Charles Spurgeon and J.C. Ryle in the 19th century and D. Martin Lloyd-Jones and A.W. Tozer in the 20th century all had a variation of this saying. What a church ministry wins people with is what they inevitably win people to. What a church ministry wins people with is what they inevitably win people to. If you win them with entertainment, or preaching that resembles a comedy routine, or a ministry that has all the best coffees and maybe even the best beers on tap right next to the sanctuary, if you win people with the allure of a satisfying experience, you win them to a Christianity that lives for an earthly satisfying experience. And it really isn't more complicated than that. If you win people with the enticements of the world, you will win them to a worldly Christianity, which is no Christianity at all. And folks will often defend this sort of ministry by saying, we really just want to reach the unchurched. But as I've said before, while there was a time when I was inclined to say that's a well-intentioned effort, just misguided, after quite a number of years of observing and reading about these various methods and movements, I see it for what it is, a vote of no confidence in the power and authority of the gospel. This morning we have the opportunity to contrast that model of ministry over and against the Apostle Paul's. It might be said that Paul could teach us something about ministry. And he's actually going to defend his ministry, a task that, as we'll see, will take up a considerable portion of 1 Thessalonians 2 and 3. And he's going to remind the church in Thessalonica that the tool he used to win them to Christ was the gospel. And they were won by the gospel of God to be men and women in service to God's gospel. What you win people with, you inevitably win them too. Well, let's seek the Lord's face and we'll get to work. Pray with me once more. Our great God in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you that it's true truth. We're thankful, O God, that you've drawn us here. And just pray as we hear this word, we'll receive it as it truly is. The Word of God, we pray for your servant, that you keep him from error, that only true things would resonate out from this moment, now and always. And we pray, O God, that we would have attentive ears to the things of our good shepherd. So help us to hear as he speaks and feeds us this morning. We ask these things in Jesus' name, amen. Let me ask you to open up your copy of scripture to 1 Thessalonians 2. We're gonna read verses one through six, although we're only gonna get down into verse four this morning. 1 Thessalonians 2, beginning in verse 1. This is God's inspired and authoritative word. For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain. Even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit. But as we've been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness. God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. Well, there ends the reading of God's holy and inspired word. May it bless it to our hearts this morning. Dearest congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, you know, We spent almost four years working through Paul's epistle to the Romans. And in many ways, Romans highlights the apostles' exceedingly sharp theological mind. But at the end of Romans, it also gave us a glimpse of the apostles' tender heart. When you read through Paul's two epistles to the Thessalonians, those two things are almost inverted. Thessalonians really puts front and center the apostle's heart for ministry and the affection that he has for those he serves. And we get glimpses of his brilliant doctrinal mind. In most of the first chapter, Paul was telling the church just how encouraged he was when he contemplated their walk with the Lord. As we move into chapter two, Paul seems to know that his ministry to the Thessalonians has come under attack. And so he wants to defend his ministry to them and to help them remember that they were won by the gospel, to be men and women in service to the gospel. So Paul wants the church to reflect on his ministry. And there are four words I'm gonna use to sort of help us think about his ministry in the first 12 verses. We're gonna see the ministry's milieu, the ministry's message, the ministry's motive, and then next week, we'll see the ministry's manner. That really doesn't even begin until verse seven. So again, this week in the first four verses, We're gonna look at the ministry's Milu, the ministry's message, and we'll begin to look at the ministry's motive. The ministry's Milu. Milu is just a fancy way to say the ministry's context, but it was the only word I could come up with that began with an M that it fit. And Paul wants this young church to be reminded of the nature of his ministry, and that it bore fruit. He writes there in verse 1, for you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain. Now, you may have noticed this is not the only time in this passage where Paul appeals to what the Thessalonians knew. It becomes a very important part of this passage. Again, glance here at verse 1, he says, for you yourselves know. Then again in verse 2 he writes, as you know. Verse 5, as you know. Down in verse 11, as you know. See, the apostle is appealing to something that Thessalonians knew. He's saying, you, brothers and sisters, know what our ministry was like when we were with you. You know where we'd come from. You know the opposition we faced in Philippi and then in Thessalonica. You know we preached the gospel to you. You know what our conduct was like you. You know these things. And you know our ministry was not in vain. And