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00:00 Okay. Good morning, church. Morning.
00:09 Well, it's uh National Day weekend. All right. Uh all the Malaysian preachers have taken a break, so they decided to
00:16 uh get a Singaporean up here to uh share the word of God with you. A well-deserved break, I must say.
00:24 Um indeed. Um it's a privilege to be able to uh share the word of God with
00:31 you. Uh Cynthia and I uh have come back and lived amongst you for the last six
00:36 years and uh as we reflected on this uh few days ago. Uh I must say that we have
00:43 indeed really been blessed you know to enjoy the warmth of your fellowship and your love.
00:50 Um before we um get into the word of God let us go to him in prayer. Let us pray.
01:00 Dear heavenly father, we thank you for this day, for this time that you have gathered us together to study your word.
01:08 We pray Lord that you illumine our minds and grant us understanding.
01:13 as we look into your word and to learn how we can advance your gospel with
01:19 integrity. Lord, may you be pleased to use a weak vessel such as I for your glory. For we
01:26 ask all this in Jesus name. Amen. Oh, uh clicker. I need the clicker.
01:34 Sorry, back.
01:47 So, I'm still trying to get used to this. This is my first time to preach on a Sunday. Okay. Um, the gospel and
01:53 integrity. Okay. Now, uh, last week we started off on a
01:59 new series beginning with the book of First Thessalonians. Okay. I think it
02:04 will be useful uh to give you a mental picture of what the city is like as we
02:10 continue our study of this letter. Now Thessalonica
02:16 is the capital of the province of Macedonia. It is a Greek city. Okay, so it is in Greece. Now if you imagine
02:25 yourself to be walking down the streets of ancient Thessalonica,
02:30 this is probably what you see. You know, you see a lot of sailors. Why? Because
02:37 Teslon is a coastal city with a port. It is situated on the northern part of the
02:43 agency. And you get to see that when I beam up the map later on.
02:49 uh and therefore you see people coming from all over the known world in those days to uh to trade
02:58 uh to uh uh you know because it's a port city and and and part of the Roman
03:04 Empire. You see also a lot of Roman soldiers marching up and down because um
03:11 Thessalonica happens to be in the crossroad right between the eastern part
03:17 and the western part of the Roman Empire. So anybody wanting to travel from Rome in the west going to a place
03:24 like Turkey in the east they would have to pass through uh Thessalonica.
03:30 Now it is also a self-governing city. is a very free city and therefore in Thessalonica you have both Roman
03:38 influence, Greek influence, you have different beliefs, different cultures,
03:44 different cultures and languages from different parts of the world all congregating in that city.
03:51 Now against the backdrop you get to see Mount Olympus. All right, which is the
03:56 home of the Greek gods. Okay. So for those of you uh you know younger ones
04:01 who read uh fantasy books right by Rick Ryoden are you familiar with that? Okay.
04:08 You read fantasy Greek mythology uh gods like Zeus and uh Prooseidon. Okay these
04:15 are actual gods right in those days that they worship and the Greeks believe that the gods lived in Mount Olympus.
04:22 So the upshot of all this is that we have a pagan city that is filled with diverse cultures, creeks, all sorts of
04:29 beliefs, cults, religions and philosophical systems. It's not uncommon
04:35 to be walking past the market square and seeing people debating and arguing about the meaning of life. You know, because
04:42 the Greek prides themselves in having wisdom and having figured out, right, the meaning of life.
04:49 So it is against such a backdrop that the Thessalonian church was founded. Now last week pastor Joesh preached from the
04:57 first chapter and we saw how Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians reminded
05:02 them of their conversion experience. Indeed Paul, Silas and Timothy had a
05:08 highly successful ministry in Thessalonica. Now you remember in chapter one,
05:15 Paul was full of praise of the young believers there. After he had learned
05:21 that in spite of persecution, the Thessalonians had persevered in their work of faith, labor of love, and held
05:29 steadfast in the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ. Also in chapter one, Paul also
05:35 wrote that the Thessalonians had not only become imitation of him and his
05:40 companions, but they had become an example to all the believers in the whole of Macedonia
05:48 right down to Aa. What a glowing testimony is that? These
05:55 were genuine conversions and their reputation has gone forth everywhere.
