You wouldn't want someone to teach you how to cook if there's
someone who burns all their food.
You wouldn't want someone to tutor you if they fail all their
tests. You don't want someone to teach
you how to hit a baseball. Who's the one known for striking
out? Who would you want to teach you
the Christian life? Who comes to your mind when you
think of a model pastor? Maybe someone you had growing
up, Maybe someone you got to see up close?
There's many that come to mind for me.
And John Bunyan's allegory of the Christian life, Pilgrim's
Progress. The main character Christians
LED into a room where he sees a portrait of a pastor hanging on
the wall, Bunyan wrote. The man whose picture this is,
is 1 of 1000. You see him with his eyes lifted
up to heaven, the best of books in his hand, and the law of
truth written on his lips. This shows that his work is to
know and unfold dark things to sinners.
You see him standing as if he was pleading with men, the world
behind him, a crown hanging over his head.
This shows that by neglecting and despising present things for
the love that he has for his master's service, he is sure to
have glory for his reward in the next World.
Now Bunyan is presenting an allegory of a story of the
Christian life. Why does he include this scene?
Because on our journey from the city of destruction to that
celestial city, we need faithful guides.
We need faithful guides to glory.
One of those guides was the Apostle Paul.
If you have your Bible, turn to 1st Thessalonians.
If you don't have a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand.
Somebody will bring you a Bible right now.
They're ready to go. Bible's at hand for anyone who
needs one. First Thessalonians is in the
New Testament near the end of the Bible.
As we read the text before we get there, just a brief context
which we discussed a little last week.
This church was planted about 3 weeks long.
That's how long the planting journey took the lead up.
Three weeks of preaching in the synagogues on the Sabbath, and
then the church in Thessalonica was born.
Paul was with them for just a few months and then he was run
out of town by the Jews. One day Paul was there teaching,
preaching, meeting with members for discipling, and the next day
he's gone, disappeared. Now we know in the book of Acts
he travelled to Berea, which is about 50 miles away, and he did
the same thing. He went to the synagogue, he
preached the word, people came to faith and the Jews in
Thessalonica heard about this and they hated Paul and his
message so much that they too took that 50 mile trek, followed
him to Berea, to persecute him there.
This is what happens when you preach faithfully.
When you preach faithfully, you are extending an invitation to
your enemies. And that's what Paul did in
First Thessalonians. It seems that Paul's ministry
was under attack. He had just been ministering to
these baby Christians and he's gone.
It seemed that those Jews who could no longer attack him
personally went after his followers.
In chapter 1, if you remember, Paul presented a picture of an
example church, the Church of the Thessalonians.
In chapter 2, Paul presents a portrait of a model minister
which is himself. Listen as I read First
Thessalonians 21 to 12:00. For you yourselves, no brothers
that are coming to you, was not in vain.
But though we had already suffered and been shamefully
treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God
to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much
conflict. For our appeal does not spring
from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive.
But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted
with the gospel, so we speak not to please man, but to please God
who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of
flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed.
God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from
people, whether from you or from others, though we could have
made demands as apostles of Christ.
But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking
care of her own children. So, being affectionately
desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the
gospel of God, but also our own selves, because you had become
very dear to us for you. Remember, brothers, our labour
and toil we worked night and day, that we might not be a
burden to any of you, while we proclaim to you the gospel of
God. You are witnesses and God also.
How holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct
towards you believers. For you know how, like a father
with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged
you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God who calls
you into his own Kingdom and glory.
Brothers and sisters, that fruitful ministry you saw in
chapter 1 was there because of faithful ministers.
The point of the passage for us is this.
If you're taking notes, write this down.
Follow Paul to walk in a manner worthy of God to glory.
On our journey to glory, we need faithful guides.
Friends, Paul is a faithful guide to glory and there's three
ways that we should follow him from the passage.
The first way, his courage, that's verses one and two.
Second, his character, verses three to six.
And third, his conduct, verses 7 to 12.
So courage, character conduct. First follow Paul's courage
verses one to two. Look at verse 14.
You yourselves know, brothers that are coming to you.
Was not in vain. Why might the Thessalonian
Church think that Paul and his missionary teams visit was in
vain? As I mentioned earlier, it seems
Paul's reputation was under attack.
We know the Jews from Thesalonica were jealous of
Paul. They even were so jealous when
he was there ministering they formed a mob and attacked the
house he was staying at. They ran him out of town.
