Pastor Jeff on the Radio

Guest (Female): You’re listening to Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub with Pastor Jeff Ministries. On today’s program, Pastor Jeff concludes his message, “The Pastor that Shepherds Well,” from the series “Faithful Followers” and shows you why true joy comes from seeing faith grow and love flourish in the lives of others.

We’re committed to equipping you with solid biblical truth so you can live boldly for Jesus. Visit pastorjeff.com for more resources to help strengthen your walk and be sure to sign up for Pastor Jeff’s weekly email devotionals for encouragement sent straight to your inbox every Wednesday. And now, here is Pastor Jeff with today’s message.

Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub: As a pastor, when you see people walking with the Lord and then you don’t see people for a while, you wonder what happened to them. Do they still go here? Do they not go here? Do they go to church or not? There is something that goes off in your heart like I am responsible for them. How is it going? What’s happening? Are you doing okay? Are you growing?

Paul doesn’t have any contact with the Thessalonians. He is wondering, we came and preached, we saw you responded, we saw that you banded together, we got kicked out of town, we are not hearing anything. Is it okay? Or did the tempter come in and tempt you to walk away?

Here is what he is talking about. He is talking about the Parable of the Soils. We know for a fact anytime the gospel gets in good soil, it always produces 30, 60, or even 100-fold. But if it doesn’t hit the heart, if it is not true conversion, if it is not true repentance, if it is not true "I want Jesus," then what happens? Hardness sets in, rocky soil sets in. It looks like great joy, but when trials come, I am out of here. Or the sins of this world, the wickedness of this world, deceitfulness of wealth choke it out.

Paul is saying this, "I have to know. I have to know from the Lord. When we preached the gospel to you, did it hit good soil? Did it hit good soil because if it hits good soil, even if the tempter tempts you, you are never going to let go." It is like being on a plane with a parachute knowing the plane is going down and you have the parachute. You are never letting go.

When you have the gospel for real, no matter what happens, you never really will. You will never, ever let the gospel go no matter what. This is what he is writing back. I have to find out. I have to see what Timothy is saying. I want to make sure that what we did wasn’t in vain. What a waste of time it would be to have gone into town and preached the gospel and gone through all the suffering we did if there was no fruit for it. What would be the point?

Verse six, “But now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us good news of two things: your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you.” Paul’s heart is great because what does he hear about? He hears about two things: their faith and love. He hears about their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that translates into their love for other people.

When he hears about that, it thrills his heart. That thrills anybody’s heart that loves the gospel. I am hearing about the fact you still love Jesus, and I am still hearing about the fact that because you love Jesus, it is translating into the way that you love other people. It translates into the way you love your spouse, your kids, your neighbors, the people that are hurtful to you, and the people that are persecuting you. I am seeing your faith lived out in love.

That thrills my heart. You are loving people that are unlovable to you because your faith is so genuine. And he hears what? I am also hearing that you are speaking kindly about us and that you want to see us. It thrills your heart when you are ministering to people. You could be leading a cadre and you have 15 people in your home, and when there is this mutuality of everybody wanting to get together and love on each other, there is something that thrills your heart.

You are seeing Jesus lifted up and you are seeing the love among the saints, and you are like, this is what has been missing in my life. I love this. You could hear the heart of the people basically saying, "Paul, you brought us the gospel and we are still living out that gospel and we long to see you."

Verse seven says, “For this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith, for now we really live if you stand firm in the Lord.” He says brothers and sisters because we share the same Father. Brothers and sisters, you are family now and my family is doing well, and my family wants to see me.

In all our distress and affliction, which means this, nothing in our life is going very good right now. Athens isn’t fun. You might look forward to taking a trip to Athens today; that wasn’t the Athens Paul was in at the time. He was hiding out, just trying to make it, trying to get by, trying to share the gospel, trying to eat, trying to stay out of prison, all those things. That was his trip to Athens.

There he is and he gets word back. When you came to Thessalonica, God used you. A church is formed. People love Jesus there. People are loving others there. The gospel is spreading. The people there love you. The people there want to see you. And he is saying in all my distress, in all my affliction, that is why I am here. That is why I do what I do. That is why I am doing what I am doing.

