1Thessalonians 4:1-4
A Holy Price, A Holy Life
I. \\#1Thess 1:1-2\\ Introduction
II. \\#1Thess 1:3-10\\ Paul’s Knowledge of the Thessalonians
III. \\#1Thess 2:1-16\\ Paul’s Plan for the Thessalonians
A. \\#1Thess 2:1-12\\ To Plant A Church with Godly Character
B. \\#1Thess 2:13-16\\ The Seed Was Accepted
IV. \\#1Thess 2:17-3:13\\ Paul’s Heart for the Thessalonians
A. \\#1Thess 2:17-20\\ The Planter’s Desire
B. \\#1Thess 3:1-5\\ The Planter’s Anxiety
C. \\#1Thess 3:6-10\\ The Planter’s Joy
D. \\#1Thess 3:11-13\\ The Planter’s Prayer
E. \\#1Thess 4:1-12\\ The Planter’s Hope
This book takes a definite turn toward the practical at this point. Even though
Paul is still relating his heart to his friends, he now shares his spiritual hope
for their growth in Christ. We should be as determined that our spiritual future
would be as God-like.
I. \\#1-12\\ The Planter’s Hope
A. Paul speaks from the heart and the Word.
1. \\#4:1\\ "we beseech… and exhort you by the Lord Jesus"
a. These are not the terms of a master, disciplinarian, or ruler.
(1) There is no doubt that Paul, as an Apostle and the founder of
the church, would have authority in that church.
(2) But there are no problems in the church, so Paul speaks as a
friend, not an authority.
b. Paul, from his heart, is asking and challenging these new converts
that they would continue on the path set for all believers by the
saving power of Christ.
2. \\#4:2\\ "For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus."
a. Yet Paul’s instructions to the Thessalonians are not merely from
the heart.
b. They are commandments from God.
(1) There are commandments in the New Testament.
(a) God is God.
i. He is not a leader.
ii. He is not a board.
(b) God does not make suggestions or recommendations.
(2) God’s new covenant COMMANDMENTS are no less authoritative than
were His old covenant commandments.
(3) The only difference is that we have more grace dealt to us if
we do not obey them.
(4) In the Old Testament, God gave a command and a penalty if the
command was broken.
(5) In the New Testament, the penalty is likely dismissed; but
that doesn’t mean there won’t still be consequences.
c. So in the New Testament, God gives commands and consequences.
(1) If obey God’s New Testament commands, the consequences will be
blessings.
(2) If you disobey God’s New Testament commands, the consequences
will likely be bad.
(3) But there are still commands for the believers and there are
still consequences if you don’t obey them.
d. Paul wants these converts to have the best God will give them.
B. Paul gives three reasons to follow these instructions. By the way, these
are the reasons we ought to obey all the instructions of God’s Word.
a. \\#4:3\\ "this is the will of God"
1. That is a statement that needs to be appreciated.
a. Some people do not believe you can know the mind of God.
b. Some would mock those of us who believe it is possible.
(1) In studying creation and evolution, I was amazed at
those who would call Christians pompous and arrogant
for thinking that IF there were a divine being out
there, he would reveal himself to one of us.
(2) My answer is that if God is a caring Being who cares
for us, His very nature would REQUIRE HIM to reveal
Himself to those who sought Him.
c. Through the Bible, the written, inspired, preserved,
unchangeable, inerrant words of God, we can KNOW the mind
and will of God for our lives!
d. It is our privilege not only to KNOW God, but to know what
He wants us to do in this life.
2. Paul is also telling us that it is the will of God that we obey
God’s commandments.
a. When you think about it, that makes sense.
b. Why would God tell us to do something if He didn’t want us
to do it.
c. The religious crowd who excuses every Biblical command and
instruction is a very illogical crowd.
(1) No matter what the Bible says, they dismiss it with
the statement, "We not under law but under grace."
(a) The Bible teaches separation in dress and
behavior between men and women. "We are under
grace and not under the law."
(b) We need to worship in church together. "We are
under grace and not under the law."
(c) We need to abstain from carnal and worldly vices.
"We are under grace and not under the law."
(2) The question they need to answer is, "Why did God tell
us to do these things if He didn’t want us to do
them?"
d. God does have a will and it is revealed to us in His
commands.
b. \\#4:1\\ That they might "abound more and more" in "how ye ought
to walk and to please God."
1. There is a way that we OUGHT TO or SHOULD walk.
2. The idea here is that we might excel in righteousness.
3. The Holy Ghost does not lead us in random paths.
a. No. He always leads us in paths of righteousness.
b. That path will always be a holy path that leads us to the
duplicate the very image of Jesus Christ.
c. This is the ONLY path that pleases God.
4. Paul was only able to lay the foundation for such a walk during
his short stay in Thessalonica,
5. No doubt part of the reason he had been so anxious for this
church was his concern that they were not grounded well enough
during his time there.
6. Paul wanted to reiterate the importance of their continuing
on that righteous path.
c. \\#4:4\\ "That every one of you should know how to possess his
vessel"
1. The VESSEL that Paul refers to is our bodies.
a. In a specific sense, Paul is saying that by learning and
obeying the commandments that God has given to us, we will
learn how to control ourselves.
b. In a border sense, the term is a reference to our whole
life and existence; for certainly, as things go with our
physical bodies, so they go with our life.