06:02 Now as we come to chapter two, you find that we are given a blueprint
06:08 or a pattern for a successful gospel outreach ministry.
06:14 So if you want a pattern for a successful ministry in reaching the world with the gospel, we can find it
06:20 here in 1 Thessalonian 2. You also find that integrity
06:27 plays a big part in a successful gospel ministry. And therefore, our title of today's
06:33 message is the gospel and integrity. Now perhaps you are a student you know
06:39 at university or college or high school and you want to reach out to your
06:45 non-believing friends or you have a non-believer amongst your family members
06:51 or perhaps you are homemaker okay and you constantly engage with your
06:57 neighbors and you want to preach the gospel to them
07:02 or you are here in FBC right uh you partaking in a serving the Lord in a
07:08 ministry. If you're trying to win others to
07:14 Christ, it is vital that we follow God's
07:20 prescribed pattern for his work. And here in the second chapter of
07:27 Thessalonians, we hope to be able to uh learn something, right, of what a
07:32 successful gospel ministry is all about. So first the definition of integrity. What does integrity mean? Integrity is a
07:39 word that when used to describe someone can be said to be to have the quality of
07:45 being honest and having strong moral principles. Now when we use the word
07:50 integrity to describe something um we can say that it's the quality of
07:57 being whole or complete is for the students for the math students. This is
08:03 where you get the word integer from, right? Because integer is whole numbers. It's not a fraction.
08:10 So other words that are associated with the concept of integrity can be truthful, consistent
08:17 and it is not impaired or tainted. Now to help us follow uh the passage
08:25 I've divided right into four points, four main points. Okay. We learn about the integrity of the message, the
08:32 method, the messenger and the manner.
08:37 So to have a successful gospel outreach ministry, the first thing we want to look at is the integrity of the message.
08:45 Now in the passage that was just read to us in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 in verse two, we had bonus in our God to declare
08:53 to you what? The gospel. In verse four,
08:60 just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted in the go with the gospel, so we speak. In verse eight, being
09:09 affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the
09:14 gospel of God, but also ourselves. Verse nine, while we proclaim to you the
09:21 gospel of God. So what is the message? The message is the gospel of God. And the key word
09:29 there in verse four is that the gospel of God has been entrusted to us. It is
09:35 not an invention of man. It is the divine revelation of God.
09:43 It is not found in somebody's head, right? Because if that would be the case, it would change from year to year.
09:50 It is not found in the wisdom literature of the Greeks. But the gospel is something that God has
09:57 given to us and entrusted to us. And when we say entrust,
10:02 okay, when we use the word entrust, what do we mean? We mean that we
10:09 give something to someone, right? To save God.
10:16 So as we approach the gospel
10:22 we have to understand that it is a revelation of God something that we are to safeguard it from corruption.
10:31 Now where is the gospel of God to be found? Well, we read in verse 13,
10:38 and we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you
10:46 accepted it not as the word of man, but as what it really is, the word of God,
10:52 which is at work in you believers. So, we have the gospel that is entrusted
10:58 to us, that is found in the word of God. Now the gospel
11:11 is also a demanding message. Okay. In verse 12, it's a message that
11:18 insists that those who believe in it experience a change.
11:25 Experience a change in what? A change in orientation. a change in desire from pleasing self to pleasing God.
11:34 It's a message that ask men, women, boys, and girls to repent of their sins and to turn to Jesus in obedience to his
11:42 calling. Now,
11:47 so we understand the gospel to be something that is entrusted to us, not an invention of man. It's a revelation
11:54 of God and it is a demanding message that effects a change in the believer's
11:60 life.
