Asking Big Things

Wrapping up this portion of the letter before going into some corrective/instructive items

He has recapped his history with the Thessalonians believers

He has expressed his great relief that Timothy had found them firm in their faith

Holding true to the good news, the TRUE GOSPEL of Jesus Christ; and showing it

He prays to the the God who has provided the salvation which they now have

…the Father who sent His Son to die for our sins

…the Son who put His glory on hold, became a man and died; the perfect sacrifice to satisfy the righteous wrath of the Holy God

Timothy has now given Paul his report

He stops, seemingly in mid-thought, and bursts into a spontaneous prayer/praise

an outburst of the earnest conviction which was uppermost in the Apostle’s mind of the utter worthlessness of all human efforts without the divine aid

We must take note of that last phrase

All the good that was done, in our opinion, by Paul and/or any of the other disciples

…or any of the prophets or heroes of the OT

>>were worthless without the action of God

In the prayer he asks three things of God: direction, production and protection

Word Nerd Stuff

First, note that Paul directs the request to two persons of the Trinity: God the Father and the Lord Jesus

Jesus is addressed personally, as a separate entity within the prayer…grants Him lordship (kurious, master)

…yet, the request is directed at the unified Godhead (nerdy stuff)

Clearly, from this and other witnesses, there was no doubt in the early church that Jesus was God; yet, as the Son, was a separate identity

“Direct our way to you;” and “make you increase and abound” are both in the same construction, expressing a wish or hope on the part of the writer

“Establish your hearts blameless” is somewhat different

…seems to express the result of the actions hoped for

Direction

…direct or way to you.... word implies the force or power of making the way straight

In this case, for Paul and his team to return to Thessalonica

He surely understood the OT’s statement:

Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Indeed, he was trusting in the Lord for this as he had been in all other things

This was a specific request for a specific direction—a straightening of the path—within the general promise

Production

He only is asking for one thing here

Increase and abound…both carry the thought of more than enough

…an example of duplicitous redundancy

I’d make the word picture of abundantly overflowing—an artesian well spewing water into the air and then filling a pond that produces an abundant stream flowing from it

The product being love; no surprise that its agape love

…the Godlike, outwardly-focused, other-directed, self-sacrificing love

>>speaking of duplicitous redundancies

The love that only believers can have

1 John 4:19 ESV

We love because he first loved us.

Directed to one another and for all

First for the other believers, then to all men

Galatians 6:10 ESV

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Per the example of Paul and his team

We should be so abounding in love that our local bodies of believers should not be able to hold all our love and is should spill out…overflow

Protection

The result of Paul’s hopes and wishes

A blameless heart is a protected heart

Holiness is to be set apart; set apart to God, to be holy as He is holy

Blamelessness shown on the day of the return of Jesus with His saints.

Blamelessness is only possible with forgiveness

Forgiveness only comes through the blood of Jesus

Christ’s death covers all our sin; before we came to him and since we have come to him

Though sin is forgiven, we should be working to stay clear of it

Philippians 2:12 ESV

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

When God brings our sin to our attention we must deal with it

1 John 1:9 ESV

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This awaiting the 2nd coming

Paul had earlier expressed his desire to “show them off”

1 Thessalonians 2:19–20 ESV

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.

It’s hard to place this into the context of the Rapture—unless a pre-trib rapture

In the greater context of the second coming ??? That gets messy if it’s post-trib

Sidebar Discussion

We can absolutely trust the Bible even when we don’t understand what it says

We can absolutely trust the Bible even when good and godly scholars disagree on interpretations

If I say that Peggy and I went to dinner with the Jones family; and Mr. Jones says they went to dinner with us and then had ice cream, is that a contradiction?

If I describe 6 events in the same week; but for reasons of my own don’t put them in order and someone else does, is that a contradiction?

If I give you all the facts I have at the time and later give you more facts, and someone else gives still more facts, is anyone wrong?

Such it is when looking at end-times issues

WITFM

Direction

Always asking God to make the way straight before us

Human tendency is to run ahead of Him, then ask Him to bless our actions

A couple helpful hints:

If we want blessings in our plans, plan according to His will

Don’t try to pull the wool over God’s eyes—he knows the thoughts and intents of the heart

If we are in tune with His will, asking for direction—making our path straight—up front…it tends to work out better

Production

There is no excuse for not being involve in good works

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

So many statements direction us to good works

Lets focus on love among the other good works

If the love is a super-abounding love, the other good works should follow along

We could argue that the entire passage dealt with love

…Paul’s love drove him to want to go back

…then the over-abounding love he wished for them

…then the glory for them upon the return of the Lord

Protection

Let’s work our our salvation with fear and trembling

Without getting into end-times and judgments, remember that our good works will be held up for examination

All these things only apply to believers