Be Encouraged... through Fellowship - I Thessalonians 2:17-3:5

Be Encouraged… through Fellowship

I Thessalonians 2:17-3:5

Introduction: We’ve called our series “Be Encouraged,” and I know you were encouraged through the Word last week as Pastor David preached about the Bible as God’s inspired Word. Be encouraged, God has spoken! This week we will be reminded of our need for fellowship in the church, and it is another important means that God will use to encourage us as we live life and carry out God’s mission in this fallen world. In describing the early, Post-Pentecostal church in the book of Acts, we read in Acts 2:42, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Our series ties in with that as last week Pastor David talked about the Word, this week we’ll break bread as we celebrate the Lord’s Table. Paul has mentioned prayer already in this letter, and the passage for next week will talk more about prayer.
       Today we’ll be reminded of our need for fellowship, sharing our lives together, using our gifts to encourage each other and build each other up, bearing each other’s burdens. In the previous verses Paul talked about the connection between the suffering of the church and the suffering of Christ. Jesus had said to His disciples in the upper room, “If the world hates you, know that it hated me first…” (John 15:18). John said in 1 John 3:13, “Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.” Peter said it this way…

¹² 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.  ¹³ But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed… (I Peter 4:12-13).

There is a conflict between the light of God’s truth and the darkness of this world system, and “men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil…” The world rejected Jesus and crucified Him. What should we expect? God has left us here, but he hasn’t left us. He has given us the Spirit, and He has given us each other. Paul wants to encourage this young church, to assure them that he hasn’t abandoned them, and Jesus certainly has not. 

       By the way, I meet people all the time, and maybe you do too, who say that they are Christians, but they’ve given up on “church.” It’s become a “thing” these days. They read the Bible alone at home, or maybe even with their family, but they don’t feel committed to a local church. Too many hypocrites there, or they aren’t very warm and loving, or they are so prideful in their little cliques. And guess what, if you look hard enough, you will find problems with any church. But the church is God’s design. We need the accountability. We need to benefit from the gifts of others, and if we are not part of a church, we are robbing others of the benefit of the gifts God has given us! We are stronger together than any of us can be alone.

The Maine* Idea: God has given us the church to encourage us when life gets hard, so we can carry out His mission until He comes. We’ll see that 1) Fellowship flows from love for the brethren (2:17-20); 2) Fellowship strengthens us to live out the mission (3:1-3a); and finally Fellowship enables us to last through the trials (3:3b-5). 

I. Fellowship flows from… loving the brethren (2:17-20).

^2:17 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,  ¹⁸ because we wanted to come to you- I, Paul, again and again- but Satan hindered us.  ¹⁹ For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?  ²⁰ For you are our glory and joy.  

      Throughout this passage Paul uses strong language to express his love for the Thessalonians. He said, “we were torn away from you…” (ESV). The verb “torn away” is the root from which the English word “orphaned” is derived. It occurs only here in the New Testament. Some English translations use the word “bereft.” This gives a sense of the strong emotion with which Paul is describing being forcibly separated from the Thessalonians. Remember the context: he has used the language of a mother’s tender, gentle affection, he has spoken of a father’s loving correction and direction, and now he describes their separation as “being orphaned.” Death is always hard, but some of the most heart wrenching funerals I have been to have been when a parent has lost a child… That is how this experience is described by Paul. He loved the people to whom he ministered, and if it were possible, he would have stayed longer to strengthen them and deepen them in the faith. And suddenly, prematurely, he is torn away from them by circumstances beyond his control! It broke his heart to have to leave them. 

       One writer said, “Nearly every word in this passage revolves around their love for Jesus, His love for them, and their love for one another.” (M. Howell, I Thess. P.54).  Notice Paul says that he was bereft, orphaned, “…in person not in heart…” Though he couldn’t be with them physically for a time, they were on his heart, and as he has already said, in his prayers. His love for them had not changed. Out of sight was not out of mind. 

       “we desired all the more eagerly… with great desire to see you…” Paul uses this series of intensive, descriptive terms to describe the desire of his heart:  “we desired all the more eagerly… with great desire to see you…” If someone was claiming that Paul had abandoned them or didn’t care about them, or that he didn’t want to see them again, Paul is affirming quite the opposite: His eager, great desire was to see them! 

       Though he desired so strongly to come, Paul says that “…Satan hindered us…” How did Satan hinder Paul? We don’t know. How did Paul know it was Satan and that God himself was not shutting the door to his return (as he had done earlier on this journey in Acts 16:6-7)? Somehow Paul discerned Satan’s hand in the circumstances that kept him from returning personally to the Thessalonians. It is good to remember that we have an adversary, and that he is intent on shipwrecking our testimony individually, and as a church. We’ll get back to that in a minute. 

       “…our hope and joy and crown… at His coming…”  Paul alludes to a culmination of this story, a day when God himself will judge the faithfulness of His workmen, at the “coming” [Parousia] of the Lord (Paul will talk a lot more about that in this letter!). This is the first use of that word in the epistles to refer to the Lord’s return. Jesus is coming again! We should be looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. God will not only ultimately deliver us from the wrath to come, but he will give us what we need to “bear up” under the trials of life in this fallen world. Paul’s “joy and crown” is the Thessalonians themselves. The “crown” [stephanos] was the wreath that was placed on the head of the winner of a race.  As John would later write, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (3 John 4). Paul loved the Thessalonians like that. Beloved, let us love one another. If God so loved us, we ought to love one another. God has given us the church to encourage us when life gets hard, so we can carry out His mission until He comes. 

