I can't preach. And if you're not ready to listen after that, then you won't be ready to listen. I want to invite you to take your Bibles with me and turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. We're going to look this morning at verses 1 to 5 in our study of God's Word together. And I've entitled today's message, A Pastor's Chief Concerns. Now, I don't think that there is a shortage of passages in the New Testament that express the concerns that God has for those involved in pastoral ministry. In fact, I dare say we are probably most of us very familiar with a great many of them. We have three epistles that are called the pastoral epistles for a reason. They're written by the Apostle Paul, two of them to Timothy, one to Titus, and they are primarily focused on pastoral ministry, pastoral issues and on exhortations, instructions and encouragements to two young pastors. Paul is very clear in these letters that we are to preach the Word, that we are to be ready in season and out of season, that we are to shepherd the flock of God, that there are qualifications for elders, that false teachers are to be not just refuted, but expelled. And there are many instructions in these three little epistles to pastors about pastoral ministry. One of my favorite little portions of scripture that deals specifically with pastoral ministry and the right motivations for pastoral ministry is 1st Peter 5. And you're very familiar with this. In fact, I even incorporated this into the membership pledge as we publicly assume responsibility for the shepherding care of every new member when they come forward. We as elders pledge ourselves to this kind of a motivation in assuming eldership responsibility of members in this body and Peter says it this way in 1 Peter 5 verses 1 to 4. He says I exhort the elders among you as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ and as a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed. Shepherd the flock of God among you. exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God, not for sordid gain, but with eagerness, nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown, which is glory." This needs to be the motivation for pastoral ministry, a heavenly reward, not any kind of earthly compensation. And there are many lessons that Jesus taught His disciples which are recorded in the Gospels, not the least of which includes the many specific exhortations and encouragements that Christ gave to His disciples in the upper room. And even beyond that, the Great Commission is first and foremost given to the apostles, those men that He trained up to be undershepherds of His flock, His apostles officially representing Him and establishing the church in the church age. From the Apostle Paul's perspective, I personally think that Acts chapter 20 is a passage of scripture where Paul encapsulates the call to pastoral ministry and summarizes for the elders in Ephesus there when he calls them to meet him before he heads off to Jerusalem at the end of his missionary journeys. And he addresses them with these words. He says in Acts 20 verse 18, you yourselves know from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility, with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews. Notice the pastoral ministry is an emotional affair. It is a. It is a task that is encompassed with genuine affection for the flock and the people of the flock. You know how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, and I don't know what will happen to me there except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me." Pastoral ministry is characterized by suffering for Christ. It's characterized by a dedication to Jesus Christ and following the leading of the Holy Spirit, shepherding the flock, preaching and teaching the Word no matter what it costs you. You'll notice in verse 24, Paul says, but I do not count my or consider my life of any account as dear to myself so that I may finish my course in the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. Isn't it amazing how similar that sounds to what Paul writes in 2 Timothy right before he is executed? I have finished the course. And here he says, I don't count my life as any note as dear to myself so that I may finish my course in the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. And now behold, I know that all of you among whom I went about preaching the kingdom will no longer see my face, and therefore I testify to you this day, I am innocent of the blood of all men. Why? Because I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. Follow my example and recognize the high expectations that God has for you, just as he has had for me to shepherd the flock of God. And he gives this warning. I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock and from among your own cells. Men will arise speaking perverse things, trying to draw the disciples away after them. Therefore, be on the alert. Remembering that night and day for a period of three years, I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. And he goes on to talk about his motivations for ministry, etc. I think you get the point. God has very high expectations for those that are going to be engaged in pastoral ministry. Today I want to look at things from the opposite perspective, though. I want you to see not what God expects of pastors. I want you to see what a pastor is really concerned about in ministry. It's not difficult to find in scripture the many passages where God's concerns for pastors and what their ministry is all about and their faithfulness to it is like. But I dare say that even for those of us that are in pastoral ministry and those of us that are preparing for pastoral ministry, we have a tendency to overlook a passage like what we're going to be seeing this morning in 2 Thessalonians 3, verses one to five. When we look at the concerns that Paul expresses of himself. What are a pastor's primary concerns in life in ministry? What are pastors chief concerns for himself and for his ministry? Today I would like to look at that. In fact, I will bet you as you read through Scripture many times in your Christian life. I bet these opening verses of Chapter 3 or verses that you have read through quickly. Thought about very briefly and moved on to the nuts and bolts of the command that Paul has given to the Thessalonians. And yet this text in verses 1 to 5 really does marvelously give us a direct look into the chief concerns of a pastor's heart. It's these first five verses that set the context for the rest of Chapter 3 that revealed to us what the chief concerns of those in pastoral ministry really ought to be. And so for for those of us that are part of the responsibility to be under shepherds of God's flock, I think this is a good passage for us to check our own motivations and our own concerns and see if these are the primary things that we're concerned about. These are the primary things that Paul is concerned about. These are the primary issues of life and ministry that he has as his driving motivations