A Grim Affliction

Well, our text for the preaching this morning will be found in 1 Thessalonians 3, verses 1 through 5.

If you turn your Bibles there, we will find how Paul describes his concern over the

Thessalonians in the previous message from Pastor Owens at the end of chapter 2 there, verses 17 through 20.

What prevented Paul from getting to the Thessalonians, and now in chapter 3, verses 1 through 5, what he did to finally get someone there, and the concern he had that led him to make sure somebody,

Timothy, as we will see, got there to the Thessalonians. We will talk more about the background of this in the message, but for now, please stand for the reading of God's Word.

I'll begin at chapter 2, verse 17, to remind us of the context and the flow of the

Apostle Paul's thought. 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.

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

Lord Jesus that is coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.

Now the text for this morning, begin at verse 1 in chapter 3. Therefore, when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent

Timothy, our brother and God's co -worker 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. 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.

For this reason, when we 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.

Please be seated. Let's once again go to the Lord in prayer. Our Father, we come to you now seeking your spirit.

We prepare hearts to hear your word, and that you would use the words that I have prepared, Father, insofar as they comport with the word that you have given us in the scriptures, that you would use them to the good of those who hear, and that you,

Father, would receive much glory in this place. In Jesus' name, Amen. So I want to begin by asking you a question.

What particular affliction that could be brought upon you would put you most at risk for losing your faith, for abandoning your walk with Christ?

I speak in grim terms here. The message is called a grim affliction. I speak in very intensive terms.

But what thing could be put in your path that would be most able, knowing yourself as you do, to drive you off the path?

What affliction? What temptation are you most prone to fall prey to?

Could it be greed? Could it be power? Ego?

Lust? We all have our particular weaknesses. We all have those things that would most tempt us and drive us away from Christ, or at least dilute our testimony of him.

What is it for you? What are you most prone and vulnerable to?

Well this morning, we're going to look at what the Apostle Paul was most concerned about for the

Thessalonians. We don't know how he knows what was happening there. He speaks of these afflictions as something very specific.

And we don't have anything like a third Thessalonian letter or an unknown letter or messenger that got to Paul, that told him what was happening and sent back, but he is very specific.

And he's very concerned that these afflictions and these temptations that came upon them actually gained success for the enemy of our souls.

There's a very grim prospect for the Apostle Paul. We could even say he lost sleep for it.

And so I ask as we begin to look at these five verses here in 1 Thessalonians, by asking you and asking you to consider as we go through this message, where am

I most vulnerable? What temptation, what affliction would drive me off the path, would dilute my testimony of Christ?

What would shipwreck me? It's a very important question.

And I think we can understand, or we will be able to understand in this message exactly what it was that Paul was concerned that the

Thessalonians had fallen prey to. And I'm going to wait and develop that in the message.

I'm not going to tell you up front what it is. I want to work these verses kind of from the outsides toward the center.

Just so you know where we're going here this morning. That in verses 1 through 5, where we read twice, bear it no longer.

In verse 1, we could bear it no longer. Verse 5, I could bear it no longer. We want to find out what it was that they could bear no longer.

What was going on there? What was so intensive? In verses 3 and 4, we will see exactly what it was that concerned him.

I will name it then. So you're going to have to stay tuned, because I will name it when we get to those verses.

What it was that concerned Paul. And finally, working towards the center, verse 2 will show us what

Paul did about this concern that was so grim on his part. So we set the context first for these messages, for these verses.

Most of this comes from Acts chapter 17, verses 1 through 9. It's the entire record of Paul's visit to Thessalonica.

Paul, Timothy, and Silvanus. Or Silvanus. And we read very quickly.

I'm just going to give you a very fast -moving thumbnail sketch, just to remind us. In Acts 17, 1 through 9, they got to Thessalonica.

He spent three Sabbaths preaching the gospel at the synagogue. He made some converts, or the

Lord made some converts, and they got chased violently out. They went to Berea, and again went to the synagogue, and had some success in the gospel.

