Thank you, Mark, again for leading us. What tremendous hymns we sang this morning. Truth. Truth from God's words. That was encouraging and good preparation for the message. 

We're going to be continuing in 1 Thessalonians 3. It's always strange for me when I'm gone for a week because I feel like I haven't been here in about a year. It's coming back into the pulpit. And Bobby and I went down to Tennessee last weekend to pick up a tractor. We met some interesting people down there. One guy we bought the tractor from lived between Nashville and Bowling Green. As he was talking to us, he kept talking about Bowling Green, Bowling Green. Bobby's like, what is he saying? I said, Bowling Green. That's the city. So always fun to go down and hear people that can talk right. 

In our text this morning, we get a glimpse into the life and ministry — and I said this before at the end of chapter 2 — really the heart of the Apostle Paul. We have seen this in this epistle to the Thessalonians before. This church was encouraging to Paul. They'd received the gospel in much affliction. God had worked powerfully through them. They were bearing fruit. They were being a strong witness for the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

We're going to see in our text today that Paul sent Timothy to them. When he sent Timothy, he was in Athens. But when Timothy returns with the good news of their faith and their love for Paul and all the brethren, and when Paul pens this letter that we're studying, Paul is in Corinth. I thought a lot about this as I studied these words before us. Paul was in Corinth, but a large part of his heart was in Thessalonica. Corinth was not an encouragement to Paul by and large, but rather a thorn in the flesh. The church there was an absolute mess. There was sin, division, worldliness, sexual immorality, strife, a lack of leadership, problems that never seemed to end. 

Paul poured out his heart and life into those believers there. He spent a great deal of time there, months and years, writing several letters to Corinth as well. Think about the contrast in Thessalonica. Here was a city where Paul had only spent a few weeks. He came in preaching the gospel with power. They had turned from idols to serve the living and true God. God had worked mightily through them, and their love and their witness was known throughout the whole world. What an encouragement that was to Paul. 

What I want to talk to you about this morning from our text is why this was such an encouragement to Paul. Why Paul was so concerned, so deeply burdened for the people that he really barely knew. What was Paul's passion? What was Paul's plan? And what was Paul's purpose? These things are really instructive for us, for me as a pastor and teacher, and also for all of us as a church. What is it that God would have us to be doing? Why are we here? What should be our focus? What is our purpose? 

We see all of this clearly in our text this morning, and we see the passion and the desire and the love behind these purposes and plans as well, a passion for people for whom Christ died, the Savior of all men, especially those who believe. 

Let's look at our text in 1 Thessalonians 3, verse one. Listen to Paul's heart as he pens these words. Timothy's just come back to him with this good news. He says, "Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, that no one should be shaken by these afflictions, for you yourselves know that we were appointed to this. For in fact, we told you before, when we were with you, that we would suffer tribulation, just as it has happened and you know. For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you and our labor might be in vain. 

But now that Timothy has come to us from you and brought us good news of your faith and love and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us as we also to see you, therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress, we were comforted concerning you by your faith. For now we live if you stand fast in the Lord. For what thanks can we render to God for you for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God? Night and day, praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith. 

Now may our God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless and holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints." 

I've given you four points on your outline: passion, purpose, plan, and power. 

Well, first in our text, we see Paul's passion. Verse one, he says, "Therefore, when I could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone and sent Timothy." Verse five, he says, "For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith." Verse seven, "Therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress, we were comforted concerning you by your faith. For now we live if you stand fast in the Lord." 

Paul is in Athens. He's been run out of Thessalonica. He's not heard news since he left from the believers there, from the church, and his heart is aching. He's praying for them without ceasing day and night. He's longing to see them, to know their state, particularly their spiritual health and fruit, but he can't make it back to them. The circumstances have not allowed it. He said in our text last time that Satan has hindered him from doing so. Twice, he says in our text, "when I could no longer endure it," when I couldn't take it anymore, he just had to know, what did he have to know? He had to know how they were doing in their faith and standing for the Lord and bearing fruit for the gospel and the glory of God. This was Paul's great concern for every believer. 

