11 ¶ Wherefore also we pray always for you, that
our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good
pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:
12 That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be
glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Paul’s declaration that he prays always for the
Thessalonians is in keeping with his sentiments elsewhere. Examples include;
Romans 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my
spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you
always in my prayers;
Ephesians
1:16 Cease not to give thanks for you,
making mention of you in my prayers;
Among those we should be praying regularly for are
those people who we have prayed for salvation with and those believers whom we
help disciple in Bible study. In fact, along with our church, our pastor, our
family, our nation, and the world around us we should be praying for those over
whom we have had some influence for the gospel.
The Thessalonians, like Paul himself, had been called
to persecution and tribulation (see verses 4-10 and comments).
1Thessalonians
3:3 That no man should be moved by these
afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.
One of the undercurrents of the letters to the
Thessalonians and, indeed, of all of Paul’s letters is that Christians will
suffer for Christ. In this letter to the Thessalonians it is said to be part of
God’s judgment on those doing the persecuting as their actions will justify
their punishment. Paul is praying that the Thessalonians will be counted worthy
by God for this calling.
It was that goodness of God that led us to repent of
our natural state of being a sinner and of our sins.
Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness
and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth
thee to repentance?
God’s goodness toward us does not always make us feel
good. Christians experience some things for their own spiritual growth such as
persecution or a physical ailment that forces you to reflect on your
relationship with God or brings you to your knees or your face in prayer, even
the death of a loved one.
Romans
8:28 And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose.
God’s goodness leads us to minister to others who are
suffering what we have suffered.
2Corinthians
1:3 ¶ Blessed be God, even the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation,
that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort
wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
It is only our own selfishness and carnal focus on
this life coupled with our ungrateful heart that prevents us from seeing what
God is doing in our lives and with our lives when it is not pleasant.
God is the author of our faith. True faith is not
generated from within us. As Ephesians 2:8,9 shows that it came from God. Jesus
told the Jews what the work of God was.
John 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do,
that we might work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is
the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
This work of faith with power allows the Christian to
overcome the world.
1John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the
world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
5 Who is he that overcometh the world,
but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
There are some powerful promises made with that idea
of overcoming by holding on to your faith until the end.
Revelation
2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to
eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Revelation
2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt
of the second death.
Revelation
2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to
eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a
new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
Revelation
2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth
my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Revelation
3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall
be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book
of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Revelation
3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a
pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write
upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new
Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon
him my new name.
Revelation
3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant
to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my
Father in his throne.
Revelation
21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit
all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
The work of faith with power will keep the Christian
proclaiming who Christ is no matter what he or she endures as a result. It
keeps a Sudanese Christian from renouncing Christ in the face of his Muslim
torturers as it kept a Thessalonian Christian from renouncing Christ in the face
of his or her suffering. It can keep an American Bible believer standing firm
in the face of the false and political Christianity that surrounds him. No
matter how infuriated you are at the behavior of the enemies of Christ or how
enraged you are at the public behavior and proclamations of the so-called
Christian in America this work of faith with power keeps you from turning your
back on the one who bought you with His own blood.
The purpose of this is so that the name of Christ is
glorified in us and we in Him. This is all made possible by God’s grace toward
us.
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