Question

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TO SUPPLY WHAT IS LACKING IN YOUR FAITH

1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13

Key Verse 3:10

1. When he was separated from the Thessalonians, how did Paul feel and what did he do (2:17-18)? Why was he hindered? How did he assure them of their significance in Christ and relationship to Paul (19-20)?

2. What difficult decision did Paul make for the Thessalonians’ sake (3:1-2a)? What was Timothy’s mission and why was it necessary (2b-4; Jn 15:19-20)? What was Paul concerned about and why (5)?

3. What news did Timothy bring (6)? How had the Thessalonians fared in Paul’s absence (7-8)? What particularly encouraged Paul? For what reason was Paul so thankful to God (9)? What can we learn from Paul who shared God’s heart?

4. Read verse 10. What describes the intensity of Paul’s prayer, and why was it necessary (2:18; 3:5)? Why did Paul want to see them (10b)? What do the words “supply” and “lacking in your faith” imply?

5. What did Paul pray for the Thessalonians specifically (11-13)? How does his prayer reflect what was lacking in their faith and God’s heart’s desire for them? What do you learn about pastoral prayer from Paul?

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Attachment

• 1Th 02170313.que.docx

Message

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Increase Your Love and Strengthen Your Heart

1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13

Key Verse: 3:10 “Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking your faith.”

There are certain structures in most of Paul’s epistles writings: Greetings, thanksgiving, prayer, instruction, final greetings, and benediction. In chapters 1 and 2 we learned about Paul’s thanksgiving for the faith of the Thessalonians. Paul was thankful that they had welcomed Paul’s message with joy in the midst of severe suffering. (1:6) They accepted Paul’s message not as a human word, but as the word of God. (2:13) They had a good attitude toward God’s word. In this way they became role models among the churches in Macedonia. In chapter 3 we study Paul’s deep affection for the Thessalonians and his pastoral prayer for them.

As we studied last week, Paul stayed in Thessalonica for only three weeks. Despite his short visit, Paul served them night and day with motherly love and fatherly care. To Paul, the Thessalonians were his precious and lovely children. Then Paul had to leave them hurriedly because of persecutions from the Jews. When he left them, he felt that he had been torn away, as a father would be torn away from his children. So he expressed his sorrow in verse 17, “when we were orphaned by being separated from you…” Paul missed them so much. He showed his deep and unceasing affection for the Thessalonians, saying, “…out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you.” In fact, Paul tried to visit them again and again, but he failed because Satan had blocked his way. (18) We don’t know exactly how Satan blocked his way to visit them, whether by persecutions from the Jews or hindrances from illness.

The Thessalonians were the reason for Paul’s joy and glory in the midst of his trials. Look at verse 19,20. “For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it that you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.” (19,20) The Christians in the Thessalonian church were the fruits of Paul’s ministry. They were the results of Paul’s intense prayer and preaching. But Paul did not take God’s glory for himself. He rendered all the glory to God. The Thessalonians were the objects of God’s glory, joy, and crown. Paul shared God’s glory, joy, and crown. Remember that God is happy and that his name is glorified when a sinner repents and becomes a Christian through our prayer and preaching. We share God’s joy, glory, and crown in the work of salvation. This reminds me of Jesus’ word, “Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true.” (Jn 4:36,37)

Children are their parents’ glory, joy, and crown. My children are my joy, glory, and crown, regardless of their human situations. I share God’s joy with my wife. In the beginning, men were created for God’s joy and glory. After God created men in his own image, he said, “It was very good!” (Ge 1:31) Men and women were objects of God’s joy and glory. They were the crown of God’s creation. But since Adam’s Fall, they became God’s grief and sorrow. They were objects of God’s wrath and anger. God’s glory left them because of their sins. Still, God loved them and loves us. God loved us by sending Jesus Christ to die for our sins, so that we may be restored in our original image and glory as God’s creation. Through Jesus we are restored as God’s joy and his glory. We become children of God.

Paul’s affection for the Thessalonians continued. When he could not endure his longing for them, he sent Timothy to them in his place. Timothy was like Paul’s own son and the right hand man in his ministry. Paul sent Timothy to Thessalonica to strengthen them and encourage them. (3:2) Here the word “strengthen” has the meaning of building buttresses for a church. Buttresses are the supports of stone or brick built against a wall. Paul sent Timothy to strengthen them, support them, and encourage them. At that time, the Thessalonians were in the midst of trials and persecutions. Paul had warned them that Christians are destined for persecutions. (3:4) Thus, persecutions against Christians are not strange happenings, but natural phenomena. Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:12, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

Finally, Timothy came back from Thessalonica with a good news. Look at verse 6. “But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you.” Paul was so thankful for their good relationships with God (faith), with each other (love), and with Paul himself (pleasant memories). The Thessalonians stood firm in the middle of persecution. This encouraged Paul, who was in the same situation. Their strong faith and love encouraged the suffering Paul and comforted him. When children share their parents’ suffering and pain and overcome by faith, their parents are encouraged. Even though Paul was separated physically from them, his spirit and heart were with them 24/7. This is a parent’s heart for his children and God’s heart for his lost souls.