and concerns. And if we're going to be faithful in ministry, they ought to be primary considerations for us as well. Would you agree? And for those of you that are preparing for ministry, I think this is a good introduction to you on what the nature of pastoral ministry is really like and what it's really all about. Listen, if you're out to be in pastoral ministry so you can be the one up in front, so that you can be the one that everybody listens to, so that you only have to work on Sundays or something along those lines. Now, I think we beat that out of you guys pretty well, but you understand what I'm talking about, right? You've gotta have the proper motivations for ministry. It can't be so that you can be large and in charge. Obviously, I'll never be large. And it's necessary for me to always remember and know and trust in the fact that I'm not in charge. It's Christ that's in charge. I'm just here as his servant. And the same holds true for the elders. And as we continue to prepare Albert for joining us, Lord willing, as an elder, this is a good reminder, an introduction to what pastoral ministry is all about for you as well. But the really interesting thing about this passage is it's not written to pastors. It's written to the church. It's written to the church. And that means as I walk through this morning with us and share with you the two chief concerns of a pastor for those under his care and for his ministry. This is not just a good lesson for pastors and elders and seminary guys to learn from. This is first and foremost directed at the church. These are the things that you can pray for for your pastor. These are the things that you can be concerned about for yourself because they are the concerns of your pastors for you. This reflects Paul's great concern. Not just for himself and for his ministry, but for those that he ministers to and has ministered to. If you're looking for an outline to this morning's message, The text breaks down nicely into two pieces, verses 1 and 2, and then verses 3 to 5. And they give us the two chief concerns of Paul's heart. First, he is concerned for his ministry, and then he is concerned for those he's ministered to. Very simple outline. Very easy outline and a very clear reflection of what Paul's point is in this opening paragraph in 2 Thessalonians 3. Now let's take a look at those two together, shall we? First of all, when we talk about the chief concerns of a pastor's heart, first of all, a pastor is concerned about his ministry. You can see this in verses 1 and 2 as Paul expresses it this way. Finally, brethren, Pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you, and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men, for not all have faith. Notice that the Apostle Paul, as he enters into the last part of his epistle, asks, indeed, beseeches, instructs, He uses an imperative here actually commands them to be praying for him and for his ministry and not just for him personally, but you'll notice he says finally brethren pray for not me, but what? Us. That the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified just as it did also with you. He's including Timothy and Silas or Silouanus Sylvanus in this request. He's not just concerned about himself and his own personal success. He's genuinely concerned about the ministry and the success of the ministry. And he beseeches the Thessalonians, who are a product of his ministry, to join together with him in the ministry that he is continuing to conduct by praying for him. I think you can see very clearly here that the Apostle Paul has a very, very high view of prayer. Would you agree with that? You know, the Apostle Paul on a regular basis asks people to pray for him. On a regular basis, he asks those that he has ministered to in the past not to support him, but to pray for him. Because he knows that the success of his ministry is dependent upon God and God working through him. He prays for the success of the ministry. Now, Paul has has prayed, asked for prayer in the past. If you were to look at Colossians chapter 4 for existence, Paul says in Colossians 4, verse 2, devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving and praying at the same time for us as well that notice that God will open up to us a door for the word so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I also have been imprisoned, and that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak." Notice, Paul's continual concern is for him being successful and faithful and enabled by God to have opportunities to preach. and to be successful in preaching and even to see the fruits, positive fruits from his preaching for God and for His glory. This is a desire of the heart of the Apostle Paul that is regularly expressed to the people that he has ministered to. In Romans chapter 15, verses 30 to 33, Paul says to the church and to those he has not yet ministered to, he says, now I urge you, brethren, by the Lord Jesus and by the love of the Spirit to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. That I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the Saints so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company and refreshing rest in your company was expressed in Chapter 1 as being able to get there, meet you and share some things with you. Now this is Paul's concern. For his life in ministry and the focus of his life in ministry all the time. In 2nd Thessalonians 3. You notice that Paul just says essentially that same kind of a thing, but he says it now to the Thessalonians this way. Pray for us that the Word of the Lord would spread rapidly and be glorified just as it also did with you. And we start to unpack these two verses a little bit here. You'll notice it starts with finally. As a footnote here, Paul uses finally in the same way that a preacher uses finally, which means this is not my last sentence. This is my last main point. The Apostle Paul is not saying, finally, let me just say goodnight to everybody and thank you for coming. But instead, I covered a lot of important stuff with you. Finally, I need your undivided attention because I've got one more really big hitter to cover with you. Paul uses the same term in 1st Thessalonians Chapter 4. He goes for three chapters with all the introductory issues and then in 1st Thessalonians 4 in verse one, he says, finally, then brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that as you receive from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God, just as you are doing that you excel still more. And let me tell you how you can excel still more for two more chapters. So when I keep you into the lunch hour, I'm being very biblical and Pauline. Paul's point here is not to say I just going to wrap things up, but I want to direct your attention to another thing that is of major importance. Notice he also says finally brethren, which means he's addressing them as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. He's addressing them as fellow believers. And as fellow believers, you ought to have