Insight for Living

Guest (Male): What do you do when life closes in? When the pressure is relentless, the confusion is real, and the future feels uncertain? The Christians in Thessalonica knew that feeling all too well. Persecuted, afflicted, shaken to the core.

Yet the apostle Paul's response to their suffering might surprise you. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll describes a powerful, often overlooked principle for walking alongside people in pain. One that costs nothing, requires no special training, and yet can change everything. So let's pick up our study in 2 Thessalonians. Chuck titled today's message "Affirming the Afflicted."

Chuck Swindoll: 2 Thessalonians is rich with significance. Notice in the first chapter there is a tone of affirmation. These people are trudging through the mud and the muck of affliction. They're not only confused about their theology, they're disturbed about their physical safety. And Paul affirms them. It's a wonderful, wonderful chapter of affirmation. And he stirs up their hearts with strong words of confidence. And we're going to see that as we work our way through.

In the second chapter, he turns to an explanation of this misunderstanding. Look, for example, at some clarifying remarks. He says the day of the Lord hasn't come. First, there must be, verse 3, the apostasy. The apostasy. There's a whole system of apostate events that will occur, men and women, and that hasn't occurred. Well, not yet. You have not missed anything. It has not yet happened. And continuing in verse 3, the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. This is the man commonly called Antichrist.

Chapter 1 could be called persevering through affliction. Chapter 2 could be called trusting in the midst of confusion. And chapter 3, what a great balance. Some of these people had gotten so attached to the coming of the Lord teaching that they stopped working. And Paul gives a direct piece of advice to those people who went crazy with prophecy. Verse 6, chapter 3, "We command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," there it is again, "that you keep aloof from every brother who leads an unruly life, not according to the tradition which you received from us." Watch out for those people.

You yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, then he describes it. When Paul was among them, we didn't act in an undisciplined manner among you, neither did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we worked. We kept working night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you. Not because we didn't have the right to this. I mean, I was an apostle. But in order to offer ourselves as a model for you that you might follow our example. Verse 10, "If anyone will not work, neither let him eat."

Now, all of that is well and good. That's great theory, unless you're up to your waist in alligators, which is where they were. These people were walking through the fire. I mean, a virtual hell on earth had broken out in Thessalonica. You don't see it, you don't find any blood or reference to such on the pages of 1 or 2 Thessalonians, but it's there. Believe me, it's there. These people are really under the gun. And so what do they need? Well, they don't need judgment. They don't need criticism. They don't even need pity. They need affirmation.

A good principle to remember when you are with people who are afflicted: affirm. There is one wonderful response to people who are going through affliction, and that's affirmation. That's what we find when we go back to chapter 1. It's a great way to begin a letter to people who were A: hurting, B: confused, and C: really uncertain about tomorrow. He affirms them. It works like magic.

Paul and Sylvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. What a way to begin. He tells them right away of the security that there is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Every once in a while, just as an aside, every once in a while when you write a letter, add a word of reassurance to the person receiving the letter regarding his security in the Lord Jesus. Just a reminder. And then he tells them of the two pinions upon which that security rests. Grace, verse 2, and peace, verse 2. Both from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

And then right out of the chute, he says, "We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren." I love that response. "We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren." Now, this ministry of affirmation, I don't say very much about it, so I want to camp on it for a few moments. Don't worry, it never results in making the afflicted proud. Afflicted people don't get proud. It doesn't cause arrogance or laziness. It makes people want to do better and try harder.

It doesn't hurt their walk with Christ; it helps it. It doesn't pull them down; it sets them up. They leave remembering that better than they'll ever remember a sermon. Paul says it's only fitting that I do that. I mean, it's not an option. Your life calls for it. What was it? "Your faith is greatly enlarged," see in verse 3? This is why you affirm them, why he gave thanks. Your faith has been stretched and it's growing. And the love of each one of you all toward one another grows greater.

Here's the principle: divine perspective gives us the impetus to affirm others. Had he looked at their situation only, he could have only sighed and said, "I'm so sorry." Had he visited them and seen the fresh grave of a loved one, he would have wept, said, "I pity you." But through the eyes of the Lord Jesus Christ, who never releases a test without purpose, he saw meaning in their faith being stretched. He saw purpose in their love growing stronger. You know what else? It was an answer to prayer.

Do you remember from our study in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 his prayer for them? It came to my mind as I was working through verse 3. That's why he's affirming them. God is answering his prayer. 3:11, "May our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you." And look, verse 12, "May the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all men, just as we do for you." That was an answer to prayer. Say, what a practical word. When's the last time you said to someone, "You are going through the answer to my prayer"?

Your response to this situation is exactly as I asked God to make happen in your life. We don't know what that does to other people when we tell them that. We're quick at giving prayer requests; we're not too good at reporting prayer answers. Someone says, "Pray for me." "Sure, brother, sure." Three weeks later, "Hey, thanks for praying." "Uh, yeah, right." How good to come back in a few days and say, "How we doing in that particular thing I'm asking God for?" He's excited in verse 3 because their faith is enlarged and their love is growing just as he prayed.

