Paul the
apostle and the men traveling with him desired to see the
Thessalonians, and they wanted “the Lord”
to “make” them
“increase and abound in love one toward
another, and toward all men,
even as” Paul and his companions did
“toward” them. In
verse thirteen of chapter three in his letter to the Thessalonian
church, Paul shares why they were to increase in love, so the Lord
“may establish”
their “hearts unblameable in holiness before
God” where we read:
To the end
he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God,
even our
Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
The
verse begins, “To the end he may establish your hearts
unblameable in holiness before God,...”
Paul began with the phrase, “To the end”
which means “towards, for, among and unto” “he may
establish” or “make stable,
place firmly, set fast, fix, strength and make firm” “your
hearts” which refers to “the
Thessalonians' soul or mind, as it is the fountain and seat of the
thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes,
endeavours” “unblameable”
or “blameless, deserving no censure and free from fault or defect”
“in holiness”
which means “majesty and moral purity” “before God”
or “in front of and in the
presence of the Godhead and trinity comprised of God the Father,
Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit”. By loving one another and all
men, the Thessalonians would be moving towards firmly fixed,
blameless and pure hearts before God Almighty.
The
verse continues, “...even our Father, at the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”
Paul went on to add, “even our Father”
or “the originator and transmitter of anything, the creator,
upholder and ruler” “at the coming”
which means “arrival, advent and future visible return from heaven
of Jesus, to raise the dead, hold the last judgment and set up
formally and gloriously the kingdom of God” “of our
Lord Jesus Christ” or “he to
whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding;
master, whose name means Jehovah is Salvation and is the anointed One
and Messiah” “with all his saints”
which refers to “Jesus' most holy, pure, morally blameless and holy
ones”. Paul's desire for the Thessalonians was for them to be
“firmly set in their faith and free from fault” before God when
Jesus returns to the Earth to set up the Kingdom of God.
When
we meditate upon Paul's words, we see his desire for them was not
only for a short period of time, but also that they would be ready
when Jesus returns to the Earth. Paul knew the promise of the angels
on the day Jesus was “taken up; and a cloud received him
out of their sight”,
(according to Acts chapter one and verse nine), was that Jesus would
return to the Earth “in like manner as ye have seen him
go into heaven”. Paul wanted
the Thessalonians to be ready for His return. They needed to “love”
one another and “all men”
so God would “establish”
them and make them “blameless”
upon Jesus' return. Do Paul's words challenge us? Are we loving
toward one another and toward “all men”?
If Jesus returned today, would he consider us “established”
and “unblameable”?
As we think through this idea, let the Lord Jesus by His Holy Spirit
put within us a love for others as He loves them, and may He
“establish” us and
make us “blameless”
in His site so we will be ready for the Kingdom of God when He comes
back again.
Next
time we begin a new chapter and see Paul exhort the Thessalonians to
abound more and more in their relationship with God, so read ahead,
and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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