Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, it's off to work we go... - 2022-09-25

“Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, it’s off to work we go…”

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

Message #9 in 1 Thess. Series

McEwen Bible Fellowship

25 September 2022 

INTRODUCTION:

What would you do if you found out for certain that Jesus was going to return two weeks from today at exactly 2:00 PM? How would that knowledge change your life? Would you do anything differently? Is there anything you would start doing? Is there anything you would stop doing? Would you go to work tomorrow?

The Bible is an extremely practical book. It is not just a storybook. It is not just a theology book. It is an instructional manual for living a life that is honouring and pleasing to God. Please turn in your Bibles to our text for today, 1 Thess. 4:9-12.

TRANSITION:

⁹ Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; ¹⁰ for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, ¹¹ and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, ¹² so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need. 

MAIN BODY:

Verse 9: Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;

·        The subject here is Christians loving other Christians. For “the love of the brethren” Paul uses the single word philadelphia, from philos, love, and adelphos, brother. It is clan love, the love between members of a family. His point is that our fellow-Christians are members of our spiritual family, which is God’s family. He says that God teaches us to love one another. I believe he is referring to the fact that it is normal and natural to love members of one’s own family. God has hardwired that into us. No one needs to teach a mother to love her children. I did not have to take a class to learn how to love my grandchildren. Loving our family is natural, normal, a God-given trait in humans, in believers and non-believers alike. Loving other Christians should be just as natural.

·        Jesus taught this love for the brethren too, but He also commanded His followers to “love their neighbour.” You will remember that His story about the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 was to illustrate this truth. But in Matthew 5:43-44 He ramped things up a notch, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour [referring to Lev. 19:18] and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.”

·        It is not always easy to love other Christians. Sometimes they seem unlovable. But to love our enemies… that is even harder. In fact, without God’s help I think it is impossible.

Verse 10: for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more,

·        Here Paul commends the Thessalonian believers and says that they are already doing this. They love one another and are showing kindness to one another. However, he says, “I want you to do it even more.” You will notice that this is the second time he has said this same thing in this passage. He used the same words up in verse 1: “…that you may excel still more.”

·        This reminds me of a coach’s talk to his team. “Guys, you are doing a great job. You are scoring and your game is right on the money. However, I know you are capable of more. You can do even better. Now get out there and make me proud.”

·        N.B. Here is where you need to know some more historical information. I asked you in my introduction what you would do if you found out for sure that the Lord’s return was going to occur in two weeks. Some jokingly said they would quit their jobs. That is exactly what happened in Thessaloniki. After Paul and the other guys taught them about the Lord’s return and the fact that Jesus could come back at any minute some of them decided that they would just wait around for the Rapture. They quit working and were just hanging out, waiting, mooching off other people. It was causing problems and hard feelings in the congregation. One of Paul’s motives for writing this epistle was to set these idle brothers straight and get them back to work.

·        When you think of his words here in that historical context it is easy to see the point that he was trying to make; namely, that it is a violation of Christian love to become a lazy freeloader, living off the labour of other people. But apparently that is exactly what was going on. Some of the brethren were using the hope of Christ’s imminent Rapture as an excuse for being both meddlesome and lazy. In this letter Paul cuts loose his first salvo. Apparently however, it did not completely solve the problem because later in 2 Thess. 3 he fired off a second salvo, going into this subject in much greater detail. Look at 2 Thess. 3:11 for example, “For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.”

·        In the next verse of our text Paul lays out a three-point solution to the problem. 

Verse 11: and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and attend to your own business, and work with your hands, just as we commanded you,

·        “…and make it your ambition…” Paul uses a word here that literally means to “be ambitious” [Rom. 15:20, “I aspire to preach the Gospel.” 2 Cor. 5:9, “We have as our ambition…to be pleasing to Him.”] However, the word came to be used with the meaning of “strive eagerly” for any worthy goal. Here Paul urges them to strive eagerly to “lead a quiet life.” What does that mean? What would that look like? In part, Paul is encouraging them to not go off the deep end about Christ’s return because no one knows when that is going to happen. He is saying, “Calm down and don’t go nuts over this.” That is good advice.

