1 Thessalonians 3:4-4:8
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1 Thessalonians 3:4-4:8
1 Thessalonians 3:4-4:8
Good morning church! I pray you will all have a wonderful new year. Congratulations to those of you that completed the chronological reading plan through the Bible yesterday. That really is a life changing accomplishment that I would encourage all of you to do. There are a couple of different plans on the back table for those of you looking for something to follow. But, my encouragement is to be in the Word of God everyday.
Now if you will open your Bible’s to 1 Thes 3, and we will be picking up in the 4th verse. 1 Thes 3:4-5
4 For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know.
5 For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain.
6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us, as we also to see you—
Let’s pray..
If you are here for the first time this morning, it may seem like we are jumping in at the middle of a story, and we are. Rather than go through it all, I’d encourage you to check out our previous teachings on 1 Thessalonians on our website as the last two have a pretty good recap on how we got to this point. For those that have been with us, but memories have faded with Christmas being last week and Dr. Benjamin the week before…Paul is writing this letter from Corinth after having been run out of town in Thessalonica.
He had only spent a little less than a month with them, got the church going, poured into them as much as he could, and then those that opposed him threatened his life and ran him out of town. And now Paul is worried about these guys. What happened after he left? I’m sure Paul was familiar with Jesus’ teaching on the parable of the sower… Matt 13:4-6
4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.
5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.
6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.
How much depth could these guys possibly have after Paul was with them for only three Sabbaths? So Paul is writing this letter as a Father in the faith, that really loves the people that he is ministering to. He has been praying for them, and when he couldn’t stand not knowing any longer he sent Timothy, a faithful brother and fellow minister in the Lord.
When Timothy returns, he returns with great news! News of their faith, not news of scorching, or withering away. News of their love, not news of their faith being dismissed because they were tempted by other things that took priority over God. And they longed to see Paul, just as he longed to see, and be with them again. He continues on…1 Thes 3:7-10
7 therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by your faith.
8 For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord.
9 For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God,
10 night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith?
Vs. 8 For now we live. We were stressed, but now we are satisfied, like a new lease on life, like new life was blown into them as the Thessalonians were standing fast in the Lord.
Vs. 10 Paul’s longing to see them, goes way beyond wishful thinking. He is in active conversation with God over this. Morning and night, PRAYING EXCEEDINGLY, that he may see them, and perfect what is lacking in their faith. Now, this is not a jab at them. If you’ve hung with us through this little letter, you know, Paul has praised these guys up and down.
He noted that they received the Word of the Lord in the middle of affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit. They quickly became examples to the entire region and the Word of the Lord sounded forth from the people. From the church. Not a priest, prophet, or pastor. From the people. They lived like they believed that the gospel really was good news. They lived like Jesus could come back before Paul did. They lived like they believed what they say they believed, only they really truly did.
So what what Paul talking about here when he says he wants to perfect what is lacking in their faith. Where is the specific criticism? Let me turn this around an ask you a rhetorical question…are you trying to perfect what is lacking in your faith? I mean, you do realize that you haven’t yet arrived don’t you?
Paul had nothing but praise for this church, yet he says, don’t get complacent, don’t say good enough, you’re not perfect yet, you’re not holy yet, so keep going! And he could have just sent letters, I mean Paul’s letters are written with Apostolic authority, but he sees the value of this. Of face to face teaching and gathering, and discussing, he sees the value of fellowship, and discipleship and that can’t be done one on none from a distance.
Paul then actually writes out his prayer for them, so they can see, and they can know what he is praying. Our equivalent today might be the difference between saying hey, I’ll pray for you and saying, hey, let me pray for you and doing it right then with them so they can hear and pray in agreement. Paul writes and Paul prays… 1 Thes 3:11-13
11 Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you.
12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you,
13 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
Interesting prayer here, especially the end where he prays that He (The Lord) may establish your hearts blameless in holiness. This idea of personal holiness continues on in the next chapter and I want to look at part of it. But first, lets make sure we understand what it means to be holy. We should understand this because God is holy and He tells us to be as well.
We see it throughout the Old Testament, and Peter says 1 Peter 1:15-16
15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
To be holy is to be set apart. The vessels and the articles used by the priests in the temple were considered holy, because they were set apart for the use of God. Paul’s words to them, to us, are heavy words. Actually, they’re not words to us, they were words to God, it was his prayer that the Lord would establish their hearts blameless. Do you know that that is where it starts? If our hearts aren’t right, all the religious things we do, the good deeds, don’t really matter, and they don’t make us holy.
So lets look at chapter 4. 1 Thes 4:1-2
1 Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God;
2 for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
First of all, Paul says finally then, but it is not his version of in conclusion, or I’ll close with this. Paul is making a transition here from theology to application. Or the finally, this is what it should look like in your lives. This is how you ought to walk. Faith becomes real when it moves from our head and our heart to our feet. It’s real when we are living it.
Verse two he clearly says commandments not recommendations or guidelines. Commandments through the Lord Jesus. I don’t know if you saw the sermon title on the first slide or not, but it said the will of God. That is one of the most asked questions by new Christians and Old Christians and everyone in between. How do I know what God’s will is for this situation, or for my life? Paul makes it super simple for us and writes it out in plain language…1 Thes 4:3
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;
I’m going to give you some homework here, because I could spend the rest of our time together this morning talking about sanctification. What it means and what it looks like. Your homework is to look up the word justification and look up the word sanctification. How are they similar and how are they different? For the purpose of our discussion this morning. When we place our faith and trust for salvation in Jesus’ finished work on the cross. God says at that moment, that we are justified. Our account with Him has been made just as if I’d never sinned, the slate is wiped clean.
