Chapter Three
Paul Desires to See Them Again - Part Two
3:1 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.
This chapter begins with a ’therefore’, which picks up where chapter two ended describing how he desired to see them again. He wanted to continue teaching them, and after a period of time, he could no longer bear it (Greek stegontes, to hold out, to put up with an annoyance) while he was in Athens (see Acts 17:15), so he sent them his protégé Timothy to continue their education, as they will be afflicted by naysayers and those who will wish to debate against Christianity to stir up trouble. He was concerned that no one was moved (Greek sainesthai, a word that describes the friendly movement of an animal’s tail, figuratively used to refer to someone giving up on their beliefs) by these trouble-makers.
Paul reminded them that they knew that they, as believers, were destined (Greek keimetha, appointed, to be set, laid upon) for such troubles. Jesus told us, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, ESV) The Bible uses several words to describe what Paul calls afflictions, including tribulation, persecution, trouble, distress, burden, oppression, anguish, etc. J. Vernon McGee adds one more to the list:
Here is a statement that is a little hard for any of us to swallow. He says that “no man should be moved,” which means he should not be disturbed, “by these afflictions.” Afflictions here means “pressures, tensions.”
Then Paul makes the amazing statement that “we are appointed thereunto.” We know that we are going to go through storms. They will be temporary storms, but we cannot escape them. We are going to have trouble down here. The Word of God makes that very clear. Paul wants the Thessalonians to stand for the Lord in the midst of afflictions.[1]
For a believer “storms in life” are inevitable (see Mark 10:30; Luke 22:28-29; John 15:20; 16:33; Acts 9:16; 14:22; Romans 8:17; Philippians 1:20; 2 Thessalonians 1:5; 2 Timothy 2:12; 3:12; 1 Peter 5:10; Revelation 1:9), so we too need to stand firm and keep our eyes on Jesus!
3:4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. 5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
When Paul was with them he warned them that persecution would come, just as it did, which they were fully aware of. Knowing that they were being persecuted, Paul wanted to know how they were faring. He was concerned that the tempter (Satan) would be successful tempting them negating all their efforts.
An Encouraging Report from Timothy
3:6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— 7 for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith.
Timothy reported back to Paul that the faith of the believers in Thessalonica was strong. And that they constantly remember them and desire to see Paul and the others, just as Paul has been saying about them. Paul confesses that he and his companions have been encouraged by their faith in the midst of their own troubles and suffering.
3:8 For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. 9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?
The fact that they are standing firm in the Lord, gives them new life. Paul thanks them for the joy they feel for their sake in God’s presence. He then informs them that they pray for them night and day, that they may be able to see them again and complete what may be lacking in their faith.
3:11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Paul prays that God direct their way back to them, and that Jesus increase their love for one another, and for all people, just as they do for them. And as a result be made blameless in holiness before God. The remainder of verse thirteen can easily be misunderstood, as some question, when is Jesus going to present believers blameless in holiness before our God and Father? Is it when He takes the church out of the world? Or, will it be at the time He comes to the earth to establish His kingdom? In other words, during the time of the rapture or at the second coming. J. Vernon McGee clarifies:
Therefore, “at the coming of our Lord Jesus” refers to the fact that believers are going to be present with the Lord Jesus at the very moment that we are caught up to meet the Lord in the air. He will take us home to glory, to the place that He has prepared for us. So that this “coming” does not refer to the return of the Lord with His saints to establish His kingdom, but to our coming to heaven into the presence of the Father.[2]
The event that Paul is referring to where believers are caught up to meet Jesus in the air will be introduced in the following chapter. It is commonly referred to as “the rapture.”
Considerations
Paul’s Prayers
Prayer is often spoke about in the Bible and many prayers are preserved in both the Old and New Testaments. While most Christians can recite the Lord’s Prayer and are probably aware of Jesus’ incredible prayer recorded in John 17:1-26, offered just before He was arrested and later crucified. But the majority of the prayers recorded in the New Testament were from Paul. Some of the most notable ones include: Romans 10:1; 15:30-33; 1 Corinthians 1:4-9; 2 Corinthians 9:12-15; 12:7-10; 13:7-9; Ephesians 1:15-23; 3:14-21; 6:19-20; Philippians 1:3-6, 9-11; Colossians 1:3-14; 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16; 3:9-13; 5:23-24; 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12; 3:3-5; 1 Timothy 2:1-3; 2 Timothy 1:3-7; Philemon 1:4-7. Author and Bible teacher Arthur Pink wrote this about Paul’s prayers:
The second fact which impressed us while contemplating the field before us was that the great majority of the recorded prayers of the apostles issued from the heart of Paul; and this, as we have said, was really to be expected. You ask why? Several answers may be returned. Paul was preeminently the apostle to the Gentiles. Peter, James, and John ministered principally to Jewish believers (Gal. 2:9), and even in their unconverted days they had been accustomed to bow the knee before the Lord. But the Gentiles had come out of heathenism and it was fitting that their spiritual father should also be their devotional exemplar. Moreover, he wrote twice as many epistles as all the other apostles added together; nevertheless there are eight times as many prayers in his epistles as in all of theirs. But chiefly we call to mind the first thing said of Paul after his conversion: “Behold, he prayeth” (Acts 9:11). It is as though that struck the keynote of his subsequent life, that he would, to a special degree, be marked as a man of prayer...Such was the fervor of his love for Christ and the members of His mystical body; such was his intense solicitude for their spiritual well-being and growth, that there continually gushed from his soul a flow of prayer to God for them, and thanksgiving on their behalf.[3]
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[1] McGee, J. V. (1997). Thru the Bible commentary (electronic ed., Vol. 5, p. 387). Thomas Nelson.
[2] McGee, J. V. (1997). Thru the Bible commentary (electronic ed., Vol. 5, p. 389). Thomas Nelson.
[3] Pink, A. W. (2005). Gleanings from Paul studies in the prayers of the Apostle (p. 10). Logos Bible Software.