The Greatest Burden behind God's Back

We're going to read from God's Word.

We're reading from First Thessalonians and we're reading

from chapter 2, and we're reading to the end, from verse

13 to verse 20. And we're halfway through the

book of First Thessalonians, and I think we've just one sermon in

chapter 3. And then we'll be into chapter

4, First Thessalonians chapter 2, and we'll read from verse 13.

1 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

Let's hear God's word for this cause.

Also. Thank we God without ceasing,

because when you received the word of God, which you heard of

us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it isn't

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 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 our country to all men, forbidding

us to speak to the Gentiles, that they might be saved to fill

up their sins all way, for the wrath has come upon them to the

uttermost. But we, brethren, been taken

from you for a short time in presence, not in heart,

endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great

desire. Wherefore we would have come

unto you, even I Paul once and 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 this coming?

For ye are our glory and joy. Amen.

We know God will stamp with His own approval and blessing this

reading of His own precious and infallible Word.

Amen. Now my text this morning is

taken from First Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 19 and 20.

1 Thessalonians 2:19

Look at the words with me together.

For what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing?

See, that's a question. And then the answer is, are not

even ye? That's a reference to the

believers of Thessalonica in the presence of our Lord Jesus

Christ at his coming for ye. Again, a reference to the Saints

of God in the House of God in Thessalonica.

For ye are our glory and joy. Now if entitled today's message,

The pastor's joy and crown at Christ's coming.

So it's not just about the crown of a faithful ministry or the

glory of it. The substance of the message is

this, the pastor's joy and crown at Christ's coming, the last

Lord's Day morning. We learnt from First

1 Thessalonians 2:17

Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 17 and 18 how that the Apostle

Paul had experienced the greatest harassment from the

greatest hinder in the world, namely the devil himself.

Here we learnt about the real reason of Paul swift exit from

Thessalonica. Remember it was due mainly to

the vehement opposition of certain unbelieving Jews to the

gospel, no doubt whipped up by the devil.

Remember, the whole city was an uproar.

In fact, when they could not find Paul in the House of Jason

after a thorough search, they dragged Jason before the

magistrate that they accused him of giving shelter to men that

are seeking to overthrow the peace of the city.

They accused him of giving allegiance to another king than

Caesar, and you can read about that in Acts chapter 17 verses

Acts 17 · chapter mention

six to seven. Now these allegations were so

serious that they bound Jason over with a heavy deal.

Acts Chapter 7 and 9 talks about the security of Jason, and

Acts 7 · chapter mention

that's nothing to do with keeping him safe.

That's to do with taking silver from him, a very heavy Beale

bond. After Paul's departure from

Thesnonanken at the behest of the Congregation for his Own

Security, these unbelieving Jews made-up three false accusations

against him. Here was the first lie.

He fled to save his own skin, to preserve his own life.

He doesn't care about you, just cares about himself.

Then the second lie, he has no interest in coming back.

Oh, he said he would come back, but he has no intention of

returning. And then the third lie, he

doesn't really care about you. We are sorry for you.

You were taken in by this man's smooth words, and now you're

suffering persecution and suffering this ridicule.

You're suffering hardship, and it's his fault.

It's really all because of him. See, we told you he doesn't care

about you. Now in light of these lies and

false accusations, we see from chapter 2 verses 17 and 18 that

Paul had a deep desire to return to Thessalonica.

These people had become very dear to him.

He had a real deep pastors love for them.

He he wanted to be with them. He informed them that his

intention was just to be from them for a short time and that

he endeavoured to return to see their face and that he had made

repeated attempts to return to Thessalonica, but he didn't and

couldn't. Why?

But Satan hindered us, literally.

As we saw last week, the devil instigated all of this.

He was at the back of it. He instigated the unbelieving

Jews to start a riot. He instigated the unruly mob,

the arrest of Jason. He instigated these false

accusations against Paul. He's behind it all.

Remember, He's the father of lies and he spread these lies,

and at the heart of these lies was Paul doesn't care for you.

So to counter that when Paul wrote his first letter, he

opened up his heart and revealed something to the aim of a true

pastor's bond with the people of God.

Look again at verse 19 and 20. For what is our hope or joy or

crown of rejoicing? That word rejoicing can be

translated boasting it they can be translated glorying.

And here's the answer to that question, Are not even ye.