·        You may not know it, but a similar thing happened in more recent history. The Seventh Day Adventists started out as a group of gullible Christians from many different churches and denominations who followed after the teachings of William Miller, a wacky Baptist preacher from Low Hampton, New York. With great certainty Miller predicted on the basis of his interpretation of Daniel 8:14 that Jesus Christ would return to Earth on October 22, 1844. Many of his devoted disciples quit their jobs, sold their homes and belongings, and cashed in their stock certificates. When Jesus failed to appear, most of Miller’s disappointed and disillusioned followers disbanded and returned to their original churches. However, those who hung in there with his wacky teachings eventually formed the Adventist movement under the leadership of Ellen G. White.

·        “…strive eagerly to attend to your own business.” We get an inkling of Paul’s thought in 2 Thess. 3:12 where he says: “Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.” In part, I believe that Paul is telling them to shut up and get back to work. “Quit stalling, quit meddling, and get busy!”

·        “…strive eagerly to work with your hands.” The Greeks shunned manual labour. They thought it was fitting only for the servant/slave class. But when Paul was with the Thessalonians, he told them that Jesus worked with his hands as a carpenter. Paul himself worked with his hands as a tentmaker. Luke worked with his hands as a doctor. Peter, James, and John worked with their hands as fishermen, etc. Paul’s point is that any kind of honest labour is noble work for a Christian. Many people today work in offices, pecking on their computers all day. They do not do manual labour, but they work hard to earn a living and provide for their families. That is the point that Paul is making. Any kind of honest work is noble and good. Moreover, our God is a working God. He worked for six days and rested on the Sabbath, providing an example for us to follow. Creation implies work. God made everything good; therefore, man can perform the most menial tasks knowing that he is in touch with the Creator’s handiwork. Furthermore, the Bible tells us that we can do our work to the glory of God.

·        The fact that Christ will return some day and that life as we know it will end, is not a reason to stop working. In fact, it is a reason for working all the harder and all the more faithfully, so that when He comes back, He will find us going obediently about our Father’s business. 

Verse 12: so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.

·        Here Paul was telling them that they must portray Christianity in a positive light to “outsiders,” meaning unbelievers, by the diligence and the beauty of their lives. To go on as they were doing, to allow their so-called “Christianity” to turn them into useless citizens was to bring discredit to Christ, the Gospel, and their testimonies.

·        William Barclay, in his commentary on 1 Thessalonians says this about this passage: “A tree is known by its fruits; and a religion is known by the kind of men it produces. The only way to demonstrate that Christianity is the best of all faiths is to prove that it produces the best of all men. When we Christians prove that our Christianity makes us better workmen, truer friends, kinder men, and women, then and only then are we really preaching. The important thing is not words but deeds, not oratory but life. The outside world never comes into a Church to hear a sermon, but the outside world sees us every day outside the Church; and it is our lives which must be the sermon to win men for Christ.” AMEN!

·        The last part of verse 12 makes it clear that the antidote to Christians being in need is for all Christians to work. With the surplus we create by hard work we will be able to help others who are in genuine need. There will always be a few people who cannot work and will need our help, but for a Christian who can work but chooses not to, that person is an embarrassment to Christianity. The effect of the lazy idle Thessalonians was that others had to support them. They became spongers, leeches, if you will.

·        As Christians it is our duty not to draw from the community, but to contribute into the community. As Christians we should take delight in giving but have a holy independent pride that refuses to take, so long as our own two hands can supply our needs.

CONCLUSION:

I believe that this passage is very relevant to our lives today. In recent elections and certainly in the one coming up in November one of the issues that separates the two major parties is the role of government in the lives of average Americans. There are those who have come to believe that government owes it to the people to provide cradle-to-grave services including free preschool, free college education, free healthcare, free everything. I believe that is dangerous, as well as unbiblical, unchristian, and cowardly. 

The welfare state in this country is, in my opinion, a huge embarrassment. I am embarrassed and ashamed that there are so many of my fellow Americans who are so lazy that they think everyone else owes them a living, a free ride.

In Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, in 3:10 he reminds them, “For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: If anyone will not work, neither let him eat.” I believe this is a principle that we need to follow in the church and in the society. Of course, I am not saying that we should refuse to help people who are in genuine need of assistance because that would go directly against Christ’s teaching about helping the poor, but to give money and resources to lazy people who refuse to work only exacerbates the problem and enables them to go on living a useless unproductive life. May God grant us His wisdom to know how to apply this teaching to our lives, our churches, and our society. 

