July 11
“We told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know. For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain. But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us, as we also to see you – therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by your faith. For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord,” 1 Thessalonians 3:4-8.
The apostle Paul was very much concerned about the spiritual welfare of the members in the Thessalonian congregation. He had a certain anxiety because of the persecution that he himself was enduring and which he knew the Thessalonians also would have to endure.
He reminded the Thessalonians that previously they had been informed that the apostles would suffer tribulation, and that it happened just as they said it would. During his own tribulations, Paul became very concerned about the Thessalonians, wondering what was happening to them. The time came when he felt that he just had to know. He wrote, “I could no longer endure it!”
He felt that he just had to know whether the Thessalonians were continuing in the faith or whether the persecution and the devil had persuaded them to give up the faith, which would have meant that the work of the apostles to bring them to Jesus as their Savior would have all been in vain. Paul was not engaged in sinful worrying. He knew how the devil and the enemies of the Christian Church work. He had a deep, loving Christian concern for the faith of the members in the Thessalonian congregation. It was a congregation that was very near and dear to him.
Out of love and concern, Timothy was sent to bring Paul and the others a good report about the faith and life of the Thessalonian Christians. They had not forsaken their faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior from sin, death, and the devil. They were standing fast in the faith in spite of what they had to endure from the enemies of the Gospel of Christ. Paul joyfully wrote, “We were comforted concerning you by your faith!”
All of us, as Christians, should have a Christian concern for those who have faith in their Lord and Savior Jesus, as well as a concern for those who have no faith and hope at all for eternity. We should encourage people to continue in the faith even if it means that they will have to suffer certain things. Pray with them and for them that their faith will not fail them. Remind them of God’s gracious promises: “I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we may boldly say: The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6, and, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you,” James 4:7. “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil,” Ephesians 6:10-11.
“I know my faith is founded
On Jesus Christ, my God and Lord;
And this my faith confessing,
Unmoved I stand upon His Word.
Man’s reason cannot fathom
The truth of God profound;
Who trusts her subtle wisdom,
Relies on shifting ground.
God’s Word is all-sufficient,
It makes divinely sure;
And trusting in its wisdom,
My faith shall rest secure.” Amen.