2 Thessalonians 3:1-5
Here in this text is where you can hear a shepherd’s heart, and the sheep’s hope. If you wanted to know what God wants from you and for you, and what he puts into the heart of any shepherd worth his salt, this passage gives us some simple yet profound truths that can keep your Christian life going, and can keep your ministry burning hot for God. This desire is reflected in other passages where Paul speaks of his spiritual children as his heartbeat. Two examples will suffice.
Philippians 2:15-16 – that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 – For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.
Paul knew that his work really abided in people, so that if those people did not continue on strong with the Lord, there was a sense in which he felt his own ministry was in vain. This is the true heart of a shepherd, having fewer burdens for one’s self than for others, and not being content just with one’s own relationship with God, but longing to see others walking with the Lord. He has a burning desire for those he shepherded to become all God wanted them to be. I guess he could have titled this little section in 2 Thessalonians, seemingly insignificant, tucked away in the New Testament, “what I want from you and for you”. This is the pastor’s pulse.
Vs.1 – Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you,
The first thing Paul says is that I need you to pray, and to pray for the success of the message. The pastor’s pulse depends on the people’s prayer.
Prayer here in the Greek means to keep on praying for the ministry of the word
(Ephesians 6:18-20 / Colossians 4:3-4 / 1 Thessalonians 5:25)
That the word would keep on running (open doors – others might hear the word)
That the word would keep on being glorified (open hearts – others might receive the word)
When you pray for me, pray for the spread and the success of the message, as it goes out during the sermon, on the CD, on the Internet, on the radio, in the books, wherever it may travel. Psalm 147:15 says His word runs swiftly, and that is what we should pray for. In 2 Timothy 2:9 Paul says that even if he is bound, the word of God is not bound. Even if something were to happen to me, pray that the message of the word of God would continue to move with speed and success.
I want you to consider something with me about what Paul is asking. Paul was this most amazing person, full of God’s power, and he prayed for believers to be filled with the same power and perspective and perseverance. And even though he was praying for them and was in authority over them and was further advanced in Christianity than them, yet he continually asked for prayer from people he had evangelized, taught and discipled, so that other people would be evangelized, taught, and discipled. Think about that. Those he had helped build up he was asking for them to build him up. Everyone has significance in Christ, in the kingdom of God because of Christ. The strongest pray for the weak and the weakest pray for the strong. The ultimate thing for eternity is not your job, your looks, your talent, or your accomplishments, it is what you did with the power that God has given you, and that power is about the word of God running forth, to be spreading rapidly and triumphing in peoples’ lives. Prayer is the pipeline for God’s power.
Even a new Christian can do much to advance the kingdom of God. Not just by praying about your own witnessing, and in your own life, but also by praying for the word of God to be running and to be glorified everywhere, with the preachers of this church, with the ministries and peoples of this church, within this community, and with the missionaries we support. We pray for the power of the word of God to be running and glorified in the lives of others and they pray the same way for us, and we all pray for the word to run and be glorified beyond us to others who will join us. Are you praying for it? Look at Ephesians 6:17-18 – Prayer is the hand that takes up the sword. Using the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, while praying, is praying in the Spirit. John Piper says, “Prayer is the power that wields the weapon of his word.” God remains the source to that power, but He grants us the privilege and joy of being the instrument of His power in prayer. God has appointed prayer as the means by which we all have a role in His saving purposes, which is greater than any greatness the earth has to offer. You just have to see things the way God does. He allows us to pray in and through to the victory He assures.
As happened among you (open testimony – others might grow in the word – vs.3-5)
1 Thessalonians 1:5-9 – a genuine and powerful encounter with the word of God. They were to keep on praying for open doors, open hearts, and for more open testimony. The word had ran and been honored among them and it was growing among them.
Paul wanted to see continually more fruit, more believers, more churches, more leaders, more open testimony to God’s grace like it had happened with the Thessalonians. If we keep on praying then the word keeps on running and keeps on being glorified and then we and others will keep on growing. This is my prayer for us, that we would keep on keeping on and seeing more come to saving faith, more believers being baptized, filled with the Spirit, set free from addictions, and living lives on fire for God and giving Him glory in all we do, having this church and its surrounding ministries shining forth as a light of Christ to our community and wherever the message may travel with us. My prayer is that we may reflect the light of Christ as we turn from our own selfish desires and turn to God with a desire for God’s glory to be reflected in others. Is the word forging ahead in your own life and are you going through the open doors looking for open hearts? Don’t you want the same thing to happen to others that has happened to you? Don’t you want this church top be a beacon of light to this area? If so, then pray for it.
Vs.2 – and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith.
