There's something that causes a lot of believers to become unfaithful. And I wonder if this is something that might be true of some of you. It's called affliction or tribulation. Trouble. Due to being a Christian many times, Because persecution may be brought upon you by men who do not like what you believe, they do not like what you do. We read of Paul and Silas and Timothy there in Acts chapter 17 and how the men of Thessalonica pursued them even to Berea, tried to find them there. They hated their message so much. But Paul, Silas and Timothy stayed faithful. But it's not just those things. It may just be today someone laughing at you because of your Christian faith. That's really the extent of the persecution we've faced here in America. It's getting worse, but it's just the fact that, well, you know, I don't want to say something for fear somebody may laugh at me. That's really the extent of the persecution we face, and many times we won't speak up because. somebody may say something. In 1 Thessalonians chapter three, and I'd like you to take your Bibles and turn there with me, please, we see, and I'm gonna call this, for lack of a better term, because there really is no such word as tribulational, but I am using it. So on your outlines, you're gonna see, and I would encourage you to take the outlines that you find in your bulletin, And if you need an outline, we have some extras. You just raise your hand, the usher will get you one. I am looking at this chapter as the tribulational implication of the gospel. You believe the gospel and there will be affliction, there will be tribulation. You can count on it. If there is not, you need to examine yourself. Chapter 1, we saw the transforming impact of the gospel. The impact it had upon these Thessalonian believers. It had a tremendous impact. So it transformed them there in chapter 1. In chapter 2, Paul talks about the troublesome impartation of the gospel. Difficult it was to impart the gospel to these Thessalonian believers, but now in chapter three, he's talking from their perspective, the tribulational implication of the gospel. This follows the difficulty of separation we saw in chapter two, verses 17 to 20. And so here in 1 Thessalonians chapter three, I'll have two main points The first I will cover this morning, the second later. Here's what I want you to see in verses one through five, the concern for faithfulness in affliction, the concern that these people might be found faithful in the midst of their persecution and in the midst of their affliction. And then at a later week, we'll look at verses six to 13, the confirmation of faithfulness in affliction. Paul was so encouraged when he got word back from Timothy that indeed, these Thessalonian believers who were being persecuted were being faithful, and Timothy confirmed that to him. But this morning, we're gonna see the concern for faithfulness in affliction. Let's read verses 1 through 5 of 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. Wherefore, when we could no longer forbear We thought it good to be left at Athens alone, and sent Timotheus, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ to establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith. That no man should be moved by these afflictions, for 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 ye know. For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labor be in vain." Twice Paul says in verse 1 and verse 5 that he's not able to bear something. He said, I can't take it any longer. Literally, he and Timothy and Silas, he says, we can't take it any longer. What was it? We don't know how you're handling the affliction. We don't know how you're handling the persecution. In chapters 2, he is talking about not being able to see these new Thessalonian believers. And he's concerned that they're going to remain faithful in affliction. And so he wants to learn of their stand If you were to ask me what is the key verse of chapter three, I would say it's verse eight. For Paul says this, for now we live if ye stand fast in the Lord. Now we live if you stand fast in the Lord. Folks, I wanna challenge you this morning about standing fast. in the midst of affliction, remaining faithful in affliction and during times of persecution." Notice that Paul in verse 1 says, we thought it'd be good to be left at Athens alone. That is literally, we were left behind in Athens alone. He was lonely. He was desolate. And yet in spite of the loneliness, knowing he was going to be alone, he sent Timothy. He sent Timothy back to the Thessalonians. So although Paul could use help in Athens, do you remember as we read Acts chapter 17? What kind of a city it was? Given wholly over into idolatry. What a wicked city, and here's this Christian Paul in this city, by himself, and if he could use any companionship, this is where he could use it. But instead, he sends Timothy up to Thessalonica because the new believers are more important. He's concerned. Even if he does relish fellowship, can you be gone from other believers for any length of time? and not be concerned about it or not be the worst for it. Folks, being alone as a Christian is not good. Now the Bible says it's not good for a man to be alone. It is not good for a Christian to be alone. God did not intend for Christians to be hermits. God intends for believers to get together, to assemble themselves, to fellowship one with another. Here's one of the reasons Christians are becoming unfaithful. It's because they are not fellowshipping with other good Bible-believing Christians who can hold them accountable and who can encourage them and comfort them during times of distress. Now I find it interesting, Athens, this wicked city, has not yet been reached for the gospel. And that's where Paul is, with Silas and Timothy. Here's a city where the gospel needs to be preached. And here's Paul and his team. And yet, what's more important to him? For