Turn back to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. The title of the message is A
Walk Worthy of God, part 2. Part 1 was a couple of weeks
ago. And now Paul picks back up on
that subject. You see, back in chapter 2, in
verse 12, he says, "...that ye would walk worthy of God, who
hath called you unto his kingdom and glory." And then back over
here now, in chapter 4, he's going to pick back up on this
subject. of a walk that pleases God, a
walk worthy of God. Now, he exhorts the believers
here at Thessalonica to walk in a manner that is consistent
with their calling. Remember, many of these are Gentiles,
and their lifestyle, and the way they were raised, was into
botchery really. Actually if you want to see what
it is, turn over to Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1, this explains
them. This is what they have, at that time, were coming out
of when God saved them. After He saved them, He brought
them out of it. Let me see what I want to read
here. Let me go to verse 18. For the
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men. who hold to truth and unrighteousness,
because that which may be known of God is manifest in them or
to them, for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible
things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal
power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because that
when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were
thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their
foolish heart was darkened, professing themselves to be wise. They became
fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into
an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed
beasts, and creeping things." This explains their idolatry. This explains them. Wherefore
God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own
hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who
changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served
the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections." You
see, Paul's going to deal with this thing, these vile affections. God gave them up unto vile affections,
for even their women did change the natural use into that which
is against nature. And likewise also the men, leaving
the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward
another, men with men, working that which is unseemly, and receiving
in themselves that recompense of their error, which was meat.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,
God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which
are not Convenient being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication,
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate.
This is what Paul's dealing with. These Gentiles, this was their
lifestyle and this is what they were brought out of. So this
gives you an idea, in Paul writing to the church, what's going on
and what he's dealing with and what these people are actually
used to. You see, the Jews were given the law. They were given
the moral law. The Jews had that. They knew
that. But the Gentiles were left in
darkness. And I know the law's written on the heart of every
person born into this world, but I tell you what, it doesn't
take long to quiet that conscience. Scripture says, sear the conscience.
by sin and sin and sin and sin and continuing in sin. After
a while, a person sears their own conscience. They don't know
the difference. They don't know it. So here he's
exhorting them to walk in a manner that is consistent with their
calling. You've been called with a holy
calling. It's what you've been called
with. As it says in verse 7, For God hath not called us unto
uncleanness. God has not called us and left
us in uncleanness. God never approves of sin. Never. Never. But unto holiness. You know, the word holiness means
other than. It means other than. God hath
not called us unto cleanness, but to another life other than
the one you were living. It is written in Ephesians 2.10
that we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Paul always instructed the churches
on how they ought to walk before God. You know, once God has saved
them, then these Gentiles They needed instructions. They
needed to be taught. They needed to be taught of God.
So he says in verse 1, Furthermore, or to continue the instructions
that he had already been given, he says, We beseech you, brethren,
and exhort you by the Lord Jesus Christ. We beseech you to listen
to us, and we ask you, and we do this upon the authority of
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not my opinion." That's
what Paul's saying. This is not our opinion. The
apostles. This is on the authority of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Paul uses language here
that's fitting for brethren and not rebels. And this is how you
talk to the family. The way he's talking here. And
what Paul has to say is on the authority of Christ. It's not
something they've made up. The Lord gave it to them. And
it has to do with the believers' walk in private and public. And you know what? They're the
same. Our walk and our talk in private and in public is exactly
the same. The way I talk in my house is
the same as the way I be talking here. It's the same. We don't have two standards.
It's the same. Now here's a question. Can a
believer walk in such a way in this life that it pleases God? Yes. Yes. He wouldn't tell us to if He
didn't. God never tells us to do something,
or He requires something, and that He doesn't enable us to
do it. Enoch, it says, pleased God. He had this testimony, that he
pleased God, and it was not for God took him. It says, without faith, it's
impossible to please God. Now, the flip side of that is,
by faith, it is possible to please God. It's possible. By His work
in us, by His Spirit in us, it's possible to walk in such a manner.
