A Genuine Love for God’s People

Transcript

GRM 561
02/22/1998
A Genuine Love for God's People
1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:8
Gil Rugh

I would look into 1 Thessalonians with you again. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 2. A passage that relates to what we were talking about in our study out of the closing verses of Colossians chapter 4 this morning. The relationship of believers to one another and the fellowship of the body. Now we think of Paul's unique giftedness as an apostle. The intensity that characterized his ministry and service for Jesus Christ. But, one of the things that stands out as a hallmark of the Apostle Paul and what marked his ministry in a very unique way was he had a consuming love and passion for the people of God. He wasn't just doing a job. He wasn't just fulfilling a responsibility. He was really on a mission of genuine love for the people that he served. I take it that that is to be one of the identifying marks of us as God's people. Jesus said that, "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples. If you have love for one another." John wrote in his first epistle, "If God so loved us, we ought to love one another." And we see in the Apostle Paul in the example of his life, something of the quality of the love that we're talking about. Of course, it's most obviously seen in our Savior, but here in the Apostle Paul's life, you see a real genuine love and passion for these people. That he really wanted to be with them, that there was nothing more satisfying and fulfilling to him in his relationship with Christ than to enjoy the fellowship of God's people. That should be an identifying characteristic of our love for one another.

We seriously doubt the depth of love in our human relationships if there's no interest in being with the person we proclaim to love. One of the problems we have as we see young people quote “falling in love,” now don't hold me to narrow boundaries here, this is an illustration. They want to spend more time together. And often we say, well, you're spending plenty of time together. But it's not plenty of time for them because they want to spend more time together. It's true of us when we've been in love for many years as a married a couple. Your husband or wife goes away for a time; you miss them. Why? Because you like to be with the person you love. There is joy and satisfaction and pleasure in their company. So Paul had that with the Thessalonian believers.

We pick up with verse seventeen. Sadly, this is in the context of Paul having to somewhat defend himself. The very fact that he had left Thessalonica, that he did not personally visit Thessalonica on the time schedule that some people thought he should, became the occasion for criticism, to really raise doubts about the genuineness of his love and interest in them. He was being accused of being a huckster. He was just after what he could get and his declarations of love and concern were only self-serving. So Paul wants the Thessalonians to appreciate how genuine his love for them really is. Look at verse seventeen. "But we, brethren, having been bereft of you for a short while--in person, not in spirit--were all the more eager with a great desire to see your face. For we wanted to come to you--I, Paul, more than once--yet Satan hindered us. For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy." Now a good reminder as we read the Apostle Paul's writings in sections like this, that sometimes you think, "Well, he's a little bit over-doing it." Well he's writing here under the inspiration of the Scripture. And I take it he's expressing the genuine condition of his heart and the depth of love that he has for them. "We, brethren, having been bereft of you for a short while." He calls them brethren, and again, that's not just a flippant term that Paul uses. He views them as his family, as those who have a family relationship with him and is one that he has been separated from. My version, my translation has "bereft." New American Standard has updated that. The idea of the word is literally "to be orphaned." It has the idea of separation, but it also includes the concept of the mental anguish that goes with separation. So, it's not just the fact of separation, but it's the heartache, the anguish you go through when you are separated from those that you love. It hurts. I, we sometimes say, "I feel the separation." I mean, there's pain with it. It hurts, so to speak. That's the concept of this word when he says he has been bereft of them, or "orphaned" from them. This is a painful thing for him not to be together with them. And it has been for a relatively short while. You know, one thing, the more intense your love, and I'm not talking about, you know, the passionate love, the Hollywood style, but you know, genuine love, the deeper it is, the harder the separation is. Is that not so? It's just bound to be. It's a reality. The deeper the love relationship, the harder it is to be separated from the one you love. So, the separation, Paul says, has been short but, the pain and difficulty of it, he has experienced.

