In his sermon, Jason Dohm reflects on 1 Thessalonians 3:1-10, discussing the themes of faith, love, and the role of afflictions in the Christian life. Paul, unable to return to Thessalonica, sent Timothy to encourage the new converts in their faith during times of tribulation. Timothy's return with a good report of their faith and love brought great comfort and joy to Paul and his companions, despite their own afflictions. The sermon emphasizes the inevitability of afflictions for Christians and how God uses these challenges to glorify His name and wean believers off worldly dependencies. Dohm highlights the mutual encouragement between believers and how reports of steadfast faith can revive and refresh the heart. He also discusses the importance of standing fast in faith and the continuous growth required in a believer's life. Ultimately, the sermon underscores the role of God as the source of comfort and the importance of clinging to Christ by faith.

I'll be reading from 1 Thessalonians 3, verses 1 through 10. 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 tribulation just as it has happened, and you know. For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you and our labor might be in vain. But now that Timothy has come to us from you and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us as we also to see you. 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.

For what things 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. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray, Lord God, that you would give great power and clarity and accuracy to Jason as he comes to declare the infallible Word of God, the riches that are found here, Father. Faith.

Build our faith, O God. Build our faith through the preaching of your Word. And O Lord, I pray that you would knit us together with one another and with the body of Christ globally. That we would be so viscerally affected by displays of faith and by sufferings of our brothers and sisters. I pray that it would start here in our midst, O God.

Be with us now and give us eyes to see and ears to hear. In Jesus' name, amen. The title of the message this morning is, A Good Report That Revives the Heart. It's what we have in the text. A report comes from Thessalonica and it's a good report.

It's just the kind of report you would want from new converts, especially if you were worried about how they might be doing. And so We really have a text before us of encouragement this week. Last week we learned from the text something that is very helpful for all Christians, which is that Christians are appointed to afflictions. If that's going to be true, it's better to know it than not know it, isn't it? So God tells us, Jesus taught his disciples, Peter taught his disciples, Paul taught his disciples, the disciple makers in the New Testament have this frequently on their lips that God sends afflictions to his people, and he's glorifying his own name, and he's more concerned with his own glory than he is with our comfort.

So the Lord's people just have to deal with it. It's the world that God has given us. And it's a good world. It's a world in which our God teaches us to depend on Him and to relinquish hope in the world. He actually uses these things to help wean us off of the world.

It's a kindness that God does this. So I'm a Christian and I learned something again, or was reminded of something again last week, which is that I'm appointed to afflictions. They're coming. You might not know the timing, you might not know the intensity, but you can count on the fact that if you desire to live godly in Christ Jesus, you will suffer persecution. And this helps us not to be shaken, as the text said last week.

It helps us not to be rocked off of our foundations when the afflictions come. It's the mercy of God that He would teach us these things. Paul has had to leave his new converts prematurely and he just can't endure another minute. He can't let another minute going by without sending Timothy to establish them and encourage them in the faith. Satan has prevented the whole ministry team from going back to Thessalonica.

That would have been their preference. That was their plan. But in some way that we're not given the details of, Satan has prevented that. And so they're able to send Timothy to establish them and encourage them concerning their faith. That's what they do.

This week they get the report back. Timothy has been sent, now Timothy comes back. We get the effect of the report. Paul and Silvanus and Timothy describe the impact that the good report has on them, and then we just get a bunch of rejoicing in the report, and a description of their persistent prayers for a reunion with the Thessalonians. So we're going to get right to the text, but before we do, let's pray.

Our God, I thank You for the many, many encouragements that You send us. You do appoint us to affliction, You do send us afflictions. You don't just permit them, but You appoint them. And You're glorifying Your name and You're causing us to grow up. I thank you for that Lord.

I am also so glad that it is not just affliction after affliction. There are so many encouragements that you send along the way as well. Many good reports come from far countries and they refresh us. I thank you for that God. I pray now that you would give us eyes to see where our brothers and sisters are standing steadfast in the faith and that this would encourage our hearts, this would refresh us as we see in the text today.

