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started a little bit on 1 Thessalonians uh chapter 3 last week and I wanted to touch on a couple of things. I think we had a good discussion. I'm writing I'm going to put one more on the board here.
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Um and I will lean on those of you who are a little more able with the Greek than I am.
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Um, I'm relying on Leon Morris's uh transliterations of these. The current Bible hub transliterations of these are a little bit different from this. Um, but the meaning of them hopefully will
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be sufficient to us. Um, this one actually in if you look up the current transliteration of it is more akin to hysteria. Um, the root is similar there
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as far as I can tell, but um, the actual meaning has little to do with hysteria as far as I can tell. Um, anyways, we'll talk about these as we
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go, but I wanted to write them up there because I didn't um, trust myself to speak and write at the same time. So, I want to pick up here and I'm going to read a little bit. Um, I had hoped to
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move through much of chapter 4, but I think we're probably going to finish chapter 3 and maybe start chapter 4 today, which is fine. We will go at the speed that we can unpack the things that we need to look at here. So, I'm going
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to start reading in uh 1 Thessalonians chapter 3, beginning in verse 9. And I'm probably going to go down um just through verse uh seven or so of chapter
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4. 1 Thessalonians 3. So, this is just after he um was talking about Timothy reporting back. And I'm going to pick up in verse 8 here. For
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now we really live if you stand firm in the Lord. For what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God on
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your account. as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see your face and may complete what is lacking in your faith. So all of that is one thought rhetorical question there.
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So we'll we'll deal with that here in a minute. Now may our God and Father himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you. And may the Lord cause you to increase
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and abound in love for one another and for all people just as we also do for you so that he may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord
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Jesus with all his saints. Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus. As to you, sorry, that you try again, that as you receive from
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us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God, just as you actually do walk, that you excel still more. For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord
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Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification. That is, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not
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in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God, and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we
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also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. Obviously, his thought continues, but
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we're going to pause there for a minute and touch on some of these things here. So, I'm picking up partway through his thought here um after Timothy has brought back good news. And we spoke a
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good bit last week about the pastoral theology that is actually wrapped up here with Paul um writing to the Thessalonians that um often times other books are leaned upon for pastoral
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theology, but there's a considerable amount going on here in Paul and in the relationship that he displays towards these people displays a heart of a pastor here. um and the encouragement
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that he has knowing that they are walking uh in the faith and that they are they are standing firm. And so he says here um you know that we we may actually live
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that we really live here um if you stand firm in the Lord. What thanks can we render to God for you on in a sorry before our God on your account?
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Um so here he does a couple of things that are interesting. this uh section here in in 10. It says, "As we uh night and day keep praying most earnestly that
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we may see your face and may complete what is lacking in your faith." There's a couple of things here to talk about and this is where I've put up a couple of these words. Um this first one that I don't even know if
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I can pronounce it correctly um is an intensifier. And so some of your translations may say where it says most earnestly. Um,
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some of the more literal translations just say abundantly or something to that effect. It it it basically doubles the preceding expression. So you might even
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uh translate what he says day and night most earnestly. You might say night after night, day after day. It's it's a redoubling of the intensity of what he's saying. So the gist there is that you
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almost get the sense from Paul that he he can hardly find the words intense enough to express the emotion the longing with which he wishes to see them and to encourage them. And then he says
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here to complete what is lacking in your faith. Um and that's where we bring in this second one here the carido um which means to render complete. It actually is
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used um in Matthew where it talks about them mending the nets. It's the idea of uh uh patching up or restoring is another translation that's used in
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Galatians from this word. Um in Galatians chapter 6, this word is translated as restoring. So it's the idea of um filling in the holes effectively or patching something up. And so he's saying what is what is
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missing. Um one of the uh Morris in his uh commentary rendered it as supplying what is missing for the full discharge
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of the functions for which the thing or person is designed. So effectively until this is done it does not function as intended. Um so there is something
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needed to complete its function correctly. um this word here. So the this one the hysterma is um derived from the this is
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a noun here in the verse but it's derived from the verb meaning to be left behind or to come behind. And so um that which is lacking effectively that which that which got left out or that which I
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had to leave behind because I had to leave in a hurry. Um so he's saying basically you're you're not complete. I didn't get to tell you everything. I didn't teach you all of the things that you need to know. And it's interesting
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here in this uh middle of this section. I mean, we we talked about it last week. He's very excited and he's speaking of great encouragement and he's going to go
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on effectively in an outburst of of benediction for them. And yet in the middle of this, he's aware of something that they are short of what they should
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be, that there is something lacking. And so we see again in a sort of pastoral theology, he is both encouraged by their consistency in the faith which they have and yet he is bearing in mind what is
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still needed in them. What is still needed uh for them to be fully taught and fully um oriented towards God. And this brings us to a a sort of a question here
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um in the nature of of how the scripture uses the word holy um because he's going to use it here a couple of times and he's going to talk about it and it gets wrapped up a lot with sanctification.
