Word of Encouragement (6/28/2021)

Today, we will finish our reflection on Paul’s prayer in 1 Thess. 3:11-13: “Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.”

This prayer assures us that our Lord Jesus will return with all His saints. He, who came as the suffering Servant of the Lord in His First Coming, will come as the Lord of glory in His Second Coming. His First Coming was to accomplish our salvation; His Second Coming will be to bring our salvation to its glorious consummation. He will do this by raising our bodies in resurrection glory, whether we are dead or alive at that time, and uniting our glorified spirits with our resurrected bodies. He will do this also by judging the unrepentant sinners and condemning them to eternal damnation.

This prayer reminds us that we should strive for “the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). But where do we get this holiness? Is it the result of our efforts or is it something Christ grants to us on the last day? If it is the former, it cannot be blameless and perfect. If it is the latter, why are we called to strive for it? To settle this question, we must examine Paul’s prayer carefully.

Let us observe that this is a prayer to God, not a command to us. Paul is praying, “...may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” We are reminded that our salvation, from beginning to end, is ultimately God’s work, not ours. If there is any of our work involved, is the result, or the effect, of God’s work in us.

Paul prays this prayer because Jesus Christ alone (along with the Father and the Holy Spirit) is able to do this in our hearts. He prays this prayer also because he is certain as an Apostle of Jesus Christ that this is what the Lord desires. When Jesus died on the cross for us, it was not merely to deliver us from hell and transfer us to heaven. Why would He want to take depraved sinners out of hell so they could live in heaven with Him? Surely, God cannot take any delight in having those rebels at heart living with Him in His holy habitation! That is impossible for a holy God: “The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers” (Ps. 5:5). And what about those rebels? Would they want to live with a holy God in heaven forever? That will be unbearable for anyone whose heart is not holy! This is why the Lord desires to establish our hearts blameless in holiness! To that end, He laid down His life for us. To that end, He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell and work in us. To that end, He is interceding for us at the right hand of God.

If this is the case, we should pray this prayer for ourselves and for one another. We should pray with humility because the Lord alone is able to make this happen. We should pray with confidence because this is what the Lord desires for us more than anything, I dare say, and He will not fail to do it. We should pray and keep on praying so that this would be the desire of our hearts as well. In praying, we should realize that our glorification is the climax of a long process throughout our lives. God doesn’t glorify us against our will, dragging us kicking and screaming into heaven. God may save us at the very last minute, like the thief on the cross. But even he desired more than anything to be remembered by Christ when He came in His kingdom (Luke 23:42). For most of us, our glorification will be the culmination of our life-long sanctification, by which our hearts grow more and more in love with God and in conformity to His holy character. May the Lord answer this prayer according to His almighty power and infinite love!