Do you ever feel like giving up? Do you ever feel discouraged and ready to throw in the towel? Do you ever feel the question, “Why even bother?”
I think that most of us can feel that way at least some of the time, and some of us can feel that way most of the time.
“What good does it do, anyway?”
“Why keep trying so hard with so few results?”
“Why do I keep punishing myself? Why do I keep beating my head against this wall?”
“Why do I keep trying to do what is right?”
In verse 13 of chapter 3, the Apostle Paul tells the Christians in this beloved baby church to not give up. He says, “And as for you, brothers [and sisters], never tire of doing what is right.”
The updated NIV has, “...never tire of doing what is good.” The ESV and CSB both have, “...do not grow weary in doing good.”
In other words, don’t give up, and don’t give in, and keep on doing the right thing. Keep putting one good foot in front of another. Do the right thing. Don’t get discouraged. Don’t lose your enthusiasm for well-doing. Stay diligent. Stay steadfast. Don’t grow weary. Do the good thing.
“[N]ever tire of doing what is right.”
That’s maybe easier said than done, but it was the Lord’s word for the Thessalonians back in the day, and it’s His word for you and me today. “[N]ever tire of doing what is right.”
Our series on the letters to the church of the Thessalonians has been called “Eternal Encouragement,” and we have noted that encouragement comes in two basic flavors: consolation and exhortation. Comfort and command.
But in this last section, it’s mostly the second kind of encouragement. The kick in the pants. The encouragement to get off our seats and into the game. And to stay in the game even when it feels like it’s a losing game. “Never tire of doing what is right.”
Last week (in verses 3 through 5), the Apostle Paul assured the Thessalonians that the Lord is faithful and would both strengthen them and protect them from the evil one and empower them to do what He has commanded.
He said, (v.4) “We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command.” Paul expected them to obey because the Lord was at work in them, and the Lord’s work will work. God’s love and Christ’s perseverance would see to that (see v.5)!
And now in verse 6, Paul tells them what the specific commands he expects them to obey actually are. Starting with: staying away from disorderly Christians. Look at verse 6.
“In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers [and sisters], to keep away from every brother [and sister] who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.”
I have three points of application to summarize this passage, and here’s the first one:
#1. AVOID CHRISTIANS WHO HAVE TIRED OF DOING WHAT IS RIGHT.
I was surprised this week at how strong Paul was here. He gives a command “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” And we know that the Lord Jesus Christ has all of the authority in heaven and on earth.
And so it’s nothing small when Paul invokes that name and says, “Here’s the apostolic command in Jesus’ name: KEEP AWAY from every brother who is idle and does not live according the teaching you received from us.”
Wow. That’s strong language. We need to take it to heart. This is serious stuff.
So, who is that we are supposed to avoid?
The old NIV says someone who is “idle.” That’s someone who isn’t doing the work they are supposed to be doing. They are idle.
The updated NIV has, “idle and disruptive.” There’s clearly more to what’s wrong with this kind of people than just basic idleness.
The Greek word is “ataktows,” and it’s a little hard to capture in English.
The King James has “walks disorderly.” The CSB has “walks irresponsibly.” The NASB has “leads an unruly life.”
The idea is someone who is “out of line” and not doing what they are supposed to be doing. (Like working for example.) This is someone who claims to be a Christian (notice that Paul calls them a “brother” or a “sister”) but who “does not live according to the [authoritative] teaching” that Paul and his team had given to the church.
In other words, they had tired of doing what is right. They had gotten lazy and undisciplined and unruly and disordered. And given up. They were out of line. And Paul tells the Thessalonians to keep away from brothers and sisters who are doing that.
Now, down in verses 14 and 15, Paul is going say more about what that “keeping away from” means and doesn’t mean. It’s clearly not a complete avoidance. Because he says they should not “regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.” (That’s verse 15.) So there is some level of relating that is still supposed to happen. But Paul also says that they should “take special note of” someone like this and, “Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed.” (That’s verse 14.) The idea is that the brother or sister in Christ will be embarrassed to be left out of the fellowship and be motivated to repent and change.
One commentator I read this week said that we should remain “aloof” from folks that are like this. Make sure they know we love them and that we are not mad at them. That’s not why we are keeping our distance. But because we want them to know that what they are doing is serious, and we must take it seriously so that they might change. Not ostracism, but also no close fellowship until there is repentance. Avoid Christians who have tired of doing what is right. Including stopping their rightful work to freeload on others.
Paul says that he and his ministry team showed them how they were supposed to live. Look at verse 7.
“For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle [and disruptive, ataktows] when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you” (vv.7-8).
Paul, Silas, and Timothy had worked and worked and worked when they were in Thessalonica. Paul was a tentmaker by trade. So he spend a good deal of his day making and mending tents and selling them in the marketplace and then also sharing the gospel and building up the church. He did both night and day!
And he didn’t take support from the church that he was planting. Now, we can see in other letters, that he sometimes received missionary support from churches after he had planted them–like from the Philippians. But when he was planting, he didn’t want to come across as a grifter or be a burden on the fledgling little church that was struggling so much to survive in the first place. So he took he didn’t take support from them.
I think that’s what he means by “did not eat anyone’s food without paying for it.” I don’t think that means that if they had him over for supper one night that he insisted on paying for their hospitality. That would be rude. It means that he didn’t expect them to do that night after night after night. (And he would probably have them over for supper from time to time on his dime.) The same thing was true of housing and clothes and other basic necessities. He worked for them all.
We talked about this back when we studied 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 (see v.9). Could Paul have asked them to support him? Yes, he could! A gospel worker is worthy of his wages. (See 1 Corinthians 9:3-15, 2 Corinthians 11:7-9, Matthew 10:10.) It’s not wrong for you to support me as your pastor, and how well you do it! Thank you for sending us next weekend to the district retreat for pastors and wives (see also 1 Timothy 5:17-18)!
But Paul intentionally did not do that here. Look at verse 9.
“We did this [eschewing your support], not because we do not have the right to such help [we do!], but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat.’” (vv.9-10).
Paul was showing them how important it is for Christians to be faithful to work and to be self-sufficient to the degree that we can. So much so that he gave them this rule of thumb:
“If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”
If you follow that rule, that will be really motivating! I don’t know about you, but I like to eat!
Now, the most important word there is “will.” And it really means “will” as what they are willing to do. Where is their heart in this?
It’s not talking about someone who is disabled and can’t work, or sick and can’t work, or too young to work, or too old and infirm to work, or has tried to find work and can’t get work. Or if it’s illegal for them to work.