12:05 We read in verse two, right? That gives us a clue as to the circumstances in
12:11 which the gospel came to Thessalonica.
12:18 the circumstances under which the men of God came to Thessalonica, right? Uh is
12:24 that they had come from the city of Philippi. We know from the account in Acts chapter
12:31 6 16 and 17. No, no, no. If you want to go back and read through Acts chapter 16 and 17, uh we we read over there that
12:38 Paul and Silas were beaten, tortured, and thrown into jail in Philippi. God
12:45 has sent an earthquake to break them free from the jail. And a result of this incident, the Philippians jailer and his
12:52 entire family came to be saved. I'm sure you know most of us would remember that story.
12:58 Now, when it came to Thessalonica, their wounds were probably still fresh.
13:04 Now, Paul and his companions could have said, "Wow, you know, there's a big price to be paid, right, for preaching
13:10 the gospel. let us just, you know, skip this city or let us just lay low for a while, you know, until the coast is
13:16 clear. They didn't they didn't they did not do
13:21 such a thing. Instead, they went straight to the synagogue in Thessalonica and boldly
13:28 preached the gospel. Now, the account in Acts tells us that as soon as some of the Jews and the
13:35 Greeks started to come to faith, persecution from the Jews arose.
13:41 Now, why were the Jews so offended? Now, we know that every time when we
13:46 preach the gospel and when conversion happens,
13:52 almost always you find persecution, opposition.
14:01 Now, that's because the gospel inherently is an offensive message.
14:08 The Jews find it offensive because the gospel tells them that by their own good
14:14 works, they could never earn their way to God. They could never earn their salvation. And worse still, right, by
14:21 telling them that Jesus Christ was their Messiah is really an indictment because it was
14:27 the Jews who crucified Christ.
14:32 So to the Jews, they heavily relied on their good works
14:38 in order to gain favor from God. The gospel is therefore an offensive message
14:43 for them. Now try telling a non-believer today
14:48 that he or she is a sinner and have been living in rebellion against God.
14:57 and try telling them that their eternal damnation, eternal destination
15:03 is separation from God in hell
15:08 and it's all their fault. How do you think they will react?
15:14 Of course, the gospel message is offensive to them.
15:24 Now, that's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 1:22, "For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
15:32 but we preach Christ crucified, which is a stumbling block to the Jews and
15:38 foolishness to the Gentiles.
15:44 Yet we don't find
15:51 Paul, Silas, and Timothy backing off from preaching the true
15:57 gospel. Now, they could have easily tried to
16:02 alter the message in order for the gospel to be less offensive, isn't it?
16:10 Unfortunately, this is how many churches have reacted today.
16:16 Today, sadly, in an attempt to appeal to men, many so-called Christian churches
16:23 preach a defective gospel that makes no demands on the believers.
16:29 We have churches today that run like big business corporations, don't we? where
16:34 the gospel is a product that is tailored to the latest consumer preferences
16:40 and celebrity pastors that are at the center of attraction uh attraction and center of attention.
16:46 These churches try to make it as comfortable as possible right to the seekers.
16:53 Dr. Michael Brown who is a prominent American pastor and a radio broadcaster
17:00 and also an author. I mentioned him because there's a book that he wrote that uh I'm reading.
17:07 He wrote in one of his uh regular columns, for years, we have preached a
17:13 cheap gospel and pedled a soft savior. We have taught salvation without
17:18 self-denial and the crown without the cross. We have catered to the unsaved
17:24 and compromised with the world. Now we are paying the price.
17:30 How are we paying the price? It's not uncommon for us to have churches where we have
17:37 huge numbers and yet how many of them are really
17:44 genuine believers because they have been exposed to a
17:49 defective gospel.
17:54 So just a check, right?
