1 Thessalonians 2:17–20

The apostle had to break off his ministry in Thessalonica suddenly. Persecution had broken out in that city. "The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea" (Acts 17:10). He must have felt that the new converts needed more instruction. He writes about this in the letter.

Against this dark background, how beautiful is the picture that verses 17 to 20 present. The apostle was hurried out of their midst under cover of night. Warm longings toward them filled his heart. As his spiritual children, born through the gospel, he looked on them as his hope, and joy, and crown of rejoicing.

What knitting of heart there was between Paul and these converts! How he longed to be with them again, but was hindered by the enemy! To that he had to bow. But his forced absence did not lessen the strength of his love. While it lasted he was, as it were, bereaved of them (aporphanisthentes), though only for a time.

Truly, for a time, circumstances may rob saints of one another's company. They are "separated for a little moment". But, says the apostle, "not in heart." We are linked together with bonds that are as eternal as the love that binds us.

He also lets them know his affectionate desire. Absence did not weaken it; it did the opposite. There is nothing so real on earth as the love of Christ reproduced by the Spirit in the Christian.

The Spirit of God had used Paul's absence for the good of the Thessalonian saints, to strengthen them to stand without his help. Yet his heart was greatly with them, and he had plainly looked for an opportunity to return "with great desire." Here was the heart of a true shepherd. He cared for the state of the flock, yet he was held back from his longing to come to them again.

Circumstances may hinder the full enjoyment of these divine affections — physical separation, the power of Satan, death itself. But they cannot destroy them. That was the case here. Paul was taken from them in presence, but not in heart. Yet these very circumstances only made him look beyond this scene, to the day when these new affections will have all their full blessedness.

The Spirit of God had used Paul's absence for the good of the Thessalonian believers, to strengthen them to stand without his help. Yet his heart was very much with them, and he had clearly looked for an opportunity to return "with great desire." Here was the heart of a true shepherd, concerned for the state of the flock and yet hindered from his longing to come to them again. In verse 18 he says "even I Paul," because in fact Timothy was able to visit them before this time, as we see in chapter 3:1, 2. But Satan hindered Paul and Silas. What form this resistance took we are not told, but Satan's malice against the truth did not want an already devoted assembly strengthened further.

There is a reality for evil in Satan, the great personal enemy, as much in a certain sense as there is in Christ for good. Let us not forget it.

Could not the Lord have thwarted Satan's efforts? Certainly He could, and does when it agrees with His ways. Shortly He will tread Satan under foot, though at present He may use Satan as an instrument to try His people. Suppose the Lord had hindered Satan. Then the saints might have missed the blessing that came from the trial of their faith.

This passage plainly shows that God permits Satan to harass and hinder the servants of the Lord. Yet compare this with the history recorded in Acts. It is very clear that God knows well how to overrule Satan's hindering work for good. Satan hindered Paul from returning just then to Thessalonica. But God led him to Corinth — and He had many people in that city!

Suppose I do something with the full certainty that I am doing the will of God. Then an obstacle is clearly no more than a test of my faith, and it ought not to stop me. It stops us perhaps through our lack of faith… When we are doing our own will, or are careless in our walk, God in His mercy may warn us by a hindrance. It stops us if we pay attention to it, while "the simple pass on and are punished." Where there is much activity and labour, God may permit Satan to raise up hindrances, so that we may be kept in dependence on the Lord.

"We wanted to come to you — I, Paul, again and again — but Satan hindered us." Very wonderful! Very mysterious! Yet so it was. Satan hindered an angel of God in his work in the days of Daniel. He also hindered an apostle of Christ in his loving desire to see his brothers at Thessalonica. But thanks be to God, he will not be able to hinder the joyful meeting of Christ and His saints for which we wait.

Heaven is a home, a place of company. The blessed Lord who has prepared that home of love will always have the first thought and the first place. Yet He Himself will connect the brightest scenes in glory with the darkest days of the wilderness. At the very moment when Satan was stopping him from visiting his beloved Thessalonians, who were badly persecuted, he looked beyond those troubled times. He saw his children in the faith around him in the glory.

