 Let's open our Bibles together to 1st Thessalonians chapter 3. We'll be looking at the the whole chapter. It only has 13 verses and a few of those verses are a prayer. We'll be closing with that. So let's begin reading here in 1st Thessalonians chapter 3 at verse 1. I'll read to verse 5 and we'll get into our study. 1st Thessalonians chapter 3 beginning at verse 1 reading to verse 5. Paul writes, 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 our 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 a tribulation just as it happened. And you know for this reason when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith last by some means the tempter had tempted you and our labor might be in vain. And so as is my methodology of teaching and I'll let me give you an introduction and remind you of a few things and prepare the context of this passage and then we'll go through these verses before us. As we begin, I want you to notice something and I'm going to develop it this way. I want you to know that the apostle Paul was a man who was exceptionally gifted. When you look at his life as it is revealed to us in Scripture, we know that this is a man who actually was gifted with many spiritual gifts and we know that he performed many ministry functions. You can see that if you just read the book of Acts. If you read the book of Acts, you'll see his missionary exploits and how the Lord used him or if you read his letters, you see certain things about him and you can also read like first Peter and other letters that make reference to the call of ministers and even Peter himself in I believe second Peter made mention of the apostle Paul and so you can see that this was a very gifted man and he had various gifts and he actually occupied various roles in the church. So when you look in the Bible, you'll see that he exercised the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, faith, miracles. You'd see that he exercised the gift of prophecy, the discerning of spirits. He mentions that he spoke with tongues. You see that he served with the ministry. He had ministry gifts, exhortation, teaching. He was one who had diligent leadership. He was an evangelist. So there are various things that you see him exercising in Scripture and you also see that he had ministry offices that he held in the body of Christ in 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 11. He says it like this. He said, I was appointed a preacher and apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles. And so we see that he had a variety of gifts and he held various offices. Now these are all good in and of themselves. God was using him and did use him in amazing ways, but there was something else about him we need to remember. Paul was a rabbi and as a rabbi, Paul cared about people who came to faith in Christ. And you'll see that in his letters. You'll see him speaking, concerning his love for for people in all, for example, Philippians chapter 1 verse 8, where he says, God is my witness how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. And so he was a rabbi and he actually cared about the people that he ministered to and he loved them. And it's that kind of love that Paul is expressing as he's writing to the Thessalonians. When you read this book, I'll remind you of this, as you read this book, you'll see that he makes mention of them in various ways. For example, in chapter 1 verse 2, he told them that he was thankful for them and that he prayed for them. In chapter 1 verse 3, he told them that he constantly thinks of them. In chapter 2 verse 8, he has openly said that he loved them, that he imparted his life to them. And in chapter 2 verse 17, he made it clear that he desired to see them once again. And all of this reveals his love for them. It also reveals what we would call a vulnerability, he had a tenderness for these people. It's his love for Christ that motivated him to express his heart openly towards them. And that is how he spoke to them. He was an open-hearted minister. In 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 11, he said this to the church there in Corinth. He said, O Corinthians, we have spoken openly to you. Our heart is wide open. And so that's the love that he has. And that's the kind of love that he's expressing to the church here in Thessalonica. He's already given them various words that express his tenderness. He called them his hope, his crown of rejoicing. He spoke of them as being his glory and his joy. They had ministry the joy that it can be because they were doing well in the Lord. And that's what truly blesses a minister. That's something that he said to them and other believers. And that is something that other believers have said concerning the church. When you read John's writings, for example, in 3 John verse 4, he said it like this. He said, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. So Paul had a pastor's love, contrary to what some of the detractors are now saying about him. He was not taking advantage of them. Paul did not lord it over them. Paul loved them. He was like a father, a father in the faith. His concern was for them to walk worthy of the gospel. When you read your Bible, you discover that Paul had been sent away from Thessalonica because of an uproar over the gospel. Acts chapter 17 tells us that a mob formed to attack him for his preaching and that he was sent away for his safety's sake. And though he had been persecuted, though he had been driven away, his heart remained with him. And in spite of this, he longed to come back to make sure that they were going in their faith. He wanted to come. But as we saw last time, according to chapter 2 verse 18, he said he wanted to come time and again. But