First Thessalonians (8)
Notes
Transcript
Pursuing Holiness
Pursuing Holiness
For the last three chapters we have had an introduction from Paul.
He has used these three chapters to encourage and edify the church at Thessalonica.
He has praised them for their faithfulness,
defended his motives
expressed his joy over their love for the scriptures
and expressed his love and care for them.
His tone has been positive and upbeat
He does not use words of correction or rebuke
This is quite remarkable considering the young age of the church
Other young churches were not so
Corinth and Galatia
The Thessalonian church was a source of joy and encouragement
Paul now turns his focus toward the church and the life that born again believers are to live
These verses alone should stand as an exhortation to all that read them, that we need to live a sanctified life that glorifies the Lord.
As you read this passage, its not hard to be reminded of 2 Pet. 3:11
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
Modern day churches do their best to skip passages like 2 Pet. 3:11 and 1Thess. 4:1-8.
These passages and many others cause readers to examine their lives
they have to ask themselves the question, “Is God pleased with how I am living my life?”
its becomes a matter of sanctification and holy living
Churches gloss over these types of passages because Our society has embraced the “truth is relative” mentality.
better known as the anything goes mind set
this results in little if any personal responsibility
Modern culture may except this lifestyle but it is no lifestyle for the child of God.
We have an obligation to live a life that honors and reflects our Lord.
The anything goes mentality was prevalent in Pauls day as well, especially in Thessalonica.
Immorality ran through every vein of this town
Adultery and Fornication were at the top of the list
So Paul sought to remind the church of their obligations unto the Lord.
Now let me preface this message by saying, everything I am going to say today is in love, if something I say bothers you because it hits to close to home, may I encourage you to seek God’s forgiveness and repent. I am not saying anything today that is not clearly in the text. allow God to speak to your heart this morning and allow Him the opportunity to Work in your heart and life.
As we look at these verses this morning I want to consider the responsibility we have as a born again believers, to Pursue Holiness and when we are living with heaven on our minds, Pursuing Holiness will be a thing we do without giving it much thought.
So lets look at two things that I pray will aid us in Pursuing Holiness
I. The Priority of Holiness
I. The Priority of Holiness
Vs. 1-2
Holiness should be a top priority of the believer. Paul shows us why this is in three ways:
A. Our Expectation
A. Our Expectation
v.1a Furthermore then we beseech you brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that ye have recieved of us how ye ought to walk and to please God.
“Furthermore then..” Paul says, now if you havent gotten anything else I have said, pay attention.
you know men, like when your wife is telling you what you did wrong, and then says Furthermore… she is saying what I really want you to hear is...
Paul gets their attention
He is going to layout what is expected of them since they are claiming the name of Christ.
Paul reminds them that they are children of God “brethren”
They are expected to live a life that is pleasing to God.
We are all aware of the need of holy living (purity) and the obligation that we have to walk in a way that is pleasing to the Lord.
I fear that many times we fail in fulfilling this because we do not live with heaven on our minds
We should be reminded of our responsibility to live upright before the Lord, seeking to imitate the life He lived.
Living with heaven on your mind makes you aware of your expectation to pursue holiness.
B. Our Excellence
B. Our Excellence
v.1b ..so ye would abound more and more.
The word translated abound (perisseuēte) means “to excel, to overflow, to exist in full quantity, to be over and above and around, to be advanced.” 1
A closely related form of the word can mean “extraordinary,” or “surpassing.”
Paul used the word translated abound here, to tell the Thessalonians he was intent that they become spiritually extraordinary, that they excel to a higher ground of living for the Lord.
Paul wanted the priority of his readers to be a spiritual progress motivated by a desire to know and please God.
The same kind of strong desire that David wrote about in Ps. 42:1
As the hart panteth after the water brooks, So panteth my soul after thee, O God.
Paul was saying that average was not good enough.
Simply living a bit better than the world around them was not all that was required.
They were expected to excel in their faith and abound more and more for the Lord
Our Expectation
Our Excellence
C. Our Exhortation
C. Our Exhortation
v.2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
They had no excuess for not living for the Lord.
Paul is telling them, “this is not my commanment this is the Lords.
Christ had given them a charge to fulfill, a life to live, and a ministry to perform.
This was not an option; it was an obligation.
The Lord has not merely suggested that we live according to His words, but He has commanded that we do so.
“If ye love me, keep my commandments”
Do you love the Lord?
Then why are you living as if you hate him?
Many, even those that what to serve the Lord, treat His Word and His desire for us as if its a buffet, take what you want and leave the rest.
If you are a child of God, you dont have the right to pick and choose when it comes to the things of God.
You either believe this (hold up Bible) and do what it says or you dont.
His commandments are not grievous to those that love Him.
