our labor and toil, we worked night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaim to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers, for you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. Pray. Dear Father, we pray that your Spirit in great mercy would come upon us to give us understanding of your words we hear taught and preached today. Give us grace, we pray, to these ends for your glory. In Christ's name, amen. Well, let us mark very carefully that in this text Paul wrote to an assembly of Christ's disciples who had come to faith in him by his word preached. Now, that's very important to us. Notice how Paul emphasized that salvation arose from the preaching of the word. You see this in chapter 1, for example, in verse 6, where we read, And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Paul was very keen that we notice that it is the preaching of the Word that brings about the results we look for. And so we pray to that end regularly, don't we? In verse 13 of chapter 2, I think one of the most important verses in all the New Testament that help us understand this, and we thank God constantly for this, that when you receive the Word of God, They preached, those people heard and they received, which you heard from us, you accepted it, not as the Word of men, but as it really is, the Word of God, which is at work in you believers." So, these unbelievers, these pagans, had become believers in Christ, the preaching of the Word. In our text, the crucial nature of the preaching of God's Word is central to Paul's ministry among them. You see this in verse 9, we proclaim to you the gospel of God. And Paul wanted that to have effect. And then in verse 12, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you. He's referring to his preaching of the word of God among them. and the Holy Spirit raised up faith in the Lord Jesus in their souls as they heard the gospel of free grace in Christ proclaimed in their hearing. This is always the genesis of God's work in human souls. This is what we're praying for when we pray together every week, Your Kingdom Come. We're praying for God's blessing on the preaching of the Word to the creating of faith and the sustaining of faith. So he sends a preacher to declare the Word of salvation by faith in his Son in the Spirit's power. Preachers of this gospel then follow up that initial preaching with exhortation, encouragement, and charging. Do you notice how he uses those words there in verse 12? The idea here is indicatives are explained, things like justification, that give us a place for our faith to rest. Promises are applied, such as peace. That's a wonderful promise that we have. So there's exhortation, there's encouragement, and then the rule of duty, clearly declared with the goal of believers living lives of love and holiness. That's the idea of charging. So we see there in that text, exhortation, encouragement, and charging, all part of preaching as we listen to the word preach. Well, notice then, secondly, the character of the preachers and by the way Paul labored with a team of preachers all of whom had similar character we read that in verse 9 for you remember brothers our labor and toil we worked night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you while we preach the gospel of God They labored at preaching and in material support of themselves, perceiving that the gospel work was best served in this way as they preached in that city. So what did they do? They conformed themselves to this. We worked night and day while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. And then in verse 10, you are witnesses in God also how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct towards you believers. It's almost as if Paul doubles down someone. They labored to be righteous, just, and moral in all their behavior before these people so that their conduct commended the gospel that they preached and taught. In other words, they were followers of Christ in great self-denial. That was their character. And then notice in verse 11, for you know how, like a father with his children, We exhorted, we preach these things to you. So that we think this, they founded their message in a God-like fatherliness. I think I've mentioned this before in preaching, we ought to pay attention in the New Testament, how God is addressed. He's addressed as Father, the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and our Father. And so we pray, don't we, every week, our Father in heaven. Well, with this fatherliness, they came preaching. They love the people who believe their preaching. There's much wisdom here for preachers and pastors who proclaim the same gospel of Paul the Apostle. It might look differently in some particular circumstances, but it's going to be marked by this self-denying holiness and love. Well, thirdly, notice this. The most important thing in this text about the method and character of preachers of the gospel is this. It was God himself who sent them, who accompanied them, and empowered them in the preaching of the gospel. God is so prominent here, if we'll pay attention to this. It is God's gospel. I love this. Verse 9, we proclaim to you the gospel of God. It's God's gospel. It's His initiative. It's His working. It was not of Paul or any other man. It is supernatural and divine. It concerns his own kingdom and glory, he's going to say. This ought to