The profound impact of anticipating the Lord's return on a believer's life, arguing that this expectation should permeate every aspect of Christian conduct. It details how the imminent coming of Christ serves as a powerful antidote to various spiritual dangers, including idolatry, slackness in service, division within fellowship, depression, and sin. The message draws parallels between the Apostle Paul's deep pastoral care for the Thessalonians, likening himself to a nursing mother and a father, and the believer's responsibility to nurture and strengthen one another. Ultimately, the sermon concludes that a genuine embrace of Christ's return transforms believers into stable, loving, and vigilant followers, mirroring the selfless love and dedication of Christ himself.
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Thessalonians chapter three please probably we'll look at verse seventeen of chapter two chapter two and verse seventeen chapter two of first Thessalonians and verse seventeen have we brethren been taken from you for a short time in prison but not in the heart Endeavouring more abundantly to see your faith with great desire Therefore we would have to come unto you even I Paul once and again But Satan hindered us that what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ?
That is coming for if ye are our glory and joy. Chapter three, verse one. Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone and send Timotheus, our brother, minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, to comfort you concerning your faith, that no man shall be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation, even as it came to pass.
And you know, for this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith. lest by any means a tempter, having tempted you, and our labor be in vain. But now when Timothis came from you unto us, brought us good tidings of your faith and love, and that you have a good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you. Therefore, brethren, we were comforted, over you all in our affliction and distress by your faith.
For now we live if we stand fast in the Lord. I trust God will bless this portion. Chapter one, we looked at the saints there. We see them turning, working, and waiting on God. They turn to God from idols to serve the true and living God and to wait for His Son from heaven. Last night we looked at chapter two a little bit.
We noticed that the enemies of God The enemies of Christ, the enemies of the gospel, laid seven charges against the great apostle Paul. In chapter two is Paul's own defense against those charges. He called two witnesses. He called the sin and he called upon God. The coming of our Lord is seen and stressed in each of the five chapters.
In chapter one, if we are expecting the Lord Jesus to come at any moment, there can be no room for idols. These saints at Thessalonica, they turn to God from idol. And if I am waiting, longing for the Lord Jesus to come back, there's no room in my heart for idols. You say what, idol?
Whatever displaces the Lord Jesus is an idol. what you think of it when you're alone, what you think of it when you are in the dark. That is you. Whatsoever a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Chapter two, verses nine and verse nineteen, if I am a respecting the Lord Jesus at any moment, there's no room for slackness in my service.
I have to be on the job. If I know He's coming, there can be no room for slackness in my service. Chapter three, twelve and thirteen, if I know the Lord Jesus is coming, And that truth has gripped my soul. There can be no division in my fellowship. There can be no room for division in my fellowship. What does chapter three, twelve and thirteen say? The Lord make you to increase and to abound in love one towards another.
all men. If he's coming back and that truth has gripped my soul, there can be no division in my fellowship one with another. Chapter four, if I know he's coming back, there can be no room for depression in my mind. He's coming back. Loved ones will rise and will join each other in the sky to meet the Lord in the air. Chapter five, verse twenty three.
If the truth of his coming grips me, there can be no room for sin in my life. For if he's coming, I dare not have sin in my life. Let me put it another way, please. In chapter one, verses nine and ten, the coming of the Lord is brought before us as a patient hope for the young converts. And you see these young converts standing on their tiptoes, stretching, waiting for their Lord.
And so in chapter one, it's the patient hope of the young convert. In chapter two, it's the happy anticipation of the noble servant. Paul says, what is my joy? What is my crime? What is my rejoicing? Are ye not in the presence of the Lord Jesus at his coming? Chapter three, verse thirteen, the coming of the Lord is seen and brought before us as the long for relief of the tempted sin.
Maybe some of you are going through trials. Disappointment. Wearing it. His coming will cure all that. Chapter four, verse eighteen. Coming of the Lord is seen as a balm of healing to the brokenhearted. Loved ones are missing. But when He comes, they'll be joined together. It will be a ban for broken hearts. It will be together again. Chapter five, verse six, coming up the Lord is seen there as the awakening call for the sins to arise from sleep, to work for God.
A little while it's left that artist goes on. Now I want to go back to chapter two. Last night we looked at Paul. Paul's heart is seen in chapters two and three. His heart is unveiled. His innermost feelings are seen. And what we see in Paul... should mark every person in this meeting tonight. Paul had a tremendous love for the people of God. It was his whole ambition that he would be a help to the saints of God.
Now in chapter two, verse two, verse six, Paul is seen as an apostle. And as an apostle, it speaks of authority, it speaks of dignity, it speaks of position. You'll notice in verse two, verse eight, verse nine, this is the message that he preached, the gospel of God. What is that gospel? It is a message that is divine in its origin.
It is a message that is definite in its offer, whosoever. It is a message that is dynamic in its operation. Couldn't Paul say in Romans one, isn't it? I'm not ashamed of the gospel of God. It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. Look at verse seven, please. He is an apostle, but he doesn't use that position, authority, power. He drops it.
