Tonight's message is called Hope,
Joy and a Crown of Rejoicing. We have looked at the first chapter
and most of the second chapter of 1 Thessalonians and tonight
Lord willing we will close chapter 2 looking at the last two verses
in this chapter. Now last week we looked at verses
17 and 18 where we saw that Satan hindered Paul from going to see
the Thessalonian believers again, not just once, but multiple times.
And we see that clearly in our text in verses 17 and 18 of 1
Thessalonians 2. 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. Wherefore,
we would have come unto you, even I, Paul, once and again,
but Satan hindered us. Now we know that all this occurred
according to God's wise providence. Paul desired to be with the saints
at Thessalonica. His heart was in going to see
them, but we see that it was not the will of our great God. It was not God's will that he
would go back to them at this time. He endeavored, which in
other words, he put some effort into making a trip back to see
them time and time again. But Paul says in verse 18 of
1 Thessalonians 2, Satan hindered us. It was Satan who stirred
up the mob of the baster sword against Paul, we know that, when
he had to flee from Thessalonica. It was Satan that brought persecution
in other areas while Paul went after he left Thessalonica. We
also know it was Satan who riled up the group of people in Jerusalem
who cried, crucify him, crucify him, talking about our Lord.
And Satan is the great enemy of God. 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. But the great enemy of our souls,
the great enemy of the souls of God's people, can only do
what God allows. We saw that last week in our
study, that Satan could only do to Job that which God allowed. We saw that. And never forget,
beloved of God, that our great God rules and overrules in all
matters. It was Paul's will. We know it
was Paul's will to get back to the Thessalonian believers as
soon as he could. And he tried many times to make
that trip. But again, it was not God's will
for that to occur. And Paul knew Paul knew that
God works all things after the counsel of His own will. Now
we need to be reminded as believers, time and time again, that God's
ways are not our ways, and that God's thoughts are not our thoughts. Oh, how we need to be reminded
of the absolute sovereignty of God in all things. And when we
make plans, and sometimes plans are changed because of circumstances
that we have no control over, we need to humble ourselves before
our great sovereign God and cry out again with true reverence
to him, nevertheless not my will, Lord, but thy will be done. With
that in mind, let's read verses 17 to 20 of 1 Thessalonians 2. Now we are going
to see here in these verses, especially in verses 19 and 20,
and verses 17 and 18 as well, that Paul had a heart for the
brethren at Thessalonica. Oh, how he longs to see them
again. How he longs to see them face
to face. Let's read verses 17 to 20 again
of 1 Thessalonians 2. Paul writes by inspiration of
the Holy Spirit of God, 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. Now we see that the Apostle Paul
has said that he wanted to come, he wanted to come to see the
Thessalonian believers. And we know that he was opposed
by the Jews who hate the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
we see brought forth in these verses here, the love that Paul
has for those saints at Thessalonica. Now we know that he was compelled
to leave their city against his will. Paul wanted to stay there,
but they themselves escorted him by night out of the city. And therefore we see that Paul's
will at that time was not God's will. And we see how God's will
overrides man's will, and this always occurs according to God's
sovereign will and purpose. Now I want us to consider some
things here. We see that Paul cannot find
words strong enough to describe the pain of separation that he
feels being away from these beloved brothers and sisters in Christ. Beloved of God, he is bereaved
to be separated from his brothers and sisters in Christ at Thessalonica. And we see that he hoped it would
only be for a short time. He tried multiple times to go
and see them. But again, he was hindered by
Satan, as we see in verse 18. So truly Paul's heart was with
them, as if he were still present with them in Thessalonica. We
see clearly in verse 17, his strong desire to look upon their
faces one more time. He writes this, but we brethren
being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart. See his heart, his heart is still
with them, beloved. He's not with them in the flesh,
but all his heart longs to be in their presence. It says, endeavor
the more abundantly to see your faith with great desire. Now
last week we saw that the word endeavored there in the Greek,
it means earnestness, diligence, to be diligent, to earnestly
or eagerly seek that. And then we looked at the Greek
word for abundantly, which means super abundantly more, exceedingly
more. So with that in our minds, we
see that Paul had great earnestness and diligence to see them. Paul
super abundantly desired to see their faces with great desire. Now I want us to marvel here
at the miracle of the grace of God and how the power of the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ creates new relationships and
also corresponding affections which is the love of God shed
abroad in the heart of the believer. We know We who are born again,
blood-washed saints of God, we know that in our natural state,
we had no love for the gospel, no love for our great God, no
love for the Bible, and no love for the people of God. And anyone
