Wherefore, when we could no longer
forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone, and sent Timotheus, our brother,
and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel
of Christ, to establish you and to comfort you concerning your
faith. We have here Paul's love for
these people. We know that's of the Lord. I'll
send you pastors after my own heart. He doesn't find that.
He makes that. And he talks about what a fellow laborer is, who Timotheus
was to him, and then why he sent him is a
great blessing. So let's see first what the word
wherefore is there for. I'm not trying to be cute, but
I've remembered that for many, many years because of that cuteness. When you see the word therefore
or wherefore, find out what it's there for. Wherefore, when we
could no longer forbear, look at the reason why he could no
longer forbear in chapter two, verse 17, beginning in verse
17 and going right through the last verse of that chapter. Wherefore,
this is what it's there for. First Thessalonians 2.17, but
we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence,
not in heart, If you're not away from somebody in heart, you long
to be with them in presence. That's part of having them in
your heart and being with them in your heart. And that's what
he says. Endeavored the more abundantly
to see your face. Being there in heart is not nothing. And being face to face with somebody
and not being with them in heart is useless. It is kind of nothing. But if somebody is in your heart,
you wanna see their face, don't you? And that's what he says,
with great desire, with great desire. Wherefore we would have
come unto you, even I, Paul, myself. And he's saying that
because now he's gonna send Timothy and that's better than, and not
hearing from him at all, but he said, I would have come myself
once and again, but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy
or crown of rejoicing are not even ye in the presence of our
Lord Jesus Christ at his coming. For you are our glory and joy. It's the reason that this world
stands. The reason God still has a world
is he still has a people that then some of them don't
know him yet. Some of them don't know it yet, that they're his,
that they will. They will. You're our glory and you're our
joy for that reason. It's why we do what we do. It's
what God sent us to do. Wherefore? Wherefore? Because
I love you. Because I've waited a long time
to see you. Because I've been wanting to
for a long time. Because you're my glory and joy. Because the
desire was great. The time came when I could no
longer forbear. In other words, I couldn't bear
it anymore. I couldn't bear at least not
knowing at least your condition how you're doing, your state
of affairs. I couldn't bear it anymore. But it wasn't just knowing. It
wasn't just knowing how they're doing, which is important. We
want to know how people are doing, but it wasn't just that. Look
why he sent Timothy? To establish and to comfort them
concerning their faith. Concerning their looking to Christ,
the author and finisher of our faith. Concerning that, concerning
the growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what faith is. Lord, increase
our faith. And concerning that, He wanted
to establish them and comfort them. But I have to talk a little
while about what Timothy was to Paul, because I can testify
firsthand concerning what a blessing this is. And I'm so thankful. First of all, Paul said, he's
my brother. I'm sending you my brother. They weren't related
to one another. You may be a stranger to your
earthly family. I don't wish it, I hope it's
not always that way. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2.15,
he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is
judged of no man. And that same word judged is
translated discerned in the verse right before. They don't get
it, they don't know me. We're strangers in a very great
sense. It's very sad, and what I'm trying
to say is that I cherish my spiritual family. What a blessing from God to have what he promised in Mark
10, 29, He said, verily I say unto you,
there's no man that hath left house or brethren or sisters
or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake
in the Gospels, but he shall receive a hundredfold right now,
right here on this earth. In case you forgot what he said,
you're gonna get a hundred fold of, he says them again. Houses
and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands
with persecutions. He's not putting rose colored
glasses on us, is he? But he's telling us the truth
now. We're gonna have family in this world. We're gonna have
real family. and in the world to come eternal
life. How precious is our spiritual
family, our church family, I call it sometimes, y'all call it that,
the church family. There's nothing wrong with that,
is there? Thank God. Remember what our Lord said in
Matthew 12, 46. He talked to the people Behold, his mother
and his brethren stood without desiring to speak with him. And
then somebody said unto him, behold, thy mother and thy brethren
stand without desiring to speak with thee. And he answered and
said unto them that told him, who is my mother? And who are my brethren? He didn't have any objection
to talking to his earthly mother and his earthly brethren, but
not right now. not to the sacrifice of what he was
doing. He's sitting there teaching the gospel to his disciples.
He stretched forth his hand toward his disciples and said, behold,
this is my mom and these are my brothers. You know, there's always people
that just pop into the church now and then and we understand
that for what it is, but you are my actual family. By God's
definition. Not because you're my disciples,
as he said, but you're his disciples and me too. By his grace. We don't fake that. We don't pretend in that regard.
