Marks of a True Ministry, Part 4

Introduction: The Feminine Marks of True Ministry

0:03 Let us turn again this morning to Paul's letter to the church at Thessalonica, the first of those two letters, 1 Thessalonians, as we continue our studies in chapter 2, particularly focusing upon verses 7 through 9 this morning.

0:27 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 7 through 9. But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. For ye remember, brethren, our labor in travail, for laboring night and day, because we would not be charged.

1:10 Unto any of you we preached unto you the gospel of God. First of all, let us set these three verses in their larger context by way of review. In this second chapter, the Apostle Paul, particularly in the first 12 verses, is giving to us those things that characterized his ministry when he and his associates ministered in Thessalonica and were the human instruments by which that church was brought. Having given in the first chapter the clear statement that the only reason for a church existing at Thessalonica was the sovereign grace of God, the electing purposes of God, he now in the second chapter indicates that those sovereign purposes of God are realized through the instrumentality of spirit-directed, spirit-filled ministers. So we are studying this. Passage in the second chapter, under the general theme of the marks of a true minister and a true ministry. And minister and ministry apply not exclusively to the pulpit in the formal sense of ministry, but in the discharge of any God-given responsibility as a Christian,

2:33 whether it's that of a parent to one's children, a neighbor to one's, a friend to one's neighbors, or to a work associate. To other companions at work. Every Christian in this sense is a minister who's been given a trust and is to discharge that trust in the way that the apostle discharged his particular ministry as an apostle. So that the main principle that underlines the passage is not something exclusively related to those whose ministry is that of an apostle or a pastor or a teacher.

3:09 The principles apply to any ministry, regardless of what that ministry is, and Paul is simply a specific example of these principles in a specific area. But digging back beneath the specific to the general principle, we want to see its application to our own lives and to our own ministry. So far we have come across a number of these things that characterize a true minister and a true ministry, and I will not go into detail, simply to mention that not once yet have we in the past, encountered any feminine concepts. Up till now, they've been vigorously masculine concepts.

Review of Masculine Marks and the Consciousness of God

3:51 He was thirsty for success in his ministry. He feared that he should minister in vain, as he mentioned in verse 1. He mentions the concept of boldness, of truth, of uprightness, of holiness. And then last week we saw in verse 5, he never used flattery.

4:10 He never poured it on thick to get people to think, he was a wonderful fellow. He told them the blunt, naked truth. A very masculine concept. He was not covetous.

4:21 He didn't seek the glory of men. And all of these characteristics, at least seven or eight or nine of them that we've already seen, are in a very real sense, powerfully, vigorous, masculine, backbone-ish concepts. If I may coin an adjective. Backbone-ish.

4:41 You don't get any of the concept, that Paul was what brother Tozer, Dr. Tozer called, these soft-handed preachers with the saintly flush on their cheek. Well, you don't find any of that in the Apostle Paul. And so we've tried to see, that your concept of the ministry you have as a mother, as a father, as a witness to your neighbor, must have these masculine qualities of absolute committal to truth, of an inflexible, unbending, unflinching determination.

5:13 Never. Not to flatter, but to discharge your soul of its God-given responsibility. And we have seen, that the underlying principle that produces these vigorous, manly, masculine qualities, is the whole concept of the consciousness of God. Five or six times in the first five verses, we found such phrases as, God is witness.

5:40 Neither did we seek to please men, but God, who trieth our hearts. So it all boils down to this. When I minister to men, am I primarily concerned of what they will think, or do, or give to me? Or am I primarily concerned with what my God has given me to give to them?

6:01 There's the crux of the whole matter. That's it in a nutshell. As a parent, am I more concerned with what my children will give to me in the way of love, or praise, or fear, that I may provoke their wrath? Or am I concerned with discharging my formative, instructive responsibilities to them as given to me from God, whether they love me or hate me?

6:28 My neighbors, am I concerned that they'll still love me, or am I concerned that God has given me a gospel to give to them? If I were to say, there's one principle that pervades this whole passage, it's that principle, is my concern what I will get from those to whom I minister, or is it that I shall give to them that which God has entrusted to me? Now, in that context, and in that context alone, we put now the very feminine characteristics of verses seven to nine. For you see, every true minister will have not only vigorous masculine characteristics, but will also have, these very tender feminine characteristics as well. But we were gentle among you. Now, what a strange contrast. You say a fellow who doesn't fear the faces of men, who's never out to get the praise of men or the glory of men, who's utterly indifferent to whether people spit on him or throw a nickel at him, he just couldn't care less.

