Affection and Affliction (1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:10) - Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

We continue in our sermon series through the

book of 1 Thessalonians, so I invite you to turn

there. Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians,

chapter 2. We'll pick up in verse 17 and plan

to take it through chapter 3, verse 10. 1st Thessalonians

2 17 But since we were torn away from you brothers

for a short time in Person not in heart We endeavored

the more eagerly and with great desire to see

you face to face Because we wanted to come to

you. I Paul again and again But Satan hindered

us for what? Is our hope or joy or crown of boasting

before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not

you? For you are our glory and joy. Therefore,

when we could bear it no longer, we were willing

to be left behind at Athens alone. And we sent

Timothy, our brother and God's co -worker in

the gospel of Christ, to establish and to exhort

you in your faith that no one be moved by these

afflictions for you yourselves know that we are

destined for this. For when we were with you,

we kept telling you beforehand that we were to

suffer affliction just as it has come to pass.

And just as you know, for this reason, when I

could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about

your faith for fear that somehow the tempter

had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.

but now that Timothy has come to us from you

and has brought us the good news of your faith

and love and Reported that you always remember

us kindly and long to see us as we long to see

you for this reason brothers in all our distress

and Affliction we have been comforted about you

through your faith for now we live If you're

standing fast in the Lord For what Thanksgiving

can we return to God for you for all the joy

that we feel for your sake before our God as

we pray most earnestly night and day that we

may see you face to face and Supply what is lacking

in your faith This is God's word. Let's pray

Glorious father in heaven. We thank you for the

matchless gift of the Bible We thank you that

this is our guide. This is the lamp to our feet

and light to our path This is what we need this

tells us Who Jesus is and how we can be saved

and so I pray that as we go through this text

If there are any hearts that need to be opened

within the sanctuary need to be converted I pray

that you by your spirit would do that and that

you would strengthen us believers in our faith

to always look to Christ No matter what we pray

in his name. Amen I'm sure that everybody or

just about everybody in this sanctuary has had

the unpleasant, impatient, anxious experience

of waiting by the phone. Now, those phones used

to be attached to the wall, so you couldn't wander

all that far. Now you can, but you still have

to wait. You know what it's like to long to hear

from somebody, Maybe that they made it safely

to their destination and you wait for that phone

call. Maybe you're waiting for the phone call

from your doctor to let you know what's the diagnosis,

what's the prognosis, how does it look, doc?

Maybe, well it could be any number of things.

Waiting is difficult, isn't it? Especially for

inpatient people. But when something important

is on the line, we gotta know, we gotta know,

God, what are you doing? And this is Paul in

the text. Paul here has such an affection for

the Christians in Thessalonica and the church,

but he and Silas have been driven out, and Timothy

driven out of there, they're in Athens, and Paul's

gotta know, what's going on with my friends in

the Thessalonian? He just simply cannot stand

it anymore. And you see this incredible affection

that Paul has for these Christians, he loves

them. This is such a warm passage, isn't it?

And part of the thing, one of the things I want

us to see then is that as he has to hear what's

going on and we see his affection, we realize

that affection for one another is part of the

cure for affliction. Affection for one another

is part of the cure for affliction. That's what

we're going to focus on today. Affliction and

affection. Now, as you look at this text, you

see that off the bat, it doesn't really look

all that difficult of a text, does it? We understand,

of course Paul has an affection for these Christians.

Paul has an affection for a lot of Christians,

so that's not a hard concept. But as we dig a

little bit deeper, we start to have questions

of our own. Questions like, why does God allow

affliction? Why does God allow Satan to prevent

Paul from getting back to the Thessalonians?

Why does God allow for the tempter to tempt?