the team to stay together there in Athens and reach this city? Or to split the team and send some of those guys somewhere else to some believers who have already believed to encourage them, which was more important to Paul. Obviously, the latter was. The atmosphere of Athens only intensified his loneliness, and yet he said, it's good for me, we thought it good for me to be left behind at Athens all by myself. Here's a man who had just been persecuted in Thessalonica. People were out to kill him. Now, when something like that happens to you, do you want to be left alone at night? Paul's alone. And yet, what is more important to him? It's not the unsaved. Now, don't get me wrong, and don't get him wrong. It's not the unsaved, though. It's believers who are babies in Christ, and they need some nurturing. In some places you will find that it is soul winning that is at the first and the foremost. And I am not decrying soul winning. We all need to be soul winners. But folks, more important is to encourage, to establish, and to comfort new believers, to watch them grow in the faith, as you see Paul doing here. Silas is somewhere else, and Paul sends Timothy on a mission and it's a twofold mission. Here's the mission. This is the point we're going to get to today. Two missions. Number one, the mission to exhort. And number two, the mission to experience. In verses two to four, we see Timothy's mission is to exhort, that he might exhort them concerning your faith. I wanna look at three things about this mission to exhort. Number one, the delegate. I'm talking about the one who is taking this mission, Timothy. Let's look at Timothy, this delegate from Paul going to Thessalonica. He is called our brother. He's the mutual brother of Paul and the Thessalonians. Go back in your thinking to Acts chapter 16, when Paul and Silas are in Philippi. You know who else is with them? Timothy. And yet when you read the story there in Acts chapter 16, who is thrown into jail? You always remember this. Who's thrown into jail? Paul and? Where's Timothy? He's with them. You ever thought about this? I have never thought about this until I was studying this week and I'm going, Timothy, where are you? Why isn't he mentioned? Timothy is not even thrown into jail there. With Paul and Silas in Philippi, with Timothy, the younger member of the team, Paul and Silas are jailed. Nothing is said about Timothy being jailed. And then again, you get to Thessalonica. They come from Philippi, they go to Thessalonica. Who are the ones who are expelled out of Thessalonica? You don't read about Timothy being expelled. You read about Paul and Silas being expelled. What's with Timothy? I believe it's because he's the younger man on the team and they overlooked him. I also believe that he's not the preacher. Paul and Silas were preaching and they focused on the preacher. Timothy is therefore the one who can be sent back to Thessalonica because he was not the one driven out of town. I look at Timothy as a young man who is willing to be used. Here's a young man who's willing to be associated with two older men who are constantly getting into trouble because of the gospel. And Timothy doesn't mind, to put it in today's young people's vernacular, hanging around with these two guys. I find that unusual. I find that unique and not typical of what young people would do today. To hang around the older people, even while they're getting into trouble. He's called our brother. Secondly, the minister of God in the gospel of Christ. That word minister is literally the word servant. In fact, we get our word deacon from that word minister. So he is the minister of God. in the gospel of Christ, or the servant of God. How is he serving God? He's serving Him in the gospel of Christ. In other words, in furthering the gospel. The good news that Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose again for our sins. And although Timothy is not yet preaching, he is still serving. He is still called a minister of God. That's why I have kept stressing, folks, that you, it's not just I, who am a minister of God. You say, well, you're the minister. You are, too. If you're a Christian, you are a minister. A minister isn't someone who just gets up and preaches. A minister is a servant. And if you're a believer, you ought to be a servant of God, just like Timothy is a servant of God. All believers should be known as ministers. So that's why I wanted you to see the delegate, Timothy. I want you to see, secondly, the duty. The duty and the mission. What was he going to Thessalonica to do? Look at verse 2 again. to establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith. Let's look first of all at those three words, to establish you, to establish the Thessalonians in their faith. That's the idea. And that word conveys the idea of strengthening, to fix firmly, to make solid. Secondly, it says to comfort you concerning your faith. That is really to encourage. And that's why you've got two E's there in your outline. It's to encourage. The word comfort does not mean to console, but to encourage the Thessalonians in their faith due to the persecutions. Listen, this is not some kind of a gentle soothing. It is getting someone ready for battle. When you typically think of the word comfort, don't you think of it as somebody coming along and soothing you? Mommy came into the bedroom and Jimmy was lying in bed and he was crying and mommy came in and comforted him, consoled him, a gentle soothing. That's typically how we think of the word comfort. That is not this word comfort here. This word comfort means to urge, to persuade, to exhort, to encourage. It's the same root word that you find in chapter two, verse three, the word exhortation. How would you see a military leader preparing someone for battle? Because that's the word here. Okay, men, I hope you're all doing fine today. We're about to go into battle. No, no, no, no. Wipe your