In Jim Tsantles' sermon titled 'Authentic Christianity is Bold, Sacrificial, and Sincere,' the speaker draws on 1 Thessalonians 2:1-3 and various passages in Acts to emphasize the transformative power of the Gospel as seen in the life of Paul, formerly Saul. The sermon highlights the boldness, sacrificial nature, and sincerity that are hallmarks of true Christian faith. Tsantles explains that Paul's sudden departure from Thessalonica was due to persecution, which left the new believers vulnerable. Despite this, Paul's genuine love and concern for the church led him to defend his ministry and exhort the Thessalonians. The sermon underscores the importance of the Gospel's authenticity, encouraging believers to embrace persecution as a refining tool and to boldly proclaim the Gospel without fear. Tsantles contrasts the sincerity of Paul's ministry with the deceit and manipulation prevalent in the world, urging Christians to live lives marked by self-sacrifice, care for others' spiritual conditions, and a commitment to sharing the Gospel openly.

Please follow along with me. Our sermon text today is 1st Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 1 through 3. For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, But even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated in Philippi, as you know we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit. So I'll tell you in advance, you've got to have one hand in Acts chapter 16 and 17.

So pre-mark your Bibles because we're going to do a little flipping back and forth between Acts 16 and 17 and our text in 1 Thessalonians. I can tell you this, brothers and sisters, the blessing of preaching the Word of God is the requirement is heavy, it's weighty, It's mighty upon your heart and soul as you wrestle. It makes for a different week than your standard week. Because instead of just reading the text, you're diving as deep as you can go. And you're wrestling with things and you're contemplating things.

Because you know you've got to get up here. You've got to teach you. You're no novices in the Word. But more importantly, You've got to stand here before a holy God, having wrestled with a holy Word. And there's much trembling that happens in that time.

And I'm so incredibly thankful for the work on my own soul as I prepare for this time with you. And the other blessing, I think, for us in this church that's unique is that here in this church, there's a great blessing because you don't have to rely on just this guy and his brain. Oh, that'd be frightening. The blessing of being in a group of men like this and those that are so serious about this Word is I get to meet on Monday morning and listen to Jorge, and listen to Nick, and all the men that gather. And we go through this Word and we pray for this Word that we would understand it.

And I'm amazed how little I understand until I meet with these men. And furthermore, I get the blessing to spend time. Just this past couple of weeks, I've had the privilege to spend time with F.F. Bruce, Matthew Henry, Jameson Fawcett Brown, John MacArthur, Paul Washer, Gene Green. So I'm not like the man in Proverbs 18 who isolates himself.

You'll never get a man in this pulpit who isolates himself and thinks by his own wisdom he can come and share the things of God with you. Not at all. Just the contrary. I'm so thankful that in this great wrestling, there's many other brothers who've gone before us and that are with us to this day that we get a blessing of being together with to contemplate what's going to be shared with you. So you're not hearing from just me today.

There's a lot of people who've contributed. So in this wrestling over the last couple of weeks, you know we've got a Monday night ministry that we do. And in that Monday night ministry, we're going through the book of Romans. And we just introduced it a couple of weeks ago. And in the introduction of the book of Romans, I thought I can't just go if I go right into the first statement of Paul.

Because that's how Romans starts, like so many Paulans, he gives witness to the work of Christ. And here, if you just jump right into Thessalonians, you miss something that's struck my soul. I mean, it's cut me in pieces for two weeks straight. And I can't get past it. It might be beyond two weeks now.

It's this great chasm, this incredible chasm. That's a divide, children. It's a huge separation between the writer of what we see here and the man he was before. The great chasm from who Saul was. So I just want to share a couple of verses from Acts with you before we consider this, because I think oftentimes we go straight into the Word and we read it as a story and we forget sometimes to consider the weight and the gravity of some of these things.

So Acts 3. Consider this. You can write this down. You don't have to go there. Acts 3.

Now Saul was consenting to His death. We know who this is. Stephen's death, right? Saul was consenting to his death. At that time, a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem.

And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. This man, Saul, he arose against the church. Look at verse 3. Again, you've not turned there. I have it.

Verse 3, as for Saul... This is chapter 8, verse 3 of Acts, if you're writing. He made havoc of the church, entering every house and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Don't forget who's writing this word that we're reading in 1 Thessalonians today. Do you want more?

Do you need more? Acts 9. Listen to this. Saul's converted. And we know of This conversion story and how incredible it is.

Acts 9 recounts the reaction of the disciples in verse 26. Listen to this. And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were afraid of Him. I'm so glad the Scripture says that. I'm so thankful because I think I would be afraid too.

These weren't supermen. They were afraid. Again, when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him and did not believe that he was a disciple. Yeah, this guy? No way!

Not the same guy. He's tricking us. He's here to spy out our liberty and to lead more of us to be killed. And now, listen to this. Listen to this.

Here's just some snippets from the book that we're in. Do business with this for a minute. This is the same guy. We give thanks to God always for you, making mention of you in our prayers. But we were gentle, chapter 2.

