Speaking for the help of the
Lord, I direct your prayerful attention to the chapter that
we read, 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, and reading from our text,
the last part of verse 18. But Satan hindered us. But Satan hindered us. The whole verse reads, Wherefore
we would have come unto you, even I, Paul, once and again,
but Satan hindered us. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse
18. How did the apostle Paul know
that it was Satan hindering Had not the Lord said that when they
persecute you in one city, then to flee to another? Was it not the Lord's way of
bringing and steering and directing the word and the preaching of
the word from one city to another? How is it that Paul is able to
clearly identify and say that it is Satan's work. It's a question that we may ask
ourselves in many instances, thinking that the Lord does sometimes
hedge up the paths of his people, stop them from going where he
would not have them to go, open up another way. How can we discern? Well, let's just think of what
had happened here. Paul is writing this from Corinth
to the Thessalonians. If we go into the parallel passages,
or where it actually records in Acts what is happening in
Acts 17, and 18. We have in the first verse of
Acts 18, after these things Paul departed from Athens and came
to Corinth. Now it's from here that he wrote
to the Thessalonians. So what had happened in Acts
17? We read there that in the first
verse, Acts 17 verse 1, that Paul came to Thessalonica. The verse reads, now when they
had passed through Philopolis and Apolia, they came to Thessalonica,
where was a synagogue of the Jews. So Paul had come to them. Then we read in verse 2 that
for three Sabbath days he reasoned with them out of the Scriptures. coming to where they meet as
Jews and declaring to them that the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus
of Nazareth, is the true Christ, and preaching to them the gospel
that we read in the chapter here. The summary of it, Paul is telling
them how he did preach amongst them and how they received the
word, not as the word of man, but as the word of God. and he gives in this letter a
little summary of how he had preached in those three days,
or three weeks rather, or three the Sabbath days that he spoke
to them, opening and alleging, verse three, that Christ must
needs have suffered and risen again from the dead, and that
this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ. And we read some of them believed,
and they consorted with Paul and Silas. So that is the time
that Paul had with them, a short time, as it were, But then we
find a real opposition. The Jews, which believed not,
they moved with envy, they stirred up trouble, they troubled the
people. And so in verse 10, we read,
the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night
unto Berea. So they had to leave the Thessalonians. Why? Because of those Jews that
didn't believe, and the opposition, the hatred, the enmity, that
they rose against them, the persecution that they had there. But then
when they came to Berea, then we find in verse 13, that when
the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God
was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also and stirred
up the people. So again, we have the opposition
of those that were not believing. And so instead of going back
to Thessalonica, they brought Paul to Athens. So there at Athens
and that well-known passage of when he was there waiting for
the brethren, he preached to them at Mars Hill. And a very
searching, very solemn sermon he did. all those altars that he saw
there, and yet one to the unknown God. He says in verse 23, whom
therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all
things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth,
dwelleth not in temples made with hands. It's a beautiful
sermon that he preaches. You can read it at your leisure
there in Acts chapter 17, setting before them very clearly the
true and the living God whom they were ignorantly worshipping. But with all of this that had
happened, all of this opposition, Paul ended up at Athens and not
at Thessalonica. So that is why he says to them,
in the words of our text, that he would have come to them, it
was his intention to, his will to, but Satan hindered us. And he very clearly is pointing
to the acts of the unbelieving Jews, and identifying it as Satan's
work. But we know that Satan is not
in control, God is in control, and God turns the curse into
a blessing, and Paul goes where the Lord would have him to go,
and brings good out of evil, and the Lord's blessing where
he goes. And though we know this, Yet
it should exercise us in many aspects of our lives as to discern,
as Paul did here clearly, what is Satan's work, especially when
we have men. Satan is not prominent here,
as it were. It is men, it is unbelievers. But he looks beyond that and
he looks and he sees that it's Satan. And we'll look later on
at how he can clearly see that that is the case. There's a scriptural
warrant that that is so. May we be reminded that the reality
of Satan, a fallen angel, one that was cast out from heaven,
one that is the prince of the devils, legion, Napoleon, many
different names he's called in scripture. but he hates Christ,
he hates the church, he's the great deceiver. Sometimes he
comes as an angel of light, working wondrous signs that if it be
possible that he would deceive even the very elect. Sometimes
he comes as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, very openly
defiant and against the people of God. His ways are changeable,
movable, and he seems to drive all the time a wedge, a whisper
that separates the two friends between God and his people. Satan is very real. We wrestle
not against flesh and blood, says the apostle, but against
principalities and powers, spiritual wickedness, in heavenly places. He is a very real force, acting
