Let's go ahead and open our Bibles to 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians chapter number 2. I have an exciting announcement. I only have two points tonight. Yeah, brother Bundy, that's the one you've been waiting for. Yes. Here we are, 1 Thessalonians chapter number two. Let's go ahead and stand to our feet out of reverence for the reading of God's word. This is a really interesting portion of scripture to me, not because of the great depth or even the rich doctrinal truths that are there, although there are some, nor because of how it uniquely applies in the day and age in which we live. It's unique in this sense that the Apostle Paul is writing to those in Thessalonica, the believers there, and he is describing both how he desires to be beneficial to them and also how they are beneficial to him. 1 Thessalonians chapter number two and verse number 13. The Bible says, for this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when ye received the word of God, which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. For ye brethren became followers of the churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus. For ye also have suffered like things. For of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted us, and they please not God and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always. For the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavor the more abundantly to see your face with great desire. Wherefore, we would have come unto you, even I, Paul, once again, but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy. Wherefore, when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone and sent Timotheus our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ to establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith. That no man should be moved by these afflictions, for yourselves know that we are appointed unto them. For verily, when we were yet with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation, even as it has come to pass, and ye know. For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labor be in vain. But now, Timotheus came from you unto us and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us and we also to see you. Therefore, brethren, we comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith. And I want you to notice very close attention to verse number eight. For now we live if ye stand fast in the Lord. Father I pray that you would help me in these moments tonight to encourage your church. Father, I pray that as we have come together to worship you, that we would also come together to encourage one another in the work. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated. I'd like to preach a message tonight entitled, Mutually Compelled. Mutually Compelled. As Paul writes to the Thessalonians, the presence of suffering and persecution is permeating this passage. We see the evidence of it, even from the very beginning all the way to the end, that there are a number of believers that are under pressure and under suffering. And the suffering is so severe that it seems that the Thessalonians even had great concern as to whether or not this should be the way that it is, which is why he had to remind them in chapter number 3, verse 3, that no man should be moved by these afflictions. For yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. In other words, you knew that these afflictions were coming. Well, hence the very next verse. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before, that we should suffer tribulation, even as it came to pass, and ye know." So, once again, just as with Peter, now with the Thessalonians, we see that this is a church under persecution. And I'm telling you, a church that is under persecution is a church that is often discouraged. a church that often loses hope and loses heart. And I'll remind you that just as the Thessalonians were under suffering and doubt and discouragement, and here is Paul dealing with that same discouragement in his life and ministry, so was the apostle Peter, so were those whom he was writing to. This theme of suffering. This matter of discouragement is a legitimate issue that we are all going to face. A-L-L, all of us. And it's a tool of Satan. In fact, Paul writes, and he specifically calls Satan out by name and says that Satan, his concern is that Satan has hindered us. Verse number 18. In other words, Paul recognizes that the evil influence of the evil one is present in the life of the believer. Even the apostle Paul was hindered by him. And man, the shackles of his hindrance are sometimes heavy. The discouragement that often comes as a result of that is sometimes absolutely unbearable. And our hope should be in Christ. There is no doubt that our hope should be in Christ. Our confidence should be in the Lord's provision. Our faith should be the result of a heart that is unmovably committed to the promises of God, that we are seeing that place from afar, that kingdom that cannot be touched with the sufferings of this present world, we should be reminded that the sufferings of this present are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us, and we should encourage our hearts in this. However, there is another element of encouragement, another element of hope, another element, if I could say, even of joy. Now, before you pull me off of here as a heretic, let me clarify. I'm