00:00
00:00
00:01
Transcript
1/0
Well, please take your Bibles
and turn with me to 1 Thessalonians. I've been preaching through the
book of 1 Thessalonians, and this morning we're going to be
in chapter 3, verses 1 through 5. But I'm going to read the
context. I'm going to reach back into
chapter 2, beginning in verse 17, and read through the end
of chapter 3. This will help us again to get
the context of these very personal words of the Apostle Paul to
the church that he loved, the church at Thessalonica. But again,
we will focus our attention on verses one through five. So follow
along as I read 1 Thessalonians 2, beginning in verse 17. But we brethren, having been
taken away from you for a short while in person, not in spirit,
We're all the more eager with great desire to see your face. For we wanted to come to you,
I Paul, more than once, and yet Satan hindered us. For who is
our hope or joy or crown of exaltation? Is it not even you in the presence
of our Lord Jesus at his coming? For you are our glory and joy. Therefore, when we could endure
it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone,
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. so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions.
For you yourselves know that we have been destined for this.
For 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. For this reason, when we can
endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith
for fear that the tempter might have tempted you and our labor
would be in vain. but now that Timothy has come
to us from you, and has brought to 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. For this reason, brethren,
in all our distress and affliction, we were comforted about you through
your faith. For now we really live if you
stand firm in the Lord. And what thanks can we render
to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice
before our God on your account, as we night and day keep praying
most earnestly that we may see your face and may complete what
is lacking in your faith. Now may our God and Father himself
and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you. And may the Lord
cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for
all people, just as we also do for you, so that he may establish
your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father
at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Well, this
morning, as we consider chapter three, verses one through five,
the title of my message is this, Destined for Affliction. Destined for Affliction. Look at verse three, chapter
three, verse three. So that no one would be disturbed
by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that
we have been destined for this, that is for afflictions. The
word destined means to be appointed for something and therefore to
be destined for something. In Philippians 1 verse 16, the
apostle Paul uses this particular Greek word in speaking of his
calling in the ministry of the gospel. He says, I am appointed
for the defense of the gospel. So there it's the idea of being
appointed to something. Literally the word means to be
set, as in to set something down in a particular place. Christians
have been set by God in the world, in particular places in which
we are by God's providence, for a specific purpose. The purpose
is that we would be a light, a gospel witness, to live the
gospel and to proclaim the gospel. And as we live and proclaim the
Gospel, part of that being set by God, being placed by God in
the world, means that we will suffer affliction. Affliction
for Christ's sake. We are destined for this. Namely,
for affliction for the sake of Christ's name. It is a part of
God's plan. It is a part of our calling in
Christ. We have been destined and appointed
for affliction for Christ's sake. In Philippians chapter one, verse
29, Paul says, for to you it has been granted for Christ's
sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his
sake. There Paul says the same thing
in other words. There, he says, it has been granted
to us. It's a gift of God's grace to
suffer for his sake. Here in 1 Thessalonians 3, verse
3, he says, we've been destined for this, for affliction. We
have been appointed by God and set in particular places in the
world remaining here to proclaim and live the gospel, which will
inevitably bring suffering trials and affliction. One commentator
said it like this, believers are set or stationed at their
post in life to suffer for God. The world being what it is, such
sufferings cannot be avoided. They are part of God's plan for
the believer in this life, and they have a necessary function
to perform in the achievement of His purpose for us. Afflictions
are a part of God's plan for the believer in this life. And
the commentator says, they have a necessary function to perform
in the achievement of God's purpose for us. Now, hang on to that
thought. It's very important. We'll come back to it. But for
now, consider what kind of affliction the Apostle Paul is speaking
of in this passage. He's not talking about suffering
in general. He's not talking about trials
in general, but a specific kind of affliction in the life of
the believer. Specifically, the Apostle Paul is speaking about
affliction that comes because we are Christians. This is affliction
that comes because we name the name of Christ, because we love
Jesus Christ, because we proclaim the cross of Christ, which is
foolishness to some and an offense to others. Now, as we have seen
throughout this letter to the church at Thessalonica, when
this church began, it was afflicted. It was persecuted for Christ's
sake. And Paul was concerned that they
might succumb to the affliction, and instead of standing firm,
that they might shrink back. That they might be ashamed of
Christ, or even forsake Christ altogether. So he has this concern
for them, that affliction would make this an unsteady church.
