The Impact of the Gospel

Introduction

Sometimes in life there is opposition. In such moments, how do you normally respond? There is a thing called a fight or flight response that they talk about in school. In tense moments some people respond to difficult situations with a fight response and they address the problem head on. Other people have a flight response and they run away from the situation completely. One such example of this in my life was on a mission trip in high school. We were in New Orleans on a mission trip and we had just gotten done with a time of worship and worship went a little bit long. Because of this, our free-time was cut short. On high school mission trips, free-time was always something that people looked forward to because seminaries usually have really nice recreation facilities!

One student was really upset about this to the point that he said that he didn’t understand why people felt the need to share their testimonies after our youth group got done with worship. It came across as though this person was not interested in worship but rather in free-time and playing games which there are always some students like this on a mission trip! Needless to say that myself and another student heard this comment and we were kind of taken aback. Like, you’re on a mission trip, what do you think matters more: playing games or worshipping God and sharing what God has done in our lives? One student couldn’t stand being around this kid anymore and he straight up left the dorm that we were staying in. On the other hand, I found myself wanting to know more and so I confronted him about the comment then and there. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t very nice but I told him that we weren’t there for recreation but to grow in our walk with the Lord.

There was a flight response from my good friend whereas I had a fight response. Maybe you’ve had a similar situation where someone had one response and you had the other. Whenever opposition comes, we can either fold and throw in the towel, or we can double down and stand firmly on God’s Word. We can run away and let the world get the last word, or we can stand on the Word and call on people to repent of their sins and trust in Jesus.

In our text tonight we see that there was some conflict happening and Paul certainly had the “fight” response as he sought to set the story straight with some false teachers and encourage this new church plant to remain faithful and share the Gospel with others.

1 Thessalonians 2:1–12 CSB

1 For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our visit with you was not without result. 2 On the contrary, after we had previously suffered and were treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, we were emboldened by our God to speak the gospel of God to you in spite of great opposition. 3 For our exhortation didn’t come from error or impurity or an intent to deceive. 4 Instead, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please people, but rather God, who examines our hearts. 5 For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy motives—God is our witness— 6 and we didn’t seek glory from people, either from you or from others. 7 Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles, instead we were gentle among you, as a nurse nurtures her own children. 8 We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. 9 For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters. Working night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believers. 11 As you know, like a father with his own children, 12 we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to walk worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

We must have Boldness for the Gospel (1-4)

Scholars tells us that Paul is likely in Corinth or Athens whenever he hears from Timothy regarding some of the division and false teaching going on in Thessalonica. Paul begins by noting the success of his ministry and how there was a result - people came to faith in Christ! This is good news, is it not? Whenever we read stories about missionaries from the mission field, we get goose bumps whenever we read of people coming to faith in Jesus and there being lives transformed for eternity because of the faithfulness of people to share the Gospel. We like the result part, but as we see in verse 2, there often is opposition whenever the Gospel is shared. In countries around the world where missionaries are at work, there is also persecution and suffering. People don’t like missionaries sharing the Gospel in many places around the world and we wonder why this is. Again, we see in Ephesians 6 that our battle is not just against flesh and blood but against the spiritual powers of darkness. Friends, Satan has blinded so many people that they cannot stand the Gospel being shared and unbelievers seeing the light and accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

We will likely suffer for our faith in some capacity and this shouldn’t come as a shock to us… this is to be expected! We talked about that theme often in Hebrews 11 with the examples of Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Noah, Moses, and countless others. This is common throughout Scripture. Consider Joshua. Joshua took over command after Moses passed away and helped lead the Israelites into the promised land. What was God’s calling on Joshua’s life? To be strong and courageous! Joshua took this to heart and had boldness in God’s message and he walked by faith and not by sight, even when it would have been easy to throw in the towel or go with the flow. You know an example of a congregational vote that God’s people got absolutely wrong? Numbers 14:6-10

Numbers 14:6–10 CSB

6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who scouted out the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite community, “The land we passed through and explored is an extremely good land. 8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and give it to us. 9 Only don’t rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land, for we will devour them. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Don’t be afraid of them!” 10 While the whole community threatened to stone them, the glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting.

The congregational vote of the spies that went into the promised land. 10 came back and said that they can’t take the land because of the giants in the area. Joshua and Caleb said that this was wrong, that God had promised them the land and that they should go in and take the land… The people didn’t agree and they threatened to stone Joshua and Caleb! Democracy isn’t the best policy whenever you’re voting against God and His Word. Joshua did what was right and he was bold to stand on God’s Word whenever most others failed to do this.

Consider Jeremiah - God called him to be a prophet and told him from the get go that kings, people and even priests would fight against him… This isn’t very encouraging is it? Jeremiah likely would have been a little skeptical of going through with this call but then God said to not be afraid of anyone. Jeremiah could have boldness because God was with him.