Look at verse seven. In verse seven, but we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherishes her children. He's seen as a mother. This mother, sorry, this nurse is also a mother. Paul likened himself to a nursing mother. And you'll notice that If he were a nurse, there would be skill without love.
If he was only a mother, there would be love without skill. But Paul links those two things together. He said he was a nursing mother. There's skill. There's love here. There's relationship, there's training. The word cherishes her children. It means to keep them warm. The same word is found in Deuteronomy chapter twenty-two, verse six. You see the mother bird on the nest, warming the little one.
And Paul said, I was in your midst. as a nursing mother. Do we have that love for one another? The overseers, the young men who are seeking the future day of the Lord, Perry, do you have that skill, that love, that tenderness, a nursing mother look at verse nine for you remember brethren our labor and travel for laboring night and day because we would not be chargeable unto any of you we preached unto you the gospel of God.
He called them brethren. He likened himself to their, he was their brother. And as a brother, he supported them. He strengthened them. He walked with them. He carried them. And you know it's the word labor Wouldn't it suggest fatigue? Travel would speak of hardship, weariness, but he was their brother. You heard the story of this boy.
He was carrying another little boy. Someone said, is that little boy not too heavy for you? The other boy smiled. He said, no, he's my brother. I think that's how Paul looked at the same faith. He was their brother. Look at verse ten and twelve. Verse eleven. As you know how we exhorted and comfort and charged to every one of you as a father done.
He was a nursing mother. There's tenderness, compassion. But in the Father there is the thought of dignity. It carries the thought of wisdom, counsel, guidance. As a mother, he nourished them. As a father, he counseled them. Look at verse seventeen, for I want to try and get into chapter three.
In verse seventeen, but we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart. Taken from you. If you look up the name of that word, Paul said, I was orphaned. Paul likened himself to an orphan. He was cut off. He was separated from his family. And he likened himself to an orphan. This separation was the same as parents as they would leave their children.
Paul said, I'm an orphan. I'm away from my loved one. Oh, this man's heart. Do we have that heart tonight? Do we feel when we're separated from the people of God that we're orphaned? As I Paul felt. What God's assembly needs more than anything today is dear men and women. who have got the heart of a mother, who have got the strength of a father, and who love the sin when they're separated from them, they feel they're orphaned.
They look at in verse eighteen, Satan's tender, Paul, But Satan hindered us. That's a military word. It's a word for breaking up the highway, blowing up bridges. Satan cut up the road, destroyed the road. He made the road impossible. That's the idea. Satan hindered us.
Satan destroyed the highway. I don't know how, but Paul said he hindered us. Now let's look at chapter one, chapter three, please. Paul is now left to sin. He's now an Athens. He was chased out of Thessaloniki. Once the preachers were gone, Paul knew that the enemy was there. How were the saints getting on?
So Paul, I think he... We see him doing three things. Number one, he sends Timothy back. You see, why did he send Timothy? Because Timothy wasn't the target of the enemy. It was Paul was the ringleader. It was Paul the enemy was after. So Timothy was asked to go back to establish drenched them to comfort the sins. Then, secondly, Paul wrote the sins a letter.
And in verse ten, he prayed for them. I love that order. First, he sent Timothy. Second, he sent a letter. Thirdly, he prayed. You know when the Lord Jesus left. What did he do? He said, if I go, I will send a comforter. You see how Paul was so like the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus sent the Holy Spirit as a comforter.
Paul sent Timothy. Secondly, the Lord Jesus gave us church letters. He sent us letters from home. That's what the Bible is. God's love letter to you and I. What's the Lord Jesus doing tonight for you and I? He's praying for us. He's at the right hand of God interceding. Paul was so filled with the mind of the Master. He imitated him.
He sent Timothy. He sent a letter. He prayed. God, the Lord Jesus, blessed this earth. He sent the Holy Spirit. He sent us love letters. He's standing interceding for you and I. In Hebrews. We read that he's able to succor. He's able to sympathize. He's able to save. And that word's saved there. And it's got nothing to do with our sins.
No. That word's saved. It means he's going to save us the whole way. save us to the aftermost the whole way home. We need to get saved every day. I'm not talking about getting saved five or six times. No. We need to be saved daily from ourselves, from sin, from the world, from the flesh, from sin. Look at verse one to five. In these verses Verse one, wherefore we could no longer forbear, we could no longer forbear.
That word has the thought weak. We were no longer able to hold up. We were no longer able to relax. we were no longer able to conceal our anxiety, our feelings. Paul said the burden of not knowing what was going on at the Thessaloniki was so great, the burden became unbearable. This strain grew intolerable.
What a heart. Where are those men today? Paul said, I was plucked away from you. And he said, I cannot bear it. The burden is so heavy. Look at the next word. Left. Left. Left behind. It means to be abandoned. It means to be forsaken. In Mark chapter twelve and verse nineteen, it's used of death of a loved one.
Paul said, I'm left, I'm abandoned, I'm desolate. It's like death. Isn't that a lovely man? That's what you and I have to imitate. Paul's concern for the young saints of Thessalonica was just like death. He said, I'm abandoned. I think the same word is used on the cross.