Paul is talking about Christians who are capable of work who refuse to work. They rebel against work. They are not willing to work. The “rule” is “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”
And if he will not work, then we should keep from away from him, as well. Not only should we not keep feeding him, we shouldn’t keep fellowshipping with him either.
I’ll be honest. I don’t know that I’ve ever done this quite like this. I’ve definitely chosen not to feed someone who I was pretty sure was just gaming the system. Our Ministerium has a fund of Neighbors Helping Neighbors that we are collecting for at Blessed to Be a Blessing this afternoon, and we have turned people down that have requested help when it was clear that they were just trying to freeload.
But I don’t know if I have ever told another Christian that I can’t hang around them unless they work harder at getting a job. Most of the Christians I know follow Paul’s example of working hard for their upkeep. But there are folks out there who have tired of doing what is right. And there were, apparently, some among the Thessalonians. Look at v.11.
“We hear that some among you are idle [and disruptive]. They are not busy; they are busybodies.”
Yikes! Imagine being that guy or that gal when the church read Paul’s letter for the first time. “I heard about that guy [and everybody turns to look at him] among you who is out of line. They are freeloading on your church family.”
Now, it doesn’t say why. Perhaps they were just lazy. Some people have the exact opposite problem. The work too much. We call that “crazy busy,” right? Or workaholics.
There are people who make work an idol. They worship their work instead of worshiping the Lord. But Paul is talking about the other kind of idle here. The opposite problem. Refusing to work.
Not crazy busy, but “crazy lazy.” (I got that phrase from Alistair Begg.) What the Proverbs call “The Sluggard” or we often call “The Slacker.”
Some of these folks might have gotten the wrong idea about how to wait for the return of Christ. Paul has been teaching them all about the return of Christ and how they should be ready for it, right? These two letters are full of the return of Christ. He’s referred to it at least once a chapter up to this one. And some of these folks might have thought, “Well, if Jesus is going to come back soon, then why bother working? Let’s all quit our jobs and just sit around and talk.”
I wonder if anybody quit their job last week when that guy on TikTok said that Jesus was coming back on September 23rd?
But what did we just say before we sang, “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand?” “The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service, and energetic mission” (EFCA SOF #9). We’re supposed to be motivated to work by the return of Christ, not the other way around.
Notice what happens when we let ourselves become idle. We don’t just stop working, we start sinning.
Paul says (in v.11), “The are not busy; they are busybodies.”
That’s trying to capture the word play in the Greek. It’s kind of like when we say, “Are you working hard or hardly working?” But it’s stronger than that. When we stop doing the business that we’re supposed to do, we often start getting ourselves into other people’s business.” And become meddlers and gossips and busybodies.
These folks aren’t working for their upkeep or for their families or for their Lord. They are working for their disordered interests. And we should not support them. And we should avoid them. And we shouldn’t be like them. See what Paul says to do instead. Verse 12.
“Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.”
Literally, “to work quietly and eat their own bread.” And then verse 13. “And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.”
#2. NEVER TIRE OF DOING WHAT IS RIGHT.
Don’t be like those guys who have given up on working for the Lord and refusing to work for themselves. Get busy and stay busy, quietly working away until the Lord returns.
Paul had similar instruction for the Thessalonians in his first letter, chapter 4, he said, “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody” (1 Thess. 4:11-12). That’s how a Christian is supposed to live!
Now, I don’t know about you, but whenever I read this chapter, I can be tempted to be proud. Proud of my work ethic. I love to work! I like working more than resting. I’m not good at resting. I’m good at working. And that’s a problem I have because the Lord calls me to rest every night and every week, not just to work. But I don’t tend to have a problem with idleness, and I can be tempted to look down my nose at those who do. I’m tempted to say, “Yeah, Paul stick it to those slackers! You tell them.”
And if you are a slacker, this passage is speaking to you. It’s encouragement to get off of your seat and into the game. Paul commands YOU and urges YOU in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread you eat! But this passage is not just for the idle. It’s for all of us. It’s also for those of us who are considering throwing in the towel. Who are discouraged by the state of the world and tempted to give up and give in. We all need to hear verse 13!
“[A]s for you, brothers [and sisters], never tire of doing what is right.” Never tire of doing what is good.
This week, I had my prayer retreat, and I tried to pray for every family in the church directory. I didn’t get through all the names. I’m still working at it. I prayed for all of you together and many of the names, and all of the little prayer cards you gave me. But I haven’t made it through the whole directory yet. And I was tempted to give up. Those prayer cards sure are heavy. You folks are battling difficult stuff. You have a lot of cares and concerns. Valid ones for your health, your families, your workplaces, your country, your world. And it felt heavy.
But I was reminded of what we had read in verse 3 and what we had sung last Sunday. “The Lord is faithful.” And kept praying. And I will continue to pray. And by God’s grace, I will obey verse 13 and never tire of doing what is right.
Sadly, some of these brothers did not. So the church needed to take note and avoid and warn them. Verse 14.
“If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.”
And keep doing it as the Lord leads. Never tire of doing what is right. Never tire of doing what is good. I like the update of the NIV translation here because it’s not just what is morally right but what is morally good and beautiful. [The Greek word is “kalopoiountes” (used only here in our Bibles) which has the “kalo” pre-fix which makes it mean something like “doing beautiful goodness.”]
Think about it. When we who are capable of working do our work, we not only can provide for ourselves and for our families but what else? For other people. For the genuinely needy!
The Lord doesn’t just want us to not be freeloaders. And He doesn’t just want us to be self-sufficient. He wants us to be generous (see Ephesians 4:28 and Acts 20:35)!
He wants us to fill the fridge for our needy neighbors.
He has blessed us to be a blessing for our needy neighbors.
He has given some of us strong bodies that can not only do our work but can help others who can’t do their work.
And we’re gonna. And we’re not going stop. We’re going never tire of doing what is good. And we’re not going to look down our noses at those who wear out, but we are going to encourage them to get back in the game.
“[A]s for you, brothers [and sisters], never tire of doing what is right.”
How’re we going to do that?
How’re we going to do that when everything is stacked against us? Think about this little baby church in Thessalonica that had so much against them. They were new and small. They were being attacked. They were being persecuted by the Jews and the Romans. They were being hounded and pounded by their neighbors. They were getting confused by unsettling teachings about the end times and even maybe fake letters from somebody pretending to be Paul. How were they going to keep going?
God’s peace and God’s grace.
#3. EXPECT THE PEACE AND GRACE TO KEEP DOING WHAT IS RIGHT.
