A Pure Church

Introduction

Well, good morning! If you’re visiting with us, welcome to First Baptist Church…we’re so grateful that you’ve joined us this morning and it’s our hope that you find us welcoming and loving as you worship with us this morning.

Before we jump into God’s Word, let’s recite our mission verse together . Remember, it’s Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 & 20. If you’re visiting, feel free to open your Bible up and just recite it with us. We’ve been trying our best to memorize this verse and place it on our hearts. We’ve committed ourselves to becoming this kind of church. We want to be a church without walls…a church that’s not defined by our building but instead by our people and our common mission of making disciples…and we’ve made it our goal to deliver the gospel to those around us…disciple those that God brings to FBC…and deploy each other out all for the glory of God! And so, hopefully you’re ready…I’ll get us started…you finish us up:

Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV)

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

[Prayer]

Alrighty…if you have your Bibles and I hope that you do, open ‘em up with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4…1 Thessalonians chapter 4.

Listen, everything that we’ve studied so far in this letter…chapters 1 through 3, it was really just an introduction. And now that we come to chapter 4 this morning, Paul’s gonna really get into the main point of his letter…why he wrote to the Thessalonians to begin with. And honestly, it’s really a remarkable letter. He praised ‘em…he expressed his love and gratitude for ‘em. The entire tone of the letter so far, it’s all been positive and upbeat…there’s been no words of correction or rebuke. And what’s remarkable about this is that this church was in a city that constantly went after Paul and attacked Paul. I mean we talked a lot about that last week…it was the mob from Thessalonica that ran Paul off from their city and then even in Berea. And considering this church was young in their faith and still standing strong, it was encouraging for Paul…it brought him joy as he faced his own trials in Athens.

But as we turn the corner into chapter 4, we see some exhortations here…his tone shifts a little bit. If you were with us last week as we explored chapter 3 together, we saw that these Thessalonians, while they were a model church, while they seemed to know what it would take for them to stand firm in a culture completely against them, we saw they weren’t perfect either. In chapter 3, verse 10…Paul makes a comment that changes the entire direction of the letter. He said, “We pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?” He says, “…supply what is lacking in your faith.” Meaning these Thessalonians, they certainly weren’t perfect…they might’ve believed in the gospel…and they might’ve built the foundation of their faith on God’s Word…they might’ve understood what it took to walk in uncertain times by being a loving church and a transformed church and an authentic church and all the things we’ve talked about so far…but they haven’t arrived yet…they hadn’t been perfected…they were still sinners in need of grace and Paul’s reminding them of their ultimate goal here…the biggest reason they’ve been called together with all these other believers. He’s reminding them here that because God’s set them apart, they must pursue holiness…and the only way they can pursue holiness, it was together, with the people God’s called them to. Paul’s reminding them here that Jesus’s goal, its their sanctification.

The point of coming to Jesus, it’s not that you have to be perfect, right? Of course, you’re not perfect…that’s the reason why the gospel’s such great news…but the point of becoming a believer and being changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, its that you’ll be conformed into the image of the Son…we should all want that as a follower of Christ. It’s our aim.

And so, that’s Paul’s point here…he’s showing them and he’s showing us that the only way to continue walking in uncertain times…to continue walking in a culture that’s completely contrary to the Word of God…it’s that we keep our eyes set on the work Jesus intends to do in us.

And so, with that…let’s stand together as we read, starting in verse 1…Paul writes:

1 Thessalonians 4:1–8 (ESV)

Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

Thank you, you can be seated.

And so, as we dig into this text and learn what it means to be a pure church this morning…a church that pursues holiness together…there’s three questions I want you to think about…number 1, do you prioritize your walk?…number 2, is God’s will your guide?…and then finally, number 3, does God’s approval motivate you?

And so, with that…let’s look at this first question together.

I. Do You Prioritize Your Walk? (vv. 1-2)

Do you prioritize your walk?

Look at verses 1 and 2 with me again. Paul says, “1 Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.”

And so, what Paul’s saying here…what he’s urging them to do…is build a foundation…a personal faith built on the Scriptures…build your life on the Word of God…because in the end, that’s the only thing that won’t be shaken…that’s the only thing that won’t crumble. He says, “Do the things you received from us…the things we taught you…the things that help strengthen your walk with God…which are the things that ultimately please God.” We’ll talk more about pleasing God in just a second. But Paul says, “The only way to find victory over sin, it’s to prioritize your walk.” And the way we prioritize our walk, it’s learning what Jesus tells us about Himself…it’s learning how He walked…it’s learning more and more about the gospel.

