once again and particularly we're going to be in chapter 3 verses six through nine. Before we look at that passage, however, we're going to be looking at a few verses in Philippians, chapter one, to sort of give us a bit of background concerning a particular concept. I wonder, though, first, before we move into that, I'd just ask you a question. Have you ever asked yourself, what really makes me happy? Now just think about that for a moment, will you? What makes me happy? What really turns me on? All right, you got it? Actually, that's a silly question for some, because some people aren't happy about anything. But I hope that most of you aren't like that today. Just search your heart. What really would make you happy? Now let me ask you a question. Having thought of that, don't raise your hand. We're not taking a vote. But does that which would make you happy relate to you? Or does it relate specifically to someone else? Does it relate to you as a person or others? Now the real test of love is, according to 1 Corinthians 13 and other passages, love does not pursue. selfish advantage. Love seeks not her own. And a real question for you is this. Are you happy when others succeed? Are you really happy when others succeed? Are you happy when others become the object of the concern of perhaps people that used to pay attention to you? Now they've focused their attention on someone else. Does that make you happy? Or does that make you sad? You see, I'm concerned, as I study the Word of God, with the low level of concern among believers. We have a tendency, and though we wouldn't really admit it, we have a tendency to be very, very selfish, and think in terms of mine, me, and my, rather than others. You know, as I think of that, I am always concerned about even, especially sometimes, the more mature believers who ought to know better. You know, they're in the fellowship of a church, perhaps. Though I'm not aware that any such thing has taken place at Valley, let's take a hypothetical case. We're not speaking specifically of this body. But they're involved, and they have been involved, and they've been leaders in this church. And, you know, they go away on vacation, and when they come back, there are new people that have come in. Suddenly people are looking to them for leadership, and they begin to realize that they've been kind of pushed off in a corner, and others have risen to the occasion, and they almost feel hurt. It used to be that people noticed me around here, and now they don't notice me anymore. They get the impression so often that they almost see other people as a threat. They see growth within the body as a threat to them personally. There are some that just care about themselves and could care less about anybody else. Those really have a problem. But the ones I'm talking about are the people that are genuinely concerned for the things of God. And you know, they're concerned for souls, and they're concerned for spiritual growth, and they sure want the Word of God taught. And yet, somehow or another, when the focus of attention within the body is on them, on the other person, rather than themselves, they get concerned about it. We have before us tonight a passage that shows us as believers what really should turn you on. Something that really should be exciting and thrilling to you. Now, it's not the only thing. To isolate it and say this is the only thing that turns a believer on would limit an infinite field. There are many, many things that can give excitement to a believer. But this is one of the things that the Apostle Paul said in several places that it turned him on more than anything else. And we want to learn what it is. The Apostle Paul had a deep concern for the believers in Thessalonica. He was motivated by a genuine love for them. And the thing that turned Paul on, the thing that excited the Apostle Paul, was to see progress in the lives of other believers. To see them move ahead. You know, I never find in Scripture a place where Paul expresses that exuberant word, rejoicing, in relationship to himself alone. He rejoices in what God is doing in the lives of other people. Now here, Paul could sit in jail, for instance. And he could say, I'm the prisoner of Jesus Christ. But then he'd turn right around and he would say, and you know what really excites me? Is the fact that while I've been here in prison, the gospel has spread, even without me. There were people at that very time that Paul was sitting in a jail in Rome. There were people going around saying, see, we don't need the Apostle Paul. And you know what Paul said? That's great. That's great. Paul's getting kind of old, folks. We don't need him anymore. We're going to move on. We can have other preachers. In fact, the people in Corinth said, hey, Apollos is a better preacher than Paul. Paul said, I planted, Apollos watered, God gave the increase, and I'm just happy you're growing. That's all. Now, an interesting sideline in this whole thing is what Paul said in Philippians chapter 1. And there's a lot in Philippians concerning this concept, because Paul was in jail at this time, couldn't do much other than write this letter. But in Philippians chapter 1, in verse 15, he says, Some indeed preach Christ, even of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. But one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds. Here were people that actually were wanting