Happy Lord’s Day! It is good to be face to face before the Lord together in worship this morning.

1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:5 is the section we will cover today. And when we read, we will read on down through the end of verse 10 of chapter 3 since our section is tightly knit to the one that follows it. Remember, Paul is in the midst of heaping up a torrent of thanksgiving for the Thessalonians. He has been gushing over God’s work in them. Since chapter 1 he has been speaking of their faith, love, and hope; of how Christ was preached among them, Received by them, and now rings out from them. Paul gives thanks for this wonderful church while simultaneously assuring them they are loved and chosen by God.

In chapter 2 he continued his encouragement by calling the Thessalonians and God as witnesses to testify to the fact that his ministry in Thessalonica was not in vain. First, He reminds them that they themselves know he sought not to please man, but to please God. The missionary motivation was to please God and honored the Lord. Therefore, their ministry was not in vain. Secondly, he reminds the church that they received the word and the word is at work in them. Therefore, their ministry was not in vain. If we were to cast it in the imagery of agriculture. Paul, Silas, and Timothy sowed the seeds of the word and those seeds were received by and grew up in the Thessalonians.

And so we come to verse 17 of chapter 2 and Paul is still all about encouraging this church and celebrating that his ministry wasn’t in vain but bore fruit among them. In the first 16 verses of chapter two, he sort of reminisced on his time with the Thessalonians. Now, in 2:27 to the end of chapter 3 he is confessing to the Thessalonians his fear that his labor may have been in vain (vanity part 3 3:5) and how he was greatly comforted when he heard they were standing fast in the Lord (3:8). We are dealing with Paul’s confession of that fear today. In the first few verses we learn that he credits Satan with hindering his attempts to return to the city and in verse 5, he confesses his worry that Satan may have tempted them away from Christ and thus left their labors fruitless. Paul puts his heart on his sleeve in these passages and we will talk more about that next week. This week, we are going to focus our attention on the devil who hides himself behind the words of our text.

Main idea: Do not be shaken by suffering or Satan

OUTLINE

1. What Satan wants for Christians…

a. Isolation (2:17-20)

b. Ignorance (2:17, 3:2)

2. How Satan Tempts Christians away from Christ…

a. Persecution (3:3-5)

b. Prosperity (3:3-5)

Would you stand with me for the reading of God’s holy word…

1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:10 | 17 But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, 18 because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. 19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy. 3 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind

at Athens alone, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. 5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain. 6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— 7 for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. 9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?

This is the word of the Lord may he carve its eternal truths on our hearts…let us go to him in prayer…

PRAYER

Paul is concerned about the Thessalonians like a mother, and so he sends Timothy to instruct and encourage the Them like a Father. He wants his love to be clear and their faith to be established. And as we read in verse 6 – good news had come: The Thessalonians loved Paul, remembered him and the others fondly and were standing fast in the faith. But let us put this situation under the magnifying glass by turning back to verse 17…

1 Thessalonians 2:17 | 17 But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face,

We see Paul’s deep affections for the Thessalonians. He loves them. He longs to be with them face to face. You’ll notice that phrase “face to face” shows up again in 3:10. Paul wants to be gathered together with the Thessalonians. He loves them. He wants them to know though he is apart from them, literally in face, he is not apart from them in heart. To borrow a contemporary phrase, “The Thessalonians are out of sight, but they are not out of mind.”1

The word Paul uses to describe his being town away from the Thessalonians is striking. It is a word that refers to an orphaned child being separated from his parents. This is how he describes being away from the church. And why is he away? How was he orphaned from them?

In Acts 17 we learn that many Jews in the city had become jealous of Paul and forged an alliance with some wicked men so that a mob was formed which then forced Paul, Timothy, and Silas from the city under the cover of night. And they had not been able to return ever since. Look at verse 18…

1 Thessalonians 2:18 | 18 because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us.

The same idea is present in 2:16-18 – And drove us out, and displease God, and oppose all mankind by hindering us… Satan was with the Mob in Thessalonica and he was at work preventing Paul’s return. The devil wants Christians to be orphaned. Satan and demons work hard to isolate Christians from one another and local churches.

Brothers & Sisters, Don’t orphan yourself. Don’t isolate yourself. Train yourself to love the people God has joined you together with in Christ. Part of what that looks like is trusting yourself to a local church in membership. Go all in on loving God’s people by promising to follow Jesus with them under shared leadership. Don’t let Satan make you think your excuses for not belonging to a church are good ones. Don’t let the devil make you think your better on your own than under the care of pastors in a local congregation. He’s really good at tempting Christians away from Christ & his body.