And people were converted. These were Jews of a more noble character than those in Thessalonica.

But they got chased out of there by the Jews from Thessalonica who had followed them. They went to Athens, and Athens becomes very important.

That's why we're doing this thumbnail sketch. Athens is important here in the setting of 1 Thessalonians 3, and from Athens to Corinth.

So that's just a very quick thumbnail sketch, just a little bit of context of what was going on there, and how they got to where they were.

It's lacking in detail, but it serves a point that we need to establish before we actually jump into our verses. And there's a question here when

Paul says in verse 1, we could bear it no longer. Verse 5, I could bear it no longer.

Was Paul alone in Athens? Who is the we, and who is the

I? And he says, we could bear it no longer. We were willing to be left alone in Athens.

This isn't getting us too close to what the actual temptation was, and what it is

I'm asking you to look to your hearts about, but it becomes fairly important in understanding the verses. That's why I'm taking a little time with it here this morning.

Was the I in verse 5 the royal I? Or was that how he used it in verse 1?

Excuse me. For instance, when I say we preached on something a couple of weeks ago. I mean myself.

Is that the way Paul is using it here? Well, I'm going to spare you the details of my detailed analysis, but when

I came up with my idea, I found myself in line with no less an authority than William Hendrickson, well -known, well -regarded commentator.

And he wrote that the we alone in light of the context probably means Silvanus and I without the valued presence of Timothy.

So we in verse 1 and alone means Paul and Silvanus when

Timothy had been sent away. And in verse 5 where Paul repeats verse 1 by saying

I could bear it no longer, he's adding his personal and apostolic credential to the grim danger the young Thessalonian church was facing, and what

Timothy went there to correct. So with that background and understanding the intensity of Paul's concern, we can now go into our verses, and we're going to look at verses 1 through 5 first.

Therefore, when we could bear it no longer, and then verse 5 for this reason, when I could bear it no longer.

And what is it that they're concerned about? What is it that he could not bear any longer?

What he couldn't bear any longer was not knowing the condition of the Thessalonians faith.

He had reason to believe that the Thessalonians were suffering under affliction and temptation and that their faith, their faith in Jesus Christ itself was at risk.

And this comes from verse 2, 17 through 18. When we were torn away from you brothers, that's

Acts 17 verse 10, when they were torn away from the Thessalonians, for a short time in person but 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.

I, Paul, again and again, but Satan hindered us. Now, Pastor Owens pointed out last week when he preached from verse 2, 17 to 20, that when you see where your enemy puts his attention, then you know where to put your own attention.

Paul, with his prior experience and his direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he knew that it was the devil himself who impeded their return to the

Thessalonians. And so the urgency to go there, to bring reinforcements, if you will, was raised higher and higher, was more intensive.

Paul, from his experience, Paul, from the inspiration of the Spirit, Paul, through all sorts of means, knew that they were under a severe and a grim attack.

And he could not bear any longer to not know how they were doing under that attack. The word for bear can mean to endure, to hold up under something, but it comes from a word that they use for ships.

Ships that could bear up under the conditions of the ocean and not let the water in.

Paul and his team could no longer hold back this flood of concern, if you will, for the

Thessalonians. And remember, it's the Thessalonican faith that is at risk here.

This is what is concerning Paul. This is this grim danger that he is seeing.

And we wonder immediately, have you ever known someone whose faith is in a crisis?

Someone who's struggling with something has come to you, or maybe you've heard of them through other means, and they're in this crisis.

They're in a position that you don't know which way they're going to go. Are they going to stay with Christ? Are they going to apostatize?

What's going to happen? And it is such a crisis. They are in such a state. Perhaps they're getting a divorce.

Perhaps they've lost a job. Perhaps they are bankrupt. All sorts of things that we could hear about.

