2 Thessalonians 3:1-5: A Pastoral Plea for the Church

We’re continuing our series “Kingdom Come” in the book of 2 Thessalonians. And we come today to a passage that is quintessentially Paul and quintessentially pastoral—2 Thessalonians 3:1-5. And Paul puts before us in this passage just a few expectations for the church in Thessalonica. He wants something from them. He pleads with them to do a few things for him for the benefit of the Kingdom of Christ, but also for the benefit of the Thessalonians themselves and their spiritual growth. 

You see there’s a great relationship that is described in the NT. It’s a relationship between leader and follower. It’s a relationship between pastor and parishioner. It’s a relationship between overseers and those in the church that are overseen. 

And Paul is crystal clear elsewhere about what overseers (elders) bring to the table in terms of their character and conduct in the church. They need to be men “above reproach” says 1 Timothy 3:2. They need to be men who are self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money, etc., etc. (3:2-3). Paul expects that of leaders in the church, and you as members of the church are right to expect that of your leaders. Your elders aren’t perfect, but they need to be honorable and above reproach in these things. 

Another thing that Paul expects of elders is that they pray for their church. Paul modeled this. He prayed for the churches, and he also asked the churches to pray for him! The Apostle Peter tells us to pray and to shepherd and to exercise oversight over the flock (1 Pet 5:1-4). The author of Hebrews tells church congregations to “obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account” (13:17). So, there’s this mutually beneficial relationship that’s described in the NT… a relationship between church leaders and the church congregation. And that passage right there, Hebrews 13:17, should be sobering for all parties in the church. It’s especially sobering for us who are elders in this room (Bob, Forrest, Mike, Don, Jerry, and myself). We are watching over souls. We will have to give an account for our faithfulness in that task. 

But the NT, and Paul especially, also gives some expectations of those who are led. He doesn’t want the work of ministry or the tasks of the church to be located strictly in the office of the elders. We all have a responsibility before God, as the church. And elders are right to expect some things of the church at large. Paul expects all of us in the church to be a certain kind of Christian. 

And the message today is a personal plea from the Apostle Paul for us to be 1, 2, 3, and 4. Go ahead and take your notes and write these down. The message today is entitled “A Pastoral Plea for the Church.” Paul pleads for us, as a church, to be four things this morning! Here’s the first. 

Paul pleads with the church to be a people of…

1. Prayer (3:1-2) 

Paul prays for the Thessalonians. Paul tells the Thessalonians to pray for him. In my series on 1 Thessalonians, I called this “pastoral quid pro quo.” Here it is again in 2 Thessalonians. And by extrapolation, I would say this—the Holy Spirit wants Verse By Verse Fellowship to be a place of prayer! Right? A place where the pastor prays for the church, and the church prays for the pastor. 

“What kind of prayers should we pray, Pastor Tony?” Well, I’m glad you asked, because Paul gives us helpful instructions here on what to pray for. He says, 

1 Finally, brothers, 

Only a pastor says “finally” and then goes on for another eighteen verses. 

1 Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, 

2 and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. 

So, Paul asks for prayer in three categories. Let’s look at these one by one. 

1) First, he asks for prayer that the “word of the Lord may speed ahead.” Paul asks that the λόγος of the κύριος (“the word of the Lord”) would speed ahead. What’s the λόγος of the κύριος? What’s the “word of the Lord?” It’s the gospel. It’s the message about the κύριος (the Lord Jesus). Paul’s utmost hope, Paul’s greatest thrill in life is to see people get saved and come to Christ. And so, he says, “Pray for that, church!” “Pray for it.” “Pray for it to speed ahead!” The word for “speed ahead” here is the Greek τρέχω. And that word means literally “to run.” 

Remember in the parable of the prodigal son how when the father saw his son a long way off, he ran towards him (Lk 15:20)? Do y’all remember that? I remember that because it’s such a shocking development in the story. Middle-aged Hebrew men never run! That’s what kids do. So, for that father to run towards his rebellious and profligate son is a shocking development in the parable. I don’t have time to preach the implications of that; I’ll save that for another time. I just want you to know that that same word τρέχω, which is used to describe that father’s running towards his son is used here in 2 Thessalonians 3. Paul says, “Pray that the gospel will run! Pray that it will spread around the world with speed and vitality! May the gospel be fast, like Usain Bolt is fast! May the gospel fly with speed like a bat out of hell! Because that’s actually what saves people from hell—the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ!” 

