Comfort For Believers (1 Thess 3:1-5)

Kootenai Church

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Good morning Would you open your Bibles to the book of 1st Thessalonians with me chapter 3

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We'll read the first five verses 1st Thessalonians chapter 3 therefore

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When we could endure it no longer We thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone

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And we sent Timothy our brother and God's fellow worker in the gospel of Christ to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith

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So that no man may be disturbed by these afflictions for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this

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For indeed when we were with you We kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction and so it came to pass as you know

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For this reason when I could endure it no longer I also sent to find out your faith to find out about your faith for fear that the tempter might have tempted you and our

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Labor should be in vain Would you join me in prayer? Father as we look at your word your blessed word this morning.

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It's there we look for hope for illumination For guidance for instruction for correction for rebuke for all the things that you will bring into your church

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To make it a glorious thing that will Show the Lord Jesus Christ in this world

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It is his glory that we seek it is his glory that we want and so this morning as we look into your word

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We ask for your wisdom for your encouragement and for your blessing Lord on these times when we live in times with Potential affliction which is what this section of scripture talks about You will bring your people through You have started a good thing in them and you will finish it of that We have every confidence and we thank you for that and look forward to it in your name.

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We pray in Jesus name. Amen So this morning It when first Thessalonians We'll be talking a little bit about affliction and you get a little bit of taste of it this morning a little bit of a taste

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Because those of you came thinking Jim was going to be preaching It's going to be something like expecting tri -tip at a venue and getting a half -eaten

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Big Mac But what I do have is the

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Word of God and that is always a feast and I would like to I would like to say

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One more thing before I get started Dave sermons are awesome When we were last together

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In March of this year, we finished chapter 2 of 1st Thessalonians looking at verses 17 through 20 in that section we continue to look at what the ministry of a genuine under shepherd would look like a

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Genuine under shepherd of Christ and it's good for under shepherds to remember that word under even though it's not got a hyphen

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And it's not attached The people the men that God has chosen to put in positions of responsibility in his body are under Shepherds the

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Great Shepherd is who we look to back to my introduction It depends on some someone asked this morning how long the message would be and I told him it depends on how many rabbit trails

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I go down so So at any rate we looked at the genuine we began to look at the genuine ministry of an under shepherd chapter 1 true to Paul's format was something of an introduction as well as a statement of praise a

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Praise regarding this young church that had taken the gospel and had run with it If you will they were they had quickly developed into a local example of a genuine

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Church of God They were convicted by the word as we see in chapter 1 verse 5 they became imitators of the

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Lord and thus a huge blessing to the Apostle as Well as a distinctive addition to the churches in this area that possible the

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Apostle was establishing in this area And we will see that through verse we see that in verses 6 through 10 of chapter 1.

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They were somewhat of a quick study And for that reason possibly Paul had more than a little concern that there were probably some whose roots didn't run deep as it talks about in the parable of the sower

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Chapter 2 is a reminder to the Thessalonians of how Paul treated them Coming from Philippi where they had been mistreated.

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They still boldly spoke the truth of God to those in Thessalonica They treated them like a father. They treated them like a mother

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They treated them like friends and they gave them the truth all of the truth unadulterated truth

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They used no flattering speech as Paul and his companions mentioned Paul mentions in his in this this testament this epistle

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Nor did they look for glory? There's a good sign of a genuine under shepherd of Christ They are more than delighted and grateful to pass all the glory on to others and to Christ They were there for a short time.