My God, my God, Why has the forsaken me, forsaken, abandoned? There's the feeling. Paul said, I'm not able to bear it. He didn't know how the enemy was playing havoc with these young converts. Do I have that burden? Will I have that burden for you when I leave you? Will I be praying for the young fellas and the young girls when I leave this place?
I opted. Paul said the burden is so heavy I can't stand it. Do we have that burden tonight? There's dear ones that we had the joy of seeing, saved at Alfred, New York. Do I have that burden for them? The few in Michigan we had the joy of seeing, saved. Do I have that burden? Look at the next word in verse one.
Left at Athens alone. Alone. This is how he felt. Alone. He wasn't interested in the sights of that great city. He wasn't admiring the structures of the building. He said, I'm alone. I'm going to skip right down this chapter. Look at verse six.
But now when Timothy came from you unto us, brought us good tidings of your faith, love, that you had a good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us as we also to see you. It is the only place, for as I know in the New Testament, in verse six, Good tidings is used in this connection.
Good tidings is the thought of preaching the gospel. And when Paul heard that message that Timothy brought back, Paul, they're going on. It was like getting saved again. Paul said, that's the gospel. at the best news. Verse seven, therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you. Paul said, I got my strength back.
I was stimulated. I was strengthened. New life gushed into my body again. You say you're exaggerating. Look at verse eight. For now we live. You see, if so, like death, knowing that I can live. Why not exaggerating in the meaning of these words? Paul said, no, I live. The burden's gone.
Why? My mind is eased. This dead weight of fear is gone. I live again. Oh, I had a new lease on life. A new sense of responsibility and satisfaction coerced through his body again. Again let me say to myself, Joe, do I have those feelings? Is my heart broken when I hear of someone slipping and falling?
Do I rejoice when I hear they're restored again? Young man, with the Lord Terry, you are the future men and women of this assembly. I feel younger men should go in for the gospel, for I don't think we can value a soul until we leave souls.
to the Savior. No one can be a true overseer, shepherd, who hasn't known the thrill of leading a show to the Savior. Look at verse ten. Day, night and day, praying. Paul used that expression three times in his ministry. Here in verse ten, praying night and day.
Chapter two, verse nine, living, working night and day. Acts twenty, thirty-one, warning them night and day with tears. Do you want a job to do? Do you want a full-time occupation? Pray night? Sorry, yeah, night and day. See, when we were sad, we would say day and night, wouldn't we? But in the Bible, it's night and day. These Godly men looked forward to that morning when there would be no night.
God uses the same principle way back in the book of Genesis. He speaks of night and day. I think it's the thought that these men knew they were living in the night of the church. They were looking forward to that morning when there would be no night. Praying night and day. Working night and day. Warning with tears. Night and day. I want to stop a few minutes. Timothy in our chapter.
He's seen. Paul said. Our brother. Verse two, to Timotheus our brother. That was Timothy's relationship to the sins. Look again at verse two. Minister of God. The word minister there means deacon, bond slave, an under-roar. Minister of God is Timothy's relationship to the Lord.
He was a bomb slave. A beacon. Further, our fellow neighbor, that was Timothy's relationship to Paul. Look at lastly three things. Timothy's job verse two to establish you to comfort you Timothy was to establish that No word established just means putting up a barrier to strengthen, building a support, you folk and...
Dear, what's that the name of that time? You're building your new hall? I can't think of you. I was going to say Athens, but that'd be too far away. Can't. Remember you put the first wall up? Then you had to put two by fours on each side. You sure it up. That's the word here that Timothy was to do, is to make it stable, to fix firm, stand fast, solid, to stay up. You thought when you put your first side of your building, you had to put two by fours so it wouldn't topple over.
That's the word here. Timothy was to establish that. To make them speed up. Then to comfort you. The word comfort means to encourage. It means to strengthen. It means to exhort. Remember when Moses was praying and the battle was raging. And as long as he held his arms up in petition and praying to God, the battle went well.
And his arms got heavy. A couple of friends held his arms up. Bless Timothy. He was to hold, to stay up, to strengthen them. Verse three, why was Timothy to do those things? That no man should be moved. Lord, no means to be shaken, move to and fro.
We shouldn't be like that. God's people should be solid citizens, not carry the boat with every wind of doctrine. Timothy was to make them strong, settle them. And then he was to report back. spiritual progress. I'm going to leave with a sad news.
Timothy brought back, he said, Paul, they still love you. They, they're still going on. They want to see you again. Look at verse six. And I went to Moses came from you unto us and brought us good tidings of your faith and love. I could be wrong here.
Look at chapter one, please. three, remembering what those feasting, your faith, your love, your hope. And chapter three, hope and shine. Yes, they had love, they had faith, and I wonder what the hope I wonder, is that why the Spirit of God brought the coming of the Lord in each chapter?
Well, I know that the Bible wasn't written in the chapters, but I wonder is that why the Spirit of God every so often referred to the Lord's coming. But let's say, no, no. You know, there's an awful danger. As I said last night, to know this thing, I left a truth. Jesus is coming.
But not to live it. And if he was, I wondered if Satan... The enemy of the soul robbed them of this church. It could do. Beyond these coming battles, they could come before each battle. It would be ground for us.