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Some of you have heard me talk about this a little bit on uh Wednesday night when we were having some informal discussions about these things. And I want to be careful here because the scripture I think uses holiness
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in a complex way. I'll say it that way. God himself is holy completely and and utterly. There is no boundary or limit of his holiness. He is
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holy to the uttermost. We are called to be holy. But we recognize that we will not be perfected. we will not be sinless. We have many
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scripture references that you can think of. Um if we say we are without sin, we are a liar and the truth is not in us. So we recognize that for us the idea of
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holy must have a slightly more nuanced meaning. And I would argue that it's this um a number of the commentators pointed out the idea of holy here as the idea of set apart. The idea that you've
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heard this I'm sure before the idea of being sanctified is the same as the vessels of the temple were sanctified. They were set apart for a specific use in the temple. That's reasonable. Um
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what I want to encourage us to think about here is um and forgive me if you're not into math but in math infinity is not a number is it? Infinity
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is a direction. It is an orientation. I want us to think about holiness in this way a little bit because I think that's what we're going to find here as we move into chapter 4. It is a mindset
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an orientation a direction to which we are pointed that we are oriented towards God. The holiness here is the idea of oriented towards him towards his purpose
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towards the things that he considers to be right. And this is actually one of the main things I'm trying to draw out of here. Um we talked about the idea of
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That the standard to which we're being held in comparison to the law of Moses is actually a higher standard. But we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit such that this the burden ought to be lower. And we're going to see here, and
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I'm I'm more than willing to entertain your comments or your challenges because Paul here, and we read a few of them in chapter 4, is going to give us some dos and some do nots.
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I would argue, however, as you read through most of the New Testament, the list of dos and don'ts is very short. there are not very many of many many of them compared to the larger section of
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things that Paul is talking about. Um, and so what I'm trying to draw out here is that Paul has an idea, an attitude, a an orientation that holiness as a
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direction that we are moving is the standard is the yard stick of our conduct. Um, and I
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argue this and I'm going to continue to argue it as we read through because there are certain things that are always true. Paul says here, sexual immorality is not acceptable. Okay, we could follow
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that from the Ten Commandments, right? Not committing adultery. And yet Paul here has more than that in view. And a lot of it has to do with how you relate
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to one another. And this is the argument that I'm trying to make is Paul is calling us beyond the simple dos and don'ts to considering one another,
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considering our conduct to one another. He has actually just defended in chapter 2 and parts of chapter 3 his conduct in front of them. Not out of things, frankly, that I think you could find in
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the law of Moses. He's saying, "I didn't put any burdens. I didn't put any obstacles in the way of the gospel. I put nothing in the way of blocking your
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increase in holiness. Does that make sense to everyone? So this is what I'm trying to draw out here in this little section. Holiness like infinity is is an orientation or a
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direction for us. So God is perfectly holy, but we are orienting ourselves towards his holiness that we we aim that way. We increase in it. We walk there is
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labor involved. Paul's about to tell us that. And we've even talked about it out of chapter one. What does he say of them as he gives thanks? He says, "Your work of faith, your labor of love, your steadfastness and hope, there is effort
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and and um I I can't think of a word besides effort. There's there's exertion involved in this. There is work to be done. And yet the burden ought to be
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lower because it ought to be based in love and oriented towards holiness." Um, so he's here in the middle of this sort
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of uh full reign of his desire to see them. He he's speaking frankly of like how much he longs to be reunited with them, to see them face to face. And in the middle of this, he he he
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takes a moment to to find a place of this pastoral work for building them up in wherever their faith is undeveloped or underdeveloped. Um
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I I I I haven't quite decided if I agree with the commentator who wrote that this is an example of Paul's tact if uh some of you may not believe that Paul has such a thing
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that this is Paul's tact here that he speaks first in the things that he can earnestly praise them and then the second place he indicates the aspects where they have room for improvement. I think it's probably just a natural flow
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of his thought here. Um Calvin did have a comment on this that I thought was worth
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Calvin says of this um from this section it is clear how much we must devote ourselves to teaching for teachers were not ordained only that in one day or in one month they should bring men to the faith of Christ but