Satan hindered us. And so his desire was to come. But there was a resistance that he had to deal with. But that opposition served to make his longing to see them even more intense. And that's what he's speaking about when we move into chapter 3. And that's how he begins at verse 1, when he said, 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 our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith. We could endure it no longer. When he says we could no longer endure this, Paul is suffering emotional pain due to a separation from these believers. And his emotional pain is the result of his concern for their spiritual condition. So the pain that he's enduring is spiritual in nature because it's his desire for them to grow in their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. To the Galatians in chapter 4 verse 19, he said it like this. He said, my little children, for whom I labor and birth again until Christ is formed in you. So he has a pain and he's speaking about it. We could no longer endure it, he is saying. I couldn't stand it any longer. I'm going through a lot of pain over this. I want to see you grow, and I'm concerned because people are infiltrating and they're going to undermine your faith. And so he was so concerned he sent Timothy to check on them. He wanted to make sure their spiritual condition was healthy. He wanted Timothy to minister to them on his behalf. And this concern he had for them provoked him to check on their spiritual state. Now that's the proper concern ministers are to have. When a minister actually cares about the church and sends someone to check on it when they're gone, that actually reveals that they're true shepherds because they're caring for the sheep. They're concerned for their well-being. And he had this concern. He was willing to be left in Athens alone. And normally Paul would have men with him and Timothy would have been with him in Athens. It's always a wise practice to have somebody with you. It provides for fellowship as well as accountability. But in spite of this, his concern for them is so great he elects to stay in Athens. And according to verse two, he sent Timothy, and he refers to him as our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith. So he speaks concerning Timothy. Timothy was the right choice because this is a man who's sincerely concerned, was concerned for them. Timothy was qualified as one who would disciple new believers. We need to remember that not every believer is capable of discipling other people. There are those who like to say how long they've been Christians and they say, oh, I got saved in and then they'll give the date. And in a lot of ways, they think that the amount of years that they profess to have known Christ has qualified them for service. But that's not always true. You can be a Christian for a long time and still be a babe in your understanding. You can be a Christian for 10, 15 or 20 years or even longer and never really progress in your understanding of the ways of the Lord. And so some people think that you can simply say, well, I've been a Christian since 1990, since 1980, 1970 for that matter. I've been a Christian for all these years. And that automatically qualifies me. And that's not true because sometimes you've simply been called Christian for a long time, but never matured in your faith. I remember a young pastor was speaking to an older member of his church. And as he was speaking to the older member, the older member was upset at him and was actually saying, I don't think what you want to do is the right move. And so as they were speaking, the older man looks at the younger man and says to him, pastor, I'll have you know, I've been in the way for 43 years. And the young pastor says, well, maybe it's time for you to get out of the way. I mean, there are times that people like to profess how long they've been Christians, when in fact, they're not qualified to help and disciple other people. And first Corinthians chapter three, verses one through three, Paul said it like this. He said, I brethren could not speak to you as to spiritual people, but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food. For until now you are not able to receive it. And even now you are still not able for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? You may be professing to be walking with the Lord, but in fact, you're still evidencing that you don't know them very well. And so because of this, young people or even those who have been walked with the Lord for a while, but don't have qualifications are not able to establish in disciple others. You simply cannot give what you don't personally have. If you want to be used by the Lord to be one who disciples, somebody that would be able to be like a Timothy come in, come alongside of somebody, you need to remember that you should spend personal time in God's word. You need to do devotions. It's good to attend Bible studies, to pray, to have good fellowship, because that encourages your spiritual maturity, give you something to share with other people. Well, Paul had a concern for their spiritual health because they're enduring affliction. And because of this, he sent Timothy notice to establish and encourage them. He said, 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 our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ to establish you and to encourage you concerning your faith to establish means to make stable, to place firmly or confirm somebody's mind. The word encourage means to console, to strengthen, to come alongside, to grow spiritually. They needed to be strengthened through God's word. They'd been converted, but they needed to be discipled. And they're enduring persecution and they're