In his sermon, Jason Dohm discusses the text from 1st Thessalonians 2:17-20, emphasizing the relationship between Paul, Silvanus, Timothy, and the Thessalonian believers. The sermon explores how these apostles explain their physical absence due to persecution and Satanic hindrance, while affirming their deep affection for the Thessalonians and their longing to return. Dohm contrasts the persecution faced by believers with the enduring hope and resources provided by the Word and Spirit of God. He highlights the importance of engaging in 'people work,' where ministry is driven by love and relationships rather than mere projects. The sermon also underscores the ultimate hope and joy found in seeing believers stand firm in faith at the coming of Jesus Christ, which Paul describes as a 'crown of rejoicing.' Dohm concludes by encouraging listeners to engage wholeheartedly in Christian work, inspired by the vision of a multitude worshiping God, including those they have helped bring to faith.

Our sermon text is 1st Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 17 through 20. I'll begin reading in verse 13. For this reason we also thank God without ceasing because when you receive the word of God which you heard from us you welcomed it not as the word of men but as it is in truth the word of God which also effectively works in you who believe. For you brethren became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea and Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen just as they did from the Judeans, who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted us.

And they do not please God and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved. So as always to fill up the measure of their sins, but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost. But we brethren, having been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire. Therefore we wanted to come to you, even I, Paul, time and again, but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing?

Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ that is coming? For you are our glory and joy. Our Father we thank you so much for your word, for the privilege it is to consider it now. We pray, Holy Spirit, that you would come and help us, God. Please change us into the image of your Son.

It's in His powerful name that we pray. Amen. The title of the sermon this morning is The great hope of Christian labors. I believe Paul and Silvanus and Timothy are putting hope before us to help us to engage in our Christian labors with all of our hearts. These Christian labors are labors of love.

That's what we're going to see in the text today. The title of the sermon last week was, Has the Word Taken Root? It was a question. Has the Word of God taken root in your heart. The reason the title was that was because Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, our authors of the letter, had set before us a great contrast between believers, those in whom the Word of God had taken root and was beginning to deliver a harvest of fruitfulness and that was able to give them the resources to endure persecution.

We saw that in last week's text. They are being sharply persecuted but they have the resources they need to endure because the Word of God has taken root and the Spirit of God is working in them using the Word of God. So in spite of all the pressures and the persecution, they have the resources to draw from, to endure, and to be okay, and to even flourish in the middle of persecution. That is in sharp contrast to those in whom the Word had not taken root, who have rejected the Word of God and have become persecutors. One of the implications from last week's text is that it's a great danger to hear the Word of God, because if it doesn't take root, there is a hardening effect that comes with rejecting the Word of God.

So there was this great warning out of last week's text about hearing and putting off to another day receiving the Word of God. There is a hardening effect that happens when you will not receive the Word of God when it is given to you as a precious gift of mercy. We saw the contrast last week. This week, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy explained their absence and proclaimed their great affection and high hopes for these new converts. So, as we saw in Acts chapter 17, they had to leave in a hurry.

They weren't welcome to stay in Thessalonica, and so when they write back, they want to make sure that it's understood why they had to leave, and to express their great affection and the high hopes that they have for these believers who have begun very well. Haven't we seen that in the first couple of chapters? For new converts you could not ask for more than how the Thessalonians are described. Here's how this links to the last section of scripture. They persecute you, we love you.

We just got done last week with talking about the persecutors around the world and we saw that the persecution is the same in Judea as it is in these Greek states. Really the persecution takes very similar forms wherever you go in the world. And they're persecuting you, but we love you. So that's the flow of thought. We are to the we love you text.

I have one great objective for the sermon, and that's this. We would be inspired by the Word of God to engage in the work of God with all of our hearts. I think that's what Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy said before us. They give us the Word of God to give us a great hope on the horizon that we'll look to it and we'll be inspired to engage in the work that God has given the church with all of our hearts that we'll see the great hope that's out there, the great end of the work, the great reward for the work, and it will help us to be more wholehearted in the work. So as we go to the text, Let's go in prayer.

Father, I thank you for this time. I thank you for this text. I pray that you would use it to help us to hope in all the right things. That our hope would be the hope of Paul and Silvanus and Timothy as they look forward to the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ and the great joy there will be to have others beside us who we've labored for, we've invested in. God, I pray that you would use your word.