By the way, just so you know, when you see somebody living for the Lord or somebody is invested in you or somebody has done something in your life that has helped you grow in Christ in some way, tell them. Just tell them. They don’t hear it nearly enough. You think they do; they don’t.

Anybody here have four-year-olds? They are in the nursery? Go tell those people thanks because your four-year-old didn’t today. You can’t tell people, oh, they hear it all the time. I am sure they don't. I can tell you I am a pastor of a large church; I don’t hear it very often. The times that I do and I hear something from somebody that is genuinely telling me, here is how I have grown because of what God has done through you or your wife said this to us and this changed us, thank you. I needed that one.

We all need it because we are human and there is something that goes off when we are investing the gospel. Even if you lead a cadre, you know what it is like. You think it is so easy to do until you lead one, and then you lead one and nobody shows up and nobody comes prepared and nobody wants to come. Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this? And then somebody comes in and says, "The fact that you opened your home and the fact that you did this for us, it makes all the difference in the world. It has really changed me." And your heart says, "That is why I am doing this. It is making a difference."

Delight in people’s faith when you see it. Delight in their love for others. Faith standing strong is one of the greatest encouragements to people that are pouring into you. It refreshes the soul. It helps you stand firm against the schemes of the enemy because I think ministry is like building sandcastles. Every time you think we have it set up, we have a beachhead here, here comes that wave.

Our marriage is so perfect now; it wasn’t before. Here comes the wave. Everything is good with our kids. My job is perfect. There is always something that comes in where you think it is going to be good from here on, and then something comes. This is just reality. When people can come in and say in the middle of all this that is going on, don’t even worry about that, my faith is growing and I am ready to meet Jesus and I am different because of what you have invested in me, it thrills your heart.

That is what the apostle is saying here. He is saying he is delighting in their faith and in their love. Nothing delights me more than to hear it. I don’t care about some of you that are older. I heard a story about a guy that tried to stand last week that his wife was helping him stand, and he is standing up and she is like, "I can help you." He is like, "I am standing myself." Yes, brother. Get up.

It is cool when I see our young people. Some are taking gap years and going off to serve the Lord for a year and share the gospel. It thrills my heart when I see people like, "I am just going to live for God in my community no matter what, and even if my friends don’t like it, I am doing that." Awesome. When I see people taking steps and saying because Jesus is in my life, this is how I must live, it thrills me and it should thrill all of us. You see that translate into a way to love other people, not bully them, not telling them they are wrong, not yelling at them, but this is where we stand because of who Jesus is, and we love you even if you disagree. Jesus loves you even if you disagree, but you need to change. That is when we delight in those things.

Feel people’s burdens deeply. Prepare people to suffer. Delight in their faith and love. And then how about this one? Rejoice in growth but desire more. A good pastor rejoices when people grow, but desires more. Because no matter where you are, you can grow some more. Did you know that? You celebrate the growth. Great. But there is more.

It is kind of like when you are growing kids. When your child learns to walk, you are just like, "Aha!" But if you are doing that 18 years later, something has gone seriously wrong. There better be some new stuff you are celebrating too. That is what he is talking about. He is talking about celebrating the growth, celebrating what you see, but then realize no matter where you are in your walk with Jesus, there is a deeper place to go. We never fully arrived.

Here is what he said, “For what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God on your account, as we night and day kept praying most earnestly that we may see your face and make complete what is lacking in your faith.” You see the apostle doing two things. You see him rejoicing and you see him earnestly praying. When he gets the report back that they are loving Jesus, he is completely elated and wants to see each other face to face.

We are going to talk about prayer here in a minute, but here is what he is talking about. He is talking about rejoicing. Rejoicing means celebrating. When Timothy comes back and says, "Paul, you have to realize the gospel is working. The church is great. They love each other. They are growing in Christ. They are living in community even among all the opposition they have. It is really, really good and they are longing to see you. They are so thankful for you."

