1 Thessalonians - Presence, Promises and Prayer

There is the ministry of presence. Try to be there when people need you. There's the ministry of promise. Use the word of God. And there's the ministry of prayer. Ask for God's help.

Now we join our hearts in prayer as we open the word of God. Father, it is indeed with reverence that we come to Your word, realizing that it is not the word of man, it is in truth the word of God. Help us to receive it as the word of God and then to appropriate it, to make it a part of our lives, and then to apply it to our everyday life. As we study now, may the word encourage us and give us the guidance that we need, I pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

Have you ever been alone in a strange city? Now that in itself can be a difficult situation, but have you ever been deeply concerned about your friends in another city and you could not do much about it? Well, you put these two situations together and you have Paul's situation when he was in Athens after he had been chased out of Thessalonica. This is what we read in 1 Thessalonians 3:1-4: 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 are appointed to this. For in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know.

Paul had ministered in Thessalonica just a short time, perhaps a month or six weeks. Of course a riot started and he was chased out of town. Some scholars think that the city posted a peace bond against him. Timothy could go back apparently, Silas could go back. Timothy, of course, was part Gentile; that would be in his favor. They did not want Paul back in Thessalonica. He and Timothy and Silas went down to Berea and then down to Athens, and Paul had to send Silas off to minister, he sent Timothy back to Thessalonica, and he waited at Athens alone. And then he went on to Corinth. Timothy finally joined him in Corinth and gave him the good news that the saints in Thessalonica were standing firm.

But until Paul got that news, really he could hardly endure it. Oh, I know, I've read these books and I've heard these sermons about you can control your emotions and you really shouldn't have this kind of concern. Well, Paul was an apostle filled with the Holy Spirit. He'd had some great experiences with the Lord, and he said, "I could hardly contain myself." That's what the word endure means. I could hardly keep the lid on my feelings. I was concerned. Are these people standing true to the Lord? Are they truly born again? Are they going to give up? He was feeling as though he were all alone. He knew the Lord was with him, but Paul was a human being, and night and day he was praying and saying, "Oh God, help those dear people at Thessalonica." He prayed for them, he prayed for Timothy, and he waited for the news to come.

You know, many of our Christian brothers and sisters today are having a rough time. For the most part in North America, we don't have too difficult a time as churches. Individuals do, though. There are some radio listeners who are persecuted for turning on the radio and listening to a Christian program. There are people who when they go to church know that when they return home, they're going to be persecuted for going to church. There are people who when they go to work and they refuse to lie and refuse to be a part of that which is dirty, are laughed at. There are people who have been bypassed on promotions because they're too honest and they want to serve the Lord.

Well, what do you do when your Christian brothers and sisters are in trouble? Are you praying for them? What about the saints of God in places where you cannot have the freedom to get together as we do in North America and many other places in the world? What do you do for people who are going through difficulty? Well, Paul took three steps to minister to the people at Thessalonica. Number one, he sent them a man. He couldn't go himself, so he sent Timothy. Number two, he wrote them a letter. That's the letter we're studying now. And number three, he prayed for them. Over in 1 Thessalonians 3:10, night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face.

Now, I think we have here three good ministries for us to perform when people are going through difficulty. We are to weep with those who weep. We are to identify with those who are in prison as though we are in prison with them. As I pray daily for the church of Jesus Christ around the world, I think of suffering saints, people who are in prison camps and in jail, people who are in hospitals because of their faith. Their only crime is belonging to Jesus Christ. Well, how do we help these people?

Number one, there is the ministry of presence. We can go to them. Now, Paul himself could not go. I cannot go to a missionary hospital necessarily in Caracas or Quito, but I can help somebody else to go. Paul said, "Timothy, I'd like to have you stay with me here in Athens and go with me to Corinth. I need your help. Silas is off ministering in Macedonia, but Timothy, go to Thessalonica. Be my representative and encourage those people." Sometimes we have to send a substitute.

By the way, being a substitute for someone else is not a sin. The missionary crew out there across the world, they are our substitutes. They represent us. We would like to be there; we cannot be there. You can't be two places at one time. In fact, anymore it's getting difficult to be one place at one time. Paul could not go, he sent Timothy. Why? Suffering people need the presence of someone else to encourage them. Suffering people often question God's love. I can just hear some of these Thessalonian Christians saying, "Well, Paul told us God loved us. Paul told us that we belong to the Lord Jesus. He's the King. Why are we going through all this trouble? Where is God's love? Why doesn't God do something for us?" And then Timothy showed up. Oh, here's Timothy who had traveled with Paul. Here's Timothy who was a man of God. And when God seems far away, it's good to have a Christian brother standing near. The ministry of presence.