So it should be no surprise that they now attacked his very
character. What else could undermine that
new found faith of the Thessalonian church?
In chapter 1, Paul already reminded the Thessalonians.
Chapter one, verse 5, You know what kind of men we prove to be
among you for your sake. Here he elaborates in chapter 2.
Five times in these verses Paul repeats that the Thessalonians
are his witnesses. Look throughout the passage.
Verse one, you yourselves know. Verse 2 you know verse 5 as you
know verse 9 for you remember verse 10 you are witnesses twice
Paul even appeals to God as witness.
Verse 5 God is witness. Verse 10, you are witnesses and
God also. Sure there are charges against
Paul, but despite the charges, Paul knows and they should know
and God knows He's in the clear. And Paul points first to his
courage. Look at verse 2.
But though we had already suffered and been shamefully
treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God
to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much
conflict. You can imagine the scenario.
Perhaps Paul's opponents called Paul a coward.
After all, wasn't he smuggled out in the night in
Thessalonica? Didn't he even have to flee as
far as Athens to get away from these Jews?
Where's Paul now, They ask. Paul responds.
Church, remember my time at Philippi, right before I came to
visit you? They tore off my clothes, they
beat me with rods, they threw me in prison.
That did not stop me from preaching the gospel.
When Paul was in that jail cell in Philippi, he was preaching
the gospel and a Philippian jailer and his whole household
got converted and he baptized them.
Paul was not ashamed of the gospel.
He was not a coward. Even in Thessalonica, Paul
reminds them he declared the gospel in the midst of much
conflict. If Paul was scared of a beating,
he would have quit preaching. He was no coward.
He was courageous and perhaps Christian.
You're sitting there thinking, wow, Paul is extraordinary.
I, on the other hand, am ordinary.
I could never be bold like Paul. Friend, don't miss the source of
his courage. Look at verse 2.
We had boldness in our God, boldness in God.
Paul's boldness didn't arise from within.
The source was external. It was supernatural from God.
During the Reformation in England, Queen Mary required
Thomas Cranmer not only to submit to the Roman Catholic
Church's teaching, but to deny publicly the very Gospel he
preached. She imprisoned him for 30
months, 2 1/2 years, interrogated him often.
He had to watch as his own friends were burned.
His only way out, she told them, the only salvation was through
recantation. Deny the gospel you've preached.
Write it down on a letter. And after 30 months, Cranmer
succumbed to the pressure. He signed the letter of
recantation. It was when he was brought to
the trial to read the document out loud that he shocked the
crowd. In a moment of courage, he
denied his recantation, and he affirmed the gospel once again.
Immediately they seized Cranmer and they burned him at the
stake, but not before he freed that hand, the hand which signed
the recantation, and put it in the fire first.
Friends, that's courage and conflict.
How can we have this courage, this courage to declare the
gospel boldly in the midst of much conflict?
One way is just simple. Ask others to pray specifically
for your courage. You might think that's so
simple, but friend, in the Christian life you never
graduate from needing courage to share the gospel.
Paul himself didn't. He sent this prayer request off
to the Church of Ephesus. He said, pray for me that words
may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the
mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains,
that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak.
Even Paul needed prayer for boldness.
So friend, before you meet a Co worker, before you spend time
with your neighbor or visit family or head onto campus,
reach out to a member of the church, shoot off a quick text.
Ask them to pray for your courage, to share boldly another
way. Share the gospel together.
Paul and Silas preached in Philippi together.
They were beaten in Philippi together.
You know if someone has a cold, you want them to keep their
distance. If someone has courage, you want
some of that to rub off on you. Courage is contagious.
One of my dear friends, Welton, is a bold evangelist.
When I'm with Welton, it's pretty much guaranteed.
I know if we're at a coffee shop or we're at lunch, we're sharing
the gospel with someone. Someone's here in the gospel.
I love spending time with Walton.
It emboldens me in my own evangelism, You know, in my own
neighborhood. Hannan Eyes evangelism has only
been strengthened as other Christian members of the church
are involved. I walked to service today.
Somebody handed me Bibles for my neighbor.
We help each other do this. We help each other.
We strengthen each other. Which church member can you
recruit for your next evangelistic endeavour?
As you share share the gospel in your neighborhood and at your
workplace and at school, who can you recruit to join along?
