First Thessalonians (6)
Notes
Transcript
A Heart for Others
A Heart for Others
1 Th 3:1–13
Summary: In 1 Thessalonians 3, Paul’s expression of concern for the Thessalonian church illustrates the depth of his love and commitment as a spiritual leader. Despite the distance, he remains anxiously invested in their faith journey. Timothy serves as the vital connection that reassures Paul of their steadfastness, showcasing how relationships within the body of Christ can provide strength against doubts and trials and Paul’s prayer for them illustrates how as children of God we need to be praying for those that are in the fight and are still holding strong.
Application: This sermon serves to remind believers that their struggles are shared, and that they are not alone in the fight. It encourages the congregation to actively participate in the lives of those around them, fostering a heart for others that will evidence itself in the support and strengthen we give each other in Christ's love.\
“Who can name the five wealthiest people in the world?
Name the last five winners of the Miss America competition.
Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
Now, name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
The people you’ll never forget are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money or the most awards.
The people who make a difference in your life are the ones who care. And they will live forever.” 2
Every Christian wants God to use his or her life to impact others for eternity.
This especially applies to our children, but also to extended family and friends.
To impact people for eternity, we must have a heart for them in a way that they feel it.
Our caring is like the key that opens the door for the gospel and for the truths that are necessary for them to grow in their faith.
Caring for someone alone isn’t enough without the truth of the gospel.
But truth without caring usually will be met with resistance, not acceptance.3
Paul has a true pastor’s heart. But a pastors heart is something we all can have.
loving as Christ loves, praying like Christ prays, caring like Christ cares is not just reserved for pastors.
As a child of God, you should have a heart for others just like I have a heart for you and those in this community.
Christ is the ultimate model of love and concern for His followers,
Christ is calling His church to reflect this love and concern through relational support and encouragement.
Spiritual support and love among believers can only happen if we are living with heaven on our minds.
When we have a christ like heart for others it can transform anxiety into resilience, deepening their and our faith in Christ.
So if you will allow me, I would like to preach on the thought, Living with heaven on your mind: A heart for others
I. Paul's Concern
I. Paul's Concern
1 Th 3:1–5
These verses emphasize that believers must engage deeply with one another, bridging gaps to overcome isolation and fear.
Paul using the word Wherefore lets us know that, he is refering to his previous statement. Verses 17-20 let us know the great concern Paul had for this church.
Some commentators have described it as anixity. I would not disagree, Paul, like a parent that is waiting at home for their teen to get home, is anixious, concerned, maybe nervous.
Having this concern is brought on by three things:
The first thing we see is
A. His Affection for the Church
A. His Affection for the Church
v.1-2a
Because of Paul’s attitude toward the Thessalonian believers—“For ye are our glory and joy” (2:20
He could no longer tolerate his distance from them and the consequent lack of knowledge of their condition.
Paul’s strong affection for them resulted in intense emotional pain during this forced separation.
Even though he faced his own trials (3:7), Paul was more concerned about his people’s spiritual well-being in the midst of their difficulties.
His love was far more than a mere sentimental desire for social fellowship with the church.
his affection for them fulfills God’s calling to be loyal to the truth
and to see spiritual maturity in their lives.
I have heard many messages and read many commentaries on this text and they all seem to point to Pauls pastoral heart.
They are not wrong
Paul had a true and faithful pastor’s heart
But this kind of heart should be a heart that we all have for one another
especially those of the household of God.
A child of God that has a true and faithful heart for others is not concerned about their own success or reputations; nor are they preoccupied with their own trials.
Rather, they are deeply concerned with the spiritual condition of others, for whom if needed will suffer and rejoice with an unwavering affection.
a Strong affection for others will always lead to sacrifice.
Love gives itself away for its object.
Selfless commitment to meet others’ needs is the measure of true care for others. 1
Paul exemplified that reality when he thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone, and … sent Timothy back to Thessalonica.
