Alright, brethren, let's turn
our Bibles to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. Let's go to the Lord before we
begin. Our Father and our God, Lord,
we ask You by Your holy power, by Your grace, Lord, we ask You now clear our
minds and thoughts of everything without. Make us truly hear Your
Word. Lord, would You, according to
Your promise for Christ's sake, would You preach to us, speak
from Your mouth to our heart. Make us hear. Lord, make us behold
Your faithfulness, the faithfulness of Your dear Son. the power of
Your Holy Spirit. Make us today truly glorify You. Forgive us, Lord, our sins. In
Christ's name we ask it. Amen. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. Paul
said down in verse 10, speaking to these brethren at Thessalonica,
he said, You are witnesses and God also how holily and justly
and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe. As you
know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you
as a father does his children that you should walk worthy of
God who has called you unto his kingdom and glory. Paul went in and out among these
brethren and they knew him. They knew him. And he calls them
to witness concerning his behavior. And he exhorted them to the saying,
to walk worthy of God who has called you unto his kingdom and
glory. Now in the verses before this,
Paul calls his brethren to bear witness of his motive in preaching. and his manner in preaching,
how he preached and why he preached and the manner in which he preached. Now, back in chapter 1 in verse
4, he said this, chapter 1 verse 4, knowing, brethren beloved,
your election of God. He knew this, he said, because
our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power
and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance, as you know what
manner of men we were among you for your sake." The gospel came
in power, God brought them to believe, and they became followers
of the Lord Jesus along with his people in the churches, and
their faith spread abroad. People began to talk about their
faith everywhere. Verse 9, he says, for they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you. He spoke
of that twice, what manner of men we were among you, what manner
of entering in we had unto you, and how you turned to God from
idols to serve the living and true God. Now in chapter 2, verse
1, he says again, For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in
unto you that it was not in vain. Now, the reason Paul is writing
this is because when he came to Thessalonica to preach, there
was unbelieving Jews. and they stirred up the people.
And they moved with envy and they stirred up the people. They
even, after they had run Paul and Silas out of town, they even
went to Berea when they heard they were there preaching and
did the same thing there. And they were questioning Paul
and Silas. They were questioning their motive.
Now we can get an idea of some of the charges they were making
against them by what Paul writes here by the Holy Spirit. He said
in verse 2, he said, 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. I can hear the unbelieving Jews
using that very thing and saying, Paul's not trustworthy to hear. He's got a police record. You
know he was just thrown in jail back there at Philippi. Verse 3, he said, Our exhortation
was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile. They were questioning
Paul's motive. They were saying he was delusional.
They were saying he was preaching from impure motives. They were
saying he was deliberately deceiving others. These Jews said Paul preaches
against the law. They accused him of that many
times. He preaches against the law. He preaches against the
holy place, their sanctuary. unclean Gentiles in here and
defiled the place. So they are accusing him of pleasing
men. He is pleasing men in what he
is doing. He is preaching against God, against His word, against
His law. Verse 4 Paul said, 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 tries our
heart. He is answering all these things they were accusing him
of. Trying to encourage the brethren there. He's not there now, he's
gone somewhere else, but he's writing to them to encourage
them against these accusations. The unbelieving Jews accused
Paul of being a mercenary, preaching for financial gain, of only wanting
personal glory, being a dictator, lording over men. Paul said in
verse 5, neither at any time use we flattering words, as you
know, nor cloak of covetousness, God as witness, nor of men sought
we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might
have been burdensome as the apostles of Christ." He said, we were
gentle. We weren't lording over you.
We weren't being mercenary. We weren't preaching for vain
reasons. Now Paul's not writing this to
defend himself. It wasn't a matter of him personally
defending himself. This was a matter of the gospel
of Christ. The issue here was is these unbelieving
Jews By attacking Paul and accusing Paul and slandering Paul, they
were attacking the Gospel of Christ and trying to discredit
the work of God that He had worked in Thessalonica in the hearts
of His people. That was the motive. That's what
they were doing. Trying to destroy the work of
God. Trying to get them to quit hearing
the Gospel and not hear anything Paul wrote or said. I want to
look first of all at these two divisions, Paul's motive and
Paul's manner. Now first of all, Paul's motive
was holy and just and unblameable. Verse 1, you yourselves, brethren,
know our entrance in unto you that it was not in vain. Now
when God sends his messengers, it's never in vain. It's never
in vain. God always accomplishes the purpose.
