Truth That Changes Lives

JP Jones: In the spiritual realm, success or failure is not primarily measured by results. It’s measured by obeying what God tells you to do. When we obey God in what He tells us to do, it’s a success, whatever the results might be. When we obey God in the power of the Holy Spirit, it’s a success, whatever the results might be, because God is the one who produces results.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us on Truth That Changes Lives. Pastor JP Jones is the senior pastor of Crossline Community Church in Laguna Hills, California, and a professor in Biblical Studies at Biola University. Today on Truth That Changes Lives, Pastor JP will be giving us a message from a series entitled Devotion. Let's listen in as JP gives us part one of how to have a personal ministry.

JP Jones: We’re going to be in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, if you have a Bible with you, you can turn there. As we continue in this book, it's a great book. It's a letter the Apostle Paul wrote, one of his first letters to a very young church. It's a timely message because these are words that we can take to heart and apply to our own lives.

When I was a kid, one of my sports heroes was Bob Hayes, because at one time, Bob Hayes was the world’s fastest man. He went on after Olympic fame to play professional football as a wide receiver with the Dallas Cowboys. But there was a period in the early 60s when he was the indisputable fastest man.

He won the 100 meters in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, and he anchored the gold medal victory of the United States. This was a time, for all of you young people out there, when there was great competitiveness between the United States and the Soviet Union. These were the two superpowers. It seemed that there was a period there where the Soviet Union was victorious in the various Olympic events. So to have someone of Bob Hayes’ caliber just brought motivation to the whole nation.

In the 64 Olympics, they made this into a documentary, this whole event. It was called the Tokyo Olympiad. You could see up on the big screen this great victory in the 400-meter relay race where Bob Hayes anchored the 400-meter team. He ran, on record, the world’s fastest 100 meters. It’s never been equaled, it's never been beat.

In the relay race, as all relay races run, the first guy takes off with the baton, he hands it to the second guy, he hands it to the third guy, and then the anchorman comes at the end. If there’s a drop of the baton, then the team is disqualified. As this relay race took off in the 64 Olympics, the Soviets went out into an immediate lead, and the Americans were in second place.

When it came for the final leg of the 400 meters to be run, Bob Hayes, as he’s in his lane and running to get ready to run his anchor leg, he took the baton. As he took the baton, you could see on the screen, he is about 15 meters behind the Soviet runner. So already, he’s at a deficit.

Even though he’s the world’s fastest man, the expectation was that there’s just too much of a lag there that he’s not going to be able to catch up. He runs, on record, the fastest time. Taking that baton, he not only catches up the 15 meters and runs neck-and-neck with the Soviet runner, but by the time he crosses the tape, Bob Hayes had eclipsed this guy and he wins the race by about 10 meters.

He went on record as running the fastest 100 meters ever. It was the world’s fastest man, and it was a relay race. Now, if anyone in the race had dropped the baton or stepped out of the lane in the pass of the baton, the whole victory would have been disqualified, because everything in a relay race depends on the pass of the baton.

It’s the same way in life. The passing of our faith is like a relay race, from parent to child, from neighbor to neighbor, from friend to friend, from co-worker to co-worker. It depends upon that pass. God wants us to be world-changers, and it happens one life at a time. Why don't you just pass this baton and just keep it going throughout the audience?

The world is changed one life at a time. Maybe it’s your child, a sibling, your parents, your spouse, your neighbor, a co-worker, a friend, maybe it’s somebody sitting next to you here in church. The world is changed one life at a time, and God calls us to be world-changers.

In 1 Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul is recounting the experience he had at the city of Thessalonica and how God used him in these people's lives. In chapter 2, he talks about how God called him to present a message of the gospel and to live out that message, and to live it out in loving relationship.

In the context of that relationship, God used him to make an impact on these people's lives, and their lives were changed. The world is changed one life at a time. It’s just like passing a baton in a relay race. If we drop the baton, the race is disqualified.

Chris, why don't you hold on to that baton right there, raise it up high? If Chris decided that he didn't want to pass the baton, if Chris held on to it, his wife wouldn't be the only person who didn't receive it. In fact, have any of you here received the baton? Anyone over here? No. If he stops passing the baton, the impact is not just on that one person that he doesn't hand it off to, it’s on every other person who potentially could receive it.

That’s why the whole world is changed one life at a time. If we were to see the world and think, "It's up to me to change the whole world," it would just be overwhelming and none of us would even be motivated to begin. But if we see one person, maybe it’s our child, maybe it’s our spouse, maybe it’s our neighbor, maybe it’s our co-worker, maybe it’s a friend, maybe it’s somebody we know from church, that God has brought them into our world for a purpose, a kingdom purpose, then God could use us to be world-changers because it happens one life at a time.

In 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, I want to draw your attention to how the Apostle Paul describes his ministry, how God used him to be a world-changer. It says this in verses 1 to 12: "You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed. God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else. As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship. We worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom glory."

Whatever your motivational hook is, there’s something in here for you. It talks about moms and their gentleness, fathers and their encouragement. It talks about hard work. It describes living an exemplary life. It's a passage that talks about bold preaching and gentle, compassionate relationship. It’s a passage that describes content and information, and a passage that describes relationship and experience.

