Sermon Tone Analysis

WALKING WITH GOD

TEXT: 1 Thessalonians 4:1‑12

*INTRODUCTION:*  Walking has become a popular form of exercise.

I see people walking all over this town at all times of the day and night.

Some walk fast and invigorating, others seem to be just strolling along.

The Christian life can be compared to walk.

In fact, this is one of Paul’s favorite ways to picture the Christian life.

*/Ephesians 4:1/*/ I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, /

*/Ephesians 4:17/*/ This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, /

*/Ephesians 5:2/*/ And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a  sweet‑smelling savour.

/

*/Ephesians 5:8/*/ For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: /

The Christian life begins with a step of faith.

But that step leads to a walk of faith.

( Cor. 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight")

Walking suggests progress, and we must make progress in the Christian life.

*/Philippians 3:13‑16/*/ Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing./

In our text, Paul described a threefold walk for the Christian to follow: *Walk in Holiness: Walk in Harmony: Walk in Honesty*

!

I.          WALK IN HOLINESS (4:1‑8)

The moral climate in the Roman empire was not healthy.

Immorality was a way of life, thanks to slavery, people had the time to indulge in  the latest pleasures.

The Christian message of holy living was new to that culture, and it was not easy for these young believers to fight the temptations around them.

!! A.    To please God (v. 1)

!!! 1.      Everybody lives to please somebody.

!!! 2.      Many folks live only to please themselves.

!!! 3.      They have no sensitivity to the needs of others.

!!! 4.      Christians can’t be content to go through life just pleasing themselves.

*/Romans 15:1-2/*/ We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up./

!!! 5.      But, we need to be careful that we don’t have pleasing men as our motives

*/1 Thesalonains 2:4/*/  But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

/

*/Galatians 1:10/*/ For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ./

!!! 6.      Pleasing God ought to be the major motive of the Christian life

!!!! a)      Children live to please their father (or at least they should)

!!!! b)      The Holy Spirit works in our lives "both to will and to do His good pleasure" (Phil 2:13)

!!!! c)      Enoch "walked with God" and before God called him to heaven he had the testimony that he please God (Hebrews 11:6)

!!!! d)      Jesus said, "I do always those things that please Him" (Jn.

8:29)

!!! 7.      Pleasing God means more than simply doing God’s will.

!!!! a)      It is possible to obey God and yet not please Him

!!!! b)      Jonah obey God and did what he was commanded, but his heart was not in it.

!!!! c)      God blessed His Word and the Ninevites were saved ..but Jonah sat outside the city mad at everyone, including the Lord

!!! 8.      How do you know what pleased God?

!!!! a)      How do we know what pleases an earthly father?

!!!! b)      By listening to him and living with him.

!!! 9.      Pleasing God includes putting God first

!! B.    To obey God (v.2‑3)

!!! 1.

When he ministered in Thessalonica, Paul gave the believers the commandments of God regarding personal purity (v.2)

!!! 2.      The word commandments is a military term.

It refers to orders handed down from superior officers.

!!!! a)      We are soldiers in God’s army, and we must obey orders.

!!!! b)      2 Tim 2:4 "No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.

!!! 3.      (v.3)Paul

reminded these new believers that sexual immorality did not please God.

!!!! a)      God created sex, and He has the authority to govern its use

!!!! b)      From the beginning, He established marriage as a sacred union between one man and one woman!!!

!!!! c)      God created sex both for the continuance of the race and for the pleasure of the marriage partners.

!!!! d)      *Hebrews13:4* "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure."

!!!! e)      "Thou shalt not commit adultery" builds a wall around marriage that makes the relationship not a prison, but a  safe and beautiful garden.

!!! 4.      We never have to seek to know the will of God in this matter.

!!!! a)      (v.

3)"It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God;

!!!! b)      Liberal theology and modern philosophy cannot change God’s commands!

!!!! c)      Throughout the Bible, God warns about sexual sin; and these warnings must be heeded.

!!!! d)      God’s purpose is our sanctification, that we might live separated lives in purity of mind and body.

!! C.    To glorify God (v.

4‑5)

!!! 1.

This is the positive side of God’s commandment.

!!! 2.      Christians are supposed to be different from the unsaved.

!!!! a)      The "heathen" unsaved, don’t know God, therefore they live ungodly lives.

!!!! b)      But we know God and we are obligated to glorify Him in this world.

!!!!! (1)  Now, if you have no desire to do this, it is evident you are not saved!

!! D.    To escape the judgment of God (v.

6‑8)

!!! 1.      God is no respecter of persons; He must deal with His children when they sin 

!!!! a)      Col.

3:23‑25

!!! 2.      Remember, Paul is preaching to believers.

They must have been committing these sins.

A church member criticized her pastor because he was preaching against sin in the lives of Christians.

"After all",  she said," sin in the life of the believer is different from sin in the lives of unsaved people".

"Yes," he replied," "it is much worse".

!!! 3.      Christians are not under condemnation (Rom 8:1), but we are not free from the harvest of sorrow that comes when we sow to the flesh.

!!! 4.      When David committed adultery, he tried to cover his sin, but God chastened him severely.

!!!! a)      When David confessed his sin, God forgave him, but God did not change the consequences of his sin!

!!!! b)      David reaped what he sowed, and it was a painful experience.

!!! 5.      (v.7)

A holy walk involves a right relationship with

!!!! a)      God the Father (who called us)

!!!! b)      God the Son (who died for us)

!!!! c)      God the Spirit (who lives within us)

!!! 6.      (v.8)

To despise God’s commandments is to invite the judgment of God and to grieve the Holy Spirit.

!!! 7.      The Spirit of God helps us live a clean life, free from sexual impurity.

!!!! a)      He creates holy desires within us so that we have an appetite for God’s pure Word.(1

Pet.

2:1‑3)

!!!! b)      He teaches us the Word and helps us recall God’s promises in times of temptation (Jn.

14:26)

!!!! c)      As we yield to the Spirit, He empowers us to walk in holiness and not be detoured into the lusts of the world and the flesh.

The fruit of the Spirit overcomes the works of the flesh (Gal.

5:16‑26)

!! E.     Paul devoted a great deal of space to this theme of sexual purity because it was a critical problem in the church of that day.

!!! 1.      Well guess what, IT STILL IS!

!!! 2.      For many people, even Christians,

!!!! a)      Marriage vows are no longer sacred