In verse 16, Paul prays once again. Just like he has over and over again through these two letters, Paul pops out with a burst of prayer. Verse 16.
“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”
“This is no fake letter. No forgery. You can tell this is from me by the handwriting. And I’m praying for you.”
I’m praying for peace. Notice that He uses the Lord’s name here. Just like verse 6 and verse 12 and verse 18. He prays for the Lord of peace Himself to give them peace. Just like our memory verse. Not just the Lord’s messenger or agent. But the Lord Himself. The Lord of peace Himself. I’m praying that Jesus would give you His peace. And at ALL TIMES and in EVERY WAY. That’s peace, peace, peace, peace, peace!
We can have that!
Even when persecuted.
Even when attacked.
Even when the world wears us down.
We can have peace all the time and in every way. Why?
“The Lord be with all of you.”
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”
That’s how. That’s what we need! Peace and grace from the Lord Himself.
How encouraging that must have been for Paul to leave that little church with that last word! A last word not of a kick in the pants, but a shot in the arm, a long cool drink of water for a thirsty soul, a belly full of nourishing food, a tank of gas. Expect it! Whatever it takes to keep on going. All of the peace and all of the grace to never tire of doing what is right.
The Lord is faithful. We know this, but we regularly need reminded of this, don’t we? The Lord is faithful, but we are forgetful. So we need reminded, and we need reminded how to live because of the Lord’s faithfulness, and I think that’s what this little paragraph really excels at doing for God’s people.
And between that passage and our passage for today, Paul writes out this prayer for the Thessalonians that we studied before, from which we get our series’ title, and that we are memorizing together these last few months. 2 Thessalonians 2:16&17. Say them with me once again:
“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”
I’ve been trying to pray those words for all of you every single day for at least the rest of this year. And I’m planning to pray this for every family in our church directory this Tuesday on my prayer retreat.
That our Lord Jesus Christ himself (not His representative but Himself) and God our Father (through the power of God Holy he Spirit, our Triune God) who loved us so much that God the Son was sent to die for our sins and to come back to life to give us eternal life–by His grace (not by our works but by His grace), we have eternal life which is eternal encouragement and all the hope we need for all eternity!
This prayer that that the God who has already given us eternal encouragement would give us encouragement today and strengthen us for whatever we have to do today. “In every good deed and word.”
That must have been so encouraging for the Thessalonians to read in this letter!
The Apostle Paul was praying this for them because the Lord is faithful. And because the Lord is faithful, the Apostle Paul is now going to ask them to pray for him. Look at verse 1.
“Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you.”
I have three simple points of application for us this morning, and they are all things we already know to do but can easily forget to do. Here’s number one. The Lord is faithful:
#1. SO PRAY.
Paul is praying for them. He has peppered both of these letters to the Thessalonians with short little bursts of prayer like chapter 1, verses 11 and 12 and chapter 2, verses 16 and 17. And he’s going to do it again in verse 5 of this chapter!
But this is also a two-way street. The church is not the only people who need prayer. The missionaries need prayer, too.
Adam, amen? For the last five years Adam’s picture has been on that wall back there, and he has sent us regular prayer requests from Tokyo.
Missionaries need prayer. Adam’s picture may be coming down, but there are still a dozen other pictures hanging there with people begging for our prayers.
Paul asks for this church to pray that the gospel would race around the world. Did you see that in verse 1?
“[B]rothers [and sisters], pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you.”
He pictures the gospel message as being like a runner racing around the track, maybe racing in different directions all over the globe because of Paul and his friends. And then the gospel finds a glorious reception. Like the runner runs across the finish line and everybody is cheering!
Yes, this gospel is true! Yes, this gospel changes everything!
The gospel had taken root in them and was changing them. And Paul says, “Pray that that would happen everywhere we go!”
Are we praying for the rapid expanse of the gospel around the globe? There are many encouraging signs about that. Many discouraging signs, too. As Paul said in chapter 2, “...the secret power of lawlessness is already at work” (2:7). But the gospel has power to change things.
And the Lord is faithful! He uses the gospel and our prayers to do amazing things in the world! The Thessalonians are “exhibit A” for that. “...just as it was with you.”
Paul also asks for prayer that he and he team would be protected from their enemies. Look at verse 2.
“And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.”
The gospel has enemies. Not everybody loves Jesus. Everybody may love Raymond, but not everybody loves Jesus.
Everywhere Paul goes, he gets into trouble for sharing the truth of the gospel, and so he asks the church to pray that he is protected. They understand this in Thessalonica because they are experiencing persecution there, too. They are getting hounded and pounded by their neighbors.
But they keep loving them. And they keep trusting the Lord more and more. And now they are called keep praying for protection for Paul and his team.
What are your prayer practices when it comes to missionaries and church leaders? Do you pray for missionaries? For the last two years, Jenni has faithfully printed out the prayer letters that we get from our missionaries and put them on this board out in the foyer. You can take them off and read them and ask for a copy to take home with you. And you can pray verses 1 and 2 for them! Whenever you see those pictures on the back wall, do you pray that the message of the Lord would spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you? Do you get a fridge magnet for the missionaries we support and pray that they would be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith?
But (v.3) “...the Lord is faithful.” So we can pray and ask Him to do amazing things our missionaries’ lives! And we can trust Him to do amazing things in our lives. That’s point number two. The Lord is faithful...
#2. SO TRUST.
Look closely at verse 3. “...not everyone has faith...”
“But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.”
That’s a promise! And when you find a promise from God to you in the Scriptures, the right thing to do is trust it. “[T]he Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.”
Paul reminds them that God is faithful. He always keeps His promises. He’s demonstrated that over and over again on every page of Scripture. He’s shown His faithfulness every single day of redemptive history. He’s kept or is keeping every single thing He’s ever promised. The Lord is faithful. And He’s going to be faithful to strengthen and to protect His children from evil.
That doesn’t means that we won’t encounter evil. They were encountering it every day!
And it doesn’t that we don’t have to pray for this protection. Paul just asked them to pray for it for him!
And I think this building off of the last petition of the prayer the Lord taught His disciples. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Same exact phrase in Greek. “From the evil one.” (See Matthew 6:13).
But does mean that as we pray it in faith, we can expect the Lord to do just that!
He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
From his temptations. So you don’t have to give in.
From his accusations. So you don’t have to believe what he says about you.
From his attacks all kinds.
The Bible say that we have an enemy who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” But it doesn’t say to be scared of him. It says, “Resist him, standing firm in the faith...” (1 Pet. 5:8-9).