tears. Don't, don't, don't. Do you see this? Is this how you would see some military commander doing it? The word used here is not, okay, Thessalonians, it's okay. You've been going through some persecution. It's more like this. Listen, we're about to go into battle. It is time for you to stand. It is time for you to fight. It is time, and you see a military leader doing something like that, that's the word comfort here. That is what is behind this word comfort. It's not some gentle everything's going to be okay, but a strong urging, a persuading to fight as they had been taught. That's how Timothy served God in the gospel of Christ, by establishing and encouraging new believers, notice what it says, in your faith. Their personal trust in Christ, which they had made their own. Your faith. If somebody were to talk about your faith, how would they describe it? The faith of Dan Unruh, how would you describe it? The faith of, and name somebody here, how would they describe it? You see, folks, the gospel is not just about deliverance from sin at one point in your life, the day you were saved. It is about deliverance from sin at every point in your life, every day you live as a believer. D. Edmund Hebert in his commentary on this Passage said this, no small part of Paul's missionary labors were devoted to the establishing and strengthening of his converts. I'm going to give you some passages not to look up, but if you want to write down some of these passages to study later, where Paul is encouraging the establishment. He is trying to strengthen new believers. Acts 15.32. And again in verse 41. Acts 16.5. Acts 18.23. Romans 1.11, Romans 16.25, and those are just a few of the passages where Paul is always concerned about making sure that Christians are strong, that they're established. Folks, you see, conversion is not enough. A believer must be established. He must be encouraged, which implies something. A believer can become weak and unstable and need to be established in the faith. And there may be some weak believers here this morning. You're kind of weakening. You've been going through some trials, some tribulations, some afflictions, and you're weakening. You know what? You need to be with other believers. You need to be established in the faith. Those are the two things we have so far, the delegate, the duty, but I want you to see the danger that made this mission necessary. Look at the verse 3, that no man should be moved by these afflictions. This is the only time that word is used in the New Testament, in the original language, the word moved. It's kind of interesting what is behind this word. As I studied it, I found out that some of the secular writers in New Testament days would use this word moved for the wagging of a tail, the wagging of the dog's tail. And it's kind of interesting what people think therefore it is being used for here. When a dog comes up to you and begins to wag its tail, what does that say to you? He's friendly. By the way, that's not always true. I've had dogs wag their tail and you put your hand down and that's it. But you think this dog is friendly. And some believe that that's the danger here. That some of these previous friends to these Thessalonians up there, you know, some of their Thessalonian friends, their unsaved friends, We're coming up to them very friendly like and say, come on, why are you getting involved in this Christianity stuff? Why? And trying to befriend them and therefore to deceive them in abandoning their Christian faith. And that very well may be. But it really came to be known as this word move to shake or to disturb. So let me read it that way, that no man should be shaken by these afflictions. You see, afflictions and tribulation pose the danger of causing a believer to move back and forth and to be shaken from his faith. Why do these believers need to be established and encouraged? Because afflictions and tribulations pose danger to believers. And it's not just to new believers. You know, one of the greatest dangers to you is that when trials and testings and tribulation and afflictions come along, not just from other people, but even due to circumstances. Paul was concerned that these Thessalonian believers, verse two, would be established. Verse eight would stand fast. Verse 13 would have established hearts. Because from men, affliction comes in the form of persecution. But from circumstances, it comes in the form of sicknesses and financial difficulties and so forth. And sometimes those things that come along in a Christian's life cause him to be shaken. And that's why Paul is sending Timothy to establish and to comfort or encourage you in the faith so that you would not be shaken. He says the Christian is not to expect a life of ease and softness. And this is why many believers, many people won't become believers because they say, well, if I become a believer, what are my mom and dad going to think? And what are my friends going to think? And they're already thinking ahead of the affliction and the tribulations and the trials that come with being a believer. It is not a life of ease and softness. And this word that you see in verse three, afflictions, is the same word that Jesus used in the parable of the soils. In Matthew 13, 21, about one of the fruitless soils that received the seeds among the thorns. Who dureth for a while, for when tribulation, that's the word afflictions, or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. and brings no fruit to perfection. That is the danger to any believer, professing believer, are the afflictions and the persecutions. And I find it interesting that the Apostle Paul is not going to the city council of Thessalonica and trying to appeal on their behalf to not persecute these people and to get these Thessalonian thugs not to persecute them. He is not saying to these Thessalonian believers, hey, you need to go to the government and try to appeal, because it