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They were gentle. They labored hard in the short time. They were with the Thessalonians there they had the heart the heart of a loving under shepherd shines through in this chapter as Paul and his companions were truthful

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Gentle fondly affectionate towards the believers there and they developed deep relationships. They got to know the people there

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They knew them as people and as families not just a church a building They were devout and upright they behaved blamelessly

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Paul says in in the early in chapter 2 They exhorted encouraged and implored the believers in Thessalonica as a father with their own children as verse 11 of chapter 2 explains the

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Thessalonians received the word from Paul Silvanus and Timothy as the word from God And they believed it and that belief translated into a life a beginning of the beginnings of a life of service

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They followed the Holy Spirit. They allowed the Holy Spirit into their lives to transform them to Take them from glory to glory from grace to grace as a believer will do they endured suffering even at the hands of their own fellow fellow countrymen in verse 14 and then sadly

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Paul and his companions had to leave Throughout Paul's message to the Thessalonians He continually made clear to them that the word he brought was in fact the true word of God and they not only believed it

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But they trusted God's Word and they grew as they were sanctified by God's Word He also reminded them directly of how he loved them and how he blamelessly and devoutly

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Ministered to them in this we see many of the characteristics that should typify a genuine honored shepherd of the

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Lord Jesus Christ One of the biggest statements he makes is in chapter 2 verse 6 where he says

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Nor did we seek glory from men either from you or from others even though as Apostles of Christ We might have asserted our authority.

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He did not seek the glory of men. He sought the glory of Christ Today, this is one of the easier ways to identify the charlatan who uses

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Scripture to enrich himself and seeks the glory of men Paul Silvanus and Timothy never did this

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They were only interested in advancing the Lord Jesus Christ in the world and that this was their food

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It was their drink. It was their existence They had to be spreading the gospel

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Woe unto me Paul said for if I preach not the gospel I have nothing to boast of for I am under compulsion

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For woe was me if I do not preach the gospel in 1st Corinthians chapter 9 verse 16 and Paul finishes up chapter 2

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Reminding the Thessalonians that they had to be spirited away from Thessalonica for a short time They wanted to come in the worst way, but Satan thwarted them.

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He says in verse 18 This created a good if you will anxiety in Paul's heart the kind of anxiety that a dedicated

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Undershepherd will feel will experience when they cannot be with those whom they love and want to serve

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Those who they whom the Lord Jesus Christ has entrusted to them So chapter 3 that's a quick review and so as you who are regulars know

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Jim is our main preacher our main teaching elder and he's up here Sunday after Sunday Expositing the

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Word of God we fill in and so there's usually long stretches between the fill -ins

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And so that's why we will tend to review stuff so in verse chapter 3 starts with an

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Unfortunate division of thought if one were reading this as a book without chapter headings or verse addresses

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It would read something like this starting with chapter 2 verse 17 I'm gonna just read it quickly as it would have actually read in the original before the chapter divisions were put in But we brethren having been bereft of you for a short while in person not in spirit

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We're all the more eager with great desire to see your face for we wanted to come to you I Paul more than once and yet Satan thwarted us for who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation

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Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming for you are our glory and joy

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So when we could endure it no longer We thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone And we sent

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Timothy our brother and God's fellow worker in the gospel of Christ to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith

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So that no man may be disturbed by these afflictions as for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this

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So you see how it's it's it's basically a long fought there that starts there and culminates in the early parts of chapter 3 and the divisions are convenient so that I can say would you turn to first Thessalonians 3 verse 1 and you know where to turn to if I was to Say, would you turn in the

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Bible? We're gonna talk about the Thessalonian Church Okay It's probably in first Thessalonians could be an axe

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You know so chapter divisions are handy I'm not running them down but in this particular case

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It's a split that kind of indicates a change of thought when there isn't one Paul is continuing on therefore

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When we could endure it no longer he says so leaving aside chapter designations Recognized from 217 to 3 5 we have basically one semi long

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Painful and joyous description of Paul's heart to be with those in Thessalonica So chapter 3 begins with the decision by the companions to tend to the needs of Thessalonica by sending

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Timothy Paul has detailed some of Timothy's bona fides in in verse 2 and He will and later.

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He speaks joyfully of the return of Timothy with the information. He sent him for About the flourishing church in Thessalonica that was indeed truly

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Growing from grace to grace every day in the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ through the Word of God by the

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Holy Spirit chapter 3 continues with the statement about what causes an under shepherd to be joyous and Thankful he also

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Paul also assures the Thessalonians that he prays for them, and he seeks their very best in Christ So these first five verses have a wealth of information about the ways and under shepherd contend to the needs of the brethren now

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I titled this the comfort comfort for believers And I don't want you to think it's a bait -and -switch because we're gonna be talking about affliction and How many of you are comforted by affliction?