Do you pray like that, church? “O God, make your gospel run and speed throughout San Antonio! May your church spread the gospel with urgency!” Do you pray like that for your preacher on Sunday morning? “O God, give your servant, Pastor Tony, skill and opportunity to preach the gospel with power! May it run from his lips! May it speed ahead and do its salvific work!” Paul asks for prayers like that. And now, I’m asking you too to pray like that for me. 

2) Paul also asks for prayer that the “word of the Lord may be honored.” This is the Greek δοξάζω, which typically is translated “glorify.” But the idea here is “honored” or “gloried in.” Paul wants us to pray, “May the word of the Lord be gloried in, by the people who hear it.” Why would Paul say that? Why would Paul ask for prayer for that? Well, he tells us. Because some people don’t glory in the truth of the gospel. Some people don’t honor it. They despise it. Look at the end of verse 2. Because some people don’t have faith in the gospel. Therefore, pray! Pray that it would speed ahead and be honored (i.e., received by the hearts of those who hear it). 

3) And also, Paul asks for prayer that he, the messenger, will be delivered from wicked men as he preaches the message. Actually, Paul says “we,” meaning himself and the other messengers. 

Let me ask you a question, Verse By Verse Fellowship. You’ve read through the book of Acts. Did wicked and evil men try to hurt Paul? Did they now? Did they try to stop him from preaching the gospel? All the time, right? It’s understandable that Paul would pray this. In 2 Corinthians, Paul said that he endured “afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger…” (6:4-5). Later in that book, he said, “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers” (11:23-26). Of course Paul needed prayer to be delivered from wicked men! Paul was constantly at death’s door.

And to that you might think, “O, Pastor Tony, doesn’t have that problem. Nobody’s beating him up and trying to kill him or run him out of town!” Well, that’s true. But if you concluded from that, “He doesn’t need prayer for the preaching of the gospel!” You’re wrong! I do need it. Because the same Satan who tried to oppose Paul by stirring up mobs in the first century is alive and active and trying to stop me (and you) from preaching Christ in the twenty-first century. His tactics are a little different. But he’s still out there prowling around like a roaring lion opposing the gospel of Jesus Christ! 

I heard a pastor say once that “preaching every week is kind of like giving birth to a baby on Sunday, and then finding out on Monday morning that you are pregnant again.” It is a hard work! I love it. But it’s a hard work! 

Donald Coggan, former Archbishop of Canterbury, said once: “It is the [pastor’s] job to feed the sheep—not to entertain the goats.” That’s the gig for a pastor. It’s a hard work. And I don’t tell you that so that you feel sorry for me or so that you excuse my weaknesses as a leader. I say that so that you would pray for me. And while you’re at it, pray for Pastor Mike. And pray for our elders. Pray for Daniel and his team on Wednesday night. And pray for your Journey Kids teachers that are teaching our young ones. 

And while you’re at it, pray for our whole church that Satan would not stop the proclamation of the gospel. Sometimes I think that gospel-proclamation is more effective at the watercooler at your place of work, then it is here on Sunday morning. People can dismiss what I say. “O Tony. He’s a pastor. He has to say that!” But when you say or reinforce it in the workplace, that’s a lot harder for people to dismiss. 

Paul pleads with the church to be a people of prayer. Can we do that? Don’t grow weary in doing that, church. Don’t stop! Don’t quit on your prodigal kids! Don’t quit on your broken city that has so many unbelievers! Keep praying. Keep praying. The great hymn-writer William Cowper, wrote a hymn about the struggle to pray in the Christian life:

What various hindrances we meet
In coming to the mercy-seat!
Yet who that knows the worth of prayer,
But wishes to be often there.
Prayer makes the darken’d cloud withdraw
Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw;
Gives exercise to faith and love
Brings ev’ry blessing from above.
Have you no words? Ah! Think again.
Words flow apace when you complain,
And fill your fellow creature’s ear,
With the sad tale of all you are.
Were half the breath thus vainly spent,
To heaven in supplication sent,
Your cheerful song would oft’ner be,
“Hear what the Lord has done for me.” 

So, keep praying, Verse By Verse Fellowship. And here’s something else. Keep believing. Write this down as #2. 

