“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 – therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by your faith. For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 3:6-8.

The above has been added for context, this post will be concerned with 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13.

“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? Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you.” 1 Thessalonians 3:9-11.

“For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God…” The apostles are afflicted and hard pressed on every side, why are they rejoicing?

Are they rejoicing because of their success with the Thessalonians who represent another bragging right, another reason for them to glorify themselves?

Some people do glorify themselves; often they lead someone to Christ, mentor them and keep them dependent on themselves, rather than encouraging the new Christian to take what they have learned to help others.

However, the apostles, “rejoice for your sake before our God…” think on that, “rejoice for your sake”, true the apostles rejoice for the steadfastness of the Thessalonian church and for their faith and love, amen to that!

But the true thing to rejoice is not only have these brothers and sisters joined the body of Christ on earth for His glory, they are no longer doomed to eternity in the lake of fire.

“…where ‘their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ And if your eye makes you sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire – where ‘their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ For everyone will be seasoned with fire…” Mark 9:46-49a.

Three times the Lord tells us to remove either our hand, foot, or our eye. Not literally because they represent the sins we cling to so much that we are willing to reject Jesus Christ as our Savior for.

Our hand reaches out for sinful things we should not have, such as someone else’s possessions. Our foot takes us to places we should not be, such as in the company of evildoers. Our eye because the things we see make us lust after them, such as our neighbor’s wife.

The world entices us with exciting things. Temptation is an enjoyable thing to meditate on, forbidden fruit is desirable to eat, yet in time it will turn to gravel in one’s mouth.

Our sins will become a worm that will constantly remind us of all the evil, humiliating, embarrassing, regrettable things we did in our lifetimes tormenting us eternally in the lake of fire. The worm of conscience will crowd out every pleasant thought or thing we did in our lives.

The fire which is not quenched reminds us that the inhabitants of the lake of fire will be seasoned with fire for eternity; they will never cease to exist, they will never sleep, they will never cease to be tormented by thoughts of their sinful deeds. This is why it is called the second death.

You must decide; is it better to continue on in your exciting sins which will not bring you peace? Or would it be better to cast away the things which only lead to death, and embrace the peace which is in Jesus in this life while looking forward to a glorious eternity with God in heaven?

“And they [the saved of all time] shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” Isaiah 66:24.

The corpses here could be those who fought God after the millennium, see Revelation 20:7-10, the last rebellion on earth.

Or they might be the godless of all time on Judgment Day, see Revelation 20:11-15. Whoever they are they have fixed their doom in the lake of fire by rejecting Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:16-18.

While the apostle packs a lot of information into these two letters to the Thessalonians, he would still like to meet with them face to face, to teach, answer questions, lead by example, and just enjoy their company, such is his love for them.

They did have the Old Testament and some teaching from Paul and Silas and perhaps more from Timothy since he was left behind in the city for a short time. However, you can imagine what it would be like to learn from the Apostle Paul, a walking encyclopedia.

This may have been a reason God kept Paul from returning at this time; to force the Thessalonians to grow on their own by the Holy Spirit and without relying too heavily on the apostle.

“And 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 our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.” 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13.

Again love is spoken of above, “…the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all”, the reason for this is, “…so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father”.

There is simplicity in this thought, if you love your fellow Christian, your family, and your neighbor, you will not wrong them in any way, because you love them.

This means that you will not wrong them either outwardly or inwardly in your heart. If you can do this, and it is difficult, you begin to live a holy life, a thing with which God is well pleased.

You should be warned though, you cannot do this on your own, and it is only through the leading of the Holy Spirit that you can even begin to do it. Love one another is called the royal law, and is quoted in the book of James.

“If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well…” James 2:8.

With all of the emphasis on love in the Bible, it is hard to see how Satan has been able to turn God into a stern, angry person who can hardly wait to scream and pound the table as He berates Christians for their inability to live holy lives.

Then begrudgingly God lets them into heaven so they can float around on a cloud and play harps all day while they watch Him be ever so busy doing stuff, so best leave Him alone.

Give me hell; it could not be any worse. No wonder many folks reject the gospel.

Yet God is a loving Father and He created a heaven which surpasses earth by so much that words cannot describe what it is like; so streets of gold and gates of pearl will have to do until the eye beholds the indescribable.

But look around you, the earth itself was described as very good by God on the sixth day, and even after thousands of years of mankind destroying it, it is still pretty good.

If He puts things here in this life to make us happy, why should it be any different in heaven?

Satan is a liar and the father of lies; why should men listen to this serpent of old?

Part of the reason is that men are too lazy to read the Bible.

“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me [Jesus], he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief [Satan] does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” John 10:9-11.

The abundant life is a life devoid of superstition; a life that knows that God is in control, no matter how chaotic the world around us becomes.

An abundant life knows that one day we will stand in the very presence of God in heaven because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. It is a positive life that can be joyful, not one of continual fear.

“…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 His saints.” 1 Thessalonians 3:13.

For the third time the return of the Lord Jesus Christ is mentioned, indicating that this was an important doctrine to these people and a point that the apostle wanted to make sure they understood.

“…how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” 1 Thessalonians 1:9b-10.

“For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.” 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20.

These Christians turned from idols to serve the living and true God. How could they not joyfully anticipate the return of Christ who gave Himself for them, freeing them from the bondage of idolatry and giving them life eternal?

Paul adds that Christ will deliver them from the wrath to come, which is the tribulation period spoken of in the book of Revelation.

Paul then calls the Thessalonians their hope, joy, and crown of rejoicing when Jesus returns; every apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher must realize that when they serve the flock given them by God as they should, it reflects upon them eternally as a job well done.

Let me make sure you understand. When the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher serves the flock given them by God to the best of their ability, it reflects upon them eternally as a job well done. We have eternal life; rewards will be eternal too.

“The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by constraint but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.” 1 Peter 5:1-4.

Finally, we are to be blameless and holy when the Lord Jesus returns. There is a very good reason for this, see the next verse.

“And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” 1 John 2:28.

Your Faith and Love, 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 9-5-13, updated on 1-4-21.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.