Why does God allow affliction in this life? And

maybe we even ask this question, who is really

in charge here? Perhaps you have asked questions

before, not necessarily pertaining to persecution,

but to just affliction in general. Why do bad

things happen to Christians? I thought about

this week as my dear friend lost his son. Sadly

to a case of drowning. Parents, believers needing

to be strengthened in their faith, and they're

asking this question, Lord, how could you do

this? How could you take my child? Why do these

things happen? Why do they have to happen? We

see hints of these questions within the text

in like verse 18 of chapter two. Or chapter three,

verse five, again, the work of Satan. And I think

that not only do we get questions from the text,

but thankfully we get some answers. Look in verses

three and four of chapter three, specifically

verse four, I'll read it again. For when we were

with you, we kept telling you beforehand that

we were to suffer affliction. Just as it has

come to pass and just as you know when Paul uses

this word we I think that he's using this collectively

He's not just speaking about himself and not

just speaking about Silas and Timothy He's saying

we as in yes us missionaries, but you Christians

in the Thessalonian Church We told you these

things were going to happen We didn't want you

to be caught off guard and then verse 3 we were

destined for these things and it's very similar

to what What Paul has to say in the book of Acts

Acts 14:22

chapter 14 verse 22, through many tribulations

we must enter the kingdom of God. Through many

tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

Friends, the way of the Christian is the way

of the cross. The way of the Christian is the

way of the cross. that Jesus who was put up on

the cross he told his disciples in this world

you will have trouble so we ought not be caught

off guard friends the reason that we experience

affliction as Christians is because we follow

after a crucified King but we also want to know

then okay we follow after a crucified King but

why who is in charge here look in verse 18 You

can see here that Satan hinders Paul. It's as

though Satan puts up some sort of a roadblock

there to prevent Paul from getting to the Thessalonians

and prevent Silas from getting to the Thessalonians,

right? But who is able to go to the Thessalonians?

It's Timothy, right? If you read in Acts chapter

Acts 17 · chapter mention

17, it doesn't list Timothy, if I'm remembering

correctly. It does not list Timothy as being

one who is driven out. Thessalonica it's Paul

and Silas so for some reason Timothy is allowed

to return but Satan puts up this roadblock to

prevent Paul and so we ask then how much power

does Satan have I think we can see some answers

to this if you'll go to John the book of John

verse or chapter 13 verse 2 Answering the question,

how much power does Satan have? John 13 2, and

this is only going to give us a portion of the

answer. During supper, when the devil had already

put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's

son to betray him. And so who did it? Who put

it into Judas? It's clear from the text. Satan

did this the devil did this but that's not the

end of the story because if you go just ahead

to John 17 verse 2 Or verse 12 John 17 verse

John 17:2 John 17:12

12 You see this this is within Jesus his high

priestly prayer he prays While I was with them.

I Kept them in your name, which you have given

me I have guarded them and not one of them has

been lost except the son of destruction that

the scripture might be fulfilled. And so yes,

Satan has some power here. But the scripture

also tells us this. There is a purpose behind

that. There's a purpose behind affliction and

within this particular instance The purpose was

so that scripture could be fulfilled. There is

an answer then friends to evil in this world

there's an answer to affliction God is working

and God has Satan if I can put it metaphorically

God has Satan on a leash. Maybe we would even

say a choke chain Satan is not allowed to do

just whatever he wants. Satan is not a free safety

on the football field allowed to do whatever

he wants. No. I like to think of it this way

from Revelation 19. The devil doesn't even own

the keys to his own home. He'll be locked away.

Romans 16 20. The God of peace will soon crush

Satan under your feet. Meaning that Satan has

a limited time and a limited means to tempt.

Friends, the devil is not in charge. The devil

is not omnipotent. The devil is not omnipresent.

He's not. He's not sovereign. God is. Perhaps

you remember the case of Job, right? And you

remember in the first two chapters of the book

of Job how Satan is made to appear before God

and the heavenly host. And God says, where have

you been? Satan says, I've been roaming about

kind of doing his thing. What's happening there

is that Satan is made to appear before God. He's

made to give kind of a statement of what he's

been doing, telling us that God is sovereign

over evil. And then when it comes to the case

of Job, it's not as though Satan comes up with

the name of Job and the person of Job. God does.

And then God places restrictions on what Satan

is able to do. Satan is very limited by God because

he is sovereign. But that leads us to another

question. Why does Satan have any power whatsoever?

Friends, I don't want to go beyond scripture

here because God's ways are higher than our ways,

but I do think we can see some answers to this.

Why does Satan have any power? Why is there really

affliction? It's because affliction drives us

back to God and affliction prepares us for God.

