Well, these are greatly encouraging
days. And I think what encourages my
heart the most is just to be with like-minded men and like-minded
women who hold in common not only the Lord Jesus Christ, but
same core values. And as we have gathered for these
days, I pray it's an encouragement to your heart as well. As we
serve the Lord in the vineyard the Lord has placed us, sometimes
it's easy to be discouraged and to think that I'm the only one. And when we come together in
times like this and we look around and we see so many other men
of God, it just breathes encouragement into our hearts. And I trust
that you're encouraged as I have been encouraged, and my prayer
for this time is that this will be more than merely a conference,
but that it will be a movement, a movement of God among our hearts
to call us together to be greatly refortified in the work to which
the Lord has called us. Well, I want you to take God's
Word and be finding the book of 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians
chapter 1. And tonight, I want to preach
to you a message that I've entitled, The God-Driven Church. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, I want
to begin reading in verse 1. God's Word says, Paul and Silvanus
and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians, in God the
Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace. We give thanks to God always
for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, constantly
bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness
of hope, in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and
Father. Knowing, brethren, beloved by
God, His choice of you. For our gospel did not come to
you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit,
and with full conviction, just as you know what kind of men
we prove to be among you for your sake. You also became imitators
of us and of the Lord, having received the Word of God in much
tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became
an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the Word of the Lord has
sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but
also in every place your faith towards God has gone forth. so
that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves report about
us what kind of reception we had with you, and how you turned
to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for
His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is,
Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. There are many
forces that are seeking to drive the church in these days, and
unfortunately, much of it is man-centered and man-contrived. Some see the church as being
consumer-driven. In other words, survey the target
market, find out what the consumer wants out there, and then give
it to them. People will pack the pews because
you are giving them exactly what they want. But this is tantamount
to the patient writing his own prescription, all the while oblivious
to his own real illness, thus never finding the true cure for
his soul, which is sin. Others see the church as culture-driven. This is to say, we should bring
the world's thinking and the world's entertainment into the
church so that the world will feel at home in the church. This
approach to ministry takes the culture's latest forms of amusement,
puts a spiritual spin on it, and thus, they say, you will
reach the world. In other words, use the world
to reach the world, all the while ignoring this simple fact that
that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born
of the spirit is spirit. as still others envision the
church as being felt needs driven. This says, scratch the surface
needs of people, make them feel good about themselves, tickle
their ears, stroke their egos, give them self-esteem, personal
success, psychological significance, and don't give them long, weighty
Bible messages, and for heaven's sake, don't use the S-word, sin,
or the H-word, hell. But this is like putting a Band-Aid
on cancer. Yet others want the church to
be purpose-driven. The key here, they say, is to
be strategic. Draft your vision statement,
determine your objectives, set your goals, define your strategies,
target a consumer group, develop a marketing plan, and you're
in business with God. But the church is not run by
business principles. It's run by biblical principles. The church is a flock, not a
factory. The church is a congregation,
not a corporation. Instead, the church must be God-driven. A God-driven church is one that
is God-centered, God-focused, God-exalting, and God-passionate. A God-driven church is one that
seeks to do God's work, God's way, for God's glory. A God-driven
church is one in which the Word of God is the plumb line, not
culture. The Spirit of God is the power,
not human personality. And the glory of God is its passion,
not human ego. So where can we find a model
for a God-driven church? I believe that we need to look
no further than this passage, which we have read already tonight,
the church at Thessalonica, and specifically in this first chapter. And as I have looked at this
chapter in the big picture as well as in its parts, What strikes
me about this first chapter of 1 Thessalonians is that really
this is more of a chapter about God than it is with the believers
at Thessalonica. As we look at this chapter, I
want to draw your attention the many references to God in relationship
to this church. Allow your eye to look at the
text with me again as we walk through this passage. In verse
1, they are said to be in God the Father and His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Verse 2, Paul offers thanks to
God for their changed lives. In verse 3, their faith, love,
