One of our neighbors had a common but nerve wracking
experience. Her little girl did not come home from school at noon.
She got worried and went out to look for her, but she was no where
around. The mother was just sick with worry as the worst possible
thoughts went through her mind. She sought the help of a
policewoman at the school, and she drove her through the area and
they found the little girl playing at a friend’s house. It all ended
well, but the mother was so upset she could not eat for the rest of the
day.
Was her attitude of anxiety a sign of the lack of faith? Not at
all, for it was a sign of the presence of love. Persons and things are
in two different categories. It is a virtue to have great concern for
persons. Jesus wept for them and died for them. It is a vice only
when we transfer such deep concern to things. It is when we get
upset and anxious about the rug, the car and the golf clubs that we
are in danger of sin, but to feel deep concern for persons has all the
weight of Scripture to support it as a virtue. Jesus made it clear that
we are not to worry about tomorrow, or about any of the necessities
of life. Paul said we are to be anxious for nothing. Both of them,
however, made it clear by example and exhortation that we are to
have care for persons. We want to examine our text to see Paul’s
anxious affection and the cause of his concern, which is appointed
affliction.
I. PAUL’S ANXIOUS AFFECTION.
In chapter two Paul said that he was gentle like a mother to
them. He exhorted, comforted and charged them like a father. Now
he carries on the role of an anxious parent who does not know what
is happening to his child in a dangerous situation. With all of Paul’s
assurance of eternal security, he never used that doctrine as a basis
for indifference. He was concerned about these new converts, and
verse 5 shows just how concerned he was. With all of his assurance
he never underestimated the power of the enemy. He believed the
message of the parable of the soils that Jesus taught, which made it
clear that Satan can snatch the seed away. Even where it begins to
grow it can be destroyed before it becomes fruit. Jesus said that
persecution made some whither before they became fruitful, and
Paul was concerned that this could happen to his converts.
Paul was anxious about them. He was no “love them and leave
them” evangelist. He knew that his work was not completed until
they were established and able to meet the enemy and conquer. He
believed in a strong follow up program. Most of the New Testament
is follow up literature. Paul is writing this letter to strengthen them
so that they might be grounded in the faith. It is this kind of anxious
affection that drives us to care to the point of sacrifice. This should
characterize all believers, for there is always danger that fellow
believers will fall back.
Paul says that he couldn’t stand it any longer not knowing how
they were standing up under affliction. He chose the difficult path
of personal loneliness in order to send Timothy to help them and
bring word back to him. It was no small sacrifice to give up his only
Christian companionship and be left alone in Athens. Paul was a
man who counted a great deal on his companions as he traveled
about in a pagan world. He always had a Titus, a Timothy, or a
Silas at his side. Jesus taught that disciples should go two by two,
for our relationship to God has a social aspect as well as the
personal aspect. He said that where two or three are gathered in His
name He will be present. Paul was willing to give up this fellowship
and suffer loneliness that he might aid these new Christians. Calvin
put it, “He chose rather to be left alone than that they should be
deserted.” What was it that made Paul so concerned about them? It
was-
II. THEIR APPOINTED AFFLICTION.
It is the appointed lot of the Christian to suffer affliction, or as
the same word is translated in verse 4, tribulation. This does not
mean God arranged it and brought it to pass, but that it is the
inevitable result of standing for a minority concept that clashed with
the prejudice of the majority. As far as possible the Christian is to
live peaceably with all men. The ideal is progress without
persecution, but the world will not tolerate the Christian conviction,
and so there will be tribulation, and we must be prepared to face it if
we stand for the truth as we ought.
The hope of the Old Testament saints was for a land of plenty
and peace, but the promise for the New Israel is that in the world we
shall have tribulation. This contrast is seen in the fact that all 12
patriarchs of the Old Testament died of old age in peace, but all 12
Apostles died the violent death of martyrs. The word tribulation is
used 21 times in the King James Version of the New Testament. The
word affliction is used 17 times, and all of them are translations of
the Greek word thlipsis. Out of these 39 uses of the word 35 of them
refer to the lot of the believer. How can this be reconciled with the
concept that the church has a promise to escape tribulation?
In verse 4 Paul says that he told them before what to expect if
the took a stand. Paul never told his converts that the battle was
over, but rather, that it was just the beginning. He never slapped
them on the back and said everything is going to be great from now
on . He warned them in all seriousness that they might have to pay
with their lives for the sake of the Gospel. The Apostle John said
that the anti-Christ is already working, and this implied that
Christians will have to face all the forces of hell before the battle is
over. Jesus and all of the Apostles warned the church before hand
that there is no promise of escape from tribulation. Instead, they
make it clear that we are appointed unto affliction.
Jesus said to His disciples in John 15:18, “If the world hates
you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.” In verse 20 he
said, “If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”
Why did Jesus spend so much time telling His disciples of the
dangers ahead? It is for the same reason that Paul told them, and
that was so they might be prepared to face them. Jesus said in John
16:1-4, “All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. They
will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when
anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They
will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. I
have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember
that I warned you.” Then he says in verse 33, “I have told you these
things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will
have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
In the discourse of Matt. 24 Jesus talks of the great tribulation,
the like of which has never been an will never be again. This is that
wrath of God that fell upon the Jews that Paul referred to in 2:16.
The parallel passages in Luke and Mark will leave your mind in no
doubt that this was the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The Christians
were involved in this because the Jews were persecuting them, and
that is one of the reasons the wrath of God fell. The same word
Jesus used of the great tribulation in Matt. 24 is used to describe the
Jewish persecution of the church in Acts 11:19, where we read,
“Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that
arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus etc.”
What kind of persecution was this? It was a great tribulation.
In Acts 8:1-3 we read, “On that day a great persecution broke
out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the Apostles
were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried
Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the
church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women
and put them in prison.” Paul was a part of it, and he knew from
experience the hate of blinded men to the truth. The two words
great and tribulation are connected again in reference to the
churches of Macedonia in II Cor. 8:2, which says, “Out of the most
severe trial...” In spite of this trial they sacrificed to help others in
their trouble.
If you look up tribulation and affliction in a concordance you
will have abundant proof that the promise of escape from
tribulation is a product of wishful thinking, and not a message you
get from the Word of God. Paul was dealing with Christians in all
honesty by forewarning them that we are appointed to affliction.
