Good morning and God bless you. It's good to see you and also online. Welcome. And for those that might hear this later, I pray that you are blessed by the reading of the Word, the teaching of the Word, and your ears to hear the Word, and our hearts to know the Word, and our lives to show the Word. That whatever may happen this day, that going forward, you'll see God even more clear. if you would stand for the reading of God's word I'm right we're going back to the book of first Thessalonians now it's been a way a while since we've been away and now we're coming back to the end of chapter two and verses seventeen through twenty and pay attention to this title and we'll explain it my heart is with you my heart is with you 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 17. But since we were torn away from you brothers for a short time in person not in heart we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face because we wanted to come to you I Paul again and again but Satan hindered us for what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming is it not you for you are our glory and joy Lord for those that you have given us let them hear our heart through your heart through your word by your spirit for your glory and in your name lord jesus amen and you may be seated one of the hardest things in life and ministry is having to deal with disconnection You make friends. You make bonds. You make plans. You make memories. And you live life together for a time, for a season. Sometimes it's a long time. But even then, it's hard when you feel disconnected. Sometimes people are right near you, and yet you still feel disconnected with them. Something has happened. Something's going on. You're going through something, whatever it may be. Now, maybe it's because of a job or some life situation. Or maybe someone's been forced to be somewhere else like the Apostle Paul here in this passage. Or maybe someone has gone to be with the Lord like my uncle who passed away yesterday. But in the last few weeks of his life he accepted the Lord and was crying out to Jesus. I have a picture crying out to Jesus. I'm coming to meet you, save me and all of this. And he was only 70. And he had dementia. And my dad's had dementia for eight years. He's had dementia for less than one, but it just came and got him. And in any event, whatever it may be, you felt that. You felt the distance, right? Even maybe with your spouse sometimes, it's like you just know there's something going on. They don't even know how to put a finger on it. You don't either, but there's a distance. It's one of the hardest things to deal with in life, is it not? Now Paul's been talking about his relationship with the Thessalonians, and he wasn't physically with them anymore. But he wanted to be, and they wanted him to be. Their hearts were still connected. But his enemies had forced him to leave, and now they hindered him from returning to them. Look at the first phrase here. But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person, not in heart. Now this is some serious emotion. Torn away. Paul was saying that he felt like he was ripped apart from his family. Imagine your favorite shirt or skirt or pair of pants or something that is being ripped into by your enemies. How would that make you feel? And most people know the feeling of being, you know, ripped off. And it just rips you apart, right? Now, what Paul is describing here is much worse than that. Now, he's continuing on in this family motif that he has in this chapter. Now, earlier in the chapter, Paul says he talked about being like a mother to them. And then he said he was also like a father to them. And now he's saying he felt like an orphan. This is powerful imagery. Have you ever felt that way? Like someone has been ripped from your life? Your heart's still with them, but you feel the distance. You desire to reconnect. And there's other loved ones around you. But when you think of this person, you feel alone. Paul cared deeply for these people, even though he wasn't with them very long. Three weeks. But have you ever had that? You made a connection with someone, and then it's like, ah. As soon as you make the connection, it's like, ah. Again, you've ever been like that? You've been disconnected just when you made that deep connection? You finally broke through, or you met somebody, you, I don't have many friends, and then you made someone, they, oh, they could really be my friend, and then they've gotta go away, or we have people that come, and they're with us just for a little while, and then they've gotta go away, and you just feel, ah, and you don't know what to do about it, and what's going on with it? Hmm. He didn't wanna leave the Thessalonians so abruptly. He was forced to. He hadn't been gone for very long. He says that in the text. But his heart longed for these people. Forced separation hurts, does it not? Now, Paul was not indifferent about the churches he planted after he left them. They were conslandering him. Other people that were his enemies said, oh, he just ran out of town when we exposed him. But we know that's not the truth. We've been studying that. But he continued to care for them, pray for them, write to them, and visit when he could. And when he planted a church, he liked to stay longer than three weeks or so