by their ministry to people In the churches, they were actually motivated by a desire to make Paul miserable. Exactly what he's saying here. They supposed to add affliction to my bonds. There are others that preach of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of gospel. They're one with me and my ministry. What then? Notwithstanding, every way, no matter what happens, he says, Whether in pretense, whether they're people that really are doing it to get back at me and show me up, or in truth, Christ is preached, and I therein get turned on. I rejoice, and do rejoice, or will rejoice. Now Paul is talking here about a situation where there are some people that are preaching the gospel in the proper way, and there are some people who are actually doing it out of spite for Paul. You know, Paul says, look, the message of Jesus Christ is so far above people. But even them with their wrong motives, now they'll lose blessings. He didn't go into this here, we know this from other scriptures. They'll lose blessings because actually they're wrongly motivated. They're motivated by the energy of the flesh, and God cannot bless anything from the energy of the flesh as far as that person is concerned, but God will bless his Word. It will never return void, but will accomplish the purpose for which it's sent, no matter who the messenger is. In fact, The Bible, the Word of God, is that upon which God has staked his reputation. He said, I've exalted my word above my name. The person of Jesus Christ, as he's proclaimed, will do a work in the hearts and lives of people, no matter how weak the messenger might be. That gives me great hope for a preacher like me. And no matter how weak I may be, that God can take something and somehow use me. Again, they're not the vessel that's important. It's the treasure that is in that vessel, as George Post pointed out to us this morning. And that treasure is something that pours forth in all of the beauty and all of the value. And so Paul says, look, these people, I don't really care too much. Whether they're doing it, he was always concerned about people that preach error. Don't misunderstand. He didn't want them preaching error. But these people were preaching the truth, but they were going about it in a way that was carnal, it was wrong. Paul says, look, I'm just glad Christ is preached. And because of that, I'm going to rejoice, and I'm going to keep right on rejoicing, and nobody can take that joy from me. All right, now let's look at our passage in 1 Thessalonians. Look at what he says here, beginning in verse 6 of chapter 3. He says, But now, when Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, that ye have good remembrance of us always, greatly desiring to see us, as we also do to see you. Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith. For now we live, we stand fast in the Lord. What thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy, wherewith we joy for your sake before our God. Now, when Timothy had returned, he brought with him, remember that he was sent as Paul came to Athens, he was sent back up to Thessalonica, and there he met with the people, he talked to them concerning their faith. And then when Paul was in Corinth, Timothy had returned there to Corinth and met the Apostle Paul and brought a good report of the steadfastness of these people. Now, you'll notice in verse 6, their steadfastness was along four lines. They had a steadfastness, first of all, of faith. Paul spoke in chapter one of their work of faith, the faith that really produced works in their life, the real kind of faith. He revealed earlier in this chapter that Timothy was sent to comfort them concerning their faith. And so their stability of faith brought Paul comfort. See, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. And solidity of faith really shows a positive response to the Word of God. When a person is solid in his belief and solid in his trust, solid in his faith, it is because that individual has been grounded in the promises of the Word of God and all of the things that God has given to us. So that was one area of stabilization. Another area was charity, agapaho, love, this love that doesn't seek its own, this kind of love that is produced by the Holy Spirit in and through the believer. A love that comes naturally, not a forced thing, not a fake thing, not built on the superficial, but something that pours out naturally as the fruit of the Spirit, as the Spirit of God controls the light. And then they were also stabilized from the standpoint of their memories. Paul says they had a good memory. He says that you have good remembrance of us always. The word good there means well-disposed, kindly. They had a continual, kindly remembrance of the Apostle Paul. They hadn't forgotten him. They hadn't forgotten his teachings. Paul says, I'm glad about that. And then, as well, they had stabilization in the area of their own desire. He says here that they desired greatly to come and see me. They wanted to come. They wanted to see the Apostle Paul again. You know what this indicates? This indicates that these people still long for more teaching from the Word of God. We ought to, even if the preacher is long-winded once in a while, We ought to have the attitude of believers when we hear the word. We ought to think, oh no, is that all for tonight? We ought to just desire more and more. And these people