not saying that there's another hope like the hope of Jesus, because there's not. There is not another friend like our friend Jesus who will never leave us or forsake us. There is not another one who has purchased us in his own blood. And if the whole world forsakes us, and if every believer forsakes you too, there will always be Jesus. But when believers or in obedience to the Lord, you will find that we mutually compel one another to continue for the cause of Jesus Christ. It was even true for the Apostle Paul in here as we look at verse number 18 and verse number 19 of chapter 2. He says, Now listen to his words very carefully. He says in verse number 19, or joy or crown of rejoicing. Now our hope should be in Christ. Our joy should be in Christ. Our crown of rejoicing should be in Christ. But there is something else that helped compel Paul. There was another hope that he had, not to replace the hope that he had in Jesus, but far secondary to it, that sometimes on a discouraging day, would put courage into his heart and put joy in his footsteps. And here is the joy that he had. Here is the hope. Here was the crown of his rejoicing. He says, are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? And here's what he's saying is that sometimes when I'm reminded that you are in Christ, he gives me hope. When I'm reminded that you whom we preach the gospel to, who you received it as it is in truth, not the words of man, but the words of God, and you're still standing for truth, you know what that does for me? Apostle Paul says, it gives me joy, it gives me hope, it gives me glory, he says in verse number 20, for ye are our glory and joy. And I hope that I have been clear enough as to distinguish the difference between the glory and joy that we have in Christ and the glory and joy that we have in each other. Okay, so could you now, could I now with that being clearly established, say some things with some liberty as not to be understood, not to be understood. That's my problem, right? As not to be misunderstood. Misunderstood. We underestimate how valuable the encouragement that we provide just by our own faithfulness. I'm not talking about the encouragement that we provide as we come together and pat each other on the back or gather around together and pray. The encouragement that we provide as we come together and as we minister to one another directly. I'm not talking about that kind of encouragement. I'm talking about the kind of encouragement that we provide one for another just by looking around and seeing that we're surrounded by a bunch of other people who have committed their lives to Christ and just knowing we're not alone. And that's basically what Paul's saying, is that I'm encouraged, that I'm not alone in this. That when I hear of you, when Paul says, when I hear of you, when I got that report back from Timothy, I rejoiced. I was excited. In fact, in chapter number three, verse number eight, he says, for now we live if ye stand in the Lord. And he is rejoicing in the fact that they are standing in the Lord, that they are continuing on For the faith and it was it was like a shot in the arm to the Apostle Paul and it seems like the Apostle Paul and Timothy's ministry was also an Encouragement to those in Thessalonica. So what I'm saying is that as we continue in the Lord Individually, we are compelling one another to continue in the Lord mutually You know, I thought about it this way, that we are all supposed to take up our shield of faith. We go through that mighty armor of God that's given to us in scripture, that we are to have the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, that our loins should be girt about with that belt of truth, if you will, that our feet are to be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, that we are to take up the sword which we love. You know, I mean, the sword was always the coolest toy when I was a boy. We pick up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. But then there's one more piece. It's called the shield of faith. And I was thinking about that shield and the times in which it was written, those Roman times where it was not uncommon to see an entire legion marching down those Roman roads in lockstep as they cadenced together. And as those people in the village, I was gonna say the village people, but The people in the village would see them coming by and they would hear those soldiers steps on that pavement just tromping down the way. And these massive shields that went from about the ankle to the shoulder. broad and concave so that in the heat of battle they could tuck in behind that shield, crouch down, shove it all the way down to the earth so that nothing could get under and they could duck their heads underneath it. And I see this shield that those Roman soldiers would carry and I think about that shield of faith. and putting our faith in the Lord, boy, doesn't it protect us? And we put that shield down and we hold ourselves close against it and it quenches those fiery darts of the wicked one. But when I see those legions marching down the road, I notice that those legions move together. And as I see them marching in the imagination in my mind, they're all holding that shield beside them. And as a little boy watching this army go by, I can't hardly see anyone in there because those shields are so close together. and as I've studied some of the Roman