Mistakes in thanks, and misdirection in thanks, come from not recognizing the Power.
Thanking God for the Work of God For Me and In Me and Through Me
1 Thessalonians 2:13-16
(Children's Sheet for Sermon Interaction is at bottom. Notes are throughout sermon)Please turn to 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16. 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16 is our text under study this morning. As you are turning there I want to briefly bring us into the passage with what Paul has been saying. At the beginning of the epistle, the apostles continuously give thanks to God for the Thessalonians. Why? Well, Paul says they gives this thanks, knowing God's election of the Christians. They give this thanks to God, remembering wonderful things to thank God for. Paul says that those things are the Thessalonian's work of faith, labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. They give this thanks to God, knowing that the good news that they brought is more than an empty message. It is God's message. It is God's Word. It has God's power behind it. Then Paul reminds the Thessalonians that they know what kind of men the apostles proved to be. They did not come with flattering words. They came in sincerity and truth. They did not come with a pretext for greed. They did not seek glory from men. Their motives were pure, and the fruits of their ministry were pure. Paul uses family language to remind the Thessalonians of how the apostles proved to be humble and gentle like children; and caring like a nursing mother. They exhorted and they encouraged as a father would his own children. It was the kind of real, authentic, Holy Spirit led, care of Christians that God produces. They were more than willing to make the personal sacrifice of their own lives, Paul says, if that is what they had to do. All of this ministry was done so that the Thessalonians would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls them into His kingdom and glory. It is the goal that God desires from ministry. He wants us to walk in a worthy manner, and He gets all the thanks when we do. Why?--because He is the one who produces the fruit. Paul saw the fruits being produced in Thessalonica, and so the apostles gave thanks to God for all that God had done. God had called-out the Thessalonians, and God's call was effectual. Paul continues with this spirit of thanks. He touches upon more of the calling of God. As I read, I want us to be considering Paul's thankfulness to God. Let's read the passage now, starting in verse 13,
"13 For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. 14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, because you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, 15 who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, [oppose all mankind] 16 hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost." 1 Thessalonians 2
Please prepare your heart to learn along with me from the preaching of God's word in this sermon titled,
Thanking God for the Work of God For Me and In Me and Through Me
[prayer]
This morning we are going to look at four things that we can thank God for in His work for us, and in us, and through us. We all need to be thankful for what God has done for us and in us when it comes to the great privilege and honor of being saved. When we minister, we should thank God Himself that He is working--that He is ministering through us. This is of the utmost importance; and so, this leads to the first thing I want us to glean from the text.
/1/
The Work of God for you, in you, and even through you, is made evident--interestingly enough--in the thanks that Paul gives to God Himself for the reactions of other people to the word. This might sound odd to you at first--that Paul would thank God for what people do. But this is what Paul is doing. Paul thanks God for the reception that people have, and the belief that people have, as a result of ministry. This is the same kind of thanksgiving focus that God wants you and me to have too. Paul says,
"13 For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God," 1 Thessalonians 2:13
@1 God's word is not the word of ________. (1 Thess. 2:13)
Now, certainly Paul, Silvanus and Timothy, thank God that they preached to the Thessalonians. When we consider this, we might be tempted to think that the reason that this apostles thanked God, was because it is a rewarding feeling that God blesses you with when you know that your work in ministry is actually going somewhere, or I should say, is actually producing this kind of fruit. After all, there is a recognition that all your labor, and your day-to-day effort, and your persecution, and your blood, sweat, and tears, have all gone into your ministry. The apostles even lived the exemplary life of Christ. Paul said to the Corinthians that he did not want to be disqualified by something he has done; and the apostles have done nothing to be disqualified in Thessalonica. So, what Paul knows is that their exemplary life in Christ, is actually part of the message they brought by the Holy Spirit. In fact, their lives demonstrated the power behind the good news. We saw how Paul reminds the Thessalonians of how their lives demonstrated their authenticity,
"5 because our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit ...
But don't we remember that it was God's gospel?
