A Prayer About Loving One Another

Amen. Turn with me, please in your

Bible to 1st Thessalonians chapter 3.

We're going to read from verse 9 to the end.

First Thessalonians chapter 3, verse 9 to the end.

1 Thessalonians 3:9

For those online, the words will come up on the screen as we

often emphasise we're reading from the King James Bible, the

most faithful and reliable translation.

First Thessalonians, chapter 3, verse 9.

1 Thessalonians 3:9

Let's hear the word of God. For what thanks can we render to

God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your

sakes before our God night and day, praying exceedingly that we

might see your fears and make perfect that which is lacking in

your faith. Now God Himself and our Father

and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way unto you, and the Lord

make you to increase and abound and love one toward another and

toward all men, even as we do toward you to the end He may

establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before

God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ

with all His Saints. Amen.

We know God will stamp with His own approval and blessing this

reading of His own precious and infallible Word.

Amen. Now my text today is taken from

First Thessalonians and chapter 3, and we're reading from the

verse 12, First Thessalonians chapter 3, and in the verse 12.

1 Thessalonians 3 · chapter mention

And it says, and the Lord make you to increase and abound and

love one toward another and toward all men, even as we do

toward you. Now, if entitled Today's

Message, a prayer about loving One another, the apostle Paul,

under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote 14 out of the

27 books that make up the New Testament.

In many of them, he included a very personal, practical prayer

for the church to whom he was writing, and the Church of

Thessalonica is no exception. Many commentators cite First

1 Thessalonians 3:9–13

Thessalonians 3, verses 9 to 13 that I've read in your hearing

as Paul's prayer for the church at Thessalonica.

Now here, according to the context, Paul's prayer reveals A

longing and a yearning to see the face of these believers

again in Thessalonica, even after they were driven out by

the angry mob. The language here reveals the

prayerful longing of a broken and a burdened pastor.

Paul is praying about getting back to Thessalonanka, to this

infant church that he founded under God.

Now we do know that God did answer Paul's prayer, but not

immediately, certainly not the day that he fled from

Thessalonanka. Remember, he was asked for his

own safety by the congregation to withdraw, fearing for his

life. And when he left Veselnanka, he

went to Berea and then on to Athens.

Remember, he's left alone at Athens.

Timothy and Silas come back to Thessalonica to see how things

were going. Paul moved on to Corinth, and it

was from Corinth in the back of Timothy's great report that he

wrote this first letter known as First Thessalonians.

And then some years later he did return to Macedonia as part of

his third missionary journey. And we read in Acts chapter 19

Acts 19 · chapter mention

and verse 21. After these things were ended,

Paul proposed in spirit, and he had passed through Macedonia and

Akaya to go to Jerusalem, saying, after I have been there,

I must also see Rome. Now what we can say was

certainty is this, that although Paul desired to go back to

Thessalonica, he definitely did not go immediately after he fled

the city. Notice what he says in 1st

Thessalonians 3 verse 11. Now God Himself and our Father

and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way unto you.

What a blessed truth The God of the Bible is not just the true

and the living God, not just your Creator and Maker,

sustainer and Provider, Redeemer, the righteous Lawgiver

and final judge. He is also your Father.

Who are we? That's a good question.

Who are we spiritually? We are His adopted children,

adopted in the basis of free grace.

Remember what we read there in Ephesians, in Ephesians chapter

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

1 and verse 5, having predestinated us unto the

adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to

the good pleasure of His will. And as His adopted children, we

have access to Him in prayer. We can approach Him, but we can

address Him as heavenly Father. In fact, He goes on to say in

Ephesians 1 and verse 6, to the praise of the glory of His

grace, where they have made us accepted in the Beloved.

And over there in Ephesians chapter 2 and in the verse 18,

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

this is what's written. Ephesians 2 And he obtained, for

through him we both have access by 1 Spirit unto the Father.

What a unique privilege. We are the children of God by

faith in Jesus Christ. And it's only because of the

Lord Jesus Christ we have access to the Father.

Let me illustrate. Think of King charts.

And I want to encourage you to pray for King charts.

