Tonight's message is called,
Hindered by Satan. Now we know from studying scriptures
that the Christian is in a warfare in this life. We battle princes
and principalities, just as Paul wrote in the book of Ephesians.
He wrote in Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 to 13, Finally,
my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His
might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to
stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the
whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil
day, and heaven done all, to stand. Now we know from our past
studies and scriptures that the whole armor of God is Christ
Jesus our Lord. Each piece of armor points to
Him. And we know from verse 12 in Ephesians chapter 6 that we
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places. So with that
in mind, here's a little history of the city of Thessalonica.
We'll be looking at the second chapter of 1 Thessalonians and
we'll be looking at verses 17 and 18 tonight. But here's a
little history of the city of Thessalonica. The city flourished
due to its location on the major trade route to the east and continued
as the years passed to thrive as one of the most important
cities in the Byzantine Empire. There was a major port located
at Thessalonica, so trade and travel to and from Thessalonica
occurred frequently from all over the known world at that
time. And Thessalonica was an ancient city of Macedonia and
northern Greece. And Paul, by the will and purpose
of God, was led to this city by the Holy Spirit of God, to
preach and proclaim Christ and Him crucified. The Holy Spirit
brings this forth in verse 2 of chapter 2. Let's turn to 1 Thessalonians
chapter 2. We see that Paul, Silas, and
Timothy were shamefully entreated, beloved, in Philippi. And the
Holy Spirit has Paul write these things in verse 2. But even after
that we had suffered before and were shamefully entreated, as
you know at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto
you the gospel of God with much contention. Now the distance
between Thessalonica and Philippi today by car is 99.4 miles or
86.4 nautical miles, so it's 14 miles
shorter if you go by sea. But if you drive in a car today,
it would take around 3 hours and 12 minutes to travel from
Thessaloniki to Philippi. Now in the days of Paul, they
either traveled by foot or camel or horseback or ship. So either
way it was a great distance to travel in that time and in those
manners. As I mentioned earlier 99.4 miles
by land or 86.4 nautical miles by ship. So they had traveled
from Philippi to Thessalonica being led by the Holy Spirit
of God. And again this trip only occurred
because it had been ordained and purposed by our great God
to occur. The missionary trio Paul, Silas,
and Timothy walked through Amphipolis in Apollyona to Thessalonica,
one of Macedonia's most populous and important cities. Thessalonica
was. In all, they walked about a hundred
miles to get to Thessalonica, apparently spending two nights
on the road. Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter
17. Acts chapter 17, and we'll read verse 1. It says, Now when
they had passed through Amphipolis, and Apollyona, they came to Thessalonica,
where was a synagogue of the Jews. And when they got to Thessalonica,
they engaged in intensive evangelism, beloved, preaching in the Jewish
synagogue there for three weeks in a row, every Sabbath day.
And we know exactly what they preached, because Paul says,
we preach Christ and Him crucified. Beloved, they preached the gospel.
Look in Acts chapter 17, verses two and three. And Paul, as his
manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned
with them out of the scriptures. Opening and alleging that Christ
must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead. and that this Jesus, whom I preach
unto you, is Christ. He preached the death, burial,
and resurrection of Christ. Now traditionally, traveling
rabbis were invited to speak at local synagogues, as a matter
of courtesy, when visiting an area, and apparently Paul was
asked to speak for that reason, and he was obviously well received
at first, and beloved of God Some of Christ's lost sheep were
there. Some of the sheep of God, whom
Christ shed His precious blood for at Calvary, were in that
city. And they must hear the gospel. They must be born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. And God uses the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. And what do preachers
preach? Christ and Him crucified, beloved. Now let's go to 1 Thessalonians
chapter 2. And we'll read verses 14 to 20
to get our verses in context. Tonight we'll be looking at verses
17 and 18, but I want to read these verses to get the context
of the verses which we'll be studying tonight. 1 Thessalonians
2, verse 14. For ye, brethren, became followers
of the churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus. Very key right there in verse
14, in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus. For ye also have
suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they
have of the Jews. So just as the Jewish converts
to Christ suffered from the hands of their own countrymen, the
Gentile converts in Thessalonica suffered at the hands of their
own countrymen. Gentiles persecuting Gentiles
and Jews persecuting Jews. Look what it says in verse 15,
Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles, that they might be
saved to fill up their sins all way,
for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. 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
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. So we see in verses 17 to 20
that Paul longed to see the brethren again at Thessalonica. Their
hearts, beloved, had been knit together in love by the Lord
Jesus Christ and through And now Paul's departure from Thessalonica
had been very sudden, but we see in verse 17 that he desired
to see them face to face. Let's read verses 17 and 18 together. 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 unto you, even I, Paul, once and again,
but Satan hindered us. So we see that it almost appears
that Paul is apologizing for having to leave them, even though
he was forced to do so because of the veminate hatred from those
who were persecuting him. Even though they had only been
together for a short time, three weeks, Paul had a great love
for the Saints of God at Thessalonica, and they were still on his heart.
