Notes for 1 Thessalonians 3

1Th 3:1 ¶ Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone;

• No longer endure – Paul mentioned in 2:18 that Satan had hindered him from personally returning to minister to the new church in Thessalonica. But his concern for them was so strong that he decided to send Timothy in his place. He simply could not bear knowing these new believers needed further instruction and guidance. 
• Left in Athens alone – Earlier, Paul was forced to leave Berea alone, leaving his co-laborers Timothy and Silas behind. Paul waited in Athens for them to arrived. It seems Timothy had come to Athens and Silas had remained for a time in Berea. Even though Paul greatly needed Timothy’s help in Athens, he chose to suffer that loss and sent Timothy back to Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-16).

2 And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith:

• Our brother – a common term for those who have been born again by the Spirit into the family of God in Christ. 1 Peter 2.17 Love the brotherhood.  Gal 6.10 speaks of the household of faith. The body of Christ is a family, not a factory; an organism, not an organization; a body not a building.
• Minister of God – Minister is a translation of the Greek word for a servant. Paul assures the people in Thessalonica that Timothy is a servant of God. All Christians are called to be a servant, and a servants heart is always looking for ways to serve, not be served. The backbone of any local church is the saints that offer themselves in loving service of Jesus Christ and His body.
• Fellow-laborer – Timothy has proven to be a faithful assistant to Paul in the spread of the gospel and therefore fully capable to serve in his place. Ministry in the local church is a team effort.....it’s not just the pastor, elders and deacons...it’s all of us serving Jesus together. To be a team player requires us to walk in submission to Christ and humility towards each other. The body is not one member, but many members.
• Your faith – Paul fully realized that our faith in God, which is the means of salvation and everything else a person receives from Him, must be constantly strengthened and developed.
• Timothy's purpose was to establish (strengthen) and comfort (actively encourage) them concerning (as Milligan notes, for the furtherance of) their faith. When Paul sent Timothy to Thessalonica, it was not to criticize them for their faults, which I am sure existed, but to strengthen them in their faith.

3 That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.

• Moved (shaken) – Paul’s concern was that the persecution that had fallen upon these believers as a result of their bold witness for Christ would cause them to shrink back from their faith in God. He was also concerned that they may have felt abandoned because he was forced to leave them so soon after their conversion.
• Appointed – Paul would later write that "all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Tim. 3:12). Paul understood that the trials he experienced were part of his calling in the ministry. The Lord told Ananias these words concerning the call of Paul: Acts 9:16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.
• Some people believe that the only cause of trouble in the Christian life is sin or a lack of faith. Here The Spirit of God clearly states that troubles that stem from opposition or persecution because of taking a stand for Jesus Christ in a fallen world are at times a part of God’s plan for believers.
• Matt 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
• Because God allows our faith to be tried and tested, a proper response when going through trials can build godly character.
• Jas 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
• Remember this beloved, trials do not make us or break us, they refvela what is in our heart. When I’m driving and hit a bump, the tea that splashed out of the mug on my dashboard was there before the bump. The bump doesn’t put the tea in, it juts shows what was already in the cup. You may say tonight that I am angry because of what he or she or they did or didn’t do to me. That is not completely true beloved. The anger was already there, the “bump” just brought it out. Trials teach us how weak we are, and how much we need the Lord Jesus and the power of The Holy Ghost.
• A proper response to adversity will always bring us closer to Jesus and one another. Jesus’ afflictions were redemptive, our afflictions are used to develop intimacy with Jesus.
• I thought when I became a Christian I had nothing to do but just to lay my oars in the bottom of the boat and float along.  But I soon found that I would have to go against the current. - D.L. Moody

4 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.

• The church was born in suffering (Acts 17:6). Paul bore marks of his shameful treatment at Philippi when he evangelized the Thessalonians. Hence, suffering should not have caught them by surprise. We told you. The imperfect tense indicates that Paul had reminded them repeatedly.
• Paul teaches us here that there is no reason why believers should feel dismayed on occasion of persecutions, as though it were a thing that was new and unusual, inasmuch as this is our condition, which the Lord has assigned to us.

 5 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 labour be in vain.

• Tempter shows the seductive aspect of Satan's work.  Satan is the most powerful of the evil spirits. One of the old reformers wrote these insightful words: “Satan never ceases to place ambushes for us on all sides, and to lay snares for us all around, so we must be on our watch, eagerly taking heed.”
• According to Eph 6.10-12 & 2 Cor 12.7-10, his power can affect both the spiritual world and the physical world. Paul was well aware that Satan often uses times of suffering to influence people to question God’s goodness. It is at times such as this that we, like Paul, need to be fully persuaded that there is no imaginable suffering that will ever separate us from the love of God (Rom. 8:35-39).