And not knowing where that loved one is with Christ and how their faith is holding up can put us in the kind of intense mood that Paul is in here.

It should, I would suggest it really must, if we really care and love that brother or sister.

Or maybe it's your own faith being swayed by doubts. It was unbearable for Paul to not know where things were.

And this is a concern we need to have for each other. This is a concern we need to have for ourselves, really, if it's our faith that is beginning to shake.

That's how grim his concern was. Unbearable, because the danger to the

Thessalonican faith was so real. A real and present danger.

So we understand from these two verses. Just from verse one, we could bear it no longer.

We decide to be left in Athens alone. Verse five, I could bear it no longer, so I sent to see about your faith.

Just understand here that Paul, the apostle, Paul who wrote something over half of our

New Testament, Paul, under direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has this grave concern for this affliction, for this temptation that's come upon the

Thessalonians. What was that concern? What was that concern that was so grave, so grim for the apostle, and should be for us today?

Verses three and four, they sent Timothy, that no one be moved by these afflictions.

For you yourselves know that we are destined for this, for when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we are to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.

Affliction, of course, temptation and persecution, it's part of the

Christian life. I mean, it comes with faith in Christ. Jesus told us that plainly. He said, in this world, you will have tribulation, and tribulation, in Jesus's word there, is the same as we have for affliction in 1

Thessalonians 3. In this world, you will have tribulation. Well, Paul's hope,

Paul's reason for sending Timothy, which we will come to, was that they not be moved, that they not be agitated by this affliction, or by this temptation that's come upon them.

Now, on the one hand, they've been forewarned. They were told plainly that Jesus said, in this world, you have tribulation, and Paul says to them, we told you beforehand, we kept telling you beforehand, that you're to suffer affliction.

Maybe they've been forewarned. Maybe he had used words like what the apostle Peter wrote in 1

Peter, excuse me, chapter 4, verse 12. He said, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you.

Affliction, tribulation, persecution is not strange. In fact, it would be strange, it should be strange, if the

Christian does not experience these things. Jesus said, we will have this.

The apostle Peter said, it's not surprising. It should be part and parcel of our life.

Paul told them over and over again, they were destined for this, and that the warning had now come true.

The word destined translates a word that means something that is laid, something's laid there for you. That's like in Luke, chapter 24, verse 12, when

Peter ran into the empty tomb. And what do you see? He saw the linens laying there.

It's used in 2 Corinthians 3 .15, the veil that lies over Israel's heart.

Afflictions lay in the Christian's path. You know, they don't just appear. It's not just bad things happening to miserable sinners.

It's the God -ordained consequence of true faith in Jesus Christ. It's a fiery trial.

It's a difficult trial, and Paul knew this better than most. He had at one time been the bringer of the affliction, and now as an apostle, he suffered under affliction.

He told them again and again, that these things are destined for you. They're laid in the path.

So you're going along, and you're moving towards the heavenly city, like in Pilgrim's Progress, and there it is in your way.

There's no way to get around it and stay on the path. There's a chasm on one side. There's a river on the other side, and there's the affliction laid in your path.

Not just something that got dumped there. A God -ordained affliction that is part of the

Christian life, part of the growing in the Lord, part of proving God's word is good and powerful.

They can't be avoided. Not just bad things happening. It's the God -ordained consequence of true faith in Jesus Christ.

It's the fiery trial. It's a difficult trial, and Paul knew this better than almost anyone.

And this should comfort us, shouldn't it? To know that these trials, these afflictions, these temptations are not just stuff that happens randomly, that is moving towards a purpose.

It was placed in our path with a purpose, to glorify God as we, as sinners, mortify the sin that the affliction has revealed in us.

And then we're able to move through it and keep moving towards Christ. That should be a comforting thought.

At some level, that's got to be a comforting thought that these things don't just happen. Remember the old song,

Charlie Brown? I'm not going to sing any of it for you. Don't worry. But it had a refrain. After the stanzas, he would say, why is everybody always picking on me?