Note this, my friends. We never see Paul ask about their finances. We never see Paul give them ways to relieve their trials and troubles in this world. We never hear him ask if they are living their best life now. No pain, no problems, no worries. This is not a concern of Paul. In fact, quite the opposite. He expects them to be suffering as pilgrims and strangers in this cursed world. He assumes persecution and trials and struggles of many and various kinds, as James says. In fact, he promises the believers this again and again. Just as Peter told us, we were appointed to this. He said, "Don't think it's some strange thing." And Jesus said, "In this world, you will have trouble." A servant is not greater than his master. If they killed Jesus, what should we expect? None of these things are the concern of Paul. He empathizes with their suffering. He knows it well. He encourages them, but his concern is this: how are they responding to it? How are they standing in the Lord? 

Is their faith strong, or are they wavering in the face of persecution? He's wholly consumed with the spiritual well-being of the believers and their faith and trust in Jesus, and particularly their witness in this world for His sake. The passion of Paul is people, believers, standing fast in the Lord, regardless of their circumstances. This is why he says, "We live if you stand fast." This is really a profound statement. We live, he says. Our life has purpose, and that purpose is fulfilled, that meaning is fulfilled if you stand fast. 

I think this should be a little bit of a gut check for us in the church today. Think about this with me. What is it that drives the church today in America? What is it that pastors, teachers, and believers are consumed with? What do you think is the focus and energy of the majority of the churches and their leadership in our communities today? This is evident by the things that they do and the messages that they preach. I want you to think about this, ponder it, as you consider what we are about as a church, what our passion is, and how it is that we live, what it is that truly fulfills our purpose and our heart's desire, God's will for our lives. 

For Paul, it was clearly spiritual growth, holiness, and witness. It ended there, my friends — faith working through love, and that love was defined not by a lot of money and effort going to fix the ills of the world or the troubles of the believers. You just don't see one speck of that in the New Testament. Rather, all the effort and striving and agonizing of Paul was to establish, strengthen, to perfect what was lacking in the faith of the believers, so that they might stand fast in the Lord, so that his purpose, his commission, and his passion might be fulfilled, and he might really live. 

Think about what he said in Philippians. He'd like to just die and go and be with Jesus. But he says, "It's better for you if I stay. It's necessary for you, for fruitfulness." If there's no fruitfulness, if there's no holiness, if there's no standing fast in the Lord and there's no witness, then Paul says, "What's the purpose of my life here? I'd just like to go and be with Jesus anyway." 

So we live if you stand. Paul was interested in building such strong believers that no matter what came against them, they would stand faithful to the Lord. Corinth caused Paul to die inside, in a death by a thousand cuts, a continuous burden, and I believe the thorn in the flesh, the false teachers, the teaching, and sinfulness, and undermining of the gospel by the believers there. But in churches like Philippi and Thessalonica, Paul really lived. He was encouraged. He was fulfilled, ultimately, because God was glorified. John said, "I have no greater joy than to see my children walking in the truth." 

The converse is true as well. There's no greater pain for the godly, Christ-centered, word-focused pastor than to see his children walking after the world and behaving like mere men and bringing reproach on the name of Jesus. The passion of Paul was for people, for believers to grow, to be established, and to flourish in order to bear fruit for God's glory. This was his purpose, and it should be our purpose as well today. 

Look at chapter three, verse one again. "Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, look at these words, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith that no one should be shaken by these afflictions." Verse five, at the end, "lest by some means the tempter had tempted you and our labor might be in vain." The end of verse 10, "that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith." 

When you read these words, when you really feel the passion and love of Paul for these people through the words that he wrote, you get the feeling that he's known them for years, that he's been through many ups and downs with them and struggles with them. He has a long-term sort of nostalgic relationship with them, but this is just not the case. Paul loved them because they were brothers and sisters in Christ. He barely knew them. He spent only a few weeks with them, mostly preaching and teaching and evangelizing. 

We looked at this before, but think about Paul's same passion for the people in Rome. In Rome, these were people he'd never met. He didn't found the church in Rome. It's likely that people went from Pentecost back to Rome and evangelized people, started the church there. But in Romans 1:8, he says, "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing, I make mention of you always in my prayers, making a request if by some means, now at last, I might find a way in the will of God to come to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift so that you may be established. That is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith, both of you and me." 