Stand firm. Trust in the Lord and stand firm. Because the Lord is faithful.
I love how it says that the Lord will strengthen us. Paul just prayed for that, too, in chapter 2, verse 17, didn’t he?
“May the Lord...who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”
And then what does Paul say in verse 3? He will! He will strengthen you! The Lord is faithful.
That must have been so encouraging for the Thessalonians to read in this letter!
Do you need to hear it this morning. I know I do.
“The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.”
“The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.”
“The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.”
Trust Him!
Who could you encourage with that promise today?
Tell the person next to you. Write it one of those encouragement cards. Who was the last person you sent an encouragement card to? Drop these words in a text message to a fellow Christian.
This is a promise for Christians. If they are not yet a real Christian, then it’s not yet for them. But this was true for the Thessalonians because they had received the message of the gospel and were changed forever.
They had eternal encouragement and good hope. And so they knew that “The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.” Trust Him.
“Jesus said if I am weak, I should come to Him.
No one else can be my strength. I should come to Him.
For the Lord is good and faithful.
He will keep us day and night.
We can always run to Jesus.
Jesus, strong and kind.”
Paul knew that better than just about anybody and believed that God was at work not just FOR the Thessalonians but IN the Thessalonians. Look what he says in verse 4.
“We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command.”
Now, that’s going to become the theme of the rest of the letter. Paul has some commands for the Thessalonians to follow, and we’ll get more into them next week, Lord-willing (see vv.6,10, & 12). But the main thing to see here is that Paul fully expects them to keep these commands. He thinks they are doing it and will continue to do them. Because the Lord is at work in them. And the Lord’s work will work!
Notice that Paul doesn’t say, “We have confidence in you...” though it amounts to it. He says, “We have confidence in the Lord that you...”
Paul knows that the Lord is faithful, so he knows that these Christians will be faithful, too. Which is point number three and last. The Lord is faithful...
#3. SO OBEY.
Paul fully believes that these Christians will obey and so they should.
In another letter to the churches at nearby Phillipi, Paul wrote that he was “confident...he who began a good work in [them] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phillippians 1:6).
It’s the same basic idea. How encouraging it must have been for the Thessalonians to read this and hear just how confident the Apostle Paul was that they were going to obey Jesus and follow His commands! I’m sure it was a motivation for them to do just that. We don’t have to obey on our own. We obey because the Lord is at work in us, and His work will work. The Lord is faithful, so obey.
Where is this hard for you right now? What commands are you, perhaps, struggling to obey today? Because it’s not always easy to obey, is it?
Colossians 3:13. “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
Ephesians 5:3-4. “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.”
Luke 6:35. “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”
Philippians 4:4-6. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Obey!
Not out of your own strength, but in the strength that God supplies. “We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command.” Which includes working hard and not being a busybody as we will see next week.
Are you struggling to obey our Lord’s commands? Paul knows that it won’t always be easy, and that’s, I think, why he up and prays for them again in verse 5.
“May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance.”
What a beautiful thought! That the Lord would guide, lead, and direct their very hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. Some of your versions have “steadfastness” there. Like the front of your bulletin.
What a beautiful prayer! Lord, do that in us here at Lanse Free Church! Direct our hearts into Your love and the steadfastness of Jesus!
But what exactly does it mean? It could be translated like this:
“May the Lord direct your hearts to love FOR God and perseverance FOR Christ.”
So that would emphasize, God working in our hearts so that we obey. So that we love God and hang on for Jesus while we wait for His return.
And that’s quite possible. It fits with rest of the theology of the letters. And I’m sure that this truth has that effect either way.
But I tend think that Paul is praying that God would give this church a vision in their hearts of just how much God has loved them and is loving them and will love them and just how much Jesus endured for them. How He persevered for them. How He was steadfast for them. How He endured the Cross, scorning its shame for them.
“Lord, direct their hearts to see that! Strengthen their hearts once again with their eternal encouragement and good hope with Your love and by your grace.”
And if our hearts are full of that then of course we will obey.
Show us, Lord, just how faithful you are.
Again! We know it, but we lose sight of it. The Lord is faithful, but we are forgetful. So we ask the Lord to remind us again and again. So that we pray for missionaries and for each other that the gospel would race around the world and change lives like it has ours. So that missionaries and churches are delivered from wicked and evil men. So that we trust in the promises of God to strengthen and protect us from the evil one. And so that we obey, because God is at work in us, and His work will work.
The main idea and title of this message is drawn from the last verse of our passage for today, verse 15. And it’s very simply this:
“Stand Firm.”
Paul wants the Thessalonians to be stable and steadfast. He wants them to stand upright and not fall down or back down in their Christian faith. “Stand firm.” That’s Paul’s encouragement to the Church of the Thessalonians, and I believe that we need to hear it for ourselves today.
Lanse Free Church, stand firm. There are many things flying at us every single day as a Christians that threaten to knock us off balance and off course. Many trials and temptations that imperil our stability. You know that feeling like you’re going to fall over? This is often us.
Paul sees that potential fall for his beloved baby church plant back in Thessalonika, and he comes out and tells them, “Don’t let that happen to you. Stand fast. Don’t fall over. Stand firm.”
Now, there are lots of things that might cause a follower of Christ to get off balance, but the particular thing in this case had to do with a false doctrine about the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We’ve seen over and over again that these two letters are full of important teaching about the return of Christ. Paul has mentioned it at least once in every single chapter! And this chapter says more about it than many other places in the rest of the whole New Testament. But there are a lot of details in this chapter that are unclear, at least to me and to many other Bible scholars throughout the history of the church. Just about every sentence has a phrase whose meaning has been disputed and debated by faithful Christians through the years.
And I’m smart enough to know that I will not solve all of the eschatological debates of the last 2,000 years in this message today! And yet, the main point of this chapter is crystal clear and the application is unmistakable: “Stand firm.”
With some questions about eschatology (the doctrine of the end times), the right answer is, “I don’t know...and that’s okay.”
Now, for some questions, that’s a bad answer. There are some things we must know and hold fast to. “Stand firm!” But there are some details that are less clear, and humility is the order of the day.
So, let me ask you this question: When is Jesus Christ going to return?
“I don’t know...and that’s okay.” In fact, it’s better than okay, right? It’s good and right and best that we don’t know so that we can stay constantly ready. How many times have we said that this year?
But how about this question: Has Jesus Christ already returned?
Don’t you dare say, “I don’t know, and that’s okay!” The right answer is, “I know that Jesus has NOT returned.”
