1 Thessalonians 3. I titled the message, Paul the
Pastor. He's writing here like a pastor. He was an apostle, but God gave
him the heart of a pastor. And we see that really in this
whole epistle here. Paul loved, he dearly, deeply,
deeply loved the church of God, the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. His love for them was real. He truly, endured all things
for the elect's sake. He truly endured it. Now he says
in verse 1, Wherefore, when we could no longer forbear, Paul's
heart ached. It ached to hear from the believers
in Thessalonica. Have you ever missed someone
so much and you wanted to hear from them so much, so bad that
your heart just ached to hear from them? And Paul's heart just
ached to hear from these Thessalonians, to hear about them, to see how
things was going. He was taken from them by persecution. He had lost contact with them.
He hadn't heard anything from them. And Paul, being like a
parent, he called Timothy his son in the faith. And he considered
these congregations that the Lord used him to establish, he
considered them to be his children in the faith. That's what he
looked at. He looked at them like a father
to his children. And so, since he could no longer
forbear He says he sent Timothy, his most trusted, trusted helper. I tell you what, every pastor
needs a Timothy. I thought of that today. Every
pastor needs a Timothy. A helper, a trusted helper. Look
over in Philippians chapter 2, and this will tell you what Paul
thought of Timothy. Over in Philippians chapter 2,
I believe it is. Look in verse 19. He's writing here to the Philippians.
But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto
you, that I also may be of good comfort when I know your state.
See, he was always sending Timothy to these places where he couldn't
go to, so Timothy would come back and report to him. But now
listen to verse 20. For I have no man like-minded,
and this is sad, this is a sad statement, but it's so. I have no man like-minded who
will naturally care for your state. And what he's saying is
everybody's out for themselves. They're out for themselves, but
Timothy, he said, Timothy's not like that. He's not like that. For all seek their own, not the
things which are Jesus Christ. But you know the proof of Him,
that is Timothy, that as a son with the Father, He has served
with me in the gospel. Him, therefore, I hope to send
presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me."
Every pastor needs a Timothy. Now Paul needed Timothy himself
in Athens. He was there in Athens. He was
facing a lot of trouble there over the gospel. But his love
for the Thessalonians was greater than his love for himself. Our Lord said, He that loves
his life shall lose it. He that loses his life for My
sake shall find it. And Paul lost his life. He said, I have suffered the
loss of all things for Christ. There in Philippians 3. I think a great part of a believer's
life is in denying oneself. It's denying oneself, it's living in the attitude of, Lord,
what is your will in this matter? I didn't think like that as a
young man. Even as a young believer, I'd like to say I thought like
that, but as a young man, as a young believer, I still had
a lot of interest and I had to go to the wayside. But as I've gotten older, I realized
that the life of a believer is one of self-denial. It's denying
yourself. It's no more what I want. It
is not what I want. It's the Lord's will be done
in all matters. We are His servants. A believer is more than someone
whom God has saved and they're not going to hell now. We are
His servants. When you get that in your mind
and in your heart, It's a different attitude toward things. It's
a different attitude toward this life. When you realize you're
the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the servant, I realize
this, of course I realize it, I think more so maybe than you
because I'm in the ministry, pastorate, I had to pack up and
move. I had to pack up and move. The servant doesn't pick his
place of service. I said, I believe it was Mike
Walker, I said, you know, I said, isn't it strange how the Lord
works? He takes a man from the South
and brings him up to West Virginia and takes West Virginia and brings
him down to the South. I said, that's just so strange.
I said, I could have stayed up there with my family, you could
have stayed there with your family. You know, we would still have
been around the family, but that's not, this is the family. This is the family. But God sends
His servants where He will, and they do not pick their place
of service. They don't do it. And they serve
His interest, and they serve the interest of the body of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Evidently, my service here to the body of
Christ is more than what it was back
in Ashland. It's to be here, just as Mike is to be up there.