It is called the "crown of rejoicing" (1 Thess. 2:19). The apostle looks forward again to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He looks on to those Thessalonians, converted through his preaching, standing before Him in His glory on that day. They were his glory and joy now, and his crown then, a crown he could rejoice or boast in, for that is the sense of it. We may well ask ourselves this: can we look forward to the coming of Christ with the same gladness, thinking of anyone God has used us to bring to conversion, standing before Him in that day?

Notice here that the special fruits of our labours are not lost. They are found again at the coming of Christ. Our chief personal joy is to see the Lord Himself and to be like Him. That is the portion of all saints. But there are also particular fruits tied to the work of the Spirit in us and through us... So God would crown the apostle's work. He would bear striking testimony to its faithfulness in front of all these saints in glory. And the love that had worked in Paul's heart would find its satisfaction: it would see the people it loved in glory, in the presence of Jesus.

All you Thessalonians will be there; I shall see you there, you among whom I have laboured... People sometimes ask, Shall we know one another? Clearly Paul had no doubt about it: then he would know these loved Thessalonians. Paul saw the Lord as his Light and his Hope, and it was not inconsistent for him to think as well of meeting those among whom he had laboured. How this thought makes the scene a home scene.

Reward is for our labour: as to our place, we all get the same glory as Christ... The Thessalonians will be Paul's crown, but they will not be ours; that is clear. We do not know how this will happen. But in glory Paul will have them as his crown, and he will not take away Christ's crown. Grace did it all. Still, Christ is pleased to reward faithful labour — owning not me, but the grace of God that is in me.

And further, when the believer receives a crown or crowns at the judgment seat of Christ, there will be no flesh to be puffed up. The crowns will be cast at the feet of Him who awarded them — the One whose grace worked this fruit in the believer for His praise.

What encourages love that suffers and toils along the road? "What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing?" Circumstances matter little to true ministry in the grace of Christ. Trial shows how far above circumstances it stands. Afflictions only prove its strength... One comfort never fails, and nothing else is enough: those who serve and those they serve will certainly meet again, in the day when all opposition will vanish.

The special fruits of our labours are not lost; they are found again at the coming of Christ. Our chief personal joy is to see the Lord Himself and to be like Him. This is the portion of all saints; but there are particular fruits connected with the work of the Spirit in us and by us... The coming of Christ would crown this energy: these believers would stand in the glory as the fruit of his labours. And the love that had worked in Paul's heart would find its satisfaction in seeing those it loved in glory, in the presence of Jesus.

We may say, is it not the Lord Himself who is to be "our hope or joy or crown of boasting"? No doubt this is true. Yet He so delights to identify Himself with His saints that the apostle's heart overflows with joy at the Lord's own joy in having all His own in His presence... Not that it was his labours that he was thinking of, but of them in whose blessing he delighted.

For a time the enemy might seem to triumph, and those he was using as tools might frustrate the desires of Paul's heart. But where will Satan and his instruments of malice be when Paul and the saints meet in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Notice also how happily Paul looked forward to reunion with his beloved Thessalonian converts in heaven. His words would have been meaningless had he not expected to know them each and all in that day. The saints of God will know one another when they meet at the coming of Christ and in His presence.

The presence, or coming, of the Lord does not necessarily mean judgment... So when the apostle says, "What is our hope or joy or crown of boasting?"... where is the word of judgment on evil? ... The coming of the Lord may include the day of the Lord, as a whole includes a part. But the coming of the Lord is in itself presented in grace, not in judgment.

Who does he mean by "you"? A class among believers, those of special merit, of unusual holiness or extraordinary devotion? Or does he mean everyone the letter is written to, "the church of the Thessalonians"? There can be only one answer. He means them all, every one who by God's grace had turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven.

The Thessalonians will be Paul's crown, but they will not be ours; that is clear... in glory Paul will have them as his crown, yet he will not take away Christ's crown. It was all grace that did it, though Christ is pleased to reward faithful labour... The reward has nothing to do with motive, and never is the motive for action in scripture; it is the encouragement in the service.

Some time ago I read a statement in a magazine. It said that holding the doctrine of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ drains your strength, and that nobody would be anxious about service, missions, and things of that kind. What could be more untrue? Here I find the apostle full of energy. He longs for the conversion of the people he was sent to, and he labours tirelessly as he looks for the coming of Christ.