 Brother in heaven, thank you for this wonderful day. Thank you for our lecturer. We thank you for all the students who are on the call and those who have not yet joined. But we thank you for your grace and mercy. Lord, we are here not because of our might, but we are here because of your grace. Lord, we do pray that you will bless our culture so that we do understand what she's going to preach us, not only to be hearers, but also doers of the word. I do pray for connectivity and then pray it. Amen. Thank you so much. Yeah, there have been some internet connectivity issues over here. So yeah, please keep this in prayer that today's session will go smoothly without any breaks. All right, we will get started then. So last week, we started the letter to the Thessalonians. We looked at chapter 2, most of it. We were kind of reaching the end of Thessalonians chapter 2. So we'll take it up today from 1 Thessalonians 2, 17 onwards, which is just four verses of this particular chapter. So these last four verses of chapter 2, if we could have someone read out, please. Thessalonians chapter 2, the last four verses, 17, 18, 19 and 20. Yeah, if you could all open your Bibles and keep it before you. Thessalonians chapter 2, if any one person could unmute and read out for us, verse 17 onwards. Verse 17, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord, therefore comfort one another with these words. Ah, yeah, first this was chapter 2. I'm so sorry. Brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time, in person, not in thought, out of our intense longing, we made every effort to see you, for we wanted to come to you. Certainly I, Paul, did again and again, but Satan blocked our way. For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we were glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when He comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy. Yes, thank you. Yeah, when I heard the verse about the Second Coming, that's when it occurred to me that the wrong chapter was being read. So yeah, we'll come to that a little later. Right now, at the end of chapter 2, Paul is talking about how Satan has been blocking them from coming and revisiting these Thessalonian believers, and so he's basically talking about that aspect. In the previous verses, he has been speaking of these Thessalonian believers as though they are his own family. He compares himself to a nursing mother, who is willing to stay up late in the night to nurse the child, put the child to bed, to make sacrifices. He compares himself to a father, and he says that in the same way a father treats his children, that's the way he has looked upon the Thessalonians. So now over here in verse 17, this is what he says, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time, out of our intense longing, we made every effort to see you. So he talks about the separation which had happened, almost like an orphaning, you know, the word being used over there. It can refer to a child losing its parents, but it can also refer to a parent having lost their child. And the emotion which a parent would feel if they lose a child, Paul is feeling that kind of an emotion, almost as though he has lost these Thessalonian believers. By the intensity of these emotions, what exactly is going on here? We look at the background in Acts chapter 17, verses 1 to 10, we understand what happened, how Paul had to very hastily, suddenly leave the Thessalonian believers and go away. We get to know a little bit about those details when we go to Acts chapter 17. So over there in Acts 17, we are told that once Paul and his team come over here to the city of Thessalonica, as usual, they first try to reach out to the Jews who are there. So they go to the Jewish synagogue on three separate Saturdays. He goes to the synagogue and tries to reason with the Jewish people about how the scriptures are talking about Jesus Christ as the Messiah. So he tries to convince them. And after he makes his efforts in Acts 17, verse 4, we are told that some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas. And it says a large number of God-fearing Greeks they joined. So whenever the term God-fearing Gentiles or God-fearing Greeks is used, it's referring to people who chose to become part of the Jewish faith. The Jews were sharing their faith with the people of other religions. And some of those people chose to accept Yahweh as their God. So they became known as the God-fearers. So from that community, many who have now joined the Jewish faith, some of those people, they choose to become part of the new Christian faith, which Paul and his team are introducing. So in Acts 17, verse 4, we see that some of the Jews were persuaded. And then it says a large number of God-fearing Greeks. And it says quite a few prominent women, so people of women of influence, people from rich backgrounds, some of those people also joined. But we were told that the Thessalonian believers are very, very poor. We read about that in 2 Corinthians passage, even here in this letter, Paul refers to their poverty. So imagine these people who have come from rich backgrounds, these prominent women. It looks like they too lost many of their privileges. They too had to undergo a struggle because of their faith. So their faith in Jesus Christ cost them. They had to make sacrifices. So these were the people who began to place their faith in Jesus after Paul and his companions