Praying For Our Church (Part 1) (1 Thessalonians 3:10-13)
I. That They Might Be Perfected In Their Faith
II. That Their Love Might Increase And Abound
III. That They Might Live In View Of Christ's Return
Our text for this morning's message is taken from 1 Thessalonians 3:10–13, “Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith? Now God himself and our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” The Lord bless the reading of his holy and sacred Word.
Soon we'll be celebrating our church 40th anniversary. And as I ponder on this significant milestone of Bethel BP Church, I also thought about what I should pray for the church. In this regard, we want to consider this passage in 1 Thessalonians 3:10–13 and learn some valuable lessons from the way the Apostle Paul prayed for the church that we may also make this the prayer for our church as well.
The title of our message is: Praying For Our Church. When do people usually pray? Most people will pray when they are in need, when things go bad for them, or when they find themselves in great difficulties. It is certainly not wrong to pray in adversities, and it may be true that God allows those situations to come into our lives so that we will pray.
But our prayers are often only focused on physical things. We want to recover from an illness, we want to have a job, we want to have a life partner, we want to be delivered from devastating circumstances. How often do we pray for spiritual things? How often do we pray that we will not fall into temptations? That we will not be enslaved by the power of sin, that we will grow spiritually and flourish in the things of God. You and I ought to set our affections on things above, not on things on this earth.
Beginning with verse 10, “Night and day, praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?” Notice the frequency of Paul's prayer was night and day, which means constantly, and the frequent fervency of his prayer was exceedingly, which can also mean most earnestly. What were the things that caused Paul to pray constantly and fervently? They were spiritual things, not physical matters.
There were three things that Paul prayed for the Thessalonians: that they might be perfected in their faith, that their love might increase and abound, and that they might live their lives in view of the blessed hope of Christ's return.
I. That They Might Be Perfected In Their Faith
Firstly, that they might be Perfected In Their Faith. The word ‘perfect’ can mean to put in order or be made complete. The believer will always be a growing Christian. There will never come a point in our lives as we live on this earth that we do not need to grow anymore.
When we first came to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, we started off as spiritual babes. No one can be a spiritual adult overnight. We learn the elementary fundamental doctrines of the Bible, the so-called ABCs. And then from there we progress to eating meat, solid food as in things hard to be understood, difficult doctrines, and we will continue to grow, continue to learn. God has raised up pastors and teachers in the church to provide leadership and spiritual resources so that the believers may be perfected or be made complete.
Dear friend, you may be a Christian for 40 years since the day you first came to this church, but please do not ever think that you have already attained perfection in your faith. Consider the life of the Apostle Paul, the one who saw the resurrected Christ, the one whom God used to write the majority of the New Testament books. And after years of devotions, he said in Philippians 3:12 about himself, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.” In other words, ‘I'm not even there, not even close to perfection, and I press forward to this spiritual perfection.’
Well, you may be wondering, if we want to be perfected in our faith, why must we follow the Apostle Paul who was after all an imperfect sinner? And why must we follow the pastor who is even more imperfect? Should we not just look to Jesus Christ the perfect example? James Montgomery the theologian once said, ‘Had Paul been perfect, he would not have been an example for the believers to follow.’
We need someone who is not perfect so we can see how to overcome our imperfections. We need someone to show us how to handle the struggles of life, the disappointments and trials. Someone who can show us how to handle pride, resist temptations and put sin to death. Only Christ is the perfect standard and example for the believers to emulate. Christ never needs to pursue after perfection. He has always been perfect, sinless.
Paul, on the other hand, was a fellow believer just like every one of us on the path towards this unattainable spiritual perfection. So in this regard he has set a good example for us to follow. How true, right? The same goes with all the parents here. You are not perfect, are you? Yet you would want your children to follow you. Why? Because you have gone down that path before and you are able to show them the way they should go.
It is the desire of every pastor that the flock would follow him and grow in their faith and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the only way to do that is by teaching them the Word of God. The Bible is God's perfect standard. And the pastor is to teach and guide the believers so that their lives may be ordered, be complete, be made perfect and be prepared for service.