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that they should bring to completion the faith that has just begun. Um, I was thinking about that quote in particular, not that it's a
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a burden for us necessarily, but in relation to the things that we often see in the world around us, the idea of revival or evangelist meetings where you get one day or maybe you get a
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whole week of revival and then you're gone. Um the idea of consistent concerted teaching, of shoring up, of filling in the gaps, of mending is the
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the crux of the pastoral theology here that he is paying diligent attention to what is lacking and desiring to fill it in. Um and I actually think it it ties into the discussion that we had last week um
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regarding Pauline pastoral theology here. this idea that he's always teaching. Um he spoke in chapter 2, right, that night and day he was working, but he never begrudged anyone
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the time to teach or to discuss these things in the gospel. So he was constantly looking to build them up. He shows here uh an outworking if you like of that uh what we talked about family
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type of labor that he treats them as a father does that he is thinking constantly about what has shown up that he needs to instruct them in or what might be missing or what further uh
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wisdom and and increase he can share with them. So he honest earnestly desires to shore them up and equip them and supply what all they were needed. And I think this this ties in a little
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bit to the the lengthy conversation we had last week of what was it that he was concerned about um as we read sort of at the end of of chapter 2 and the beginning of chapter 3. Why was it was
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he concerned and why was he sending Timothy was he was concerned that their faith was incomplete and not prepared. Yeah. A little bit differently though because
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So there is an element here in which the the question I think is is somewhat rhetorical. Um he he is saying you know what what what can we render in thanks for all of this joy and yet he says if
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you read verse 10 I I I don't think the punctuation is misplaced here. He says as night and day we keep praying earnestly that we can see your face and complete what is lacking in your faith.
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I think it's tied up with his thought there but it is I wouldn't put that part as rhetorical. particularly praises for their
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Right. faith is used sometimes what we have in Christ. It's also used as the concept of what we believe. I think he's very happy because they are
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they are unified. I think it's a very important point some of the other
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have had longer were probably ahead of the Thessalonians in terms of behind
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Right. I do think they are some details about what's happen,
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right? So, that that's an excellent point. Um, and I appreciate you bringing that out. I agree with Chuck here that I I think he he is keen that they have such love and unity and are united. Um,
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we we talked a good bit last week that he's almost seems to be surprised the way he writes in chapter 3 that he's he's sort of surprised that this has gone as well as it has. and he's so excited. Um but you're you're absolutely
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right that both first and second Thessalonians talk he uses the phrase here the day of the Lord um or the Peruia um if you want to talk about some
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of the Greek and we will uh hopefully soon. So we even saw that at the um the end of chapter one, right? He says to wait for his son from heaven. Um so he's
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got an esqueologgical grounding here as he talks to them. But one of the things that I want to be careful here as we move forward is I have found a good bit in reading some
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of the commentaries on first and second Thessalonians that a lot of people want to focus on the esquetology and want to focus on the prophetic aspect of it and miss that there's a considerable bulk of
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pastoral theology involved here in the way that he's speaking to them, the things that he's concerned about and the things that he encourages them in that he is excited about. So I don't think those things are separate and I don't
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there was a there was a quote here actually that that was written in relation in in the commentary I was reading was actually written in relation to verse 8 and yet I think it ties up this whole thing. Um he was saying the
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the paraphrase that this man wrote was you must show that my misgiving was needless and you will go on to justify my confidence. Okay. So, he's effectively saying here, Timothy came
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back with this report and I'm entrusting all of this to you that a you're going to prove that I was I shouldn't have been worried and as you continue, you will justify my confidence in you that I should not be worried. Okay? So, I I
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think there's an element here. He is absolutely praising them for their unity and for their heart and for the love that they have in in uh in Christ for one another. And yet, what is it that he earnestly asks God for?
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He says, "May our our God and Father himself and Lord Jesus direct our way to you and may the Lord cause you to increase and to abound in love for one another." So they have it and he says,
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"You don't even need anyone to teach you." And yet he's earnestly asking that God might increase it. Okay. So how are those things true at the same time? I
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think we go back to this basis of you can always increase in this. You can always be be built up. You can always move more in that direction. Aaron seems to beire.