Paul sending timothy is very important
Paul initially came to Athens without Timothy and Silas (Acts 17:14), but they eventually joined him there (v. 15).
After an indeterminate period, Paul sent Timothy again to Thessalonica (Acts 18:5) to determine their condition (1 Thess. 3:5), and he apparently dispatched Silas somewhere else in Macedonia, perhaps Philippi (18:5; cf. 2 Cor. 11:9; Phil. 4:15).
Thus for a second time, Paul was left behind at Athens alone.
The verb translated left behind means “abandoned” or “forsaken”
was used in secular contexts of leaving a loved one behind at death.
It expresses how serious Paul’s separation from his friends was.
Even though he could have benefited greatly by their assistance and fellowship in Athens, Paul thought it best to send his colleagues to Thessalonica and Macedonia for the well-being of the believers in those places.
The kind of sacrifice Paul made because of his affection indicates again the strength of his concern for the Thessalonians.
For their sakes he gladly sent to them his most precious friend and fellow missionary, Timothy.
By Paul sending his son in the faith to them, lets them know that he loved them enough to sacrifice his own comforts so that they could be taken care of.
When you have a concern for someone, that concern is evidenced in your affection for them and with affection comes sacrifice.
How much concern do you have for the membership/attendence of the church?
your affection for them is the evidence of your concern.
Living with heaven on your mind will result in you having a heart for others and this will be evidenced in your affection for them.
The second thing that beings about such concern is
B. His Compassion for the Church
B. His Compassion for the Church
v.2b-4
Compassion born of love motivated Paul to send Timothy back to the Thessalonians, to strengthen and encourage them concerning their faith, which Paul mentions five times in this section (vv. 2, 5, 6, 7, 10).
This is not the faith (cf. Jude 3) that is the body of gospel truths, but the Thessalonians’ belief in it.
it is the faith that Paul mentions in Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
they were still young in a faith being tested by affliction and needed further guidance toward spiritual maturity (cf. 1 Thess. 3:13; 4:1, 10).
Paul had great compassion for them. [a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.]
Paul knew what it was like to be young in the faith, he knew what it was to be afflicted and percecuted and he did not want them to feel the rejection and loneliness he did.
He wanted them to be reminded of the great love of God
He wanted them to be reminded of his love for them
So he sends timothy, his fellow-labor, his son in the faith, his companion
Timothy’s assignment was first to strengthen the Thessalonians’ faith.
“establish” also translated strengthened means to support something with the intent of establishing it.
Strong faith is a result of knowing all that God has revealed, and has a firm foundation in sound doctrine.1
No faith can be strong without knowledge and understanding of the truth.1
Second, he was to comfort them, which denotes coming alongside and motivating them to live that sound doctrine, (encourage).
Timothy’s task was to make the foundation of the Thessalonians’ faith solid and unwavering so they could have confidence to apply the truth.
Spiritual maturity is what Paul desired for the churches: (Eph. 1:18–19 cf. 2 Thess. 2:16–17; 3:3).
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Paul knew what they faced and could be moved by certain afflictions (pressure, tests of faith in suffering).
The greek verb translated moved (sainesthai) originally designated the wagging of a dog’s tail, but through the years it came to mean, “to allure, fascinate, flatter, or beguile.”
When a dog wags its tail, it often does so to draw attention to itself and gain something it wants.
later it referred to a person who tried to flatter or beguile other people.
Paul did not want anyone to lure the Thessalonians away from the truth in that manner, because they had been made vulnerable by persecution and suffering.
The apostle reminded them that all believers should expect tribulations and persecutions because all have been destined for such temporal difficulties.
Paul’s statement are a reminder to the Thessalonians and all Christians that they should expect afflictions.
Paul later exhorted Timothy, “Indeed, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12; cf. John 16:33; James 1:2–4; 1 Peter 5:10).