But that’s not what the Thessalonians were hearing! Let’s start up in verse 1 of chapter 2.
Paul writes, “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come” (vv.1-2).
I’ve got just two points this morning, and here’s number one:
#1. DON’T BE SHAKEN BY DECEPTION.
Paul says, “We’re asking you brothers and sisters in Christ, to (v.2), “not become easily unsettled or alarmed...”
They were going, “Yee! Yikes! Aaahooga! Aaahooga!” They were in danger of panic. They were getting wigged out. They were afraid.
Paul says, “We’re asking you not to do that. Don’t get unsettled. Don’t get alarmed. Don’t be troubled by this thing you’re hearing.” Apparently, there was some kind of rumor going around that (v.2), the day of the Lord had already come.
Now, you and I hear that, and we say, “I don’t think so. That’s obviously false. That’s bizarre and ridiculous.”
And maybe they would, too, if they thought about it. But Paul wanted them to not get knocked off balance by this deception.
But it sounds like somebody has come along and told the Thessalonians that they missed it!
And if I believed that, I’d be scared, too.
The Thessalonians didn’t want to miss out. If you remember in first Thessalonians, they were worried that their loved ones who had already died before Jesus returned were going to miss out on either the resurrection or the rapture or maybe even the great reunion to be with the Lord forever. But Paul assured them in 1 Thessalonians 4 that the dead in Christ had not missed out. They would, in fact, be first in line.
Now here, he’s assuring the alive in Christ that they have not missed out on those things either. Jesus Christ has not yet returned.
It’s not clear how the rumor got started. Paul gives three different possible scenarios in verse 2, “...some prophecy (or Spirit), report (or word), or letter supposed to have come from us...” So there might have been a forgery, a fake letter from Paul circulating around. Perhaps written by artificial intelligence. (Well maybe not that yet.) But some fake letter or perhaps somebody saying, “The Spirit has revealed to me that what Paul really meant in his preaching or his letter is this...” (see Jeffrey Weima, pg. 506, for that helpful suggestion).
“The Day of the Lord has already come!”
Now, this happens a lot. Not this particular deception (though the Jehovah Witnesses have historically taught that Jesus Christ came back secretly and invisibly in 1914). But there are lots of different false teachings out there about the return of Christ that threaten to unsettle and alarm us. Don’t let them!
Good teaching, healthy teaching about the end times will comfort and encourage you. It will include sad, shocking, and scary things (and we’re going to see some sad, scary, and shocking things in verses 4-12), but the upshot will always be encouraging for the genuine follower of Jesus Christ. Don’t fall for the fear-mongering.
And don’t fall for the deceptions. Verse 3.
“Don't let anyone deceive you in any way...”
The Lord Jesus said the exact same thing, didn’t He? He warned us that there would be many deceivers.
In Matthew 24 Jesus said, “At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect–if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. ‘So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:23-27).
It will be obvious. Not invisible. It will be visible. Not secret. Like like lightning that everybody can see. And genuine followers of Jesus Christ will not miss it!
Now, Paul goes on to say that there are some particular things that must take place before the Day of the Lord. And because they have also have not happened yet, the Thessalonians could be assured that the Day of the Lord has not yet come. Look at verse 3.
“Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.”
Two things (at least, and there’s probably more) that must happen before the Day of the Lord.
Number one: The rebellion will occur.
Number two: The man of lawlessness will be revealed.
Now, what are those?
I’m not sure, and that’s okay.
I am sure that they are going to be painfully obvious to the church when it’s time. But I’m less sure that I can positively identify them right now.
The Greek word for “rebellion” in verse 3 is “apostacia.” Some of your versions may even have the derivative English word “apostasy” there. It means “to depart” or “to defect.” But it doesn’t say who is departing or what they are defecting from.
It could be a wholesale defection from the Christian faith. Those who seemed like Christians but then departed from Christianity. That happens. And it may happen in great numbers in the future. Jesus said that the love of many will grow cold (Matthew 24:12).
Or this could be a great rebellion against law and order around the world, especially because it’s tied here to the man of lawlessness.
But I tend to think it’s a defection from the truth. That nearly everybody everywhere rejects the truth wholesale and that has all of the downstream effects you might imagine. And, you might say, “I think that’s happened already,” and it might have, there’s a lot of falsehood out there, but my guess is that we ain’t seen nothing yet.
And I am sure that the Man of Lawlessness has not yet been revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
Who is this? Well, here are some things we know. He is a man. A human. He is not a demon. He is not Satan. He’s a man. But he declares that he is God! Look at verse 4.
“He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”
Wow! How scary is that?!
This “Man of Lawlessness” sounds a lot like some things we read back in the Book of Daniel, doesn’t it? In fact, I quoted this chapter several times as we studied Daniel together.
Remember that one little horn with the big mouth on the fourth and terrifying beast in Daniel chapter 7?
“He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time” (Daniel 7:25).
Daniel wrote this “...king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place. He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all” (Daniel 11:36-37). That sounds a lot like verse 4 to me.
Okay. How about this question? When will the Man of Lawlessness be revealed?
On one level, I’d say, “I don’t know, and that’s okay.”
Some faithful Christians believe that he will be revealed after the church is raptured. I was taught that in Bible school, and it’s a definite possibility. [In fact, some think that the “apostasy” of v.3 is the “departure” of the church which is possible but unlikely, and very few pre-tribulational scholars take it that way].
I tend to think that he will be revealed before the church is raptured or else Paul would probably mention it here.
Either way, we do know that he will be revealed before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because that’s what Paul is saying here. Because the Man of Lawlessness has not yet been revealed, that means that Jesus has not yet returned!
So don’t be shaken.
Now how about this question: Who is the Man of Lawlessness? What is his name?
I don’t know, and that’s okay. Christians have speculated about who this man is for the last 2,000 years. I’m not going to waste very much time trying to figure that out. You can, but I’m not going to join you. I’m on the watch for him. I think he’s probably the same person we saw in Daniel 7 and 11 (and maybe 9). I think he’s probably the same person as the Beast coming out of the sea in Revelation chapter 13.
But is he on the world scene right now? I have no clue. His name is not in 2 Thessalonians 2, so I have no idea what it is.
I hate him and everything he stands for. But I’m also not that scared of him, because I’ve read what is going to happen to him in 2 Thessalonians 2. This chapter is not here to scare us but to comfort us! Look at verse 5.
“Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?”
Paul says, “I explained all of this to you back when I was planting the church there. Remember? This shouldn’t scare you. You shouldn’t be knocked off your pins. You shouldn’t be teetering on the edge. You have nothing to be scared of if you belong to Jesus.”