a vested interest in participating together with me in this. Finally, brethren, pray for us. And the word pray here is a present imperative that conveys the idea of continuation or persistence in something. You could translate this way. Keep praying for us or make it your habit to be praying for us or be constant or recurrent in your prayers for us. Do this and make it your practice to be doing this. And what does Paul want? Well, first and foremost. He wants to be successful in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, proclaiming the Word of God in such a way that it spreads rapidly and that it is glorified. Notice the term there when he says pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly. What is the word of the Lord? Well, you might identify it as scripture. You might identify it as the words that Jesus said. It's singular, so it's referring to a body of statements. I think it's in summary a way to refer to the gospel and identify the source as the Lord himself. This is a word about the Lord. This is a message about the Lord, the message about Jesus. Pray for us that the word of the Lord, the message about Jesus, will spread rapidly and be glorified. The idea of spread rapidly when it's when it's used in the idea of locomotion, it means to run. Have you ever been in a hurry to catch a plane or to get to the line? You go to Magic Mountain or whatever, and I can remember the kids taking off. Come on, Dad, let's run. Actually, there were times when Kath and I are running and we're telling the kids, come on, you can eat the ice cream cone in the line. We need to get on the ride, right? So the idea of moving fast. And that's what he wants. He wants the word of the Lord, the message about Christ to spread quickly, to spread rapidly. And be glorified. To be exalted, to be honored in a way that is fitting and that it deserves to be. You say, well. What does it mean for the word to spread rapidly? It means that it gets out and people hear it and start sharing it with others and it just multiplies out, right? It's something that that people hear and more people are attracted to hear. And there's like that open door of communication. And the idea of being glorified means to be respected, to be honored, to be exalted. Now we have talked many times about what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2. That God always lead. Paul says, in fact, let's go ahead and turn there. I think we have time for this in 2 Corinthians 2. The Apostle Paul says in verse 14, thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and manifest through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we're an aroma from death to death, to the other we're an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? because we are not like many peddling the word of God we're not trying to sell something in the message we're proclaiming about God but as from sincerity as from God we speak Christ in the sight of God in other words Paul is summarizing his ministry here saying we go out and we preach Christ and the only thing that I'm looking at to accomplish by doing that is to exalt the person of Jesus Christ and I'm always triumphant, I'm always victorious, I'm always successful when I proclaim the message of Jesus Christ regardless how the people respond. Why? Because for some we're triumphant and a sweet aroma in the nostrils of God from death to death for others It's from life to life for some they they're they hear the message and they believe and they gain eternal life and that glorifies God and we have been successful in preaching of the gospel because some people have gotten saved and the people that have rejected are all the more without excuse and it's not because they didn't hear because they have heard and And so now Christ has been exalted in the hearing of those who, when they stand before Christ, will have no excuse to say, well, I never knew. I never heard. I didn't know. Actually, I sent Saul to you. I sent Paul to you. I sent James to you. I sent Peter to you. Listen, the proclamation of the gospel glorifies Christ, glorifies the word, honors the one whose word it is. When you stand up, And you say I believe in Jesus Christ that he died for me and rose again. That glorifies Christ that honors his word. And if somebody thinks poorly of you because you identified yourself with Jesus Christ, he is still honored. Even if you were treated with dishonor because you have said it. And ultimately, in glory, the when that person who dishonored you because you honored Christ will answer directly to Christ. if he or she isn't saved between now and then. Paul says, thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph. That term triumph refers to a Roman victory parade. OK, and the idea of a sweet aroma of the knowledge of him, that sweet aroma term comes from the Old Testament sacrificial system. Every time I preach Christ, Paul says it's a. It's like I offered an animal on the altar and God goes. Yes, that's a pleasant smell. That you please me there, son, you please me there, daughter. And every time. That you do that you are successful in honoring God. Now, that is a truth about the preaching of the gospel that the Apostle Paul makes clear to the Corinthians. He is summarizing the totality of his ministry by describing it that way. When you get to 2 Thessalonians 3, though, notice, if you want to turn back there with me, notice specifically what Paul asks for here. It's just a little bit different. He says, finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, but not just in general. He's got a specific request that it will spread rapidly and be glorified, what just as it did also with you. In other words. Pray that God will give us the same results, the same responses, the same success in ministry that we enjoyed when we had with you. Paul is in Corinth at this point. Paul spends 18 months in Corinth. Now you're familiar 1st and 2nd Corinthians, right? Those are two letters that are just filled with commendations. That is the best church in the Bible. Do you agree with that? That was the church that had the most problems recorded in the Bible. That's where Paul is when he writes this. You wanna know what Paul is asking for? He is asking them to pray for an open door to ministry, not just there in Corinth, but even as he leaves Corinth and continues to proclaim the gospel, that he would continue to have the same kind of ministry, the same kind of success in ministry that he enjoyed at Thessalonica. You say, well, he's just asking for converts. Oh, let me remind you, when we started our study of 2 Thessalonians, just like we saw years ago when we went through 1 Thessalonians, what was the ministry at Thessalonica like with the Apostle Paul? It was he spends somewhere between a month and three months max at Thessalonica preaching the gospel. He goes into the synagogue for the first three Sabbath cities there. He preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ and a number of the Jews and a number of the. God-fearing Gentiles get saved, but the