Again, look at verse 18. Chapter 2, 18. Again,

Satan hindered them. Satan puts up a roadblock,

but then go down to chapter 3 verse 11 outside

of our text for today. Now may our God and Father

himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way back

to you. So Satan puts up the roadblock, but God

takes it down. He directs us back to him. Perhaps

Psalm 23 is helpful, this extremely comforting

Psalm going through the valley of the shadow

of death. God doesn't take us around the valley

of the shadow of death. He doesn't take us over

the valley of the shadow of death. He doesn't

dig a tunnel underneath the valley of the shadow

of death. No, God takes us through it. I like

the way Gregory the Great put this, the bishop

of Rome in 600. He said, evil things which bear

us down, compel us to go to God. And there's

a scripture that's very similar to this. Perhaps

Gregory the Great was reflecting upon 2 Corinthians

4, 17. I'll read 16 and 17, just listen. So we

do not lose heart, though our outer self is wasting

away, our inner self is being renewed day by

day for this light, momentary affliction is preparing

us for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all.

Comparison. Affliction drives us back to God

and prepares us for God. And also something that

I would add as well, affliction can purify us.

Affliction can purify us, not just individually,

but affliction can purify the church. And it's

something that I believe the American church

desperately needs to be purified. When we as

especially American Christians, a lot of us,

when we experience affliction, we draw back.

We don't want any part of that, right? We do

not want any part of our affliction instead of

seeing it as part of our union with Christ. I

was meeting with a pastor in New England several

years ago. We were meeting for lunch and we went

to pray. We're talking about ministry and went

to pray. And he said to me, hey, don't worry

about bowing your head and closing your eyes.

We don't want anybody to look at us weird, right?

There could be times when there's wisdom in not

doing that if you're in a heavily persecuted

area. But surely what Paul has to say is true.

Do not be ashamed of the gospel, for it's the

power of God for salvation to everyone who believes

we need to wear Christ on our sleeve. How will

we really know Christ if we're unwilling to identify

with his suffering in any way? The Christians

in Thessalonica surely were not hiding. And we

see this time and time again, Christians who

were bold in their faith like Paul. I like the

way Daniel Hyde puts this when he talks about

the book of Acts. He says, Acts is nothing more

than the book of the martyr's blood being the

seed of the church. The more the church was persecuted,

the more the word spread. God gives us real salvation

and real deliverance and real forgiveness. Let

us not give him fake faith or weak worship or

dumbed down discipleship. Let us give to God

genuine obedience and love because he has loved

us first. Now you might say what? I don't really

live in a heavily persecuted area, praise God.

So how do I show my faith in affliction? We can

still show our faith in affliction, even if it's

not at the hands of persecutors. Think about,

how do you respond with grace to a bad diagnosis

at the doctor's office? When people are watching,

do you show your faith as you trust in God? What

about when you've got a difficult boss at work?

Can you show grace? Can you show faith even as

he or she is a tough person to work for? Of course

we can show our faith. I like the way GK Beale

says this, whenever we maintain our faith in

Christ throughout these situations, we demonstrate

identification with Christ. We must show our

faith and identify with Christ. But as far as

those who are experiencing persecution, one way

that we can show our affection for them as they

are afflicted is certainly in prayer. Praying

for the persecuted church. There are a number

of great organizations out there that are doing

wonderful work in countries and places amongst

people groups who are persecuted. Sign up for

their prayer emails. Voice of the Martyrs, Global

Christian Relief. Consider this story from Voice

of the Martyrs this week. about a Syrian named

Abdul who fled from Syria when the civil war

began there, but has now come back to do ministry.

He says this, when we returned home, something

changed inside of me. Before fleeing, I was cautious

about sharing my faith. As a Muslim background

believer, I had always been careful evangelizing

in secret because I feared for my life. But when

I came back, I was no longer afraid. I had a

newfound boldness, and we began the ministry

publicly. Friends, we need to wear Christ on

our sleeve and pray for those in these kind of

situations. And as we do that, as we pray for

those under affliction, I think we demonstrate

affection. This passage shows us There is a great

treasure in the midst of affliction, and it's

this, affection for one another. Look in verse

two. Why did Paul send Timothy back? Verse two

says it, to exhort and establish them in faith

so they would not be moved. And so there's kind

of a twofold reason that Paul sends Timothy.