18:01 The result is that even amongst well-meaning and God-fearing Christians,
18:06 sometimes we unconsciously or unwittingly communicate a man- centered gospel as opposed to a God- centered
18:13 gospel. What is the difference? A man- centered gospel defines our lives
18:20 in terms of what we need or want most. The true gospel, the biblical gospel
18:27 rightly recognizes that none of us fundamentally live to ourselves, but we
18:32 all should be living for God. A man-c centered gospel considers our needs and our desires to be our most
18:39 fundamental problems. The true gospel recognizes that sin against God
18:46 and his and facing his wrath is the most fundamental problem imaginable.
18:53 Right? So a man- centered gospel focuses on man's needs whereas a God- centered
19:00 gospel focuses on God's glory. Man- centered what can God do for me?
19:08 God- centered what can I do for God? You know this third point is a little
19:15 bit controversial, right? Because personally I am guilty of using the term. I mean evangelical Christians
19:23 right have come up with a lot of uh cliches you know okay that we use and
19:29 when we preach the gospel sometimes we use the word accept Jesus
19:36 instead of submitting to Jesus. Is that just semantics or does it betray
19:43 an unconscious desire in our hearts to want to make the gospel a a little bit
19:49 less offensive? Because see, if you use the term accept Jesus,
19:56 we are in fact exchanging our position with price, isn't it? We have put Christ
20:02 the savior under our judgment and it's up to us whether we accept him or not.
20:08 And then the verse that is often quoted, right, okay, is uh what? Revelation 3:20. I stand at the door and knock. And
20:16 presumably Christ is knocking at the door, right? For you to open the door, the door of your heart, okay? So that
20:23 you can receive him. It is almost as if Jesus Christ is portrayed as a juted
20:29 suitor, you know, begging to come in. All right? And it's up to you to be the
20:34 judge of whether he should or should not come into your life.
20:39 Uh if you have studied the Bible long enough, you realize that Revelation 3:20
20:45 is actually quoted out of context in that particular instance. The verse is actually a verse directed
20:53 at the church, the Christian. Okay? And it is Christ standing at the
21:00 door of the church. Okay? asking asking them to repent right before he would
21:06 step inside otherwise he would consign the church to eternal damnation.
21:13 It's not a message for the non-Christian. So you see the difference
21:20 between using the word accept Jesus because if you study the Bible nowhere
21:27 in the Bible is there the notion of us accepting Jesus. Yes, we accept God's
21:33 free gift of salvation. We receive it.
21:38 Better to use the word to submit because that's what it really is. As we
21:45 read earlier on, we need to preach a gospel, right, that demands a change in
21:51 life. The Bible is full of references, right? Uh that says repent and believe.
21:57 Repent. And by repentance, we mean a turning away from your sin and turning towards
22:05 God. So as we preach the gospel, let us be mindful to use the language of the
22:12 Bible, right? and not our own terms. You know, uh it is very common for us to
22:18 come up with cliches. Another one is let go and let God.
22:26 Now again like accept Jesus there is nothing biblically wrong you know okay
22:33 with these terms but at the same time uh
22:39 it doesn't get a lot of endorsement from the Bible as well. Okay, let go and let God uh is very common amongst
22:46 evangelical churches today to say, "Hey, uh you know, we surrender our life and
22:52 we don't really need to work after we've believed in Jesus Christ. Uh our eternal salvation is secured and therefore let's
22:59 rest in his uh uh uh love, right? Love
23:05 is a very very common uh concept, right? That is embraced, okay? It's easy to accept, okay? and
23:13 just let God God has done all the work. Okay. Oh, now the there's a term going
23:19 around it's called hyper grace. Okay. The moral laws, the ten commandments do
23:25 not apply to us anymore. Okay. But the Bible doesn't teach that, does
23:30 it? Does it? The Bible tells us to hold fast to the faith
23:37 to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Now just now pastor Mark know as he was
23:42 conducting uh the Lord's supper uh he gave us a picture all right of uh
23:49 the army of enlisting okay Christians enlist in
23:56 God's army the Bible uses that as a picture too you
24:02 know we are supposed to put on the whole armor of God okay there's nothing easy about that I can assure you
24:09 Another picture in the Bible, right, talks about the athlete. Okay, I run the race, right, towards the mark of the
24:16 high calling of God. Now, you know how hard an athlete trains. Okay, you've just watched the C games.