FEEDBACK:

·        How does Paul’s teaching here square up with the expectations of many Americans, even Christians, toward government handouts including welfare, food stamps, cash assistance, WIC, Section-8 housing, Dignity Village, etc.?

·        How do we get people to take responsibility for themselves, and work for their keep?

·        How much Christian obligation do we have toward people who are lazy and will not work?

Possessing Our Vessels - 2022-09-18

“Possessing Our Vessels”

1 Thessalonians 3:11 – 4:8

Message #8 in 1 Thess. Series

McEwen Bible Fellowship

18 September 2022

INTRODUCTION:

Fire, guns, sports cars, dynamite, and sky diving—what do these 5 things all have in common?

Ø  All 5 can be exciting

Ø  All 5 can be useful

Ø  All 5 can be dangerous 

Let’s pretend that we are all going on an elk-hunting trip this year. Sing along with me, “A-hunting we will go, A-hunting we will go, Heigh-ho, the derry-o, A-hunting we will go.” We are all going to take our rifles and go after the illusive Rocky Mountain bull elk. But for those who have never handled a rifle, what words of good advice should we give them before we put a high-powered elk-slayer into their hands?

Ø  Never point it at anything you do not plan to kill

Ø  Carry it with the barrel pointed at the ground

Ø  Never carry a loaded rifle in the car with you

Ø  Never lean a loaded rifle against a tree

Ø  Never try to cross a fence while holding one

 

Why do we insist on these rules? Because while a rifle is exciting, and useful, it can also be deadly dangerous. A hunter needs to know the things to do and the things not to do to avoid hurting himself or others. 

TRANSITION:

In our text for today the apostle Paul brings up a subject that has much in common with what we have just been discussing. He talks about something that has great power for good, but also for evil. Let’s read the passage together in 1 Thessalonians 3:11 – 4:8.

¹¹ 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 people, just as we also do for you; 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. ¹ Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. ² For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. ³ For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honour, ⁵ not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; ⁶ and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. ⁷ For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. ⁸ So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you. 

MAIN BODY:

Verse 11: Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you;

·        Verses 11-13 is Paul’s prayer to the Lord, expressing his sincere desire to get together again with the Thessalonian believers. He looks forward to when he will see them once again to continue the discipling work he started before he was forced to flee from their city. 

Verse 12: and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you;

·        “...May the Lord cause you...” – This is important because it is the Lord who is orchestrating our sanctification. He is the one who causes the growth in our lives, although sometimes we do not like His methods nor the “fertilizer” He uses.

·        “...to increase and abound in love...” – See in your mind a bucket being filled up at a cool spring flowing out of the mountain. You set the bucket under the flow of water and the level begins to rise. The water is “increasing.” Finally, the water gets to the top and begins to flow over the sides of the bucket. Now it is “abounding.” That is what Paul is praying for... that their love for one another in the Body might overflow all boundaries, but that the overflow would reach out even to their enemies.

·        And he adds that his own love for them has this same characteristic. 

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.

·        Again, Paul brings in the subject of Christ’s return. That is a scarlet thread woven throughout the tapestry of his theology.

·        “...so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness...” – The only way we can be without blame is to be truly holy. But we cannot be truly holy without Christ making us holy. It is the Lord Himself who establishes our hearts. Again, this is looking at the process of sanctification that God the Holy Spirit brings about in the Christian’s life over time. 

Verse 1: Finally, then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and, please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.

·        Here we sense a change of subject. This letter has several purposes:

ü  Paul wants to encourage the saints

ü  He wants to instruct the saints

ü  He wants to warn the saints.

·        “...we request and exhort you...” – To request is to ask politely, to ask as a favour. To exhort is to command, to require compliance. Paul does both things here in the same sentence. If the request gets the desired result, then the command is unnecessary. However, Paul is leaving nothing to chance. This is too important.

·        What is the area of concern? – “How you ought to walk [i.e., live] in order to please God.” Here he throws in the word of commendation that they are already practicing this, but he wants them to excel in it to an even greater degree.

