Loving One Another (1 Thessalonians 3:11-13)

But this morning, interestingly enough, as I've been meditating and thinking about 1

Thessalonians chapter three, I didn't have anything on paper until this morning, but I'm titling this

Loving One Another for those who need to put this up on screens, et cetera. 1

Thessalonians chapter three, verses 11 through 13. And this body is well -taught.

We have a pastor, teacher, elder who is very versed in scripture and digs into it much to our delight and much to our feeding gratefulness regularly.

He's off today, and so I would like to work with you if we can through this section of scripture, which if Jim was preaching, these three verses would yield 27 spurt sermons.

I'm gonna get one out of him. But I would like your permission if I in prayerfully later on today review this, if I think it needs to be a little bit more fleshed out, if I can come back to you with it again at some time.

And that's, you almost never know when I'm joking. I'm not joking here. Because God's word is so chock full of truth and source for us to live the

Christian life. And this will be no different. So I, trusting in God's sovereignty, trusting in the

Holy Spirit, we'll look for him to bring whatever is necessary into your lives today through these three verses.

So let's open by reading chapter three, the entire chapter, and I'll do a little bit of review because it's been almost exactly one year since I was last with you.

And then we will pray again. First Thessalonians chapter three. Therefore, when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone.

And we sent Timothy, our brother and God's fellow worker in the gospel of Christ to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith so that no man may be disturbed by these afflictions.

For you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. For indeed, when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction.

And so it came to pass, as you know, for this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith for fear that the tempter might have tempted you and our labor should be in vain.

But now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction, we were comforted about you through your faith.

For now we really live if you stand firm in the Lord. 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, as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see your face and may complete what is lacking in your faith.

Now may our God and Father himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you.

And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all men just as we also do for you so that he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before our

God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. And that is the word of God, let's pray.

Father, thank you for this section of scripture. Every portion of your scripture is incredibly profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction so that we might be fully equipped to do your work.

And so this morning we look into this section prayerfully asking your Holy Spirit to tell us how it is you would use this equipment for us to work in the world and glorify the

Lord Jesus Christ in everything we do. May your word be blessed and go forth.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. So the last time we were together was actually November 28th, 2021, so just about a year ago.

And this series that I've been going through has recently been focusing on the joys of being a shepherd, an under -shepherd

I should say. Jesus is the shepherd. The elders of a church are merely under -shepherds. We previously looked at chapter three, verses six through 10 and we gleaned from that hopefully more than what

I presented, but at least this, that number one, an under -shepherd delights in those he serves. There is a love for those that one is privileged to serve.

And I can testify to you that when we have elder meetings, it's very evident that all four of us really love this body.

Some of this will be personal this morning, but most of it will be hopefully directly out of the doctrine of Scripture.

But at any rate, when we get together we pray for the body. We are blessed to serve a body that is serious about the word of God.

That's rare in these days. I see it again and again. I've been blessed myself to be in bodies that were always very serious about God's word, but that were willing to let

God's word do its work in their hearts so that outwardly they began to live it and in front of the world and in front of others live it.

And that's what we're gonna look at this morning. So that was the first thing, an under -shepherd delights in those he loves to serve, those he serves.

That was a slip, but it's accurate. An under -shepherd is grateful for those he serves.

That's not the same as delights. It's a fact that when

God brings a person into a position of being able to serve a body, he makes them somehow very grateful for every single one of them.

Some of you we know well, I say that collectively. I think some of the elders know all of you better than I do, but we wanna get to know more of you well, but we are grateful for every one of you.

We're grateful for the strengths you bring. We're grateful for the abilities. Paul was especially grateful to this young church at Thessalonica who he later earlier in chapter three says he was concerned that the tempter may have come and moved them away from their belief in Christ.

And when he received that great report back, he didn't have to worry. So worry is a strong term, but I think every under -shepherd struggles a little bit sometimes with worry.

Shouldn't, but that's a human failing unfortunately. An under -shepherd seeks the growth of those he serves.

That was the third point we looked at last time we were together.