But what if you're in the midst of conflict right now because of
the courage to share the gospel? What if you're facing opposition
because you're preaching faithfully?
Friend, if that's you, you're in good company.
You follow Paul and the apostles.
You follow the prophets who went before them.
But most importantly, you preach in the presence of God.
Who's with you at the workplace? Who stands by your side in your
neighborhood? Who travels with you on that
vacation to extended family? By the Spirit, Christian, you
have boldness in our God. I hope you've seen Paul was a
courageous preacher. It's because Paul was a man of
character. And for us, we have to ask who
are we on the inside? Point #2 Follow Paul's character
verses 3 to 6. In verses 3 to 6, Paul opens up
his heart for examination. He pops the hood open and he
reveals his motivations. Paul denies that hiding behind
the preacher was really just a man of vice.
There are 6 vices listed in these verses, 2 sets of three.
You can see the first set in verse 3, error, impurity,
deception, and the second set in verses 5 to 6, Flattery, greed,
Vainglory. If Paul's not motivated by vice,
what motivates Paul? Look at verse 4, right in the
middle of those two sets the driving motivation for Paul's
missionary team. Verse 4.
They speak not to please man, but to please God.
How different were Paul, Silas and Timothy from the many
travelling preachers that circulated the 1st century Roman
world? The Thessalonians themselves
would have heard brilliant speakers who gathered crowds
with their Polish preaching. But if you got up close, if you
listen carefully, if you examine their lives, you'd find they
were frauds. Their message was a lie, their
motives impure. They were often associated with
sexual immorality. They tickled your ears with
flattery. They were motivated by greed and
glory and friends. You can find the same speakers
today, sadly. Couple years ago, a celebrity
pastor in New York City was caught in adultery.
What was especially sad was the reaction from non Christians on
a podcast with 14.5 million subscribers.
One non Christian pointed out how he had already critiqued
this preacher before on his podcast.
He said I see what you're doing. You're pretending to be
profound. You're pretending to be pious.
You're pretending to be above it all.
But you're not. You're just one of us friends.
That was not Paul's ministry. There were no skeletons in
Paul's closet. The man you saw was the man you
got. Look at verse four.
He says this is because. Paul was approved by God to be
entrusted with the gospel. So when he preached, it was not
to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.
Paul was approved by God, He was entrusted by God, and so his aim
was to please God. His ministry and his motivations
were all about God. He preached to men, but he
didn't preach to please men. He knew he was accountable to
the one who weighed his heart, his thoughts, his desires, his
aspirations, his dreams. There's a God who knows you, the
real you, the you you are. When no one's watching the you,
no one else can see. Friend, if you're not a
Christian, how does that make you feel?
When the atheist Christopher Hitchens was asked about the
possibility of God's existence, he said I think it would be
rather awful if it was true. He said if there was a
permanent, total, round the clock divine supervision and
invigilation of everything you did, you would never have a
waking or sleeping moment when you weren't being watched and
controlled and supervised by some celestial entity from the
moment of your conception to the moment of your death, Hitchens
said. It would be like living in North
Korea if you're not in Christ. The gaze of God can only be a
terror because we've each done things that we know are wrong.
We've each said things that we wish we could take back.
We've each thought things we're ashamed of.
But Paul was not afraid of God's gaze after his conversion on the
road to Damascus. Paul knew he was approved by God
because he had trusted in Christ.
He knew that God isn't just aware of every waking moment,
He's aware of every motivation. But he knew that God's not like
some picky driving examiner eager to fail you for any error.
It was because Paul was approved by God and entrusted by God that
he sought to please God. It was the fear of the Lord that
drove him to God, not away from God.
Church, this is what you want your pastors to be made of.
You don't want pastors who fear you.
You don't want pastors that you can manipulate and control.
You need pastors who fear the Lord more than they fear you,
who care more about what the Lord thinks of their sermon than
what you think of their sermon. You need men who can stand
before the congregation with a clear conscience, men whose
ministry flows from their pure motives.
That's what you need. And I wonder, Christian, as you
consider these six vices that Paul denies.
He says I've had nothing to do with those.
Are there any that you see that you need to confess?
If they're our friend, talk. Talk to another member of the
church about that. The Christian life until glory
is character refinement. We're constantly seeing new
aspects of us that we thought we had mortified and that we need
to continue confessing and giving to the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, members of this church, I wonder what your
ministry in this church springs from.