Verse 2: For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

·        He reminds them that this teaching was not invented by him and the other apostles but came from the Lord Himself. Therefore, it is authoritative and cannot be ignored or blown off. We often do this with things we do not like to hear, don’t we. Or is it just me? 

Verse 3: For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality.

·        This is one of the clearest statements of intent in the Scriptures. God wants our sanctification. That means He wants us to live a sanctified life. “Sanctified” means holy, set apart unto God’s service. It means given over to a holy purpose, a holy calling. Paul says that this is God’s will for the Thessalonians, and by extension, for us too.

·        But he does not leave to the imagination what he means here by sanctification. He narrows it down to specifics—he is talking about the area of our human sexuality. We are to abstain from, desist, refrain, withdraw, and give up all forms of sexual immorality. ALL FORMS? What does he mean by all forms? How many forms are there for crying out loud? Well, let’s list a few:

ü  Adultery

ü  Fornication

ü  Bestiality

ü  Homosexuality

ü  Child pornography

ü  Prostitution and sex trafficking

ü  Internet pornography

ü  Sexual chat rooms

ü  Sexual dating

ü  Sleeping around

ü  Sexual favours for business or career advancement

·        This is where we get back to our discussion from the beginning, that certain things in life may be exciting, fun, even useful under the right circumstances, but they can kill you when used wrongly. SEX is one of those things. Fire in the fireplace is wonderful, but fire in the curtains is awful. A rifle on a hunting trip is great but pointed at your head it is dangerous and can kill you. Sex in the confines of a loving marriage is marvellous, but anywhere else it is like acid dripping on the soul. It will eat you up. It will kill you. 

Verse 4: that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honour,

·        Notice that Paul says, “each of you.” You cannot do this for me, and I cannot do it for you. We each must go to God for power to live a life of purity and holiness. It is a sure cinch we cannot do it on our own!

·        “How to possess his own vessel” – Some scholars have tried to say that Paul here is talking about how to take care of your wife [i.e., the weaker vessel]. I do not think so because it does not fit the context. He is using the same language and word picture here that he used in 2 Cor. 4:7 where he talked about us being “earthen vessels,” “jars of clay.” “But we have this treasure [i.e., the Gospel] in earthen vessels [i.e., fleshly human bodies], that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves.”

·        There is something here, however, that should be an encouragement to us. God never commands us or asks us to do something that is impossible. He always gives us the means to carry out His will. That means that it is possible to have my body be sanctified (set apart unto God’s service), and holy (with no filthiness or sin). It is possible to live a life of sexual purity without dropping back into the old patterns. The Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to obey this command.

Verses 5: ...not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God.

·        Paul is not making a racial slam against non-Jews but is simply referring to the fact that most of the Gentiles of his day were pagans, followers of pagan religions, with their pagan practices, including their sexual practices. This was not a cultural issue but a religious one.

·        Most of the pagan religions practiced some form of temple prostitution, or fertility rites including sexual intercourse with priests, or in some cases, with total strangers. Those religions included the worship of Astarte, Baal, Aphrodite, and Ishtar, etc.

Verse 6: and that no man transgress [cross the line] and defraud [deceive, cheat, swindle, take advantage of] his brother [= generic, includes both sexes] in the matter because the Lord is the Avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you.

·        From this verse it is obvious that Paul is not joking around. There is no “wink, wink, nudge, nudge” here. This is profoundly serious business and to violate God’s laws in this area is to invite severe divine punishment.

·        What is Paul’s point? All forms of sexual sin hurt, defraud, and take advantage of someone. For example, people sometimes call prostitution a “victimless crime,” but nothing is further from the truth. Terrible damage is done both to the women themselves and to the men who pay to use them as sex objects. Or how about the child pornography industry around the world? Is that victimless? Of course not! And is viewing pornography not a violation of the dignity and sanctity of the bodies of the young people, usually women, who appear in those photos and films? Even though they are usually complicit in their own destruction that does not justify or exonerate those who buy or view their products. Statistics show that most of the young women (± 90%) in the sex industry grew up without fathers and most of them were molested when they were just little girls.

·        Paul says here that God Himself will avenge all these things, and I tend to believe Him. To blow off this warning and continue in any of these sinful practices is to invite hellfire, and I do not think I am overstating the case. 