I'll be writing to him now. I can't go and meet him.

That would not happen under normal circumstances.

But suppose I personally know Prince William.

Suppose Prince William and I are good friends, I'm his friend and

he is my friend. Then I would like to suppose

that on the basis of that friendship, on the basis of

Maine knowing the King's son, then through the son I could get

access to the king on the throne room.

Notice the word direct. What does that mean?

It means to guide. It means to lead in a right way.

And here he looks to the Lord for permission.

He's asking for a right way to be made back to Thessalonanka.

He's looking for divine guidance and help.

He's not presuming upon God. He prays to the Lord here for

the opening up of the way back to Thessalonanka in his

Providence. And then what follows is a

specific prayer for the church to increase and abound in love

one toward another. This is a prayer about the

church growing and developing in love one toward another.

Three things this morning. Quickly one, the production of

true love toward one another. Notice the words in the text,

verse 12. And the Lord make you to

increase and abide. Underline the word Lord.

Think of the origin here of this production.

Who makes you? And then the answer is the Lord.

Now how does he do it? Romans 5 and five gives the

answer, because the love of God is shed to broaden our hearts by

the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.

Here's the answer. This spiritual love is provided

in our hearts, produced in our lives by the new birth.

John three and seven, marvel not that I say unto thee, you must

be born again. It is produced in the soul of an

individual born again of the Holy Spirit.

I put it to you, it's the work of the Holy Ghost to produce and

create a spirit of love in our hearts, Love toward God and love

toward man. It is not man made, it is not

something we can produce by ourselves.

It is not something that self manufacturers the love for God

we are called upon to show and display as created by God's Holy

Spirit. Remember the call in Matthew.

Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all

thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great

commandment, and the second is like unto it.

Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself.

On these two commandments hang all the law, and all the

prophets. See twice in the Bible we read

these words. God is love.

Now let me ask the question, Who can fully Plumb the depths of

that statement of truth? Who could scale the heights of

such a declaration? God is love.

Surely if a truth, it is too deep, too profound, too

wonderful to fully grasp and comprehend.

Anything that we love peels into insignificance.

It is not really comparable. And yet God is love is a

wonderful truth according to second Peter one and four for

those in Christ and are born again.

We are made partakers of the divine nature.

What does that mean? It doesn't mean we become mini

gods or become gods. The essence of Deity is not to

be participated in by the creature, literally our takers

of the divine. Nature then means in the

likeness of being enabled to possess such spiritual qualities

and graces. You see, we by grace are made

like God. God is love.

Therefore, in God we become love, because whosoever loves

has been born of God. God is truth, and we believe the

truth. We buy the truth and sell it

not. We love what is true because God

is truth. God is good, and He makes us

good by his grace. And you see the goodness that

even sinful man display as a tribute to God's common grace.

Even though we're sinful creatures, we can still do good

things. The licorice sweets teach us

that. I haven't time to go into it

this morning. That's a subject all by itself.

God is pure and holy. So in Christ he makes us pure

and holy. God is faithful.

And because we're in God by the new birth, we will display

faithfulness and fidelity toward our God and in relationship to

others. See the Bible says if any man be

in Christ, he's a new creature. All things have passed away and

all things have become new, and all things are of God over there

in the book of Titus, in Titus chapter 3, we read this in verse

Titus 3 · chapter mention

3, Titus 3, and verse 3. For we ourselves also were

sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers loss

and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one

another. But after that the kindness and

love of God our Saviour toward men appeared, not by works of

righteousness we have done, but according to His mercy.

He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the

Holy Ghost, which He shed in US abundantly through Jesus Christ

our Saviour. Here's what we once were.

This is how we were lived before we were converted, Titus says.

Now in Christ, because the love of God has appeared, we are

changed. We have been transformed by the

grace of God and the love of God has been placed in our souls.

God has done a very gracious, wonderful work in our hearts.

This love has been produced by the Holy Ghost.

Therefore in Christ we love the Saviour.

We can sing Oh how I love Jesus. In Christ we love the scriptures

of truth. We can say, Oh how I love thy

law. In Christ we love the Sabbath

day, the one day and seven set aside for worship.