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Right. No, I think that's that's a good point that that the characteristic is a desire to increase and to know it's a perennial
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scriptural knowledge being the word in the word it's nothing new everybody everybody seems their time is particularly
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considering what doesn't really make sense If we are indwelled by the spirit of
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insatiable, I should say almost desire to be oriented toward God and know more. So what he's dealing with here, he's very happy with them, but he also recognizes that they need to keep on.
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Yes. You can't just rest on your la that's all that matters. That's not going to cut it, right? Yeah. No, absolutely. Um I I I
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agree with you there that I think his concern is that they that they stay where they are instead of continuing on.
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yeah. So what we're talking about I you know it is maybe a little bit of a tangled thought but what we're talking about is the complexity of what it is to walk uprightly in righteousness right
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and there are there are multiple things that are needed for that to thrive and to move forward. You must have love you must also have knowledge. You must have faith. You must have
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endurance. I mean these these are the the elements the distinctives that he is encouraging them in both where he can praise them for having it and B where he's saying hold on to it don't lose it
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Yeah. I mean, I um I had in my notes. I appreciate that. Thank you. Because it's it is a very much a parallel passage and I think it's not the only passage. um that he has this this idea these
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directives here um that he's he's concerned that they should do this. Um I you've heard me complain even in this study of when I sometimes indicate from
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the scriptures that there is effort required of usually the warning bells go off in the back of people's minds and go ah that's God's thing to do in me. Paul is doing both at
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the same time right here. Okay? He's not letting you have one or the other. It is both. Walk in these ways and may God increase in you. Okay? It's both and.
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It's not either or. And so it's it never excuses the Thessalonians from their labors. And yet he never takes away from them the fact that it must be God doing it in them. Abe, you had your hand up.
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Scripture back to So yes and no. Um I I'll be careful because we we read of course in the in Acts Paul goes to a synagogue here in Thessalonica. There was some presence
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there was the Old Testament scripture there. And as far as we read in the New Testament, that's what they have in mind when they say the scriptures, right? that they weren't I'll be careful here how I phrase it, but we don't have any
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indication that we know very much that the things they were writing were going to become scripture. Um they often say pass these things around, encourage one another, etc. But but when they say
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scripture, they're meaning the Old Testament, right? And I think that was there and available to the Thessalonians. I I don't see the Thessalonians, sorry. Um I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be, but I do
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think that there is an element where yes, he is concerned. So again I try to hold these things at the same time which is he is concerned that
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they not waver or lose the faith that they have with one another uh the love for one another as they move forward as those things are filled in that it never
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damages or tears down the things they've already started with you had your hand up I think just repeats
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Yes. Yeah. So, uh I wanna I want to say it this way. Um sorry, did I miss another hand? Somebody. Okay. Um I I thank you
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for that because he absolutely does. It's it's hard. I'm trying to take many things together quickly so that we don't lose the thought, right? There was there was something to be said maybe for reading Thessalonians all the way
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through just at one go to see the completeness of the thought there. Um and and again I think among the things that he has the distinctives that Paul is pulling out for them
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The Thessalonians letters are huge on these two points, but these are not the only two points. Okay. So, he does speak a number of times here that they have an imminent hope of Christ's return as you pointed out that it seems to be these he speaks of it that they're thinking of it
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like very soon. Um, and we're going to talk a little bit more about that as we move on in in chapter four and chapter 5. What is he what is he doing here? But he even has it at the end of what we
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have called this sort of benedicting this benediction sort of thing that he explodes into here. Um, he says, "Establish your hearts without blame and holiness before our God and father at
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the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints." Um, there's a lot wrapped up in that. And and to answer Abe's question that he asked several minutes ago, u what does it mean to be blameless
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in holiness? What on earth? I mean, what do we do with that? And yet, I think you can actually draw an analogy right here out of the scriptures, which was Paul says of himself that before he was
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converted, he was blameless in relation to the law. Right? So he holds up for us an example there of you can walk. You can do these things. You
