1 Thessalonians 2:11-13

1 Thessalonians 3:11–13 KJV (WS)

11 Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. 12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: 13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

Introduction

How important is it to be involved in your church?

It’s pretty important.

Everyone pretty well agrees with that.

But how does one get involved?

If you are a member of a church, then I hope you care about your church.

I hope you want to see it continue.

I hope you want to see it be and do the things that god intended.

So, how do you help that happen?

Paul shares a prayer that he had for the Thessalonian church.

If we will listen to his prayer, i think we will see some steps that we can take to see our church be and do what it’s supposed to be and do.

A prayer for reunion.

A reunion between Paul and the Thessalonians has been discussed multiple times in this letter so far.

Paul has expressed his desire to be with them

Timothy has carried a message from the church expressing their desire to be with him.

We already know that Satan had been involved in hindering Paul from getting back to Thessalonica.

In verse 11, he prays that God will direct his path back to the church.

The persistent desire of these two groups of people stands in stark contrast to the attitudes of man American Christians.

Many Christians today look for opportunities not to have to be around other believers.

They complain about the people at their church.

This was not the case with Paul and the Thessalonians.

I think Paul knew that this was a constant threat for the church.

A prayer for love to abound.

The Thessalonians already had great love for each other.

Paul isn’t just praying that they would love each other.

He is praying that their love would abound and increase toward each other.

Remember who our standard for love is.

It’s not another person.

It’s not another church.

It’s Jesus.

We are commanded to love each other as Christ loved us.

That tells me that there is always room for us to increase in our love.

His love is infinite, ours never will be.

There is always room for growth when it comes to our love.

He also reminds us who the target of our love is supposed to be.

It’s a given that we would love each other.

It’s supposed to be our distinguishing mark.

Paul doesn’t just tell them to love each other, he also tells them to show love to all men.

Showing love to others is a funny thing.

Sometimes we are more ready to show love to people we don’t know.

In other situations we are hesitant to let people in to our circle.

Paul says that our love should abound towards each other and towards others.

Here’s the really hard part about this.

Our flesh is a terrible obstacle to this happening.

Fear, selfishness, and prejudice put up a constant fight against loving one another the way we should.

So, Paul moves to a third part of his prayer.

A prayer for holiness.

Paul knows that this kind of love will protect us from unholy behavior.

Unholy behavior will prevent us from this kind of love.

If I love you, then I will treat you the way that you should be treated.

If I am selfish, then I will not love you the way that I should.

It’s a bad cycle.

So, what does Paul do?

He prays for them.

He prays and trusts that God will do what really is God’s job to do in the first place.

Paul prays that God would allow him to go and minister to the Thessalonians.

God doesn’t truly need Paul to do this, God is capable of establishing the Thessalonians on his own.

What does Paul ask God to do exactly?

Secure the hearts of the people in an unblameable position of holiness.

The hymn writer says it perfectly

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love.

Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it, Seal it for thy courts above.

The Thessalonians had a history of doing right.

Past love and holiness is not a guarantee of future love and holiness.

Each day our decisions cause us to either progress or regress in our spiritual lives.

There is no stasis spiritually speaking.

The Thessalonians will need God to be actively solidifying their hearts for the remainder of their ministry.

Notice Paul seems to expect that the church at Thessalonica will endure to the return of Christ.

The church has not survived till today.

There are churches in modern day Thessaloniki but none of them can trace their history back beyond the 3rd or 4th century.

Though, the members of the church in Paul’s day are certainly with the Lord.

The church itself is no longer in existence.

This should humble us.

Though the church was strong and alive in Paul’s day, it was not guaranteed to last forever.

Sure, God will always have true churches on this earth.

Individual congregations must remain faithful generation after generation.

Maybe it wasn’t the generation that Paul wrote to, but somewhere down the line, the church at Thessalonica disbanded.

Every generation needs to be of the mindset that we need God to establish our hearts in holiness until Jesus comes back.

Paul’s desire to see the people was based on his desire to see them increase in love and established in holiness.

Application

I think if we want our church to do the two things we see in this passage, we must be the two things Paul wanted them to be.

What do we want our church to do?

We want our church to make people want to be here.

We want our church to live on from generation to generation until Jesus comes back.

What then does our church need to be?

It needs to be a place where love increases and abounds.

As in the passage that means love towards each other.

It also means love to those outside our congregation.

You say, well, we’re already doing that.

By whose standard?

Do we truly love each other and others the wya Jesus loved?

Submit your standard of love to 1 Corinthians 13.

We need to increase and abound in our love.

It needs to be a place where we are firmly settled in holiness.

We are commanded to be holy because He is holy.

Holiness means that we ARE TO BE OTHER THAN.

Other than what?

Other than the world.

Don’t let yourself be lulled into a sense of complacency.

We must keep our guard up against the slow creep of sin and compromise.

Not just as individuals but as a church.

If we will be what we are supposed to be, then we will do what we are supposed to do.

Conclusion

I wonder how many people are praying that our church will do and just as importantly be what God wants it to be.

How many people in our church are seeking to increase in their love?

How many of us are seeking actively to live holy lives before God?

If we want our church to be passed down to the next generation, or better yet, to continue until Jesus returns.

These are the things we must do.