STANDING FAST IN THE LORD

(1 Thessalonians 3:6-13, Preaching: Pastor David Stewart, October 27, 2013)

     Our grandson Lucas is getting ready to walk. It is an important development in the life of a child. Our little ones here are either in the midst of this or soon will be. But before they can begin to walk, they must first learn to stand.

     Paul's very life is tied to these Thessalonians - he has sent Timothy to ensure that they are standing fast in the Lord. Before we can think about moving ahead, before we can think about where we are going, we must make sure we can stand fast.

     And so, as we saw last week, Paul is burdened by this desire to share his very life with them, sends Timothy "to establish and exhort them in the faith," and then offers a prayer for them here towards the end of our passage. We see this tremendous pastoral heart that Paul has for them.

     "But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love..." Verse 6 marks Timothy's return. By now Paul is no longer in Athens, he's gone on to Corinth. Silas comes back from Macedonia where he's been visiting Philippi and Timothy comes back from Thessalonica. Paul is thrilled for Timothy to come back. And verse 6 says, "But now."  So this letter was written immediately upon Timothy's arrival. When Paul sent Timothy he didn't know things were like in Thessalonica. But now that he writes this letter back, he has just gotten the word. And what was that word? "Timothy has brought us the good news..."

     I don't know exactly how much time had passed. Paul was now in Corinth, his heart longing to know what was going on. Timothy arrives and the news is, "Good news." Rather than using a simple word, he doesn't just say, "And Timothy gave a good report," or "Timothy came back and told us so-and-so." He said, "Timothy brought good news." He uses the word "gospel."  He brought us such good news I have to use a word that is usually referring to the news of salvation to even express how good it is. He takes the term reserved usually for the message of salvation by grace through faith, and so it was that kind of good news, thrilling news.

     And what was the news? Timothy gives three things. First, their faith was real! The gospel had truly taken root and had found good soil. There was no need to fear that the tempter had tempted them and that their labor was in vain. It hadn't been choked out even by the trials and temptations of persecution that had come their way.

     Second, he brought good news about their love. They loved God, they loved Christ, they loved one another, and they loved the lost. Their love was bearing witness throughout Madeconia and Achaia, as we saw in chapter 1. John Calvin says of these two words, "faith and love":  "Those two words are the sum of godliness."

     The third point is their deep affection for Paul, Timothy and Silas. "They always remember us kindly and long to see us." Paul had cared for them like a nursing mother, exhorted them as a father with his children. They are his hope and joy and crown of boasting before the Lord Jesus at his coming. What joy and delight to know that their faith and love are intact.

     You see how important they were to him. Look at verse 7. "For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith." Because of the report of Timothy, for that very reason, in all their choking pressure, all the crushing trouble that had come on him; in all the troubles and trials and pains of his heart, it all of a sudden disappeared and he was comforted about them when he heard about the reality of their faith. They were strengthened for the work, the genuineness of their faith, the fact that he had received evidence that it was real saving faith was the most basic cause of his delight.

     This is the fourth time in the chapter that he's mentioned their faith. Faith is always the key. What delights the heart of a pastor? The faith of his people, the love of his people, the longing of his people to fellowship with him. That's the pastor's delight.

     As John Piper says, "The pastor's delight is not the size of the building, the looks of the facility, his reputation, his success, his degrees, the level of the fame of his congregation, the salary he gets, his prestige in the community. That's not the delight of a true pastor. The pastor's delight is found in his people. They can break his heart and they can make his heart rejoice."

     And so his sums this all up in verse 8: "For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord." It's as if Paul was experiencing death in the separation of not knowing their condition, not being able to care for them. But now we've received good news - that is our joy, that is our delight, that is what spurs us on in ministry - to know that you stand fast in the Lord.

     If you have a strong faith, if you have a strong commitment--that word "standfast" is a military term. It refers to a refusal to retreat against an attack. Stand your ground under attack. When I see you stand your ground under attack, I really live. I know you've got your armor on, you're holding up the shield of faith. I really live.

     To the Corinthians he wrote, chapter 16 verse 13, "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong." To the Galatians he wrote, chapter 5 verse 1, "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore..." To the Philippians he wrote, chapter 1 verse 27, "Onlly let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit..." In chapter 4 verse 1, to the Philippians again, he said, "Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved." And in that second letter to the Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 15, "So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter."

     Paul's desire was to always see them stand firm. And always the idea was standing against an attack and showing your faith is real, your commitment is strong. That's the delight of the pastor's heart. Again, not buildings, not size, not success,  not reputation, not money, but strong faith. And for this Paul cannot adequately find words to express his thanks to God. "For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God..."

     This is the heart of the pastor - a heart so full of thanksgiving. You need a pastor who is not dour and ungrateful. And we need to be a people who are thankful, celebrating together the good work that God is doing in our midst, through the joys, sorrows, trials and tribulations that come our way. Together we will stand fast in the Lord.

     And here we notice that Paul never intends for the Thessalonians to rest in their laurels, to think that they have arrived, to stop growing in Christ. It is time to start walking. "We pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith." There is still a lot of work to be done, so we best get praying. Our natural inclination is to start doing, but Paul's first reaction is to start praying.

     I also love this "we." Paul isn't praying alone - Paul, and Timothy, and Silas are together praying night and day for this fledgling church. Notice the earnestness of their prayers - night and day. It's not as if they never left their bedsides. But they were constantly in an attitude of prayer. And I'm sure that they prayed quite regularly together hour upon hour.

     What is Paul praying for? What is this issue? Number one, "That we may see you face to face," fellowship. I want to see your spiritual condition. I want to know you. I want to know what's going on in your life.

     Secondly, "I may supply what is lacking in your faith," spiritual growth. I want to see your spiritual condition and I want to be used by God to make you grow spiritually.