I'm just giving you some snippets from 1 Thessalonians. Chapter 2. But we were gentle among you as a nursing mother cherishes her own children so affectionately longing for you, can't be the same guy. No way. Verse 12.

May the Lord increase you and abound in love to one another and to all just as we do to you. Verse 18 of chapter 4. Therefore, comfort one another. And finally, chapter 5, verse 23, Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. And May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters.

I'm afraid that we often jump right into these texts of Scripture and these stories without Marveling, marveling at the majesty and power of God. A man who was so hateful of those of the way, that now he's full of so much love that he's writing these things to those He now calls brothers and sisters. This is a miracle. And we must stop and consider the weight and gravity of the miracle of God to awaken a soul. We don't have enemies like this.

You don't have an enemy like a saw in your life. I think the worst example we know of is the guy John at the abortion clinic. Okay, he sets his truck up, turns on his music to thwart our efforts. He walks out and he comes to the line and he looks at us and he says, you guys are too close to the line. Sometimes he gets a little riled.

We've ruffled his feathers a few times. Could you imagine going out to the abortion clinic and hearing from everybody else and we see this guy, he's grabbing, this would be Saul, He's grabbing our children. And he's grabbing your husband. And you get the report your husband has been taken to the authorities by this guy named John. He's so evil and he's so angry.

Could you imagine weeks later, you hear a report? This guy, John, is on our side and he's taking the Word of God. He's not only taking it, but he's leading. He's begging these women not to destroy their children. We must think of this in terms we can relate to.

Don't you go to 1 Thessalonians and read it like a narrative without considering the majesty, power, and might of God that takes a wicked sinner like you and I. We don't have to be like a John. Hey, we were all like him in our flesh. But don't go any further in this book. Repent of reading it like a narrative.

Do business with the miracle of God that's in these stories. That all point to what His truth is intended to. It's intended not to be a book for your study, for the mere study of its words, but it's meant to glorify a mighty, powerful, and merciful God who saves sinners like you and like me. Let's not. Let's not sit here today.

If you are here this morning, children, I need you to listen to what I'm telling you. Listen to the preaching of God's Word. Not to a man. Don't you sit here today. Don't you sit here today without your heart being filled with the words from heaven.

May God open your ears. Take the scales from your eyes that you may behold the glory of a mighty God who changes lives. Let's pray. I'm so aware of How blessed I am. How thankful.

How thankful I am that you took the scales from a sinner's eyes. Oh God, I pray that you would fall upon the children here, upon the souls of those you've gathered together. Only you can do this Lord. Only you have this power. So I pray by your Holy Spirit you would awaken souls today.

In Jesus' name. Amen. So the title of our sermon is this. I'm going to add a little edit. I can do that.

So the title I have is on your sheets, authentic Christianity is sacrificial and sincere. Is that what you've got? Is that what's on your paper? I'm going to edit that a little bit. I'm going to add something.

Authentic Christianity is Bold, sacrificial, and sincere. It is bold, sacrificial, and sincere. Let's now look at our sermon text. I'm going to read it with you now. So turn to 1 Thessalonians 2 v.

1. If I got out of 2 Thessalonians and went to 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 1. For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, but even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the Gospel of God in much conflict. For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit." Now, I want you to notice the transition that happens.

It's easy to miss this transition, but there's a huge transition that takes place because in chapter 1 you saw Paul giving his glowing report of what he had heard back from Timothy. We'll talk about that more. But Paul is now making a transition here. Paul moves from the greeting and a glowing report of the effect of the Gospel among that church, that infant church. And most scholars and commentaries agree that now this transitions into a 12 verse section that's really a defense or an apologetic of their ministry among them.

So he begins, look at this, With these words. So watch this flow so you catch this. And then we'll dive into the text, but I'm going to set this up for you. He begins with, For you yourselves know. Now Let your eyes follow along.

He repeats. Look at verse 2. Do you see the phrase, as you know? What about verse 5? Did I say chapter 2 or verse 2?

I said verse 2. See where he says, as you know. Look at verse 5. He says again, as you know. Look at verse 10.

Let your eyes see it if you've got it close to you. Look at verse 10. As you know. And verse 11, as you are witness or as you know. So if it wasn't enough, he does something radical.

This is radical. We don't understand how radical it is. But for a Jew, remember, Paul was a Jew. For him to do what he's done several times here in this text is radical. He calls down God Himself as witness.

We say it flippantly at times. We shouldn't. But for somebody in the first century to say the name Yahweh and to call Him as witness is a powerful thing to do. Now, look what he says in verse 4. Look at verse 4.

You see where he says? But God who tests our hearts. Look at verse 5. You see where he says at the end of verse 5? God is witness.

Look at verse 10. You are witnesses and God also. He's calling upon the authority of God. So what in essence, Paul is saying is you know what we know, but most important, God Himself knows. The essence of our ministry among you.

What it was and what it was not. Follow this. What our ministry was and was not. Now, look with me as we follow back through this section again. We're going to go a little farther.