at Thessalonica were like that. Now Paul had taught them for three weeks. Three weeks he had spent working in the daytime, teaching them at night, and sleeping with little catnaps in between, whatever he could. He taught them and he taught them. And when you see, as you study 1 Thessalonians, the great scope of doctrine that the Apostle Paul must have taught these people in that period of time, it's absolutely amazing what he was able to convey to them. One reason he could convey so much was they were sitting on the edge of their seats with no pad in hand, ready to get everything they could. They wanted to get it as close to what Paul said as they possibly could. They wanted to find out what it meant. They wanted to ask questions, and they wanted to go on and on and on and grow in their Christian life. And here they had a deep desire to see Paul again, because they knew that to see Paul simply meant that he would give them more in the way of teaching. Now, verse 7 says this. This is so important. We were comforted. Actually, the word means strengthened. It's not comfort in the sense that we think of comfort, but more the idea of girding or strengthening. We were strengthened in all our affliction. Now, there are two kinds of trouble here mentioned, the affliction and the distress. The affliction was that choking, pressing kind of care, the kind of things that make people worry, you see. And then the distress was that crushing kind of trouble, the emergency type of situation. He said, I'm having affliction, I'm having distress, but right in the middle of it, get this now, your faith, your love, your desire to see me, your remembrance of the things that we taught you and the things that we did in your midst, those things, when I hear that you're going on with God, you know what it does for me, Paul says? It strengthens me. I imagine those Thessalonian believers when they read this letter, they thought, we strengthened Paul? That's right. How? Because Paul was encouraged to go on through any kind of trial or any kind of trouble. Why? Because he saw once again the evidence in the lives of these people of what the preaching of the Word of God can do. You know, I'll tell you, when I see people begin to grow, It's like saying sickum to a dog. Man, I tell you. And we've got some tremendous believers in our congregation here who are just sitting every chance they get with their tongue hanging out, wanting more. You know, that kind of thing just makes me feel like I want to go on forever. In fact, that's one of the problems that I have on Sunday morning. I look out there and I can see some of the people. I try to avoid looking too long at some people that sit there with dead hands. I don't really mind when a guy looks at his watch during the service, when he holds it up to his ear to see if it's still running. That really begins to get to you. And that kind of person I don't concentrate on. But I look out here and I can pick some of these great people. And they're sitting there, and boy, give us more. And you know, they could care less. In fact, they're shocked when I said the time's up, if you know that. What? You can almost see them. No, where'd it go? You know, and as long as they sit there like that, how can you quit? You know? And it's a problem. I've talked with pastors with great men of God. I remember a few years ago when I was talking to Mike Sandsvig at Calvary Church in Santa Ana. I went to see him in his office and just spent a little time with him. This man is probably, in my opinion, the greatest preacher in the country today. Fantastic guy. If you're going to move anywhere, move to Southern California and right near Santa Ana so you can go to Calvary Church in Santa Ana. He's a great, great pastor-teacher. Fantastic. I was talking with him about this, and he had made a comment on the Sunday morning that, well, I'm going to have to cut this sermon short because my board's been on me again, you know, and I thought, you know, even this great man with his polished ability to proclaim the Word, even he's got a problem. You know what he told me? He told me just simply, you know, people turn me on. He said, this congregation is so hungry for the Word. He says, I can't quit. He says, I stand there and it's just, they pull it out of me. You ought to hear him preach, man. Do they ever pull it out of him? You know, Dr. Feinberg sits there with a notepad in hand, trying to keep up with him with notes, you know. And if you know Dr. Feinberg, you'll know that he doesn't have to take notes on many men's messages. I'll tell you, it's fantastic. And it does, when people are hungry, and we've got some people in our midst like that. I hope all of you are like that. But some people really show it. It's tough to quit. You know, the Apostle Paul had faced some real trouble. You know, you think of his ministry. It wasn't what we would rate as successful. He spent three weeks in Thessalonica. First of all, he landed in jail in Philippi. He sat in Philippi in jail. All he had to show for his time in Philippi was a bunch of women that Lydia, were friends of Lydia. He led them to the Lord, and one man who won his family to the Lord. That's all he had to show. You know, that's, you know, Billy Graham talks to all these people, and that's what we call success. All these people that come forward. Paul only had one family, one whole family, plus these other