and hope are in God's Son, who in turn is in the presence of
God Himself. In verse 4, they are chosen by
God. In verse 5, it is the Spirit
of God who brought power to the preaching. In verse 6, they were
imitators of God's Son. In verse 6, they had joy in God's
Spirit. In verse 8, the Word of God sounded
forth from them. And in verse 8, they had faith
in God. In verse 9, they turned to God
to serve God. And in verse 9, they were waiting
for God's Son. That's 14 references to God in
but these 10 verses. 7 references to God the Father,
5 references to God the Son, 2 references to God the Spirit. Again, I want to say, first and
foremost, this is a chapter about God. God electing them, God embracing
them, God empowering them, God energizing them, This was a God-centered,
God-built, God-driven, God-glorifying church. So what are the marks
of a God-driven church? What are the distinctives of
the church that God builds? So much could be said from this
chapter, but I want to draw to your attention some critically
important distinctives of the God-driven church. And number
one, mark number one, I want you to see in verse one, spiritual
conversions. Look at verse one again. The
first mark of a God-driven church is the spiritual regeneration
of its memberships, whereby they have been genuinely converted
to God through Jesus Christ. Verse 1, Paul and Silvanus and
Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians, now watch this,
in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The key word here
is the little preposition in. We know that, by and large, they
were regenerated by the Spirit because they are in God and in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Not merely in church, not merely
in Bible study, but in God. You know, you can be in church,
but not be in God. And the fact that they are in
God means that they have a vital personal relationship with God
and Jesus Christ. John Stott writes of this little
word, in. We should paraphrase the preposition,
in, as meaning living in, rooted in, drawing its life from. This church was living in the
sphere of God, and God was their source. They lived in God spiritually,
supernaturally, because they were born again by the Spirit
of God. Beloved, not all churches are
in God and in Jesus Christ. Many churches, if not most churches,
are filled with vast untold multitudes of people who are religious but
lost. Vast multitudes have walked in
Isle, raised a hand, been baptized, have been joined to the church,
but have never been regenerated by the Spirit of God from above. Jesus said, not everyone who
says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
Many are on the broad path, few are on the narrow path. Now,
I live in Mobile, Alabama. And in Mobile, Alabama, everyone
is saved. You laugh. We are the buckle
of the Bible belt. The people in my church were
born in church. I think literally. One lady told
me, she said, I started coming to this church nine months before
I was born. Maybe you can relate to that.
And in the deep south where I am, people have been John 3, 16 to
death. And this is why it's incumbent
upon us to preach a gospel that calls for repentance from sin,
a gospel which calls for commitment to the lordship of Jesus Christ,
a gospel that calls for obedience, a gospel that calls for denying
self, taking up a cross, and following after Jesus Christ. And I have found in my ministry,
the more that I preach a full-orbed gospel that calls for repentance,
that calls for obedience, that underscores and magnifies the
lordship of Jesus Christ, people are saved and come to faith in
Jesus Christ. And I want to encourage you and
tell you that in a God-called, God-driven church, the gospel
of Jesus Christ is continually being sounded forth and calling
people to repentance and to commitment to Jesus Christ. This is where
it begins. A God-driven church begins with
the spiritual conversion of its membership. George Whitefield,
the great evangelist, loved to preach on John 3, you must be
born again. He preached it over and over
and over. One time a person came up to
him and said, why do you keep preaching, you must be born again? To which he replied, because
you must be born again. Men preach the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Now second, the second mark in
verse 2. I want you to see sacrificial
ministry. The second mark of a God-driven
church is the sacrificial ministry of its membership. Verse 2. We
give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of
you in our prayers. And what he is about to say in
verse 3, he offers thanks for it in verse 2. That indicates
to us that God is the author of their sanctification and their
growth and maturity in Christ is flowing from God the Father. Now verse 3. Constantly bearing
in mind your work. Excuse me. When I
get north of the Mason-Dixon line or west of the Mississippi
River, sometimes my voice goes, which is sometimes an answer
to prayer in our home church. Constantly bearing in mind your
work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope." This
is the first time chronologically that the Apostle Paul makes mention
of this threefold triad of virtues, faith, hope, and love, but the
emphasis in reality is actually upon their work, their labor,
and their steadfastness. Actually, their faith, their
love, and their hope are modifiers. And what this is saying is that
this church was working, laboring with steadfastness in their sacrificial
service of the Lord, with a work inspired by their faith in Christ,
with a labor generated by their love for Christ, with a steadfastness
produced by their hope in Christ, And the key... excuse me... The key is, it was God producing
this in them. God was energizing their work.