Paul had boldness in his ministry not because of his intellect or skill. Rather, Paul had confidence and boldness because God called him to go and preach the Gospel. Even though there was opposition, suffering and difficulty, Paul preached the Gospel. What must we do? We too must proclaim the Gospel. We must accept that there will be opposition and that there could be suffering. Regardless of what comes out way, though, we preach the Gospel and we have boldness even in the face of adversity. As 2 Timothy 4:5 says, we do this and we fulfill our ministry that is given to us by God.

I love what we see in verse 4 as we see that Paul strived not to please people but rather to please God because God examines our hearts. How does it make you feel that God examines your heart? In some ways this is a terrifying thought, but on the other hand this is a very liberating thing! We don’t have to live to please a crowd of others. We don’t have to please a mob or even a group. We live to please one person and this opens us up to speak the truth of God’s Word.

What matters most in the life of the Christian is not what we think about others, what others think about us or what we think about God, rather what matters most is what God knows about you. God see’s you at your best and at your worst. To quote a professor from Midwestern, “A great joy ripples through my bones when I remember that God saw me at my absolute worst and said, “I want that guy.” To put it another way, RC Sproul said, “God is minutely and acutely aware of every skeleton in every closet… And He still loves us!”

Whenever you feel down in the dumps, feel confident in the fact that your heavenly Father sees your heart. He sees what you do in private and He see’s the wrestling that goes on in your heart.

There was a basketball player a few years ago who was playing well but not getting the ball very much. The best player on his team was all about himself and taking lots of shots himself. Halfway through the season there was a coaching change because the team wasn’t doing very well. The new coach approached the player and said that he had been watching all of the games and saw all the good things that he had been doing. The player was taken aback because he hadn’t been scoring very many points per game and his statistics didn’t look very good. The new coach said that he understood why the stats didn’t look well because of the circumstances on the team with the previous coach. That was irrelevant to him because he saw the little things he did that were good.

God sees all those little things that other people might not see. He sees the things that might not show up on the stat sheet. He doesn’t focus solely on the final score. He doesn’t focus solely on the numbers or the number of “likes” your post gets… That’s not the focus. He see’s our heart! We long to please him, not others. The Gospel gives us confidence and boldness and we strive to share this message with others.

We must Care for Others as We Proclaim the Gospel (5-9)

In these middle verses we see that there were some people who sought personal glory and used flattery speech to look good in the eyes of others. Have you ever met someone like this? They put on a mask of sorts to look good in front of others but deep down there are some serious issues. There are many pastors in our world and in our nation who do this on a weekly basis, sadly. What does Paul say in verses 5-6 about this idea? That’s ultimately not what it’s about! Pastor’s and leaders are not in it for their personal gain and to seek personal glory. Rather, they are supposed to be in it so that people grow in their knowledge of God’s Word and that they would grow in their faith. There have always been false teachers trying to make a buck off of God’s people. These people have flourished inside and outside the church as they tickle ears and prey off of those who do not stand on Scripture. We are to confront such teaching and teachers

Jude 4 CSB

4 For some people, who were designated for this judgment long ago, have come in by stealth; they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into sensuality and denying Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.

Ephesians 5:11 CSB

11 Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them.

False teachers not only have error and try to deceive, they also have greedy motions and they seek personal glory. This was not Paul and this cannot be true of genuinely called pastors today. Instead of doing these things, Paul says in verses 7-9 that they were gentle and like a mother nurses her own children. What a vivid picture, right? Rather than taking and building up their own ministry, Paul and his companions were there to nurture these believers. Just as a baby requires his mother to literally do everything, a baby Christian requires more mature Christians to help him out in growing in his faith. This takes time, just like we talked about this morning with the example of Charles Simeon, spending 54 years with his congregation. Much of the fruit and growth of his ministry came after he had spent several years with the people preaching the word to them, caring for them, and shepherding them.

Notice what Paul says in verse 8 - he cared so much for this church that he not only shared the Gospel with them but he shared his own life because this church was so dear to him. If you’ve ever gone on a mission trip, you know that sharing the Gospel can be easy in the sense that it only takes a few minutes of your time… but on a mission trip you know the lengths you go to in order to share your “life” with these people. The plane rides you go on. The van rides through small villages and up mountains, just to share the Gospel. We not only share the Gospel but we share our lives with those we minister to. Paul shared the Gospel with thousands and thousands of people, but notice that he cares so much about these people that he not only shares the Gospel but he shares his life. He spends time with these people.

