The Walk of Believers
Notes
Transcript
Call to Worship
Call to Worship
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
How long, O Yahweh? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
Look and answer me, O Yahweh my God; Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
Lest my enemy says, “I have overcome him,” And my adversaries rejoice that I am shaken.
But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
I will sing to Yahweh, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.
Old Testament Reading
Old Testament Reading
Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the sight of the priests and in the sight of all the people who were standing in the house of Yahweh,
and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May Yahweh do so; may Yahweh establish your words which you have prophesied to return the vessels of the house of Yahweh and all the exiles, from Babylon to this place.
“Yet hear now this word which I am about to speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people!
“The prophets who were before me and before you from ancient times prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war and of calamity and of pestilence.
“The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, then that prophet will be known as one whom Yahweh has truly sent.”
Gospel Reading
Gospel Reading
“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.
“He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.
“And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”
Intro:
Intro:
AG: Holiness
Remember your ultimate purpose, and when you set yourself to your day’s work or approach any activity in the world, let HOLINESS TO THE LORD be written upon your hearts in all that you do.
Richard Baxter (Puritan Divine)
TS: When Paul says “finally” in 4:1, he switches gears at this point in the letter and focuses on adding to their teaching which had been cut short.
Though the report from Timothy, mentioned in ch 3 gave Paul joy, he also noted a few concerns which he addresses.
He begins by teaching we are to live holy lives and discussing how we are to do it.
1. What we are to do (4:1–2)
1. What we are to do (4:1–2)
Believers are to live their lives in a way that is pleasing to God.
Finally then, brothers, we ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.
Exhorted in the name of Jesus
Paul spoke on Jesus’ behalf.
There was no higher authority to whom Paul could appeal.
Paul had previous taught how to walk in a manner pleasing to God
This letter is an encouragement to remain faithful.
They had been walking this path already.
Paul wanted them to excel even more.
Living to please GOD is every Christian’s priority. We know Him as Savior and that should lead us to want to please Him in gratitude.
We will never reach a point where there is no room for improvement
God works in the world through our obediences.
For you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
Paul goes on in the next few verses to reiterate those instructions.
2. How we are to do it (4:3–12)
2. How we are to do it (4:3–12)
We do this by obeying God.
Paul spells out some of God’s commands and explains how to live them out.
A. Be holy and pure (4:3–5, 7–8).
A. Be holy and pure (4:3–5, 7–8).
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;
The will of God is known from the Word of God.
Holiness is not an experience you have; holiness is keeping the law of God.
David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Welsh Preacher and Writer)
God’s will was their sanctification:
It means being set apart from sin and dedicated to holiness.
This continues throughout our lifetimes.
Though we are saved by grace through faith, living righteously was always important.
Not in oder to be saved, but because we are saved.
Paul often addressed these issues.
Several NT examples:
Christianity is not a list of dos and don’ts but a relationship in which believers desire to please their heavenly Father (2:4; 4:1). To please him requires obedience to his standards
Here, Paul exhorts us and encourages Sanctification
Specifically Paul mentions sexual impurity.
Paul teaches to hold oneself away from immorality
Apparently the area of sexual sin (Greek, porneia) was plaguing the church in Thessalonica, as it was plaguing the Roman Empire as a whole
Many of the pagan practices included temple prostitutes and society at large encouraged decadent living.
Incest, pedophilia, and having slaves for sex were common place.
God’s standards were and still are the opposite.
1 man and 1 woman devoted to each other for life.
that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,
not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
there are 2 possible interpretation of “vessel” here.
the wife 1 Pt 3:7 one aquires
You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
The body 2 Tim 2:21 one possesses
Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, having been prepared for every good work.
We must abstain from immorality in BOTH areas.
IN this context, Paul probably meant the latter here and this applies to singles as well as married. It applies to men and women.
This is better understood as telling the Thessalonians to “possess their own body”
Their sanctified life was a contrast to the Gentiles (here, probably meant unbelievers, not ethnicity)
They do not know God.
We are to live righteously instead of passionately.
We strive to walk in submission to God’s will.
We do the right thing because it is pleasing to God.
We do not follow the desires of our flesh.
NOT
following our hearts
The heart is deceitful
Seeking our happiness
Sin can be happy for a season
Seeking our pleasure
We are more than our animal instincts.
As Christians, we must uphold the sanctity of the loving commitment of the marriage relationship.
John Stott said,
“If the heathen behave as they do because they do not know God, Christians must behave in a completely different way because we do know God, because he is a holy God, because he is our God, and because we want to please him.”
John Stott
B. Don’t defraud another believer (4:6).
B. Don’t defraud another believer (4:6).
and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you.
Sexual sin carries with it destructive social and spiritual implications
Broken vows lead to broken homes.
Sexual immorality harms our walk and our ministry
It destroys our credibility
It destroys trust and bond between brothers and sisters in Christ.
For God did not call us to impurity, but in sanctification.
Consequently, he who sets this aside is not setting aside man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.
God has called us to sanctification, not impurity
We are saved TO WALK in good works
Breaking this, isn’t disobeying men but God. It is setting aside the conviction of the Holy Spirit
It isn’t just Paul’s teachings or any other man.
It is the command of God.
This issue is so important, that the Jerusalem council emphasized it.
“Therefore I judge that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles,
but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from sexual immorality and from what is strangled and from blood.
“For from ancient generations, Moses has those who preach him in every city, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
C. Love all believers (4:9–10).
C. Love all believers (4:9–10).
Now concerning love of the brothers, 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 brothers who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to excel still more,
Paul urges them to excel still more in love for each other.
We have seen this theme repeat through the letter.
Repetition emphasizes importance
GK word used here: philadelphia- brotherly love.
It is the kind of love that binds people together.
This work is usually used for blood relatives.
Paul is emphasizing that we are the family of God!
D. Take care of your own business (4:11).
D. Take care of your own business (4:11).
and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you,
Focus on ourselves and aim for a quiet life.
Don’t be one who presents social problems.
Paul echos this in Timothy as he says to include this in our prayers
First of all, then, I exhort that petitions and prayers, requests and thanksgivings, be made for all men,
for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
Pray for freedom to live a godly life
Keep yourself in holiness doing all in your power to keep peace and tranquility in the home and in the church
Take care of our business
Believers are to be responsible in all areas of life. Some of the Thessalonian Christians had adopted a life of idleness, depending on others for handouts. This did not show love for fellow believers, for these people were taking advantage of others’ hard work
Wait, there’s more!
so that you will walk properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.
This also extends to our walk with those outside the church.
Walk in a way to keep your testimony intact.
Paul discusses the qualifications of pastors including
And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
This doesn’t give all non-pastors freedom to have a bad reputation!
We should all walk in a manner that doesn’t discredit the faith.
Conc
Conc
Paul discusses walking righteously in today’s text.
Some Christians sow to the flesh every day and wonder why they do not reap holiness. Holiness is a harvest; whether we reap it or not depends almost entirely on what and where we sow.
John Robert Walmsley Stott (English Preacher)
Works Cited
The Outline Bible (Section Outline Four (1 Thessalonians 4))