Observe the was and was not. So you understand what Paul's doing here. Okay? You've got to join me on this. He says in the first verse, look at the first verse, he says, for our coming, before you know, that it was not in vain.

So we're just analyzing this and setting this up for you. It was not in vain. It was, verse 2. Look at verse 2. It was given in spite of much conflict the Word of God and the Gospel.

In verse 3, It was not motivated out of error or uncleanness. It was not, verse 4, delivered to please men, but rather to please God. Verse 5, it was not delivered with flattering words or with a cloak of covetousness. It was not delivered to you seeking glory from men. Did you see what he's doing?

So In these 12 verses, he's going through what his ministry was and was not him, Timothy, and Sylvainus. And he's going through this for a purpose. Now, the challenge of the text, the challenge is discerning why. Why does Paul go from this glowing report in the first chapter of the work and the manifestation of what the Lord had done, the evidence of the Spirit, and now he makes this transition into an apologetic of the content of their character and the content of their message? So when you look through the commentaries, the challenge is Paul doesn't say directly what that is, like he does in other books of scripture where he goes through the greeting and he gets right to the point.

Like Galatian church, who's bewitched you? And he speaks of those who've come to try to convince them they need circumcision as well. He doesn't give us directly what happened here. Many commentaries agree that there are two main thrusts. The main thrust that led to this tact and this switch now from the flow of chapter one to the flow of chapter two, is that Paul was left.

Do you remember what happened? Do you remember what happened? We're going to go through this, but do you remember what happened to Paul, Timothy, and Silvanus in their ministry there? Do you remember how it ended? We'll go there in a second.

You'll be reminded. So here's the two main thrusts that most believe caused Paul to take this tact. Number one, It was the suddenness of their departure. The sudden rapid nature with which they were ushered out, booted out, quite frankly, of Thessalonica would certainly have left a vacuum. Paul alludes to it.

Look down at verse 17. In chapter 2. Look at verse 17. He says, but we brethren have been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, Endeavoring more eagerly to see your face with great desire. He says, you see that?

We have been taken away from you for a short time in presence. Having been taken away, For us to understand what he's alluding to in verse 17, we've got to flip back. So I told you to put your finger in Acts 16 and 17. Now flip back to Acts 17. Flip there.

Acts 17. We're going to pick up the story in verse 5. Chapter 17, verse 5. So he's writing, who is he writing his letter to? He's writing letters to those who were persuaded of the truth of the gospel, right?

But remember, remember who was still there? He says here in verse five, okay, join me. But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob." Get this in your mind. Gathering a mob set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason.

Let these words be reflected and meditated on. They dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. Jason has harbored them. And they're all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there's another king, Jesus. And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things.

So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. Verse 10. Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. You see how it ended. It ended very abruptly.

So this idea that's communicated in verse 17 of our text is that they were rushed out by night. There was such a tumult. Listen, F.F. Bruce says this. I love what he says about this.

He says this is what occurred in chapter 17 is very much like our modern day Renomab. It's the Renomab. Because in the King James, listen to what F.F. Bruce said. He loves the King James in this.

Because in our version, it doesn't give the same flavor of the King James, But it says what they did is they went and got those lewd fellows of the baser sort. They went and got the scum and the slime, and they don't do stuff for free, so they likely paid them to rent a mob, much like we saw in Ferguson and many other places, where if you just get them riled up enough, grab these people and make enough noise, the rulers of cities often want to put it out and put it down as quick as possible. Hey, if you take them in front of them and lie about them even better, and you declare that these men are wanting to overthrow government, they're changing the laws and having us turn from Caesar to their own king. There was some truth to that, but much of it was obviously a lie. So that's one reason.

Are you with me on this? That's one reason that most of the commentaries believe Paul is adding this apologetic is because the sudden nature and the dramatic nature of their being taken away from them. Are you tracking with me? Second reason. The new believers were left then alone.

It says we know that Paul went into the synagogue for three weeks, and I forget how long Jason estimated that they were there. They were there for some time. But the dramatic nature of that departure left these mere infants as Christians to go it alone. They were by themselves. Mature Christians were now gone.

These are new converts. These are babies in the Lord. And as babies in the Lord, these would have been extremely vulnerable. Those of the baser sort were still there. Family members were still there.

I want you to read. This was Paul's great concern. In fact, look at 1 Thessalonians 2. V. 14-15.

Look it with me. 1 Thessalonians 2. V. 14-15. And he says this, For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus.

For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen." Remember, he got word back from Timothy. We'll talk about that again in a minute. And he goes on and says, "...just as they did from the Judeans who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted us. And they do not please God and are contrary to all men." So you see, Paul basically gives the report of what happened when that vacuum was left. They were still left with the baser sort.

Paul, being a well-seasoned Christian, understands what young Christians are vulnerable to. So he takes action. He's thrown out of Thessalonica. He goes on to Berea. Essentially the same thing happens to Berea.