And then he adds these words in the presence of our Lord Jesus

Christ at his coming for ye, the people of God, ye are our glory

and joy. Now here we're given a glimpse

into the heart of a true pastor. Remember, it's the pastor's

heart. Paul has a love and a care for

the people of God. And I believe these two verses,

beast to skip over them, express Paul's deep affection for the

believers at Thessalonica for these new converts there.

Notice how he describes them. He describes them as our hope,

joy, and crown, our glory. He has a great anticipation for

them in the presence of the Lord Jesus at his coming.

He has an analyzation of them. Ye are our glory and joy, not

only now, but at the Lord's return, at the Lord's right

hand, at the second coming of Christ.

So what's this message about this morning, the pastor's joy

and cry at Christ's coming? Three things came to mind when I

looked at this portion of Scripture.

There's usually three things, aren't they?

I want you to think of Paul's affection for the people of God.

Now I've pointed out this is the third time, and I want you to

grasp this because it's not really grasped.

Paul is asking a question. Verse 19, you can see the

question mark for what is our hope or joy or crown of

rejoicing? And I've told you that word

rejoicing means boasting. It means glorying in the March.

So Paul is asking a question almost like a rhetorical

question, and then he answers it.

And here's the answer. Are not even ye in the presence

of our Lord Jesus Christ that is coming.

And when you think of these words, our hope, our joy, our

crown or glory, you've got proof of Paul's love and devotion and

care for this little flock of new converts at Ffest and Anka.

Here's indisputable proof of Paul's pastoral care for the

people of God. You see, someone has said the

opposite of love. I would take it to be hate, but

they have argued that it's not hate, it's actually

indifference. It's a spirit of I couldn't care

less attitude. You see, if we don't care for

someone, we don't really love them.

We often hear the phrase I couldn't care less.

We hear it in a variety of contexts.

A row at home with Mummy or Daddy.

Or maybe in the church situation, the pastor of

mischief, I couldn't care less. Or maybe in school and

university in relation to work, the teacher wants this done or

that done, but I couldn't care less.

Or in the state, I couldn't care less what the government is

doing. Or at work, the the boss will be

watching you, he'd be coming. I couldn't care less.

You see someone comes and shares a problem, whatever that problem

is, and you shrugged the shoulders, So what?

Whatever you see that displays that you have a careless

attitude that you couldn't care less.

You're saying when someone comes to share a problem with you, I

don't really care about that person.

What he or she is going through, Whatever it's, it's nothing to

me. Let me give you an illustration.

This is true. A woman's in the apartment, New

York building, she hears a woman scream on the street.

The woman's been attacked, the woman's been robbed and beaten

and the woman's being physically assaulted.

And what does this woman do? What would you do?

This woman closed the window and said the screams were annoying

me. Whatever, it had nothing to do

with me. Someone is being beaten, raped,

robbed and murdered and she's annoyed that the screams are

coming through their window and her attitude is whatever.

You see, that woman only cared about herself.

That woman was in love with herself.

That's what being a lover of self means.

I told you last week about the murder of Charlie Cook.

A 13 year old watched it on social media, told her mummy

about it. The mummy of course was

horrified. The mummy didn't watch the

little video clip but she was concerned for a 13 year old

daughter and asked her daughter about it and the daughter said

well it wasn't so bad. You see the point this morning

is this, that no true Christian should and can say I do not

care. No true Christian should be

filled with the mindset of I couldn't care less about my

attitude, my approach, my announcement of things, whether

at home, church, school, the state or work.

In fact, it should be the opposite.

The true Christian should say I do care.

The true Christian should say I couldn't care more.

You see, we should truly care for one another and I know that

you do that and carried off. But I want to encourage you to

abound more and more and not careful spirit.

You see, we're to love the Saints or to do good to all men,

especially they are the household of faith.

Now here's Paul, and despite these false accusations, these

lies that the unbelieving Jews, that the devil at the back of it

were spreading about Paul. What does Paul do to the

Thessalonians? He bears his heart to these new

converts. He's expressing his love for

them, and he's using very emotional language.

For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting, glorying or

rejoicing are not ye? And we'll pause there.

You see, he wants them to know how deeply he feels for them.

He wants them to know that this forced separation from them has

been very difficult for him because he misses them.

And maybe sometimes you think on a Sunday morning, why do I take

time to mention those in the hospital and those who've been

bereaved, those in the nursing home and those in their own home

who are physically not here, and other of her friends?

Why do I mention them not only in a public way, but but also in

prayer? I mention them because I want to

know that I want them to know that we care.

