A model church is full of people living in moral purity.

1. Introduction.

Following faith, loved, boldness, moral purity is the next characteristic of a model church.

Moral purity pleases God.

Somehow, over the years, Christians have begun thinking that Christian liberty allows them to do whatever they want, and that is partly correct. As a Christian, you have liberty to do what you want, but you have an obligation to be obedient to God, and even though you have the liberty to do something, obedience to God and the desire to live your life as a Christian witness before the lost world should prevent you from doing certain things.

There are a couple of passages that sum this up for us.

Romans 6:1–4 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

When we are saved, we are born again. We are given a new life, a life that should be free from those things in our flesh that cause us to sin.

Galatians 6:7–9 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption;

but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

Even though moral purity might seem that it is getting us nowhere in this life, if we stay true to the course, we shall reap what we have sown as we will receive our just rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ. It is really fascinating.

Now, Paul is very specific in the upcoming verses. Let’s see how we stack up.

2. Exhortation.

As elsewhere in First Thessalonians, Paul begins this section with an exhortation.

1 Thessalonians 4:1–2 “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; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.”

It is important to understand to whom Paul is writing this? He is addressing the brothers and sisters which means that this is written to us, the brothers and sisters that make-up the true church, the body of Christ.

Remember, how we said that it is important to understand if a passage is written to us or for us. Well this passage is written to us. Yes, at the time, it was written to the Thessalonians who were being persecuted severely, but as with all the letters to the churches, it was written to us too.

2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,”

Paul says, “we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus.” When Paul says this, he is begging them with a sense of urgency, and he was begging them to continue to please God in their daily walks of life.

It was an urgent request. Do you wake up everyday with the desire for that day to intentionally please God? I know you are getting tired of me saying it, but we must take up our cross daily and follow Christ.

I am going to ask this question again. How many of you have gotten up each day committing that particular day to following the Lord Jesus Christ? If you have not, is your desire really to please God for that day?

Let me tell you this. I did exactly that. I guess I wanted to try and do what Jesus told me to do. Last week, everyday, when I woke up, I prayed a little prayer committing myself for that day to the Lord Jesus Christ, and I had an incredible week.

I did it everyday until Friday morning, Good Friday. I got out of bed and did not think about it, and I was in a bad mood all day, and before you know it, Hope and I were at each other like two dogs fighting over a bone, and as soon as I snapped at Hope, and I promise this is the truth, the Holy Spirit reminded me of what I did not do Friday morning. I did not commit that day to picking up my cross and following after Jesus, and Friday was different from the rest of the week.

It is urgent. It is important that we walk to please God. Paul was begging the Thessalonians to do that, and he is begging us to do the same.

Now, there are certain facts about this exhortation given by Paul.

The Thessalonian believers were without excuse.

Paul tells them that he, Timothy, and Silas had taught them how to live their lives and how to please God. Now, it is incumbent on the pastor to preach what God expects. I have an obligation to tell you how you are to live to please God. That is the problem with “feel-good” messages. Dear friend, God does not want you to feel good, He wants you to please Him, and there certain things that God expects of us that are pleasing to Him.

The Thessalonians knew what they were to do because they had been taught. Now, sometimes I feel like a broken record. It seems that I say the same things over and over. The Lord leads me to say them, but it does seem monotonous, but it is because God is trying to get a point across to us. We are without excuse. We are to live our lives to please God, and that should be our daily motivation.

I guarantee you, if you are honest with yourself, that God gave you the opportunity to please Him today. Did you do that?

Pleasing God is not optional; pleasing God is a Christian’s duty.

Paul’s exhortation was based upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul was writing under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Thessalonians had been taught about Jesus Christ the Lord. There is no greater authority in the universe than God’s authority. Paul is telling the Thessalonians that the exhortation to please God was from the highest authority, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul’s exhortation was based upon the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Mistakenly, we think of commandments in context of the Old Testament and the Mosaic Law. Those are not the commandments Paul means. Paul means the commands given by the Lord Jesus Christ.

For example:

The Great Commission

Love God with our total being

Love our neighbors as ourselves

Do not forsake church attendance/obligations

By tradition, the Jews had added over 1,500 ordinances to the Law, but if you read the New Testament with open eyes and open heart, you will see that Christians in the church age were given many commandments and following them is what pleases God.

