To make no gain for one’s labor is a perfectly natural cause for
disappointment. Jesus knew this feeling often as His disciples failed
to grasp His teaching, and especially when Judas betrayed Him.
Paul knew it well when he wrote with a saddened heart that Demas
had forsaken him. Many have trained up a child in the way he
should go, but then see them depart from it. Many are those whose
labors have been in vain because those with whom they labored did
not have a steadfast faith.
It is important that we recognize that proverbs are not the same
as promises. Our faith will be weakened if we assume that following
a proverb is a certain thing. The proverb about training up a child
in the right way as the best insurance of a good adulthood is obvious
wisdom, but it is no guarantee of the result in every case. The best
example of an exception was the very man who wrote the proverb.
Solomon departed far from all he was taught, and this wisest of men
became a fool. The Bible could not be clearer on the matter that a
good start without a good finish is of little value. Christ is the alpha
and omega, and he who starts with Christ must end with Christ, and
so the challenge to persevere runs all through the New Testament. It
is he who endures to the end that shall be saved.
This concept is obvious in other realms of life. It is not the
marriage ceremony that determines the value of a marriage. It is
the perseverance to the end that counts. The good start is easy and
everyone can make a good start. Many, however, cannot persevere
to the end, but become matrimonial apostates. It is easy to start the
race, but the finish is what really matters, and so it is in the
Christian life. It is one thing to start on the way, and another thing
to keep going all the way. What we really need is not starting power
but staying power, and Paul makes it clear in these verses that the
source of that staying power that perseveres regardless of
circumstances is a steadfast faith.
In the whole book of I Thessalonians Paul uses the word faith 8
times, but 5 of those 8 are all packed into chapter 3:2-10, where he
deals with the their trials, and the victory gained by steadfast faith.
If you read this section carefully, noting the use of the word faith,
you will see how significant Paul felt it to be. It was his object of
concern, and Satan’s object of attack. It was their cause for victory,
and Paul’s cause for rejoicing. We want to look at the basic
characteristic of a steadfast faith that is brought out in these verses.
A steadfast faith is an overcoming faith. The very idea of a
steadfast faith implies that it is being attacked, and that there is
some power trying to overcome it. This is also what makes faith a
living thing rather than a lethargic thing. As Gerhard Ebling said,
“Faith would cease to be faith if it were not threatened.” A faith
which can be taken with no struggle and no cost is not likely to play
a vital role in one’s life. It is in this sense that God uses affliction for
good by making our faith a living and steadfast faith. It is for this
end that He allows Satan to tempt us.
It is never the external circumstances, but the internal response
that makes the difference between a strong and a weak faith. Paul
did not know how the Thessalonians reacted, and this was what was
causing his anxiety. He didn’t ask Timothy to go and find out how
bad things were, but to know their faith, because that is the deciding
factor. If it is strong, nothing can make any difference. If it is weak
anything can cause them to fall. It is important to recognize this.
We have mentioned it before in our study of Satan that there is
nothing he can do directly on our will to cause it to choose evil. He
can only use means to influence the will. God’s promise to the
believer is that He will not allow us to be tempted above what we are
able to endure. This means that there is nothing that can happen to
the Christian that in itself as the power to cause him to fall.
God will never permit anything that would certainly defeat His
child. Where then do we look for the cause of casualties in the battle
with Satan? We look at the nature of the faith in a person, just as
Paul did, and if it does not exhibit a power to overcome temptation,
trial and discouragement, we know that such a person is at a great
disadvantage against Satan. The power to overcome is basic to a
good finish in the Christian race. The basic Greek word for
overcome, which is used all through the New Testament, means to
gain the victory. It is used by Jesus in Luke 11:22 in reference to
His victory over Satan in casting out demons. In John 16:33 Jesus
said, “Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.” Paul in Rom.
12:21 writes about not being overcome of evil, but to overcome evil
with good.
The Apostle John uses this word often. All of the blessings to
the 7 churches in Rev.2and 3 are promised to those who overcome.