I want them to know that we feel very much for them, that we also

love them. And the Lord, you see, let me

say this, and I'm waffling on here, but I must make this

point. A pastor must care for the

people of God deeply. A pastor must have a love for

the Saints, and we must therefore truly love one

another. And if we truly love one

another, we'll want to be in fellowship with one another.

That's why Paul could say forsake not the assembling of

yourselves together as the manner of some is.

You see, if we care and love one another as a family of God,

we'll desire to be together as a congregation.

We'll desire to be together for worship.

And that desire to gather together for worship is stems

from our love for one another and stems from our genuine care

for one another. That's the context.

What did Paul say in verse 17? Endeavouring the more abundantly

to see your face with great desire.

What sort of desire, Paul? Great desire.

What does that mean? That great desire came from a

strong emotional bond, the bond of having Christian fellowship.

He mentions the word brethren in verse 17.

But we brethren, that means that we are family, and all families,

especially God's family, should want to be together and want to

be together often. And that's why we encourage you

to come to the House of God. That's one of the reasons.

Let me make this clear. Is he?

Today in certain Bible colleges, students of the ministry are

taught that pastors should keep a healthy distance from the

congregation. Imagine a professor telling that

to students as a pastor. Be distant from your people.

Why? Well, to protect yourself from

betrayal. They'll stab you in the back.

You you'll have a lot of pain and you need to be protected.

And if you keep yourself alooft keep yourself high and holy.

You you, you learn the respect of the people.

I want to tell you that's a lie. That's worldly wisdom.

That's not true. In fact, in the Bible we find

the exact opposite. The Apostle Paul is a deep love

for the people of God. He's a close bond to the people

of God. It's a heartfelt, heavy care for

the people. Here's a model for the Christian

ministry. Here's the love of a shepherd

for the sheep. Here's the love of a pastor for

the people. Paul has a deep compassion, even

in pains him to see people who profess the name of Christ

living in sin. He he he is the pain of seeing

people with all their struggles and their sickness and and and

all the situations that they face.

But Paul is also full of a disciplined cost.

Whatever the time and the effort and the stresses and the cares

and the burdens of the ministry are, he carries it before the

Lord on behalf of the people of God.

He he, he gives himself heart, body and soul to that people.

And of course, not only is there compassion and cost, but there's

a deep commitment and much affliction.

I have to tell you this morning, you already know this.

I'm not in the ministry for a paycheck.

I'd take a pay cut if it need be.

I'm not in it for a life of pleasure and ease.

I'll tell you, I'm not even in it for economic protection and

job security. See, if a pastor doesn't care

and he's not willing for the cost, time and effort, phone

calls, it could be two or three in the morning, getting out of

bed and getting dressed to go to the hospital.

If he doesn't show a devoted commitment to the people like a

shepherd does his sheep, he's not worthy to be called a

pastor. I even question his salvation.

Paul. What does Paul do?

Paul's affection for the people. Here's the pastor's joy and

crying. His affection for the people

very quickly. Paul is a model minister.

Our hope, our joy, our crying are not even ye.

That's true of Paul. And I have to tell you, you pray

for me because that's my goal and aim for you.

I love you in the Lord's name and I care for you as a faithful

pastor and your burdens are mine and your worries and fears are

mine and you know that. I want you to see secondly and

very quickly his anticipation for the people of God.

Look again at our text, verse 19.

Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His

coming? Now, now, what Paul is saying

here is this. In the 1st letter he's telling

them that he tried and retried to get back to Thessalonica and

there was no prospect of being back in the city.

And what he's saying is this. If I don't see your face again

on earth, I have this assurance that I will see you again and I

will see you at Christ's second coming.

I will see you at God's right hand, and at God's right hand

you'll be our hope, our joy and crown.

If I don't permanently see you again in the flesh, I will see

you again on that great day. On that day you'll be my crown

of glory. You'll be the crown of my

rejoicing and boasting. I will glory in you at God's

right hand. You see, he's thinking of the

Thessalonian believers, beings in heaven with Christ.

We all know that we have a day on earth.

A day on earth ends, we die, but for the Christian death has put

the vegetable to glory. Think very quickly of the

following things. Think of the day of the

Saviour's return. Notice the words at his coming.

The second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ is sure and

certain. It's a fact.