And he makes his way to Athens and he says to Timothy, look at 1 Thessalonians, we're still in, look at chapter 3, read with me, verses 1-6. Look at chapter 3 In the book we're in. Listen to what he did. When we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone. See, he's two cities down the road now.

And here's what he does. Paul takes action. So, verse 2. So we sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer in the Gospel of Christ to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith. That no one should be shaken by these afflictions.

For you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. For in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation just as it happened and you know. For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you and our labor might be in vain. He was so concerned, he's now in Athens and sends Timothy. Go back, Timothy!

Go back and find out what happened. We left these fellows by night with the lewd and baser sorts. We had to go. And certainly that vacuum and turmoil would have been dramatic. So, Timothy comes back.

He's writing this letter now post Timothy's report. Timothy goes, meets back up with Paul and Silvanus in Corinth, and now he's writing this letter to the Thessalonians, having had the report. So he starts his letter with the glowing review of what had happened. But now, he takes this turn. That's the introduction to the text.

You have to understand what's going on and why he makes this transition. So you understand when he starts by defending their ministry and their faith among them, you could imagine what it must have been. I would have loved to have been there to hear Timothy's report. Because when he came back, he must have been raving, Oh, Paul, you guys wouldn't be so vain as to believe what's happening in this little church. This fledgling church that we had to flee from is now the word sounding forth from Macedonia to Achaia.

I mean, these little babes in Christ have opened their mouths and are declaring Christ's Gospel. Oh, I have no greater joy than to hear my children are walking in truth. It must have been Paul's response in his soul. And that's the way he starts the letter. But Timothy must have said something else.

Oh, they're under such turmoil. I'm speculating a bit here, okay? They're under attack. They've got family members who are turning on them. You're going to follow those guys that got their tails kicked in Philippi?

Who are bruised and tattered and torn? We'll talk about that in a second. Have you lost your mind? If you came to faith in Christ in a family without Christ, you had some ridicule. I had some.

But not like what they were facing. All right, let me get into the text now. Chapter 2, verse 1. Look at this. For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain.

Read that verse without the beginning. For you yourselves know. Read it without it. So that statement's really important. For you yourselves know.

If you read it without that statement, here's the way it sounds. Our coming to you is not in vain. One is a statement of declaration, right? I'm declaring. Our coming to you was not in vain.

It's entirely different if I say, hey James, you know. And then I follow it with, what am I calling you to do at that moment? See, the fact that Paul does this requires us to consider his intention. What is he doing? He's saying, hey, you know.

You have to do business inside with the truth that you know is revealed by what you already know. One is pointing directly at a statement, the other is pointing directly to the reader of the statement. They're getting the letter back and it says, you yourselves know. That requires them to do business with their own recall. It's totally different.

So this inclusion of you yourself, no. Don't read right past that. He's asking them to go back and reflect on their self-experience of the truth that he's about to state. I love what Matthew Henry says about this. Listen.

This is Matthew Henry. He says, it's a great comfort to a minister to have his own conscience and the consciences of others witnessing for him that he set out well with good designs and from good principles and that his preaching was not in vain. See, some truths are self-evident. I need not explain it because your own experience tells you that that's the reality. That's what Paul's saying.

Your own experience, dear children in Thessalonica, you know this is true. It's important that we understand that. Then he says, that are coming to you, for you yourselves know, brethren, that are coming to you. The fact that they came at all is the evidence now that's linked. Paul is linking the evidence that the fact that we would come to you after what happened in Philippi, the fact that we would come to you speaks to the sincerity of our mission and our efforts toward you." He's attaching it.

There's a link here. For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming, that is linking the fact that they had gone through what they had gone through in Philippi. We're going to talk about that again in a minute. He's linking these two. And then he finally ends with, this is not in vain.

Our coming to you wasn't in vain. That word vain in the Greek conveys this idea that there was nothing there. Jason talked originally in the introduction about where's the beef? Where's the substance? And that's what Paul is saying here.

It wasn't empty. It wasn't in vain. Not only on our original visit. Remember in chapter 1 verse 5, He said our gospel did not come to you in word only, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance. As you know, what kind of men we were among you for your sake.

But I don't think it was limited to Paul's not saying our visit to you was in vain because he's pointing back to the evidence they knew about of the work of the Holy Spirit. I think it's two things. I think it's the fact that he's bringing these two ideas together. He's referring to not only their first visit and the substance of, but the fact that the substance was still producing evidence among them. You know that it wasn't in vain.

And now I've got word back from Timothy. Now he can say it definitively. I know it wasn't in vain. It's beautiful. Both then and now their substance.

And that was, remember what he said in chapter 3 verse 5, when he said, I was concerned for this reason. When I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith. Lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain. He was concerned." So it's bringing both together. Listen again to Jesus' explanation in Mark 4.

You know this well. Mark 4, Jesus gives the explanation of the seeds that fall on the ground when He says this, Likewise, the seeds that fall, that are sown on stony ground, who when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness. They have no root in themselves. So they endure only for a time. Then what?