had been ministering over there for a few months. And then the Jews became very jealous when they saw a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women. It says when they turned to the true gospel, the Jews were jealous. And so they cite, they try to incite rebellion. So they get hold of some, it says they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. So it's the Jews who instigate this kind of a position. And the crowd comes to Jason's house where Paul and Silas are supposed to be staying. They are not able to find Paul and Silas in the house. So they drag Jason and the other believers who are there. They drag them out into the city and they start creating trouble. And then this is what they say in Acts 17 verse 7. They make the allegation against Jason and the other believers and they say, they are all defying Caesar's decrees saying that there is another king, one called Jesus. So basically the crowd is using this allegation. It is saying that instead of being loyal to Caesar, these people who call themselves Christians, they are following another king. And so that would have been misunderstood by the authorities as these people trying to go after some other kind of political leader. So using this kind of false allegation, they try to create a riot against Paul and Silas. And so finally in verse 9, Acts 17, 9, we are told that at the end of the day, Jason and the other believers are allowed to post a bond and return to their homes. So when because of all of this which is happening in verse, then it says, as soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to barrier. So very hastily, all of a sudden, without any prior preparation, Paul and Silas are forced to leave. They have just started the church. People have come to the Lord in large numbers. Many Greeks and prominent women and a few Jews have all come to the Lord. But before they can really disciple them, teach them, because when Jesus gave his commission, he said, teach them all the things which I have told you. So they were in the process of doing that. They were trying to teach all that needs to be taught about Jesus and about following him. But in the middle of it, they were forced to leave. So now they are very... Paul is very, very concerned about in what condition these believers are. Before they could train them up, they were forced to leave the city. And so he says over here, we felt almost as if we were being orphaned. Like as if we had lost our spiritual children. And he says that he and his team had an intense longing to come and see them. I know that's the term that he uses in verse 17. That's supposed to be a word, the Greek word is epithomia. And in certain other places in the New Testament, this word epithomia, you know, this intense longing, the word lust is used. So this is that kind of a very, very strong emotion. So this word epithomia, it can be used for very, very intense longing. Or it could even be used for worldly lust. So that is the kind of longing with which Paul begins to, you know, long for these believers to be able to go back to them. Make sure that they have understood the facts. Make sure that they will not drift away from the gospel. Now, I mean, this is something, you know, a level of concern, which we generally do not see in ministry nowadays, where this man has suddenly had to leave with his team. And now he has just left a bunch of, you know, very new believers and he's worried what kind of attacks they're undergoing from Satan. And whether they'll be able to withstand those kind of temptations. And so there's such a deep longing that that word epithomia is used over there, expressing the desire that these, that this team is feeling to go back and somehow, you know, work among these believers. So in the early church, they clearly did not think that just simply sharing the people, sharing the gospel with people and getting them to say the salvation prayer is enough. Because now, you know, a lot of ministries, they're able to put in their statistics, statistics saying that, okay, 100 people came to the Lord when we gave the altar call. And they leave it at that. They're very satisfied that they have done their task. But Paul and Silas do not even think that, you know, that the job is completed. The job is in fact just beginning where now those new believers would have to be trained up into people who will become disciples, who will be true followers of Jesus, who will take up their cross and follow him. So the process of training them has just started. And so he says that he's long to come back to them. But he says that on two occasions, he was stopped by Satan from returning back. That would be in verse 18. He says, we wanted to come to you. Certainly, I Paul did again and again, but Satan blocked our way. The word that is used over there, that's a Greek word, which is egg, copto, or whatever the pronunciation is, e-g-k-o-p-t-o. That is a word basically used for roads. You know, when you're going down a road and back then, if an army is going down a particular road and they are being pursued by an enemy army, what this army would do to protect themselves is that they would cut across the road and make a deep pit. So now when the enemy catches up with them, the enemy will not be able to cross, no, because there's a deep pit that has been dug right across the road. The road has been blocked. So now if the army wants, the enemy wants to pursue