of a sinner. It's
just, it's beautiful. But it's never in vain. The first thing we learn here
about the manner in which the gospel is presented is that it
comes in the providence of God, it comes as a deciding force. Like the cross that we preach,
the preaching of the cross is decisive. It's consequential,
it's determining. It's distinguishing in its consequence. When the Jews heard, they murmured
and they complained and they argued and they, but it says
the Gentiles heard with gladness. It always causes a decisive result. That's how it comes. Turn please
with me to 2 Corinthians 2.14. It's never in vain. And this
is important when the gospel goes forth. We need to understand what it
is. It's not just going to church. 2 Corinthians 2.14. Now thanks
be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ and maketh
manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. It's always a win. Well, what
about Paul when you went into the synagogue and they flat out
just about killed you and ran you off? Still a win. Still a
win. It was the sweet savor of Christ
in them that are saved and in them that perish. To the one,
we are the saver of death unto death, and to the other, the
saver of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these
things? For we are not as many which corrupt the word of God.
I wanna get to that verse in a minute, but look back up at
verse 15. I think I skipped over a little
part there, which was vital. as all the word of God is, but
for we are, verse 15, for we are unto God a sweet savor of
Christ. The preaching of the gospel has,
as I've said, a decisive effect upon sinners. But the preaching
of the gospel is something that happens by the power of God,
by the will of God, It's preached by the direction of God as something
that is pleasing and acceptable unto God, not to people. It may
not be acceptable to people. It's not unless God has mercy
on them. But it's a sweet savor unto God
every time. That's a win. So let's look now back at where
we were, to the one where the Savior is dead, verse 16. So
look at verse 17. For we are not as many which
corrupt the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God,
in the sight of God, speak we in Christ. See that? In the sight
of God, we stand as the servant of God, as the minister of Christ,
and we speak in his sight. with his approval, with his authority. And man just gets in on it by
the grace of God. That's why it's decisive. It's
not up to you, it's up to God. And he settles, he settles the matter when the
gospel's preached, that's how he settles it. What do you mean,
settles what? Everything. Eternity, life and
death. Everything that matters. And notice in that passage we
just read there in first Corinthians, second Corinthians, that a corruption
of the gospel, we're not as many which corrupt the word of God,
a corruption of the gospel is not a win. That word corrupt
is revealing. We're not as many that corrupt
the word of God. You know what corrupt means there
is this, to be a retailer. To peddle, E-E-D-D-L-E. To make money by selling something,
word for word. That's the definition of it.
We're not like that. Those who preach a corrupt gospel
are snake oil salesmen. That's what he's saying in plain
language. They're snake oil salesmen, they're retailers, they're peddlers
of a product. But not us, by God's grace, not
us. That's why religious people don't
preach Christ, because it doesn't pay. You mark that down now. The opposite of peddling the
gospel here in this passage is to be a sweet saver of Christ
unto God. And then if it's a sweet saver
of Christ unto God, then that sweet saver affects men by either life or
death. verse two back in our text. But
even, back in 1 Thessalonians two, verse two, but even after
that we had suffered before and were shamefully entreated, as
you know at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto
you the gospel of God with much contention. So let's follow along
here. First thing we learn about the
gospels, it's decisive. It is of God, it is from God,
it is for God. It is the preaching of God in
the person of his son through the redemption of sinners. And also here, the gospel manner
is this too. It comes in spite of. The way
the gospel comes, you know our entering in under you, you know
how this happened. This part you can see. Can't
see the Holy Spirit or his power. See the effects. This part you
can see now, it comes in spite of, notice the words, even after. And thousands of years later,
when physical abuse of those who preach is not without consequence
still in this country, and so it's pretty rare, we preach with much contention.
We contend with ourselves. We live in a fleshly age, don't
we? We are products of that age. Let's be honest with ourselves.
This is not the greatest generation. It's just not, is it? Not me,
not you. Thank God for each other. Thank
God for his jewels. Even in Paul's day now, the biggest
threat to the church was not outside persecution. Read the
letters again to the churches in the seven churches in the
book of Revelation. It wasn't outside persecution
they were warned against or exhorted regarding. It was themselves wasn't it?
