You guys are something special...

You Are Our Glory and Joy

(1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:5, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, October 20, 2013)

[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, [18] because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. [19] For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? [20] For you are our glory and joy.The brief time that the Apostle Paul was able to spend in Thessalonica was full of conflict. He would have wanted to stay with the young church there longer. “We were torn away from you.” In those few weeks, they became brothers in Christ, and fellow soldiers for a common king.

That battle was not like the struggles of armies on this earth. It was a battle in the heavens. We win that battle when we remain faithful to the end. When we stay with our marriages, continue to love and serve our families, and when we continue in our calling with joy, we show forth our premier loyalty—our devotion to Jesus Christ. This was the battle for the Thessalonians and it is our battle today.

Paul had a very strong desire to return to Thessalonica in order to be with the church in this great spiritual contest. He wanted to see them “again and again.” Why couldn't he just travel north again from Berea or Athens? His own testimony is that “Satan hindered” that good desire. This really was a battle! Satan, a leader of fallen angels, was attempting to stop spiritual reinforcements from coming. In every puzzling providence that our Lord allows we can be confident that what an enemy means for evil the Lord is working for good.

What was Paul's agenda? He wanted these new brothers and sisters in Christ to shine on the day of Christ's coming. Their victory over sin and temptation would be his victory as a minister who cared for them with God's love. A parent wants to see his children find lasting happiness and security, and a true Christ-following minister wants to see everyone in his church stay firm in the faith until the end.. This is a difficult battle. Like parents of adult children, he must not over-pastor. If he pesters too much, then people might not have the opportunity to see Christ's work flourishing within each of them. But what will happen if he leaves everyone to themselves?

[3:1] Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, [2] and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, [3] that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. [4] 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. [5] 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.

Thankfully, in a mature church the pastor is not the only one pastoring. Their are others who are each doing their part as we help one another to follow the Lord. Paul had Timothy and others that he could send north to check on the church while he remained in Athens. Timothy was much younger than Paul, but he was his brother and coworker in the gospel of Christ.

What did Paul expect young Timothy to do when he arrived in the church? This was not merely a mission to satisfy Paul's curiosity. Paul expected this good minister of the gospel to speak. He needed to continue to teach the church. They already had faith in Christ, but they had need to be further established in what they believe. They needed to be exhorted to follow what they knew. This is the work of the gospel ministry. Through the patient exposition of the Scriptures over as many years as the Lord grants us, we need to be faithful to the work that God has given.

In particular, Timothy needed to teach about the sovereignty and grace of Almighty God in the midst of affliction. Paul had already warned them that they would face affliction, but he needed Timothy to reinforce this message from the Hebrew Scriptures and from the gospel of Jesus. It was plain that true prophets of God needed to be able to suffer patiently for the Lord. I am always struck by the providence of God in Jeremiah's life after the Babylonians defeated Jerusalem. He had been telling everyone who would listen that they needed to submit to the Babylonians as agents of the Lord's discipline. This was a very unpopular message. The people wanted to find a competing empire and to hide under their wing, perhaps looking for help from Egypt. Jeremiah forthrightly told them that this was against the Lord's will and that it would lead to great suffering and death. What did they do? They took the prophet as prisoner with them to Egypt. The faithful prophet has an expectation of suffering. Though Satan may have his ugly part in that, the Lord's gracious purposes will ripen fast.

This was not only demonstrated throughout the Old Testament. It was also at the center of the gospel message. Where did Christ do His most powerful work? Was it not in His suffering and death for us on the cross? Evil men and angels had their agenda that day, but God was doing it for supreme good. The Lord was sovereign and gracious in the suffering of His own Son. Jesus warned His disciples that they would suffer. Paul and Timothy simply agreed with Jesus.

This does not make any of it easy. Through these afflictions we learn to trust the Lord and to stay firm together in the faith. The battle is still on. The tempter still comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus is the Name above every name, and he comes to bring life.

There is a power from above that can shine through affliction. There is a surprising glory and joy that comes from heaven when the suffering servants of God yield to our King's good plan for us. Perhaps this is why we face the battle of faith that we face, so that we might stand firm even when it seems like we have barely survived. Could it be that God intends to shine forth His glory and heaven's joy through your brief days on this earth? Are you willing for that to be at least a part of the story of your life?

Of course all of us want to see good things for each other. We are praying for that, and we should. What we do not receive here below, we can trust Jesus for, knowing that He has more than we have asked for or imagined already in store for us in His kingdom. But we must not throw away the day of trouble as if it is nothing, or as if Satan's purposes will be victorious. His time to harass the saints of God is very brief. Like Joseph of old, we may spend a few years in the Pharaoh's prison, but at just the right time we will find ourselves at the right hand of the Majesty of God on high.

The way that we persevere through affliction is part of God's good work in our lives. True ministers are asking God to help the flock of Jesus to keep on going with their marriages, their families, the church, and the One who is Lord over us all through every difficulty or blessing. The true and living God gives Himself to His children, giving them the power to persevere.

The church of our dear Lord

Empowered from on high

Shines forth the glory of our God

Reflecting heaven's joy.