Be mighty among us through the working of your Spirit. In Jesus' name, Amen. I have two main points that I think are obvious in this text. The first is this. Absence explained.

If you're taking notes on the handout and you're filling in blanks, it's explained. Absence explained. Again, the absence of Paul and Silvanus and Timothy could be very easily misunderstood. One day they're there, the next day they're gone, without having planned that, without having announced that. Just poof, they're gone.

And so that could easily be misunderstood, and so They want to explain it as they write back to this young church. Let's start by noticing that Paul and Silvanus and Timothy address them as what? As brethren, as brothers and sisters. They are students, they are new converts, they have a lot to learn, and Paul and Silvanus and Timothy have a lot to teach, but they are not just students. They are brothers and they are sisters.

And It's clear that this is a relationship that's much more profound than natural lineage. This is a brotherhood and a sisterhood that transcends, that goes beyond natural lineage, meaning bloodline. In fact, Paul has just explained his relationship with most of his bloodline in the previous verses. They're Jews who are his blood brothers, and most of them are persecuting and hindering the gospel. Paul used to be one of those.

Saul used to be one of those. This is a relationship. This Jew with these ex-pagans that have a relationship that is more fundamental and more precious and more profound than with his blood brothers. For Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, Paul and Silvanus being Jews, Timothy being half Jew, probably, ministry was people work, not project work. This is one of the big takeaways, one of the big implications.

It's not said on the surface, but it's right below the surface. It's an implication from the text that you're not going to be able to get away from. It's there. Ministry for these men was people work and not project work. You know the difference, don't you?

Project work is deadlines and checklists and accomplishment. People work is different than that. You might have deadlines with your people work. We want to meet objectives in our people work. I'm not saying those aren't part of that, but I'm saying they're not exactly the same thing.

Listen to how they describe it in verse 8. So if we just back up, we're in the same chapter, but just looking back to verse 8 where we've already been. So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives because you have become dear to us. This is not project work, this is people work. There is an endearment that has taken place here.

So this goes beyond checklists and deadlines and objectives. This is a labor of love that they're engaged in. And I want to say this, people can tell the difference. So we're engaged in outreach in a number of different places both formally and informally, our churches. And the challenge coming to me from this text this week is to make sure that is people work and not project work.

It's all well and good, and it is well and good to get the Great Commission and feel the weight of it and to understand that it is a duty for the Lord's people. It is a duty for the Lord's people. But in the Great Commission we're being called to people work. We're being called to a labor of love, and not just project work, where because of the weight of the Great Commission, we just go do things. We make a checklist, and we set our deadlines, and we have our objectives out there.

No, no, no, people know when you're doing that. People know when they're your project. Okay, And people want nothing to do with that. We're going to have to be careful with that as we engage in outreach. The formal outreach, the informal outreach, our outreach has to be people work.

It has to be a labor of love and not just project work that we're busy about because we have the Great Commission. Paul and Silvanus and Timothy give us this starting point which is hinted at in the way that they address these new believers. They call them brethren. They call them brothers and sisters. You were strangers to us in a far corner of the world, but now you are family.

Now we are brothers and sisters in Christ. I am closer in Christ. I am closer to you, you former pagans, than I am to my own family." Paul could say that with such clarity. What a blessing it is when those things overlap, when your bloodline and your spiritual bloodline intersect. That's a blessing, that's the goal.

We would like to have that. But our most profound relationships are in Christ. All the better if it involves the bloodline too. Having said that, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy explain their absence by saying four things. So I'm going to give you the four things that they say.

You'll see them right from the text. The first is this, their absence is not voluntary. So clear. Their absence is not voluntary. What did they say?

We were taken away from you. This was not the plan. That's why it wasn't announced. We were taken away from you. This was not what we desired, but it is what happened.

The Greek here, that is translated taken away from you, means bereft of, like bereavement. It means lost through death. So the ESV, in struggling with how to bring over this Greek word into the English in the best way renders it torn away. We were torn away from you. That adds a little extra to it, doesn't it?

Or the NIV renders it orphaned by being separated from you. We were orphaned. Like we lost our children when we were taken away from you. We were torn away from you. And so they're struggling to communicate with these new Thessalonian believers that there's deep grief that is coming out of the separation that happened.

