1 Thessalonians 3 5 For this cause, when I could
no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some
means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain. But now when Timotheus came from
you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity,
and that ye 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 affliction and distress by
your faith. For now we live, if ye stand
fast in the Lord. For what thanks can we render
to God again for you? For all the joy wherewith we
joy for your sakes before our God, night and day, praying exceedingly
that we might see your face and might perfect that which is lacking
in your faith. We often speak of the pleasure
and the encouragement that we obtain from Christian fellowship. The Christian fellowship we are
able to share, for example, in this little gathering. There
is, I believe, a spiritual union that we feel in this little group. There are bonds of love that
exist, and by God's grace, they will grow and prosper among us. And there's comfort to be gleaned
from knowing we have brothers and sisters in the Lord who root
for us, who care for us, who pray for us, and to thank God
for us. It truly is a heavenly blessing
that the Lord gives to his people. A blessing from the Lord that
spiritual encouragements flow not only from heaven to our souls,
but once planted there, grow and enlarge in the hearts of
believers such that they may be shared and distributed and
employed for the benefit of one another. And we've seen how the
Apostle Paul was desperately concerned for the spiritual health
of the Thessalonian church. that had been established during
his short time of preaching in the city. And we've seen that
he dispatched Timothy back to discover what the state of the
believers were, or what state they were in, and whether or
not temptations from Satan had afflicted them. These temptations
of Satan are deployed wherever the true gospel is preached.
So he had dispatched Timothy back to discover what state the
believers were in with respect to the temptations that came
from Satan and we hear in this little passage have Timothy coming
back from Thessalonica and sharing his views, his discoveries with
the Apostle. And I can personally identify
and empathize with the Apostle Paul's concern and anxiety here. And I think many preachers can. When a man preaches and when
a man labours in the gospel, knowing the importance of that
work, understanding somewhat the uniqueness of that ministry
and having confidence in its power, and appealing to Christ,
whose gospel it is for fruitfulness and usefulness in the ministry. Such a man is greatly concerned
that the effort expended in sowing the good seed of the gospel has
not been in vain. And I think that's what the apostle
is alluding to here in this opening verse. He was anxious that his
ministry amongst these people had not been in vain. Not that
the gospel preaching in itself is a vain activity. Certainly
in God's sight it is not, it always serves his purpose and
he sends it where he will and he uses it to soften some and
to harden others. We speak about the two-edged
sword of the scriptures and the gospel has that aspect as well. Some people will be softened
under the hearing of the gospel and receive it gladly, while
others will be hardened by it and it will have no effect upon
them. But nor is the Gospel preaching
a vain activity as far as the preacher is concerned, who delights
to be about the business of proclaiming salvation by the blood of Jesus
Christ. And indeed, I think we see in
the example of the Apostle Paul that a preacher has to be about
the business of preaching. The Apostle says to the Corinthians
in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, For though I preach the gospel, I
have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, he says, woe is me if I
preach not the gospel. It became a burden to the apostle
to be carrying this message, such was his calling. So the gospel is not in any way
vain to God or limited in its effectiveness as God sends it
forth, nor is it vain in the experience of the preacher. But
the gospel can be, and it often is, preached in vain to sinners
insofar as the grace and forgiveness that is revealed by the gospel
is never experienced by them, and the glory that is set forth
in it is never enjoyed by them. Now, we are convinced that God's
sovereign will is done each time the gospel is preached. But what
we know of the fact of that sovereignty in the preaching of the gospel,
does not mitigate the sadness that we feel to see men and women
rejecting the truth and ultimately watch them passing into eternity
without Christ, sometimes having heard the gospel at our lips. like the thorns that choke the
young shoots in the parable of the sower, or the birds of the
air that steal away the good seed of the gospel, and the stony
ground that prevents the early evidence of life from flourishing
and bearing fruit. May we never be callous to see
the wicked perishing, though we acknowledge that the judge
of all the earth does right. so that Paul was anxious to know
that his ministry among the Thessalonians had not been in vain. He is anxious to know how it
went with these brothers and sisters. And Timothy's return
with the good news of their faith in Christ and love towards God
A love of the truth of the Gospel, a love of the Brethren, and especially
and particularly a love for Paul, was a great weight lifted off
the Apostle's chest. As soon as Timothy returns with
this news of the faith and love of the Thessalonians, the effect
upon the Apostle is immediate. And he writes to the Thessalonians
in this first epistle, and he writes that he is comforted in
his own personal distress. He is enlivened in his spirit. He is gladdened in his heart. He is inspired to worship and
praise God anew. And he's doubly determined to
see the Thessalonians again. So these were the five things
that the Apostle Paul listed in these few verses here before
us today. And I just want to mention a
couple of things about each of those points very briefly, and
then I will be done talking. But he says this for the first
point, in verse 7 he says that he was comforted in his distress
by this news. And we reminded ourselves last
week that All believers are appointed to affliction. And Paul, as a
minister of the gospel, was no less subject to distress in his
own experience and in his own Christian life and walk. He told