he did with the Thessalonians. He stayed in Corinth for 18 months and in Ephesus for three years. Now look what it says, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire. See the emotion there? And she had been ripped apart morally with great desire to see you face to face because we wanted to come again to you. Think about the prodigal son who was ripped, ripped himself out from the father, right? And the father didn't go check on him. He waited until he came back. But as soon as he got... I mean, what was he doing on this whole big property? He was looking for his son. And as soon as he stepped foot on the property, he ran, lifted up his skirt, which was embarrassing for a man of his stature to do. Like Christ humiliating himself. Right? And he ran after him because he was looking forward. My little granddaughter is going away for a week. And when she comes back, There's not going to be any lack of kissies or huggies more than ever. I'll pick her up and twirl her around and just cry just like I will when she leaves this Tuesday. Again, notice the strong emotional component of Paul's words here. More eagerly, with great desire. He already had this desire, but then he's ripped apart. Now he feels it even more. Paul was proclaiming his love for this church, and he wanted that kind of connection and care that can only come through direct contact. Now, today, we have a multitude of ways to stay in contact with people, connected to them, places that we care about, people that we care about. Amen. It's good. It's a good thing. But even in today's digitally enhanced world, even with the advent of social media, smartphones, and even FaceTime, I like FaceTime. And I did FaceTime with my father and my uncle just a week or so ago. And it was the last time I ever talked to him. And we talked about some things that happened and all that. Now, aren't I glad that that happened? My dad doesn't even remember. But I've got a picture of, you know, just like there's a picture of my mother, and you know, she just passed away earlier this year, and my dad still asks the questions and all that time. And so now I feel distant from my dad. But I bring my babies there, and we have people play music there, and he still is happy, and he can still sing them old songs. But even with FaceTime communications, fellowship with people in person is the best. When you care, you want to be there. Now, I don't doubt that the Apostle Paul would have made, he would have been on the vanguard of all this technology. He would have made great use of today's technology. But I also believe he would have continued to travel to his churches as much as he should and could. Personal contact is vital for people you love and labor with. This is why, you know, we had our missionaries from Thailand. They're switching the, you know, changing of the guard and all that. We had them here. Because we want to support missionaries we know and see and hug and pray for personally. We have a friend of this church, and he does our pest control and all that. And his son got ran over by a semi and all that. But he showed up here. Why? So we could lay our hands on him. Right? I'm thankful for that. It's important. So, you know, when we celebrate the missionaries in India, because it's our personal family, you know, people from Honduras, people from New Orleans, the people we have our hands on them. That's what we want. We long to see them. Isn't it good when we see them again? We want them to come be with us. We want to lay hands on them, bless them, and send them. We get excited when our missionaries come and see us again. We get excited when our friend that's been in jail for 23 years, wrongly accused, and the first day he steps through that door right there, it might be the last time he lives, because we're going to mob him and knock him down. And then my kids won't even know what's going on, but I'll be doing it, and they'll run and do it, and pile, dog pile, too. We enjoy it when we go to that church out of town together, where we once again pack food for people around the world. We have friends and loved ones who stay with us for the winter, but then go back for the summer. And when fall comes around, we wait for that first Sunday when we see them again. Or people who had to move away. Nikki and Johnny, I'm talking to you. But who watch us online and talk to us by text and social media. Others are shut in, but our hearts are with them, and it's sweet when we can visit. We have others who have to leave us for a month, but then when they get back, we look forward to it with their New baby. One of our pastors leaves on assignment overseas. And we want that big bear hug when he comes back. Our family's going to travel to see my grandson at his Air Force base. How we rejoice when my granddaughter came back to live amongst us. You know how it is, right? There she wasn't, now she is. Hallelujah. How we weep for another granddaughter even though she plans to be back in just a week. We already miss our dear sister, whose last Sunday is today, as she moves out west. We love you, Lori. We love you. And I think of our sister, Charity, and she's got cancer stage four, and she's going down, down, down, but her spirit, we pray, is going up, up, and up. And we think of Vicki, who lost her leg and all that, and just to even make it