3:6 But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you:

• The good tidings (news) was threefold:
• (1) faith was firm—this had been Paul's principal concern (1 Thess 3:5, 7);
• (2) love was constant—in spite of the trials which could have frayed the edges of their dispositions;
• (3) their remembrance (recollection) of the apostles was always good—despite the reproach and persecution which the evangelists' visit had produced
• Faith and love – Paul is encouraged that Satan has not won in his efforts to undermine these new believers. Their faith had been proven to be strong by the manifestations of love they were expressing. True faith always results in love. Gal 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

7 Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith:

• We are comforted – Paul openly confesses his deep personal love and that his concern was laid to rest because he knew that they were doing well. Paul was not simply a "professional" minister, but a true spiritual father.
• Affliction (choking pressures) and distress (overbearing tribulation).

8 For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.

• We live – Paul further reveals his deep love for them by showing that their spiritual well-being nurtured him as food for his soul.
• The apostle Paul wrote to Gaius 3Jo 1:3 For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

9 For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God;

• Joy – This is an example of the inner blessing Paul received to his soul by knowing of their spiritual faithfulness to God. Whatever evil or affliction Paul was experiencing did not hinder his joy in The Lord.
• Paul took no credit for the soundness or growth of the church. It was God who gave the growth (1 Cor 3:7). He was not boastful but thankful (cf. 1 Thess 1:2 ff; 2:13 ff.). Thus, he rejoiced (cf. 5:18) before our God, because it was the faithfulness of God in the hearts of these saints that had made such joy possible

10 Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?

• Perfect what is lacking – Perfect (katartiz?) means to fit a thing for its full and proper use. Paul balances his strong affirmation of their faith by also making it clear that faith must be developed. Spiritual life must continue to move forward or inevitably it will go backwards. There is no place for spiritual neutrality.
• Let me ask you a few questions tonight beloved (questions that I must ask myself as well). As far as your faith in Christ, are you standing or slumping? Drawing near or drifting? Following or floundering? Abiding or acting?
• Not only did Paul pray for the church night and day, he also warned them about the dangers that lie ahead. Acts 20.31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. Paul’s heart broke when the glorious message of the cross was distorted or denied. Php 3:18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.           
• As an example of a true shepherd, Paul prayed for God’s sheep. He taught them the Scriptures so that they would become mature followers of Jesus. And because he loved them, he warned them about false doctrines or anything else that could hinder their loyalty to Christ and His kingdom. The spiritual “tool box” that Paul used was prayer and Scripture.

3:11 Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.

• In verses 11-13, Paul lists three prayer requests. Paul's destiny was in God's control. Christ's full title here stresses His majesty. Paul wanted to be led by The Lord, nothing or nobody else. He made his request of wanting to see them again, and left that request in the hands of The Lord.

• Direct our way to you – God will answer this but as is often the case, not fully as one may suppose. Paul trusted God’s providence to bring about his return, knowing that he was incapable of returning on his own.
• Pr 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
• There is no record in Scripture that Paul ever returned to Thessalonica, but we do know that when he was traveling through Asia on his 3^rd missionary journey, he was joined by Aristarchus and Secundus who were from Thessalonica (Acts 20.4,5).

12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:

• Increase and abound in love – Paul saw this agape love as the most evident fruit of true faith. This love becomes the very motivation for living out the will of God. It is important to note that Paul says here that it is your faith in the Lord to "make you increase" in this love.
• Christian love is first directed toward believers (one toward another) and then reaches out like God's love toward all men. This love can be produced only by the Spirit of God (Col 1:8; Gal 5:22). More than sentiment or warm feeling, Christian love is the selfless desire for the total welfare of others.
• This love that Paul speaks of is Christ centered, others-minded, and unselfish.  Selfish­ness quenches The Spirit and stunts spiritual growth. The Spirit of God moves most powerfully in a loving atmosphere. When our motivation for doing what we do is for any other reason than love, it is nothing more than a work of the flesh.
• 1Tim 1:5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

• Hearts unblameable (blameless) – Paul asks God to produce a love in them that will result in sincerity and a holiness which would result in no shame within themselves when they stand before Jesus at His second coming.
• Note the connection between love and holiness. If love is the Christian law (Gal 5:14), then one's holiness (separation to God) is measured chiefly by love.
• Beloved, Jesus is coming back to receive a holy bride, not a bride that looks, acts, and thinks like Hollywood. Paul wanted these saints to grow in holiness and love. Paul commended these saints for their boldness in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with the lost. And that is my prayer and commendation for this flock as well.