The Lord is Faithful

Introduction

The last time we were here in II Thessalonians we looked at Paul’s request that the Thessalonians would pray for him.

Paul has given much doctrinal and practical instruction to the believers at Thessalonica and now he reminds them of the Lord’s faithfulness to help them to live as they have been instructed.

We must always remember that “THE LORD IS FAITHFUL”, we can be sure that He will strengthen us and help us to live so as to please God.

We can rely upon God for the enablement to do all that He has commanded and instructed us to do. We must recognize that, in our own strength, we are entirely incapable of living a holy life, we are entirely incapable of carrying out the work of God, we are entirely incapable of pleasing God.

We can only hope to be the Christians that we ought to be through the power of God working in us as we yield ourselves to His control.

Paul wanted to be sure that the believers in Thessalonica understood that His confidence was not in their strength but in the power of God and His faithfulness.

We can also be confident today that God is yet faithful, and just as He strengthened and helped the believers in Thessalonica, so also will He help you and me!

Paul was confident and we can be confident as well that the Lord will be faithful to:

Establish (Vs. 3b)

It is vitally important that every believer becomes grounded in the Christian faith.

You can be confident that God will strengthen and establish you in right doctrine and the right application of that doctrine to your life.

Ephesians 4:14- tossed about with every wind doctrine.

There will always be those who espouse false doctrine and will lead you astray if you are not firmly established in the truth.

It is God who will stablish us as we are taught right doctrine. As you yield yourself to God, the Holy Spirit will “guide you into all truth” (John 16:13) and it is God that will help you to have the discernment to recognize error and to hold to the truth.

So long as you remain yielded to God you need not fear falling into false doctrine. God will place you in a position to be taught and discipled so that you can know what you believe and more importantly why you believe it!

It is God who instituted the church, it is God who has called teachers and pastors to minister and to instruct you, it is God’s desire to use these things in your life to help you to be established in the faith so that you will not be deceived by false teachers.

The persecution and hardship that the Thessalonians endure coupled with the deception of the false teachers among them could certainly have been a recipe for disaster, but Paul was confident that God would establish the believers in the faith and would keep them from being deceived by false teachers.

Protect (Vs. 3c)

Paul was also confident that God would keep the believers in the church at Thessalonica from evil.

You can also be sure that God will keep you from evil so long as you are willing to yield yourself to His control.

John 17:15- not take us out of the world but keep us from the evil that is in the world.

You may think that there is no hope of overcoming all of the evil that exists in this world, but it is possible to avoid evil. You must simply yield yourself completely to God for He is more than able to keep you from the evil.

Ephesians 6:10-13- if you will put on the whole armour of God, you have the promise that you will be able to withstand Satan’s attacks.

The harder you try to live for God, the stronger Satan’s attacks will be. There is not chance that you or I could withstand Satan’s attacks on our own, but God has promised that He will deliver us.

James 5:7- promises that if you will submit yourself to God and resist the devil, Satan will flee from you.

You must remember that Satan has only so much power as God allows. God is able to put a hedge of protection around us that the forces of evil cannot penetrate.

If you are worried about falling into sin or giving into temptation, remember that God has promised that He will keep you from evil. The only thing that you must do is yield yourself to Him.

Enable (Vs. 4)

Paul was confident that God would enable the believers in the church at Thessalonica to keep the commands that he had delivered to them.

The Word of God is the basic instruction manual for how you and I are to live our lives so as to please God. Within its pages you will find commands that are difficult to adhere to.

There are many who have determined that it is simply to difficult to live for God and to follow His commandments. The problem is that so many are trying to live up to God’s expectations without God’s help.

Paul had given them a great deal of instruction in the first letter that he had written to them.

He instructed them to walk worthy of God (I Thessalonians 2:12)

He encouraged them not to be moved by the afflictions they were experiencing (I Thessalonians 3:3)

He exhorted them to increase and abound in their love toward one another and toward all men(I Thessalonians 3:12)

He encouraged them to pursue sanctification and holiness of life (I Thessalonians 4:1-7)

He wrote that they should study to be quiet and to do their own business (I Thessalonians 4:11)

He encouraged them to maintain a good testimony before the unbelieving (I Thessalonians 4:12)

He exhorted them to be sober and watchful for the Lord’s return (I Thessalonians 5:6)

He instructed them to demonstrate respect for the spiritual leaders among them (I Thessalonians 5:12)

He exhorted them to be patient and not vengeful (I Thessalonians 5:14-15)

He instructed them not to quench the Spirit (I Thessalonians 5:19)

He implored them to abstain from the appearance of evil (I Thessalonians 5:22)

You may look at just this small listing of the commands that Paul had already delivered to the believers in Thessalonica and determine that there is not hope of adhering to every one.

If you are striving to do so in the flesh you would be absolutely right. We cannot obey God’s commands without God’s help.

Notice Paul’s confidence was not in the Thessalonians but in the Lord who would enable and empower them to keep the commandments that he had delivered to them in the present and in the days to come.

You and I do not have the ability to live the Christian life without God’s help. We must learn to rely upon God to give us the strength and the wisdom to carry out His commandments.

Direct (Vs. 5)

Paul was also confident that the Lord would direct the hearts of the believers in the Thessalonian church.

Paul’s desire was that the Lord would guide them into a greater and deeper understanding of God’s love which would naturally provoke in them a greater love in return.

The Christian life is best lived by those whose motivation is a sincere love for the savior. The more you understand the love that God has for you, the more love you will have for Him. This love will motivate you to yield to God to a greater extent thus assuring your establishment, protection, and enablement.

II Corinthians 5:14-15- The love of Christ constrains us to live for Him! John 14:15- if ye love me keep my commandments

Paul knew that the Thessalonians would suffer and experience hardship and persecution, he knew that they would face significant pressure to turn from the faith, yet he also knew that God was more than able to cause them to persevere in spite of their circumstances.

Paul was also convinced that God would give the believers in Thessalonica the patience and perseverance they needed as they looked for Christ’s return.

Many in Thessalonica were growing anxious and fearful with regard to Christ’s return and some had even been deceived by false teachings, yet Paul was confident that they would persevere as they waited upon Christ’s return.

These two things should be our primary motivations for living out our faith- God’s love and Christ’s return.

Just as Christ persevered in the face of terrible suffering so also may the Thessalonians be able to persevere.

Conclusion

So often you and I struggle along attempting to live in our own strength when what we ought to do is simply yield ourselves to God.

God is able to establish, protect, enable, and direct us and all that we must do is to remain yielded to Him.

God is faithful, and we can be confident that He will work in our lives to the end that we can live in a manner consistent with our faith.

When we fail or fall short of God’s expectations, the solution is never to just “try harder.” The solution is submission to God.