24:23 So, there's nothing easy. So, let go and let God, okay? Whole fast workout is
24:30 better. Uh, now if you have a man- centered gospel, okay, you have a very low view
24:37 of God. You know, God is part of my busy schedule. But if you have a high view of God,
24:45 you say, "I'm part of God's great commission." It's easy for people to label themselves
24:53 as Christians. It's much much more difficult to call yourself a Christian
24:59 as well as a disciple. So I've spent a little bit more time on
25:04 this slide because I think it is important for us. Okay. As a church, you know, the language that we use, the
25:12 posture that we use when we transmit the gospel message to
25:19 our non-believing friends.
25:28 At the end of the day, any attempt to soften the gospel message is really a
25:35 failure to trust in the power of God. Jesus says, "My sheep will hear my voice
25:41 and they will follow me. All that the father gives me will come to me, and
25:47 whoever comes to me, I will never cast out." Last week we heard Pastor Joesh said,
25:54 "God has chosen you from before the foundation of the world."
26:02 Jesus got it. He's got our back.
26:07 Jesus told the apostle Peter, "And I tell you, you are Peter and on this rock, not you Peter, but I, Jesus
26:16 himself, will build his church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
26:22 against it." Christ is building his church
26:27 and we are just his instruments. We are just
26:32 his tools. All right? privileged enough to share in the great commission.
26:40 Jesus Jesus will build his church. Our job is simply to obey God's commandment
26:46 and to faithfully preach the true gospel of God.
26:51 So the question is, are we true to the gospel of God?
27:03 Now we have the message. A closely related point okay to the
27:09 first uh point of integrity of the message is the integrity of the method
27:14 or the means. Now when Paul came to the Jewish
27:20 synagogue, he, Silas and Timothy, right, did not uh change into costumes, right?
27:28 Uh and started to put on a play, did he?
27:33 Neither did he form a three-piece band, you know, for to have a to sing, okay,
27:39 about God's plan of salvation. He did not come to perform any miracles,
27:46 okay, or hold a large healing rally in order to convert or persuade people,
27:52 right, to believe in Jesus Christ. Now, of course,
27:59 I'm not saying that these things are wrong, okay? Some of these things have their proper place at the proper time,
28:07 and many of them may actually be very useful. But we can never replace God's chosen
28:13 mean to save his people. And that is through the preaching of God's word.
28:21 Now if we look back at the verses of our passage in verse two, okay, it says,
28:27 "But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi,
28:32 as you know, we have bonus in our God what? To declare to you the gospel of
28:39 God." And in verse 13, okay, we read that when you receive the word of God,
28:45 what you heard the gospel from us. So there is a declaring, there is a
28:51 speaking, there is a preaching, and then there is a listening and there is a hearing.
29:04 Now we are exalted all right by Paul in his uh instruction to Timothy in 2
29:11 Timothy 4:24. Preach the word. Be ready in season and
29:18 offseason. Reprove, rebuke, and exalt with complete patience and teaching. For
29:24 the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having eaching years, they will accumulate for
29:31 themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off
29:39 into myth. So is preaching the the job of the
29:46 person standing up here in the pulpit proclaiming the gospel.
29:55 No, if it were true then a verse like Acts 18 right would be quite
29:60 meaningless. Okay. And it is said when Jesus said, "You will
30:05 receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and
30:13 in Samaria and to the other most parts of the
30:18 world. All Christians are asked to be witnesses for Christ. And therefore, it is
30:27 our duty as Christians to be conversant with the gospel in
30:34 order to preach it to the unbelieving world. So the question is are we equipping
30:41 ourselves? Are we diligently applying ourselves to the study of God's word?