ones who don't get saved become very antagonistic. They even hire some of the locals there in the synagogue to begin to stir up trouble in the city so that the Apostle Paul and Timothy and Silas, ultimately, they are forced to leave. They head down to Berea and the opposition to Paul and to the preaching of the gospel is so severe they hunt him down in Berea down the coast and he asked to get on a ship and and sail around the other side of the peninsula in order to get away from them. When he asks for success, just like what he enjoyed in Thessalonica, he's not asking for just nothing, but everybody's repenting and everybody's believing and it's a problem. Three free ministry. He's not asking for a happy life. He's not asking for prosperity. He's not asking for simple success by numbers and by the lack of opposition, but he is asking for success. He's asking that the word of the Lord would spread rapidly. That implies an open door. People that are willing to listen and those that get saved are like the Thessalonians who are quick to share it with everybody. Let me remind you of what you already know, 1 Thessalonians 1, Paul says, in describing the nature of the Thessalonians and their life and ministry, he says, the word of the Lord, 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 8, the word of the, what makes you guys an imitator of us and of the Lord? that you received the word and much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit and became an example to all the believers in the province of Macedonia, your home province and the neighboring province, Achaia. Now, how do I what what makes them such an example? The word of the Lord sounded forth from you. You are gossiping the gospel. You are sharing it with others as well. See, that's what Paul is asking for. He's asking for God to bless him with success in ministry, not that it's free from trouble, not that it's free from hardship, not that it's free from afflictions or persecution or any of those kinds of things. He is asking for open doors, just like he does in most other places where he asks the saints to pray for him. And he is asking for the privilege of encountering some people who really do get saved and who joined together with him in sharing the gospel with others. He's just looking for the privilege of being used by God. To see people get saved. People who get saved, who work hard to see others saved. The Word of the Lord sounded forth from you, not just in Macedonia and Achaia, but on every place your faith toward God is gone. That's the Thessalonians. That's what Paul is asking for. The Apostle Paul has a primary concern for his ministry. That is that God would use him. That is that God would give him success in sharing the Gospel. and seeing the gospel glorified both by hardening the hearts of those who reject and spurring their response, even if it might be adverse or hateful or antagonistic. And at the same time that would likewise see some saved and people saved who don't just start a church and then just focus on their own little lives and their own little click or their own little congregation. But who gets saved and joined together in proclaiming the good news to others? This is the heartbeat of a pastor. It's not to build his own kingdom. It's not to get credit or glory for how many people he's led to Christ or how big the church is or how many churches he's planted. You know, all the Apostle Paul wants to do is preach Christ and see him glorified. See the word honored. He wants to see. Other if other results in the exercise of his ministry that are just like what happened in Thessalonica. By the way, the Thessalonians are far from a perfect church. We talked about it in First Thessalonians with regard to him saying, and this is the will of God for you, your sanctification, that is, you abstain from immorality. You would think that that would not be something that you would have to say in a model church, and yet he does. And likewise, when we start next week into verses 6 through 18 of 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, you're going to see the Apostle Paul is going to deal with some very basic stuff. Some people aren't working and they're living off the labors of other members of the church saying, well, Christ could come back at any day, so I'm just standing outside watching, waiting for him. And that's what we should all do. I'm glad you're not though, Mark. And by the way, I'll be over for dinner at about six. Can we have steak again tonight? Would that be all right? Listen, those are some pretty basic issues that Paul deals with in the Thessalonians. They're a model church. They're not a perfect church. And yet that's what Paul wants. Paul wants to see people that hear the message, respond to the message, or reject the message, and all that goes with it. Apostle Paul asks the Thessalonians to pray for the progress of the Gospel in his ministry and the ministry of his companions. And he also prays for the preservation of the preachers. Notice verse two, he says, and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men for not all have faith. That we will be rescued from perverse and evil men. Rescued means literally rescued, delivered. From perverse and evil men, those two terms pretty much go together to talk about character and conduct. That first word perverse speaks of the conduct as being monstrous, outrageous, perverse, harmful or destructive. And the word evil. That second term speaks of evil in a sense of character, attitude or disposition. If you put them together, you can say it like this. An evil person, one who is an evil disposition, does perverse things. And that's the idea of those two Greek terms. And what Paul asks for is that the word of the Lord would spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did there in Thessalonica, and also that we would be rescued from perverse and evil men. By the way, just like what happened in Thessalonica, because not all have faith. This is the reason why he is concerned about these people, not because they're perverse and evil, but because they're perverse and evil and they don't have faith. And so they wind up being violently opposed to the truth. Now, if I give you a quick survey here of Paul's ministry experiences, And we're just going to hit high points very quickly, so I want you to take your Bibles in turn with me to Acts 9. I want you to see that Paul's ministry experiences universally show that persecution and opposition were a common experience for him. It wasn't just Thessalonica where he faced this. This is something Paul was worried about all the time because he experienced it all the time. We're afraid of the person that sits next to us at the office saying something bad at us at the water cooler. The apostle Paul was concerned about getting stoned again. Beaten with rods again. Shipwrecked again. Acts chapter 9. We pick up in the middle of verse 19. Saul has just been saved. We're told that for several days he was with the disciples who are at Damascus. The scales have fallen off of