I mean, he sends Darwin, Pruitt, from Nexington, Kentucky, to
Arkansas, and then takes Clay Curtis, who lived there in Arkansas,
and sends him to New Jersey. Our God proves, He proves, first
of all, His sovereignty, doesn't He? He proves His sovereignty. And He moves His servants where
He will. And He moves them there for His
interest and the interest of His body. So here's what Paul
does here in verse 2. He sends them a minister of God,
a faithful minister of God, a fellow laborer, not a loiterer, not
somebody that didn't have anything to do. Timothy, you got anything
to do this week? I was telling Doug this the other
day, or Sunday, Henry said to me one time, he asked me to preach. He said,
I want you to preach Sunday morning. I said, I'm going to be out of
town. He said, well, get back. He said, get back. He was dead
serious. Then he came back to me and said,
well, get one of the other men to switch places with you. as a fellow laborer, someone
who labors in the ministry. And that's our interest and that's
our place. And sometimes you just have to
get back. You have to get back. But here's
the purpose for Paul sending Timothy. To establish and comfort
them concerning the faith. He knew what they were going
through. He was going through it. And he was going through
it in Thessalonica. He got ran out of town. He had
to get out of town. It got so hot and so heated. But they couldn't just get out
of town. They had to stay there. They had to stay there. To establish and comfort, comfort
them in the faith. We all have many troubles, don't
we? This is a large part, I think, of a pastor's ministry, is comforting
God's people. And that's not saying, don't
worry, be happy. It's comforting them with the Word of God. If
you find no comfort in the Word of God, you've got problems.
It's comforting them in the Word of God. But we all have many
troubles. There's things that you go through
that I don't know. I don't know everything you go
through every day. God knows. But I tell you this,
God by His Spirit, by the Holy Spirit, leads a man, his pastor,
to take his word and bring things out of it and then He applies
it to your heart and He comforts your heart with it. That's why
it's so important to be here. That's why this is so important.
You might find comfort from His Word. Everyone has their own set of
troubles. Paul said, I sent Timothy to
establish and comfort you. Comfort you. It is written in Isaiah 41, Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Sometimes I think as
pastors, we forget that. I think we forget the comforting
part. Comfort God's people. He says, speak comfortably to
Jerusalem. Speak comfortably to the people.
Our Lord said to Peter, Peter, feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Feed them with my word, my word. You know, that's one of the things
he says over here in chapter 4, in the last verse of that
chapter, in verse 18, he says, "...Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words." Now, he's talking about what he had just...
the subject he was talking about was the Lord bringing those who've
already gone on to be with Him, He's bringing them back. But
you know what? I can apply that verse to this
whole book. Comfort one another with these words." These are
the words of God. Another duty of the pastor is
to establish, to build up the body of Christ, to supply that
which is lacking. Look over in Ephesians chapter
2. In Ephesians chapter 2, look
in verse 19. Now therefore, ye are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints
and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the
chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth into a holy temple in the Lord. That's what's... You are a holy temple. You're
being built. You're part of the building that
God is going to dwell in. You're part of that building.
And it's not a building made with hands. It's a spiritual
building. "...in whom ye also are built
together for a habitation of God through the Spirit." We are
being built together. Not just as an institution, but as a place of habitation
for God to dwell. Look it over in Ephesians 4 there,
right across the page. It says in verse 8, "...Wherefore,
he saith, when he ascended upon high, he led captivity captive,
and gave gifts unto men." Now that he ascended, what is it
but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above
all heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave some
apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors
and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, that is, for the
maturing, of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for
the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity
of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect
and mature man, unto the measure and the stature of the fullness
of Christ." My responsibility is not only
to comfort you, but to establish you. in the faith, to encourage
you in the faith. You know, we all lack something
in spiritual matters. Faith, we lack faith. How many
times did the Lord say to the disciples who walked with Him,
stayed with Him, looked at Him, and how many times did He say,
why are you so fearful? O ye of little faith. We lack in love. There's none
of us that love like we ought to love. You know, when you go
over and you read, is it 1 Corinthians 13? That chapter there of love?
It explains what love is. It defines what love is. I tell
you what, when I read it, I realize how short I've come of that.