That's not saying we never sin. That's not saying that. That's
not saying we don't stumble. That doesn't say we don't fall.
But it is saying that we do walk, we can walk, and God enables
us to walk in a manner that's well-pleasing in His sight. Now
I mentioned some of these a couple weeks ago. First of all, it starts
by faith. Faith believes that all things
are of God. True faith pleases God because
true faith takes God at His word. True faith trusts and has confidence
in God that He will do exactly as He said He would. Faith looks
to the Lord Jesus Christ for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. That is well-pleasing to God.
When you and I, by faith, look to Christ for all that we need,
that is well-pleasing to God. And when we truly do look to
the Lord Jesus Christ for these things, it's evident our minds,
our hearts are set on things above. And that is well-pleasing
to God. When our hearts are set on things
above and not on the things of this earth. And then it's a walk of love.
It's a walk of love. We walk in love toward God. The Lord said to Peter, he said,
Peter, do you love me? And Peter said this, and he found
comfort in this. He said, Lord, you know all things. You know I love you. You know
my heart. I know I denied you. I know I've
sinned. One time he said, Lord, depart
from me, I'm a sinful man. But he said, Lord, you know all
things. You know I love you. And he was
not afraid for the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, to look
into his heart, because he said, you know, I love you. You know
it. It's a walk of love. We walk
in love. toward God and toward the brethren.
Then it's a walk of submission. Lord, Thy will be done. Every
believer here desires God's will, your Father's will, to be done.
You desire His will to be done. Not my will. And I know we struggle
with that. We'll always struggle with that.
We'll always struggle with the will of this flesh. But the will
of that new man, created in righteousness and true holiness, desires the
will of his father to be done." There's a real desire of submission
there and self-denial. And then it is a walk in holiness.
It's a separated life. You don't walk in the manner
in which you used to. You don't run with the same crowd
you used to. You don't enjoy the same things
you used to. The same ungodly things I'm talking
about. You don't enjoy those things. Those things which you once loved,
you now hate. And those things which you once
hated, you now love. There is such a walk. There is
such a walk. And this walk is not in the flesh. It's in the Spirit. And that's
with a capital S, the Holy Spirit of God in you. You can't walk
like this apart from Him. First of all, you won't want
to walk like this apart from Him. You won't even desire to
have this kind of walk. But if you and I are born of
God, we walk in the Spirit. We are guided and directed by
the Holy Spirit of God. Then he says in verse 2, You
know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. You know
this. The commandments we gave you
on your conduct was given by the Lord Jesus Christ. It didn't
make up these charges, these commandments. It was given to
you by Christ, our Lord. For this is the will of God,
in verse 3, even your sanctification. This is God's will, your sanctification. The Scripture speaks of the believer
as being washed, as sanctified. That's why you're called saints. A lady years ago, she said to
me, she said, We are not saints right now. We'll be saints when
we're in heaven. But right now, we're sinners. We're not saints.
Yes, we are. You're sanctified. That's where
that comes from. You are sanctified in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
why you're called saints. You're sanctified. And you're
justified. You're justified. You're cleared
of all charges. You're washed, you're sanctified, and you're
justified. And all of these are of God. All these are of God. We do not wash ourselves. We do not sanctify ourselves.