who says otherwise, anyone who says, well, no, that wasn't me,
they're lying to themselves. And the reason they're lying
to themselves is because the scriptures, not the preacher,
the scripture says, carnal mind is enmity against God for it
is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be. So
in our minds we were enmity against God and we know that Paul in
his natural state, turn if you would to Galatians chapter 1,
we know that how Paul was in his natural state. and how he
felt about the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we know
how he felt about God's people before the Lord saved him. The
scriptures bring forth his state very clearly before he was saved,
here in Galatians chapter 1, let's read verses 11 to 17. But I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached Of me is not after man, for I
neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation
of Jesus Christ. Christ must reveal himself to
you, or you will never know him. For ye have heard of my conversations
in times past in the Jews' religion." Now he's gonna speak about how
he was before the Lord saved him. How beyond measure, I persecuted
the church of God and wasted him. He sought to stamp out the
Church of God. He persecuted the Church of God.
He went to people's homes and pulled them out and cast them
into prison. He sought to destroy the Church
of God. And then it goes on in verse
14, and profited in the Jews' religion above many mine equals
in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions
of my fathers. So Paul was a wealthy man in
the Jews' religion. He profited in the Jews' religion.
But when it pleased God, look at verse 15. But when it pleased
God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
his grace to reveal his son in me, that's what God does through
the preaching of the gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit
of God, he reveals the Lord Jesus Christ to us, beloved. And then
he says that I might preach him among the heathen. Paul had one
message. Christ in Him crucified. That's
who He preached. He preached the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Look at that. It says that very
clearly. To reveal His Son in me that I might preach Him. That
I might preach Christ among the heathen. Not preach 50 ways to
be a better Christian. Not preach those things. But
to preach Christ in Him crucified. And he says, immediately I conferred
not with flesh and blood, neither went I up to Jerusalem to them
which were apostles before me. But I went into Arabia and I
returned again unto Damascus. Now let's turn to Acts chapter
9. Now a great change had occurred in Paul. When he wrote this letter
to the Thessalonians, he was born again by the Holy Spirit
of God. And when did that occur? Well we're going to see this
in Acts chapter 9. He was born again by the power of God the
Holy Spirit. He had been given faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. and he had been given repentance
before God. He had been given faith to believe
on the one, the one in whom he was persecuting, by persecuting
his people. And we see that clearly in Acts
chapter nine. We'll read verses one to 18 and
marvel at the power and wisdom of God that is on full display
in these verses. Acts chapter nine, starting in
verse one. And Saul, yet breathing out threatens
and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord went unto the high
priest and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogue
that if he found any of this way the followers of Christ were
called the followers of the way Christ is the one way whether
they were men or women he didn't care that he might bring them
bound into Jerusalem And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus,
and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven.
And he fell to the earth, and he heard a voice saying unto
him, now remember, Saul's persecuting Christians, right? Well, remember,
Christians are the body of Christ. Christ is the head, and we're
the body. Look what this says. And he fell
to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul,
why persecutest thou me? See the union between the believer
and Christ? Such a close union. He's the
head of the body and we are the body of Christ. And he said,
who art thou Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus
whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. And he trembling and astonished
said, Lord, what will thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto
him, arise and go into the city. And it shall be told thee what
thou must do. And the man which journeyed with
him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And
Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were opened, he
saw no man. But they led him by the hand
and brought him into Damascus. And he was there three days without
sight, and neither did eat nor drink. And there was a certain
disciple at Damascus named Ananias, and to him said the Lord in a
vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here,
Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street
which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas,
for one called Saul of Taurus, for behold, he prayeth. And he
hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting
his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias
answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man how much
evil he had done to thy saints at Jerusalem. Oh, see, Paul's
reputation preceded him. Oh, Paul did much evil to the
saints at Jerusalem. He did much evil to the church.