That was why Paul wanted to visit the Thessalonians to be there with them personally to help them to grow from faith to faith. But he knew that only God is in sovereign control of all things. And if it is not God's will, he will not be able to visit them. So in verse 11, he prayed, “Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.” He directed his prayer to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It speaks of the unity in the triune God with the Holy Spirit helping the saints to pray according to God's will.
By using the word ‘our’, it implies that you are not the only child of God. You are not the only child born in isolation. God has other spiritual children. So together we call upon him our God. Our Lord Jesus also taught us to pray saying, “Our Father which art in heaven” (Matthew 6:9).
Paul prayed that God would direct their ways unto the Thessalonians. The word ‘direct’ has the idea to lay out a straight smooth path with all the obstacles removed. Up to this point, this moment, Satan has stopped him from visiting the Thessalonians. As 1 Thessalonians 2:18 said, “Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.” So he knew that only the power of God could overcome Satan and allow him to return.
Dear friend, we may have the desire for spiritual things to flourish in our lives. We may want our mission work in Myama to flourish. We may want to visit them to encourage their hearts, especially to visit the orphans in the newly established battle children care ministry. We may want to start new ministries in our church. We may want our marriages to be strong. We may want to send our children to a Christian college. All these things are well and good. But we must bear in mind that we are in no control over the situations of life. Only God is in sovereign control of all things. And that is why we must pray that he will direct our ways.
So Paul had this strong desire to visit the Thessalonians and to help the brethren to be perfected in their faith, which was a good thing. Nonetheless, it must be according to the will of God. As Proverbs 3:5 said, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Only God can direct our paths. And so you and I must pray.
Paul's second prayer was that their love might increase and abound. And this was found in verse 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.” The Thessalonians knew how much Paul, Silas, and Timothy love them and they must follow their godly examples.
Firstly, the Thessalonians must increase and abound in their love one toward another. This was in the context of the church. So this is a love within the church, the body of believers. A genuine mark of the true believer is this love for the brethren. This love for the church. 1 John 3:14 said, “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.”
How do we know that we have passed from spiritual death to spiritual life - “Because we love the brethren, he that loveth not his brother abideth in death”. This love does not pick and choose which believer to love. Sometimes we hear Christians say, ‘I love him in the Lord,’ which implies it is not some romantic or personal affection.
To love someone in the Lord is to love him as the Lord would love him genuinely, sincerely, and sacrificially. Christ loves all believers and they are precious to him because they have been bought with his precious blood. And this Christian love must flow from Jesus Christ into our hearts and be extended to all Christians.
It is easy for us to love those who will return our love. But what about those brethren who have done us wrong or falsely accused us or said nasty things about us? The love mentioned here is agape. It is a love pattern after the sacrificial love of God. It is a love that is willing to give whether it receives in return or not. It is a love that goes out even to the enemy or to the persecutor.
Often times we are not able to love because we find it's very difficult to forgive those brethren who have sinned against us. It could be your husband or your wife who has sinned against you. It could be your parent or your child who has offended you. Or it could be a brother or a sister in the church who has done you wrong. Whenever you think of that offense, you find it so difficult to forgive and love.
But let us be encouraged by the word of God. If you can turn with me to 1 Peter 4:8, “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” The word ‘cover’ is very interesting. Because the metaphor of covering is of great importance in our understanding of salvation.
This picture of covering is found in the Old Testament. On the day of atonement, blood from the sacrificial animal was taken by the high priest into the holy of holies and sprinkled on the mercy seat which was covering the ark of the covenant. The blood was poured, signifying the covering of the people's sins.
But the practice of covering began even earlier than the day of atonement, way back to the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. If you remember after Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, they felt so ashamed. They became aware of their nakedness and in their shame they tried to hide their guilt using fig leaves which was a vain attempt. When God came into the garden and found Adam and Eve hiding in shame and guilt, what did he do? He made them clothing from animal skins and covered their shame.
But firstly the animal had to be sacrificed, had to be killed and the blood had to be shed before God could cover Adam and Eve. This was the first act of redeeming grace. And throughout the rest of scriptures, the idea of redemption is understood in terms of God covering his sinful guilty people.
It is all about the love of God, when ultimately he sent his only begotten son Jesus Christ to be the lamb who would die on the cross of Calvary. Jesus came into this world leaving his heavenly glory to be hated, rejected, crucified, and ultimately killed on the cross that the multitude of your sins and my sins can be covered.
