6/13/18
Tom Lowe
Lesson 7: For Their Faithfulness (1Th 2:13-3:10)
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 2:13-20 (NIV)
13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. 14 For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews 15 who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone 16 in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last. 17 But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. 18 For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked our way. 19 For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?20 Indeed, you are our glory and joy.
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 3:1-10 (NIV)
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 co-worker in God’s service 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. For you know quite well that we are 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 had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain. 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 and sisters, 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.
Lesson 7
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 2:13-20 (NIV)
13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.
Now here is the other side of the giving of the Gospel. Paul has already said, “For our Gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost”. . . (1 Thessalonians 1:5). That is the way the Gospel should be given out. But I hear a great many people criticize preachers and I want to say this: If a man is presenting the Gospel and it is going out in power, it should be received as the Word of God.
After the Word is given out and after it is received with faith, it should be obeyed; that’s important. It is not enough to appreciate the Bible, or even to appropriate the Bible. We must apply the Word in our lives and be hearers and doers of the Word (James 1:19-25).
The Word should go out as the Word of God, and it should be received as the Word of God. And, my friend, if you will receive it that way then it will be able to work in you, and there’s blessing there for you?IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE! Otherwise, you are wasting your time in church.
The Word of God has in it the power to accomplish the will of God. “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). It has well been said, “God’s commandments are God’s enablements.” Jesus commanded the crippled man to stretch out his hand—the very thing the man could not do. Yet that word of command gave him the power to obey. He trusted the word, obeyed, and was made whole (Mark 3:1-5). When we believe God’s Word and obey, He releases power—divine energy—that works in our lives to fulfill His purposes.
The Word of God within us is a great source of power in times of testing and suffering. If we appreciate the Word (the heart), appropriate the Word (the mind), and apply the Word (the will), then the whole person will be controlled by God’s Word and He will give us the victory.
The church should be a revelation of God to the community just as a family should be. The relationships of a husband, wife, and child in the home should reveal the threefold aspect of the love of God and Christ for the world. Paul has already spoken of the mother-side of the local church. He is willing to work day and night to nurture them like a little bird is nurtured by its mother. He didn’t work an eight-hour day, but he was on the job for them all the time.
Then Paul said he was like a father to that church. A child in a home needs to experience both mother-love and father-love. It is a tragedy for children in our day when the parents are separated or divorced. The child very often fails to receive the love of the father. That father-love is expressed in discipline [That’s what is missing today; in schools, homes, churches, jobs, and the like.]. Paul said he was like a father to the Thessalonian church.
The way in which the Thessalonians eagerly welcomed the Gospel was the source of continual joy for the apostles. Not only were the fruits of righteousness manifest in the Thessalonian converts lives (1:3), but also the way they received the preached Word of God warmed the apostles’ hearts. The “Word of God” here clearly refers to the message spoken by the missionaries. Someone has said that the Gospel is not the kind of message that man would invent if he could, nor is it a message that he could invent if he would. The Thessalonian Christians sensed the supernatural truthfulness of the Gospel Paul preached as the Holy Spirit brought this conviction home to their hearts. When Christians share their faith, they do not merely give their particular viewpoint on life as one among the endless variety of human theories. They announce the divinely revealed truth of God, a word from God.
The Word of God has the creative power of God behind it and in it (Genesis 1:3). The word “believe” is in the Greek present tense, indicating continuing action. The truth of God like a good medicine will continue to heal sin-sick souls so long as people receive it by faith.
Now the brother-side of the ministry within the church is represented by the child in the family.
14 For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews
What is it that makes men brothers? And what is it that makes women sisters? There are two things that make brothers and sisters. Regardless of race or color, it is true that we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. No one escapes that category. This is the brotherhood of sinners. Since it is a brotherhood of sinners; it is not a loving brotherhood. You had better watch your brother; you can’t always trust him.
Now what is it that Paul says drew the Thessalonians together as brothers and sisters? “You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews.” The Thessalonian church was largely a Gentile church, and they were already experiencing persecution, although this was not yet the time of the great persecutions under the emperors, they were suffering in Thessalonica. Paul could say to them, “Before you began suffering, the brethren over in Jerusalem were already suffering at the hands of their racial brothers. This suffering draws you together and holds you together.” They were brothers in suffering; suffering is cement that holds believers together.
