Imagine Imagine you're away on vacation for 3 weeks. On the very first day of your vacation you meet a local who, upon finding out that you are a Christian asks you to explain your faith. As they hear about the love of God their Father and the grace of Jesus they give their life to Jesus and decide to follow Him right then and there. You're on vacation, but you still have conversations with them over the course of the next 3 weeks because you're so thrilled at how God used you to bring someone to saving faith. It is such a joy to be used by God! 

 

Upon returning home you keep worrying about this person who gave their life to Christ. Have they continued to follow Jesus? Were they truly saved? You have no way of visiting them anytime in the near future, so what can you do except hope and pray? 

 

This was the situation the Apostle Paul found himself in with the Church in Thessalonica (though his missionary journey may have been a bit more intense than a vacation!). Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy only had 3 weeks with the Thessalonians before being run out of town by those antagonistic towards their faith. The early chapters of his first letter to them are riddled with his desire to return to them, hear how they are doing, and encourage them in their faith. 

 

Eventually, even though Paul himself couldn't visit, he sent his co-worker and mentee, Timothy, to visit. We're told in 1st Thessalonians 3:2 "and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions." 

 

Timothy was sent to establish them in their faith and exhort them in their faith. 

 

To be "established" in your faith is to know what is true about God and to understand the implications of the gospel. Undoubtedly the Thessalonians needed to be established in the gospel because they had only 3 weeks to learn about Jesus from Paul and his companions! A 3 week class called "All you need to know about Christianity" would be quite the crash course! 

 

To be "exhorted" in your faith is to be encouraged and pushed into action. We need to be exhorted when we know the right thing to do but need encouragement to actually do the right thing. 

 

Paul often structured his letters using this two-fold framework: here is what is true, now go live it out. 

 

We need to consistently be both established and exhorted in our faith. We need to be taught (and reminded!) what is true about God and what is true about us. Then we need to be exhorted and encouraged to go and live it out when we know what we should do in a given relationship, family situation, or work scenario. We need brothers and sisters in Christ who can exhort us and encourage us to live faithfully when we know in our hearts what God has called us to do. 

 

I am struck in 1st Thessalonians by Paul's burning desire to see the Thessalonians be established and exhorted in their faith. We should ask God to bring others into our life who can help establish us and help encourage us, while also seeking to play this role for others. 

 

Ask yourself today, do I need to be established in my faith right now or do I need to be exhorted? Am I in need of knowledge and wisdom or am I in need of encouragement? Ask God to give you by his Spirit and through his people what you need to faithfully follow him. 

 

Paul goes on to say that his desire is to see the Thessalonians face to face and "supply what is lacking in their faith." We all have parts of our faith that are lacking. We all have moments where we feel weak in our faith or areas of our life where we struggle to see God's presence. May God use others to supply what is lacking in our faith! 

At the end of 1st Thessalonians 3 Paul gives this stunning benediction that I pray is true for us as a Church, "May the Lord make us increase and abound in love for one another and for all so that he may establish our hearts blameless in holiness before our god and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints."

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As Ever,

Pastor Tyler

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