You see, the divine perspective erases all reason to blame. Illustration: Joseph. His brother sold him into slavery. Potiphar's wife accused him of rape. Potiphar believed her, threw him in prison. Here he is, away from home, forgotten by his father, believed to be dead in an Egyptian prison, doesn't know the language, just beginning to get underway and putting himself back on his feet. He's forgotten in prison by the man who said, "I won't forget you" as he helped him out. And then in the process of time, he was picked up by the Lord and promoted to the Prime Minister. And now he had the brothers where he wanted them.

He could have just been waiting. "Bring those guys to me." And sure enough they came. One day they knocked on his door saying, "Could we have a little bit to eat?" "Sure." No, he didn't say that. He said, "You bet. In fact, bring my dad, because I'm Joseph." And they were shaking in their sandals, wondering what he was going to do. And he said, "Don't worry. You meant it unto me for evil, God meant it unto me for good." Don't ever forget that, friends. The better you learn that statement, the more affirming you will be of others.

"You meant it unto me for evil, but God meant it unto me for good." He didn't deny the reality of it. Sure, they had evil at heart. But over it all was the living God who said, "I'll let this pass through my fingers as I enwrap myself around my child Joseph, and I'll let him go through this misunderstanding. I'll work my purpose out in his life." When you see God's purpose being worked out in someone else's life, you affirm them and say, "I give thanks to God for you."

In fact, verse 4, he adds, "Therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you." And it means just what it says. Some translations render it "boast of you." Why? "For your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure." Link the word perseverance with afflictions and faith with persecutions. I'll show you why. This interesting word perseverance is the familiar *hupomene*. To abide under. Remember we've described that as an old beast of burden?

Like you see down in Mexico, where they load this burro with more and more stuff until you think they've got to build a platform to put more on. This old creature just stands there, and I don't think I've ever seen one fall. I've seen the load so heavy it just shifts as the little creature walks, but it abides under. That's this word: persevere. Persevere what? Afflictions. They persevere because of the trouble that comes bringing pressure. The word afflictions in this case always suggests pressure. The idea of something pressing upon you.

Earl Palmer has a wise, insightful comment about this particular event in the Thessalonian history. "The capital cities within the Roman Empire were the hardest places for Christians to survive because of the fanatical intensity of emperor worship at those centers. Also, the young church at Thessalonica was under considerable pressure from the members of the synagogue who were opposed to the growing Christian fellowship." Paul had been there. He remembered. You people are holding up under the pressure from the synagogue and the religious crowd and the affliction from Rome, and I'm proud of you.

This, by the way, brings up a second principle that you've got to remember. Depth perception gives us the insight to affirm others. Divine perspective gives us the motivation, the impetus. But depth perception gives us the insight to affirm. You see what I'm saying? He affirms them because of their faith, verse 3. Their love, verse 3. Their perseverance, verse 4. Their faith, verse 4. These are inside jobs. When you affirm other people, you affirm them because of character traits forming within them, and you tell them so.

Listen to a few random remarks about affirmation. Affirmation makes it easier for us to believe in God and to believe in others and to believe in ourselves as people with dignity. The lack of affirmation invites our suspicious nature to believe that our darkest thoughts about God, ourselves, and others are true. Before I go on, I want to assure you there isn't a person hearing me at this moment who doesn't have dark thoughts about himself. And the lack of affirmation says, "Your dark thoughts are right." It's tragic what that does to us.

Another man writes, "Our task as Christians is to live out a style of life that will allow people to discover their worth, their strengths, and their uniqueness, and to communicate how much God intends to do with them and for them." Isn't that a great way to live? You work with young people? They need affirmation. They're surrounded by pressures. They're surrounded by temptations and put-downs and sarcasm. The last person on earth they believe in is themselves. Victor Hugo said, "Man lives more by affirmation than by bread."

And the crowning point of all of it, verse 11, we jump because of the thought, we'll come back to 5 through 10 next time. "We pray for you always that our God may count you worthy of our calling and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power." We pray for you. You know who you pray for in this scene of affirmation? You pray for those you're proud of. I want you to know that this church is the most enviable place I know of in the world. It is the most enviable pulpit I can imagine. I've never seen one that can compare to it.

We are surrounded by a body of people who flex in worship, who flex in parking, who flex in seating. It's one of the few places you come and sit on someone's lap for worship. You are willing to shift and change and try new ideas. You are willing to build the body of Christ and to make it a thing to be delightful and attractive and contagious. I am surrounded by a few people whose children have now grown and married and left their mates and remarried someone else out of the will of God, and those parents still stay true to God, and I'm proud of you.

There are people in this assembly who had their mates walk away from them without biblical justification. You didn't want it. You strove against it and it happened. You find yourself a victim living with the stigma of a divorcee against your wishes, but you still have the self-confidence to come and to find your place and to worship, and I'm proud of you. Some of you live with incredible physical difficulties, and when I think about them, I can hardly finish my sentence. I'm choked up when I know of the pressures that some of you are living with, and I want you to know I'm proud to be associated with you.