However you’re wired, whatever your spiritual gifts might be, there is in this passage a hook, and it’s a hook with a kingdom purpose, because what God wants is to move each of us, wherever we might be in life’s journey, to become a world-changer. It starts with one life at a time.

Paul, in using his own example here, gives us several principles that we can apply to our life. Here’s the first observation about how to become a world-changer: We need to share the gospel despite the cost. Share the gospel despite the cost. Paul says this in verses 1 and 2: "You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition."

Paul says there was some difficulty in being able to come to this city and communicate the message. There were some tough circumstances, there were some people who stood in his way. It wasn't something that was spontaneous and easy and affirming. But even though there was opposition, he obeyed what God had called him to do. Because of that, it wasn't a failure.

In the spiritual realm, success or failure is not primarily measured by results. It’s measured by obeying what God tells you to do. When we obey God in what He tells us to do, it’s a success, whatever the results might be. When we obey God in the power of the Holy Spirit, it’s a success, whatever the results might be, because God is the one who produces results.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, the apostle is describing the impact that he had in the city of Corinth and he says this in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5: "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."

Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, used to always say success in witnessing is taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leave the results with God. Taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results with God.

Success in parenting is loving your children in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results with God. Success as a friend is being a friend in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results with God. Success at work, despite what our culture might say, is working hard in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results with God. Success in the Christian life is living the Christian life in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results with God.

Success or failure is not primarily measured by results. It’s measured by obeying what God says to do and doing it in the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul says here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 that his coming to Thessalonica was not a failure. He’s not talking about what took place in their lives. He’s talking about himself, that even though there was opposition, he did what God told him to do.

There may be great difficulty for you in your family, in your relationship with your kids, in a relationship with a neighbor, at the job. The conditions may not be extremely positive for you to be a witness for Christ, but if you obey God, you’re not a failure, you’re a success. If you obey God in the power of the Holy Spirit and you leave the results with Him, you’re a success. Paul talks about the fact that we are to share the gospel despite the cost.

This past week, Dawn and I were in Denver. We were at the Christian Booksellers Convention. They had people there, publishers and authors and people involved in the industry of Christian bookstores. There were also some media ministries there, and they were premiering some movies that are coming out, Christian movies. One of the movies that’s going to be coming out is called End of the Spear.

It’s the true life story of missionaries who were martyred in Ecuador, Nate Saint and Jim Elliot. The story of Nate Saint and Jim Elliot is a very powerful and moving story. As young men, they took their families down to Ecuador to reach a group of people called the Aucas Indians. The Aucas Indians were unreached people, and they were known for their savagery.

So these young families moved to Ecuador and they lived just in the outskirts of where the Aucas lived. They flew a plane over the Aucas villages and they would drop literature and toys and gifts and try and make contact with these people. Then one day they landed the plane on a sand strip and they had their first contact with the Aucas Indians, and they were killed. The Indians murdered them.

From our perspective, it might seem like that was a failure, that was a failed mission attempt. The only thing is, God has a different perspective and a different plan. The wives and kids of those men that were murdered, Nate Saint and Jim Elliot, they felt God's call just as much as their husbands did. So they stayed. They continued to pray and they continued to look for opportunities.

One day they had the opportunity to befriend an Auca woman and they led her to Christ and they learned the Auca language. They began to make contact again with those people who had murdered their husbands, and the whole village came to faith in Jesus Christ. Now there is a thriving culture in that area. The movie End of the Spear describes what at first looked like a failure, but from God's kingdom perspective, was a success.

We don't always have the big picture. We don't know what’s going to happen with a child, with a marriage, with a friendship, with a work situation. But God does. When we obey God even when it's hard, when we obey God even when it costs us something, there is a spiritual reward, a spiritual payoff. It’s a success from God's perspective. To be world-changers, we need to share the gospel despite the cost.

Second observation here, to become a world-changer: We need to remember that God is our audience. God is our audience. This is what it says in 1 Thessalonians 2:3-6: "For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed. God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else."

Paul says in this passage that God Himself was his audience, and that what mattered was his heart and his motives as well as his method, as well as his presentation, because God was looking at his heart. I don't even know my own heart sometimes. I want to have pure motives, but I don't know that I always do.

Jeremiah says that the heart is deceitful and desperately sick, who can know it? And then God says, "I alone test the heart and I alone weigh man's motives." I can look at my behavior, you could look at my behavior, I could look at your behavior, but your heart? Only God really knows your heart.

Because Paul understood that God looked at his heart and that God tested his motives, God Himself was his audience. God Himself was the audience. In fact, Paul says here in verse 4, "On the contrary, we speak as men who have been approved by God." It’s the perfect tense in Greek. It means completed action in the past that has abiding results into the present.

When Paul crossed the line and became a believer in Jesus Christ, he was approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. Every one of us who’ve made that decision to follow Jesus have been entrusted with the gospel. It’s a stewardship, and God tests our hearts because Paul uses that same word again. He says, "We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts." It's the word dokimazo again, but now it's in the present tense.