They are not happy about it. How long would they have stayed there, had circumstances not demanded their departure? The answer is longer. We don't know how much longer. The text doesn't tell us, but we know that it wasn't a voluntary separation.

It's not a voluntary absence, so we know that they would have stayed longer. We tend to think that Paul is just preaching, moving, preaching, moving, preaching, moving endlessly, never really staying anywhere, but if you study the book of Acts and the letters more carefully, you find that that's not really an accurate portrayal. Paul was in Ephesus for three years. You learn that in Acts chapter 20 verse 31. Paul was in Corinth for a year and a half.

You learn that in Acts chapter 18 verse 11. So circumstances, persecution, pressure often forced him to leave prematurely or at least sooner than he planned to or wanted to, but when he's afforded the luxury of time, he wants the time with these new converts to build them up and establish them in the faith. So that was the first explanation for their absence. Their absence is not voluntary. Here's the second explanation.

Their absence is only a physical absence. In presence, not in heart, is the exact wording in the text. In presence, our bodies are absent, but not in heart. Our hearts aren't absent. Their bodies are gone, but their hearts are still in Thessalonica with these new converts.

They left their hearts behind in Thessalonica. All of our affections stayed put when persecution caused us to have to leave. They are making it clear that their absence does not in any way indicate a lack of affection. It was a lack of love that made us leave in this short period of time. It was other things.

And we left our hearts there. In a short time, how long was it? It was undoubtedly less than a year. It was probably several months that they were in Thessalonica. We don't have exact time markers that tell us exactly how long it was.

But it wasn't long enough for Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. They left their hearts behind. In their time there, they gained this deep affection as their thoughts and prayers focused on Thessalonica after they're gone. So they're gone. Their bodies are gone.

Their hearts are in Thessalonica. And because their hearts are in Thessalonica, their thoughts keep going back to that city. Their prayers keep going back to that city. They can't stop thinking about them. They can't stop praying for them.

Isn't that what we've seen in the first couple of chapters? We're always remembering you. These are the first verses of the letter. We always remember these things about you. We're praying without ceasing.

We're praying for you. Verse 13. We can't stop praying for you. We can't stop praying for you. We can't stop thinking about you.

That is the second explanation. Their absence is only a physical absence. They left their hearts in Thessalonica. Here is the third explanation. Their overwhelming desire and objective is to return.

That was then, but this is now. That was then, persecution caused us to have to leave. This is now we want to get back. Our overwhelming desire and objective is to get back to Thessalonica and be with you in person. Listen to what the text says.

We endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire. We wanted to come to you. They're indicating here real efforts grounded in fervent desire. In other words, we've taken concrete action to try to get back to you, because we have this fervent desire to be with you face to face. We've done real things to get back to you.

This is not just chatter and talk about love. We've done real things to try to get back to you. We endeavored more eagerly to see your face. We wanted to come to you. And as we'll find out in next week's text, they've had to settle for sending Timothy, but the desire and the objective is that all of them would go back and minister together among these new converts.

Then we see this in the text, even I, Paul, time and again. The letter is written by a ministry team. We saw that in the very first verses. It's written by Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. But There are going to be a couple of points within the letter where Paul separates himself out from the ministry team because he wants to identify himself individually to make a point from himself.

So he's pulling away from the ministry team that is writing and sending this letter and saying alright this one's me. Even I, Paul, time and again. He wants them to be clear that he's not just sending an underling back in Timothy because he doesn't care enough to come himself. He wants to make it explicit. All of us have the same desire, all of us have the same objective.

That's that we all come together and minister among you again. That's not possible right now. So we settled for second best, we sent Timothy back. But even I, Paul, time and again desire to come and be face to face. And this is not just talk.

Paul did return. I didn't really realize that before studying for the text this week. Listen to Acts 20, verses 1 and 2. Luke, the author of Acts, and the companion of Paul in many of his missionary journeys writes this, After the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself, embraced them, and departed to go to Macedonia. So Macedonia should straight line you to Thessalonica.

Macedonia is the region, but Thessalonica is the city within the region. So Paul here in Acts 20 is departing to go to Macedonia, the region where Thessalonica is. Continuing in verse 2, Now when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words he came to Greece. So Paul goes through the region and he's encouraging the brethren there with many words. And then in verse 4, a couple of verses later, two of his traveling companions are mentioned and they're Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians.