Verse 7: For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.

·        God did not call us to Himself just to have us continue in sinfulness and impurity. He called us to Himself to walk in holiness, as a witness to others of the power and presence of God in our life. 

Verse 8: So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

·        Paul makes it clear that to walk in sexual impurity is to reject God. This is a profoundly important concept to grasp. We cannot claim to know Him, to belong to Him, to have Him abiding in our life, and then go out and practice sexual impurity, which He forbids. Listen to what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

·        I love that last verse: “Such were some of you; but you were washed (in the blood of the Lamb), but you were sanctified (by the cleansing of the Word of God), but you were justified (declared righteous and not guilty) in the name of the Lord Jesus.” The Bottom Line = A holy life must accompany a holy profession. Once again, we are being called to walk-the-walk, as well as talk-the-talk.

CONCLUSION:

I am frankly astonished at the number of people today who call themselves “Christians” yet who live lives of sexual immorality and filthiness.

·        I have talked to many professing Christians over the years who say that they do not think that God means for them to go through life being forever deprived of a loving sexual relationship, just because they do not happen to be married.

·        I know for a fact that Internet pornography is one of the most common sins among both Christian and non-Christian men in much of the world. It is at epidemic proportions, with a quickly growing number of women caught up in the same demonic web of sin, secrecy, self-gratification, and self-deception.

·        Double-blind surveys reveal that many pastors and full-time Christian workers say that pornography is the greatest temptation and battlefield in their lives.

·        Adult porno shops, sexual massage parlours, and sex toy stores have popped up everywhere, even in places you would never have dreamed of seeing one. And city governments are complicit in allowing them to move in and set up shop.

·        Among professing Christian teens many are caught up in premarital sexual practices that include anything and everything including full-on sexual intercourse, and they justify it by saying that they are just “messing around” or “hooking up.”

·        Today, it is reported that at least 90 percent of kids between the ages of 8 and 16 have watched pornography online at least once. Not only have most tweens and teens seen porn, but boys ages 12 to 17 are actually the largest consumers of online pornography. With this statistic, pornography has even been compared to being the drug of choice for youth. In fact, the statistics keep rising every single year. Right now, statistics are showing that kids first gain exposure to pornography at the age of 10 or 11.

 

At the beginning of this message, I started out by asking a question. Do you remember what it was? I said, “Fire, guns, sports cars, dynamite, and sky diving—what do these 5 things all have in common?” We said...

Ø  All 5 can be exciting

Ø  All 5 can be useful

Ø  All 5 can be dangerous

 

We need to add a sixth thing to that list—our human sexuality. Like the others, it can be exciting. In fact, it is perhaps the most wonderful thing God ever invented. It can also be useful. It allows us to form families and continue the human race. It allows us to obey God’s command to “be fruitful and multiply.” But thirdly, our sexuality outside of the boundaries that God placed around it is like fire in the drapery—it is very dangerous, a disaster, and capable of destroying everything in its path, destroying us, our families, our testimonies, our ministries, plus a whole lot of other people. 

FEEDBACK:

·        Why do you think that God gave us such a powerful thing as our human sexuality and our sometimes-out-of-control sex drives? Isn’t it kind of like handing a kid a machine gun?

·        Why did He make the drive so strong in us? And why is it so hard for us to keep our sexuality under control?

·        Why does God seem to take this so seriously? Is it really that big of a deal or are Paul and I blowing this out of proportion?

·        What are you going to do with what we have learned today? Is there a personal step you need to take to bring your life more in line with the Word of God?

Living in the Fast Lane - 2022-09-04

“Living in the Fast Lane”

1 Thessalonians 3:1-10

Message #7 in 1 Thess. Series

McEwen Bible Fellowship

4 September 2022

INTRODUCTION:

If I say to you that I have been “living in the fast lane,” what does that mean to you?

·        Perhaps that I am living a wild, sensual, profligate, ungoverned life?

·        Or that I am staying super busy, trying to get lots of work done?

·        Or maybe that I am doing fun, exciting things every day? 

