“Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: 2. And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. 3. But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.”
Verse 3 NIV: “But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.” As always, Paul asks for prayer because of “unreasonable and wicked men.” These men were trying to sidetrack the Thessalonians from the true gospel of Jesus Christ. This has not changed one iota in the two thousand or so years since Paul wrote this. The great apostle was always aware that he did not have the strength within himself to preach the gospel, let alone overcome people who were trying to diminish the gospel. Paul knew, as we must, that he needed the Lord. He also knew that if the “word of the Lord (was to) have free course” it would be only by the power of God. We need to pray today that the “word of the Lord may have free course.” We live in a day when the Bible is unwanted in much of the public sector. We still have our freedom of religion, but that is being increasingly encroached upon. We need to realize that we can’t give the word of God free course, but God can. “Unreasonable and wicked people” have always tried to shut the word of God down. It didn’t just start in our time, but it is increasing in our time. If the word of the Lord is to have free course in our lives, we must read it, share it, and depend on the Lord to give it free course. In countries today, like China, where the Bible is prohibited, the word of God still has free course, because people are being saved there by the thousands. We can thank God for courageous Christians who keep it going, but it is the Lord who gives it free course. Paul gave three reasons why the Lord will give free course to His word First, it is because God is faithful. It seems sometimes that God has forsaken us. The psalms are filled with people crying out to God because things were not going well with them. But we need to always remember that just because we are not doing well at a particular time does not mean that God is unfaithful in His ministrations in our lives. If we will look back over all of the difficult times that we have passed through, we will discover in hindsight that God was faithful. I know this has been true in my life. His faithfulness is a constant reality in our lives. Paul certainly realized that as he went through all of his hardships. The Lord helped Isaiah to realize this in Isaiah 55:11: “So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but is shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” This is our promise too. Second, the word of the Lord will have free course because the Lord will establish, or strengthen us, and keep us from evil. If you aren’t aware that the quality of your life and the quality of your witness depends on the strength of the Lord, you certainly need to become aware of it. Whatever you do for the Lord, whether in the everyday world, or in your church, what you do needs to come from the strength that the Lord gives you. For example, when you teach a Sunday School class, you are not just giving people “head knowledge” of the Bible; rather, you are sharing the word of God with them that can change their lives. You will need God’s strength for that fact to get across to them. That applies to every age group in your church. Pray for the Lord’s strength as you seek to live His word in the world. It is also by His strength we are delivered from “the evil one.” You know who the evil one is: it is the devil. He wants to rob you of God’s strength, but He can’t overcome God in your life. Depend on God’s strength for Christian service and Christian living. Let us pray that “the word of the Lord may have free course,” in our lives, in community and in the world. Let’s make it a daily prayer. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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