First they were to pray for the success of the message, and than also to pray for the safety of the messengers (so that the message would be unhindered). Again, the pastor’s pulse depends on the people’s prayer.
Context: he is writing this from Corinth and there was a riot against his message (Acts 18).
Prayers were for deliverance in general and also for specific instances, that they would be delivered once and for all from certain situations and people. Are we praying for others to be delivered from evil, both in our church and abroad, both generally and in specifics?
Some will believe but some will not, not everyone will be as excited about the message; some will actually be enraged about it. It is the same today as back then, and we need to be praying for the success of the message and the safety of the messengers.
Vs.3 – But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
He told them to trust that they would be delivered even as he asked them to pray that he would be delivered. Obviously he was praying for them as well as asking them to pray for him, about some of the same things. He wanted for them to see God’s faithfulness. We saw in the previous verse faithless men but here we see that we still have a faithful God. Paul is trusting in God for their protection.
This verse means from the evil one in general, that is the devil and his forces, and also ones that represent the evil one, the evil one of the moment, the one that would hinder you. God is on guard in your life, that is what Paul wanted for them to know.
His word establishes you, that word for establish is where we get the word for steroids; when His word keeps running in you it will run into your veins like a mighty river, it will build you up on the inside and strengthen you to resist the evil one, and it will strengthen you to be more obedient from the heart, and, as we see in the following verses, He will direct your heart to know His love and to love Him more, and to know of Christ’s endurance and to be more enduring yourself.
Vs.4 – And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command.
The commands were from God not Paul; he was just delivering the message (1 Thessalonians 2:13). They were already doing it but Paul wanted them to grow in it, for the word of God to grow in them. And he had confidence in the Lord for their sake; He is trusting in God for their obedience. He had seen it working in them already, he knew they were saved and he knew that they would continue to be sanctified, that they would grow in grace. It was not a confidence in their potential as humans but in God as their sanctifier. He believed in them because he believed in God. He believed in them because they believed in God. I believe in you for the same reasons.
John MacArthur – What is the duty then of the people to the pastor? The sheep to their shepherd? To be prayerful on his behalf, that his message may succeed and that he may be safe in the proclamation of it. Their duty to him is to continue in their faithful trust in a faithful Lord who will never allow them to be weak on the inside and who will never allow them to be assaulted beyond what they are capable on the outside but will always be there to strengthen and protect them. And the duty to be obedient, to continue in the presence or absence of the shepherd to follow obediently the commands which he gave them from God.
Vs.5 – May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
To the love of God – Is that objective or subjective, to the love we get from God or to our loving of God? Are we talking about God's love for you, or your love for God? The answer is probably both. I love that vagueness here. The Greek language provided Paul with a certain ambiguity that resulted in the fullness of the truth. God directs us deeper into His love for you and your love for Him. That’s both objective and subjective. When you look at it in the original language, you can't tell the difference and we feel that that's because they're both there.
To the steadfastness of Christ – It is the same thing here, both subjective and objective, the steadfastness or patience shown by Christ, and the patient waiting for Christ. It is His patience with us, and our patience in Him through endurance. God does all this, isn’t that beautiful? The people’s prayers, the pastor’s pulse, and our God’s power all working in and though us.
Paul is saying that it is his heart that God would give them a growing love and a growing endurance. Living for today with an eye for tomorrow. In Colossians 1:4-5 Paul teaches us that faith in Jesus Christ and love for the saints are predicated on the hope we have in heaven. The more we focus on our heavenly destiny the more we will see and experience this fruit now. This does not make us a bunch of monks living in a Christian ghetto, with an “us four and no more” mentality. On the contrary, such a hope is not to the exclusion of being active on earth, but to motivate us to action on earth. Our faithfulness and our fellowship will increase. What we love governs the way we live. Hope precedes faith, and faith precedes faithfulness.
1 Peter 5:10 – And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
The hope we have is in the temporal sense as well as the eternal, the short term and the long term, the patient waiting (KJV) for the second coming of Christ, and also God establishes us while we are patiently waiting Him in our situations right now.
What did Paul want for those in his care? He wanted them to be used by God (vs.1-2), be deepened in God (vs.3), delivered by God (vs.3), devoted to God (vs.4), and directed to God – both knowing the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ, and also becoming a reflection of them back to God and to others (vs.5).
This is my heart for you, that you would know about God’s love toward you so much that you become a reflection of it toward others. My prayer is that the steadfast power of Christ may course through your veins so that you may overcome any evil that comes your way, and that you would see all things as God working patience in you, and that you would become a living picture of the Rock that is Christ to all who encounter you. This is my heart for you, my vision for this church and its members, my personal prayer for each of you, and the pulse that beats within me and for this ministry. Prayer can accomplish all this; let’s make this our prayer for each other.