2. Paul is saying that by obeying God’s instructions, we take
POSSESSION or CONTROL of our lives.
a. The contrast here is we control our bodies and lives
instead of sin controlling them.
b. There are three potential masters of our bodies and lives.
(1) Sin and Satan
(2) Self
(3) Savior
c. To possess our own vessel would be to have freedom from
sin, freedom to choose our own destiny, to direct our own
lives.
d. To control our vessel would include controlling our…
(1) …body.
(2) …mind.
(3) …will.
e. That kind of freedom could only come through the power of
salvation.
3. But, once free, the child of God is to bring his self and
to the control to the Lord Jesus Christ.
4. Those who do not, are soon snared in sin again.
C. The instructions
1. \\#4:3\\ That they abstain from fornication.
a. Fornication is a general term to describe any kind of sexual sin.
b. That would include the three popular and cultural sexual sins
of our day—pre-martial sex, adultery, and homosexuality.
c. Sometimes we who are saved might forget the power that sin can
hold over those who are under its influence.
(1) Sin binds the lost.
2 Peter 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants
of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in
bondage.
Galatians 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the
elements of the world:
(2) And sin can bind again the saved.
Galatians 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of
God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire
again to be in bondage?
1 Corinthians 6:12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not
expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the
power of any.
d. Sexual sins are known to create some of the most powerful bonds.
(1) One of the reason some think homosexuality is genetic
instead of a lifestyle choice is because of the bondage
that it has over its victims.
(2) This bondage is the also reason heterosexual zealots are
called addicts.
e. The protection for those not in bondage and the deliverance for
those who are is by God’s Holy Spirit working through God’s
holy Word.
f. Some of the counsel God gives:
(1) Keep your eyes looking ahead.
Proverbs 4:25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight
before thee.
26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
(2) Keep your heart pure.
Proverbs 6:25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take
thee with her eyelids.
26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and
the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that
doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
(3) Keep your love true.
Ecclesiastes 9:9 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of
the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of
thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou
takest under the sun.
Proverbs 5:18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
2. \\#4:3-4\\ That they keep their bodies sanctified and honorable.
a. In that same breathe, Paul exhorts the young church to keep them-
selves sanctified and honorable.
(1) Our bodies may be temporal, carnal, and worldly, but they are
also the temple of the living God.
1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the
Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple
of God is holy, which temple ye are.
1 Corinthians 6:19 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?
(2) So God has a vested interest in how we keep our bodies.
(3) It is logical to suppose that at the very least God would
want a clean house to dwell in!
b. By SANCTIFIED. Paul means they have been set apart unto God, set
apart so that He can use them.
(1) Let’s look at sanctification from a human standpoint.
(a) Sanctification means that God wants a temple that is set
apart just for Him.
i. God is not interested in making any of His temples a
duplex.
ii. He does not want to dwell in any kind of apartments.
iii. Every temple that He inhabits, He bought out right
from sin and the devil and He wants full possession
of His purchased property.
(b) When you and I purchase something, we expect no less.
i. If you are making payments on the car, you don’t
want to have to stand in a line to drive it.
ii. What’s more, you don’t want to go get in it and find
out somebody else has been driving it while you were
asleep.
iii. Neither would you want to purchase a house and find
out it came with a snoring tenant who sleeps every
night in your living room.
iv. We don’t even want to share our house with God’s
wild creatures like the ants, spiders, roaches, and
mice.
(c) God is not out-of-line for expecting those temples He has
purchased to be solely His.
(2) But let’s also consider sanctification in a spiritual sense.
(a) Sanctification means to be set apart for God’s use.
i. God can use anybody for anything.
ii. Yet, God is a holy God and as a holy God, it is His
nature to use holy tools.
aa. In the Old Testament, the tools used in the
temple were made of gold, silver, and brass.
bb. These were special tools made of the best that
man could offer and used only for the things of
God.
iii. In the New Testament, God still desires to use the
best man has to offer and He still desires those He
uses to be used by Him only.
(b) That can only be done if we maintain our purity.
(c) Might I say, it is an honor to be used (called) by God.
aa. Parents, we should desire that God would call
our children.
bb. We should teach our children that God can call them.
cc. We should teach our children to stay pure so that
God can call them.
dd. And we should stay pure so that God can call us.
c. By HONOR, Paul is encouraging them to keep their bodies worth
the price that was paid.
(1) The human race refers to death as the ultimate price.
(2) However, we were purchased not just by death, but by the death
of the Son of God.
(3) That is a holy price. It warrants a holy life in return.
Paul was sharing his hope that these believers might receive the best of God’s
bounty. Is that wrong?
Is it wrong to want to be in the perfect will of God on this earth?
Is it wrong to want to hear Him say, "Well done, thy good and faithful
servant?"
Is it wrong to want God’s eternal rewards for service?
If it is, may we all be found wrong to that degree! It is not wrong. It is what
we should all want. The question is, "Do we?"
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