1 Thessalonians 3:1-13 The Right View of Afflictions
Good morning, everyone! Happy season of Advent! In the end of chapter 2, perhaps you may remember how it was Paul’s heart’s desire to visit and see the precious young believers in Thessalonica. But as he wrote, Satan was hindering him from returning to them. Even though he could not visit them, he found a way by sending his missionary coworker, Timothy, to go visit them. After hearing the good news from Timothy, Apostle Paul wrote this letter to them. In this chapter, he gave them some spiritual insight in viewing afflictions. According to the Bible, all believers, regardless of your level of spiritual maturity will face some kind of affliction someday. So, let’s learn from Paul the right view we should have towards the afflictions that each of us will encounter in our lives. Then instead of being distraught or discouraged by afflictions, we can glean from them what spiritual lessons we can learn and also to trust in God’s sovereignty even more in every situation.
THE RIGHT VIEW OF AFFLICTIONS
1 Thessalonians 3:1-13
Key Verse: 3:
“3…that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.”
Look at verses 1-2. “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[a] in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith.” As we may remember from chapters 1 and 2, Paul had left Thessalonica because of persecutions and went down south to Athens. Some months had already passed by since Paul was forced to leave Thessalonica due to terrible persecutions. But he was very much concerned about their spiritual welfare that he decided to send Timothy to visit them. Remember that Timothy, and Silas had gone with him on his various missionary journeys. Paul was willing to send his beloved and trusted spiritual son in the Lord, Timothy, in his place. He said he would be “alone” because Silas was probably visiting other churches himself. It’s always difficult for God’s servant to be alone, but he or she can endure it when they know it is a for a greater good. If you remember at the IIT Thanksgiving service, Maria mentioned about Sarah Lomahan Guiterrez who left her family and comfortable home in Chicago to serve the poor people of Zambia for two years. It was difficult for her family to send her away for two years, but they knew that Sarah had a clear mission and purpose to help the people there. While there she helped build a well for the village so that they could get clean water and helped at the local school. [Pic 1 picture of Sarah, hut, MJ]
Several years ago, during covid, Maria and I were separated for seven months because she came to help our daughter with our grandchild. At that time, we expected to be separated for only a few weeks, but when the covid pandemic hit there was a travel ban. Maria could not leave Chicago, while I stayed in Ukraine. It was a little difficult for me to be alone, but I could endure it knowing that she was caring for our family. She was also serving here at WestLoop ministry during those seven months. Some of our precious Podil UBF coworkers were forced to be separated from their families because of the war. Katya had to be separated from her husband Anton. [Pic 2] Ira had to be separated from her father and uncle. [Pic 3] Anya also from her father. [Pic 4] Some of our young church families had to leave their parents and loved ones to go to other countries as war refugees. [Pic 5 families in Poland] Our church does our best to be caring, supportive, and prayerful for them. Whenever possible and God provides the time and funds, we also go visit them because it encourages them greatly to have visitors. The other day, one of our sisters Katya, who is living as a war refugee in Cambridge, England, told Maria that she will be getting married next year. Maria is already planning to attend her wedding in April. You may remember her because she was with us here at WestLoop and was even baptized by our church. [Pic 6] Praise God who uses us because we are willing to send our loved ones and coworkers to do God’s work, even in other parts of the world! Amen.
Look at verse 2 again. “2…and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker[a] in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith.” Interesting here that Paul called Timothy God’s coworker. At that time, the meaning of worker meant a lowly and humble worker—like a table waiter. Though he was a lowly servant, he was actually working with God to fulfill God’s will in Thessalonica. God qualifies his servants not necessarily because of their great human abilities and high education, but due to their humbleness of heart. Thus, humble Timothy was called God’s servant or coworker. How wonderful the Christian life is when we know that we are being used by God as his servants to carry out God’s world salvation work. Young Timothy was the right person to send because he had learned from the Apostle Paul to put the interest of others over his own. Philippians 2:20 reads, “19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. 20 For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.” Timothy had a clear purpose and mission to establish and exhort the faith of the Thessalonians. The order of helping them spiritually was important. They first needed to be established in God’s word. Then they could be encouraged to stay the course. It’s the same when a ship or plane goes for a long trip, they must have a clear map and direction first. Then they can get safely to their destinations. We have to remember that they had only become believers a few months earlier. They were like baby believers who needed someone to give them spiritual milk, which is the word of God. Especially, they needed spiritual advice in regards to reacting appropriately to the afflictions they were facing.
