Tag: Power

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When You Hit a Wall (Acts 4:23–31)

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“I quit!” That’s what Geri Scazzero told her husband. After years of taking care of the kids alone, doing everything he needed her to do for the church, and skipping vacations, she finally decided to quit. She was through overfunctioning for her husband at home so he could overfunction at church. She had hit a wall, and she couldn’t do it anymore. That’s the story she tells in her helpful book The Emotionally Healthy Woman.

Maybe that’s where you are today. You’ve tried and tried and tried, and you’ve hit a wall. There is no going forward in the direction you are now going. Something has to change.

What do we do when we hit a wall? It’s a frustrating experience. You thought you were going forward, and, suddenly, you realize you aren’t making any progress. Maybe you’ve been stuck for years in the same pattern, and it isn’t getting you anywhere. What are you supposed to do?

Our text tells us of a time when the disciples hit a wall. They had been moving forward, doing what Jesus told them to do, and they hit a wall, the opposition of the leaders of the nation. What were they going to do? This text tells us what they did when they hit a wall. We will see this answer in four points: the context, the wall, the prayer, and the answer.

The Context
Let’s look at the really big picture first. The big picture is that God created the world for Himself. He made human beings to enjoy harmonious fellowship with Himself and with others. He made them to be productive and to enjoy the world. However, our parents turned from God, we’ve been doing it ever since. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The result has been war, enmity, destruction, addictions, debilitation, and death across the ages. The good news is that God still loved this fallen, sinful world. God sent His Son. This means that there is one God, but He has revealed Himself as existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Son took on Himself a human nature and died and rose again to reconcile God and humanity. This is the greatest wall humans have ever faced, and the Son of God overcame it.

On the authority of the Son of God, you are now offered peace, life, and forgiveness as a free gift. God offers full reconciliation and restoration. This is the gift that is available to everyone.

But how will you know about it? You’ve got to hear about it. How is that going to happen? Jesus thought of that. He sent out people to tell others about Him. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, He said to His disciples. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, will empower them to tell others about Him. That’s how it happens.

Now, let’s go back to our chapter. They had done what Jesus asked. The Holy Spirit had empowered them to tell others about Jesus. Thousands had believed. The church had grown. It was a miracle of God’s grace. All over Jerusalem, people were trusting in Jesus as the one who could give them a new life and a new hope.

One way Jesus got the church off the ground is that He gave them special signs. They did miracles. A man who had begged every day at the gate of the temple was there. He begged because he could not walk. Peter and John told him to walk, and he was healed. How? “By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see” (Acts 3:16). The power of Jesus made this man well, and everybody knew it.

The Wall
Then, they hit a wall. The leaders of the people were alarmed at the growth of the church. They were “greatly disturbed” our text says (Acts 4:2). So, they took Peter and John and put them in prison. They had hit a wall.

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The Marvelous Works of Jesus, Part 5: Greater Than We Thought

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There are few things that can grip our hearts more than threats to the ones we love. We yearn for them. We worry about them. We weep for them. We are concerned about them.

In the amazing grace of God, He has given us a group of people around us who care for us and love us and to whom we can also give love and care. These people are the sources of some of our greatest joys on earth and also some of our greatest sorrows. What can hurt us more than the loss of a child? What is rougher than the loss of someone close such as a wife or a friend who has been with us for many years?

Into this great challenge, Jesus enters in and shows His love and care for those whom we love the most. He demonstrates His care in two stories where someone experiences sorrow over someone they love dearly. Even in this difficult area of our life, Jesus shows us that He is greater than we often think and able to care for those whom we love. In this story, we have two instances of the marvelous works of Jesus that were greater than any recorded thus far. This shows us how great Jesus is and with how much confidence we can put our loved ones in His hands. These are the stories of a centurion and a widow who experienced the marvelous works of Jesus.

The Centurion
A centurion was an army officer of the Roman Empire. This centurion or army officer lived in Capernaum, since the Roman Empire had soldiers stationed everywhere. This centurion had a servant whom he loved, and this servant was sick and about to die. Here was someone dear to this man, and he was on the point of death. It seemed like there was no hope. Then, he heard about Jesus. Jesus had been healing all sorts of people, and so he believed that there was hope.