We do not justify ourselves. This is of God from beginning
to end. He washed us in the blood of Christ. He has sanctified us through
the person and work of Jesus Christ, and He's purified us. He's purified
us. He's sanctified us. This word
sanctification is used throughout the whole Word of God, and here's
the three meanings of it. It means to set apart. God has
set you apart. Before the world began, He thought
upon you. He thought upon you. And He set
you apart in election. Chose you. Set you apart in the
covenant of grace. And then it means to regard or
declare something or someone to be holy. And then it means to purify or
make holy. As I said, we were set apart
by the Father in election. We were redeemed from the curse
of the law by the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
declared to be holy. And we are made holy in regeneration. We are created in righteousness
and true holiness. There is truly a holy nature
born of God. You are created, that new man,
that new man. is created in righteousness and
true holiness. You're set apart, declared to be holy through the
blood and righteousness of Christ, and made holy by regeneration,
the work of the Holy Spirit. And this is when we receive sanctification
by experience, is in the new birth. Now your sanctification
Your election, your redemption, and regeneration. Now listen,
it's by the will of God. It's by the will of God. It's
God's will to redeem you, sanctify you, and bring you home without
spot or blemish. It's His will. You are not your
own. I want you to look over in 1
Corinthians. Turn over to 1 Corinthians 6. As I said, God has chosen you,
He set you apart, declared you to be holy, made you holy, and
look at this. Verse 20, For you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirits, which are God's. What does that mean? That means
he owns you, lock, stock and barrel. I am not my own. You are not your own. I'm a self-made
man. Right. Right. Self-made idiot, maybe, but I
shouldn't use such words, should I? No, God owns us, lock, stock,
and barrel. This being so, now He's coming
to the subject. This being so, that your sanctification,
your setting apart to declare to be holy and made to be holy,
this being so, that you belong to Him, you're not your own,
this being so, abstain, He said, from fornication. This was so
accepted in that day. It is in this day too, but that
was so accepted, it was so rampant, and he's saying, he's abstained
from sexual impurity. Abstained from it. They thought
nothing of it. Abstained from homosexuality. Abstained from incest. That's
what Paul dealt with in the church at Corinth. There was a man there
that had his father's wife committing incest. And remember Paul told
them to turn him over to Satan for the destruction of the body,
that the spirit might be saved, and then in 2 Corinthians, the
man comes back and Paul said, receive him with open arms. But
they had accepted that, they had no problems with it, and
Paul was just appalled by it. He said, I can't believe you
all are not upset about this. But that was their lifestyle,
that's what they were used to. And he's saying here that your
sanctification is of the will of God. And that being so, you
abstain from sexual impurity, homosexuality, incest, immoral
behavior, adultery. These things were just rampant
in the Roman Empire at that day. It is today, too. It hasn't changed. Paul mentions this because it
was so accepted at that time. But listen here in verse 4, "...that
every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in
sanctification and honor." And there's two thoughts on this.
I've read and read and read on this. And I'm going to give you
what I've come up with. First of all, we still live in
this flesh. and the motions of sin do war
in our members." We have it. We have it. But we are not to
obey it in the lust of the flesh, because he says here that every
one of you should know how to possess his body, his body, the
passions of this flesh. He should know how to keep it
under control. That's why he's saying that you
should know how to keep it under control. We are not to obey it in the
lust of the flesh. This is where the warfare comes
in. The passions of this flesh warring against the spirit that's
in us, and the spirit of that new man, warring against us. Look in 1 Corinthians. There's
a couple things here. Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 9. I jotted
these down right before I came down. I think we need to look
at them. What did I say? 1 Corinthians
chapter 9. Look in verse 27. This is the Apostle Paul. Why
don't you listen to this? "'But I keep under my body and
bring it into subjection.'" Now listen, Paul was a man of like
passions. He was a man of like passions.
Paul did not reach a level to where he had no passions and
didn't have any struggles with his flesh. He never reached that.