Look at verses 3-4. “3…that no one be moved by these afflictions. 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.” Though Paul didn’t describe in detail what these afflictions were, the Thessalonian believers knew what he was apparently writing about. Actually, in our last message I briefly talked about how they were probably persecuted by their own countrymen because they no longer worshiped the local gods, but worshiped the one and true living God. From Paul we learn a spiritual truth—all believers are destined for afflictions. Afflictions can come from many sources like persecution, health issues, financial problems, emotional problems, relational problems, family issues, church problems, etc. How we face these challenging situations determine what kind of faith we have, or lack of faith, at that moment. Once, Jesus taught about the Parable of the four soils. Jesus said in Matthew 13:20-21, “20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.” Here Jesus made it clear that tribulations can be used to test our faith and make it stronger. But if we fall away because of tribulations or persecutions, it means we didn’t have real faith in the first place. Being a Christian doesn’t mean just living on an emotional high, but on a solid foundation based on the word of God, which cannot be shaken. Like a house built on the foundation of rock, not sand. Though they were only young believers, the Thessalonians were going through their own afflictions to strengthen and solidify their faith in the gospel of Jesus.
The word “destined” in verse 3, can also be translated to “appointed.” We all know about appointments. We have all had to make a doctor’s appointment or appointment to get the car fix or dentist appointment or hair cut appointment for us or our dogs. All these things are inevitable in our human life to improve or get better in some areas of our lives. Appointments with affliction are also to help us spiritually improve and trust in God even more than before. An example of this appointed affliction was the life of Job. They were terrible afflictions that no one, without faith in God, could bear. He lost his home, his children, his wealth, his health, his dignity, and everything he had in a very short time. His wife looked at him with pity and told him to curse God for putting him and his family through all these trials. But he said in Job 2:10, “10 But he said to her, ‘You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” In the end, Job was blessed by God to be an example of a man of faith, who would not curse God in the midst of terrible trials. Even Jesus, the Son of God, had gone through many kinds of trials and afflictions in order to perfect his obedience to God’s will. Hebrews 2:10 reads, “10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.” Now if Jesus had to go through afflictions to perfect his obedience to God, how much more should we also. Jesus himself had told his disciples and us that we will have trials and afflictions in the world. But we should not be shaken but put our faith in Jesus because he overcame the world. John 16:33 reads, “33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Jesus taught emphatically that we will have tribulations. There is no way around it. Of course, we should use common sense not to bring trials upon ourselves because of our own sins or foolishness. But when we do face tribulations not because of our own doing, we can look up to Jesus, who overcame the world. It gives us hope to overcome the tribulations, which we face when we put our hope in him.
We also learn from these verses that we go through afflictions not necessarily because God is angry with us. God wants the best for us rather than for our human desire to have an easy Christian life. I like Pastor David Gudzik who said, “The symbol of Christianity is the cross, not a soft pillow.” [Pic 7] But in our times, many prosperity gospel preachers would want young Christians to believe that the Christian life is all about success, happiness, and trouble-free. We get the wrong impressions that everything will go well and fine for believers, without any bumps in the road. But this is not what the gospels teach us. Luke wrote in Acts 14:21-22, “After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.’” We are on a pilgrimage from this world to our heavenly home, but the road home is full of challenges and difficulties that all Christians must overcome by faith.
As for my last example of afflictions, I would like to talk about Hutan Tash, who lives in London. She was an ex-Muslim and converted to Christianity. She came to know the truth by hearing the gospel and reading the Bible. She became zealous for Jesus, whom she accepted as the Lord and Savior of her life. But because she converted from Islam to Christianity, she received so much death threats that she had to move her residency 50 times. She was also punched and even stabbed by Muslims who hated her for her conversion and propagating her new faith in public. But she was not shaken or moved by all the afflictions that she has been receiving. In fact, she was more emboldened to speak the gospel, even in front of mosques. [Pic 8] Even though she continues to receive death threats she said she would never stop preaching the gospel because Jesus is her Lord and the true Savior of the world. We need to continue to pray for her and others who boldly preach the gospel in spite of terrible persecutions for their faith. Amen. Paul knew that the Thessalonian believers were going through a spiritual battle because the devil wanted to ship-wreck their faith.