You know what's next, right? Then after what? Tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. Paul knew this. Paul's concern was this.

Because they were swept out of there so quickly. Is it possible? He's two cities down the road. He's got so much love for these fledgling believers that he's burning up inside. He says when I could no longer endure it, I had to find out, Timothy, you've got to go.

You follow what's happening here? So now he's worried like Jesus' parable that perhaps, perhaps what had happened in Thessalonica was those like the seed on the stony ground. So he doesn't just leave it at that. He follows up with Timothy and gets this amazing report that it didn't stay in vain at all. If you have one without the other, you see if you have a stony ground seed sowing, that's wonderful for you for the moment because you're convinced it's the work of God.

But if it doesn't stay, and if it is not sustained, it is not a work of the Holy Spirit producing long-term perseverance. You follow that? And this was Paul's concern. And that's what he's saying. Our coming to you was not in vain.

Alright, verse 2. Look at verse 2. But after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi. As you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the Gospel of God in much conflict. We're going to examine this.

He says, but after we had suffered, we're going to go back and read the account, but we'll start this way. After we had suffered, again, it's important inclusion because He says, even after, but even after we had suffered, we were willing to come among you. People don't sign up for stuff like this. After we had suffered. Let's go and look.

Let's go and look at what happened to these guys. I don't need to say anything more before. I'll say it afterwards. Let's go back and look. Look at Acts 16.

Then I'll comment on it. Acts 16. You there? Verse 19. This is after Paul got so irate at that girl who was chasing them and kept saying all these things, and he turns to her and rebukes her, casts the demons out of her, and her owners are now irate because they're losing their profit.

That's where we're picking up this story. This is Acts chapter 16 verse 19. But when her master saw that their hope of profit was gone. Again, so you know, kids, make sure you're tracking here. This is not in Thessalonica.

This is in Philippi. This is right before he goes to Thessalonica. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas, dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities, brought them to the magistrates, and said, these men being Jews exceedingly trouble our city, and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe. Then the multitude rose up, gathered against them, and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. When they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely.

Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. I am so guilty of just reading narratives sometimes without mentally putting myself into a place that's unthinkable. So as we read this story, spitefully treated, he says In our text, well, we were spitefully treated in Philippi. Yeah, you think? Spitefully treated?

Listen, they're dragged, they're seized, they're dragged into the public square, they're lied about and portrayed as criminals, They get their clothes ripped off of them. Have you ever had a shirt ripped off of you? I don't think it's ever happened to me other than playing football or doing something fun. You don't get a shirt ripped off of you without your nails ripping across you at the same time. And this is what happens.

They rip their clothes off of them in public. And for good measure, they add the beating of rods. It says many times they were beaten with rods. Many stripes, the Scripture says. By the way, do you know when the Philippian jailer comes to faith, what must I do to be saved?

The next story that comes, you know what one of the first things he does is? Do you remember? They wash their wounds. You do not wash a surface wound, do you? It's a red mark.

You get a red mark. You don't wash that kind of wound. What kind of wound do you wash? You wash gaping holes. We don't even stop and think about this.

No, they didn't get a chastisement from mommy or daddy. They got scourged. The Philippian jailer needs to wash their wounds. The severity of their beating was this great. Physically then thrown into the inner prison for maximum security, these guys who simply preach this Gospel, and finally fasten their feet to the stocks.

And what Paul's saying in our text is, in spite of that, in spite of that we came to you, people don't sign up for this sort of thing. He's speaking to the sincerity of their motivation. Do you realize we came to you bearing the evidence of our scars? Perhaps still bleeding from what we were as you know. He says as You know.

Meaning what? They saw what had happened to these men. Their faces probably still swollen. Their wounds possibly still bleeding when they come to these people in the middle of Thessalonica. And that's what Paul is appealing to.

For as you know, we were treated this way, yet we still come to you. I love what Paul Washer says about this. Paul speaks to this equation. He says the fact that they're spitefully treated and direct suffering, their spiteful treatment and direct suffering equals what? Hiding?

I'm never going to speak of this name again because of what happened to me. You don't do that in your flesh. You run from that kind of persecution. No. The equation is we're spitefully treated.

We're suffering directly. Equals greater boldness. Greater boldness to speak of our God. You just have to understand the miracle that this is. It doesn't happen without the work of the Lord.

2 Timothy 3.12 says this, everyone, Timothy would have known this, because he was here, Everyone who desires to live a godly life in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. We don't have any idea. We just really don't. See, Paul knew, and that was part of his concern. Now go back to our text in 1 Thessalonians 3.

I want you to look at a couple of verses. Back to 1 Thessalonians 3. I want you to look at verses 3 and 4 again. "...That no one should be shaken by these afflictions for you yourselves know that we were appointed to this. For in fact we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation." You see, he finishes by saying, just as it has happened, and you know, no surprise to Paul, those who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

But instead of it causing them to tuck their tail and turn, what does it do? He says that we were emboldened. Hey, persecution, brothers and sisters, has always been used by God to refine His children, to shape them, to confirm His love in them, and it ultimately leaves them in a place of being bold in who God is. That's the evidence of true Christianity in a soul that can be persecuted and come out of it saying, I'm emboldened by God. Hey, try this for example.