God was empowering their labor. God was affecting their steadfastness. And here is the point that I
want to make right here. The more faith they had in God,
the more they worked for God. The more love they had for God,
the more they labored for God. The more hope they had in God,
the more stentfast they were for God. Thus, in reality, God
himself was energizing this church through their love, their faith,
and their hope. I think this speaks volumes to
us as pastors. If we want our churches to be
energetic and our ministries for God, then we need to deepen
the hearts of our people for God. We need to deepen their
faith in God. We need to deepen their love
for God. We need to deepen their hope
in God. And rather than twisting their
arms to serve God, and rather than resorting to fleshly techniques
of human manipulation to get them to serve the Lord, in reality,
a God-driven church is one in which God is driving the sacrificial
service for Him. Our role as pastors is to drive
our people to God, and God will then drive them in service for
Him. The more we lift high God, the
more they will be inspired to love Him, to have faith in Him,
to have hope in Him, and God will expand their hearts in service
for Him. Now there's a third mark that
I want you to see. Not only their spiritual conversions,
verse 1, and their sacrificial ministry, verses 2 and 3, But
third, I want you to see theological fiber in verse 4. The third mark
of a God-driven church is a high regard for the God-exalting truth
of His sovereignty. Look at verse 4. He says, "...knowing,
brethren, beloved by God, His choice of you." Paul states here
that he knows that, by and large, these members of the Thessalonian
church are God's chosen ones. The way that he knows this is
that he hears of their confession of Christ, but he also sees the
transformation of their lives. This was a church he had great
confidence in that was chosen by God. But what strikes me most
of all is that Paul could begin this letter to the Thessalonians
speaking of such an exalted truth on the front end of this letter.
Obviously, the truth of the sovereignty of God was common knowledge in
this church. For Paul to be able to introduce
this subject so quickly on the front end of this letter underscores
how deeply rooted they were in the sovereignty of Almighty God. Edmund Hebert writes, quote,
the word election, denotes the act of picking out or choosing
someone. It implies a selection of some
from among others who are not selected. The term appears six
times in the New Testament and always appears to denote an act
of divine selection, making, taking effect upon human objects
so as to bring them into special and saving relations with God. A God-driven church is one that
is fed a steady diet of a high view of God. And the crown jewel
upon the head of God is the diadem of His sovereignty that God rules
in the heavens. He reigns over all that God does
absolutely as He pleases. And when we understand this glorious
truth of the sovereignty of God, it changes everything about our
perspective of ministry, of ourselves. In fact, it is the worldview. We see all of life through the
grid of the sovereignty of God. Recently, I had a man tell me
that I ought not to preach on divine election. He was perhaps
the most influential man in our church. He is perhaps the most
influential man in Mobile, Alabama. And when I preached this truth,
it came at a great price just a couple of months ago. But I
shared with him that no truth so honors the great and glorious
name of God as the truth of the supremacy and the sovereignty
of God." R.C. Sproul has said that this truth
of the sovereignty of God is God's favorite doctrine. And he said it would be your
favorite doctrine if you were God. No truth so elevates God and
no truth so humbles man than this truth that God rules over
all. And the honor of God is at stake. And in a God-driven church, there
is unashamedly the proclamation of the absolute sovereignty of
God. I want to tell you what Mr. Spurgeon
had to say on this subject. I trust you've heard of Charles
Spurgeon. Some of you have never preached on election since you
were ordained. These things you say are offensive. And so would you rather offend
God than man? But your reply, these things
will not be practical. I do think that the climax of
all man's blasphemy is centered in that utterance. Tell me that
God put a thing in the Bible that I am not to preach? You
are finding fault with my God. But you say it will be dangerous.
What? God's truth, dangerous? I would
not like to stand in your shoes when you have to face your maker
on the day of judgment." Men, a God-driven church is one that
magnifies, declares, and teaches the absolute, unrivaled sovereignty
of Almighty God in all matters of creation, salvation, redemption,
and providence. Now there's a fourth mark in
verse 5. Not only theological fiber, but
powerful preaching. A God-centered church has a God-anointed,
God-appointed man in the pulpit who proclaims the Word. Look at verse 5. For our gospel,
did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the
Holy Spirit, and with full conviction, just as you know what kind of
men we prove to be among you. A God-driven church is a church
in which the Word of God and the gospel is preached in great
power in the Holy Spirit. There are four things that I
want to draw to your attention about powerful preaching. Number
one, this preaching was articulate. Notice, he says, "...for our gospel did
not come to you in word only." It did come in word. It was not a feeling-driven pulpit. It was a doctrinal-driven pulpit. The preaching was intelligent.