Nobody does. But I keep under my body, and
bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have
preached to others, I myself be cast away. He said, I reigned
my passions in. I reigned this flesh in. It's
a struggle. It's a fight. It is. That's why
the Scripture says, Make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the
lust thereof. He tells Timothy, Shun every
appearance of evil. Run from it. Don't think you
can deal with it. Run from it. Run from it. Now look over in Romans chapter
6. Let me see, I wrote that one
down also. In Romans chapter 6, and let me see where I want to
start reading. Verse 12, Let not sin therefore
reign in your mortal bodies. Let not sin take over this body,
let it control yourself, that you should obey it in the lust
thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive
from the dead, and yourselves and your members as instruments
of righteousness unto God." He said, don't you yield yourself
to these things. These are instructions and these are coming from our
Lord. Don't you yield to these things because they'll overtake
you. They'll overtake you. A believer's body, our body,
and we need to realize this, I need to realize this, is the
temple of the Holy Spirit. It's the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Look over in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 again. Let's go back there
again. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. I started to just write these
down and read them off, but I thought, no, we need to look at them. He says in verse 19, What, know ye not that your body
is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have
of God, and you are not your own? Right now, God the Holy
Spirit dwells in you. That's beyond our ability to
comprehend. But God the Holy Spirit dwells
in you. Your body, He says, is a temple
of the Holy Spirit. Before conversion, we went about
to fulfill the lusts of the flesh, but after conversion, we walk
in the Spirit, and we are to mortify the deeds of the flesh.
That's what it says over in Romans. Our desire is to walk in a manner
that's well-pleasing to God. Isn't it? That's our desire.
Even after we stumble and we fall and we get back up, our
desire is to walk in a manner well pleasing to God. That desire
never stops. There never comes a time when
we just throw up our hands and quit and say, well, forget this. No, that desire is there and
we continually, continually keep striving toward the Lord Jesus
Christ until we go home. To walk in a manner that's well-pleasing
to Him. But this also now, here's the second reference. Here's
the second reference. He said that every man should
know how to possess his vessel. It's speaking of his wife. that
every man should know how to conduct himself in an honorable
way with his wife." That he's not pushing her to do things
that's not right. That's troubling. He says, because they did. I
mean, they had wife swapping. They had swinger. I mean, that's
nothing new in our day. It's nothing new. They did it
back then. And he's saying right here, you men, you handle and
conduct yourselves with your wives in an honorable manner. That's what he's saying, in an
honorable manner. That's the other meaning of it.
You know, Peter, if you go to 1 Peter 3, speaks of the wife
being the weaker vessel. She's called the vessel. I think
over in Ruth, spoken of as a vessel. And that's what he's talking
about. It's to be honorable. The marriage is honorable and
the bed undefiled. They had orgies and everything
else you can think of. It was crazy. This is like a
whole new life had opened up. A whole new way of thinking opened
up. It's a 180 degree turn from the
way they were raised. In verse 4, "...not acting like
the Gentiles, which know not God." You're not them no more. You don't live like your neighbors
live anymore. You don't live like that. You've been called of God, you've
been purchased by the blood of Christ, you've been made holy
in Christ, and your walk is a different walk than the Gentiles, which
know not God. And then here's another one,
"...that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter."
Now, he's still staying with this matter of sexual impurity. He's still staying with it. There's
two thoughts here. There's two things that he's
saying right here in this portion of Scripture. First of all, deal
with men in honesty. Deal with all men, whether in
Adam or in Christ. Deal with all men in honesty
and integrity. Never take advantage of a brother. Never take advantage of someone.
When they're down, don't kick them. It also means That scripture
that says, covet not your neighbor's wife, it also means that. It also means that. And what
he's saying here is, defraud not your brother, provide all
things, deal with him honestly, and honor one another's marriage.
That's exactly what he's saying. And honor one another's marriage.
There. Because they didn't. They didn't
do that at all. Not at all. You read their history.