Paul is not saying, "Dearest Lord, we thank thee for the great report from Thessalonica." That is not what he is doing. He is rejoicing. Praise you, Jesus, that my labor is not in vain. Praise you, there is a church that is established. Praise you, you are advancing your kingdom. Praise you, you are still alive. We are going to continue to pray. We are going to get together. Why? Because there is something about getting together where you can complete what is lacking in each other’s faith.

Guest (Female): You’re listening to Pastor Jeff Ministries. Today’s message, “The Pastor that Shepherds Well,” from the series “Faithful Followers” is showing you why true joy comes from seeing faith grow and love flourish in the lives of others. We’ll be back with Pastor Jeff in just a moment. Before we do, consider this.

Are you following Jesus but still keeping him at a distance? That is the challenge addressed in *Unembarrassed of Jesus* by Travis Johnson. This insightful book will help you step into a more courageous faith so you can stop holding back and start living out your relationship with Christ openly and confidently. We’d love to send you this resource as thanks for your gift to help share God’s word through Pastor Jeff Ministries. Visit pastorjeff.com and request your copy today. Now, let’s return to Pastor Jeff for the conclusion of today’s teaching.

Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub: He is rejoicing. Praise you, Jesus, that my labor is not in vain. Praise you, there is a church that is established. Praise you, you are advancing your kingdom. Praise you, you are still alive. We are going to continue to pray. We are going to get together. Why? Because there is something about getting together where you can complete what is lacking in each other’s faith.

Let’s talk about that for a second. We are talking about completing what is lacking in each other’s faith. Do you know that when you meet a believer and you don’t even know who they are, but you know right away this person is a believer, that there is kind of a mutual benefit that begins to happen? Like, we are best friends. We know each other. When you get around somebody that is an encourager, you feel encouraged.

When you get around somebody that has compassion, you feel that they care about your needs. When you get around somebody that is an evangelist, you are like, "They are pretty good. I need to do more of that." When you get around somebody that is prophetic, you think, "I want to grow in that gifting as well." I mean, whoever you are around. You get around somebody that is administrative; nothing happens.

You let them be administrative. Okay. But do you understand what I am saying? There is this mutual benefit that happens back and forth. You have been in good cadres before and you have been in bad cadres before. I have been a Christian for 35 years. I have been in good groups and bad groups. Good groups are so connected and care about each other so much that when you are with them, you look forward to it. When the night ends, you are like, "It is one more week until we get together." I can’t wait to get back because when she starts talking, it is so encouraging. When he starts talking, it is so truth-filled. When he starts talking, it is so evangelistically bold. When they start talking, I need to get involved.

There is something that is going on with all these people because we are all caring about each other and wanting to see each other grow, and they are filling up what is lacking in my faith. And then you have also been in cadres or groups where during the night you are trying to hope and pray like, "Lord, I hope it rains next week at this time because I am not coming back." You know what I am talking about. Because there is no community, there is no care, there is no mutual benefit, nobody is talking about Jesus, and nobody is pouring their lives into each other. It is just a routine that is boring.

What he is talking about doing is we have mutual benefit from one another. When we see things in each other, that is how we grow. I told the first service, the first time Kim and I when we were dating, the first time we ever did a Bible study, as I recall, we read through a Psalm. I just finished seminary. I was reading through a Psalm and we read it together, and I said, "What are you seeing in there? What are you getting out of that?"

She said, "Man, that is beautiful." And I said, "What do you mean? Where does it say that? It doesn't say beautiful. What are you exeggeting? What are you doing?" We got in a fight. It was really fun. I was like, "That is not how you study the Bible. Here is how you study the Bible. Here is what you do." We had this big argument. It was like two weeks later. I lived in Illinois at the time. They had just cut the corn, so it was totally flat land. It was sunset and this big orange sun is going down over the horizon. In my spirit, I said, "That is beautiful."

God spoke to my spirit and said, "That is how your wife sees everything I do. You need to listen to her." You can clap, it is cool. That was like the first of like 10,000 times I have had to go back and apologize. But she sees the world differently than I see it. She doesn't see it wrong; she sees it clearly through her lens. I see it clearly through my lens, and we are both clear, but we need each other to see it right.