this army, they would have to go all the way around and use another route to come and attack this army. So that is the kind of word that is used over there. Paul had a goal. He wanted to build up the new believers. He wanted to make them strong in faith. Satan did not want them to become strong in faith. So he thought that if he can cut the road, I mean figuratively, if he can block off Paul's return, he was hoping, Satan was hoping that the believers would fall, that they would be led astray. And so Paul tries again and again to come, but he's unable to. So he was blocked from fulfilling the purpose that he had in his heart for the ministry among the Thessalonians. What do we do when we are placed in situations in our ministry or even in our personal lives where we are moving towards something that God wants for us, that is his plan and purpose for us. We are moving towards that. And then Satan comes and he egg cop to us. He literally blocks off the path so unexpectedly. You know, I mean, when you when you least expect it, there's a very, there's some, there's some circumstance which happens, which is, which seems so permanent. It just cuts off your progress. And now you have to again start all over. You know, you got to start making your attempts to move towards that thing which God has laid on your heart. You got to start doing it all over using new methods, approaching from a new way. And it's going to take a lot of time and effort. So this is what Satan tries to do. What do we do when we are faced with such circumstances? Maybe it's just, you know, God's purpose for your life. You know, whether it's in full-time ministry or whether it's in some other area of, you know, of professions that God has for you. What if Satan just suddenly blocks the way? What do we do? How would we handle that? The same in the next chapter in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 11. This is the prayer which Paul makes. 1 Thessalonians 3 11. He says, Now, may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. So Paul didn't just give up, you know, he made, I think, two attempts to come back and both the times he was blocked. And so he doesn't just simply give up and say, Oh, okay, you know, the cause is lost. Or he doesn't say, Oh, I think some serious damage is going to take place now when we will lose these Thessalonian believers. No, he goes to the Lord in prayer and he begins to pray for this. So because Satan has made a deliberate attempt to block and cut off the roadway. Now only God can make a difference. So he says over here may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us. So whether it is in ministry that we have been blocked very deliberately by Satan from making progress or whether it is in our own personal lives where Satan has blocked us from achieving God's plans for us. We don't have to panic. We don't have to feel depressed or disappointed or even think that, you know, what God had planned for us is now gone. It is lost. No, we continue to pray that the God and Father, God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus Christ, they will clear the way for us. So in God's timing, what he has purposed will happen. Prayer is that powerful. Satan can try to create a delay, but it'll only be a delay. It cannot be a permanent thing because God will fulfill his purposes. So we can hold on in faith and say, you know, this path which has been temporarily blocked, the Lord will find a way. He will make some other, you know, route for me to reach my purposes, whether it's personally or in ministry. So Paul continues to try and then I think at some point, the Holy Spirit tells him, write a letter to them. So, you know, which is how, you know, he ends up writing a letter to them. Yeah, he sends Timothy to check upon them and when Timothy comes back, you know, he writes a letter to them. So the communication does not stop. The believers continue to grow in God. What Satan tried to do was defeated. His plan, his scheme, his strategy did not work. So alternate methods will be provided by the Lord. You know, the Lord would have told them, send Timothy. And the Lord would have, after Timothy comes back with this report, he would have said, now send two letters to them, you know, clearing up all the things which they have doubts about. So maybe later he went to meet them physically, but even though he could not meet them physically earlier, whatever God had planned was fulfilled. It was not obstructed. So have that full confidence in God, whether it's regarding your personal life, the God's purpose for you in your personal life or regarding ministry matters. Yes, delays may happen and yes, it may look like as if things have been lost. But no, what God has purposed, God will fulfill it from our side. He expects us to continue in prayer so that, you know, Satan's schemes would be defeated. And then from there, we let's move into verse 19 and 20. And this is what Paul says over here. He says, what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy. So if Paul had gone and had not received any crown, he would have been perfectly content because he was able to accomplish what was required for the Thessalonians. So he says, to see you progress, to see you having grown in God, that itself is crown enough. So the true ministers of God, the true missionaries who are serving the Lord, for them, it is more than enough if they can just see the people that