The “New Testament Commandments” are important for pleasing God after our eternal destiny has been determined. The Law of Moses made all of us guilty. The commandments of the New Testament give us the opportunity to please God.

It is impossible to please God through the Mosaic Law because no one can totally keep the Law.

Let me give you a quick example. Did you know that if you do not give as the New Testament prescribes that you are actually breaking all 10 Commandments? Study it honestly and judge for yourself.

The commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ are laws that are to be observed. They are not optional. If you are a born-again Christian, church attendance is not optional. If you are born-again, God expects you to be an active member of the body of Christ in a local congregation of believers. Let me ask you a question.

Does this sound optional?

Hebrews 10:23–25 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,

not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Does “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” sound optional?

Why are we commanded to not only attend church but be an active member in that church?

As a consideration of the other brothers and sisters in Christ.

To promote and grow love in the body of believers.

As a motivation to good works

To exhort one another as Paul was exhorting the Thessalonians.

There is no getting around it. If you can just casually come to church, you are not pleasing God, and that is just one example of a New Testament commandment.

How about this one?

Second Tim. Chap. 2 verse 15 says this. “Study to show yourself approved unto God.” Does that sound optional? It does not say study if you want to see if God approves of you. It says Study to show.

If we neglect the commandments given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, we are not pleasing God in our daily lives. We might be saved, and we will never lose that salvation, but we are living a pleasing life before God, and when we appear at the Judgment Seat of Christ, we will be reminded of all the opportunities we were given to please God but failed.

3. Sanctification.

1 Thessalonians 4:3–5 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;”

In this passage, Paul tells us clearly that the Christian should not live like the Gentiles of the lost world.

Paul begins this passage by saying that your sanctification is the will of God.

We are going to talk about sanctification one of these days, but there are two types of sanctification.

Positional sanctification

Positional sanctification occurs the moment you are saved. It refers to a believer’s secure standing as being made holy in God’s sight by faith in Jesus Christ. It is a legal declaration, a change in status before God. Your position before God can never be taken away from you.

Progressive sanctification

Progressive sanctification is the ongoing process by which the Holy Spirit works in believers to become more like Christ conforming themselves to His image.

When you were saved, you became “positionally” sanctified. The sanctification Paul is describing in verse 3 is progressive sanctification. Progressive sanctification is the will of God for your life. Let me ask you a question.

Are you more like Christ today than you were 5 years ago? If not, you must not be living a life on a daily basis that is pleasing to God.

In this passage, and you must consider the pagan society in which Paul was writing, Paul links sanctification with moral purity.

It is God’s will for us all to be morally pure. The word sanctified means to be set apart and separated. Paul is saying that it is God’s will that we be separated from immorality, and remember. Paul is writing to us, the church.

The church is supposed to be morally pure.

In this passage, Paul says that living pure lives before God means three things:

First, living pure lives means abstaining from all fornication.

In this passage, fornication means all immoral sexual acts and all forms of sexual deviation. The believer’s body belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ which means, in everything we do, we are to honor Christ with our bodies, and that includes our sexual lives.

Now, let me be clear. Sex is a gift God gives and intends for married couples. It is to be normal and healthy between married couples.

Even among married couples, some sexual practices are inappropriate. Even within the confines of marriage, pornography is unacceptable if one wants to live in moral purity. Now, I know pornography is widely accepted by society, but worldly acceptance does not make it acceptable to God.

Pornography degrades sex in a marriage. It is fornication even within the marriage even if it is between two married consenting adults. Christians should avoid it. It is fornication.

Now, I know many of you older ones may find this hard to believe, but there are many younger Christians that struggle with pornography because of its wide acceptance in the world. That is part of the reason some young couples in the church think it is okay to live together outside of marriage. Living together outside of marriage is fornication. It will never be accepted by God as pure, and if you want to live a life that pleases God, you must abstain from that fornication.

Second, living pure lives means knowing how to control his body or her body.

I am about to be labeled a radical fundamentalist, but that is okay because I am going to tell you what the Bible says.

This is what Paul says under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

“that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust”

The word vessel can refer to a husband’s body and to his spouse’s body. ( I AM GOING TO DUCK WHILE THE WIVES THROW SOMETHING AT ME)

Let me explain. Remember our goal is to live lives that are pleasing to God. Now, Sunday, I am going to talk about marriage and the family, so I am not going to cover everything here.