Anybody remember? Anybody able to look to remember that? I got one hand. Good. Well, they'd been told why everybody was picking on them.

Paul told them again and again. We tell you again and again. Why are we being picked on? Why are you being afflicted?

Why are we being tempted? Why persecuted? It's because of Christ. If your faith in Christ is real, genuine, if God has given you salvific, as we say, faith, true faith to believe, repentance unto salvation, then you're going to be afflicted.

You're going to be tempted. And these temptations, these afflictions, should cause great concern, not only for ourselves, but for our loved ones around us, as they did for Paul.

Why does the world pick on us? Well, it's because of Christ. Because the world cannot stand losing its members to his grace, to his righteousness, the conviction that it is, when someone turns to true righteousness and holiness and repents of their sin.

Because to repent of our sin says, I no longer want to be what I was, which is what everyone else was.

So it's a conviction to them, and they cannot stand it. They don't like losing their members for that very reason.

It's the reason righteous lot was hated by the men of Sodom. It's because he stood for something. It's because we stand for something.

We stand for someone, that are not ourselves, but for Christ Jesus, whose spirit convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.

God willing, your spirit has been so convicted. But what was it they were going through?

I've been holding off telling you exactly what it was that it was going through. What was this grim affliction that caused

Paul so much concern? He said, I couldn't bear it any longer. I couldn't keep the flood out anymore. We couldn't stand it.

I was willing to send Timothy. We're willing to be alone in dangerous territory, because we had to know how you guys were doing.

Were you holding up? What were they going through?

And what this morning, does this scripture tell us, is the most deadly, or potentially deadly, attack against our faith, against your faith?

Well, it's all in that word in verse 3, moved. It's all in that word, that no one be moved by these afflictions.

The idea that they might have been moved off the bedrock of their faith, which afflictions can do.

But what was this thing? Was it that he was afraid they'd be moved, they'd be moved off their faith by something like their families being dragged away and put in prison?

Or them being, losing their jobs, their homes, perhaps being put to death. And Paul's saying,

I'm really worried that that's going to make you repudiate Christ. I'm losing sleep over that.

Well, it wasn't that. That's not what the word moved is about. It wasn't them losing jobs or friends because of their faith.

With the apostle and his companions out of the way, the devil began his attack against the Thessalonians in earnest.

Paul knew this. He afflicted them, just as Paul had warned.

And this is the grave affliction. It's grave because it's hard to identify. It's grave because it's hard to resist.

And this is what caused Paul no end of worry. Well, what is moved?

What is this word I've been kind of building up towards and I want you to be so careful of as we walk through this world and try to be more and more like Christ every day?

Well, moved is used only here in the Bible, this one place. It's the only place we find it. And the word means to flatter, to disturb, to agitate, to flatter, disturb, or agitate.

And agitate is probably mostly what Paul meant. No one would be agitated by these afflictions.

Now, why is this? And here's more interesting facts about this word moved.

It hearkens back. It came originally to mean a dog vigorously wagging its tail.

I'm not kidding at all. That's what the word meant. It came to mean agitated, moved, disturbed.

But it's originally a dog wagging its tail. And that then became known or became the word for flattery.

Now think about this for a moment. No one be moved. Originally a dog wagging its tail.

Or no one be flattered. And this spoke to me.

As I studied this and I was trying to figure out exactly what it is that Paul was so concerned about.

Can we know what it is? Can we know what to warn ourselves about? Well, yes. Flattery.

You know, we have a dog at home named Tucker. Many of you have seen our dog Tucker. He's part poodle, part afghan, part cocker spaniel, or some combination of thereof.

But he's 100 % love. He loves everybody. And he's that dog,

I think, that is meant in this word. That's the picture we have. You come into our house and that dog's gonna come up to you and you're not gonna feel threatened at all.

Why? Because he likes you. Are you a person who can pat him on the head? You're his guy.

