Increase in Abounding Love

Joshua Johnson

January 13th, 2019

NewNaz

Our Passion

We desire to be a church that shares the hope of Jesus with everyone!

We do this through dynamic worship and inspiring messages that are biblical.

Each person has a story for which their lives have been changed forever.

We desire to be a church that reaches all generations and inspires the next generation to change the world around them for Christ. 

This is exactly what Paul wanted when he was writing these encouraging words that come from young Timothy.

1 Thess. 3:3-13

3 So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. 2 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, 3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them. 4 In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. 5 For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain.

Timothy’s Encouraging Report

The New Revised Standard Version Timothy’s Encouraging Report

Timothy’s Encouraging Report

6 But Timothy has just now come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love. He has told us also that you always remember us kindly and long to see us—just as we long to see you. 7 For this reason, brothers and sisters, during all our distress and persecution we have been encouraged about you through your faith. 8 For we now live, if you continue to stand firm in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? 10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.

11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. 12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. 13 And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

6 But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. 7 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. 8 For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? 10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.

11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. 12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 

13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

Paul - Evangelist, Jew, Roman, Apostle, Church Planter, Missionary, New Testament Writer.

Silas - Silas was selected by Paul to accompany him on his second mission after Paul and Barnabas split over an argument involving Mark's participation.

It was during the second mission that he and Paul were imprisoned briefly in Philippi, where an earthquake broke their chains and opened the prison door.

Silas is thus sometimes depicted in art carrying broken chains

Timothy ministered on their 2nd missionary journey in Philippi and left after their imprisonment.

They went to this city of Thessalonica and started to preach in a synagogue for 3 weeks causing some Jews, many devout Greeks, and leading woman to believe, but raising jealousy in the Jews to the point that the new disciples were severely persecuted before the authorities.

Many people believed and joined Paul and Silas, although the many Jews were still very jealous.

You can read more about this in Acts Chapt. 17

Paul may have stay in Thesslanica for 3 weeks.

1 Thess. Is written to a group of very new believers who were quickly brought into the faith and then immediately thrown into the “grasp of Satan” as persecutions broke out upon them.

In the midst of persecution they may have asked.

1. Are Paul’s words true?

2. If they're from God why were they being hindered by persecution?

Have you every felt that way?

Getting a word from God and then feeling like hard times had hindered you from pursuing what you felt like God was telling you?

3. Now what should we do?

Paul, Silas and Timothy had been in Thessalonica around 49 AD, and how persecution arose and Paul had to make a hasty escape in the middle of the night.

Because of this Paul was worried and he sent Timothy back to check up on the Christians in Thessalonica; and how Timothy came back with a good report.

And so now in our text Paul is changing his focus, or I guess we could say, he’s changing the direction of this letter.

From this point on, Paul wanted to talk to the Thessalonians about the future, not about the past.

Paul goes on to pray that the Christians in Thessalonica would not only abound in love towards one another, and to all, but that they would walk in holiness.

In other words, that they would live out their love.

This is going to be a theme for the next few weeks leading in to Revive.

Living out the Love of God.

If they had true, Christ-like love, then they needed to be living it.

When I was younger and I heard the words…

“Such and such is a ‘holy man’,” that would conjure up all sorts of thoughts in my imagination.

I would imagine that person as some sort of guru who could walk on water, and had a perpetual glow around his head.

I remember trying to really understand Holiness when I was young

I was in 10th Grade sitting in a friend of mines room talking about holiness. It seemed so abstract at the time.

As a teenager I learned it meant set myself a part from the rest of the world.

It seemed abstract

Paul speaks of being set -apart and loving one another through the power of God, not ourselves.

There was an understanding out there that holiness was something so spiritual and religious that it was beyond their reach.

It seemed that the people around me saw holiness as something so spiritual and religious that it’s beyond their reach.

And then some even see it as something they don’t want to reach.

Paul doesn’t see it that way.

The Bible teaches that one day, we will be perfected in holiness, we will finally be rid of sin, and our sinful nature.

Paul talks about that in , where he says that Jesus will present the Church to Himself as holy, without spot or blemish.

Paul talks about SUBMISSIVE LOVE in in his instruction to husbands to their wives ... simply means:

SUBMISSIVE LOVE ... simply means:

“I give up my SELF to serve your NEEDS and BEST INTERESTS

Submission is at the HEART of love

It means I give up my self to serve your needs & best interests.

needs & best interests.

BUT WHAT ARE THOSE NEEDS?....and therefore DISTINCTIVE CALLINGS

of submissive love?

III. DISTINCTIVE CALLINGS

----The first is MARRIAGE----

Today I will use HUSBANDs as the example.