This is what Paul, and God, wanted from them and for them. These scriptures apply to us all. God wants these things for us and I pray for these things for you, and what I am asking from you is that you pray these things for me. I believe in God, and I believe in you. Let’s all pray.
Philippians 2:15-16 – that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 – For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.
Paul knew that his work really abided in people, so that if those people did not continue on strong with the Lord, there was a sense in which he felt his own ministry was in vain. This is the true heart of a shepherd, having fewer burdens for one’s self than for others, and not being content just with one’s own relationship with God, but longing to see others walking with the Lord. He has a burning desire for those he shepherded to become all God wanted them to be. I guess he could have titled this little section in 2 Thessalonians, seemingly insignificant, tucked away in the New Testament, “what I want from you and for you”. This is the pastor’s pulse.
Vs.1 – Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you,
The first thing Paul says is that I need you to pray, and to pray for the success of the message. The pastor’s pulse depends on the people’s prayer.
Prayer here in the Greek means to keep on praying for the ministry of the word
(Ephesians 6:18-20 / Colossians 4:3-4 / 1 Thessalonians 5:25)
That the word would keep on running (open doors – others might hear the word)
That the word would keep on being glorified (open hearts – others might receive the word)
When you pray for me, pray for the spread and the success of the message, as it goes out during the sermon, on the CD, on the Internet, on the radio, in the books, wherever it may travel. Psalm 147:15 says His word runs swiftly, and that is what we should pray for. In 2 Timothy 2:9 Paul says that even if he is bound, the word of God is not bound. Even if something were to happen to me, pray that the message of the word of God would continue to move with speed and success.
I want you to consider something with me about what Paul is asking. Paul was this most amazing person, full of God’s power, and he prayed for believers to be filled with the same power and perspective and perseverance. And even though he was praying for them and was in authority over them and was further advanced in Christianity than them, yet he continually asked for prayer from people he had evangelized, taught and discipled, so that other people would be evangelized, taught, and discipled. Think about that. Those he had helped build up he was asking for them to build him up. Everyone has significance in Christ, in the kingdom of God because of Christ. The strongest pray for the weak and the weakest pray for the strong. The ultimate thing for eternity is not your job, your looks, your talent, or your accomplishments, it is what you did with the power that God has given you, and that power is about the word of God running forth, to be spreading rapidly and triumphing in peoples’ lives. Prayer is the pipeline for God’s power.
Even a new Christian can do much to advance the kingdom of God. Not just by praying about your own witnessing, and in your own life, but also by praying for the word of God to be running and to be glorified everywhere, with the preachers of this church, with the ministries and peoples of this church, within this community, and with the missionaries we support. We pray for the power of the word of God to be running and glorified in the lives of others and they pray the same way for us, and we all pray for the word to run and be glorified beyond us to others who will join us. Are you praying for it? Look at Ephesians 6:17-18 – Prayer is the hand that takes up the sword. Using the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, while praying, is praying in the Spirit. John Piper says, “Prayer is the power that wields the weapon of his word.” God remains the source to that power, but He grants us the privilege and joy of being the instrument of His power in prayer. God has appointed prayer as the means by which we all have a role in His saving purposes, which is greater than any greatness the earth has to offer. You just have to see things the way God does. He allows us to pray in and through to the victory He assures.
As happened among you (open testimony – others might grow in the word – vs.3-5)
1 Thessalonians 1:5-9 – a genuine and powerful encounter with the word of God. They were to keep on praying for open doors, open hearts, and for more open testimony. The word had ran and been honored among them and it was growing among them.
Paul wanted to see continually more fruit, more believers, more churches, more leaders, more open testimony to God’s grace like it had happened with the Thessalonians. If we keep on praying then the word keeps on running and keeps on being glorified and then we and others will keep on growing. This is my prayer for us, that we would keep on keeping on and seeing more come to saving faith, more believers being baptized, filled with the Spirit, set free from addictions, and living lives on fire for God and giving Him glory in all we do, having this church and its surrounding ministries shining forth as a light of Christ to our community and wherever the message may travel with us. My prayer is that we may reflect the light of Christ as we turn from our own selfish desires and turn to God with a desire for God’s glory to be reflected in others. Is the word forging ahead in your own life and are you going through the open doors looking for open hearts? Don’t you want the same thing to happen to others that has happened to you? Don’t you want this church top be a beacon of light to this area? If so, then pray for it.
Vs.2 – and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith.
First they were to pray for the success of the message, and than also to pray for the safety of the messengers (so that the message would be unhindered). Again, the pastor’s pulse depends on the people’s prayer.
Context: he is writing this from Corinth and there was a riot against his message (Acts 18).