One, it's a rescue mission. It's to help the

Christians. But two, Paul really wants to hear

what's going on because he loves them. And so

this is an intel mission and that Timothy comes

back with a word of how the Thessalonians are

doing in verse 5. You can see. Paul learns of

their faith. And in verse six, there is this

relief that you can almost feel. It's palpable,

this affection, and it's mutual according to

verse six. Paul and Silas and Timothy, they long

to be with the Thessalonians, and the Thessalonians

long to have Paul and Silas back with them. And

the reason Paul wants to go is for many reasons,

I believe, yes, to be with them, but he also

wants to keep ministering. to them. But in the

meantime, while he's separated from them, he

shows affection in verse 10 because he prays

for them always, continually. And the word that

is used there, the word for prayer, this is not

the most common word for prayer in the New Testament.

This is actually a stronger word. It's a word

for pleading. Paul pleads for the Thessalonians.

But then when he gets the news, he's overjoyed

with it, isn't he, with this report. And it's

interesting the way the text puts this. Paul

is overjoyed with what's called the good news

here. I think this is the only location in Scripture

where it says that Paul receives the good news.

Usually when you see the good news in Paul, it's

Paul preaching the good news. But this time the

good news is that which Paul receives, this great

word. about the Thessalonians persevering under

affliction. And this tells us something else.

Paul is thankful to hear the gospel enduring

because the gospel is not a one -time statement.

Sometimes we talk about the gospel like that,

don't we? Say, believe the gospel and you shall

be saved, which is true in scriptural. But friends,

we must receive the gospel every single day.

We ought to preach it to ourselves. Remind us

of what God has done for us in Christ. I like

the way that Paul writes in his second letter

to Timothy. He says, preach the word in season

and out of season, which means preach the word

when things are going swell and when things are

not going so great. That's actually the way that

we should live with the gospel. reminding ourselves

of the gospel when things are going wonderfully,

but also when things are tough. Because the only

way to get through the tough things is by the

gospel of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit who

indwells. And believers, friends, faith does

not come with an on -off switch. We must always

live for Christ and always live to show affection

for one another. But you might say, well, how

do I do that? How do I show affection to others

who are suffering and struggling and battling

affliction? Just four quick points of application.

Verse two again. To show affection, we must exhort

one another. When we talk about exhortation,

we're talking about speaking into each other's

lives. We're recognizing the need that we all

have for sanctification and we help one another.

in our growth in Christ. A great scripture to

see this is in Hebrews 3 .13. Listen to these

words. But exhort one another every day as long

as it is called today, that none of you may be

hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. We need

to speak into each other's lives every day. Second

point of application from verse four of our text.

We need to be with one another. Paul and his

crew, they longed to be with the Thessalonians.

We ought to crave fellowship, friends. We ought

to crave worship together. Again, another place

to see this from Hebrews is one that you all

may know, Hebrews 10, 24 through 25, which reads

in this way. And let us continue. or consider

how to stir up one another to love and good works,

not neglecting to meet together as is the habit

of some, but encouraging one another and all

the more as you see the day drawing near. We

need to be together. Thirdly, we need to help

each other through temptations from verse five.

Paul was concerned. that the tempter had gotten

to the Thessalonians and so this is one of the

reasons he sends Timothy because Christians are

to help one another battle sin. A great scripture

to see this is one that I've quoted a lot from

Galatians chapter 6 verse 1. Brothers, if anyone

Galatians 6:1

is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual

should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

Keep watch on yourself lest you too be tempted.

We are to come alongside of each other in battling

sin. And then finally, verses nine and 10 of

our text, how to show affection to one another

in our affliction. We need to pray. Pray with

thanksgiving and joy. Prayer is the most important

thing we can do for one another as we battle

affliction. Friends, I hope you can see from

this passage that God really does use us as instruments

of affection to help those who are in affliction.

And yet, it's also true from this text, Satan

is real, the devil is real, and we are really

fighting against him and the prince of darkness,

the one who deceives and the one who tempts.

But the good news is this, that Christ has overcome.

Christ has overcome. He has achieved victory

and so even as Satan has some influence He is

no match for Christ and Christ Transforms us

in our union with him and by the power of the

Holy Spirit. We are able to say no To sin no

to temptation We are to encourage one another

in our faith all the way until Christ takes us

home Or until he returns Let's pray