He said, "...for God will destroy all, all who go a-whoring after
the flesh." Now here's the reason here in verse 7, "...for God
hath not called..." And you'll notice this is past tense. "...God
hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness." Listen to
this. God did not save us in our sins, He saves us from our
sins. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. Now, he that despises these commandments,
and he despises them by not obeying them, that's how he shows that
he despises them, he ignores them. He goes ahead and lives
like he used to live. He makes his profession, but
his life is the same. And he's saying here, he that
despises these commandments does not despise man, he despises
God. It's God he despises. You know,
most people disguise their hatred of God by hating His servants
who preach the truth. They say, Paul, that's what you
say, Paul. No, that's not what I said. It's what God said. That's
what God said. But God has given unto us His
Holy Spirit to guide us, to correct us, to teach us, to convict us
and convince us of sin. God has given us His Holy Spirit,
and every child of God in here, after hearing what has been said,
after what we have read, every one of you say, You say, Amen. I tell you what
you say, Amen, Lord, help me. Enable me to walk in a way as
pleasing in your sight. Lord, overcome this indwelling sin
in me. Overcome the power of sin in
me. I can't do it. I can't do it,
but I know he can. I know that he can. You know
that these commandments are of God because the Holy Spirit witnesses
with your heart that this is so. You know in your heart this
is the way it is. This is true. This is true. but as touching brotherly love,
you need not that I write to you, for you yourselves are taught
of God to love one another." He wrote to them to abstain from
fornication, and evidently when Timothy came back, Timothy brought
a good report, but he must have said some things, Paul, there's
some things that need to be dealt with there, because Paul's dealing
with them. He's dealing with them. But he
says, now, as far as brotherly love, God teach you that. Because here it is. We can teach
our children to behave, right? But you can't teach them to love.
It's either in them or it's not in them. Now, they're either
going to love or they're not going to love. Now, I can teach
them when they come into this room to be quiet, to sit down
and behave. but I can't make them love you."
That's of God. For us to truly love one another
is a work of God Almighty. For you to love me, genuinely
love me in spite of me, for you to love me in spite of me is
a work of God. It's a work of God. He says here, I don't need to
teach you this because God will teach you this. He'll teach you
to love one another. That's a work of God. But if
the love of God is shed abroad in your heart, if he's done a
work of grace in you and in me, one of the very first things he'll
teach us is this, to love one another. And you know, I've learned
this over the years, my love to you is a reflection of my
love to God. If I don't love you very much,
if I really don't want to see you very much, that's my feelings
toward God also. And outwardly, I may act like
I love God and just this, no. The exact way we treat each other
and love each other is a reflection of our love to God. It's a reflection. This love is above earthly love.
It's divine love. And this love is an inward work
of grace and it affects the whole man. I mean, it affects you from
head to toe. It affects your walk, it affects
your talk, it affects your feelings, it affects everything about you.
Everything. Because it just permeates your
very existence. Now Paul exhorts them, and I'll
wind this up. Here in verse 11 and 12. He says, study to be quiet. You
know the scripture over in Hebrew says, labor to rest. That sounds
like a paradox, doesn't it? Labor to rest. That's what he's
saying here. This word study is labor to be
quiet. Study to be quiet. Be very ambitious
about this. Be very ambitious in being quiet. Listen, in your homes, where you work, in your heart. I tell you what,
if you're quiet, if you really have quiet and peace in your
heart, it'll be that way in your home. It'll be that way where
you work. People will recognize it. They'll
recognize it. That will define you. It'll define
you. Study to be quiet in your homes,
where you work, in your heart. Strive, he says, to maintain
this. Strive to maintain a godly home. Strive. Because I tell you this,
Satan is a master. He's a master at tearing up the
home. He's a master at it. If he can tear up the home, he
can tear up the country. If he can tear up the home, he
can tear up the church. If he can tear it up, it'll affect
everything else out there. Everything else. Don't criticize one another.
Be quiet, be very kind and gracious to one another. It's sad we have
to be told this. It's a sad thing that we have
to be told this, but we do. We do. And I tell you what, we'll
have to be told it again, and again, and again, until one day
the phone rings and you say, you know what, John died. Well,
guess what, I don't have to be told no more. It's over with. I don't have to be told, but
until then, until then, I have to be told this. I do. You remember what I preached
three weeks ago? That's why you have to be told again. That's
exactly why I have to tell you again. We strive to be quiet and strive
to not criticize. Somebody said this, I like this.
He says, most people don't like criticism enough to marry it. Home ought to be the place where
children can come to, to get away from the unrest of the world.