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And if I could just be broke this week If the car would just break down again

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If those people would come and try to burn the house down one more time We don't need to seek affliction.

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So are you encouraged by that? You don't need to seek it. It's not something you have to chase The First five verses

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I said have a wealth So here's three things that I will be referring to as we walk through these five verses

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What will an under shepherd a genuine under shepherd not do? They won't leave the believers alone and I'm coining a word unhelped.

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They will not leave believers alone and unhelped Number two, they won't minimize the fact that believers will be afflicted

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Verses three and four and they won't ignore the possibility of apostasy in verse five So there are a couple of things to know about this first the first section of chapter three

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First of all in in first Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 1 Therefore when we could endure it no longer

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Paul uses what has been called the narrative we or the epistolary we there He is not talking about he

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Silvanus and Timothy necessarily It is most likely that he is using we because Paul was a humble man

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And he did not like calling attracting attention to himself So he would use the word we as a narrative we to describe what he was doing in some cases not every case

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Often it means we but in this particular case the can the the construction indicates that he was talking about himself

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Second We're told not to be anxious. So I want you to know that his his his anxiety was not an ungodly anxiety as some might surmise

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He had a deep abiding love for every church that he planted and that he ministered in and it wasn't just the church at large

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It was the people in the church. He knew them. He knew their names. He knew their condition.

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He knew what they were struggling with He missed them This little church had gone had just gone through some fiery trials and he was concerned about satanic influence

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So it was a godly anxiety might be the wrong term a godly concern that they be

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Built up and strengthened and we're going to talk he's going to talk about that in this section here We will see he was concerned that they might not know how to sustain one another.

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They were brand -new Christians How do you remember back to when you were a brand -new Christian? You knew everything didn't you?

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And then as time wore on You began to realize it that Paul was a pretty smart guy

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He knew more than I did Jesus knew more you began to learn and you began to bounce your ideas off of more mature believers and and the body life that that exists in a church grew you and you your some of your foolish ideas were put away and some of your ideas that you'd never thought of Came to the fore and you grew and you became more useful

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Useful in the church more useful to one another that's what is Paul wants for this new church

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They might not know how to sustain one another. We will see that these concerns were unfounded, but he didn't know that Paul was

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Paul. He put his toga on one leg at a time just like we do. Do you wear it toga?

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Well, I had to leave it in the entry, you know, it had to be historical Finally in this section is a beautiful insight into the heart of a loving under shepherd

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While he would want to mitigate the suffering of the the believers he loved as much as possible

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Paul was a realist and he knew that living in the world meant struggling in the world a

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Body of believers in a pagan world in the middle of the Roman Empire was a prime target for affliction this is true in every age and Paul pulls no punches in bringing soulless and teaching to his charges now

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No one who is really in their white right mind wants to be the bearer of bad news Do you like bearing bad news to people?

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I? Get to ruin their day No, yeah, that's

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Whatever that was prompted by. Thank you So we've developed methods over the centuries of delivering negativity.

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I Have good news. I have bad news Who has heard that heartwarming phrase?

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It's like if we just throw in a puppy in a lot a we can mitigate the destruction and death, you know We don't want to bother people.

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We don't want to scare them as if as I was studying to prepare Preparing to study to prepare for this morning

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I was impressed with the fact that Paul was unafraid to deliver difficult news to even a brand new church

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Did you notice that in this section? This is not the best marketing folks

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If you're gonna sell a car, don't tell them what's wrong with it. Actually if you're a Christian you oughta and and I'm gonna develop this a little bit more

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But I actually sold the pickup not a few years back and I knew the transmission was going out And so I would tell prospective buyers the transmission is going out

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Okay, never mind you know most of them but I did get I Subtracted the amount from the the cost of the vehicle that I I checked with a local transmission repair shop

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How much will the cost of repair this transmission and I subtracted that from the value? And so I finally

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I got a taker and I actually put that in the bill of sale the buyer acknowledges that the transmission is and I had is in capital letters and bold and underlined it is going out and Sign and attest to that by their signature they were actually grateful and Later on years a year to get

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I don't remember how long ago it was later I met him in a grocery store in a in in the line and I went how's that pick up doing?