He likes you. Whatever you are, whoever you are, whatever you've done, if you like him, he likes you and you're the greatest.

And I think this is something of a picture of what Paul meant when he says he was afraid, he was concerned.

He couldn't stand anymore not knowing whether this particular temptation, affliction, this attack by our enemy had had success.

That they'd been flattered. Unless you think

I've gone off the rails on this, I checked myself against again William Hendrickson, well known, highly regarded, especially in Reformed circles, commentator.

Now he wrote this, the danger was very real that those who were already being oppressed would be beguiled.

Their former friends acting as agents of the devil, taking advantage of Paul's absence, would try to woo them back to the idols that they had forsaken is the idea here.

And Hendrickson goes on, he puts it like this, we can fully understand how it was you were led astray.

Excuse me. This is what he's positing that the Thessalonian pagans were saying to their former friends who are now

Christians, this flattery. They would say to them to woo them back, to flatter them back, to be a tucker wagging his tail, saying we really like you, come on back.

You're really good the way you were, come on back. We can fully understand how it was you were led astray by those enthusiastic foreigners, but their sudden departure proves that they are not concerned for you at all.

Rejoin our ranks, the ranks of those who have always admired you and will promise you that we'll never mention the subject again now.

Can you see the apostle Paul's concern? Can you see why he said we can't stand it anymore not knowing?

Why? Because this sort of an attack against your faith can be so effective.

It panders to the ego, it panders to the me. It says I can or I did.

Well, here's our dog Tucker wagging his tail, just loving you because you're great, you're worth loving no matter what you are, no matter who you are, no matter what you've done.

This is the flattery I think that Paul is so concerned about for them, and we should be so concerned about for ourselves.

Where does this come from? Well chapter 2 verse 18, we read it comes from the devil, it is demonic, it is spiritual warfare, and this alarmed

Paul. Flattery is what alarmed him, that they'd be flattered away from Christ was so real a possibility that he couldn't bear not knowing.

Paul wrote earlier, excuse me, look at verse 5 again.

For fear that the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain. This is how real, this is how intensive, this is how grim that attack can be.

To build up your ego, to raise you up more than the scripture would have us to do.

For fear that the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain. I want you to see just how real this possibility was to the apostle

Paul. That the labor he had there would be in vain.

In chapter 2 verse 1, Paul wrote, for you know brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain.

It was not in vain. As Paul preached them, we can read about this in chapter 1. For we know brothers, verse 4, loved by God, that he has chosen you because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power in the

Holy Spirit with full conviction. And you know, our coming to you was not in vain.

And now he says, for fear that our coming was in vain. What's going on here?

Think of how real the temptation is. Think of how real this affliction is and the danger that it posed.

The title here, tempter, is only used here and again in chapter 4 and verse 3 of Matthew.

Matthew's gospel. And when the tempter, the devil, Satan, came to tempt none other than Jesus Christ.

Now without going through the entire battle between the Lord and his enemy, our enemy, what was the upshot there?

The upshot was that the enemy, that Satan, tried to tempt

Jesus into following an easier course in accomplishing God's will. Something like, you know, you're so great

Jesus. You're so powerful. You're the son of God. Hey, you know, if you're hungry, why don't you just turn this rock into bread?

Because you can do it. You're great, aren't you? It'd be a little easier way, wouldn't it? Well, no,

Jesus wouldn't do that. You know, you're so cool. You're so powerful. God loves you so much.

If you throw yourself off this pinnacle, you know, nothing's going to happen. Because God loves you so much.

He won't let you dash your foot against that rock. Why don't you go ahead? Well, of course Jesus wouldn't. What is all this?

And then the final one where he shows him all the kingdoms. He says, I'll give it all to you. All you have to do is worship me.