that's clear. If they read the first chapter, it was a testimony to this very fact that his ministry was not in vain. Their lives demonstrated faith and love and hope. And we're told it demonstrated those things because the gospel didn't come to them in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit. So they know his ministry to them was not in vain. Why is Paul driving this point home? Well, you'll want to remember what we learned several weeks back. when we looked at Acts 17. The Apostle and Silvanus and Timothy spent a relatively short period in Thessalonica. Paul proclaimed from the Scriptures that Jesus is God's promised Messiah and that it was necessary for him to suffer and rise again from the dead. And we're told, again, back in Acts 17, that there were a small number of Jews who were converted and a great multitude of God-fearing Greeks and even some of the most prominent God-fearing Greek women in the city. But the majority of Jews, we're told, were filled with envy, and they gathered up a mob of riffraff to drive the evangelists from the city. And as the persecution was escalating quickly and becoming more violent, the believers in Thessalonica sent Paul and his missionary band on their way. And you can be sure, as soon as they were gone, the men who opposed the apostle and the gospel, the men who incited the riots, they went into overdrive to discredit Paul and the gospel and the men who proclaimed the gospel. So as I said, much of chapters 2 and 3 represent Paul defending his ministry. And Dr. John Stott, he did an awesome job sort of mining through these two chapters and laying out the kinds of criticism that these men were hurling toward Paul and the other gospel laborers. Dr. Stott writes, Paul's critics took full advantage of his sudden disappearance. In order to undermine his authority and his gospel, they determined to discredit him. So they launched a malicious smear campaign. By studying Paul's self-defense, it's possible for us to reconstruct their slanders. He ran away, they sneered, and hasn't been seen or heard of since, they said. Obviously, he's insincere, impelled by the basest of motives. He's just one more of those many phony teachers who tramp up and down the Ignatian way in a word. Whoever this Paul is, he's a charlatan. He's in his job only for what he can get out of it in terms of sex and money and prestige or power. So as soon as opposition arose and he found himself in personal danger, he took to his heels and ran. He doesn't even care about you Thessalonian disciples. He's abandoned you. He's much more concerned about his own skin than your welfare. And it's in this context, this milieu, that Paul is saying, dear brothers and sisters, you know us. You know what our ministry was like among you. You know none of that's true. You know your lives were bearing gospel fruit. You know our ministry. wasn't in vain. You know this. So this is the Milu. It's Paul's defense of his ministry. And that sets the context for the rest of the next two chapters. And that brings us to the ministry's message. The ministry of Paul's ministry message. Listen again to the first two verses. For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, but even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. And the apostle doesn't deny that he and the other, excuse me, the other missionaries are on the move. Certainly, he would have told the Thessalonians about the brutal treatment they had experienced in Philippi. And you know that situation. It's from Acts 16. Paul and Silas, they had been brutally beaten, thrown into the dungeon, and put in stocks. Eventually, they were released. And eventually, they went to Thessalonica But you have to wonder, could you see evidences of that brutality on their bodies? Did Paul or Silas limp? Were there black and blue marks on them? Did they grimace and flinch when somebody put their hand on their back where they had been beaten with rods? They had been spitefully treated in Philippi because they proclaimed the gospel. And Paul had told the church in Thessalonica all of this. But here's the thing, we might have expected that when Paul led his band of missionaries to Thessalonica, they would change tactics, that they'd want to keep a low profile, sure to proclaim Christ on the down low, right? But that's not what happened. Even after the vicious mistreatment in Philippi, Paul said, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. I love that Paul says, we were bold in our God. The apostle is making it clear, his courage to preach the gospel. even in harrowing circumstances, didn't simply flow from a courageous personality. It stemmed from his union and communion with God. That's what made Paul fearless, the undergirding confidence that he was in a covenant relationship with God through the very gospel he preached. In other words, Paul didn't only preach it, he believed it. So he can say, we were bold in our God. And he's reminding the Thessalonians, you know when we came to you, in spite of what transpired in Philippi, we were bold to proclaim the gospel to you. He's saying that's what we won you with. That's what has and is transforming your life. It's the gospel. It's the good news of God that He's made a way to reconcile sinners to Himself. That's what we told you. It's the good news of God that He sent His Son to pay your sin debt. It's the good news, the gospel of God, as you know. that Jesus has delivered you from the wrath to come. He said that in the last verse of chapter 1. It's the good news of God that He saved you and gives you a title deed to everlasting life and glory. This is what we