Oh Lord, let us come away being encouraged by the work that you do among your people. Thank you for this in Jesus' name, Amen. Let's begin by looking at verse 6. So again, we're in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3, and let me read verse 6, follow along, and then we'll look at it closely, consider it carefully. 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 6, 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.

In this verse we have Timothy bringing a good report. If you're filling in blanks on the handout. It's Timothy Good. Timothy brings a good report. Paul sent to know their faith.

He couldn't wait another minute. And so he and Silvanus send Timothy from Athens to Thessalonica. And then we learn in Acts chapter 18 verse 5 that Timothy returns and joins them at Corinth. So they sent him from Athens, he returns to Corinth. What kind of a trip is this?

It's not a small trip. Athens back to Thessalonica is 220 miles. And so you're talking about 10 or 11 days travel over land. And so if he does that, and then if you assume that he stays at least a week, and then he travels back to Corinth, which is further than just going back to Athens, it's a little bit further, then you've got at least a month. So minimum one month and let's say 450 or more miles traveled.

That's not a small trip. That's not like sending somebody over to wake for us. No. It's a long trip. There was a lot invested to send him.

But he has gone the 220 miles from Athens to Thessalonica, and now he's back. He brings a report, and the report is classified by the words, good news. It's the same words that describe the gospel, but gospel just means good news and so it can be as simple as a good report, which is what it is in our text today. And so they get the message. They haven't labored in vain, right?

That was the concern at the end of last week's text. Have we labored in vain? Did we go and put up with all the afflictions that we encountered in Thessalonica for nothing?" And the answer comes back a resounding, No, it wasn't for nothing. They have not labored in vain. Their labors have actually been fruitful.

So Timothy brings back a report from the church, the young church in Thessalonica, and There are two parts to the report. The first part is a report of their continuing faith and love. That's really significant. That's not just any old piece of information. Because Faith and love are the irreducible qualities of a Christian.

Meaning, if you are a Christian of any sort, of any time in the faith, of any level of maturity, you have faith and love. You might only have a little bit, but you have faith and love. If you don't have faith, or if you don't have love, you're not a Christian. Real faith, real love, we're talking about the real thing, not the counterfeit. You can sort of fake faith, you can sort of fake love.

If you have the real thing, genuine faith and genuine love, then you are a Christian. If you don't have it, then you are not. So these are distinct qualities. Faith is not exactly the same thing as love, and love is not exactly the same thing as faith. They are distinct, but they are always found together.

Consider what Paul says in Galatians chapter 5 verse 6. Galatians chapter 5 verse 6, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. So Paul is talking about salvation in Galatians 5 verse 6 and he says it is nothing outward. Your circumcision, it doesn't avail anything with respect to salvation. It is worthless with respect to salvation.

You can be circumcised and unsaved. Or you can be uncircumcised and saved. They don't have any essential relationship. These outward things are not essential to salvation. So circumcision or uncircumcision are irrelevant when it comes to salvation.

What is relevant? Faith is relevant. Real faith, and I want to just clarify by saying saving faith, why do I do that? Because James, in James chapter 2 makes it so clear that there's a couple of kinds of faith. There's a faith that saves and then there's a faith or a belief that even the demons have and no demons have ever been saved.

So there is genuine saving faith. James says what Paul is saying here, saving faith is a faith that works. There is an out working to it. It eventually shows up in visible ways in your life. That's what Paul says.

Circumcision doesn't matter, faith matters, and real faith works through love. So where you have faith, you have love. And where you have love, you have faith. Faith precedes love, but they travel together. Remember, Paul has already been on the front row in Thessalonica to look at the lives of the Thessalonians and to see that they have faith and love.

Remember back in the first chapter in verse 3, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love. You have almost the same words here. And so in chapter 1 verse 3, Paul and Silvanus and Timothy say, We sought with our own two eyes, work of faith, labor and love. And now The report comes back from Timothy. They didn't just have it then, they still have it now.

It's continuing. They're persevering in faith and they're persevering in love. These essential qualities of the Christian. That's the first part of the report. They're continuing in faith and love.

They still have the marks of a true Christian. Here's the second part of the report. The Thessalonians disposition toward Paul and Silvanus and Timothy. How do they remember their time there? There's sort of been nothing but trouble for the Thessalonians since they left.

