“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting comfort and encouragement and the good [well-founded] hope [of salvation] by His grace, comfort and encourage and strengthen your hearts [keeping them steadfast and on course] in every good work and word.” 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 AMP
Reflection: what builds strength of the heart?
Paul called the believers in Thessaloniki the “first-fruit” of the gospel of Christ, as they were literally the first coming to faith in Christ in that city. And, we saw Paul’s concern for them as he had left for Athens, knowing what persecution and attacks they would be subjected to as Christians. So as he is wrapping up the second letter to them, he pleads with them to stand firm in what they had been taught by Paul and his team. His concern was also that they would be fooled into adopting other teaching, not aligned with the pure gospel of Christ. And as we can read about in many early church accounts, there were many who tried to taint the purity of the gospel by introducing other teachings and traditions.
So Paul writes “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.”2 Thessalonians 2:13-15 ESV. To stay true to the original doctrine and traditions that the early church was taught.
And, we see that same challenge all along church history, where many have tried to, and at times been successful at, introducing other doctrine and traditions. Some have even gone so far as to blend certain traditions that come directly from pagan worship, including rituals and symbology, tainting what was taught from the apostles of Christ. So we need to all be discerning here, looking at how our church services are conducted, what the origin of certain rituals and practices are, why are things done in a certain order and manner, what is the reason for certain dress codes of priests, where do the symbols on the walls, the songbooks and even bibles come from, etc, etc.
Our individual worship and church services must be pure, in glorifying God. We are called not to conform to the world, but to overcome the world. “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” I John 5:1-4 NKJV
In our focus verses today, Paul shares his prayer and blessing over this early church in Thessaloniki, this handful of believers, who probably met in members homes. And Paul’s prayer for them was not to start missionary work, or to build a church building, or even to grow in numbers. He knew that all would come in time. His prayer for them was that God would “comfort and encourage and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.”2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 AMP. It is a very interesting thought, that God uses “good work and word” to comfort, to encourage and to strengthen us. But when we think about it, knowing that we have done good work for others does actually “feel good”, deep down in our hearts, even if those people you impacted never knew it was from you. It does strengthen us and encourages us to continue.
So, let’s stand firm on the purity of our faith in the gospel of Christ, being strengthened in studying the Word and by keeping the commandments, and by doing good works that glorify God.
