Watchman Radio Hour

David Schold: Welcome to the Watchman Radio Hour. Coming to you from Portland, Oregon, here in the beautiful Northwest. This is David Schold, your announcer. The Watchman Radio Hour is a production of Watchman Radio Ministries International, an evangelistic ministry reaching out to the peoples of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And now here's our speaker, Alex Dodson, to bring you this week's message from God's Word.

Alex Dodson: For our scripture reading this morning, let us turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, and we'll begin reading in verse 1. Let us hear the Word of God. 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're not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.

Our Father in heaven, we thank You for the Bible that You have given us. We thank You that it's Your infallible Word and that we can put our full confidence in everything that it says. Now, O Father, we pray that You will send forth Your Holy Spirit in great convicting power. In Christ's name we pray, amen.

In a recent interview for World Magazine, John Piper was asked, "What do you think the United States will look like in ten or twenty years?" Piper answered, "I'm not optimistic. But I do believe in the absolute sovereignty of God, who could be pleased in the eleventh hour of our self-destruction to move like a tornado through this land and cause people to wake up and say, 'We've been insane. It's insane to kill babies. It's insane to define marriage as two men having long-term sex with each other.' God could move through our culture and cause people to say, 'We've been in a fog, under a darkness so that we couldn't see. You don't kill babies and you don't call that marriage.' Now that could happen, and I will pray until I'm dead that it will happen."

Can God sweep this nation with revival again? He's done it in the past. Have we degenerated so much that such a revival is impossible? Our nation is turning away from God at an alarming rate. Is there no turning back? We justly deserve the wrath of God upon us as a nation. Even now, we are under judgment for our great sins. But is there any hope? Will the nation turn back to God in our day or in the future? We must believe that it will.

We must continue to proclaim the gospel to this nation, but to do it with great power and conviction and boldness. We must believe that God's Word can change a nation. It's been done in the past, and it can do it again. Romans 10:17 says, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." People will have faith once again when the gospel is proclaimed to them. It cannot come any other way. Revival comes when the word of God is preached with great power and conviction.

Our text today is 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verses 3 and 4, which says again, "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're not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts." God has entrusted the gospel to us, and the gospel is a sacred trust. We must preach it at all costs. We must boldly preach it. We must preach it with much conviction and power. We must pray for the power to come upon us that men may hear the word and believe it in mass numbers.

That's what happens when true revival comes. Ian Murray, in his book Pentecost Today, gives this definition of revival: "A revival is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, brought about by the intercession of Christ, resulting in a new degree of life in the churches and a widespread movement of grace among the unconverted. It's an extraordinary communication of the Spirit of God, a superabundance of the Spirit's operations and enlargement of his manifest power." This outpouring of the Spirit is accompanied by the great preaching of the word of God.

The first great awakening in America came through the powerful preaching of the gospel through God's servants, such as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. The Spirit fell on the nation, and it came as the word was proclaimed in mighty power. Today, we have a dearth of powerful preaching in the land. When true revival comes, so will the powerful preaching of the word. The greatest need of our nation today is the powerful preaching of the gospel throughout the land. This is our sacred trust, and we must not rest until that word is proclaimed in every corner of the nation.

Now let us see in the first place, Paul's message was sincere. Verse 3 says, "For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you." His message did not come from error. It was not an erroneous one. It was the true message of God. Leon Morris, in commenting on this passage, says, "Here it means appeal. It's the outward approach, whereas the gospel of God of the previous verse stresses the content of the message. Their appeal, says Paul, did not have its origin in error."

The word so translated sometimes means deceit, but in the New Testament, it always seems to have the passive meaning error. Paul had been accused of being completely mistaken in his preaching. Yet Paul assures his audience that his message was not in error, for it was the message from God Himself. And then, it was not out of immoral motives. Their message was not for some immoral purpose. Morris goes on to write, "The second accusation was more serious. Uncleanness denotes moral impurity."

The charge is startling to modern ears, but it must always be borne in mind in interpreting early documents that sexual impurity was a regular feature of many of the cults of antiquity, especially those from the East. Ritual prostitution was carried on in connection with many temples, the idea being apparently that one affected union with the god by union with one of his consecrated ones. The Jews frequently brought the accusation of immorality against the Christians. It had apparently been suggested that Paul and his companions had been associated with such practices, and the charge is repelled decisively.

Paul assures these Thessalonians that their motives were pure and had no immoral purpose. And then his message was not a trick. Their message was not a trick. John Calvin writes, "In the first place, therefore, he denies that they had been deluded or cheated by any fallacies when they embraced the kind of doctrine that he delivered to them. In the second place, he declares his integrity, for it was no squalid ambition but sincere affection alone which moved him to come to them. In the third place, he states that there was no deception or malice in what he did, but he had rather displayed the simplicity which befits a minister of Christ."