unseen, moving, moving men, women, children, beasts even. A great influence and yet we
must know that God is in control and yet the Lord has given us
clear direction that we are to resist the devil and he shall
flee from us. That we are not ignorant of his
devices. We're not to have a fatalistic
spirit and say, well, it doesn't matter if I'm deceived, it doesn't
matter if I'm turned out of the way, if I'm stopped in walking
in a course, because God will overrule it and he'll make it
work for good. That's a fatalistic spirit, a
wrong spirit. There is those times when Satan
is to be resisted. And certainly with Paul here,
his will, his desire was to go to Thessalonica. He testifies
that, and yet his way completely overruled. He'd done, as it were,
all he could. to bring about a visit to them
and to come to them. So they're those things that
the Lord does permit Satan to do and yet overrules it for good. So Paul, he says very clearly
here, but Satan hindered us. So I want with the Lord's help
just to look at three points this evening. Firstly, the history,
or just a little smattering of it, as it were, of Satan hindering
or attacking the Church as described in the Word of God. That'll help
us to identify his work and his hands. Then secondly, the problem
God or Satan, some of those situations which may leave us puzzled and
maybe open to being deceived or easy go along with his lines. But then thirdly, how, how we
can discern whether it is the Lord or Satan hindering us. And of course, in giving a heading
like that, knowing the Lord does hold back his people sometimes
when they should not be in a place or walking in a specific way. Let us first look at some of
the history of Satan. Of course, we start with the
fall of our first parents. Right at the beginning in Genesis
3, after God had created all things good and pronounced them
good and placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, given
them the commandment that they should not Aid of the Tree of
the Fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The commandment
was a very clear one. A sentence of death was pronounced
upon them if they should eat it. In chapter 2 we read, but,
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die. But when we come to Genesis 3,
then we read, Now Satan is speaking through the serpent. We have several times in scripture
where a beast speaks. We think of Balaam's ass, that
the Lord opened the ass's mouth and the ass spang. God is able
to do that, but here we find Satan is doing that. Remember, this is the first creation. It is right in man's innocency. And the woman said unto the serpent,
we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the
fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God
has said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it,
lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the
woman, ye shall not surely die. Here is Satan directly contradicting
the command of God. And he gives a reason, puts as
if God had an ulterior motive. For God doth know that in the
day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, ye shall
be, as God's knowing, good and evil. He tempts, he draws, he
brings the bait, and the woman takes it. and she gives to her
husband, and through that temptation, they willingly, with their eyes
open, go against, rebel against the commandment of the Lord.
The sentence then is executed, and Adam and Eve and all their
future race are consigned to spiritual death immediately,
and to physical death and then after death, eternal death after
the judgment. That sentence must be carried
out unless there be a substitute, unless the justice of God is
satisfied with one dying in the place of those that were under
condemnation. That is the provision of the
gospel. That is the first promise in
Genesis 3 verse 15. of the seed of the woman, which
is Christ, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, that
is, between the serpent, or between Satan and the woman, between
thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel. Our Lord, when he was on earth,
was very clear that those that were opposing him, those that
called that he cast out devils by the prince of devils, that
they spoke of their father, which was the devil. He very clearly
said that they were not of his sheep, they were not of Abraham,
but they were of the devil, their father. and their very works
were showing forth whose they were and who they were serving
and he identifies clearly that that was the work of the devil. We think of the prophecy of Zechariah
where we have the Jews returning from captivity and the vision
that Zechariah saw of Joshua the high priest and Satan standing
at his right hand to resist him. Wherever there is the work of
God, wherever the Lord is bringing about his purposes, then that
is where Satan is evidence he is resisting. He's resisting
the work of God. And we can see that later on. We can see it especially in gospel
days. We see the case in Acts 13, where
we have Simon the sorcerer, and he's seeking to turn the deputy
away from the faith. One that is interested in the
things of God, one that's seeking The Things of God. We read that there was a deputy
of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man who called for
Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear the word of God. So we have this picture, this
man desiring to hear the word of God. But Elimus, the sorcerer,
forsook It is named by interpretation, withstood them, seeking to turn
away the deputy from the faith. How often that that is repeated. How often there may be a person,
a young person, older person, and they show an interest in
the things of God. They want to be taught, they
want to know the faith, but then they have a so-called friend
or a family member or someone that knows them, and they try
to turn them away from what they want to do. What? You're going
to hear that? You're going to believe that?