Now, he says, "I'm separated from you in person, not in spirit." Again, these are concepts we can identify with pretty readily, because of love relationships we experience. for example, in marriage. I'm not with you, but I am with you. We talk that way when we're separated from our husband or our wife. Well, you know, "I'm not there with you, but I'm really there." "In my mind, in my heart, in my thinking, it's just like we were together." That's the expression, that's the concept Paul is getting at. So, I haven't been with you physically, but you're on my mind. There's a popular song, isn't there? "You Are Always on My Mind." Now, I don't have any idea how the rest of it goes, so don't hold me to anything. I don't even want to think about how the rest of it might go. For a short while, in person, but not in spirit. Now what he's doing here is refuting the charge, "out of sight, out of mind." The idea, as soon as Paul left Thessalonica, he got on to other things. The Thessalonians were at best a distant memory, because you realize the Apostle Paul went to a lot of places, met a lot of people, started a lot of churches, and they just became a blur. Now Paul says you have a special place in my heart. It's just like it doesn't matter if you have one child or five children or ten children, they are all precious to you. So Paul's expressing the depth of his love for the Thessalonians.

"We were all the more eager," at the end of verse seventeen, "with great desire to see your face." "All the more eager." Idea Paul was putting forth effort here. The word carries two concepts of haste and earnestness. Of trying to accomplish something as quickly as you can and doing it diligently. So, we were all the more eager. He wasn't just doing a token effort to be able to get back to the Thessalonica to see the people. No, I've really been working on it. He's put effort into it and you get a piling up of phrases here. "We were all the more eager with great desire to see your face." And this word for desire is a strong word. It denotes passion. So, Paul was saying, "I've been doing all I can as I passionately seek to be able to get back to you." Now we see an expression here of a depth of relationship that has been formed with these people. Now we understand, Paul didn't spend twenty-five or thirty or forty years with the Thessalonians, but his love for his Lord was so deep that that carried over to the love for God's people. And I've shared on occasion, the only way I can grasp the concept of heaven.

That is why our love for one another and our relationship for one another in the spiritual family of God supersedes and takes precedent over our physical family relationships. Now Jesus said you must love Me more than father or mother to be worthy of Me. And He asked who is, My mother, My father, My brothers, My sister? Those who have come to believe in Him and follow Him. So, there is a depth of relationship that is to be there. I realize at times, I have to apply myself to the love that I am to have for God's people. Now, this isn't a club. We just observed in connection with the communion service the Corinthian situation with the divisions. What a terrible denial of the work of Christ in redemption--who has brought us together as a family. I mean, we say, it's not healthy; it's not right for a physical family to be tearing each other apart. How sad it is, you see families that become divided over inheritances or over a wrong that's done. You say, that's too bad. Well, how much more tragic is it that the family of God experiences that like the church at Corinth? So, this depth of love that Paul expresses, there is a passion to it, and he was doing all he could to get back and have some personal contact with the Thessalonians.

"We wanted to come to you," verse eighteen, "I, Paul, more than once--yet Satan thwarted us." Hindered us, prevented us. Here's the answer. Why hadn't he? On more than one occasion Paul had made plans to go to Thessalonica and thought he had the arrangements done. But there was a personal adversary who literally tore up the road so Paul couldn't make the trip. This word translated, uh, thwarted, hindered, prevented, I don't know how you might have it. Literally means "to cut into." And it was used in a military context where an opposing military army would tear up the road so it couldn't be used by the opposing army to make their trip. Sort of like we'd see, in World War II pictures where they'd blow up the railroad so that the trip couldn't be made by the opposing army. That's the picture here. Satan is the adversary. Paul said it was the intervention of Satan that prevented his coming. With no discussion of Satan here it would indicate that, Paul, even in the brief time he was there, had given some instruction about it because Thessalonica was not even a Jewish city. It was a Greek city. Yet, these people are expected to have some background on the work of the adversary, Satan.