My granddaughter, she was talking about moving someplace. She was
talking about all the things to do and stuff. She was talking
about home. We were talking about home. I
said, Madison, out there is busy. Out there is busy and working
and doing and school right now and all that, but home is a place
where you can come away from all that. I said, this should
be a place where things can be quiet, and it should be a place
where you feel safe. Home should be a place where
you feel safe, and where it's quiet, and where the children
can find rest. It's sad that few children have
this, but that's what home is to be like. That's what it's
to be like. And that is a godly home. That's
what a godly home where Christ dwells is to be like. And do
your own business, verse 11, do your own business. Keep your
nose out of other people's affairs. That's what he's saying. Keep
your nose out of other people's affairs. Unless they ask for help or advice,
I advise you don't give it. Don't give it. They're not going
to take it anyway. It's rare for them to take it
even if they ask you for it. Unless he just agrees with what
they want. But he's saying here, study to
be quiet and do your own business. Keep
your nose out of other people's business. Solomon said, and I'm not going
to quote this verbatim, but Solomon said, when a man meddles with
another man's business, it's like grabbing a dog by the ears.
You're going to get bit. That's what he's saying. You're
going to get bit. And work with your own hands.
Laboring with your hands is honorable. I don't know why we've gotten
into this day that it's not an honorable thing. It's an honorable
thing to be able to work with your hands, to be able to take what's in
your mind and put it into your hands. That's an honorable thing. He said, work with your hands,
be industrious, energetic, and don't depend on others. And this
is what he's saying here. Don't depend on others to provide
what you can do for yourself. Isn't this good instructions? Don't be a freeloader. That's
exactly what he said. Don't be a freeloader. Here's
what was happening, because we'll deal with this Lord willing next
time we look at this. He talks about the return of
Christ and bringing the others with Him that have already fallen
asleep. Some of them, have become so convinced that Christ's return
was so imminent, they wasn't even working no more. And they
was letting the more wealthy brothers take care of them. They were freeloading is what
they was doing. They were freeloading. And they just... That's totally
misunderstanding the Scriptures. We work in our Master's vineyard
until He comes. And you know where your Master's
vineyard is? Where He has put you. All things
are His, aren't they? Where He has put you is His vineyard,
and you take care of that until He comes, or He removes you to
someplace else, or takes you home. We don't just sit down
and, you know, that's like the monks, they go off to a monastery
somewhere, Crawling a cave and... No. He said, you're the salt
of the earth, light of the world. Get out there and you work and
you take care of your... You be the example. And I think
he's saying it. You be the example of all those
around you. You be the example. You're taking
care of your family and working and showing appreciation and
thankfulness to God for what you have. Not being lazy. and a moocher. That's what he's
saying. Don't take advantage of the charity
of God's people. That's what he's saying. Don't
do it. You know, Paul said in one place, if a man won't work,
don't let him eat. Let him starve to death. That sounds hard, doesn't
it? But it's not. It's not. If a
person is crippled, if they're sick, if they're really laid
out, Give them all you can. Help them
all you can. But a freeloader, send him down
the road. And walk honestly toward them
that are without. Provide all things Scripture
says, honest before all men. Walk honestly toward them..."
Don't expect a break from... Man, I know none of you all do
this. We're not going to do it. I'm
not going to go in there and say, well, we're from Bethel
Baptist Church. Do you give churches any breaks? I don't want a break. We don't want a break. We'll
pay for it. The world is not going to support the ministry
here. It's not going to do it. It's not going to have bake sales
or all that other junk. We'll walk honestly. We don't
expect the world to support the gospel. We don't expect discounts
because we're a church. I don't. I don't. I don't expect
it. I've never said that to anybody. I've never said with anybody
that I'm with a church or I'm with this. Can I have a break? Here's a summary. Walk by faith, mortify the deeds
of the flesh, honor one another, love one another, keep out of
the affairs of others, lead a quiet, peaceful life, and go to work.
and get up and go to work in the morning. This is the commandment of our
Lord. This is a walk that pleases God. And this is evidence of
your sanctification. Did you get anything out of that?
Did you get anything out of that? Well, I did study in it.