His word never returns to him void. There's some things God's
going to always accomplish through the preaching of the word. Number
one, God's going to bring glory to himself. God the Father's
going to glorify himself. He's going to glorify his son.
And if the preaching doesn't give him all the glory, it's
not of God. God's going to bring glory to
himself and glory to his son. And two, he's going to convert
his lost sheep. He'd done that at Thessalonica.
He converted some of his lost sheep. Three, he's going to sanctify
and edify those saints he's already called. He's going to nourish
them and edify them and build them up through the gospel. And
fourthly, he's going to condemn those who do not believe. God always accomplishes through
his gospel. It never returns to him void.
And Paul's saying that when he came there and preached, it wasn't
in vain at Thessalonica. God accomplished it, all these
things. But here's something else Paul's saying. He's saying
that his motive, Paul and Silas' motive was not in vain. Their
motive was not in vain. The motive of their heart. These
unbelieving Jews were stirring up unbelievers at Thessalonica
and stirring up the multitude of the city and they were questioning
Paul and Silas' motives. Coming there and preaching the
gospel. They were accusing him of deceit, preaching from a heart
of deceit, preaching from a heart of uncleanness, seeking filthy
lucre, trying to looked for selfish, filthy game for himself, they
were accusing him of guile. Now, motive is of utmost importance. When somebody's committed a crime,
first thing they say is, what was their motive? Now stop and
listen. Stop and listen. If man is accused
of a crime, and by committing that crime, he stands to personally
profit, very much enrich himself and profit himself, he probably
committed the crime. But, if he stands to lose everything
he loves, if he stands to lose all that he's given his life
for, if he stands to lose all his possessions, if he stands
to suffer greatly, even lose his own life, not very likely that his motive,
his personal profit is it. Not very likely he's guilty of
what he's been accused. Paul reminds them for that reason
of what happened at Philippi. That's why he mentions Philippi.
At Philippi, Paul's character was slandered. He suffered beatings
and he suffered imprisonment. He said, verse 2, but even after
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. If Paul's motive was for selfish
gain, he wouldn't have come to Thessalonica preaching the same
gospel when it had already proven harmful to him and resulted in
him getting beaten and thrown in prison. Now would he? Would
he? Paul said in another place, why
stand we in jeopardy every hour? Paul gives all the glory to God.
He says in verse 2, we were bold in our God to speak unto you
the gospel of God with much contention. He knew when he came there, there
was going to be contention just like it was at Philippi. Because
everywhere he preached, that's what he encountered. He knew
he was going to be opposed. He knew he was going to be opposed.
He knew he was going to be opposed. He came there and preached the
gospel of Christ anyway. But he didn't say, I did this
of myself. I did this of my power. He said,
we were bold in our God. in our God. It's easy to preach
boldly when there's no opposition. The test comes when the suffering
comes. When men give ultimatums, try
to force you to stop preaching, or they reject you, or they forsake
you, or they stir up people against you, if our boldness is not of
God, if it's not of God, then what we claim to be boldness
will prove to be presumptive, Baseless bravado. But Christ told Paul, this is
what our Lord Jesus told Paul, my grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in
weakness. Why do we think that our Lord,
sovereign God who's in control of everything, why did he permit
this opposition against Paul? Well, one reason it was is he
used men opposing his ministers We see often in script to move
them to the next place. He used this to move Paul to
Berea. And then when they came to Berea, he used them to move
him to Athens and so on. God will use men to move his
ministry. You don't want to be that man that God uses, but he
will use men to move his ministry. But here's another reason he
did it. To show Paul had no strength in himself. Silas had no strength
in himself. Not even to bear up and preach
the gospel in the face of such opposition. His strength was
of the Lord. That's what He's teaching you
and me by everything that we suffer in this world. It's not
of us, it's of God. In the face of contention, the
power of God, the sufficiency of God's grace, that's what's
going to hold His people up. That's what's going to give you
strength to keep believing and keep declaring the truth of God. And it's because He makes you
see the Lord Jesus Christ suffered far greater than anything you
and me will ever suffer. He was despised and rejected
of all men. He was forsaken and left alone
of all. Our Lord Jesus Christ went to
the cross and bore the wrath of God for his people, laid down
his life and bore hell for his people on the cross, cursed on
the cross to save us from the curse. Whatever we suffer is
light affliction compared to what Christ suffered for his
people. It's light and the glory the weight of glory that the
Lord's teaching you through what you're suffering is so great
and so much greater, it makes the affliction light because
He's showing you He never leaves His people, He never forsakes
His people, He's the strength that's going to keep you believing
when there's nothing in you that would give you strength to believe
and keep declaring His name. That's what our Lord's doing
through the affliction. Verse 3, He says, For our exhortation
was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in yowl. It was not of deceit. In relation to God, it was not
of deceit. Paul was saved by Christ by the
same gospel he's preaching. His hope was Christ's righteousness. His hope was Christ's holiness.