Many people spend their lives looking for the illusive “fast lane.” They are convinced that if they can just find that fast lane then their lives will be much more exciting and meaningful. But sadly, they invariably look in all the wrong places. They look for life in places where only death can be found. They explore sex and one-night stands; they experiment with alcohol and drugs; they try bungee-jumping and other thrill rides; they delve into eastern religions, occultism, and philosophy; they immerse themselves in business and activities. They are looking for real life but never finding it. 

The problem is that real life is not found in worldly activities or excitement. It is found only in Christ, and in a close relationship with Him. It is found in knowing Him and loving Him and serving Him and doing His will and hanging out with His people.

In our text for today the Apostle Paul tells us what “real living” means to him. He shares with us what “living in the fast lane” means to him. Let’s read 1 Thessalonians 3:1-10. 

TRANSITION:

¹ So, when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens.  ² We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the Gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, ³ so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them.  ⁴ In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know.  ⁵ For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.  ⁶ But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you.  ⁷ Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith.  ⁸ For now we really live since you are standing firm in the Lord.  ⁹ How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?  ¹⁰ Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. 

MAIN BODY:

Verse 1: So, when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens.

·        Here Paul uses the literary plural “we,” but he is talking about himself. To see these events, we must turn back to Acts 17. Look at verses 10-15 of that passage: “The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹ Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessaloniki, for they received the Word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. ¹² Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. ¹³ But when the Jews of Thessaloniki found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds. ¹⁴ Then immediately the brethren sent Paul out to go as far as the sea; and Silas and Timothy remained there. ¹⁵ Now those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left.”

·        So, we learn that after Paul and his team were chased out of Thessaloniki they pressed on to Berea where their reception was altogether different. They stayed on there for a while, teaching and encouraging the new converts. But verse 13 says that some of the Jewish leaders in Thessaloniki learned that they were in Berea and went there to stir up trouble for them just like they had done in Philippi and Thessaloniki. Paul had to be escorted out of Berea and was accompanied to Athens. But verse 14 says that Silas and Timothy stayed on in Berea with orders for one or both to make their way back to Thessaloniki as soon as possible. That is what Paul is referring to here in the next verses.

Verses 2-3: We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the Gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, ³ so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them.

·        “…so that no one would be unsettled by these trials.” This word, “unsettled” in the NIV is an interesting word. In Greek it literally means “to wag the tail.” It is the picture of a dog that wags his tail to get you to lower your defences and feed him or pet him. It is also the word for beguile or flatter. It is translated in the KJV, “moved.” In the NASV it is “disturbed.” Paul is referring to what sometimes happens when Christians go through tribulations or times of persecution. They are tempted [flattered, beguiled] to abandon the Lord and the faith, thinking that the trials are not worth the payoff. So, Paul reminds them here that suffering, and trials are part of the normal Christian life. They should not come as a shock to us.

·        “…we were destined for them” – Paul, who had already suffered more than his share, here groups himself with the suffering believers in Thessaloniki. 

Verse 4: In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know.

·        Paul reminds them that he and the other fellows had told the Thessalonian believers repeatedly (he uses the perfect aorist tense = “we used to tell you”) that they needed to be ready to face tribulations and trials. Hence, suffering should not have caught them by surprise. They were given fair warning after all.

Verse 5: For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter [Satan = “the adversary”] might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.

·        Paul was concerned that they might have given in to Satan’s beguiling temptation to abandon the faith, and that they might have gone back on their baptismal vows to follow the Lord no matter the cost.

·        You remember that Satan tried to use Christ’s physical suffering in the wilderness to defeat Him spiritually (Matthew 4:3), and he did the same to the Thessalonians. Moreover, he will try it with you and me as well. We are often at our most vulnerable to his attacks when we are sick, or in pain, or discouraged.

Verse 6: But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you.

·        We must tie this verse to Acts 18:5, which says, “But when Silas and Timothy came down [to Corinth] from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the Word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.” After Paul ministered in Athens for a while he moved over to Corinth where he was living when Timothy and Silas found him. Timothy and Silas’s return and their positive report about events in Macedonia eased Paul’s troubled mind at last. A big burden was lifted off his shoulders.

·        Timothy reported that the Thessalonians, despite the persecution, were continuing to demonstrate faith toward God and love both toward one another as well as toward those who mistreated them. Even though they were new converts they were genuine Christians, filled with the fruit of the Spirit. There is no other explanation for the way they were holding up under such trials as they had known from the very beginning days of the Thessalonian church.