his eyes, and he has recognized Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Days before, he was persecuting the church, seeking the death. He stood by and gave the council's authorization for the stoning of Stephen. Then he hunts down and imprisons Christians, sees to it that they are executed, and then he leaves Jerusalem hunting down Christians to drag them back and have them imprisoned or executed for believing in Jesus Christ. He meets Christ on the road to Damascus and gets saved. For several days after that, he is with the disciples who were at Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogue, saying he is the Son of God. Notice the radical change that has taken place in Saul's heart and life. He persecuted anyone who said this before to the death, and now he's standing up and saying it, and he's not saying it quietly in the back alleys. He's standing up in the synagogues and proclaiming this. All those who were hearing him continued to be amazed, saying, Is this not the guy who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests? And yet Paul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ. And how did he prove it? By arguing it from the scriptures. When many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him. You know what that means literally in the Greek? To do away with him, to kill him, to have him executed, to have him meet with an unsavory demise in a back alley somewhere. But their plot became known to Saul. And they were also watching the gates by day and night so that they might put him to death. They're going to assassinate him. But his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket. And then he comes to Jerusalem and everything ought to be good now, right? This is like this is a couple of weeks removed from him leaving Jerusalem. After all the persecution that he orchestrated there, he comes back to Jerusalem and he's trying to associate with the disciples and they're all afraid of him. Don't you think they would be? Yeah, They were all afraid of him, not believing he really was a disciple. This has got to be a trap. This is entrapment. But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road and that he had talked to him and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. And he was with them moving about freely in Jerusalem. And notice Paul's immediate behavior, same behavior, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews, but they were attempting to put him to death. Now he comes back to Jerusalem, starts preaching Christ, and now they're out to kill him. When the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus. Then church continues to grow and to mature. You want to know what's characteristic of the Apostles Paul life and ministry? Persecution. Let me just go ahead and cut to the chase a little bit. Skip ahead to Acts 13. Acts 13 and verse 8, the Apostle Paul and Barnabas start on the first missionary journey and he runs into a magician who's opposing them as they're there preaching the gospel in the hearing of the pro consul. and he's seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who is also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze upon him and said, you who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord? Now behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time. Where did Paul get the idea for that kind of a curse to be brought down upon somebody that is opposing the gospel? Well, that's exactly what came on him. Immediately, a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. And then the proconsul believes, and when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord. And that's the beginning of his first missionary journey. And you would think, oh, this is really cool. The apostle Paul is going to go out and do miracles. I mean, this is Avengers style. OK, this is comic book hero style evangelism. You ready to sign up for this one, Chuck? Can you orchestrate this for our next evangelism campaign? You go out and you preach the gospel, and somebody starts going, oh, that's not true. Oh, you whitewashed wall, may you be blind. Right? This great power of God comes down. And think about it, that's what we would like to do, isn't it? We would like to walk into the hospital and say, believe in Jesus, and let me heal you to prove that he's real. We'd love to do that, right? You know, that won't convince anybody. Jesus healed everybody that came to him, and most of them didn't believe. It's not that people lack evidence. OK, and when you see the beginning of Paul's first missionary journey, it looks like it's going to be a superhero evangelism exercise. In fact, when you go through the rest of Chapter 13, Paul goes into the synagogue now and he begins to preach and everybody's all excited and they all respond positively. And you get to verse 44. And it's the next Sabbath and they're all excited to hear from Paul again, proving that Jesus is the Christ from the Old Testament because they've been looking forward to the Messiah. But what happens in Pisini and Antioch, nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord. And when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul. And they were blaspheming. And you're thinking as you're reading through here the very first time, you're thinking this is where Paul is going to say, OK, who's on the Lord's side? You come over here and who's against the Lord, you go over there and just have the ground open up and swallow him whole. There you go. And that's not what happens, is it? That's not what happens at all. In fact, when you get to Acts 13 and verse 48, Actually, we'll start with verses 46 and 47, rather. Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said it was necessary the word of God be spoken to you first. But since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we're turning to the Gentiles. They quote the Old Testament to prove that this is what they should do. And when the Gentiles hear this, verse 48, they begin rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life, Believed notice that last little phrase. The end of verse 48 tells you the only way people get saved. God saves him. As many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. God gave them a new heart. God made them alive and the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region. That's what Paul is asking the Thessalonians to pray for in 2nd Thessalonians free three that it would be spread that as I preach that that word would just ripple forth. That everybody would get to hear about it. But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of the district. So they shook off the dirt from their feet in protest against them, and they went to Iconium. In chapter 14, they get to Iconium. They enter the synagogue of the Jews together and speak in such a manner that a large number of people believe, both Jews and Greeks. But the Jews who did not believe, who disbelieved, stirred up the minds of the Gentiles and embittered them against the brethren. Therefore, they spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders be done by their hands. But the people of the city were divided. Some sided with the Jews, some with the apostles. And when an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews with their rulers to mistreat and to stone them, So is stoning a punishment? Yeah, what kind of punishment? It's execution. They became aware of it and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra, and Derbe and the surrounding region. And there they continue to preach the gospel. And now we jump ahead to Lystra. And you see the event with the man who has no strength. The lame man has no strength in his feet. You go through that whole encounter or account there and you jump down to verse 19. And we're told the Jews came from Antioch and Iconium. That's Pisidian, Antioch and Iconium, the last two cities that Paul was in. You got a bunch of Jews that are so filled with animosity toward Paul because they didn't believe and they were unhappy with the people who were believing. They were so opposed to Paul and to the messages preaching they came from two cities over together. They won over the crowds and stone Paul dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. So they killed him. Or at least tried to. This is a big interpretive issue, by the way, an axe. Was he dead or was he not dead? Well, the text says supposing him to be dead, which tells me he probably wasn't. He probably had such a slow and weak pulse, and he had been stoned with stones to the point where he was so unconscious, he was not moving, and he appeared to be dead. They dragged him out and dropped him and assumed that was it. Now, is it possible he was dead and God resurrected him? Sure. But I think that if God had done that, he would have told us very clearly. In either case, he got stoned to death or nearly to death. Why? Because people from two cities back were still mad at him. And while the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city, and the next day he went away with Barnabas to Derby and continues to do the work, just continues to do the work. after they had preached to that city and made many disciples. Notice, he goes right back to those same cities from which those guys that came all the way over to Lydia to kill him. The apostle Paul's life and ministry is characterized by antagonism and animosity and a threat to his life. And yet he's committed to it and he just prays, he asks the disciples in Thessalonica to pray that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified just as it was with you. and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men, why? Because not all have faith. When you go and you preach the gospel, you gotta expect that some people are going to respond antagonistically. Some people are going to respond with hatred and animosity, and some are going to seek to kill you. And I dare say that, well, I'll say it this way. I suspect that many of us do not face persecution like we could or should because we're way too silent. We're way too timid, fearful, or we're way too disengaged from any concern with the eternal destiny of the people around us. We don't mention the gospel to our extended family because we don't want to rock the boat and ruin Thanksgiving or ruin Christmas or whatever. We're concerned with what we might be thought of in the extended family or by our friends or by our neighbors or by the rest of the people at work, what we might be thought of at the gym or wherever it might be. I think that our concern for the souls of the people around us and our motivation to see Christ truly glorified in a lost and fallen world. When you preach the gospel, you don't preach the gospel just to see people saved because you're concerned about their eternal destiny. You understand that? Okay, you preach the gospel because your Lord and Savior deserves to be glorified. he's worthy to be praised and acknowledged and to have his name extolled when you truly do that when you're truly bold when you're truly faithful and when you're like Paul and you know and this is what Paul is asking for he's asking for people for the privilege of encountering people and seeing his ministry play out just like it did in Thessalonica, where when he shares the gospel with some people, when they hear the gospel, they become like him, people who proclaim the gospel. He's not just looking to proclaim the gospel and see that person saved, and now I got that one taken care of, now let's go see if I can get another person's eternal destiny taken care of. No, he's trying to make disciples who make disciples who make disciples. Where do you think he got that idea? Well, that's the Great Commission, isn't it? And if you really are about the Great Commission, then you know what you can expect. You can expect to need to be rescued from perverse and evil men. The second thing I'll say about that is our society. You know, if you watch very much of the news, I don't watch hardly any. Okay? But it even ripples into the sports world, this idea of an antagonism toward hate speech. Now, in a fundamental principle, I am in agreement with there shouldn't be hate speech. There should be nothing that comes out of our mouth except what is good for the building up of others, right? But there are times when I need to say something to you that you might not like hearing. For example, if you are homosexual, you may not like hearing that that is a sin that is eternally condemnable. If you're an adulterer. You might not like hearing that that is a sin eternally condemnable, just like homosexuality. If you are a liar, you might not like hearing that that is a sin eternally condemnable, just like immorality. Right now, we are on a pathway, I think, in this country where the gospel will before long be identified as hate speech. Now I may be like Polycarp, I may be 87 by the time that I get the privilege of going to prison or being executed for it, but I think that's coming. Are you gonna be a clam-upper? You don't wanna be a blow-upper, you don't wanna contend about it, you don't wanna fight over it, but you gotta preach the truth. And that's Paul. Paul's first concern is for his ministry, for the progress of the gospel and the preservation of preachers who faithfully proclaim it. Secondly, he's concerned for those he ministers to. And really, verses three to five are transitional. They really set the stage for the command that Paul is about to give in the rest of the chapter and deal specifically with the issue that's going on there. I want you to notice three things here. Paul's concern for those he's ministered to include his concern for their preservation. His concern for their sanctification and his concern for their motivations. First, his concern for their preservation. Verse three, but the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. Your Bible may say from evil. You'll notice, first of all, the transition from the the pray for us, OK, that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified just as it did with you and pray for us