‘BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES’

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on July 11, 2018 under PM Bible Study |

PM Bible Study Group; July 11, 2018 – from 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5

Theme: Because tribulation and persecution will come, we must help establish one another’s faithfulness to Christ.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

Now there’s a phrase you probably don’t use everyday—to ‘batten down the hatches’. But when it comes to our faith, it’s a phrase worth revisiting.

A ‘batten’ is a piece of wood or a strip of metal that is used to fasten something down in place. And in nautical usage, a ‘hatch’ is a raised opening on the deck of a ship, with a sliding cover or hinged door for entry. And so, in times past, when a storm was approaching, a ship’s captain would wisely give out the order to ‘batten down the hatches’. That was a general command to secure the openings on a sea vessel so that nothing would be blown off or lost, or so that water would not enter in and cause damage. It has come over time to be an expression that speaks of securing things when the ‘storm clouds’ of trouble appear to be on the horizon.

The apostle Paul probably wouldn’t have known about that phrase. But he certainly would have appreciated the idea. He was writing to his dear brothers and sisters in Thessalonica. He was grateful to God for the way their growth in Christ had been manifested. But stormy weather had come in the form of persecution and tribulation. And so, he told them;

Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. For, in fact, 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 (1 Thessalonians 3:1-5).

Paul wanted to ‘batten down the hatches’; so that the faith of his dear brothers and sisters was secured.

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As we’ve already seen in this letter, Paul was quite expressive of his delight in the faith of these Thessalonian believers. He told them,

For this reason, we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received 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 in Christ Jesus (2:13-14a).

But he also recognized that their faith didn’t come easy. They had suffered for that faith—just as he and his fellow missionaries had suffered in bringing it to them—and just as other believers had also suffered after receiving it. He went on to say;

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 (vv. 14b-16).

What’s more—as we remember from our last study—the suffering didn’t end at the time when Paul and his co-workers had left them. The missionaries went on to the next city, Berea; and it was there that the very same body of opposition from the unbelieving Jewish people from Thessalonica came to further hinder the preaching of the gospel. It’s safe to assume, then, that there would be ongoing trouble and persecution for the believers in Thessalonica.

Paul was not with them at the time. He had been abruptly taken away from them (as we can see from 2:17). But his heart was still very much with them. And so, as the first five verses of Chapter 3 show us, he took measures to ‘batten down the hatches’ in their faith.

Note first …

I. PAUL’S COMPASSIONATE ACTION.

In verses 1-2a, he wrote, “Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ …”

He had been forced away to Athens because of the troubles his preaching had stirred up in Thessalonica and Berea. Acts 17:1-14 tell us the full story. Acts 17:14, we read that when he was sent away, both Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. He sent word to his colleagues Timothy and Silas to come as soon as they could to Athens. But it must be that—along the way—Paul felt great concern for the faith of these new believers in Thessalonica. He wrote that he could no longer endure in his concern for them; and so, most probably, Silas (or Silvanus as he is called in 1 Thessalonians) remained with Paul, and Paul sent Timothy to find out how the Thessalonians were doing in their time of trial.

Paul had a trusted fellow-worker in Timothy. He spoke very highly of him and had great confidence in him. He called him, “our brother” and a “minister of God”, and “our fellow laborer in the gospel”. These are great words of endorsement! What’s more—as we read elsewhere in Scripture—Timothy was a great personal comfort and support to Paul. Timothy would not be someone that Paul would be willing to send away unless it was truly necessary to do so. But he loved the Thessalonians so much that he was willing to be without his trusted assistant and colleague Timothy for a while, so that the spiritual gains that had been made in the lives of the Thessalonians could be secured. He knew he could count on Timothy to secure those gains faithfully

Paul’s compassionate action is a good example for us. Do we care about the souls of our brothers and sisters in Christ enough to make sacrifices to encourage them to keep strong in the faith during tough times of testing? When we can’t go to be with them personally, do we at least send a note, or make a phone call, or write a text? Do we ‘send a Timothy’ somehow?