That affliction might ultimately cause them to forsake the name
of Christ altogether. And so he sends Timothy to them
to see what the state of their faith was. And in the process
here, in writing about this, he tells them they were destined
for affliction. In fact, that's not just true
of the church at Thessalonica. That's true for every church.
That's true for every Christian. We live in a hostile world and
to varying degrees, as we'll see, we will face affliction
for Christ's sake if we are faithful to him and to his word. Now,
as we consider verses one through five, we'll navigate this passage
under these five headings. First, an unbearable concern. An unbearable concern. Secondly,
a spiritual danger. A spiritual danger. Then thirdly, a fateful worker. A fateful worker, namely Timothy. Fourthly, a necessary work. What was it that Timothy was
sent to do? It was a necessary work. And then, lastly, a sober
reality. A sober reality. Let's begin
with an unbearable concern. Look at verse 1 of chapter 3.
He says, Therefore when we could endure it no longer, we thought
it best to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy.
Look in verse 5. He repeats what he said. For
this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to
find out about your fate, for fear that the tempter might have
tempted you, and our labor would be in vain." In these two verses,
we see an unbearable concern. The apostle Paul was concerned
for their faith, that their faith might not survive the intense
affliction of persecution. He labored in prayer for them,
and he agonized, wondering if they were persevering in the
faith in the face of such persecution for Christ's sake. Now remember,
he can't just email them, or text them, or message them, or
call them, or video conference with them, and he can't follow
them on social media to see how they're doing and what they're
posting. He has no idea what's going on with them. When he left
them, there was intense persecution. Would they survive it? Would
their faith remain? How were they doing? And therefore,
Paul was describing here the heavy weight upon his soul. He
was agonizing over them. Would they remain steadfast in
the faith? Were they enduring affliction?
Or were they leaving the faith? And so he says in v. 1 and then
again in v. 5, when we could endure it no
longer. When I could endure it no longer. And the word endure here means
to put up with something. To bear with something. And he
is saying I couldn't bear it any longer. I couldn't bear not
knowing about your spiritual condition. I couldn't stand it
any longer, we might say. And this is why I've called it
an unbearable concern. He couldn't bear not knowing
any longer how they were doing. And we see how intense his concern
was in verse five. He feared something. He says,
for fear that the tempter might have tempted you and our labor
would be in vain. What an intense concern. There
was this constant concern for them and a fear that somehow
the tempter, Satan, the adversary, would harm them. It was unbearable. This was a
concern that was always on the heart of the Apostle Paul, not
only for the church in Thessalonica, but for all the churches. In
2 Corinthians 11, verses 28 and 29, he speaks of the pressures
and concerns that were upon him. He says,
apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on
me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being
weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern? And so he
speaks of this daily pressure. The word pressure here means
a burden, a heavy responsibility. He speaks of a concern for all
the churches. That word concern sometimes can
be in a positive sense. There are things we should be
concerned about. But that word is sometimes used
in a negative sense of anxiety and worry. It's the same Greek
word that's used in Philippians 4, verse 6 that says, be anxious,
same root word, for nothing. If Paul struggled with and crossed
over from concern to sinful worry and anxiety, it would have been
in regard to the churches. He was concerned so much for
them that it would have been a temptation to be sinfully fearful
and anxious about them. Mark 4, verse 19 speaks of the
worries of this world. But this worry, so to speak,
this concern, was not a worldly worry that Paul had. It was for
the church, the people of God. And this particular group of
Greek words can have the connotation that would be sin. This intense
concern he had, we usually say, well, it turns into sin when
it's anxiety and sinful worry. But we also speak of concern,
which can carry a good and godly connotation, not sin. We say
I'm concerned about you. And sometimes we use the word
worry, but not in a sinful way. I'm worried about this. We mean
I'm intensely concerned about this. But of course we know that
even good and godly concerns can easily turn into sinful anxiety. And therefore we have to be on
guard against sinful worry, sinful fear. But we do need intense
concern. Godly concern. And Paul is an
example of this. By the way, how did Paul not
let his good and godly concern, even intense concern, for the
church not turn into sinful worry and anxiety? Well he himself
said, here's how that doesn't happen in Philippians 4 verses
6 and 7. Be anxious for nothing, but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving make your requests
known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses
all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus. And so Paul in this intense concern,
unbearable concern, to the point that he finally had to send someone
to check on them. In the midst of that, he prayed
for them. He brought them before the throne
of grace. And we have records of his prayers in the Scriptures.