Look at verse 5. “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 knew that when we become believers, we have also entered the spiritual world, where there is a spiritual battle. Once we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our lives will not become a bed of roses and a bright shiny day every day. Rather, we are engaged in a spiritual battle, where our strong enemy the devil, is always looking for ways to tempt us, misguide us, and lead us away from God. In the Bible, we find many ways the devil tried to hinder God’s servants or God’s work to continue. The devil has been working hard from the beginning of creation when he tempted Adam and Eve to disobey God’s word. Even among Jesus’ disciples, the devil prompted Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus to his enemies. As we know, Paul always considered his work for the gospel not to be in vain. Here he is praying that the intense labor he had served the church in Thessalonica would not be wiped away because of the devil’s work. This is why he earnestly prayed for them to overcome the devil’s temptations. This is why he was ecstatic to hear the good news about their steadfast faith in the Lord from Timothy’s journey report.
Look at verses 6-8. “6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— 7 for this reason, brothers,[b] in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.” Paul had sent Timothy from Athens, then he went to Corinth and served the church there. But the Corinthian church was quite different than the Thessalonian church. If you have ever read 1st and 2nd Corinthians then you would know the hardships Paul was going through helping this difficult church. He had to rebuke and exhort them on many different spiritual topics. The church members there were doing things that would even put unbelievers to shame. Perhaps this is why he said he verse 7 that he was discouraged and distressed because of all the difficulties he had to deal with in the Corinthian church. But when he heard the good news from Timothy about the Thessalonian church he was rejuvenated, delighted, and comforted. He also felt spiritually alive that his labor for the Lord in Thessalonica was not in vain. Here from Paul, we also learn a spiritual secret in not remaining in a state of discouragement in God’s work. Sometimes as God’s servants we are discouraged when we work hard in one place but produce little or no fruit. Instead of becoming distressed and discouraged, we ought to pray and find where the Holy Spirit is working. It may take some work, much prayer, and opening our spiritual eyes. But when we take the time and effort, then we can be like the Apostle Paul and be rejuvenated and spiritually alive participating in God’s salvation work. Since Maria and I live at the Bible house, we have witnessed God’s work at UIC ministry and many students are coming and going. I also see older servants of God from our main center coming to catch the blessing of participating in God’s work. They still want to share in the blessing of preaching the gospel and teaching the Bible to young college students. I believe they do so because they feel rejuvenated and comforted to see young people positively responding to the gospel. When we wholeheartedly and earnestly pray to serve the gospel and God’s work then we can see where God is working with a thankful heart.
Look at verses 9-10. “9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith.” In chapters 1 and 2, we saw how Paul was thankful for the faith, hope, and love of the Thessalonian believers. In these verses, we see from Paul that their spiritual growth was only possible because of God’s work in them. So, Paul is thankful to God for his mighty work in them. As God’s servants, we should always remember that God is the source of blessings and the source of our joy. In the church, people will come and go, because people are changeable and have their own agendas. So, they cannot be our source of joy. Our source of joy is God, who is working in us, in others, and in the world. And we must earnestly pray to God to continue his sanctifying work in us, in others, and in the world because we have not yet been perfected. All believers, including us, are lacking something in our faith. We can all grow more zealous for God’s work. We can all grow more in our knowledge of God’s grace and mercy. We can all grow more in our compassion and love for one another, and love the lost people of the world. We can grow more in serving others in the Lord. This is the beauty of growing more and more in our faith in God. Even though we have limitations to our physical and mental capacities, we can still grow in our faith and grow more mature spiritually. Actually, we will only be perfected in our faith when we get to heaven. But a growing faith is the faith that is going in the right direction. Probably, most of us, if not all, have come across people who seemed to be good Christians, but later we hear that they have fallen away from the faith. People can lose faith in God when they stop growing in faith and not working on the areas in their life of faith that are lacking. However, when we honestly look at ourselves and see that there are areas in our life of faith that is lacking, then we can pray and strive to grow in those areas by God’s help. That is why we need to always pray for ourselves and pray for others to grow in faith. This is why in the last three verses of this chapter; Paul turns to God and begins to pray for the flock of God in Thessalonica. These verses are also known as wish prayers because they are the wishes, in the form of prayers, Paul would have God do for them.