The Disposition Described: Gentle as a Nursing Mother

7:35 You say, well, that'll produce a harsh, inflexible, feelingless kind of a person, won't it? Well, it didn't with Paul. For he moves from these qualities so abruptly, we were gentle among you as a nurse cherisheth her children. So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel of God only, but our very own souls, because ye were dear unto us.

8:05 Let us consider in the first place the disposition that Paul describes in this passage. Then we want to trace that disposition to what it does. How does that disposition work? And then we want to consider the roots of such a disposition and then something of its application to us.

8:25 Very well, then. Paul's description of this disposition is under the figure of that of a nurse. We were gentle among you as a nurse cherisheth her children. The word gentle means mild, affable, tender.

8:42 And the only other place it's used in the New Testament is in 2 Timothy, where Paul says to Timothy in chapter 2 and verse 24, the servant of the Lord must not strive. That means be argumentative, bullheaded, but be gentle toward all men. The only other place it's used in the New Testament. Well, what then does it mean?

9:03 If it's only used in two instances, it's hard to determine its meaning when you've got a word that's used in many contexts in the New Testament. You just look up all those passages and before long, the meaning begins to emerge out of its usage. Well, perhaps the Lord, knowing that he would move his servant to only use this word twice, he gave us a beautiful description, a descriptive definition. Here we have a picture that's worth more than a thousand formal words.

9:28 For notice what he says. We were gentle among you, even as here's the descriptive definition of this disposition of gentleness. Even as. Even as a nurse cherisheth her children.

9:43 Now the word nurse here comes from a root word, which means to nourish with food. And literally, Paul is saying, we were gentle among you as a wet nurse, we would call them in our day. Someone who is actually sustaining life with her own life. Someone who is nourishing the life of another from her own breast.

10:04 In a day when you didn't have all kinds of substitutes, for the natural way of sustaining the life of an infinite and you could sterilize your bottles or get your sterilized plastic bags and all the other things that we have now. A little infant was utterly determined, dependent upon the milk of a mother's breast. And if for some reason a mother was incapacitated, well, you had to find a wet nurse who would take that child to her breast as though it were her very own. And her life was involved in sustaining the life of another literally with her own life.

10:42 But now notice what Paul says here, and you miss it in the English, and it's so vivid in the Greek. He says, not as a nurse cherishes a child, but it's very emphatic in the Greek, as a nurse cherishes the very child of her own flesh and blood. And here's the picture. Any woman who gives herself to the ministry of a wet nurse must love children or she wouldn't be bothered.

11:10 Well, she's tender and has a soft, soft spot for anybody's child whose life she nurses. But oh, when she's nursing her very own child, the one who's the fruit of her own womb, why then the tenderness and the cherishing attitude is all the more intense. And that's exactly the figure under which the Holy Ghost is conveying to us this disposition of gentleness in the life of the Apostle Paul. You talk about a switch from the masculine to the feminine.

11:40 Here it is. We were gentle among you as a mother nursing the very fruit of her own womb. And I think I know a little bit what that means, having experienced that in my own privilege as a father and then growing up as the second oldest of 10 children with a mother who nursed all of her children. All those tender little exchanges between a mother and the child and then all the little indications of growth.

12:10 And if there was, disturbance, and if there was an upset tummy, that awareness of the slightest deviation from a normal pattern of growth or development or health, all of that bond that knits together the suckling child to its mother, Paul says squeeze all of that into your mind and that's the way I ministered among you. With a gentleness pictured in this beautiful homey illustration.

The Disposition Amplified: Imparting Our Very Souls

12:40 Now that's the disposition described. Now he goes on to amplify it and says in verse eight, so being affectionately desirous of you. The New English Bible translates it this way. With such yearning love, we chose to impart to you not the gospel of God, but our very selves so dear had you become to us.

13:05 Notice what he says, being affectionately desirous of you. What does he mean desirous of you? Well, he means, the state of your souls, your spiritual wellbeing became the matter of absolute preeminence and importance to us. As the state of the infant becomes the focus of all the interest and desire and concern of a suckling mother.

13:32 So Paul says, you became so dear to us that we were affectionately desirous of you to the extent that we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel only, but our very souls, better translated, our very lives. Now he's carrying on the figure. Follow it through. It's beautiful.