We're in a very sterile environment compared to what most of the world would have if somebody came to faith. Michael knows this. Michael was in a Muslim country. Paul, Timothy, Silvanus shows up in a Muslim country and says to those people, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. God opens the eyes of ten or fifteen Muslims and they go back to their home and that son looks at his daddy and says, daddy, I'm now a follower of Jesus Christ and I believe Allah is a false god.

Try that in a Muslim home. Try that around much of the world. See, we don't understand persecution the way they would have in that day. But when somebody's heart, When a heart and soul has been made new and changed, you'll never be closer to your Savior and understand the suffering Savior than you will in the midst of persecution. James 1-12 tells us, blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him.

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy are having what I believe is a bit of a foreshadowing of this future boldness or of the future glory with a boldness set upon them from on high. God fills them with holy boldness. And that's even being treated the way they were. It didn't result in a turning. It didn't result in a leaving the faith like the stony ground Christian that didn't bear fruit, but instead, it emboldened them.

What a blessing it would have been for Paul, Timothy, and Sylvainus to feel the pleasure of God. To embrace that moment of the pleasure of God. The wounds. You could feel your heart beat in those wounds. Thump, thump.

You ever cut yourself so bad? You know what that's like. But you see the heart on the inside has been made to beat for something totally different such that they not only sustain the persecution, they're emboldened by it. Do you know? I pray you hear what I'm going to tell you right now.

Do you know what that feels like to be emboldened like that? God emboldened you? Why would He embolden you? Why would He embolden you? If you're not even willing to open your mouth to speak His Gospel, why would He fill me with an emboldening if I'm not even willing to open my mouth for His glory and His Gospel and His purpose.

It's true for all of us. I have back-towned more times than I can count. Be done with it. Be emboldened by God. Many of us, I should say, frequently never experience this emboldening because we're not willing to open our mouths to do what we should, to speak of the hope you who are holding the hope of glory, eternal life, and freedom from sin, but you won't even open your mouth to say it.

You're driven by fear and controlled by fear. You won't even give the words of life. And you wonder why you're not emboldened and you tuck your tail again and run? We shouldn't wonder, brothers and sisters. We shouldn't wonder.

So now, being emboldened, they're emboldened not flippantly, not emboldened in their flesh. They're emboldened with a foundation and a direction. The foundation is the God Himself, the God of heaven, God Himself, who emboldens them. And He gives them then the foundation in Him to go in the direction of His gospel, to speak the gospel of God. It is the whole point.

The gospel is the purpose and the point. It is that which saves the soul. It is that which sets sinners free. So what Paul's doing here now is basically saying to the Thessalonian believers who are ridiculed, persecuted by those who remain, and he's saying to them, why would I ever leave my status in life that I had? Take the road in the name of the one I once hated and persecuted.

Be willing to be beaten and left for dead, encourage others to sign up for the same if my motives aren't sincere. Do you see that? Paul knew something in his soul that he had never known before. That if the foundation isn't God Himself, and the structure is the Gospel, and the ways of His former life, that is hell! That is hell!

That is death! That is destruction! That is vanity! That is empty! And Paul knew that in his soul.

Do you get what I'm saying? That if the foundation isn't God Himself, and the structure of life isn't His Gospel, that is hell, it is empty, and it is vain. And that's why he can say finally in this section, we did this in much conflict. The Greek conveys this much conflict that they came directly into them with. And we read that in Acts chapter 17, what happened as they incite the mobs.

But this in-much conflict, as Paul's saying this back to them, is conveying an idea of a boxing match. Much more. It's contention. It's fighting. This is no, I'm in a spat with my spouse.

This in-much conflict is warfare. That we are waging war. We're in a fist fight declaring this Gospel to you. And we didn't back down. And you saw that.

Covered in our scars. We didn't back down. This is no wealth, health, prosperity, your best life, now madness. This is signed up for this, and you're likely to be crucified like the Savior, and We endured it because our motives were pure. Finally, verse 3.

Look at verse 3. For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit. Okay, would you take a moment with me pause for a second put your mind mentally back on the via ignatia I asked my kids this last night. Like, tell me what you see in your mind. When you think of the Via Ignatio, where are you, first of all?

Where are you? You're in Thessalonica, the city. You're on the Via Ignatio, which is what? It's a large trade, east-west trade route, right? And on this trade route, what likely are you to see in downtown Thessalonica in this day and age?

You go downtown Raleigh and everybody's in silos, everybody's in buildings working unless they're on their lunch break. But if you go downtown Thessalonica, I'm not certain, but I'm sure this is what happened, because we see by the response in the marketplace. Describe what you see in your mind. People, they're out there. Some of my kids said, they're making, there's idols.

There's gold idols, maybe. There's silver idols. There's certainly wooden idols. And it's a major trade route. Everybody's coming through Thessalonica, estimated at about 200, 000 people.

