1 Thessalonians 3:10 set in the context of five sanctifying elements no one is perfect yet!

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1 What Is Lacking In Your Faith? pbpginfwmy 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 Dr. Jon McNeff, Senior Pastor February 8, 2009 Note: The following are the pastor s notes used in preaching this message. This is not a complete, word-for-word transcription of what was preached. These notes serve as a companion to the complete message, which is available by listening to the audio version. 1 Thessalonians 3:10 set in the context of five sanctifying elements no one is perfect yet! I. JOYFUL THANKS 1 Thessalonians 3:9 For what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God on your account rhetorical question What type of expression would be sufficient for what we feel? Paul recognized that he had no way to express deep-felt thanks for what God had done in them he grasped the enormity of God s work in transforming their lives 1 Thessalonians 2:13 they received the Word of God not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. 1 Thessalonians 1:2-4 their work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ took hold so firmly that they became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. (1 Thessalonians 1:7) And they did all this in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 1:6) Paul could have been angry and bitter NOT! he gave thanks!: 1 Corinthians 1:4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus Romans 6:17,18 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. *1 Corinthians 15:57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians 1:12 he gives thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. Timothy 1:12,13 Paul thanked God because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor Joyful thanks unlocks the heart of bitterness Abe Lincoln s Proclamation Establishing Thanksgiving Day October 3, 1863: The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has 1 What Is Lacking In Your Faith?

2 been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. II. ERNEST PRAYER 1 Thessalonians 3:10 as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see your face, and may complete what is lacking in your faith? Paul s prayer for them was: Persistent we night and day keep praying never let up kept in an attitude of prayer all the time Pleading praying deomai = to desire or long for, beseech as prayer it pictures an intense request used in Romans 10:1 my heart s desire and prayer for them is for their salvation. Passionate prayed earnestly = superabundantly same word used in Ephesians 3:20 God is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think Purposeful that we may see your face and complete what is lacking in your faith addressed in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5 sexual immorality Christian conduct the coming of Christ All of Jesus prayers were in desperation He saw realities of life clearly John 4:10 to the woman at the well If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. James 4:2 You do not have because you do not ask John 14:14 If you ask anything in My name I will do it. My name may not be your desires two mistakes 1. We don t ask like pushing a bus uphill by yourself not realizing Clark Kent is onboard 2. We ask for our own selfish desires not God s name Lord, I want a husband! 6 4 handsome wealthy right now! what if God says, I have something better for you a single life of devotion to me. III. DIVINE GUIDANCE 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 prayer of blessing Paul is blessing them with his prayer he does this often other prayers of blessing in Romans 15:5 7, 13; 1 Corinthians 1:4 7; 2 Corinthians 1:3 5; Ephesians 1:15 23; 3:14 21; Philippians 1:8 11; Colossians 1:9 12; 2 Thessalonians 1:11 12 Prayers of Blessing Numbers 6:24-26 The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace. Jude 24,25 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. The blessing is God s guidance 1 Thessalonians 3:11 Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you teaches a number of things: Our relationship to God and Christ our used before both indicates closeness and relationship The supremacy of God our Father Himself lit. Now may Himself, our God and Father and Jesus our Lord Deity of Christ singular pronoun Himself and singular verb direct used with plural sub- What Is Lacking In Your Faith? 2

3 jects our God and Father and Jesus our Lord indicates unmistakable unity of the Father and Son The prayer itself is for divine guidance he prays that God would direct our way to you. no indication Paul ever made it back to Thessalonica but his prayer was still for divine guidance Paul prayed passionately but trusted God implicitly Acts 16:6 Paul was forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the Word in Asia verse 7 Paul and Silas wanted to go to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. Divine guidance combines prayer and trust IV. ABOUNDING LOVE 1 Thessalonians 3:12 and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you Learning to love is God s work may the Lord cause you God turned Paul from a legalistic murderer into a compassionate man who shed tears for the salvation of the Jews Our love is to increase and abound for one another the church two words with same meaning for emphasis increase = to be filled or increase and abound = exceeding a certain number, to be abundantly furnished both are used in Romans 5:20 where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, How do we abound in love? Ephesians 4:16 doing our part causes growth for the building up of the body for the building up of itself in love Philippians 2:2 being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit Colossians 2:2 hearts may be encouraged having been knit together in love Romans 12:10 give preference to one another in honor We are to love all people unsaved alike we are to pursue peace (Romans 12:18), doing good (Galatians 6:10), being patient (Ephesians 4:2), praying (1 Timothy 2:1), showing consideration (Titus 3:2), and honoring (1 Peter 2:17) Evidently Paul s prayer was answered 2 Thessalonians 1:3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater V. ESTABLISHED HOLINESS 1 Thessalonians 3:13 so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. the only way this will fully happen is at the return of Christ but until then we are still called to holiness holiness the verb means to separate to God hagiosune = the manifestation of holiness as seen in personal conduct it is also translated as sanctification Romans 6:19 after we become Christians we are to present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. before you were saved, you were a slave to sin with no spiritual benefit at all the only outcome was death but Romans 6: 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 1 Thessalonians 4:7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. Sanctification follows justification it begins the practical working out of the effects of being perfectly justified we have been justified we are being sanctified We have lost this today holiness is a restrictive word robs our fun belongs to priests in robes in a monastery surely not in post-modern world this would repel people maybe this is so because it secretly repels many Christians maybe its true because we think pursuing holiness will rob us of our fun maybe its because we want God as our buddy but not our God! 3 What Is Lacking In Your Faith?