Those prayers arose from his love for the people of God. But
they also arose from Paul practicing what he preached, so to speak.
His concern was so intense that he had to take everything to
God, lest his concern turn into sinful anxiety. Now we've experienced
that as parents, haven't we? I've mentioned before, the first
time your child drives off in a car, that's a time by themselves,
is a time of intense concern. And it can quickly cross over
into sinful anxiety. So what do you do? You pray,
God, protect them, keep them. Instead of being anxious, you
commit them to the Lord and you trust in the Lord. You cast all
your cares on Him. 1 Peter 5, verse 7. And that's what the Apostle Paul
did. He had this intense concern. But yet it wasn't sinful anxiety
because he brought all those things to the Lord in prayer.
Now Paul's concern for this particular church became so overwhelming
and unbearable that he thought it best to be left behind in
Athens alone and send Timothy to them. We see that in verses
one and two. Again, when we could endure it
no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone
and we sent Timothy. So when he couldn't stand it
any longer, he sent Timothy to them. Now what that meant was,
is that he was left alone in Athens. Now remember this part
of Paul's missionary journey recorded in Acts chapter 17.
If you recall Acts chapter 17, Paul goes to the church at Thessalonica,
he preaches the gospel. There are those who believe,
a church is born, but there's intense persecution specifically
toward Paul. So he's sent away and he goes
to Berea. And there the Jews follow him
and there's more persecution. So he leaves and goes to Athens. But Paul, or excuse me, Silas
and Timothy remained in Berea. But then they joined him later
in Athens. And at some point in all the
history of this, Silas goes on to Corinth, but Timothy is with
him in Athens. And now, do you remember what
happened in Athens? In Acts 17 verse 16 it says,
while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, waiting for them to
join him, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was
observing a city full of idols. So Athens was a disturbing place
to him. It was filled with idolatry.
And his spirit was provoked by all the darkness, the spiritual
darkness around him. And so it's not insignificant
in 1 Thessalonians 3 verse 1 when he says, we thought it best to
be left behind at Athens alone. He wanted Timothy's help there
in Athens. He didn't prefer to be alone
in such a place. Why? Because Paul needed encouragement
too. He needed someone to bear his
burden and to minister with him in such a spiritually dark place. But it got to a point where it
was so unbearable, wanting to know how the church at Thessalonica
was doing, he says, Timothy, it's best for me to remain here,
as disturbing as this place is, and as much as your fellowship
and your ministry with me is a comfort to me, You need to
go and check on the church at Thessalonica. You see how Paul
needed encouragement too, and in that one word, alone, we see
Paul thought it best. He didn't want to be alone in
Athens, but he thought it best. You see, ministry is easier with
like-minded workers alongside you. This is why God designs
in his church that there be a plurality of elders, a plurality of pastors,
and a plurality of deacons to bear one another's burdens, to
do the work of ministry together, to encourage one another. There
have been times that I've been overwhelmed with the work of
ministry and discouraged to the point of quitting if it were
not for fellow laborers, pastors, and deacons. that God had placed
beside me. Praise God for these men, even
in my own life. And this is true not just for
pastors. All believers need like-minded brethren to encourage them and
aid them in the Christian life. We don't walk in this world alone. We have the fellowship of the
body of Christ. How important the church is.
Aren't you glad that there are other believers to bear the burdens
of living the Christian life and living in a hostile world
and walking through trials together. Aren't you glad for pastors,
for deacons, for laborers for Christ, for those who love God?