Out of this hope, he sought out Jesus. What is striking here is that this man did not go to Jesus himself. Instead, he sent some of the elders of the Jews to ask Jesus to heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they not only asked him, “they pleaded earnestly with him.” Now, why would they do this for a Gentile, Roman army officer? They gave Jesus the reason, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue” (7:5).

The Roman army officer was a man who cared about people. He loved his servant. He also loved the people where he lived. He showed this care for them by building them a synagogue.

The Roman army officer was a man who cared about God as well. He was probably pious and what the Jews of the time called “a God fearing man.” He showed his care for the people by building them a place for worship.

This centurion was just and pious. He represented the best of what Rome had to offer to the world. The Jews of Capernaum were so moved by his justice and his piety that they went to Jesus on his behalf.

The result was that Jesus went with them to heal the servant. However, when Jesus was not far from the house, the centurion sent out friends to say to him. “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you” (Luke 7:6b–7a). This is remarkable indeed. He saw his own unworthiness and the worthiness of Jesus. He saw Jesus as great.

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Tools of Transformation: Prayer (Luke 11:1–13)

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As you all know, this is my first week back in the pulpit since returning from Egypt. One thing that is present everywhere in Egypt is prayer. There is prayer, prayer, prayer everywhere. At 3:30, there is a man calling people to prayer: “God is great, come and pray!” When I went to the fish market, there was a group of men praying together in a little place set aside for that purpose. When Anna and I went to lunch, our guide went to a place to pray several times. Prayer is everywhere in Egypt!

And maybe it’s an experience like that which led the disciples to say, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1). I look at John’s disciples, and they are praying. Why am I not praying? Jesus, help me know how to pray.

They made this request to Jesus this when Jesus Himself was praying. You see, Jesus was a man of prayer. He was always seeking His Father. He was always praying. Read through Luke’s account of Jesus’ life. You will find that Luke always notes that Jesus was praying. For example, when Jesus was transfigured or changed on the mountain, Luke tells us that this happened while Jesus was praying! The other accounts do not add this detail. You will see this everywhere in the book of Luke.

So, Jesus’ disciples knew that Jesus prayed. They wanted to become like that. They wanted to be people of prayer! That’s what led them to ask Jesus to make them people of prayer. They wanted to live in communion with the Father like Jesus did. They needed help! Do you need help becoming a person of prayer? Jesus is still ready to teach you! I want you to see this in the text today. We are going to look at it backwards, though, for reasons that I think will become clear. I want you to see the God of prayer, persistence in prayer, and the content of prayer. These are the things that Jesus wants us to understand in order to learn to pray.

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An Ever Present Help (Mt. 28:20b)

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Christians today look at the world and are anxious about it. The world seems to be becoming more and more hostile to our faith. Our values seem to be under assault.

In addition, things are changing so fast. The past year has accelerated so many trends that were already underway. Power is shifting throughout the world.

What are we to do about it? Most people are afraid to even bring up these topics with their neighbors. We often look out on the world as if we just have to watch it with a sense of foreboding and doom. What are we to do?

Matthew West captured this sentiment well in a song that he wrote a few years ago.

Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of
People living in poverty
Children sold into slavery
The thought disgusted me
So, I shook my fist at Heaven
Said, “God, why don’t You do something?”

He said, “I did, I created you”

That song was called, “Do Something.”

We are not called to sit passively back and let the world slide into destruction. God calls us in this text to get involved in changing the world. Particularly, He wants us to make disciples of all nations.

The Presence
Now, that seems daunting. Who are we to do something about the big problems in the world? You might say, “I’m scared even to talk to my neighbor about Jesus.” You might say, “I have a hard time even talking to people at all.” You might say, “I’m young and can’t do anything.”

I’ll never forget a conversation I had a few years ago with a man in our church. He felt like he should be a deacon, but he was scared. He didn’t think he could do it.

So, I asked him, “Do you know what God always says when He calls people to do something?”

“Get going?” He responded.

“No,” I replied. “He says, ‘I will be with you.'”

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Power on the Way (Mt. 28:18)

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Because of this past year, many people have gotten out of the discipline of gathering. Before the pandemic, we may have gathered on Sunday and in a small group, but now we have gotten out of the habit. Why is this? Because we are tired, overwhelmed, and busy. That’s what generally keeps people from doing so.

There are so many good things that require discipline. They require strength and power to complete. Where are we going to get the strength, even when things get difficult, to keep going and doing the right things?