You're going to have a Bible? You're going to read the Bible?
You're going to learn from that? You're going to be one of those
queer people? And all of those sort of arguments
to turn away so that that person who has shown a desire to hear
the word, that they are trying to hinder
them and stop them and ridicule them and turn them away from
it. Now this is what Paul said to
him, and his name is referred to as Saul here, and then Saul,
who also is called Paul, this is Acts 13 verse 9, filled with
the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him. and said, O fool of all
subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy
of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right
ways of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of
the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the
sun for a season. And immediately there fell on
him a mist and a darkness, and he went about seeking some to
lead him by the hand. Then the deputy, when he saw
what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of
the Lord." The Lord turned it about for good in the miracle
of blinding. The man whom Satan was speaking
through, who was really working Satan's work, for a season blinded,
and when the one that was seeking the Lord saw that, he believed. And we don't need miracles, as
it were, like that. Today we have the record of it
here, set before us very clearly, and very clearly identifying.
If you have someone that is turning you away from the faith, then
Satan is at the root of it. It is not God's work, it is an
evil work, and Paul is very, very clear how he calls that
here in this case. We think of our Lord Jesus Christ
in the temptation in the wilderness after he was baptised. There's
a couple of accounts of it, thinking of it in Matthew chapter 16 and
verse 23. Or this is the case of Peter. We'll come back to Christ in
a moment, his highest temptation. But this is Peter, when our Lord
was telling Peter and the disciples of his coming sufferings and
what he should endure at Calvary, We read in verse 21, Matthew
16, 21, from that time forth began Jesus to show unto his
disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many
things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed
and be raised to go in the third day. He's setting forth a sacrifice
that was to be offered at Calvary. Then Peter took him and began
to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall
not be unto thee. In other words, the Lord is saying,
This is what is appointed. This is the path I must go. This is the cross I must take
up. But Peter is saying, no, spare
thyself, don't walk in this cross, don't walk in this sufferings.
But what does the Lord say? He turned, said unto Peter, get
thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me. For thou
savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be
of men. It had only just been a little
while before that, that in verse 16 of this chapter, our Lord
had asked, Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? And then
asked them, But whom say ye that I am? And this same Peter, Simon
Peter, answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed art thou, Simon by Jonah, the same one that he
rebuked. As Satan speaking, he pronounced
him blessed, for flesh and blood had not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven. How can it be? Out of one mouth,
one of the disciples of the Lord, one moment, pointing to Christ,
and our Lord says his father had revealed that he was the
Christ to Peter, and Peter could testify of it. But next moment,
this same disciple is trying to keep Jesus the Christ from
the one sacrifice that he came into the world to offer. And
our Lord identifies Satan is speaking through him. Again,
there's a warning here. The path of the people of God
is a path of crucifixion to the flesh. The path of the flesh
dislikes the way, but faith approves it well. And may we always think,
if we're going to say to a brother that he's going to walk in a
path and we know there might be suffering or trial or danger
in it, And we think we're doing them a good favour by saying
to them, look, don't do this. Don't walk in this path. It is
dangerous, or you're too tired, or it could be too dangerous,
or you can't afford to go in that path. We need to be very,
very careful whose mouthpiece we actually are. And our Lord had, he, of course,
very clearly very clearly shown and testified what was before
him. So again, Paul would have known
of these things, how the Lord is able to clearly identify Satan
in the background. We have other occasions as well,
Paul writing to the Romans, clearly testifies that It is Satan that
is hindered and we mentioned of our Lord and the temptations
that he had in the wilderness direct by Satan. In Luke 4 and we have Satan coming
to our Lord in the wilderness and he takes him up into a high
Mountaine shows unto him all the kingdoms of the world in
a moment of time. The devil said unto him, all
this power will I give thee, and the glory of them, for that
is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will give it. If
thou therefore will worship me, all shall be thine. And the Lord's
answer is, Jesus answered and said unto him, get thee behind
me, Satan, For it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God, and him only shalt thou serve. Again, here's a temptation,