It was not deceit. He was preaching what he believed. He was preaching the gospel by
which God saved him. And then in relation to himself,
it wasn't uncleanness. He wasn't seeking anything from
them. He wasn't seeking selfish, filthy
lucre from them. There was nothing they could
give him. He had everything in Christ. And in relation to others,
it wasn't in God. Paul had no ulterior motive in
preaching the gospel. He wanted to see God's people
called out of darkness into light, called from unbelief to faith
in Christ, and followed Christ. That's all he wanted. Here was
Paul and Silas' chief motive in verse 4. This is their chief
motive. 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 with shrived the hearts. That's the motive right
there. That's the highest motive. for
believing and following Christ, for bearing witness of Christ,
for preaching Christ, for everything God's people do, this is the
motive. This includes all fleshly motives
right here. We were allowed of God to be
put in trust with the gospel. God not only saved us through
the gospel, he not only sent it to us and called us and saved
us through the preaching of the word, he's entrusted us with
it. This is not any one person's
ministry. This is our ministry. God's entrusted
us with the gospel of Christ. You think about when somebody
entrusts one of their children to you to look after their children
while they're gone. That's a serious trust. God's entrusted the gospel to
us. He's allowed us to be put in trust with the gospel. God has saved us through it. and he continues to save us through
it. And by this, God makes his child to know by saving you through
the preaching of the word and by continuing to save you through
it, he makes you to know there is nothing else in this world
more important than the preaching of the gospel. Nothing. Nothing. You believe that, you know that,
because when we suffered through COVID and we went through all
the things in the past two, three, y'all went to conferences, We
had preachers here, you've been to several churches, and you
came here because you had to hear the gospel. God's people
have to hear the gospel. You arrange your life around
hearing the gospel. And he gives his messengers a
heart to let nothing take precedence over the preaching of the word.
Nothing can turn us from what God's put in your hand to do
to preach the gospel to his people. He makes you know that by making
you personally experience his mercy and his grace through the
preaching of the word. You know how needful it is. But not only
was the motive of Paul's heart holy, just, and unblameable,
so was the manner in which he went about it. He says here in
verse 4, he said, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God
which trieth our hearts. For neither at any time used
we flattering words as you know." God's preacher and his people
are seeking God's approval rather than man's approval. If a man
hasn't been born of God, he may profess to believe the doctrine
of grace, he may profess to believe the truth of God. But if God hadn't really called
him in his heart, If his mama don't believe the gospel, if
she thinks she was saved by her free will and her works, or his
daddy, or his grandma, or his sisters, or his brothers, or
whatever, if he hadn't really been called in his heart, he'll
be more worried about offending them than offending God. The gospel's offensive to sinners,
especially religious folks who trust themselves. If you stand
up and you preach the total depravity of man, if you stand up and declare
that it's by one man's disobedience, by the representative head, another
man, Adam, who sinned and made you guilty, that's going to offend
men. They're going to say, well, I don't want that to be. If I'm
going to be guilty, I want to be the one that made myself guilty.
Well, you have to. But it started with Adam, and
Adam's the one that brought us into condemnation. And why is
that important? Because if God saves us, it's
going to be by the righteousness of another. It's going to be
by the obedience of another. God set that up to show us, just
like we were made guilty by one man's disobedience, we're only
made righteous by one man's obedience. You preach that, and men are
going to get offended. And you declare that Christ came
and worked this work, not for everybody, but He came and worked
it for a people God chose from eternity and gave to Him and
entrusted to Him, and that's who He laid down His life for.
And the reason that we preach it is because Christ succeeded.
