2 Thessalonians 3:1-2

2 Thes 3:1 “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: 2 And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.”

Paul asked the church members at Thessalonica to pray for the ministry. We note that Paul’s request was very specific. Often times we will ask people to pray for us but without any specifics. However that is usually not the case in Paul’s writings. He asked for specific things when he asked people to pray for him or for others.

The first thing Paul asked the church to pray for was “that the word of the Lord may have free course…” There are so many obstacles to the word of the Lord having free course. Some times persecutors and false teachers and false teachers will try to hinder the free course of the word of the Lord. Other times, conditions surrounding people can hinder the free course of the word of the Lord. Many times, only the Lord can remove the hindrances. Thus there is a great need to pray that the Lord would remove the hindrances to the free course of the word of the Lord.

The second thing Paul asked the church to pray for was “that the word of the Lord may…be glorified, even as it is with you.” One of the meanings of the word glorified is “to be held in very high esteem.” The church at Thessalonica had proved that the word of the Lord was held in very high esteem by their actions in belief in and obedience to the word of the Lord. Likewise, that should be our desire also, that those who hear the word of the Lord would hold it in very high esteem by believing and obeying the teachings therein.

The third thing Paul asked the church to pray for was “that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.” This goes contrary to many people’s belief that the word of the Lord must be presented to unreasonable and wicked men in order to give them a chance to believe and accept the Lord and change their behavior and thus be saved from their sins. However, as this verse shows, Paul knew that there were men who did not have faith and therefore, the word of the Lord could not be believed by them. In 1 Cor. 1:18 Paul stated: “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” There are two classes of people presented in this verse: those that perish and those that are saved. To those that perish the preaching of the cross is foolishness. To those that perish (not born again of the Spirit) the preaching of the cross is utter foolishness and they will not receive it. In contrast to those of us which are saved (born of the Spirit) the preaching of the cross is the power of God. Paul’s request on his behalf and on behalf of the gospel ministry is that the church pray that the ministry may be delivered from those unreasonable and wicked men as they have not faith and cannot receive the good news of salvation by grace alone.

The above brings us to ask the question: “Where does faith come from?” Faith is a part of the nine fold fruit of the Spirit taught us in Gal. 5:22, 23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” It comes from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: Heb. 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;” It was imparted unto us in the spiritual birth.
 

2 Thessalonians 3:3-5

2 Thes 3:3 “But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. 4 And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you. 5 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.”

“But the Lord is faithful…” While much could be written on the faithfulness of the Lord, suffice it to say, the Lord is faithful to his promises. He keeps all his promises. We can trust in the faithfulness of the Lord to keep all of his promises. An example of the Lord’s promises is found in Heb. 13:5, 6 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”

There are far too many promises that God has given us for me to list in this short writing, so we just list a few:

     1. Titus 1:2 “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”
     2. John 6:37 “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
     3. John 17:2 “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.”
     4. 1 Cor. 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
     5. Matt. 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

“Who shall stablish you…” The word “stablish” here means confirm or strengthen. The Lord confirms and strengthens his faithful disciples. He is our strength when we are weak. Paul wrote in 2 Cor 12:10 “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

“And keep you from evil.” Just how does the Lord keep us from evil? He doesn’t keep evil from opposing us. He doesn’t keep evil things from happening to us. Even Paul was imprisoned and finally beheaded by Nero. However, the Lord does keep evil from being able to overthrow our walk of faith.

“And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.” Paul’s confidence was not in men, but in the Lord. Likewise, our confidence should be in the Lord and not in men. Paul’s confidence was that the Lord would work in the disciples at Thessalonica that they would both have a desire to do and the ability to do what the Lord would have them do: Phil. 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

“And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.” It is the Lord who both directs our hearts into the love of God and into the patient waking for Christ. The attitude often expressed by non-believers that “I am the captain of my ship and the master of my fate”, is not to be the attitude of believers. We are to look for the Lord’s direction in our lives both in who we are to serve and how we are to serve them. Moreover, we are to patiently wait for the Lord’s direction and blessing of our labors.