to work, and she can actually work, make it to church, she's driving a car, she's doing whatever, but all that is great and wonderful, but what we want is to hold her, right? And we think of my uncle, Herbie, I was praying with Vera this morning, and I said, let's pray for Christie, his wife, you know, who's a friend of mine, and we've been talking and all that, and I've got to go up there probably June 14th or something like that. I won't miss Sunday. But Vera thought the same thing I do. She goes, well, apparently, Grandma was my mother, her great-grandmother. Needed some company. Because they've known each other for, you know, more than 70 years. Or his whole life, 70 years. I yearn for the day when I get to see my dearly departed mom in glory. And Larry, right? And others. Nothing will ever replace personal, physical contact. We're not just disembodied spirits in heaven. We're waiting the day. Abraham, Isaac and all that are waiting to get new bodies. This is why I never stop looking forward to eternity. Because although right now I have the indwelling Holy Spirit, I have God's Word, God's people, I long to see Jesus and be able to touch Him. That will be my greatest experience, your greatest experience, our forever moment. And he will never have to say goodbye. And he says, I, Paul, again and again wanted to see you. Now in verse 17 he says we, that's referring to himself, Silas and Timothy. But here in verse 18 he makes it even more personal. He wanted to make sure they knew he was invested in and concerned about their spiritual condition. You may not like me, you may not like the way I do things, but I promise you, you are in my heart. And my heart is with you. Even when you leave us. Even when you leave us and you say it's because you don't like me. That doesn't mean I don't love you. But there's other factors involved. Look what he says. I wanted to do it again and again. I felt ripped off, ripped apart. But now I'm coming. I'm going to come back. But Satan hindered us. Now we need to do some spiritual warfare. And I need you to be listening. Because you may... I didn't even realize you were here. And then realize that there are some things here that people teach that are not right. I don't mean to beat people up. I mean to build them up. And I want to build you up right now. Satan hindered us. Now that means Satan through his personal activity or through his proxies. There's only one Satan. So usually it's not him. You're not important enough. Me neither. Thank God. Now this hindrance may have been an illness or the opposition of the Jews or some combination that Paul ascribes to the agency of Satan. Whatever it was, it was enough to prevent Paul from returning. Paul never made it back there because Satan was blocking him. The devil and the demons are going to get in the way of faithful Christian ministry. And they influence people who are against the gospel to be against true and faithful ministers and ministries. Oh yes. It's not limited to God's obvious enemies. Even God's people can be used by the enemy to do His will in opposing and oppressing the gospel work. And false ministers appear to be doing the Lord's work. They appear as a message of Satan. You need to read the whole Bible. I don't know what you've been cherry picking. True gospel ministry will be met with satanic opposition. There are things that you attempt for the Lord, but Satan hinders it. And the church may do many good and noble things, but it will never be able to do all things. That's when Jesus comes back. You can put forth maximum effort, but you can't expect the church to everything imaginable to every person. Gospel work is not meant to suit everyone's taste or fulfill everyone's personal felt needs. It's meant to change and shape people's taste and meet our most essential needs. And God uses, hallelujah, God uses opposition without and within the church to deepen our faith and trust in Him. Remember that even though Satan is opposing us, He can only do so within the limits that God allows. He can only do so within the limits God allows. God's plan was to use the devil's plan to further God's work. It doesn't mean you don't fight tooth and nail, don't pray and do all these other things, but in the end within the limits that God allows. God's plan was to use the devil's plan and Paul's desire. He didn't say Paul's desire was wrong. Are you still listening? Anybody? God's plan was to use the devil's plan to further God's work. So within the limits that God allows, Satan hindered Paul and what he wanted to do. Why? Because God had other plans. Now you might wonder why Paul didn't just bind the devil. Now are you listening? as some teach. Well, it's not as if Paul wouldn't have known about that, right? Or taught about that, if it was that important, right? It wasn't as if this is some doctrinal practice that he forgot to do, but you're supposed to do. And in 2 Corinthians 12, 7 and 8, when Paul said he was given a thorn in the flesh, he described it as a minister of Satan. But he didn't say, Satan, I bind you. Instead, he went to the Lord and pleaded it for him to be taken away. And then the Lord said, no. And so he did it again. The Lord said, No. But mommy, I want it. You can't have it. Mommy, but I really want it. But you can't have it. But I don't understand why. But I do. But