That was a lot of the content of chapter 2 was the afflictions that the Thessalonians were suffering at the hands of their countrymen. Right? And so, Paul and Silvanus and Timothy are wondering how the Thessalonians are viewing their time there. This ministry team's time there. It's clear in our study so far of this book, or this letter, that our authors are concerned that their absence might have been misunderstood and therefore misinterpreted.

In other words, they take the facts that these men came among them, they preached a gospel which was embraced, and afterwards the result of that gospel from an earthly standpoint is a whole lot of trouble. And the conclusion they've drawn is these are not our friends at all. That's possible, right? Under those circumstances. Here's what F.F.

Bruce says. F.F. Bruce has written one of the commentaries I'm reading. He was in the United Kingdom and he's a New Testament scholar and commentator who died in 1990. So he's no longer alive but he's a modern commentator.

Here's what he says, their memory of them was happy and friendly, whereas they might have recalled them with bitterness as visitors who brought them nothing but trouble. This is what Paul and Silvanus and Timothy want to know. When you look back on our time together, are we just the guys who brought you nothing but trouble? Or have you clung to the Gospel and seen and know in your heart of hearts that any tribulation, afflictions that you might suffer are a small price to pay to be in Christ. Which is it?

Are we just a symbol of all the trouble in your life when you remember us? Or can you see this in the grand perspective that the glory which is yet to be revealed overwhelms any trials that we will experience in this life. And the report is, it's the latter. They can see the big picture that there is a little trouble for a little while in this life for Christians, and then there is glory. So they don't look back on Paul and Silvanus and Timothy coming with the Gospel and say, oh no, they brought us nothing but trouble.

They look back and They see their faces in their minds and they can't wait to be together again. It's a good report. They have a fond remembrance of Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. And they just can't wait to be together again. It's just like Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy think about them.

You have this desire in both directions. You can't wait to see me and I can't wait to see you. What a reunion that must have been when Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy finally made it back to Thessalonica. Assuming they did, which Acts and the epistles make it clear that they spent more time in Macedonia at a later time, I think they did. So that is a good report indeed.

The Thessalonians have a faith and love that has continued, it's persisted, they've been persevering in the essential marks of a Christian and they are looking at Paul and Silvanus and Timothy's time in Thessalonica in the right light, from the perspective of eternity. We've got a few little trials now in this life, but glory is waiting for us, and the gospel came through these men, and we love them, and we can't wait to see them again. That's the report. Now let's look at verses 7 and 8 together. 1 Thessalonians 3, follow along where I read verses 7 and 8.

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. In this section we have the reviving effect, if you're filling in blanks. It's effect. The reviving effect.

A report came and the receiving of that report has an impact on Paul and Silvanus and Timothy. There is a cause and effect relationship. The report is the cause and the effect is described in verses 7 and 8. We know that because these verses begin with the word, therefore. That indicates a cause and effect relationship.

What was the effect? It's summed up by Proverbs 25 verse 25. Listen to this. This is exactly what's happening in this text I think. Proverbs 25 verse 25.

As cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a far country. Isn't that what's happening in this text? It's like cool, refreshing water to a weary traveler. This report that has come from 220 some miles away. They're being refreshed.

Their hearts are being refreshed by the report that they've received. Paul and Silvanus and Timothy have been enduring affliction and distress. That's what they say, in the middle of our affliction and distress, this report has come to us. And So they've been enduring a lot. I'm just going to review the history from Acts.

In Acts chapter 16 verse 9, Paul in the night has a vision of a man from Macedonia. What does he say? Come over here and help us. So what do they do? They go over to Macedonia right away.

How's it been going in Macedonia? Later in Acts Chapter 16, they're in Philippi, which is a leading city in the province of Macedonia. They're falsely accused, they're beaten, they're imprisoned. And then when Paul makes it clear that he's a Roman citizen and doesn't appreciate the ill treatment, they beg him to leave. So, falsely accused, beaten, imprisoned, begs to leave, which they do.