C.S. Lewis understood the devil’s scheme in this regard better than most. In his book, The Screwtape letters, he writes as a senior demon giving instruction to a junior demon so that he might best steer his Christian “subject” away from Christ. Listen to what he writes…

“One of our great allies at present is the church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not meant the church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That, I confess, is a spectacle which makes our boldest tempters uneasy. But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans. All your patient sees is the half-finished, sham Gothic erection on the new building estate. When he goes inside, he sees the local grocer with rather an oily expression on his face bustling up to offer him one shiny little book containing a liturgy which neither of them understands…When he gets to his pew and looks round him he sees just that selection of his neighbors whom he has hitherto avoided. You want to lean pretty heavily on those neighbors. Make his mind flit to and fro between an expression like ‘the body of Christ’ and the actual faces in the next pew. It matters very little, of course, what kind of people that next pew really contains. You may know one of them to be a great warrior on the Enemy’s side. No matter. Your patient, thanks to our father below, is a fool. Provided that any of those neighbors sing out of tune, or have boots that squeak, or double chins, or odd clothes, the patient will quite easily believe that their religion must therefore be somehow ridiculous. At his present stage, you see, he has an idea of ‘Christians’ in his mind which he supposes to be spiritual but which, in fact, is largely pictorial… Never let him ask what he expected them to look like…you must keep out of his mind the question ‘If I, being what I am, can consider that I am in some sense a Christian, why should the different vices of those people in the next pew prove that their religion is mere hypocrisy and convention?”2

Screwtape’s counsel to the junior Wormwood is aimed at convincing the new convert that the church is nothing special, unimportant, and full of hypocrites after all. If Wormwood can keep the glory of life in the body of Christ veiled; If he can keep the beauty of the church hazy then he can be confident he will succeed in leading his subject to Hell.

It’s quit a picture Lewis draws not only because of his skill with a pen, but because of the truth that bled from its tip. One of Satan’s greatest successes in the American church has been to convince those who confess Christ that they don’t need to be part of the body of Christ. And that they don’t need to submit to a local church and that the Christian life is best lived in

isolation from any accountability or authority. You know this to be true. Ask yourself how many people you know who will gladly claim Christ – tell you they are spiritual – but will steadfastly refuse to join a church and in some cases refuse to even attend one?

Church, we need to love others enough to challenge them on this topic. We need to love them enough to encourage them to join a church. We need to love them enough to encourage them to be part of a local church family. We need to encourage them to NOT orphan themselves. And we need to resolve to stand fast together when we are tempted to orphan ourselves from one another. Yes, our feelings will be hurt. Yes, things will get difficult. Yes, we will face many trials together, but families stand fast together. Resolve now to stand fast together – Be on Guard against the Devil’s attempts to isolate you from one another.

Friend, maybe you are one who is isolated from church life. Don’t keep living that way. Do not isolate yourself from the body of Christ by amputating yourself from it. Satan and demons love isolated Christians. They are easier to destroy.

TR – Maybe we’ve gotten ahead of ourselves a little bit. The sermon is built around warning us about what Satan wants and how he tempts us, but first I suppose we need to recognize he exists.

Do you believe in the devil? It can almost feel silly asking. The modern world has done a good job making practical materialists even of Christians. The existence of Satan and demons can seem laughable, yet this is one of his greatest successes – convincing people he does not exist and thus does not need guarded against. The Devil dresses up in drag, presenting himself as an Angel of light, so that he might more easily tempt and torment his enemies. Satan and demons are real. The devil is a real evil being in this world who wants to destroy you.3 The Bible is clear about his existence and his aims. We probably need to pay more attention to our ancient foe. Remember the words of the hymn: “For still our ancient foe; Doth seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great; and armed with cruel hate; on earth is not his equal.”

Satan and his host are powerful and they are still working against God’s people just as they worked against Paul. Yes, Jesus has the blood and bone of that dragon on his heel, yet, the dragon still breathes fire. The devil still schemes, fights, and looses arrows of flame at God’s holy ones. Paul writes of our battle against Satan, the cosmic powers of this present darkness, and the spiritual forces of evil for a reason. He wants the church will be prepared to stand fast against the enemy. Church, the spiritual forces of evil must be contended with. Are you giving any thought to the Spiritual war that is upon you? Recognize the devil is alive, at work, and must be resisted. Put on the divine armor, be strong in the Lord Christ, and fight together with the church. Stand fast. Be on Guard.