We are not alone. And I praise God for that. But
so intense and unbearable was the concern of Paul for the church
at Thessalonica that he said, we thought it best not to be
left, or we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone. In other words, there were more
important things. The Thessalonians needed Timothy more than he did.
And this shows Paul's selfless love for the church. He sought
the good of others above himself. And again, Paul is practicing
what he preached. Do nothing, he wrote, from selfishness
or empty conceit. But with humility of mind, regard
one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely
look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interest
of others. That's what Paul was doing in
this case. And that's what we're to do.
And so, this unbearable concern leads to sending Timothy to Thessalonica. Now why? What was so pressing? This leads us to the second point.
A spiritual danger. A spiritual danger. The danger
is described in this way in verse 3. so that no one would be disturbed
by these afflictions. And then again in verse five,
the danger is spoken of in the words that the tempter might
have tempted you. So here we see a spiritual danger
that in the midst of these afflictions that they would be disturbed
and that the tempter who is spoken of in chapter two verse 18 as
Satan, the adversary, here the tempter would have tempted them.
Now the word disturbed, that's used in verse three, is translated
moved in the King James and in the English Standard Version,
or shaken in the New King James Version, or another translation
says unsettled. It's an interesting Greek word.
We're gonna talk about in our discipleship group on Practical
Principles for Bible Study, we've been talking about, we're going
to do our homework discuss it together about doing word studies
and understanding words. And this is an interesting Greek
word translated here as disturbed in verse three. Originally this
word meant literally to wag the tail. It was about a dog. A dog would wag his tail and
this was the word that was used. Somehow the word then became
to mean to fawn over and to flatter. And since flattery is often used
for deceptive purposes, the word also came to mean to be deceived
or deluded. So therefore, some think this
means that what Paul is saying is that they might have been
deluded by the afflictions, that somehow they're disturbed to
the point of being deceived into forsaking the faith. And another
nuance of the word is to be shaken, to be unsettled. One commentator
wrote this, the precise force of the verb occurring only here
in the New Testament is not certain. It basically means to shake,
to sway back and forth, and was properly used of a dog wagging
his tail. From this, it came to mean to
fawn upon, to flatter, hence conveying the idea of being deceived.
Then the verb came generally to denote the act of shaking,
to shake, hence to be unsettled, Now in the midst of such intense
affliction, they could be more easily deceived or they could
be disturbed and moved and moved away from the faith. And that
was his concern. This was the spiritual danger
that they were in in the midst of affliction. In verse five,
he describes the spiritual danger in this way. The tempter might
have tempted you. Remember back in chapter two,
verse 18, Satan, which means adversary, was active and he
hindered and obstructed Paul from returning to Thessalonica.
Here he is called the tempter. Again, the names of Satan, the
devil. Satan means adversary, devil
means slanderer. Here he's called the tempter.
Tells us something about his character. He's called the tempter
in Matthew 4, verse 3, when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness.
In 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3, Paul writes, but I am afraid
that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds
will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. He is the tempter, the deceiver. He's cunning, he's crafty. This
was the spiritual danger they were facing, that in the midst
of the affliction, that the adversary would use it in some way to lead
them astray, to tempt them. And this is what Satan does.
He tempts. And he seeks to entice believers to doubt God, to disbelieve
His Word. He casts doubt on the truthfulness
of God, the goodness of God, the holiness of God. And in this
way, the tempter leads people away from Christ and faith in
Him. They become, in the words of
1 Timothy 1, verse 19, shipwrecked in regard to the faith. And this is one of Satan's goals,
and he is actively at work with his fellow fallen angels in order
to tempt believers. So here we see the spiritual
danger. Now what does such a spiritual
danger call for? Well, we see that in the third
point, a fateful worker. A fateful worker. This unbearable
concern because of this spiritual danger leads him to send Timothy,
verse two, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's fellow
worker in the gospel of Christ. What does such a spiritual danger
call for? Well, on this occasion, it called
for the sending of a man who would come alongside of them
to strengthen them and encourage them. And so the Apostle Paul,
he cannot go. We don't know the circumstances.