     Paul now concludes with what we would understand as a pastoral prayer. Spurgeon wrote, "I take it that a minister is always praying.  He is not always in the act of prayer, but he lives in the spirit of it." And again Spurgeon wrote, "If you are a genuine minister of God, you will stand as a priest before the Lord, spiritually wearing the ephod and the breastplate where on you bear the names of your children, pleading for them within the veil."

     Paul closes out this section by making a prayer for three things. But before we get to the specifics of the prayer, I want us to notices how he begins his prayer. "Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus..."  First of all, he jointly addresses God and Jesus.  He calls God Father and he calls Jesus Lord.  God is sovereign, Jesus is seen to be more personal and so he switches those and says, "God, our Father," using a more personal relational term, "and Jesus our Lord," emphasizing sovereignty.  And by the usage of those terminologies he puts God the Father and Jesus our Lord on an equal level.  He uses the pronoun "our" in both cases to emphasize the personal element, the personal relationship that he enjoys and the Thessalonians enjoy with both of them.  God is our Father, and Jesus is our Lord.   

     Then he uses a singular pronoun in the emphatic position, that is it's listed first in the Greek order so that in the Greek the sentence reads this way, "Now may Himself..."  The verb "direct" is also singular.  The Greek language has the capability of dealing with verbs in a much broader way than the English language.  We just can't make these kind of distinctions in English.  So it reads: "Now may Himself, our God and Father and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you."  Who is Himself then?  God the Father and Jesus the Lord.

     How wonderful that we can make our prayer to God, we can direct our prayer to Jesus, we can direct your prayer to both, for the Father and the Son are one.  Jesus said, "I and the Father are one."

     The first thing that Paul prays is that this God - the Father and the Son, would "direct our way to you." Paul is praying that God would make the path straight between himself and the Thessalonians and to remove any obstacles that are in the way.

     Remember last week, Paul said, "We wanted to come to you - I, Paul, again and again - but Satan hindered us." The only power that can overcome this obstacle is God. "May God himself direct our way to you." He alone can do it. No amount of effort on our part is going to accomplish it.

     And what was the purpose of this prayer? Notice again what Paul says in verse 10: "that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith." Paul desired to come to them and help them to continue to grow in their faith. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." This isn't just talking about initial saving faith, but our continuing growth in faith. We must continue to study the word that we may grow in faith. There is no other way.

     The church today seeks to grow through experience, but it will leave one cold and dissatisfied. Our faith must be built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord," as Paul says in Ephesians 2:20.

     The second thing Paul prays for is growth in love. Flowing out of a true and growing faith is love and he says, "And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you."  He knows that just as spiritual birth is dependent on God, spiritual growth is dependent on God.  As justification is a work of God, sanctification is the work of God.  So his prayer is that the Lord, and that, of course, refers to Jesus who is called the Lord in verse 11 and also in verse 13, "May the Lord Jesus cause you to increase and abound in love."  "May you have an increasing, overflowing kind of love."  The word "love" is agape, a word that means the strongest, highest, purest, noblest love, the love that sacrifices to meet the needs of others.

     In chapter 1, remember verse 3, he said, "Remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love..."  Love is there, faith is there, and what I want to see is the increase and the abounding of that faith.  And I want to see now the increase and the abounding of that love.

     Chapter 4 and verse 9 he says, "Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another..."  So I know you have the faith, it needs to grow.  I know you have the love that God has taught you, it needs to grow. For notice what he says in 4:10: "But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more." Love more.  This is the same kind of thing he said to the Philippian believers in 1:9. "And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more."  Paul always was praying for the growth of those he loved. 

     In fact, if you go back in to Romans chapter 1 and verse 11.  He's praying for their spiritual growth.  And you go to 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 9 and 10 and 11, he's praying for their spiritual growth.  And you go to 2 Cor 15 and 16 he's praying for their spiritual growth.  You come in to Ephesians chapter 4 and he's telling the Ephesians that he is given to the church along with the other prophets and pastor teachers and evangelists for the perfecting of the saints that they grow up into the image of Christ. 

     Epaphras was praying as Paul notes at the end of Colossians that Christians would become perfect and complete in all the will of God.  This whole thing of spiritual growth was on his heart.  And one major dimension was this growth in love.

     So what is the evidence of my growing faith in Christ? Love - love for God, love for one another, and love for my neighbor. As my love for God grows, my love for everybody else grows too.  I become rooted and grounded in love.  I experience its breath and length and height and depth and the very love of Christ that passes knowledge fills me with the fullness of God by which I love others.  That's the flow.

      The third petition of his prayer is this: "That God may establish their hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints." Faith, love, and now hope. Paul is praying that their hearts would become immovable, established in holiness through faith and love.

     We have only one goal - that is the perfecting of our souls. God is at work conforming our lives to the image of his beloved Son. He does this through our continued growth in the faith - as we are rooted and grounded in him, as we see our love abound towards him and one another, so that one day, one glorious day, we will be able to truly stand, blameless in holiness before our God and Father.

     We can't now imagine that we have to make sure we get everything right. This is God's work - Paul's prayer is that he, God, would establish our hearts blameless in holiness. If God has begun a good work in us through the Lord Jesus, he will bring it to completion in the day of Christ Jesus.

     This is truly our hope. That God is at work in us - chastening us, refining us, pruning us - making us holy; for we cannot do this ourselves. But God, by the finished work of Christ, and by the application of the work of the Spirit, will do it. We must look to him who is our strength and not in our own efforts.

     So what do we pray for? A faith that is vibrant and growing; a love that abounds towards one another and all; and a hope that is rooted in the sanctifying work of Spirit. Faith, love and  hope. In this we take our stand, for it is in this that we can stand fast in the Lord.