Next, we find …

II. PAUL’S MINISTERIAL GOALS.

What was it that he was after in sending Timothy in this way? He goes on to write in verses 2b-3a, that he sent him “to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, that no one should be shaken by these afflictions …”

The afflictions and trials and acts of persecution were very real to these Thessalonians—and they must have also been very painful. There was a danger that some of them would be ‘shaken’ in their stability in the faith by these trials. The fact that these were new believers meant that there was a danger of compromising in their faith—or of even denying it. Later on—in Paul’s second letter to them—he had to write and say;

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2).

In that case, it was false teaching that might have shaken the faith of these believers. In the case of the passage before us, however, it was tribulation and persecution. Paul’s answer to this danger was to actively “establish” them by reminding them—through Timothy—of the realities of following Jesus in a hostile world; and to “encourage” them to persevere in the faith.

What a ministry we can have, by the way, in doing just that for one another! On another occasion of tribulation and persecution, the writer of Hebrews reminded his fellow believers about the loving ‘chastening’ of God the Father; and told them,

Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed (Hebrews 12:12-13).

That’s what we need to do for one another in times when faith is being tested. Could it be that so many have fallen away in our dark times today because we neglect this important ministry to one another?

Now; the deeply-concerned apostle was realistic in the things that he taught and passed on to his fellow believers. Note next …

III. PAUL’S HONEST INSTRUCTION.

In the midst of this difficult time of tribulation, he told the young Thessalonian believers in verses 3b-4, “for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know.” Paul had taught them a great deal in the short time that he had been with them. And among the things that he taught them, he was sure to let them know that it truly costs to follow Jesus.

There used to be a popular televangelist who would begin his show by pointing at the camera and declaring, “Something good is going to happen to you!” But Paul would not have done that. He told his believing friends that—with all honesty—some tough times will come if you take up the cross and follow Jesus. In 2 Timothy 3:12, he told Timothy, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” And this is something that is in complete keeping with what the Lord Jesus Himself taught. He told His apostles, back in John 15—just before going to the cross;

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause’” (John 15:18-25).

None of this should come as a surprise to us as His followers. Fair warning has been given. One of the ways that Paul ‘battened down the hatches’ was to tell his believing friends the truth that persecution comes as a result of faithfully following Jesus. But let’s not forget that it is also a great honor to suffer in this way for our Lord. Paul said to the Thessalonians that “we are appointed to this”; suggesting that it is in the plan and purpose of God that it be so. Peter also gives us further insight into this when he wrote;

For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:

“Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;

who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls (1 Peter 2:19-25).

As believers, we should behave as the early Christians did; who, we’re told, rejoiced “that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:41). Paul’s example toward the Thessalonians teaches us that it is important for us to remind one another of this fact! We do a great service to one another, in a time of trouble for our faith, when we remind each other that this is normal; and help each other see the honor that is ours in suffering for Jesus. We should remind each other what Jesus Himself said in the Sermon on the Mount;

“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).

And that leads us finally to …

IV. PAUL’S SPIRITUAL CONCERN.

Behind all of this trouble and persecution was a diabolical enemy. Paul told them in verses 5, “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.” It is the intention of the enemy of our souls—the tempter—to discourage us from faithfulness to Jesus through persecution. He seeks, in this way, to destroy the good work of faith that the preaching of the gospel has begun in people.

The Lord Jesus Himself also taught us this. Do you remember the parable of the soils? Jesus taught,

“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside” (Matthew 13:19).

That’s the devil’s first tactic. But what if that doesn’t work? Jesus went on to tell us;

“But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles” (vv. 20-21).

Knowing the methods of the devil, Paul was concerned that tribulation and persecution for the faith might have shaken the Thessalonian believers from the spiritual stability that he had grown so much to appreciate in them. And so, he took practical measures to ‘batten down the hatches’.

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And it would seem that, by God’s grace, Paul’s efforts worked. Later in his second letter, he told them,

we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure (2 Thessalonians 1:4).

Dear brothers and sisters; let’s recognize that suffering for the faith is a reality. Persecutions and trials will come if we walk faithfully with Jesus. But those troubles are allowed by God—not to undo us, but rather to strengthen us in Christ. Let’s learn to be ready for them, to help one another endure when they come, and to truly ‘batten down the hatches.’

EA