30:48 A practical notion would be if you haven't started to come come to
30:54 beta and gama. All right.
31:00 The Bible clearly links preaching to evangelism. Okay. And this is a very famous passage, right? Uh from Romans.
31:07 Okay. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How are they
31:12 saved? How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they
31:19 to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear
31:25 without someone preaching? So in verse 17, so faith comes from hearing and
31:32 hearing through the word of Christ or as implied through the preaching of the
31:38 word of Christ. So another practical questions I like to
31:44 ask ourselves. All right. So if evangelism is so closely tied to preaching, okay, are we as a church
31:52 doing enough in our missionary work? Are we actually sending out people from FBC,
32:02 right, to other countries, to other parts of Malaysia in order to preach the gospel to the unsaved? Because that is
32:07 God's ordained means of calling his people to himself.
32:18 Now the third mark of a successful gospel outreach ministry is this. The messenger of the gospel must be a person
32:26 of integrity. If we are to have success in our evangelism, our life must match what we
32:33 stand for. We must walk the talk. And if we would speak the gospel,
32:39 our life must reflect that. Now in the passage that
32:48 we have read, notice that Paul how Paul was asking the Thessalonians to
32:54 validate his character based on their experience of him when they were together.
33:02 In verse three, it says, "Our appeal does not spring from error or impurity
33:07 or attempt to deceive." In other words, Paul was asking the Thessalonian Christians to judge his
33:14 motives. Paul, Silas, and Timothy did not come to
33:21 trick them. All right? They did not come with impure motives in order to gain
33:27 something from the Thessalonian Christians. In verse four, they could see that he wasn't interested in
33:34 pleasing man. But Paul's primary aim is to please God.
33:40 You can't save man by pleasing him. You can only save him by pleasing God.
33:49 Paul didn't use flattery which technically means an insincere praise
33:55 spoken about someone because you want something in return. Okay, if somebody
34:02 flatters you, right, it's not a good thing. Okay, it's not sincere, right? The person is trying to gain something
34:09 or some benefit from you. That's not what he did.
34:14 In verse six, even though he could have demanded financial support from the church there,
34:20 Paul, Silas, and Timothy didn't exercise that right. Right? Instead, what did
34:27 they do? Paul and his companions, all right, as we read in this particular verse, verse 9, okay, for you remember
34:34 brothers, our labor and toil, we work night and day that we might not be a
34:40 burden to any of you. It is well within the rights of the apostle, all right, to
34:46 be supported by the church. But he didn't want people to accuse him,
34:52 okay, of benefiting unfairly or taking advantage of the Christians in Thessalonica.
34:59 So what did he do? He worked night and day in order to support himself while waiting for relief from the church in
35:05 Philippi. as we read in Acts.
35:13 And in verse 10, it says, "You are witnesses and God also. How holy and
35:19 righteous and blameless was our conduct towards you believers."
35:27 Wow. That's a very very bold statement, isn't it? The Thessalonians were witnesses to how
35:34 holy, righteous, and blameless they were. How many of us could actually say
35:39 that of ourselves? I certainly won't be able to utter those
35:44 words right to you. But Paul could.
35:51 Why is it that he was able to so confidently say that he was blameless,
35:57 righteous, and holy? You see the thing that stands out in these verses, right, and that
36:03 characterized this man was that as they were ministering to the Thessalonian Christians, you know, they were more
36:11 conscious of the presence of God than the presence of men.
36:17 They were more keenly aware that they were actually doing God's work
36:24 than they were trying to please men. And that's the key.
36:33 God does not save sinner right in and of itself. Okay? That is
36:40 not the chief end of why God saves us. God saves us to display his glory.
36:49 Okay?