This brings us to Acts chapter 17 where they come to Thessalonica. There are some conversions. The Jews stir up an uproar and they have to flee. Jason's house is attacked. So, they're not meant well in Thessalonica.

Later in Acts chapter 17 they go to Berea. I just have in my notes Ditto. It's the same story. The same Jews come and cause the same problems with the same result. They have to skip town again.

Then Paul goes to Athens, so he leaves Macedonia and comes into Achaia, which is the adjoining province. And In Athens he preaches the gospel, he's brought before the ruling council, and he's mocked. It's not going very well in Macedonia or Achaia. At least it might seem that way. It's actually going very well.

It probably looks at the moment like it's been a relatively fruitless time. And so they're reflecting on the affliction and distress that they've encountered Since the man from Macedonia appears in a night vision to Paul and says come over here and help us, they're probably feeling like they haven't helped them very much. And on top of that they have this intense anxiety over the new converts who they were forced to leave prematurely. So they have this anxiety of having to have left these beloved new converts. But here's what Paul and Silvanus and Timothy are saying in verses seven and eight.

We've got scales. On this side of the scale is the affliction and the distress that we've been enduring. And on this side of the scale is the good news. The good news from Thessalonica that you're persisting in faith and love and that if you could you'd see us right now. You remember us fondly?

The scales tip. The weight of the good report overwhelms the afflictions and the distresses that they have been enduring. Now I want you to see something. Look back at verse 2. I want to connect the part of verse 7 where Paul and Silvanus and Timothy say we were comforted.

Here is the result of the report. We were comforted by the report. Now, go back to verse 2. We 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. So that's why they sent Timothy, to encourage them concerning their faith.

Now the translators have translated it differently, but it's the same Greek word in verse 2. Timothy was sent to encourage you, is the same Greek word as what we find in verse 7. We got the report and we were comforted. It's the same thing. We sent Timothy to encourage you and we got a report that encouraged us.

Okay, so We sent Timothy to encourage you and your letter encouraged us. We sent Timothy to comfort you and your letter comforted us. What has occurred here? Mutual encouragement. They sent to encourage and they received encourage.

What has occurred here? Mutual comfort. They sent to comfort the Thessalonians with a messenger from the ministry team. And they received comfort in a good report back from them. But wait, there's more.

There's a third party. It's not just the ministry team and the new converts encouraging and comforting one another. Please turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 1. God is the third party here. We have it in 1 Thessalonians because just as soon as they get these words out of their mouth in seven and eight, what are they going to do?

They're going to go right to thanking God. They're saying, God, you're the source of this encouragement. You're the source of this comfort. So it's there in 1 Thessalonians, but it's more explicit in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. I want to read together verses 3 and 4.

I'm in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 3 and 4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." Now you just have comfort, comfort, comfort, comfort, comfort in these verses. He is the God of all comfort. Now this is the exact same Greek word that we have in our chapter in 1 Thessalonians, in verse 2 and verse 7. So it's the same word.

It's either encouragement or comfort. It really is all wrapped up together. Take your pick. Or combine them. So here's the point of second Corinthians chapter one, verses three and four.

God comforts His people so that they can be a source of comfort for His people. That's what you see. The God of all comfort comforting Paul so that he can be a comfort to anyone else among the people of God who needs comfort. God is the great reservoir of comfort and encouragement so that Paul can be a smaller reservoir of comfort and encouragement for the rest of the Lord's people. This is exactly what we see in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3.

God has caused the Thessalonians to this report of the continuing faith and love of the Thessalonians to be a reservoir of comfort to Paul and Silvanus and Timothy. And guess what? It won't stop there. They're revived. Their hearts are revived.

Because they received this report, they're now going to be a reservoir of encouragement and comfort to saints in Corinth. You can believe it. You can believe that they were lighter in step the day they got this report. You can believe they were more encouraged and more encouraging among the Corinthians than they were the day before because of this report. Who gets the praise for that?

God. He's the God of all comfort. He's the source of their comfort. Why did God comfort them? So that they would be a source of comfort for the rest of the Lord's people.

And so that they would be, there is no end to this. You see this is a loop, a good loop. Everyone gets comforted in this picture. And it starts with the God of all comfort. Why does God bring encouragement into your life?