He didn't fail. When He laid down His life, He
put away the sin of His people. When He laid down His life, He
justified God, He justified His people, He made us the righteousness
of God in Him. He succeeded in doing that for
everybody He died for. So if we say He did it for everybody,
then that's either making His blood to be shed in vain when
men perish, or it's saying God's going to save everybody, and
we know that's not so. Either way, that's a lie. But
you preach that, and men that want to have, say that God chose
me because He foresaw I would believe, that's why He chose
me, well then how come the scripture says God, by His grace, has to
give us faith to believe? If He saw you would believe,
how come He's the one who has to give you faith to believe?
He has to grant you repentance toward God. Everything that's of God is of
God. Now you preach this, it's going to offend men. You tell
men that it's an absolute necessity that we have to be born again
of the Spirit of God and that the wind blows where it will.
and God's sovereign to save and irresistibly quicken and call
his people, and that we don't make ourselves be born again?
That's taking everything out of man's hand, and that's offensive.
And at the same token, you tell them that it's of the same spirit
of God that you're preserved and kept, and every work that
you do that's good, he's worked it in you, he's produced it in
you. Man just wants some credit somewhere along the way, and
that's offensive. Now nobody wants to be hated
of God, I mean hated of men, but God makes His people seek
to please God rather than men. Paul's manner was not to take
the offense out of the cross. It wasn't to flatter men by telling
them that salvation was by merit, something merit in them or some
work done by them or some will of theirs or anything. He didn't
flatter them that way. He said we didn't flatter men.
Verse five, nor did we use the gospel as a cloak of covetousness. God is witness. Now this is important
here at Thessalonica particularly because Thessalonica was full
of rich folks. You can read over in Acts 17,
a lot of the folks that God saved were nobility. They were nobility. They were really and truly wealthy
folks. Rich men will use their riches
to attempt to get you to tone down the message. And just about every man's got
a price, except for the man God's holding up by the Spirit of God
and making him preach the gospel. He's got all the unsearchable
riches of Christ. There's not a filthy trinket
that a rich man can give him. Paul didn't show respects of
persons due to men's wealth. He said, I've coveted no man's
silver, gold, or apparel. When you've been enriched with
the unsearchable riches of Christ, this is what you know. You know
that God in heaven has a storehouse full of riches, a treasury of
riches, such as He's made us the righteousness of God in Him,
accepted of God, never to be forsaken of God. He's given you
eternal life so that you will live forever with Him in glory. What could anybody possibly give
you in this earth that even remotely compares to that or would remotely
make you give that up? And whatever we need in this
world, he spared not his own son but delivered him up for
all his people and he shall with him provide every need we have
in this earth. And when you know that, you can't
be bought. When you know that, you're not
in the ministry for gain, for filthy gain. for monetary gain. You know God is able to make
all grace abound towards you that you, always having all sufficiency
in all things, may abound to every good work. So Paul's manner
was to glorify God by trusting God to provide for him and to
provide for these brethren so that Paul could take the burden
off them. He could take the burden off
them. Look here in verse six. He said, nor of men sought we
glory, neither of you nor yet of others, when we might have
been burdensome as the apostles of Christ. But we were gentle
among you, even as a nurse cherishes her children. Paul didn't seek
glory. He didn't seek honor from men.
His desire was for God our Father and his son, Jesus Christ, to
get all the honor and all the glory. He wasn't wanting men
to give him the honor and the glory. That wasn't his desire. Paul knew everything he had was
given to him by the grace of God in Christ Jesus. He had nothing
to glory in. He had no reason. If he came
there and preached the gospel to them, it was because God gave
him the word to preach by the Spirit of God, directed his way
there, gave him the ability to speak it, blessed it to the hearts
of the people, He didn't have anything to glory in. He didn't
have any reason to be honored. Paul knew if the Lord purified
the hearts of those to whom he preached, it would be through
faith in Christ by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit working
in their hearts through the gospel. Paul knew God would only do it.
He knew he'd only do it through the preaching that gave God all
the glory that exalted his son that declared just what I'm trying
to declare you now, that it's God alone who works this work.
Paul knew that's the only way God would, that's the only message
he'd bless. That's why he preached this gospel
to him. Paul sought the honor that comes from God alone. He
preached Christ is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption so that if any man glories, let
him glory in the Lord. That was his message. And he
said here, when we might have been burdensome as the apostles
of Christ. He's saying we might have used
authority as the apostles of Christ. They had some authority.