told you. This was our message. We'll see next week the manner of Paul's ministry. and just the amount of love and kindness and gentleness and tenderness that he displayed to this church. But the sum and substance of Paul's ministry was bold gospel proclamation. because the gospel is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes. And that is always where Paul hung his ministerial hat on the gospel. Leon Morris very helpfully reminds us that the Christian faith is not the accumulated wisdom of pious souls nor the insight of men of religious genius. but the divine plan for dealing with our sin. And it was that divine plan that the Apostle Paul announced boldly to the Thessalonians. And he's telling them, you know this, and you know we weren't in Thessalonica for any other reason other than the gospel. That's what we hammered home to you. That's what we preached to you. That's what we won you with. And that's what we won you to. The saving message of the gospel. You're a gospel people. You're the people I described in the first chapter, right? Those are gospel people. one with the gospel to the gospel. You were one with the power of gospel, now you live in the power of the gospel. And listen, dear ones, if there was ever a gospel preacher who might have said, maybe we need to try something different. Maybe we need a new method besides clearly proclaiming Christ and Him crucified for sinners. Maybe we gotta change this a little bit. For no other reason, I'm tired of getting beat up. If any minister might have been justified in saying such a thing, it would have been the Apostle Paul. But he didn't. Paul was likely one of history's true intellectual prodigies, but throughout his ministry he remained a one-trick pony. He announced that there's good news for sinners. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you'll be saved. And don't forget, Paul keeps saying, you know this. You know this. You know we didn't cave and do something different. We didn't develop new, less threatening ministerial strategies because it was persecution. And I believe there's a subtle exhortation behind this to the Thessalonians. Don't let gospel opposition force you into doing something different. In the midst of conflict, you were one with the gospel. Be a gospel people. This will be just as true for you all as it is for us. If it's your desire to see a gospel community flourish, then you need to trust the gospel. It's powerful to win that community for Christ. It's not more complicated than that. Well, that's the ministry's message. And that brings us to our third heading this morning, the ministry's motives. And we'll work partially through this this morning and then finish up next Thursday. One of the things the apostle is going to do is he's actually going to say more about what didn't motivate him in ministry than what did. And I suspect largely this is because of the nature of the accusers who were spreading lies about Paul and his gospel ministry. So we read in verse 3, for our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit. You have to think, those Jews who didn't believe, the ones who incited the mob and the riot, As soon as Paul left, they almost certainly were saying, you know that Paul fellow, he said a bunch of stuff that were erroneous, he said a bunch of stuff that's not true. He purports to show how Jesus is the Christ, but he's just wrong in the way he's using the Hebrew scripture. The apostle is saying to the church, you know that's not true. You know how carefully I handled the scripture. Our ministry to you was not marked by error, but by truth. And really, this is mark of a faithful preacher in every generation. They are intentional in not teaching error. And you might think, well, that's a no-brainer, pastor. No one wants to teach error. But clearly, it's not as obvious as we might think, since there are plenty of people who teach error. Ministers tend to read a lot. And that's a good thing. But they can sometimes decide that everything they read has to find its way into a sermon at some point. So they read sociology, or they read secular psychology, and they decide, someplace, I've got to squeeze that into a sermon. That knowledge is too good for me not to share. But there's a big problem when you think that knowledge is so good that it's got to eclipse the gospel. And they're flirting with error. Or they read a text, and then they preach a sermon that's disconnected from the passage they read. And it becomes clear they have something to say, but they weren't really concerned with what the Bible says. They just wanted to get their point across. If a guy's preaching, and he goes on for five or ten minutes, and you have no idea how the things he says connects to the Scripture, he's actually in dangerous territory. The word that Paul uses here for eraplage literally means wandering from the path of truth. And that's just how error gets introduced in the church, by wandering ever so subtly off that path of truth. And Paul's reminding the church, you know that didn't exist in my ministry among you. I wasn't in error because I stayed on track with the scriptures. And you know that. And he goes on to say there was also no uncleanness associated with his ministry. It means there was nothing obscene in his conduct or the other gospel men who served alongside him. And specifically, he was surely saying there's no sexual impropriety among us. And again, it's not hard to imagine, if you think about our context, why this was so important. There were a lot of women who turned to Christ under Paul's ministry. I mean, do you remember who the first convert was in