Way short. Assurance. Assurance. Confidence in Christ? No, he
said, I sent him to establish and comfort you concerning the
faith, that no man should be moved by these afflictions. No man or woman should be knocked
off their feet. For yourselves know we are pointed
unto them. And when he says here that no
man should be moved, He's saying, I think, the same thing he says
over Colossians 1.23, Be not moved away from the hope of the
gospel, that these afflictions do not drive you away from the
hope of the gospel. We looked at that in Hebrews,
where some of them were ready to depart. They were forsaken
the assembly of the saints. They were ready to go back under
the law because the persecution got so hot. Sometimes I fear the opposite
with us. I fear being lulled to sleep. I fear being lulled
to sleep. An easy life will put you in
a stupor. It'll put you in a stupor. A
spiritual stupor. But here's what's comforting.
Here's what's comforting. These afflictions that he's talking
about. He says, Yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. It's comforting to know that
whatever I'm going through is appointed of God. He has appointed
all our afflictions. Now, I know it's impossible not
to be moved, but what he's saying here, don't be removed. Don't
be removed. Don't be moved to despair by
the afflictions as if things were out of control. Now I know that if you live long
enough in this life, there will be a time when it seems like
everything is out of control. It's not. It's out of your control. It's out of my control, but it's
not out of control. It's under the control of our
Lord. They saw how Paul was being treated
over the gospel, and they were fearful of that situation. And they were fearful of losing
their homes. They were fearful of losing their
jobs, because some of them were. They were. And Paul knew that. Paul knew what they were going
through. But Paul lets them know, he lets
them as well as us, know that trials are to be expected in
this life. Trouble over the gospel is to
be expected. The only people who love the
gospel are the ones born of God. Everybody else hates it. Everyone
else hates it. We live in an ungodly world.
I have definitely lived long enough to know that the Scripture
that says the whole world lieth in wickedness is true. It's true. There's not one spot on this
earth outside of Christ. There's not one spot on this
earth that's not full of wickedness. I mean full of it. This is the only book I know
now. This is the only book I can read and I know everything I
read is the truth. Everything else I suspect. I
suspect everything else. But he says here that these afflictions
are appointed. They are appointed. Why is that?
They help wean us from this world. I tell you this, this is so.
We are far more attached to this world than we realize. Just wait till God starts to
remove something and see how upset, disappointed we get. Because
we're so attached to it. We're so attached to it. And
these afflictions help us to set our affection on things above. Things that have real value. Things that have real value.
And they help us to set our heart, our mind on things above. And they teach us how frail we
are. I tell you, we think we're strong, don't we? We just think
we're strong. And then the Lord sends along
an affliction. Maybe He might let us get a little germ or something
that makes us sick, and then we realize how frail we are. I believe it was David who said,
teach me how frail I am. I don't want to be so conceited
to think that I am somebody going somewhere. Lord, teach us. Now to pray that
earnestly, to pray that honestly, that person has to really know
the Lord and trust Him. Because for the Lord to teach
you that, it's going to be more than just reading it out of the
Word of God. Because we learn by what we experience, not by
just what we read. I believe it was Barnard, Rolf
Barnard said, we haven't really learned anything until we have
experienced it. We've really experienced it. David said, it's good for me,
in Psalm 119, 71, it's good for me that I've been afflicted,
that I might learn thy statutes. Can we say that? Can we say? It's like, Craig, you had that
leukemia. Can you really say it was good
for me to have that? God sent that to me, and it's
good for me. It's good for me. Good for me that I've been afflicted,
that I might learn thy statute. That's when, I tell you what,
the promises of God are never sweeter than when you need them. And you really never need them
until you're in trouble. And when you're in trouble, that's
when they come alive. They're alive anyway, it's just
when you come alive, I should say. when you come alive. I thought of this today. Remember
this. The Lord sees the vanity of all
these sayings more than we do. We have some understanding of
the vanity of them. The Lord sees the absolute vanity
of all this. He knows that the real The real treasure is to know
God. To be made one with God in Christ,
that's the real. That's the worth. That's the
value. The rest of this is, as my mom
said, it's just stuff. She said one time, she said,
when she talked to me, they were talking to me about When they
died, separating all this stuff, she said, this is just stuff.