Again, we don't know why he was hindered in the past. It could
have been some physical ailment. We don't know the circumstances.
It could be because of the intense persecution and threat to his
life. Whatever the case, he sends Timothy,
who willingly goes back to the church at Thessalonica. Here
we have a fateful worker. Timothy. The name means one who
honors God. And his name accurately described
his character and his life. We first learn of Timothy in
Acts 16. You remember Paul had just parted
company with Barnabas over whether or not to take John Mark on their
missionary journey. Paul takes Silas who replaced
Barnabas with him, and then Paul comes across a man named Timothy
in Acts 16. He was the son of a Jewish woman
who was a believer. One who had taught him the Scriptures
from his childhood. A mother who had then heard of
Christ and come to Christ. And Timothy had come to Christ. And when he learned about his
good reputation, he said, I want Timothy to come with me. And so he knew the Scriptures
from his childhood, Timothy did, taught to him from his mother
and his grandmother, the Scripture tells us. What an encouragement
that is, by the way, if I can just say to you parents, teach
your children the Scriptures from childhood. Teach it to them
from a very young age. Teaching them the Scriptures
does not guarantee salvation, but it is what God uses to give
them the knowledge of their sin and the knowledge of a Savior. And you may be the only believing
parent. Maybe your spouse is not a believer. Don't lose heart. That was the
case for Timothy, an unbelieving Greek father, but a believing
Jewish mother who taught him the Scriptures. And God was merciful to Timothy. He comes to Christ, and early
on in his Christian life, he's a man of good reputation. He's
known for his character. Some say when he was converted,
he may have been an older teenager. But he was a young man who gave
his life to serve Christ. By the way, you don't have to
go astray in your youth. You can follow Christ and you
should follow Christ in your youth. Timothy had a good reputation
with the church at a young age. And so Paul decided in Acts 16
to take this young man with him. He was faithful and that led
to an opportunity to serve. And so at this point in Paul's
ministry, Timothy is a faithful worker, a co-worker for the gospel. Hey, look if you would in Philippians.
Philippians chapter two. I just want you to see this fateful
worker that Paul sends to the church at Thessalonica. Philippians
chapter two, verses 19 to 24. This was another occasion in
which he sent Timothy to another church. And the reason why here
is because Paul was in prison and he himself therefore couldn't
go. So out of concern for the church at Philippi, he sends
them Timothy, Philippians 2, beginning in verse 19. He says,
but I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly
so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition.
For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be
concerned for your welfare. What a wonderful description
of Timothy. He calls him a kindred spirit. One who was like-minded. It means, this word, this Greek
word literally means to be, it's a compound word, equal in soul,
and it's the idea of being equal-souled, means to be of the same mind,
to be like-minded. It doesn't mean they were just
good friends who got along. This was a like-minded on spiritual
things. A common love for God. A common
love for the Savior. A passion for His glory. A love
for the church. And so he says in verse 20, I
have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned
for your welfare. They were united in their love
and concern for the church. By the way, there's that word
again. Concerned. He shared this intense concern for the people
of God. And what unified their desire?
Well, they both had the interest of Jesus Christ. Verse 21, for
they all seek their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. Others
may have been in ministry or they lived their lives for their
own interests. He says not Timothy. Timothy
was seeking the interest of Christ. This is basic to the Christian
life, by the way. This is what the Christian life
is about. God doesn't save us, then we can go fulfill our passions
and desires. He saves us so we would live
for His passions and desires, for His will, for His glory.
That we might not seek our own interests, but the interests
of Christ. And that's what united Paul and
Timothy together. They were seeking the interest
of Christ. They were seeking things above.