13:57 You see, the mother who's nursing her own child, unlike when she's just being a wet nurse to someone else's child, she gives of life sustenance to someone else's child, but it's doubtful she'd give her very life, but ah, for her own child, she gives, not only something she can give, she gives her very self to her own flesh and blood. And that's what Paul's saying. We were so desirous of you that we were willing to impart not just the life-giving gospel, as a wet nurse imparts her milk to someone else's child, but she doesn't impart herself. But we were willing, as that same nurse would to her own children, to give our very lives.

14:41 You were become so precious to us. That's the picture here. We were willing. Now, the English word here is weak.

14:49 The word willing means we were delighted. It's the same word used when the father spoke from heaven and said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Now, what did the father mean when he looked down upon his son? My soul delights in him.

15:05 Paul says we were delighted. We're counted a privilege to impart not the gospel only, but our very own souls. Our very own souls. Our very lives.

15:17 And what's your life made up of, Paul? Well, it's made up of energy. It's made up of hours. It's made up of time.

15:23 It's made up of words. It's made up of potential work and labor. And I was willing, he says, to have imparted my life to you in all these practical ways, as we shall see as the thought unfolds. Now, you see, there's a difference between imparting something I possess and imparting myself.

15:44 When the postman comes and delivers a letter, whatever that message is, he faithfully delivers it. But he doesn't give himself. In that letter might be some heartbreaking news. He couldn't care less.

15:59 His job is simply to deliver that message to you. Leave it there in your mailbox. And when he's done it, he's done his job. Now, Paul says, you see, my ministry as a gospel minister was not simply to take this letter, the gospel that was entrusted to me, and stick it on your doorstep and go my way.

16:17 Without being involved. Oh, no. He said, I became so desirous of you that I was willing to not only give you the letter, but come through the door. And if it brought bad news to sit down and weep with you, and if it brought a situation, the only way it could be resolved was for me to lay down time and effort and energy to help you out of that predicament.

16:38 I was at your disposal. I was willing not only to deliver the letter, but to give myself to help you out of any dilemma which the letter can bring. And that's the whole concept, to switch the figure from the nursing mother to a postman.

16:54 What a beautifully, and in the holiest sense, a beautifully feminine disposition defined in the heart of every true minister, whether it's in the pulpit, whether it's a parent, whether it's a neighbor, whether it's a work associate, in every area that we minister, what a beautiful disposition. And it's one of the marks of a true minister. And a true ministry. The gentleness of a nursing mother to the fruit of her own womb.

The Root of the Disposition: Love Born of Involvement

17:26 Now, where in the world do you ever get this?

17:31 What is the root of this disposition? We've looked at the description of the disposition. Now, where did it come from? Paul, where did a disposition like that ever find its way into your heart?

17:44 I can understand how your boldness had its roots in your consciousness of God. He gave you a ministry. He tries your heart. He will judge you someday.

17:57 Paul, I can understand how your consciousness of God and your fear, in the right sense, the fear of God, the acknowledgement of His sovereignty, and the fact that He will one day hold you to account. Paul, I can understand how that consciousness could produce boldness, unflinching adherence to truth. But Paul, this feminine character, this disposition of gentleness and tenderness, Paul, where did that come from? Well, he tells us.

18:24 Notice the last phrase of verse 8. Because, this is why I had this disposition, because ye were dear to us. Better translated, you became and are still dear unto us. And he uses a tense in the writing, in the original, which has the connotation of something that happened at a certain point in the past and continues to this day.

18:56 He said, ye became and are yet dear to us. Now, when did these people become dear to Him? Well, if you read back in the record in Acts 17, He came to Thessalonica, now, follow. He came to Thessalonica with no previous deep affection for these people.

19:16 He came with no previous deep affection for these people. He came because he had long long-term love for these people. He came because they wanted to see Him. Because he had a commission from his Lord.

19:21 And as he came to them in the way of obedience. Now follow me. And in the way of obedience got involved. In the context of involvement.

19:32 The Holy Spirit produced love that was abiding in his heart to this very day. When he writes.

19:40 Now see if you get the idea. That Paul sat back somewhere on a couch. Praying that God would somehow send a big glop of oozy love into his heart for the Thessalonians. And then he would come with that love just eking out of his pores.

19:57 And come to Thessalonians. No, no. That's not the concept. He got chased out of one town in persecution.

20:03 And God had told him. Bonds and imprisonment follow you everywhere. You're going to suffer for my sake. But take the gospel to the Gentiles.

20:11 And so next in line from Philippi is Thessalonica. So in obedience. Obedience to his commission. He comes to Thessalonica.

20:18 He begins to preach. There's some opposition. Some problems again. But a little nucleus who begin to respond to the word.