So Paul has picked up traveling companions from this little church in Thessalonica. Or how about 1 Corinthians chapter 16 verse 5 where Paul writes, Now I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia, for I am passing through Macedonia. Here Paul again is writing to the church in Corinth, and he says, I'll come to you after I get done passing through Macedonia again, for I am passing through Macedonia. Or 2 Corinthians 1 verse 16, where he says that he is going through Corinth. I am going to come see you at Corinth on my way to Macedonia or in 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 3 where Paul writes, Timothy, as I urged you when I went into Macedonia remain in Ephesus.

So when we come to the Acts account we know that Paul and his companions preached in a number of places in this region of Macedonia. He preached in Philippi and there were converts and there's a church there. He preached in Thessalonica and there were converts and there's a church there. He preached in Berea and There were converts and there's a church there. He preached in Thessalonica and there were converts and there's a church there.

He preached in Berea and there were converts and there's a church there. He's been going back through, looks like repeatedly, in the record of Acts and the letters, repeatedly going through Macedonia to encourage these churches and to have additional contact with them. So what we see in this week's text is not just talk from Paul. He actually follows through as history marches on. So that was the third explanation.

Their overwhelming desire and objective is to return. That's how they're explaining this absence. We're gone but our intent is to come back. Finally, fourthly, they explain that their absence has been extended by the opposition of Satan. We already would have come back and been face to face with you except that we were opposed by Satan." Satan is a word that literally means adversary.

His name means what he does. He is the adversary. He is the accuser of the brethren. Now How did they know it was Satan? The text doesn't say.

What were these obstacles and hindrances? The text doesn't say. But there are some concrete things that we get from the Word of God that we can say with confidence rather than just speculating about things that the text doesn't say, we can go to the Word of God and know certain things for sure. One of those is this, they don't always attribute obstacles to the work of Satan. So turn back to Acts chapter 16.

We've been there before at the very beginning of our study of 1 Thessalonians, but turn to Acts chapter 16. I want to review this. This is how they came to Macedonia, the region, and Thessalonica, the city. The point I'm making is, every time this ministry team hits an obstacle, they don't have the knee-jerk reaction of saying, that's Satan. They do say that in our text, that they are hindered or obstructed by Satan, but they don't always say that.

This is Acts 16, like to read verses 6-10. Now when they had gone through Phrygia in the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mycea, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mycea, they came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night.

A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with them saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us. Now, after he had seen the vision immediately, we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. So this ministry team had intended, had planned, had tried to go preach the word in Asia, but the Holy Spirit forbid them. And then Having been forbidden to go into Asia, they tried to go to Mycea, but the Spirit did not permit them. So here are two other times where they hit obstacles and they don't say that was the devil.

They have a sense that it's actually the Spirit of God which is directing them and keeping them from going places they had intended to go and planned to go, but the Spirit had other ideas and better ideas. And so the Spirit gives a vision of a man in Macedonia. One of the things that we learn from Scripture is that Paul and Silvanus and Timothy don't always attribute obstacles to Satan, and we shouldn't either. The commentators, when you read about the opposition of Satan, consistently reference two texts of Scripture. These are texts of Scripture which pull back the veil a little bit from a world that we don't really see and understand that well, the world of spiritual warfare.

Here are the two texts. The first one is Job chapter 1 and 2. In Job chapter 1 and 2, there is a blameless man. There is a godly, holy man. God says to Satan, have you considered my servant Job?

How blameless he is. Satan is the accuser of the brethren. That's what Revelation 12 verse 10 calls him. That's what he's doing in Job chapter 1. Satan asks for permission to attack Job and then later in chapter 2 he asks again after his first set of trials, having laid Job low and causing him to abandon God, He asks again and gets permission a second time and yet with the permission both times, God sets precise limits to exactly how far he can go and no further.

It's an amazing account, very unlike almost anywhere else in Scripture except for this other text that the commentators consistently reference, which is Daniel chapter 10. In Daniel chapter 10, Daniel prays and an angel is dispatched in response to Daniel's prayer. When the angel gets to Daniel, he says, I would have come sooner, but I was withstood by the prince of the kingdom of Persia for 21 days. What's that all about? And that Michael, the archangel, had to come and help him so that he could continue on and go to Daniel to deliver to him the message that God had given him for Daniel.