In Christ we love the sanctuary, the meeting place of God's

people. In Christ we have a love for the

Saints of God and the souls of man.

In Christ we love our sovereign God.

So I asked the question this morning, Are you born again of

the Holy Spirit? Do you know and love God?

Has God's love been shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit

in the production of this true love towards one another?

Don't only just think of the origin here, but think of the

operation. Notice the words go back to the

text verse Thessalonians 3 and 12.

And the Lord make you to what? To increase and abound in love.

We'll pause there. What does that mean?

Increasing abounding love? It means to grow and overflow.

It means to exceed and excel. And I believe that Paul's prayer

was answered over there in First Second Thessalonians chapter 1

2 Thessalonians 1 · chapter mention

and verse 3 second letter he wrote.

He says We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as

it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and

the charity of everyone of you all toward each other aboundeth.

The word charity is agape, which means love.

You see, the principle of love produced in the soul by the Holy

Spirit will, by the same spirit and grace, grow and overflow in

the life. That's true of the individual

Christian. That should be true of the

individual local church. Then that should be true of the

Church of God universal on earth.

Here's the proof. Here's the acid test of true

spirituality. Our love for God, our love for

the things of God. And that love is growing, and

that love is overflowing. Literally, it spills over.

Remember, every believer born of the Spirit has the fruit of the

Spirit, not fruits, the fruit of the Spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit is Lovejoy, peace, long-suffering,

gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against

such which there is no law. And every believer has to some

degree all nine parts of the fruit of the Spirit.

We could better say all nine graces.

He has all the fruit of the Spirit.

And yet amazingly, out of all of these 9 graces that's produced

by the Spirit, that's called the fruit of the Spirit.

One of the most that's mentioned, especially in regard

to prayer, is love, because that's what we need the most,

and that love is to increase and abound.

The word for love here is agape, the same word that's used when

it's translated. God is love.

I'm well aware, and you are too, that faith without works is

dead. I'm well aware that faith

worketh by love. What does that mean?

It means that your true faith is evidenced by the works like

Abraham's was, like Rahab's was. It's not the ground of our

salvation. It is the evidence.

And this true faith that's a gift of God that's planted in

the soul. This true faith is real and

genuine, and the reality and genuineness of our faith is

shown by your spirit of spiritual love.

The principle of love is active. It is not static.

This principle of love produced in the soul grows and overflows.

It has the capacity to increase and abound.

Let me ask the question, in what way is it increase and abound?

I want you to think secondly, the power of true love.

Look at the text increasing abound and love one toward

another. So there's a love for the

Saints. True Christians all over the

world will love one another. John 1334 says a new commandment

I give unto you. I get it exactly right.

John chapter 13 And in the verse 34, I read here a new

John 13 · chapter mention

commandment. I give unto you that you love

one another, as I have loved you, that you should also love

one another. By this shall all men know

you're my disciples. If you have loved one to

another, notice the repetition one to another.

This love is manufactured by the Holy Spirit.

This love is multiplied by the power of the Spirit.

This love is manifested by the power of the Spirit.

It's seen there's loads of one another's statements in the

Bible. We're taught to encourage one

another. We're taught to pray one for

another. But we're taught to serve one

another, bear one another's burdens.

We're taught to restore one another in a spurt of meekness.

We're taught to consider one another, to forgive one another.

Well, here's another one. We're to love one another.

There's a story told about Samuel Rutherford ate one night.

There was a caller came to the bounce over there in Anwarth and

Samuel Rutherford was out his Mrs Mrs Rutherford answered the

door and it was a man like an old trump.

And he asked for a bed for the night and he asked for some

food. We'll see.

Out of sympathy brought him in, put him at the table, gave him

some bread and, and, and some soup and talked to the man.

And she thought, well, you know, who is this fella?

She said to him, Sir, how many commandments are there?

And he had to wet the soup laughing.

Oh, he's a real stupid dunderhead.

Everybody knows there's 10, even the children 11.