But our situation is often worse than that. We not only fail to do the right things. We do the wrong things. We spend our time on that which is useless or positively harmful. Some of you are completely stuck in a pattern of doing the wrong thing. You’re stuck in bitterness or addicted to pleasure or fixated on some wrong in the world. You’re stuck in a toxic relationship and keep going back. You hit a wall, and you keep descending to a low and unhelpful place. You get tired, and you start blaming and attacking. You feel like you’ve got nothing left. I know. I’ve been there, too, especially in this past year.

What are we to do? Well, we don’t have to rely on ourselves. Jesus has what we need, and that is what we learn from what Jesus says in Mt. 28:18, “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.'” He has the power, and He makes it available to you.

Let’s consider this more carefully by looking at Jesus’ authority and then how this power helps us.

Jesus’ Authority & Power
In this passage, Jesus met His eleven disciples on a mountain. Judas had betrayed him and was no more. The eleven remaining disciples met him in Galilee. They went up to the mountain to meet him. Some worshipped Him, and some doubted.

They knew that Jesus had risen from the dead, but what does that resurrection mean? What is its significance? What is going to happen next? Jesus told them. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” He has not only risen from the dead. He is exalted over all things.

Jesus was now exalted as the ruler of heaven and earth with all power and authority given to Him. That is one of the most important aspects of the resurrection. He rules over the entire world with all power and authority given to Him by His Father.

In Psalm 110:1–2, David prophesies concerning the Messiah, “The Lord says to my lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of your enemies!'” What Jesus is saying in Matthew 28:18 is that this had now been fulfilled!

And this is the amazing thing. The Apostles got it. In spite of the fact that they were persecuted and opposed by the authorities of this world, in spite of the fact that they were a small group of believers, they walked around like they owned the place. They believed that whatever happened before their physical eyes, the true reality was that Jesus was reigning right now and was in the process of redeeming and restoring the world through His almighty power. They saw Jesus with the eyes of faith. They saw Him as reigning with all authority and power.

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Power & Prayer (Acts 4:23–31)

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Ambition. It may seem like a bad word, but it’s not. We should think about great things and seek great things.

The problem is selfish ambition. It is ambition at the expense of God and others that aims simply at glorifying ourselves. Ambition that aims at glorifying God and serving the community is not only legitimate, it is laudable. We should seek after it. We should seek to do as much good as we possibly can. We should seek the kingdom of God as our first priority.

So, why don’t we do it? Primarily, it’s because of resistance, internal and external. It’s hard. We may not even know where to start. Well, this passage tells us where to start in seeking greater things for the kingdom of God. Let’s consider it together.

Resistance
The Apostles here had already begun a great task. They were following Jesus’ command. They were to be God’s witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. The book of Acts is the story of how they obeyed this command.

The first day of their work went pretty well. They gained 3,000 converts. The next few days went pretty well, too. They were gaining traction.

Then, they encountered resistance. It was the same sort of resistance that Jesus encountered. The religious leaders did not like what they were doing. So, here’s what they did: “They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day” (Acts 4:3).

They then brought Peter and John before them. Eventually, they said this, “Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18).

The response of Peter and John was extraordinary. “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19–20). In other words, they had to listen to Jesus’ command rather than that of the religious leaders. It’s an obvious truth but still a bold response.

In spite of seeing this triumph, we need to remember that resistance is hard. When people oppose us, it makes things scary. When people get angry, it’s easy to see people as large and ourselves as small. We can feel like a little kid again. We may not be arrested for speaking about Jesus, but people may look at us as weird. It may also interfere with our other tasks. Getting involved with people takes time and it takes effort. It’s often messy. It’s easier to avoid it. Getting involved with people will involve resistance.

So, what do we do when we face resistance?

Prayer
We should turn to prayer. Instead of recoiling, running, or rebelling, we should turn to prayer, prayer for power. And that’s what they did. They prayed.

This is crucial. We should see that the book of Acts is filled with prayer. Dr. Lloyd-John Ogilvie, former Senate chaplain and Pesbyterian minister said in his excellent book on Acts: “The spectacular events spread across the pages of Acts must all be traced back to praying like that.” Ambition for God’s kingdom and prayer go hand in hand.