Those whose lives are being changed by God often find themselves the objects of criticism and attack by people in whom there is no divine life. Frequently when Christians suffer persecution they are tempted to think God’s blessing has departed.
I do believe that if suffering came to the church, it would draw believers together. We would cut out all this nonsense of picking at the other fellow. We would recognize that every child of God is our brother or sister. There may be some disagreement on various points, but every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is my brother or sister. We are in the family of God, and we should mirror this before the world. When the church really mirrors this before the world, then revival will come.
Not only were the Thessalonian saints “imitators” of the Lord and of Paul (1 Thessalonians 1:6), but they also became imitators of the Jewish believers in their experience of persecution. The saints in Judea suffered at the hands of the Jews, and the saints in Thessalonica suffered at the hands of the Gentiles. But keep in mind that even this Gentile persecution was encouraged by the Jewish unbelievers (Acts 17:5, 13; see note 2.1). Jesus promised that this would happen (John 15:18-27).
When the leaders of Israel rejected Jesus Christ and persecuted His followers, they were only repeating the sins of their fathers. Their ancestors had persecuted the prophets long before Jesus came to earth (Matthew 5:10-12; see note 14.2). They could not see that their law was only a temporary preparation for God’s New Covenant of grace. By rejecting God’s truth, they protected their man-made traditions (Mark 7:1-8). Our Lord’s parable in Luke 20:9-19 explained their sinful attitudes.
• (Note 14.1) “But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people . . . But when the Jews of Thessalonica 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” (Acts 17:5, 13)
• (Note 14.2) “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12) Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, and others; which shows, that what should befall them was no new and strange thing, but what had been the lot of the most eminent servants of God in former ages.
15 who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone
16 in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.
The Thessalonians were not alone in their suffering; they had abundant and worthy company. Their persecutors had killed the Lord Jesus Himself and the Old Testament prophets. They drove out their father in the faith, the Apostle Paul, and his fellow missionaries. Though Paul had lain guilt for the death of Christ at the feet of the Jews he did not charge them alone with this crime. The Romans who were involved in Jesus’ trial and execution were also guilty (1 Corinthians 2:8; see note 15.1) as was every human being for whose sins Christ tasted death (Hebrews 2:9; see note 15.2).
Those who set themselves against God’s people also set themselves against God. And they also hurt other non-Christians. The worst thing about unbelief is not that it damns the unbeliever, but that it hinders the salvation of others. Such people seek to extinguish the lamp of truth and in doing so cause others to stumble.
I consider this to be a remarkable passage of Scripture. It reveals a great principle: God permits sin to run its full course. The figure of speech which the prophets used was that the cup of iniquity must be filled up. God is permitting the cup to be filled. God won’t stop it so that Satan will never be able to say, “See, I never was given a chance because God wouldn’t permit me to go all the way.” It’s a sad thing that Israel was filling up their sins (v. 16) and storing up wrath for the day of judgment. This image is used in Genesis 15:16 (see note 16.1), and Jesus used it in His sermon against the Pharisees (Matthew 23:32). God patiently waits as sinners rebel against Him, and He watches as their measure of sin and judgment fills up. When the time is up, God’s patience will end and judgment will fall. God will only allow an individual or a group of individuals to accumulate so much sin, and then He will judge. He does not judge before this limit, which He alone knows, has been reached (Genesis 15:16; see note 16.1). The Thessalonians’ persecutors were hastening God’s judgment on themselves by their actions.
I think the time of the Great Tribulation is the time when God will allow Satan full rein. “The wrath of God” may refer to the Tribulation which will assuredly come upon them because of their rejection of Jesus Christ. This was probably Paul’s thought since in other contexts in this epistle where he speaks of the wrath to come he has the Tribulation in mind.
• (note 15.1) “None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8). Jesus Christ is the Lord of glory; a title much too great for any creature. There are many things which people would not do, if they knew the wisdom of God in the great work of redemption.
• (note 15.2) “But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9). Christ was made a little lower than the angels by becoming man, and assuming a body frail and mortal, that he might die for his church and people.