Sometimes whenever you want to share the Gospel with someone it will require more than 1 conversation. It will require more than 4-5 conversations. On average it takes you inviting someone to church 7x before they actually attend. Lots of time goes by during those 7 invitations. Possibly some major life events take place. You’re able to be present with this person in good days and bad days. You’re able to plant seeds whenever you’re feeling good and whenever you’re struggling. You bloom where you’re planted, like Paul and his friends did, and you share your life with others in hopes that God would use you to be the person who is able to present the Gospel and connect them to a Bible-believing, Christ-centered, Word-saturated, Spirit-filled, and Gospel-preaching church. Many times it will require a lot of conversation and effort on your part to bring up the Gospel and this can be discouraging at times. Persevere. Look at the picture Paul paints here of a mother nurturing her child.

The story continues, though, as Paul talks about how hard he and others labored with this church day and night. This speaks to the importance of being open with others. Growing up as a pastor’s kid, I saw this firsthand. There were numerous times where my dad would get a phone call about someone experiencing a health complication, broken relationship, walking through difficulty at their job and so many other heart wrenching stories. When would these calls come? Often they wouldn’t be in that nice, tidy 8-4 window. They would be late at night and on weekends. Part of being a Christian, especially a Christian leader, means that you work hard, especially when it comes to sharing the Gospel and the love of Jesus with others. Consider how you can work hard at this this week? How can you care better for others with your words and with your actions?

The Gospel Makes us All Responsible (10-12)

In the final few verses we see that Paul and his companions conducted themselves well and called on this church to walk worthy of God. Whenever you become a Christian, you must share it with others and encourage others to walk worthy of God as well. We are saved in order to share the grace of God with others and glorify God in doing so. We should strive to live such a life as Paul did and to live devoutly, righteously and blamelessly. Is this hard? You bet it is! How can we do this?

In order to live this type of lifestyle, we must be prepared for what we will face. We will face opposition, just as Paul did. We must be ready for this.

When we face opposition for the Gospel we must do 2 things:

We must be know what we believe and be passionate about what we believe. Whenever you are uncertain about what you believe, it’s impossible to share the Gospel with others authentically. One commentator noted that this section of verses appear to be the most passionate and heartfelt passage in all of Scripture from Paul. This man was passionate about this church and his actions reflected that reality. We could put it like this - Paul would not have sung Victory in Jesus with a frown… do you catch what I’m saying? He wouldn’t have sung Christ our Hope in Life and Death with his arms crossed! Why? Because this man was passionate about the Gospel and praising Jesus.

Romans 1:16 CSB

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.

Are we ashamed or are we passionate about sharing the Gospel? If we are passionate, we must encourage others and implore them to repent and place their faith in Jesus Christ. Why is this so important? Because the Gospel makes us responsible for our actions. The Gospel is so incredibly simple that we should all be able to explain it in a way that a 5 year old could understand it. We are sinners, we have all broken God’s law, and we deserve a consequence. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. This isn’t good news but the good news in Scripture is that Jesus Christ offers to pay that debt in full by dying on the cross in your place. That’s good news!

This is the good news that Paul and his companions were sharing with people on their missionary journeys. What is this effect on people? It makes us responsible for our response. We looked at this back in Acts 17 a few weeks ago: Some people hear the Gospel and they hate it. This was the case in 1 Thessalonians 1 as the mob kicked Paul out of town. We know people who will respond this way today. This shouldn’t make us discouraged, rather it should give us boldness to continue to share just as Paul did because we know that other people will response with faith and they will come into the Kingdom of God. You know why? Mobs might have power… but they aren’t more powerful than the Word of God and the God of the Word. Therefore, we don’t go with the mob of tradition or convenience or preference, we stick with the Bible says it, that settles it.

Conclusion

Just as Paul notes in this passage of Scripture, he was not in ministry for self-gain. He not only shared the Gospel with this church but he served them day after day. He encouraged them to grow in their faith and walk with the Lord. The Gospel had come to Thessalonica and there was all sorts of change happening. This should be our prayer for Salem - that the Gospel would be proclaimed and the Holy Spirit would change lives for all eternity!

Last week we talked about some positive change as this church was a model church for others in the area. This week we see some negative change as there were false teachers creeping in and trying to deceive people in this city. What should we do whenever there is difficulty and opposition whenever we share the Gospel?

We point people to Scripture. While there will always be disagreements and various opinions, Scripture is God’s Word. Therefore, we shouldn’t point people to a person or an idea, we should always have Scripture be the focal point and the center. If the Bible says it, that settles it! This is our motto and rallying cry as a congregation.

We speak the truth in love as Paul implores in Ephesians 4:15. There are many people who speak their truth and their opinions but they don’t do it out of love - they do it out of anger or even out of disgust. What good does it do whenever we share the love of God with people in an ugly fashion? We must be careful to do this with love. This doesn’t mean that we gloss over sin and say people are great and fine, rather it means that we share the Gospel and the love of God with them.

As we do this we pray that the Lord will open up eyes to see the truth of His Word and that lives will be forever changed as a result of the Gospel.