Title The Thessalonian Church and Paul
1Finally, brethren, pray for us, that your word may run and glorify as it is among you, 2and also deliver us from unreasonable and evil men, for faith does not belong to all. 3 You are faithful. He will strengthen you and keep you from the evil one. 4 We are sure in the Lord that you will do and will do what we command you about you. 5 He will guide you in your hearts to learn the love of God and Christ? I want you to enter into patience.
1. Words that begin
The recent quantitative growth of some churches is actually due to the movement of members, not the conversion of unbelievers. An important cause of this unfortunate phenomenon is the distortion of the gospel and not obeying the Word.
2. Paul asked the church members to pray
Everyone, please believe that the first thing that church members should pray for is the ministers who nurture and lead the church members.
The second content of the prayer that Paul asked the church members to do was to rescue his companions who were preaching the gospel from unbelievers who were mean and evil.
In fact, there were only a couple of times when the apostle Paul had to come to an end because of the persecution and tribulation that constantly came on him, but he was able to receive the overflowing comfort and comfort of God each time, and he was also able to triumph in the Lord. What's the secret? Please believe that it is Paul's own prayer and the intercession of the church members.
3. Paul comforting the church members
The Apostle Paul, who asked the Thessalonians to pray, is now comforting them by saying, “The Lord is faithful and will strengthen you and keep you from the evil one.”
Our Lord is faithful and will surely strengthen our faith and deeds and keep us safe from all the evil around us. But the problem is that even though I am a member of the church, I do not believe in the Lord. They cannot even worship the Lord properly; instead of meditating on the Lord's words day and night and boldly obeying them, they do not read even a single line of the Bible for 24 hours a day. How can you tell your church members that you truly believe in the Lord? Since they are such members of the church, there is no way to know whether the Lord is really faithful or not, whether the Lord is protecting them or not.
When Rome was persecuting the church, there was a church leader named Nora Felix. Driven by the rulers, he fled to the mountains and hid in a cave. The officers who kept chasing finally came to the front of the cave. Meanwhile, he finally said, “God, take my life! I trust in the hands of the Lord.” He prayed and waited for his arrest. But strangely, the officials who arrived in front of the cave did not enter the cave, but only moved back and forth in front of the cave, and then they just went back. Later, when he came out of the burrow, he finally understood why. While praying in the burrow, a few spiders swung a web at the entrance of the burrow. When the officials saw a spider web at the entrance of the cave, they went back thinking that there was nothing in the cave.
I hope that your life's footsteps will always move according to prayer and the word in the Lord.
4. Confidence in the obedience of church members
So, a person must have the wisdom to discern whether it is something to be listened to and followed, or something to be taught and obeyed. It is not the ignorant who are the hardest to nurture, coach, or teach, but the one who brags about what he knows. On the other hand, it is the one who listens and obeys, not the learned one, who is best to nurture, guide, or teach.
In any case, since God is a Spirit, the Word of God cannot be known by reason, but only by acting according to the Word. In John 7:16, Jesus said, “If any man will do the will of God, he will know whether this doctrine is from God or whether I speak of my own accord.”
Only when we act according to the Word can we enjoy the prosperity achieved by the living and working Word, and only when we follow the Word can we gain the victory achieved by the Word of life and movement.
The Apostle Paul was convinced that the church members would obey what they taught or commanded, but he was learning that the Lord is the decisive work in making them obey all of them. So, he prays that the Lord will guide the hearts of the church members to love God and allow them to persevere in waiting for the Lord's return.
5. Conclusion
As believers, we pray for all people, but first we must pray for the Lord's messengers who work with the Gospel at home and abroad. We must pray for the gospel they preach to be spread more widely and bear fruit, and we must pray for deliverance from all persecution and tribulation.
We earnestly pray that we all love God by boldly acting according to His Word, with the assurance that God will strengthen us and protect us, and endure until the Lord's return.
(Poongseong Methodist Church. Book: Complete Commentary on the New Testament Series/ Interpretation of difficult scriptures/ Prayer of Prosperity/ Salvation before the birth of Jesus (English/Korean)/ Sermonbook 17. 426-3051)