Guys, when we come to faith in Jesus…we then grow from there. Now, I wanna be clear…growth happens after birth. Meaning, you can’t grow until you’ve first been given new life. Listen, God blessed me this week by allowing me to witness two salvations. Two salvations within the same family…and listen, during those conversations, I had to explain to them that the goal before salvation isn’t to be perfect…it’s not to understand all the Scriptures or to try and be this good person. First, you have to turn to Jesus, recognize that it’s Him and Him alone that gives live…that He’s the One that makes you good…and its letting Him change everything about you, right? But after that, once you’ve been given the Spirit of God…you now have the ability to see the Scriptures in a whole new light. These words, they’re living and active…God uses them to shape us and transform us. He speaks to us through it…and it’s these words that help us learn what it means to walk right with Him.

But if we put the cart before the horse…if we approach it without His Spirit first, before salvation…we might see the facts presented there…we might understand all the historical information presented, we might even believe it…but because there’s no Spirit illuminating our minds, God’s not using these words to speak to us…and so, nothings gonna happen. We have to first turn to Jesus…give Him our life…and then let Him use the Scriptures in our life.

And listen, it’s not just about digging deeper and deeper. Paul actually says, “You know what commands I gave you.” He’s reminding them of very specific biblical truths he had already taught them when he was with them.” And listen, this is important, especially if you listen to other preachers on TV or on podcasts or whatever…or even when it comes to holding me accountable…we shouldn’t just tell you about biblical truth, we should take you to the Scriptures and show it to you, where it’s found…because again, the Scriptures are the foundations of our walk.

And so, here’s the point…as believers, we should have a desire to know what it is God says. We do that by digging into God’s Word ourselves…because we know it speaks about the God that’s changed everything for us…and we use the Scriptures to hold those we sit under, accountable.

But pay attention to Paul’s words here…he doesn’t urge them to know what God says…he’s urging them to do what God says. Knowing the truth’s one thing; but doing it’s something entirely different, right? According to Paul, while the Spirit of God dwelled in them…their spiritual growth, it was contingent on so much more than just having a solid theological knowledge of God’s Word. What he’s saying here, concerning the Thessalonians’ spiritual growth, they had to determine that they were going to continue to pursue God themselves. If they wanted to be more than just babies in Christ, they needed “work out their faith.” Right? That’s what Paul told the Philippians in Philippians chapter 2. We talked about that last year. But they had to work out their faith…and working out their faith, it meant they did what God said. Not only did they know it, but they applied it.

And honestly, this is where people get the doctrine of perseverance of the saints all messed up. Yes, we have to prioritize our walk…and yes it’s our choice to apply the truths of God’s Word that we know to be true through the power of the Spirit…but regardless, whether you do that or not, you’ll be a baby in Christ if you don’t…It doesn’t change your identity because that’s been purchased and secured by Jesus. You just won’t grow if you don’t do what Paul’s talking about here. And you’ll have to answer for that because your immaturity, it’ll prevent you from doing what Jesus has called you to. You understand?

And so, do you prioritize your walk? Do you do the things you know to be true? Do you apply the truths you learn on Sunday mornings? Do you apply the things you see presented in the Scriptures through your own Bible study?

Listen, one of my biggest frustrations…its every year at Christmas time when I begin to take out all the lights from the box we store ‘em in, right? I feel like I spend hours taking all the knots out just to hang them up to find out that the lights are all burned out anyway. I waste so much time doing something that I could’ve prevented before if I just took the time to wrap the lights properly, instead of just taking them down and throwing them into the box.

Guys, its the same for us as Christians…our lives seem to be all knotted up sometimes. We spend 50 weeks of the year putting knots in the rope that represents our lives…knots we expect to just come out…but then we find we spend 2 weeks trying so hard to take the knots out…Listen, if we’d just spend the first 50 weeks prioritizing our walk, if we’d spend those 50 weeks avoiding those knots in the first place by focusing on God’s truth…don’t you think it would change a lot of the decisions we made during those 50 weeks that caused the knots to begin with?

The problem is…a lot of us, we don’t consider our walk with God until we’re all knotted up and we have no where else to turn.