Oh, it must be a real heathen. So she put him in the spare room

and off the bed. Sammy Rutherford got up early

the next morning, about four or 5:00, and whenever he get up,

there was already a stirring in the guest room.

He could hear a noise, but he didn't go in.

He sat at his breakfast and as he sitting at the breakfast the

door opened and then come none other than Archbishop Usher from

Armagh and they sat at the table and they talked.

They had breakfast and they would off to have their

religious service in Anwarth. There's Mrs Rutherford sitting

in the front row. She didn't know what had

happened in the morning time. She didn't disturb her husband.

Whenever she was sitting in the front row of the church, she

looked up in the pulpit. And who was sitting up in the

pulpit but the stranger that she had met the night before.

And he got up and he said, my text today is John 13, verse 34.

John 13:34

A new commandment I give unto you, Mrs Rutherford.

This is the 11th commandment. And of course everybody

tethered. And they, they laughed.

Why do we love one another very quickly?

Because all true believers are bought with the same blood

sacrifice, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Husbands, love your wives. How?

Even as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it.

You see, He loves us all, regardless of your size or shape

or your background to your station.

He loves us all the same, equally.

He loves us everlastingly, freely, sacrificially,

unconditionally, personally. Why He chose to and why do we

love one another? Because all believers are bought

with the blood sacrifice of Christ.

All true believers are born of the same Spirit.

All true believers are seen by the same Saviour.

Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is by grace alone,

through faith alone and Christ alone as revealed in the Bible

alone. All true believers are the

children of God. We've been adopted into God's

family over there again in John's Gospel and John chapter

John 1 · chapter mention

1, and in the verse 12, we read these words, but as many as

received Him. That's Christ.

Do them give you power. That's the right, the authority

to become the sons of God, even to them would believe in His

name which were born. Notice the connection not of

blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,

but of God born from above, born of God's Spirit.

And all true believers belong to the same body, the body of

Christ. And we're all in union with

Jesus Christ by the new birth. We're all indwelt by the same

Spirit. Our bodies are not our own

because they've been bought with a price.

We're to glorify God with our bodies.

Why do we love one another? Here's a fivefold answer.

Because of the blood sacrifice of Christ, because we're born of

the same spirit, the same Saviour who had adopted into the

same family, we've been placed in the same body.

We are family, we are brothers and sisters.

And there has to be a love for the Saints.

Very quickly. There's also a love for the

souls of men. Notice again the text.

And towards all men. You see, that's a love for the

lost, a love for the unconverted.

And this love will extend to a lost, sinful world.

There'll be the manifestation of a soul winner's love.

We should have a burden for the lost souls of men, you see.

Think of the love of Andrew for his brother Peter, John 141 and

42. Think of the love of Philip for

his friend Nathaniel John 1 and 45.

Think of the love of a woman for her time, the woman of Samaria,

John 439 and many believe because of the testimony of that

woman. Now here's a question, do we

have a real love for souls? Remember the Bible says where

there's no vision the people perish.

Do we have a love for the souls of men and women that make up

the carried off community and beyond?

You see if we have no love and if we have no desire to see soul

saved and no love for the lost to reach them with the Christ,

then there has to be a question mark if really the true love of

God is shed abroad in our hearts.

It was Paul that said funny enough was saying this to a wee

woman in Saintfield just the other day when I was out doing

some shopping. The love of Christ constrainteth

me, Paul said. You see, here's why Paul was

doing it. Here was his mindset.

Here was the manifestation of his love for the lost and his

attempt to reach them with the gospel.

He was constrained by the love of Christ.

We all have homes. We have family members and

friends. We could all share a word of

testimony. We can all give out a little

tract. You can make a phone call to

somebody who's in need or somebody who's sick.

You could send them a card. You could give a personal visit.

And you could do it under the guise of being constrained by

the love of Christ, a desire that they'll know God and that

they love our Lord Jesus Christ and that they've come to worship

him and that they will serve him.

See one day we will die and our life will be over and the chief

question for all is where will the soul be?