TR – The reality of Satan’s activity in the world is what has Paul fearful. He knew the Thessalonians church was young. They were recent converts. He had only been with them a few Sundays before he was forced to leave town. Paul worried he was not able to outfit the Thessalonians with the proper training and resources for them to withstand the attacks of the evil one. The young church was a flock of young sheep surrounded by wolves. And so it killed Paul to leave and to have no news of how they were doing after his departure. He wanted to, verse 5 – “learn about their faith” – but there was nothing. Look at how he cared for this people.

1 Thessalonians 2.19 | 19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy.

People don’t talk much like this anymore. I do occasionally. Sometimes when someone asks me about my wife, I’ll tell them she is “my crown and my glory.” But that’s unusual and typically I have to explain what I mean and it’s simply this: My wife is precious to me, worthy of all the honor that could be bestowed upon her, and any excellence I have can be seen in her. The same idea could be conveyed in the phrase, “She is my pride and joy.” This is what Paul is saying about the Thessalonians – “You all are my pride and Joy.”

Ya’ll remember before cell phones, people used to carry pictures of their families around. Men often would have a group photo in their wallets that they could occasionally pull out to look at or show off. Paul is telling the Thessalonians you are my “wallet-picture.” I am looking forward to showing you off the Lord when he returns. “You all are evidence of his faithful work through me and my ministry.”

Paul is hinting at the return of Christ which will be discussed later in the later, but more importantly he is just communicating his deep affection for the Thessalonians. He really did try to come to see them. Satan really did hinder him. And he really was worried about their well-being and so he sent Timothy to establish and exhort them; to strengthen, encourage, and comfort them. Timothy is sent to settle the unsettled by teaching them more about their new faith in Christ.

1 Thessalonians 3.1-4 | Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.

You know how Paul feels if you’ve ever wanted news about a loved one but had no way to receive it. It is hard for us to put ourselves in those shoes since our world is so connected, but think of what it must have been like for women to send their husbands off to war in the past, how they would wait for letters, write letters, long for any piece of news. Or maybe, some of you parents who have older children have had the experience of them being out late at night having forgotten to charge their phone. They are supposed to be home at 12 but it’s 12:30 and no word! You get ready to put out an APB just as they walk in the door. That is how Paul was feeling. He doesn’t know how things played out in Thessalonica after he left and so he sends Timothy to learn about their faith and to do the important work of continuing the instruction and training of the Thessalonians in the way of Christ.

Do you see that in verse 2? Action: We sent Timothy…Purpose: To establish and exhort you in the faith…Why?, verse 3: So that no one be moved by these afflictions.

The reason Timothy is sent is to teach and encourage. Friends, the spiritual forces of evil, alongside the devil, want you as ignorant as possible. They do not want you to study God’s word. They do not want you to hear God’s word preached. That is why the devil works through a mob to get Paul out of Thessalonica and then hinders him from returning. It is why Paul sends Timothy because Christians who are ignorant of sound doctrine are easy targets. They are

vulnerable to all sorts of false teaching and unlikely to withstand much suffering. It is good doctrine that fuels persevering devotion.

Brothers & Sisters, Satan hates faithful teaching and preaching because he knows that when God’s word is taught rightly, God speaks. And he knows that God’s word makes God’s people. So, he works to distract us from the power of God’s word. Demons are happy to help churches that focus on entertainment to flourish. The devil is happy to help build churches where Christ and his word are not preached. The devil wants you isolated from the church. And if he can’t keep you isolated from the church he wants to keep you ignorant of God’s word – he’ll happily wed you to a church that will entertain like the world rather than teach you about Christ. Don’t be fooled: Do not put down the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. Keep it ready and sharpened.

TR – Timothy arrives to teach faithfully and to reinforce what has already been taught so that no one will be moved by the afflictions. Do you see that they did teach the Thessalonians they would suffer? Look again…

1 Thessalonians 3.3-5 | 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. 5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.

Paul recognizes the power of persecution. He recognizes that Satan works hard to strangle the growth of the gospel by way of temptation. He knows that Satan tempts many away from Christ by persecution. And so in the three weeks he was with the Thessalonians he taught them that Christians can expect suffering. He kept telling them, according to verse 4. And according to verse 3 we learn he said they were destined for suffering.

~This is a good reminder for us. All who seek to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12). We follow a crucified messiah. Jesus died at the hands of wicked men and under the wrath of God according to the plan of God – he was destined for it – so that he could purchase salvation for all who repent of sin and put their faith in him. Jesus died in the place of God-hating rebels like you and me, so that when we trust in him we can be forgiven our rebellion and brought into right relationship with God. Jesus took up his cross and died so that we might die to sin and he rose from the dead so that we might live to righteousness. All who put their faith in Jesus must take up a cross ready to be persecuted like Jesus.