• (Note 16.1) “In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure" (Genesis 15:16). Wicked people have a measure of iniquity to fill up, which is known by God only; some are longer, some are quicker in filling it up, during which time God waits patiently and bears with them; but, when it is completed, he stays no longer, but takes vengeance on them, Matthew 23:32.
17 But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you.
“Brothers and sisters”—again, this is the real brotherhood, the real sisterhood. This is the real ecumenical movement. When a person is in Christ Jesus, he is a brother to all others who are in Christ. Outside of Christ there is only the brotherhood of sinners.
“Brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought).” Isn’t this lovely of the apostle Paul? He was actually run out of Thessalonica, but his heart was still there. He hated to leave these Christians and wanted to be able to see them again. By the way, he did.
Paul was not ashamed to state his affection for the Thessalonian Christians. He felt as though he had been “orphaned” from them since he was their spiritual mother and father (1 Thessalonians 2:7, 11). Paul wanted to remain there longer to help ground them in the faith, but the enemy drove him out. However, his absence was only physical; he was still with them in his heart (see Philippians 1:7).
Paul made every effort possible to return to them, though Satan was “breaking up the road and putting up obstacles” (literal meaning, “hindered”). Paul had the same kind of deep desire to be with them as Jesus had to be with His disciples before His death?“And he said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer’” (Luke 22:15). Christ kept the ordinances of the law, particularly that of the Passover, to teach us to observe His gospel rituals, and most of all that of the Lord's Supper. To Paul it was as though his family were being torn apart when he left them. He hoped the separation would be brief, but it broke his heart to leave them as infant babes in Christ.
But Paul did not look back and give in to regret and remorse. Instead, he looked ahead and rejoiced. For the Christian, the best is yet to come. Paul looked ahead by faith and saw his friends in the presence of Jesus Christ in glory.
18 For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked our way.
I believe that today Satan seeks to hinder any program of getting out the Word of God. We have seen several instances of this by those who want “In God we trust” removed from our coins, “prayer” banished from public meetings, and the “Ten Commandments” removed from public buildings. He doesn’t want the Word of God to be given out. As John Calvin wrote, “Whenever the ungodly cause us trouble, they are fighting under the banner of Satan, and are his instruments for harassing us.”
19 For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?
20 Indeed, you are our glory and joy.
Paul says that one of the great things he is looking forward to when Christ comes to take His church will be the opportunity to see these people whom he has led to the Lord. The Thessalonian believers whom he had won to Christ were a joy for him here and would be hereafter. “You are our glory and joy” is how he penned it: the Philippians believers were the only others who received such warm words of personal love from Paul.
I would paraphrase verses 19 and 20 thus: “When life is over and we stand in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming, you Thessalonians will be our source of glory and joy; you mean that much to us.” This profession of affection should have removed any thoughts from the Thessalonian Christians’ minds that Paul had not returned because he was unconcerned or selfish.
The fact that we shall one day stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ ought to motivate us to be faithful in spite of difficulties. We must remember that faithfulness is the important thing?“Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2). At the Judgment Seat of Christ, our works will be judged and rewards will be given (Romans 14:10-12; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5; 2 Corinthians 5:9-10). In his letters, Paul often pictured rewards as crowns. The word used signified the “victor’s crown” at the races, not the royal crown of the king.
Paul did not say that he would receive a crown, though this is suggested. He said that the saints themselves would be his crown when he met them at the Judgment Seat. To be sure, some of the believers in the church were not living as they should, and some were a burden to Paul. But when he looked ahead and saw them in glory, they brought joy to his heart.
This joy of creating believers in heaven also brings with it a solemn warning: we will lose joy if we go to heaven empty-handed. The Christian who has not sincerely tried to win others to Christ will not experience this glory and joy when Jesus Christ returns. It is not enough to “wait for His Son” (1 Thessalonians 1:10). We must also witness for God and work for His Son, so that when we get to heaven, we will have trophies to presents for His Glory. There is a special joy and reward for the soul winner (Daniel 12:3; see note 19.1).