Some of you operate your businesses and your practices above the level of the world. You are marked by integrity and thoughtfulness and courtesy, credibility, and I affirm you. I'm proud to be associated with you. I think at times churches leave like whipped dogs with their tails between their legs, yapping, getting out of the way of some whip from the pulpit. God bless you, I have no whip. I have affirmation. I give thanks to God for you. I speak proudly of you. I pray for you.

This is a good word for teenagers. Parents, here I go. Working their fingers to a bone, I mean meals and travel and money and work, and how many teenagers stop to say, "Hey, Mom, you're great"? Now, have the glycerin tablets ready when they come with those kind of comments because it's going to shake you up when you hear those. But listen to this, kids. How about the parents with their kids? You know, I brag about this church far more when I'm away from it than when I'm with you. That's the way we are, isn't it?

And maybe that's what our kids do. Never thought about that. Maybe when they're at school, they just spend all their day talking about how great their parents are. Come back to reality here. I got six words. I started with six words and I closed with six words. Here they are: look around, reach out, speak up. That's what this is saying to us. Look around. Great old preacher Joseph Parker used to say to young ministers in the making, "You'll never lack for a congregation if you speak to people who hurt. Speak to broken hearts, there's one in every pew."

There are several in every pew. You look up and down the pew where you sit and worship Sunday after Sunday, you're going to see broken hearts covered over by very attractive faces. Smiles breaking through as worship begins to affirm them. Look around, that's giving thanks. Reach out, that's saying, "I'm proud of you." And speak up. Not only tell the Father in prayer, but tell them how much they mean to you and the family. You know what? People often don't want an answer. They simply want a triumphant encouraging word from your presence.

I was putting the finishing touches on this talk, and when I did, I came across a great brief story about a troubled young man who once sought an interview with the great Phillips Brooks, the famous American preacher. When the long-awaited day arrived, he got his question just where he wanted it before he walked into the pastor's study, and he walked in. An hour later, he came out just transfigured. He was filled with joy. It was almost as if there was an aura around him as he was relieved and encouraged to go on.

It wasn't until about an hour or two later he thought, "I never did ask my question." And when telling someone about it, he said, "I did not care. What I needed was not the solution to a specific problem, but the contagion of a triumphant spirit." That is what worship is about. That is why corporate worship is essential. It sweeps a contagion over us that's a triumphant spirit. It says we come into His presence singing, "Hallelujah." It says we are one in the bond of love.

It says He knows what He's about. It says you can go on. You can make it through the rest of the day. You can even make it for a week in the strength of that affirmation. That's why I love it here. I tell you, they even pay me to do it. Don't tell anybody. It's wonderful. There's just one part of this story that's got to be put into the right place, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ, right? You thought I forgot Him, didn't you? I'm going to talk to Him and to you while your heads are bowed. Let's bow together.

Your worship is incomplete if all you've done is sing a song and read through a book of the Bible, hear children sing, and walk out with a little melody on your heart. No, there has to be Christ in your life. There's never, ever been a time in your life when you've said, "You know, Lord, I'm a stranger to You and I want to be a friend. I know Christ died for me and I'm a sinner. I'm lost and I want to come to Him because He lives for me. I want to be forgiven." There's never been a time you've done that. Do that now. Right now. Thank You, Father, for Your presence. We have come into it singing and it goes with us everywhere we go. Because of Jesus Christ, in whose name we thank You. Amen.

Guest (Male): With Chuck Swindoll's prayer, we conclude the first of eight messages in our study through 2 Thessalonians. The series is called "Steadfast Christianity." If you'd like to listen to Chuck's complete sermons on your phone, just download the convenient Insight mobile app. Here at Insight for Living, it's our custom to offer audio recordings of all of Chuck's sermons, and the eight audio files for Steadfast Christianity are available in a complete set. To order the audio messages today, call 800-772-8888 or visit insight.org/offer.

As a companion resource to our study in 2 Thessalonians, we're offering a classic book from Chuck that deals with a common theme. And that theme is leadership. If you think about it, no matter the capacity, everyone is a leader to someone. Whether it's your congregation, your staff at work, or your little ones at home. So this book about Nehemiah applies to everyone. Maybe you're carrying a heavy load right now. The work is hard, the critics are loud, and some days you wonder if it's worth it. Nehemiah felt the same way, but he kept saying, "Hand me another brick," and the wall around Jerusalem went up. Chuck's book by that same name will remind you why the work matters, how to lead through opposition, and where to find the strength to finish what God called you to build.

We'll send you a copy of *Hand Me Another Brick* when you make a generous gift to Insight for Living. Our address is Insight for Living, Post Office Box 5000, Frisco, Texas, 75034. Your gift makes a huge impact. Whatever amount you choose to send will be channeled toward reaching more people, folks just like you, with Chuck's Bible teaching. When they hear these programs, others learn to walk with God just as you have. Our address again is Post Office Box 5000, Frisco, Texas, 75034. You can also call 800-772-8888. And the book is available online when you visit insight.org/donate.

Bill Meyer: Why does God often remain silent in our suffering? I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindoll provides a biblical answer Friday on Insight for Living.

Guest (Male): The preceding message, "Affirming the Afflicted," was copyrighted in 1986, 1991, 2002, and 2024, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2024 by Charles R. Swindoll, Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.