Sunday School: Exhort and Encourage in Faith (1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:5)

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You are listening to the teaching ministry of Gabriel Hughes. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on this podcast we feature 20 minutes of Bible study through a

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New Testament book. On Thursday is a study in the Old Testament and then we answer questions from the listeners on Friday.

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Each Sunday we are pleased to share our sermon series. Here's Pastor Gabe. Please turn in your

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Bible to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2.

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We're finishing up chapter 2. We're actually going into chapter 3 today. So our reading is going to be from chapter 2 verse 17 to chapter 3 verse 5.

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1 Thessalonians chapter 2 beginning in verse 17. I'm going to go ahead and read the selection here and then we will do a brief prayer.

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Paul says to the Thessalonians, 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 because we wanted to come to you,

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I Paul, again and again. But Satan hindered us for what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our

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Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.

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Therefore, when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone and we sent

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Timothy, our brother and God's coworker in the gospel of Christ to establish and exhort you in your faith that no one be moved by these afflictions for you yourselves know that we are destined for this.

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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.

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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.

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Let us pray again. Heavenly Father, as we look into this word today, I pray that we would be comforted by the

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God of mercies and the father of all comforts who comforts us in all our afflictions as Paul wrote about in 2

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Corinthians chapter 1. Guide us in these truths. May we be comforted by these words.

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May we be encouraged and also encourage one another. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

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So we've come in this letter through Paul talking about being like a nursing mother, like being an exhorting father.

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That's been the last two lessons. So he was comforting with the Thessalonians, encouraging them and growing them in a knowledge and understanding of the word.

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He's also been exhortational and disciplinary as a father is with his children.

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And now we get to this phrase here at the beginning of verse 17. But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person, not in heart.

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So we were torn away from you in person, like we're physically not with you. But he's not saying that we have been torn from you in our thoughts or in our prayers.

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We just physically cannot be together right now. Since we've been torn from you, we've endeavored more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face because we wanted to come to you.

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You have this affection, this longing to be with the Thessalonian Christians, with the church there that is at Thessalonica.

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Now, this phrasing here in verse 17 is interesting. We kind of lose the impact of it in English, but it's very much in the context of what

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Paul has described previously about being like a nursing mother and like an exhorting father, right?

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Remember the parent metaphor that Paul has used when it comes to how he's cared for this church.

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With the Corinthians, Paul said, we have been as spiritual fathers to you because we shared the gospel with you and you've been adopted sons and daughters of God into the kingdom of God.

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So it is as if we have been those spiritual fathers who have given you that message and caused you to be born again, right?

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So that's the word that Paul had for the Corinthians. Here with the Thessalonians, he uses that same parent language.

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Like a nursing mother, tender we cared for you. That was back in verse 7.

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We were gentle among you like a nursing mother caring for her own children. And then we were like exhorting fathers.

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That's verse 11. You know, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you, encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

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Moms tend to be more tender. Dads tend to be more imperative, right? More giving of instruction, more disciplinary.

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So Paul makes the comparison to both. Here in verse 17, we're still continuing the parenting theme.

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Really? How's that? Well, again, there's something that's slightly lost in translation there.

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But since we were torn away from you, literally in the

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Greek, that's read this way. We have been torn from you and orphaned.

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So you've been made as orphans because your spiritual parents who have been like loving mothers and fathers to you have been torn away from you for a short time.

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So we feel like we've been orphaned. That's the language that Paul uses there. This further sort of accentuates the loving language that Paul uses with these

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Christians. We should not think that so unusual. You see, throughout his letters,

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Paul has a deep yearning for those that he is writing to. Every single letter is like this.

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There's not a single letter of Paul's that you could read and just be like, you know, it's just a casual letter.

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No, it is filled with emotion, pouring out his heart to these churches that he writes to.

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Even to the Galatians, like he's angry with the Galatians. It's pretty plain right from the beginning of that letter, saying things like, oh, you foolish

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Galatians, who has bewitched you? I'm astonished that you've turned to a different gospel as if there was another gospel.

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And even within that letter, Paul says to the Galatians, I feel like that I am in the anguish of child labor pains as if I have to give birth to you again.

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That's some pretty intense language there. Like I've already labored over you with the gospel that you would know this and become

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Christians. Now you've turned to a false gospel. I feel like I'm in labor pains over you again.