In the body of Christ, that is why God knit the body of Christ. There are some of you that are so evangelistically bold that you're like, "Let’s just get out there every single day and just walk around and share Jesus with everybody." Some of you would say, "I don’t really ever feel like doing that once." And some of you would say, "I hurt for the marriages in our church that are hurting." And somebody would be like, "Yeah, I know that's bad, but I don’t really hurt for that."

Some would say, "I care about this next generation of youth, and I have to get involved." Others would say, "Yeah, that's important, but that's not really my thing." Everybody has a different lens that is so important and that is how God made you. But when we get around each other and we can appreciate the lens in which other people see it, that is how we have a full-orbed view of what the church should be.

So what Paul was saying when he was writing this is they want to see me, and I want to see them because I know if we get together, we will mutually complete each other’s faith. We will be able to do things together, which means this, you can’t live the Christian life alone and expect to grow to the fullness God wants you to be. You need other people. You need other people in the body of Christ that have different gifts than you.

So rejoice when you see people grow. When you see people grow, if it is your children or it is your family or it is a friend or it is a new believer, it could be the tiniest baby step. Just praise God for the baby step. We have a tendency, I can have a tendency, that is all you are going to take? I mean, come on, let's go a little more. We can tend to be that way rather than stop and celebrate. You were here and now you are here, and I want to celebrate that. Keep taking steps. Celebrate people. Rejoice in what God has done and let people know no matter where they are, you know what, there is more.

Then this final one, which I think is the heart and should be the heart of every single pastor, should be the heart of every single ministry leader—it is not, but it needs to be—and that is this: you pray for the people’s holiness with fervency. A good shepherd, a good pastor, one that is doing it well, prays for the holiness of the people with fervency.

Notice what he said in verse 10, "Night and day we kept praying for you." It doesn’t mean that in the morning he prayed to Jesus and at night he said, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep," and then went to sleep. He was saying in morning and night and everywhere in between, day and night, I am praying for you.

Here is what I am praying. Verse 11, “Now may our God and Father himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you.” We want to be together. We crave community. “And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all the people, just as we also do for you.” So we are asking the Lord to bring us together, and until then, we are asking your love for Jesus to abound and your love for one another to abound in the same way that our love for you is abounding.

When I hear about other churches on Easter that are reaching people for Jesus, I get pretty fired up about it. When I hear about other nations that are experiencing things in Jesus, I get pretty fired up about it. I get fired up when I see Jesus lifted up. I get super excited when I see people that once were far from God that now love God and are now walking with God. It fires me up. How could it not?

That is what Paul is saying, that is what we are praying for you so that what? Verse 13, “So that he may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” What does he want to do? I want to see you established. I want to see you rooted. I want to see you growing and continuing to grow without blame in holiness. There is nothing in your life that God is going to blame.

Let me be clear. I used to worry when I was a young Christian that there was going to be a big screen about 20 times bigger than that and when I got to heaven, part of the eternal reward was everybody was going to have to watch my life. I am like, that is going to be the worst part of eternity. And then I began to realize Jesus paid for that at the cross, so anything that anybody wants to see in my sin, it would just say paid in full. It would just be a blank screen, completely white and washed because of everything Jesus has done.

That began to give me great confidence. So we don’t work for our salvation. That was already taken care of when we repent and believe, but we work out our salvation, which means this: holiness is not the pastor telling you what behaviors you need to change. Holiness is you going before the Lord and saying, "Lord, is there anything in me that needs to reflect your glory more? And what does that look like? Is there anything I need to stop doing or let go of? Is there anything I need to start doing? You show me, Jesus, and I'll do that."

When you start walking in that way, you are prepared not only because your sins are forgiven, but you are prepared to meet him with your shoulders back walking in confidence. That is how I want you to meet Jesus. Not where you would say to him, "I know I have struggled for the last two years and thank you for paying for my sin," and he would still welcome you, he still loves you.