Look at verse 3. That's the the phrase he uses.
His ministry didn't spring from error.
In other words, why do you do what you do?
Or more specifically, who do you do it for?
Is your ministry in this church to please man or is it to please
God? The Puritan John Flavell said
the non Christian fears man not God.
The strong Christian fears God not man.
The weak Christian fears man too much and God too little.
I wonder which one are you? How can you tell?
Fear of man goes by many names. Kids, we often call it shyness.
Teenagers goes by peer pressure. Adults we call it codependency.
It has many disguises. What are the signs?
Here's a few signs of fear of man from Ed Welch's book on the
topic. When people are big and God is
small, 1 is over commitment. Are you unable to say no?
People would just look at you and think, wow, they are just
serving the church. They never stop.
But inwardly you are just caught up in it.
You can't stop. It's a sign of fear of man.
Do you fish for compliments? Do you ever make small
compromises to fit in? Just little ones, little
adjustments to your character just to be around the people
you're with? Do you have a private life that
differs from your public life? Do you have a fear that at any
moment you'll be exposed as an impostor?
Those are all signs of the fear of man.
How can we find freedom from the fear of man?
Freedom from fear of man is only found in fearing the Lord.
The fear of the Lord is that fear that Spurgeon said that
leans towards the Lord. It is only a fear that a
believer can experience, a fear that marvels at God's goodness
in the Gospel. A fear that knows that in Christ
the sun has risen and God's face shines upon you.
It's a fear that trust God, even though he knows the depth of
your your darkness, He actually delights in you as one of your
children, as one of his children.
It's a fear that seeps into every aspect of the soil of your
heart and produces good fruit like joy and peace and
assurance. A fear that the psalmist says
the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him.
Paul feared the Lord. He wasn't a flatterer, He wasn't
greedy. He was a man of character.
His courageous preaching was just the tip of the iceberg
floating underneath. Paul was a man of substance, a
man who could refer to his own character and write the
Thessalonians in verse 5 and say, you know, God is witness.
That was the apostle Paul and friends, he was an apostle, but
there's principles we should derive from this for our own
ministry church. This is the type of character
you should expect from your pastors.
If you join another church, if you ever leave this area, join a
church across town. It's what you should expect from
those pastors. Paul actually gave Timothy 15
qualifications for pastors in First Timothy 3, 15.
One is about the man's ability to teach.
He doesn't need to be the best teacher.
He doesn't even need to be a good teacher.
Paul just says he needs to be able to teach, just able to
teach. In other words, he needs to be
able to open the Bible, read from it, explain it so that you
understand it. He must do that.
But friends, that's just one of the qualifications.
The other 14 all concern character. 14 qualifications
about character, one about teaching ability.
Brother, if you're here and you aspire to be a pastor, let your
training be appropriately weighted.
Yes, you should aim to make progress in your preaching.
Study theology, read good books. Do that, but don't mess with
character. Don't miss that.
Are there cracks right now that you're aware of in your
character? How many are there?
How deep do they go? Who knows about them?
Can you say of those who know you best?
If you're married, your wife, if you have kids, your kids, you're
best friends. You know my character.
Can you say before God you're my witness?
That's what Paul did. He wasn't perfect, but there was
no bait and switch. His motives were pure.
He practiced what he preached. He was the same man from the
pulpit as he was in your living room.
He was a man of character, and his character could be examined
on the basis of his conduct point #3 Third and finally,
follow Paul's conduct. Paul uses 3 familial metaphors
to describe his conduct in verses 7 to 12.
And we're used to kind of pictures of a pastor in
Scripture, a soldier. We're used to that one.
We just read a few, a shepherd with their sheep.
We're familiar with that. Even a father I think we can
resonate with. But he uses 3 here.
And I think the first two might surprise you.
First he points to an infant, then a nursing mom, and then a
father. You can see the last two pretty
easily. Verse 7, nursing mom, verse 11,
a father. But the first one takes a little
more work. So look at verse 7.
It begins with a contrast. But we were gentle among you.
The word in the ESV translates it as gentle.
We were gentle, but this could also be translated as infants.
The difference is just one letter, 1 little letter in the
Greek epioi or nepioi if you're interested.
And the manuscript evidence for both suggests that nepioi infant
is the earlier one that should be adopted.
I think it fits the context better too.