It was cognitive. It was articulate. It was cogent. It was biblical. It was theological,
as it informed the mind. People were not having to check
their brains at the door of the church as they came in. The Word
of God was being taught in truth. reminds me of what one man said,
a country deacon, when he heard the new preacher come. He said,
now there are two kinds of preaching. There's topical and there's suppository. I have a follow-up line that
I will not give you. My wife would tell me to come
up and confess my sin if I gave you the follow-up line. It was preaching that was articulate. Second, the preaching was powerful. It says that the word came not
in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit. Paul
was energized by the Holy Spirit of God as he delivered this message. He was a vessel through which
the power of God was delivered. And then third, it was confident.
This preaching was confident, he says, and with full conviction. This refers not to the conviction
so much in the heart of the listener, but conviction in the heart of
the preacher as he preaches the Word. Paul was deeply sure of
the truthfulness and relevance of his message. He was gripped
with a God-given certainty of the truthfulness that he preached. And then fourth, this preaching
was incarnational. At the end of verse 5, we read,
"...just as you know what kind of men we prove to be among you
for your sake." What he is saying here is, we lived the message
that we brought to you. We did not preach one thing and
live another way. There was the incarnation of
the message in the preacher. This kind of preaching that is
articulate, theological, doctrinal, powerful, confident, and incarnational
is sorely lacking today. There seems to be no room for
this kind of preaching in the average church. And thus, now
listen to this, theology is being replaced with theatrics. Exposition is being replaced
with entertainment. Sound doctrine is being replaced
with sound checks. And the unfolding drama of redemption
is being replaced with just plain drama. When this occurs, you
are left with a man-centered church that pampers the flesh
and is powerless to convert from sin. Verse 6 gives us the reception
of this powerful preaching. God works both sides of the aisle. You also became imitators of
us and of the Lord, having received the Word in much tribulation
with the joy of the Holy Spirit. The Thessalonians were literally
saved in riot as great chaos broke out, as Paul preached. But they welcomed the Word into
their hearts because God the Holy Spirit had prepared their
hearts to receive this Word. A God-driven church is a church
in which the gospel is preached in word, in power, in the Holy
Spirit, and in reality of life. Mark number 5, in verses 7 and
8. Personal evangelism. Paul continues,
"...so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia
and Achaia. The Thessalonian believers made
a deep impact upon the other believers in the larger region
of what is Greece. This word example was used to
describe a seal that marked wax. In other words, they were leaving
their imprint and their impact upon the other believers. What
did they do that left such an impact? Next verse. Here comes the explanation. "'For
the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia
and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith towards God
has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.'" God
was so real. God was so real in their hearts.
that they could not contain their enthusiasm for God. They did
not have to be programmed. They didn't have to be pointed.
They simply were so full of God that no matter where they went,
no matter what they did, they sounded forth the glorious truth
of God Himself and His grace that had so radically saved them. I'm going to move on. Mark number
6, in verse 9, radical repentance. The God-driven church is comprised
of believers who have made a decisive break from sin. Verse 9, "...and
they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we
had with you, and how you turn to God from idols to serve a
living and true God. Paul is in Corinth at this time,
and travelers are arriving at Corinth who are bringing a report
to him of what is going on in this church in Thessalonica.
This word, report, is in the present tense. In other words,
he is continually receiving reports again and again and again of
the work of God in their hearts and how they turn to God from
idols. This is repentance. They turned. This word turned is a regular
word for conversion in the New Testament. And it marks the radical
change that comes into the lives of the Thessalonian believers
when they turned away from their sin and turned to the true God. This word for turned was used
in Mark 5, verse 30, when Jesus was walking through the crowd.