I want to see the people that brave meet Jesus walking with their shoulders kicked back saying, "You saved me, you paid for it all, but Lord, since that time, I have been trying to take steps so that you would be pleased with me. I have been trying to take steps so that you would see the growth in me. I wanted to worship you more and glorify you more and be more of your ambassador and love my spouse better and live as a single better and steward my resources better because I wanted you to see me. I wanted to do it your way because I wanted to be ready when I saw you face to face so I didn’t have any blame or shame. I could just walk with great confidence with you."

That is what it looks like to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t mean we do it so that God doesn’t blame us. The cross took care of everything. I mean, everything. You hadn’t sinned any sins when Jesus died. So if you have repented and believed, which sins did he die for? All the ones you would ever commit. They are paid in full. That is done. That is great news.

Because of that, how do I walk now? How do I live now? Jesus, because you have forgiven all my sins, how can I reflect that now? How can I look more like you? What does it need to look like in this season? I can tell you from walking with the Lord for like 35 years, there are different iterations, there are different things, there are different things I find myself doing now I didn’t think I'd ever do, seeing things in a way I didn’t think I'd ever see. Why? Because I am still in the growth process. I am still becoming what God wants me to be.

How am I getting there? Because I know I still have people that pray for me every single day. I know several of you that pray for me every single day. The greatest gift you can ever give to me and my family is to pray for us. The greatest gift you can give me, my son is going on this trip with me, pray for us. Prayer is the greatest gift you can do and I believe prayer changes people.

I used to tell my youth group when I was a youth pastor, I am like, you want to screw somebody’s life up? Start praying for them. God will intervene. Ask God to intervene in their life. Ask God to take over their life. Ask God to show them different things. Ask God to open their eyes. Ask God to move on their hearts. You have more power in prayer than you ever do with your voice. It is the greatest weapon we have available and we don’t use it nearly enough.

At Brave we do. Pray every Thursday morning, we pray every first Tuesday, we pray on the weekends, we're happy to pray with you after every service, we pray on our own. Prayer is important, but no matter how much you pray, there is always more that you can begin to pray for. It is the greatest expression, in my opinion, of pastoral love when you pray for people.

It is interesting in this text, and I will close by telling you this, if you have been paying attention, every chapter in this book ends with the return of Jesus. In chapter one, verse 10, it says, “And to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, that is Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come.” At the end of chapter two, he says, “For who is our hope or our joy or our crown or exaltation, is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming?”

Right here he says in verse 13, “So that he may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” I am here to tell you Jesus is coming back and Jesus is coming back soon. He is. You are not going to see it on TV and nobody is going to campaign for him to come, and even most Christians don’t talk about his coming, but he is coming and he is coming soon.

Well, Pastor Jeff, every generation since Jesus has said that. Yep, and my generation is going to say it too. Here is what I am going to live like. I am going to live in such a way that if he comes in my lifetime, I am ready. And if he doesn’t, what difference does it make? That is how we want to live.

This is the heart of God. As you think about this, you might say, "Well, I am not a pastor and I didn’t have an apostolic calling like the Apostle Paul, so what does that mean?" In your sphere of influence with anybody, with your children, in your family, with younger people, with who you are investing in, have that heart. Have the heart. Because God has a heart for his people. We need to have a heart for his people. Paul wasn’t just about doing ministry; Paul was about loving the people he was doing ministry with. We are called to do the same. Amen.

Guest (Female): Thanks for listening today. That was Pastor Jeff with his message, “The Pastor that Shepherds Well,” from the series “Faithful Followers,” showing you why true joy comes from seeing faith grow and love flourish in the lives of others. We’re so glad you joined us for today’s message.

Before you go, remember when you give to support Pastor Jeff Ministries, we’ll send you *Unembarrassed of Jesus* by Travis Johnson as our thanks. It’s a powerful guide to help you move from a quiet, reserved faith to one that’s lived out publicly with courage and conviction. And that’s the kind of impact your support makes possible, helping more people hear the gospel and live boldly for Christ. Request your copy today at pastorjeff.com and be sure to join us next time for more bold biblical teaching from Pastor Jeff.