are ministering to flourish spiritually, grow and become strong and be in a position to lead others. If they can achieve that, that itself is crown enough for them. You know, it's not like they're working towards any material benefits. So this is such a contrast in the days of the early church. From the, it's a contrast between the early church times and the times when Jesus was still there and the disciples had not yet received the Holy Spirit. At that time, if you look at their outlook, Paul, of course, was not part of the disciple team. But if you look at the disciples in Jesus' time, when Jesus was still alive, they were so power conscious, so materials conscious. If you remember, just to use one example, in Matthew chapter 19 verses 27 to 30, this is what Peter says to Jesus. He says, we have left everything to follow you. What then will there be for us? So he wants to know, in what way will they be rewarded? In what way will they be paid for the sacrifices they have made to leave everything to follow Jesus? And then Jesus assures them at that time. And he says, truly, I tell you, when the Son of Man is thrown, you who have followed me will also sit on the throne, touching the well-ribe Israel. And so because, you know, this promise is made by Jesus to them, James and John's mother comes and says, Oh Lord, if you're all going to be sitting on thrones, please let my two sons thrones be immediately next to you on either side of you. You know, like, you know, it's all about status. The throne which will be closest to Jesus throne will have higher status and position. That is the kind of human thinking. So we see all of that happening in, in before the, before these disciples and the leaders receive the Holy Spirit. So this one comment which Jesus makes over there, after Peter says, you know, what then will be there for us? So after Jesus says to them that they will sit on 12 thrones, in verse 30 he says, but many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. So ranking is not going to be where your throne is going to be positioned or how big your crown is. Ranking in God's eyes is very different. He looks more at the matters of the heart. He's going to be looking for people like this Paul who is so concerned for these believers, Thessalonians, that he says, if you know, I can see you progressing in God, that is my crown. That is my glory. So literally he, for Paul and his team, the glory is in not sitting on a fancy throne. The glory is in having achieved the purpose for which God sent them, you know, where they were able to mentor these believers and turn them into the people that they are meant to be. So a lot of people in ministry may not be, you know, called by God to set up international organizations. Maybe you will not be the person who will plant, you know, churches throughout three, four regions. There are those who will be gifted to do that. That may not be your gifting, but in no way will your ranking or status be any lower because God is not looking at how much you accomplish. He's basically seeing whatever he has put in your hands with what passion are you doing it. So whether a person is going to be reaching three, four regions or whether a person is just going to be reaching the people in one single city, for the Lord, what God is going to be seeing is the heart with which you would be doing that ministry. So the crown for Paul and his team, you know, they felt that if they could just work among these believers and bring them to the level of spiritual maturity that is required, that itself is enough for them. That is crown enough for them. So if we have that same attitude, then God will reward us. Those who are first will be last and those who are last will be first, you know. So God, the way God ranks people is so different. And so we need to start thinking the way Paul and his team was thinking. And we need to have the same heart and the same burden in honoring the Lord and in serving people. So that's a very important point. I mean, you know, we may just very casually pass over those words which he uses over there, but he really means it when he says that. He says that for them, it's the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus will be you. You know, it's what he says. Those are very significant words which he speaks. It shows the attitude of Paul's heart. It shows where his priorities lie. So we'll move into chapter three now. In chapter three, maybe we can just read one very large chunk. Maybe all the way from the first six verses. So if someone could read out for us, first Thessalonians chapter three versus one to six. First Thessalonians chapter three was one to six. Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God and a fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, that no one should be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. For in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation just as it happened and you know for this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent you know your faith. Less by some means, the tempter had tempted you and the labor might be in vain. But now that Timothy has come to us from you and brought us good news of your faith and love and that you always have good remembrance of us greatly desiring to see us as we also to see you. Do we need to continue, ma'am? Yeah, no, thank you. Yeah. So we see in these verses that Paul is saying over here that he was very, very concerned that they may step away from the faith. He says for this reason, because you see, they're going to be facing a lot of trials and a lot of persecution and because they're so young in the faith, he's worried that they will fall away. So he says in verse 3, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. He is concerned that the temptations and the persecution that they're going to be facing, because they sent Paul and Silas away immediately. You know, but what about Jason and the other believers who are still over there, who are still looking after the church? They are going to be persecuted every day. So Paul was so worried that, you know, these believers will somehow fall away and be unsettled by these trials which they are facing. But he is glad that, you know, they are able to hold on. When Timothy goes back with a good report saying, you know, he has gone and visited them and they still have pleasant memories about the missionaries. So you see, when these missionaries went over, they said we have come to give you the gospel, the good news and the Thessalonians gladly accepted it as good news. But then everything seemed to, you know, suddenly go wrong. The persecution became intense. They had to overnight send the missionaries away and then after that, they must have gone through very, very difficult times with the Jews attacking them left and right. So this good news looked as if it is bad news for them personally. You know, things did not go smoothly the way they had been hoping things would go. But now when Timothy comes back, he says that these people are still thinking of them in pleasant terms as though what they have offered is still good. As though what they had taught is something that is still reliable and they are still holding on to it. They have not fallen away. So sometimes when we are following this good news and practicing it in our lives, this gospel, it may lead to bad circumstances. Bad situations. But like the Thessalonians, we need to hold on and we need to hold on and remember that what God is offering us is valuable. So those are the pleasant memories that we hold on to. We don't become grumbly like those Israelites in the wilderness. Instead of being grateful to God that they had been delivered out of Egypt, they began to grumble. They were not grateful for the freedom which they had received. So we, just because the good news is bringing bad circumstances, we should not fall away like those people and grumble against the Lord. So the beautiful thing is that these Thessalonians when Timothy went to them, they didn't have a long list of tribes and complaints and say, this is the good news which you taught us. Now see this is the condition that we are in. There were prominent women who had come to the faith and now they were in an impoverished condition just like the rest of the believers. So because it says that the church was in a very desperate condition financially. So they must have gone through intense persecution. But when they spoke to Timothy who had gone over there, they only talked about pleasant memories. They had not been distracted away from the true gospel. So that should be our heart, that even when we are going through trying times, we hold on to the hope that we have and we still consider knowing God as something pleasant, as something to be treasured and valued. We don't in any way feel, oh, I wish I was like the world, then how easy life would be for me. No, that is simply not the desire of these Thessalonians. They are glad that they were brought the gospel. And they still have fond memories and they are longing for Paul to come back and teach them more things. So we have Christians today who are so grumbly about their faith. They say, oh, we can't do so many things that the world does. So many restrictions and limitations are there. What a empty life we lead. Look at them, they are living such full lives. If any of us has those feelings inside, then we need to recheck ourselves. Maybe we are still so worldly minded that we have not even begun to value what God has offered us. So as long as that worldly mindedness is there, yes, we will still continue to long for Egypt. But if we are like the Thessalonians who, you know, whatever they were taught, they began to renew their minds with that. They began to hold on to the new things which they had been taught. So for them, that longing to continue being part of their old life, go back, going back to the sinful ways, that was not their interest. So if, as Christians, we are feeling very dissatisfied with our Christian life and we are looking very enviously at the sinners, then it means that the work of renewal has not started. So we have to consciously make an effort not to be confirmed to the world, but to start being renewed in our minds so that we will be transformed. So here, Timothy is so happy, he talks to them. Those people say that they have pleasant memories of these missionaries and he comes back and gives this good report and Paul is very thrilled. And then in verse 7, this is what Paul says. He says, Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution, we were encouraged about you because of your faith. Now he had gone to Berea from there and then from Berea, we're not sure where else he went. But wherever Paul and his team were going, they were going through a great amount of distress and persecution. So for them, the