And of course Christ wouldn't. And answered him with the word of God each time. Well, I think those temptations against Jesus are very similar to Paul's concern for the

Thessalonians. And our concern should be for ourselves and for each other. This idea of flattery, this idea of doing it easier way, this idea of you deserve not to have the trials and the tribulations and the hardships of the

Christian life. You deserve something more. Just do it this easier way.

There's a simpler way. There's another path. This is a very deadly form of temptation.

A very effective form. This flattery, this building up of the self.

I heard a preacher several years ago. I will not name him. Not the one you're thinking of in Texas probably.

Who once said that you know God's will for you is to feel good about yourself. And I want to tell you how much

God thinks of you. Because you are worth Jesus dying for. Do you know God looked down and saw you and said,

I'll have my son die for that one because I like him so much. Now I'm not quite quoting the man anymore, but that's extremely close to what he actually said on the radio.

I was just shocked. This is the flattery. This is the ego stroking temptation and affliction that so alarmed

Paul. You know you read the letters that Paul wrote.

You never read of him being concerned about Christians being dragged out of their homes and killed for being

Christians. Now he would be concerned about that. But what do we read of his concerns? In Galatians, the

Galatians were going to return to parts of the law in order to achieve what Christ alone achieved.

That alarmed Paul. The Corinthians, their lack of unity, their lack of love together showed something about their lack of love for Christ.

And that alarmed Paul. Always the easier way out.

Always the slip off this path a little bit. Get there the simpler way. Get there the way that shows that I don't deserve these afflictions.

I don't deserve to have to go through this. I think this is one of the most intensive ways that we get knocked off the path.

Why would Satan do this? If this is spiritual warfare, which it is. If this is something that we're going to go through so long as we're waiting for Christ to return.

Until he returns, we are going to go through this. Why this? Why is it so effective?

Well, I think Satan wins a greater victory when he succeeds in neutralizing you than if he should have you killed outright.

Read Foxe's book of martyrs and read some of the testimonies of people who went to the stake and called out

Jesus' name and declared their faith even if the flames were coming up and all sorts of other tortures and things that were put in their path and put before them.

Just say Christ isn't Lord and you can avoid and then fill in the blank.

Read Foxe's book of martyrs. And what happens when that person gives their very life for Christ?

Christ is honored. Saints are encouraged when we read those testimonies.

What happens though? If we fall victim to flattery, to I'm okay, you're okay sort of thinking, we get neutralized.

Our testimony of Christ has no more basis because our life doesn't match our words.

We become completely ineffective. They say flattery will get you nowhere.

That's an old expression. It's not true. It gets you everywhere. Flattery gets you everywhere.

And especially I think our enemy, our adversary, would use flattery to gain his victories.

Remembering that Paul was so concerned about the reality that this could be successful, that he could bear it no longer.

I repeat this so you know that this is the apostolic concern. This is what's in scripture. This is what he was so afraid of.

He doesn't wonder whether the tempter had tempted. He's concerned whether the tempter's efforts had succeeded.

He feared that Satan would quite possibly win a round. Now, this is

Paul who wrote in Colossians 2 .15 that Jesus disarmed principalities and powers.

He made a public spectacle of them. He triumphed over them in it, in the cross. Jesus won.

And Paul knew that better than almost anyone. Matthew 12 .29

where Jesus binds and plunders the strongman's house. There's Jesus coming in, binding up Satan and plundering of you and me.

Paul knew this. John 16 .33. Jesus says, but take heart, I have overcome the world.

Paul knew that one too. And yet, with all this, he feared that the tempter had won.

And that his efforts there in Thessalonica would have been in vain. Paul believed in Jesus' victory, as God willing you believe in Jesus' victory.

I believe that Jesus disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of them on the cross.

And yet, the apostle Paul, believing in that victory, also feared

Satan's success so much that he could bear it no longer. Flattery comes in subtle forms.

It's not the devil coming to you in a red suit with his forked tail and a pitchfork. And he says to you, hey, stranger,

I'm Satan. I'm the devil. And I want you to come along with me. Where do you want me to go?