Since these facts were well known to the Thessalonians, they had a sufficiently firm foundation for their faith. William Hendrickson says this: "The world of that day was full of roaming philosophers, jugglers, sorcerers, fakers, swindlers. In order to impress their audiences, many tricks were used." Morris writes, "The third accusation is that of using trickery. The word rendered guile originally had reference to catching fish by means of a bait. From this, it was used of any piece of cunning. The wandering sophists and jugglers resorted to all manners of devices to attract people and so get their money. Not so the preachers. They had not endeavored to ensnare their hearers."

Matthew Henry makes this comment: "It was a sincere and uncorrupted gospel that he preached and exhorted them to believe and obey. 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 and holy, worthy of its holy author, tending to discountenance all manner of impurity. He did not pretend one thing and intend another. He believed and therefore he spoke. He had no sinister and secular aims in views, but was in reality what he seemed to be. The apostle not only asserts his sincerity but subjoins the reasons and evidences thereof."

And so Paul and his companions came to the Thessalonians in great sincerity and without trickery, bringing to them the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let us see in the second place that God had entrusted them with the gospel. In verse 4, it says, "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." They had been approved by God. They were men who had been approved by God. They were not just any men. They were sent from God and were proven faithful in their mission.

Morris writes, "The gospel is something of divine origin, and no man may take it upon himself to proclaim it. God chooses his messengers, and he tests them out before committing the gospel to their trust. The verb is in the perfect tense, signifying not only a past approval but a continuing one. We stand approved is the sense of it. It is out of this context that Paul and his companions habitually speak, a continuous present." And then he goes on to write, "The apostle vigorously repudiates these slanders, emphasizing the solemnity of his commission. So far from his seeking anything for himself, he could speak only because he was allowed by God to be put in trust with the gospel."

Paul thinks of himself as having been tried out by God and then entrusted for service. Paul and his companions did not come to the Thessalonians as untried men, but they had been tried and found approval with God. They were trustworthy and sought to please God, not men. And then, let us see that they had been given a sacred trust. God had entrusted the gospel to them. It was a sacred trust. Morris writes, "Over against each of the points in the last verse comes its refutation. Paul's preaching could not have proceeded from error, for he was entrusted by God with the message."

"He was not impure, for he had been approved by God. He was not a trickster, for he aimed at pleasing God, not men." Matthew Henry says they were stewards put in trust with the gospel, and it is required of a steward that he be faithful. "The gospel which Paul preached was not his own, but the gospel of God. Note: Ministers have a great favor shown them, and honor put upon them, and a trust committed to them. They must not dare to corrupt the word of God. They must diligently make use of what is entrusted with them. And so, as God hath allowed and commanded, knowing they shall be called to an account when they must no longer be stewards."

Jude 3 says, "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." The word of God has been entrusted to us, and we must guard it, and we must preserve it, and we must proclaim it to this generation. And then let us see in the third place that Paul and his companions sought to please God and not men. Again, verse 4 says, "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."

They preached the gospel to please God. Paul assures the Thessalonians that they were there to please God, not men. Their gospel was from God, and it was God that they sought to please, for He knew their hearts. John Calvin writes, "Paul compares pleasing God and pleasing men as opposites. When afterwards he says, 'God which proveth our hearts,' he means that those who seek men's favor are not guided by an upright conscience and do not act with sincerity. Let us therefore know that true ministries of the gospel should make it their purpose to do their utmost for God, and to do it from the heart, not with any outward regard for the world, but because their conscience tells them it is right and proper."

Thus they will refrain from seeking to please men, that is, from having any ambition to curry men's favor. Hendrickson says this: "It was in strict accordance with God's directive that these missionaries were always telling. Note that it was in the present continuative; they were always telling the good news. Hence their message was not an error, but truth springing from the highest source. And the motive in bringing it was not selfish, for instance, pleasing men in order to gain favor, but most commendable, pleasing God, the one before whom nothing is hid and who tests our hearts. The human eye cannot discern the inner motives of his fellow man, whether good or bad."

Hence Paul, as it were, appeals to God's omniscience. Morris writes that this could not rest in merely outward deeds but was concerned with inward motives, underlies the reminder that God tests men's hearts. The heart, even though occasionally it might be used in a sense not far removed from our own, stood for the whole of the inner life, comprising thought and will as well as emotions. And here the meaning is that God searches out the whole of our inner life. Nothing is hidden from Him. And then he writes, "This is something which still needs emphasis, for the Christian preacher is always tempted to accommodate his message to the desires of his hearers."