We say, well, I don't expect that, do you know Satan hindered Paul?" Now if it was really God's will for Paul to go Thessalonica, Satan wouldn't have hindered him. Right. But it doesn't change the fact, similar to what we see in Job, Satan was allowed to have certain liberties to do certain things. So here, Satan prevents Paul from going to Thessalonica. So, we're reminded, this is part of the spiritual battle. It's not a reflection of a lack of desire on his part; it's a reflection of the opposition of the enemy, Satan, to prevent him from, realizing the desire of his heart to be with you. This word, and we won't go there because of time, is used in a couple of other places in the New Testament. Romans 15:22, Galatians 5:7, in the context of being prevented from doing what you might desire to do. Satan does have power. He can hinder us; he can keep us from realizing the desires of our heart. We say, "Lord, why would you allow that to happen?" Or "Why wouldn't you prevent that from happening." We say, "Well the adversary of our soul is at work." Now God could have prevented Satan from doing that, but in His sovereign will, it was the plan of God to allow Satan to carry that out. So, Satan had prevented Paul from coming to Thessalonica.

But, Paul would naturally want to come. Look at verse nineteen. "For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy." Paul said, it's only natural that I would have this kind of interest in you. I mean, you mean everything to me. Look at what he says about them and only the Philippians receive such a warm expression, with such loving words as the Thessalonians do here. "Who is our hope," our hope, of the ultimate glory that Paul was looking forward to was inseparably related to his relationship to the Thessalonians. Our hope, when he stood in the presence of Christ, the Thessalonians' presence there, would be part of the realization of that hope and evidence of the effectiveness of his labors in serving Christ. So, Paul had a vested interest in them. That he looked forward, not only to see them in this life, but he anticipated the time when he would stand in the presence of Christ, the Thessalonians would be there. They were his hope. He looked forward to being in the presence of God's glory with the Thessalonians. Our joy. The happiness and joy he would experience in the presence of Christ.

“Our crown of exultation.” I take it that he's looking forward to the time when Christ returns, that's the end of the verse, the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming. When Christ comes, and we are at the Bema Seat, the crowns are given, rewards are bestowed, the judgments unfolded in 1Corinthians 3, for example. The Thessalonians' presence there and having arrived at the appointed goal and being mature in the presence of Christ, will be a testimony of the labors of the Apostle Paul. He gloried in that. Not selfishly, but what else to boast in but the work of God in his life, and through him, in the lives of the Thessalonians. "You're so important to me. This is not a short-term relationship." Their relationship in light of the coming of Christ and the glory of His presence.

You know, you start thinking about that, we have this kind of interest in one another. When we stand in the presence of the glory of Christ, it's important to me that you be there. That you have arrived in that presence, matured as you should be, and you have that kind of interest in me in, in one another. What else matters? We get more concerned with what we're building in this life, what we're accomplishing in this life than what we do in the spiritual dimension. I can set aside those things. We can do with less of those things. But your condition is important to me because you will be my hope and joy and crown of exultation, in the context of the coming of the Lord. My house may be a little run down; your life better not be run down. That means something to me in the presence of the Lord. So you see why Paul had a passion, not only to write some letters, but to be with them; to be sure they were what they ought to be.

Now, you can't tell Paul, stay out of it, it's not your business. It is his business. It is my business. It is your business. It will be our business at the coming of the Lord. We are in this together. How you turn out is important to me in the context of standing in the presence of the Lord at His coming. How I turn out is important to you in the context of the coming of the Lord and your standing in His presence. We are in this together. We need to have that kind of sense of involvement in one another's lives. You are our glory and our joy. What else would thrill us? What else would cause us joy? What else would we boast about in the good sense of this concept of glorying?

But this is what it's about. God's work in our lives and being part of what God is doing in one another's lives, to fit one another for the glory of His presence. "Therefore," he goes on in chapter three, just to summarize what he says, he couldn't take it any longer, I had to find how you're doing. Because Paul was concerned that maybe the afflictions overwhelmed them. Remember, you can read it in Acts 17, Paul got driven out of Thessalonica. He went to Berea. The Jews from Thessalonica came down and had him run out of Berea. He went on down to Athens; but Athens, he's troubled, he says, I wondered, how the Jews survived through all this. So, he had Timothy with him in Athens, and you know, it's hard to give up somebody who's with you. He said, I sent Timothy back to Thessalonica. I was willing to stay alone at Athens because I had to have Timothy get back. Paul couldn't go back himself, Satan prevented that. So he sent Timothy back. He said, I had to find out how you're doing because he was afraid the tribulations and afflictions might have overwhelmed them. Verses three and four, "so that no man may be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know we have been destined for this." A reminder there again, the people of God have been destined for affliction, for trial, for hardship.