We are commanded and obligated to live according to His way and will for our lives. 2
We cannot read any passage of Scripture and pretend that it doesn’t apply to our lives.
I understnad we are not Isreal and the OT is written to them but so was the NT
The Bible wasnt written to us, but it was written for us.
All Scripture is there for our good and we must be obedient unto it.
(Read Ps.119:1-16)
I. The Priority of the Believer
II. The Purity of Holiness
II. The Purity of Holiness
Vs. 3-8
Sometimes it is hard to know what the will of God is
take us excepting the pastorate here, I asked for confirmation....
Then there are times that God’s will is so evident that we cant ignore it,
except when it comes to Christians living holy lives.
It is The Will of God for us to be pure.
It doesnt matter what version you want to read it out of, they all will say “For this is the will of God”
You want to know the will of God?
get the obvious one down first and He will reveal you the others.
Pursuing Holiness, involves living pure.
You will never be holy if you are not living pure
Paul lists out for us six things that can aid us in living pure lives in our pursuit of holiness.
A. Our Sanctification
A. Our Sanctification
v.3a
sanctification appears here and in verses 4 and 7.
in simple terms sanctification, is the process of being separated from sin and set apart to God’s holiness.
God wants believers to separate from all that is evil, fleshly, and impure.
The sanctification process is the direct result of salvation, as Paul instructed the Corinthians: (1 Cor. 6:9-10
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
ON the one hand, when you are saved you are redeemed and made a child of God immediatly, but on the other hand you are living in a fallen world in a body of fallen flesh and becasue of that we struggle at living a sanctified life.
Sanctification is an ongoing process whereby we grow in holiness.
The apostle’s reference to sanctification points back to one of the requests he had just prayed for the Thessalonians: (1 Thess. 3:13
To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
God expects His children to live a sanctified life.
I believe that we are more familiar with sanctification than we like to admit.
We know the life that God expects us to live.
We know through the direction and conviction of the Holy Spirit whether our lives and actions are in accordance with the will of God.
If you are seeking God’s will, seek a life of purity and sanctification! 2
Our sanctification
B. Our Isolation
B. Our Isolation
v.3b
Sanctification touches every area of your life.
Paul will touch on many areas in the coming verses, but given the environment that these Thessalonian believers were living in, Paul considered abstinence from fornication a top priority for the Thessalonians purity and holiness.
In the Greek society of that day immorality and pro-mis-cu-ity were rampant.
Paul exhorts the church there to abstain from such behavior, literally “to hold one’s self from, to refrain.”
Paul was concerned that they could easily fall back into their former habits.
he give them direct, uncomplicated command to abstain from fornication.
to isolate yourself from it
The word fornication in the text comes from the Greek word porneia, from which we get our word pornography.
It has to do with all manner of sexual impurity.
It isn’t limited to premarital sex or adultery, but includes all manner of sexual indulgence.
You would have to agree that our modern society is plagued with the lusts of the flesh and the desire for that which is immoral.
It even promotes and encourages it.
We, as believers, have an obligation to isolate ourselves from such behavior and refrain from it.
Our sanctification
Our isolation
C. Our Subjugation
C. Our Subjugation
vs.4
Abstaining from sexual immorality involves the ability to “control” your body.
Possess means to procure, acquire, get
Paul is telling his readers, to take what God has given you and acquire it, take it under your control.
Know its strengths and weaknesses
Believers must maintain self-control over the desires of their own flesh.
God has given us something special.
Our human body.
We are created in His image and for His glory.
Paul told the church at Corinth that he keeps his body under subjection. 1 Cor. 9:27
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Our sanctification
Our isolation
Our Subjugation
D. Our Separation
D. Our Separation
v.5
We are not to regard the body as an instrument of self-gratification.
Paul says, this is what the pagans, who have no knowledge of God, do.
Knowing God—or, to put it another way, knowing the Lord Jesus—is what makes the difference.
To know Him is to love Him; to love Him is to want to please Him.
To please Him, we must keep our body clean.
Paul says, (Rom. 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Each of us has a body designed to be the vehicle of the senses.
Because we live in a body, we can see, hear, smell, taste, and feel.
Each of us has a soul.
We can think, feel, and decide.
We are aware of ourselves as individuals.
We also have a conscience, a sense of right and wrong.
We can be controlled by our senses, our intellects, our emotions, our wills, or our conscience.
Or we can be controlled by a combination of these things.
God created us to be much more than intelligent animals.
We were created with a spirit, the faculty that enables us to know, love, and obey God.
Animals are controlled by instinct; we are to be controlled by God.
We were created to be inhabited by God.
The human spirit was to be inhabited by the Holy Spirit and cooperate completely with the Holy Spirit.
Because of the fall all that changed.