There is also a crown for the believer who subdues his body and keeps it controlled for the Glory of God (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). Self-control is produced by the Spirit (Galatians 5:23). Since our bodies are God’s Temples, we must be careful not to defile them. The ultimate in giving the body to God is dying for His sake; and for this there is a crown (Revelations 2:10). Those who lovingly look for Christ’s appearing will receive the “crown of righteousness” (2 Timothy 4:8). The faithful pastor can anticipate the “crown of Glory” (1 Peter 5:4).
The fact that God promises rewards to us is another evidence of His grace. God could demand our service simply on the basis of all He has done for us. Our motivation for serving Him is love. In His grace, he gives us rewards so that we may have something to give Him in return.
“Don’t give up!” Paul encouraged them. “Lay hold of the spiritual resources you have it in Jesus Christ. You have the Word of God within you, the people of God around you, and the glory of God before you. There is no need to give up.”
(note 19.1) “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever” (Daniel 12:3). That are wise, not in things natural and civil, but in things spiritual; who are wise unto salvation.
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 3:1-10 (NIV)
The theme of this chapter is that the coming of Christ is a purifying hope. It will change your life, affect your life-style, if you hold to the hope of the rapture of the church; that is, the eminent coming of Christ for His own. If that doesn’t affect your life, you don’t really believe it. It is just sort of a theory or a philosophy with you. This theme becomes the very heart of the epistle, and we will be dealing with it from chapter 3 through verse 12 of chapter 4.
1 So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens.
So—this important word ties this chapter back in with what Paul had talked about in the previous chapter: the family relationship that exists in the church. He had been a mother to the church, a father to them, and a brother. He had led them to the Lord, and he loved them. He said that they would be his glory and his joy at the coming of Christ, at the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, when all believers will receive their rewards.
Paul longs to return to the Thessalonians but remains back at Athens alone so that he could send Timothy, and perhaps Silas, Dr. Luke, and others to Thessalonica to help the young church that was going through tribulations. This is one of the ways in which he expressed his great love for the believers in that city. It was because of this love that he could not abandon them when they needed spiritual help. Paul was not only an evangelist, he was also a pastor. He knew that soul-winning was just one part of the commission God gave him. These new believers must also be taught and established in the faith.
Instead of returning, Paul chose to be left alone in Athens so that Timothy could return to Thessalonica and assist the saints. The word translated here as “left” means “to leave loved ones at death.” In 1 Thessalonians 2:17 he said that he felt “orphaned” from his friends in Thessalonica, and the Greek word can also mean “bereaved.” Paul was not a “hireling shepherd” who abandoned the sheep when there was danger (John 10:12-13). To leave these new believers was like an experience of bereavement.
This is a good lesson for Christian workers today. Paul so loved the Thessalonian believers that he would have risked his own life to return to them. He so loved the saints at Philippi that he was willing to stay out of heaven in order to encourage them (Philippians 1:22-26). He wanted to give of himself and his resources for them, as a parent provides for loved children. “I will very gladly spend and be spent for you” (2 Corinthians 12:15).
Now because Paul had a real affection for them, he was frustrated in not being able to return to them. He had been hindered by Satan. Paul had to leave Thessalonica so quickly that there were many unfinished teachings and doctrines that he had not been able to develop fully. He had not only longed to return, but he wondered about the future of the believers there. Paul desired to comfort them. In other words, he was demonstrating the thing he mentioned at the beginning of the letter—a labor of love.
Love is not affection or just a nice, comfortable, warm feeling around your heart. Love seeks the welfare of another. That is the way love is expressed for anyone. If you love someone, you seek his welfare and you actually would jeopardize your own life for the person whom you love.
2 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God's service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,
Because of his concern, Paul sent Timothy back to the Thessalonians to check on the condition of the church there. He calls Timothy “our brother and co-worker in God's service.” The Greek word for “co-worker” is the same word from which we get our English word deacon; it literally means “servant.”