Let’s look a little more closely at their prayer. They begin their prayer by lifting their hearts above the things of earth to the greatness of their Creator. “Sovereign Lord . . . you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them” (Acts 4:24). In itself, this perspective will help us begin to move beyond the frustrations and difficulties of our daily life.

Then, they quoted God’s words back to Him. They went to Psalm 2. “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one” (Acts 4:25–26). They then said, what you spoke about is exactly what happened. The Lord is faithful and true. Resistance is just what you promised.

Then, they brought the situation to God’s attention. “Now, Lord, consider their threats . . .” (Acts 4:29). God wants us to bring our specific circumstances before Him. How often do we face difficulties in work, business, school, family, or church that we don’t bring them to God? We may think, He already knows, but that is an erroneous way to think about prayer. God wants us to be very specific with Him.

And then they made a very specific request: enable them to speak with boldness and perform great signs. Continue this work by demonstrations of power outside them and within them. And that’s what we should do as well: make very specific requests.

Power
And see what happened. “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (Acts 4:31). They sent up the prayer, and God sent down the power. That’s the way it always is.

Remember that power is a key word here. Jesus promised power. Even to those who had killed Jesus, God promised the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of power to be part of what Jesus was doing in redeeming the whole world.

That power is available to us, too, but we don’t just sit back and wait for it. Now, we may have to wait at times, but we don’t wait passively. We pray. We ask. We seek. We knock. We look for the Lord’s power. We ask, and God supplies. We seek, and God enables us to find. We knock, and God opens the door.

That’s what I want you to do, but we need an ambition for God’s kingdom. It’s only when we have an ambition for God’s kingdom that we will really begin to pray for the power that God wants to give.

Now, you may say to me, how does that start? What do I need power for? Start by thinking about the world around you. What would you want to see God do in your family? In your business? In your community? In your nation? In your church? In your neighborhood? Then, start praying. Start praying for God to open up doors. Start praying that He will enable you to cross the boundaries that have kept you from moving forward. Ask God to give you a vision for what He will do in you and through you.

People generally pray for two reasons. The first is when something disrupts their normal life such as family conflict, cancer, or job loss. The second is when they get a vision to do something bigger. When people move outside themselves, they sense their need for help. That’s where prayer comes in.

Recently, I talked with a woman at Aldi who I had not seen in a while. She told me she about a woman in her neighborhood she was reaching out to. She said, pray for me because we are having really good discussions. That’s what reaching out will do. It makes us feel our need. That moves us to prayer, and God then supplies the power.

When you start something new, you begin to pray. We’ve started Evergreen Midweek, and it is the sort of thing that I’m praying for regularly. I want to see it be a blessing to our kids, our youth, and our adults. I want to see it as something that will bless our community as well. I realize how little I can accomplish that. This drives me to prayer.

When Marty decided to get involved with disaster response, he did not know how he was going to fund it. It was tough, especially at the start. He prayed. We prayed. God has supplied the need. He is very close to being fully funded. That’s what happens when we get a vision to do something more.

There are people everywhere who need to experience God’s love and God’s purpose. God wants to empower you and use you to show that to them. He just wants you to be open to others and ask Him for help. He will supply the power.

________

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

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God Wants to Use You (Acts 2:38–39)

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Have you felt overwhelmed at any point this year? To ask is to answer. 2020 has been a year like no other. It has been overwhelming!

Think about it, people have last their businesses. People have moved to online work and online school. Many are trying to work from home while their kids do school from home, staring at a screen for 7 hours a day. Many people are isolated, not just the vulnerable, but those who care for the vulnerable. There are mental health issues. There are financial issues for businesses, churches, and families. And, by the way, there’s also a presidential election this year.

So, in the midst of an overwhelming year, what does God want us to do? Let me tell you exactly what He wants us to do: reach out in love and service to those around us.

What??? You might respond! I’m already overwhelmed, and you want me to add to it reaching out to others! That’s crazy! How in the world am I supposed to do that?

There’s a simple answer: God’s power. The Holy Spirit. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you!

Think about this. Jesus left 120 disciples behind, and He told them to essentially let the entire planet know about Him. How were they were going to do this? “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you . . .” (Acts 1:8).

That’s what this whole series is about, but today, I want to ask, does God really want to use me? After all the ways I’ve failed and all the wrongs I’ve done, does God really want to use me? This passage gives us an emphatic answer.