Adams sin
loss of fellowship
void is present
When we accept Christ, however, we are “born again,” “born of the Spirit,” “born from above” (John 3:6–7).
The Holy Spirit takes up His abode within (1 Cor. 3:16–17)
It is the indwelling Holy Spirit who makes it possible for the regenerated believer to keep his body as a sacred vessel and not to defile it by sexual sin.
as Ray read our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost
Because we know God, a clear-cut line of separation must exist between our behavioral standards and those of the Gentiles.
Paul challenged the Romans to present their bodies to God.
(Rom. 12:2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
The world around us wants to force on us its standards.
Instead, we must let God fashion our minds from within.3
1 Corinthians 6:19–20 (KJV 1900)
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Our sanctification
Our isolation
Our Subjugation
Our Separation
E. Our Reputation
E. Our Reputation
v.6
Paul is admonishing the church not to take advantage of others.
They were not to seek personal gain or gratification at the expense of a brother or sister in Christ.
Paul and the Lord expected them to live lives that were above reproach and accusation.
your reputation is one of the most precious and fragile attributes that you possess.
A reputation can take a lifetime to build, but only a few seconds to destroy.
We must be mindful of the life we live before others and seek to guard our reputation!2
Many have preached this verse, defrauding in “any” matter, by looking at it in the form of any and all matters, they are not wrong,
but looking at this verse, not sure if your Bible does this, but what do you see different about the word ‘any’ its italicized
When ever you see this in your KJV, it means that it was put there as a clairifier by the translators.
taking in context with what Paul has been saying thus far
we must conclude that he is referring to any sexual matter.
adultery
fornication
lust
envy
harassment
pornography
So we should not become a stumbling block for another believer
we should not become envious of another brother
we should not become lustful after another believer
so on and so on.
You get the point.
John Phillips offers a stern word: “God has written ‘No Trespassing’ over every man or woman who is not one’s own wife or husband.… He has also posted the warning ‘Trespassers will be prosecuted’ ” (Phillips, Exploring 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 103).
To Many a men have fallen because of not heading this
to many Pastors have given into the lusts of the flesh with women in the church becasue thsy dont heed this.
We need to guard our reputations, in doing so we guard ourselves from falling into defrauding other believers.
If we dont, God will avenge those that are defrauded (6b)
Our sanctification
Our isolation
Our Subjugation
Our Separation
Our Reputation
F. Our Obligation
F. Our Obligation
Vs. 7-8
These last two verses describe our obligation that we have to be pure.
First we see the obligation....
1. To Our Calling
1. To Our Calling
v.7
Remember that Paul is speaking to the church, those that have been redeemed.
They were not saved and called to live life for themselves, indulging in lust of the flesh, uncleanness,
They were called to be separeated unto God.
We as Christians need to be reminded of our obligation to the call of God.
God calls all Christians to come out from among them and be separate
All believers are called to a life of holiness.
We are obligated to manitain a close relationship with our Lord, abstaining from all appearnces of evil.
1 Peter 1:14–16 (KJV 1900)
As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
2. To Our Creator
2. To Our Creator
v.8a He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God
If we are living with heaven on our mind, we will pursue holiness because we understand our obligation not only to our calling but to out Creator.
When we despiseth (reject) this truth that we are to pursue holiness, we are rejecting God.
We have an obligation to our creator in that we are to seek to please him at all cost, and when we refuse to do this we are in essence rejecting God.
3. To Our Comforter
3. To Our Comforter
v.8b
We have an obligation to listen to the Holy Spirit that God has given to us.
He is not in you just for show, he is in you if you are a believer, for the purpose of conviction and restraint.
We have an obligation to listen to Him and obey Him.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Living with heaven on our mind will cause us to pursue holiness.
Holiness is Our priority, we are expected by God to be holy, it pleases him when we are.
We are to excel at this, and we have no excuses when it comes to how we are to live as children of God.
We have His Word as our instruction manual
Holiness also involves our purity.
if we are going to be holy we must be pure.
It is God’s will
to be pure we must
isolate ourselves
we must bring ourselves into subjection
We must separate from the world
we must hold fast to our reputations
and We have an obligation to our calling, Creator and comforter to be pure.
Pursing Holiness comes at a cost, forgetting and leaving those things that distract us and intrap us behind, and pressing towards the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
How you respond this morning, tells God if you despise man or him.
Wont you come!
1. John F. MacArthur Jr., 1 & 2 Thessalonians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary, (Chicago: Moody Press, 2002), 95.
2.Chris Benfield, Pulpit Pages: New Testament Sermons, 2015, 1203.
3.John Phillips, Exploring 1 & 2 Thessalonians: An Expository Commentary, The John Phillips Commentary Series, (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), 1 Th 4:5.