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Oh, yeah, the transmission went out in about three months, but we got a new one in and I love it. So If you can be apprised of difficult news, it can be a help to the believer and Paul knows that He knows that apprising giving people the information up front can be a blessing and then

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I got way off See, that's why it's gonna take longer for this message so The fact is if you're going to tell something about Tell people about something that has the potential to absolutely change their lives for eternity

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Don't be afraid to give them the entire counsel of God The whole truth as Paul said in Ephesians, this is a long section

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But if you get nothing more out of this morning than in the scripture You will be blessed beyond measure in Acts chapter 20 verses 17 through 28

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Paul said this when he was talking to the elders and the leaders of the church there from Miletus He sent to a

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Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church and when they had come to him He said to them you yourselves know from the first day

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I set foot in Asia how I was with you the whole time serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the

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Jews how I did not shrink from declaring you anything that was profitable and Teaching you publicly and from house to house.

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I saw and solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ and now behold bound by the

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Spirit I am on my way to Jerusalem not knowing what will happen to me there except that the Holy Spirit Solemnly testifies to me in every city saying that bonds and afflictions will wait me so the

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Holy Spirit had no problem telling Paul that troubles await in you and What did Paul do?

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I'm not going to Jerusalem. No, he said his face like Flint and he went to Jerusalem back to the scripture

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I But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself so that I may finish my course in the ministry, which

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I received from the Lord Jesus to testify solemnly of the Gospel of the grace of God and now behold

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I know that all of you among whom I went about preaching the kingdom will no longer see my face

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Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of men for I did not Shrink back from declaring to you the whole purpose of God Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the

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Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the Church of God Which he purchased with his own blood

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So the message this morning To us at least as I was studying this is it affliction is not something to be afraid of Affliction is not something to be fearful of and we'll find out that it's actually part and parcel of Christianity now

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I don't have some special message that is different from what is written in the pages of Holy Scripture In fact, what I have is from the pages of Holy Scripture, which is what an under shepherd should do but in the message there is beauty and there is pain and I will not shrink back from declaring the difficult things to you and Turning the page wrong.

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So in this little short section of Philippians Thessalonians beginning in chapter 3

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Paul bears his soul and Maybe intentionally or unintentionally He bears his soul to the

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Thessalonians about their his love for them and his concern for the difficulties They would face and so I would do that this morning as well

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Brothers and sisters the gospel is the most beautiful message that has ever been proclaimed ever

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But it contains within it difficulty. We must understand that trusting Christ has eternal blessings

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But while here while here, is it not attended with difficulty?

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Somebody's got a nod their head if you've got that life your best life now No It is attended with difficulty

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Paul made sure that his new brothers and sisters in the faith in Thessalonia Thessalonica understood this and we will see that as we look at this section.

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So that's the introduction verse 1 therefore Which refers back to his love for them in chapter 2 therefore

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When we could endure it no longer. We thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone here Then is the epistolary we that Paul use and Paul uses very strong words here

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The word for endure is the Greek word stega Which means to cover over or to hide by covering to ward off by covering it

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It later came to include the idea in the New Testament of to bear up against or to endure

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It only occurs in two other places in the New Testament in first Corinthians 9 12 if others share the right over you

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Do we not more? Nevertheless, we did not use this right But we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ and then in first Corinthians 13 7

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So Paul uses it three three times bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things

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It's a it's a the idea of strongly and steadfastly waiting for something But he couldn't wait to hear from the believers in Thessalonica in Both cases in all cases this word communicates steadfast

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Endurance the Apostle had to know what was going on in Thessalonica He had to know

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He loved his charges He loved his charges there and he had poured himself into them for a short time and he wanted to know how it went with them

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He could have used Timothy in Athens. He was going into one of the most godless cities in the

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Greek Empire where it was full of pagan philosophers who had worked there plied their trade and Sharpened it to a great to a point.