“Co-worker in God's service in spreading the gospel of Christ.” The Gospel of Christ is the sphere of service. Paul was not just a do-gooder. Sometimes fundamentalists are criticized because our main objective is to get out the Word of God. We make that primary. We are criticized for not emphasizing the social aspect of the Gospel enough. May I say that there has never been any great social movement that was not anchored in the preaching of the Gospel. The child labor laws came out of the great Wesley meetings. The labor movement today owes a great deal to John Wesley even though they have moved so far from the source that they don’t recognize it. Hospitals have followed the preaching of the Word of God. If people will respond to the message of the Gospel of Christ, their lives will be transformed, and then these good works will flow out of that change.
We are moving more and more into a welfare state in our country. This has become one of the most corrupt things that has ever taken place in our government. I don’t think any of us can grasp the corruption that is connected with this vast program. Why does that happen? Because it is not anchored in the Gospel of Christ.
“To strengthen and encourage you in your faith.” He sent Timothy to help straighten out the Thessalonians’ problems (1 Corinthians 16:10-11); to encourage them in the faith; to strengthen them, to make them firm and solid in the faith; and to provide them with what they needed to fight the good fight of faith, individually and collectively. Not every believer is equipped to edify other Christians in the faith. But Paul made a good choice in choosing Timothy for a couple of reasons. First, Timothy was a good team man; he was a “fellow worker.” He did not try to run the show himself and get people to follow him. To begin with, he was a fellow worker with God. It was God who works in and through Timothy to accomplish His work (see 1 Corinthians 3:9 and Philippians 2:13). Second, Timothy was also a fellow worker with the other believers. He obeyed Paul and left Athens for Thessalonica. He returned to Paul in Corinth with news about the Thessalonian church. No wonder Paul wrote of him: “For I have no man like-minded, who will naturally care for your state” (Philippians 2:20).
Ideally, every Christian should be mature enough to help other Christians grow in the Lord and learn to stand on their own two feet. Unfortunately, some Christians are like those described in Hebrews 5:11-14. They have gone backward in their spiritual walk and have forgotten the basic truths of the Word. Instead of teaching others, they themselves need to be taught again. They are going through a second childhood spiritually.
3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them.
Here is a statement that is a little hard for any of us to swallow. He says that “no one would be disturbed by these afflictions.” Afflictions here mean “pressures, tensions.”
Then Paul makes the amazing statement that “we have been destined for this.” We know that we are going to go through storms. They will be temporary storms, but we cannot escape them. We are going to have trouble down here. The Word of God makes that very clear. Paul wants the Thessalonians to stand for the Lord in the midst of afflictions.
There are other passages of Scripture which teach this same truth. The Lord Jesus said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Tribulation is the trouble that all of us are going to have. There is no way around it. Yet the Lord Himself tells us to be of good cheer even in the midst of trouble. Perhaps a good way to look at it is that the trials and testings that come to our lives as Christians are not accidents—they are appointments.
If you are a believer, you are not going to escape trouble. To accept Christ does not mean to take out an insurance policy against suffering. The fact of the matter is that you will have trouble after you become a child of God, even if you haven’t had any trouble before. He has never promised that we would miss the storm, but we will go through all the storms of life. What He does say very definitely and dogmatically is that He will go with us through the storms and that we will reach the harbor. Any boat which He is in will not go to the bottom of the Sea of Galilee but will reach the other side. You and I are in the process of going to the other side.
Paul reinforces this: “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” (2 Timothy 3:12). There are no “ifs,” “ands,” or “buts” about it (see 1 Peter 4:12-19). We must warn new believers that the way is not easy as they seek to live for Christ; otherwise, when trials come, these babes in Christ will be discouraged and defeated.
The time to be concerned is when there is no cloud in the sky, no ripple on the sea, and everything is smooth and nice. Then you might question your salvation. But if you are experiencing trouble down here, if the pressures and tensions of life are on you, then that is a sign that you are a child of God. This is the way God teaches us to rely on Him.
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.
“Affliction” does not refer to the Great Tribulation. It refers to the “little afflictions.” We are all going to have a little trouble down here. Such troubles are for the purpose of bringing us closer to God. They promote sanctification in the life of the believer.
God will bring us through the storms. We will finally be rid of all our troubles.
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 had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain.