Now, I do not want you to be unaware, brethren. I often plan to come to you, but I was hindered until now, just like we're reading in our text, that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. He goes on to say that he's a debtor to both Jews and Greeks to preach the gospel. And he says, "I'm ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also." 

Paul's love is not built on sentimentality or even on personal relationship. Why is it that he loves these people? He loves these people because they are in Christ, because they are brothers and sisters. This reminded me of when I traveled to India. Guy and I traveled a long way, 15 and a half hour flight from Minneapolis to New Delhi, and then another flight from there down to Chennai where we met our brother, Augustine. We met a lot of new people right away when we got there. I remember when we first met Philip Samuel. He introduced me to a man named Raju. He said, "This is Raju. He has the gift of driving." And I thought, "Gift of driving? I don't remember that one." But after some time in India, I became a believer in that gift, and I was thankful for Raju. 

But you know, these people had absolutely nothing in common with us. I could always find Guy even in a crowded airport or in the streets of the city of 10 million people in Chennai because he stood about a foot taller than everyone else and he had that Jack Pine savage Norwegian look about him that sort of stood out and he was wearing hiking boots. These people lived in a big city, in a Hindu culture. You know, they never held a gun in their hands. They'd never been hunting. They never even heard a deer camp. They ate spicy foods; there were no pasties to be found anywhere. It was a different world with a different culture. And yet we had an instant bond, a profound love for one another, immediate fellowship. 

Think about that. If a lost man from the UP got thrust into the city of Chennai, 10 million, and he just walked into a local restaurant or bar, into a Hindu's house or gathering, how would he be received? How would he fit in? Would he be comfortable? Would he make it out alive? And yet we had nothing but fellowship, great hospitality, a bond with those believers there who we'd never met, we knew nothing about. And men came from all over India to a missionary leader conference that I taught, and we had great fellowship. We were encouraged and established in the faith and the Word of God together. 

Today, Isaiah and his son Daniel traveled 12 hours on a train in heat and crowds just to meet us, and we spent an hour with them and had tea, and then they got on the train and went 12 hours back home. Why such fellowship? Why such love? Why such a bond with people we'd never met who live on the other side of the world and know nothing of our culture? There's only one reason. Because we are in Christ. And because we are in Christ, we have the same Holy Spirit, we have the same passion and we have the same purpose. 

And do you know what these men did each day? They studied the Word of God. They preached the Word of God. And they went out into those cities, those slums, those leper colonies, to those neglected untouchables of India, and they proclaimed the good news message of Jesus Christ. They were no different than Paul and Barnabas and Silas and Timothy and Titus. Their passion, our passion, and purpose was given by the same God and the same Savior. We are indwelt with the same Holy Spirit and we've been given the same commission. 

Now most of the churches of various flavors in India who claim the name of Christ were not doing what Augustine and Philip Samuel were doing. They were doing a lot of liturgical things, churchy things, working on influencing the culture and the politics, maybe feeding the poor, but mostly enriching themselves. But the true believers there, the fruitful ministries were focused on the gospel, on the Word, on strengthening the believers to go out to be witnesses to a lost and dying world. 

We'd pull into a village, guy'd get out, bang a drum, people'd come out of their houses and we'd preach the gospel to them. It was great. This was clearly the purpose of Paul. And his love was based on the fact that these people, in Rome or in Thessalonica or wherever, were in Christ. And if they were in Christ, then what they needed was to be encouraged and established in the faith. Paul wanted, through the truth and power of the Word of God, to strengthen them, to perfect what was lacking in their faith so that they might grow, be established and stand. 

The word translated stand, "we live if you stand," this word means to refuse to retreat in the face of an onslaught or attack; it's a military term. And what we see is that the believers in Thessalonica were under attack. And Paul had to know if they were standing fast in the Lord. Verse 2, he sent Timothy, the minister of God, our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, that no one should be shaken by these afflictions. "For you yourselves know that we were appointed to this." 