This is a busy place. If you just go on Saturday over to the flea market over by Dorton Arena. Here's what you'll see. Everybody's gathered in their little booth to bring their wares, right? Everybody's bringing their trinkets, their junk, their things they're trying to do what?

What are they doing? They're trying to sell you their stuff. And what do you think is happening in this situation, in this setting? And one of the reasons Paul is explaining that their motives were pure. Our exhortation did not come with error or uncleanness or was in deceit.

Because likely, if you were one who lived in that region, You were dealing with charlatans all the time. Kids, we call that snake oil salesman. I'm a sales guy, and I used to sell stuff kind of like that before the Lord saved me. We call this snake oil salesman. What that means is The promise of what you have to offer never matches up.

Never matches up. And this is likely what the Via Ignatia in downtown Thessalonica is full of. We know it's declared in Scripture. There were Simon the sorcerers. There was all sorts of people doing their tricks, their magic, their sorcery.

We know from the testimony that happened in Philippi, there were girls walking around saying, can I give you a fortune telling? And making profit for those that were sending her out. We know that this was the milieu, This was the setting in that day, and much likely, I'm sure it would have been in Thessalonica. So now, Paul is making a tremendous distinction, unlike the best manipulators the world could make that come through the Via Ignatia and have spoken to you. Our exhortation is not like that.

This exhortation is strong language. The Greek conveys a powerful persuasion that it's not just, I'm going to give you words of encouragement here. That I'm powerfully persuading you of this truth. That's what Paul's saying for our exhortation. This word exhortation is paraclesis.

Strong, persuasive words. And the word error that he uses next is plene in the Greek. And it instead conveys error meaning that we're leading somebody not on the wrong way, not to make a deviated turn. It's a straight path we're exhorting. So our exhortation, our powerful and strong, powerful discourse to you, was not leading you astray on the wrong path, is what he's saying in error.

And finally he says uncleanness, or akatharsia in the Greek, usually meaning moral purity from a physical standpoint, but here conveying that their motives themselves, the purpose of their exhortation, was pure. It was not mixed in motive. This is very similar to what he said to the church in Corinth when he wrote to them and said, we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the Word of God how? You remember? Deceitfully.

It's the same thing he's saying. He's saying to the Corinthian church, we don't handle the Word of God deceitfully also in 2 Corinthians. For We are not as so many who've now decided to take this and peddle the Word of God. That's what he says. We're not as so many peddling the Word of God, but as of sincerity.

As from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ. Again, 2 Corinthians 2 v. 17. Matthew Henry adds this piece. I love this.

This is sweet. With great simplicity and godly sincerity, Paul saying that his exhortation was not of deceit nor of uncleanness nor in guile. This, no doubt, was matter of the greatest comfort to the apostle. The conscience. The consciousness, rather, of his own sincerity.

His awareness of his own sincerity. And was one reason of his success. What he delivered was sincere and an uncorrupted gospel that he preached and exhorted them to believe and obey. His design was not to set up a faction to draw men over to a party, but to promote pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father. The Gospel He preached was without deceit.

It was true and faithful. It was not fallacious, nor a cunningly devised fable, nor was it of uncleanness. His Gospel was pure. His Gospel was holy, worthy of its holy author, tending to discountenance, all manner of impurity. The word of God is pure.

There should be no corrupt mixtures therewith. And as the matter of the Apostles' exhortation was thus true and pure, the manner of His speaking was without guile. He did not pretend one thing and intend another." I'm going to say that again? He did not pretend one thing and intend another." I'm going to say that again? He did not pretend one thing and intend another.

He believed and therefore He spoke. He had no sinister and secular aim or view, but was in reality Himself what He seemed to be. That's what Paul is saying. Time doesn't permit us now to speak of all the charlatans who were peddling this Gospel in our day. The preachers and teachers of prosperity and blasphemy, the televangelists and marketers galore that are peddling our Gospel.

We need to fight against that stuff. We need to be emboldened by God to call that mess what it is. It's a mess. It's a blasphemy to our holy God. Two concluding remarks.

Two concluding remarks and then some applications. I love this story. Perhaps you remember, who was the guy who trained Paul? Do you remember when he was Saul? Remember what his name was?

Yeah. So this guy, Gamaliel, or however we pronounce it, This guy, Gamaliel, had so much wisdom. Listen to this. Gamaliel had it right. This is Acts 5, verse 38.

Gamaliel stands up. Now, if you remember the setting, the setting is, There's a release from prison. The apostles go right back in the middle of the town and start preaching again. The Jews are outraged. They can't believe it.

They're ready to lay hands and tear these guys up, right? Gamaliel has this wisdom. He stands up and he says this. Listen. Men of Israel, this is Gamaliel saying this, right?

Pharisee, leading man. He says, men, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men. Take heed to yourselves. Hey, for some time ago, a man named Theodos rose up claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about 400, joined him.