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And the way he finishes that letter, his sign off at the end of Galatians, I think we're familiar with that conclusion where he says, see what large letters

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I am using when I'm writing to you. This is my hand, I am writing to you so emphatically.

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But he also says, let no one trouble me any longer. The word that I've heard about you, about the

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Galatians troubled me because I've heard that you've turned to a different gospel. Paul yearning in his soul, in his very spirit for these

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Christians that he writes to, any letter that he writes. Now with the

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Thessalonians, it's a totally different tone than he takes with the Corinthians or with the Galatians. But you still hear this pastoral affection, this pastoral love, and this of rejoicing, not of anguish.

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With the Corinthians, with the Galatians, yeah, there's quite a bit of anguish there over what he had heard that they were doing, that they had turned from the gospel into other things, that the

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Corinthians were even looking like the world and not looking like the church. But with these

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Thessalonians, Paul has received this word that they are doing great. And even though they've been persecuted, and even though Paul and his missionary brethren had to be torn away, and the

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Thessalonians orphaned because they were separated from one another. Even though this has happened, yet they have remained steadfast in faith, and Paul rejoices over that.

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And we're going to see a little bit more as we continue to read here. We'll see this more in the section in chapter 3, but exactly what

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Paul's concern was. Like, what was he afraid of happening? Why did he have such great concern for the

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Thessalonians? Why did he want to hear what was actually going on with them, that he had to send

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Timothy to them to come back and give him a report? And didn't just send Timothy to, like, kind of poke his head in the church one day and look around, oh, yeah, look, it looks like everybody's good, and then return to Achaia and tell

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Paul what was going on. But Timothy was actually there doing what? What do we see that Paul had commissioned

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Timothy to go do? He was a co -worker in the gospel, this is chapter 3, verse 2, and to establish and exhort you in your faith.

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Now, what does that mean? What does it mean that Paul is sending Timothy to establish and exhort you in your faith? Reinforcing, yeah?

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What exactly would Timothy be doing while he's there? Preaching, right, yeah, he's preaching the word.

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He's giving them the word of God, that's Timothy's assignment. Not just to check on the Thessalonians, but to teach them all the more in the word.

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And we'll talk about that as we go, the comfort that the word of God gives us.

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But here in verse 17, he uses this language of being orphaned, so you still have the parent theme continue.

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He also calls them brothers, notice that as well. Since we were torn away from you, brothers, and later on he refers to Timothy, chapter 3, verse 2, as our brother and God's co -worker.

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So you see this still kind of continuing this family theme. We're brothers and sisters in the faith, adopted sons and daughters in the family of God.

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So he says, we're torn away from you, it was for a short time, in person, not in heart, and we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face.

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See you face to face. There is something about seeing one another face to face that's totally different than being able to talk on the phone, right?

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And here in this time, Paul didn't even have phone calls, he didn't even have that luxury. We can't Zoom one another, right?

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Can't do FaceTime on our iPhones. I have to send Timothy, Timothy has to come back with a report and I kind of have to go vicariously through Timothy.

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Everything's going well with the Thessalonians. Oh, praise God. Well, I'm writing a letter to them. Paul writes this letter and sends it to the

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Thessalonians. And this is after Timothy has been there and come back with his report of how things are going on in Thessalonica.

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So Paul is not settled with that. Like hearing from Timothy, sending

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Timothy down there, or writing a letter to the Thessalonians. He wants to see them face to face. There's always something better about being able to see each other face to face.

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A lot of us got a little bit of a taste of that last year with the lockdowns and the separation, stay at home orders and things like that.

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I mean, who really enjoyed that? Like, hey, I get to be at home. I can watch TV for weeks on end.

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Joy is me. Like who really went into that lockdown season thinking this is going to be great?

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No, we all wanted to get out. We wanted to see our friends again. And as brothers and sisters in the

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Lord, we wanted to be with God's church. We wanted to sing praises. We wanted to pray together.

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We wanted to hear God's word proclaimed together. You can't go to church on the internet. You can listen to preachers on the internet, but you can't go to church on the internet.

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Because going to church is literally the body of believers that are gathered together, the assembly of the saints.

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That's literally what the word means, ecclesia, an assembly. So our desire, our yearning as children of God was to be with other children of God.