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can you can cross your tees and dot your eyes. And yet that's not the same as blameless and holiness. Right? So you you can think no doubt of many people that you've encountered in your life who
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were good people who had no faith. people who were moral, upright, outstanding, dependable, whatever uh
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virtues you want to assign there, and yet do not have faith. So blameless in holiness means something more than that. Blameless and holiness means that your focus, your eyes, and maybe it's a
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little bit hackneed, but think of Peter walking on the waves towards Jesus. When his eyes were on Jesus, he was fine. The minute his vision wavered, he started
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sinking. I think that's here for us. Blameless and holiness means keep that orientation. Um we spoke a little bit chapter 3 uh uh I I sort of summed it up
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with the imitators enduring endurance is key here. Endurance is is foremost in Paul's thought in these things. Um
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he was concerned he is concerned with a falling away. And I and I don't want to belabor the point here, but I I appreciated Abigail last week brought up the parable of the sewer. The idea that that faith, that excitement can spring
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up and then wither or wilt or be snatched away. Uh we've seen that in this body. Jenny and I have uh fairly close friends who for a long time were involved in a church and now have
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basically said, "Yeah, forget it. Uh we're just going to live practically as atheists." Rejecting the reality here that no endurance. they ran for years and and
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partway down the marathon they gave up. Right? So he's concerned here that that they should run with endurance that we embrace the reality that God has put
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before us here. And that reality frankly I think encompasses some of the things that the world around us finds foolish. The the reality of God and his kingdom. The reality that he is coming again. The
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reality that he is at war with powers on the earth and that we are part of that. Okay. that there is a real backing behind this thing, a spiritual reality but behind the things that we see. Uh
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I'm going to throw out an anecdote real quick before I take the question. I I had a a boss at one point who was a very proud atheist. Um and we had an an
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office Spotify or whatever that you know would play. And this um at the risk of offending people, I don't like country music. I don't know who the person was. It was some country song that sort of
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went through the whole nineto-five grind and the commute to work and and the the chorus was that there's got to be something more except the song never suggested anything more. Just that
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there's got to be and I would side eye him the whole time the song was playing. But what do you think there is? I mean, what on earth? What is more for you? And
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yet we we are here because there is something more. It's the the sort of the evergreen quote from CS Lewis. Christianity is like the sun. I both see
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it and by it I see all things clearly. Right? That that's the that's the idea of blameless and holiness that you don't take that lens off. Do you stick with the reality that is behind these things
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that you view it in this way? I think I had your hand first and then well the word holiness
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Uh I don't know. Yeah, sanctification is fine there. So sanctification is bringing about holiness. And I've always thoughtific
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doing your reps here and exercising your faith and sanctifying yourself almost. Yeah. No, I I I think that's actually not an unreasonable way to phrase that. It's it's not that we're doing it oursself, right? But that that we are
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expected to be laboring in it. And I think you can show that in many places in the scriptures. Again, I I keep referring off-handedly to Hebrews, but I think the the the book of Hebrews again never ever does anything less than
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absolutely glorify God and Jesus for the work that he is doing in his people. And yet, he never ever gives his hearers any excuse for assuming that they're not supposed to be sweating in effort with
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this. Right? And I think Paul is exactly the same here. And I really want to to sort of highlight as we we're running out of time this morning though that he he's doing these things backtoback,
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right? He's saying at the beginning part of chapter 3, I'm so thankful and yet there's something lacking. He prays for God to fill in for them and then he says, okay, here's what I need you to be doing and here's here's how you ought to
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be working on it. Hey, just think just think a group of people.
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teaching them the rest of the story. It's not just love, but you got to have So yes, I I absolutely agree with you there that it's it's you've got to have
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both things. You have to have love. I mean, we have, of course, the the passages elsewhere, right, where he says, "If you have all of these things and you don't have love, that's useless. You got to have the love and you need
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the content. You you have to have the things that it's based in." Um, but I I will push a little bit here and and we've only got a few minutes left.
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I I will hold strongly that the other part of what they need here is actually right here in the verse. and I will point you back to the sermon out of Romans, right? And I will point
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you to dad's sermons in First Peter. Um, if you have love for another, you're not you're not any better than the Gentiles. You can go join a whole number of clubs.
