Standing in Faith

1 Thessalonians 2:17–3:13 ESV

But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy. Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain. But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith? Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13

Sermon: Standing in Faith

With the way Gary and I are scheduled and all of the special programs around the end of the year, we are slowly making our way through 1 Thessalonians. So, a brief summary of what we’ve heard so far in this letter: we’ve heard how the Thessalonians had converted to the Christian faith, and they had model faith. They were also willingly suffering for the gospel. They took the message of God and of Jesus Christ as God’s actual word. We looked last time at how discipling can and should be done with gentleness and encouraging similar to how parents are to raise up their children. Before this point, Paul had shared how he, too, had been suffering.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, for those of us who are adults, who are parents, or who have had an active role in discipling a child or someone who has become interested in the faith, one of our greatest hopes is that they remain in the faith. We hope that they will stand firm, that they will not walk away from God or the salvation he offers. We hope they will remain in paths of righteousness in how they live their lives. We hope, too, that many of them will join and remain with a church, a local congregation; that they’ll attend worship services, be involved in programming and outreach, perhaps becoming an elder, a deacon, or a teacher.

For some of us, though, maybe that’s difficult to think about. Despite our best intentions, the way we raised and taught our children or ministered to a friend, we have seen a decline in the evidence of faith in their lives. Perhaps faith, knowledge of God, and the Bible don’t appear to be present at all. I preached recently about how God has made us to be relational, to live in community with one another, not closing ourselves off. This is part of the reason why when we celebrate the sacrament of baptism and when we witness someone making Profession of Faith, it’s an exciting time for the body, not just the individual or just their family. We all rejoice! 

We also mourn together, even when we may not have known someone who has passed away all that much—we recognize that others are in pain. Likewise, it’s fitting for us to be saddened in the body of believers when we watch someone going astray. Hopefully we don’t just watch as spectators, but we act, we seek to bring that person who we’ve considered a brother or sister in the Lord back into flock. There are times when it doesn’t seem to work, though. There are times when someone who we thought we were in fellowship with desires to leave it all behind.

As we walk this road, the doctrines of election and irresistible grace can be a great comfort for some, while for others they feel like a pending judgment. There’s this phrase out there, “once saved, always saved.” What it’s essentially saying is that we can’t lose our salvation. That fits the teaching of Ephesians 1, “For [God] chose us in [Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” We also hear it in the familiar words of Romans 8:29 and 30, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” Yes, we have to make a choice of faith, of believing in Jesus, of putting our hope in him, but the work that God begins on a person who he is saving, who he knew long before they ever lived, he will bring his work to fulfillment. 

Two things we can’t be sure of, though, are God’s timing and plan in a person’s life. Most of us would probably like what our denominations have traditionally been really good. For the most part, the CRC and the RCA have done commendable work in educating people to come to know Jesus when they’re really little. It is our hope that from the time someone is a child, they will know Jesus. We hope they will stay in that relationship all through their lives, always growing and maturing. I said this morning, we want people’s behavior to always be getting better, so too, if our goals for peoples’ faith were charted on a graph, we’d hope to always see it rising. 

For some people though, it may rise and dip hopefully to rise later. Others it’s right on the bottom for a long time, but then they receive Christ and faith grows, even skyrockets. But there are other people, that while it might seem for a time like they believe because of what they know and do and can say, it turns out that they don’t actually have real, substantial faith. But let us not give up hope on people. 

Faith has a starting point in each believer’s life. Some people see a clear starting point, even down to a specific date. For others, it’s viewed better as a process, God has always been there. Whichever form we gravitate to, it is the hope of the church that true believers remain in the faith, that they will stand in faith. Paul pushes this message a couple times in our passage as he talks to and about the Thessalonians. Chapter 2 verses 19 and 20, “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.” Paul and his fellow brothers could point to these Christians and celebrate. because they were an example of what they hoped their message would look like if God used it. 

He comes back around to this in chapter 3 verses 6 through 9, “[Timothy] has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we long to see you. Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. 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?” It is good and acceptable to express joy when we see the fruit of labors for faith.  