Guys, part of facing our culture today…and part of walking in these uncertain times, its prioritizing our walk…it’s focusing on our spiritual growth…it’s keeping our eyes set on the prize…its running this race well. And guys, we can only do that together as a church…its why what we do in Sunday school and home groups and knot groups are so important. It’s why you should be involved in those things.

Do you prioritize your walk? That’s the first thing.

II. Is God’s Will Your Guide? (vv. 3-7)

The second question…is God’s will your guide?

Look at what Paul says in verse 3, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification.” And so, why do we prioritize our walk? Why should we do the things we know to be true? Because ultimately…it pleases God, right? Paul says it’s His will for us to grow…It’s His will for us to be sanctified. That’s what that word means…it’s all about our spiritual maturity. It’s the power at work in us to conform us into the image of Jesus. But guys, there’s some effort on our end. We have to want that growth and we have to prioritize that growth and then we have to be guided by the will of God. Meaning, we have to know what actually pleases God in that process…which Paul lays out for us here.

He says, “abstain from sexual immorality…control your own body in holiness and honor....don’t act out the passions of lust like those who don’t know God....don’t wrong your brothers and your sisters.”

He’s saying avoid impurity…impurity of any kind, right? Now, in this context…Thessalonica, it was a sex-saturated city. The Greco-Roman world, they viewed sex as just another biological function like eating or drinking. If you’re hungry, you eat, right? If you’re thirsty, you drink. In the same way, when you craved sex, you had sex. They didn’t view sex as anything other than that…it was just a basic human necessarily and so when someone wanted it, they fulfilled those desires. I mean honestly, it was very much like our culture today. When someone wants sex, they don’t even need another person, they can just turn to porn or some other form of self-pleasure, right? It’s the same idea. It was just accepted in that culture and it was readily available to them if they desired it. These Thessalonians, they were immersed in this culture…and there’s no doubt that some of those that followed Christ now, they were former participants in this culture and for that reason they struggled with these temptations. That’s why Paul starts here when he starts talking about sanctification. This was the thing they were most tempted by.

But listen, Paul’s charge here…its to avoid all impurity. It’s to understand God’s will for your lives, right? God’s will, it’s for you to be saved…God’s will, it’s that your life, it would be transformed and that you’d live a righteous and holy life…God’s will, it’s that you’d be filled with the Holy Spirit…and through all of that, you’d turn from idols and turn toward God just as Paul says in chapter 1, verse 9. Part of prioritizing our walk, it’s understanding that God’s will is for us to avoid impurity. This can be sexual impurities…it can be financial impurities…it can be coveting impurities…materialism…this might revolve around alcohol for some of us…this subject, it encompasses quite a bit.

Sanctification, it touches every area of our life…and when you love God, you love truth…and when you love truth, you’re shaped by that truth. Again, it doesn’t mean you’re perfect…but as you identify truth and as you’re told truth…and as the Spirit convicts you of that truth, you purge those impurities from your life…and you do that because ultimately it’s the will of God…and His will, it’s your guide because you love God.

And so, part of prioritizing our walk, it’s allowing God’s will to guide us…and God’s will, it’s for us to say “no” to the flesh. It’s to control our bodily desires as he says here in our passage. It’s to learn how to take charge and stop letting the body control us…which is exactly what Paul means in Romans 13:14 where he says:

Romans 13:14 (CSB)

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.

Guys, failure to meet God’s standards for our lives, any deviation from His will…it’s impurity. And that needs to be purged. And so, we continue to pursue holiness by reading His Word and by finding community with His people and by being shaped together by His instruction.

But Paul also says we’re to respect each other. Our sins, they don’t just displease God and fight back against His holiness…but listen, they also go against the people around us. All sin, it impacts more than just you and God…Listen, even the sin you do behind closed doors. It impacts us…it impacts your wife and your husband and your kids. And that’s what Paul’s talking about here. We should prioritize our walk, we should prioritize our sanctification because ultimately it prevents us from wronging our brothers and sisters.

In this case, again talking about context here…Paul’s addressing sexual sin…and this transgression, it didn’t just go against God but also against the dignity of man. We looked at this as we went through Genesis but God established boundaries for man…and we saw that He created man in His own image and that there’s just certain lines we shouldn’t cross. And for this context, those willing to be sexually impure, it meant they were basically telling God they didn’t care what He said and they didn’t care who the people around them were or who they represented. They didn’t care about God’s design and therefore they didn’t care about the image He created…and therefore they didn’t care about the people they had been called to. You see how sin impacts everything else?