He desires to see the growth of those they serve. There's a desire to see growth both in relationships, in character, in ability, and in ministry.

And to that end, under -shepherds should be about the business of providing in the body of Christ, in the church, if you will, methods, and I hesitate to use that word, but doctrinal methods of building up believers, giving them opportunity to ministry and strengthening them for that ministry.

This is not a mechanical strengthening or building up, but rather a relational because we are here to serve one another.

That's kind of what I'm gonna be focusing on this morning. I kind of fell into that as I was studying this this morning and earlier when

I've been reading this section of, I kind of try to read, kind of, did I actually say that? Would someone come up here and slap me?

I actually read this. Someone wanted to? Well, good on ya.

I actually try to read through the section I'm going to be preaching on, and I have read through 1

Thessalonians 3 several times, multiple times over the last year, but not recently because I've been working in Daniel.

But at any rate, this is not a mechanical thing, but rather a relational thing.

Shepherds, servants should delight in their serving one another. So under -shepherds should do that. They should delight, they should be glad to serve.

It should be evident that they're glad to serve. If it's not evident that an under -shepherd is glad to serve, something needs to happen there, something different needs to happen there.

So Paul reminded the Thessalonians that the distress, looking at this, just kind of walking back through some of this, the distress they went through was worthwhile,

Paul and his fellow servants, the distress they went through, Paul and his servants, other servants, was worthwhile when they were reminded of the strength and faith of the

Thessalonian church. That was in verse seven. Paul sent mutual encouragement back to the

Thessalonians, noting that they were grateful for him, but he was grateful for them, and he was able to really live when he found out they were still standing firm in the

Lord. That's a marvelous thing, and in third John four, it says this, it says,

I have no greater joy than this to hear of my children walking in the truth. So this is true of biological children, but it's also true of spiritual children.

It's a great joy to watch people grow, serve Christ, and be an effective minister in the world today, especially, well,

I say especially today because I live today. I'm sure if I lived 50 years ago, I'd say especially today. I did live 50 years ago,

I'm old. Paul is never ignorant of the fact that it is

God himself in this section of scripture who actually renders an unbeliever to become a believer.

He quickens that person who then begins to understand the word of God and then trusts

Christ, repents of his sin, her sin, and trusts Christ. Paul knows that that's a work of God, and it's been said many times over the last few weeks, especially during the conference we had, that that is a true miracle.

For those of us, for those who accuse us doctrinal purity people of not believing in miracles,

I am amazed that he chose me. What a loser. Why would

God do that? Because he's the God of losers, and he chooses.

Paul is never ignorant of that fact that God chooses, he renders them able to understand, they become believers, and then he sanctifies that,

God sanctifies that person day by day, including the Thessalonians that Paul was able to work with, and that was from verse nine.

Then in verse 10, Paul breaks into a prayer hoping he can spend some more time with the church of Thessalonica and work with them to build into them those things that were lacking in their faith.

Do you have anything lacking in your faith? A true believer of God always knows that the closer he gets to Christ, the more he realizes how lacking he or she is.

The closer you get to understanding more of scripture, the more you realize how much more of scripture you need to build into your life.

So in the middle of this verse, in the middle of this section, we find Paul in verse 11, in the middle of this prayer, that culminates,

I guess, in verse 13. So let's start there, verse 11. You thought we were already started.

Huh, here we go. Now may our God and Father himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you.

So remember this is a letter, so this is Paul telling them about his prayer. But it is nonetheless a prayer.

If I write to you and tell you how I prayed for you, that was nonetheless a prayer that was in real time prayed for you and that God heard and that God answered in his sovereignty.

Paul asked the members of the triune God, notice this, he asked the Father and the Son to bring him back to Thessalonica.

His personal relationship with the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are evident here as he asks both of them for this request.

He addresses the Lord Jesus Christ equally with the Father in this. He says, now may our God and Father himself and Jesus our

Lord direct our way to you. He indirectly, or maybe he indirectly, in Paul's mind,

I don't know, I don't presume to know his mind, gives credence to the delight and delight to the fact that the

Lord Jesus Christ is equal, co -equal with the Father. These are not just inconsequential byproducts, byproduct mentions,

I guess, of the Trinity, but rather they are continual throughout the New Testament, they are continual reminders to us that we serve a triune

God who has our every second of life under his care. Do you sometimes feel like he doesn't, feel like he doesn't?