that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men because not all have faith. Notice, he says, but the Lord is faithful. The Lord is the one that we're ultimately counting on to protect us. And by the way, the Lord is also the one that you can count on to protect you. The Lord is faithful. And he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. So pray for us. That we would be rescued from perverse and evil men. Why? Because it's God that's going to have to protect us. And secondly, the Lord is faithful. You can count on him being the one who will protect you as well. He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. The idea of strengthen basically means to strengthen. And to protect means to guard. He will strengthen and guard or protect you from the evil one. Now, is that the evil one or from evil period? Grammatically in the Greek, this can go either way because of the the the article, the the the word evil here together with the article can either be masculine or neuter. You say, well, what are you talking about? Well, that he can either be legitimately translated evil thing. Okay, or the evil one. And contextually, to an extent, either one fits, protect you from the evil, that is evil things in general, or the evil one. And if it's the evil one, then we're talking about who? The wicked one himself. Now this is just like when Jesus teaches his disciples to pray in Matthew 16 in verse 13. It's the same construction. Well, which is the right way to translate it that the Lord will protect you from evil happening to you or from the evil one ultimately happening to you? I think the latter is the right answer here for a couple of reasons. First of all, life is filled with evil things happening to believers. The Thessalonians are being repeatedly encouraged, especially in 2 Thessalonians, with regard to how hard things are and how God will repay with affliction those who afflict them. 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 6, etc. There's no promise that persecution won't happen, that affliction won't happen. There's no promise that God will guard or protect us from evil things happening to us. In fact, that seems pretty foreign from the general testimony of the New Testament, starting with Jesus, even in the Beatitudes. Blessed are you men and persecute you and revile you and say all manner of evil things against you. Great is your reward in heaven and they persecuted the prophets who were before you in the same way evil is part of the Christian life The Apostle Paul says in 2nd Thessalonians, excuse me 2nd Timothy chapter 3 in verse 12 Indeed all who desire to live godly in Christ. Jesus will be persecuted evil things are going to happen in Paul even said essentially the same thing to the Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians 3 verse 4. Indeed, when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction. And so it came to pass as you know. And 2 Thessalonians is all about and you're under it even now that we're gone. Trust that God will pour out his wrath and repay those who have done evil against you. Romans 12. Never repay evil with evil to anyone. Overcome evil with good. The expectation is evil will happen. Secondly, I think you can see repeatedly that the Apostle Paul in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians makes direct reference to Satan being opposed to the ministry in Thessalonica and to Paul's own ministry. 1st Thessalonians 2 verse 18. Paul says we wanted to come to you. I Paul more than once and yet Satan hindered us. 2 Thessalonians 2, in verse 9, he talks about as it relates to the day of the Lord. The one who's coming, referring to the Antichrist, is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, etc. Paul has no hesitation to make reference to Satan being directly involved, to the wicked one, the evil one, being directly involved in opposing the ministry of Jesus Christ and his apostles and his churches. So I think this fits perfectly well with Paul's exhortation here in verse three. The Lord is faithful. By the way, that's emphatic. You could even translate it with the emphasis on faithful. Faithful is the Lord. That's where the stress is. If you underline the key words, the emphatic words, faithful is emphatic. The Lord is faithful. He will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. I think this also coincides with Paul's own prayer, for example, at the end of 1 Thessalonians 5. May the God of peace himself, verse 23, sanctify you entirely. May your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he who calls you, and he also will bring it to pass. God, who begins a good work in his people, will be faithful to complete it. I think this is the idea. You continue to be faithful in preaching the gospel, you continue to be faithful in living for Christ, you continue to be faithful to living a life that honors your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and proclaiming the excellencies of his name. And no matter what people do to you, God will give you the strength and the ability to stand up and he will protect you ultimately from the evil one being able to undo you. The pastor is concerned for those he's ministers to ministers to. And has ministered to. And he entrusts their ultimate care to God for preservation. But he's also concerned about their sanctification notice verse 4 we have confidence in the Lord concerning you that you are doing and will continue to do what we command. You know Paul's expressing as a concern here that they keep living a holy life. They keep living a life in obedience to God's commands. And the expression here in the opening of verse 4, we have confidence is a perfect tense verb and it's a state of idea. We are persuaded we are in the fixed state of being convinced. In the Lord concerning you that you are doing. And will keep on doing. What we command. As I share with you what God has said, I am absolutely convinced I am persuaded at this point beyond the shadow of doubt that you really are his people. And what has convinced me that you are doing the command, his commands that I've shared with you, and I am convinced you will continue to do it. There's no way you can be a greater blessing to those who have a shepherding care for your souls. There is no greater way you can be a blessing to us than to live a Christian life that honors God, than to speak of Christ, than to point people to Christ. So one of the coolest things of being in this church for the last 23, I don't even know how long I've been here, however long, 20 plus years, okay? One of the coolest things is to watch you grow. To watch the biblical literacy of this church increase to a state of real maturity. You know, the first times, Dan, you'll remember this, the first times we went through church discipline, I had to go through and explain church discipline and demonstrate from the scriptures that it is not unloving. and that it is not optional. We went through it a number of times, and then it became clear that the church understood we needed to do church discipline, and it