Paul says "our gospel," and at the same time, we know that it is God's good news; but the apostles are the proclaimers, and so there is a sense that Paul says that it is "our" gospel. It is the gospel of the Covenant-Light to the Gentiles that Paul received as revelation of the mystery. It is the good news that Paul first preached in Pisidian Antioch, where he said that the cross and resurrection of Messiah is what delivers the Jews from what the Law of Moses could not do. It is the good news, that at the same place, Paul said, we are turning from you Jews and are now concentrating on the Gentiles to bring the grace gospel of Christ, Who is the Covenant Light of Isaiah's prophecy to the Gentiles out of Isaiah 42:6, 49:6-8 (cf. Acts 13:47). But then Paul says something that brings more attention to Himself. He says that "our" gospel came with power,
... and with full conviction."
Paul is not talking about the full conviction that God has. Paul is talking about the full conviction of the men who are the apostles who brought their gospel. Then Paul says,
"You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake." 1 Thessalonians 1:5
The apostles lived in such a way as to prove out their spirituality, their sincerity, and their work, and it was definitely work that they did in the practical human sense of the activity. So, when we look at all these things, it could be easy to imagine that they are thanking God for their part in all the success. After all, ministers are doubly blessed to actually see the fruits of their daily, ongoing, relentless work, where it actually comes forth in a tangible harvest.
How many of you realize the reality of the fact that Holy Spirit led and empowered missionaries can go for years and see nothing of the work of God in reaping His harvest?
And while the years are slowly creeping by, it is an honor to be serving the Lord, (and we should be thankful for the honor), but when tangible fruit is produced that the missionary finally sees, (If he ever sees more than Holy Spirit seed planting) then he thanks God for the fruits, because, like Paul says to these Thessalonians in 2:19, and to the Philippians too, the fruit is his joy and crown in his labor.
How many of you have heard of the English Reformed Baptist, William Carey? William Carey is called the father of modern day missions. What happened with William Carey is that he went out into the foreign mission field. He went from England in a time when people there just didn't do that kind of thing. He went to unreached India. He went in 1793. When he got to India, he found a spiritual wasteland of demonic worship. So, Carey learned the language. He went door to door telling people about Christ. He literally preached in the streets. He learned even more languages--all these different dialects. He continued to preach and teach, and translate the Bible. He consistently shared the gospel with the lost, day in and day out. Now listen to me very carefully, He did this for seven years, and for seven years, William Carey, did not see one person receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. Can you imagine going out to a foreign country like tropical India from England in a time when missionary work was virtually unheard of? You get there; you start to labor, and year after year goes by and nobody is coming to Christ. Carey's diary reflects the times of deep depression he would go through. His young son died eight months after he got there. His wife went insane 5 months after that. He had to tie her to a bed, where she screamed relentlessly, day and night, because she was truly, out of her mind. He would visit her every day, for years. Folks, she stayed that way for 12 years. He would record in his journal how it had broken his heart, and it was wearing on him, depressing him, dragging on him each hot, humid, drudgery of a day. But he continued to walk in pure tested faith because he could not possibly stand, much less walk, by sight. He ministered faithfully day after day, but there was nothing in those seven years to suggest that William Carey would see anyone saved by His Lord through His ministry work. Then finally, William Carey sees the first Hindu man, Krishna Pal, get saved in Serampore. It was after that, the harvest of souls continued all across India, with thousands upon thousands being saved by the Lord through using Carey. Okay, so let me ask you a question:
Wasn't Carey blessed to be a minister for those first seven years?
Now let me ask you another question:
Wasn't Carey doubly blessed to actually see the fruits of his labors come forth in harvest?
Don't you think that he rejoiced greatly over seeing Mr. Pal saved?
In his diary, he said he rejoiced in it. The year before Carey left England, he preached the now famous missionary sermon,
"Expect great things, attempt great things."--W. Carey
Carey did both, and in his long hot, hurting, faithful, daily, moment, to moment attempt, He saw great things that he was thankful for.
So when we think about all these kinds of things, it could be easy for us to think that this is the kind of thing that is going on with Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy in their thanks. But something that we must notice is that though the apostolic team is thankful to be used by God, and they are thankful to see converts, their thanks is not so much their own participation in what God had done, (though it is a joyous privilege, and they were doubly blessed). What we must notice is:
Their thanks to God here, has to do with God here.