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This is heaven practice that we get to be together and exalt

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God according to his word, sing praises together, pray together, praise the

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Lord together. So being together in person is something totally different than being together virtually.

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You can't even be together virtually like you can be together in person. This past week, or a week ago, a little over a week ago, experienced going to G3.

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And I set up a booth there, when we understand the text, I got a big banner behind me, it's got the same logo on it that's on the videos.

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So if anybody can't remember the name of the videos that they saw, they at least walk by and they see that logo and they're like, oh,

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I've seen that before, I watch these videos. So they'll stop and say, you're the guy, you're the voice on all those videos.

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And it's neat to hear from people. Now, on the Friday podcast, Becky and I will read emails that people send to us.

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I received a wonderfully touching email just this past week of a guy who said, listening to your podcast saved my marriage, got me into God's word, humbled me, that I would recognize the responsibility that I have as a husband and a father to lead my family, to lead my wife and my kids in an understanding of God's word.

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So it's always wonderful and encouraging to get emails like that. I rejoice to receive those any day that they show up in my inbox and I'm reading about what an impact either the videos or the podcast has had on somebody.

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But it's not the same as meeting them face -to -face, right? And being able to go to something like G3, I get to see people face -to -face,

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I get to see it in their face, how much they love the videos, or see tears in their eyes because something you said or something that you taught ministered to me in this way.

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And so that's kind of been my experience of being able to rejoice in hearing good news through a letter, but it's even better when you can see each other face -to -face.

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We send greeting cards to one another or just notes of encouragement or things like that. Always wonderful to get.

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But it's so much better to be with the person face -to -face. So Paul's saying here, we endeavored, like we were making travel plans.

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Like what do we need to do? Check your calendars, guys. What do we need to do to get back to Thessalonica so we can see those

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Christians and mutually encourage one another? When Paul wrote to the Romans, a church that he had not yet visited, when we read his letter to the

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Romans. When he wrote to them, he said that, I have this yearning, this desire to come to you so that we may be a mutual encouragement to one another.

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You may encourage me in some of the afflictions that you've gone through and held steadfast, and likewise,

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I can encourage you in the afflictions that I've been through. And here's what

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God says in the midst of these sufferings that we endure. So Paul has that same kind of approach with the

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Thessalonians here. We can mutually encourage one another, and we endeavor all the more eagerly to be with you, with great desire to see you face -to -face.

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Verse 18, because we wanted to come to you, I, Paul, again and again, but Satan hindered us.

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First, let me make a mention of that, I, Paul, again and again. So when you go back to 1 Thessalonians 1 .1, you see who's writing the letter.

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Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians, and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace.

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We have three names that are mentioned there, but we know it's specifically Paul's voice that we're hearing throughout 1

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Thessalonians, not the three men together. And some of those clues that we get are like this verse, verse 18, where it says, we wanted to come to you,

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I, Paul, again and again. So Paul making sure that you recognize it's the apostle who is calling to your attention these things that we're writing to you.

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But he says, Satan hindered us. Now we see this come up twice. In fact, this particular section we're looking at this morning is kind of filled with pairs, right?

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We see two mentions of brothers. We see two mentions of Satan hindering.

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Satan hindered us, and then the next reason, or the next place that comes up is in chapter 3, verse 5. For this reason, when

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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 was in vain.

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So we see things come up kind of like two times as Paul mentions this. So Satan hindered us.

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In what way Satan hindered Paul and his missionary brethren, we don't know. He doesn't say exactly how he was hindered.

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I read from one commentary that suggested that if you go back to Acts chapter 17 and the story of Paul coming to Thessalonica the first time and sharing the gospel there.

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Remember the rabble that had kind of stirred up against Paul, and he had been brought against the civic authorities, but there was a guy named

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Jason who came forward, and what did he do to get Paul out of this? He gave some money to the officials, right?

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So, hey, let me pay you off, and you let Paul and his brothers go, and that's eventually what happened.

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Jason paid money. Paul and his brothers went away. Well, one commentary that I read was that part of that agreement, and this has still got to be speculative because the text doesn't say this, but part of that agreement was that Jason had made a deal with the city officials that if you let

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Paul go, he won't ever come back again. So that means the deal would be crooked.

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I mean, already, you know, kind of the bribe, the paying of money, looks kind of fishy anyway. So if that was what

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Jason said to the city officials, he made some kind of agreement, Paul's not going to come back if you let him go, well, that would have been something satanic.