If we focus in on this term that is translated “stand firm” in the NIV, it can also mean to be steadfast. These Christians weren’t just bearing fruit, but they were sticking with it. Their faith was enduring no matter what came against it. This is a theme that Paul repeatedly used in his letters. 1 Corinthians 16:13, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.” Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”  He was telling the churches, you’re free from sin, free from the Law, the shackles are dropped, but now you have to maintain. Be steadfast in the Lord, don’t give in, don’t fall back or retreat into the old ways that you’re used to. 

In his letter to the Philippians he uses the word twice, chapter 1 verse 27, “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.” Standing firm isn’t just a mindset, a holding on to certain Christian truths, it’s also living out the faith, conducting one’s life in a way worth the gospel. 

The second time we see it in that letter is the end of chapter 3 and early chapter 4.  Paul is sharing how the church is to press on towards the goal Christ is calling us to, live according to the pattern set by the apostles, not as enemies of the cross, recognize your citizenship is in heaven. In chapter 4 verse 1 he writes, “Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends.” Paul had multiple joys and crowns it appears, but that’s a wonderful thing to be able to say! The message of the gospel he preached had been used by God for many. One other place the word is used is 2 Thessalonians 2:15, “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.”

All this is to say, we and all Christians are called in word and deed, in intellectual belief and in transformed action, to be steadfast or stand in our faith. Neither our attitude nor our lifestyle should show to others that all that really matters is thinking you’re saved. If you think that, if you know that, don’t worry about living a life committed to the ways of the Lord told to us in his word, don’t worry about pursuing piety, don’t worry about being different from other people who don’t believe. Jesus died for sinners, you believe that, and so you must be getting into heaven 

There may be circumstances in which the confession without a lifestyle pursuing holiness is enough to God. But we cannot overlook how often God’s word tells us that God’s people are to live differently. That’s something that we can share with our congregations and our families. Church worship service attendance may be a part of a lifestyle standing firm in the faith. We are worshiping the one who gives us faith, gives us salvation as we rest in him according to his decree. But holiness extends well beyond just worship services. As James writes, “Faith without deeds is useless.” What Paul was praising the believers in Thessalonica for, and which we should be careful in watching for in our own lives, is seeking to consistently live out the truths we believe. 

           Are we standing firm in our faith, brothers and sisters? Rather than asking do we feel like we’re doing enough, a better or more fruitful way is to look at what Paul says this all points to. Again, hope, joy, the crown in which one can glory before God. Chapter 3 verse 12 he writes, “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else…May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of [God].” Is love evident in your life? Are you pursuing holiness for the glory of God? Can you see the fruits of Christ’s redemptive work, the fruits of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you?

In this Christmas season, maybe what comes to mind as a way of showing love to others is giving gifts. We can buy a family a present on the list they gave us or help a family in need through an Angel Tree gift or put some change or bills into the Salvation Army red kettles or to some other organization. Those are all valid and reasonable ways to show love, to show that we care. But we must be intentional about the connecting of our faith to our actions. There are things that we do, which in the moment we did them, we simply thought we were being nice, showing kindness, and we like to do that. Later we recognize that it qualifies as part of our Christian duty, it’s an overflow of our faith. Part of faith maturity though, should lead us to take our faith and share from it. 

Perhaps it’s an object we give, but perhaps it’s financial help for someone in whatever way we can help, believing that God has blessed us to be a blessing. Perhaps it’s realizing that someone needs a word of encouragement or that an opportunity is present to share about Jesus and we can share our testimony of faith. We may be uncomfortable or not sure if we’re doing things exactly right, but these are ways that each of us who are believers can share out of the blessings given to us by God. These are ways in which we can stand firm in our faith, because we have understood what a blessing our faith is from God.

Brothers and sisters, if there is someone that has encouraged you in your faith, the way that the Thessalonians encouraged Paul, I encourage you to tell them. Not for flattery, again, we don’t build one another up to receive praise, but that God would be glorified, that his work in and among us would be noticed. Give the gift of encouragement to someone who has brought you joy, that they might continue to serve God and serve others by spreading that joy. Let us stand firm, with a foundation set in Christ, knowing nothing can shake him. Amen.