Still that way. Greatest threat to the church
is not outside persecution. We ourselves are the biggest
threat but I thank God that even after the gospel is still preached
right here. Thank God for that. The next
consideration is found in the same verse. Notice the word bold.
That's the gospel manner. That's how the gospel always
comes, bold. And this is interesting. What comes to your mind when
I say the word bold, is right here, but with this nuance to
it. This is the definition of the
Greek word, to use freedom in speaking. In other words, no
restraint, no compromise, just tell it like it is, freedom in
speaking. To be free-spoken. to grow confidence, to show assurance,
to assume a bold bearing. That's the manner of the gospel.
Most of y'all know me pretty well personally, and not just
as a pastor. And you know that in a lot of
ways, I'm a different person in the pulpit. And I hope that's
not true in a hypocritical way. but the boldness with which the
gospel comes. By the grace of God, when you say what God said, you
can speak with boldness. I'm not strongly opinionated.
Well, I guess I am in some ways. I still don't get started on
politics or anything, but I think I'm pretty easygoing and just
whatever, you know. I hope I'm unassuming. I don't wanna be the, One that
has to always decide everything and run everything. But when
I'm preaching the gospel of Christ, it's a different matter. Freedom of speaking. This word is so important now
because of the contention. It was the free spokenness of
the gospel. It was just saying blunt things
that were absolute, outrage to the established religion that
got them in the trouble they were in. So what did they do
to get out of trouble? They priested even more freely.
That didn't get them out of trouble. They didn't muddy the water,
muddy the message so that It'd be a little easier on them. That's
all you have to do, by the way. You just have to muddy it up.
You don't have to come right out and say obvious lies, though
religion does. God loves everybody, just a flat
out lie. Right, just flat out. But all you have to do is just
muddy it up. Don't just say straight out that God hates sinners, just
as surely as he loves his own. Does he not? His hate is just
as real as his love. Don't make it so clear that even
the best thing that you ever did is worthy of hell. You don't
have to make that so clear that if God put you in hell, he'd
be doing the right thing. You could soften that. You don't have to sing a wretch
like me. or a worm when you're singing. We can change that word, right?
That's the opposite of free-spokenness. Don't say as plainly as Christ
did that it is impossible for a sinner to come to him and be
saved. Don't say that like he did. Don't
say with me that it's impossible. Just mince words enough so that
it's not so apparent that Christ laid down his life for his sheep
only and nobody else. Don't make that so clear. What Paul is saying here is that
even after they were persecuted, they preached with boldness and
clarity and without regard for man's opinion or opposition. He said in another place, neither
I count I my life dear unto myself. That's always the manner of the
gospel. Can't be any other way. Seeing
we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech. Verse three in our text. For our exhortation was not of
deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile. Isn't it sad that the only way
to make people happy with you is to deceive them? Isn't that a sad thing? That's the only way to be successful
in the world's terms. in the ministry is to be a snake. The gospel manner is complete
honesty. Complete honesty, nothing to
hide, no compromise, no confusion, no impure motive. That's that
word uncleanness there. No impure motive in it, no tricks. And this is all in great contrast
to man's religion, which is all that and only that. Verse four, but as we were allowed
of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing
men, but God, which trieth our hearts. Now this is a very important
consideration and not one to easily explain. So please, let's think about this carefully.
We speak in a way that is consistent with God entrusting us with the
gospel. Does that make sense? That has
a bearing on how the gospel's preached. what is preached. God entrusted us with the most
important thing there is. The one thing needful in the
saviorship. What was it? She had chosen that
good art. What was that? She sat at his
feet and heard his word, just like you're doing this morning. God entrusted that to us. Not
without his power, thank goodness. He said, go and preach, and everywhere
you go, I'll be with you. You know, that's my favorite
part of the Great Commission. Lo, I shall be with you, always. Listen to what, I think this
will clarify this point a little bit, Galatians 1.11, but I certify
you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not
after man. For I neither received it of
man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ. This comes straight from him
to me, to us, Knowing that, are you gonna trifle
with it? Are you okay with somebody kind of interpreting it in a
certain way instead of just being plain about it? Knowing where
it came from and what a privilege it is to have this entrusted to us
here in this place, stewards of His grace. That's the gospel
manner. And the word allowed, let me say this about that first.