And he told us in Galatians that he wasted the church. He sought
to destroy it, beloved. And then look what he says in
verse 14. And here he hath authority from chief priests to bind all
that call on thy name. So Paul had authority from the
chief priests in Jerusalem to bind all who called on the name
of Christ. Look at this. Oh, look at our
mighty, majestic, sovereign God. Look what he says. But the Lord
said unto him, Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me,
to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of
Israel. For I will show him how great
things he must suffer for my name's sake. And Ananias went
his way, and entered into the house, and putting his hands
on him, said, Brother Saul." Look at that. He called him Brother
Saul right away. Brother Saul. the Lord even Jesus, that appeared
unto thee in the way, as thou comest hath sent me, that thou
mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
And immediately there fell from his eyes, as it had been scales,
and he had received sight forwith, and arose and was baptized. Paul
was now, beloved, a new creature in Christ. And he preaches the
gospel of salvation in and through Christ alone, and he does it
by the power of the Holy Spirit of God. And we see a great change
that has been wrought by the power of God. And note now the
love that Paul has for the Thessalonians and for all believers. And he
pens specifically though to these Thessalonian saints of the love
that He now feels for them. The love that's shed abroad in
their heart. Look at verses 19 and 20 of 1
Thessalonians chapter 2. 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. Now consider this, you who are
the born-again, blood-washed saints of God. A few months before
this, Paul, as far as we know, did not know a single soul in
Thessalonica. And if he had been traveling
as a tentmaker, he might have stayed as long as he had desired
and then moved on with as little emotion and troubles as a modern-day
gypsy when they shift their camp. But now coming as a Christian
evangelist, He finds there are brothers and sisters in this
city who have been saved by the grace of God, how? Through the
preaching of the gospel. And remember, he was only there
for three weeks. He preached the gospel on three
Sabbath days in the local synagogue. And no doubt he would have also
fellowshiped with fellow believers through the week who had been
saved by the grace of God. And they would have built up
relationship together. And it would have been built
up very quickly because they find their joy and their hope
in Christ, in Christ alone. And they fellowship in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And now, after these Thessalonian
believers, they're born again by the Holy Spirit of God, now
they have their hearts knit together with Paul and Silas and Timothy. Even though they'd only been
together for three weeks, Paul now feels, their hearts are so
knit together by the Holy Spirit of God, that Paul now feels the
pain of their forced separation. He feels the pain of their parting
from one another. It's much like a bereavement
to him, beloved. As we see here, months after,
he's writing this letter and his heart still aches to be with
them, beloved. It still aches to be in their
presence. His heart still aches because
of those he's left behind at his party. And beloved, we see
then, and these verses, one of the ways in which the gospel
changes a person who's truly been born again by the Holy Spirit
of God and how the gospel enriches the believer's life. Because
hearts that would otherwise be empty and isolated and have no
hope in Christ and have no fellowship with other believers are bought
into a living contact with a great circle of believers whose nature
and needs are just like their own. They've been born again
by the Holy Spirit of God. They have a great need. All believers
in Christ have a great need. And that need is Christ Jesus,
our Lord. And we who have been saved by
the grace of God and are born again by the power of the Holy
Spirit of God. We have seen our natural state.
It has been revealed to us and we have seen our desperate, desperate
need of Christ and praise be to God. He saved us by His grace. No one knows the depths of human
depravity. what it truly is until God reveals
to the believer in Christ, the sinner that he's drawn to Christ,
until he reveals our hopeless, helpless, sinful state before
a holy God of the universe. the one true and living God. And then no one knows the joy
in the believer's heart until the love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts, until they are born again by the Holy Spirit
of God. And then they, we who are believers,
are bought into fellowship with a multitude of sinners, saved
by the same grace of God, who have the same Father, who have
the same Spirit, and who have the same Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And with that in mind, let's
look at what Paul again wrote in verses 19 and 20. 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. Only the true born-again Christian
man and woman can ever proclaim the joy mentioned in verse 19
And the hope that's also mentioned there, the hope that we have
in Christ, only the true born again believer can ever proclaim
that joy. And we see that the love that
Paul has for these believers, it shines forth through these
words. Again, he 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?
