Moved by Affliction

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 coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and 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 are 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? Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

My sermon topic this morning is “Moved by Affliction.” It is taken from the verse where we read “that no one be moved by these afflictions.” When afflictions come into our lives, things move, we have all experienced this. As I examined this passage I saw three major players being moved by the afflictions that came upon the Thessalonian church:

Satan who was moved to destroy the Thessalonians.

God who was moved to save the Thessalonians.

Believers who were moved to stand firm.

Let us look at each of these in turn.

Satan is Moved to Destroy

Satan is an opportunist. He is in full agreement with a famous politician who once said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” Peter describes him like a “roaring lion.”

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

When a lion is on the prowl, he is not looking for the strongest animal in the herd, he is looking for the young, the sick and the weak. In the same way Satan is looking for those who are suffering affliction and when he sees it, he pounces! His attacks come in the form of temptations. This is why Paul was alarmed when he heard that these young believers in Thessalonica were being persecuted. He writes:

1 Thessalonians 3:5 ESV

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.

Are you feeling stress, tired or under attack today? If so, you need to be on your guard, Satan and his minions are circling around you for the attack! It is important that we realize this, because it is easy to lose sight of who the real enemy is. Paul was not concerned about the human persecutors of the Thessalonians, but of the demonic persecutors! He warns the Ephesian church:

Ephesians 6:11–12 ESV

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Satan is not just an opportunist, but he also takes the initiative. We see this in verse 18.

1 Thessalonians 2:18 ESV

because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us.

Paul doesn’t tell, us how Satan hindered him, but only that he did. This too is important for us to understand. Are you feeling frustrated right now in your efforts to serve the Lord? Perhaps Satan is hindering you. This is why prayer is so important. Notice how Paul prays in our passage:

1 Thessalonians 3:11 ESV

Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you,

This faith in the power of our sovereign God, brings us to the second point:

God is Moved to Save

In C. S. Lewis’ book, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, the true believers in Narnia would encourage one another with these words, “Aslan is on the move.” Aslan is the Christ figure in the book and it was this hope that gave the Narnians the courage to take a stand against the Witch (who is the Satan figure).

Paul uses the same hope to encourage the Thessalonians:

1 Thessalonians 3:3–4 ESV

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.

In saying that we are “destined” for afflictions, Paul is teaching that God has planned from all eternity to use those afflictions for our salvation. Remember, what we learned in last week’s sermon? The biblical term “salvation” refers to the whole process of salvation. Salvation begins with our justification, which is followed by our sanctification and it ends in our glorification. The trials and tribulations in a believer's life are used by God in our sanctification. James, the Lord’s brother, teaches us this when he writes:

James 1:2–4 ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

It is God Himself who will make sure that the afflictions in our life will not destroy us, but rather taht they result in our salvation. Paul writes of this in the final verse of our text:

1 Thessalonians 3:13 ESV

so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Satan and his minions are moved to destroy us by our afflictions, but in the end, it will be they who are destroyed! To encourage the Roman Christians, Paul closes his letter to them with these words:

Romans 16:20 ESV

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

What this means is this: Just as our afflictions are destined by God, so our victory over Satan is destined by God! This gives us confidence to stand firm in the midst of overwhelming odds.

Believers are Moved to Stand Firm

When Paul is speaking of the Thessalonians not being moved, he is using the imagery of an ancient shield wall, in which soldiers would line up side by side, holding their shields in front of them to form a wall. As long as they were able to stand firm, they were invincible. This is how only 300 Spartans were able to hold back tens of thousands of Persians for days.

Paul says this is what we need to do when we undergo afflictions. We have already learned that we need to brace ourselves for a demonic attack when we face an affliction, we have also learned that God is coming to our rescue and ultimately the victory is ours, but we can’t form a shield wall alone. I am going to read from Paul’s closing prayer, but this time I am going to read the whole thing:

1 Thessalonians 3:11–13 ESV

Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Notice that sandwiched between what God is doing for us is what the whole church is doing for each other, “may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you.”

This past Thursday I learned at the Carmichaels Ministerial meeting that the Free Methodist church is having to tear down their church building because the foundation has sunk, and the building has become structurally unstable. They are a very small congregation and even though a contractor has offered to build them a building for only $100,000, to raise this amount of money will be a stretch for them. I ask you, what is the church of Jesus Christ in Carmichaels PA going to do about this? Are we going to stand by our brothers and sisters in their affliction? Are we going to be their shield wall?

At the Ministerial meeting, I suggested that the offering at our annual community Thanksgiving and Christmas service go to their rebuilding fund. The others heartily gave their approval. I am confident that our congregation will give generously at those services because I have witnessed time and time again how you as a congregation have stood side by side each other in times of need, but now we need to pray that all the Christians in Carmichaels will do the same. This need is bigger than any one congregation, but it is not bigger than God. Between now and these special services pray like Paul did that the Church of Jesus Christ in Carmichaels will be Moved by Affliction to “increase and abound in love for one another.”