Just calling yourself a believer doesn't make you my brother in
the sense that Paul was talking about in our text. He also called
Timothy his son in other scripture, close, related, loved, precious. Thank God for you. Thank God
for you. And then Paul said that Timothy
is a minister of God. That just simply means a servant,
a servant of God, one who executes the commands of another. What a blessing. What a privilege. We who don't know right from
wrong by nature, we don't know up from down. We can't execute anything but
sin. And yet he's made us stewards
of his grace. Sometimes by contrast we learn,
don't we? Remember what Paul said about
Demas in 2nd Timothy 4.10, Demas hath forsaken me, having loved
this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica. Demas forsook
Paul because he loved the world. Timothy forsook the world because
he loved Paul and his master. That's what he's saying here.
He's a servant of God and a fellow laborer with me. You'll have to forsake one or
the other. We're not just bragging on Timothy here and not bragging
on anybody. This is the grace of God. Demas
just did what we do, you know. Timothy was an object of the
grace of Christ and that's why he was able by his grace to Be
faithful. But you and I, we'll have to
forsake one or the other now. I don't want to get on a soapbox,
but look, as miserable as I am and what
a failure I am in every way, I don't want to be standing here
for however long the Lord puts me here and have our young people
growing up thinking that they don't have to forsake one or
the other. you're gonna forsake one or the
other now. Paul said, this world is crucified unto me and I unto
the world. And I want you to understand
what that means. It doesn't mean you don't live in the world.
You go up and live on a mountaintop and never see anybody. Although
that doesn't sound all that bad, doesn't it? If y'all come with
me, we might do that. We live and work in this world
now, but we've forsaken this world by his grace. And it hates
us too. And that's okay. That's okay. The Lord said, it hated me before
it hated you. And we have him. We have each
other by his grace. That's why it's such a precious
thing to have family in the Lord. I'm telling you though, young
people, this world will chew you up and it'll spit you out
and never give you another thought. Christ is faithful and long suffering
and merciful. He will never forsake you. Come
to Him, embrace Him. Believe on Him. Trust Him. And you'll never be forsaken. Fulfill His commission. Do what He says. Timothy had
forsaken the world. clung to Christ We enjoy the
things of this world that God blesses us with Absolutely, but
our purpose as Believers is to execute God's commands. That's
what a servant. That's that was part of the definition
if you remember to execute the commands of another Of course it's of him to enjoy what
he gives us and But we're to use it for His glory,
I'll tell you that. We're to honor Him in it. We're here to learn of Him, to
glorify Him in this world, to be witnesses of Him, to be examples
of devotion to Him, to raise our children in the fear and
admonition of Him, to support the gospel, to be in on it. I
use those words a lot, but get in on it. That's what Timothy did, he was
a fellow laborer, thirdly. A companion in work. That's such
an interesting thing, a companion in work. Did you know that's
a rare thing? Something I've learned a little
bit about in 59 years is that being able to work together with
someone It's not as easy as it sounds. It's a very rare thing to have
someone that you work well together with. Two or more people, more
than two is almost impossible, that are able to be greater than
the sum of the parts. You understand that, but let's
Let's think about what that is for a minute. To be greater than
the sum means that 1 plus 1 equals 3. Is there anybody that you can
work with like that? That you can cooperate with to
that level? You can't just do twice the work
together as you would apart. But together you can do more
than if you worked separately. That's rare. But Christ gives
that to his people sometimes. And he's worthy of that. He's
worthy of that. He deserves that from us. And may he give us that spirit
of cooperation, of unity, It's rare in this world, both in temporal things and in
spiritual. But the Lord can give that. And
let's see that as a precious thing. That word fellow laborer
is key in this text. And Timothy, who was all of that
to Paul, he went to Thessalonica for Paul. to establish the church
there, to establish them concerning the faith. Turn with me please
to Hebrews 13. This is not a long passage of scripture, just one
verse I want you to look at. but every word in it is key and
has a bearing on our text. Hebrews 13, nine, be not carried
about with diverse and strange doctrines, for it is a good thing
that the heart be established with grace. Not with meats which have not
profited them that have been occupied therein. I'm going to
turn over there. I didn't turn because I have this in my notes,
but I want you to look at some of the verses after that, and
I want to be there with you when you do. Hebrews 13. First of all, the context makes
it very clear here that when he says grace, when he talks
about being established with grace, he's talking about the
doctrine of grace. You see that? Be not carried
about with every wind of doctrine, of doctrine. For it is a good
thing that the heart be established with this doctrine, grace. See what he's talking about?
And meats here is an illustration. This is an allegory, meats. He's not talking specifically
only about the observance of religion with regard to meats,
abstaining from certain meats and this and that as a religious
thing. You remember how he taught the
Pharisees, that's not what goes in the body that defiles you.