We must keep in mind what the Bible says about the marriage relationship.

Ephesians 5:22–27 “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.

Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,

that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”

The husband has a great responsibility to his wife. Just as the Lord Jesus Christ strives to keep the church pure so should the husband do for his wife.

Men, you are not going to like this.

Husbands are not to neglect their wives. Neglecting our wives can bring about temptation.

1 Corinthians 7:4–5 “The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”

The believer is to keep his body and his spouse’s body pure not putting her to temptation. A husband is to so cherish his wife that nothing, except for the Lord, comes before her, and the same holds true for the wife, yet today, we put everything other than the Lord before our spouses, and as a result, divorce within the church is at an all-time high.

When the husband or the wife lets down his or her guard, the Devil goes to work in the mind. When the Bible says the husband and the wife are to control each other’s body, it is talking about our thoughts and our actions. A healthy marriage is one in which the husband and the wife tend to the needs of each other.

In marriages today, who usually comes first? The children and dear friend, that is not God’s desire in a healthy marriage. God is to come first followed by the spouse, and if we get that priority out of whack, we are more than likely not controlling our bodies and are open to temptation.

Third, living pure lives means resisting lusts.

To live a pure life, a Christian cannot be enslaved by the power of lust, and lust refers to more than just sexual immorality. It can refer to gambling, recreation, greed, gluttony and many other things. You guys know this is the truth. If a person has a goal of making a lot of money, that person becomes enslaved by that lust or desire.

That kind of passion or lust is the way of the world. It is the lifestyle of those who have rejected God and His commandments. See Romans 1:18-32.

James 1:14–15 “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”

4. Purity.

1 Thessalonians 4:6–8 “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. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.

Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.”

There are four reasons why a Christian is to live in purity.

First, immorality defrauds and cheats a brother.

Remember, this is written to us. When Paul says brother, to whom is he referring? ____________________________________.

Romans 12:9–10 “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;”

A Christian who preaches one thing but acts contrary to what he preaches is defrauding or cheating his brothers and sisters, and the best biblica example I can think of is what happened in the camp of Israel when Achan sinned. Did Achan’s fraud just affect him, or did it affect the entire camp? The same thing happens in a church when a brother or sister lives in sin instead of purity.

Second, living in immorality will be avenged by God.

Now, God is the avenger of immorality in the church. I want to read this again.

Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”

Dear friend, this passage in Galatians is not talking about the lost world. It is talking about sin within the church. Paul is talking about the same thing in his letter to the Thessalonians. Once again, let me say this. There are expectations for Christians. We are to be separated for God’s purpose which means we are to be pure.

Third, God’s desire for Christians is holiness.

2 Corinthians 7:1 “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

God wants us to live free from sin and in holiness.

He tells us how we are to be clean from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

I hope you are beginning to see the unity of the Scripture. We can live clean from sin if we will only confess our sins. That means we have to judge ourselves to keep God from judging us. If we judge ourselves honestly, we are going to discover this.

1 John 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

To live pure lives, we have to live in his holiness, and part of that holiness is confessing our sin when we sin.

Fourth, all immorality is a sin against God.

2 Peter 2:14 “having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.”

Dear friend, I want you to understand this.

Living in immorality is not God’s will for a Christian, and if a person can continually live in immorality, there is a good chance that person needs to be saved. God will not allow His children to live perpetually in sin.

5. A Walk that Pleases God.

A. Growing in love.

1 Thessalonians 4:9–10 “But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more;”

If we are going to please God, our love for the body of Christ must continue to grow. The word for love here is not agape love but brotherly love, phileo. It is the type of loves that binds brothers and sisters together into an unbreakable bond.

The bond between brothers and sisters in Christ should be unbreakable which is why a person could make the argument that disputes that lead to splits are never God’s will.

Paul says that he did not have to write to the Thessalonians concerning this kind of love because the Thessalonians had been taught by God to love one another.

Now, listen to this.

Every single one of us has the need to grow in love more and more. If our goal in sanctification is become more and more like Christ, obviously our love must grow to match His love for us.

B. Studying to be quiet.

UH-OH! Hope, this is not talking about me. LOL!

1 Thessalonians 4:11 “that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you,”

We are to seek a quiet life, and we are to learn to be quiet. In other words, we are to learn when to keep our lips sealed.