I do. Right? He said, My grace is sufficient for you. That doesn't mean you don't pray about it. Doesn't mean you don't ask God to take Satan off your case. Of course you do. Doesn't mean you just don't invite him in. Come on. If bitterness is knocking at your door, don't look out the window. We want to just dance with the devil and think that he's not going to take the lead. No use kicking the devil out when you invite him and all his buddies right back in. So you do this, I bind you, I bind you, but you can sit over here on the nice couch while I feed you pork and beans. I don't know. God's divine providence rules over Satan's plans. Paul tried more than once to return to Thessalonica, but Satan successfully frustrated Paul's plans. Still, it was all part of God's larger plan. Paul's desire and Satan's designs accorded with God's own plans according to God's gospel plan and work. God used Satan's plan to put Paul right where God wanted him to be. Now you think about that. This is Charles Spurgeon. He said, Remember this, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, divine love would have put you there. Chew on that, my friends. Elizabeth Elliot said this hard place in which you perhaps find yourself is the very place in which God is giving you the opportunity to look only to him Satan plotted the death of many martyrs and God permitted those deaths Yet God's purpose was not thwarted Indeed God's purpose was advanced Yes The death of those martyrs brought essential blessing for them and for the cause of the gospel. Satan never wins against the gospel. Consider the ultimate example, Jesus Christ our Lord. Satan's plot was successful. Jesus was killed on the cross. But it was the route of redemption for all of God's people. As 1 Corinthians 2.8 says, None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Everybody's going to suffer in some way. And Christians are guaranteed to suffer if they want to be godly. 2 Timothy 3.12 says, Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. However, there is a way that you can avoid suffering and persecution. There is a way. All you need to do is compromise. Now in verses 17 and 18, Paul said he's tried more than once to see the Thessalonians, but he was hindered. Now some people might have not believed that. They didn't really want to see them again. Oh, no, you know, people say, oh, I prayed about that, and they've already made up their mind. Pastor, am I allowed to do this? Well, if you don't know better, then you can't do that, because whatever's not a faith is sin. Oh, I'll pray about it, yeah. They never talk to me again, and they're doing it. Is that okay if, no, boy. Well, I'll pray about it. Or you go to a meeting and someone, you know, let's say it's in Florida but people from all over the country are here and all that. Well, I prayed about this and I know God said I didn't come all this way to hear you stop my stuff and stop this meeting by just saying I prayed. Well, I prayed and He told me someone that looks exactly like you would come down and be stupid. We've got to stop being superstitious, folks. You've got to stop letting people do thought blockers on you. And say, you know, they prayed about it. The best prayers have legs. And so people were thinking, well, you know, Paul's just making that up. He didn't really want to come back. Oh, I love you. I love, like when someone says, you know, make the, mi casa su casa. They don't mean that. Break out to China. Make a mess of the bathroom. Stay more than three days. Fish and friends stink after three days. That's what my grandma had a little sign there, a little placard there. I was thinking about that. But we stayed longer always. Well, some people didn't believe that He wanted to see them again. And so now in verse 19 and 20 He answered that possibility by giving a reason why He wanted to see them again. He says, are you looking at your text? For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at His coming? He's talking about the end time. Paul lived in the light of the Lord's return, and he called on all Christians to do the same. His cheap hope is the return of the Lord himself at the start of eternity with Jesus. But in the context of eternity, he also hoped in the eternal reward of his labor for the Lord. That would be manifest by those Thessalonians who had come to the Lord and were discipled through his ministry. He looked forward to the glorious return of Jesus, but also our glorious return with the saints whose lives we touch. When Jesus comes back, how great it will be to see Him. Amen? To be in His immediate presence. But it's also going to be great to see one another glorified and with Jesus. I think once again of our friend that's heading out west and she's going to be living her life there and doing all that. And she might see us online and might watch the videos and we might talk by phone and all that. But we may or may not see each other again. But let's just say that we didn't. But then, when we see Him in heaven, and if you'll allow me, when those children that passed on before us, that we didn't get to know, what's it going to be like to hold them? You know? What's that going to be like? It's going to be a wonderful, wonderful thing. Imagine those Christians who are near you in that moment when Jesus returns And how we