1 Thess 3:6-13 Keep Growing

Intro

Greg Eisen Reading

Peter’s announcement

This morning’s message

Stand Fast in the Lord vs. 6-8

The first way that we keep growing is to stand fast in the Lord

Nothing grows when it is continually uprooted

You have to establish roots

The Thessalonians had encouraged Paul, through Timothy

Their faith and love remained

They weren’t running or collapsing when things got tough

This comforted Paul in the midst of his own problems

Did you know that when you hang tough in your trials it can be used to encourage others

I’ve had people tell me that

They’ve watched us go through tough stuff and it gave them courage to continue

Paul seeing the Thessalonians still following gave him great comfort

Then he encourages them to stand fast in the faith

Philippians 4:1 ESV

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

Stand fast or firm means not to retreat or give up

If we bail every time it gets hard we will never grow in our faith

There are so many Christians who have been so for years but they have never grown because they don’t learn this principle

You don’t want to be a mile wide and an inch deep

How do you stand firm in the face of trouble?

Paul gives us the key in vs. 6

“Good news of your faith and love”

Calvin on faith and love: “In these two words he states concisely the sum total of godliness. All who aim at this double mark are beyond the danger of error for the whole of their life.”

You can stand firm when you choose to love Jesus and others

You can stand firm when you choose faith over fear

That faith isn’t based on wishful thinking

Ephesians 6:13 ESV

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

You stand firm by realizing you have the armor of God

Armor

Ephesians 6:14–15 ESV

Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

Nothing stabilizes your faith like the truth of God’s Word, The righteousness of Christ, and the Good news

Ephesians 6:16 ESV

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

Did you know that the shield would latch on to the belt and breastplate

When you faith is grounded it is easier to stand fast

Mom’s Tackling their sons

Have you seen these videos of Moms putting on football pads and helmets and tackling their sons

One got my attention

There was a sizable mom who was screaming as she paced back and forth as she waited for the coaches signal

The other moms where pumping her up

When the coach blew the whistle she took off, screaming the whole way

When she tackled her son she lifted him off the ground and planted him into the match

For extra measure she pounced on him again

When she got off the matt she was going crazy and all the moms rushed to her

One dad looked to another dad and said, “That lady has issues.”

The other dad replied, “She has one issue and he is laying flat on his back.”

So many Christians run out into the world and get flattened because they have no armor

If your faith isn’t hitched to the truth and righteousness of Christ you will always get flattened

Supply what is Lacking vs. 9-10

The second way we keep growing is to supply what is lacking

In order to grow you need to ascertain what is missing

Paul has applauded the Thessalonians on what God is doing in their life, but he reminds them that they need to continue to grow

Some translations use the word “perfect”

The word translated “perfect” has the meaning of “adjust, equip, furnish.”

It is even used for the mending of nets

Paul tells them they haven’t arrived

They needed to grow in their knowledge of God’s Word

They needed to trust the Lord

There were areas that needed to be fixed and flaws that needed to be shored up

It was important that they remained humble

Paul knew it was best that he be there to supply what they needed but it wasn’t in the cards

What do you do when it’s obvious things need to be fixed and improvements need to be made?

Commit to a daily diet of God’s Word

The Holy Spirit has a way of speaking through words thousands of years old to your situation today

Sit under Godly teaching

A rightly divided word can hit you right where you are at

Several people have told me over the last few weeks that the message was exactly what they needed to hear

Finally, you need to be in a small group

Having that consistent group can be salve for your soul when life is beating you down

Increase in Love & Holiness vs. 11-13

The final way that we keep growing is to increase in love and holiness

Vs. 11-13 is actually a prayer

To make up what is lacking, they must increase and abound in love.

They weren’t unloving people

In fact Paul tells us in 1 Thess 4:9 that no one needed to write them about love

But there are two parts that need to be looked at

First, is that they love without reservation

The word for love here is Agape

It means unconditional love

When God loves us with Agape love he does what he knows is best, not exactly what the person desires

Our love needs to be the same

We don’t love them because they deserve it, but because God loved us when we were undesirable

Paul’s pray was that they would increase in this type of love

Philippians 1:9 ESV

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,

To make up what is lacking, they needed hearts established in holiness.

As we increase in love we will increase in holiness

Holiness in the ultimate characteristic of God

As we love others we become more like Jesus