in danger of being infected with bad doctrine for them to survive with their faith intact. They need to be developed into maturity. And that is the task before Timothy. So what qualifies Timothy to disciple these believers? Well, notice Paul refers to Timothy as our brother. When he says our brother, he's a fellow member of the family of God. Timothy was not only saved, but was loved as a brother. He cared for family members. Second, notice he's a minister. The word minister is a word table waiter, one willing to work and sacrifice. He was a minister of God. He wasn't a novice. He was spiritually mature. He was qualified to encourage them to grow. Third, notice he's a fellow laborer. This is a man who labored alongside of Paul. He was sacrificial. He was experienced. He proved his ministry and he was able to establish and encourage them in their faith. Timothy was to encourage them in their tribulations and their afflictions. Part of becoming a disciple is understanding that you need to count the cost. Sometimes new believers become discouraged because they encounter difficulties. I mean, when I first got saved, I was thinking, you know, now everything's going to be great because I was taken out of darkness and translated into God's kingdom of light. I was forgiven of all my sins. Instead of sorrow of heart, I now had the joy of the spirit I didn't have to deal with the grief and with the different kinds of just the bad feelings I had over a life that was poorly lived in. Now I'm saved and one of my friends was telling me, listen, now that you're saved, you may be enjoying yourself at this moment, but you're going to have a difficult time later on. Be aware of that. Be prepared. But I didn't think that was possible. I thought, are you kidding me? I've been saved. My life has changed. I've got freedom. I've got joy. I was excited. He said, you're going to go through trials. You're going to have afflictions. And you know, he would know he was a wise believer. He had already been a Christian for several months. And I said, no, that's not going to happen. Well, within a week, no more than two, I had my first encounter with feeling bad and not having that joy. And I called him up and I said, I'm having a trial of my faith. I just don't know. And it's been that way ever since. You just, you grow, you encounter affliction, hardship, you walk through it, and you strengthen, and you strengthen, and you grow stronger over time. But a lot of times young people don't expect, young believers don't expect, to go through tough times. But that's exactly what happens. We're actually appointed to these afflictions. And yet a young believer can become discouraged when they encounter difficulties. That's why it's important for seasoned saints to be able to encourage young believers to hold on. In 2 Corinthians 4, 16 through 18, Paul said it like this. He said, we do not lose heart, though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. It's been said, salvation that is free can still exact a great price. And that's part of the privilege of walking with Jesus Christ. And so he's going to send Timothy, a fellow laborer, to establish and encourage them concerning their faith. See, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all. And that's what he's encouraging him to. So in verse 3 he says 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. And so he's saying, you've already been prepared. And I don't want you to be shaken by these afflictions. When he says shaken, that word shaken means to be agitated or disturbed. It means to be moved. It was used in reference to a dog as they were wagging their tail. I don't want you shaken. And he speaks of afflictions. The word affliction speaks of something that is pressed together. It's referring to trouble or anguish. It speaks of distress or tribulation. Pressures and troubles that are related to our faith can often produce discouragement. Outside troubles often produce inside doubts. And it's easy to begin to question if this is really worth it. Was it worth coming to faith in Christ? Well, James tells us in chapter 1 verses 2 through 4, my brother encountered all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Don't run from it, but allow God to move through it. Appointed for afflictions. I'm going to develop that with you for a moment. Afflictions are used by the Lord to shape us and to conform us into the image of Jesus Christ. They are often the tools that the Lord uses to refine our faith and strengthen us in Christ. Understand that. As I was considering this message the other day, I was driving and I had my radio on and I was listening to Christian music. And there was a song that some of you may be familiar with. It's a song that has been sung by a young woman named Laura Story. And the song is simply referred to as blessings. That's the title of the song. And as I was listening to her sing, I thought, you know, that's kind of what I'm wanting to highlight in our study this upcoming Sunday. And so what I did is I just wrote down the words to the song to develop the idea of not being shaken by afflictions, by those pressures and tough times that we go through that can discourage us and undermine us. We need to understand that there's purpose in these things. And so in the song Blessings by Laura Story, she says, we pray for blessings. We pray for peace, comfort for family, protection while we sleep. We pray for healing for prosperity. We pray for your mighty hand to ease our suffering. And all the while you hear each spoken need, yet love us way too much to give us lesser things. We pray for wisdom, your voice to hear. We cry in anger when we cannot feel you near. We doubt your goodness. We doubt your love, as