Infants. One reason because as you've
already seen, Paul seems to love these sets of three throughout
this passage. So this fits with three familial
metaphors for the pastor. It also is a contrast to the
previous section. So look at verse 7.
But Paul's contrasting with what he just said.
Paul wasn't greedy for money. He wasn't hungry for glory.
He could have made demands. But verse 7, he was innocent
among them like an infant. Paul's not saying infants are
sinless. That's not his point.
He's saying they're innocent. You know, we have many babies at
Trinity Baptist Church. None of them yet are greedy for
glory or gain. They mainly just want their
mother's milk, and that's where Paul goes next.
Verse 7, the second metaphor. Paul says like a nursing mother
taking care of her own children. How is a nursing mother a
picture of a faithful pastor? Have you ever thought about that
before in your life? Nursing mother, faithful pastor,
A nursing mom conforms her own life to meet the needs of her
new child. Many of you have done this.
She doesn't take, but she gives from herself during the first
month of a baby's life, which, Lord willing, soon in October,
we're going to experience that for the 4th time.
Those sleepless nights. The baby demands milk at least
eight times a day. If you're doing the math, that's
every three hours. Every three hours the baby cries
out. And though the mother is
exhausted from sleep deprivation, she does not just
feed the baby. She snuggles with the baby, she
plays with the baby, she nurtures the baby, she
sacrifices for that baby. And when that baby cries at 2:00
AM, she gets out of bed or she elbows her husband.
She says get out of bed, get the baby and she feeds that baby
because she cares. That's the word Paul uses in
verse 7 care. It's the same word in
Deuteronomy 22 six to describe a mother bird warming her baby
birds. A nursing mom loves her
children. Paul says the Thessalonians,
verse 8. So being affectionately desirous
of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of
God, but also our own selves, because you had become very dear
to us. Paul gave the gospel.
He gave his very life because he loved them.
That's why verse 9, he laboured night and day.
I think there's still some play on the nursing mother idea here.
Night and day in Thessalonica Paul preached by day and he made
tents by night. He laboured and toiled for them,
so that even though he had the right to be paid as Christ
commanded, he didn't make use of that right because he didn't
want any confusion between them about his motives.
He wanted to make it clear, verse 10, that before them and
before God, His conduct was verse 10.
Holy, righteous, blameless pastors must not only share the
gospel, but themselves. Shepherds must smell like the
sheep. Their life is show and tell.
They open the Word, they open up their lives.
They speak, they show, they say this is how to live.
Then you watch them live. They must not only preach to
you, but love you. Brothers and sisters, members of
Trinity Baptist Church, on behalf of the elders.
I didn't ask them, but I know it's true.
We love you. You're very dear to us.
So you should reach out to any of your elders, to Bobby, to
Brandon right there, to Ashok, to myself.
Reach out to us. You don't have to be in a crisis
to spend time with your pastors. Reach out, we'd be glad to spend
ourselves for your sake and brothers aspiring to pastoral
ministry. Learn from the nursing mothers
in the congregation. Watch them care for and nurture
their children. See their sacrifice and their
affection. Observe how dear their children
are to them, and you're learning how to be a faithful pastor as
you do so. Members of Trinity Baptist
Church, this is how we should care for one another Now.
Sadly, this type of care is increasingly rare in America.
Sharing ourselves is not a strong American trait.
Derek Thompson, who actually lives in Durham.
Writing for The Atlantic, he describes what he calls the rise
of social isolation in America. He said in 2020, 374% of all
restaurant traffic came from off premises customers, that is,
from take out and delivery. That's up 61% before COVID and
according to data gathered by OpenTable.
Derek mentioned that solo dining has increased by 29% in just the
past two years and the top reason given was the need for
more me time. More concern for me equals less
concern for my brothers and sisters.
So if our church is going to be a caring community, we must swim
against the current cultural moment.
Brothers and sisters, don't live a socially isolated life.
Be someone who invites others into your daily activities.
Be someone who opens up your home, your dinner table, your
routines, your very life. And what you'll find is, as you
pour yourself out for the sake of others, they become very dear
to you. Friend, if you're a Christian,
you're not a member of a church. You can't have this depth of
community without commitment. Who do you belong to?
Who's looking out for your soul? Who are you caring for?
The church is a family. Who's expecting you at the
dinner table? Who's waiting for you if you
don't come home at 11:00 PM? We need to care for one another.