Ephesians 5:25

Verse 25

“Husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her... to present her radiant...without stain or wrinkle, holy and blameless.”

gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her... to present her radiant...

without stain or wrinkle, holy and blameless.”

Husbands are called to give to their wives by giving a sacrificial love that

PROTECTS AND PURIFIES.

(i) For husbands, God’s Word stresses a love that submits, not just to a wife’s

STRENGTHS, but to her WEAKNESSES, her fears, her wrinkles, STAINS of sin.

A. It’s one thing to submit to STRENGTH

I’ll give up my Tuesday biking group to spend some time with my wife to do something she wants to do...she would rather run 5 miles...I would rather bike 5 miles.”

that’s submitting to your wife’s enjoyments =important

The Word for husbands emphasizes a love that submits to her STAINS & WRINKLES.

WRINKLES.

Give yourself up to make her HOLY, CLEANSING HER without

stain or wrinkle.

A. That’s submitting to her emotional troubles, even hurts from the past, her places of weakness & vulnerability.-

her places of weakness & vulnerability.-

Jumping back to 1 Thess.

And so in this prayer, what Paul is doing, is praying for this to become a reality.

But there’s a step to this.

It’s an important step.

He says,

The New International Version Chapter 3

11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you.

The New International Version Chapter 3

12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.

The New International Version Chapter 3

13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless (IN GREEG - BLAMELESS —ABOVE REPROACH) and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

There are actually just 2 requests here.

The 1st is that God would make a way for Paul and the others to visit the Thessalonians. (VS. 11)

The 2nd request is in verse 12 where Paul asks that the Lord would make them abound in love for one another and for all.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 3:12

abound—increase (pleonasai) and overflow (perisseusai)—even more. “Genuine Christian love … is the one thing in the Christian life which cannot be carried to excess” (Hiebert, The Thessalonian Epistles, p. 155). The image of love overflowing its container suggests that Christian love is something that wells up from within a person naturally. Paul was concerned that it overflow to everyone, not just to Christians in the church. His love was their model.

ABOUND — BE IN ABUNDANCE, PROVIDE IN ABUNDANCE, EXCESSIVE, GUILTLESS, WITHOUT BLAME

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 3:12

The Thessalonians were already noted for their love, but Paul prayed that it might abound—increase (pleonasai) and overflow (perisseusai)—even more. “Genuine Christian love

So what is holiness?

Some say it’s the consistent living out of God’s Law;

Paul says it’s the consistent living out of God’s love.

Turn with me to  (Read).

8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” y and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” a 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Think about it like this.

If you love your neighbor as yourself,

you won’t covet their things,

you won’t steal from them,

you won’t want to murder them,

you won’t slander them,

you won’t want to have an adulterous affair with them…

If we are to live like Jesus lived and love like Jesus loved then we need to be asking how does living in ABUNDANCE

How does that shape our decisions and our behavior?

Well first of all, it ought to influence our prayer life.

We have a tremendous privilege to pray for one another in the Body of Christ.

In other words, we can go to the sovereign, Almighty God and ask Him to move on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We can even pray that God would help them, and us, to love more like He does.

That’s what Paul did in our text.

Paul prayed that these Thessalonians would ABOUND in love so that they might grow in holiness.

Paul wanted the Thessalonians to grow in holiness so that he would be able to present them blameless before God on the Day of the Lord.

You see, if we want to grow in holiness so that we can say that we’ve achieved some spiritual benchmark, then we’ve missed the point.

It’s not so much about us, as it is about the Lord Jesus Christ receiving the glory that He deserves.

My Favorite Author for me personally has influenced how I understand holiness, Dr. Frank Moore says this in his book “We Believe.

“The Only way imaginable for holiness to be all-consuming in our lives is for our lives to be wholly given to God. God’s lavish and abundant firstness in loving us pours God’s love upon us, and such initiating love beckons us to respond.”

“God’s love is compelling, and when believers respond---in a moment, and over a lifetime they come to know more of what it means to be alive; fully, wholly, consumed by God’s grace for them. They know themselves to be free, beloved, and whole. God’s love begins to saturate their lives.”

We Believe, By Frank Moore

This is going to be a year that we be the Holy Church that God calls us to be.

A year that God’s loves saturates our lives so that we may abound in love with one another.

Just like Paul says in ...Its going to be a church that says….

“Now May Our God…”.

Now May Our God give us patience

Now May Our God gives us stability

Now May Our God give us growth

Now May Our God sanctify us

Now May Our God Rescue those that are lost.

Now May Our God give us a love for one another that causes us to be a witness to the world.

Now May Our God get the glory

Now May Our God teaches us to abound in love.