if every promise from your word is not enough. And all the while you hear each desperate plea and long that we'd have faith to believe. When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win, we know that pain reminds this heart that this is not, this is not our home. It's not our home. What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy? What if trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest nights are your mercies in disguise? Because what if your blessings come through raindrops? What if your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near? What if trials of this life are your mercies in disguise? That's true. We want God to remove certain things when in fact we prayed for those things. We said, God, make me like you. We said, God, I want to be on fire for you. We said, God, would you conform me into the image of Jesus even as your word says? And we fret, we forget that he's the wounded healer. We forget that he suffered for us. We don't see the value of the affliction. We don't see the glory of that thorn. We don't understand that many of the things that we go through are the things that God uses. They're like the sand papers of smoothing the rough edges from our life. That's the fire that purifies and refines us. Here we are saying, God, I want you to move in my life. And when he does and he begins to remove things, we grab hold of him and hold fast to them and complain against him and think he doesn't hear us when in fact he's actually answering the prayer that we have made requests of him to make us like him. Afflictions, the pressings, the times of difficulty, the times of discouragement, the times of pain, the times of disappointment. We call it rain, but maybe those are the things that God is teaching us so that he may rain in our lives. And he sometimes uses those things in order to purify us. And he allows that so that we might grow to be more like him. In verse four he says, in fact we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation just as it happened. And you know, in his ministry to the Thessalonians, Paul had consciously prepared them for affliction. He didn't want them to be surprised by the response that they would receive. One of Jesus's promises was that we would undergo persecution. He let us know that persecution would come from those who don't know him. In John 16 verses two and three he said, they shall put you out of the synagogue. Yes, the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he does God's service. These things will they do to you because they haven't known the Father nor me. One of the things we need to remember is that righteousness will always be confrontational. And when you live for the Lord, your life is like a light. It exposes works that are done in darkness. And when you actually open your mouth and speak, not everybody wants to hear what you say. That happens in church. It happens in life. You share, you open your heart and you say, this is what God is placing my heart. And people don't always welcome it. They're not always that interested. And especially today, we're living in a time when people seem to be much more angry and easily injured. They get hurt feelings quicker and they respond with anger rapidly. You share the truth with them and they get angry. You're on the job site. People are talking. You differ with what they said. So you say, you know, I don't really buy into that. And before you know it, you get angry people who are arguing with you and mad and then teaming up against you. That happens all the time. That happens all the time. It happens on job sites. It happens in neighborhoods. It happens in families. It happens in school. I can still remember I was in college. I was taking a marriage and family class at Cal Poly Pomona and all through the semester in this particular class, there were two women in the class and they would interrupt the professor constantly. And I'm one of these people who, if I paid my tuition, I want to be taught by the professor and discuss things with him. And yet these people took over the class, every class. And they always had their opinions. And so if he began to lecture on something and they sat in the front row there, I still can picture them in my mind's eye, they would sit in the front row together and he would be lecturing and they would interrupt and they would start talking. They took over the class every class and they were opinionated and it was difficult for me to put up with them. And frankly, about six or so weeks or more into the class, I had gotten tired of it. And so we were discussing an issue in the class, it's marriage and family. I raised my hand and I asked a question. I said to the professor, I understand that if a child is left alone without any adult supervision, say mom and dad are both working and that child is left by themselves, I understand that there's a better chance for that child to grow up with, you know, perhaps be delinquent, cause problems, have difficulties. And I was asking a question in a social science class, a social science setting, a class that was dealing with marriage and family. I wanted to know whatever information he had on that because I already know that a child left to himself for being shamed to his mother. I just wanted to see what the professor thought about that. And so I asked him, I said I'd like to know if a child is left alone without supervision or anybody teaching him right from wrong, isn't it a better chance for that child to grow up without a moral code? And so that's a good question I would think. And so one of the women raised her hand and said, allow me to answer that question. And I looked at her and I was tired. And I said, listen, if I wanted to know your