COURAGEOUS ENCOURAGEMENT
1 THESSALONIANS 2:17 - 3:13
We have been going through
Paul’s first epistle to the Thessalonians.
Last week we saw chapter 2:1-16 where Paul describes his initial coming
to Thessalonica.
In verses 1-12 we saw Paul’s
initial coming to Thessalonica.
·
He came with
boldness (verse 2)
·
He came with
truth rather than from error or impurity or with deceit (verse 3)
·
He came with pure
motives (verse 4-6), not to please men but to please God.
·
He came like a
nursing mother (verse 7).
·
He exhorted and
cared and implored like a loving father (verse 11).
Then in verses 13-16 we saw
the way in which the Thessalonian believers received Paul’s message:
·
They received it
as God’s message (verse 13)
·
That message of
the Gospel did a work in them when they believed (verse 13)
·
They became
imitators of the churches of God that had gone before (verse 14). A family resemblance began to be seen.
·
They endured
suffering at the hands of their countrymen.
Now as we pick up in verse
17, we will see the rest of the story. Paul
was only in the seaside town of
Suddenly the church is
alone. There are no elders. No pastors.
No deacons. No
one who can even spell “seminary.”
Just a tiny group of believers that have come to
believe in the work of a Galilean Rabbi who died in their place and who rose
from the dead.
Frankly, it has been a bit
bewildering and unsettling.
There is something about
being alone and abandoned that is always unsettling. In my younger years, I worked as a Battalion
Chief for the Fire Department. It was
many years ago in the days before I was even an officer that I responded to a
fire aboard a cargo ship. We made entry
into a passage where the heat was rolling over our heads and the smoke was so
black that you could not see your gloved hand in front of your face. I know that for a fact because I tried waving
my hand in front of my mask. Nothing. Then I felt
a gloved hand on my shoulder and a yell over the roar of the flames, “I’m
getting low on air; I’ll be back.”
That isn’t how it is supposed
to work, but, as I said, that was a long time ago and things were different
then.
Before I knew it, I was
alone. Dark. Blazingly hot. At a time like that, you become amazingly
existential. I recall the question going
through my mind: “What on earth am I doing here?”
That is how the Thessalonians
must have felt. But then there came word
from Paul in the person of Timothy. He
brought greetings and a word of encouragement.
That encouragement is seen in these verses:
WE CAN BE ENCOURAGED BY
MUTUAL PRESENCE
But we, brethren, having been
bereft [literally, “orphaned”] of you for a short while-- in person, not
in spirit-- were all the more eager with great desire to see your face. 18 For we wanted to come to you-- I, Paul, more than once-- and
yet Satan thwarted us. 19 For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is
it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? 20 For you
are our glory and joy. (1 Thessalonians 2:17-19).
Paul has been away from the
believers at Thessalonica for some time and he misses them. He is with them in spirit, but that is not
sufficient. He wants to be with them.
It was nearly 31 years ago
that Paula and I first met. We were both students at
It wasn’t long before we
began to miss one another. Upon
occasion, I would either hitchhike or take a bus or even walk part of the way
from
Why? Why did I go through so much effort and so
much time in order to come and visit her?
Because we were in love. Let me tell you a secret about
Christianity. When you are in love with
Christ, you want to be with Him and you want to be with His people.
There is something
wonderfully encouraging about the presence of the people of God.
You’ve
heard of the little girl who had been sent to bed. She called out to her mother from the bedroom. “Mommy, I’m afraid to be alone in my
room!” Her mother replied, “It’s okay, honey. The
Lord is in your room with you.” Came
back the plaintive call, “But I want someone with skin on.”
The
church is the place where we meet God “with skin on.” He says, “Do you love Me? Then love one another.”
A lot has been made in Bible
Studies and sermons concerning the idea of heavenly rewards. To be sure, the Bible does have some things
to say on the subject. But Paul’s focus
here is not upon some physical or spiritual reward that God is going to give. His focus is upon those to whom he has
ministered. THEY are his reward.
The Lord has brought people
into your life to whom only you can reach out and
minister and show the love of Christ. You
might object, “I don’t know how to speak the way you do, John.” That’s okay.