In I John 2:13 he writes, “I write unto you young men because you
have overcome the wicked one.” When he writes of the spirit of
anti-Christ he says in 4:4, “You are of God, little children, and have
overcome them, because great is He that is in you, then he that is in
the world.” And then there is that well known verse that brings us
back to faith from where we started. I John 5:4 says, “For
whosoever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the
victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.”
All of this is conclusive evidence that a steadfast faith is the
most basic factor in the defensive warfare against the world, the
flesh and the devil. It alone can bring us across the finish line. Paul
says in verse 5 that he is bothered lest by some means the tempter
has tempted you, and are labor has been in vain. The crisis comes
when faith is challenged, and how it reacts will either weaken it or
strengthen it. That is why it is so important to recognize the means
by which Satan seeks to ensnare us. Ignorance is always on the
devil’s side. An example out of my own experience will be of great
prophet to all of us in quenching the fiery darts of devilish
deception.
An obsession is a powerful psychological means by which Satan
can attack the believer. An obsession is an idea that thrusts itself
upon your consciousness against your will. It might be something
like the thought of going around in a revolving door, or over and
over again in a swing going around a limb. You have to grit your
teeth and by sheer will power force it out of your consciousness. I
have little doubt that such obsessions lead to many of the horrible
and brutal acts of people. I had a friend in the ministry who was
almost overcome by an obsession. He woke up in the night in a cold
sweat. He couldn’t shake the idea out of his mind of taking his
hunting knife and cutting his children. He never had such an
experience before, and he was scared to death. He thought he was
losing his mind.
I had some experience with obsession concerning my fear of
heights. I assured him when he came to me for counseling that there
was nothing abnormal about an obsession. I did some study on the
matter and discovered it to be very common. The circumstances of
his life, and the pressures he was under, plus his fatigue made the
possibility of his obsession perfectly normal. Satan uses such
circumstances to his advantage, and he no doubt wins many
victories because believers lack the faith necessary to stand fast and
conquer. He gets many believers obsessed with the fear that they
have committed the unpardonable sin.
If a very evil obsession should grasp your consciousness, there is
not the least reason to try and suppress it in fear. An overcoming
faith recognizes that God knows all. He knows that this is not in my
consciousness by choice. He knows that in the depths of my heart
that I love Him, and that I know He loves me. Instead of
suppression, which can lead to all sorts of neurotic ills, the believer
enters the presence of God with his obsession, and observes the
activity of the mind. Then he asks God to cleanse the mind. You
renew your commitment and forget the obsession. Absolute honesty
in the presence of God is what keeps you mentally healthy.
If it seems I have labored a point which is irrelevant to you, it is
only because you are one of those whose emotional makeup does not
allow Satan to use this means against you. Recent studies, however,
indicate that one of Satan’s greatest weapons within the church is
psychological warfare. We are assured that God has not given us a
spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of a sound mind. If it is true
that the faith of many is being weakened by psychological warfare, it
is an indication that they are ignorant of Satan’s devices. They are
being overcome when informed faith could enable them to gain the
victory.
The Thessalonians faced this inner battle as well as the outward
persecution. The foundations of their faith were challenged with
arguments against Paul’s character, but Paul had the delight in
seeing them come through with a steadfast faith. It was like a new
breath of life to him, because he had been so weighted down with the
suspense of not knowing how they reacted. If this was Paul’s
attitude, let it be ours as well. Let us not be content with a good
start. Training is one thing and actual combat is another. Let us
not be deceived into thinking that a child is able to combat the foes
of darkness because he knows that David was a shepherd boy who
became king, and Daniel was protected from lions. They must be
trained to withstand the dangers that face them. Whether we like it
or not our young people will mix with non-Christian youth whose
language, thoughts and attitudes will be expressed. Paul only had
several weeks to prepare his converts for the battle, and though he
was worried sick, he succeeded. May God help us as a church and
as parents to equip our youth with an overcoming faith that will be a
steadfast faith that will take them all the way to the end of the race.