4 Without Holiness: David F. Wells, Courage to Be Protestant: Truth Lovers, Marketers, and Emergents in the Postmodern World, 2008) 1. There is no moral law there is no outside God there is only an inside God, or my feeling about right and wrong people are told there is no God so there must not be the opposite either no sin the only problem? our conscience won t let us get away with it Romans 2:14,15 screams silently at us those who think there is no law really are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them that s why the Hollywood crowd has to invent things to be moral about when life imitates art and the immorality of the screen becomes the language of the masses, it s no wonder they have to invent things to be indignant about that s why those who express moral outrage about global warming, the rights of animals, and hugging trees are absolutely comatose when it comes to babies being butchered in the wombs of their mothers and the degeneracy of the homosexual agenda! 2. Sin loses all meaning it is still here in all its ugliness and consequences but it has become detached from its relation to God sin is not merely horizontal, seen in what we ought to do sin is vertical it is sin because it violates God s character and will acts are not bad because they hurt people they are bad because they violate God s law only when sin is named and has a context do we find the way out that s why sin today has become moral variables or disease or mistakes or that s only your opinion! 3. The cross is emptied of all meaning no sin, no necessity of a cross Jesus is just a do-gooder or a social reformer in today s renewed liberal theology and politics we have lost our stomach for labeling sin we fear rejection from society for being unloving and narrow two liberal theologians in Britain Steve Chalke and Alan Mann in The Lost Message of Jesus even go so far as to say that God is guilty of cosmic child abuse at the cross Wells Without the holiness of God, then, there is no cross. Without the cross there is no gospel. Without the gospel there is no Christianity. Without Christianity there is no church. And without echoes of the holiness of God in those who are Christ s, there is no recognizable church. the cross is the laser like flash-point of God s love providing what God demands for sin! 4. God is reduced to being kind, amiable, approachable and harmless we like Him, yet despise Him because He can t seem to deal with all the evil in the world but that is why His judgment and wrath are subjects we can t ignore the world looks at them as harsh, vindictive, angry YES! the Bible calls this the wrath of God but this is the most loving thing God could do if He does not avenge sin, He does not love the sinned against and He does not care about justice Revelation 6:16,17 the wrath of God will be so terrible in the end times that the leaders of the earth will flee to the mountains and cry out to the rocks Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand? And yet holiness has slipped away from the grasp of most Americans including most in the church the search is not to be established without blame in holiness the drive today is to be fulfilled be a better spouse be happy be successful 2006 Barna poll: Thirty-five percent of Americans believe God expected them to be holy But only seven percent of Americans related holiness to the character of God Seventy-two percent said they had made a commitment to Christ But seventy-one percent said their faith was very important What Is Lacking In Your Faith? 4

5 What is lacking in your faith? joyful thanks? earnest prayer? divine guidance? abounding love? established holiness? the good news? PBPGINFWMY! Please be patient, God is not finished with me yet! Questions For Futher Study What do you think prevents most Christians from growing in their faith? What did Paul mean when he said he wanted to complete what is lacking in your faith in 1 Thessalonians 3:10? 3. What similarities do you see between 1 Thessalonians 3:11 and Numbers 6:24-26? How do we increase and abound in love for one another, as mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 3:13? What does it mean to establish your hearts without blame in holiness in 1 Thessalonians 3:13? What is lacking in your faith? 5 What Is Lacking In Your Faith?