And listen, when you fail to purge impurity…you fail to respect others…and essentially you’re saying to God, “I don’t care if I sin against You, and I also don’t care if I cause this other person to sin against You.”

And listen, if that’s you…Jesus has some strong words:

Matthew 18:6–7 (ESV)

but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Listen, Jesus isn’t talking about little children here…he’s talking about spiritual children. Here’s talking about the church. He’s talking you and me here…And so, we prioritize our walk because we care about God’s will…and God’s will, its for us to love one another…which translates into us respecting one another. We care about each other’s walk.

And then listen, we assume responsibility. Guys, up until this passage…Paul, he’s praised these Thessalonians. He’s rejoiced at the fact they welcomed God’s Word…he praised their desires to serve Him and be transformed by Him…but notice what he says here when he starts addressing impurity. He says they should do this “because the Lord is an avenger in all these things.” He’s saying, “God’s the judge…and His wrath, it’ll be poured out on the unrighteous.” That’s what he meant in Hebrews 13:4 and in Ephesians 5:3…That’s what he meant in Colossians 3 when he said:

Colossians 3:5–6 (ESV)

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” And why do we do that? Because he says, “On account of these the wrath of God is coming.”

And so, we assume responsibility for ourselves. We might have freedom in Christ and in the salvation He gives us…but guys, we’re still accountable for the things we do that don’t honor Him…and guys we have to deal with those things…we have to take responsibility in those things and we have to strive to overcome those things…And listen, there’s grace in those things…but there’s also accountability. God’s will in our pursuit of holiness, it’s for us to assume responsibility…because it’s only when we’re responsible that we typically do something about it, right? And doing something about it, it means prioritizing your walk, which is the will of God…and allowing the Spirit in you to do something about your messiness.

And so, is God’s will your guide as you strive to grow in your walk with Him? That’s the second thing.

III. Does God’s Approval Motivate You? (v. 8)

And then finally…does God’s approval motivate you? That’s the third thing.

Look at verse 8 with me again. Paul says, “8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”

Another way to put what Paul’s saying here, “The person that rejects this…or the person that refuses to deal with impurity, they don’t reject man, they reject God…who, Paul adds, has given you the Holy Spirit…He’s given you everything!”

Listen, what Paul’s saying here, it’s pretty simple…either you please God and prioritize your walk and your sanctification…or you reject God and do whatever it is you want. That’s exactly why Jesus said, “If you love Me, you’ll obey My commands.”

Listen, you remember when the disciples asked Jesus how to pray? And Jesus, He gives ‘em this model prayer, right? In that prayer, there’s three things He really tells ‘em to do. He says, “Remember God’s name…seek God’s kingdom…and do His will,” right? And now, here’s Paul and he’s talking about obedience and growth, sanctification…and he says the same thing…Remember who God is…seek what pleases God…and do His will.

And guys, that’s hard. You and I, we live in a culture where people reject God without giving it a second thought. But God, He calls us to live differently…to pursue a higher calling. And through that, we’re to remember God…remember what He’s done…remember that He’s approved us…He’s brought us into His family…He’s our Father…and His approval’s all that matters.

As kids, for a lot of us, the approval of our dad…it’s what mattered most. We wanted to please him. And for some us, we worked so hard to do that and yet we were still left disappointed…because no matter what we did, it never pleased him.

Well, the beautiful thing about Jesus, it’s that first He’s laid out everything that brings Him pleasure…it’s in His Word…He’s given you His instructions…and then He’s given you the source by which you can accomplish those instructions. Look at that last part again. Paul says, “He gave you His Holy Spirit.”

He’s kept his end of the bargain…guys, when you gave your life to Jesus, He didn’t say it was gonna be easy. But when you said yes to Jesus, you said, “You’re the King of my life…and I’m trusting that all of your commands…all the thy shalt’s…and thy shalt nots, I’m trusting that its all for my good and for your glory and I’m saying yes even before I even understand them…and I’m trusting you’ll keep your end of the bargain…and give me what I need…And listen, Paul says, “He did that…He gave your His instructions…and He gave you His Spirit.”