You don’t have to. You only have
to speak or act or show the love of Christ in the way YOU know how. God will do the rest. And when He does a work through you in the
heart and life of another person, you will find that THEY have become your hope
and joy and crown of exultation.
There are some of you for
whom I have had opportunity to minister.
It may have been a big thing like introducing you to the Lord and
explaining the way of salvation. Or it
may have been a little thing like a smile or a handshake. It might have been merely laughing with you
when you laughed or in crying with you when you cried. It might have been a time of praying with you
when you didn’t know what to pray and I didn’t either, but we both went to the
Lord with your burden. You are my crown.
But that is not all. Some of you have ministered in my life. You have encouraged me and you have prayed
for me. Some of you have come to me and
said, “John, you need to do this better or you need to focus on that goal.” I listened to the Lord speaking through you
and I received your advice and your correction.
I am your crown.
Look at the person sitting
next to you. He or she is a special
opportunity for ministry. Think of the
neighbor that lives next door. No, the other one -- the one to whom you might not often speak.
God has given to you a potential for
ministry -- an opportunity to reach out and to demonstrate the love of Christ
in a very real way.
WE CAN BE ENCOURAGED
AMIDST SHARED PERSECUTIONS
Therefore when we could endure it
no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone; 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's
fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to
your faith, 3 so that no man
may be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have
been destined for this. 4 For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you
in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it came to pass, as
you know. (1 Thessalonians 3:1-4).
Paul wants to encourage those
who are going through hard times. His
words of encouragement presuppose that you WILL go through some hard
times. It is a simple truth that, if you
make a stand for Christ, then there will be some who will not only reject you,
but who will also do what they can to afflict you.
This is not a chance
happening. In verse 3, Paul says that you
yourselves know that we have been destined for this. We often talk about being predestined to
salvation and the Bible does indeed teach that sort of thing, but here we have
something more -- it is that we were predestined to affliction.
Is that bad? No, that is GOOD. It means that your sufferings and your
problems and your afflictions have not caught God by surprise. It means that they are all a part of God’s
grand design to mold you and make you into the person He wants you to be. It means that He is even working out those
very troubles as He works all things for good to those who love Him and who are
called according to His purpose.
Bad things are going to
happen and some of them are going to happen deliberately, both from the hand of
God and from the hand of men. We live in
an increasingly anti-Christian culture and there will be increasing episodes of
people who will try to do you wrong because you are trying to do right.
There are people who will try to
persecute your.
There is a tempter who will try to tempt
you.
You determine to stand firm,
no matter what. You have been called to
be a part of the army of God. Your
weapons are not of this world but are supernatural -- the gospel and the truth
and faith and love.
Paul says, “We were so
worried about the welfare of your believers in Thessalonica that we sent Timothy
back to you to get news on how you were doing.”
How were the Thessalonians
doing? They were going through hard
times. But that in itself does not
dishearten or discourage Paul because he had told them at the outset that they
would go through hard times. It is okay
that they were going through hard times as long as they ENDURED in the midst of
those hard times. This brings us to our
next point.
WE CAN BE ENCOURAGED BY
PERSEVERING ENDURANCE
For this reason, when I could
endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that
the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor should be in vain. 6 But now
that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your
faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just
as we also long to see you, 7 for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and
affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; 8 for now
we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 3:5-8).
Paul says, “I could not
endure it any longer; I had to send Timothy back to find whether you were
enduring in the faith.” You see, it was
not enough for Paul to know that the Thessalonians had made a decision for
Christ in the past. He was ultimately
concerned, not over a past decision, but whether they were enduring TODAY in
their faith.
There is a segment of
Christianity today that puts altogether too much emphasis upon making a
decision for Christ. Sometimes this is
punctuated by having someone walk down an aisle or say a prayer of
commitment. These are all good and
worthy things. But such a commitment is
only the first step of what is to be a Christian WALK.
I can remember how we all
applauded when our grandson took his first little baby steps. A faltering step. Then another one. And then a third. But it would be supremely tragic if that had
been all there was. Baby steps, by there
very nature, are a prelude to further walking.
Paul sends Timothy from
“They are still living out their
Christian FAITH.”
