Message 3 - 1 Thessalonians Chapter 3 - Paul’s Great Desire To Connect With The Saints At Thessalonica Series

MESSAGE 3 - 1 THESSALONIANS CHAPTER 3 - PAUL’S GREAT DESIRE TO CONNECT WITH THE SAINTS AT THESSALONICA

{{1Thessalonians 3:1 “Therefore when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone, 1Thess 3:2 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, 1Thess 3:3 so that no man may be disturbed by these afflictions, for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this.”}}

We must return to the previous chapter to see the link for this chapter. Paul had the greatest desire to visit the Thessalonians but was being frustrated by Satan so he could not come. It was so hard for him to endure the absence from the Thessalonians and not knowing how they were doing. Consequently, he decided to send Timothy to them while he remained in Athens. That itself, links into Acts 17.

The great concern Paul had was the afflictions that had descended on the Thessalonian Christians, and they continued to endure them because he had to write another letter to them to explain they were not in the Tribulation. These saints at Thessalonica needed strengthening and encouragement as all Christians do, and Timothy was chosen for that. It was in a time of stress and Paul was concerned for his dear people. Christians in stress can become very unsettled. Some give up and return to the old life; some become most disturbed; some endure and fight the good fight.

Paul ends verse 3 by declaring that (every) Christian who lives for the Lord will suffer persecution. We are seeing this same thing everywhere in the world today with a very rapid increase in the so-called Christian nations. Paul later on wrote to Timothy to confirm this very thing I am sure he knew – {{2Timothy 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”}}

THE BACKGROUND TO THE PASSAGE – PAUL’S DEVOTED CONCERN

{{1Thessalonians 3:4 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. 1Thess 3:5 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 labour should be in vain, 1Thess 3:6 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.”}}

Paul could endure the uncertainty no longer; he had to know the welfare of those saints he loved in the Lord at Thessalonica. He was afraid that hardship and persecution had chased them away from the Lord. Timothy’s report was the positive one Paul was hoping for. The saints at Thessalonica were progressing in faith and love and wanted to meet Paul, as he wanted to meet them.

Paul dearly loved the converts, and yearned after them like a devoted father, but we see in some passages, especially in this one, he was very concerned, that because of the affliction the saints were enduring, they may have abandoned their faith. Had they run off the rails? He was praying constantly for them that their faith would be strengthened. He wanted to see maturity, and he wanted the Christians to be good soldiers in Christ. A soldier in the Roman army did not run away at the start of hardship, for example, when walking with his pack in rough terrain, or deprived of food. That was in Paul’s mind when he wrote to Timothy – {{2Timothy 2:3-4 “Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.”}}

Endurance is a godly quality that must be maintained by Christians in the hardships and sufferings of this life. I was writing on this matter in a commentary I am doing on Jeremiah - Nevertheless, endurance is a quality that must be found in the good soldiers of Jesus Christ. God must be disappointed in cowardly wimps who profess to follow him, but live a life of ease and won’t put themselves out to go to Bible Studies or won’t do anything to further the kingdom, or can’t be bothered going out to meet God’s people for any number of excuses. It is those who endure, who will hear, “Well done, you good and faithful servant.”

Now the background to the passage in 1Thessalonians chapter 3 lies in Acts 17, and we will look at that - Acts 17:10-15 “The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away (from Thessalonica) by night to Berea and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men, but when the Jews of Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there likewise, agitating and stirring up the crowds, and then immediately the brethren sent Paul out to go as far as the sea and Silas and Timothy remained there. Now those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.”}}