·        “…Timothy…has brought good news about your faith and love” – Paul uses the Greek word euangelidzo, meaning “to evangelize” and suggests that Timothy’s report was virtually a “gospel, an evangel” to his troubled and anxious mind.

o   Their FAITH was firm – this had been Paul’s main concern. He mentions this 3 times, in verses 5, 6, and 7.

o   Their LOVE was constant – even despite the trials and persecution, which could have easily frayed the edges of their sunny dispositions. Many of us get grouchy when we are worried, or hurting, or downhearted. We sometimes take things out on other people or even blame God.

o   Their REMEMBRANCE (recollection) of Paul and his colleagues was always good – despite the reproach and persecution that the evangelists’ visit had caused. They carried no grudge against Paul and his team. 

Verse 7: Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith.

·        What does Paul mean by, “…in all our distress and persecution”? He uses two strong words here. The first is anagké, indicating “a necessity imposed by external circumstances.” I think he is referring to the fact that he was broke and hungry much of the time. The second strong word he uses is thlípsis, meaning “a choking pressure.” By his use of this word, I think Paul is referring to the opposition he faced from the Jews and the Corinthians, and the apathetic indifference of the Athenians. Since Paul’s separation from the Thessalonians his own lot had not been a happy one, even while he awaited news from Macedonia. Persecution at Philippi, Thessaloniki, and Berea was followed by loneliness and indifferent response at Athens (cf. 3:1; Acts 17:32-34). Such determined opposition so plagued him at Corinth that he needed to be divinely reassured Luke tells us in Acts 18:9-10, “And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; ¹⁰ for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city [i.e., in Corinth].’” No wonder Paul speaks of personally experiencing distress and persecution.

·        This is also a perfect example of what Paul is saying in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7.  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ⁵ For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. ⁶ If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. ⁷ And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.”

Verses 8: For now, we really live since you are standing firm in the Lord. 

·        “…for now, we really live” – For most of us, Paul’s life looks like an exciting story. Most people’s daily lives are humdrum, but not Paul’s. He was always into something exciting. But his point here is that “real living” to him is defined as knowing that his children in the faith are continuing to walk faithfully with God, “standing firm in the Lord,” despite all their problems and troubles. Paul would say, “Now that is really living!” For Paul, that was living in the fast lane. 

Verse 9: How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? 

·        This is a convoluted and confusing way to say that Paul was filled with joy and gratefulness to God because of the news he heard from Timothy about the steadfastness of the Thessalonian Christians.

·        Paul took no credit for the strength or growth of the church. It was God who gave the growth. He is not boastful here, just thankful.

Verse 10: Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. 

·        “…and to supply what is lacking in your faith.” Here Paul is not slamming their faith. It is just his way of saying that he looks forward to being with them again soon so that he can continue instructing them in the things of God so that their faith will be strengthened even more.

·        There is another lesson here too. We often think that when we are separated from the people that we love there is nothing that we can do to help them. But there is…we can pray for them. Paul prayed faithfully, fervently, and often for the Thessalonian believers, even though he was physically far removed from them. Yet his prayers reached across the miles and helped support and sustain those beloved young believers. Like James says in James 5:16, “The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

CONCLUSION:

This is an intimate portion of Scripture. It clearly reveals that Paul was not the cerebral, unfeeling theologian that some people try to make him out to be. He was intelligent – yes. He was an incredible theologian – without a doubt. He was a hard-driving, dedicated, type-A personality sort of guy – for sure. But he was also a tender father-figure, a friend, a mentor, and a prayer-partner. He cared about people. He did not let programs get in the way of ministering to people’s needs. He was a man of prayer. He believed in the power of prayer. He was humble and took no credit for himself. He gave credit to others every chance he got. 

Another truth that stands out to me from these verses concerns the craftiness of our enemy, the devil. He knows how to attack us at our lowest hour in our weakest spot. We need to ever be on the alert and aware of his tactics. This passage also reminds me that we need to entrust people to the care and keeping of the Holy Spirit. He who began a good work in the Thessalonians was also the One who carried them on to spiritual maturity, even though Paul was absent from them. Through Paul’s prayers God was active across all those miles. Through our prayers we can effect change around the world.