was non-negotiable. And we went through church discipline with a couple of people, and they came back in repentance. And I remember having to do a couple of messages on, if we have to put somebody out of the church through church discipline, and they come back in repentance, guys, we have to forgive them and restore them. That was not an easy lesson for some of us to learn, but we went through that together too. And then it got to the point where, as we were going through church discipline, I remember some of you going you do know about this. Why aren't we doing church discipline? And I said, well, right now we're in step two and there's a couple of people that have really close relationships with this person. And they said, please let us have a couple of weeks to sit down and have tea and maybe plead with them a little bit more. Maybe they will repent. It has just been so cool to watch the progress of spiritual maturity take place over time in this church. You know, the last time we went through church discipline, the elders didn't even get involved until we got to step three, because you guys were faithfully doing the whole process, okay? You really wanna know what a pastor's heart's desire is in ministry for the people that he's ministering to, to see them get truly spiritually mature. I have been so blessed, not just by investing in the next generation of men of God, okay, at seminary, I have been so richly blessed by watching you impact the seminarians that come in here. You understand, for some of the guys that we come in here, this is their second view of what a biblical church looks like. Because Mike came from Moses and Brian. And Denver came from Mark Christopher in South Africa. But some of the guys that come in here, this is the very first exposure they get to a biblical church. This is the very first exposure they get to biblical eldership, where they see, wait a minute, Pastor Brian isn't the pastor? No, we are pastors, because this is what the biblical model is. And when I watch the relationships that so many of you build with these young men, they get to see that the congregation is not a laity. They're not beneath the elders, okay? They are the reason that there are elders so that we can instruct, exhort, and encourage you and facilitate you doing the ministry. Right? That proper biblical view, it is so cool. to see the spiritual growth of the people that I have had the privilege of ministering to and with for 20 plus years. This is the heartbeat of a pastor. These are the chief concerns of a pastor. For the preservation of those he's ministered to, for the sanctification of those he's ministered to, and finally, for their motivations. Notice verse 5. And this is one of the rare optatives in the Greek for you Greek students. May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ. Notice it's even expressed as a wish or a desire by Paul in the English. May the Lord. If a genie showed up, this is what I would ask him for. That the Lord would direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ. You know, the heart is the seat not of emotions. Biblically speaking, the heart is the place where of your thinking, of your reasoning, of your values, of your decision making. You know what Paul asks for? That the Lord would direct the hearts of the saints and Thessalonica into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ. What's the love of God? Well, there's two ways that people understand this. It's either God's love for us or our love for God. And they are absolutely intertwined. That's true, right? We love God because he what? First loved us. So if it wasn't for God loving us, we wouldn't love him. But the apostle Paul is asking for the hearts of the Thessalonians to be directed into not God's love for them, but directed into that their hearts desire, their focus would be on living a life of love toward God. Now, obviously, why? Because God loves us. This is like what Paul is saying in Romans 12. On the basis of the mercies of God, that you're in a no condemnation status, that you're a child of God, and nothing can separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to Him. You know what Paul's great desire is? May the Lord direct your hearts into a love for God and into the steadfastness of Christ. What's the steadfastness of Christ? How did Christ live for God? Absolutely steadfast in persevering in absolute perfect endurance. That's the word hupomone in the Greek. It speaks of continuing on under an even intense pressure and never quitting. Following the example of Jesus Christ under all pressure, going all the way through to glory in obedience to God with a love for God as your chief motivation. And these are the concerns of a pastor's heart for the people that he's ministered to. What are the concerns that a pastor has in life and ministry? He has a concern for his ministry. That the Word of the Lord would spread. The people would hear that they would believe that they would repent. And that he would actually be preserved, not. Not prevented from suffering, not protected from affliction or hardship. but have his life preserved so he could continue to glorify God as long as he has life, and that the people that he has ministered to might likewise be preserved by God, might demonstrate real sanctification and maturity, and might have a motivation of love for God that moves them to follow the example of Christ in steadfast faithfulness until Christ returns. or calls us home. I hope you've been encouraged by seeing the heartbeat of the Apostle Paul in his concerns for his own ministry and those he's ministered to. And I hope it's been a good reminder to those of us in pastoral ministry what our chief concerns need to be. And again, I remind you that this is Paul writing not to Timothy or to Titus or to Silas to address their concerns, but it is written from Paul to the church, to the saints in Thessalonica. These are the things that those in spiritual authority over you are concerned about. Are they your concerns for yourself? Is it the way that you are praying for those in authority over you and with spiritual responsibility for you? They could be. I'd say if you're going to follow the model you see in scripture, they should be. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for your word and for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you for saving us and thank you for sending us into the world to point to you. May we indeed be so filled with the love for you that we not only demonstrate that love toward each other, and enjoy the fellowship of the saints, but also that we love you enough that we truly want to see you exalted in the hearing of a lost and fallen world. And may we be blessed and privileged to be able to see some come to repentance and faith and be added to this household of faith. And also be blessed and privileged to see some that get saved here, get sent out from here, and continue to spread the word rapidly and to live a life that glorifies you, just like you've called us to do. In Christ's name, amen.