The Prelude to the Passage
The book of Acts is the sequel to the book of Luke. The book of Luke tells us all the things that Jesus began to do and to say before He went up into heaven. The book of Acts tells us what Jesus did after He ascended into heaven.

Through all of Jesus’ suffering, trials, and resurrection, several of His disciples had stuck with Him. Jesus told them, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). This meant that they would be Jesus’ representatives to tell the world about Him. However, they wouldn’t have to rely on their own resources. Jesus would send them the Holy Spirit. The 3rd person of the Trinity would come in power to enable them to serve the world. That was the promise.

This teaches us how much Jesus values His disciples. He leaves and wants them to be His representatives to the world. That’s how significant Jesus thought they were, and that’s how significant He thinks you are! He gives you all the resources you need and sends you out into the world to serve it with power.

A few days after Jesus said this, the Holy Spirit came upon them. The sign was a great wind, for Spirit in Greek and Hebrew means wind. The Spirit is also compared to a fire, and so flames of fire on their heads. The promised Spirit had come. God showed that this was His work by enabling them all to speak in different languages. Everyone heard them in their own language and understood them. However, we always want an easy explanation for things we don’t understand. Some mocked them and said that they were drunk.

At this point, Peter stood up to explain what was going on. He told them that they were not drunk. It was much too early for that. He told them that Jesus had risen from the dead and had sent His power upon them to enable them to do what they observed. This was clear evidence that God had made Jesus both “Lord and Christ.”

The People in this Passage
Now, to whom is Peter speaking? I want you to pay very careful attention to the people to whom Peter is speaking. He says in v. 36, “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” They were the people who put Jesus to death.

Killing Jesus is a pretty big crime. He says in Acts 3:15, “You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead.” You killed the author of life! How could you do that?

Now, think about your own life. What have you done? What sins have you committed?

Maybe you got made at the worst time and made a fool of yourself.

Maybe you abused someone physically or emotionally that has led to alienation.

Kids, have you ever done something really wrong that you knew was wrong and that you still think about? I know I did. I still look back on those things with regret.

Maybe you had an opportunity to do something really good but you did something stupid and blew it.

Maybe you had a sexual relationship that you knew was wrong or you cheated on your spouse.

Maybe you got drunk at your best friend’s wedding and ended up doing something that made you an embarrassment to yourself and your best friend.

Maybe it’s something else.

The point is that we’ve all done things that make us feel guilty. We’ve all done things that are painful to remember. But we haven’t actually killed Jesus. That’s pretty bad.

The Promise in this Passage
And what does God say to these killers of Jesus? “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Let’s unpack that.

What does God want them to do? He wants them to say they’re sorry. He wants them to acknowledge they did the wrong.

Second, he wants them to be baptized. This would mean to publicly acknowledge that they had done the wrong thing and to now accept that Jesus was right.

If they will do those two simple things, He will forgive them. What he says is that anyone who admits they are wrong and then acknowledged Jesus as Lord will be forgiven. That’s it. They don’t have to do a whole lot. Just acknowledge their wrong and commit to doing what’s right. That’s the grace of justification by faith alone. Forgiveness is a free gift.

Now, go back to all the things we talked about in the previous section. If God was willing to forgive those who would kill His own Son, won’t He forgive you? Of course, He will. It’s an argument from the greater to the lesser. If God is willing to forgiven those who killed His Son, won’t He forgive you? God is a God who forgives. Wherever you’ve been, whatever you’ve done, however much shame you feel, God is there with forgiveness. He will cast your sins as far as the east is from the west. That’s His promise.

But there’s much more. He says, “and you shall receive the Holy Spirit.” In the context this means that God not only forgives you, He values you and wants to use you. He wants to be your partner, your friend, and your co-worker in His mission. He will give you power to serve.

Now, in creation, we are all part of God’s mission to bring the creation to a place that shows forth God’s glory. When we learn, when we parent, when we work, when we teach, when we organize, when we garden, when we create, we are God’s partners in His mission to make the world into a beautiful place that shows forth His glory.

But He also want to be our partner in His mission to restore people to Himself. He wants us to be His partner in His work of redemption, redemption and creation. He wants to bring people who have turned from Him and are under His wrath back into forgiveness and fellowship with Him. He wants us to share the good news about Jesus. It’s in Him we have those things. He wants to use us to make that happen. That’s what it means to experience the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is power to serve in God’s work of redemption.