opinion, I would have asked you. But seeing that I'm not interested in your opinion, but I actually want to hear what the professor says. I would just assume you not answer the question. And that got her partner all upset. How surprising is that? And so it's like a tag team, you know, she slaps the hand of the other while she's recovering. And the other lady turns and yells at me. I mean, she's just all mad. And I'm looking at her. And when she finishes saying whatever it is she said, I looked at her and said, you know, that absolutely makes no sense. You realize that, don't you? And she got all sputtering mad. And before you know it, the professor's calling me. It was the best class I'd been in in a long time. Because we actually were dealing with issues, right? See, but when you open your mouth and you say something that people disagree with, you already know this, that there's going to be sometimes an angry response. There's going to be a shouting down. Your opinion doesn't count. The majority opinion does. And we've got a lot of Christians today who are afraid to open their mouth. They're afraid to stand up and speak. Why? Because they don't want to be ostracized. They don't want people angry at them. And so they're quiet and it gives the impression that we have no opinion. It gives the impression that we know nothing. I'm encouraging you not to be bullies. I'm simply encouraging you speak up because somebody has to. And the church is intended to be salt and light. We're supposed to say something. We're supposed to give opinions. You will be surprised after that class where these women were so mad at me. After the class, I had people walking up, women and men walking up saying thank you. Thank you for saying something because they're quiet. They may not say anything, but they're in agreement with you. And all you need to do is be prepared and speak in a way that doesn't reflect some kind of ignorance. Speak with the thought out kind of way of speaking. And you'll be surprised at the amount of people who are saying, now I agree with that. And I haven't heard that in so long and it does make sense. Don't be afraid of being under affliction. We're appointed to it. Those who shall live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. That happens. It's a promise God gave to us. But we need to stand up and we need to speak. And the concern Paul has is that these people are too quiet. He's concerned that they're going to be infiltrated and their faith is going to be undermined because they have been going through affliction. Remember, when you live for Christ, those who do not live for him will take notice. We need to speak. And so he says in verse five, for this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith less by some means that tempter attempted you and our labor might be in vain. That's why I sent Timothy to check on you. I was concerned for you. I was concerned for your faith. I wanted you to remain true to Christ. He says in verse five, less by some means that tempter tempted you. Satan is behind the opposition and behind the hardships that they're enduring. So he's concerned that they be not discouraged by Satan's attacks on them. So I'm concerned about this. But verse six, 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. Therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress, we were comforted concerning you by your faith. So Timothy returned and gave an encouraging report. Their faith is strong. Their love is maturing. It's interesting how he speaks of faith and love because faith and love sum up the life of a believer. In verse six, he says you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us. So I rejoice that false teachers haven't caused your love to waver towards me. You see, that's how the enemy works. He separates believers from their pastor. That's how he works. If he can work in the heart of one of the sheep of a church, and if he can put into the heart of that sheep a rejection of the one whom God has placed as the minister in their life, and if he can separate their heart from the shepherd, then he's accomplishing a great goal. And he does that all the time. He works hard to undermine relationships like that. He wants to separate believers from their pastor. And Paul was blessed to know that they were thinking of him. They had good remembrance of him. And he said, and you greatly desire to see us. I want you to know I greatly desire to see you too. In verse seven, therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress, we were comforted concerning you by your faith. I am comforted. I have been given new strength. This report has reinvigorated me. Your faithfulness to the Lord in the midst of affliction encourages me. And so he says in verse eight, for now we live if you stand fast in the Lord. For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith. My life and my comfort depend on your stability. My life and my comfort depend on your walk with Jesus Christ. Your faith in Jesus strengthens me and encourages my joy. He's saying Jesus has given me meaning and the faith of you believers have given me purpose. Let me tell you a quick, quick story. We began our ministry many years ago now. This month, as a matter of fact, we celebrate our 37th anniversary. So 37 years ago this month, we began our ministry in this area as a Calvary ministry. We met in a house, then we moved to another house. When we moved from the second house, that was where the church was actually meeting for Sunday. We moved on into a small church, a church building in Ontario. Sat about 120 people and then we outgrew that facility and we moved to Central School, Central School in Ontario, right off of Euclid and G Street. And we were