Now, as we have went through this global pandemic, think of
how God has, by His providence and grace, made we who are the
born-again, blood-washed Saints of God here at Almonte, long
to see one another. I get emails and texts from you
longing for us to be back together. So we can identify, we who are
longing to be with God's people, we can identify with Paul's words
which are written here by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, can't
we? It says, 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. Even though we have not been
able to meet in the flesh, we are still on each other's hearts,
and we are still on each other's minds, and we are still in each
other's prayers. And we who are the people of
God, we who are the born-again, blood-washed saints of God here
in Alma, we desire to be in each other's presence. So we see then
that Paul had a great desire to see those saints at Thessalonica.
He desired, beloved, to see them face to face. Now, this is a
mark of a true believer in Christ. They desire to be with the brethren
because there's sweet communion and fellowship with our brothers
and sisters in Christ, listening to the gospel being preached
and proclaimed. In the communion of the saints,
the believer in Christ feels safe and free and does not fear
judgment and does not feel judged. The scripture says in Psalm 65,
4, Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causes to approach
unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts. We shall be satisfied
with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple." King
David penned these words about the assembling of the saints
together. He said, I was glad when they said unto me, let us
go into the house of the Lord. God's people, we love to come
to the house of the Lord. We love to come where the gospel
is being preached. And do you know that we are exhorted
by the Holy Spirit of God through the writings of Paul to not forsake
the assembling of ourselves together? Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10, we are exhorted
again by the Holy Spirit of God, because he is the author of these
words. He is the one who inspired Paul
to write these words. And we are exhorted by him, by
the Holy Spirit of God, to not forsake the assembling of ourselves
together. It says in Hebrews chapter 10,
verses 22 to 25, let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having a heart sprinkled from an evil conscience
and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful that promised.
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good
works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the
manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the
more as you see the day approaching. So marvel at this truth. For
you who are the born-again child of God, we used to dread going
to church in our natural state. I never wanted to go to church
before the Lord saved me. I had to be dragged there. And
now, we who are the born-again, blood-washed saints of God, we
love going to church. We love hearing the gospel of
God's salvation in and through Christ. It never gets old, beloved. And it's always enough for us,
isn't it? It's always enough for us. We love to hear Christ
alone preached and proclaimed to us again and again and again. I ask you, is that true with
you? Is that true with you who are
listening? I know it's true with me since the Lord has given me
faith to believe on Him. There is no place I'd rather
be than with the Lord's people. No place I'd rather be than where
the gospel is being proclaimed. And every believer in Christ
in this world We're going to face trials and tribulations,
but is it not wonderful that we know as believers that we
in our local assembly have mothers and fathers and brothers and
sisters a hundredfold in this world and in eternal life to
come. Eternal life in the world to
come. I was just talking to a dear brother from our congregation
today and he bought forth how he just tells everyone that he
does not need to freak out about what's going on today in this
world. He knows now who's in control.