It has to do with the actual work of God. They are rejoicing in God's miracle work, regardless of who ministered, or how long it took, or how easy it was, or how difficult it was. This is what God wants you and I to do, and unfortunately, a lot of ministers miss this when they minister. It has to do with the gospel coming in more than mere human words alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit, as the actual words of God that accomplish God's goal in His call. You and I don't want to miss this; so, keeping this in mind, we see that the apostles, according to the first part of verse 13, are actually thanking God that the Thessalonians received the word of God. Look at verse 13,
13 For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, ..." 1 Thessalonians 2:13 a
Right here, at this point, I want us to focus on the fact that they received the word of God in the first place; and then we'll go on. God wants you to thank Him when you get the gospel to someone. God is the One who makes sure that those who must hear the gospel, will get the gospel. You only matter because He loves you, and uses you, and you were obedient to the Spirit, but beyond that, you don't matter--you are in the back seat, so to speak. But, where we can get it all wrong though, is when we act like it is by chance, or by our ability, or because of something that has to do with us, that the people who hear the gospel actually have a time in history when they receive it. I mean, isn't this the way everything in the world appears to operate? This wrong thinking can really mess you up in your ministry. It will not only have you bragging in the wrong person, but you will become depressed, frustrated, and even fretting over your own failure to minister at the proper time, and in the proper place. God wants us to be obedient to our call to minister, but God Himself wants to be thanked for all the details. The comforting point that we glean from the apostle's thanks, is that it shows us that those who receive, will receive because the God who is thanked for them receiving it, is the same God who makes sure they receive--thus providing the reason for thanking Him. Think about this; There was a moment when it happened. This is the way it was with you too. There was also a long moment before it happened. It was the long year after year moment of spiritual death when you did not know Christ Jesus as your life. At one time, He was not your Lord and Savior. You were not part of the body of Christ. You were lost and separated from God in your sin. Then, at the end of that long dark moment, the word was brought to you in some way. It may have been a missionary preaching the word of God to you. It may have been some person giving you a gospel tract. It might have been one of your friends sharing Christ with you. You may have been invited to attend a church meeting. You might have happened to be there for some other reason; and while you were there, the preacher presented the gospel of the grace of God. He presented it in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and when he presented it in the moment, he did so with full conviction that what he spoke was the very word of God. However it was, and whenever it was, it was that glorious God ordained moment, in God's sovereignty, when you received the Light of the gospel. There is a God appointed time that this takes place. It is God's work. So, it is the work of God that the Thessalonians received the word of God at the appointed time, and so there is nobody else to thank for this other than God. You can't thank the minister. You can't thank the method. You can't thank the means that was used. You can't thank the receiver for being there at the right time--in the right place. You can't thank the mood that your church created to make the unsaved feel comfortable with your music, or the way you do things, or the way you talk, or the way you look. You can't thank the enticing things that can manipulate people to be in the right place at the right time for you to present the right words in the right manner that would draw them in the right way in their right mood of the right moment. You can't give thanks for any of those things.