36:55 So now imagine, right, if Donald Trump were to
37:00 walk in right into this church and preach and say and preach the gospel,
37:08 do you think that um he would gain any credibility
37:14 uh in what he says? I mean, I I'm only using Donald Trump as an example because
37:19 he's the most famous person in the world, right? Okay. Uh with due respect, right, to our American friends here, I'm
37:25 not trying to uh be disrespectful, okay? But I'm trying to make a point, okay? Uh
37:32 that if somebody like him or you know who who life is dubious, okay, come and
37:41 uh say he wants to tell you about God's love, about God's free gift of
37:46 salvation. uh and he makes an advertisement right in the papers and says that at such and such a time at
37:53 such and such a stadium you know he'll be bringing a message right
37:58 uh I wonder how many people would turn up probably a big crowd huh actually
38:03 okay but uh it wouldn't be wanting to hear what he has to say probably they
38:08 wanted to go there what for the entertainment factor probably okay
38:15 but a bit closer to home Okay. Right.
38:21 Somebody marks No, all right. Okay. I think most of us would know him
38:28 and for those uh who are from overseas. Uh he's actually a pastor in Singapore
38:34 of City Harvest Church and I think last year uh he was tried and I think earlier
38:40 this year right or or maybe end of last year he was convicted right of siphoning something like 23 million Singh dollars
38:47 okay in order to fund uh the career of his wife. Okay.
38:54 Uh I I know I I did a bit of research on his background. I I don't know whether you've heard any of his sermons. If not,
39:01 right, go to YouTube and search Kongi and Jesus
39:07 was rich sermon. Okay? I think it was either Jesus was rich or Jesus wasn't poor. And this is a guy uh who preaches
39:17 uh the prosperity gospel. Now, if
39:23 our lives do not display the fruit of the gospel and reflect God's image, why
39:29 would anyone want to listen to our message? Okay. If we are to attract
39:36 non-believers, okay, we have to be mindful of our walk,
39:42 our lifestyle. Okay? And that is a much better way of attracting non-believers
39:49 to come into the church rather than to tweak the message or to tweak the method. Isn't it better to live out the
39:57 gospel and thereby glorify God so that people
40:03 could see a difference in us that they will be attracted right to come to you. Why is it that this bunch of Christians,
40:10 right, are so loving to one another, are so cool to one another,
40:16 right? That in the face of the most severe uh storms and difficulties in
40:22 life, uh they are they remain joyful, they remained uh uh rested, right? What
40:31 is their secret? Isn't that a better way for us to
40:37 display the glory of God?
40:47 So this is uh really to the heart. Okay. We all in varying degrees put on a mask,
40:55 don't we? So the question I want to ask all of us including myself is that is our life on
41:01 Sunday today the same as it is on any other day. Is our private life that no one sees the
41:10 same as the one that the public sees?
41:16 The asset test all right is when nobody sees only God sees. How do we behave?
41:25 Are there any secret sins that we are hiding?
41:32 Now you'll find that if you are not living according to God's will or in
41:38 obedience to his commandment, it becomes very difficult to share the
41:44 gospel. Why? Because our lives
41:50 are inconsistent with the gospel message. Right? Psychology call it in congruence.
42:01 So let us reflect on whether our lives
42:08 is a reflection of the fruit of the gospel.
42:15 Now we could have a good message. We must we may be uh obeying God's
42:22 ordained means of spreading that message. We may live holy lives
42:30 but there's one more ingredient okay that is necessary
42:36 right and that's the integrity of our manner right that kinds of complete the entire picture and what do I mean the
42:44 integrity of our manner is in the manner in which we approach the ministry the
42:50 manner in which we share the gospel with our non-believing friends it has to
42:58 filled with love. In verse seven, right, we read, "But we
43:05 were gentle among you like a nursing mother taking care of her own children."
43:10 Now, the gospel message is an offensive message, but that doesn't mean that you can be
43:18 offensive, right?
43:23 In verse 11, for you know how like a father with his children, we exalted
43:29 each one of you and encourage you and charge you to walk in a manner worthy of
43:34 God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. First, the nursing mother.