Jesus told the disciples,
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
To make sure the Thessalonians got his point, Paul reminded them that indeed when he was with them, he told them in advance that they were going to suffer earthly affliction.
As William Hendriksen observed, “Afflictions that have been predicted, and that take place in accordance with this prediction, serve to strengthen faith” (New Testament Commentary: Exposition of Thessalonians, Timothy, and Titus [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981], 85; emphasis in original).1
Paul had such compassion for them that he sent timothy to them to strengthen them and encourage them in the faith.
Paul did not want to see anything happen to them.
When we are living with heaven on our mind, we will show such compassion to others especially those that do not know Christ.
We will want to tell them them truth.
We will want them to have what wwe have
When living with heaven on our minds, we show compassion to those that are of the household of the God by visiting them and speaking with them.
Just because they are not here does not mean they dont need us.
There are those that want to be here but cant.
Those are the ones that need to be encouraged and strengthened.
So Paul because he was living with heaven on his mind, had a heart for others and it was evidenced by his affection for them and his compassion for them, it was also evidenced in…
C. His Protection of the Church
C. His Protection of the Church
v.5
By essentially repeating what he wrote just a few lines earlier (3:1–2), the apostle Paul reveals his protection of them.
For that reason, when Paul could endure it no longer, he sent Timothy to find out about their faith.
When he sent Timothy, the apostle did not know how the Thessalonians’ faith had weathered the storm of trials, tribulations, and persecutions.
Paul’s constant concern for the churches under his care (cf. 2 Cor. 11:28) is expressed in his warning words to the Ephesian elders, (Acts 20:29–30
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
The apostle’s fear was that the tempter, Satan, might have tempted them successfully to reject the gospel truth.
To do that, the devil uses three basic approaches. 1
His first assault is to prevent people from believing: (2 Cor. 4:4
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
If he cannot do that, his second assault is to destroy someone’s initial interest in the gospel: (Matt. 13:20–21
But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
Finally, if he cannot stop them from embracing the gospel, Satan strives to weaken the faith of those who do believe: (2 Cor. 11:3
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
cf. 1 Cor. 7:5; 2 Cor. 2:11; 3:14–15; James 1:12–18; 1 Peter 5:8).
If Satan had succeeded in his assault on the Thessalonians, Paul knew that his labor among them would have been in vain (eis kenon), “empty, void, pointless, for nothing.”
Paul was concerned about the Thessalonians’ faith.
He wanted to know that it was real rather than superficial.
He had a heart for others and it showed by his concern for them and wanting to make sure they were strong in the faith.
When we live with heaven on our mind we will have a heart for others and that will result in a real concern for them spiritually and physically.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Having a heart for others is evidenced in your concern for them.
Paul had a great concern for the condition of the church in Thessalonica
Like a parent waiting for their teen to come home
Paul is concerned for these new believers
Paul had a heart for others, just like Christ has a heart for you and I
Christ is not anixous but He does have great concern or you could say cares for us.
He has a strong affection or love for us and the world, so much so that he sacrificed his own self so that we could be strengthened and comforted:
7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
If you are here this morning and do not know the one that has such love for you that he sacrificed his own self so that you could live, may I plead with you this morning, to come to the foot of the cross and meet the one who died, was buried, rose on the third day and is coming back very soon.
Wont you come
Child of God, maybe you are here this morning and just needed to hear the old old story once again to remind you that you are not alone, their is one that is fighting for you and wants nothing more then to see you succeed in the faith.’
He wants you to live with heaven on your mind so that you can have a heart like him for others.
Wont you come this morning
1.John F. MacArthur Jr., 1 & 2 Thessalonians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary, (Chicago: Moody Press, 2002), 76–78.
2.An unknown author wrote (in Reader’s Digest [10/01, p. 188):
3.Steven J. Cole, 1 Thessalonians, 2017, 1 Th 3:6–13.
4.Chris Benfield, Pulpit Pages: New Testament Sermons, 2015, 1199.
