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Jesus is coming. Jesus came in the past as a little baby in Bethlehem. He comes to us in the present time through his word. He will come for us in the future on the last day. The Word “Advent” means “coming.” The season of advent is meant to prepare God's people for the 1st coming of Jesus in Bethlehem and the second coming of Jesus on Judgment Day. God's people since at least 604 AD have read portions of scripture that prepare them for Jesus' coming. How can we be ready for the coming of our Savior? God makes us ready through his Holy Word. He strengthens our faith in him through that word. Let's read from 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13. 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? 10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. 11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. 12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. Paul had visited the Thessalonians on his 2nd missionary journey. Paul was only in Thessalonica a little over 3 weeks. While he was there he proclaimed that Jesus, who suffered, died and rose again, was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. The Thessalonians treated the words of Paul and his co-worker Silas not as a message from men, but a message from God. God had worked in their hearts to believe that the truths that Paul and Silas talked about were the truths of God. In fact, the work of the Lord was in high gear those three weeks. Some of the Jews joined the Christians assembled there, as well as some Greeks and some wives of the prominent officials. The success of God's Word caused others to get jealous. They rounded up a mob to run Paul and Silas out of town. They made Jason, a Christian, post a bond, that is, completely insure the community that Paul and Silas would never again set foot in Thessalonica. It appeared that the work of the Lord had shifted down to neutral. If Paul and Silas couldn't speak the Word of God, how were the churches to go forward? How had the gathering of Christians survived the first round of persecution? The Apostle Paul was concerned about the congregation, and, after a time, sent Timothy, a young pastor, pay them a visit to see how things were going. Timothy reported back to Paul that the Thessalonians were "standing firm in their faith." On hearing this news, Paul prayed a prayer of thanksgiving to God for, well, everything. In fact, he couldn't thank God enough. Their faith survived that first round of persecution. Their faith showed itself in their Christian love to one another and to the people of their city. What an amazing accomplishment of, well, not Paul, not the Thessalonians, but of God working through the word and God working in the hearts of the Thessalonian Christians! Yet even those strong in their faith need encouragement. Even those who produced fruits in keeping with their faith could use more instruction. And so Paul prayed concerning the Thessalonians “that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.” What did the Thessalonians lack? It'd be nice if we were able to pin that down, so we would know the next step. We've got two ideas. The first one is in verse 12, 12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else...” There was room for growth in their Christian love. Paul encouraged the Corinthians that love, this fruit of faith, had not peaked. It could increase even more! God could still work more love in their hearts. The second idea is in verse 13 “May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.” On judgment day they would be found blameless and holy in God's sight. Not because of anything they had done, but because of Jesus. Through Jesus, they stood blameless, free from any accusation of sin. Through Jesus, they stood perfect in God's sight. This blameless perfect state was theirs through faith in Jesus, the holy and blameless Lamb of God. What remained, then, was to stay in the faith until Jesus returned. Paul's prayer is that the Thessalonians would be strengthened in what the work of God done for them, that it would encourage them to be more and more like the blameless and holy people God declares them already to be. Those are two ideas from scripture. Maybe this is what Paul was talking about when he spoke of their lacking in their faith. Maybe this was the tip of the iceberg for the Thessalonians. Paul, like us sometimes, could with confidence be able to tell what needed to be improved in the spiritual lives of the people He served. However, he had a greater confidence in the power of the applicable word of God. God knows what lacks in faith of Christians. God uses God's Word to supply what is lacking in the faith of Christians. As long as Paul was proclaiming the truths of God's Word, he knew that God would supply what was lacking in the faith of the Thessalonians. What is lacking in your Christian faith? Sometimes it's easy to tell. Other times it has to be pointed out to us by someone else. All the time God is the one who really knows what is lacking in our Christian faith and where there is room to grow. All this talk about growing in faith begs a question, “Can a Christian ever relax? Can we ever take a break from being a Christian? Can we ever be on parole for timed served our Lord?” We could make the case that the Thessalonians earned the right to ease up a little on their Christianity. They faced harsh persecution. They didn't have all the amenities that we have, yet they still showed love to one another. Yet God did not give them the go-ahead to retire their faith. Why do we think that God gives us the go-ahead to retire our faith? To think that we don't have to strive to let our lights shine in this world as brightly as the Thessalonians had to shine theirs shows how much we lack in our spiritual life. The world is just as dark today as it was then. We're spiritually lacking in maturity if we've convinced ourselves that we're in a different situation than the Thessalonians. There are just as many opportunities, if not more opportunities for us to show the love of God to other people. There are just as many opportunities for us to grow in our faith through the Word. There are elements in society that do not want us sharing the truths of God's Word. Even if there is a little less resistance to Christianity now as there was in Paul's day, is it right to slack off in our witness, in our Christian living? Certainly not! What do we do, then? What can we do? Nothing good on our own. We're already damaged goods. There is no hope that we can stand before God without any blame. As disciples of Christ, we follow in His footsteps. He has done everything. He was blameless for us. He was perfect for us. He loved everyone for us. Everything that needed so that we could be in heaven forever has been done. It is because of Christ, that we stand blameless before God. It is because of Christ that we can grow in faith and grow in love for one another. It is because of Christ that we are able to endure until the end. Even these strong in their faith need encouragement. Even those who produced fruits in keeping with their faith could use more instruction. This encouragement to improve comes from God himself. It doesn't come from a self-help book , nor does from a talk show. It comes from the power of His Word. His Word tells us what we lack in our faith. God has an infinite supply of power for our Godly living. He has the power to supply what is lacking in your spiritual life. It is yours not as a result of anything you have done. It is yours because in his grace, God announces to you in his word that it is yours. God's Word strengthens us by telling us what God has done for us. He strengthens us by not making our spiritual life about us, but about God, and what He has done for us. Thank God that he remains at high gear using his word to strengthen the hearts of his people. Thank God that he is committed to supplying what is lacking in our faith. Amen. |