We have an artificial, pretend gospel that's presented that is always to be positive. I’m reading a book now on, about growing a church, really. One of the things the man is clear to say, "Your preaching must be positive." Well, how can I positively tell you, you are destined for affliction? I mean, it's positive in that it is God's will for us as His people. But I don't want to pretend so that unbelievers who come will think they're getting something they're not. People were called to what? To take up their cross and follow Christ. We have been destined, a strong word. There is a determined plan for the people of God, and it includes affliction.

"For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance we were going to suffer afflictions; and so, it came to pass, as you know. For this reason, when I could endure it, endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you." He knows Satan wasn't only working to oppose him, but he was working to oppose the believers at Thessalonica. "The tempter might have tempted you and our labor should be in vain. But now that Timothy has come to us from you," Timothy has returned now with the message that the Thessalonians have stood firm and true, "has brought us good news of your faith and love, and you always think kindly of us, longing to see us, just as we long to see you. For this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; for now, we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord." What a mutual encouragement it was. The Thessalonians were thrilled to hear about the Apostle Paul, and they wanted him to know that they loved him with a depth of love that he is manifesting toward them. The afflictions haven't overwhelmed them. "We stand firm; you stand firm." Praise God for His grace in our lives.

Do we have that kind of love? There's a lot of emphasis on love, and even among evangelicals, and it's always trying to carry the love out here. Our love ought to encompass, people that differ with us, whether they're Roman Catholics or this or that or the other. That's not where the focus is. Now I'm not saying we shouldn't love others; we should love our enemies. We should love believers who are in other churches. But, you know, the real pressure to manifest love is right here. In our relationship with one another. We are called to live together, to serve together, to fellowship together. To be involved in one another's lives in vital and real ways. I trust we will have a depth of love that is passionate, that is sacrificial. That we'll see it in the context that we are involved in one another's lives for the long term. You can't get rid of me. I can't get rid of you.

Someone was sharing with me tonight, one of their children asked the question, was I leaving Indian Hills this year. They said, "Well, I don't think so. Why do you ask?" "Well, I noticed in the, bulletin or the newsletter, they call him the 'Senior Pastor.' So he's a senior, I thought he might be graduating and leaving." Well, some of us are slower than others. You know, we're involved in one another's lives for the long term. We see it that way, and we can't say, I can't get upset with you and pack my bags and go. We're in it together. Now the Lord sends me someplace else or sends you someplace else, we accept that. But, you know, we need to be careful; we are in it together. You have to help with my rough edges, my immaturity. I have to be involved in helping to develop you to maturity. To take down the rough edges, to mature you where you're immature. We are in this together. Not so we'll look good, in one sense, but so we will look good in the other sense. At the Bema Seat, when we stand in the presence of Christ, we need to look good. Not for appearance sake, because we'll be seen as we are then. We're talking about something that's done genuinely, not for show, because show won't make it there. Then the motives of our heart will be manifest.

Then reality will be seen as it's put to the test of the fire and the dross is burned up. What a privilege to be involved in one another's lives in that way and to experience that kind of love from the people of God and to express that kind of love to the people of God. May God use us in that way. Let's pray together.

Thank you, Lord, for the depth of your love for us. And all our talking about love, we realize that You're love is the foundation for it all. It is your love that makes our love possible. You have loved us with such a great love. It is only fitting that we manifest a great love for one another. Use us in one another's lives for molding and shaping and preparing for that time when we will stand in the glory of our coming Savior. And Lord, we will see one another as our hope and joy and crown of exultation. Thank you for the day together and the opportunity to be involved in one another's lives in a variety of ways. I pray for the ministry of the body through the days of this week, as we serve you in a variety of ways and a variety of places. Use the testimony of your people to reach the lost, to nurture the believer, to mature us in light of the coming of Christ. In His name we pray, Amen.