The Thessalonians were facing two critical problems:

Persecution

Criticism toward Paul

They were not to respond to those two problems “loudly.”

What does that mean?

It means this. When we are dealing with the world and with lost people, we are not to be abusive or arrogant in witnessing to or dealing with them. In other words, we do not need to be like a Pharisee.

I know every person is responsible for their own decisions regarding the Christ; however, if our arrogance or loudness contributes to that person’s rejection of Christ, we will be held responsible.

The worst characteristic a Christian can have is arrogance because arrogance usually overrides every god Christian quality that a person has. If you think you are always right, you are not leading a quiet life.

Some people just do not think anyone should disagree with them. Some people think it is only okay to do something in the church when they are the ones who come up with the idea. Well, dear friend, that is arrogance, and that is abusive behavior toward your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Unfortunately, many Christians display that same arrogance when talking to lost people.

Study the Bible and see how Jesus talked to the woman at the well and the woman caught in adultery. See how Jesus talked to Zacchaeus. See how Paul and Silas talked to the Philippian jailer. See how Phillip talked to the Ethiopian eunuch. There was no arrogance evident anywhere, and there was no mention of hell unless my memory has totally left me.

Many Christians when witnessing to a lost person want to bring up sin and eternal judgment. Well, what they need to bring up is the Lord Jesus Christ who will use the Holy Spirit to convict a lost person of sin and eternal judgment.

Let me just say this.

Studying to be quiet does not mean that a believer needs to keep to himself or herself.

A hurting believer needs to be heard by his or brothers and sisters who are to comfort that believer.

1 Thessalonians 4:18 “Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

Dear friend, the world is hurting. The world needs the gospel, and believers must study to be quiet to keep from being critical of a lost person, and a Christian needs to study to be quiet to keep from being divisive in the fellowship.

We need to study to be quiet at home, school, work, and the church.

Proverbs 17:1 “Better is a dry morsel with quietness, Than a house full of feasting with strife.”

AMEN! Have you ever said something to your spouse knowing that you would have been better served keeping your mouth shut? That is what Paul and Solomon are talking about.

C. Minding your own business.

1 Thessalonians 4:11 “that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you,”

NEXT!!!!

God tells us to mind our own business.

Why? Because too many people are busy-bodies and too many meddle in the affairs of others.

Deacons example.

What causes a person to meddle in the affairs of others?

Because we are quick to be critical

Because we fail to see our shortcomings and failures

Because we fail to take care of our own affairs as we should

Because we do not have enough to do

If Christians spent as much time studying God’s Word as they did interfering in other people’s business, there is no telling what we might accomplish. That’s the biggest reason many people have Facebook. They have to keep up with what everyone else is doing, but they would be better served minding their own business.

D. Working.

1 Thessalonians 4:11–12 “that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.”

To live in moral purity also means to labor honestly, commendable, and respectful way before the lost world.

Genesis 2:15 “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.”

2 Thessalonians 3:10 “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.”

This is important to living right before God as Paul addresses it twice in his letters to the Thessalonians.

Christians are to work. That means in the church and in the world. Christians are to earn a living by working and not by sponging off the church or the government. I am not talking about retirees or those deemed medically unable to work. I am talking about the rest of us.

Actually, how we present and conduct ourselves in the work force is one sure fire way to either be a witness for or a witness against Christ.

Now, today, there is an incredible phenomenon taking place within and without the church. Here it is, and I guarantee you that most of us here can relate in some shape or fashion.

Many older adults today have to financially support their working age children. Dear friend, that is not biblical, and I do not know what to tell you regarding how we are to respond in that situation, but Paul tells us that each of us are responsible for our own living. In other words, a 65 year-old retiree should not have to financially support a 40 year-old who is too lazy to work, and Paul is pretty specific about it.

Pauls says if a person will not work, neither shall he eat.

Even though we may retire from the work force, we never retire from working for the Lord, and I really think that is why the principle of work is so stressed in the Bible.

Let me give you a little history lesson about the Mormons and working. (Beehive State)

Dear friend, that is how people should see us. We should be viewed as hard workers in the church and in the workforce. In the church, hard work produces saved souls. In the workforce, hard work earns us wages and it reveals Jesus Christ in us.

What a great chapter so far!

God wants us to live right before him, and in this chapter, He tells us how to do just that.