wouldn't do any good. I'm not saying that today we should not, but they would not. Instead, you're simply supposed to expect that this is going to happen. Some people grow stronger when they're afflicted. Some people get better. Some people get worse. Some, when trials and tribulation come along, they're shaken and they waver and they move back and forth. My brother Mike, when he lost his family in the explosion last year. Talk about affliction, folks. The evidence I see so far is that he's become stronger in the faith, in his faith. And let me give you another illustration since he is not here, Jesse. Two years ago, all of his friends abandoned him. All his Christian friends who were here. You may not know how difficult that was for him. But I think some of you did because you came alongside him and you strengthened and encouraged him. And I can honestly say, in fact, Juanita and I were talking about this yesterday, how the Lord used that to make him stronger. I'm almost of the opinion now that a church should not have a youth group, that they ought to hang around the adults more. Because when they hang around each other, It almost seems like they become this little clique and they adopt each other's mannerisms and low standards and everything else. But we saw him grow and blossom as a teenager through the affliction. Someone here may be ready to give up and fall by the wayside. Why? Because of tribulation and affliction. You know why you shouldn't be moved or shaken by those afflictions? Paul gives two reasons now. He uses the word for. Look at this in verse four. For, or because. Verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation, even as it came to pass, and ye know. We told you that this was going to happen. Therefore, Because afflictions for the believer, Paul is saying because afflictions for the believer are not accidental. Your relationship with Christ brings afflictions upon you because of the world's relationship with Christ. What is the world's relationship with Jesus Christ? And what is the believer's relationship with Christ? Two totally different things. And because of your relationship with him, and their relationship with him, you're persecuted, you're afflicted. And Paul says that's not accidental. You should know ahead of time that tribulation is coming because we are appointed there unto. You see that last part of verse three? Yourselves know that we are appointed there unto. We are destined to it. Don't take afflictions and persecutions and tribulations as by accident. It is not by chance. Don't be surprised. You may want to write this reference down, 1 Peter 4.12. Let me read it to you, beloved. Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you. Here's another passage to write down, 2 Timothy 3.12. Yea, and all that live godly in Christ Jesus, does anybody know how that ends? Shall suffer persecution. You live godly in Jesus Christ and you will suffer persecution. It's not accidental. It's going to happen. That's why I said earlier in this message, if you don't suffer in some way for the gospel, I wonder if you're living a godly life. Because Paul very plainly told Timothy in that, listen, everybody who, all who live godly will suffer persecution. It is inevitable. It's predicted. The short time that Paul was with these Thessalonian believers, look back to this where he says in verse four, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation. Literally he is saying, we kept telling you. I skipped over my second point, it's not avoidable. It's not accidental, it's not avoidable. We kept telling you ahead of time that affliction is part of being a Christian. How do you respond when somebody keeps telling you something? I mean, when your mom and dad keep telling you the same thing. Anybody? I have to look at the young people, ladies. Mom and dad, man, they keep telling you. It's like, okay, I've heard this, but why do they keep telling you? To emphasize something? Paul's telling these believers, listen, I kept telling you, this is going to happen. It's not avoidable. We told you before, by the way, we told you before, believers are seeing prophecy fulfilled in our lives every day. Paul knew by experience and made it a consistent practice to warn new converts. Now I want you to go with me to Acts chapter 14. And I hope you will go with me to see this because when you read it for yourself, it has more of an impact. Acts chapter 14. Verse 19. I want you to see if Paul is being afflicted or persecuted here and how he responds. Acts 14 verse 19. And I want to see if anybody here has been persecuted or afflicted in the same way Paul was. You ready? Look at Acts 14 verse 19. And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul. Anybody here ever been stoned? I'm not talking about getting drunk. I'm talking about somebody, you got stones thrown at you. drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. How be it as the disciples stood round about him. I love this passage because it's like, okay, Paul's been stoned, the disciples are standing around him looking, oh no, and Paul gets up. He rose up and came into this city, and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. And when they had preached the gospel to that city, so here they had been stoned in one city for preaching the gospel, now he goes to the next city and does what? The very same thing that got him stoned in the previous city. And when he had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, where he had been stoned. confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith and that, notice this, that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. That's about where I would say that's not for me. That's where the typical person I should say would say this is not for me. That through much affliction we're gonna enter into the kingdom of God? Go to Acts chapter 20, note verse 24. You actually have to start in verse 22, Acts 20, 22. And now behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. I'm getting ready to go into the city, Jerusalem, and I know that I'm gonna be afflicted. I know I'm gonna be tried. I know I'm gonna be persecuted. Notice how he responds in verse 24, but none of these things move me. Neither count I my life dear unto myself. so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify of the gospel of Jesus Christ. None of these things move me. I don't count my life dear to myself. And Paul, in Romans chapter 8 and verse 35, please. Romans 8, 35. shall separate us from the love of Christ, shall tribulation, there's the word afflictions, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword. As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. How did Paul withstand all the persecutions and afflictions? The answer is right there, Romans 8, 35 to 39. The world can hate me, Jesus Christ loves me. There's the mission. to exhort. And we've got to move quickly. Lastly, verse 5, the mission to experience. Notice the first three words of verse 5, for this cause. In other words, on account of the fact that afflictions are assured for believers, Paul again says that he can no longer take it. For this cause, when I can no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith. Now this word or this phrase, I sent to know, means to know by experience. That's why I call this the mission to experience. to acquire knowledge through experience. To know what? Your faith. This is the second time he says, I want to know your faith. And he says, I'm sending somebody up there to experience or know your faith. That tells me something, folks. It requires somebody being there face to face to witness your faith. You can write about your faith all you want to. You can tell people about your faith all you want to, but it's when I meet and talk with you face to face that I learn about your faith and you learn about mine. It's when I see you in times of difficulty that I learn about your faith. So Paul is sending somebody up there who by experience can see their faith because your faith is not what you say, your faith is what you live. Someone gets to know your faith through face-to-face interaction. You can't get to know someone's faith if there's no interaction, and sometimes I wonder if that's why people avoid church and meeting with other believers. What knowledge did Paul want to acquire by experience about their faith? Two things. Number one, their response to the tempter. I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you. He wanted to find out about their response to the tempter. Notice here that the adversary, our adversary is not identified by his name Satan or Lucifer or the devil. He's identified by his characteristic activity, tempter. He's designated only one other time in the Bible as the tempter. Matthew chapter four, verse three, and who is he tempting there? He's tempting Jesus Christ. The tempter came and here. And it's as someone said, he who was the tempter of our Lord is also the tempter of his people. But understand something, folks, the purpose of Satan tempting is to trip you. His purpose is to trip you so that you might be disapproved. And the present participle here with the word tempter, the one who is tempting, stresses his persistence in trying to trip you up. It's not that just today he's trying to trip you and tomorrow he's not gonna be around, through one of his minions, a demon, or through your own flesh that causes you to fall. It's a consistent thing every day. The purpose of Satan tempting is to trip you. The purpose of God testing you is to train you so that you might be approved. Paul knew of this tempter's tempting but he did not know the outcome and that's why we see secondly not only their response to the tempter but their response to the toil. That's the literal word for labor here. You and our labor be in vain, our toil be in vain. It's much much work. Paul's wondering now how did the tempter trip them up? If so, our labor would have been in vain, it would have been empty, it would have been fruitless. Now a passage of scripture came to my mind as I was reading verse five, and our labor be in vain, because there seems to be a contradiction in the Bible. My life's verse is 1 Corinthians 15, 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as much as you know that your labor is not in, Paul, how can you write that to the Church of Corinth and say, listen, you know that your labor is not in vain, and here he says, lest our labor be in vain. And I had to think about that. I went to all the commentaries. They said nothing about this. I believe it's this. I didn't finish 1 Corinthians 15.58. Did you know that your labor is not in vain? Anybody know? In the Lord. In the Lord. Paul knew that in the Lord our labor is not in vain. In other words, his labor would not ultimately go on unrewarded. Anything you do for the Lord will not go on unrewarded even if you don't see the results. And Paul here is talking about the results. That it would look to everybody else as if my labor, our labor was in vain. But he is not just interested in his own reward. I know I'm gonna get a reward. But that's not what Paul lived for was the reward. He lived for these believers. That's why he says in verse eight, for now we live. He has a true ministry of love. So as I close, I want to ask you these questions. What has been your response to affliction? What is your response to affliction now? What will your response be? Remember this, it is no accident when it comes and it will come. It's unavoidable. Are you established in your faith? Are you encouraged in your faith? The tempter would love to trip you and add you to his list of disapproved. But the Lord says, blessed is the man that endureth temptation. That's the same, it's the word trials. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he has tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him.