Why does God bring comfort into your life? Well one of the reasons we are learning here in 2 Corinthians 1 and 1 Thessalonians 3 is for the encouragement of your brethren. God is making you, by encouraging you, a reservoir of encouragement for your brethren. So that they'll be a reservoir of encouragement for their brethren with no end in sight. These are the three parties.

But God is the source. I believe that's the light in which we should understand verse 8. For now we live if you stand fast in the Lord. Now we live. Physically live?

No, they're physically alive. Spiritually live? No, they're born again. They're not anymore born again because they received a good report. It has to do with the vitality of life that comes from receiving encouragement from God.

They are more vital. They are more encouraged. They are comforted. They are ready for action again. After all of The afflictions and distresses of Acts 16, 17, and 18, in which they were probably beat down some, this reverses that.

God brings encouragement, God brings comfort, and they're light on their feet again. They're revived. Cold water to a weary soul. So is good news from a far country. Listen to what John says in 3 John 4.

There's only a single chapter, so there's no chapter there. It's just 3 John 4, verse number 4. John says, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. Same thing. Same thing.

John says, I have no greater joy. Nothing makes me happier. Nothing brings more encouragement into my life. Nothing brings more comfort into my life than to hear that you're walking in truth. Spiritual children, that's exactly what's happening here.

The Thessalonian converts are the spiritual children of Paul and Silvanus and Timothy. So to hear that they're walking in truth, that their faith and their love is continuing, and they're actually flourishing in the middle of persecution. They have no greater joy than that. Their hearts are revived like cold water to a weary soul. This has been an important report coming from Thessalonica because it's taken a ministry team, it's probably been beaten down by the circumstances over a period of months and now the scale has been tipped in favor of comfort and encouragement from God.

Before we move on, I just want to comment on how important standing fast is in the Christian faith. Name of the game brothers and sisters. Name of the game is standing fast in the faith. It's not the most glamorous thing you can do, but it's the most necessary thing you can do. It's just to stand your ground in the faith.

We're appointed to afflictions. So we want to grow, and we should grow, but that starts with standing your ground in the faith. That starts with standing fast and simply persevering. Paul says this everywhere in his letters. 1 Corinthians chapter 16 verse 13, stand fast in the faith.

Ephesians chapter 6, 13 and 14, therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand the evil day and having done all to stand. Stand therefore." Philippians 4 verse 1, stand fast in the Lord. Paul says it again and again, stand fast. Stand your ground in the faith. I love what Kevin Swanson says.

He says if you want to be the last man standing just never give up. If You want to be the last man standing, then just keep standing. However long, however long it takes, just refuse to do anything but stand. And you'll be the last man standing. Well, that's easier said than done though, isn't it?

I mean, it's a great quote and it is a meaningful quote, but the real question is, okay, how do I do that? And the answer is, cling to Jesus by faith. That's how you are the last man standing. That's how you can just keep standing one more day. Even when it feels like you can't stand one more day.

Actually, if you cling to Jesus by faith, you can stand one more day. You can. You run to Him believing. Believing what? Believing that He hears the cries of His people and that when His people pray and cry out for sustaining grace that He gives it.

That if you come asking for bread, He doesn't give you a stone. If you come asking for a fish, he doesn't hand you a serpent. This is our God. So we cling to Him by faith. When it feels like we can't make it one more day, I can't hold out one more day, I can't last one more day, I can't endure one more failure of the same sin another time.

You think better of embracing that and you run to Christ by faith for sustaining strength, for sustaining grace and he gives it every time. Either he keeps his promises or he doesn't. If you go to him for bread and He hands you a stone, Christ hasn't kept His promises. If you go to Him for a fish and He hands you a serpent, He has broken His promise. He says He will sustain His people.

If you cling to Him, if you run to Him by faith believing that He answers the prayers of His people, He will sustain you. That's what every Christian from The beginning of the faith has found that Jesus is faithful. He does keep His promises. That we can cling to Him by faith. That we can run to Him when we think we can't last one more faith.