ladies that had come to Christ. They went to Thessalonica. And the people were immediately responsive to the word, but most of the town didn't respond. They ran him out of town on a rail. He spent three weeks there, but when he left, they wanted a guarantee he'd never come back. They said, look, we want a guarantee that you're not going to come back. And then, of course, when he went to Berea, the same Jews that had persecuted him up there in Thessalonica ran him out of town in Berea. They came down and stirred up the people. He got to Athens, and he ran into all these human philosophies there. And he began to share the gospel there, and these people were so steeped in this that really he didn't have much success in Athens. He goes to Corinth and he runs into all kinds of problems. You know, Paul might have been a little discouraged. But you know what? Now, come back a minute. He probably was discouraged. He had to send Timothy, when he got to Athens, to Thessalonica because he heard there was trouble there. He had to leave Silas in Berea to help those people out. And now he was all by himself and he gets to Corinth and he's got all these problems to face. And here he is, maybe just a little bit down in the mud. You know, preachers have that happen once in a while. They get a little tired, a little discouraged, a little lonely. It's tough. And then he gets turned on. Because Timothy comes back, and not only does he have that good fellowship with Timothy, but Timothy says, guess what? You know those believers you left up there in Thessalonica? They're still going on. They're still growing, they're still moving on. Now, they've got some questions, Paul. They have one question I couldn't answer concerning the coming of Christ. Because some people have died, and they are afraid now that those people that have died are going to not go up in the rapture. And Paul had to straighten them out on that point. But for the most part, they're going on with God. And Paul says, man, this strengthens me. There is no such thing as failure when this kind of result comes. It may not be dramatic. It may be that nobody's able to count the numbers. It may be that no one else is able to weigh the success. But Paul says, look, if one person's growing in the Lord, that to me makes it all worthwhile. And people were growing in their faith, in their love, and so on. And by the way, that just might say here, Christian workers need encouragement too. See? Sure they do. They need encouragement. And Paul needed it. Then verse 8 says, we live. Now the word live here is the Greek word zomen. And it means actually to quicken. It means to make alive, to animate. Paul says, turn on. See, that's the idea. You know, what's an animation? Well, you know, you have an inanimate object, it's something that doesn't move. You have an animate object, it's something that moves all over the place, you know. And here he is, he's quickened, he's animated. And it's, by the way, a present tense word. It's continually quickened. And then he uses the word if, and the English here gets a little sticky because it's a first-class condition, which means it's a fulfilled condition. He says, I am quickened continually since you stand fast. The word stand fast literally stands upright, unmoved, in other words, by the afflictions and trials. Paul says, look, I'm turned on as long as you keep moving on, as long as you keep growing. I live, I'm quickened, I'm animated, I'm brought to life because of it. Paul might have felt a little lifeless just about now, but when he heard about these people, man, he sprang into action. And then Paul puts the whole thing into perspective in verse 9, when he says, For what thanks can we render to God again for you? Paul says, Look, I've just got to praise God for this. It's never anything any of us do. It's what God does. It is God which worketh in you, both the will and to do of His good pleasure. If God uses anybody, it's because God does it through you, not because you're anything. It's of grace and only of grace. So he says that he gives praise and thanks to God. And you know, the word here is a compound verb. And what it means actually is praise or thanksgiving that is rendered rendering what is due. In other words, we would use an English, a comparative English idiom would be, the least that I can do is such and such. So Paul is saying here, the least I can do is praise God. The least I can do is lift my voice in praise and thanks to God. And look at the reason for his thanksgiving, for all the joy. wherewith we joy for your sakes before God." Remember over in chapter 20, verse 2, he said, you are our joy and crown. And the word for joy here is a word that means an outward exuberant joy. So the outward exuberant joy, the thing that gave Paul an outward exuberant joy, was the progress of other believers. Now mind you, It had cost the Apostle Paul something. He'd had to send Timothy up there to help him. He had to sit down and he had to write this letter. It had cost him a lot. And we have what we call emotional quotient. They tell us that you can only give out, you know, you can only give out a certain amount of emotional quotient. And if you give out all your emotional quotient, and you spend your emotional energy without having reserves built up, that you'll crack up. This can happen to a Christian person. The Apostle Paul was continually reviving his emotional