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They were good at what they they were good at the false theology They propagated that's where Paul was headed and he elected to send

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Timothy back to Thessalonica He was less concerned for himself

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Than he was for his his his people his people if you will the church of Thessalonica This is the true heart of a dedicated under shepherd

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He will be more concerned for those that God has called him to serve and he will be about himself

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When he believed there was a need in Thessalonica for support and encouragement He stripped himself of that support and encouragement and sent

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Timothy back The heart of a true under shepherd will always seek to meet the needs of those they serve more than they will meet their own

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Needs they will never leave believers alone and unhelped There is a tendency today to talk about taking care of yourself

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Taking care of your personal needs. The big talk is making sure you take care of yourself first I'm not going to talk about any

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Current events just the philosophy itself Look to your own needs first take care of yourself first.

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That's the idea. That's not how Paul operated and It shouldn't be how a genuine servant of Christ operates.

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It's not that one shouldn't have a concern for their own needs It's just that it has become a nasal gazing gazing operation that precludes servanthood

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We cannot be servants if we are obsessed with ourselves If we are obsessed with our needs if we are obsessed with what is going on in our lives

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We need to look to the needs of others. We need to look to the hurts the pains the concerns of others

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This is what Paul did Paul couldn't bear to think about those in Thessalonica struggling on their own so he sent the best help he could because he couldn't go and We sent

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Timothy in verse 2 He says our brother and God's fellow worker in the gospel of Christ to strengthen and to encourage you as to your faith

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So if those you love need help and you can't go yourself send the best you've got

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Paul describes Timothy here with superlatives intentionally to give him better stature in the eyes of the

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Thessalonians to know that he was sending Genuine help to them He called him

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God's fellow worker That's a remarkable statement Think about that not

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Paul's fellow worker not Paul and Silvanus is not the Apostles fellow worker God's fellow worker

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That's a that's a wonderful title a wonderful title. That's what he called him It's an incredible appalachian appalachian and his work wasn't in just anything.

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It was in the gospel of Christ He gives this praise to Timothy in the book of Philippians remember this praise in Philippians chapter 220

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Paul said this for I have no one else of Kindred spirit or like -minded who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare

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Paul knew that if he couldn't go if he could send Timothy it would be almost as if he were going because Timothy was such a

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Servant and had developed to such a potential of being everything Paul could have been himself and His intention was that Timothy.

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Oh, do you work for someone by the way? It's just this thought just occurred to me. Here's another rabbit trail

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They should be able to say that about you. I sent so -and -so because They will be genuinely concerned for your welfare

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You ought to be we ought to be that kind of servant in whatever area we are engaged and His intention was that Timothy would strengthen and encourage their faith

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The purpose was twofold the word strengthened comes the idea of giving someone staying power whether it means holding them up or feeding them or or Biblical encouragement this would be needed for new converts who had to face genuine persecution sometimes for the first time

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Their life was sailing along just like a normal Greek Peasant life was at that time and then they trusted

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Christ now all of a sudden people don't like him Really badly don't like them. Some of them want to kill him

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This would be needed for new converts who had to face genuine persecution Paul had a close relationship with Timothy and he knew him

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Well, he knew that he could trust him to take the proper biblical support to the converts in Thessalonica this is another example of an under shepherd refusing to leave those they care for unhelped and The strengthening wasn't for their emotional or mental well -being

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It was for their faith It was for their faith their trust in Christ needed to be firmed up not with spurious demonstrations of pseudo power

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But with the sure word of God for this was the tool This is what gave strength to Paul and his companions the gospel of Christ.

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This is what they took back to Thessalonica they didn't take shows of power or Demonstrations or anything else they took back with them the very

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Word of God that they used to plant that church The strengthening here is a reminder to all of us by the way that it's not just enough to have a remarkable conversion

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We've all seen remarkable conversions They're on television. They're in the news.