God continually tests our hearts. He continually looks at our motives. He looks at the inside, not just the outside. Remember in the story of David, that’s what the scripture says, "Man looks at the outer appearance, but God looks at the heart." No one would have picked David of all those brothers in Jesse’s family to be the next king of Israel, but God looks at the heart.

God looks at your heart and God looks at my heart. The Apostle Paul says, "Because I realize that God looks at my heart, He’s my audience. He’s the one I’m really trying to please." The famous philosopher Soren Kierkegaard said this, he made an observation. Kierkegaard was the father of what we would call existentialism, but he was a real vibrant Christian. He was reacting against the dead orthodoxy of his day where Christianity was just reduced down to a dogma, just a message to be believed.

He said, "No, it’s a life-changing experience with God. There are some truths you need to believe, but those truths should change your life." Kierkegaard used this illustration. He talked about in a play, there are actors on a stage and they’re speaking lines and there’s an audience. But behind, there’s a prompter, in case the actor forgets his words, the prompter will say it and then the actor will speak the words, and then the audience listens to it.

Kierkegaard said in modern Christianity, the way people understand the Christian experience is in the same way, as if the preacher were the actor and God was the prompter, and then the people in the congregation were the audience. Kierkegaard said that’s unbiblical. He says it’s true that the preacher is the actor, but the audience, the congregation, they’re really the prompters, and God is the audience.

It’s not only true for preachers, it's true for housewives and school teachers and engineers and lawyers and businessmen, it's true for every follower of Jesus. We are living our lives and the people who are in our world, they’re the prompters, but God, He is our audience.

Think about what a difference that would make in your life. I think about myself right now, if I really took to heart that you’re not my audience, that God is, that God can either be pleased or displeased with my service, with my communication. Each one of us, we live our lives and we have all kinds of networks. We have kids, we have spouses, we have parents, we have neighbors, we have co-workers, we have friends, we have people that we rub shoulders with, but they’re not the audience. God is the audience, and we’re to live our lives and speak our words to be pleasing to God, because He’s the one who’s going to say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Well done, my good and faithful servant."

Guest (Male): What a great message for all of us today. Pastor JP provides us with great insight. That is why we’d like to make it available to you on CD. Just get in touch and mention today’s date. We’ll send it your way for just five dollars. Or if you’d like to support this ministry, you can write us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653, or give us a call at 949-916-0250. That’s 949-916-0250.

For your gift of $25 or more, we will send you a signed copy of JP’s new book, Facing Goliath. Please join us every Sunday at 9 or 11 AM at Crossline Church in Laguna Hills. The address is 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653, or check us out on the web at crosslinechurch.com. We’re going to get to the address and phone number again in a minute, but before we do that, Pastor JP, do you have any insight from today’s message?

JP Jones: Thanks, Greg. One of the most exciting opportunities we have as followers of Jesus Christ is to be used by God in His kingdom plan, to be used by God to touch other people's lives with the life-giving message of Jesus Christ. That’s what the Apostle Paul is talking about in 1 Thessalonians 2:1-4. He says this: "You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts."

God is our audience. Success or failure in personal ministry is not based on results. It’s based on obeying God and leaving the results with Him. In fact, you could put it down this way: Success in ministry is obeying the leading of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results with God. As we do that, there are two ideas that really stand out from this passage. One is courage, and the other is sincerity.

It takes courage to stand up and be a follower of Jesus Christ. I think of that scene in the movie The Wizard of Oz where the lion says, "Courage!" That’s what we need. We need courage to follow God, we need courage to stand up for Christ, we need courage to speak the gospel of Jesus Christ even when there’s opposition. And we need to do it authentically, we need to do it with sincerity.

The word sincere is from the Latin sincera. It literally means without wax. In the old days when they would make pottery and sell it on the street in the Roman times, sometimes the pots would get cracked. They would fill in the cracks with wax and cover that up with colored wax and the person who would buy the pot wouldn't notice that it actually had a crack in it because the cracks had been filled in with wax. But the word sincera meant without wax. What you see is what you get.

That’s the way we need to be as followers of Jesus Christ. We need to be the kind of people that what you see is what you get. We’re sincere, we’re open, we’re honest, we’re authentic, because we’re living our lives, we’re speaking the message of Jesus with God as our audience. When we live that way, God will use us to advance His kingdom and change the lives of other people. Is that what you want for your life? Do you want to be a tool in God's hands to advance His kingdom and literally touch the lives of other people? If that’s what you want, why don't you pray with me as we surrender ourselves to God's purposes?

Lord, we want to be used by You. We want to have courage and we want to be sincere. We want to see that You are our audience. We want to obey the leading of the Holy Spirit and leave the results with You. Use us to change people's lives for Your glory and for Your sake. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Guest (Male): We want to help you in your relationship with Christ. Please get in touch with us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653, or call us at 949-916-0250. On the internet, you’ll find us at crosslinechurch.com. We hope to see you at one of our services every Sunday at our new campus in Laguna Hills. For more information and directions, please go to crosslinechurch.com. Please join us next time on Truth That Changes Lives.