As much as the first advent happened, the second advent will

happen. Listen to these words in the

book of Acts, in Acts chapter 1 and in the verse 11.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

Wasn't the Angel say to those that gathered in the Mount of

Olivet, This is what they said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye

gazing up unto heaven? This same Jesus, very same body

which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like

manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

John 14 verse 3 The Saviour said I will come again and we believe

John 14:3

in the second coming of Christ a visible personal bodily return

of Christ in power and glory. In this particular book it says

in verse 10 and to wait for his son from heaven to your 19 talks

about our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming chapter 3 verse 14

mentions at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all the

Saints and then in chapter 4 verses 13 to 18.

I'm not going to read it. One of the fullest statements

about the second coming of the Lord Jesus and then in chapter 5

we read but of the times and of the seasons.

Brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you for yourselves.

Know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in

the night. The word coming here in chapter

2, verse 19 is perusia. It's a very important word.

It's one of the most significant words.

It's an interconnecting word tied into the other words that

describe the second coming of Christ.

You've got the the word appearing, which means unveiling

or or or revelation. Now let me ask you, Are you

ready? Are you looking forward to the

day of the Lord Jesus Christ coming?

Are you saved? Have you confessed your sin?

Are you putting faith and trust in Christ as Lord and Saviour?

The day of the Saviours returned very quickly here.

It's a day of special revelation.

Notice it says here our Lord Jesus Christ that is coming.

You see, that day will be a revealing of the glory and the

majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is not just Jesus. And I know many people talk

about Jesus and and I accept that, but he's more than that.

Look at our text. He's called the Lord Jesus

Christ, our Lord Jesus Christ. The word Lord stands for his

daddy every time you read it. Jesus stands for his humanity,

Christ for his ministry. He's our anointed prophet,

priest and king, and he's coming to be revealed.

And when he comes, he'd be revealed as King of Kings and

Lord of Lords. He'd be revealed as the eternal,

only begotten Son of God. Remember what?

The apostle Peter could testify it says in second Peter chapter

one verse 16 for we have not followed colony devised fables

when we made known unto you the power and coming.

That's the same word of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Notice again the title, but were eyewitnesses of His Majesty, for

he received from God the Father honour and glory when there came

such a voice to him from the excellent glory.

This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, and whenever

we turn back there to the Gospel of Matthew in Matthew chapter

Matthew 17 · chapter mention

17. It says this in verse 2 and was

transfigured before them and his face did shine as the sun and

his raiment was white as the light.

And while he yet speak, behold a bright cloud overshadowed, and

that was Peter had speak and behold a voice out of the cloud

which said, this is my beloved son, and whom I'm well pleased.

Hear ye hen, and if you come to Matthew chapter 24, a very

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

important prophetical chapter which I encourage you to read,

we read in verse 27. For as the lightning cometh out

of the east and shineth even onto the West, so shall also the

coming of the Son of Man be. There's the word coming again,

Perusia, and it says in verse 30.

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and

then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, for they shall see

the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and

glory. That day of the Lord is not a

silent day. It's not even a secret day

unseen by men in the world. We we read here about the tribes

of the earth shall mourn. Why will they mourn?

Because they don't know Him, they'll mourn because he'd been

revealed in front of them and they'll have heard the name

Jesus, but he'd be revealed as the Lord Jesus Christ and

they'll be blown away. Oh, this Christianity business.

Oh, this is all true. Look, there he is.

He's coming. Do you see him coming?

We're going to see him as he really is.

It's a day of the Saints resurrection.

You see all men die and even the Saints of God die and they're

buried and whenever they die because that's what death is,

the separation of the soul and spirit.

The the soul and spirit leaves the body and goes into the

intermediate state and the the body is put into the ground.

But one day at the day of resurrection, body and soul will

be reunited and our bodies will be raised out of the ground, you

see. And this will happen at the

return of the Lord Jesus Christ, a day of resurrection for the

Saints. And that's what Paul says.

Listen to these words. First Corinth, Thessalonians,

chapter 4, verse 16, he says for the Lord himself shall not, for

the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with the shout, with

the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God, and the

dead in Christ shall rise. First you see, if there's going

to be the glorification of the Saints before the glorification

takes place, there has to be the resurrection.

And that's what again was emphasised in Romans chapter 8

Romans 8 · chapter mention

and verse 17. It says if children then heirs,

heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we

may suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together, How

can we be glorified together with Christ?

Well, that glorification of the Saints has to be preceded by the

day of Resurrection. We're glorified at the

resurrection, not before, not long after at the resurrection,

glorified at us coming and we have got new bodies like

Christ's body no longer under the power of death.

That's why Paul could say in First Corinthians chapter 15,

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

and he said there in the verse 50, listen to the words First

Corinthians 15. And now I say, brethren, that

flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, neither does

corruption inherit corruption. Behold, I show you a mystery.

