I love the juxtaposition in some of those songs, too. The more than conquerors, a little faster tempo and more upbeat and joyful, and then dear refuge of my weary soul. The one speaks to the certainty of our hope and the certainty of Christ's victory, and the other speaks to The fact that that victory hasn't been fully inaugurated, the kingdom hasn't been fully established, and we don't always feel that victory. And so there's a tension there. We see it in the Psalms. We see Psalms of exaltation, and we see Psalms of lament, where the psalmist is having to kind of walk himself through the paces. He's struggling in the realities of a broken world, and having to remind himself of of his hope, and so both of those songs reflect the joy and the struggle of our faith. Our text this morning will be 1 Thessalonians chapter 3, continuing to look at Paul's letter to this Gentile church, predominantly Gentile church, non-Jewish church, a church that was undergoing a great deal of persecution, that was at odds with their culture. I think a church that really resonates with us. This is us. This was the first movement of the gospel out into the Gentile world, and we get a glimpse of our story here, of what it is to experience God's amazing grace, and yet to live in the midst of struggle, at odds with a godless culture. So 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. We've all had the experience as parents, if you have little ones, you know what it is to have to sort of help them do things in a right way and to complete tasks, right? Whether that be their chores or their homework, that they're not just sort of settling for bare minimum, that they're not putting forward some half-baked efforts, right? Kicking things under the bed instead of putting them where they belong and these sorts of things, right? We know what it is to see that in the lives of our kids, to push them towards excellence. My wife has a little saying that good is the enemy of best. And that little sermon gets preached a lot around our house. We have to remind ourselves of that, right? That we need to strive for excellence, particularly as followers of Christ. We ought to be ones that do things that are excellent and beautiful. and reflective of God's greatness and His majesty. So, we maybe can see that in other people. I know I've had a chance to talk with people, young people who are maybe entering into or contemplating entering into a relationship with someone of suspect character. And they're a little bit concerned that maybe God isn't going to direct another person into their life. In my estimation, they're panicking a little bit. They're settling. for something less than God's best. And if we're honest, we would have to admit that we, as adults, no matter how long we've been followers of Christ, are prone to settle. To reach a level of this is enough. To stop pressing on, right? To stop pushing forward. Sometimes to really grow further in our walk with Christ is gonna require some pain and some effort. It means having to address some aspects of pride or brokenness or self-sufficiency. If I'm really going to push on, it's gonna mean I haven't opened myself up to someone speaking some really hard truth into my life. And sometimes we just, we can coast. We can say, this is enough. I've reached a baseline. I've experienced God's saving grace. I've taken a few steps, but I'm good. And here in this text, we see Paul really encouraged with this church, but he's pushing them on and spurring them on to continued growth. And I think an exhortation that we need to hear as well today. So let's look at 1 Thessalonians 3, beginning in verse 6. 1 Thessalonians 3, verse 6. But now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us the good news of your faith and love, and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us as we long to see you, for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction, we have been comforted about you through your faith. For now we live if you are standing fast in the Lord. For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith. Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Father, we ask as we open your Word today that you would bring us under conviction, that you would expose the areas of our lives that we have tried to remain hidden, that you would confront our complacency, that you would impel us on towards greater growth in our faith. God, I pray that you would remove every hindrance that might prevent people from hearing and understanding your word today. And God, fill me with your spirit that I could speak your truth with accuracy and conviction. We ask this in Christ's name, amen. So when we had last left Paul earlier here, he was very fearful, he was concerned for these believers. They were new believers, they had not been saved for very long, and they were undergoing great persecution. How would they fare? And he had tried to go and visit them, he'd been unable to do that, and so ultimately they sent Timothy to go and to try to encourage them and to bring back a report. So Paul was anxiously waiting for Timothy's return, and here in these verses, we're getting more of the story now. Timothy has come back after visiting Thessalonica, and he brings the report to Paul, and it is a good report. That would be an understatement. Matter of fact, Paul's choice of words says it all. He says there in verse six, but now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us the good news of your faith, That's the word for gospel. Matter of fact, it's the only time that Paul uses that word for anything else other than the good news of God's salvation. So needless to say, Paul was really encouraged. This was a great report about the welfare of these believers. Two things in particular that Timothy highlights. Two things that Paul learned