And so listen, when God’s approval matters most to you…when that’s what motivates you…you’ll understand the power you have, through the Spirit, to accomplish God’s will. And remember, you can’t put the cart before the horse…I’m talking to believers right now…to accomplish the will of God, you need the power of God…which He’s given you. And through this power, through the Spirit, He gives you the ability to know God’s truth as you listen to it on Sunday mornings and as you read it on your own…through the Spirit, He helps you in your weaknesses, He confirms your salvation when you doubt, He points you to Jesus, He convicts you of sin, He helps you to pray, He helps you to have victory over sin…I can go on and on…but as a believer you have the power of God in you and you have the ability to do God’s will and live in a way that’s contrary to the culture around you…but you have to first prioritize your walk, allow God’s will to guide you, and you have to care most about His approval instead of the approval of man. And guys, when you do all of that…the Spirit, He’ll give you everything you need to grow and mature…And listen, together, as His Church, He’ll use each of us to push us together closer to Him.

Guys, we have to be a pure church…we have to strive to be this kind of church…and we have to work to push each other closer to Christ if we’re gonna see God really work through us to reach our community. At First Baptist Church, we have to care about our holiness.

Closing

And so, in closing…as you close your eyes and bow your heads…I want you to thing about this question…do I pursue holiness? Do I prioritize my walk? Do I really know God’s will and let it guide me? Do I care about God’s approval in my life? Do I allow the Spirit to work in me? Do I let the church He’s given me build me up? Do I care about holiness?

And guys, I want you to be honest about that question. Because if you care about your sanctification, you’d be involved in our Bible studies and in our community groups, in our discipleship groups…you’d be with us as we go out and share the gospel on our different mission trips…as we pray around our community…you’d be involved in the things we’re doing as a church because ultimately you’re prioritizing your walk, you want to grow. And when you’re doing that…you begin to care most about Jesus’s glory…His kingdom…and His church.

Guys, what do you need to do today to start growing…what do you need to do to make God’s approval the thing that matters most in your life? Listen, ask Him to give you the power…let go of yourself…let go of trying to be and just let God be everything for you…and just follow…quit trying to lead.

And so, if you’re a believer here this morning…I just want you to take the next several minutes to think about your walk and God’s will for your life…Do they align this morning?......

But listen, if you’re here this morning and you don’t consider yourself a believer…you’ve never responded to Jesus…been changed by Him…then I just want you to listen to me for just a moment.

Our world, it tells you that you can define truth for yourself…that you are your own foundation of truth. If you want the sky to be orange and you believe that to be true, then well, it’s true and no one can argue that for you. But deep down, no matter who you are this morning, you know there has to be a foundation of truth.

Let me just tell you…the Bible, it was written over the course of thousands of years by several different men, inspired by God…all of which tell the same story…none of ‘em contradict each other…none of them prove the other wrong…they just compliment and further prove that it has to be the foundation of truth we seek. I mean just take the last 500 years, give 50 different men, from those 500 years, a pen and paper, men that never met each other…tell them to write about a god…and see what you have in the end.

Here’s my point, the Bible, from cover to cover, it speaks of one concessive story. It’s truth and it tells us that we’re all sinners…we all chose to rebel against a good and holy God…When God was offering life to us, we chose death…that’s the consequences of our decisions. But in God’s great love for us, He sent His Son, Jesus…who was equally God…He sent Him to live a perfect life so that He could go to the cross and be our sacrifice…so that He could die in our place…and the Bible says that He rose three days later…showing us that He had conquered life and death and that when we turn to Him, He can overcome our problems. He can give us new life. He can restore us…He can take all the bad things that make us who we are and make them all good. He’ll give you Himself, through the Holy Spirit…He’ll give you His resurrection power…and you don’t have to do anything except repent and believe…If you believe that Jesus is Lord, that He died for you, that He rose from the dead…and if you’d just turn to Him…let Him lead you and guide you…He’ll give you all those things…He’ll save you…but you have to repent and believe.

And so listen, if that’s you, I challenge you to take these next several minutes and just respond to that message. Repent and believe…place your trust and your faith in Jesus…let Him change everything about you this morning. Let Him give you the hope you’re so desperately searching for. And listen, you can do that right where you’re at…you don’t need to move…you can pray to Him right there…or you can come talk to me, I’ll be down front…but whatever you do, don’t leave this place today separated from Him.

And so, whoever you are this morning…whatever you’re struggling with…whatever the Spirit’s placing on your heart…you take these next several minutes and just respond and we’ll close in just a few minutes.

[Prayer]