20:25 And after he wipes his hands of the Jewish community. And begins to labor amongst the Gentiles. The Spirit of God in that context of involvement. Begins to produce this love that so knit his heart to this people.

20:39 That though he's miles away. He says a little bit later. For we live. If you stand fast in the Lord.

20:47 He said. Oh, I've got to know if you're going on with God. I've become so involved with you. I'm like a nursing mother.

20:53 Who's taken away from her child. After she's nursed him for four or five months. And I'm providentially separated. Oh, he said.

21:01 My heart yearns over you. Like that mother would yearn. To hold close to her bosom again. That little light.

21:08 Now she doesn't feel that before the child comes. She may not even feel it the first couple of weeks. I've talked with some mothers. Who really had a terrible.

21:15 Sense of condemnation. That they didn't have this deep overpowering love. For that little shriveled up thing. That they saw an hour after the child was born.

21:27 And I've met some fathers. Who felt maybe there's something wrong with them. They didn't have much love. No.

21:33 You're not strange if you didn't. But you see the love developed. As you were what? Involved with that life.

21:42 And as you saw that life dependent upon you. When you began to pour yourself into it. Then the love ties deepened. And strengthened.

21:51 Until now. Separated from that. Child of that loved one. Is deep pain.

21:59 Now that's the root. Of this disposition. The grace of God. Producing divine love.

22:06 In a context. Of involvement.

The Disposition Expressed: Labor and Travail (Self-Denial)

22:14 Don't want to labor the point. I'll come back to it in my application later on. Well. Let's consider very briefly now.

22:20 The disposition expressed. We've seen the disposition described. The gentleness of a nursing mother. The roots of that disposition.

22:29 Ye were become dear to us. The grace of God. Working love in our hearts for you. Now how was that disposition expressed?

22:38 Verse 9. For ye remember. I'm telling you people that you were dear to us. Now is that just a lot of smooth talk?

22:46 Am I just talking off the top of my head? Have I put my hand on my heart here. And felt a little. Warm glow when I say.

22:52 That's so low nika. Oh yes. It feels so nice and warm. I just love you people.

22:58 No no. He says. For ye remember. You think I'm just talking.

23:05 That I had the attitude of a nursing mother to you. That you were dear to me. Oh no. He said I'm not just talking.

23:12 You want a living proof of why. I'm talking the truth. Here it is. Ye remember brethren.

23:19 I call your conscience to witness. Our labor and travail. For laboring night and day. Because we would not be chargeable unto you.

23:31 We preached unto you the gospel of God. What's he talking about? Well he explains it more fully. In his second letter.

23:37 Will you turn to 2 Thessalonians. For just a moment. Chapter 3.

23:43 Where he goes into a little bit more detail. About this expression. Of this disposition of gentleness. Chapter 3 verse 7.

23:52 For yourselves know. How ye ought to mimic us. Follow us. For we behave not ourselves disorderly among you.

24:00 Neither did we eat any man's bread for naught. We weren't freeloaders. But wrought. We worked.

24:07 With labor and travail night and day. That we might not be chargeable to any of you. Not because we have not power or right. But.

24:16 To make ourselves an ensample unto you. To follow us. First Corinthians chapter 9. Clearly establishes that every apostle.

24:25 Every preacher. Had the right. And the privilege. Of living of the gospel.

24:30 They that preach the gospel should. Live of the gospel. But Paul says in first Corinthians 9. That many times.

24:36 He bypassed that legitimate right. And here was one of the places where he did. There wasn't a person at Thessalonica. Who could say.

24:43 Well that Paul he's a sponger. He's just in it for what he can get out of it. He's got a nice easy racket. Goes around preaching.

24:50 Doesn't have to put in the day's work. Gets his food on his table. Clothes on his back. And a little wad for his wallet.

24:57 He's got it made. Paul says. Oh no. Nobody can say that of me.

25:00 For he says. When I was with you. You remember. That after I'd finished preaching.

25:03 You tried to get in touch with me. And you came to my place where I was staying. You'd find me burning candles. Into the wee hours of the morning.

25:11 Working with my hands. Making tents. In order. That nobody would say I was a freeloader.

25:18 Now what was the expression then. Of this gentle love. Of the nursing mother to her child. This disposition.

25:26 Expressed itself. Followed closely. In taking a course. That meant.

25:33 Self denial. Paul had to cast aside. Leisure. Convenience.

25:43 Ease. Effort. Even in areas that were legitimately right. And deliberately take a course.

25:49 That meant difficult. Arduous. Physical toil. And labor.

25:55 That between his preaching. He'd be found. Working with his hands. So that no one.