Nevertheless, the proclamation of the gospel must first be received. And for it to be received, it must be sent out, and it must arrive, in some fashion. This is where we thank God for working through people by using people. Paul says,
"13 For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!' 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, 'Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?' 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." Romans 10:13-17
@2 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be ____________. (Romans 10:13)
Paul proclaimed the word of God to the Thessalonians. Your job, and my job, is to be God's proclaimers. This is liberating. What I mean is that our duty is to simply get the good news out. You don't have to be talented to do this. You don't need to be clever to do this. Our duty is to proclaim the truth with full conviction, and our message, no matter how simple or complex, whether it is written or spoken, will be foolishness to the perishing, but it will be life to those being saved, and by God's hand they will receive it, and we thank Him. If the perishing world finds the gospel message to be foolish, Paul says,
"God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe." 1 Corinthians 1:21
You and I must always, always, always, remember this in our ministry, and in our prayer life, and even in respect to our own salvation. It is true ministry, it is true worship, it is true thanks. The point, or the time, or the fact, of reception of the gospel, is up to God. And so this leads to the important other half of verse 13. The principle to glean is that it is God's miracle work that continues to occur throughout the reception,
"13... you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God," 1 Thessalonians 2:13 b
The apostles go beyond thanking God that the Thessalonians received the word of God. They thank God that when they received it, they actually did not reject it. What this means is that the elect accepted it as the word of God as His nutritional life giving sustenance, and not merely the empty calorie words of mortals. Again, when you recognize that this is also the miracle work of God, it will save you a lot of heartache, and a lot of self condemnation, and a lot of wasted effort on your part in trying to perform the miracle that only God performs. The sooner you and I rest in the fact that God opens the thick door of people's hearts to hear His voice, and we recognize that it is from Him who is talking to the heart, the better. Don't make the mistake of a lot of ministers who either don't understand, or they forget, that God is the one who speaks to us in the real spiritual power. Let's not act like we are unaware of the fact that He makes sure we will have spiritual ears to hear. Too many ministers put an unnecessary burden on their shoulders that they can't bear. Let us make sure that we give God the honor as the one who gives people the appetite to hunger for what He is saying, and the appetite will be satisfied, and people will be saved in welcoming His life changing light to shine into their souls through the good news. When this happens, people are blown away by His glory, and they say like Paul before Agrippa,
"I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision," Acts 26:19
It is because of God and God alone that they have received the heavenly vision, and they have embraced it to control their destiny forever. They become obedient from the heart. In this way, people are moved by the power of the Holy Spirit to embrace that which they used to hate. When people welcome the word of God, it is because God welcomed them first. Stopped by God in their path of destruction, they finally say,
Yes Lord, I will follow you wherever you lead me.
This is what happened to you, and me, and all who are saved. God gives the gift of faith, and all His people are manifesting it as the work of God through the word of God. All glory goes to Him. Peter says,
"23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God." 1 Peter 1:23
@3 I am born again through the living and enduring _________ ___ ________. (1 Peter 1:23)
Okay, let's talk about preaching. Or, let's just call it sharing the message. Whatever you want to call it, there is innate power in God's word; and so when you proclaim the good news, that power is of God, even though it is you who speak the words. It is so easy to think it is our ability, or our mannerisms, or your interesting way of presentation that you need to care about. Again, it is not about technique, and this is where a lot of us can get messed up in our ministry. I can not stress this enough, and the reason is because lot of outward show things may have the appearance of power, (but they are not what it is) And so you might stutter, or you might only know about the few essential points of the gospel, but it doesn't matter, because in those utterances there is nuclear power that will pierce souls and raise hearts up out of graves like Jesus burst forth from the tomb! This is another area that we can get so wrong because of focusing on the flesh instead of upon God. The point is that the truth of the good news is empowered by God, and to the elect it is always news that is good, and it is always powerful to change their rocky hearts. This is why we must remember that when Paul was imprisoned in the first time in Rome, he talked about people there who were preaching Christ to cause him shame;
But what did Paul do?
He rejoiced about it. He knew that the power is in the gospel. The Holy Spirit does the work. And God will even use the unsaved to proclaim the good news. So, whether in pretense or in truth, Paul rejoiced that Christ was proclaimed. We must live in the understanding that Paul had. If you truly believe that the proclamation of God's word has power in it because the truth of the gospel is life, then you will minister this way. The point is that it is God's word that He speaks to the heart by His Spirit. We read in Isaiah,
"So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it" Isaiah 55:11
4@ God makes sure that His word which goes from His mouth will accomplish what he ___________s. (Isaiah 55:11)
When you and I consider that the word we proclaim is not human, but in actuality, is the word of God, this should give us confidence in whatever we do in ministry. It is absolutely imperative that we realize that when we speak Christ, and Him crucified, and that He died for sins, and resurrected, and He will save you by grace through faith in Him as the One who truly died for your sins as an act of God, and Who is truly your Lord; and we speak the New Testament teachings for the body of Christ that are recorded in the Bible, (like I am doing now) then we can be confident that we are speaking with authority and power. So, the first work of God that we thank Him for, is that people receive and believe. This also means that we thank God for the fact that we received, and we believed.
