A. Intro & Conclusion
First spoke on 16 Oct 1997 @ B’gate!
George Harrison- ‘My sweet Lord…’ going to see him now?
• What is the point of your life? Jesus- to bring glory to His Father and save sinners
• Are you running slower, as fast or faster than when you began? Jesus -learned obedience, even to death on a Cross
• Is purity or pleasure a higher priority for you? Spirit of Christ in Moses- “chose to be ill-treated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time” (Heb 11:25)
• Do you love the unlovely as well as the lovely? Jesus- “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)
• What percentage of our time is spent bread-winning? What percentage of our time is spent men-fishing? “ ‘Come follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.” Let us follow him now, this day, this week and the rest of our lives until His kingdom come. Amen.
B. Background (see Mark Copeland)
• Author- Paul, Silas, Timothy
• City- capital of Macedonia
• Church- mostly gentile, troubled beginnings
• Time & place- earliest? 52AD? Written from Corinth (south of it) on second journey?
• Purpose- concern prompts Paul to send Timothy back from Athens to encourage and ground the new disciples in the faith, and to learn how they were enduring persecution
o To praise them for their steadfastness under persecution (chapters 1-3, esp. 1:6, 2:14)
o To instruct them concerning holy living (chapters 4-5)
o To correct any misunderstanding, especially about the second coming of Christ (chapters 4-5)
• Theme- Holiness in view of the coming of Christ (1:10; 2:19; 3:13; 4:13-18; 5:23)
C. Chapter 4v1-12
"Finally"- we see that, as in Paul’s other letters, the Apostle selects matters of behaviour to be the last things that ring in the Thessalonians minds. But ironically, the most ’final’ thing about these last two chapters is his description of the very end of this world! Four ‘ways of walking’- I will deal with three. Holiness, love, diligence and hope…
1. Walk in holiness (1-8)
a. General: Please God increasingly (1-3)
• Raison d’etre (1). This should be our be-all and end-all. KJV: “For Thou has created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.” Westminster Larger Catechism, Question 1: What is the chief and highest end of man? Answer: Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever. That is the answer to George’s questions.
• In the Lord Jesus (2). If we ever exhort brothers, it should always be from the motive of, in the authority of, and in the style of Jesus.
• Sanctification (3). Not just to please God, but to “do this more and more”. God is easy to please but difficult to satisfy. We are being "transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18). Although God is happy to take us as we are (we can come no other way)- He isn’t content to leave us as we are. He wants to ’fit us for heaven to live with Thee there’. He wants to ‘sanctify’ us, to set us apart from Himself, and you cannot be justified without being sanctified, though sanctification is in some ways an imperfect work. Christopher Wren, St Paul’s Cathedral; Chris Gee marathon- the importance of perseverance & reminders
b. Specific: Avoid sexuality immorality (4-8)
• Honourable sex or no sex at all (4). Clearly a main aspect of our being set apart for God is that we control ourselves sexually. This does not mean that we should abstain from all sexual behaviour, but that sex should be honourable, that is only within the context of marriage, which “should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure” (Heb 13:4).
• Immorality of the mind (5). “Passionate lust” begins in the mind- “your desires that battle within you” (James 4:1). Job made a covenant with his eyes not to look in lust at a woman (31:1) and Jesus helps us to avoid double-standards by showing us that “anyone who looks at [or thinks about] a woman lustfully has already committed adultery [or fornication] with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). Above all else, God is interested in the inclinations of our hearts: “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).
• Immorality of the body (6)- we can take advantage of our brother by stealing his wife, just as David stole Uriah’s Bathsheba; but we can also rob our brother by fornicating with the woman that he will someday marry. If a man sleeps with an unmarried woman, this may not be technically adultery, but in the future she may well be another man’s wife.
• Immorality of the spirit (7,8)- “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were brought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:18-20). Because our sexual identity is such a powerful factor in our psyches, if we are immoral, we are in rebellion against God Himself, denying God His right as our Head. “Against you and you only have I sinned” (Psalm 51). God compares Israel’s spiritual unfaithfulness to Him to a wife who has betrayed her husband. We are the Bride of Christ, set apart for Him alone. Sexual immorality and spiritual unfaithfulness are very often connected. David on the roof
If we are not sexually misbehaving, we should not be too hasty to pat ourselves on the back, as it is more than likely that we are nevertheless spiritually and emotionally unfaithful in many ways to Christ, our spouses, our friends and our acquaintances. There is no wrath like the wrath of a jealous husband says Proverbs. Our God is a jealous God.
2. Walk in love (9-10)
a. God teaches us Himself (9)
Holy Spirit comes into our lives to “guide [us] into all truth” (John 16:12). We do find this, don’t we? We love each other, despite our many differences in age, background, education, ethnicity, intellect, temperament, interests, etc. !!! The worldwide family of God. When I first joined UCLCU- the geeks!!
b. Charity may begin at home but it doesn’t end there (10)! Their love extended throughout Macedonia; in the same way, as well as the family of God we should love our friends, neighbours, enemies and everyone in the universe next door. As Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, it is a mark of non-Christians that they only love people who love them, people with whom they have immediate contact. We must be like God, and love people when they couldn’t give two hoots about us, and may even not know we exist!! I’d only give money to a begger if I had it spare. If I’m hungry at the time then I’ll spend my £2.00 on my lunch cos I come first. If I have no reason to spend my £2.00 lets say then I would gladly give it to the beggar. I do give my SPARE change to beggars regardless of whether they’re genuinely unfortunate or just "lazy" as some say. Everyone should be generous but not at their own expense. (James Fulton)
3. Walk in diligence (11-12)
a. Both quiet & loud
The word “quiet” here does not mean silent and does not preclude louder personalities, thank the Lord! But it does mean that we should have an inner peace given by God about our redemption, calling and destiny, and that we should not “cause disturbance to others” (Vine). And yet, we are told to “be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them…” (Jude 22,23). Quiet about ourselves and our achievements, quiet and uncomplaining as we fulfil our daily tasks bringing pleasure to men and glory to God. Quiet when it comes to gossip. But loud about Jesus and proclaiming the Good News of His Gospel, “in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2).
b. Both still & busy
Psalm 46:10 says “Be still and know that I am God.” Isaiah 30:15 says, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.’”
And yet this rest does not mean idleness. We should work with our hands and not be a burden to anyone (12);
If we do not work we can be seen as ’too heavenly minded for earthly use’. Paul was a tentmaker and a soulwinner at the same time. The frontline for the Gospel is often the office or workplace. If we are not with those without, how can we walk properly before them (Matthew 5:16). Also- as Christians we should make sure we are solvent and have a reasonable income as we are able- "and God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance of every good work" (2 Cor. 9:8). Money for Toi.
We should be busy with our own work, not with others. If we are busybodies, we do not have enough time to do our own work well. If we are not doing our own work well, the devil will make work for our idle hands.