Job 14 and 10 man dieth and wasteth away and giveth up the

ghost. And then he asked the question,

where is he? Let's remember to pray for our

family, our friends, our neighbourhood, our workplace,

our school, our university, our country and we need to be busy.

We need to make an attempt to reach out and pray that the Lord

gives you an opportunity to speak to 1's soul this incoming

week. There's also very quickly a love

for the servants of Christ. If you look again at the text

that says even as we do toward you, you see this is a reference

to Paul labouring and working in the gospel.

Paul's labour was a labour of service and sacrifice, and this

labour of Paul's, this love that he had, was deeply committed to

Christ and to Christ's cause. And the love of God in our

hearts is deeply dedicated to the good of Christ's church and

earth. It's deeply committed to

spiritual growth and maturity. This love is deeply sacrificial.

This love is seen especially in times of suffering and days of

need and days of trials and troubles.

Whenever individuals are in the furnace of affliction, then the

love of the Saints is manifest. A love for souls is manifest, a

love for the service of Christ. Why are you doing this?

I'm doing it unto the Lord. See, this love is a display and

proof of true spirituality. This love is deep and white.

It's this love that grows deeper and stronger.

Think of the little chorus. My cup's full and running over.

What's it full and running over with?

It's running over with love because love is the greatest

gift. The ocean of your heart is

filling up with love. It's running over.

This true, pure, holy love overflows.

This is the love that Paul's praying about.

This is the love that we must pray about.

And the greatest need is a prayer that we'll increase and

abound in this love. This love is holy and hate sin.

This love loves the truth. Let me ask the question.

I've challenged my own heart. Is there a love for the St in my

heart? A love for the Sinner, A love

for service of Christ, a love for the scriptures of truth.

You see many churches today, and I, I mean this many churches

today, manifest no love for souls.

And it's seen in that those churches are opposed to a truly

evangelistic ministry. They, they are opposed to the

presentation clearly of the gospel.

I want to say this, this kind of love in the service of Christ

will make us patient with others, Be patient with me.

This kind of love will make us less boastful.

This kind of love will make us less arrogant and less cutting.

You know, people can cut other people off.

They can make snide remarks, but this kind of love makes us less

arrogant and culling makes us less full of pride, less self

seeking, less argumentative of how God's people love to argue

one with another, less easily annoyed, less angry.

We all can get angry, can't we? We can sin even in our anger.

This kind of love will make us more prayerful.

This kind of love will make us more Christ like.

Will you ask this week that the Lord will help you to grow and

abound in your love? A love for the Saints, the

souls, and the service of Christ.

Did you do everything in your power for the advancement of

Christchurch? One other thing and I'm

finishing the possession of true love towards one another.

Look at verse 13. We'll preach in this and then

we'll just do 2 sermons in chapter 4 and then we'll go into

chapter 5, First Thessalonians, chapter 3, verse 13.

1 Thessalonians 3:13

Look at this to the end. He may establish your hearts

unblameable in holiness. In other words, here's the goal

of it all. Here's why He prays that their

love would grow in a bound. True love belongs to the subject

of true holiness and sanctification.

I never seen that before. I never seen it to the other

day. When does holiness and

sanctification begin? It begins in the new birth.

Because once we're born again, the love of God is shed of

brotherhood. The love of God is produced, the

love of God is powerfully displayed, the love of God is

possessed. And here's the fullest and the

deepest demonstration of true love, that we're a godly people,

that we're a holy people. Our motto was holding us on to

the Lord, that we hate sin and love righteousness.

See, the love of God motivates us to holiness.

And how many people in Northern Ireland connected to the Church

of the first born and tell us, oh, I love Jesus.

And yet they have no desire or motivation to live a holy life

unto God. There's something wrong.

The goal of it all. The reason why he prayed was to

the end. He may establish our hearts

unblameable in holies. That's the possession of true

love. Here's a prayer, loving one

another, and I pray that the Lord will take these few

thoughts, stumbling and rambling as they are, and the Lord will

bless them to your hearts today. Thank you for coming, and I want

to thank you most of all for listening.

Let's all, including myself, pray for me that I'll apply the

Word of God to my heart.