material things, the things of the world on one hand, the Lord
on the other, the people of God on the other. We read of Moses
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. If we find Satan coming
in the guise of any person, as it were, and say, look, if you
take up and believe in God, if you become a Christian, then
you're going to lose your prospects in this world, and you won't
have a good job, and you won't have this, and you won't have
that. And as if setting before them the same as our Lord here,
Here is all of these things. If you worship me, remember there's
only two real forces in this world, either in Satan's kingdom
or in Christ's kingdom. There's no neutral ground. It
shall either be with Christ in heaven for eternity or with the
devil and his angels in hell for eternity. There's no neutral
ground. The same on earth as well. are
we? Are we lapping up all what Satan
can offer and give us? Or are we desiring that which
is eternal and the forgiveness of our sins and the blessing
of an inheritance incorruptible undefiled and reserved in heaven
for us? Of course we know the accounts
of how Satan He even moved the Lord against Job, in the book
of Job, because Satan accused Job of only following the Lord
because he'd hedged him about and kept all that he had. So
the Lord gave Satan permission to touch all that he had, to
really prove to Satan that though countless millions do only serve
the Lord for what he gives them, yet Job, possessing the true
grace of God, If God took away or permitted Satan to take away
all that he had, he would still serve God. He would still worship
him. And in the book of Job, Satan
is proved to be a liar. And Job, a true child of God,
one upheld by the grace of God. We read a count with David, numbering
the children of Israel towards the end of his life, last two
years of his life. One account it says that the
Lord moved David to number Israel because he had a controversy
against Israel because of their sin. But then another account
we read that Satan stirred up David to number Israel. We put the two accounts together
and we have a similar a scenario to Job where Satan desires to
stir up God's anger against David, against Israel. His only desire
is to destroy the people of God, but God turning that about for
good and making it work for good. Yes, he severely dealt with Israel
for their sin, but at the same time he showed mercy and he showed
David where the temple was to be built, that Solomon was to
build, when the Lord was entreated of, the plague was stayed, and
the Lord answered David on the threshing floor of Arona the
Jebusite, which was upon the top of Mount Moriah. And so we have these accounts
and many more of the history of Satan and how he attacks the
Church of God. There's no doubt of his maliciousness,
his hatred, his desire to turn away those that would seek the
Lord, walk in his ways. He is the opposer of the brethren,
the accuser of the brethren. He is the adversary of the people
of God. It is The Lord's work to destroy
the works of the devil, to overcome them. And at Calvary, our Lord's
heel was bruised. The Lord suffered greatly through
wicked hands, crucified and slain. But in his death, he conquered
the devil. He died to put away the sins
of his people. There's no cause in him that
he should die. He dies as a substitute for his
people. The very wrath of Satan, through
those wicked hands that crucified him, brought about the will of
God. He whom was delivered by the
determinate counsel and full knowledge of God, ye have taken
and by wicked hands crucified and slain. You can see so clearly
at the cross, at the crucifixion and Peter's preaching, how that
Satan was used and fulfil the purpose of God. No wonder Paul
says in Romans 8, we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them that are the called according
to his purpose. I want to then think secondly
about the problem, God or Satan. And this arises principally because
we know that there are those times that God will keep his
people back from wrong ways or from sin or from walking into
situations that would not be right. But how do we know? What kind of a situation would
it be? Suppose that you desire to go
hear the Word of God, go to a service, then you'll be unsure whether
you should go or whether you should not, whether it was right. And as you set out and you went
on that way, then suddenly you find the way blocked, the road
blocked, and you think, is this the Lord preventing me from going
there? Am I being stopped? It may be
you don't yet know the Lord. and think that this is fate,
just stopping you from going to hear the word of the Lord,
or from going to that assembly. But then the thought might arise,
maybe it is Satan. Maybe it is right, and I'm just
being hindered in this way. So you're not sure, and eventually
you find another way and another path to go, and you take that
road, and you see the time is getting on and on, and you think,
I don't know whether I'll get to this service or not, whether
I'll actually be a part of it or not, and you're still thinking
in your mind, is it God's will? Am I being stopped and yet pushing
past this for my hurt? Or is it Satan's work? But you
get there, and you get there just in time, a minute before
the time. And you think, where will I park?