Non-Christian, you can have eternal life. You can be made right with God. You can have your sins forgiven. The blood of Jesus redeems all who will put their faith in him. Friend, take up your cross and follow Jesus. Die to the old self and the old way of life and be welcomed to the new. Following Jesus is hard, but the road ends in resurrection.

Church, we all at one point or another will be persecuted. God has granted us a wonderful peace in our country. The persecution you and I will face is likely social rather than physical but we must be ready for both. We must be ready to be called bigots, fascists, legalists, and otherwise slandered. We must be ready to bleed if necessary. We ought not seek suffering, but we ought not be surprised by suffering either. The Bible is clear that the way of the cross is narrow, hard, and

deadly. Do not forget that death comes before resurrection. The one who loses his life will save it. We must not give into the temptation to abandon Jesus in order to avoid persecution.

~Three weeks into the faith and the Thessalonian believers had been told to be prepared for persecution. Part of the basic catechism for early Christians was to prepare for persecution.4 This isn’t the case in our world at all. Many “world-centered” churches promote what is called the prosperity gospel which has no category for any sort of suffering or persecution. It’s all about… well, prosperity.

The problem is not that prosperity in and of itself is a bad thing like we should all pursue as little good as possible in the world. The problem is valuing prosperity as the highest good instead of Jesus. A church that makes Jesus a means to an earthly end is in the grip of the devil. True Christianity is about the worship of Jesus Christ.

All that to say it is good to give praise to God for his gifts. It is good to pursue excellence. It is good to try and live peaceful and quiet lives. It is good to provide for your family. It is good to thank God for health. Prosperity is a good thing. But temporary prosperity is not the goal of Christianity. Jesus may give us prosperity – he has certainly blessed us here at FBC – but short-term prosperity is never promised; persecution is. We need to know this even though we are the beneficiaries of living in a time of luxury. First, because it may not always be so. And second, because the tempter is still tempting. What do I mean?

Well, Satan uses persecution to shake the faith of some and he uses prosperity to numb the faith of others. Both persecution and prosperity play on the same desire: our desire to be secure and comfortable. When Satan brings persecution to the church he says, “You could stop all of this social ostracism. You can belong to the cool crowd. You can stop the slander. You can be comfortable and secure. Just leave Jesus behind” When prosperity comes to the church, Satan says, “Your safety, your comfort, and your security come from your money. Your safe because of your great wealth. What do you need Jesus for?”

Some of us are tempted away from Christ by persecution. The winds of the sexual revolution are blowing harder and harder and many professing Christians have been tempted away from Christ so that they might indulge their flesh and fit in with the strange new world. Satan still uses our desire to avoid persecution and seek pleasure to lure us away from Christ. Perhaps that is you this morning, tempted Christian, I implore you to flee sexual immorality and cling to Christ. Do not let the jeering of those blinded by the god of this age shake you. Keep carrying your cross. Recognize you’re being tempted and stand fast. Be on guard!

Others among us are tempted away from Christ not by persecution we are enduring, but by prosperity we are enjoying. We are tempted, I think, to trust our wealth and our work for our security and comfort instead of Christ. Has a subtle love for your wealth eclipsed a love for Jesus? Is your grasp on the cross loosened so you can better hold onto your wealth? A good way to evaluate is to simply follow your money. Follow your money and you will find where your heart is. Do your financial practices demonstrate that Jesus is your treasure and that Jesus has your heart? Dear tempted Christian, I implore you to train your heart to rest in Christ alone by giving faithfully. Paul’s instructions to the rich need to be heard by we who are so prosperous – You realize that friends?

Historically, living where we do, we are the richest people that have ever walked the planet. The temptation to be led astray by prosperity is subtle and live. Listen to what Paul writes in 1 Timothy…

1Timothy 6:17-19 | 17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Church, be on guard against Satan and demons. He is at work tempting us in a great myriad of ways. He is trying to hinder us from fellowship, to keep us ignorant of god’s word, to tempt us away from Christ through persecution, prosperity, and so much more. Brothers & Sisters, we are at war and we must stand. Church, We are at war. Fight. Do not close your eyes to the schemes of the evil one. Do not be shaken by his arrows of flame; push back his assault with the shield of faith, with the sword of the Spirit, and with song.

And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure One little word shall fell him

That word above all earthly pow’rs, no thanks to them, abideth The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him who with us sideth Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also The body they may kill; God’s truth abideth still His kingdom is forever

Yes we who follow the way of the cross will suffer, we are destined for it as Paul says in 3:2, but we will not be moved by affliction because we are those who have taken hold of Christ and of eternal life. WE are not destined only for suffering, but for glory.

1 Thessalonians 5:8-10 | 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.