If you're beholden to men and not God, if your gospel is after
man and you were taught it by man, you'll preach to please men and
not God every time. The gospel is not preached like
that. It didn't come from man. We don't quote the fathers, whoever
they are. Our gospel is his word from him,
for him, by him. The word allowed there in this
verse, verse four, is the same word trieth in this verse. Allowed and trieth are the same
word. So allowed here doesn't mean
God backed off and just let it happen. No, we were proved of God. That's what it is, proved of
God. The proving process of God is not to see if we are able,
but to make us able. This again, now it's in contrast
to false religion and the false preacher who is examined by men
and found acceptable men. What this is saying is that we
are examined by God and are approved of God. Again, he didn't find us like
that. He made us like that. It's God's standards that are
being applied. That's another way to say it,
not man's. God's standard is not personal
talent or greatness, but simple faithfulness to the truth of
Jesus Christ. That's his standard. "'Even so we speak,' Paul said."
Even so we speak. That's why Paul said in 2 Corinthians
2, who is sufficient? Who is sufficient? Who can measure
up to God's requirements as a preacher of the gospel? Who can be approved
of him? I'll tell you who. I can answer
that. Someone in whom God himself worketh
in order to will and do of his good pleasure. That's it, only. Philippians 2.13. Look at verse
five in our text. For neither at any time used
we flattering words as ye know, nor a cloak of covetousness.
God is witness. You know it. I know it and God
knows it. That's what he's saying. You
know it and God is witness to it. Most importantly, God knows
it. A cloak of covetousness. I looked
up the original language there because that's an interesting
phrase, cloak of covetousness. What exactly is that? Well, it
is a pretense. A cloak is a pretense, a show
put on for the purpose of greediness or personal gain. That's the
definition of cloak. You're covering up the reality
of the matter with a cloak, with something that people see, but
they don't see what's underneath it. What's underneath it is greed
and personal gain. Flattering words now go right
along with that. That's what he's talking about
in that context. The pretense is that they speak
for God when they say these sentimental things. Oh God, God doesn't want
anything bad to happen to you. When an earthquake kills thousands
of people, that's not God. That's not God. I think it was
Elihu. It was either Job himself or
Elihu in the book of Job that asked, if that's not God, then
where is God? And what's he doing? Another
good question, isn't it? Flattering words. The pretense
is that they're speaking for God when they say, oh, God loves
you. He wants the best for you. You just have to let him bless
you. But the reality is, They're blowing
smoke in order to profit from you. That's what's happening. The gospel manner is the opposite
of that. The preacher of the truth abandons
personal gain and acclaim in order to profit those who give
it, not himself. A false preacher preaches what
people want to hear, for personal gain, whereas God's preacher
preaches what people don't wanna hear, and it costs them to do,
just the opposite. Now God's people love the gospel
and wanna hear it, but you know what I'm saying, in general,
by nature, we have no use for the gospel. That's the manner
of the gospel, that's how it's preached. not for personal gain, just the
opposite. Verse six in our text, nor of
men sought we glory or opinion, high opinion or praise. When
we might, neither of you nor yet of others, when we might
have been a weight on you, burdensome, as the apostles of Christ. Being
the apostles of Christ, the implication here is that
their praise, the glory, is about money, financial support. That's the burdensome part. We
could have been burdensome. We could have been a weight on
you. We could have been a drain on you. We could have taken instead
of giving. as the apostles of Christ, notice
that phrase, as the apostles, the apostles were kind of a big
deal, going around healing everybody, preaching with power, able to
do miracles, and so see how he uses that phrase, as the apostles
of Christ, but the apostles of Christ knew better than anybody
what they were, that they were nothing. Neither is Paul anything
or Barnabas, he that watereth and planteth there nothing. They knew what they really were
by God's grace and they were able by his grace to acknowledge
that God alone was worthy of any praise. Could have been different
now as the apostles of Christ. That's what he's saying, could
have been a lot different. False religion demands support and
you get nothing for it. Think about it. The contrast
here. Paul's saying, as the apostles
of Christ, God has given us power to preach the truth that gives
eternal life. It's able to save you. Isn't
that what he said to Timothy? The gospel is able to save, it's
able to, in the power of God, in the gift of faith, it's a saving word of truth from
the Lord. And they did the miracles that
they did in support of that in confirmation of the word that
they preached and expected nothing. He said,
I didn't even, We weren't a burden to you at all. We didn't even
take anything from you. Didn't want to. It's just the opposite in religion.