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They're on Facebook. They're on Twitter I couldn't remember the thing The truth of the matter is demonstrated when one stays the course

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Paul knew that there would be temptation in Thessalonica to run from the afflictions that were coming sometimes people mistake affliction for God's disfavor

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More often than not in the lives of faithful Christians it's just the rotten world and all that goes along with it and The fall that is mitigating against their walk with Christ don't misunderstand the difficulties in your life as some strange thing

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Paul Timothy would bring this truth to the Thessalonians of what as well Peter put it this way Dave read this before the message

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He put it this way in his epistle He said beloved do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing as though some strange thing were happening to you, but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ keep on Muttering complaining

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Keep on rejoicing Rejoicing So that you also at the revelation of his glory so that you may rejoice with exultation

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If you are reviled for the name of Christ you are blessed Because the spirit of glory and of God rests on you make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer or a thief or Evildoer or a troublesome meddler, but if anyone suffers as a

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Christian he is not to be ashamed But it's to glorify God in this name So these would have been some of the strengthening things that Timothy would have taken back to the the

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Thessalonians The Thessalonians who were being persecuted Glory in God glory in these persecutions don't seek them

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But when they come glory in them as you are properly interpreting and living out the Word of God in your life

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Glory in those persecutions one of the more important things to remember here Though is that Paul understood the need for a minister to actually be present with the new converts or with old converts

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We all need someone else standing next to us to the during the difficult trials in life that don't we

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Is it comforting to you when you have someone who's willing to come spend their time and be with you when you're going through difficult times

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They don't have to say anything sometimes sometimes if people like it's better if I don't say anything Just be there just put your arm around them and God will give opportunity for the strengthening that needs to come further a

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True under shepherd would not seek to tell those he loves to avoid every possibility of affliction for he knows that difficulties and pain

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Must come to those who trust Christ and so in the next verse Paul himself confirms that so that he says in chapter 3 verse 3

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So that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this

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I Don't know how many times I've read Thessalonians, and I didn't ever really catch this

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What we're destined for things There are some gear and there's some rock -solid guarantees in the

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Christian life, and you know what's right at the top of the list persecution Hey, do

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I see any no arms are going up a true under shepherd will never minimize the fact that believers will be afflicted in this world

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The word disturbed here comes from a Greek word, and it's it's lovely these these Metaphors that the

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Greek language as we have our own I mean we a rule of thumb you know where that comes from and and little metaphors

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We have and stuff like that, but this word this word disturbed comes from a Greek word

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Which has its idea of the wagging of a dog's tail? and It implies being fond over and cajoled dog lovers will understand this can you resist your dog's wagging tail you dog lovers out there?

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No, you can't you reprobates or the purring of a cat on your leg

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This is what it's talking about as people who will cajole you you know if you just give in a little here

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You don't need to be going through this just comp they won't use the word compromise But that's what they're saying just compromise a little and it won't be so rough for you

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This dog is wagging its tail sometimes when afflictions come to Christians There are those who urge us just the least little bit of compromise in order to stop the affliction

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Are you suffering because you're a murderer or a troublesome person or a thief or a liar stop that?

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But if you're suffering because you've been obedient to the Word of God you need to ignore that kind of advice

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When it tells you to compromise In this particular case this might have very well been the

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Jews Urging the Thessalonians to give up Christianity and to adopt Judaism so the affliction would stop

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There will be those who come into our lives Who will urge us just to give in a little bit and not take such a hard line if you just go along with the

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Flow a little bit. You know it won't be so bad The simple fact is God strengthens us by his Holy Spirit to be obedient to his word the fact is

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He often uses other to strengthens us as Paul did with Timothy for the Thessalonians But Paul's statement here was not only that they should not be disturbed, but they should recognize that they were destined for affliction

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So you were destined for affliction when you became a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ The idea behind the word is that our dedication actually causes us to lie in the way of affliction

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It's like there's a car coming and you lay down in front of it. I'm not telling you to do that I mean, but that's

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I'm trying to give you a picture of what it's talking about. It's to lie in the way of affliction It's it's the same word for set in Matthew chapter 5 14

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We are a city set on a hill your place there. You're put there. You're put on that hill

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It's the same word in Philippians 1 6 that Paul uses as one Appointed for the defense of the gospel you have been appointed for the defense of the gospel

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You've been set in the way to defend the gospel it implies immovability Immovability now that does not mean like I said that we should glory in difficulty doesn't mean we have to look for it either it will come to us if we are faithful to Christ the world will be faithful to hate us and Make no mistake.