Prayers were for deliverance in general and also for specific instances, that they would be delivered once and for all from certain situations and people. Are we praying for others to be delivered from evil, both in our church and abroad, both generally and in specifics?
Some will believe but some will not, not everyone will be as excited about the message; some will actually be enraged about it. It is the same today as back then, and we need to be praying for the success of the message and the safety of the messengers.
Vs.3 – But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
He told them to trust that they would be delivered even as he asked them to pray that he would be delivered. Obviously he was praying for them as well as asking them to pray for him, about some of the same things. He wanted for them to see God’s faithfulness. We saw in the previous verse faithless men but here we see that we still have a faithful God. Paul is trusting in God for their protection.
This verse means from the evil one in general, that is the devil and his forces, and also ones that represent the evil one, the evil one of the moment, the one that would hinder you. God is on guard in your life, that is what Paul wanted for them to know.
His word establishes you, that word for establish is where we get the word for steroids; when His word keeps running in you it will run into your veins like a mighty river, it will build you up on the inside and strengthen you to resist the evil one, and it will strengthen you to be more obedient from the heart, and, as we see in the following verses, He will direct your heart to know His love and to love Him more, and to know of Christ’s endurance and to be more enduring yourself.
Vs.4 – And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command.
The commands were from God not Paul; he was just delivering the message (1 Thessalonians 2:13). They were already doing it but Paul wanted them to grow in it, for the word of God to grow in them. And he had confidence in the Lord for their sake; He is trusting in God for their obedience. He had seen it working in them already, he knew they were saved and he knew that they would continue to be sanctified, that they would grow in grace. It was not a confidence in their potential as humans but in God as their sanctifier. He believed in them because he believed in God. He believed in them because they believed in God. I believe in you for the same reasons.
John MacArthur – What is the duty then of the people to the pastor? The sheep to their shepherd? To be prayerful on his behalf, that his message may succeed and that he may be safe in the proclamation of it. Their duty to him is to continue in their faithful trust in a faithful Lord who will never allow them to be weak on the inside and who will never allow them to be assaulted beyond what they are capable on the outside but will always be there to strengthen and protect them. And the duty to be obedient, to continue in the presence or absence of the shepherd to follow obediently the commands which he gave them from God.
Vs.5 – May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
To the love of God – Is that objective or subjective, to the love we get from God or to our loving of God? Are we talking about God's love for you, or your love for God? The answer is probably both. I love that vagueness here. The Greek language provided Paul with a certain ambiguity that resulted in the fullness of the truth. God directs us deeper into His love for you and your love for Him. That’s both objective and subjective. When you look at it in the original language, you can't tell the difference and we feel that that's because they're both there.
To the steadfastness of Christ – It is the same thing here, both subjective and objective, the steadfastness or patience shown by Christ, and the patient waiting for Christ. It is His patience with us, and our patience in Him through endurance. God does all this, isn’t that beautiful? The people’s prayers, the pastor’s pulse, and our God’s power all working in and though us.
Paul is saying that it is his heart that God would give them a growing love and a growing endurance. Living for today with an eye for tomorrow. In Colossians 1:4-5 Paul teaches us that faith in Jesus Christ and love for the saints are predicated on the hope we have in heaven. The more we focus on our heavenly destiny the more we will see and experience this fruit now. This does not make us a bunch of monks living in a Christian ghetto, with an “us four and no more” mentality. On the contrary, such a hope is not to the exclusion of being active on earth, but to motivate us to action on earth. Our faithfulness and our fellowship will increase. What we love governs the way we live. Hope precedes faith, and faith precedes faithfulness.
1 Peter 5:10 – And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
The hope we have is in the temporal sense as well as the eternal, the short term and the long term, the patient waiting (KJV) for the second coming of Christ, and also God establishes us while we are patiently waiting Him in our situations right now.
What did Paul want for those in his care? He wanted them to be used by God (vs.1-2), be deepened in God (vs.3), delivered by God (vs.3), devoted to God (vs.4), and directed to God – both knowing the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ, and also becoming a reflection of them back to God and to others (vs.5).
This is my heart for you, that you would know about God’s love toward you so much that you become a reflection of it toward others. My prayer is that the steadfast power of Christ may course through your veins so that you may overcome any evil that comes your way, and that you would see all things as God working patience in you, and that you would become a living picture of the Rock that is Christ to all who encounter you. This is my heart for you, my vision for this church and its members, my personal prayer for each of you, and the pulse that beats within me and for this ministry. Prayer can accomplish all this; let’s make this our prayer for each other.
This is what Paul, and God, wanted from them and for them. These scriptures apply to us all. God wants these things for us and I pray for these things for you, and what I am asking from you is that you pray these things for me. I believe in God, and I believe in you. Let’s all pray.
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