Look at verse 22. He says to the church at Philippi,
you know his proven worth. His proven worth. That is, he's
been tested. He was a young man and through
the years, as he walked with Christ, he had been tested and
he had proven himself to be faithful to Christ. And he served with
Paul in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his
father. Here's a man of integrity, proven
character, who served alongside the Apostle Paul. Now, back in
1 Thessalonians 3, verse 2, 1 Thessalonians 3, verse 2, he describes this
brother in Christ in this way, and God's fellow worker in the
gospel of Christ. By calling him a brother, he's
emphasizing their spiritual unity in Christ. By calling him God's
fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, he's emphasizing their
relationship to God. I find especially interesting
this description of Timothy as God's fellow worker in the gospel
of Christ. Timothy would be described by
Paul in Romans 16 verse 21 as my fellow worker. He was a fellow
worker, a co-worker with the Apostle Paul for the gospel of
Christ. But here he's called God's fellow
worker. It's an interesting term. It's
used in 1 Corinthians 3 verse 9 when Paul says, we are God's
fellow workers. What does that mean? It means
we're employed by God, so to speak. And we work with God. Think of the way it's described
here. He's not only a fellow worker with Paul, but he's a
fellow worker with God himself. What a privilege it is to work
with God. Not as an equal worker in the
labor, and yet it's true that we are called to join God in
glorifying God. We're to join God as a co-labor
with God in what God is about in the world. That is the saving
of sinners through the proclamation of the gospel. And so he was
a fellow worker with God in the gospel of Christ. And that's
really, when you think of the work in ministry, that's what
we are as pastors. We're pastors, but guess what?
There's a chief pastor. We're shepherds, but there's
a chief shepherd. This is why I don't prefer titles
that you hear in churches today where pastors are executive pastors
or lead pastors. Now we're shepherds under the
Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the church, the chief shepherd
or some We talk about archbishops. When 1 Peter 5, verse 4, it says
there's an archshepherd. It's actually the word behind
chief shepherd. He's the archshepherd. Here's
the archpastor, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are nothing more than
fellow workers with him. We're joining in with him to
serve him, that his interests, his purposes in the world might
go forth. And that's what Timothy was.
He was a faithful worker, working with God for his interests, for
his purpose in the church. So out of an unbearable concern
over a very real danger, a brother and laborer for God was sent.
Sent to do what? Well, we see fourthly, a necessary
work. It's described in verse two.
We sent Timothy, our brother, and God's fellow worker in the
gospel of Christ, here's the necessary work, to strengthen
and encourage you as to your faith. Strengthen, encourage. Strengthen. means to establish you. See,
remember the spiritual danger? The tempter would come, that
you'd be disturbed, that you'd be unsettled. Timothy comes to
strengthen you, to ground you, that you would not be swayed
by the tempter. Now, the Bible tells us we're
to strengthen ourselves in James 5, verse 8. And it tells us that
God will strengthen us in 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 3. But here in verse
2, another person, a missionary, a shepherd of souls, strengthens
believers. You say, well, who strengthens
our faith, God or man? Some might say, well, I only
need God. Just me and God. That's all I need to strengthen
my faith. No, you need pastors. You need the work of the ministry
of the word from pastors privately and publicly. You need the fellowship
of believers. Paul sent Timothy to strengthen
them. And yes, they were to strengthen
themselves by the means God had given. And God ultimately is
the one who strengthens all hearts. But he uses means. And here he
uses another person. Is your relationship with your
pastors, your deacons, other believers, such that you're being
strengthened by their fellowship and their ministry to you? Are
you availing yourself to the ministry of pastors, deacons,
and the body of Christ to your soul? And are you, are you seeking
to strengthen the faith of other believers? There's still the
real danger of an adversary, of a tempter who would come and
disturb us and make our faith unsettled. So we're to strengthen
one another. But not only that, he says, here's
the necessary work to encourage you as to your faith. The word
encourage here means to come alongside of someone to do a
range of things, to comfort them, to encourage them, to admonish
them at times, to exhort them, And how was Timothy in particular
to strengthen and encourage believers in their faith? Well, again,
we go back to 2 Timothy 4, verse 2. Preach the Word. He was to
minister the Word of God publicly and privately. And this was a
necessary work in the church. You see how we need this in our
lives? We need pastors. We need believers. The Christian life is not lived
out in isolation. It's lived in relationship to
and in fellowship with other believers. The church is like
a body, the scripture tells us, with interdependent parts. No
one part or even group of parts are meant to function alone.
