010 Authentic Ministry: A Thriving Church Has the Proper Motives (Part 3)

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For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive,
but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.
For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness.
Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.
1. Gospel ministry is motivated by its own integrity.
1. Gospel ministry is motivated by its own integrity.
Paul gives 3 negatives.
For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive,
A. The gospel does not come from error ,but it has the proper message.
A. The gospel does not come from error ,but it has the proper message.
B. The gospel does not come from impurity, but has the proper motive.
B. The gospel does not come from impurity, but has the proper motive.
C. The gospel does not come by way of deceit, but has the proper method.
C. The gospel does not come by way of deceit, but has the proper method.
2. Gospel ministry is motivated by its divine commissioning.
2. Gospel ministry is motivated by its divine commissioning.
but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.
A. Paul’s ministry was approved by God
A. Paul’s ministry was approved by God
B. Paul was entrusted with the gospel.
B. Paul was entrusted with the gospel.
The idea of trusting someone with.
i. Remember God entrusted the gospel to clay pots.
i. Remember God entrusted the gospel to clay pots.
Paul said we have this treasure in clay pots to show the surpassing power of God.
ii. Find good resources to use.
ii. Find good resources to use.
Find someone with notes and ask them after the service!
Get familiar with several and use some prayerful wisdom to know what to use with certain people.
iii. Be a giver.
iii. Be a giver.
“Spend money to buy time”
To be good stewards of the gospel we have been entrusted with we have to give money and time.
iv. Remember that every person is created in the image of God.
iv. Remember that every person is created in the image of God.
So we should care about people.
We start carrying the gospel by genuinely caring about people.
v. Remember you are not alone.
v. Remember you are not alone.
Encourage each other.
vi. Use your God given gifts and desires.
vi. Use your God given gifts and desires.
vii. Read books on evangelism.
vii. Read books on evangelism.
If you missed this ask someone with notes.
3. Gospel ministry is motivated by its divine accountability.
3. Gospel ministry is motivated by its divine accountability.
but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.
3. Gospel ministry is motivated by its divine accountability.
3. Gospel ministry is motivated by its divine accountability.
Our purpose in speaking the gospel is to please God not man.
God is the one who tests and knows our hearts.
He knows why we are doing what we are doing.
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
A huge issue in our lives is who we are trying to please.
Are we trying to please others?
Are we trying to please ourselves?
Are we trying to please God?
Every decision is made trying to please someone.
Paul made an intentional decision that pleasing God is what mattered.
He is the one who tests our hearts!
Let’s think about this thought a little more because Paul seems to contradict himself.
Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God,
just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.
3. Gospel ministry is motivated by its divine accountability.
3. Gospel ministry is motivated by its divine accountability.
If we stopped at pleasing everyone that would be an issue, but Paul shares his motivation.
Not seeking my own advantage.
So that many might be saved.
A. The danger is not pleasing God while attempting to please people.
A. The danger is not pleasing God while attempting to please people.
The dangers of people pleasing if more obvious to us than the good.
Our association is usually negative.
People struggle with this and have huge breakthroughs where they quit trying to please others and live for themselves.
We can become obsessed with what others think and it drives every decision.
Yet, because we can’t make everyone happy, it brings stress and discouragement into our lives.
The reality is we should about what God thinks.
That what Paul says in this chapter.
But in other letters he talks about pleasing people.
B. When we please God first, we will naturally want to please people the right way and for the right reasons.
B. When we please God first, we will naturally want to please people the right way and for the right reasons.
The interesting part of this is that we cannot call ourselves followers of Christ if we are not striving to please others.
Paul sought to please all he met, but he did it for God’s glory, not his own advantage.
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God,
just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
B. When we please God first, we will naturally want to please people the right way and for the right reasons.
B. When we please God first, we will naturally want to please people the right way and for the right reasons.
The test is this… am I doing this out of Spirit-filled love for someone or for self gratification?
4. Gospel ministry is motivated by unselfishness.
4. Gospel ministry is motivated by unselfishness.
Paul gives 3 more negatives.
For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness.
Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.
A. It does not come with flattering words.
A. It does not come with flattering words.
Litteraly: “fawning”
Flattery praises as a means of gratifying someone’s vanity.
This is not simply the idea of saying nice things to make someone feel good about themselves.
This is the idea of saying what others want to hear in order to gain influence over them for our own selfish purposes.
Paul was not a smooth talking salesman.
At no time did Paul, Timothy, or Silas use manipulation to reach their end goal.
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
A. It does not come with flattering words.
A. It does not come with flattering words.
Paul wasn’t speaking against baptism.
Paul was talking about his laser focused mission.
To preach the gospel to others.
But he didn’t use…
Philosophical reasoning.
He just gave the gospel.
He wasn’t some great orator with a famous sermon that was finely crafted.
God does us to be equipped and able to handle the gospel skillfully.
God does not expect us to be a finely tuned salesman.
God isn’t expecting, nor does he want us to make people feel better about himself.
We are expected to share the truth.
We are expected to do it in a loving way.
For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
Paul went were lost people were and worked to persuade them, but not with flattery.
A. It does not come with flattering words.
A. It does not come with flattering words.
And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.
A. It does not come with flattering words.
A. It does not come with flattering words.
We reason with truth.
Know what the Bible says and reason with that.
B. It does not come with a pretext for greed.
B. It does not come with a pretext for greed.
NOT… what can I get out of this, but how can I bring value?
There was no part of Paul’s ministry that was seeking what he could get for himself.
It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,
even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
B. It does not come with a pretext for greed.
B. It does not come with a pretext for greed.
Maybe you are thinking: I would never be involved in ministry to someone to gain financially.
When we think about greed we think about tangible things.
What about emotional gain.
It makes me feel good about myself.
It boosts my ego.
We cannot go into any gospel relationship looking to get a single thing out of it.
If God blesses and we gain something then that is simply a little extra blessing.
As we have already learned, we should go into a gospel relationship expecting it to cost us something.
Cost us time.
Cost us resources.
Cost us emotionally.
Any gain we should expect is eternal gain.
C. It does not come seek glory from men.
C. It does not come seek glory from men.
When Paul ministered in Thessalonica he was unconcerned for his personal glory.
He didn’t want or need credit.
He didn’t need lavish praise.
His satisfaction came from his relationship with Christ and his understanding of servanthood to Him.
He served from a clear understanding of his identity in Christ.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
C. It does not come seek glory from men.
C. It does not come seek glory from men.
Not just doing what is pleasing to God but doing it to please God.
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
C. It does not come seek glory from men.
C. It does not come seek glory from men.
When we seek to please men for the sake of pleasing men, we lose any ability to please God.
When we have good news testimonies and share how God is using us to take the gospel to others, it is not for our own glory.
We aim to bring glory to God by sharing the work HE is doing.
We aim to encourage others that God can use them to do the same thing.
We are not seeking to bring glory from others on ourselves.
However, when we seek to please God, we gain the capacity to effectively minister to others.