You don't have to do a great deal of talking. You don't have to preach sermons to people. When I was in pastoral ministry and our people were going through bereavement, I always tried to be at the funeral home when they first arrived to pay their respects to their departed loved one. That's one of the hardest times in the life of a family. A loved one dies and they're busy making all these arrangements and the church people are phoning and bringing over food, and this is so good. But then that time comes when they have to go down to the funeral home or to the church and see the dead body of their loved one. I always tried to be there before they got there. I'd meet them at the door and I wouldn't say anything, just no sermons, just welcome them and kind of give them a hug and a handshake, and then we'd walk down together into the chapel and we'd stand together. And I wouldn't say a word. Just being there. The same thing's true in the hospital. Sometimes the least said, the better. People can come into a hospital room where a patient is lying after surgery or during sickness, and they preach long sermons and so forth. No, no, just be there. Take them by the hand. Love them. The ministry of presence.

Timothy was the kind of a person who could do that because he's the kind of a person who cared. In Philippians 2:19, we have a description of Timothy. Look at it, Philippians 2:19: But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. For I have no one like-minded who will sincerely care for your state. Now it's one thing to do pastoral ministry and something else to do it sincerely. Timothy did it not because it was his job; Timothy did it because he cared. He had a heart that reached out to people. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. There's too much of that going on today. There are just too many people who are inaccessible when they are needed. It's difficult to get through to some of God's servants these days because they just aren't available. They don't care perhaps. Well, they say someone else will take care of you. That's fine, I appreciate that. Paul had to send Timothy only because Paul could not go himself. Had the way been open, Paul would have gone himself and taken Timothy with him. We can go to them: the ministry of presence.

Are we the kind of people who naturally care for others? Are we the kind of people who sincerely care for others? Paul himself experienced this in his ministry. When Paul was a prisoner of Rome, he came to Rome and he was on his way to being tried, and the saints of God met him. Acts 28:14: they found brethren there and they stayed with them. And then when they came to Rome in verse 15, Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage. He didn't see angels. He didn't see a vision of the Lord Jesus. All he saw were some Roman Christians who met Paul at the Appian Forum and the Three Inns, and when they met Paul, they threw their arms around him and they hugged him and they welcomed him and said, "Paul, we're praying for you, we're here." The ministry of presence.

By the way, that's why it's important to go to church. I occasionally receive letters from radio listeners telling me that radio and television are their church, and I have to write back and say no, that's not what the Bible teaches. You better be with God's people. "Well, there are no spiritual churches." Well, that's alright, find one that's the closest thing you think it ought to be and get in there and make it a better church. Why do we go to church? To worship God. Why do we go to church? To witness that Jesus is alive. Why do we go to church? To help other people. And after church next Sunday morning, you might meet some heartbroken saint who just needs your presence, your handshake, your hug, just needs your word of encouragement. The ministry of presence. We can go to them.

Secondly, there's the ministry of promise. We can share God's word with them. Paul did that. Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians, an inspired letter from the Holy Spirit of God. You see, Satan was attacking their faith. Did you notice that? 1 Thessalonians 3:2: he said, "I wanted to know concerning your faith." Five times you're going to find faith in this chapter. 1 Thessalonians 3:5: I sent to know your faith. 1 Thessalonians 3:6: he brought us good news of your faith. 1 Thessalonians 3:7: we are comforted concerning you by your faith. 1 Thessalonians 3:10: I want to perfect that which is lacking in your faith.

Satan attacks our faith. Now, why does he do that? Because faith is at the foundation of everything in the Christian life. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. For example, there's the work of faith, 1 Thessalonians 1:3: remembering without ceasing your work of faith. If Satan can attack our faith, he can stop us from working. Our witness, 1 Thessalonians 1:8: for from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth. Now, if God gets the word out through us, it's the word of faith. The word of the Lord has sounded forth, your faith has gone out. They were sharing their faith. Ah, but if you have no faith to share, that's the end of your witnessing. 1 Thessalonians 3:6: he talks about faith and love. They go together. Now these three: faith, hope, love, the greatest of these is love. Faith, hope, and love go together. If Satan can attack our faith, he's going to erode our love. 1 Thessalonians 4:14: we notice what he has to say about faith. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. Their hope was tied into their faith. Their love was tied into their faith, their work, their witness, their hope. In fact, their whole defense against the evil one was tied up in their faith. 1 Thessalonians 5:8: but let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. How do you fight the wicked one? By putting on the armor. What is the armor? Faith, hope, and love.