Paul pleads with the church to be a people of…

2. Faith (3:3) 

In the words of a band called “Journey” circa 1981, “Don’t stop believin’! Have truer words ever been spoken by a band called “Journey”? Now, I’m almost 100% sure that when Journey wrote that song, they weren’t thinking about 2 Thessalonians 3:3. But I’m going to hijack their song to tell you this, this morning, “Don’t stop believin’!” “Don’t quit on faith.” That’s Paul’s plea here in verse 3. John Owen, the seventeenth century theologian, argued that “believers must trust in the faithfulness of God, and be consoled. This is Paul’s message in [2 Thessalonians] 3:1-5.” Paul writes,

3 But the Lord is faithful.

Now there’s some wordplay here in this statement. The last word in verse 2 is the Greek πίστις meaning “faith” (“not all have faith”). And the first word in verse 3 in Greek is the word πιστὸς “faithful” (literally: “faithful is the Lord”). So, you have πίστις and πιστὸς back-to-back. Paul is deliberately contrasting the absentee faith of some human beings with the faithfulness of God. 

3 But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. 

The word for “guard” here is the Greek φυλάσσω, and it means to “watch,” “guard,” or “protect.” For example, the shepherds in Luke 2 were said to be “keeping watch [φυλάσσω] over their flocks by night” when the angels came to tell them that Jesus was born. Jesus said later in John 12, “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep (φυλάσσω) it” (12:47). They keep it. They guard it. They protect it. 

This word φυλάσσω often has a military nuance to it. For instance, it’s used in Acts 12:4 when Herod locked up Peter in prison and sent four squads of soldiers to “guard” (φυλάσσω) him, because Peter had a reputation for breaking out of prison. So that’s a good word picture for us there. God will establish and protect us (φυλάσσω) from the evil one. 

So let me clarify here. The Lord is faithful, church. Do you believe that? He will establish you and guard you against the evil one! Do you believe that? Paul is telling you these things to strengthen your faith. 

Now, a quick caveat here just so you know that Paul’s not talking out of both sides of his mouth. You might say, “Tony, you just said that the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. If that’s the case, how can Paul say now that Jesus will guard us against the evil one? What gives, Pastor Tony? Does he guard us or not? Is he faithful or is he not?” 

Well, yeah, let me add to your perplexity here. Paul has said already that the Thessalonians were suffering greatly in their city (1 Thess 2:14; 3:3-4; 2 Thess 1:4-6). And surely the evil one is behind that. In fact, Paul said that Satan had blocked him and his convoy from coming to Thessalonica (1 Thess 2:18). If that’s the case, how can Paul say now that Jesus guards us against the evil one? What gives, Paul? How can you say this? 

Well, here’s how. Gene Green explains it in his commentary. He says, “This promise is hardly meant to convey to the church that they will not suffer but rather affirms that in the midst of their sufferings their faithful Patron [the Lord] will strengthen them so that they will not fall. He will shield them from the ultimate shame of succumbing to the wiles of their adversary.” 

The Book of Jude says that God “is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy” (24). Look, let me synthesize these thoughts. The Lord has not promised to keep you from harm and to keep you fully protected from Satan and his attacks. If someone told you that… if someone told you that if you vote for Jesus all your wildest dreams would come true and you won’t have any struggles in life, and everything will be “easy peasy” until Christ comes back… that person lied to you. God has not promised that!

But God has promised to keep you eternally secure in himself. That’s the protection from Satan that God has promised you. Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… I give [my sheep] eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:11, 28). The Lord is faithful, church. He is faithful in that! Don’t stop believin’. Don’t ever quit on faith. Yes, the devil’s going to score some victories in your life. Yes, he’s going to get the best of you from time to time. But those victories are the last vestiges of a defeated enemy. Satan’s clock is ticking. 

So, Paul wants us to be people of prayer. And he wants us to be people of faith. Here’s another plea. Paul wants us to be people of…

3. Obedience (3:4) 

4 And we have confidence in the Lord about you, 

says Paul… and Timothy and Silas… they are the “we” here… 

we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. 

By the way, Paul gave the Thessalonians lots of instructions in 1 Thessalonians. He’s commanded them to do lots of stuff. There are seventeen imperatives alone in the last few paragraphs of 1 Thessalonians. And yet, Paul says here, “we are confident of your obedience, Thessalonica. We know that you are going to do the things we have commanded.” 

Now that got me thinking yesterday. What if Paul was writing to us in San Antonio? Would he say this to us? “We have confidence in the Lord about you [Verse By Verse Fellowship], that you are doing and will do the things that we command.” Are we doers of God’s Word not just hearers? 

I think the answer to that is “yes.” I can’t answer for everyone in this room. But I think that we as a church are serious about doing God’s Word not just hearing it. And I’m thankful to be pastoring a church that is legitimately seeking Christ and following Christ. Not that we can’t grow in that. [Don’t get cocky, church]. We can grow in this. I can grow in this. 