Sanctification is the process of Him making me clean. Justification means I have been saved by Christ, sanctification is Him making me more and more like Christ. It is the continuing perfecting of our faith, our victory over the bondage of sin. It is the weakening of our flesh and the strengthening of our spirit. I don’t want to do your homework for you…but it is the will of God that we be sanctified. What does that look like practically? That we should abstain from sexual immorality.
This is so important for us to understand. If this is God’s will for us, that we be sanctified. Set apart for Him, separate from the world, different from the world, and practically, one of the things that it means is that we would abstain, be absent from, not be a participant in sexual immorality. What does that mean? Not what do you feel like that means, or what does your friends say that it means, or the world, or the collective consensus of society say that it means. I mean what in the world would their definition be. What would qualify as being immoral sexually in our perverse society?
Maybe rape? Pedophilia? Not everyone would agree? Homosexuality? Bisexuality? Sex outside of a loving relationship? What about fooling around, what about if you’re committed to each other, living together? What if you’re engaged to be married, but not yet married? What if you’ve already blown it? That is one of the enemies favorites, well you’re married in God’s eyes now, so you might as well, except you’re not married. What if I look, but I don’t touch, like pornography?
I’ll make it easy. God invented sex. Our sexuality is an incredible gift from God, not to us, but to our spouse. Biblically, sexual immorality is any sexual activity outside of the Biblical covenant of marriage between one man and one women as God established it in the Garden of Eden and never, ever changed it. If you’ve been sexually immoral, God can and will forgive if you ask Him and will sanctify you, giving you victory over that sin.
That doesn’t mean that it won’t be difficult, or frustrating, but it is His will for you, and He will do it if you let Him. More practical application in verse 4...
4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,
5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
6 that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified.
A couple of things here:
Vs. 5 not in passion of lust like the unsaved. Literally unlawful lust, meaning outside of the proper boundaries set by God. Don’t be like them, they can’t have the same victory, because they don’t know God, and aren’t being sanctified in accordance with His will.
Vs. 6 The Lord is the avenger of all such. Don’t be fooled that what you are doing is OK, because you haven’t been caught, or you haven’t seen any consequences. God knows and He is the avenger of all such conduct. Any kind of sexual immorality is defrauding somebody. Verse 7
7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.
8 Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.
Verses 7-8 are so important. Church Christianity is not a buffet line where we pick and chose what we want and don’t want. Sample the things that sound and feel right and reject the rest. That’s religion, and religion is what most people want. My life is a mess, I need to be better. Maybe God will bless me if I do this or that, or add this to my life, or subtract that, or give a donation.
Christian, verse seven says that holiness is part of our calling. Church, let me ask you. Rhetorically, how are we,... how are you, doing with that? Are you satisfied with where you’re at. Have you reached the level that’s good enough? What Paul is trying to get this church, and us to understand, is yes we have been justified. God forgave us of all of our sin the moment that we were saved, but we were also called, verse 2 he said commanded, to be engaged in the daily battle for holiness.
We should take notice that we should not be like the Gentiles who do not know God. I would ask for a show of hands, but I’m afraid it might look like the wave at a football game. How many of you know someone that is professing to be a Christian that is actively engaged in sexual immorality? They are committing adultery? Having an affair with someone that’s married? Having sexual relations with anyone they aren’t married to? Defrauding a brother or sister in this way, they are in bondage to pornography?
Let me ask you this. If no Christian ever looked at pornography again, do you think the industry would notice? Do you think it would have an impact on the level of demand and maybe affect trafficking? I do? DO you think if all Christians stopped compromising on the movies we watch or the television shows, justifying it by saying well I shut me eyes during the couple naked parts. If instead of compromising with our entertainment in sexual immorality and stopped watching all together, do you think they might start making better movies and better shows again? I do?
Paul knows that this is a battle and that sanctification is an ongoing daily process, so He is praying fervently for them, that God will complete this work in them. I know this is kind of a spoiler, but let me show you something from the final chapter in this letter… 1 Thes 5:23-25
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
25 Brethren, pray for us.
Here he talks about our sexual purity, he continues on in chapter 4 talking practically how we are to love others, both in and out of the church, and then he talks about the rapture of the church, that should lead us to a life of holiness. Believing what we say we believe, that Jesus could come back at anytime. There is nothing else on the prophecy timeline that we are waiting for, the next event is His return for the church. Are we ready, Paul says pray for us too..
We want to invite you to join us in an opportunity to pray earnestly. For ourselves, for each other, our church, our community, our leaders. In Galatians where Paul is talking about the fruit of the Spirit he says…Gal 5:22-25
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Is that what our lives look like? To the Ephesians he writes, Eph 6:17-18
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
We are going to have what we are calling a week of prayer. In the past we have invited leadership to join us in fasting and prayer. Jesus gave us instructions about fasting, stating when we fast, as it should be part of our practice. In the book of Joel the Lord says turn to me with all your heart, with fasting...
This is simply an invitation for you to join us. Beginning January 16th. Ok, if it’s a couple of weeks away, why am I talking about it today? Because I want you to pray about joining us. You might say, I can’t fast, I’ve got a health issue, or another reason why I can’t give up food. You don’t have to. Give up all forms of media and set that time aside to hear from the Lord.
There is an information sheet on the back table that gives just enough information for you to pray about it. There’s some scripture on the back, there’s a description of several different types of fasts on the front, some practical tips for fasting. Just pray and ask the Lord what He would have you do. Throughout that week, we will have opportunities here at the church for corporate prayer both mornings and evenings. Each day, there will be specific things that we will be praying about.
One of them will be this topic that Paul is talking about here, our personal holiness and sanctification. It’s a great opportunity to hear from the Lord concerning your service to Him, how He would direct that. Let’s pray.