It's what comes out of your heart. It's your heart that's the problem,
not your stomach or your eating habits. It's the heart that's
the problem. Not with meats which have not
profited them that have been occupied therein. But let's read
a few verses down and we'll see what he's talking about by meats. We have an altar whereof they
have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. You see the eating
of meats that have been offered to idols and things like that.
They had very strict rules about that. For the bodies, verse 11,
of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by
the high priest for sin are burned without the camp for a reason.
Because they picture the Savior It's not a matter of your eating
habits and what's right and what's wrong to eat. Wherefore Jesus
also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered
without the gate. You see what that's a picture
of when he mentions meats in that verse. It's a good thing
for the heart to be established with grace. And that doctrine
of grace concerns Christ crucified, not outward conformance to the
law. Is that clear in that? So that's
what he sent Timothy to do, to establish them in the grace of
God, in the gospel of God's grace by that blood that we just read
about. That's life, that's salvation, not the observance of ordinances. which have not profited them
that have been occupied therein," just outwardly religious, but
not discerning the Lord's body. Not discerning that that picture's
Christ and what He did. He suffered without the gate
for the sins of His people and sanctified. He didn't just do
that as an offer to man. He made somebody holy that way. You see that word sanctified
there? So, He's talking about the doctrine
of grace, and meats is just an illustration elaborated upon
in these next few verses by which Paul distinguishes works from
grace. Christ is the meat wherewith
we're fed, that those which serve the earthly ordinances rather
than the God-man who is pictured and set forth by those ordinances,
they have no right to eat of Christ, because they don't come
by faith, they come by the deeds of the law. Remember what he
said in, I believe Romans 11, that Israel hath not obtained
that which he sought for, which is righteousness with God, because
he sought it not by faith. They sought it not by faith,
but by the works of the law. They wouldn't dare eat the wrong
thing at the wrong time, but they won't come to Christ that
they might have life. We eat by right of grace. He sets the table of grace and
puts a place setting there for his sheep. Not by law, Christ is our food. And it's by grace that we sit
at his table and he's our sustenance in our life. That's what Timothy
was sent to do, to establish this church in the grace of God.
which is Christ and Him crucified. Christ who suffered without the
gate, who sanctified His people with that precious blood, Hebrews
13, 12, where we read. And to comfort them in that knowledge.
He went there to comfort them in that knowledge. The knowledge of that doctrine,
Christ and His precious blood establishes us and Comforts us, grounds us, settles
us. All the words that Paul used
to describe this in other places. Roots us in the kingdom of God.
Is our rock in our steadfastness. And also, causes us to find rest
unto our souls. If our comfort and our peace
depends upon our behavior or our condition before God, even
as believers, we're just not gonna have any. We're just not
gonna have any. What did our Lord say would result
in us finding rest into our souls? Learn of me. Learn of me. Is that what we're
doing? Is that why we're here? Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me and you'll find rest. Soul rest, be united to me, hear
of me, be taught, be established in the doctrine of grace, You know, I'll be 60 next June. I don't wanna think about it
really, but the Lord has taught me a little something about another
thing. Being tired and needing rest
is not just physical. When you get older, you get tired. And that is something much deeper
than bodily fatigue. As a believer, I'm talking about,
you get tired of yourself. Is anybody here tired of yourself? I'm weary with myself. I'm tired
of this world. I don't even wanna see it anymore.
I don't wanna know. I don't even wanna know. And
I hope I'm not self-righteous in that. I just don't wanna know.
I don't wanna know. I'm tired of the evil. I'm tired
of this evil. I'm tired of the evil of this
world. When you're physically tired,
and you do get physically tired as an older person, but you can
rest. to some extent, and get relief
from that. You can do a lot of the same things,
just not for as long. And it gets harder to find rest,
even physically. But we can do that, we know what
to do when we're exhausted physically, but what do you do when you're
weary of yourself? What do you do when you're weary
of sin and just about everything else? When you're tired of being a
sinner, when the battle that rages in your own heart becomes
overwhelming and too heavy for you, what do you do then? You
look to the Savior. You learn. of Him and find rest. You hear from Him and find comfort
and strength in Him and His precious promises. Listen to His word on this. He giveth power to the faint
and to them that have no might I'm a wretch. The world is a
wretched place and I can't do a thing about it. I've got no
might. But he increases strength to them. Even the youths shall faint and
be weary and the young men shall utterly fall. Don't think that
your strength of youth and vitality will help you. But they that wait upon the Lord,
they that look to Him, they that raise up their hands to Him,
they that trust Him, they that depend on Him, they shall renew their strength and they shall mount up with
wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. And they shall walk, young or
old, and not faint. We need him every hour. Praise his name. He never leaves
us nor forsakes us. And in him, we have strength. Let's pray.