That means that God wants to use you. Again, if God is willing to use those who killed His Son and partner with them in His mission to the world, then God will surely use you. If He partnered with those who were willing to kill the Author of life, then He will partner with you, no matter what you’ve done, where you’ve been, or what you’ve left undone. God wants to use you! That’s for certain.

This doesn’t mean you have to enter full-time Christian service or be a pastor. The book of Acts tells us that people partner in God’s mission to redeem the world in a variety of ways. They walk on their way and are open to talking to the people God leads them to like Philip. They do deeds of service that show the love of God like Dorcas. They cross boundaries to people who are different from them like the Christians in Antioch. They gather people together like Lydia. They invite people into their homes and talk about the Lord like Aquilla and Priscilla did with Apollos.

The bottom line is that they are open. They are open to the work of the Spirit. They are open to people and how God might use them. That’s what it means to receive and live in the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion
Look, we are already doing this to a degree. I think of a couple in the church who asked me to pray for a woman to whom they were ministering. I think of another couple who has made their neighborhood their mission. All through Covid, they’ve been actively ministering to their neighbors. They have keys to their neighbor’s houses because they take care of them when their neighbors are gone. They do this because they see God’s mission to bring restoration to people, and they want to be a part of it.

However, we’ve got to be reminded of this. We’ve got to remember what God is doing and wants to do in our lives. We’ve got to fan the flames of the Spirit in our life. That’s what this series is for. It’s a reminder for me, and it’s a reminder for you. We’ve got to remember: God wants to use us. God wants to partner with us. God wants to empower us to serve the world.

Don’t let the past keep you from it. God offers you forgiveness of sins. He offers a fresh start to you today. But he wants to give you not only a fresh start with Him. He wants to give you a fresh reason to exist. He wants to use you in the life of the people around you. This is the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is always and ever available. There is always a fresh start with God. We simply need to accept and receive it and be open to the people around us and how God wants to use us. He will supply the power to serve. Amen.

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Power to Grow in Suffering (1 Thessalonians 3:6–4:12)

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Our goal should always be to become people who trust more, love more, and hope more. We want our hearts and minds to be oriented toward God so that our feet rest firm on the rock of His promises even when storms are blowing all around us. This foundation of connection with God enables us to love others, even when everyone around us is trapped in the vicious cycle of their own anxieties.

It’s easy to think we’re doing well at faith, hope, and love when times are good, when things are prosperous, when anxiety is low. What happens, though, when people oppose us, when life unravels, and when our earthly securities collapse? Then, we find out what we are made of.

That’s how we need to reinterpret suffering. Suffering is a revelation. It tells us where we really stand. It reveals the depths of our thoughts. It shows our lack of training. It points us forward to areas of growth.

However, suffering can seem so daunting. How can we stand against so many temptations? The answer: we don’t have to do it alone. The power of God is available to help us. We need to trust Him!

I want to draw your attention to the blessing that Paul pronounces over the church in Thessalonika in 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13. In particular, he asks God to “make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you” (v. 12) and to “strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy.” In this benediction, God teaches us that the power for growth comes from Him. In this passage of Scripture, I want to consider how God gives us power to grow in faith, to grow in holiness, and to grow in love, even in the face of suffering. There is hope that we can do this because God is our Father and has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ with power to live a new life and die to sin.

Growth in Faith
The question that Paul introduces in this book is the question of whether or not the Thessalonians would remain unmoved in their faith in the face of suffering. He was concerned about them because he could not be with them. He knew they were facing trials. He had prepared them, but he was still concerned about how they would do.

Anyone who has loved and cared for children can understand this. Inevitably, there comes a time in which we must let them go out on their own, and they will have to stand for themselves. How will they do when they meet the shocks of life? We are anxious to know. Will they be OK? That is what Paul was feeling before he wrote this letter.

Paul wrote this letter, though, after having received a wonderful report. “But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you” (1 Thess. 3:6). They were encouraged “because of their faith.”