4 And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. 

Just a clarifying statement here. Paul has every right to demand obedience of the Thessalonians in this letter. And that’s because Paul is not just a pastor; he’s more than a pastor. He’s an apostle. And God used him, as well as the other Apostles, to write the Scriptures. So, obedience to his command is essentially obedience to the Scripture. It’s essentially obedience to the Lord. 

Now how does that apply to us in San Antonio? Because I’m not Paul. I’m not an Apostle. I’m just a humble, lowly pastor. 

Well, here’s how it applies. To the extent that I and the other pastors/preachers/elders command things that are consistent with Scripture, you need to be obedient to that. When I was a kid, my pastor used to say all the time, “Search the Scriptures for yourself and make sure that what I’m telling you is correct.” And that was good. It put the onus on us to interpret Scripture and not just blindly follow a leader. We had a responsibility ourselves to confirm what was preached. Even the Bereans were commended in the NT for making sure that what Paul said squared with Scripture (Acts 17:10-15). And Paul was an apostle. If that was true for Paul and the Bereans, how much more does it need to be true for Pastor Tony and Verse By Verse Fellowship?

So, here’s what you need to do, church. “To the extent that what I or the elders teach squares with Scripture, you need to obey it.” You can read and obey it for yourself too but remember that God has given gifts of the Spirit for the edification of the church. He’s appointed elders to teach the Scriptures, and that’s a good thing. So again, to the extent that what I or the elders teach squares with Scripture, you need to obey it.

And let me say this too. Let’s be a church that prioritizes what the Scriptures say above everything in our world! Can we do that? Let me be painfully transparent with you this morning. I am sick and tired of seeing churches and Christians capitulate to that which is culturally acceptable and socially palatable in our world. I don’t care about what’s culturally acceptable. I want to know what God says. I want to do what God says. Are y’all with me? I get so annoyed by pastors and churches and Christians acquiescing to what the world demands of us. Do we fear man, or do we fear God? 

Careful now. I’ve got to be careful here. Before we get too high and mighty this morning, let’s just do a quick gut check. How are you doin’, Christian, with obedience to the Scripture? How are you doin’ with that? Do you excuse your sin, like others excuse sin? It’s a lot easier to excuse the sin that you are susceptible to and condemn the sin in others that doesn’t tempt you. 

How are you doing with obedience to the Scriptures? Is there something in your life, right now, that the Holy Spirit is convicting you of and saying, “you need to change that…you need to deal with that… you need to repent, and you need to obey the commands of Scripture?” Paul wants us to be a people of obedience. I heard a pastor ask this last week, “If the world put you on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you.”

Paul’s plea here is for churches to be obedient. He wants us to be obedient to Scripture. And also, one final thing. Paul wants us to be people of love and endurance. 

4. Love and Endurance (3:5) 

5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. 

You know what I’ve found over the last few months as we’ve studied 1 and 2 Thessalonians? These are the most prayerful of Paul’s letters. It’s really quite remarkable. Because there’s a lot in these books about eschatology and practical theology. These are deep books. But they are also prayerful books. Paul spends a lot of time in these books talking about prayer and even just praying. 

Case in point, verse 5.

5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Here’s what Paul pleads for in the church. Here’s what he prays for in verse 5. Two things. 1) That the Lord Jesus would direct our hearts to the love of God. That word “direct” is the word κατευθύνω in Greek. It’s very rare in the NT (Luke 1:79; 1 Thess 3:11; 2 Thess 3:5). But in the LXX, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT, the word is used a handful of times in 1 and 2 Chronicles to speak of the kings who either set their hearts to seek God or didn’t set their hearts to seek God. For instance, the LXX says of Jehoshaphat, a good king, that he “set his heart” (κατευθύνω) to seek God (2 Chron 19:3). But Rehoboam, the wicked son of Solomon, did not “set his heart” (κατευθύνω) to seek the Lord (2 Chron 12:14). And you know, that has always fascinated me. Because in some instances all the coverage a king gets in the OT Scriptures is a sentence or two, sometimes a couple paragraphs. And their whole lives, their whole kingship, came down to one declaration by God. Did they obey God or not? Did they set their heart on Yahweh or not? Did they κατευθύνω their hearts or not? 

Now Paul’s prayer here in 2 Thessalonians is a little different than what we see with OT kings. He doesn’t tell us to set our hearts (κατευθύνω) on God. He prays that God would set (κατευθύνω) our hearts towards the love of God. What does that mean? What’s he praying for there? Well, he’s praying that God would override our proclivities as human beings. He’s praying that God would override our propensity toward sin and hate and rejection of God. That’s a big ask of God, right there! That’s a big prayer! He’s praying that God would so direct our hearts towards the love of God, that we would know that we are loved, and live like we are loved, and love others the way God loves us. That is a great prayer right there! 