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They will do that. Let us make sure that the hatred the world has for us though is Hatred of the gospel and not of our own wickedness one of the most important truths that a believer can understand is that the life of a

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Christian is not and Will not most likely not be a life of soft fluffy kindness from everyone the world hated

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Christ, and it killed him We should expect it to hate us If in fact we are consistently loved by the world it should be a red flag to us

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That not all is well with our faith Scripture warns that those who remain faithful to Christ will be hated by those who pretend to be faithful to Christ Jesus's words in Matthew the gospel of Matthew teach this very thing

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Then they will deliver you to Tribulation and will kill you and you will be hated by all nations because of my name at that time many will fall away and will

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Betray one another and hate one another the Lord Jesus Christ said in John that the world must hate you because it hated him in fact

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When the world hates you Persecute you and kills you they actually think they're doing service to God Boy isn't this a comforting message.

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I'm not done It's Friday, but Sundays are coming

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They will make you outcast from the synagogue But an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God these things

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They will do because they have not known the father or me Timothy had to make sure that the Thessalonians understood this their trials were not an anomaly

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But as a matter of fact they were a good indication that their lives were in fact lies of dedication and service to the

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Lord We can't make this the only litmus test of course don't do that Scripture and scripture alone is what we used to evaluate our lives of service to the

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Lord Jesus Christ But as one is properly interpreting and applying scripture when the difficulties come you can be sure it is because you are adhering to the

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Word of God One note about translating this verse some people believe that the word we is again the epistolary and refers to Paul only

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But It the most natural reading of this is that it applies to both both

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Paul and of the Thessalonians Remember that Paul later reminded Timothy the very person

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He sent the Thessalonica that if he desired to live a godly life in Christ Jesus He and anyone else who chose to do that would be persecuted in 2nd

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Timothy Verse 4 for indeed when we were with you We kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction and so it came to pass as you know

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Again, we have a situation where the we could be referring to Paul alone or to Paul and the Thessalonians likely here again

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It most naturally refers to both. He wanted to make sure that they understood. They really understood that affliction was coming in would come

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Paul knew that making the Thessalonians aware of persecution ahead of time would have the effect of strengthening their faith

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Giving someone a heads -up about difficulties to come is a blessing to them. It allows them to be as prepared as they can be

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Now we can't anticipate every eventuality but we can be students of the Word of God and we can see how his messengers and his children are treated and know that the

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Potential for that exists in our lives, then we won't be surprised at the fiery ordeal

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We will be more prepared to Resist him firm in your faith knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world

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I stole that from your book to Dave first Peter You just picked a great book to preach through what can

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I say? We will recognize it the difficulties that come as a good fight and we will be more likely to finish the course

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Keeping the faith in fact when Paul and Barnabas wanted to strengthen the believers in southern Galatia One of the things they told them was that it will be through many tribulations that one enters the kingdom of God strengthening the souls in Acts 14 22

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Strengthening the souls of the disciples encouraging them to continue in the faith and saying through many tribulations

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We must enter the kingdom of God This is not to say that the difficulties of Christianity should be the only message as it sounds like it is this morning

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But a true under shepherd will not mislead believers by ignoring the fact the tribulation is part and parcel of genuine

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Christianity Wolves and shepherds will not share this information. They want your praise.