It's a body. And as the individual parts use
their spiritual gifts, and as they function rightly in the
body, the whole is built up, it tells us in Ephesians chapter
four. This is fellowship. And so the Christian life is
not to be lived in isolation. So Timothy was sent as a faithful
worker with God for the church to do this necessary work of strengthening and encouraging.
the souls of these believers. But then we see lastly a sober
reality. Why was all this necessary? Why
such intense concern? Why send a laborer, a worker
for the spiritual good and faith of these struggling believers?
Here's why, because of affliction. Now we're back to that sobering
reality, the subject of The message. Affliction. We've been destined
for affliction. So here's the reality. The Christian
life is filled with affliction for Christ's sake. And Paul says
in v. 3 that it's a certainty. For
you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. You can
count on it. Now, we don't always undergo
affliction at every moment, every day for Christ's sake. And there
are times in which the church or individual believers are suffering
persecution with more intensity than at other times. There are
times and places in the world where the affliction for Christ's
sake is much more intense. And we in America do not know
it the way some brethren know it. They fear for their lives
every day. So it depends on the place and
in God's providence and the life of the church. But it is a certainty. And it is a sobering reality
that all who live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. And
so it is a reality that we need to be aware of and prepared for. Now this doesn't fit the health
and wealth gospel of the charismatic movement. And it doesn't fit,
not just to pick on charismatics, it doesn't fit today's form of
evangelicalism, which teaches that Jesus died on the cross
to restore your self-esteem, or to give you significance,
or that he died because he needed you. It doesn't fit that. Affliction, that is suffering
for Christ's sake, being persecuted for the gospel is not a part
of the message today that most are preaching. But it was a part
of the message of Jesus. If they hated me, they'll hate
you. If they persecuted me, they'll persecute you. In fact, Jesus said this in Luke
chapter 14, beginning in verse 25. It says, Now large crowds
were going along with him, and he turned and said to them, If
anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother
and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own
life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own
cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which one
of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down
and calculate the cost? to see if he has enough to complete
it. Otherwise, when he has laid the
foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin
to ridicule him, saying, this man began to build and was not
able to finish. Or what king, when he sets out
to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider
whether he is strong enough with 10,000 men to encounter the one
coming against him with 20,000? Or else, while the other is still
far away, he sends a delegation to ask for terms of peace. In other words, Jesus is saying,
following me is not going to be easy. You have to love me
more than anyone else, even your own life. You have to carry your
own cross. And what did that mean? The cross
was not just a neat piece of jewelry that people wear. It
was a sign of death. And he says, if you're going
to be my disciple, you need to think about it and calculate
the cost. You mean cost? I thought this
is going to build up my self-esteem and just make me happy. I'd be
rich and never sick. No. It means you're going to
suffer affliction. Paul would say we've been destined
for this. It's a hostile world. And if
you live as a follower of Jesus Christ, and I don't mean the
made-up Jesus that people have today, but the Jesus, the real
Jesus of the Bible, is revealed to us there. And there's going
to be opposition, there's going to be affliction for His namesake.