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Paul didn't agree to that. But was that the thing that would have prevented then Paul from coming back to the

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Thessalonians? That's just a speculation, again, because the text doesn't say that. We don't know for sure exactly what this hindrance was.

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Paul wants to come to Thessalonica, and even his staying there in Corinth for a year and a half, that's by the providence of God.

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God, in Acts chapter 18, told Paul to stay there.

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No harm would come to you. Now, harm came to his brethren. Sostenes was dragged before the city officials and was beaten.

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But no harm came to Paul. So Paul was told by God, stay there in Corinth, for there are many people here in this city who fear my name.

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And so Paul did. He continued to labor there in Corinth. That was by the providence of God, that he would be there doing that.

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He wanted to be there doing that. But if the opportunity had been given to him to be able to go back to Thessalonica, especially considering how short a time that he was there, he would have taken it.

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But somehow Satan was preventing him from being able to get back and do that. Verse 19,

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For what is our hope or joy or crown or boasting? Before the Lord Jesus, that is coming.

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Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy. Now, over and over again, we've heard in this letter,

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Paul saying that we did not come with the gospel for our benefit, but for yours, right?

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We even have the last statement in this section in chapter 3, verse 5. It says, if the tempter had tempted you, if you had fallen away from the faith, if you had heard it for a moment but then turned to something else, well, then our labor would have been in vain.

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And we know from that word as it showed up earlier in 1 Thessalonians, it means empty. What we would have done for you would have just shown up empty.

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It would have been all for naught because you would not have remained in the faith. You would have gone a different direction.

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Paul is not doing this for himself. He is doing this for the benefit of the Thessalonians.

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And what ultimately is his reward for this? His reward is to know that these

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Thessalonians have become Christians and are inheriting eternal life in Jesus Christ, so that on that day when

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Paul stands before Christ, he may present the Thessalonians and say, here are the ones that you gave to me to be faithful with.

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I gave them your word and now they are yours forever.

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In the book of Revelation, when you have the 24 elders on their thrones gathered around the main throne, which the lamb is sitting upon, it says the 24 elders bow down before the throne, and what is it that they cast down?

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Anybody remember? No, not a scroll. Say again? Crowns, right.

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The 24 elders bow down before the throne, and they cast their crowns down. Now, Paul says over and over again in his letters, several times in his letters, he talks about receiving a crown.

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Now, when we hear crown, what do we think of about crowns? What kind of crown do you picture?

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Yeah, like a physical king crown, probably gold and has some jewels in it. Is that the kind of crown you picture when you hear about crowns we're going to be wearing in heaven?

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Is that not the crown that you think of? Whenever Paul mentions crown, this is every time in Paul's letters,

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I'm not talking the whole New Testament, but at least the way Paul talks about it, okay? Every time he mentions a crown, he's talking about the wreath that an athlete receives when they win a race.

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That's the kind of crown he's talking about. But it's a sign of victory. You've won, so now you get a crown, okay?

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So even if you take that same concept of a crown and you apply it to the 24 elders, they've received a reward.

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They've finished. They've conquered. They are reigning. So they get a crown.

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What do they do with the very thing that Christ gives to them? They give it back.

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They offer it to Christ. They cast their crowns down in worship to him.

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So everything that we get in glory, all the treasure, all the reward that we receive, which is going to be wonderful and marvelous and beyond anything that we could ever ask or imagine, whatever you could ask

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Christ for in this life, he's going to give you greater than that in the life to come. Amen? Whatever we receive as reward in heaven is given to us that we may honor and glorify

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Christ with it. And same with Paul in this work that he's doing.

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He's been given these churches that he's been so privileged in the calling of Christ to be able to plant and share the gospel, and many people have come to faith because of this.

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And yet everyone that comes to faith is somebody that he can present to Christ for his glory.

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It's not for Paul. It's for Christ's glory. Amen? For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting?

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It's not in ourselves. It's in you. It's in Christ. For you are our glory and joy.

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Verse 20. Now, glory is to receive honor from someone else.

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Joy is that feeling of exuberance or jubilation from within yourself.

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Okay? It's one's own expression. That's the difference between glory.

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So glory would be an expression from somebody else. Joy would be an expression from yourself.