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They want your money So they're only going to tell you about the health the wealth the fairy dust the golden feathers and the unicorn breath for this reason

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Finishing up Timothy Paul says to this Paul says this to the Thessalonians for this reason when

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I could endure it no longer I also sent to find out about your faith for fear that the tempter might have tempted you and our labor would be in vain

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Repeating what he said in chapter 3 verse 1 Paul shows his protectiveness and his desire to see the

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Thessalonians grow He did not want the work that had been done in Thessalonica to be damaged by Satan As a true under shepherd will

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Paul did not ignore the possibility of apostasy But as his manner was he most certainly prayed for the

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Thessalonians and he included this reason for sending Timothy back He wanted to know how the seed he had planted had fared

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Did they receive it with joy but have no root so that when persecution came it caused him to fall away

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Were they weakened by the affliction that came or had they stayed true to Christ? Paul wanted to know if the joy that was evident on their faces in their lives at the beginning when he shared the gospel with them was real

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Now here's a delightful piece The construction of the Greek here indicates that Paul trusted the Holy Spirit to be working in Thessalonica It changes from and I hate to get so technical but as you're reading this in verse 5 he says

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For this reason when I could endure it no longer I also sent to find out your faith about your faith for fear that the tempter might have tempted

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That's that's in the indicative. He made a statement I was worried that the tempter might tempt you but he says it's not a possibility by changing the case.

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He says And our labor should be in vain. He knew that the tempter would tempt them, but he didn't believe their labor would be in vain

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He was a shepherd and under shepherd that trusted the Holy Spirit trusted the

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Word of God Well what this actually means is is that his statement for fear that the tempter might have tempted you was a statement of fact and Our labor would be in vain was hypothetical as one commentator put it this way

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He said Paul thinks it probable that Satan has applied pressure to his converts, but improbable that they have given way why?

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Because of the Holy Spirit because of the Word of God What did he sow into their lives?

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What is sown into our lives? the Word of God and The Word of God does not return vain further he knew we could trust

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Timothy to bring back an accurate report and we will see the next time we're together that Timothy did bring back a great report and So even though it sounds like I'm ending on bad news

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I'm not the fact is Timothy is going to come back from Thessalonica And he's going to report to Paul that not only did your did the words fall on fertile ground

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But they are now examples to other churches Why because they lived the

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Word of God out in their lives? So Paul had a great desire to minister to the Thessalonians, but he could not go

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So he sent his best he sent Timothy as a faithful under shepherd sent by Christ to plant the churches

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He would never leave believers alone and unhelped further he would never minimize the fact that commitment to Christ will result in affliction and he cautioned and warned the

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Thessalonians about that and finally he would not ignore the possibility of apostasy But his great desire was that the

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Thessalonians would prove true to the gospel Under shepherds do not want their work to be in vain And so as Paul has done here with the

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Thessalonians and they must pour themselves into the flock that God has entrusted to them They cannot leave them alone unhelped and bereft of teaching they must be sure to tell

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The truth about life So that those who come are they know that they are destined for difficulties and not shocked by the afflictions that come

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They should never ignore the possibility of a positive apostasy But always trust

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Christ to finish the work that he started in the lives of those who have put their trust in him so in closing

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Although it may seem I focus too much on the negative this morning It is negative. It is a negative that we need to know so we can be prepared as We face the difficulties that may be coming in these days.

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We must remember that Philippians 1 6 is a promise and That Romans 28 28 is not a cliche and Frankly, there's no better way to end a message than to end it with Scripture And so I close with this

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Philippians 1 6 for I am confident of this very thing That he who began a good work in you will perfect it in the day of Christ and Romans 8 28

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Through 30 and the Philippians are the Thessalonians needed to hear this and we know That God causes all things to work together for good to those who love

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God To those who are called according to his purpose for those whom he foreknew he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son so that he would be the firstborn among many among many brethren and These whom he predestined he also called and those whom he called he also justified and those whom he justified

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He also glorified Let's pray father

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The world is bent on undoing what has been done by you

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But we know that you are more you are a conqueror and you have made us more than conquerors. Let us always

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Turn to the word turn to Christ when difficulties come for we are destined for difficulty, but we also are destined for glory and We look to you to make that Happen day by day in our lives so that we might honor you bring glory to you

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Show the world that the Lord Jesus Christ is worthy He is the Lamb who was slain for those who will believe and he is worthy of all praise