one bright spot for them is that the work which they have done in all the different places, it's not wasted. It is bearing fruit. Lives are being changed. So yes, they are still undergoing a lot of distress and persecution, but it's worth it because whatever they have sown, the seeds which they have sown, those seeds are bearing fruit. So he says, this has encouraged us and in verse 8, he makes a rather surprising statement. He says, For now we really live since you are standing firm in the Lord. It's like as if he had been holding his breath up to now and now after finding out from Timothy that they are still standing firm in the Lord, it's like now he's just taken a deep breath and he's relaxing because that's the way that word, that term translates into Greek, in the Greek language. That thing about how we are really living, it's talking about how there's a, we're able to breathe now. You can put that in a kind of rough translation would be now we can breathe. Till now we were too tensed up, but now we can breathe. That really shows the commitment and the love that these people had for the believers that they were serving, where they were so tensed up about their spiritual condition. So if we are running churches, God expects us to be very concerned about the spiritual welfare of our church members. It's not enough that they are coming on Sunday and filling the chairs. What is going on in their lives? Are they growing? Is there progress happening? That burden should be there in our hearts in the same way that Paul had that burden for the believers. Verse nine, he says, 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? Verse 10, Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. So even in our congregations or in whatever ministry God has given us, the people that we are reaching out to, their faith has not been perfected. There are things which are still lacking in their faith. So a true leader would always be looking at his clock and asking himself in what areas is their faith still lacking and what can I do to fill up that area of lack? What can I teach them? What example can I set for them? What opportunities can I give them so that they can try out their wings and grow in that area and learn from God? So whatever is lacking in whatever areas their faith and their growth is still lacking, the leader tries to fill up that, tries to make, tries to come to provide opportunities to the people where they can maybe listen to a teaching or they can come and be part of some kind of ministry project. So he uses different methods to help his people grow in those areas so that their faith will become complete. So this is what Paul says, night and day we are praying earnestly that we can come back and why do we come back? Not just simply to visit, but to supply what is lacking in your faith. Okay, so it is simply not enough to bring people to salvation. We also have to disciple them and continue to see to it that they are growing in their faith and whatever is lacking, we continue to fill up those areas so that they will be complete one day in Christ. Verse 12, he says, May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just ask us for you. So he again comes back to this point about how they should continue to increase and overflow in love for each other and not just for each other in the Thessalonian church, but even for the churches everywhere else. Now this again is a point which places Christians very distinctly from all others. We not only care about our church and our congregation and the people whom we know, we are also people who are expected to have a deep love and commitment and burden for people of other churches in other places and maybe even in other countries, which is why we have so many people interceding for the believers in North Korea, in Pakistan, in Iraq, in places where there's a lot of persecution. Why do we intercede for them regularly in our prayers? It is because we are meant to overflow with love, not just for our own churches and our congregations, but even for everyone else. And this was something that was very, very clear in the early church times. You know, there's this person named Celsus, who was the critic of Christians. I mean, he very strongly opposed Christianity. This was in the second century AD. So this man Celsus, he writes some book called Through Discourse. Of course, there was nothing through about the discourse. It's some kind of a false teaching. But you know, in his writings, this is what the man says about believers of that time. He says, this is what he says. He says, these Christians love each other even before they get acquainted. You know, he writes it in a very mocking, sarcastic manner. They don't even know each other and already they love each other. But that is true Christianity. He regarded it as a weakness, you know, that we should be so loving and care so much about people who we have never even seen. But that is what sets us apart and marks us as true Christians. So Paul is saying of here, whether Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else just as ours does for you. So these early missionaries and ministers of God, they really wanted the believers to grow into the completeness of Christ. So that the believers will one day actually look like Christ, sound like Christ and have the same priorities as Christ. So whomever we are ministering to, I mean, even if it is just a small Bible