And Jesus says you need to calculate the cost. There's going to be a cost. And
so the Apostle Paul prepared the church for this. And even
as new believers, he taught them to count the cost of following
Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 3, verse 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. He prepared them for this. even
before the intensity of the persecution in Thessalonica occurred. He said, I kept telling you it
was coming. And so it came to pass. How many people, I'll put it
in quotes, become Christians, want to be baptized, want to
join a church and so on because their friends are doing it. And then when the Christ who
caused them to live counter the culture, to live holy lives according
to the Word, they're tempted by the tempter and fall away
from the faith. I mean, we're going to see shortly
in 1 Thessalonians 4 that God causes church to live
holy. He'll teach them, this is the
will of God, your sanctification, that is that you abstain from
sexual immorality. And he says you're to conduct
yourself not in lustful passion like those who don't know God,
but you're to live in holiness. But how many want to be baptized
and call themselves Christians because all my friends are? When the call to follow Christ
leads to trials and suffering and sacrifice, they fall away
from the faith. Parents, we need to teach our
children about the cost of discipleship and what it means to follow Christ. Following Jesus means you will
live contrary to the world and contrary to your peers. Children, young people, Jesus
said, if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself,
take up his cross and follow me. You don't just follow the crowds,
you just don't follow, oh, this person's joining the church and
being baptized and I want to. You know, I enjoy the time in
our youth Bible study and so this is fun. I like this. You need to count the cost. You
need to understand the gospel, what it means to be a Christian,
but then you need to count the cost of what faith in Christ
is. Jesus said you need to calculate
it. Paul taught these new believers
we're destined for affliction for Christ's sake. And the Christian
must be willing to suffer affliction for the gospel. Could it be that You're not afflicted
because you're not that different from the world. And therefore the world loves
you. Could it be that the church today is not afflicted because
it's not preaching the true gospel? For when we are following Christ
with a whole heart and we are proclaiming the gospel of grace
that we've sung about today, that kills people's pride. It's
not by your works. It's not because of something
you've done. It's because what Christ did for you. And you humble
yourself and you come with empty hands. And you trust in Christ,
not yourself. And you live for his glory then
as a justified believer, forgiven of your sins. When we live that
kind of life, it means that there will be those who will oppose
us and persecute us. There will be affliction. We've
been destined for this. Paul said it this way in Acts
14, verse 22, where it says this of Paul. He was strengthening
the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith.
Does the word sound familiar? He sent Timothy to strengthen
and encourage them as to their faith. He was strengthening the
souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith.
How? by saying through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of
God. Brothers and sisters, we are
destined for affliction. We must be willing to suffer
for Christ's sake. And we must be on guard against
the tempter who attempts to use those afflictions to make us
stumble and fall. Brothers and sisters, avail yourselves
to the means of grace that God has given to strengthen and encourage
your heart. Give yourself to the Word, to
prayer, to the Lord's table, and to the fellowship of the
saints. Let us do, lest we be tempted by the tempter, what
the writer to the Hebrews said, Hebrews 10, verses 23 to 25. Let us hold fast the confession
of our hope without wavering, for he who promises is faithful.
And let us consider, let us think about and plan how to stimulate
one another to love and good deeds. Not forsaking our own
assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging
one another. and all the more as you see the
day drawing near. Why is it so urgent that we stimulate
one another to love and good deeds, stir one another up because
of affliction for Christ's sake. We've been destined for this.
The tempter will use it to make us stumble. So we have to be
on guard and we have to strengthen and encourage one another. Let's
bow our heads together in prayer and pray that this would be the
case in our midst. Father, we pray for our own hearts and for this
church, for what was true in Thessalonica is true in every
church. There is the tempter. who is seeking to tempt us as
to our faith and who will use various afflictions and in particular
the affliction of suffering for Christ's sake to cause us to
stumble and fall. This is a very real concern and
we've seen it even in our own midst. Those who once professed
the name of Christ were led astray. enticed by the
things of this world, unwilling to bear the name of
Christ. Some who were tempted by the
tempter and forsook the faith. Father, may we be on guard and
hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, and may
we know in light of this very real danger what the work is
you've called us to do that's not unlike what Timothy was sent
to do, to strengthen and encourage one another as to our faith, so that as we suffer affliction,
we don't do it alone. As we live in a world that is
not friendly ultimately to Christ and to the gospel and to the
church, that we would not bear that affliction alone. But Lord,
may we together, instead of being disturbed and unsettled by these
afflictions, may we stand firm in the faith. Father, help us to do this and
help us to see our responsibility in aiding one another as we walk
the Christian life hand in hand with one heart and one voice
together. May we have the concern even
of the Apostle Paul for his concern and his interest was that of
Christ for his church. May we abound in love for one
another. We pray these things in Jesus' name and for his sake.
Amen.
Destined for Affliction
Series 1 Thessalonians
| Sermon ID | 814251727175840 |
| Duration | 56:26 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5 |
| Language | English |
Documents
Add a Comment
Comments
No Comments
© Copyright
2026 SermonAudio.