He was slain. And all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. After this, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed." His point is, you cut off the head of the snake, You kill the queen bee, you get rid of the big roach and all the rest of them scatter when you flip the lights on. That's His argument.

It says in verse 38, and now I say to you, now I say to you, Keep away from these men and let them alone. For if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing. But if it is of God, if it is of God, You cannot overthrow it lest you be found to be fighting against God. Paul's boxing match with God ended. Saul's boxing match against God ended.

God overthrew him. God took his life over. Some of you children in this room, You think it's your mom and dad you're fighting against? You think it's their authority? You think it's their Gospel?

Not God's? Stop fighting against God. Stop fighting against God. Stop it. Repent.

Stop resisting the Holy Spirit. Stop hardening your heart. Paul was moved from self-centered ambition that led him to destruction and to destroy others to a Gospel preaching, life-giving, self-sacrificing servant. The same can be made of you. The same can be done for you.

Repent at the preaching of the Word of God. That's why I believe our title was close, Because I think we see the effect in this text. That true Christianity is bold. These men were filled with holy boldness. You can't squash the work of God.

Kill the people if you want. His Word will endure. It is bold. It is sacrificial. And it is sincere.

Jason's going to finish the rest of these texts out, so he'll add more to what really happened there. What report did Paul get? Why did he take this tact of then defending their ministry to them? I do believe it's the suddenness of their departure and the fact that these were baby Christians. Paul was such amazing love for them.

Timothy, such obedience. Go back. That's a lot of miles. Timothy, go back by yourself. As best we know.

Are you that obedient? Applications. Number one, is your life marked by self-sacrifice? Number one, you with me? You with me?

Okay, make sure. Is your life marked by self-sacrifice or what? What do you think it is? Self-love. Is your life marked by self-sacrifice or self-love?

The idea that the God of heaven has changed your soul and it stays to itself. It stays inward. It never opens its mouth for the Gospel. It never changes lives. It Never imparts the fruits of the Spirit in other lives.

And people don't see the fruit of the Gospel manifesting from you. I'm not saying you're saved or not saved. I'm saying it doesn't line up with Scripture. It doesn't line up with the evidence of the Holy Spirit living in you if it's not producing from you. God produced in Thessalonica.

God saves souls towards something, not toward nothing and inwardness. You are saved to be a servant and to give. I know I fall short, like most of us do, and we need the Lord's help to manifest more fruit in all of these areas, but that's application number one. Number two, Do you really honestly have a care for the spiritual conditions the way Jesus did? The way Paul did?

Paul said, when I could no longer endure it, I couldn't take it anymore. We were thrust out in the middle of the night and I wanted so much to know the state of your condition. I begged in my soul to God. I talked to Timothy. Timothy went.

Do we have that kind of passion? No, we don't. We often speak for myself. I'm so often void of the passion and the love of others to care to chase your soul. Hey, men, after the service is over, let's chase some souls with these young men.

Young men, don't run from us! We care about your soul. I'm sorry I've not cared more. God help us to care more like Paul, like Christ. Application number three.

Paul's pouring out his heart for the life of this little church. He's pouring out both his heart and his life. If someone took a temperature check on you right now, what would it say about your love of his church? What would it say about your sacrifice for what He's called you to? To be part of a family, to be giving, to be a member of His body, to use the gifts that He's given you for His purposes.

Ephesians 4. Finally, fourth application. Enough with veiling the Gospel. Stop veiling the Gospel. We had to cut our ties with the ministry a couple of years ago because they believed it was good and right to minister to the lost and keep the Gospel deeply hidden in the back pocket.

And then when you warm them up enough so as to not offend them, then we'll maybe pull the Gospel out only if the opportunity is right. Because We're afraid they're going to go and decide to abort the baby because they're offended by the Gospel that we bring. That's the truth. And we've all done this. Stop veiling the Gospel.

Enough fear of man. Pray that God would embolden us to be different than we've been with His Gospel. That He would fill us, we would open these things He's given us, and speak the words of life and to be embolden. Our lives, yes, Our lives must reflect the truth of the Gospel. So lifestyle evangelism, it's part of the equation, but it ain't the whole equation.

It's got to be words of the Gospel. You, Lord, have the words of life. And it's our job to open these things, to orate, to speak, to exhort, passionately persuade. We can't affect the result outside of the will of God, but We sure can open our mouths to be faithful. Let's pray.

I pray you've wrestled, Lord. I pray you've wrestled with souls. I pray that wrestling with souls has resulted in your glory. That you would be glorified. Oh God, be glorified by wrestling with souls here today.

For the one who's still fighting against you, would they see the madness of it, the vanity of it, the emptiness, the destruction of themselves, not only now, but ultimately, would you show them that hell is real? God, would you help them to repent in turn and see that they're fighting against you as Gamaliel said? Oh, he did have it right, Lord. If this is of God, it cannot be stopped. God, I pray You would do Your work on souls today.

Help us now embolden men, Lord, to stand if You have something that You've given them, Lord, to share and to exhort others. Bless the rest of this day. We thank you in Jesus name. Amen.