are caught up together with them in the air in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air 1st Thessalonians 4 17 This is why I say I'll see you here there or in the air here You know in church somewhere here or there somewhere around or there in heaven or in the air at the Lord's second coming I'll see you right here Right. I'll see you up there or if we're happy think about that if it happened right now. I How would we be singing and shouting? You wouldn't move away. You'd be moving up. And we're moving on up. Yeah. Woo! How incredible is that going to be? Paul says, I'll tell you why you can know that I wanted to come back. Because you're my reward. Oh my. Yes, as the marvelous hymn says, when you get to heaven, when you see Jesus, you will sing and shout the victory. But remember it says, when we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all see Jesus, we will all sing and shout the victory. How happy I will be to see you and all the souls I touch for God's kingdom in the name of Christ and all those who touched mine in the name of Christ. It's going to be the same for you. While we wait for the glorious day of Jesus' return, it's a wonderful thing to encounter those who know Jesus now. Whether it be out and about, on some special occasion, or with those Christians you see at church every week. I don't get anything out of it. I do. I see you. Even if you come in, I'm like, where are you? Then you are. Well, I'm happy. I noticed all the kids shaved their head today. And see, there's all that and all the things of life. Don't go into that branch. Go into this branch or whatever. But what's the most important thing? Face to face. You see them. I mean, I love my wife. I love seeing pictures of my wife. She is so beautiful to me. And I love the interaction with our kids and everything like that. And we watch the grandkids a lot and everything like that. But what's the most important thing when I get to touch them? I'm going to get to touch them. Touch them. Touch them. Touch them. Touch them. Touch them. Touch them. Touch them. Touch them. Touch them. Touch them. Touch them. Touch them. You know what I'm saying? And I know, I know that we get not to touch them. And it's been, you know, and I remember, believe me, because the same day is the same day of our anniversary. That your son, you know, passed away. He's only 23 years old. But how great that's going to be. You know? and the Apostle Paul, and Charles Spurgeon, John Wesley, and Billy Graham, and whomever else. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Paul, and John the Baptist, and then standing at the end of the line, or maybe at the front, I don't know. There he is. Jesus. Again, it's a great joy when you reconnect with someone you know who loves the Lord after not seeing them for some time. When we saw Glenn come and then Mike, who we had never met before, it was a joy. Now the next time Mike comes and all that, it'll be a joy. Right? When we see Rachel in a mall again. When we see Nathan and Rebecca again. Right? Even when we see Mike off, right? How about this though? When you discover an old acquaintance who has come to the Lord since the last time you saw them. When I started coming back to the Lord, and I was down, and I had lost my empire, lost all my money, all my respect, and now I was homeless. And I'm driving down Curry Ford Road in Orlando, and it was April the 1st. And I felt like a fool, indeed. And the thing is, my best friend for 50 years, his birthday is on March 31st. And when my mom died, he was sitting right here along with my friend Averett, who's been my 50-year friend and all that. But we'd call each other. Even if we haven't talked in a while, we'd call each other on the birthday. But I didn't call him. I was thinking about dying, right? I'd been all drug addled for years and lost everything and all of that. And then I got a call from my friend Keith, who was the biggest atheist you ever met. Really smart and all that. He's a District Court of Appeals judge. He's got it going on and all that. But he was the kind of guy that would mock God openly with no fear. No fear. at my wedding my brother said you've been preaching to me for 40 years but when I heard Keith say these things about God now that spoke to me but he called me and said I don't know what's going on in your life but I know it must be something because you didn't call me I'm not mad at you I just want to know that want you to know that I found the Lord and I've been reading this verse and it's in Job and it says though he slay me yet will I trust him and Keith, if you hear this, that was the start of my turnaround. That's when I packed everything I had, which was not much, and moved in with my parents at 35 years old. And then just a few short laters, here I was, and now it's been 20 more years, and God is good. And it's good to see people and hug them and touch them. That's what this is about, face to face. God with us. Emmanuel. Are you with me? it's amazing when you see someone you haven't seen and they I was at a church looking for another church because I started in church and then that church closed and I was associate pastor now like where am I gonna go I wasn't having any luck finding anything if I could say look it's not that way God was leading me and he led me to the College