So again, the curtain pulled back just a little bit on this world of spiritual warfare that we rarely think of, but that is going on all the time with the devil impeding the plans of God to the best of his abilities. In both cases, one, Satan is a very real and active enemy, and two, God's purposes ultimately prevail. That's really what we need to know about Job and Daniel and 1 Thessalonians. There is a real and active enemy at work. He never sleeps and his malice knows no end, but God's purposes ultimately prevail always, always, always.

Satan hates the work of God. Satan hates the mercy of God towards sinners, that takes people out of his kingdom and delivers them into a kingdom of light and love and joy and peace. Satan hates that. Satan opposes it every chance he gets. Satan hates churches.

We don't have time to develop this now but in the MacArthur study Bible notes, MacArthur takes us to the churches to the letters in Revelation 2 and 3 and points out how many times Satan is said to be moving in opposition to the work of God in these local churches. That is the modus operandi, the mode of operation of the devil to try to frustrate the work of churches, of local churches. And so it is here in 1 Thessalonians. So it would be foolish not to acknowledge and be watchful. But we shouldn't be afraid.

That's what I think we learn from scripture. You're a fool if you don't acknowledge that there's a powerful enemy that never sleeps and who has endless malice towards you and you're not watchful, you're a fool. But, That is not cause to be afraid. So in one hand, we hold 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8. The devil is prowling around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, so you ought to be sober-minded.

In the other hand, We hold 1 John chapter 4 verse 4 that says, greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world. Both true and we keep both of these truths in hand. So that from this one from 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8 about Satan being a roaring lion seeking people to devour. We say, I'm going to be watchful. I'm going to acknowledge that there's an enemy out there.

But in this hand we hold 1 John 4 verse 4 that this is not a reason for fear. God is greater, and God through His Holy Spirit indwells the believer. We don't have to fear. We do have to watch and pray. What does Jesus say about this in Matthew 16 verse 18?

I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Jesus addressed this. He said he'll build his church. Is the devil going to be able to stop that? Is the devil by hindering Paul and Silvanus and Timothy going to be able to stop God's progress and building his church in Thessalonica?

Not for a second! Jesus says, I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. So here we have what Jesus is saying, we have two kingdoms. Each kingdom has a king. Jesus is the king of his church.

It's his kingdom, it's the kingdom of heaven, and then there's the kingdom of hell. It has a king too. Satan is the king of that kingdom. But what does Jesus say? The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it, against my church.

There is a winning kingdom here. When you come away from that, you have to ask, which kingdom's gates are being battered? You know what Jesus says. Jesus says, the gates of Hades shall not prevail against the church whose Gates are being battered the kingdoms of heaven the kingdom of heaven or the or the kingdom of hell It's the gates of the kingdom of hell that are being battered. This is what's happening in our text.

Hey, do you understand that? Paul and Silvanus and Timothy are men of God who have come to a place where there has been darkness for thousands of years and no gospel presence for thousands of years. And here are the men of God here to batter the gates of hell. They preach the gospel of boldness and there are converts and there is a church and Jesus builds his church. Satan might be able to keep Paul and Silvanus and Timothy out of town for a while.

That's different than Jesus being unable to build his church. This is exactly what we're seeing play out in Thessalonica. God is breaking into a place of great darkness and he's battering the gates of hell with his church, with his people. So here's the explanation for their absence. Paul and Silvanus and Timothy love the Thessalonian believers.

That's what they want to communicate. That's what they want known. We love you. We can't wait to get back there and be with you. We'll happily spend and be spent for you." That's the first main point, the absence explained.

Here's the second main point, hope proclaimed. You're filling in blanks on the handout, proclaimed. Hope, proclaimed. Our authors make a statement in the form of a question and answer. In other words, they ask a question in order that they can answer it themselves.

To proclaim something that's true. For simplicity, I'm going to take it out of the question and answer format and just make it into a statement. Again, it's better as it is in 1 Thessalonians, but for simplicity I'm just going to make it into a statement, which is this. You Thessalonian believers are our hope, and our joy, and our crown of rejoicing in the presence of Jesus at His coming. That's what's being communicated here.