That it was just the last failure, the last sin we can endure. No, we cling to Christ. We go back one more time to the well and we find that it's not empty. There's still water in the well. There's a lot of water in the well.

It's way deeper than we thought it was. It's a bottomless well. Christ is a bottomless well. It doesn't matter how many times you go back to that well. You just keep finding more water, and more water, and more water down that well.

We cling to Christ by faith. The last two verses, we're back to 1 Thessalonians 3, now verses 9 and 10. 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." In this section we have rejoicing before God and praying for a reunion. If you're filling in blanks, it's rejoicing, reunion.

Rejoicing before God and praying for a reunion. That they would be reunited again. Now we know that Thessalonians are praying for the same thing on the other end. Paul and Silvanus and Timothy ask a rhetorical question, meaning the truth is communicated just in the asking of the question. You don't even really need to answer it.

They ask this, what thanks can we render to God? The Greek word that is translated render here literally means to repay. Like how can we repay God for all the joy we are getting from this report that you sent us. All the joy that we have in you and in the report that you are flourishing. How are we going to repay God for that?

This is exactly what the psalmist says in Psalm 116 verse 12. In Psalm 116 verse 12 the psalmist says what shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me? How am I going to repay the Lord for all his benefits? And it's a rhetorical question. The truth is communicated just in the asking of the question because of the obviousness of the answer to the question which is, you can't repay God for that.

That's what Paul and Silvanus and Timothy are communicating. God, you've given us so much joy in these brethren and so much joy in the report that's coming about the good estate of these brethren that we love. How are we going to repay that? We can't repay that. This is just what we saw in chapter 2 verse 13, where they see that the Thessalonians have received the Word of God as the Word of God and so they know what that means.

They know that God did that. They see the fingerprints of God all over something, which is the Thessalonians had the grace to recognize that the Word of God was the Word of God. So many hear the word of God and they can't recognize it. They haven't been given the grace to see this is God speaking. But the Thessalonians had it.

And so Paul and Silvanus and Timothy in chapter 2 verse 13 see the fingerprints of God all over that and they say, God did that, we're thanking God for that. God gets the glory for that. This is exactly what's happening again. They get a report back and the report has fingerprints on it. They fingerprint the report.

Those are God's fingerprints. God's responsible for that report. There's His fingerprints. God gets the thanks for that. God gets the glory for that.

It's just repeating itself over again. All the glory continues to go where it belongs. Brothers and sisters, when we see our brethren standing fast in the faith, we should thank God. You should get the glory for it. That's why they're standing fast.

You get that right? We get that. When we're standing fast, when we're standing fast in the faith, that's a tongue twister, That's why. Because of God's goodness. That's the reason Christians are kept.

He not only saves you, He keeps you, and He brings you to the finish line. It's His goodness, it's not your strength, it's not my strength. He does the saving, He does the keeping. So when you are standing fast in the faith, God did it and he deserves the glory for it. And when we see our brethren standing fast in the faith, in some parts of the world, under the most tremendous pressure and persecution, we have Christians being beheaded, they won't renounce their faith, we have children being killed who won't renounce their faith, we should praise God for that.

God did that. His fingerprints are on that. He gets the thanks for that. He gets the glory for that. That's exactly what Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 7, So then neither he who plants is anything nor he who waters but God who gives the increase." 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 7.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 3, he's talking about himself and Apollos. People have started saying, I'm a disciple of Paul. Somebody else is saying, I'm a disciple of Apollos. Paul writes to rebuke that thought. He says, I planted in Corinth and Apollos came and watered in Corinth and we're nothing.

The planter is nothing. The waterer is nothing. God is something. God brought the increase. That's what we're seeing in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 in our text today.

That Paul and Silvanus and Timothy went to Thessalonica. They preached the gospel. They planted in Thessalonica. And then after a while when they couldn't stand it any longer, they sent Timothy back. What did Timothy do?

He watered. He poured water on them. They're nothing. The planter is nothing. The waterer is nothing.

There's a harvest of righteousness. There's a harvest of salvation. That's God. He gave the increase. Finally, in verse 10, Paul and Silvanus and Timothy speak of their persistent prayers.

