As far as we know, this was the last time Paul communicated with them. You can sense the love he had for them as you read this last chapter he wrote to them.
There are many things that take place in a church that are not obvious, but one thing should be obvious to all, and that is the love God’s people have for GOD and HIS PEOPLE.
God’s Word says, John 13:35, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." A church that has that kind of love can win multitudes to Christ.
However, the church that does not love like that will be a stumbling block to a lost world.
Illus: A deplorable incident occurred in the life of Prime Minister Mahatma Ghandi of India. He told in his autobiography that during his student days in America he was interested in the Bible. Deeply touched by reading the gospels, he seriously considered becoming a convert.
Christianity seemed to offer the real solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India.
One Sunday he went to a church to see the minister and ask for instruction on the way of salvation and other Christian doctrines, but when he entered the sanctuary the ushers refused him a seat and suggested that he go and worship with his own people. He said that he left and reached the conclusion, “If Christians have caste differences, I might as well remain a Hindu.”
Only God knows the people who have been turned from God because God’s church did not reach out in love to them.
It was obvious that Paul loved the church in Thessalonica and it was obvious that they loved him.
He not only loved those dear folks, he had a lot of CONFIDENCE in them. HOW DO WE KNOW THAT? Look at...
I. HIS REQUEST
Look at verse 1. We read, “Finally, brethren, PRAY FOR US...” This simple request reveals FOUR things.
A. HIS CONFIDENCE
Now I know some people I could ask a lot of things of, but I would never ask them to pray for me. Why? Because, many of those people, if they are saved, they are so backslidden that I could not have any CONFIDENCE in their prayers.
Paul was probably like us in this. We do not waste time asking people to pray for us if we do not have CONFIDENCE in them as Christians.
When a people ask you to pray for them, that is one of the highest compliments they could offer you. They are letting you know they have confidence in you.
And, when Paul asked those Thessalonians to pray for him, he was expressing that he had confidence in them as Christians. Even though they were young converts, Paul knew God heard the prayers of RIGHTEOUS people. HIS REQUEST REVEALED HIS CONFIDENCE! Another thing that REVEALED HIS CONFIDENCE in them was...
B. HIS CONFESSION
DID YOU KNOW THAT WE ALL NEED PRAYER?
If Paul had not needed the prayers of others, he would not have wasted his time writing and asking them to pray for him.
Illus: Often when missionaries come through our churches they will ask us to PRAY FOR THEM. Why? Because they are confessing to us that they are facing things in their lives and they need our prayers.
Paul is considered, by many, to be the greatest personality who ever walked on this earth besides our Lord Jesus. Yet, that great man of God asked those young converts to pray for him.
Any time you find a man who ranks in greatness when it comes to spiritual matters, you will find that man has built his life around prayer. Paul felt that he could not get enough prayer in his life.
This is the man who writes to churches and tells them he does not CEASE praying for them. I am sure he spent many hours of prayer, seeking God for others, and on his own behalf.
Still he felt the need for more prayer in his life, so he asked the dear Christians in Thessalonica, “...PRAY FOR US...”
You see, some people are so proud that you could tell them, “I am praying for you,” and they would look at you with a “That’s nice,” smile on their face, but would immediately change the subject to something they feel is really important.
Paul requested THEY PRAY FOR HIM because HE RECOGNIZED GOD WORKS THROUGH PRAYER! His REQUEST also revealed...
C. HIS CONCERN
There was another reason Paul requested that they PRAY FOR HIM. Paul was a SEASONED PASTOR. A seasoned pastor knows many things young pastors do not know. For example, he knew if God’s people were not spending their time talking to God about each other, they more than likely would spend their time talking to each other about each other.
You will never find a person tearing down a person he is praying for. Also notice, Paul had another reason for REQUESTING PRAYER.
D. HIS CONDITION
Paul was writing to the Christians because they were being persecuted, but Paul was being persecuted in Corinth also! He wanted them to know they were not the only ones who needed prayer. That is, there were others who needed prayer more than they did.
Illus: Did you know that no matter how bad your situation is as a Christian, there are other Christians who are as desperate for prayer as you are. Perhaps even more so.
The Thessalonian Christians were being persecuted, but Paul was being persecuted as much, if not more, and HIS REQUEST was, “PRAY FOR US!”
Look at verses 1-2, “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.”
Paul’s persecution came from the Jewish religionists. That’s right! Those who claimed to be religious attacked him and dragged him before the civil authorities. However, they could not make their case stand because of its being a religious matter. Paul continued preaching the gospel and the Jewish religionists continued their opposition.
Notice, there were two things Paul specified he wanted them to pray for:
1. HIS DIRECTION
Look at verse 1, “...that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you.” He was saying that he had come to Corinth and for three Sabbaths preached that Christ:
• Came.
• Suffered.
• Died.
• Was buried.
• Was resurrected from the dead.
He was saying that they, (the Thessalonians) had come to believe that gospel, and he wanted them to pray for God to take that same gospel and allow it to reach the hearts of the ones he was preaching to who had not yet come to know Christ.
Believers should be constantly praying for the pastors and teachers who proclaim God’s Word. We should pray that as they preach and teach God’s Word It will have “free course” that God’s will be done.