According to the scriptures, every second of your life is ordered under his care. Our birth, our life, including our salvation, and our ongoing sanctification, and as we will see here,

Paul recognizes, our entry into eternity with Christ the Father and the Spirit are consequences of our belief in the triune

God. Paul wants to go back to Thessalonica because he loves them, and so he's asking the

Father and the Son to send him back there. So it's a great comfort to the elders in this body that we don't have to, that we're never sundered from you.

We are not, we don't have to travel somewhere and then beg God to send us back to a body like this. We get to stay here.

It's always the desire of an under -shepherd to see the flock he has been instructed to care for grow, and it's a desire that that growth would even be beyond what he or she, what he, oh,

I almost said she. Where are we going to church? That he has undergone.

Under -shepherds shall always be looking for ways to build into the lives of those they serve. Sometimes life gets in the way, but there should be a general direction of fostering a love for the scriptures, an understanding of the need for solid doctrine and a desire to see proper biblical interaction in a healthy body such as what we have here.

Paul wanted to be directed back to Thessalonica to see these kinds of things, to direct these kinds of things, to oversee or to help with these kinds of things.

It's important that an under -shepherd uses scripture and not gimmicks, programs, or any other method other than solid teaching and modeling.

All of the methods of the world will pass away. Now I'm kind of, that's not exactly what the word says, but that's an inference there.

All of the methods of the world will pass away, but scripture will always stand. It is a trustworthy place to look for for everything concerning your life.

Now I know if there was a choir up here, they would say, you're preaching to us, but sometimes the choir can stand a little preaching too.

It's okay to rehearse the beauty of what God has given us. Verse 12, and may the

Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another. Now I don't know what David had this morning, but it was about hospitality, and so I'm gonna just leave that to him for the next time he's up here, and he will be up here.

In love for one another and for all people. Really? Do you know what that means?

Do you know what the word all means here? I looked it up. It means all.

You know that guy that just gets under your skin? That woman that you can't stand to be around?

They're part of the all people. That is why we need sanctification and the

Holy Spirit in our lives. For all people, just as we also do for you. Do you think there were some difficult people in the

Thessalonican church? I know there's none here, but other churches have difficult people, don't they?

And historically, Paul says he's reminding his readers that he has a love for all of them and for all the people.

He wants their love for one another to grow. A healthy body has a genuine love for one another.

They are on the lookout for ways to serve one another. Apparently, Paul's example to the body in Thessalonica was considered worthy of emulating.

Now, he was a tent maker, and he did everything he could to make sure he wasn't beholding to the bodies he served as much as possible.

In his particular situation, that is how God organized his ministry. That isn't always true. The gospel pays the way of those who preach the gospel, and that's fine.

But with Paul, that's one of the things we can remember. He was always about serving and not charging the local bodies there because this was in the beginning of the church.

And we remember when we were in 2 Corinthians in Sunday school and we looked at how poor the church was in Jerusalem.

They were so poor that they couldn't afford anything. And bodies around the entire region sent through Paul and the other ministers money to Jerusalem to help them.

So Paul was about serving as much as he possibly could without burdening them in that way.

Apparently, his example he considered worthy of emulating. Would it be so that every true under shepherd lives in such a way that a local body can in a

Berean way, and I know you know what that means, in a Berean way emulate the lives of the under shepherds who serve them.

But rather than that, emulate the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look to him, look to him.

Genuine believers, genuine believers will always exhibit love to one another. Now, what does that mean?

Does that mean you will show love to one another in every single instance that you're with someone? Oh, wouldn't that be, that's coming.

That's coming in eternity. But that doesn't happen here. This is a consequence though of salvation, but not a reason one is saved.