there for a while and then we moved. We moved to Ontario Christian Elementary School and we met there. Central School sat about a little over 200. Ontario Christians sat around three. We eventually bought some property. It was on Maple Street, 10,000 square feet of building. We added 2,000 square feet and we had a sanctuary that sat 427 people that we stretched to seat 475. We began to rent Ontario High School. Eventually we discovered this property and we bought it back in 92. You only had the chapel and it had some houses and a barn stable. Over the years we worked on it, built out the chapel, built the patio, built classrooms, built a bookstore. Then finally one day in 2000, I think right around 2002, we broke ground to build this sanctuary. And I can still remember when they were building the sanctuary, I would come stepping out and I would look out into this area. This is just dirt, how they were digging it out. How this platform that I'm standing on is a pile of dirt that just has concrete that's over it. And I remember seeing them when they lifted up in the front. If you walked in the front, the very front when you walk in, there is a single piece of, I don't know what to refer to, it's just a single piece of, I'll call it concrete, but I forget what it's called. That whole facade is one piece and when they lifted it, the guys who put it in had to bring in special cranes to get that one piece up and they told us that this is the largest in the world single piece. So that was, they said this is a world record of one piece of concrete that is used and that's in the front there. And so I can still remember when we had carpet and we were carpeting, we carpeted up here and people came up and wrote scriptures. It was a great celebration. We were about to enter into this church and begin to use this building for Sunday mornings. My son David was with me and my son David and I were standing right here basically right up here in the platform and the lights were on and I was looking at all these empty seats and thinking what is the Lord going to do and all when my boy walks up to me and he looks at me and he said to me this, he said, dad, this is your dream come true. And I looked at him and I said, no son, this is just a building. My true dream is for you and my children to walk with the Lord. That's my dream. That's a father's dream and that is also a pastor's dream. Buildings, that's not what Paul was concerned about. He was concerned for people. That's a pastor's heart. It's always going to be the people that matter, not the buildings and not the events and not the things that are going on. You see, Paul's life was centered on Jesus Christ and his desire was for all believers to have that kind of passion. His desire was for them. That's why he says in verse eight, now we live if you stand fast in the Lord. That's what matters. The thing that matters in the heart of every true Christian is that their brothers or their sisters are doing well in Jesus Christ is that they love the Lord. They love his word. They love to pray. They walk in his spirit. They live a holy life. They have a blameless life. They're a great example to people. That's what we desire. We desire people to know God and we know that the church is intended by Christ to be an example of what God can do in people's lives on the face of the earth and thus we expect that the Lord would move in them. And that's what he's talking about. He says we give thanks in verse nine. What thanks can we render to God for you for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before God. Night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith. We want to give to you more. We want to impart more to you. And now he says, may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you. The enemy has been hindering us but may God make a way for us to be with you and may the Lord make you notice increase and abound in love to one another and to all just as we do to you so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all of his saints. May God work in you and transform your life. May God do something in you that causes people to know that Jesus is the center of it. May God's work in you in such a way that people will see the Lord in you and that for that I labor day and night. And he's saying in verse 12, may your church family be loving to one another and may you be loving to people in general because this kind of love is the earmark of a believer. It reveals true faith and may you be according to verse 13 established blameless in holiness. May your lives be pure moral upright that people know your Christians. Brea and I were in a restaurant a while back now in the local area and as we're there there was a guy who was seated within earshot he wasn't that far maybe maybe 10 feet away. He's seated right here to my right. I still remember and he was with three ladies and apparently they were taking their lunch from work and they were there having the lunchtime and they were just talking and he was very loud really loud and he was drinking and as he was drinking he was getting even louder. You know my dad used to say he was getting lubricated. He was getting louder and as he was getting louder he is getting more profane and now he's using some real bad words. He's swearing a lot and my wife doesn't notice these things. She's so used to me cussing I guess. No she never she she doesn't notice these things but I'm the husband and my ears are always attuned to these things because I don't want somebody saying something in front of my wife. I'm still old-fashioned like that I don't appreciate that and so as I'm listening and over hearing and he's very loud and he's using all kinds of words I'm starting to get agitated