We prayed night and day. We prayed exceedingly. It means as fervently as you could possibly pray. As earnestly as you could possibly pray. We're praying all the time with the greatest level of fervency so that we can get face to face with you again.

What's the purpose? Why do they want so earnestly to be face to face with them again, that we may perfect what is lacking in your faith. New King James says that we may perfect what is lacking in your faith. The NASB renders it that we may complete what is lacking in your faith. We can perfect it.

We can complete it. The implication is that the Thessalonians faith is imperfect or incomplete. That's not very nice. Brothers and sisters, this is true of all of us, this side of heaven. Imperfect faith.

Faith with flaws. Faith that isn't always what it should be. Incomplete faith. Faith that has a lack. This side of heaven, no matter how much you grow, no matter how much you progress, you're going to have imperfect faith.

You're going to have incomplete faith. So don't misunderstand what's being communicated here. The whole letter has been commending their faith. It's young faith. It's got a lot of room for growth and maturity, but he's not despising them being new converts.

No, no, no, no. He's saying, we want to get back there and help you grow. Help your faith go from here to here, so that it can go from here to here, so that it can go from here to here, and keep growing. That's the life of the Christian. That is the Christian walk, a faith that starts really small.

So with regards to justification, whether you're saved or not, faith is pass-fail. Do you ever have one of those classes, pass fail, or a test, pass fail test? Like no grade. Just one line and you're either on the fail side of the line and you get no credit or you're on the pass side of the line and you get all the credit. That's what faith is with respect to justification.

Salvation, saved or unsaved, period, not A, B, C, D, E. Just one line. You either have saving faith, and you're saved, or you don't have saving faith and you're lost. All you need is mustard seed. Have you ever seen the little mustard seeds?

It's almost like you have to strain to see it. You don't need a lot of saving faith. You can move a mountain. You can be saved and you can move a mountain with a little bit of this. But you have to have it to be born again, to be justified before God, to be declared righteous because of Jesus' work.

Sanctification is different. Sanctification, your face should grow. It does start as a mustard seed, It starts really small, where you trust God to save you, but you distrust Him in so many other ways. You're learning to trust Him. You're learning how faithful He is a little more every day.

So it is growing and it needs to grow. So justification, you either have it or you don't. That is the only measurement. You are either saved or you are not. Sanctification is different.

It is a faith that should grow. Jesus said this, right? Jesus says this in the gospels. You're seeing Him say multiple times, you of little faith. He almost always says that of the disciples.

When he uses that phrase it is almost always pointed at the disciples. Does it mean you are not saved? No, it means your trust is so little. They are savingly trust Jesus, except Judas. But he looks at them and he is talking about their sanctification, their need to make progress and he says, you got little faith.

You don't trust me nearly as much as you could or should. And, on the other side of that, there are a few instances in the Gospels where He says, great is your faith. I think he always says that of non-Israelites. He says it of the most unlikely people. I know he says it of the Syrophoenician woman.

And There's another outside of the people of Israel. So he says it to unlikely people and he points to them and says, Your faith is great. It's the centurion, I think is the other one that he says it to. So Paul and Silvanus and Timothy want to be face to face to help their faith grow. There are things that they can bring to bear if they are present to help their faith grow.

What's that going to be? Well it's certainly going to be preaching. You're going to be teaching them what the Word of God says. And they're going to be encouraging them. And they're going to be praying with them.

And they're going to be leading by example, as we've already seen in the letter, they lived a life before them that was worthy of being imitated. They're going to do all those things if they can get face to face with them and all those things are going to work together for progress in the faith, for a growth and increase in their faith. Okay, applications. I'm going to make applications just by asking four questions. Four questions.

Number one, am I known by faith and love? I'm sure there was a longer report. I think we got the short form of the report. But We got the essentials. They're continuing in faith and love.

It's the marks, the irreducible marks of the Christian. In other words, You can't have less marks than that. You've got to have those marks, or you're not a Christian. So we better be known for faith and love. Number two.

Is my figurative living or dying tied up in the welfare of my brethren? Is my figurative living or dying? It's not a literal living or dying in view when our authors say we live if you stand fast. It's figurative. So I'm asking the same question.