from the report. One is that they were continuing to follow Jesus as evidenced by their faith and love. He points to those two things in particular that indicated that there was spiritual life there and that they were growing and doing well. Faith means to believe in or to have complete confidence in something. And of course, in their case, they had faith in and complete confidence in God in the midst of very difficult circumstances. They didn't vacillate. In their commitment, they were not driven and tossed because of persecution. They were fixed in their focus and in their confidence that God would sustain them and God would carry out his purposes even in the midst of struggle. As I thought about this aspect here of Timothy's report, my mind went to Hebrews chapter 11. Here we have, of course, a whole chapter of people who were living by faith, right? Who were living based on a confident trust in God, and one of those was Moses. This section tells us about Moses, and it says that Moses chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. So Moses was living in Egypt, He was raised in Pharaoh's household. He had all the best things of Egyptian culture and education at his disposal. And he chose to leave that and to go and suffer with the Hebrew slaves, his countrymen. He came to understand that this is where he was to cast his lot. What would make him do that? Verse 26 says, he regarded, this is a thought word, He thought about it, he considered, he regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt. He looked at these two things, and he said, beyond the surface here, it's better for me to identify with God's people, even though it means suffering, right? It's of greater value. And here's the thought process, because he was looking ahead to his reward. He was thinking long-term. Right now, in the immediate, it seemed best to identify with Egypt. They were the strongest power in the known world. Their kingdom seemed of enduring significance. But Moses knew that eventually God's people would triumph. He had promised that. And so Moses put his faith in action. And he came over and he lined up with the people of God. in their suffering condition because he was living by faith, right? It goes on to say, by faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger, he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. So this is the mindset that these Thessalonians had. They're being persecuted, but they continue to be unwavering in their faith and confidence in God. City officials were powerful, the pressure from the culture was significant, but God was greater. Not only were they strong in faith, but they were also growing in love or marked by love. Their commitment to the gospel had manifested itself in the way that they treated other people. They had been so moved by the grace of God, so aware of their own sin and their own, the fact that they were deserving of judgment, and they had been forgiven and they had received God's grace, and that impelled them to respond to other people with love. So these were some of the key marks here of spiritual health and vitality in a local congregation. Interesting to think about, isn't it? Paul's writing that letter to us. What does he say? What is our reputation? What would the report be if someone came and spent a couple weeks with us and attending services and sat in on adult Bible fellowship classes and life group settings, and then they went back and reported? What would they say? Here were some of the main quadrants that really indicate where we are at in our relationship with Christ. So that was the first part of the report. They were continuing, these believers were continuing to follow Jesus as evidenced by their faith and love. They also thought well of Paul and they longed to see him. So this was the second part of Timothy's report. Timothy said, Paul, you know what? They miss you just as much as you miss them. They're very kindly disposed towards you, they're very grateful for you, and they're looking forward to the time when they get to see you again. Now why was this significant? Was Paul just insecure? Did he just need to know that he was light? I think it's more than that. I think that Paul was concerned He had to leave them very abruptly, right? We might even say, or some might think, that he deserted them. He had been there for three or four weeks, enduring great persecution. He exits stage left, and the Thessalonian believers continue to struggle and suffer in this hostile environment. And maybe Paul was concerned that maybe they would resent his departure and maybe resent the fact that he had introduced them to so much suffering. Maybe there was a root of bitterness that had crept into their hearts in some way. And so he was just so happy to hear that they were kindly disposed towards him. And so all of these things speak again of the vitality of their faith. And Paul, of course, was revived by this report. He had been so overwhelmed with concern. We look in verse seven, for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction, I think Paul's speaking of the distress and affliction that he experienced because of his concern for them. In all of our anguish, in all of our turmoil, right? We have been comforted about you through your faith. And he goes on to say there into verse eight, for now we live. I'm alive again. I've been revived. I can breathe. Because now I know that you are doing well in the faith. Paul has already identified himself saying that he was like a mother to them. caring for a small child, nurturing them. And he had said already that he was like a father to them, exhorting them, speaking firmly into their life to raise them up. So Paul's life is bound up with these people like a parent's life is bound up with his or her children. And so he was... So encouraged