He said we might have claimed honor being the apostles of Christ. Paul had authority as an apostle,
but he didn't abuse his authority. He didn't lord over them. He
was gentle with them. He was worthy of honor as an
apostle. He wrote in other scriptures
to give honor to the Lord's ministers, honor them. But he didn't seek
that honor for himself. But these unbelieving Jewish
rulers, they did seek honor for men. They sought glory for men. And the way they sought it was
by putting heavy burdens on people and trying to make them do so
they could glory in what they made them do. Galatians 6.12. Look there with me. Galatians 6.12. He said, As many as desire to
make a fair show in the flesh. What do they want? They want
honor. They want men to glorify them. They constrain you to be
circumcised. You know you can put anything
right there. They constrain you to repent. They constrain you
to confess. They constrain you to make a
decision for Christ. They'll constrain you to whatever. They
want you to do it. They want to make you do it.
Why? Only lest they should suffer
persecution for the cross of Christ. That's why. For neither they themselves who
are circumcised keep the law. They're not doing what they try
to constrain you to do. They're desiring to have you
circumcised that they may glory in your flesh, that they may
glory in what they made you do. Listen to Paul, but God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.
Paul and Silas knew that Christ took the burden. He took the
curse off his people by being made a curse for us. They knew
this. They believed this. So they didn't constrain men
with the burden of the law. They didn't constrain them with
the burden of their commandments and how they thought men ought
to do whatever it is they thought men think. They didn't put heavy
burdens of guilt on them. They didn't put the heavy burden
of the works of the law on them. They didn't do that. They gloried
only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ preaching the Lord
our righteousness. Now Paul knew to declare this,
he's going to be opposed. He's going to be The Jews said,
that's not what he did. We don't believe that's what
he did. And they were accusing folks and telling them, that's
not what he did. But you know why? The gospel didn't come to
them as gentle. It came to them as bold. They
said, it's a hard saying. We can't hear it. He's trying
to lord over us. But Paul had experienced Christ's
power. And he knew the gospel was the power of God unto salvation.
He had experienced it. If you've experienced it, you
won't use any other weapon. Because you know that this is
how God makes his people know him. So he gloried in the Lord
Jesus Christ by preaching Christ, by praying to God for the Spirit
to work in his people, rather than putting the heavy hand of
the law upon the brethren. He said in verse 7, we were gentle
among you, Even as a nurse cherishes her own children, so being affectionately
desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you not
the gospel of God only, but also our own souls because you were
dear unto us. The Son of Man came not to be
ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom
for many. That's why Christ came. Paul
knew the Lord laid down his life for his people. He knew the Lord
laid down His life for him, and Paul considered himself to be
the chief of sinners. He had experienced God's grace
and mercy to him every day. He had experienced God taking
the burden off him every day. Every day. And he was not only
willing to impart the gospel of God to them, he was willing
to impart his own soul to them. He was willing to lay down his
life for them. Because you were dear unto us. He was willing
to lose whatever he had to lose for their salvation. Whatever
he had to lose. Rather than putting a legal burden
on them, and also this includes a financial burden. He wouldn't
put a financial burden on them. He took off every burden so that
they might hear and believe the gospel of Christ alone. Now he's
including his labor in the gospel night and day right here, but
he's also including his labor to take the financial burden
off. But he says in verse 9, For you remember, brethren, our
labor and travail. For laboring night and day, because
we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto
you the gospel of God. I want you to go to 1 Corinthians
9. What Paul is saying here in 1
Thessalonians 2 is very much like what he said over here in
1 Corinthians 9. and he'll tell us why he did it. 1 Corinthians
9 verse 3. He said, my answer to them that
do examine me is this. He's having the same problem
at Corinth, at Thessalonica. It's just going to be from here
on out, that same problem. He said, have we not power to
eat and to drink Have we not power to lead about a sister,
a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord
and Cephas? He's saying, be supported for preaching the gospel. Verse
seven, who goeth to warfare any time at his own charges? Who
plants a vineyard and eats not of the fruit thereof? Who feeds
the flock and eats not of the milk of the flock? Say I these
things as a man, or sayeth not the law the same also? For it's
written in the law of Moses, thou shalt not muzzle the mouth
of the ox that shreddeth out the corn. Does God take care
for oxen, or is he saying this all together for our sakes? For
our sakes, no doubt, this is written. That he that plows should
plow in hope, and he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of
his hope. If we sow unto you spiritual things, is it a great
thing if we reap you carnal things? If others, now watch this, Paul
said, I didn't use the power I had. I didn't do that, look
at this now. If others be partakers of this
power over you, or not we rather, he's saying, don't we have a
right to it too? Nevertheless, we've not used
this power, but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel
of Christ. He said, I didn't put that burden
on you. Look at verse 15. But I've used none of these things,
neither have I written these things, that it should be done
unto me, Now look at that. I didn't use these things and
I'm not writing this now that it should be done unto me. For
it were better for me to die than that any man should make
my glory void. For though I preach the gospel,
I have nothing to glory of. That's what he says in our text.
