Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends on this historic day.
Does the date June 06 mean anything to you? How about June 6, 1944? That was the date of perhaps the greatest military invasion of WWII called “D-Day”. The fortifications along the coast of France seemed invincible, the stranglehold of the Nazi Reich had most of Europe in desperate bondage, and London was nearly destroyed by nightly bombing raids.
The holocaust was in full force and thousands of Jews were being slaughtered daily as Hitler tried to wipe from the face of the earth not only every Jewish person but freedom as it was known. In the Pacific, another war raged as the Japanese military force, though small, was vicious, skilled and determined. The darkness of despair was engulfing much of the world. It was a terrible, terrifying time to be alive in many parts of the world.
That early morning of June 6 a huge armada of ships, planes, soldiers and all types of military equipment headed across the stormy English Channel for the shoreline of France, with one ambition…penetrate the Nazi line and begin to push back the evil darkness with the ultimate goal of liberating millions of people living in the deadly iron grip of the Swastika.
As horribly bloody as this day was 79 years ago, the darkness of evil was penetrated, the tide of WWII began to turn, and eventually Hitler and his horrific Nazi plan to dominate the world were defeated.
Sadly, there are war-torn places in our world today and people are dying every day at the hands of brutal, wicked people intent on destruction. Perhaps you know that behind all of this wickedness and destruction is one supreme commander of evil and his name is Satan. This evil and very powerful angel is filled with hatred toward God, God’s Truth, God’s Love, God’s Holiness, God’s purposes and God’s people in our world.
Satan’s objective for every person in every generation is that they live in desperate fear, pain, and hopelessness here on earth during their lifetime and then spend eternity with him and all his demons in hell forever.
Now why would I begin our “Walking with Jesus” today in this way? Come, let’s rejoin the apostle Paul as he is writing his first letter to Christians, he’d known only for 3 short weeks in the town of Thessalonica. “Brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you – certainly I, Paul, did, again and again – but Satan blocked our way.” (1 Thess. 2:17,18)
While Paul had found many Thessalonian people, in the Macedonian city of Thessalonica, receptive to this new Gospel of Jesus which he proclaimed, there had also been an intense response of rejection and anger by some other people in Thessalonica. That opposition became violent so quickly Paul was forced to flee for his life, after only being there three weeks.
In many ways this fierce spiritual war of Satan opposing God had engulfed Paul when Paul had become embroiled in the strong opposition against Jesus in Jerusalem and then after Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, it was Paul, then known as Saul Paulus, who led the vicious opposition against the disciple/apostles and all those who were followers of Jesus.
But when Saul was confronted by a blinding light and the voice of the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus, everything had changed for Saul. On that day Saul experienced the transforming power of Jesus and Saul changed sides. Rather than opposing Jesus, Saul became His greatest advocate, proponent, and passionate evangelist.
By the time Paul was writing this letter to the Thessalonians in 50ad, Paul had been beaten and imprisoned, several times, as rejection of the Gospel of Jesus, which he was boldly proclaiming, had turned violent against him, just as he had once been violently opposed to Jesus.
Paul bore the scars on his body as evidence of the violent spiritual war in which he was embroiled. Now watch this friends, may I propose to you that the violent opposition Paul was experiencing was very similar to the violent opposition those freedom fighters experienced on D-Day as they stormed the beaches seeking to liberate the people of France and Europe from the wickedness which held them.
Both Paul and the D-Day allied soldiers were willing to die to defeat the enslaving enemy, and those soldiers in those fortifications along the French coastline, and often those blinded by the dark kingdom who fully reject God are willing to die to retain their stranglehold of evil domination over people. Now ponder that as you look at the sometimes violent opposition you see toward God and His Holy Truth in our world today!
Do you see that phrase Paul wrote: “Satan blocked our way”? Do you remember Paul and his traveling evangelistic team had once before been blocked, only that time Luke had reported: “Paul and his companions traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been blocked by the Holy Spirit from preaching the Gospel in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.“ (Acts 16:6,7)
Now my friends, what do you think of that? In Acts 16 Luke is reporting God Himself, by the power of the Holy Spirit, had prevented Paul from doing what God had called Paul to do… bring the Gospel of Jesus to places where it was unknown. And in 1 Thessalonians 2 Paul is claiming that Satan had blocked his efforts to return to Thessalonica to continue proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus to that city!
WHY would BOTH Satan and God prevent Paul from doing what God had commissioned Paul to do? And HOW, by what tactics, did both Satan and God accomplish their blockade of Paul? And finally, HOW was Paul able to distinguish whether it was Satan or God blocking his path? As you and I consider our life paths this June 06, 2023, are those important questions for us in seeking to discern how to walk the path God knows is the right path for each of us?
First, the WHY question.
For Satan and his evil, wicked kingdom the answer is simple. Satan and his evil kingdom will ALWAYS oppose anyone who is seeking to provide the light of God’s truth and the deliverance offered by Jesus Christ because Satan wants all people to live in destructive sin bondage all the time. While we don’t have a clear explanation as to WHY Paul was delayed by Jesus from entering Macedonia the first time, we conclude it was either because Macedonia was not yet ready for Paul’s proclamation of the Gospel or Paul was not yet ready for what he would face in Philippi. You’ll recall Lydia, the first person who responded to the Gospel, was not from Philippi, but she was there, evidently on business, when Paul arrived. How many times have you and I found God’s blocking of our plans is His delay which ended up to be a good delay!?
Second, the HOW question.
What tactics did Jesus use to delay Paul from going into Macedonia and what tactics did Satan use to prevent Paul from returning to Thessalonica?
The Scriptures simply do not tell us. Normally I have found delays initiated by God are logistical whereas restrictions initiated by the dark kingdom are moral or direct opposition to God and God’s truth. For example, travel delays due to weather or mechanical problems as compared to outright refusal for a visa to be issued on the basis of religious prejudice.
Third, HOW was Paul able to distinguish whether it was Satan or God preventing him from traveling to his desired location?
Again, the Scriptures do not clarify those details for us in these specific examples. However, as we study what the Bible tells us about the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of an authentic Christian and follower of Jesus, we conclude an important role for God’s Spirit is communicating God’s guidance to a Christian so they can understand their circumstances and discern their future steps.
While we know Paul returned to Macedonia on his third missionary journey Luke does not specify that he spent time again in Thessalonica. Also, the Holy Spirit led Paul to send Timothy back to Thessalonica and that proved to be strategic as Paul could continue his work in Corinth while Timothy was able to encourage and teach the Thessalonians.
Paul’s closing statement of 1 Thess. 2 is so powerful: “For what is our hope, our joy or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when He comes? Is it not YOU? Indeed, YOU are our glory and joy!” (1 Thess. 2:19,20)
Oh yes, for the families of those brave soldiers who died in that D-Day invasion, the freedom of millions of Europeans is their satisfaction that their loved one did not die in vain. For Paul, knowing many in Thessalonica were following Jesus and free from Satan’s sin bondage was the great joy that his labor there had not been in vain, even if he was not able to return there, because the Power of Jesus had prevailed!
I hope you can see the Power of Jesus prevailing in your life and your city today my friends. Oh, I’ve found a great song which celebrates that victorious power of Jesus.
Today’s Scripture is 1 Thess. 2:17-20.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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