Now Paul shared his prayer topics with them. Look at verse 10. “Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.” Yesterday morning, I received a phone call from Missionary Grace Kim in Louisiana, who asked me to find out if her son David was ready to go to school or not. Even though she was more than 500 miles away from David, her heart was always for her son David. I believe that night and day she prays for David and wants to supply what is lacking in her son’s life. In the same way, night and day Paul prayed for the Thessalonians and was willing to supply whatever was lacking in their faith. This was the reason why Paul sent Timothy to them. Today is the 12th anniversary of my family’s moving to St. Louis from Chicago. May 1^st 2004, God sent my family here to expand his kingdom. I remember that day, the support from Chicago UBF co-workers, and their constant care and prayer support for my family and St. Louis UBF ministry. Thanksgiving Day of that year, more than 50 co-workers from Chicago and other cities visited us, blessed us, and shared God’s joy and glory together with my family. They were willing to support my family and to supply what was lacking in my faith. We are the debtors of their love and prayer. For the last twelve years God has sent several families from St. Louis UBF to other cities, starting with Dr. Oleg’s family, John Lee’s family, Dr. Stephen Han’s family, Ben West’s family, Dr. Augustine Suh’s family, Dr. Isaiah Lim’s family, Barnabas Kim’s family, and recently Michael’s family. Let us give thanks to God, who sent them for his kingdom with his great purpose. Let us also pray for them to be strengthened with gospel faith, and let us support them with our constant prayer and care. They are our joy, glory, and crown. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. We miss all of them and love them and continue to pray for them.

In verses 11-13 Paul suggested three prayer topics which he wanted to share with the Thessalonians. First, he prayed to God to clear the way for him to visit the Thessalonians. (11) Second, he prayed for the Thessalonians to increase their love, and that their love would overflow for each other and for everyone else. (12) Third, he prayed for them to strengthen their hearts so that they might live blameless and holy lives in the presence of God the Father. (13) Paul’s desire to visit the Thessalonians was persistent. Paul did not give up on his desire, even though Satan had blocked the way. He continued to pray to God to clear the way for him to visit. We must emulate Paul’s persistent prayer. We must not give up, but pray persistently with one prayer topic. (Lk 18:1) If you don’t have a job, pray consistently. If you don’t have Bible students, pray continually. If things do not go well as you expected, don’t give up, but pray persistently until God answers your prayer. Let us follow the example of Paul’s persistence in our prayer.

Paul prayed to God that God might make their love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else. The more they were situated in difficulties, the more they had to love one another. Love covers over a multitude of sins. (1 Pe 4:8) Love enables us to have unity in times of crisis. The night before Jesus was arrested, Jesus washed his disciples’ feet one by one, and gave them a command, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (Jn 13:34) Jesus knew that he was going to die soon for the sins of the world. He knew that his disciples would face danger, trials, temptations, and persecution like fatherless orphans. Jesus was well aware of their anxiety. In that time of trial, Jesus asked them to love one another. It is not easy for men to love one another in times of trial. We become anxious and self-centered. Human love is conditional and limited. We need God’s love, his unconditional and sacrificial love, in order to love others. When our hearts are filled with God’s love, we love even our enemies. That is the reason why Paul asked God to increase their love. He prayed not only for God to increase their love, but also for this love to overflow for each other and for everyone else. With our own love it is often difficult for us to love even one person. With the love of God, we love hundreds of thousands of sinners around the world. Last week I asked God to increase God’s love in one student’s heart so that he may share God’s love with his schoolmates next semester. I will continually pray for him to share God’s love with others. With limited human love, we feed only ourselves. With God’s unlimited love, we feed five thousand as Jesus did. Let us pray that God may increase our love so that our love may overflow for each other and for people around us. Amen.

Paul also prayed to God that he might strengthen their hearts so that they might live blameless and holy lives. Look at verse 13. At that time, the Thessalonians faced persecutions and temptation. Their faith was tested by these. In order to overcome these challenges, they needed strong faith in Jesus Christ and strong hearts. Here the word “blameless” means “morally clean.” In chapter 4 Paul warned against sexual sins. In the past, the Thessalonians had lived according to their fleshly desires. They had no moral law in their lives. They followed pagan lifestyles. But after they accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ, they left their sinful lifestyles and followed the ways of holy life. The word ‘holy’ means ‘set apart for the Lord.’ Christians are different than ungodly people. Christians live according the truth of God, not following the pattern of this sinful world. In order to live blameless and holy lives, we need strong hearts in order to overcome temptation and persecution. Psalm 73:26 says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Let us pray that God may give us strong hearts so that we may overcome persecution and temptation in our generation. Our hearts are very vulnerable and deceptive. We must guard our hearts so as to be blameless and holy in the presence of the Holy God. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

Today we learned about Paul’s deep affection for the Thessalonians and his pastoral prayer for them. Someone asked me how he could increase his prayer time. My answer is that when he prays for others by remembering their names one by one, he will be praying for more than an hour. When we pray for others, we are happy. God gives us unutterable joy into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. When we pray for others, we experience the power of prayer. James 5:16 says, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” May God help us to pray continually, increase our love, and strengthen our hearts so that we may live blameless and holy lives in this godless and perverse generation. Amen.

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Attachment

• Increase your love and strengthen your heart-message-final.docx