/2/
This leads us to the second work of God we want to recognize in thanks: The Work of God for us and in us, and through us, is miraculously shown in the fact that His word effectually performs its work, and is at work in all true believers;
"... the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe." 1 Thessalonians 2:13
@5 God's word performs its __________ in me who believes in Christ Jesus as my Lord and Savior. (1 Thess. 2:13)
When you minister, and even when you contemplate your own salvation, it is vital that you understand that in salvation, where the word of God is embraced in faith, you can always be assured that it miraculously performs its life changing work. People who don't understand this, just don't get it, and so they don't see security in salvation. What they see is how volatile human nature can be. They know that sometimes we win, and sometimes we lose in life. They know that there are times we succeed in things, and there are times that we fail, and so what happens is that they transfer all this over to the realm of God's work in salvation. They also mix in some wrong interpretations of Scripture, and they end up with a salvation theory that is less than miracle, and that kind of salvation just doesn't exist. They fail to see that salvation really is all God's work from A to Z. But, the Spirit is telling us this morning that we need to not only recognize that the miraculous process is all God's work, but we need to act like it is. And so we need to thank God for His eternal, effectual work, in us that keeps us saved. It is where you are Once Saved In Eternal Spiritual Salvation (OSIESS). God puts His Spirit there in your heart. We thank God for putting Him there, and we thank God that we can not lose Him. While there, God's Spirit preserves you, and keeps you, by never leaving you nor forsaking you. And God makes you persevere by keeping you persevering in belief that you have as His gifting until you die and beyond. This is one of the greatest things to thank God for.
Isn't it a shame that many people who claim to be Christians never thank God for this fact, because they refuse to believe it in the first place?
So, in failing to be thankful to God for this, some of the Father's glory is robbed from being given to Him by children who are part of the family of God that he adopted to be there by His unmerited favor, and keeps there by the same.
/3/
Then there is another aspect of the word of God which is performing its powerful work in us, and through us, who believe. It has to do with a third thing we thank God for from the next verse; verse 14, The Work of God for us and in us is demonstrated in the fact that we live out the classic Christian example of standing firm in the midst of persecution. Paul says,
"14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, because you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, 15 who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out." 1 Thessalonians 2:14-15
For the Thessalonian Christians, persecution was to be ridiculed, and rejected. But, the persecution was also manifested in an intense manner in losing families, losing property, in losing business, or being run out of town, or being beaten, or arrested, and even being martyred. We don't usually get a lot of this kind of persecution, but we get some of it. For the Thessalonians, they experienced the same sufferings that the Israelite Christians went through in Judea where the church began. So it is clear, one thing that follows Christianity, like a bloodhound, is rejection by the world. A lot of Christians in our age and culture, just don't get this at all. But, if we read our Bibles, we see it with the first students of Jesus. Then with Stephen getting stoned for the faith. Then with other Israelites in the great persecution that followed after Stephen. This is how it's been from the beginning, starting with Jesus Himself. From town to town around Judea, Israelite Christians were persecuted. Saul persecuted Christians. Later, Paul gets the miracle of salvation. Then Paul experienced this same persecution himself. It is classic Christianity, and it is part of the territory that goes along with the Gospel. Nothing has changed. So, you better be expecting it. It follows the church like a heat seeking missile. Those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Paul was attacked in various cities by Jews, and by Gentiles. This kind of thing also happened to Thessalonians. All of this is more evidence of the work of God in people, because Jesus said that when we are persecuted, the persecutors are really persecuting Him. And so, the main point is that even if you go through the harshest of treatment, to endure as a Christian, is a work of God. Endurance in salvation is a demonstration of the reality that was there in you all along. These are things we need to be aware of as we minister in our own culture and in our own generation. You see, we think we live in a free society with freedom of religion, but a careful look at what history is producing will demonstrate to us that Christianity, (as the faith once delivered), is being persecuted by your own countrymen at breakneck speed. Daily, there is becoming more and more intolerance for the one true God and the one true church of the only begotten Son, Christ Jesus. Right now, students suffer for being Christians in schools. Christian Politicians suffer some level of persecution as they desire to live godly in Christ Jesus. Christians suffer at work for acting on basic beliefs that harm nobody, and one would think they are things that seemingly don't matter. But, it is in the world's nature to hate Christians, because the world hates the Biblical Jesus, which is the real Jesus. It is just a matter of how much the hatred is manifested, and when. If any of us have any social connection to this lost world culture, (and we all do), then I believe it won't be long until we start to experience higher, and higher levels of persecution. How can we avoid it? We can't--Not when we shine the Light of Christ, because when you shine the Light of Christ, the heat seeking missiles will find you, and they are going to come after you. The only way to avoid it is to live ungodly like you are not in Christ Jesus, (which unfortunately has now become the norm of the neo-Christianity that is overtaking our generation in our culture) Listen to me--What God wants you and me to do, and what God empowers us to do through his word, and Spirit, which is at work in us, is to imitate the apostles, the Thessalonians, and the churches in Judea, by standing firm in the evil days that we live in. We need to thank God for enabling us to endure and act like Christians in Christian suffering. It is not natural, but rather, supernatural to thank God when you suffer in this way. It is supernatural to experience the fact that the testing of our faith produces endurance when we encounter various trials, James 1:3. So, thank God that He does not leave us nor forsake us.