Necessity is laid upon me. A woe is unto me if I preach
not the gospel. Look at verse 18. What's my reward
then? Verily, that when I preach the
gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that
I abuse not my power in the gospel. That's what he's talking about
in Arctic. For though I be free from all men, yet I've made myself
servant unto all that I might gain the more. Look at verse
23. And this I do for the gospel
sake that I might be partaker thereof with you. And we can
be sure of this. Those unbelieving Jews, they
were against Paul. They hurt Paul as bold. They didn't hear him as gentle.
And I guarantee you this, when they, those in the Corinthian
church that read that letter, heard it read, and those at Thessalonica
that heard Paul's words read, they latched on to those words.
And here's what they said. They said, he's boasting of his
motive. He's boasting of his behavior.
He's seeking honor, he's seeking glory for himself. That's what
they said. Christ said, that's exactly what
the unbelieving will do. Go to Matthew 11. Matthew 11. See, if the love of God's in the heart,
you don't go looking for faults, you're not gonna receive faults,
and you're gonna forgive faults. But if not, it don't matter what
you do. It don't matter what you do.
Watch this, Matthew 11, 16. Christ said, where unto shall
I liken this generation? He's likened the children sitting
in the markets and calling unto their fellows, saying, we've
piped unto you, and you've not danced. We've mourned unto you,
and you've not lamented. For John came neither eating
nor drinking, and they said, he has a devil. The Son of Man
came eating and drinking. They said, behold, a man gluttonous,
a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified
over children. Look down at verse 25. Christ
is the Son of God. He's the Child. And He justified
wisdom. He justified the Father. Verse
25. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudes. You've
hidden them from the wise and prudent. And you've revealed
them to babes. You've made your people know
it. You've made them like babies.
Even so, Father, so it seemed good in thy sight." Judgment,
wisdom is always justified over children. Those that God saved
through Paul's preaching, they were born of the same spirit
as Paul. They were robed in the same righteousness as Paul. And
Paul's feat was beautiful to them because he came preaching
the gospel through which God saved them. knowing their own shortcomings,
knowing God's daily mercy toward them for Christ's sake, they
loved Paul, they thanked God for him, and they defended him,
just like Paul did for them. And that's what Paul exhorts
us everywhere to do for one another. Everywhere. And that's what God's
people will do. Amen. Father, thank you for this word.
We pray, Lord, you bless it to our hearts. You know the hearts
of our enemies, and you know the hearts of your people, Lord.
We ask you to edge us about, keep us in the refuge. We trust
you that it worked everything from the beginning, that you
will continue to be faithful to keep us, keep us faithful
to your word, keep us faithful to Christ and to declare him. Lord, help us to to rally together
as your sheep under the care of our great shepherd and trust
you to take care of everything for us, lead us and guide us,
protect us. And Lord, we promise what we
know you've promised you will, and we trust that promise. Lord,
forgive us for being the enemy, forgive us for our flesh being
so proud and seeking honor and not speaking the gospel as we
ought, when we ought, Lord, how we thank you that you see us
in Christ, holy, unblameable, just before you, that you're
going to keep us walking after you. Thank you, Lord, for your
power, for your grace, for your mercy. And thank you, Lord, for
brethren. Thank you for those that you've used to preach the
gospel to us. Lord, what a great mercy you
gave us to send the word. Send somebody preaching the truth
and speak it into our heart and save us. Lord, thank you for
brethren you used to support that ministry and to support
one another so we could have the gospel. We owe everything
to you, to your great grace in providing it for us. In Christ's
name we pray. Amen.