According to the Scriptures

Guest (Male): Pastor Damian makes this observation as we get ready to dig into 1 Thessalonians chapter three.

Damian Kyle: Paul repeats a phrase in chapter three fully five times. And the phrase is a two-word phrase, and the phrase is "your faith." And he's communicating that to the church in Thessalonica is your relationship with God, it belongs to you.

No wife, no spouse, no preacher, not a world of them can make you do anything with your faith. Only you and I have the power and the control over our own relationship with what it is that we will do.

Guest (Male): Hey, thank you for spending part of your day with us here at According to the Scriptures. We're about to dive back into Damian Kyle's series "While We Wait," a study in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. The church at Thessalonica was in the midst of persecution and affliction, big time.

So, he sent Timothy to encourage and strengthen them. You're about to hear Timothy's report on how they were doing, and it's a good one. We'll be covering 1 Thessalonians chapter three, starting at verse five.

Damian Kyle: Fourth, Paul sent Timothy in verse five to encourage and to strengthen the church there in Thessalonica, lest Satan use the situation to tempt them to abandon their faith, their Christian faith in order to be relieved of the persecution and the affliction.

Well, if Jesus in my life is what has brought on all of the hardship and all of the persecution, then anybody can figure out the quickest solution to this is to just abandon Him and go back to what it was. And Satan will often times use a period where we're in deep trial or great difficulty. We've seen previous study in this series he never plays fair.

So often he will wait until he sees that we are really in the middle of a storm. Our Christian life is really costing us relationships, it's costing us in whatever area in our life. And then he brings all of his demonic influence in an attack against us in order to discourage us and or to get us to enter into self-pity.

So this is how God takes care of you? You never had it this bad when you weren't a Christian. What's going on here? You don't have to put up with this. You deserve better than this. Forget about God's will for your life. You've got to take back control of your life when your life was tolerable. You don't have to put up with this.

And we always have to remember there's always a demonic angle to any attempt to dislodge us from the faith. And don't fall for it. Don't fall for his devices. He's always at work in it.

And then in verses six through ten, Paul's concerns and his sending of Timothy to do all these things. But the reason that he sent Timothy was because of these concerns in his heart. And so Timothy comes back with a report that he had done these things and a positive report related to the church, and Paul's concerns were alleviated as Timothy brought that news to him in Corinth.

And just reported, "No, these Christians, they are persevering in the faith in the face of all of this." Verse six, the news came that their commitment to their Christian faith remained strong. Their love for one another and their affection for the Apostle Paul remained strong.

Verse seven, this news, Paul tells us, was a tremendous encouragement to him. And then in verse nine, for which he rejoiced and thanked God, knowing that God was the supernatural source of this perseverance.

Paul couldn't even maintain a presence in that city in the will of God. He had to move out when he did. And so who were they left with? They were left with God. And Paul recognized their perseverance, their continuation, the prospering of that church and these Christians.

I played a part in establishing it, but it's owed entirely to God. And so he thanked the Lord for that. Incredible to think, and I think we've spoken about it earlier in the series, just to stop and think about, remember the first day you were a Christian, if you can, or the first few days you were a Christian.

You're a brand new Christian. I mean, you don't know anything. And how do you get from the vulnerability in the face of the world, the flesh, and the devil to then end up walking with God for months and years and multiplied decades? Except that God is true to His promise, that when He begins something in our lives, He's going to bring it to completion.

And so Paul knew where credit was due, and he gave credit to the Lord. And he expressed in verse ten his longing to be with them once again and to be further used by God in this process of strengthening and encouraging them in the future.

And then we notice, as the section closes in verses 11 through 13, Paul's prayer for them. He prayed in verse 11 that it would be possible in God's will that he might have an opportunity to return to the church and do face-to-face himself what he had sent Timothy to do.

And then in verse 12, he prayed for their continued spiritual growth and loving one another and loving the world that was presently persecuting them. And then finally, he prayed that God would continue His work of sanctification in their lives.

That God would make their lives more and more holy, more and more Christlike so that they could stand blameless before the Lord at Jesus' return and the rapture of the church prior to the seven-year tribulation period.

And we see once again, as Paul does at the end of each of the five chapters of 1 Thessalonians, he ends each chapter—he didn't do it, but the people that added the chapters and verses did a wonderful job in it—all five times in the five chapters, he ends with a reminder of Jesus' return.