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So Paul indeed receives glory from others, or he rejoices in hearing the testimony of others when he knows that the story of the

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Thessalonians has gone far and wide. Remember that we read about that back in chapter one? So the testimony about the

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Thessalonians has become, this was a people who worshiped idols, and they turned from those idols to worship the one true and living

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God, right? So Paul rejoices in that, to receive that kind of glory, to hear that being said about the

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Thessalonians because of this work of labor that Paul and his missionary brethren did for their salvation.

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But then he also has joy in his heart to know that these Thessalonians stand fast in their faith.

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That's what I wanted to say. Stand fast in their faith and continue to endure even in the midst of much suffering and much persecution.

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Now let's talk about that next year as we look at chapter three. So Paul says, therefore, when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone.

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Athens was where Paul was later on in Acts 17 when he sent

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Timothy back into Macedonia to check on the Thessalonians because they had to leave them so quickly.

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They were with them for such a short time. They had to leave them so quickly. Paul told Timothy, go back and check on the Thessalonians for us.

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Make sure they're all right. And teach them the word again. We sent Timothy, our brother, and God's coworker in the gospel of Christ to establish and exhort you in your faith.

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Now to establish means to stand firm. That they would know the truth of the word of God that had been given to them.

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They would believe it and cling steadfastly to it. And exhort you in your faith. Challenge you.

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So now you've heard the gospel. What's the response to the gospel supposed to be? That's what Timothy was going to teach them.

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Teach them all the more about Christ according to the scriptures and tell you what

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Christ expects of you. The imperatives, the applications of the gospel in your life.

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And Paul's even going to get to that with the Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 is filled with those kinds of exhortations.

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We'll see a call to brotherly love at the end of chapter 3. We'll see living a life pleasing to God at the beginning of chapter 4.

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And then the latter part of chapter 5 is going to be like these quick -fire imperatives that we see closing out the letter.

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So these are like some of the things that Timothy would have taught to the Thessalonians while he was there. Establishing them and exhorting them in the faith using the word of God.

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That's how we come to faith. Romans 10 -17, faith comes by hearing and hearing through what?

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The word of Christ. We came to faith because we heard the word of Christ.

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You heard the gospel, you heard the command, repent and believe and you obeyed it because of the work of the

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Holy Spirit that was being done in your heart. So we have all come to faith in this way.

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We're also established in our faith in this. So it's not just the word of God was used to bring you to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, but the word of God is what you continually sit under, right?

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You're in this class, you're hearing the word of God taught. You're going to listen to Pastor Tom teach through the first six verses of Jonah if you have not listened to the sermon yet this morning.

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We sit under the teaching of God's word and it's this that establishes our faith. It's this that grows us in our faith.

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It's this that continues to challenge us that we may do what is honoring and glorifying to God from week to week.

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That no one be moved by these afflictions, Paul says in verse 3, for you yourselves know that we're destined for this.

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We're destined to be afflicted for the gospel of Christ. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction just as it has come to pass.

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They saw the afflictions that Paul and his missionary brethren went through and they've endured those afflictions already.

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And just as you know, Paul says, and for this reason, when I could bear it no longer,

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I sent to learn about your faith for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.

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So Satan prevented Paul from coming back to Thessalonica, but was

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Satan's effort successful? Was it? No, it wasn't.

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Paul wasn't able to get back to Thessalonica, but who's still working there? With the gospel that had been given there,

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God's purposes continue, even though Paul physically couldn't get there. The Spirit's there.

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The Spirit's still working in the hearts of those Thessalonians to come all the more to conviction of faith and belief.

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Now, what was Paul afraid of happening to the

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Thessalonians? Let's turn to Matthew chapter 13. Turn to the

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Gospels, to Matthew chapter 13. This is the first parable that we have of Jesus in the

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Gospels, in Matthew 13, and it's also my favorite parable. It's the one that I've probably studied more than any of the other parables that Jesus gave.

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There was one I was really into this past week. I was reading on the wheat and the tares, which is later on in Matthew 13, and I was just like, oh, man, that's such a good parable.

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I don't spend enough time in that parable. But I love this one. I love the parable of the sower in Matthew 13.

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Let's look at this together, verses 1 through 9. Skip to verse 2.

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Great crowds gathered about him. He got into a boat, sat down, and the whole crowd stood on the beach, and he told them many things in parables, saying,

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A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and birds came and devoured them.