Is My figurative living or dying, being encouraged or being discouraged, being vibrant, alive, or being downcast and discouraged is wrapped up in your welfare. We were wrestling with this in men's Bible study verse 8, for now we live if you stand fast in the Lord. And most of us are saying, I don't really have a frame of reference for that. I might be a little too American for that. I might be a little too ruggedly individual for that.

My welfare is pretty tied up in me. If I'm doing well with the Lord, I'm encouraged. If I'm not doing well in the Lord, I'm discouraged. Paul and Silvanus and Timothy had a greater level of care. If that's true of you, and it's true of me, then Paul and Silvanus and Timothy have exceeded us in love for the brethren.

Their figurative living or dying is all wrapped up in the welfare of their brethren. And over time we should be praying that God would make our figurative living and dying more wrapped up in each other's welfare. Why? So we'll jump in and help with each other's welfare. That's what Paul and Silvanus and Timothy were longing to do.

Get me back there so I can help them be well and make progress. Number three, have I sufficiently considered how my welfare impacts my brethren? Sort of the other side of the coin. Have I sufficiently considered how my welfare impacts my brother? In other words, did you know that when you're doing well it helps me?

We impact each other. When I get the report that you are doing well, it helps me. When you get the report that I am doing well, it helps you. It is a source of comfort and encouragement really from God. So we should consider that.

The better I do, the better my brethren do. The more built up I am in my most holy faith, it's a help and encouragement and a source of comfort for my brethren. I want to be that. The opposite is also true. Obviously, the closer we are to people, the more true it is.

Mothers and fathers, if you're not doing well, It impacts your brethren in your home the most. If you have believing children in your home, you're not doing well, it's a source of discouragement. You're not doing spiritually well, You're not doing well spiritually. It's a source of discouragement for your children to see you compromising, to see you neglecting prayer, to see you neglecting the study of the Word of God. It's a discouragement to them.

So you're going to be a source of encouragement and comfort from God for the other believers in your home, in your church, among the Lord's people. The closer the relationship, the greater the impact, or are you going to be a source of discouragement to your brethren? Lastly, number four, what are you doing to grow your faith? With Paul and Silvanus and Timothy saying, we want to get back there to perfect, to complete, what's lacking in your faith. Implicit in that is that there are things that help your faith grow.

They want to get back there to do those things. Well, what are those things? It's at least the ordinary means of grace. Meaning, there are normal channels that the grace of God flows through. What are those?

Well, if you read your Bible with a humble heart before God, the grace of God flows through that pipe. If you go to be alone with the Lord and lay out your heart before Him in prayer, really heartfelt, earnest prayer, the grace of God flows through that pipe. When we come here and we have made our hearts ready as best as we can to enter in, fully enter in, to corporate worship together, to hear the preaching together, to take the Lord's Supper together, to pray together. That's a pipe, that's a channel through which the grace of God flows. We're doing all of these things to a greater or lesser degree, but what our text tells us if we do it to a greater degree, we'll have greater growth in faith.

We'll have increased faith. It'll help us stand fast. It'll Help us be the last man standing. Because these are the ways in which we run to Christ for help, for sustaining grace. He meets us there.

Let's pray. Father, I do thank you for your sustaining grace, and that we can cling to Christ. That really this is what you desire of us. Above all that we would cling to Christ by faith. That we would lay hold of His work on our behalf, not trusting in ourselves, but trusting Him and His work.

God I pray that the person of Jesus Christ who He is would loom large to us. I pray that the work of Jesus Christ, what He has done for sinners would loom large to us and that we would grasp hold of His person and work by faith. We would just keep running back there. We would, when we sin, Rather than wallowing in the sin, we would run to Christ. Oh God, help us to cling to your Son by faith.

God, I thank you for the encouragement that we receive when we see those around the world who under the greatest pressures are continuing in faith and love. I thank you for the comfort and encouragement that we receive. That is you deserve the thanks for that. We publicly give you thanks for sustaining your people, for showing us in a hundred different ways you keep your promises. We pray this in Jesus name, Amen.