Philippi? It was Lydia, a dear, godly woman. And in Thessalonica, we were told that more than a few of the prominent women from that city came to a saving knowledge of the gospel. And so the accusers in Thessalonica were probably saying, we know what's really going on here. You were doing this because you wanted to meet girls. A little more profane than that, but you get the point. And see, that was very common. There were traveling philosophers and teachers. In that day, they would blow into a city, and they would want the company of women. So they would offer their services as philosophers to make money to appropriate the services of women. When we get to chapter four, it'll become clear that the surrounding culture of Thessalonica was hyper-sexualized probably even more than it is in our day, if that's possible. So the accusers probably thought this was a slam dunk charge. Clearly, and they may very well have thought Paul was like those other men. Paul reminds the church, you know our ministry. There was no uncleanness about it. Not at all. And you know, dear ones, this is still one of the sins that Satan uses to powerfully tempt and shipwreck ministries. Hardly a month passes without some prominent or semi-prominent minister getting caught up in some kind of immoral sexual scandal. And I think it happens ultimately because of hubris. Men overestimate their spiritual walk. Oh yeah, I can develop this really close and intimate relationship with a woman who's not my wife, but I know being the spiritual giant I am, I'll keep it all on the up and up. Those are famous last foolish words. And there's quite a bit of pressure on ministers to break down some of those barriers that have traditionally existed in the Protestant world between women and the pastors. A woman by the name of Amy Byrd wrote a very prominent book about two years ago, Why Can't We Be Friends? And the gist of the book is that the Mike Pence rule, or the Billy Graham rule, or the idea that men can't be super intimate and close with women who aren't of the wife other than the wife, that that's all nonsense, and it's gotta go out the window. And unfortunately, a lot of men in the ministry are buying into that, and they're tumbling because of it. And Paul is saying his ministry, It didn't have any of that uncleanness characterized. And he also says his ministry wasn't characterized by deceit. As I said, in the apostles' day, there were famous men, sort of philosophers and rhetoricians for hire, who were professional arguers. For a fee, they'd make your case, not so different than a lawyer in our day who would say just about anything for a big enough retainer. But that was not Paul's motive. He wasn't in the ministry to deceive. As we'll see next week, he wasn't in the ministry for financial gain. He was in the ministry because he loved the Lord Jesus and he wanted to make him known. He wasn't motivated by winning arguments or using rhetorical tricks. He was motivated to stick to the simple truths of the gospel. He would write in 2 Corinthians 4, 2, We've renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestations of truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. You see, Paul not only knew deceit was wrong, He knew he didn't need it. He knew the truth was strong enough and that the gospel was powerful enough. So he never felt compelled to hoodwinkery. Now, Paul was a man of integrity. And ultimately, his integrity was grounded in the fact that he knew he would be accountable to God. having categorically denied those initial charges of improper motives. He writes here in verse four, but as we've been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing man, but God who tests our heart. This is such a powerful teaching for ministers and preachers. Paul is reminding us here that in his mind, he was a steward of the message that had been entrusted him by Jesus Christ. He understood he was an ambassador for Christ, nothing else. And what does an ambassador do? He speaks the message of his King. That's what an ambassador does. I mean, if we had an ambassador from the U.S. who was serving in another nation, and he said, yeah, I know the president said this and that, but don't listen to him. He's whacked. He'd be fired. Because an ambassador, his one job is to communicate the message of the king. And Paul understood that. He had been entrusted with the gospel. That was a gift given to him. And it wasn't his desire to please men. It was his desire to please his king. And Paul understood something very powerful, something frightening, and something wonderful. about preaching. Ultimately, you're going to be held accountable to God. That's frightening, and it's freeing. That doesn't mean we don't have ecclesiastical structures, a session to govern what's said in a pulpit. Of course we do, but preachers ultimately understand what they say and don't say will be held before the bar of God's righteous standard And that's freeing because it means you don't have to speak in a way that pleases men It's fearful because God lays bare the thoughts and intents of your heart Paul never worried about being judged by his preaching. In fact, that's what he said in 1st Corinthians 4 Beginning at verse 3, he said, for me, it's a very small thing that I should be judged by you or any human court. In fact, I don't even judge myself. Paul wasn't saying he didn't evaluate his ministry. What he's saying is, God will judge my ministry. And it will either have integrity or it won't. Paul was a man constrained to preach the gospel. to preach the gospel faithfully. And he never swerved from that. If I can say it this way again, Paul understood something powerful about the ministry. What you win people with, you win them too. He wanted to establish a gospel community. And the only way to do that was faithfully and with integrity proclaiming the gospel. And Paul could say to the Thessalonians, you know, you know we did that. That's an example of ministry. May God press that upon our hearts and give us that same desire for our ministry. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank You. We bless Your great name. We are in awe that You raise up weak, clay-feeted men to proclaim such a powerful message. And it's in the weakness of the men And we see the power of the gospel. That the gospel can do what no man or no gifted rhetorician could do. The gospel can change and transform a heart. We pray that that commitment to a gospel ministry would continue to be embraced by this church for days, weeks, months, years, however so long it's in this place. that there will always be confidence that the gospel is powerful to save and transform sinners. We ask these things in Jesus name, amen. Nothing like getting a buzz while you're praying. I didn't mean that exactly the way that sounded, but that's okay. Well, brothers and sisters, as we prepare to come to the Lord's table, the invitation to come to this table is for those who are believing the gospel, who know, who know the gospel's true, who have been convinced in their very hearts that God sent His Son to save you from sin, that His body was broken, His blood was shed, that his wrath might be turned away and his justice might be satisfied. If you're trusting in those gospel promises, you're a member in good standing of a Bible-believing church, then the invitation to come to this table is to you. Now, as we come to the table, as you know, we confess with the historic church what we believe. We use the Apostles' Creed. You can find that on page eight. 51, in the back of your hymnal. Now Christian, what do you believe? I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead and buried, He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. Then I'm going to read Isaiah 61.10 and 2 Corinthians 5.21. And then the meditation is from Brother Reese. Isaiah 61.10 and then 2 Corinthians 5.21. Isaiah tells us about salvation. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God. For he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He's covered me with a robe of righteousness as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments and as a bride adorns herself with their jewels. And then Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5.21, for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. One of the reasons I chose this meditation is because it highlights how the Lord's Supper, I think, is part of the gospel ministry of a church. You can follow along as I read this. We need to realize that the Lord comes to us in the administration of the Lord's Supper. He comes to us in order to complement the message of the gospel, the promises of the covenant of grace with the signs and seals of this covenant. Thus our celebration of the Lord's Supper is not in the first place an act whereby we witness to our conversion, our pious frame, or our relationship to the Lord. Even though these things may also be discussed, rather it's primarily God's act toward us, whereas our partaking is the reciprocal act. It's in the Lord's Supper, and thus sacramentally, that the Lord grants us a sign and seal of his love and faithfulness. As a sacrament, it's a warranty, a visible sealing of the veracity of his promises. In a sacrament, the focus is in the first place on a message which comes from God to us. The message of who and what the triune covenant God is and remains for his people. In order to celebrate it in a godly manner, we must belong to those people who have an experiential need for that promise, who desire to be nourished and confirmed by that sacrament. The sacrament directs us to the perfect sacrifice of Christ on the cross as the only ground and foundation of our salvation. As a sacrament, the Lord's Supper signifies to us the foundation of our salvation in a distinct and special way. namely by way of the signs of broken bread and poured out wine. We should bear in mind, however, that these signs are also held forth to us as a seal. And what does that mean? Well, the promise of God in Christ Jesus is of such extraordinary magnitude that it seems almost impossible to apply also to such a one as I am. Therefore, the Lord by means of his supper stamps the seal of confirmation upon this promise. We receive no additional promise. The sacrament simply seals the promise fully given of God to us. It's as though the Lord says, have you put your trust in Christ's righteousness in the way of true repentance? Then receive here the visible and tangible pledge that you can truly and completely depend on my grace and faithfulness. God, so to speak, places the ring of spiritual betrothal on our finger. The Lord's Supper puts God's seal upon it. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this covenant meal. We are thankful that it is a visible, tangible expression of the gospel. Now, what's held before us in this wonderful sacrament isn't something different or additional to the gospel. It's simply a clear, visible representation of the gospel to our senses, something the Lord has given to confirm us. And so we pray for the Spirit to work powerfully in the administration and reception of this supper that we might receive and rest upon no one else in Christ and Him crucified for our full salvation. We ask all these things in Jesus' name.