26:02 Could say. He'd been a burden to them. Now that's but one. Specific expression.

26:09 Of this disposition. Paul making tents. Behind it is the principle. That where this disposition of gentleness.

26:18 This deep affection. Of the nursing mother to her child. It will always lead. The one who has it.

26:26 To take a course of self denial. In order to. To minister to its object. Paul said.

26:34 You became so dear to us. That we literally trampled under foot. Not only sin and evil. Oh no.

26:41 That's not even the thing in question. But we trampled under foot. Our own rights. And privileges.

26:45 And ease. And convenience. We trampled it all under foot. Why?

26:51 Because you'd become very dear to us. You'd become very dear to us. I trust you see the principle. Now.

Application: The Inseparable Channels of God's and Man's Love

26:59 What does this say to us this morning? We who by the grace of God. Would be true ministers. To our children.

27:05 To our neighbors. Those of you. Whom God may be speaking to. Regarding some formal kind of ministry.

27:12 You Sunday school teachers. How are you going to be a true minister? How will this thing work out in your life? What does this passage say to you?

27:21 What does it say to me as a pastor? My heart's been searched out. I couldn't face a passage like this. Without having the barbs of conviction.

27:29 Fix themselves in my own breast. Well first. Well first of all. It brings out a principle.

27:35 That I trust God will burn into our hearts. And it's this. In the outworking of the purposes of salvation. The eternal love of God for his people.

27:46 And the demonstrated love of his servants. Are inseparable. Paul uses basically the same word. He says in chapter one.

27:57 Notice. Knowing brethren. Beloved of God. Your election.

28:04 Your election. For the gospel came in power. Paul. How do you know that God has a peculiar love for people at Thessalonica?

28:12 Well he said it's obvious. Those whom God has loved in eternity. He draws in time. By the mighty efficacious work of the spirit.

28:22 Now he says in chapter two. At the end of verse eight. Because ye were dear. Better translated.

28:29 The same Greek word in its root. Because ye had become beloved. To us. Beloved of God from eternity.

28:37 Beloved of the apostle Paul in time. And that two-fold channel of love. Issued. In the salvation of the Thessalonians.

28:47 And though God in his sovereignty may sometimes bypass the second. And draw some of his beloved ones. Beloved in eternity. May draw them through a heartless cold ministry.

29:02 Or through an impersonal tract. Or something else. For we cannot box up our sovereign God. The general principle is.

29:10 Just as surely as no one is saved. Unless he's beloved of God. He doesn't get saved. Unless he becomes beloved.

29:19 Of one of God's servants. And someone then. Experiences the involvement. Of love.

29:29 The sacrifice of love. The self-denial of love. And that's the way. The elect of God are called out.

29:37 And that's the mark of a true minister. And a true ministry. As I told the ladies in the ladies class. When my grandmother who'd prayed for me for years.

29:47 With tears in her eyes. Took me by the shoulders. As a fourteen year old fellow. Fighting God.

29:53 And fighting the scriptures in my heart. And fighting God's prickings in my conscience. Rebelling against light. When the involvement of love.

30:05 Led her to take me by the shoulders. And look me in the eye. With tears come her down her eyes. Saying oh Albert be true hearted.

30:12 Whole hearted. I knew somebody was involved. In love with me. Those of you who've heard Mr. Reisinger's testimony.

30:21 You remember how. Elmer his work companion. Would witness to Ernie. Week in week out.

30:30 Tried to get him to come to church. And he turned him off with a thousand different lies. And after Ernie was saved. He met Mrs.

30:40 Mrs. Elmer. Forgot Elmer's last name. And she said oh so you're this fellow Reisinger.

30:46 She said you know I got to praying that God would either save you soon. Or move you to another job. Because you were ruining our house. She said well that's a strange way to read a stranger.

30:57 What do you mean I was ruining your household. She said well when Elmer would come home from work every night. He'd walk right by the kitchen table. Where I had put his supper.

31:08 And it was hot. And all ready for him. And he'd walk right by. And he'd go into his bedroom.

31:12 And he'd shut the door. And I'd go by sometimes a half an hour later. And the door was still shut. And if I'd stand on the outside.

31:19 I'd hear him on the inside. Crying to God with tears. For somebody named Ernie Reisinger. That God would save him.

31:28 That's the involvement of love. You see Ernie had become dear to Elmer. So that Elmer was willing not to write the gospel only. He did that at work.

31:46 Day in and day out. By life. And by precept. But he was willing to impart his life.