For ye are our glory and joy." Again, we see that love that
shines forth that Paul has for these believers. Believers he
didn't even know months before he even went to Thessalonica.
And now again, Their hearts are so knit in love that he just
yearns to be in their presence. And it's not just so for Paul,
but it's also so for Silas and Timothy as well. Remember, Paul
had forsaken all to preach the gospel. As far as we know, he
had no brother or friend among his old acquaintances. They all
turned against him, beloved. And that's what religious men
do. You know what religious men do? They turn against preachers.
That's what they do. They turn against preachers.
And his old acquaintance had turned on him. They turned on
him. And yet he finds joy with his fellow blood brothers and
sisters in Christ. And they have joy and hope together
because they share the same hope. They share the same love of God,
which is shed abroad in their hearts. They again have their
hearts knit together by the same Savior. And they love the same
gospel. And that gospel proclaims the
majestic, merciful savior of all God's people, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who shed his blood to redeem his people on Calvary's
cross. That's what he did. And we see
that Paul very clearly under inspiration of the Holy Spirit
of God brings forth his love. He brings forth his love for
the brethren, for these believers in Christ at Thessalonica. And
he calls them his hope, his joy, his crown of rejoicing, and his
glory in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at his coming.
Now, why did he call them this? Well, let us consider these three
points. Number one, they were his hope
and joy as he had great hope for them and their conversion.
And this was a matter of great joy for him. It was a matter
of great joy for him now at the time of this writing. and also
would be at the return of Christ. Number two, they were his crown
of rejoicing or his victor's wreath of triumph. They are trophies
of the grace of God, and they would be for eternity. And Paul
would rejoice that God had saved them for eternity, that God had
saved some whom he preached the gospel to. and they were his
glory. Now believers never glory in
men, but Paul gloried in the mercy and the grace of God in
Christ towards these believers, towards these believers. These
believers were fruits of his ministry and therefore brought
hope and rejoicing to his heart and joy to his heart. Always
remember that we who are believers in Christ here at Almonte, Michigan
are united in Christ and united together by divine providence,
by the providence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul, as we
have seen tonight, is very desirous to see the brethren at Thessalonica,
because they are recipients of the grace of God through the
Lord Jesus Christ. And it came about by the gospel
which he preaches, the gospel which God sent him to preach
and proclaim. And the gospel of Christ crucified,
the fact that Christ came to this world, to save his people
from their sins. This is what Paul preached. This
is what Paul preached. He preached the gospel of Christ
crucified to save his people from their sins. He preached
the gospel of Christ's death to ransom the souls of his people
and to satisfy the law and justice of God. He preached the gospel
of the death and burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, who
is now, right now, seated at the right hand of God the Father.
And beloved, this gospel, by the hands of the Holy Spirit
of God and him alone is a life-giving gospel all by the power and the
will of God. Now Paul often refers to those
who were saved under his ministry as his children and we clearly
seen in our text tonight that Paul's greatest joy and glory
actually has nothing to do with him but rather with the results
of the gospel. is the result of the gospel that
he preached and proclaimed. And this is true of every sent
gospel preacher. We see that Paul joys in the
brethren because the Lord has saved them and that they will
one day be in the presence of the Lord when the Lord comes
back. And Paul ends this chapter with the same sentiment as every
pastor of God's church, as it's not about numbers, it's not about
money, it's not about fame, it's not about legacy. The glory and
joy of the pastor is the people that God has given him to minister
the gospel to. And we see that so clearly in
these words. For what is our hope, or joy,
or crown of rejoicing, are not even ye in the presence of the
Lord Jesus Christ at His coming. For ye are our glory and joy.
Amen and Amen.