us so in verse three. But in hearing of the Thessalonians'
faith, Paul was comforted in his affliction and in his distress. Do you remember in the Old Testament
how Elijah thought that he was the only believer left in the
country, probably the only believer left in the world? And he was
comforted to know that there were 7,000 who had not bowed
the knee to the gods of the world and the idols of the age. And believers, we learn from
that, encourage one another by their faith and by their presence. And this is what the Apostle
Paul is alluding to here. He learned from Timothy that
these believers in Thessalonica were going on strong for the
Lord, and it was a comfort to him in his own personal life
and ministry. It comforted him to know that
the Thessalonians were walking in the faith. And I think that
that enlarges and broadens in all of our experiences. Your
company here tonight, your company here tonight, today, this morning,
at this service, your engagement with this fellowship, your testimony,
whether it's spoken or whether it is silent, is a blessing and
a comfort to others. In our fellow believers, we see
Christ gathering his church. And while we often think that
we walk a lonely road, these little occasions when we can
get together and know that the Lord has his people here and
there are encouragements to our hearts in the same way as they
were to the apostles. The second thing that the Apostle
mentions here is that in verse 8, he was enlivened in his spirit. He was motivated and energized. by the evidence of God's grace
amongst the Thessalonians. It wasn't just that he was comforted,
he was also energized. Their standing in the faith,
their not falling away, their perseverance in the face of opposition
revived the apostle when he was tempted by the devil. He was
encouraged in the midst of his own doubts and fears and weaker
moments. And brothers and sisters, I think
we should mark this and note this. I don't know if you realise
how motivating it is for a preacher to exercise himself in the Word
and in the ministry when his hearers are attentive and his
hearers are appreciative. so that when the hungry sheep
look up, as it were, it is a great incentive for the preacher to
call down heavenly food and refreshment for them. And this is what Paul
is saying. He was enlivened in his spirit
to press on in his own ministry when he saw the effects of the
gospel in the lives of these Thessalonians. He goes on to
say, not only is he comforted and enlivened, but he's gladdened
in his heart. In verse nine, he rejoiced to
see these young believers going on in the Lord. And is that not
so with us as well? We're glad when we see evidences
of God's grace in the lives of his people. And maybe that's
especially true of young believers. I know sometimes we see young
believers coming up through and into the church and endeavouring
to learn about the Lord in their young lives. And it's an encouragement
to those of us who are older to realise that, as it were,
the baton will pass and the Lord is bringing a new generation.
into the worship of his holy name and the glory of his praise. To know that the power of the
gospel is at work in lives and let us remind ourselves that
it is Persevering through trial, that is the greatest evidence
of grace in the lives of believers. Perseverance through trial is
the greatest evidence of faith in the life of believers. And
these few believers in Thessalonica were faithful in trial. The most inspiring of the Lord's
people are not the high-flying preachers, but the faithful tried
and tested. The fourth thing that the apostle
notes here is that the faith of the Thessalonians inspired
Paul's worship and gratitude to the Lord on their behalf. Again, we see that in verse nine.
You see, the Apostle knew where the praise was due for the faith
in these men and women's souls. He knew that while they believed,
while they trusted, while they committed their lives and their
circumstances into the care and keeping of the Lord, that wasn't
them who were to be praised for that. It was the Lord that was
to be praised for that. And the Apostle Paul uses the
fact that these people are persevering in the faith as an occasion for
gratitude to the Lord. When the Lord gives us fellowship
with like-minded believers, it is a blessing not to be passed
over. without due gratitude and proper
praise to the Lord. Let us praise the Lord for one
another and praise the Lord for the fellowship that we have in
the gospel. And finally, the apostle wanted
all the more to see the Thessalonians again. Hearing this good news
from Timothy stirred up his passion, his longing to see them again
and to share with them the glories of Christ and the blessings of
the gospel. And we can see that in verse
10. And it's a delightful quality in Paul's character. He never
forgot his children in the faith. The Lord took Paul far and wide
to many places, many countries, many different groups of people,
but he always remembered those that he had ministered amongst,
and always the apostle desired to return and fellowship and
build up in the faith those whose love for Christ was first sparked
to life under his ministry. So here are five things that
we see the Apostle Paul personally drew from this knowledge of the
fellowship that he had with these now distant friends in the faith. And in all of these things, there
was this mutual affection amongst them, this interdependence and
a support one for the other. And I'm sure that's why the Lord
does not leave us as lone stars or distant strangers, but brings
us together and binds us together in a church, settles us in a
congregation, even if it is one such as this. So this little
passage teaches us much about the goodness and kindness of
the Lord Jesus Christ to his children. in allowing us to minister
one to another, to encourage one another, to bring joy into
one another's lives. In such ways as this, many of
the experiences that we initially view as negative, actually turn
out positive because in comforting and encouraging, in standing
with, in blessing and praying for one another, the Lord allows
us to minister fruitfully and helpfully in the lives of our
brothers and sisters. So may we always seek to minister
the grace that we have received one to another. The Lord says,
freely ye have received, freely give. May the Lord bless these
thoughts to us. Amen.