That's all it is. Stuff for the kids to fight over,
which most do. Most do. They just fight over
it. If you spend it, they don't have
anything to fight over. That's what I told them. I told them
to spend it. I don't have to deal with it because they made
me The administrator of it, and I thought, boy, tell me what
you think of me. They have to deal with this.
There's seven of us. Now, we all get along well, but
we'll see. But these trials, they also reveal
the real from the false. They reveal the real from the
false. Now Paul says, now we told you
these things there in verse 4, we told you these things before
they come to pass. You shouldn't be surprised. We
shouldn't be surprised when things come our way, afflictions come
our way, trouble comes our way, however it comes, we shouldn't
be surprised. You know, Paul said this, Paul
said, the Lord told Paul, that's in Acts 20, I believe it is.
The Lord told Paul that bonds and afflictions awaited him in
every city. Here's your ministry, Paul. Bonds and afflictions await me,
Paul said. There's not a stadium full of
people waiting for me to stand up and preach and they're all
gathered to hear. No, he said, there are bonds
and afflictions awaiting you over the gospel that you're going
to preach. So we shouldn't be surprised
when these things happen. Afflictions will always be a
part of this life. And for this cause, Paul says
here in verse 5, for this cause, let me get back here to this
chapter. For this cause, when I could
no longer forbear, I could not stand no longer not knowing about
you, because I know what you're going through. I sent to know
your faith, to know if you were standing or if you had fallen. lest by some means the tempter
have tempted you, and our labor be in vain." He knew that Satan,
as a roaring lion, went about seeking whom he may devour. And
he knew the tactics of Satan. Now Paul knew that those who
were truly in Christ were not going to be lost, but he still,
you know, I just love the way he bears his heart here. He doesn't try to sound like
a Calvinist. He bears his heart out here. He said, I'll have
to know your state lest the tempter has tempted you and you have
fallen. You've fallen away. You've fallen away and I've labored
in vain. Labored in vain. But now Timothy, he says, good
news, good news. But now when Timothy came from
you to us and brought us good tidings of your faith and love,
and that you have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly
to see us as we also to see you, therefore brethren, we were comforted
over you in all our afflictions and distress by your faith. He
said, the good news was so good. that I found great joy and comfort
even in this distressful situation. It revived me. It revived me
to fight on. That's what he's saying. It revived
me to fight on. You know, it's written over in
Proverbs 25, 25, As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good
news from a far country. Timothy comes back and he says,
Paul, the church is doing well. What does that tell us right
here? He comes back and he tells them the church is doing well.
I'll tell you what it tells me, what it tells us. That the Lord
Jesus Christ will take care of His church. He moves us around. And I tell
you what, He moves us around just like Paul. He sent Paul
to Thessalonica. He preached the gospel to them.
God saved several of them. And then Paul was forced out
of town. That was no accident. That was no accident. God took
Paul, put him out of the way because Christ is the center. Christ was to be the center of
their attention and of our attention. Not me. Not me. Not any man. It's Christ. And Christ proves right here
that He can take care and does take care of His church. He takes care of it. And He moves
men in and out. And when you think, what will
happen if the Lord removes the pastor? It's the Lord's church. It's the Lord's church. He'll
take care of her. I've learned that. He will take
care of those whom he died for. He will take care of you. Timothy tells Paul, the people
believe God and they love one another and they send their love
to you. You know, these two graces always go together, faith and
love. Where there's true faith, there'll
be true love. They always go together. Timothy just made Paul's day.
He said, Paul, they have a good remembrance of you. They want
to see you. You mean they want to see me? Yes, they do. They
want to see you again. And Paul said, brethren, we were
comforted over you in all our afflictions. Nothing will encourage
a person like good news. Good news. The church is still
there. The gates of hell has not prevailed
against it and can't prevail against it. Can't do it. I tell you what, it's amazing
what a word in season will do for one's spirit and attitude.