Husbands, you want to love your wives as Christ does the church? Go pray this prayer for them. Go pray that Jesus would direct her heart to the love of God! Pray and say to Jesus, “Lord, please direct my wife’s heart to the love of God. May she know that she is loved. May she live like she is loved by God. And may she love others in the way that God loves her.” 

Wives, you can reciprocate. You pray for your husband likewise. Pray and say to Jesus, “Lord, please direct his heart to the love of God. May he know that he is loved. May he live like he is loved. And may he love others in the way that God loves us.” That is a prayer worth praying every night for one another. That is a prayer worth praying at every small group meeting you ever go to for the rest of your life! Paul wants us to be people of love. He prays for that.

And then this. Here’s another prayer. Paul prays for endurance at the end of verse 5. Paul prays that God will direct our hearts to the steadfastness of Christ. There’s that word again—steadfastness. That’s a great word. That’s what Paul wants for us, obviously, because he’s used it three times in his letters to the Thessalonians (1 Thess 1:3; 2 Thess 1:4; 3:5). In fact, Paul uses it 16 times in the NT. He really wants steadfastness! 

And his wording is interesting here. He prays, “May the Lord direct your hearts… to the steadfastness of Christ.” “What does that mean, Pastor Tony? Does that mean that our hearts should love and meditate on Christ’s steadfastness? Or does that mean that our hearts should imitate Christ’s steadfastness?” I think it means both. Paul wants you to be steadfast in your following of Christ, but he knows that your steadfastness can’t be decisive in you. It’s got to come from Christ. He loved us first, so we love him. He was steadfast first all the way to the cross. Therefore, we likewise, in Christ, can steadfastly follow him, worship him, glorify him, and imitate him. 

Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians is my prayer for us, church. I’m praying this for us. 

5 May the Lord direct [our] hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

I’ll close with this. Last week I mentioned “Fiddler on the Roof.” And I’d like to circle back to that musical for another illustration as we close. For those of you who haven’t seen that movie yet, I’m just going to keep doing sermon illustrations from it until you go and see it.

For those who have seen the movie, you’ll recognize this scene. There’s a scene in the movie where the protagonist “Tevye” tries to come to grips with his daughter’s love for her fiancé. And he’s struggling with it, like many fathers struggle with the loss of their little girls. And in a moment of whimsical reflection, he asks his wife of 25 years, “Golde, do you love me?” 

And Golde replies in shock and confusion, “Do I what?” 
Tevye says [actually sings], “Do you love me?” 
And Golde says, “Do I love you?” 
“With our daughters getting married // And this trouble in the town
You’re upset, you’re worn out // Go inside, go lie down! // Maybe it’s indigestion?”
Well, Tevye won’t let her off the hook. He says, “Golde, I’m asking you a question... Do you love me?”
Golde says, “Do I love you? 
For twenty-five years I’ve washed your clothes // Cooked your meals, cleaned your house // Given you children, milked the cow // After twenty-five years, why talk about love right now?”
Tevye says, “Golde, the first time I met you was on our wedding day I was scared I was shy I was nervous…”
Golde says, “So was I…”
Tevye says, “But my father and my mother // Said we’d learn to love each other
And now I’m asking, Golde // Do you love me?”
Golde says to herself this time, “For twenty-five years I’ve lived with him // Fought with him // starved with him // Twenty-five years my bed is his // If that’s not love, what is?”
Tevye says, hopefully this time, “Then you love me?”
Golde says, “I suppose I do.”
Tevye says, “And I suppose I love you too.”

What’s Paul praying for here in 2 Thessalonians 3:5? What’s this love of God that he asks Jesus to direct our hearts towards? It’s a love of commitment. It’s a love of obedience. It’s a love of action. It’s a love of longevity. It’s not a flash in the pan love. I’m tired of flash in the pan Christianity. It’s a love of longevity and steadfastness. And let me add this. It’s a love that spreads to others. Remember what Jesus said to Peter after his resurrection but before ascension? 

“Do you love me, Peter?” 
“Yes, Lord.” 
“Alright. Feed my sheep.” In other words, “Love the people.” 

Paul’s prayer for us as a church…. Paul’s plea to us is that we would be…

1) a people of…Prayer (3:1-2)

2) a people of…Faith (3:3)

3) a people of…Obedience (3:4)

4) and a people of…Love and Endurance (3:5) 

Let’s be this kind of church, Verse By Verse Fellowship. Let’s be this kind of church, that Paul prays for here.