31:51 What's life made up of. Appetite. And a light for food. He said move to it.

31:58 To pray. Cry to God. There's a story that comes out of classical mythology that illustrates this beautifully. A certain sculptor.

32:13 Who in the mythology. Made a statue of a woman. And when he was done it was so beautiful. That he fell in love.

32:22 With the marble statue. Became so enamored with it. That he prayed to the gods. That it might be given life.

32:29 Then he embraced the statue. And as he did. He noticed. A twitch in the nostrils.

32:34 And a little heaving of the breast. Until color began to come into the cold marble slab. And the cheeks flushed. And the flesh became soft.

32:43 And in answer to his cry to the gods. And the embrace of his own warm body. The statue came to life. And he took this one to be his wife.

32:53 That's what we're talking about. You see that thing that was cold and lifeless became very dear to him. And he got involved in love. And life was the result.

33:07 That's the principle. But let's move away from Elmer and mythology. And look into the heart of God. God got involved with these people.

33:19 So involved that it meant that our Lord Jesus. According to Philippians 2. Emptied himself. Laid aside deliberately willingly all his prerogatives.

33:33 As the unbounded second person of the Godhead. And took upon him all the weaknesses and limitations of true humanity. Subjected himself to scorn. To spittle.

33:45 To the ignorance. And to the vile pourings forth of the human heart. In all of its wretchedness. What?

33:53 Not for what he could get. But for what he could give. And oh beloved my heart yearns. That in this day when nobody wants to be involved.

34:07 We might by the grace of God be made true ministers. For just as the God of truth. Must communicate his truth through a messenger who speaks it. So the God of love.

34:20 Must communicate his love through a vessel. That knows the involvement. Of love. That's the first thing I'd like to say.

34:32 By way of application. How have we passed the test of the first five verses? We say yes. By the grace of God.

34:41 My witness is not of error. It's rooted in the truth. Wonderful. Wonderful.

34:47 And I don't fear the face of man. I want to please God. Wonderful. But you see unless you can say we were gentle among you as a nurse.

34:57 Cherishing your children. The masculine marks of a true ministry. Will harden men. And drive them away.

35:04 Unless they are joined with the feminine marks. Of the gentleness of a nursing mother. Now the reverse is true. The gentleness and tenderness of a nursing mother.

35:17 Divorced from truth. And uprightness will merely disgust. And sicken any thinking person. Maudlin sentimentality.

35:27 But all put the two together. And you have a biblical ministry. That's what Paul had. And in that order.

35:35 If there's any order in which God generally works them. I think it's this. For people who get on the love bug. Before they're ever concerned about truth.

35:46 It seems like you never get them away. They just can't be concerned about truth. They just want to have the general ooze. But woe be unto us.

35:54 If convinced of the truth. And convinced that we must discharge our debt. In regard of the eye of God. And not the eye of men.

Application: The Cost of Involvement and Self-Denial

36:01 We do not cultivate. For these two things are inseparable. Could it be beloved. And I ask myself this question.

36:10 And here's where I stand smitten. Could it be that the reason from the human side. More of our own young people. Are not sitting here this morning.

36:19 As monuments of the grace of God. More of our neighbors. Are not joining us in worship. But can sit down with their feet up in the hassock.

36:27 One eye on the TV. And another on the Sunday paper. This very morning. Not because we've not exposed them to truth.

36:35 But because we've refused the involvement of love. At the cost of denying ourselves. Could it be. This is what I ask myself.

36:47 I've had to ask myself the question this week. I've known what it is a few times. To splash a few tears on my Bible as I've been preaching. But too few times.

36:58 Too few times. Do we know what it is as parents. Not just to point out our children's faults. But to weep over those faults.

37:08 In secret. Well so much for that. First principle that I see by way of application. Now the second thing that I want to enlarge upon.

37:17 And I've already touched it. Is that love demands. Involvement. In the course of fulfilling duty.

37:26 Something happens. When Paul came to Thessalonica. In the course of duty. He would know what we call deep love.

37:35 For these people particularly. He had a general love for all men. As any Christian will have. But he had no peculiar love for the Thessalonians.

37:43 He didn't know them. He hadn't been involved. One of two things happens. As people begin to show what they are.

37:49 And their burdens begin to slough to the surface. And you see that to minister to them. You're going to have to deny yourself. That's what Paul recognized.

37:57 If I'm going to minister with an uncondemned conscience. And give no grounds for anyone to despise my ministry. Here it means. Once again.

38:05 Late nights. Burning the candles till the wee hours of the morning. To win these people. I've got to say no to Paul.