Park Church of God Ted Ballard my mentor etc but on the way I was at a Calvary Chapel in Merritt Island Florida and now There was a friend of mine and he came out because, you know, two different services and all that big church. And it was Brian Adams. He was the most popular kid in school. And I had known him since third grade. He was my friend. He really was. And he didn't look like the same person. He glowed. And I literally stopped, dropped my Bible and said, Brian Adams, you are a changed man. And now he's the associate, he's the youth pastor over at First Baptist Merritt Island, you know that behemoth, where Adrian Rogers used to preach. Well the point is, is that when you meet someone, again, after a long time, and now they've found the Lord, now the deepest thing, the most important thing in the universe, you share. And so those hugs are a little tighter, right? Those feelings are a little deeper. Those emotions are even stronger even though you're older. Now look what he says. He says, is it not you? For you are our glory and joy. Paul's joy in the presence of the Lord would be the people whose lives he touched. Your crown. It's going to be the people whose lives were influenced by your words, your works, your prayers, your lifestyle. It's not just, did I bring them to the Lord as in it? Did I get them to say a prayer? But did I get them to think about Jesus? Was I a good witness? The best witness you can be is being a credible witness. Then it gives weight to your words. And then your life opens up their, your life that gives them hope. It opens up their ears. And then God uses that when you give them the gospel to give them an open heart. So don't think that, you know, there's so many people I think, you know, man, I did all this, that, and the other thing, and they don't care. And then other people I think, they never mention anything. They're like, oh, it was so important in my life. You were so important. I'm like, really? You are having an effect on your children. You are having effect on each other that's here. You can turn this thing around if you've been doing it the wrong way. And that itself can be a witness. Behold. Your eternal reward is the impact, both in breadth and depth, of your life on the lives of others. And it will be more than you know now. Those prayers, those words, those resources, those relationships, brief or lifelong, they will yield eternal fruit, eternal reward, eternal joy. Paul's currently in heaven. And so are all the saints of his time. But he has not received his full reward yet. The time of full reward is in the future. And as verse 19 says, it will be at his coming. Parousia, the Greek word for coming used there, is used 24 times in the New Testament. 16 of those 24 are referring to the second coming of Christ. The return of the Lord is in every single chapter. It's a major theme of 1 Thessalonians, which was the first book that Paul wrote. Paul continually emphasizes this truth, that Jesus is coming again with his reward in his hand as a motive for holy and hopeful living. You see, when you have to have this, you have to have this. You've got to see this. You've got to see this. You've got to see this. You are lacking faith. That's not faith. Faith is I can't touch it. I can't see it. I don't know it. But I know my baby loves me. I know my baby wants to come back to see me. I know that at one point, even if it's not on this earth, I will stand and see the Lord. And I touch the Lord. I touch them. We're going to be there. Amen. That's faith. Faith isn't, well, oh, we're carrying flags and we're doing this and speaking this and doing that and all that. Faith is, well, you know, he wasn't that much to do. You know, I don't know. He didn't resonate with me. And yet you know when we worship God in spirit and in truth, that's not a feeling, that's the form of what He's given us. Hebrews 12 verse 18-29 says where we are, that's faith. That's faith. I'm not down on experience. I'm saying there's greater experience than you realize. And it's going to be worth it. It's even worth it now. You get little pieces of it now. Wouldn't you be mad at yourself if this was the last time you saw somebody here and then they were gone and you meant to say something but you didn't? Our sister's last day is today. I don't want to eat. Give. Give a hug. Give a blessing. Give a smile. The Thessalonians were going to be his crown, his joy, the fulfillment of his hope. I've told you many times that what I'm looking forward to seeing is when I get up there, you know, he'll say, well done, thou good and faithful servant. And he will say, where are those whom I put in your charge? And I'll say, all present and accounted for, sir. Yes. You can get out of under my accountability, but I'm still accountable for you. That's the part that worries me. Now when Paul says his crown of boasting, he isn't speaking of sinful pride. He's speaking of God and what God has accomplished through him. The point is that the return of Jesus should motivate you to live for Christ, win others to Christ, and identify your brothers and sisters in Christ. We look to that day when we will be together forever. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Brothers and sisters, until we meet again, my heart is with you. And I'll see you here, there, or in the air. Amen.