In fact, the Man of Lawlessness is being held back right now. Restrained. Look at verse 6.
“And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.”
Sadly, I don’t know what is holding him back. Apparently, Paul told the Thessalonians, but he didn’t include it here in this letter. And neither do any of the other writers of the New Testament tell us clearly either. Here, Paul just tells us that it’s happening. Verse 7.
“For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.”
The spirit of antichrist is already at work throughout the world (see 1 John 2 and 4 and 2 John 7), but it’s not anything like what it’s going to be when the Antichrist is fully revealed. His power to deceive and to lead people into pure lawlessness is being restrained by something and someone.
And who is the one who holds it back?
I don’t know, and that’s okay. There has been perhaps more speculation about who that person is in verse 7 than who the Man of Lawlessness is throughout the last 2,000 years of church history. And I’m not going to solve it for you this morning. You may have been taught a certain thing, and you might be pretty sure you have a good idea, and if so, I’m happy for you. I know of seven leading theories about Who and What this Restrainer is. And they all have strengths and weaknesses.
In my study this week, I came to lean towards the idea that is the archangel Michael whom we learned about in Daniel chapters 10 and 12. I’m not at all sure about that, but I can see how it might fit the biblical data.
What’s important to know is that God has a perfect plan, and it’s perfectly on track. The secret power of lawlessness is being held back. And the one who holds it back will continue to do so until and up to the moment that God says differently. And then he’s going to be taken out of the way. And then (and only then) verse 8.
“And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.”
He’s not been revealed yet so Jesus has not returned yet. One day, it will be painfully obvious who the lawless one is. He’ll be unleashed.
And then, soon after that, it won’t matter! Because he’s going down.
People are so consumed by “Who is the Antichrist? Who is the Antichrist?” Who really cares?! What we should really focus on is the fact that the Antichrist is going to be defeated by Jesus Christ!
And so easily! It says, “With the breath of his mouth” (see Isaiah 11:4) I don’t know if that means with a word? Or with a little puff of breath? Goodbye, Man of Lawlessness!
Paul says he’s going to be destroyed by the splendor of Jesus’ coming. He will not survive the glory that will be revealed.
The evil king of Daniel 11, “...will come to his end, and no one will help him” (Daniel 11:45).
The King of Kingdoms will ride down from heaven on a white horse and throw the beast into the fiery lake of burning sulfur (Revelation 19:11-21).
Whatever ever else those images mean, they certainly mean the overthrow and destruction of the Man of Lawlessness. He’s doomed to destruction. Justice will be done. He is going to Hell.
And no...this has happened yet. I don’t know when it’s going to happen. I don’t pretend to know! But I know that it’s going to happen. So I don’t have to be scared. I can stand firm.
Church, don’t lose your head. When the Bible talks about the end times, it always stresses that we should keep calm and carry on. That we should wait patiently and actively loving our neighbors including our enemies. To be clear-minded and prayerful. Not excited and fretful. And wigged out and worried. As if our Lord doesn’t have a perfect plan, and it’s not going according to plan perfectly. He does, and it is.
Yes, these things are sad, and shocking, and scary. But not too sad, shocking, or scary! Don’t fall for the fear. Don’t be shaken by deception. Because there’s a lot of that, and it comes from Satan. Look at verse 9.
“The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved” (vv.9-10).
Paul says there are two comings. There’s the coming of the Christ and the coming of the Antichrist. The second one is an evil echo of the first. Jesus comes in true miracles, signs, and wonders and everything good that comes with the truth from God. The Antichrist comes with counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders and every sort of evil that deceives and is powered by Satan.
It’s going to get hard for some people to tell the difference. We must be careful when confronted with miracles, signs and wonders because even Pharaoh’s magicians could do them! The Man of Lawlessness will be very persuasive. He will not be boring. He’ll be very interesting. He’ll be very attractive and powerful. You and I will probably be tempted to follow him. Don’t think you’re “too smart to fall for that.” And he will tell people what they want to hear. Not what they need to hear, but what they want to hear. And they will believe the lie because they want to.
Verse 10 says, “They perish because they [refuse] to love the truth and so be saved.” They want to be deceived! And eventually God says, “Okay. You can be deceived.” Look at verse 11.
“For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness” (vv.11-12).
That’s about the scariest thing in this whole chapter. That God would send a powerful delusion. Not that he tempts them to evil. Keith showed us in James that He never does that. But He does turn them over to their preferred deception (see Romans 1). And it leads to condemnation. If someone continues to believe the lie until they die, they will go to hell.
As Paul wrote in chapter 1, “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power” (2 Thessalonians. 1:9).
Don’t be shaken by deception! Because the end of that is condemnation.
But that’s not us! Paul says that verse 12 does not describe the Thessalonians. Verses 13 and 14 do! Look at verse 13.
“But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (vv.13-14).
Isn’t that wonderful? That must have been so encouraging for them to read.
And that’s you and me. That’s every genuine believer who has heard the good news about Jesus Christ and what He did for us on the Cross and at the Empty Tomb and put our faith and trust in that truth. This is what’s happened to us.
We’ve be chosen to be saved by the electing love of God the Father.
We’ve been called through the gospel of God the Son Who loved us. “Brothers and sisters loved by the Lord.”
We’re being sanctified, made holy, by God the Spirit.
So that we might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The same glory that will destroy the Man of Lawlessness will be ours to share forever!
That’s you, Church! Not because you deserve it, but because we’re been loved by the Lord Jesus Christ with a love as vast the the ocean. Yes, we ought to give thanks for that forever! And we need to believe it and hold onto it forever.
What’s the obvious application?
Stand firm! Verse 15.
“So then, brothers [and sisters], stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.”
#2. HOLD TIGHT TO THE TRUTH.
You might think that (after verses 13 and 14) we should just relax because God is doing all of that. And we should rest in it. But we also should firmly grasp it and hold onto it like our lives depended on it. Because they do.
“Hold to the teachings [Paul and his team] passed on to you, whether by word of mouth [when they were there in person] or by letter.”
Like this one that we hold in our hands. Hold tight to this letter! Hold tight to this book! Those who are perishing refused to love the truth and so be saved (v.10). But we love the truth and so are saved!
Do you love the truth?
Jesus Christ is the truth! And the way and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. But everyone who does come through Him gets to the Father!
Have you turned from your sins and put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and what He did you and me on the Cross? He loved you enough to carry your sin on His shoulders, the wonderful merciful Savior.