Oh, into eternal torment. I want you to forget about repentance, and I want you to come to a lousy place that forever and ever and ever you're going to suffer for your sins.

He doesn't do that. What does the apostle Paul say? That he comes as an angel of light.

Can you see Tucker? Now our dog's a nice dog, and dogs don't have souls, but you can see

Tucker coming up just saying, hey, I really like you, and you're really worth liking.

And you're really good the way you are, and on and on and on it goes. And we flatter ourselves.

And our testimony gets more and more diluted. The apostle Paul could bear no longer to know if this had not been the case with the

Thessalonians. How do we flatter ourselves? You know, the first thing you might think is,

I can't get over how grand I am. I just can't get over the fact that I was so worth saving that God sent his son to save me.

He looked through the annals of history and said, there's one I've got to have in heaven. Well, nobody actually says that.

But we can build ourselves up. We can flatter ourselves, and we can hear flattery, like the preacher that I quoted earlier.

Well, that's the obvious one. But then there's another form of flattery that I think is more insipid, that I think is more subtle, that I think is even more damaging.

We think, how bad I am. I'm just a lousy, miserable sinner who deserves forever to suffer before the

Lord. We look at Jeremiah chapter 17, verse 9. The heart is deceitful above all things.

Oh, stop. That's me. I've got a new heart, so I believe in Jesus Christ. But my heart's deceitful above all things.

I can't know how bad it is, how terrible I am. On the one hand, if we're pumping ourselves up and saying how grand

I am, it's like saying God had to reach down from heaven to pull me up because I was so worth pulling up. If we go the other way, we flatter ourselves by saying, you know,

I've become so bad that Christ from the cross couldn't pull me up. He didn't do anything for me.

You know, they're both over -optimistic on the power of self, and they're both a form of flattery.

And there's a balance that we have. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, the godly for the ungodly.

That Jesus Christ, He is the Holy One of God. He is the

Righteous One. And it's by Him and by faith in Him, by the faith that He gives to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, that He died for your sins, that you're saved.

And not of yourselves, it says in Ephesians 2 .8, but it's the gift of God so no one can boast.

When we think of how grand we are, it's pretty obvious how bad that is.

Remember too, that when we constantly beat ourselves down, if all we want to remember is

I deserve a worm that never dies, to be tormented forever, it's as if we're saying that I'm so bad that Christ's cross couldn't even save me, which is just another side of the same coin of flattering ourselves in the more positive traditional sense.

I think either way, the Apostle Paul was alarmed. Because either way, whether you're up here saying how grand

I am, or down here saying how bad I am, I think we're overemphasizing the power of self.

And this is flattery. This is what alarmed the Apostle Paul. The most dangerous attack on your faith is not always the obvious one.

It's not the Gestapo kicking down your door and yanking you out into direct torture and persecution.

No, it's the more subtle one. It's not the do this or die. It's not the deny Christ or I'm going to kill you.

But it's more, lift up yourself.

Be careful of the subtlety of our enemy. Be careful of anything that puts you as stronger than the cross.

And I say this in a Reformed church, my heart breaks sometimes for Reformed believers that can't get over how bad they are and can never put the word there how bad

I was. Because now by Christ's sacrifice, by God's mercy, not saying

I've become worth more, not saying I'm qualitatively better, but God sees you how?

He sees you as in Christ Jesus. Jesus in chapter 17 of John prayed that they would know the love that God has for them just as he has for him, his son.

A straight line. Does this pump us up? Does this make us better than we are? No. It gives us the balance.

While we were yet sinners, I would still argue that to go either way is equally unbalanced.

To pump myself up too much, to drive myself down too far, to forget that the cross actually did something, and to remember that the cross humbles me and keeps me looking to Christ and Christ only for my power to live rightly by God.

Remember just how real this was to Paul. Remember how much we must pray for ourselves.