I want you to get this. Don't think that your words of
encouragement are not important. Don't think that. I tell you
what, there's nothing more powerful than words. God has given them to us as vehicles
of communication. Words reveal the heart. Out of
the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And don't think
that just a word of encouragement doesn't help. It does. Paul said, for now we live if
you stand fast in the Lord. In other words, Paul drew energy
from their steadfastness. He drew... the energy and the
encouragement to fight on. I mean, he's in a battle that
you and I have never seen. He's in a hard battle, and the
very thing that gave him the strength to get back up and keep
on going at it was the good news that these Thessalonians that
he had preached to are still faithful, and they still love
him, and they love Christ, and they're growing in love to one
another. I don't know anything more heartbreaking
to a pastor than for someone who's been preached to for years
to just leave. To leave. To quit. It's like, I thought
of this illustration. I don't think there's anything
more disheartening for a farmer to plow and to sow and have no
harvest. Have no harvest. When the crop
grows and it ripens, What joy it brings to the farmer. What joy. And here in verse 9, I'm going
to wind this down. Paul, he gives fresh thanks for them once again.
For what thanks can we render to God for you, again for you? Brethren, we cannot thank God
enough for one another. Have you ever really, really
thanked God for each other? For the fellowship you have,
the encouragement you have? I know we ask God to save us
from this trouble, that trouble. We're always asking for getting
out of trouble. We're always asking for that. But sometimes
prayer ought to just be a prayer of thanksgiving. And thank God for each other.
and praying for one another. There is enough time in a day
to forget about yourself for a little bit and actually pray
for someone else and give thanks. Just to give thanksgiving, that's
it. Don't make no request. Just thank God. Just give thanks. It is always a cause for thanksgiving
when we hear of the sole prosperity of other believers. That's a
good one to give thanks for. Paul said in verse 10, praying
exceedingly. Have I ever really prayed exceedingly? Fervently. That God would bring
us together again. and that I'd be a great help
to improving the things that are lacking in your faith." But
he says in verse 11, I like what he says, he's been praying fervently
about this, that God would bring them back together again. He
said, but God direct our way to you. I'm going to leave that
in God's hand. You know, because he wanted to.
Remember over here in one place he says, in verse 17 in chapter
2, But we, brethren, being taken
from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored
the more abundantly to see your face with great desire. Wherefore
we would have come to you, even I, Paul, once and again, but
Satan hindered us." Now let me make a point here. Paul says
Satan hindered us, but Satan did not hinder God. It was not God's will for Paul
to go back there at that time. Yes, Satan can hinder us. It
is absolutely impossible for Satan to hinder Almighty God. He uses Satan to hinder us. And we use him to do that. But
he never hinders God. Never. Paul wanted God's way in this
matter, not his. And here's a lesson, I think,
too. If something is on your heart, pray about it often. Be
like that woman who just kept coming back to that judge. And
our Lord taught this as a lesson. Importune prayer. He taught this
as a lesson. Just keep on coming. Keep on
knocking. Keep on asking. Just keep on. It shows faith. It's an exercise of faith to
do that. It's an exercise of faith to continually pray about
a matter and not faint and quit. And here's what Paul prays for
them. Verse 12, that they would increase in love toward one another. My, could he pray for anything
greater? Could we pray for anything greater
than to increase in love to God and to one another? These are the important matters.
These are the things, faith, love, hope, these are important. What I'm going to eat in light of these things is nothing. David said, I was
young and now I'm old, I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor
his seed begging bread. He takes care of his own. You
took care of your children, didn't you? The older ones. Rebecca,
Rebecca, you're taking care of your children. You're taking
care of your son. You're taking care. How much more God? How
much more God take care of his children? But the one thing he
doesn't do that we do, he don't spoil his kids. He does not spoil
his children. If they need to cry, he makes
them cry. And when they need to laugh, He makes them laugh. And now verse 13, To the end
He may establish your hearts, unblameable in holiness before
God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
with all His saints." Can you imagine that sight of that? When
He comes... Here's a lesson. When we die, we go to be with
the Lord. When we leave this life, we go
to be with the Lord. There's never, ever, ever, ever a time
when the Lord and His people are separated. Even when He comes,
He says He's bringing all His saints. He's not leaving them
behind. There will never ever be a separation
again. Ever. If love rules in the heart, Everything else will fall in
place. And while Paul prayed for the Thessalonians, I pray
for you.