1 Thessalonian Series Part 4

Last time we looked at Paul’s crown of rejoicing at Christ’s return, that being the people he had led to Christ and nurtured in the faith—the Thessalonians included. Now this time we’re going to look first at Paul’s concern for the Thessalonians’ well-being.

3: 1 “Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone…”

First, we have a place—Athens.

It would appear that Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica from Athens. Meanwhile, what Paul witnessed in Athens disgusted him. Idols were everywhere, dedicated to every conceivable kind of god. The residue of the ancient Greek culture with all of its mythology, superstitions, appeasement of false gods, and sensuality saturated the famed old city.

Out of his concern for the Thessalonians, Paul had chosen to stay in Athens alone. He likely never felt lonelier than there, though crowds milled all around. If you’ve ever been in a foreign country with no friends or acquaintances, you might understand the feeling.

Yet Paul did have one Friend, the Friend he’d met so many years before on the Damascus road. No doubt, Paul and that Friend had many long talks in that godless city.

It is worth considering that Paul was willing to suffer this intense loneliness out of his concern for the Thessalonians. So there was the place—Athens. Next, there was the plan:

3:2 “…and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith…”

In the Book of Acts and elsewhere we always seem to be bumping into Timothy. He was one of Paul’s converts and a young man whom Paul not only loved as a son but also in whom he had the most implicit confidence. Paul sent him to Thessalonica, to Corinth (1 Cor.4:17; 16:10) and to Philippi (Phil.2:19). Paul said of Timothy,

Phil. 2:20 “For I have no one like him [no one of so kindred a spirit] who will be so genuinely interested in your welfare and devoted to your interests.”

The plan of Paul was simple: That Timothy would “establish” the Thessalonian believers. Establish comes from a Greek word sterizo, meaning “to set fast, to fix firmly.”

An illustration of this is found in the story of Israel’s war with Amalek in Exodus 17. Joshua was down in the valley in the thick of the battle. Moses, Aaron, and Hur were on the hilltop. AS long as Moses kept his hands upraised, Israel won. But when his arms grew tired and dropped down, Amalek won.

There was only one solution. Moses sat on a stone, and his two companions “stayed up” (sterizo) his hands. It took a prophet (Moses), a priest (Aaron), and a prince (Hur), all anointed ministers, to guarantee Israel’s victory.

Catch the spiritual application here! Jesus—as Prophet, Priest, and King—now sits in the seat of power on high, our Advocate with the Father Himself, our guarantee of victory down here. He essentially “holds up our hands” when they grow tired and gives us the victory over our enemies!

Perhaps one reason the Thessalonians fared so well in the face of difficulty is that Paul had foretold that they would:

3:3-4 “…that no one should be moved by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. 4 For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know.”

First we had the place—Athens, then the plan—Timothy establishing them, and now we are given the plea—that no man would be moved. The Greek word for “moved” is saino (sah'-ee-no), which means “to wag the tail,” “to fawn,” or “to flatter.”

The idea is that no one should be deceived or deluded, in the midst of persecution, by someone who comes along with tail-wagging suggestions, posing as a well-wisher, when in fact they are seeking to move you away from Christ.

In the N.T. times, suffering and persecution were taken for granted. It was part of the price of being a Christian. For three hundred years, beginning with the evil emperor Nero and ending with Diocletian, the church went through a continuing baptism of blood and fire.

Paul’s intent was that, though they suffered, their faith would not be moved, shaken, disturbed, or worn down. After all, we are in enemy territory. This world is a blood soaked spiritual battleground. This is why Paul keeps emphasizing the second coming of Christ. It is the believers’ sure and certain hope. It is a stabilizing truth.

So we’ve seen the place, the plan, the plea, and next Paul exposes the plot:

3:5 “For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain.”

It was one thing for Paul to show them the scars on his old body, and to shoot straight with them from the start, and how he had been stoned and left for dead, and how he had been caught up into third heaven to see things impossible to speak about. But how would they take it when it happened to them? This was Paul’s concern.

He could bear the suspense no longer. “Off you go, Timothy, back to Thessalonica; stiffen their resolve, teach the Word, be their example.” Paul knew that the devil is a dirty fighter. He is devoid of mercy, ruthless in his attacks, diabolical in his tricks.