to hear this good report. So it doesn't surprise us in light of that that he responds with just this outburst of gratitude. He begins to talk about his prayers and how he's been thanking God so much for them. And then he moves just seamlessly right into a prayer and he begins to address God directly. So it's this spontaneous section here. of response, public thanksgiving to God. This section, this little prayer, comes at a unique place in the letter. It's kind of a hinge point in the letter. These first couple chapters, Paul's been rehearsing his visit to them, how they responded to the gospel, how he proclaimed the gospel to them, how their lives were transformed. He's just reflecting on their relationship. and on what God had been doing. And then in the latter portion of the letter, he's gonna go on and he's gonna give, now beginning in chapter four, he's gonna give very specific instruction to them. So it's gonna get very practical. But here, before he sort of moves away from his reflections on their relationship, he just stops to thank God and has this doxology here where he praises praises God for what he has done. And I have to admit that I was challenged by Paul's gratitude. On the surface, as I look at Paul's ministry with the Thessalonians, it doesn't seem that successful to me. I mean, he traveled a long distance, his first foray into Gentile territory as he heads out into Europe, and Most of the people reject him. Matter of fact, the account in Acts says that a few prominent women responded to the gospel, but none of the prominent men. And all the Jewish leaders, the influential Jewish leaders in the synagogue, not only rejected the gospel, they drove Paul out of the city and followed him to the next city to try to cause trouble for him there. I mean, they just flatly rejected the Gospel, the vast majority of these people. So you're left with a little handful of blue-collar, just average people huddled together here in the city of Thessalonica. And they're under intense persecution. I mean, they are under siege. And Paul had been evicted before he was able to really build into their lives, and every attempt to try to get back to them, to visit with them again, had been hindered. So this just seems like one problem after another, and yet Paul responds with gratitude. Paul's looking through a lens to say, look at all these things that have happened. The only explanation for why this church is even alive and why it's flourishing is God. because all of my attempts have come to nothing. God has supernaturally transformed these people from idol worshipers to worship the living and true God, and he's preserved them when they should have been obliterated. Thank you, God. I'm ashamed to say Paul's looking through a different lens than I'm often looking through. I'm looking through a lens that has to do with my own personal ease and comfort, and Paul's looking through a gospel lens. Paul's looking through and saying, what is God doing in advancing the gospel? Look, I'm thinking there's only 20 people there that responded to the gospel. Paul's thinking, there's 20 people in Thessalonica whose lives have been changed, praise God. God give me a new lens to just be given to gratitude and to think about the gospel and not just myself. God help us to be given to a grateful response. Paul moves then into a description of his prayer and then into formal prayer talking directly to God and here is where he brings a request and I call it a growing Request Paul's encouraged by these believers again. They're evident faith and love But he is not content He's commended them, but he is urging them here and asking God to help them to progress and in these same areas. He highlights faith and love again. He's already said, I'm seeing these things, but then he prays that he would see them more, that they would move forward in these areas and continue to grow in these domains. Scripture, of course, gives a lot more emphasis on finishing than on starting. So it's a very good thing that they got off to a good start and there were genuine signs of life there in this church. But Paul is even more concerned that they finish well. Just like the real test for a marathon runner is not how they do in the first 500 strides, right? But it's how they're going to do in the last 500 strides. Are they going to be able to finish the race? And so he is urging them on and asking God to propel them forward. And this is where the challenge is for us as well to consider, are we continuing to grow, particularly in these areas of faith and love? Number one, we should continue to grow in faith. Let's look at what Paul says here. Verse nine, for what thanksgiving can we return to God for you? For all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God. As we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking, in your faith. He wants to supply what is lacking in their faith. They still had a few holes in their fishing nets, right? They had a few deficits in their bank accounts, a few chinks in their armor. They had evidence faith, but they had a long way to go. There were some significant gaps in their faith. We ought not ever make the mistake of thinking that we have arrived, right? Matter of fact, I found that in my own life and in conversations with others that sometimes to live by faith becomes harder as you become more stable in life, right? You have more to lose. I think about Abraham and how Abraham was asked to leave. I mean, he had this, he had this, property, and he had obviously connections with his family, but he was stable and he was asked to leave all of that. That's much harder than being asked as a teenager to go off into some unknown adventure, right? And so what does that look like for us to continue to grow in faith, to recognize the gaps? in our faith, to