Now, even though the Thessalonians had to exercise their faith, that did not mean that God was not the ultimate source of their faith. Recall that earlier on, Paul gave thanks that the Word had come not only in words but in power and in the Spirit (see 1 Thess. 1:5). This meant that it was God’s power that enabled them to believe. Here he gives thanks again. He gives thanks to God not only that they became believers but that they remained believers. “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?” (1 Thess. 3:9). Who they were was ultimately rooted in God’s power working in them. As Paul put it elsewhere, “what do you have that you did not receive?”

And so, how can we get the power to continue unmoved in our faith in the face of all the trials and suffering in the world? The Holy Spirit. The power of the Father. The life of the resurrected Christ. That is our hope.

Growth in Holiness
There is a second area of growth mentioned in the benediction. It is growth in holiness. To be holy means to have wholehearted joy in God through Christ and a delight to do His will. It is to be devoted to the highest good.

There are many good things we can do in the world, but holiness leads us to seek the best, communion with God and service to God. There are many evil things we can do as well. Holiness enables us to separate ourselves from these evil activities and devote ourselves to God.

Paul encourages the Thessalonian Christians to lean into holiness. “As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more” (1 Thess. 4:1). They were not to rest with where they were. They needed to grow to become more and more devoted to God and His service finding their joy in Him and in His will. “Do so more and more” is how Paul talks about growth in this letter.

One area that Paul addresses in particular is sexuality. He says:

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister (1 Thess. 4:3–6).

In spite of what our culture may say, sex is a gift from God to be enjoyed in the context of a loving, lifelong commitment between a man and woman. Anything beyond this is contrary to our own nature, an injustice to the other person, and against God’s will for human beings. The Apostle Paul recognized that this would be controversial, even in his day, and so he added, “Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit” (1 Thess. 4:8).

Sexuality is a powerful thing and, because of that, we readily turn it into an idol. The patterns of idolatry also become wired into our brain in ways that are very hard to change. That’s why we need God’s power. American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr says,

[Sexuality’s] force reaches up into the highest pinnacle of human spirituality. . . . sex reveals sensuality to be first another and final form of self-love, secondly an effort to escape self-love by the deification of another and finally as an escape from the futilities of both forms of idolatry by a plunge into unconsciousness (The Nature and Destiny of Man, 1:236, 239).

We are dealing with powerful stuff when we deal with sexuality, not because we are so animal-like but because we are so spiritual.

So, as we seek after holiness, remember a couple of things. We need to develop holiness by finding our delight in God. That is the angle at which to attack the problems of sexual sin. Second, the power of God is available to live a life devoted to God. Third, and this is very important, God works through His church. Don’t try to do this alone. If you are struggling with sexual sin, come talk to me or a trusted person. I’ve talked to a lot of people about this issue. It’s scary to bring it up, but I’ve never found a person to regret enlisting help.

In our day, we can enjoy sexuality in private through the internet, and so we’ve got to have accountability here. I use Covenant Eyes to keep myself accountable. It reports on any questionable behavior to my wife and friends so that I’m always using the internet, as it were, before the eyes of others as well as God. This is part of God’s grace: to give me friends who will help me in areas of temptation and help me seek after holiness. We all need them.

Growth in Love
Paul also wanted the Thessalonians to experience growth in love, but this was the area where he had the least concern. This was the area where they were doing the best. “Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other” (1 Thess. 4:9). Once again, he says that it was God who was teaching them. He saw the evidence of God’s work in their lives.

This did not mean that they did not need to grow. He writes, “And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more . . .” (1 Thess. 4:10). “More and more.”

However, he was concerned about one area, which comes up in his second letter as well. He wanted to make sure that they were doing productive labor that would glorify God and bless themselves and others. He says, “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you” (1 Thess. 4:11).

When God created the world, He wanted human beings to be active in the world. He did not want them simply to enjoy it passively. He wanted them to do things that would glorify Him and bless themselves and others. Wherever you are today, faith can give you the margin to have space to serve others. Use that space not simply for yourself but for others. Whether you’re working for a paycheck or not, you should be working for the Lord. That is our duty while we are here: to love and to use our strength, our minds, our hearts, and our hands to bless others with useful labor. God Himself will teach you the way.

Conclusion
And so, what is our hope for growth? “That the Lord would make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you and strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father.”

That’s a powerful hope. We don’t have to remain stuck in the past. There is new life. There is the Holy Spirit. There is the power of God. Christ is risen! We can grow. We can become more and more of what God has destined us to be, really and truly in this life, and then perfectly in the world to come. Amen.