So when we think about this, is there anything or anyone we are unwilling to forgive and love? When Jesus Christ gave off himself to bear our sins on the cross of Calvary that all our sins, past, present, and future are all covered, washed away by his precious blood.
When love increases and abounds in the church, in the fellowship of believers, offenses are readily forgiven and forgotten. But when love is lacking, every word will be revealed with suspicion. Every action will be misunderstood and every conflict would abound. Nothing can destroy a church faster than people picking at one another over trivial matters.
We all bring different baggage into the church. We all have different habits and shortcomings. We can destroy one another by picking at one another's faults. We need this covering love to survive in all our relationships. The only way the church, the family, and the marriage can survive is through this covering love. It is not that the husband, the wife, the children or the brethren in the church do not have shortcomings. They have shortcomings. But it is our love for one another that will overshadow those petty weaknesses.
II. That Their Love Might Increase And Abound
Secondly, the Thessalonians must increase and abound in their love toward all men. This was a love for all people, for the lost, for those who persecuted them. Remember Jesus himself also taught us in Matthew 5:44, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Even before our Lord Jesus went to the cross at Calvary, the night before he was betrayed in the upper room, He gave an excellent example of this sacrificial love. He washed the feet of the 12 disciples.
The disciples had done nothing to inspire his love. They had done nothing to deserve his love. They were self-centered, quarome, jealous of each other. Yet Jesus loved them with a sacrificial love. Most importantly, out of the 12 disciples, there was one Judas is caring who would betray Him. For almost three years he sat at the feet of Jesus. He heard all the teachings. He saw all the miracles. He experienced the love of Christ. Yet he betrayed Him.
However, despite all these things, Jesus took the basin of water, stood at Judah's feet, and washed his feet. Jesus did not just command you and me to love our enemies. in words only. He lived out those truths in His life as the perfect example for us to follow. It is like saying to us, ‘love your enemies just as I have done to show you the way to do it.’ Will you obey him?
The word ‘enemies’ is in plural which means many. We are commanded to love our enemies regardless of what they say or what they do to us. To bless them that curse you. Do good to them that hate you. Pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. There is a saying ‘to return evil for good is devilish. To return good for good is human. And to return good for evil is divine,’ or if I may use the word is agape. It is God's love.
Some people may say, ‘well, I know it is God's command that I should love my enemies, but I admit I cannot attain it’. That is true. Indeed, loving our enemies is not an easy thing in and of ourselves. We cannot attain it. This agape love is only possible to those in whom the Lord Jesus Christ is working, to those in whom His spirit dwells and to those in whom His love would come forth. To the believers, it is possible.
Jesus said in John 15:9, “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.” If you are a Christian and you find it so difficult to love someone who has offended you, what you need to do is to draw near to the Lord Jesus Christ and ask Him to work out that love in you.
Notice the Apostle Paul prayed for the Thessalonians that they might increase and abound in their love. Which means they already had love. They were already giving sacrificially to support the work of the ministry. But Paul prayed that their love might increase and abound.
Now this is the desire of every pastor that the members will not only have love but that their love may increase and abound. Concerning our 40th anniversary celebration, some people may say ‘by the grace of God through the years, Bethel has grown in her love. Bethel has grown in her maturity. Bethel has grown in a love for mission works in Myama. We never had such mission works before. Bethel has grown in a giving. Bethel's youth has grown in their love for God and their services for him. Praise be to God.’
Even if that is an accurate evaluation of our love, should we be complacent with such love? God forbids. It should be the prayer of every individual in this church that our people not only will have love but they must increase and abound in their love one toward another in the church and also toward all men. The unbelievers, the enemies, those who persecute us to the glory of God.
III. That They Might Live In View Of Christ's Return
Paul's third prayer was that they might live in view of the blessed hope of Christ's return. And this was found in verse 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.” Martin Luther once said, ‘Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.’
Why do we do what we do? Because we hope to receive something in return. Whether it is monetary gains or some forms of recognition or a future blessing. We are motivated by hope. Parents work hard with the hope that their children may be educated and be well prepared for the future. We put our utmost efforts today because of the hope we may receive tomorrow.