You Thessalonian believers, you're our hope. You're our joy. We take joy in you. You are our crown of rejoicing. Do you know how much rejoicing we have and how much rejoicing we will have when Jesus comes back?

Now they have been saying in various ways during the course of what we've seen in the letter so far, we're your spiritual parents. Right? Keep seeing that. In chapter 2 verse 7 they say, we're like a nursing mother, we're gentle among you, we're like a cherishing nursing mother among you. We're your spiritual parents in verse 11 of this same chapter, chapter 2 verse 11.

We're like a father who has instructed his children in these various ways of instruction that are appropriate at different times. We're like your father, spiritual parents. And now, what we see in this week's text is just what a proud parent says. Isn't this what proud parents say? I see your life.

I see the good progress you're making in your life. Because of what I see, because of my affection for you, I have high hopes. I see this trajectory and it is filling me with hopes because where that trajectory goes is good. I'm cheering you on. I have high hopes for you.

And I take joy in you. Because of how you're doing, You're a source of joy for me, and you're my crowning achievement." They say, you're my crown of rejoicing. We sort of use the same language now. A crowning achievement is like your best achievement. That's what Paul, and Sylvainus, and Timothy are saying.

You're doing well, and you're our crowning achievement. You're our crown of rejoicing. Listen to what F.F. Bruce says. He's got a very helpful commentary on 1 and 2 Thessalonians.

I thought this was a very helpful quote. He's speaking of Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, those friends fill their hearts with hope and joy and exultation. Hope that the divine work so well begun in them will increase to maturity. Trajectory gives us hope. We see this working out into maturity.

Joy in the evident genuineness of their faith. Exultation as they look forward to pointing to such converts as the fruit of their service before the tribunal of Christ. I think he gets it just right. So when, There is a when here. It is a hope.

They have their eyes fixed on a point out on the horizon in the future. When in the future when Jesus comes back? At His coming. In the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming. There are two other individual verses in Paul's writings that I think shine light on this and help us understand what is really being communicated here.

And I won't have you turn there because they're just single verses, they're very short so we should be able to move fast. The first is 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 2. 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 2 Paul writes, For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." So here's Paul writing to another church, the Corinthian Church, and he's talking about his jealousy for them and he says why he's jealous for them. The reason is that he's betrothed them to Christ.

And As his converts, all acknowledging that this is the work of God, yet Paul is the vessel of ministry and the preaching of the gospel to these people and he says he wants to present them, he wants to bring them all the way to the finish line as a chaste virgin to Christ. This is his hope, this is his objective. There are new converts in Corinth and he wants to see them successfully to the finish line so that they're a beautiful chased bride when the bridegroom appears. I think that's what's being communicated in 1st Thessalonians in our text now. Here's the other single verse Colossians chapter 1 verse 28 in Colossians chapter 1 verse 28 Paul says this, Him, Jesus, Jesus we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

He's saying the same thing in a little different way. Paul knows that new converts are just getting started. And he wants them to not just begin well, but to finish well. So he has his eyes out on the point on the horizon when Jesus returns, the finish line. And he wants all his converts there doing well.

So he's warning all men and teaching every man in all wisdom so that he can present these converts to Christ doing well. In 1st Corinthians chapter 3, Paul talks about the end for Christians. Or in some ways it's the beginning for Christians. It's the judgment. And he says that there are Christians building with gold and silver and precious stones and it'll be tested by fire but gold and silver and precious stones aren't afraid of a test by fire.

They survive it and there is a reward. And then he says there are Christians that are building with wood and hay and straw, and they will be saved, but the wood and hay and straw won't survive the test. The fire comes and it's consumed by the fire. They will be saved, but as through fire, meaning all that will be stripped away, there will be no reward. As that relates to our text, Paul and Silvanus and Timothy are doing people work for the glory of God.

They are preaching the gospel and then establishing these new converts. That is building with gold and silver and precious stones. That will survive the fire. There will be a reward at the end of that. Paul and Silvanus and Timothy are pointing to that.