Who's preaching that today? You're going to suffer. We're going to have trouble, we're going to have trials. Michael sent me an email the other day, I don't know if you saw that in Canada, the church that wouldn't quit meeting because of their COVID restrictions. They not only put the pastor in jail, but they built a fence around the church so no one can get in there. It's coming, my friends. It's been a strange anomaly in the West for these years. We've enjoyed it. I often think about what am I most afraid of? And I think what I'm most afraid of is losing my comfortable lifestyle. Not afraid to die. 

But persecution may come and we need to be strengthened and encouraged and established in our faith so that we might stand. Paul said in our text last time that Satan is a worthy adversary, even hindering Paul from getting back to the believers there. And Satan has one main goal: to keep people from the truth. He uses lies and deception to keep people from the gospel truth. But God is working; He's more powerful, and we see that God, through the gospel of Christ, the message preached, brought many to faith in this place, thwarting the efforts of Satan. 

In our world, Satan is able to keep most people from the truth, from salvation, because men love sin and darkness and don't have a love for the truth, as Paul says. And Satan works to keep them there. But for those who do come to faith, Satan has lost that battle; they are secure in Christ. So for the church, Satan focuses on deception through false doctrine, distraction through all kinds of things. 

We see this in 2 Corinthians 11; he seeks to lead believers into captivity, away from the truth for the purpose of rendering them useless or even harmful to the gospel. He had great success with this in Corinth, but not in Thessalonica. The believers there were persecuted, they came under physical attack and persecution, but they were not wavering; they were not being tempted by the tempter to abandon their faith. They were standing fast against the onslaught, continuing in the faith. 

And this is what true believers do. In the face of troubles and trials, they do not curse God; they turn to God in faith and trust and dependence. Paul was so encouraged to hear that in the face of great persecution, they were standing fast, they were taking refuge in the Lord. Notice he does not seek relief for them from the persecution. He does not indicate that it's something strange, but in fact reminds them that he promised them it would come as it had with them. 

Persecution, troubles, trials, the temptations of the tempter are not the issue. The issue is if we stand fast, trust Him, abide in Him, witness for Him in the midst of whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. And we've struggled with that, haven't we, in prosperity? 

So we see the passion of Paul, we see the purpose of Paul. And I just want to remind you of the plan of Paul given by God for accomplishing this purpose. Verse 2, "We sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith." Verse 10, "night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith." 

Paul deeply desired to encourage and establish the believers, to strengthen them in their faith, and what was his plan for doing this? What was his method? This is an important question for us in the church today. What means should we use to encourage and strengthen the believers in the faith so that they might not be shaken and they might stand? Turn over to Ephesians 4 with me, please. 

We look at this passage often but it's so instructive, Ephesians 4:11. "And He Himself, Jesus, gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastor-teachers. Why did God give pastor-teachers to the church as a gift? Verse 12, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. For we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect or mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men and the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. But speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into Him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body joined and knit together by whatever joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."

The purpose of the local church and the pastor-preacher is to equip the saints to go out and do the work of ministry, the preaching of the gospel. And the method is the preaching and speaking of the truth, the Word of God, in love, with the right motive. We could look at dozens of passages that make this truth clear, but I think one of the clearest is in 1 Timothy 4:6. 

If you follow along with me there, Paul's speaking to the young pastor Timothy in Ephesus, he says, "If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives' fables and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. For to this end, we both labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. He says, 'These things command and teach. Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Wait on these things. Look what he says here. Give yourself entirely to them that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you." 

It's like in Acts when the apostle says we can't leave the word of God in prayer to wait on tables. There's a lot of programs and activities and waiting on tables going on in the church, perhaps good things. But the pastor-teacher should be giving himself entirely to the Word of God in prayer to preach and teach that Word in order for the believers to be built up and strengthened and equipped to go out and do the work of ministry. 

And of course, over in 2 Timothy, Paul exhorts Timothy, charges him, in fact, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead, "Preach the Word. Be ready in season, out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering in teaching." Time's going to come, Paul says, when they won't hear it. Instead, they're going to pile up teachers who will tickle their ears. But you, Timothy, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry, preach the Word. 