II. Fellowship strengthens us… to live out the mission (3:1-3a). 

^3:1 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone,  ² and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith,  ³ that no one be moved by these afflictions. 

       The emotion of Paul’s bond with the Thessalonians comes out in almost every verse, does it not? He says in 3:1 and again in 3:5, that he could “bear it no longer” – that is, to be without word about the health and faith of these young believers, was more than Paul could bear. And so, unable to go himself, He sent Timothy to encourage the Thessalonians. He was willing to be left alone in Athens. From Paul’s perspective, making sure that the Thessalonians were taken care of was more important than Paul’s comfort or desires. That is the J-O-Y of the Christian life isn’t it? J-Jesus first, O-Others second, Y-Yourself last. The care and discipling of the Thessalonians was what mattered most to Paul at this moment. So, he sends Timothy. 

       Notice the titles: “…Timothy, our brother, and God’s co-worker…” Timothy was the “junior” member of the missionary team, but Paul counted him as a reliable representative of the message and the mission. Here he is not called Paul’s “son,” but rather his “brother.” He also calls him “God’s co-worker.” Think about that. A young missionary apprentice, himself being discipled in the faith by Paul, being described as “God’s co-worker.” 

       Do you feel unworthy to have a part in God’s mission? On your own, you are! And so am I. But because of Jesus, because of his grace toward us, we are counted righteous. And the Holy Spirit himself has sealed us and is in us. God has chosen to use the weak things of the world, the foolish things, to confound the wise (see I Cor 1:26-31). He saved you on purpose for a purpose. And He left you in the world because you have a part in His mission! There is no plan “B”! Will we embrace our calling? 

       “…to establish and exhort you in the faith…” “establish” seems to imply our initial grounding in the faith. “Exhort” is the familiar verb, parakaleo, to encourage, to call alongside to help. That is a beautiful picture of discipleship, God’s design for the church. We are not a team of independent contractors called to be “lone ranger Christians.” We are called into a family, the Body of Christ, each of us important to the proper working of the whole. 

       “…that no one may be moved…” The goal, or the end that Paul desired was that the Thessalonians stand firm in the faith. Timothy, along with Paul and Silas, had a part in getting them grounded, but we also need each other to grow and be strengthened. One commentator said, “We may be saved by grace alone through faith alone, but God never intended for us to live life alone” (M. Howell, I Thess., p.66).  God has given us the church to encourage us when life gets hard, so we can carry out His mission until He comes. 

III. Fellowship enables us… to last through the trials (3:3b-5).

For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.  ⁴ 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.  ⁵ 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. 

       Paul had evidently taught them about life in this fallen world, including the certainty that believers will suffer. Jesus himself had told his disciples, “In the world you will have tribulation…” As we reflect the light of Christ, fallen humans, blinded by the god of this world, resist, as “men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil…” Paul did not simply mention this once to the Thessalonians, read v.4, “For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass...” This is repeated, emphatic teaching, something that no one could have missed. He kept telling them beforehand, and indeed, that is exactly what had already come to pass as they well knew. 

       When you believed, did someone tell you that now life was going to be smooth sailing, all health and prosperity? If they did say that, they might have had good intentions, but they lied! We have an adversary who is intent on destroying us. He was called Satan earlier, here, he is the “tempter.” We are in a spiritual battle! Later in this letter Paul will say, “…since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation… (I Thess 5:8; cf. Eph 6:10-18). 

       We have an enemy, and he is going about as a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour! He would seek to tempt us and to lead us astray, and he will use any means possible to attack the church. Have you noticed, in the Book of Acts, the struggles of the early church? The church grows through testing, but the trials alternate between attacks from outside, overt opposition by Jewish and Roman authorities, and attacks from within, such as the issues with Ananias and Sapphira (5), and the neglect of the Greek speaking widows (6). Later, God’s work among the gentiles became a point of contention with the Jewish Christians – what should be required of them with respect to the Law? You get the idea? The enemy would look to sow seeds of discord, in our hearts and in our church. He knows humans well. But greater is He who is in us, than He who is in the world! We need to guard our hearts, and also to be on guard, not letting the enemy get a foothold. 

What is God saying to me in this passage? We’ve seen that 1) Fellowship flows from love for the brethren (2:17-20); 2) Fellowship strengthens us to live out the mission (3:1-3a); and finally Fellowship enables us to last through the trials (3:3b-5).  God has given us the church to encourage us when life gets hard, so we can persevere, and carry out His mission until He comes. So, we need to be ready, and stay engaged in God's work! 

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Is the church a good idea for some people, but not really essential?  Can we “do” Christianity just fine on our own?  The Bible is clear on the subject. The writer to the Hebrews put it well when he said in Hebrews 10:24-25, 

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,  not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. 

God designed the church for our good, and for His glory. So, let us faithfully seek to love each other, to hold each other accountable, to provoke one another to love and good works, and watch out for each other… and to be on guard against the enemy. Let’s use our gifts to build each other up, and to faithfully carry out the mission God has entrusted to us!  That means meeting together for worship and living life together. Small groups, Sunday School classes, and also informal meals together and just spending time with each other. We are doing so, let’s excel still more, to God’s glory, AMEN.