Finishing Up
1 Thessalonians 3:10
10 Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?
KJV
Always in our Christian faith there will be something that needs to be finished, perfected or brought to maturity. It needs to be
done so our faith can handle what ever we are dealing with. In this case Paul was talking to the church about maturing their
faith so they could live to please God and the only way we can live to please God is by faith for the just live by faith and without
faith it is impossible to please God.
So Paul was writing to the church as one of the five fold gifts listed in the fourth chapter of Ephesians. Many people in the
church do not live to please God and many cannot live to please God because they will not listen to or observe and do what
they have been taught by God's gifts. Surely on a daily basis we should pray for the gifts that God hath given and left to
perfect our faith.
In Ephesians 6:19, Paul makes known his desire and need for the saints to pray for him that he may open his mouth and
speak boldly the revelation of the gospel .
Ephesians 6:19
19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the
gospel,
KJV
When we look back at the list of gifting and responsibilities of the gifts in Ephesians it would probably make us aware of some
areas of our life that still need perfecting as far as our faith goes in pleasing God.
Their list of duties were, the work of the ministry, the perfecting of the saints, the building up of the body of Christ to bring us
into the unity of the faith or get us in one mind and accord in the faith pulling together to please God, as well as put the enemy
to flight. They are to not only bring us to the place of knowing Jesus but to the place of knowing what Jesus knows concerning
pleasing the Father and they are to keep us growing in that direction until we measure up to the fullness of the stature of
Jesus. In the fact of what Jesus said when he spoke and said, these things I do always that which pleases the Father.
We take no glory from Jesus but bring Him glory by being like Him.
Growing up into Jesus in this knowledge to the point that we are not deceived by false doctrine and become stable as was
Jesus in knowing the will of the Father. Thus we being a light unto men today as He was then. We come to the place that when
we speak the truth to one another we speak it in love. Truth is always painful to the flesh but when it is spoken in love it is more
readily accepted.
And last, we are what we have been taught, fitly joined together and not only are we joined together as we should be, we
compact or add to each joint by who we are in Christ and what He has given us to do until we steadily increase the church in
love not only in the faith that pleases the Father but adds souls to the church also. So the church of the Thessalonians readily
received Paul as a gift so they could receive the gifting God placed in them for them and their faith was perfected.
Should we not readily receive our God given gifts today that we may have our faith perfected to please God?