And a reminder here of how important that watching and waiting for His return is, that that influence is upon our holiness, upon our sanctification, that we would be in an obedient state when He does come at any moment.

Now, some of you might be hopeful that I would end right here at 29 minutes, but then the other half of the congregation would die and faint. So just for a couple more minutes, I want to leave the 99 sheep this morning in order to go after the one in closing here this morning.

One of the things that is astonishing to me about 1 Thessalonians chapter three is the insight that it gives us into the Apostle Paul. And to me, the insight is really nothing less than astonishing insight and revelation, and it is one that provides a lesson for each of us.

If you read this chapter over and over again, you can't help but noticing and be impacted by the revelation of the heart of Paul concerning the personal investment he had made in those Christians in Thessalonica, not only spiritually, but emotionally, mentally, and physically, the degree to which he had invested his very life in them.

So the passage, as you might read it again another time later today or this evening, it just pulses with Paul's emotion, with pathos, with a sense of vulnerability on his part. In that regard, I want you to notice he repeats the same phrase concerning himself in the passage.

And the phrase in verse one is when he said, "Therefore, when we could no longer endure it." Wow. He sent Timothy when we could no longer endure not knowing how they were doing. And then in verse five, he said, "When I could no longer endure it."

And the word "endure" comes from a Greek word that means "a cover." And Paul represents his heart, his emotional state for them, his spiritual state toward these new Christians as being like a pot that's filled with boiling water that's in it, and then you've got a lid on it.

And boiling it becomes so great that it required lifting the lid off of the pot. In other words, his concern for their well-being was so great, his concern was so intolerable that he could no longer endure the uncertainty of not knowing if they were okay.

And then you back into verse one where he declares that he was left alone in Athens. And so here he is in the city of Athens, a city that is completely given over to idols, completely given over to the worship of the demonic. They had idols everywhere.

It was Idol Central in the ancient world. It was a demonic stronghold in the ancient world. And the Apostle Paul then, in that environment, in the very environment where you would not want to face the physical, the spiritual, the mental, the emotional demands of that environment alone.

Given the fact that Jesus in His wisdom, when He sent out the disciples, He sent them out in twos so they could be a support to one another in that kind of an environment. And yet Paul in that environment takes the final co-laborer next to him in the person of Timothy and says, "I will dispatch him to Thessalonica so I might know what their condition is."

Even when it means me being left alone in this city of Athens and the environment that it was. And so thus a great sacrifice to himself, he sent Timothy from his side. And the Greek word that Paul used for "left alone" in his letter in order to express what the sacrifice of having Timothy leave his side meant to him.

No hyperbole, no exaggeration, but a speaking to them of what it meant for me to dispatch Timothy to you. The word that is used for "left alone" means to be left companionless, devoid of help, being filled with a sense of desolation, of abandonment.

I think only God and Paul knew what he faced alone in Athens and then later in Corinth and the sacrifice involved in sending Timothy in order that they would be established in the faith, or he never would have mentioned it unless it was a great sacrifice.

And in the same way, we have no idea the level of self-sacrifice others have endured in order to establish our faith and to encourage us in the course of our Christian life. You notice in verse five, he says, "Lest our labor might be in vain."

And here is Paul with a recognition that all he'd gone through, all that was involved there, that there was the potential that the labor that had been done in Thessalonica could end up empty or in vain. And all of the hopes and dreams that he had behind the sacrifice that his time there represented would amount to nothing.

And that's the risk that every person who ever invests in our life spiritually takes. Having invested in our lives, we now hold in our hands whether that investment will turn into something or whether it will amount to nothing.

And then in verse seven, "Therefore, brethren, in all of our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by our faith." And so here we see that those who have invested in our lives spiritually have done so not from a carefree life or an idle life.

But the people that have invested in our life spiritually are people who have done so while bearing their own afflictions and their own distresses in life. And sometimes we don't recognize it until far later, many years later as a Christian, where we look back and we see at the beginning only the investment, the importance that they came into our life, spoke the things that they did, encouraged us.

And then only later do we sometimes realize what was going on in their life at the time and the level of sacrifice that was being made by them in the midst of their own problems to minister to us. And then when Paul learned that they had continued in their Christian walk, it was a joy.

In essence, he says, "A great burden was lifted off of my mind." And then I think, not almost shockingly, but absolutely shockingly, Paul declared in verse eight, if you'll notice it, as he gets this news back, he said, "For now we live."