and as I'm getting agitated I begin to think should I get up and tell him something. So I say well if I get up and tell him something and he seems to be getting he's on his way to being little he may think that he's gaining weight and getting tough for us he's drinking and he may want to get in my face. Now what am I going to do? Well maybe Marie could go and tell him. No and I'm and so I pray I say Lord should I go and ask him to please calm down a bit because he's so offensive or should I just trust that maybe one of the waiters or somebody you know and I'm praying and as I'm praying I'm thinking what should I do when he's still talking and then he yells he says that he goes I'm a born again Christian and he says when it comes to dating I need to have a girl that measures up to biblical standards and I'm looking at him now. Guess what that happens all the time doesn't it? It really does. Where people profess a faith in Christ but they don't walk blamelessly or in holiness and yet if you speak to them if you say to them your language is a bit off color hey wait a minute man who are you to judge me who are you to say things to me and they're thin skinned because they're convicted what is Paul's prayer that you would walk holy and blameless why why does that matter so that people may know that there is a God who changes lives that they that they may see that this person I know what he was like and now look at his life is different he doesn't swear listen I swore I swore so I was the worst swear I knew I swore in my sleep I mean I was a person who used profanity I could not express anything without a dirty word that's a fact and when I gave my heart to Christ my friend Bill told me two weeks after getting saved Bill said this to me he said I know that you're saved and he said how do you know that how would you know that he says you don't cuss anymore you don't cuss anymore the Lord gave me a new language a new way of expressing myself he does that kind of thing get into the word and you see what God says and how he speaks to you and you learn a new vocabulary that's what happened with me and you get this idea I want to live in such a way that people may point at me but I'll be blameless they may make an accusation but it'll be false I want to walk with holiness I want people to know that I'm a set-apart vessel for God and that's what his prayer is may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all one may you have a heart of love and may you care for the church may you love your brothers and your sisters may they be more than just people that you're seated next to I mean even in churches like this people can get uptight with that person because after all they came last week and they sat in this seat and and now they've come a little later and somebody else took that seat from him and now that's my seat and they get mad or an usher says him could you scoot over a little bit so somebody come in no move this my seat and and we can get uptight like that we get mad at the people in the parking lot who say could you please park over here no park where I want who are you man then you come in oh praise you Jesus I love you you know walking blamelessly with holiness and that's my prayer he says may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all just as we do to you so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before God and father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints may you be established may your lives be pure may they be moral and upright that people may know that you're believers and the Lord is returning we'll be looking at this in chapter four the Lord is going to be taking the church to be with him and it's a promise that comforts you in your time of affliction and he says before our God and father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints he says with all his saints meaning either his holy angels or his people whom he will bring with him and will raise their dead bodies reunite them with their souls they shall be with him forever then shall they be unblameable in holiness both in soul and body shall be presented by him first to himself and then to his father faultless without spot or wrinkle or any such thing he's saying may you live as if Jesus is returning today listen you're going through hard times but remember you're just passing through you're going through difficulty remember that doesn't it's not permanent you're going to make it hold fast to the Lord you're being afflicted that's part of being a Christian God uses that to purge things from you and conform you into the image of Jesus Christ you're undergoing persecution remember you're living for Christ and all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution don't be crying over it rejoice in the Lord because he's strengthening you through it he's giving you credibility he's establishing your confidence in him he's awakening to you the fact that there's a place that is better than this a place that he's prepared for you so that you don't get so attached to this place that you forget about that other one and as you live for Christ you're going to bring other people with you because the most selfish person is the one who goes to heaven alone and so you're going to have a heart to reach somebody for Jesus's sake you're going to live in such a way that people will know that God is real and God will be honored and Paul says oh may the Lord strengthen you it causes my heart joy to know that your faith is strong it's being refined you're holding fast and you're being used by God and that is the pastor's heart of Paul may you love one another and may you love others because love is the mark of a Christian may we love one another beginning today