The 3rd and the final metaphor Paul uses is in verses 11 and
12. Look at verses 11 and 12.
He says, For you know how like a father with his children.
We exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you.
Here's Paul's depiction of a faithful father.
He's present. He instructs his children.
He gives them individual attention.
Look at that, Paul says, we exhorted each one of you.
He encourages his children. He's a tender father.
He knows their dispositions. He knows when they're faint
hearted and when they need comfort.
He also verse 12 charges his children 2.
Walk in a manner worthy of God, God who calls you into his own
Kingdom and glory. For Paul, this is what it was
all about. His whole ministry was aimed at
pleasing God and then helping others walk with God in a manner
worthy of God. This is the aim of every
faithful pastor, to please God and to help you walk in a manner
worthy with God. Friends, Paul is an incredible
model to follow, but Paul can't save you.
Paul said of himself. Follow me as I follow Christ.
As you look at this passage, every attribute that you
consider that you want to emulate, this is just the fruit
of a man who's being conformed by grace into the image of
another, into the image of Jesus Christ himself.
Friend, if you're not a Christian, can you say, like
Paul, I'm walking in a manner worthy of God?
Can you say with Paul how holy and righteous and blameless was
my conduct? Or do you see cracks in your
character? Do you see a double life even
when you don't want to? Do you see how you've been
controlled by living to please others, by desires for more and
more and more money? By greed, by hungering for
glory, recognition, fame. Paul actually saw these things
in his own life before coming to Christ.
He was not perfect. Paul reflects on himself and he
says, I was the chief of sinners.
So if you're a Sinner here, Paul actually says, I was worse than
you. I was the chief.
You don't beat the teeth. He was the chief of sinners,
which is why Paul needed the very gospel he preached.
And so do you, friend. If you're not a Christian, the
only one that can save you, the only one that was perfect,
righteous, holy, blameless, innocent, was the God man, Jesus
Christ, who died on the cross for those sinners who sought
their own glory, who sought to please man alone.
And he rose from the dead and he's risen now, and he will
return. And he invites all of you as we
sang just moments ago in Jesus, strong and kind.
If you're lost, he invites you come to him.
And He came to us on the cross. Friend, if you've not trusted in
this Saviour, if you've not repented of your sins, then
wrath remains upon you. You will not receive glory with
God at the end, but judgement. So turn to Him, trust in Him.
And brothers and sisters, this is what it's all about for us.
God calls us into His own Kingdom and glory.
You're heading to glory. If you follow Paul, you can walk
in a manner worthy of God to glory.
Earlier this week, a faithful guide, faithful pastor went to
glory. His name was John MacArthur.
He was the pastor at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley,
CA for 56 years. Wow.
Here's what John said about glory in a sermon about 46 years
ago. So maybe just four years into
his ministry, here's what he said.
He said, my son always tells me the first person I want to see
in heaven is Samson. And John reflected, That's hero
worship, I suppose. John said, ask for me.
I want to talk to David. I've always loved David.
And of course, I need to see Paul and Silas and Barnabas and
John. I just can't believe it
sometimes. Do you realize that we're only a
split second away from being with all of them?
John said, is it? It's incredible.
Sometimes it feels like they're so far away, but then someone he
knows dies. And John said, I think, wow, I
was looking at this all wrong. And John said the most important
reason I want to be with Christ, I just want to tell him and I
don't even know how to say it right.
Lord, thank you. I blew it so many times.
I failed so many times. My life was incomplete.
But I just want you to know that I really do love you.
I won't know how to say thanks properly, but maybe, just maybe,
something I did somewhere along the way made him smile.
And if it did, well, that would be everything.
I just want to be there. I've loved him, I've longed for
him, I've prayed with him, communed with him, and served
him, however limited I've been all my life.
I've desperately wanted to know His fullness, and more than
anything else, that's what I want to know.
His fullness and to experience His presence completely, without
hindrance, without hang ups, without the flesh in the way,
with no more obstacles. John preached that sermon 50
years ago and he walked in a manner worthy of God, and today
he's home in glory, where we will soon be if we've trusted
Christ. Let's pray.
Father, we are grateful for faithful models in the faith for
us to follow. Lord, we praise you for the life
of Paul, for his consistent character, for all the ways he
preached Christ even when he was persecuted.
Lord, we pray for us that our hearts would be such that we
could say before men and before you that we're holy and we're
blameless because we're in Him. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.