Now consider this. What is the purpose of perfecting our faith? Loving one another in the church and loving all men, believers, unbelievers if there is no future hope? If this is the only life we have on this earth, what then is the purpose? We Christians live our lives in view of the blessed hope of what our Lord Jesus Himself said and promise to each and every one of us, “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:1-3)
That was the blessed promise. He will come again. And when Ge comes again, Ge will not send an angel to receive us. Christ will personally receive us unto Himself. So Christ's return is a most comforting hope.
Listen to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep” - That means concerning those who have died - “that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope” -referring to the unbelievers. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also we sleep in Christ will God bring with him: - Sleep is here referred to as death.
“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep” - We will not precede those who have died and were buried. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
When Jesus comes in the clouds, those who were dead in Christ, the believers will rise first. When a believer dies, his body will be buried in the grave. His soul will go to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. When Christ comes, His body will rise from the grave to be united with His soul in a glorified body. Then all those who are still alive will be caught up or raptured to meet Him in the air. And the Bible tells us that all this will happen in the twinkling of an eye. What a blessed hope.
Christ’s return is a rewarding hope. 2 Corinthians 5:10 said, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” Now, this is not a reference to the judgment of hell for the unbelievers. This is a judgment of rewards for the believers. So when Christ comes, He will reward His people for all the things they have done in His name. We will have all our works evaluated before the judgment seat of Christ. And we all know that after the rapture and the world enters into the seven years of great tribulation, Christ together with all the saints who come and they will rule the world for 1,000 years.
Dear friend, if you and I truly believe that Jesus will return and when He returns, we will receive the reward from Him. And thereafter, we will reign with Him for 1,000 years on this earth. And then we will live together with Him for all eternity in the new heavens and the new earth. Then it must inevitably affect the way we live our lives on this earth.
So that when our Lord Jesus comes, He will say to us, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant… enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (Matthew 25:21) However, we cannot live in holiness, nor can we be obedient to God's command. Nor can we look forward to Christ coming, but only through the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. That was why the Apostle Paul prayed that God might establish the hearts of the Thessalonians, that they would be unblameable in holiness before God when he comes.
No pastor, no parent, no Sunday school teacher can convict your heart. The heart is the seat of our human emotions, thoughts and motivations. Only God alone can search our hearts and know our thoughts. Even in the deepest recesses of our hearts, He knows. Finally, I would like to end by saying Paul did not return to Thessalonica. But does that mean that God did not answer his prayer? Does that mean that his prayer was futile? Most certainly not. His prayer was answered. How do we know?
Because several months later in 2 Thessalonians 1:3, Paul wrote this, “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet” - ‘meet’ means neccessary. Why is he bound to thank God? Why is he saying that it is necessary to thank God? “Because that your faith growth exceedingly and the charity of every one of you all toward one another aboundeth.”
Can you see that? He prayed in first Thessalonians the passage that we have read that they might increase in their love and abound in their love. And in 2 Thessalonians, he said, ‘Now it is necessary for me to thank God because your love has increased and abound exceedingly.’ God who has commanded us to pray, He will listen and answer our prayers to the glory of His precious name.
This is a prayer of the pastor for his beloved flock whom God has placed under his care. But it should not only be the prayer of the pastor. It should also be the prayer of every parent for his or her children, every Sunday school teacher for his or her little ones, every Bible teacher for the students studying God's word, and every believer for the church.
It is my prayer that all of us in this church would make this our prayer for the soon coming 40th anniversary of Bethel BP Church. That the people whom God has brought into our church be perfected in their faith that their love may increase and abound one toward another and toward all men and that they live their lives in view of the blessed hope of Christ return. May this be our prayers. Let us pray.
Our father in heaven, we give You thanks for this opportunity for us to consider this portion of scriptures in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3:10-13. While it may be the prayer of the Apostle Paul for the Thessalonians, we pray that it will also be our prayer for Bethel BP Church as well. That the people whom Thou has brought into this church, not by chance nor coincidence, that their faith might be perfected, that their love might increase and abound, and that they may live their lives in view of the blessed hope of our Lord Jesus return.
This is the way the believers ought to live their lives. And this is also the way that every one of us in this church ought to live our lives too. And Thou who has commanded us to pray will answer our prayers in due time just as Thou has answered the Apostle Paul. We give Thee thanks and we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.