study group of maybe 10 people, if you are the leader of the Bible study group, can see to it that those 10 people really become more and more Christ-like, you really are moving towards God's goal for you. So when you get to heaven, it will actually nobody is going to care which kind of a throne you're going to be sitting on or how huge your crown is going to be. What God will be looking for is with what heart did you do, what was set in your hands. And that will actually bring glory. So over there in heaven, nobody will care about things like the throne size and the mansion size. They will rather be looking for these aspects. In what way to this person really from their bottom of their heart honor the Lord, please the Lord serve the people. Those last will be the first. So you know, it's generally the ones who have international ministries whose names we know. Some person who's serving in some rural area in some village, he may never even care about their name. But in heaven, we will be told, see these people, this is what they did. They made so many of their disciples price like brought people to the level where their love was increasing and overflowing for each other and for the rest of the church worldwide. Sitting in their village, they were praying with tears and interceding for churches somewhere halfway across the world. And they fulfilled God's purpose. That will be the greatness. That is what the kingdom of God is all about. And so in his concluding remarks, he says in this chapter, 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. There are three places in this Thessalonian letter where Paul talks about the importance of being blameless. That's a term which he uses very specifically in 210 here in 313 and again in 523. He talks about being blameless. So this is basically why we need to understand this point. God does not expect us to be sinless because we are still in the process of renewing our minds. We have not yet become completely Christ-like. We are still in the process. So God does not expect us to be sinless but he very much expects us to be blameless on a daily basis because that word blameless talks about going into his presence each time we do something wrong, we immediately are convicted, we humble ourselves, we respond to the conviction and we go to God and say, Yes, Lord, what you're saying about me is true. I have sinned. No, we don't make excuses. We don't compromise. The minute we are convicted, we go to the Lord and we say, Yes, Lord, what you're convicting me of is true. I humble myself and I repent. Lord, I want to change. Help me, oh Lord, give me the power I need, give me the grace I need. That is blamelessness where you're not continuing to live in sin where you're not ignoring his voice of warning but you are humbling yourself and you're accepting correction. So God does not expect us to be sinless but he expects us to be blameless on a daily basis. This is very, very important. So here Paul says, May God 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. So Jesus is not going to tell you beforehand, one week beforehand, no, I'm going to be coming. And then, you know, that will give you time to clean up your act. No, when he comes with his holy ones, it will be very sudden. It will be very, very unexpected. So in that moment, will God find you blameless or not? That is the point. In that moment, you know, when he comes, will your hands be clean? Have you confessed everything that God has been convicting you of? Have you repented? And are you now taking steps to improve yourself in those areas? So when he comes and catches you, at that moment, are you blameless? You will not be sinless because you know, you have not reached perfection but you can be blameless. So a lot of us, what we do is when we go to the Lord during our quiet time, he brings things to our mind. Things that need to be corrected. And we just push it aside because, you know, we don't really want to deal with those issues. And so those issues are still left hanging. The Holy Spirit has convicted you but you have not yet started resolving, you know, those issues. In fact, maybe you have not been repented yet of those issues. Now those will be areas where you are not blameless. So which is why when we go for, you know, to have a quiet time with the Lord, all the things that he's bringing to our minds, we may not be able to resolve all of it immediately because, you know, some of them are bigger issues but write them down. Write them down. You know, the things which you might have said to someone and that has hurt someone, God reminds you of that, you know, a decision that you're planning on taking but God is, you know, you don't feel peace in your heart regarding that. So, you know, write down that whatever God is bringing to your heart and mind, put down those points and then, you know, prayerfully start dealing with those issues because he wants us to be blameless before him in every single matter. So that when he suddenly comes with his holy ones, he will find you blameless. Okay, so in that sense that, that word blamelessness, it talks about that and it is God who will enable us to do that. We will not be able to do this on our own. He will strengthen our hearts. That is why Paul says over here, may he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless. So, when we come back from the break, we'll get into first this London's chapter 4. Thank you.