We shall not all sleep. You see, we've gone to sleep in

Jesus, the bodies in the ground, the soul and spirits in the

intermediate state in the presence of God.

But we should all be changed when in a moment, in the

twinkling of an eye. When does it happen?

At the last trump, For the trumpet shall sound and listen

to this, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we

shall be changed. That means we'll be given new

bodies. Soul and spirit will be

reunited, we'll have new bodies, and we'll be caught up together

with the dead in Christ. We who are alive and remain, if

we're alive and remain at that time, would be caught up when

the trumpet sounds. That's the resurrection of the

dead Saints and we'll be with Christ and wherever Christ is,

we will be. It's also a day of sweet

reunion. You see, it's all going to

happen. That is coming.

And that's what Paul is thinking about.

You know, it's great they get together to families on earth.

Lovely to see you. We, we, we are happy.

We, we hug one another, we interact, we talk, we have

fellowship, we have food. And the question in the minds of

the Thessalonians was what about our dead loved us in Christ?

What has, what has happened to them?

And Paul saying, look, the dead in Christ will rise first.

They'll rise up out of the grave and they'll their, their, their

bodies and soul will be reunited and we are alive and remain.

We'll be caught up together with them, and, and, and, and, and,

and these Saints like us will be given new bodies, and we'll all

rise up together, all glorified together, to meet the Lord in

the air. Remember what Paul says there,

or John says in first John 3. Beloved now are we the sons of

God? Yet it does not appear what we

shall be, but we know when He shall appear.

We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as he is.

And then he adds this, and every man that hath this hope in him

purify themselves even as he is pure, A new body like Christ's

body. No sickness, no peeing, no

suffering in the eternal state. Surely that thrills your soul.

This morning Ada's coming, the Saviour's return, the special

revelation, the Saints resurrection and sweet reunion

whenever a loved one dies. And we have talked about loved

ones who have died recently. And you miss them, Mr Earthly

form. You would long to have them

back, even for a wee while, to chat, to hug.

But you can't. And you mourn.

And you think, you know what? I'm not going to see them again.

Mummy's gone, Daddy's gone, the baby's gone, Granny's gone.

But let me assure you, you can see them again in Christ.

You will see them again. You'll see the matters coming.

You, you, you'll see them in glory.

This day marks the full transformation of all the Saints

into the likeness of Christ. The devas coming.

One final thing. Think about the analyzation of

the people of God. Paul summed it all up in these

words. If you go back to Thessalonians

chapter 2, he says in verse 20 for year our glory and joy.

He has mentioned the word hope. He has mentioned the word joy.

He has mentioned the word crown. It's not a literal crown.

I believe he's using a metaphorical language.

You see Paul's saying, even though I don't see you

Thessalonians in the flesh in that little city there in that

church, I'll see you in heaven. I'll see you at the second

coming of Christ. And then the fruit of my

ministry in Thessalonanka will be fully received.

Let me finish and apply this. You see, here's the only

possession that we can bring to heaven.

Here's the only possession of ours that will ever be in heaven

and our mindset and desire should be to to win people to

Christ because our possession in heaven are those that we went to

Christ. Therefore we need to work for

souls now. We need to labour to have jewels

to present to the Master. Time is passing.

Many today sadly have an interest in time and things.

For now the trinkets of the world, many live in sin and

transgression, but what is all for?

Here's a question, is it all for His glory?

Think of our job or education or family or home, Oregon car or

Monday. Is it all for His glory?

Are we using it for His glory? Is it our aim to win the loss

for Christ for eternity? My aim is to win souls here and

carried off. So we need to work and use all

that we have, our time, our effort, our talents to try and

wins one's soul. And I encourage you, therefore,

as we finish this morning, get involved in the local church.

Don't have, I couldn't care less attitude.

Don't be prayerless. Don't be powerless because I can

do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.

Think of aiming to bring one's soul with you to heaven, and

that one soul, will you meet them in the streets of glory.

That will be your hope. That'll be your crown.

That'll be your re, your glory and your rejoicing.

A crown of rejoicing. Here are the souls Lord you gave

me. Here's the triumph of your

grace. Here's the evidence of your

spirit at work. They're with me at Christ's

right hand. That's the analyzation of the

people of God. That's how we viewed them.

Is that how you view the people of God?

I commend this message to you and I pray the Lord will bless

it to your heart at this particular time.