military tactics, what they would do is they would bring those soldiers together in these cohorts and they would put soldiers up front shield after shield after shield after shield after shield and the soldiers on the outside would hold the shields sideways and shield after shield after shield after shield and then what is amazing is that the soldiers in the middle would lift their shield above their head and have shield after shield after shield after shield. And you had an ancient tank. I mean, this impenetrable almost wall of defense. And I had this thought, you know, one shield, it looks about like a door. I mean, big square beast, but you put a bunch of shields together, it's no longer a little door, it's a wall. And here we are, a potential wall of faith as we compel each other together to move forward for the cause of Jesus Christ. And no doubt, that is how the Apostle Paul is feeling when he hears that they are standing fast in the faith, that he is not alone. He is not worried about his flanks or what's behind him, not just because the ever-present power of the Lord, because the Lord has a method to his goal. His goal is to care for us. His goal is to encourage us. His goal is to keep us righteous. His goal is to move us forward with his plan. But he tends to use his people. And sometimes the way that he uses his people is to compel one another forward just by our individual faithful living. And there's some things that I just want to point out in this text concerning our call to be mutually compelled. When we are mutually compelled, first off, we should compel to be ministers of God. ministers of God. Look at verse number two in chapter three. In verse number two of chapter three, we learned that Timotheus or Timothy was sent by Paul to those in Thessalonica. Paul, for whatever reason, either wasn't able to go or didn't feel that it was best that he should go, which is why he says in verse number one that it was good or we thought it good to be left left at Athens alone, so we felt that Paul needed to stay in Athens, but then he sends Timothy forward, and in verse number two he says that he sent Timotheus, our brother, notice what title he gives him though, what occupation, and minister of God. Here, Timothy is called a minister of God in this relationship where he is now going to compel the Thessalonians forward and also going to bring the message to those in Thessalonica that they have been an encouragement to Paul. And as a minister of God, he's working to accomplish something. In verse number two it says that he's working as a minister of God, first off, and our fellow laborer in the gospel, notice this, to establish you. To establish you. That word establish has to do with basically setting our feet on solid ground and refusing to be moved. That we aren't, if I could borrow some of the other words of the New Testament, that we aren't blown to and fro with every wind and doctrine. That we shouldn't be pushed aside by the affliction that may be in our life. But instead, Timotheus comes as a minister of God to establish you. And I'm telling you, whenever I see others that are serving faithfully, whether they have ever spoken a word to me or not, whether they have even tried to encourage me with their words or not, but when I see their example, I tell you, it helps establish me. I tell you, when you are all alone out there in the middle of nowhere, and you think that nobody else is serving the Lord, sometimes it gets awfully tough and awfully difficult. And I'm not making excuse. We are all supposed to rely entirely on the Lord. But the Lord desires that we be encouraged by one another's commitment to the Lord. And I look around this sanctuary and I see men and women who are raising their families in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. I see fathers and mothers and grandparents who have been given the task to raise children, to raise children that are theirs, raise children that are someone else's, but have committed themselves to the task. And I'm telling you, I look into their lives and I realize that for them, it has not been easy. It's been full of affliction. It's been full of difficulty. But nonetheless, they follow after the Lord, and just by watching, it establishes me. And I'm thinking, you know, if they're not gonna move from following the Lord, then I'm not moving either. You see, when we see others as ministers of God, it should establish us. And look into the mirror of your own life, because you may not recognize it or not, but others are watching. Others are watching and either you're going to be the excuse and the reason that they quit or you could be the excuse and the reason that they continue. And that's what Paul's saying. You in Thessalonians, you in Thessalonica, you Thessalonians, you're one of the reasons I'm continuing. You're one of the reasons I'm still going. For now we live if ye stand fast in the Lord. If you're gonna be established in the Lord, then I'm gonna be established too. We're gonna continue on and carry on for the work of the Lord. The other thing that I notice in here, not only does he say that he's there to establish you, but preceding that, he says that he is a fellow laborer in the gospel to establish you, and then following that, he says, and to comfort you concerning your faith. To comfort you, interestingly enough, that word comfort is another word that is translated