Paul, in HIS REQUEST, asked them to pray for...
2. HIS DELIVERANCE
Look at verse 2, “And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.”
Notice, Paul prayed that God would deliver him from...
a. UNREASONABLE MEN
So often people will come to the pastor about a relationship problem in the church. They will say, “Pastor, the solution to the problem is so simple, but they refused to be REASONABLE...what can I do?”
What these fail to realize is that REASON does not work with the UNREASONABLE. There is one thing to be done--PRAY FOR THEM! That is, if they would really REASON things out they would do what is reasonable.
That is why the lost world is going to a Christless eternity. Sinners do not build on WHAT IS REASONABLE. They should be able to sit down and say, “The Lord has blessed me.”
I:
• Live in a free land.
• Live in a land of abundance.
• Live in good health.
• Have a good family.
Yes, any person should be able to sit down and reason things out and come to the conclusion that God has been so good to him that the most logical response would be to serve God all the days of one’s life.
Instead, lost people are totally UNREASONABLE. The sinner spends his life serving the devil, who has never done one good thing for him any day of his life. That is not all! If the devil has his way, he will see to it that all who serve him will spend eternity in a burning hell. STILL THEY SERVE HIM!
It is difficult to find a person who lives by REASON these days.
Also, did you know that you find UNREASONABLE people in God’s church? That is, you can point out a thing that is REASONABLE and they will do just the opposite every time.
God’s Word tells us to PRAY FOR SUCH PEOPLE. Why? Two reasons:
(1) WE SHOULD PRAY FOR THEM BECAUSE THE ONLY HOPE THEY HAVE OF EVER COMING TO THEIR SENSES IS THROUGH PRAYER.
Illus: One man had a lovely family, but he lived an unreasonable life. He was mean to his wife and took the family income and spent most of it on drink and carousing with other women. His dear wife took the abuse, year after year. She tried to reason with him but he would not listen.
Christians who knew him were praying that he would straighten his life out and do what was reasonable.
Finally the day came when the wife could take no more. She packed up what little belongings she had and took their two children by the hand and out the door she went.
The man came home drunk, stumbled through the house, but was not so drunk that he could not realize it was too quiet. Something was wrong! He began to call for his wife and children and then he realized they were not there. He ran out into the night to try to find them but he could not. He tried to find her the next day, but still he could not find her.
To this day, all he knows about that wife who had loved him, and tried to reason with him, is that she left the state. He has no idea where she and the children are.
The man finally came to his senses and sat in the pastor’s office, crying, “Preacher, I have messed my life up. I knew I was doing wrong. I planned to straighten up, but I waited too late. I love my wife, but it is too late. I have lost her and my children.”
Yes, some people live UNREASONABLE lives. The only hope most have of ever coming to their senses is through prayer. It may cost them their-
• Freedom.
• Health.
• Wealth.
• Family.
• Reputation.
But, the only hope they have is to have someone PRAY FOR THEM. They will not let anyone reason with them because they are UNREASONABLE.
There is another reason we should pray for them-
(2) WE SHOULD PRAY FOR THEM BECAUSE ALL WE CAN DO IS PRAY FOR THEM.
God told us to “...pray for them which despitefully use you.” Why? Because talking does absolutely no good!
You can point out the truth to a sensible man and he will say, “I did not know that. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.”
You can point out the truth to an UNREASONABLE man, but he will not learn because he thinks he already knows it all.
Illus: A church had a family that was giving problems. They were absolutely UNREASONABLE. One of the good families said, “I think, Thursday night my wife and I will go to their home and try to reason with them.” They did, but they came back crying. They said, “Preacher, talking to them was like talking to a rebellious teenager. They would not listen to reason.”
One of the reasons God tells us to pray for the UNREASONABLE is because most of the time that is all we can do for them.
Notice, Paul requested that they PRAY FOR HIM, but he also requested how they should pray for him--that he might be delivered from UNREASONABLE MEN. He also instructed them to pray that he might be delivered from...
b. WICKED MEN Being UNREASONABLE often has to do with a person’s thinking process. That is, some people keep making unreasonable decisions because they are not smart.
There are some people who do wrong because they are not very smart. They keep making the same dumb mistakes over and over because they are not smart enough to figure out that SIN BRINGS MISERY TO THEIR LIVES.
But, WICKEDNESS is another matter. WICKEDNESS has to do with the heart. People who live wicked lives do that, not just because they are dumb, but because they are WICKED. They have built their lives around wickedness. For example,
• You can tell a wicked man, “Let’s go to church and worship God,” and he will laugh at you. You can tell that same wicked man, “Let’s go to the night club where we can cuss and blaspheme the name of God,” and that wicked man will light up like a Christmas tree.
• You can tell a wicked teenager, “You ought to hang out with godly teenagers,” and he will frown as if he had just ate a lemon. You can tell that same teenager, “Why don’t you hang out with Joe now that he is out of reform school,” and he will say, “Yea, where is he?”
Paul was surrounded by UNREASONABLE and WICKED men. He asked them to pray that God might deliver him from such.
Conclusion/Summary:
(1 of 2)
I. HIS REQUEST
(2 of 2)
II. HIS DISCIPLINE