Jesus said, "Sanctify them by Your truth, Your Word is truth." What is the method? What is the plan of God for establishing and strengthening the believers so that they might not be shaken? Preach the Word. Teach, exhort, encourage, rebuke truth, truth from the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the plan. And this is what we must be doing in the local church that we might be built up and strengthened to go out and do the work of ministry. 

We see passion, we see purpose, we see plan, and finally we see power, verse 8 of our text. "For now we live if you stand fast in the Lord. For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God, night and day, praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith? Now may our God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all just as we do to you, look at verse 13, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints." 

The goal here is sanctification, Christlikeness. And the fruit of that process is faithfulness, witness, testimony, and glorifying God in all that we do. Paul told Timothy, "Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine, truth preached and personal holiness." This is the will of God, your sanctification. And my brothers and sisters in Christ, this can only come through the Word of God, through an ever-growing relationship with Jesus by coming to know Him more and more as the Word teaches us about who He is and what He has done and all the promises that we have in Him. 

Turn your eyes upon Jesus and this world will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. We must focus on Jesus, we must immerse ourselves continually in His Word and we must let this world and all of its cares and troubles and worries fade away. This world is not our concern. It's going to be burned up with a fervent heat at the elemental level and God is going to create a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 

Our concern is not the world and all of the troubles; our concern is people, lost men for whom Christ died. And our message is one of hope and security and truth, good news of salvation by grace through faith in Him. By hearing a message about Jesus, a man can believe and be saved forever. What else really matters? What I want you to see is that it is God, by His power, who works in us when we are faithful to Him. 

What is God's will for me today? Same as it was yesterday, to be faithful. Same as it is tomorrow, to be faithful, to trust Him, to believe Him, to do what He's told me. It's that simple. But the fruit does not come by our power, but by the power of Jesus Christ in us as we abide in Him as a branch abiding in a vine. 

Listen to these words of Paul in Ephesians 1:15. He's praying for them. "Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation of the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places." 

Can you believe that, my friends? The same power that raised Jesus from the dead works in you to accomplish the will of God. In verse 14 of chapter 3, he says, "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." 

Listen to verse 20, "Now to Him who is able," not me, I'm not able, you, you're not able, "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever, amen." 

I have a part in this life of holiness and fruit, and my part is to renew my mind to His truth each and every day, to study and pray, to attend church and Bible study, have a fellowship where the Word is preached and taught, to reckon it to be so, to believe God in His Word, to trust Jesus — just to abide in Him. This is a daily, moment-by-moment choice that I make. But when I choose to believe Him, when I abide in Jesus, it's by His life, by His power that mighty things happen through me. His great power works through me to do greater things, as He said, than healings and wonders and miracles. 

What are the greater things? The greater thing is the salvation of lost souls through the preaching of the gospel. That's why we're here, my friends. This is our purpose in this world. And all that we do as a church and as individual believers in our lives must work towards that goal, must contribute to our purpose. 

We learn in our text today the man of God's passion and purpose and plan for accomplishing God's will. And we learn that it's by His power that He does this in our lives. Every week before I preach, I say, "I'm praying, Lord, You have to do this, I can't, I'm a mess, I can't do anything." You know what I'm amazed? He's faithful to do it. He is faithful to do it. And He wants to do it through us. 

He's the vine, we are the branches, abide in Him. His Word's abiding in us and will bear much fruit. This is the encouragement that we see in the church in Thessalonica. It's a great joy for Paul, and it's a great joy for us. And my friends, it's a pattern for us to follow. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we thank You for this good day, for everyone who could be here and those watching through the Internet. We thank You that we can preach Your Word. Thank You for the freedom to do that and thank You for the effect that it has in our lives, the encouragement that it brings to us and works to establish us that we might stand...stand and know that You will be faithful to work Your will out through us. Thank You that You're our Father and Jesus is our Savior and for the Holy Spirit who lives in us and comforts us and guides us and strengthens us and empowers us. Thank You for the complete salvation that we have in Christ through faith. In Jesus' name, amen.