/4/
This leads us to the last thing to thank God for in His work for us, in us, and through us. The Work of God I am talking about is to desire that the gospel be spread among all mankind so that people will be saved through the same miracle you have experienced. Paul explains the contrast with the unsaved Jews who killed Christ, saying,
"They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, 16 hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost." 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16
Because God has ordained that the gospel be brought to people with power, and the Holy Spirit, then this means that it must be spoken, read, or communicated in some manner, for anyone to be saved. Lost people are ignorant of the fact that God will save people even though they try to thwart God's will. The evil world culture, which is in the bondage of Satan, may think they are pleasing to God in false religious fervor, (like the unsaved Jews who hated Christ and His people), but they are not really pleasing to God. They hate the gospel, and they don't want it proclaimed. This is the way it is today. The hostile world of darkness hates the spread of the gospel. They do not want you to confront them with the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way, and the only truth, and the only life, and nobody gets to the Father except by Him. The world will listen to stories about Jesus all day long, but they will listen as if you are sharing interesting legends, or fascinating fables. Some may even claim to believe in the miracles of Jesus, but they will deny their need for Him to be their Savior and Lord. They will admit He existed. They will say that He was actually executed, but they deny that He rose from the dead three days later. The world wants to stop us from saying that all people are born in sin, and without faith in Jesus Christ as the sacrifice that they need for the remission of sins, they will perish and be doomed to an eternal hell forever and ever. With all these things in mind, we must remember that it is well pleasing to God for us to preach the gospel to everyone, and anyone we want to. It is pleasing to God for us to have the desire for the gospel be spread among all mankind. Ultimately, the power of God works to harden those who are not elect, but it effectually changes the hearts of those who are. In the meantime, proclaiming the gospel is worship, and this is what you and I do as Christ's body.
As we finish this morning I want to urge all of us to recognize that the Work of God for saved people, and in saved people, and through saved people in ministry, is a work that is made evident in the thanks that Paul gives to God Himself for the reactions of people. I want us to leave here encouraged to give thanks to God that reception and belief is His work in our ministries. Let's give all glory to Him in our ministry, and in our salvation. Take comfort in the fact that though you speak the words in ministry, it is God's power that is behind the words. Let's thank God that the Work of God for us, and in us, is miraculously shown in the fact that it never stops. It is to be Once Saved In Eternal Spiritual Salvation. Let's thank God that His work for us and in us is demonstrated in the fact that we stand firm in the midst of persecution. Finally, be thanking God for His work in us in desiring the gospel to be spread among all mankind so that people will be saved through the same miracle that you have experienced. amen.
@1 God's word is not the word of ________. (1 Thess. 2:13)
@2 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be ____________. (Romans 10:13)
@3 I am born again through the living and enduring _________ ___ ________. (1 Peter 1:23)
4@ God makes sure that His word which goes from His mouth will accomplish what he ___________s. (Isaiah 55:11)
@5 God's word performs its __________ in me who believes in Christ Jesus as my Lord and Savior. (1 Thess. 2:13)