You are crown of rejoicing when Jesus comes. This is just Matthew chapter 25 playing out. In Matthew chapter 25 you have the parable of the talents, not talents as in special abilities, but a talent would be an amazing sum of resources to invest. So the parable in Matthew chapter 25 verses 14-30 is a word picture, a parable, a story about a man who goes away and entrusts his goods to his servants. You have these faithful servants who take one and make it two, take five and make it ten.

There's a gain, there's a doubling, there's an entrusting of resources from the Master, and it's done well with. And so there is gain for the Master. Paul and Silvanus and Timothy have been entrusted with the gospel and the ministry to the Gentiles and their being faithful and God is giving them an increase and they will hear, well done good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy can see the moment on the horizon where they will hear those words.

Where all the time and blood, sweat, and tears invested will be recompensed with joy. That is something Satan can never stop. He might keep you out of Thessalonica for a year, but he can't keep you from being fruitful in the Lord and from hearing those words. Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master.

Applications. I just have two. The first is in the form of a question. How am I at loving people? How am I at loving people?

I'm not talking about feeling a sense of duty so I'm doing things. That's a separate question. Talking about people work here. How am I at the people work? How am I at actually loving people?

Not feeling the weight of the Great Commission and turning that weight into activity. By the way, I'm not arguing against that. I do think we should feel the weight of the Great Commission to a greater extent than we do. I know I should. And I do think that should result in activity.

So I'm not against the weight, feeling the weight, and I am not against having that translate into activity. But it is a different question than how am I at loving people. That is a different question. Paul and Silvanus and Timothy will spend and be spent. They will bring not just the gospel, but their lives.

We gave you the gospel, and we gave you our lives. We're not that great at giving the gospel, But are we better at that than giving our lives? That's a searching question. That's number one. How am I at loving people?

I think we need an emphasis on the people work. I know I do. I know we do in our outreaches. Number two, I want you to turn to Revelation chapter seven, verse nine. And I want to show you what I think is the point on the horizon that Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy have so crystal clear in their mind that it drives them to engage in the work of God with all their heart.

Revelation chapter 7, verses 9 through 12. They are talking about, in 1 Thessalonians in our text, they are talking about Jesus coming. Here is what happens after Jesus comes. Revelation chapter 7, verses 9 through 12. After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb.

All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God saying, Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. Paul and Silvanus and Timothy can see the multitude that can't be numbered, and they see themselves there, and they see Thessalonians there. This is a place where darkness had reigned for millennia.

No gospel presence for millennia. People dying without God and without hope for millennia and they see themselves there and they see Thessalonians there and they want this to be a crown they can put at the feet of Jesus. These are not crowns for ourselves. You are our crown of rejoicing. If God would choose to use us in the lives of other people to bring them to faith, these are not crowns for us.

This is not for our glory. These are crowns that we will put at the feet of Jesus. Salvation belongs to Him. Paul, Sylvanus, and Timothy can see themselves there in that throng with their Thessalonian children and they see it as a crown of rejoicing. It's their crowning achievement that causes such rejoicing that more would be there to worship Him.

What about you? What about me? Can you see it? To me, this throws the Great Commission into a different light. Alright, bring on the weight.

We need the weight. But there's more than just weight to the Great Commission. There is a glory to it that puts a hope out there for our Christian labors. The thought that we would be before Christ with spiritual children that God had graciously worked in us and through us to bring them into His Kingdom. What a thought!

This makes me want to engage in it more wholeheartedly than I've ever engaged in it. This sort of lighting a little fire in my heart to say, how glorious would it be to be there with many that the Lord has used me in their lives to bring them into his kingdom. And they're there. There was darkness came through that family line, maybe for 10 generations. And then the Lord used me to break into that family line.

And now they'll be with me in that throng that can't be counted. It'll make you want to be kind to an annoying younger brother. It'll make you want to be kind to neighbors or co-workers that are hard to get along with. God, I pray that you would fix the point on the horizon for us. That we would have so clearly in our minds this great throng of people who will worship you and God I do pray that you would come and work among us work in us work through us in a mighty way we would be channels of your goodness, your kindness, your grace towards sinners, that you would make us as bold as lions with the Gospel.

That just the thought of people who are today in darkness being in your kingdom tomorrow and forever and being there with us like the Thessalonians will be in that throng with Paul and Sylvainus and Timothy would cause us to be so much more wholehearted in our engagement in your kingdom labors. As he sings in Jesus' name, Amen.