grow stronger in faith, more bold in faith and confidence in God as we get older and more mature in faith. I think it's also worth noting here that these gaps in our faith are only going to be filled by someone teaching the truth to us. This is why Paul here in this text was so passionate about coming to them so that he could supply what was lacking in their faith. I think that's instructive. Our faith can be strengthened by reading the Scriptures and committing ourselves to diligent obedience, but the fact is that we often have blind spots. We have things that we don't see. And part of what Paul was coming was to help them fill in the gaps that they didn't even know they had. A good teacher or a good coach helps to push a student or an athlete to grow even beyond what they think they're capable of doing. They're pointing out things in their technique or their study habits that they don't even see. They're not able to diagnose for themselves, but that's the role of a good teacher or a good coach. People hire life coaches to help them kind of take a look in the mirror and assess their own life, and they see these things, these patterns that keep tripping them up, and what am I doing wrong? Help me to get some fresh perspective, right? And I think that's part of what Paul is expressing here. He wants to come to them so that he can help to strengthen their faith. It's going to mean putting ourselves in positions. I think this is why being a part of a local church is so important. I don't just read the scriptures in the privacy of my own home, although by God's grace, we have opportunity to do that. Most early believers would have thought that very novel you would have come and heard the scriptures proclaimed because you didn't have your own copy. But I think the value of coming together is that we're able to speak truth into one another's lives. You're going to see the Scripture, you're going to point out things in the Scriptures that I didn't notice, and help me think about that in light of areas I need to grow in. We can sometimes, I think, read Scripture and the same things pop off the page to us, and we gloss over other things, maybe not even intentionally, sometimes intentionally, we don't want to read that, But sometimes we just gloss over certain things. And when we're together in the body of Christ, we're able to speak truth to one another. That's one of the ways by which our faith is strengthened and the gaps are filled. So we should continue to grow in faith. And we should increase and abound in love. Paul, in verse 11, kind of begins into his formal prayer now. And he prays that God would increase the love of these believers. And just a number of things that I think we could note about this love. It's love that is informed by our relationship to our God and Father. Paul uses a very interesting reference or designation for God here. He calls him our God and Father. And I can't help but think that Paul is reflecting on God's love, God's Father love. for us, but he's also thinking about God's love for his other children, for our siblings, right? We're made to think about each other in a certain way. You're not just someone in my class or someone that I'm involved in a ministry team with or I'm teaching with you in a children's class. You are spiritual family. You're brothers and sisters. And by using this terminology, I think Paul is sort of drawing our attention to that. When I don't treat someone well within the body of Christ, I'm inflicting harm on one of God's children, right? I mean, I ought to think that way. When I think about how I'm gonna treat people, we ought to think about this aspect of God as our Father. Even the way Paul prays, he doesn't pray to my God and Father, but to our God and Father. He prays corporately and collectively, and as he offers his prayer, he's interceding for others in the body of Christ. So, love is informed by a relationship with our God and Father. This love is achieved through the work of Jesus our Master. It's very interesting here. It's Jesus that's doing this work in us. That's a designation for Jesus here in this text. So it's Jesus that accomplishes this. The type of love that the scripture describes, the type of love that we are called to is not natural. It doesn't just flow out of us. We're not generally inclined to sacrifice ourselves to give up our own comfort for the good of someone else. And so this is a work that God has to do in us. And specifically, it's a work that Jesus does in us. Jesus has called us to love one another. It's the foundational command he gave his disciples. And he explained to his disciples that he was going to go away, but he would send another comforter, a reference to the Holy Spirit. Not only would Jesus be alongside of them, but Jesus would now be in them, enabling them to obey. This love should grow in intensity and scope. Verse 12, may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another. There's conversation about the nuances of those two terms, to increase and abound, and they largely cover a lot of the same meaning. But it speaks of intensity, that our love ought to be more radical, more overt as time goes on, as we grow in our faith, and it ought to overflow. The sense of the scope of our love should continue to expand. This love should be directed to both believers and unbelievers. Verse 12, may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all. So we could read in other places that there's a priority given to our love for one another in the body of Christ. We're to do good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of God, Paul says in Galatians chapter 6. So there's a priority there, but we are to love all. That means employers and classmates and teachers and politicians. We ought to increasingly—a mark of spiritual maturity would mean