38:13 And yes. To the path of self-denial. And once you see that. One of two things happen.

38:21 Either you embrace the cross of flesh. And the principle of denial of self. Reckoning yourself to be dead. To the screaming cries of your flesh.

38:29 In order that you might give yourself to minister. Or. You back off and say no. That person's need is not worth my denying myself.

38:38 Therefore. I'll drop a letter on the doorstep. That person's need is not worth my denying myself. Therefore.

38:46 I won't come through the door. And get involved. I'll give him a tract. I'll invite him to church.

38:55 But I'm not going to get involved. Now Paul made his choice by the grace of God. When those needs. Began to emerge.

39:05 And though it meant self-denial. They had become dear to him. And he chose the course of self-denial. The involvement.

39:13 Of love. You and I know. it's amazed and astounded sociologists and psychologists they can't understand what's behind it fully when someone can walk down 8th Avenue in New York City an old woman unable to defend herself from a child and two thugs will come up and grab her and snatch her pocketbook and beat her to the ground and people will stand 20 feet away and they'll watch they don't want to get involved why? because involvement might affect them I might come away with a bump on my head her need is not worth running the risk I might come away with my pocket picked the risk is not worth it don't want to get involved isn't that the cry? they can't understand it sociology is something entirely unique in the history of our own nation and so when someone does respond it almost hits the first page of our newspapers that somebody was mugged and somebody came somebody came to me somebody came to me somebody came to their defense and that attitude is crept over into the church of Jesus Christ that ties in with the two messages on the ministry of the open door hospitality you see once we begin to get to know people sooner or later we're going to get involved their burdens are going to become our burdens

Application: Love Demands Involvement and Self-Denial

40:41 their problems are going to become our problems it costs to be a true father and a true mother it means I've got to give time to my children until they feel enough confidence in me to share their problems and then when they do it means I've got to wrestle through those problems in my mind in my praying to get involved with my neighbor oh sure they're very curt and cold but why? why? why? and so I'm going to deny myself I'm going to cultivate interests that are their interests to establish rapport and then when I do get beneath the surface their burdens are going to become mine involvement and involvement always leads to the demands of society self-denial you've got to say no to yourself you're not going to have so many evenings to sit watching your television you're not going to have so much time to spend doing nothing even legitimate things such as Paul's earning a living by the gospel will have to go by the board because the involvement of love will drive you on to the course of self-denial beloved we don't know too much about that do we? do we know much about that? I don't like it I told the man in our prayer meeting last night he says you pray for your pastor I said there's an area I've never told you that I need prayer desperately and this was the very thing and my mind was moving in these lines so I couldn't help but bear my heart to them there are times

42:10 and my wife will bear this out it happened just this past Friday night when I just don't want anybody else's problems I just don't want them anymore I say God I've got enough of my own I don't want anybody more and when someone calls with a problem I just feel like saying tooth your old problem and I know it's wrong I've had to confess to God that I don't want anybody more because it means self-denial I've gotten up just to give some pat little answer you start just giving little answers and turning out Bible verses like a machine gun when people come for counseling and you've had it nobody will be coming to your door but when people sense when they come with a problem that you throw yourself into the midst of that thing and feel with them and weep with them and pray with them that's the crying need my flesh doesn't like it because it means saying no to myself and your flesh doesn't like it either does it?

43:08 we don't like it but beloved if we're to have a true ministry that's what it's got to be let me get very personal is there one person that you're really involved with and the involvement is such that it's costing you something some of you aren't even involved with your own children oh yes you give them their meals and provide that's all the rest you can do all of that you see like the nursing mother the wet nurse who can impart her sustenance her milk to somebody else's child but she doesn't get involved doesn't get involved Paul says we gave you not the gospel only oh to be able to say as a parent I've given you not your bread and your food only and your devotions only oh you can have family worship and still not get involved but I've imparted oh my very life my very blood oh may God help us as parents God help us as Sunday school teachers we can impart the lesson and never impart ourselves oh we can give that lesson there it is write down correct nice perfect wonderful but we don't know a thing about that kid's real problems what's really making what he is we haven't taken time to try to find out and go to him and latch on to him and kiddle ourselves until he opens up and bears his heart see