He bought forth how he marvels now in the types and shadows
that are bought forth in the Old Testament through the preaching
of the gospel. I told him rejoice, beloved,
rejoice, brother, because the Holy Spirit's teaching you these
things through the preaching of the gospel. And it's wonderful
to hear these things. It's wonderful. Let's read verses
17 and 18 again, where we see Paul's heart as a pastor bought
forth. 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 unto you, even I, Paul, once and again,
but Satan hindered us. Now here is the heart of every
preacher, beloved, that God sends to preach the gospel of salvation
in and through Christ alone. Here are three aspects of being
a preacher. Number one, a pastor rules in spiritual things because
he alone is the one who must give account for the souls of
his hearers. Hebrews 13.17 says this, Obey them that have the
rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls,
as they must give account, that they may do it with joy, and
not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. The responsibility is
met only in the preaching of the truth, and in the preaching
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the preaching of
Christ and Him crucified as the only substitute of His people,
preaching His work before God in His life and in His death
as the perfect substitute, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. The gospel preacher proclaims
that Christ came to this earth, the God-man, and lived perfectly,
perfectly before God's law, fulfilling it as only a perfect sinless
man could do. And we who are born sinners,
we who are the sons and daughters of Adam, we could never do that
because everything we do before we are saved and even after we
are saved is tainted with sin. And Christ's perfect substitutionary
work in His life and in His death is accounted to we who are the
born-again, blood-washed saints of God, known as the elect of
God. And we have no merit in ourselves
to be in the presence of God. All our merit, the believer in
Christ says, all my merit before God comes in and through the
Lord Jesus Christ, who shed his precious blood for me to redeem
my eternal soul. Praise his mighty name. The next
point is the pastor is the servant of the flock. They serve the
flock. The third point is the pastor
belongs to the flock. He is theirs. He is ordained
by God. He is called by God to preach
the gospel. He is sent by God to a specific
place. Why? To preach the gospel. And all this is done by the will
and by the purpose of God, beloved. Let's now take one more look
at verse 17 here. It says, 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. See the
word endeavored in our text there? In the English, it means to try
hard, to do, or to achieve something. But this word in the Greek means
earnestness, diligent, to be diligent, earnest, or eager.
The same Greek word is translated diligence in 1 Peter 1.5. Let's turn there. Peter is exhorting
the saints of God, again, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit
of God, to act in certain ways. 1 Peter 1.5-7. And besides this, giving all
diligence, that's the same word that's translated, endeavored,
over there in 1 Thessalonians 2. And besides this, giving all
diligence, add to your faith virtue, into virtue, knowledge,
into knowledge, temperance, into temperance, patience, into patience,
godliness. into godliness, brotherly kindness,
and the brotherly kindness charity, which we know is love. Then look
back at that verse in 1 Thessalonians 2. It says, but we, brethren,
being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart,
endeavored or be diligently, eagerly, the more abundantly
to see your face with great desire. Now see that word abundantly
there? In English it means in large
quantities. The Greek word expands on this thought even more than
the English word. The Greek word is defined as
super abundantly more, exceedingly more. So they super abundantly
more long to see the face of the Thessalonian believers. Paul
had this in his heart. And this was not just, well,
I want to go to church and see my friends. No, this was I super
abundantly and earnestly desire to see your face. my dear brothers
and sisters in Christ. This is what Paul was writing
to the Thessalonian believers. Beloved, this is a pastor's heart
exposed here. When I'm away preaching somewhere
else, my thoughts are upon you here on Sunday, when you're going
to meet. Beloved, this is just how love
works. And God's preachers love the people they are sent to preach
to. They love the people they are sent to pastor. And we see
that clearly bought forth in Paul's words in these verses.
Let's read them again. Verses 17 and 18. 1 Thessalonians
2 But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in
presence, not in heart, so they were gone physically, but not
in spirit, not in heart, endeavored 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. Now we see here in verse 18 that
Paul declares that his intention was to come and visit with the
brethren at Thessalonica several times. How do we know that? Wherefore
we would have come unto you, even I, Paul, once and again,
more than once, but Satan hindered us. So on several occasions.
He was hindered by Satan to come to see the believers at Thessalonica. Now remember at the opening of
this message that I brought forth before us, the passage in Ephesians
chapter 6, that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities and powers, against rulers of darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Now
remember that God allowed Satan to go after Job. Let's turn to
Job chapter 1. God allowed Satan to go after
Job, but Satan can only do what God allowed. Let's go to Job
chapter 1. Job chapter 1, we'll read verses
6 to 12. Now there was a day when the
sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, before Jehovah,
and Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered, he answered
Jehovah, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and
from walking up and down in And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast
thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in
the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God and
escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the Lord,
and said, Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast thou not made an
hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he
hath on every side? Hast thou not blessed the work
of his hands, and his substances increased in the land? But put
forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will
curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Behold, all that he hath is in thy power, only upon himself
put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the
presence of the Lord. And then over in the New Testament,
in Luke chapter 22, verse 31, we read where Satan desired to
sift Peter like wheat. Luke chapter 22, verse 31. And
the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to
have you that he may sift you as wheat. Now sift in the Greek
there means to shake as grain in a sieve, figuratively meaning
to agitate and prove by trials and afflictions. Right after
the Lord told Simon Peter Satan's intentions, Adonai, Elohim in
the flesh, Lord Jesus Christ proclaims this, but I have prayed
for thee that thy faith fail not. Oh what comforting words,
oh what comforting words to know that God incarnate in the flesh
has prayed for us beloved. And what was the end of both
these men's trials? Well the end of both these men's
trials was the deliverance of these two men. by the grace and
mercy of God. Although Satan was acting according
to his will, he was doing his deeds under divine permission
and limitations of God, as Bunyan brings forth in Pilgrim's Progress.