The condition of the believers burdened Paul’s heart. Were they still trusting in God or had they abandoned Him and return to paganism? Paul was not concerned that they had lost their salvation; this they could never do (1:4). They could, however, have ceased to walk by faith, not trusting God in all circumstances of life. Paul’s concern was that his labor might have been in vain, not that their faith had been in vain.
“The Tempter” is none other than Satan, and he seeks to ruin our faith. In chapter 2 Paul said, “Satan hindered us.” In other words, Paul is saying to the Thessalonians, “Satan is giving me a bad time, and I fear he may be giving you a bad time also.” As a roaring lion Satan stalks of believers; and we must resist him “steadfast in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9). As a serpent, Satan deceives (2 Corinthians 11:3); as a lion, he devours (1 Peter 5:8). He will use any means to attack the Christian and weaken his faith in God.
Another purpose of afflictions is to test the genuineness of our belief. Trouble is the acid that tests the genuineness of the coin of belief. There are true believers and there are a lot of counterfeit ones. One thing that will really reveal the genuineness of faith is the ability to endure trouble through faith in God. Afflictions reveal the genuine believer, and this is the cause of Paul’s rejoicing.
Timothy’s task was to instruct these believers and encourage (comfort) them in their faith. It is faith in God that keeps our feet on the ground when the enemy attacks. Without faith in God, we are defeated. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).
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.
Timothy met Paul at Corinth (Acts 18:5) and gave him the glad news that things were going well at Thessalonica. The phrase “brought good news about your faith and love” corresponds to “preaching the Good News of the Gospel.” The report from Timothy was, to Paul, like hearing the Gospel.
Timothy reported that the new believers were standing firm in spite of persecution. They did not believe the lies that the enemy had told about Paul, and they still held him in the highest esteem in love.
7 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith.
“In all our distress and persecution”—Paul tells them that he has also had afflictions. A good report from them is a comfort to him.
8 for now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.
“We really live” means that as believers we enjoy life. It should really be translated “since”—“since you stand firm (see note 8.1) in the Lord.” Even in trouble you can enjoy it—that’s not always easy to do, my friend. This is what Peter writes: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation” (1 Peter 4:12-13). You cannot lose as a Christian. Even if you have trouble, it is going to work out for your good—you can always be sure of that.
This suggests that God’s Word is one of the best tools for establishing new Christians in the faith. “So then, brothers, stand firm (see note 8.1) and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter” (2 Thessalonians 2:15). When Jesus was tempted by Satan, He used the Word of God to defeat him (Matthew 4:1-11). Paul admonished the Ephesian believers to take “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Ephesians 6:17) in their battle against Satan and his demon assistants.
(note 8.1) “Standing firm” (2 Thessalonians 2:15) in the faith is really “standing firm in the Lord.” Such a relationship strengthens one to withstand the storms of life.
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?
Joy is associated with life, and sorrow is associated with death. However, sorrow increases the capacity of the heart for joy. Paul wants the Thessalonians to know how to rejoice. Being a Christian is a wonderful thing!
The force of Paul’s rhetorical question is, “We cannot thank God enough for you because of all the joy you have brought to our hearts by your endurance in these trials.” It is noteworthy that Paul thanked God for the Thessalonians’ behavior; he did not take credit for this. Paul acknowledged that their endurance was really a tribute to the work of God in them (see Philippians 2:13).
Jesus prayed for his disciples, just as Paul prayed for the Thessalonian Christians, that their faith would not fail (Luke 22:31-32).
10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.
Paul’s labor in Thessalonica was very rudely interrupted—he was run out of town—and he wanted to return to continue his teaching ministry. Paul wanted to teach the Word of God.
Paul prayed for three specific requests. First, he prayed that their faith might mature (1 Thessalonians 3:10). Paul asked God to make it possible for him to minister to them personally, but God did not answer that request. Paul longed to see them again; he longed to minister to them and help bring their faith to maturity. Our faith never reaches perfection; there is always need for adjustment and growth. We go “from faith to the faith” (Romans 1:17).
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Paul said that he prayed by night and by day, not all night and all day. This and other similar references (1:2; 2:13) demonstrate the truth of the statement, “It is evident from Paul’s Epistles that a very large part of his private life was occupied in prayer and thanksgiving to God”.