quotient. But at the same time, he said to these people, look, when I hear that God is doing something in your life, that you are growing, that you are moving on, He says, that not only causes me to give praise and thanks to God, but that turns me on. And that strengthens me. Now, in the light of that, let me just ask you, are you more concerned about yourself? You know, people come and they sit and they hear a sermon. Now, you may say, you know, I know people, for instance, they hear a salvation sermon. And after they hear the salvation message proclaimed, they go home and they say, well, I just don't feel good about that at all. The reason I don't feel good about it, I've heard all that before. Nothing new to me. No thought of what it might mean to one other person who happened to be there, and that being the reason why the Lord had led the pastor to preach that particular message. And every single believer should be sitting on the edge of his seat, getting everything he can from the Word, but then saying to the Lord, Lord, you know, I praise you for some of these things I've heard before, and I know them before, and I praise you because, listen, there are other people here who maybe have never heard them, and I know what they mean to me, and oh God, I thank you that that message came forth to touch the lives of other people, as well as my own life. Your concern should be broader than just this two-by-four that sits on your head. We do not want to give, simply give out a message that simply becomes something with which you can have an intellectual stimulation. The thing that God demands of the preacher of the gospel is that he faithfully proclaim his word, holding forth the word of life, as the Apostle Paul mentions there in the book of Philippians. Holding forth that word, preaching that word. He told Timothy, preach the word. Be instant in season, out of season, rebuke, exhort. Do all of these things, have great variety. Hit people with a shotgun one minute, use a .22 the next. But whatever you do, shoot them! You know, it's something. I believe that God wants every single one of us to become so concerned about what God does in the lives of other people that we move away from this whole thought of self-centeredness. And we don't think in terms of our selfish little desires, but we think beyond that to what God can do in a broad scope with other people. Sandy Morton shared with me something he'd heard Dr. McGee say, kind of an interesting thing. Apparently Dr. McGee had talked with Dr. Barnhouse, and in the process, one of the two men confessed that something he'd learned to do was how to fill a church and how to empty a church. I can't remember whether it was McGee that said that or Barnhouse, but he said, I'd learned how to fill a church and how to empty a church. Well, how do you fill a church and how do you empty a church? Well, he said, you fill a church by telling how many hairs there are in the tail of the donkey, or the red horse in Revelation, or something, and you give all this detail like that. Boy, you can fill a church with that. Now, I can empty a church by starting in verse 1 of Romans and go through exegetically, verse by verse, through the book of Romans laboriously, and the church will empty. And the comment was made that even though it may empty the church, the people that do come will grow. And that's the important thing. And then, Dr. McGee said, so I'm like Listerine, I'm the taste you hate twice a day. He says, you're going to hate me. I'm going to preach it straight anyway. He said he got a letter from one of his listeners. They said, you know, Dr. McGee, the first time I heard you preach on the radio, I hated you. And now I can get you twice every day, once on the way to work and once on the way home. And so I'm the taste that you hate twice a day, just like Listerine. But I'm growing in the Lord. And my friends, I challenge you that we as believers in Christ need to be so exposed to the whole counsel of God, to the Word of God from A to Z, again and again and again and again to be reminded of what God has done for us. And then at the same time that our major concern be not just our selfish little selves, but it be others and the growth that will come to their life. And as you pray for others within the fellowship, and as you see people aching and hurting and needing, And you know that, oh, somehow God can fit the messages to meet their needs. You, then, will grow and glow and go to God. Blessed Christ. Father in Heaven, we just thank you for the impact of Paul's example, one who just was willing to put aside his own brothers and just have a concern and care for other people and really be turned on. When they grew, we're sure that the Apostle Paul at the same time was concerned about his own spiritual growth, but he had a terrific ability just to put others first. Grant, Lord, that this might be what we will do. We will be willing to take in everything you have for us and not point the finger at other people, but at the same time be concerned that you use the Word in our lives and the lives of others, and that we concentrate our attention upon that which really should turn us on, the growth in grace and in knowledge of Christ of other believers here at Valley Church. And then, Lord, we know that we'll all grow together, and we'll have love that will know no bounds. We'll praise you for it in Christ's name. Amen.