What kind of an investment of a human being in another person, what level of investment is encapsulated by words like that? "Now we live if you stand fast in the Lord." A couple of other translations help to capture it. J.B. Phillips puts it this way: "To know that you are standing fast in the Lord is a breath of life to us."

Amplified Bible is very helpful as well: "Because now we really live, in spite of everything, if you stand firm in the Lord." And that statement represents the personal investment of love and concern that Paul had put into their lives.

And every one of us as Christians have had such people in our lives, and still do, I'm sure. And then in verse nine, he described the joy that their victorious perseverance through trial and distress produced in him, and he said, "For all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake."

And all of that in chapter three not only represents the spiritual, the emotional, the mental, the physical investment of Paul into these Christians in Thessalonica, but it represents the investment that others have made into each of our Christian lives.

Whether it's been parents, whether it has been friends, whether it's been spiritual mentors, whether it's been siblings, whether it's been pastors, or whether it's been other Christians within a local church.

And all of that is to say nothing of the indescribable investment of God Himself and of Jesus Himself into our Christian life. And please allow me to speak into the privacy of the hearts for sure not of all, but of some in this regard this morning.

A question like, "Are you backslidden this morning?" So I ask it: Are you in the privacy of your heart backslidden this morning? It's a rare backslider who doesn't know they're backslidden. So I just want to give a moment for this not to be a point in a sermon, but for you to feel uncomfortable with what God might be doing here right now.

Are you backslidden as a Christian here this morning? Then you are living a life that is unworthy of the investment God has made in you, that others have made in you, and a life that is unworthy of being called Christian. And that's the fact of the matter.

Are you backslidden in heart this morning where nobody can spot it on the outside yet? But what goes on inside of me is way different from how I portray myself to other people. And the problem with the backslider in heart is that the backslider in heart has a certain period of time where we can keep it hidden from other people, but we can never keep that condition hidden from God.

Did you once commit your life to Jesus, but when the Christian life became hard and it began to really cost you something to identify with Christ, that you attempted to escape the afflictions of the Christian life through compromise?

And you know you did it, and you regret it, but you've never faced it related to your life. Are you a lukewarm Christian this morning? Are you a prodigal son or daughter this morning? And to realize that it doesn't just affect you.

It affects every single human being who has invested in your life of the most valuable things that they possess, and that is of their love and of their time. And just as the proper response of these Thessalonian Christians elevated the hearts of everyone, including the Apostle Paul who had invested their life in them.

So, too, to live a backslidden, lukewarm life, it sinks the hearts of those who have done so in the investment, likewise in those that have backslidden or live a lukewarm life. And it disheartens the body of Christ, from spouses, from husbands and wives, to children, to friends, to the body of Christ as a whole.

To have been spiritually invested in spiritually by others is a tremendous privilege and blessing, but it's also a responsibility. And Paul repeats a phrase in chapter three fully five times. And the phrase is a two-word phrase, and the phrase is "your faith."

And he's communicating that to the church in Thessalonica is your relationship with God, it belongs to you. No wife, no spouse, no preacher, not a world of them can make you do anything with your faith. They can't change you, they can't move you, they can't get you to repent.

They can't get you out of being in a condition that Paul feared might have come upon Thessalonica. Only you and I have the power and the control over our own relationship with what it is that we will do, to either live a life that communicates that the investment in our life has been well-placed or whether it has been wasted or poorly placed.

Guest (Male): A good reminder there of our responsibility when it comes to our relationship with God. On that note, we'll draw today's According to the Scriptures to a close. Pastor Damian Kyle is developing our series called "While We Wait," our study of 1st and 2nd Thessalonians.

For resource requests, like today's message on CD, call us, won't you? 209-545-5530. That's 209-545-5530. Pastor Damian Kyle's studies can also be heard online on our website, accordingtothescriptures.com, as well as oneplace.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

We also have a church app where you can listen to Damian. Search for Calvary Chapel Modesto in the App Store or Google Play. If you'd like to be a partner with us through a financial gift, you can do that as well through our website, accordingtothescriptures.com. And thank you very much.

Let me also give you our mailing address. That would be According to the Scriptures, 4300 American Avenue, Modesto, California. The zip code is 95356. And don't miss our next study when Pastor Damian Kyle will again open the Word, helping us to live our lives according to the Scriptures. This program is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Modesto.