Imagine if one of the big shot religious potentates actually
could do something constructive like the apostles did. I think your church dues might
go up. Don't you reckon? because they can't do anything.
They've got nothing to offer you and yet they touch you. You
know that the Catholic church send you a bill in the mail,
right? That's the truth. They'll send you a bill for back
owed dues. And they offer nothing, they
do nothing for you. Our Lord said to the disciples
when he gave them power like that, freely you have received,
freely give. That's the manner of the gospel.
There's no ulterior motives, there's no greed, there's no
dishonest compromise in order to gain the applause of men and
the support of men. Listen to that passage. that I just quoted from Matthew
10, seven, as you go, preach, say. Now he's sending out his
disciples, he's taught them, he's miraculously, supernaturally
taught them the gospel. And he says, as you go, preach. It's Matthew 10, seven, if you
want, you probably should turn over there so you can see what
I'm saying here. I want to make a comment or two about it, Matthew
10, seven. I'm sorry we're going long, but Matthew 10, seven, as you go,
he's sending them out, preach, saying the kingdom of heaven
is at hand. In other words, Christ. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers,
raise the dead, cast out devils. Wow. I mean, wow. You see what Paul meant as the
apostles of Christ? We might've been burdensome to
you. But then he says this, freely you have received, freely give. Why did he say that in connection
with them having these miraculous powers? Of course, you can see
the nature of man cashing in on that. If that would have been
the first thing that came to their mind, boy, we're gonna
be pretty popular here, and I guarantee you, people would pay a pretty
penny to get healed or even to see a leper cleansed, much less
be the leper that got cleansed. That's our nature now, and that's,
false religion is rife with that. But he said, in connection with
that power, freely you've received, freely give. Can you imagine
how false religion would have cashed in on that kind of power?
What was the fellow's name? Simon, I think, that wanted that
power so he could cash in. And I guess it was Simon that
said, thy money perish with thee. Because you thought the gift
of God could be bought. They don't have any power and
they're still faking it and charging people money for it. Cashing
in. Look at verse seven in our text.
We'll close with this verse for time's sake. But look at this,
but we were gentle among you. We could have been, can you imagine
the kind of authority they could have imposed over people with
that kind of power? And he said, no, we weren't weighty
to you. We weren't a burden to you. We were gentle among you,
even as a nurse cherisheth her children. You see the manner
of the gospel. We were kind. That's that word,
we were kind. Not scolding sinners with the
law. The world's religion is not kind. They put a yoke of bondage on
you that nobody has ever been able to bear, the apostles said. They're not kind. They make you
feel guilty about everything. Whereas the gospel preacher,
if you know Christ and believe on Christ, you have a good conscience. You know what a good conscience
is? It's one that has nothing to
be guilty about. It's one that doesn't bother
you a bit because your feeling good about yourself has nothing
to do with what you do and don't do. It has to do with Christ
and what he did for you. We're not guilty, so why would
we feel guilty? In Christ, that's the truth. But religion puts that yoke of
the bondage of the law, so that you're guilty about everything.