44:37 involvement demands self-denial we don't want it are you involved is there anybody that you're really involved with as you sit here this morning who's burdened by self-denial who's burdened by self-denial is your burden whose problems are your problems let me make the question more searching anybody outside the circle of your own blood relations you see my involvement with my children can have some area of selfishness in it my involvement with my own family can have some area of selfishness leap beyond the boundaries of your own flesh and blood is there anybody you're really involved with anybody beloved every one of us who's a child of God ought to be able to say yes poorly feebly but thank God there's somebody there's an Ernie upon my heart see you're an Elmer to some Ernie you're a sculptor to some cold slab of stone and you're seeking by the grace of God to love it into life you folk know how I long that we be known as an assembly that is unflinching in its commitment to the truth of God that stands unembarrassed in a wishy-washy evangelical scene and declares thus saith the Lord I am on any truth of the scripture no matter how distasteful to human prejudice whatsoever and I hope

Conclusion: The Source of Love and the Path to Involvement

46:04 that that will ever mark us but beloved if it isn't joined with this that feminine characteristic of the tenderness of a nursing mother we will never be used as God would delight to use us but you say pastor where in the world do you get this well let me tell you right off the bat I know one place you won't get it if you stick the ladle down in there in your own heart and hope somehow to scratch around and pull some up you just better save your dipping it's just not there it's not there there's only one place it comes from the fruit of the spirit is what love what kind of love God's love well what's that life it's love that leads to involvement God so loved that he gave so loved that he gave so loved that he gave of himself and so we are once again shut up to our Lord Jesus Christ that gazing upon him the selfless love who could say greater love hath no man than this that he give what the gospel to his friends no that he give his what that he give his life to his friends greater love no man has than that he give his life for his friends and so the same grace that worked in the heart of a self-centered rebel Pharisee like Saul of Tarsus and the same grace

47:32 that gave him such compassion for the Thessalonians is the love that can work in us but you say how now will I get that love let me encourage you now I want to close on a very practical note in the course of obedience get yourself involved and in the context of involvement God will impart his love in obedience Paul went to Thessalonica as it were in cold blood but he wasn't there long before it became warm blood and as he got involved and the needs began to come to the surface he faced that critical period where either he bowed his neck to the path of self-denial or he backed off in self-indulgence you pray that God will just give you somebody to set your sights on and you just start getting involved even though you may not feel one-fiftieth of an ounce of love for them you just start getting yourself involved and as you do you know what happens in the course of involvement God will impart his love you got no burden for souls let me ask you to do something go on down next Friday night right in the middle of Newark and just stand there on the street corner and just watch people go by watch empty-faced pouring into the cheap movies some other buying this buying that hoping to somehow assuage the thirst then just have enough courage to go up to one

49:02 who just seems to be standing around doing nothing and just start talking to him and say what's life all about God will impart his love and as you begin to see the emptiness and the burdens that crush them for which they have no answer you know what will happen you'll come home saying somebody began to become dear to me you see love comes in the context of involvement if as a parent God has spoken to your heart this morning you see you've failed that you've not been involved with your kids sit down with them tell them tell them and say now look I've goofed but would you please just tell me what you think about me it may hurt but where do you think I failed as a father as a mother anything to get the channels of communication open that you might get involved get involved get involved well I must not labor the point but I leave these two principles with you and I hope I've shown you the way whereby you might know this the disposition described we were gentle among you as a nurse cherisheth your children the root of that disposition the grace of God producing love ye were become dear to us the experience of that disposition ye remember brethren our labor and travail the course of self-denial and as we face that we must recognize in whatever ministry we're involved these two things are inseparable the love of God reaching out to men and the love of another

50:31 human being reaching out to that man and it's going to demand involvement if you don't want to get involved then you don't want biblical Christianity it's just that simple but I believe many of you do and by the grace of God may we be shut up to the God of grace for that love and that involvement which is the mark of a true minister and a true ministry let us pray gracious Lord we stand smitten before the searching light of thy holy word we confess that by nature we don't want to be involved we want to coddle ourselves walk the path walk the course of self-indulgence have mercy upon us Lord when we've made an idol of our own whims and allowed men to slip by unloved without really knowing that anybody cared Lord we know that it's not enough to have this kind of love give us the grace to say no to ourselves and look to thee for the grace and for the infusion of that love of God by the Holy Spirit give us who have no one

52:00 that we're really involved with give Lord someone that can become in a very real sense a a proving ground of this truth of thy word Lord we cry to thee that as a church we may be a body not only of worshipping people of people who hear the word but a body of involved people not involved with all kinds of carnal schemes and all kinds of unsanctified activity in the name of Christ but involved with people to whom we may communicate thy message and not the gospel only but our very lives hear us Lord in our cry purge us by thy precious blood and quicken us by thy spirit for Jesus' sake