that I and growing in my commitment to love others. That doesn't just mean that I say kind things and soft things. Sometimes love is confrontation. Sometimes love is encouragement. But the point is that love means putting the welfare of another person ahead of my own comfort. Be willing to sacrifice for their good. That's what we're called to. And that applies for both our relationships within the church and our relationships outside of the church. This love requires us to sacrifice for the good of others. Notice that Paul puts forward a framework for them to understand what this looks like. Verse 12 again, may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we do for you. Paul's pretty bold here. He puts himself out there as the example. We know Christ is the ultimate example of love, but I think by giving himself as an example, Paul is helping them to see it in practical everyday life. Paul had traveled a great distance to be with them, to share the gospel with them. Paul had not required them to support him or provide for his needs. He worked tirelessly night and day, the text says, doing manual labor so that he would not be a burden on them. He spoke the truth to them, even when it cost him by means of persecution. Even when he was rejected and he suffered because of it, he didn't shrink back from giving them the good news. He tried to write to them. He did write to them, right? He chose to invest, continue investing in their life in that way through his letters. He attempted to come to them. Again and again. So Paul's giving them a framework to understand what this love looks like. It's hard. It's strenuous. It is tiring. But this is what you are called to. This love is the means by which the believer is prepared to stand before God. I wrestled with this language, how to explain this. Verse 13 says, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father. Verse 13, notice, is connected to verse 12. It's a continuation of that thought. So he's asking that the Lord would make us to increase and abound in love so that he may establish our hearts blameless in holiness before our God. So Jesus is doing this work in us so that he can bring us to a place of completion so that we can stand before God. The reason I wrestled with the phrase is because we know that we stand before God not because of our own righteousness, not because of our own good deeds, but because of the righteousness of Christ, right? And yet in some sense, Jesus is not only providing us positional righteousness. He's not just giving us a new status, but He's also shaping within us His character, shaping within us and growing within us a radical love that will allow us to stand complete when we stand before God. A powerful Finally this love is motivated by the sobering return of Jesus Love is motivated by the sobering return of Jesus The king is coming and he is coming to set up his kingdom. He's coming to stay not for a brief visit but because he is the rightful king and And he's coming with his holy ones, with his saints. Paul uses this term a few different ways. He obviously uses it to describe Christians, so this could be believers who have died. And he is bringing them with him as he comes to establish his kingdom. It could also refer to angels. In 2 Thessalonians, Paul uses the terminology that way. to prescribe heavenly beings. It might refer to all of the above. These are all of His holy ones, all of His saints, all of His forces, all of His loyal citizens are coming as He establishes His kingdom. And this, of course, is given as motivation for why we ought to continue progressing in faith and in love. He had been in the Navy he was retired from the Navy worked in public service in our community as the the mayor of our town for several years and he was well into his retirement years by the time he started coaching basketball at our small Christian school and And I thought back on it. I realized at the time that he was giving of his own time, a couple hours every night during the basketball season, and he would travel and Friday nights and weekend tournaments and all these different things that were involved in coaching. But I thought more about it since then. I thought about what a big sacrifice it was for Coach Bullen to invest in our lives like that, how much it really cost him. He wasn't getting paid anything. It was pure volunteer position. And he expended himself to build into young men. And whenever I go back to my home church, he seeks me out to come over and see how I'm doing. And so I've grown in my appreciation of his sacrifice over the years. And I'm convinced that the gospel ought to be the same way. We can have a basic sense, when I first come to trust Christ, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude. But that gratitude ought to grow. As I come to understand more of my own sin and more of God's grace, we ought to be growing in love for one another. Unfortunately, we can sometimes regress. As we close this morning, ask yourself that question. Am I growing in faith, boldness, confidence in God? Am I growing in love? Jesus wrote a stern letter to the church in Ephesus, who had remained doctrinally strong, but they had lost their love that they had at first. They had entered into a cold orthodoxy. They were still committed to truth. They were identifying and rooting out false teachers, but they had lost their love. May God help us to not settle. to continue to grow and to press on with His help in these arenas of faith and love. Will you stand with me as we close? I'm going to read a benediction and then Craig's gonna lead us in a verse of singing to allow us to respond today. Simply going to cite this benediction right here out of 1 Thessalonians chapter three that we've been considering. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.