And you find a park right outside the very place of meeting, or
the chapel, or whatever it is. And you can just park there.
And you can go in, and you hear the word of God, and join with
that assembly. And when you think of all that
has happened, and the timing, the hindrances, and getting there
just in time, and the car park, and if there wasn't that space, Then you didn't know where you
were going to park, where you could go otherwise. And you look back over and you
think, this was not the Lord trying to stop me here, this
was Satan hindering. And the Lord has overcome that. And I believe there's many that
especially would be uncertain in in venturing for the first
time in a place of worship or going to hear the word or into
a different place to think, should I do this or should I not? And
it wouldn't be much of a hindrance to completely stop. But in pressing on, then it is
actually proved. We'll come to this in the last
point as how to to actually prove and to see that it is a right
way. So we think of the other way. What if the Lord did want to
keep back? What if it really was his hand? I believe there have been times,
and I've certainly known those times, Where the Lord's ordered
things, where I've been kept from being in a place where I've
proved in process of time I should not have been. Where I've intended
to go on a certain meeting and then I've been invited to take
another preaching engagement and without really thought or
perhaps looking at a calendar without that meeting on it, I've
agreed to take it Then when I realized, well, if you take that, you can't
now go to this other meeting. The first thought is, oh, I'm
going to undo it. I'm going to cancel that engagement
I made so I can go to the meeting that I wanted to go to. And yet
I have proved that in saying no, that's ordered. The engagement
I have now made, I'm going to make and keep. The meeting I
wanted to, that was not an engagement, that was not a promise, it was
just a meeting I wanted to go to. And that meeting took place,
and there was troubles and problems there, and I've been so thankful. The Lord has kept me back from
that. I should not have been there
if I had have been there. I sure would have spoken, spoken
wrong, done things wrong. And I can see the keeping back
of the Lord. But he's done it in a way that
has not been hindering the Gospel. It's been a rearranging. It's
been perhaps a forgetting of things or double booking or some
other way. The Lord does keep his people. The psalmist says, keep back
thy servant from presumptuous sins. I often used to think when
we had a dog, how often taking it for a walk, it'd be pulling
this way and pulling that way. The amount of times if that lead
had broken, he'd be under a car, he'd be away somewhere else and
injured, and is that keeping back was a great mercy. And we
deserve that too, when the Lord keeps us back from where we should
not go, or hedges up our way. So you think, well, to push or
not, to persist in it or not. Really, we need to be able to
discern what way to go, what to do. So I want to look at this
in our third point, how we are to discern whether it is the
Lord or whether it is Satan hindering us. One of the ways that was spoken
really, not by one Lord's people, but one that would have hindered
it in Acts 5, was in verse 38. We have the brethren that are being brought before
the Jews, and the Jews are trying to stop their witnessing, stop
their preaching, and even taking counsel to kill them. And then we have Gamaliel, which
was the doctor of the law that Paul himself had sat under. And he rehearses several other
instances of men that had risen up in the past, and how eventually
all what they taught, they'd all come to nothing. And after
rehearsing these various ones that had just fizzled up and
they hadn't continued, he then says, And they agreed according to
him. Really what he was saying was
just leave it alone and watch. If it be God's work, it will
continue, it will grow. If it be man's, it will perish. If it be Satan's, it will be
perish. And of course this then joins
together with, if we would turn just another chapter, in chapter
five, in 1 Thessalonians, then we have the exhortation here,
prove all things, hold fast that which is good, abstain from all
appearance of evil. It is the work of God that shall endure
and that shall continue, and the work of Satan, and the work
of man, that shall perish. One word that I've found very
helpful is in the First Epistle of General John, Chapter 1, where
we read concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, that in Him is, line
verse 5, in Him God is light and in him is no
darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. Now, and I've used this illustration
before, we can say in this chapel that it is light But if we look
under the seats, then there's darkness there. We can't say
that there's light and no darkness at all. And Satan, he is a liar
from the beginning, he is a deceiver. In him, there is darkness. And however much he comes and