Well, I shouldn't watch TV, because man, there's some bad stuff on
there, you know? And the music I listen to, you
know, it's not. Guilty about everything. I've
told y'all, if anybody ever does feel guilty about watching too
much TV, I'll take your TV and deal with it. I wanna be a help. I wanna be a help, especially
if it's 4K or better. They shame people, and listen,
I know some that while preaching that sinners are not saved by
the law, they preach that you're not saved by the law, you're
saved by grace, but then they get shame people all the time
with rules and constant rebukes so that the yoke is yet heavy. I pray that I'm learning that
God is teaching me to be gentle in this sense of the word. And this word nurse here is not
used the way that we do. It's a nursing mother that he's
talking about. A nurse cherishes her children. A nursing mother. There is no
earthly picture better than that of love and tenderness. Yes, sir. Can you think of what
proved me wrong? I've got some pictures. I can't
show them to you. But there is no greater picture
in this world than the one Paul uses here to invoke love and tenderness. That's how the gospel manner
is. The gospel is profitable for
rebuke, but it doesn't come that way. When the Lord rebuked the
disciples, that was such a kind thing to correct them. People say, oh, you shouldn't
spank your children because you're breaking their spirit and it's
violence against children. No, it's not, it's love. The
scripture plainly says if you don't, If you spare the rod,
which it sounds like you're beating them over the head with a big
stick, but if you spare the rod, you don't love your children.
And they might just go to hell because of it. Have you ever
seen that in the scriptures? I can show it to you. I'm learning, I pray to be gentle. When God gives, as he gave me
a pastor that loved me and cared for my
very soul, there's no greater example of
love than that. The Lord said, I'll give you
pastors after my own heart. Why is he giving you a pastor
at all? Because he loves you. That's why. Because he loves
you. And one final thought on how
the gospel comes. It's a hard one again to express,
but I'll say it this way to begin with, and maybe it'll be clear. The gospel comes without the
need for accessories. When people these days ask about
a church, I'm looking for a church, but here's what I wanna know,
what kind of programs do they have? What do they have for the
young people? Is there a strong youth ministry? Is there a gymnastic facility? Is there a Starbucks in there?
And they wanna be active in their church. They love to say that. I'm active in my church, choirs
and outreach and entertainment. What did Paul have to offer?
Verse two, the gospel. Verse four, the gospel. Verse nine, the gospel. We preached the gospel unto you. That's what we did. That's how
the gospel, that's the gospel manner, is that it doesn't need
anything else. What do you have for the young
people? The truth. Truth of God, what do you have
for divorced people? The gospel. What do you have for the elderly?
There's just one ministry. The Lord sent us, he said, go
and preach. Everything that I've told you,
preach it, and I'll do the saving and the damning. You don't need
to get anybody saved. I'll save them or I'll damn them
based on the preaching of the gospel, the saver of life or
death, one or the other. That's not up to me. Our commission
is to go and preach it this way. But the manner of the gospel
is integral to the gospel itself, because you see, the reason the
gospel doesn't need anything is because the gospel is Christ,
and He is the one thing needful. You need Him. It doesn't matter
who you are, where you're from, what your situation is, how horrible
a sinner you are. You need the Lord Jesus Christ. And the way that he bestows his
grace upon sinners is through faith. And that comes by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. You see why that's our advice
to everybody, every time about everything you need to hear from
God. I've said that to some people
over and over and over again, over and over again. And they
still say things that would astonish you. But
what about this and what about that? You need to hear from God. Not every once in a while. As long as you're able to, you
know, be strong on your own for a couple of months, then only
come every couple of months. But if you're like me, and you need him every moment, and
you need to remember, Simon said, oh, if I could just put you in
remembrance of these things. Though you know them. But being able to answer some
questions right is not walking with the Savior. It's two different
things. Following Him, walking with Him,
waiting on Him, looking to Him, Christ to be your life. There's
more to it than just knowing. Like Mary, even to the neglect
of other things, may we sit at his feet and hear his word. That's the manner of the gospel.
Thank God for it. Let's pray.