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Frankly, actually, and I don't mean this to be offensive, but maybe it is. I I suspect you can find some clubs in Greenville that have even more enthusiasm and joy and love for one another than most churches. Um, but if
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we don't have love, if we don't have the phoenon, if we don't display that love to mankind, Paul is saying effectively this is worthless. And and I had
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a a slightly horrifying experience yesterday. I gather there was some kind of protest happening in various places in the country. and a family went by me in the grocery store just absolutely excuriating these people who are
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protesting and and wishing all manner of ill on them and and abuse by the authorities and so on. That's not us. Okay? That vengeance, that hatred, that desire to see other people crushed,
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that's not this. We've got to have love for each other and love for mankind. He loved us when we were sinners. Um
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Gabriel, you've had your hand up for a little bit. little bit. So when I'm in the house with my kids
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everybody else, they will they will single person around them. However, if they go this person needward
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then you can move forward. Whereas if you're saying what should be done all the time on what should be done then you're going to miss what needs to move forward. I think that's great. That's that's a
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that's an excellent practical advice which is you know effectively externalizing right looking for things in other people that you can supply looking for needs looking for places to
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help. Looking for places to shore up is an excellent way to get yourself out of the oh you were supposed to be oh well you're not loving you know okay we're getting way off track at that point. Um,
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I absolutely I appreciate that that um caution there because it's not love of the world the way we see love of the world uh world uh cautioned against or or even um what's the right word here? Uh specifically
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excluded, right, in scripture that we don't love the world that way. And yet we are expected to love mankind. Again, I I would not try to rehash it all here and I I appreciate the reminder because
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it has to come from the Godword direction, right? We have to be oriented in the right way. Um and that is the challenge. And yet
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We have within us the spirit guiding us into these things. Um Abe I think you had your hand up. Okay. Um so
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I want to just read two things I think as we as we conclude here. Um he says here uh this this sort of yeah I'm going to have to recycle
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something for next week. He um as he he sort of comes to this outburst this this doxology benediction that he comes to JB Lightoot in his commentary wrote this is an outburst of
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the earnest conviction which was uppermost in the apostles mind of the utter worthlessness of all human efforts without divine aid. Right? So he's not saying do this on your own. He he breaks
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in effectively in the middle of this saying, "I need God to to empower you in this that that it it sort of his prayer sort of interrupts his thought for them." And yet he then doesn't leave
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behind. He never excuses the Thessalonians from their labors. Immediately after this in chapter 4, we're going to see that he goes over things that they should be doing and things that they ought to be um uh
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walking in. Um, and I want to just point out here, um, before we lose this section, because I want to move on into chapter four next week, but he says, um, here, uh, speaking of doctrine, there's
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a little bit of doctrine sort of tucked in here, which is in the Greek here where he says, uh, may our God and father himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you. Um, those are super
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closely linked in the Greek. and the verb that he uses direct there. Normally, if you were speaking of more than one person, you would make that a plural verb. Paul uses the singular.
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So, he's very obviously here thinking of them as one idea. God and father and our Lord Jesus Christ is one thing. He then says singularly, direct our way to you.
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So, there's a trinitarian touch to his grammar there as he's going into this. And I think it would have been evident to the Thessalonans. uh one of the commentators pointed out this is as far
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as we know this is possibly the very first Pauline letter he's saying um it's obvious that the Paul that the that his hearers would not have objected to this right he's not he's not making a
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theological argument in the middle of his prayer he's just assuming it as he goes forward that was accepted by the people he was writing to so just a little touch of the the trinitarian in his prayer here um so I want to leave us
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with that and we we'll pick up sort of tying playing together three and four uh next week as we go forward. But I I do want to encourage us to read this carefully to to to see what is here and
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and I thank God again that it it ties in so well with what we've just heard in Romans and what we've been hearing out of First Peter, which is the Yes, absolutely. Love one another
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and you must also love your fellow man. Uh, think of think of Jesus's actions upon the earth. If I need to remind you that he he associated with sinners and
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tax collectors and Samaritans, we must treat our fellow man with love that is God oriented and not with
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hatred, not with a desire for vengeance, not to see them crushed, but to see them saved and brought in and built up in the faith. Well, let's close in prayer as we
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move to the upstairs. Father, please be at work among us to increase the love that we need. We desire to
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desire to be blameless in holiness, to walk according to these things that the apostle has written for our instruction. We desire that at your return we might be found
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be found pure and oriented towards your holiness knowing that it is not because we started these things but because you began a work in us and that you will be faithful to complete it. And yet Lord we
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know that we are not excused from walking from working from diligently pressing on towards the goal. So Lord, we beg that you would give us the strength of the spirit, the very power
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that raised Christ from the dead, working within us to make this true and possible. As we go now to gather around the word in song and in prayer and in
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hearing it preached, please be among us and at work in us. We ask in Jesus name.