It's a result of salvation. Paul depended upon God for the Thessalonians to grow in their love for one another, not in himself, not in his example, nor in the example of others that were with him, but only in the example of God, which include and most importantly, looked to the life of the

Lord Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, he does in this statement say, and with, just as we do also for you.

So the word translated here, abound, the Lord caused you to increase and abound is an interesting word.

It means actually to super abound, to be in excess, to be way above and beyond, to exceed, to excel.

So our love for one another should astound the world. The Lord Jesus Christ said it this way in John chapter 13, verse 35.

He said, by this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. Now, of course, you all know what the, you thought it, you didn't know

I was from Alabama, did you? All right, there's a bunch of you, so all y 'all didn't know that that word means, it's the agape word.

It's the self -deprecating, serving one another no matter what, no matter the return, no matter the consequence word for love.

If you love one another, you are my disciples if you love one another. There it is.

You want a test that you can put on your refrigerator? Do you love one another? Then you're my disciples, he says.

It's a serving love, it's a giving love. And then verse 13. So that he may establish your hearts without blame and holiness before God and before our

God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. So finally, Paul's prayer, at least in this section of his letter to the

Thessalonians, his first letter to the Thessalonians, ends like this. He says he has a desire that God would establish hearts without blame before or in the sight of both the

Father and the Son. And he wants this done before the return of the

Lord Jesus Christ. At the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, unblameable in holiness before our

God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. He wants it done in front of the Father and he wants it done so that when the

Lord comes, it will be an established fact in the church. It's important to be about the business of sanctification.

That is, cooperating with God in our sanctification before the second coming. Don't put it off.

Now, I know that's not exactly the context there, but it came to me. A lot of people say, well,

I've got time. I don't know, you know, things could happen.

We need to be cooperating and working with God in our sanctification today. This is not a comedic statement, but rather a stern reminder to not be procrastinating in our growth.

Blame is a translation of the Greek word, by the way, which means we are to be irreproachable.

That doesn't mean we will never do anything wrong, but rather that we take responsibility for those sins we have committed and we do what we can to right them.

And that in our sanctification, we become more and more like Christ in not committing more wrongs.

Can we become perfect in this life? No. Well, we can cooperate with God and work at it.

1 John 1 .9 should be one of your primary go -to scriptures. If you confess your sins, he is faithful to forgive you your sins.

Now I've lost it, and I'm not gonna misquote it. Let me get there, 1

John 1 .9. I had it memorized this morning. It was the streetlights, that's my excuse.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

That should be one of our go -to scriptures. Put sin to death every day, every day.

What did I say? Every day. So you're not gonna quite get your money's worth today.

I'm gonna end a little early, but I will say this. It is our desire that we stay with you and continue sound verse -by -verse teaching, the undershepherds of this church, in the doctrine of the

Trinity that will render you and us abounding in love for one another and for all people, as this verse says, and that we will be irreproachable in our character because we come to one another in our faults and we confess them and we make them right.

That requires us to be forgiving of one another. This is a phrase

I've coined. I hope it seems proper in a mechanical sort of way.

Forgiveness is the oil that causes the gears of Christianity to turn. We need to forgive.

How often? 349 times a day. No, it was hyperbole every time.

Now, that doesn't mean we give permission for continued sinning, but it does mean that in our relationships with one another, we need to be forgiving.

May we do this before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with joy and thankfulness. I'd like to close in prayer there.

Father, it is your word that will spur us to do the works of Christ here so that the world will know that he is

God, and we trust you to sanctify us day by day, turning our hearts from sin to you, turning our hearts from wrong to you, causing us to seek forgiveness of one another, causing us to forgive one another.

For it is those two things that you use in the body of Christ especially to make it known to the world that we are your disciples because we love one another.

Thank you for that love. Thank you that you engendered it. Thank you that it is a product of your Holy Spirit and that we don't have to gender it.

We don't have to create it. It's already there. It's a byproduct, or not a byproduct.

It is a part of the Trinity, your love. Thank you for that in Jesus' name, and we continue,

Father, to ask for blessing upon the Forsyth family. Bring wisdom to the doctors. Give them comfort today, and we thank you for them in Jesus' name, amen.