Men do not want a message which tells them that they are nothing more than helpless sinners in God's sight and must depend humbly on God's mercy for their salvation. They're more interested in the social implications of the gospel. These, of course, must be soft-pedaled. But the preacher must always put his emphasis on those doctrines to which scripture itself gives priority. Matthew Henry writes, "Their design was to please God and not men. God is a God of truth and requires truth in the inward parts, and if sincerity be wanting, all that we do cannot please God."

"The gospel of Christ is not accommodated to the vain fancies and lusts of men to gratify their appetites and passions, but on the contrary, it was designed for the mortifying of their corrupt affections and delivering them from the power of fancy that they might be brought under the power of faith. If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." And so they sought to please God, not men, in what they preached. They were living in the presence of God. They knew He could see their hearts, and they lived to please Him.

The gospel is our sacred trust today. We must proclaim the gospel to today's generation. It has been entrusted to us by God, and we must proclaim the word of God to this nation. Romans 10:17 again says, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Unless they hear the word of God proclaimed to them, they will not believe. We cannot withhold the word of God from our nation. We must proclaim it. Great revivals have come in the past in this very nation, on this very soil, and great things have happened.

James M. Garrettson, in his book Princeton and the Work of the Christian Ministry, commented on the early days of the 19th century in America. He writes, "Churchmen feared that the new nation was in imminent danger of abandoning the Christian heritage that had provided the foundation for its religious and political freedoms. Yet in God's providence, the fortunes of the newly liberated colonies would not only be preserved but also strengthened by the Second Great Awakening. Radical political thought and deistical thinking soon encountered a revived Christian spirituality that would exert a widespread influence."

Extending over a four-decade period from 1790 to 1830, churches, communities, individuals, and educational institutions all felt its power. The debilitating effects of the Revolutionary War had lowered moral standards, but declining church attendance was soon reversed as churches were significantly strengthened. Population growth, increased immigration, and above all, personal experience of the new birth in Christ, all contributed to the growing influence of Christian belief and practice in the United States of America. There have been periods of spiritual and moral decline in America before, and things changed dramatically as it did in the Second Great Awakening.

And this can happen again. The word was powerfully preached in those days of long ago, and the Spirit was poured out. These things can happen again. The nation did not deserve the Second Great Awakening, nor do we deserve another awakening today. Our sins are piled up to heaven, and we deserve God's judgment upon us. Yet we must ask for God's mercy. In Psalm 85:6 and 7, it says, "Wilt thou not turn again and quicken us that thy people may rejoice in thee? Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation." We do not deserve a great revival, yet we must ask for God's mercy upon us that we might be revived as a nation.

We have been given a sacred trust, and we dare not hold it back. We must preach the gospel to today's generation. We must call this present generation to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. We cannot hold back the gospel thinking this generation won't believe it, thinking they will not repent. We must not believe this way. Our job is to proclaim the gospel with power and conviction. We must pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to accompany the word. The Lord has sent revival before to this vast nation, and He can do it again. And we must never give up asking.

Isaiah 62:6 and 7 says, "I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem. They will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth." We must not rest day or night till God sends revival to this nation. We must pray with all our might for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We must proclaim the gospel to today's generation and not hold it back. They need to hear it, and we must call the nation to repentance.

And we must remember what it says in Isaiah 59:19, "So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against them." Though the enemy is great, the Spirit of the Lord is greater. He can lift up a standard against the enemy. Now what about you tonight? What about you today? Have you repented of your sins and you've put your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation? Now is the time, and I call upon you to repent at once and turn to Christ. Tomorrow may be too late. Now is the day of salvation. Come while there's still time.

Our Father in heaven, we thank You for the great revivals that have come to this nation in the past. We thank You for the Second Great Awakening that occurred so many years ago and lasted so long, when so many turned from their sins and turned to You, when the whole nation was affected. We pray, O Lord, that You will send another great awakening in our time. We pray that You would pour out Your Spirit in great convicting power. We pray that You would come in great power and lift up a standard against the enemy.

O Father in heaven, we pray that the gospel will prevail in this land, that the gospel will prevail in this nation. And we pray that the nation as a whole will come to its senses and turn from its sins and turn back to You. In Christ's name we pray, amen.

David Schold: We hope this week's broadcast has been a blessing to you. If you have any questions about Mr. Dodson's message, please write us. You may email us at info@watchmanradio.org. Our mailing address is Watchman Radio Ministries International, Post Office Box 13251, Portland, Oregon, 97213. That's Watchman Radio Ministries International, Post Office Box 13251, Portland, Oregon, 97213. You may listen to this broadcast at any time on the internet at www.oneplace.com. In the list of ministries, just select the Watchman Radio Hour. This week's program and previous programs are always available there for listening. Our web address is www.watchmanradio.org. That's W-A-T-C-H-M-E-N-radio.org. www.watchmanradio.org.