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Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depths of soil.

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But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and they had no root. But when, sorry, but when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away.

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Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some 60, some 30.

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He who has ears, let him hear. Skip to verse 18.

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The disciples asked Jesus, What is the meaning of the parables? Why do you speak to them in this way?

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And he says in verse 18, Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one, the tempter, remember, comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.

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This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.

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Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.

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As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

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But as for one that was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it.

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He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.

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So, having read the parable here, that Jesus gives in the parable of the sower, what was

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Paul's concern? What was he afraid was going to happen to the Thessalonians? What's that?

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They were going to fall away. How were they going to fall away? Satan?

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Yes, Satan was going to snatch it away. Right. To know that this was true.

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Absolutely. So remember, Paul was with them for a short time. This is a unique experience here, with how quickly

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Paul had to be there with the Thessalonians and then be scurried away. Every other instance we have of Paul going into a place and planting a church, he's there for quite a bit longer.

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Not three weeks. This was just a few weeks that he had with the Thessalonians in one of the richest cities, the richest city in Macedonia, one of the richest cities in the

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Roman Empire. And he's with them for such a short time. These people who were pagans, who worshiped false gods, they've turned from those false gods to worship the true

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God. But Paul is not yet sure in his spirit whether they really got it. Or was it just momentary while we were there?

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Then when we were persecuted, when we ran away, did they forget? Look at the three soils before the good soil again.

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You've got the path, you've got rocky soil, and you've got the thorns. Look at what happens to each one of those.

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When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, that's what the seed represents, and does not understand it, the evil one snatches away what was sown in his heart, and this was sown along the path.

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Couldn't that have been some of those there in Thessalonica? It was so quick. Paul was just there for a short time, share the gospel, boom, he's gone.

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There could have been those there that are like, well, I heard it, but I don't believe it. And the evil one came, snatched it away before it could have been sown in their heart.

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Look at the next soil. As for what was sown on rocky ground, verse 20, this is the one who hears the word and immediately he receives it with joy.

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Yeah, sure, Paul witnessed that in Thessalonica. He's teaching, they're going, oh, I'm a sinner,

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I'm worshiping idols, I need to repent and worship the true God. So he sees that response with his very eyes.

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Verse 21, yet he has no root in himself. Instead of rooting himself in Christ, he's rooted in himself, which you have no root in yourself.

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That's subjective, you can't do that. You're going to die. So that's not a place where you want to be rooted.

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He has no root in himself, he endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.

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Could that not have been some of the Thessalonians? Yeah. Persecution and tribulation, that they suffer on account of the word and then they fall away.

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As for what was sown among thorns, verse 22, this is the one who hears the word but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and it proves to be unfruitful.

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Could that not have been some of the Thessalonians? Living in such a rich and prosperous city as Thessalonica was?

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Yeah. Loving worldly things and they go after the world instead of the word and the word gets choked out and nothing happens with it.

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Yeah, amen to that. It's where we live today. We have these wonderful little technology devices that get way more of our attention than God does sometimes.

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And so the love of the things of this world can be those things that, likewise for us, become that distraction where we're not looking at Christ and we're looking instead at things in the world and how we may prosper in this way, how we may find our comfort in the world instead of in Christ.

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But Paul goes on to say, as for one that was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it and he indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another 60, and in another 30.

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Which one of these four soils was the Thessalonian Christians? The last one, right?

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They were the good soil that heard the word and received it and worshiped

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Christ. And Paul sends Timothy back there to work that soil all the more, but Timothy's able to come back and say,

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Paul, the crop we planted is doing well, it's growing. And the struggles and sufferings and persecutions and temptations that exist in this world have not prevented them from receiving

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Christ and growing in Christ. And my friends, we have to be careful that the afflictions that we face in this world, whether that's persecutions, whether that's our circumstances, or whether that's even the temptations of the world that try to woo us from Christ into what

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Satan's doing in this fallen kingdom. We have to be careful not to lose our hold on Christ in these days or in any days, that we hold steadfastly to him.

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As Jesus said to his disciples, it's the one who endures to the end that will be saved. So show yourself as one approved.

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Show yourself as one who has received the word and is growing in this word, is continuing in this word, is not being led astray by the world or Satan's wiles or any of these other things, temptations of our flesh.