elsewhere as a description of the Holy Spirit, the word perikaleo. Perikaleo means to comfort indeed, but specifically to comfort by way of coming alongside. In other words, there's a companionship, a togetherness involved in this particular type of comfort. And isn't that beautiful in the way that Paul is describing the comfort that he receives of those from Thessalonica and the comfort that he wants them to receive from Timotheus and from himself? As we come together, we comfort ourselves together. In fact, this blew my mind. I turned to Hebrews 10, verse 25. It's the verse that we quote to try to make everybody feel guilty for not coming to church. Okay, that was a joke. It's the verse that we use to remind ourselves that God commands us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. By the way, that is a command of God, to come together. And you know, in that verse, Hebrews 10, 25, it says, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but then it gives the reason we come together, but exhorting one another. And so much the more, as you see the day approaching, we come together for that purpose of exhorting one another. I'll tell you what blew my mind, though. That word that's translated correctly, by the way, in Hebrews 10.25, as the word exhorting, same exact word, perikaleo. There's this idea of when we come alongside one another, even if we're not directly interacting, even if I'm not directly speaking to you and you're not speaking to me, not because there's anything between us, but because we're pursuing Christ together and we're pursuing the gospel and we've surrendered ourself to the Lord, there is a comfort, there is a mutual compelling forward that is involved as we are ministers of God together. The next thing that I see as we are mutually compelled is that we're not just compelled to be ministers of God, but we're compelled to be laborers together. Verse number two, once again, and sent Timotheus our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer. in the gospel of Christ. You know, the work of the Lord is work. Are you aware that only work gets the work done? Isn't it true? I wish talking about the work got the work done. Man, all my work would be done like that, because man, I can do this. But only work gets the work done. And we're called together to labor together. And I am compelled when I look out and I see so many here laboring together for the gospel of Christ. whether it be those that labor in the nursery, like my wife is tonight, those that are working in our kids' club, those that are in Awana, those that are on that bus, those that are showing up early for choir practice, those that are playing the instruments, those ushers that are preparing themselves to receive the offering, those that are showing up a little bit earlier to be greeters, the ones that are up there in that dark little booth, the live stream booth whom we, kind of like cast out up into outer darkness out there, those that are behind the sound booth, I'm telling you that there are a number of people that are just laboring together. And when my alarm goes off Sunday morning and I'm thinking about the fact that there's going to be a whole bunch of people showing up to labor together that are my fellow laborers, They might not say a whole word to me the whole day, even during handshaking time, but it moves me. It compels me forward because we're laboring together for the cause of Jesus Christ. We're laboring in the same fight, by the way. He mentions his adversary. Did you know there's no temptation taking you, but such as is common to man? And whenever you are tempted by Satan himself or your flesh, you need to know that there's others that are right here at Valley View Baptist Church that are fighting that same fight, that are fighting against temptation. They are fighting against lust. They are fighting against pride. They are fighting against jealousy. They are fighting against laziness. And you that thought you were on an island all by yourself, no. Everybody in here is fighting that same fight. On Wednesday night, you're fighting it against the traffic. On Sunday morning, you're fighting against your sleep. On Sunday afternoon, when I'm preaching too long, you're all fighting against your bellies. I know. We are all in this together, and we are fighting this battle together, and I am encouraged that I'm not the only one here. I am mutually compelled to labor together. We're laboring in the same fight. We're laboring in the same faith. We're laboring in the same faith. Before I became a pastor, I thought, well, pastors have all that faith, so of course they're gonna follow God. Then I became a pastor. And I felt a lot like the disciples that were in the boat after Jesus calmed the storm and looked down and said, ye of little faith. But I'm compelled forward because every single day as you fight that same fight, you fight it with that same faith that the Lord has given you and that the Lord has given me. And that's what Paul's saying here to those in Thessalonica, that as Paul continues for that same faith, they are continuing. And just knowing that they're sticking with it gives him a movement forward. He's mutually compelled. You know, and I just want to say, I just want to say this too. And we're in Knoxville, Tennessee. And I know that there are a lot of churches in this area that I would not encourage you to go into. Churches