Turn from your sins and embrace Him. And don’t let go. Stand firm. Stand fast. Hold tight. Cling to Jesus. Because He is stable, we can be stable forever.
Don’t worry about what the world is going to throw at you this week. Stand firm.
Don’t worry about where the world is headed. It’s headed to hell in a handbasket. Stand firm.
Don’t worry about the identity of the Antichrist or the timing of his revelation or whatever the Rebellion is. It will all become obvious, and then it will be over. Focus on the Truth of Jesus. Hold tight to that. And you will stand firm.
Here are some of the most encouraging words in the English language for any Christian to hear. Six of the most encouraging words to hear: “I have been praying for you.”
Has somebody said that to you recently? “I have been praying for you.”
This morning, we prayed for those who are going to back to school. I miss those days myself. Most years, I loved to go back to school. I wish I could do it again! I’d love to do another degree. It’s not going to happen, but I’d love that.
But I wouldn’t want to do it without somebody praying for me. So many people prayed me through my education, all those many years!
Like we gathered up around the kids, and we prayed for the teachers and the administrators and the aides and the drivers and the support staff and everybody else at the school.
And we’re telling them, “We are praying for you.” Kids, we are praying for you. Teachers, we are praying for you. And we won’t stop! We believe in the power of prayer, amen? That is we believe that our God is powerful to answer prayer. Our God loves to listen to His people pray, and He loves to answer those prayers.
That’s why it’s so encouraging when we tell each other that we’ve been praying for each other.
And look what we have here in verses 11 and 12?! Paul, Silas, and Timothy write to the church of the Thessalonians in verse 11, “We constantly pray for you.”
Your version may say something like, “We pray always for you” or “We always pray for you.”
Paul says that he and his ministry team were constantly, regularly, perpetually lifting up this beloved baby church in prayer before the Lord.
That must have been so encouraging for the Thessalonians to read! To be told that the Apostle Paul was not only thinking about them and trying to teach them and cared about them, but that he was constantly praying to God for them.
Paul sure loved this church, didn’t he? Paul had a dozen pictures of this church up on his fridge! Verse 3 above said that he was always giving thanks for them. And verse 4 said that he was always boasting about them to the other churches. And now verse 11 says that he was always praying for them.
Paul was practicing what he preaches! Remember this from 1 Thessalonians 5? Paul said that this was God’s will for them, that they “Pray continually.” That they put their prayer life on speaker-phone? Dial the Lord in the morning, hit “speaker,” and talk to God all day long. Don’t hang up.
Paul says he does that, and when he does, he’s praying for the Thessalonians all the time!
“Lord, remember the Thessalonians. I’m so thankful for them. Thank You, that their faith is growing more and more and their love for each other is increasing more and more–even though it’s getting harder there in Thessalonica.
Lord, You know how the Thessalonians are being persecuted and troubled by their neighbors. Hounded and pounded by the government and their hostile neighbors, both Jew and Gentile.
Lord, I’m praying for them again. And again. And again. Here I am, Lord. I’m praying for the Thessalonians. Morning, noon, and night.”
Paul keeps coming back to God on behalf of the Thessalonians.
That must have been so encouraging for them to read when they got this letter. And it must have also kind of made them want to be the answer to those prayers, too, right? Like whatever Paul was praying and praying and praying, the Thessalonians were probably led to want that same thing for themselves, too.
And maybe pray that same thing for themselves, too. And I think it’s right and good for us to pray these things for ourselves and for each other. I think this prayer report is set down in holy Scripture so that we can get our prayer priorities from it. If Paul constantly prayed these things for the church of the Thessalonians, maybe we should co
Now before we see what Paul actually prays for, we need to think a little bit about those first four words in verse 11. “With this in mind...”
Because this prayer report does not appear in a vacuum. It doesn’t show up out of the blue. Paul prays these things in view of what he’s just written to them. “With this in mind...”
What did Paul have in mind?
The justice of God.
Remember last week, we saw that God’s judgment is right. His justice is perfect. He doesn’t ever decide something wrongly. He never gets fooled by appearances or take the wrong factors into account. God judgment is always right and righteous and holy.
We learned last week that in God’s perfect justice, God’s true people will receive His eternal kingdom. Verse 5, “All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.”
And then we also learned last week that in God’s perfect justice God’s true enemies will receive their eternal destruction. Verse 6. “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you” (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10).
God’s justice is perfect and is coming when Jesus returns.
“With this in mind, we constantly pray for you...”
With the return of Christ in mind, with the glorious day of His return in mind, Paul constantly prays for the Thessalonians. It hasn’t happened yet. We have to wait for God’s perfect justice to come. But, in the meantime, we pray for each other. And we pray more for each other. Regularly. Perpetually. Constantly.
Now, what did Paul ask? He was doing all this praying. What was he actually praying for?
I’d like to summarize his requests in three points. Here’s number one. “We constantly pray for you...
#1. THAT OUR GOD WOULD COUNT YOU WORTHY OF HIS CALLING.
That’s exactly what he says in verse 11.
“With this in mind [the return of Jesus Christ], we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling...”
Notice it says, “our God.” I love that. Paul is saying that they have the same God, they share the same God. And that he’s asking that same God to count them worthy of God’s calling.
Now that sounds a lot like verse 5, right? Up in verse 5, Paul said that the Thessalonians were going to be counted worthy of the kingdom of God. Not because they were so great, but because God was at work in them which was obvious because of their persevering faith and increasing love.
God was clearly doing His saving and sanctifying work in their life. They believed and they continued to believe even in the face of persecution.
And here Paul says that he prays that this would continue! He said it would happen in verse 5, and now he prays that it would happen in verse 11.
We often think that if God has promised something, then it doesn’t make sense to pray for it. I mean, God already promised it! So why pray? But that’s not how the Bible thinks. The Bible says that if God has promised something, then we ought to pray for it because we know it’s something God has promised!
And, here, it’s the kingdom. God has promised the kingdom for His true children. Now, we pray for each other that we would be counted worthy of the kingdom. That God would fulfill His promise in us. The promise of His calling. His summons to the Kingdom and to Himself, the King.
God is calling His true people to Himself. And we pray for each of His children that that calling would be fulfilled! So that our lives would match our calling. Some of your versions even say that Paul constantly asks that God might “make” the Thessalonians worthy of God’s calling. Not that they could ever earn it! No, but that their lives would more and more match what they are called to be and to do. That they would live more and more as citizens of the kingdom to come.
Do we pray that way? Do we pray for each other that our God would count us worthy of His calling?
