it now once again let us turn to
the first epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians and chapter
2 and this evening God willing we'll read the last four verses
in this chapter so the first epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians
chapter 2 and reading from verse 17 but we brethren being taken from
you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the
more abundantly to see your face with great desire. Wherefore,
we would have come unto you, even I, Paul, 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 ye are our glory and joy. Well as we know of course Paul
and Silvanus and Timotheus wrote this letter to the Thessalonians
and as we come to the end of the The second chapter really,
verse 17, starts a new section. And the Apostle is telling the
Thessalonians the situation, which no doubt they were aware
of, but he just reminded them of it. And he says, but we brethren
being taken from you for a short time in presence only. And we
read about that in that 17th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles
when we read about the people taking them and sending him away. They sent them to Berea. And
the good news of course was that the Bereans were people that
really searched the Scriptures. Because when the Jews of Thessalonica
had knowledge that the Word of God was preached at Port at Berea,
they came did it also and stirred up the people. So no doubt they
thought they'd got rid of Paul and Silas. By night they went
to Berea but they hadn't in fact because the Apostle was still
able to preach and thankfully the people were still able to
hear. And also then to get a fuller
picture perhaps we can read in the first chapter of Paul's epistle
to the Romans, where again we read a similar kind of situation. And he tells them, this is to
the Romans in verse 13. Now, I would not have you ignorant,
brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, but was let
or hindered hitherto, that I might have some fruit among you, you
also even as among other Gentiles. So what we really learn from
this is that the Apostle Paul was hindered from preaching the
gospel and every effort of Satan was to stop Paul preaching the
gospel. But as we read on a number of
occasions and also in that chapter in the 17th of Acts how the apostle
went to Athens, he was there initially by himself and his
great concern was to preach the gospel. And so we know that first
opportunity he went into the marketplace and preached the
gospel and eventually of course came and stood upon Mars Hill
and preached the gospel. So it was a wonderful privilege
for him and a blessing for the people that had gathered together. But here he's telling the Thessalonians
about the situation. And he said, but we brethren
have been taken from you for a short time in presence. That means a physical presence,
but not in heart. His heart was still with the
Thessalonians. he was still concerned about
their spiritual state, as he was on so many occasions. And it is really good to be reminded
of our great need of spiritual blessings. You know, we can read
natural, the historical account and find it interesting. But
of course, the underlying position is to hear the gospel. to hear the good news of the
gospel. And so the apostle was able to
say that although he wasn't there in presence, yet he was in heart. Endeavored the more abundantly
to see your face with great desire and a great desire to come again
to meet these Thessalonians. But it was not God's purpose
and it was not God's will. And we need to bow before God's
will and God's purpose in these things. We may have a desire
to do this or do that. We may think it's very valid
and good and virtuous, but in actual fact, it may not be the
will of God. And it wasn't the will of God
on this occasion. So the apostle was here now writing,
he was in prison, writing this epistle to them to encourage
the Thessalonians. And he says, not in heart, endeavoring
the more abundantly to see your face with great desire. Clearly,
he had a great desire so to do. Wherefore? We would have come
unto you, even I Paul, once and again, but Satan hindered us. It's amazing what Satan can do
in laying obstacles in the way to stop the gospel being preached. That's his great aim. It always
has been right from the Garden of Eden. And it still is today. His great desire is to stop people
coming to hear the gospel preached. And he raises no end of excuses. Yes, and it's very easy to fall
under those excuses and to think, well, these are good, valid reasons.
Well, the great blessing is if we hunger and thirst after the
great things of God. And that's what we'd love to
hear, the good news of the gospel. That's what rejoices our soul.
And therefore, to be concerned to hear this good news. And so,
Paul just tells us, yes, well, Satan hindered us. And let us
never forget that that's Satan's desire still today. He wants
to hinder us from hearing the gospel. He wants to hinder us
from reading the Word of God. We read in that chapter, didn't
we? About the Bereans, more noble. Reading the Scriptures, searching
the Scriptures to see whether these things were true. And that's
a good occupation. We won't find that's a waste
of time. We'll find it's a good occupation
to search the Scripture to see whether these things are so or
not. And then he comes on and says,
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? You see, the apostle could look
forward to believing that those Thessalonians who have been blessed
under his ministry would indeed one day be found in the presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ and especially at his coming. What
a wonderful position that was. What a wonderful consideration
it was. And it should be for us today
to always be looking forward to the glorious day when we shall
either leave this earth by death or whether when the Lord returns
in all his glory to the Church of God It is the best day of
their life. It's the day when they will be
with Christ eternally with no more sin and no more sorrow and
no more weeping and no more crying but eternal happiness. What a wonderful blessing that
is to anticipate and to look forward to. Now then, that's
the last thing Satan wants you and me to do and therefore he'll
try and hinder it try and stop us even thinking about such things. But may we know the blessed power
of the Spirit upon us, directing us to the vital things of God,
because these are the vital things. All the things we have to do
with day by day, by comparison, are virtually irrelevant. And
then he comes and says, for ye are our glory and joy. Why were they the apostles' glory
and joy, because they testified of the grace of God, because
they showed forth what the Lord had done for their souls, and
how therefore His name was lifted up and honored and glorified.
What a blessing that is then, to see that occurring still today. There are those who testify,
are able to speak well of the Savior, speak well of what He's
done, in revealing himself unto them as he does not unto the
world, and giving them a good hope that it is well with their
soul, that the blessed Saviour himself died upon that cross
at Calvary in order to redeem their never-dying souls in order
to redeem our never-dying souls. Well, we see here the Apostle's
heartfelt desire after these Thessalonians and what he really
was concerned about. May we meditate on these truths
and they may be a blessing to us.