that are not preaching the same faith, are not preaching the same Bible, are not preaching the same gospel. Churches that have doctrine that is an absolute disaster and an absolute mess. And I pray the Lord would deliver them from it. But praise the Lord. We are not the only church gathering tonight in this city and in the surrounding areas. And I am not discouraged by that. I am mutually compelled by that. I think about my friend Matt Caldwell over at Olivet Baptist Church. I haven't talked to him in about two months, but I know this. Boy, if they cancel church tonight, I'm gonna be so upset that he made me a liar. I know this, that unless they have been providentially hindered, he's over there pouring his guts out right now. He's got sweat beaten up on his forehead. He's shouting his throat out at his people, trying to get them to follow the Lord. And guess what? He's preaching the same faith. You drive about 45 minutes and you go up to to Oliver Springs, and you will find Mount Pisgah Baptist Church. And I am telling you, there is a man up there named Pastor Garvin Walls. And thank you, babe, for continuing in the same fight. And that pastor up there, that pastor up there, he is pouring his heart out for the same faith. I think of Crossroads Baptist Church here in Knoxville and Walridge and Clear Springs and Cedar Ridge and Temple. and Temple and Southside Baptist down there with Pastor Luke Wilkerson. And no, we might not all be exactly the same, but you don't have to be twins to be brothers. And we're preaching the same faith from the same book, the same Jesus, the same gospel, the same doctrine and glory to God in the highest. I am not discouraged by that. I am mutually compelled to move forward. It encourages my heart. I will tell you there was a time where it was so discouraging. I thought, Lord, why on earth would you bring me to Knoxville? I look across the horizon. I see a steeple after steeple after steeple. And I think, Lord, why don't you send me to some dark corner that doesn't have a single steeple? Won't you send me to some place where there's no believers in the gospel and let me Lord, just let me be empowered enough by your Spirit to reach a dark part of the world that's never heard the name of Jesus. But His ways are not my ways. And it's not because my way is better. For His way is higher. Oh, and his thoughts are better. And I have realized that I am in a place where we can move together and be mutually compelled by the power of the gospel to reach this world. It doesn't discourage me. It doesn't make me want to quit. It makes me want to run faster and makes me want to run farther, not because it's a competition, but because we're all on the same side and we are not alone in this glorious fight. We are laboring in the same fight. We are laboring with the same faith. We are laboring against the same foe. And we are laboring with the same fierceness. The same fierceness. Verse number four. The Bible says it this way. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation, even as it came to pass. And you know, He says in verse 5, for this cause when I could no longer forbear. I could no longer forbear. You know what he means by that? When I just couldn't take it anymore. You know sometimes we, we get to a place where we just feel like we can't take it anymore. So what did Paul do? Oh and I couldn't take it anymore. I sent to know your faith. I just wanted to know. I just wanted to know. Lest by some means the tempter have tempted you and our labor be in vain. But now when Timotheus came from you unto us and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity And that ye have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you. Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you. We were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress in your faith. You see, they were laboring with the same fierceness as Paul. You see, we see the names of Paul and Peter highlighted in the New Testament. And if we're not careful, we can deceive ourselves into thinking that they are the only ones that are fighting with the fierceness of faith. Oh, but there were more. There were more. There were congregations of believers here in Thessalonica who were committed with that same fierceness, not to back down, not to quit, not to be discouraged, but to continue on for the glorious truth of the gospel. Sometimes when we're overwhelmed, it's just good to hear that there's others, when they reach that point of affliction, that they can continue on. And if they can continue, then we can too. And if they can keep going, then we can too. Our kids need to see that. They need to see a mom and a dad who will continue so that they would be mutually compelled. Our church family, they need to see it. It's not just about, boy the church after was full this morning, which by the way it was. Oh, that we would be mutually compelled. We're not gonna turn the light off here. Oh no, not at Valley View. It's not gonna happen. Because there's other churches in this area. And they need to be as mutually compelled by us as we are by them. Not in competition, but for the furtherance of the gospel. So this is where the rubber meets the road. I hope that you have been compelled by seeing the faith of others. But what if there was someone else, who perhaps you're even unaware of, who could no longer forbear Would they be compelled by watching you?