Look at verses 11-13. “11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” In verse 11, we again see Paul’s faith in the deity of Jesus, putting him in equal par with God the Father. Paul also prayed that God would provide a way for him to go back and visit them. Some scholars say he was able to go back, but it was several years later. But in God’s time, his prayer was answered. In verse 12, we see that Paul prayed for their love to “increase and abound in love for one another and for all.” What does he mean here? As you know, in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul wrote about the great triad of the Christian faith, “hope, faith, and love.” And he wrote that among these, love is the greatest. We can’t always measure, when we see people, how much faith or hope they have. But we can see by their actions and listening to their words if they really have the love of God. That is why Jesus said in John 13:35, “35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jesus gave a gaugeable and quantifiable measurement for all people to use to see whether Christians are really his disciples or not. Do they really love one another? If in the church there is in-fighting, political intrigue, power struggle, jealousy, sexual perversions, then it will turn many people away. But when they see loving people, who have genuine concern for others, they are more likely to stay and even become Christians themselves because they see that Jesus presence is among them. So, Paul prayed for the young believers in Thessalonica, not only should they grow in hope and faith, but more than that grow in love for one another. It reminded me of Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel who is known to have said, “The opposite of love is not hate; it’s indifference.” [Pic 8] Instead of growing in indifference, we must increase and abound love.
Look at verse 13 again. “13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” As in the end of chapters 1 and 2, Paul again ends in verse 13 writing about Jesus’ return. In light of Jesus’ return, we must listen to Paul’s prayer that our hearts are to be blameless and to grow “in holiness before our God and Father.” We want to live holy lives in the world, but we are constantly being bombarded by the devil, called the tempter, moment by moment. But from Apostle Paul, we learn that our focus should not be on the devil, but on Jesus, who will come again in power and glory to take all his saints, including us, back with him to the kingdom of God.
In this passage, we see a kind of spiritual dichotomy—on the one hand, we will face afflictions and suffering, on the other hand, in Jesus our love for God and for one another will abound more and more. Through afflictions we will even become more sympathetic and concerned about others who are going through similar sufferings. For example, sometimes it’s difficult for healthy and strong people to understand weak and sick people. But when they themselves get sick or stricken with an affliction they can sympathize with those suffering. We have temporary afflictions in this world because of our faith in Jesus, but because of our faith in Jesus we will receive eternal life when Jesus returns with all his saints. If you do the spiritual math, our temporary afflictions, and sufferings in this world, though painful, is miniscule or even immeasurable compared to the eternal joy and victory we will have with Jesus our Lord and Savior. Receiving afflictions from God is like receiving an immunization shot. The prick of the needle hurts a little, but it will save us from more pain and distress in the future. Therefore, it’s better to have the right view of afflictions and put our trust and faith in God. Amen. I thank God for giving me a better view of afflictions in my own life. Even though physically and mentally I am fine, Maria and I have some pain in our hearts because of some afflictions in our family, specifically in our children. But I learn in this passage that we should not allow these afflictions to discourage us. Instead, we ought to pray more for them, be concerned and helpful in every way, and trust God even more, especially in his promises like Acts 16:31, “And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’” God also promised believers in Psalm 103:17-18, “But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.” God’s words are always comforting and encouraging to us in our times of afflictions. Amen.
Footnotes
a. 1 Thessalonians 3:2 Some manuscripts servant
b. 1 Thessalonians 3:7 Or brothers and sisters
Questions:
1.Read 1 Thess. 3:1-2. What was aching in Paul’s heart when he thought about the Thessalonian believers? How did he describe Timothy, the man he sent to check up on them? (Phil. 2:19-20) Why did Paul believe it was necessary to establish and exhort their faith?
2. Read 1 Thess. 3:3-5. Why did Paul mean that believers are destined for afflictions? Why is important for young believers to know ahead of time of afflictions? (Heb. 2:10; Job 2:10; John 16:33) How do afflictions show what kind of believers we are? (Mt. 13:20-21)
3. Read 1 Thess. 3:6-8. What was Timothy’s report about the Thessalonian must have been like? How did Timothy’s report comfort Paul, especially hear this news while he was ministering in Corinth? Why do you think the believers in Thessalonica had mutual love and respect for Paul?
4. Read 1 Thess. 3:9-10. Why was Paul’s so joyful, not just for himself but for the Thessalonians? What do you think may have been lacking in Thessalonians’ faith? What are some aspects of your faith or in the faith of believers in our time do you think are lacking and can be strengthened?
5. Read 1 Thess. 3:11-13. What was Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians? What does it mean that he prayed for their love to abound? How can we live in holiness before God? What do we learn from him about the gravity and importance of intercessory prayers for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? (1 Samuel 12:23; James 5:16)
1 Thessalonians 3:1-13
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[a] in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. 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.
6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— 7 for this reason, brothers,[b] in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. 9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith.
11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Footnotes
a. 1 Thessalonians 3:2 Some manuscripts servant
b. 1 Thessalonians 3:7 Or brothers and sisters