Paul wanted to be assured that they had not paid the price of apostasy to gain peace with the world. At the height of Roman persecution, immunity from further harassment could be purchased just by putting a pinch of salt on the altar of a pagan god. That was it. But it was everything. It was the price of a soul!

If, God forbid, the faith of the Thessalonians had collapsed, his labor in their city would indeed have been in vain. Had they met the fury of the adversary with a triumphant faith in their Advocate—Jesus Christ? Timothy returned with the glorious news. Yes! The Thessalonians were “more than conquerors!” Paul recorded his joy:

3:6 “But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us, as we also to see you…”

Paul was no high-powered evangelist blowing into town, preaching to great crowds, then just as quickly leaving for the next crusade. Paul loved people. He stuck around. He “smelled like sheep.” He was eager to meet those that had responded to the gospel. He loved to visit their homes, meet their relatives, and instruct them in the first steps in the Christian faith.

3:7 “…therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by your faith.”

While the Thessalonians had been going through it, so had Paul. His deep concern for them was only part of the burden he bore. By the time Timothy arrived with the good news of the Thessalonians’ faith, Paul had already launched his gospel crusade in nearby Corinth. He writes that he arrived in that city in “weakness and much fear and trembling.”

He’d been mauled in Philippi, mocked at Athens, and chased out of Thessalonica. Now in Corinth, the Jews had thrown him out of the synagogue (Acts 18:6). Attempts against him had finally broken out in insurrection, and Paul was dragged before the authorities. So the good news about the Thessalonians was a welcome encouragement indeed!

Next, Paul summarizes the triumph of the Thessalonians’ faith. First, Paul assures them that his life is linked with theirs:

3:8 “For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord.”

Paul is not questioning whether their faith is strong by using the word “if.” He’s simply stating that his peace of mind depended on their bold stand for Christ. Churches and evangelists could take a page out of Paul’s notebook on the care and follow-up of converts.

To Paul, they were not just statistics to be reported triumphantly in the next support letter. Paul’s converts were a vital part of his life. Paul goes on to show how he lived for them:

3:9-10 “For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God, 10 night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith?”

If Paul said that he prayed for them “night and day,” he meant it. He praised God for the wonder of His work in their hearts. And he prayed continuously for a future reunion. Even in light of the good report Timothy had brought, Paul did not relax his disciplined prayer life on their account.

Paul was aware that flaws yet existed in their faith, hence he wrote, “that we might…perfect what is lacking in your faith.” A margin of error existed in their understanding of the second coming of Christ. And also, some of them did not have a belief that behaved. You can only do so much by mail. Paul longed to visit them personally to deal with these things face to face.

Paul then revealed how he made decisions:

3:11 “Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to come to you.”

Paul never allowed himself to be ruled by his intellect, emotions, or his will. He made decisions on a deeper level. He was ruled by the indwelling Holy Spirit. The word “direct” reveals that Paul wanted his return to Thessalonica to be directed by the overruling Providence of God, without detours or deviations.

The Bible says that God makes “straight paths for our feet (Ps.5:8; Matt. 3:3). As it turned out, Paul was able to go there, quite naturally, when, at the end of his third missionary journey, he was driven out of Ephesus.

Paul next leaves the Thessalonians some good advice as they await his return to them:

3:12 “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.”

Agape love! More agape love! Abounding agape love! Abounding agape love toward all believers! Abounding agape love toward all men! That was the kind of abounding agape love they had experienced from him!

We might have too much power, or education, or even money as it often destroys people. But we can never have too much love.

Finally, Paul comes back to the theme of the letter—the second coming of Christ.

3:13 “May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his holy ones.”

The word for “coming” is parousia, which refers to the Lord’s coming in the air (4:16-17). The Lord will descend the stairways of the sky. He enters our planet. He shouts, and the dead in Christ arise. The living saints ascend with them toward the sky. They meet in the clouds of heaven (Acts 1:9-11).

While some unfulfilled prophecy awaits the rapture of the church, nothing need be fulfilled for the rapture itself to happen. One commentator writes, “Nothing stands between us and the summons of God; no premonitions, no warnings, no signals, no prophecies.”

Paul’s message then, “Keep your hearts clean, live holy in the presence of God. The Lord could come at any moment!”