Remember to pray for others who are getting caught in these kind of clutches by the enemy. Remember that this is a very grim affliction.

That this flattery can have great effect. And what is our defense against that?

What did Paul do to reinforce the Thessalonians, to see how they were doing?

In verse 2, we sent Timothy our brother and God's co -worker in the gospel of Christ to establish and exhort you in the faith, to strengthen them in the faith.

They sent Timothy to bring the word of God to them because our defense against going either direction of flattering ourselves by too good or too bad, this effective attack from the enemy against our faith is the word of God.

To look to the scriptures, to see what God says about who we are, who Christ is, what

Christ has done for us, and what that means to us in the here and now. Your defense against the affliction of flattery is the word of God.

Paul sent Silvanus and Paul and Silvanus sent Timothy, excuse me, to give the word to the

Thessalonians. And some commentators even think that the reason Paul sent Timothy instead of himself was that Timothy being a

Greek would fit in and not draw negative attention to himself. But I think that's not really correct.

I don't think he sent Timothy because he would fit in and not get persecuted for being there again. They were chased out.

The Thessalonians knew who they all were. Timothy went into enemy territory. Paul would not have sent someone who was not up to the task.

He was so concerned for the Thessalonians. He sent God's co -worker. Someone working alongside

God, as it were, in the gospel. Someone who had been tested in the fire of persecution. He was there in Philippi.

He was there in Thessalonica. He went to Athens. He went to Corinth. No, he sent the word of God from a tough, seasoned veteran.

And if we read the scriptures, and Timothy seemed to be a bit retiring. Timothy had that problem with his stomach. He would still take a little wine in his water.

Remember that Timothy was really tough as nails. And remember that when the word of God is being proclaimed to you, it's not the outer man you need to see, but you need to hear the word of God as it's being proclaimed to you rightly from a man of God.

Whether Timothy was impressive in appearance. Paul himself said he wasn't impressive in appearance or in speaking.

Timothy was the one who went to this area where Paul was certain Satan was attacking the

Thessalonians. That's just a short defense of Timothy here, who

I don't think is a shy and retiring guy. I think of him as a tough evangelist who knew what he was doing.

Paul wouldn't have sent him if he wasn't convinced that he could do this. And when we get to verses 6 through 10 next week, we'll see the results that Timothy had there.

The report that he brought back to Paul, which those of you who've read through Thessalonians before know it was a positive report.

Now the Bible doesn't beat us down with constant reminders of how unworthy we are. That's flattery on one side.

He says, for while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person or that perhaps for a good person one would even dare to die.

But God chose his love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. So what do we learn here?

We learn that flattery is a grim affliction. We learn that it's among the most effective ways of neutralizing our testimony of our faith in Christ Jesus.

It's like kryptonite against superman. We learn that the possibility, the bad things that could happen, should we allow the flattering affliction to take hold of us, is a very real thing.

Brethren, let's pray for ourselves. Let's pray for each other. We must understand that the apostle, and so we must be, but the apostle was so alarmed by the possibility of them succumbing to this affliction, that we must be too.

We must learn to pray against the devil's schemes as against an enemy who's real and knows his business.

We must pray as Abraham prayed in Genesis 18 for the city of Sodom.

He prayed as though he could change God's mind. Well, God's counselors are set from before the foundation of the world.

I think Abraham knew that and yet prayed as though he could do something about what was happening there.

Pray as though these afflictions are real. Pray as though they could have real effect.

And pray as though our tempter, our enemy, the enemy of our souls, could have that success.

Pray this even knowing that Jesus ultimately won the victory. Amen. Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing us together and thank you for your word.

And we pray, Father, that we would be ever aware of this grim affliction, this grim possibility of what flattery can do.

We would always watch to our souls and look to Jesus Christ and be humbled by him and by your spirit,

Father. Always have a realistic view of self and most importantly of Christ Jesus and his work on the cross.