In other words, Satan attacks our faith because he wants us to start shaking. Notice that in 1 Thessalonians 3:3: that no one should be shaken by these afflictions. Now the word of God establishes our faith. People who know the word of God are able to fight the war of God. People who know the scriptures and understand the truth are not afraid of Satan the liar. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God, Romans 10:17. And I like what Paul says in Romans 15:4: For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Where does hope come from? The scriptures. Where does comfort come from? The scriptures. Where do you find patience? The scriptures. That word patience means perseverance. How do you keep on going when the going is tough? Through the word of God. The ministry of promise.

Thirdly, we can pray for them. The ministry of prayer. Now the ministry of presence is important. If we can be there, we ought to be there. And the ministry of promise is important; share the word of God. This is where Job's friends fell apart. Instead of sharing the word of God, the word of comfort, the word of perseverance, they shared their own ideas and they created problems for Job. But the ministry of prayer. We can do that with them, we can do that for them if we're not with them. 1 Thessalonians 3:10: night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith. And then 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 are a record of his prayer. We'll talk more about that prayer later on.

Paul prays for them. Now, how do you pray for people who are suffering? Well, I suppose our first answer would be you pray that they'll get out of suffering, and that's true, nothing wrong with that. In the Psalms, for example, you'll find David praying that God would deliver him from his enemies, deliver him from false accusers, deliver him from those who want to kill him. We pray in the Lord's Prayer that God would guide us and deliver us from temptation. There is nothing wrong with asking God to deliver people who are going through times of trial and testing. I think we have scriptural precedent for that. However, while they are in that, before God does deliver them, if that is His will, how do we pray? We pray that God will use that furnace to purify them and perfect them and mature them.

Now, Satan wants to use persecution as a weapon to knock us down. He wants to shake us. God wants to establish us. You notice that word establish, 1 Thessalonians 3:2: he sent Timothy to establish you and encourage you. Up in 1 Thessalonians 3:8: for now we live if you stand fast in the Lord. Down in 1 Thessalonians 3:13: so that he may establish your hearts. God wants to give us stability; Satan wants us to shake. God wants us to stand firm. That's what we should pray. We need to pray that their faith will grow, that their hope will brighten, that their love will increase, even love for those who are creating problems for them. We need to pray that God will be honored even in their suffering. It's not always God's will to deliver people from persecution; sometimes He does, but sometimes He doesn't. And it may have taken a long time for these Thessalonian Christians to be delivered from their problems. It may have been that even after the first persecution ended, there were individual problems and trials that came. So Paul prayed, "I want your heart to abound in love. I want you to love one another, want you to love all men, even your persecutors. I want your hearts to be blameless. I want you to have a holy life."

You see, it's so easy during times of persecution and suffering to start complaining. And it's just one short step from complaining to disobeying. The devil comes along and says, "Oh, you're a Christian. Why hasn't God taken care of you? Why isn't God doing something for us?" And then we start complaining and then we start doubting, and before long we are not serving the Lord as we should. How do you pray for people who are going through trial? You pray that they might be established and you pray that they might be encouraged. You pray that they might be good witnesses, that they might be able to give a good answer for the hope that is within them with meekness and fear. You pray that as people watch them going through this time of trial, they will see good examples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, it is right to pray for people and ask that God will deliver them, but until He does deliver them, let's do like Paul. Let's pray that they might grow in their faith and grow in their love and grow in their hope, and be established unblameably before the Lord walking in His will.

There is the ministry of presence. Try to be there when people need you. There's the ministry of promise. Use the word of God. And there's the ministry of prayer. Ask for God's help.

Gracious Father, help us to be a part of the answer and not a part of the problem. Help us to be there when people need us. Sometimes we can't, help us to help all we can. And I pray Father that You will meet the needs of Your people, many of whom are suffering, suffering today. Graciously use Your word to encourage them, I ask in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.