And a woman reached out to touch the hem of his garment. And he
stopped. And he turned completely around
to face the other direction. And he asked, Who touched me? The very same word is used here
of these Thessalonian, now believers, who once were going according
to the course of this world, who once were walking the path
of sin. And when the gospel came to them
in the power of the Holy Spirit, how God turned their hearts around
completely, how God granted them repentance, and how they turned
from their sin, how they turned from their idols, how they made
a clean break with a life of sin in order to turn to God. This preposition, to God, prostheon,
means that they turned to be face-to-face with God as they
entered into a personal relationship with this God through Jesus Christ. J.C. Ryle defines repentance
this way, quote, True repentance begins with the knowledge of
sin. It goes on to work sorrow for
sin. It leads to confession of sin
before God. It shows itself before man by
a thorough breaking off from sin. It results in producing
a habit of deep hatred for all sin." John Murray says, it is impossible
to disentangle faith and repentance. Saving faith is permeated with
repentance and repentance is permeated with faith. A. W. Tozer writes, quote, repentance
is primarily a change of moral purpose, a sudden and often violent
reversal of the soul's direction. In a God-driven church, there
is the preaching of repentance that calls sinners to forsake
their sin, to forsake the world, and to turn completely to the
living God, and in commitment of faith, to embrace Him through
His Son, Jesus Christ. Now, there's one last mark that
I want you to see. And as Henry VIII said to his
fourth wife, I won't be keeping you much longer. The seventh
mark is eternal hope. Look at verse 10, "...and to wait for His Son from
heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is, Jesus who rescues
us from the wrath to come. The God-driven church is a church
that ever has its focus upon heaven, setting our minds on
things above and not on things of this earth. The God-driven
church is a church that ever serves the Lord. ever looking
to the return of Jesus Christ, believing that at any moment
He could burst upon the scene, pouring ourselves into service
for Him, knowing with urgency that what we do for Christ must
be done today, because the Lord is coming, and when He returns,
He shall usher in a great and glorious new eternity for us,
as we would be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and this
world will enter into the great tribulation. He will break open
those seals of judgment, and He will blow those trumpet judgments,
and He will pour out those vials of wrath upon this world. But
He is coming back to rescue us out of that hour of tribulation,
and He will catch us up to meet Him in the air, and thus we shall
always be with Him. I believe that there are some
churches that would actually be disappointed for Christ to
come back. They have not finished their
building program. They have not yet made their
Holy Land trip. They have not yet finished their
10-year plan. But beloved, The God-driven church
longs for the second coming of Jesus Christ, longs for the rapture
of the church that we would be caught up to be with Him. And
as we serve the Lord with our shoulder to the plow, knowing
that He is soon to return. This is the kind of church that
we must be committed to seeing God build. A God-driven church. Not a man-built church. but a
God-driven church. And I want to call upon you as
I call upon my own heart to give ourselves afresh as never before,
to be mighty men of faith who will commit ourselves to see
God's work done God's way for God's glory. That Saturday in
Memphis, Tennessee, John, when I ran into you at breakfast. You said something the night
before. Stephen Olford was preaching,
Adrian Rogers was preaching, and Dr. MacArthur was preaching. In the middle of his message,
he said something that leaked into my heart. It was one sentence. And I went to Dr. MacArthur the
next day and I said, would you please write this in my Bible? He was so kind and gracious to
write it in my Bible. God had written it in my heart. This is what he said. Now is the time. for the strongest
men to preach the strongest message in the context of the strongest
ministry. I want to be one of those men. And would to God that all of
us here tonight could purpose in our heart for God to inscribe
this upon the tablet of our heart. Now is the time for the strongest
men to preach the strongest message in the context of the strongest
ministry. And may we see God build His
church through our lives. And may it be a God-driven church. Let's pray. Father, I don't know why my voice
has struggled so much tonight, but it has caused me to feel
my utter helplessness and dependency upon You in serving You. And Father, apart from You, I
can do nothing. It is in You that we live and
move and have our being. All of our days were written
in Your book when as yet there was not one of them. You are
the God who opens a door that no man can close and who closes
a door that no man can open. And Father, in this moment, in
this hour, We do humble ourselves before
Your mighty right hand and ask that You would exalt us in due
time, knowing that You care for us. Father, I pray for my brother
pastors, my fellow servants here tonight, that You would encourage
them and strengthen their faith that as they labor for you, these
very simple truths that we looked at tonight might in some way
be a benchmark, might be a target towards which we would point
our hearts. And God, I pray that as we put
our faith in You, and as we grow in our love for You, And as we
become more singular in our hope for You, that, God, You would
inspire great work and great labor and great steadfastness
within us. Father, we are very weak in and
of ourselves. And so we cast ourselves upon
You. And we abide in Your Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And I pray that in our reliance
upon You, and in the submission of our very being to Your sovereignty,
that You would produce within us great energy to serve You,
that You would do this work within our hearts and within our souls,
that You would enlarge our steadfastness, that You would build up our endurance,
that we would not lose heart and give up hope. And I pray,
God, that our love for You would produce great labor in our lives. So, Father, draw us unto Yourself,
even tonight, that You might then deepen the very fabric and
the very depth of our soul that we would be thrust out to serve
You. Father, I pray this in Jesus'
name. Amen.