tries to be an angel of light, you can be sure there is something
that is darkness. There'll be some twisting of
the truth, there'll be some lies, there'll be some deceit, there's
something that is not pure and holy and righteous, something
that does not add up to being truly of God. And that's why
John is very, very clear If we walk in the light, as he is in
the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood
of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. How solemn it
is when there are those who profess that they are walking being led
by the Lord, directed by the Lord, they have a word from the
Lord. And yet the simplest Christian would be able to say, the way
that you're walking is contrary to the word of the Lord. There's
darkness, there's deceit. You cannot come out openly and
say what you're doing. You've got to set brethren against
brethren. You've got to deceive them of
what you're actually doing. And some most solemnly, willingly
being deceived. So we can discern Satan Is there
any darkness, some deceit, some lie, something that is not open,
something that is not scriptural, something that jars with the
scripture? All of God's works are right
and honourable, and really if they are declared to men, Like
Abraham's servant did to Laban and Bethuel in the matter of
a wife for Isaac, they were able to say, the thing proceedeth
from the Lord. They could see so clearly the
chain of events, the prayers, the things that had happened,
that this is the Lord's work. The psalmist says this is the
Lord's work. are marvellous in our eyes. The Lord is in control, but we
know of a certainty when it comes to the Gospel, when it comes
to our soul, when it comes to seeking the Lord, we are to expect
that Satan will oppose it, that he will seek every way he can
to divide brethren, and to lay traps and lay snares and to make
it appear to be somehow right, somehow good. And may we be able
to clearly identify, as Paul does, Satan's work. May we, as we've sung in our
middle hymn, expect those discouragements, those worldly crowns, Those things
that stop up our way and hinder our way. Now there's been some
times that I've been really encouraged when I've discerned Satan's opposition. Sometimes it has been going to
a service, to go as a hearer, maybe. And one thing after another
has gone wrong that has hindered. Things wrong with the car, things
wrong in the house, a phone call last minute. And I've gone from
starting to just think, well, I just cannot go, to then suddenly
think, what does Satan know that I don't know? Why is it he does
not want me to go and hear that service? And it has really encouraged
me, really helped me. And I've had the same with the
ministry as well. that in a way Satan has overreached
himself. He's made it so evident that
he does not want me in that place that I felt even more wanting
to go. And many times I proved it, a
real blessing and a real help. You know, Satan, don't believe
he can know our thoughts, but he observes our frame and he
suitably lays his baits. And he knows, he knows where
a sinner is to go and hear the gospel. He knows where he is
here to hear the word of the Lord. And he will stop up the
way. And may there be those signs
we are encouraged, even by that opposition. Remember reading
in the wartime, sometimes the airline pilots and they would
be flying along, and suddenly there'd be no opposition or no
anti-aircraft fire. And they'd think, well, why?
Why not? And they'd give away, perhaps it was an enemy aircraft
in the area, or perhaps when they got so close to finding
something out and seeing what they should not see, they knew
by the opposition that they had, that there was something that
is being hidden And it was able to discern from the reaction
of the enemy as to how close they were to their mark. And
you can be sure that the closer the Lord's people get to the
Lord, the more that Satan will try to fright them away, turn
them away, discourage them in some way or some form. But blessed
be God, if we're able to identify it with Paul, and we seek as
much as we can to resist the devil, call upon the Lord, fight
the good fight of faith, and if in the end we are not able
to prevail, as Paul wasn't able to go and fulfil that time with
the Thessalonians, he is still able to see the Lord's overruling
hand, But he was not to then be able to look back and think,
if only I'd resisted, if only I'd struggled more, if only I'd
have fought more. No doubt he felt that he did
what was right, what he could, and that the will of the Lord
had been done. If we are pursuing the ways of
the Lord and are prepared at every least discouragement from
within, from family, from the church, to be turned aside, then
we shall never obtain that promised blessing. We are to labour to
enter into rest, we are to fight the good fight of faith, we are
to resist the devil, we are to know that we have an adversary,
and we are to know the blessedness of the prize in the Lord Jesus
Christ. May the Lord then add his blessing
and grant us that prize. Christ formed in us the hope
of glory. Amen.