Did any of us pray that for one of kids going back to school this week? Often we pray for safety and security and for peace and wisdom as people head back to school–and well we should! But we should also take a note from Paul and pray that Christians heading out into the world (whether its to school or not) would be counted by God as worthy of His calling! Headed back into the world like the citizens of the kingdom that we are called into.
And here’s what that looks like in practical terms. Number two. “We constantly pray for you...”
#2. THAT OUR GOD WOULD COMPLETE ALL YOUR GOOD WANTS AND GOOD WORKS.
Look at again at verse 11.
“With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.”
Paul is perpetually praying for God’s power to be at work in their lives.
“By his power.” Not by their own power! They need God’s power at work in their lives. And so do we. If God doesn’t do it, we’re up the creek!
Paul is perpetually praying for God’s power to “fulfill” two things, “every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.”
Now that word “fulfill” means to bring to completion. It’s to take something that is in seed form and bring it to fruition. It means to fill something up to its potential. Like a glass being filled up with life-giving water.
And Paul is constantly asking God to fulfill the potential of all of their “good purposes.” What does that mean? I think it means their good intentions. It’s the things that the Thessalonians want to do that they should do. It’s their good desires. It’s their good resolutions. It’s their “good wants.”
Do you have good wants? Do you want to do something good for the Lord today? This week?
Students and teachers going to back to school.
Employees and employers going back to work.
Family members going to family functions.
Neighbors headed out in the neighborhood.
Do you want to live like a citizen of the kingdom of God? I’m sure that many of us do.
Are we going to do it? That’s often a different question, isn’t it? We might want to, but are we going to? Are we going to walk worthy of our calling? Even in the face of persecution? Even if it’s hard?
Well, Paul prays for it. He constantly prays for the Thessalonians that by God’s power, God may fulfill every good purpose of theirs.
“Lord, I’m praying for the Thessalonians again today. I know that they so often want to do the right thing. Please give them the power to do it. Fulfill that good purpose, Lord! Bring it to fruition. Bring it to completion! Fill it up, Lord. Please, Lord.”
We should pray like that more often. We should pray for our Christian loved ones that they do the good thing that they want to do.
That they overcome a temptation and break an addiction.
That they speak to their co-worker about Jesus.
That they confront their loved one about their sinful behavior.
That they resolve a conflict.
That they give generously to the needy.
That they forgive that person who offended them.
“Lord, please by your power, fulfill every good purpose of your child.”
Every “good want.” Turn it into a good work. Turn this good want into a good work!
See how Paul goes from the inner desire to the outer action? He doesn’t just pray that they would want something good but that they would do something good and that it would be energized by their faith. Look at verse 11 again.
“...[W]e constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.”
Notice that our good works come from our faith. The words here are literally something like, “every work of faith.” We do what we do because believe something to be true (see 1 Thess 1:3). Because we trust in something. And Paul prays that his Christian friends at Thessalonica would trust God and do the sorts of things that people who trust God do.
Like put on a Good News Cruise.
Like head off on a missions trip to Malawi or Kentucky.
Like talk to their neighbor about Jesus.
Like put food in a free fridge.
Like...what is it that you know you should do because you believe in Jesus?
Paul prays that these good works prompted by faith would be fulfilled.
I think that probably means that they would be done. But even more than that, that they would have an effect on the world. That God’s kingdom would come here on earth as it is in heaven.
We should pray like this for each other!
“Lord, I pray for Lanse Free Church that by your power, every act that was prompted by faith yesterday at the Good News Cruise would be fulfilled.”
That people would come know Jesus as their Savior!
That people would come to follow Jesus as their King!
I pray that as these precious people in front of me do the very things that you have called them to do; you would bring those good works to completion.”
This week, I messaged all of the teachers in our church family and asked how we could be praying for them as they headed back into school.
And one of the things Mary Beth wrote me was this. She says, “As a teacher, I ask that you might pray for me to live out Matthew 5:16 to ‘arise and shine’ with the love of Jesus each day...and finally, can you pray for my own children, and all the other students in our church as we transition back to the routine of school. Pray also for them to be kind, helpful, courageous, and shining like Jesus.” Amen!
Matthew 5:16 says, “[L]et your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (NIV 2011).
I pray that God would complete all your good wants and all your good works. To the glory of Jesus!
That’s where Paul goes next and last. Look at verse 12.
“We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Point number three and last. “We constantly pray for you...”
#3. THAT OUR GOD WOULD GLORIFY JESUS IN YOU AND YOU IN JESUS.
This in verse 12 is not so much a particular thing that he prays for as the reason why he prays the things he constantly prays for in verse 11. This is the purpose of it all.
“So that the name of our Lord Jesus...”
Remember that a name in the Bible often stands for the essence of the person. It’s his reputation. It’s his character. It’s more than a label. The name is the person himself.
Paul perpetually prays these things for the church “so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you.” So that when people look at us wanting something good and doing something good, they don’t think, “Oh, what a good person!”
They think, “Oh, what a good Savior! Oh, what a good Lord!”
“[L]et your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and praise [not YOU! But...] your Father in heaven” and His Son Jesus Christ. As you and I live worthy of His calling, Jesus gets more and more glory.
But catch this, we actually get to share in that glory, too. Did you see that in verse 12?
“So that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him.”
It’s a double glorification! Not that people say, “Oh look at that Jesus. He sure has a glorious Matt Mitchell in Him!” No, it’s more like this, “Matt Mitchell gets to have Jesus shine in Him. Matt Mitchell shines! Yes, but not with Matt Mitchell-ness. Matt Mitchell shines with Jesus-ness.” And not just Matt Mitchell, but every genuine Christian here. That’s what Paul prays!
Put your name in verse 12. “We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in YOU[!], and [YOU!] in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Now that happens piece by piece right now. But one day, it will happen wholesale. Remember what he just said in verse 10 about that day when Jesus returns...
“...on the day he comes to be [what?] glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you” (2 Thess. 1:10).
Jesus Christ is going to transform us so that we glorify Him in every way. And we will shine! Not because we are so great, but because He is so great and so gracious. Verse 12.
“...according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Our good works don’t make this happen. This is all of grace. This is all because of what God did for us when He gave His Son Jesus Who took our place at the Cross. Have you placed your faith in Him? That’s the only way for Jesus to glorified in us and we in Him.
What if we prayed this way for each other?
What if we took 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 and prayed these words and ideas for each other every. single. day?
What might our God do?
He might count us worthy of His calling.
He might complete every good want and good work.
So that Jesus might be glorified in us and us in Him.