encourage our hearts and our minds and our souls. So it's God's gospel, but God's gospel goes forth in the sovereignty of His grace for the saving of sinners. God did not send His gospel to condemn those who were already condemned, but to reveal His own goodness and love and salvation displayed in the person and work of His Son. the Savior and Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ. So God sent this message of forgiveness, a message of justification, a message of reconciliation, drawing them to establish peace between himself and believing people. What a beautiful message. That's the thing that feeds the soul, isn't it? We love to see all the other things I'm mentioning here, but that God has come to you. in the preaching of the word. And really, even as Paul said to the Ephesian church in Ephesians 2, when they heard the preaching of the word, who was preaching? Christ was preaching. He is the one who came and preached the word of God to them. So God, it is God's gospel, it is God who comes in the sovereignty of grace. And notice this, that this is a triune-based message. We don't ever want to forget this. It is sent by the Father. It is based on the thorough and acceptable work of the Son. And it comes in the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit. It is God's gospel. That's what you hear week in and week out. Do not forget this. Pray with this in mind. Come thinking this is what you're about to receive. the gospel of God. Well, verse 10, notice we said, you are witnesses in God also. Well, what do we say about this? This preaching of the gospel is superintended by the triune God. He sends it to particular places, to the establishing of particular churches, God himself witnessing every aspect of the work. That's a wonderful thing to think about. You see, we haven't gathered here today just as a few people, just as a few people call ourselves Confessional Reformed Baptist Church. We've gathered today in the very presence of God. He witnesses what we do. Pray, pray for your preachers and pastors and leaders as we attempt to lead us properly. Well, God accompanied the gospel preaching with a regenerating call then to the hearers who believed. They're called believers. That's the change at the end of verse 10. But then notice in verse 12 as he said that we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God who calls you into the kingdom and glory. Have you ever looked at somebody and wondered at the change you saw in their life? I'm sure there are people that did that with me. Why? Because God calls us. into union with himself." Wow, this is beautiful. It's God's gospel. It's God who sends that gospel forth with sovereignty of grace. It is a Triune-based message. It is superintended by the Triune God and it is accompanied with a regenerating call to the hearers who believed. This message comes with life-giving power and those who believed have been called into eternal union with the God of the message. They were to henceforth then live according to the character of the God of the message they had believed to walk worthy of God. Well, this is a beautiful thing to think about, but let's hasten on. Last thing I want to mention here is it's no wonder that Paul labored so selflessly among them. In him we see the truth preached while adorned with love and holiness like God himself. Paul preached with a self-sacrificing, self-denying labor that he learned from God. But it doesn't stop there because next he called the believing hearers to have the same self-sacrificing, self-denying labor among one another. that as they had learned in the gospel preached to trust in Christ, they had learned to follow Him in living holy and loving lives with one another. So we read in verse 11, for you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God. the God who had intruded into their lives with salvation. Why is this so important? It's important because it is worthy of God, of the loving Heavenly Father who sent his Son to save these sinners in the Spirit's power. You see, they might not count one another worthy. Church membership is hard, isn't it? We're not always worthy one with another in our behavior. But it is God's worthiness that Paul called them to be concerned about. And it's God's worthiness that Paul called them to direct their manner of behavior between one another. It is this God the God of eternal kingdom and glory, who called them into his own kingdom and glory, which in this age, in this kingdom, is a kingdom of self-sacrificing, gentle, patient love with one another." Much more could be said here. But Paul taught them to live life worthy of the God who sent them the message of free justification and united them to himself. in this eternal kingdom and glory. Well, this is a God worth believing. This is a God worth following. This is a God worth pouring our hearts out to and then in love with one another. This is the thing that will keep us at love for one another. It's not my worthiness. It's not your worthiness. It's because God is worthy. Pray that we will think more of Him. of His peace-establishing grace, of His eternal blessings, of His dear, crucified, risen, reigning Son, so that we will have good motive and continual motive for self-denial in which He has called us. It is knowing Him and His life-giving Gospel that alone moves us to faith, and prayer, and obedience, and mutual love for one another.