Satan is on a chain, beloved. He's on a leash, and he can only
do what God allows. He can only do what God allows. Paul endeavored in our text,
which means he put some effort into making a trip back to see
them, The saints at Thessalonica time and time again, but the
scriptures declare that Satan hindered them. Look at verse
18. Wherefore we would have come
unto you, even I Paul, Paul in the flesh, once and again, but
Satan hindered us. Remember it was Satan who stirred
up the mob of the baser sword against Paul when he had to flee
from Thessalonica. It was Satan that bought persecution
in other areas where Paul went and after he left Thessalonica.
Satan is God's enemy. He hates the Lord Jesus Christ.
He hates the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he will do
everything in his power to hinder the preaching of the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan was the one who got all
those people fired up and they yelled, crucify him, crucify
him about Christ. But never forget, beloved, never
forget you who are the beloved of God, that Satan is like a
dog on a leash. He can only go as far as God's
leash has determined him to go. And we saw that in the text in
Job when the Lord proclaimed, and the Lord said unto Satan,
behold, all that he hath is in thy power, only upon him put
not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the
presence of the Lord. And we know Peter was sifted
when he denied the Lord three times. But just as the Lord said
his faith did not fail, He was sent by God to preach the gospel
and he did that, again, all according to the mercy and grace of God
who upheld him. Always remember, you who are
the people of God, that our great God rules in all matters. We
see that it was Paul's will there in verse 18 to go back to Thessalonica
as soon as he could. And he tried many times to make
that trip. Let's read that verse again.
Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I, Paul, once
and again, But Satan hindered us. Beloved of God, it was not
God's will for him to go back to them. And we know that Paul
knew that God works all things after the counsel of his own
will. Oh, how much we who are the children of God need to be
reminded of God's absolute sovereignty in all things. We make plans. We make plans that must be changed
because of circumstances that we have no control over, and
we need to humble ourselves before our sovereign Lord and cry out
with true reverence to Him, saying, nevertheless, not my will, Lord,
but Thy will be done. So we've seen tonight, we've
seen tonight that we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places. we know that satan stirred up men to thwart the will of
paul and cause paul to have to go to philippi to thessalonica
to athens but let us always remember that satan never has and never
will never has and never will thwart the will of god and consider
this truth that satan's efforts were but just other ways of ensuring
the gospel would reach the places that Paul fled to. Have you ever
thought of that? All these things, Satan hindering Paul, the persecution
that Paul faced were all for the furtherance of the gospel.
And we see that God employed Satan here in verse 18 to make
Paul even more desirous to see the brethren. And often the scriptures
speak of Satan hindering believer. It refers to those whom Satan
stirs up against the truth, against God's people, against the preaching
of the gospel. So we have seen tonight that
Paul had determined to return to the saints at Thessalonica.
Wherefore we would have come unto you. He would have come
unto him. In his own will he would have come, but it wasn't
God's will for him to go back, beloved, and he was hindered
by Satan. And we know that this was all
according to the will and purpose of God, and that as Paul went
out to other places, the gospel spread like wildfire, beloved.
And the great enemy of the gospel, who stirred up opposition and
contention against Paul, still does it today. Always remember,
the great enemy of the gospel who stirred up opposition and
contention against Paul, was only doing what our great sovereign
God had determined to occur, all for the furtherance of the
gospel of salvation in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And although
Paul was absent from them in body, oh, he was not absent with
them in spirit or in heart, beloved. He longed to see them. Just like
we who are the blood-washed saints of God, we long to see each other
now, don't we? More so than probably ever before,
eh? Oh, we've been taught great lessons
To never take the preaching of the gospel for granted. To never
take having a church to attend to where the gospel is preached
and proclaimed. To never take it for granted, beloved. All
to God be the glory. Great things he hath done. Amen
and amen.