43:40 Okay. Paul gives us a picture of how he approaches his ministry. Okay. And the
43:48 verse tells us very clearly, he gives us a picture of a nursing mother. Now the mothers amongst us would know you know
43:55 right when you have a young baby you don't just pick the young baby up and shake him right is a very hard job right
44:03 to minister or to to uh uh uh attend to
44:08 an infant and the picture is a nursing mother and
44:14 you know mothers who have been there before. Okay. Uh my wife, you know, had
44:22 the double uh portion of that. Okay. When uh Rebecca and Jessica were born, um
44:29 they wake up any time in the night, right, for feeding, isn't it? Okay. Does the mother just say, "No, you know, let
44:36 the kid cry and I'll do it when I have enough rest." No.
44:41 The mother wakes up anytime the baby wants to feed. Isn't it?
44:48 And that's what a loving mother does. The loving mother goes to the baby,
44:55 picks the baby up and gently, okay, feed the baby.
45:02 So just as the nursing mother, Paul
45:08 treats his flock, his congre congregation, all right, with that kind of a love.
45:16 Now the Bible is always you know very balanced okay uh we do not just have
45:24 love love love okay but we also have discipline okay and that's where Paul
45:31 gives us the picture of a loving father okay a strong loving father who exalts
45:39 uh his child okay uh exhort and encourage the child
45:46 and charge the child to walk in a manner worthy of God. So if the child were to
45:51 stray for example, the father brings him back to the straight and narrow. Okay? So you see the Bible is very very
45:58 complete, you know. Okay? And that that's the integrity of the entire ministry, right? gentleness, love,
46:06 compassion on the one hand, strength, discipline, okay, and instruction on the
46:14 other.
46:26 So there we have it. The gospel and integrity.
46:32 The integrity of the message we have to preach. Okay. The gospel that is true to
46:37 the word of God. Balanced love as well as judgment.
46:43 Integrity of the method. Preaching as the ordained means of spreading the gospel. The integrity of the messenger
46:51 is very important too. And of course, we must always approach the non-believing
46:56 world with love and compassion.
47:01 Now, if some of you here might uh
47:07 not have come to faith in Jesus Christ, uh I'd like
47:15 you to realize that you are actually living in rebellion against God.
47:21 The Bible is very clear that all of us without exception including me are born
47:27 sinners. We are sinners by nature. We are sinners by habit by what we do. And
47:34 our eternal final destination is hell. If God had not interveneed in our life
47:41 and the good news is that's the bad news and the good news is God has indeed intervened in our lives.
47:50 God sent his only son who lived a perfect life so that only he was
47:57 qualified to die on our behalf.
48:03 You see, as sinners guilty
48:08 of rebellion against God, our sentence, right, is death.
48:16 But Christ came so that for those who submit to him, who believe in him,
48:22 right, should not perish but have eternal life. An exchange has taken
48:29 place. The sinner's guilt, sin, and shame are
48:35 given to Christ, and Christ's righteousness is given to the sinner.
48:44 God calls you to repent today. God calls you to turn from your sin and to submit
48:52 to his lordship. I pray Lord that you would or if you
48:59 have not given your life to Christ to heed the call.
49:05 Let us go to God in prayer. Let us pray.
49:16 Dear heavenly father, we thank you for the gospel.
49:21 We thank you Lord that you have not left us
49:27 uh in our state in our natural state
49:33 but in your grace and in your mercy you have reached out to us and that you
49:39 have given your only begotten son Jesus Christ to die on our behalf.
49:46 Lord, we pray that you help us to
49:53 respond by giving our life to you.
50:01 Lord, we thank you for the power of the gospel for it is
50:06 your power that is able to transform lives. And we pray Lord that
50:12 as we meditate upon what we have read from your scriptures,
50:20 we will apply it in our lives and so transformed and so be transformed Lord
50:27 that we would bring glory to your name. For we ask all this in the name of our
50:33 Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
