Excel still more

How do you encourage a brother in Christ who is already excelling in his walk with God? This is the challenge the Apostle Paul faced with the Thessalonian Church. After leaving Philippi, where he was severely mistreated (Acts 16:22-24), Paul and his team traveled on to Thessalonica to share Christ. They received the gospel as the Word of God, not merely a message from men (1 Th 2:13). As a result, they demonstrated admirable qualities as the fruit of salvation. In 1st Thessalonians we see…

• They became imitators of Paul and his team, (1:6)
• They became examples to all those in Macedonia and Achaia. (1:7)
• They turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God (1:9)
• They were waiting patiently for the return of Christ. (1:10)

So, how do you encourage someone that is doing so well in the Lord? Let us look at how Paul did it…

Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. (1 Th 4:1)

Now I suppose it is easy to misinterpret the exhortation that says to 'excel still more'. We may think of someone cracking the whip over the heads of the mule-team, or of a parent screaming to his child to run harder in a race. However, Paul is not scolding them to try harder. He is encouraging them to "keep up the good work.” They were already doing so very well. They were on the right track, and he was hoping they would continue and even grow further. In the Christian life, there are always new levels of godliness to which we can aspire.  

Paul exhorts them on three key topics:

1. Love one another.

 Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you; and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. (1 Th 3:11-13)

 Certainly, Paul emphasizes this theme often, as does the Apostle John and Peter. 

 Paul writes, "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing." (1 Cor 13:1-3)

John writes, “For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;” (1 Jn 3:11)

And Peter says, “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,” (1 Pet 1:22)

Certainly, none of us has arrived.  We still have a long way to go. And this is especially so when learning to love. And we are not talking about the kind of love the world shows us. We are talking about the love of God. We must learn to love one another unselfishly and sacrificially- with agape love. The kind of love Christ demonstrated when He gave His life for us.

So, is this the kind of love that demands that we "excel still more"? Absolutely. And it is the kind of love that only comes as the Holy Spirit works through us.

 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Gal 5:22)

 As the believer learns to walk in the power of the Spirit, they will be characterized by the love of God.  As we walk in faith, we will be be transformed into the image of Christ.  We will learn to love as Christ loved, not in word only but in word and action.

2. Stand firm in the Lord

 for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord. (1 Th 3:7-8)

As the gospel was making its way into Macedonia it was encountering a significant amount of idol worship.  This meant persecution. Paul and Silas have already been severely mistreated at Philippi. The chief magistrates had them beaten with rods and thrown into prison. Similarly, the Thessalonians were experiencing significant hardship in their newfound faith.

You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, (1 Thes 1:6)

So, it is easy to see why Paul is exhorting them to "stand firm in the Lord". During times of hardship, it is especially important to keep firm in your faith. The Thessalonian Church had already been standing firm; Paul was simply exhorting them to "excel still more". 

3. Walk in a manner that pleases God (1 Th 4:1)

1. By abstaining from sexual immorality (1 Th 4:3)
2. By being careful not to transgress or defraud a brother (1 Th 4:6)

 In this section of the letter Paul admonishes them to be careful to follow his instructions about sexual purity. They came out of a Gentile culture where the guidelines for sexual promiscuity were far less clear than those of the Jewish converts. First Paul addresses the wide issue of any type of sexual activity outside of marriage. The standard is to keep "his own vessel in sanctification and honor". He warns against "lustful passion as the Gentiles who do not know God". Obviously, the believer who has a personal knowledge of God lives by a much higher standard than those who have no knowledge of God. 

Next, we have a specific warning against adultery.  Anyone who engages in adultery is transgressing a brother and defrauding him, by becoming intimate with that man's wife. Of course, the same is true for a woman who enters a relationship outside marriage.  All sexual immorality is harmful, and adultery is particularly damaging to the marriage, the family, and the community. In a tightknit church, the devil wreaks much harm through sexual sin. Paul gives them a clear warning in this regard.

 On this issue, there is no evidence that the Thessalonians had violated these sexual guidelines, only that they needed to give special attention to them. And to excel still more.

 In addition to these three admonitions, Paul goes onto deal with other issues. He comforts them about those who had died in Christ, and the Day of the Lord. He concludes with sundry instructions for Christian conduct in the church.

The Church at Thessalonica was indeed a unique body of believers.  It is heartwarming to consider how well they were doing in Christ. They had repented from their belief in idols and had turned to love God and walk in Christ.  Their faith was known throughout the region of Macedonia. They had been learning to genuinely love one another and to stand firm in their faith. Paul warns them about the ever-present concern for sexual purity.

We would do well to ask ourselves how we are doing?   

1. Are we learning to love one another as Christ showed us?
2. Are we standing firm in faith during tough times?
3. Are we careful to avoid the temptations associated with sexual purity?
4. Will we hear the admonition, "Excel still more"?

 Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more,  (1 Th 4:9-10)

 

All passages in this post were taken from The New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).