“They are showing LOVE”
“They long to see you as you long to see
them”
There is actually a play on
words used here. Throughout chapter 2,
Paul spoke of how he had brought the GOSPEL to the Thessalonians.
·
We had the
boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much
opposition (2:2).
·
We have been
approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel (2:4).
·
We were
well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our
own lives (2:8).
·
We proclaimed
to you the gospel of God
(2:10).
The word “gospel” simply
means “good news.” Paul and company had
come to Thessalonica proclaiming the good news that God sent His Son. But now Paul uses this same
word translated “gospel” in verse 6 to speak of the good news that Timothy
brought back that the Thessalonians are still walking in faith and in love.
As a result of one gospel,
the other gospel became apparent in the lives of the Thessalonian believers.
How
about you? You have heard the message of
the gospel of Jesus Christ -- that God sent His only Son into the world to die
as a sacrifice for sins -- that He died upon the cross
and rose again and has conquered sin and death.
That
is the Gospel. But is the gospel
apparent in your life? Has it changed
you so that you your life is characterized by faith
and by love? It had in the case of the
Thessalonians.
In July 2002 a cave-in took
place in the mines of Pensylvania. The miners were mining their own business
when suddenly water started rushing into the mine. They were trapped in the darkness. Helpless. Soon to perish. For three days and three nights they were
alone as rescuers tried to drill down to their location. And then salvation broke through to bring
them from darkness to light.
After it was all over, I saw
an interview of all nine of them. They
were asked what this event did for their relationship. They were bonded together. They will never again see themselves in the
same way.
Christians are part of a life
and death event. It chose us. When we were in darkness and death, light and
life broke through into our world. We
have been saved. We share a common
bond. A bond of life
and death. A
bond of shared endurance. We
should see each other differently. And
we shoult pray for one another differently.
WE CAN BE ENCOURAGED BY
INTERCESSORY PRAYER
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, 10 as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that
we may see your face, and may complete what is lacking in your faith? (1
Thessalonians 3:9-10).
There is a great and a mighty
ministry that takes place in our church.
I’m not speaking about what happens from the pulpit or in our Sunday School classes or any of those other “high visual”
ministries that take place. I am
speaking of a ministry of intercession.
There is a lot of prayer that
goes on around here. A
ministry of intercession. And if
I were to mention the names of some of those who are the most involved, you might
not even know their names. But that is
okay. Their names are familiar in
heaven, for they are constantly before the throne.
Paul tells us several things
about his prayer:
·
He prayed
continually: We night and day keep praying (3:10).
·
He prayed
earnestly: We night and day keep praying most earnestly
(3:10).
·
He prayed with an
eye to personal involvement: We night and day keep praying most earnestly
that WE may see your face, and [that WE] may complete
what is lacking in your faith (3:10).
I love the place where Jesus
calls His disciples together and He says, “I want you to pray to the Lord of
the harvest that He will raise up workers for the harvest who will be able to
go out and gather in the harvest.”
That order to pray is given
in Matthew 9:37-38 and I am certain that the disciples said to themselves, “You
want us to pray for workers? Okay, we
will pray for workers to be sent out.” Then
you turn the page to Matthew 10 and what do you see? The Lord turns to those same praying
disciples and says, “PRAYER ANSWERED!!!
I am sending you and you and you...”
Paul does the same thing here. He
says, “I am praying that God will send me to come and minister to you.”
Have you been praying that
way? Or have you been praying like Moses
did before the burning bush: “Lord, here am I; send Aaron!”
WE CAN BE ENCOURAGED BY A
PROMISED RETURN
Now may our God and Father
Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you; 12 and may
the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all
men, just as we also do for you; 13 so that He may
establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before
our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. (1
Thessalonians 3:11-13).
Christianity is past, present
and future. There is a goal to the
Christian life. If you are a believer,
then God has not only saved you and given you a holy position in Christ, but
also He is presently doing a continuing work within you. That work will one day be completed. It will be completed when Jesus returns with
all His saints.
We
have a hope for the future. Hope is
faith in the future tense. Where there
is no hope in the future, there is no encouragement in the present. Paul says that, as you live in the light of
the promised return of the Lord, you are motivated to...
Establish your heart unblamable in holiness
Increase and abound in love for one
another, and for all men
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