1 Thessalonians – Lesson 4
Paul finished up chapter 3 with bringing up the heart and how the Lord wants to establish your heart unblameable in holiness before God.
And then in Chapter 4 and 5 Paul will give details about it in very practical ways that shows what that looks like. Since we are going over Chapter 4 today and part of chapter 5 and since the ending of chapter 3 sets the stage for chapter 4 and 5 we should briefly look at the end of Chapter 3 again.
So that it fresh in our minds as we look at chapter 4.
1THESS 3:12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:
1THESS 3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
Paul ends chapter 3 with mentioning once again that Jesus is coming back.
And between the time a person gets saved until Jesus comes back His goal is for your heart to grow in holiness before God.
O’ please make note. Don’t miss it. So many do. The goal stated here is not that He may establish your works or your actions unblameable in holiness before God. No.
It is your heart that He wants to work on. It is a heart matter. A Christian can do many right things but they can do them out of dry duty or even grudgingly. That is nothing but wood hay and stubble and does not please the Lord.
Your heart is what He is after
And here in Chapter 3 it is rely upon Jesus to work in you and thru you so that He may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God. And you want to be found that way when He comes back.
Let God do a work in your heart, so that your heart is prepared for His coming.
You will see Him face to face and it will happen in one of two ways. Paul is mentioning one of them here and that is when He comes back.
The other one is after you die then comes the judgment. And what His goal is for you is the same either way. If you see Him before He comes back the goal and expectation for you is the same.
How far along did you get in this short life of letting Him establish your heart in holiness. You will have to give an answer if you die before He comes back or if He comes back tomorrow.
The timing is not the issue, the condition of your heart when you see Him is the issue.
1THESS 3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
Paul is bringing up having your hearts unblameable in holiness before God.
That would naturally bring to mind the question. Okay, that makes sense, but what would a heart unblameable in holiness before God look like?
How can I measure if I am letting Him move me in the right direction? I mean man has an huge ability and even tendency to deceive himself.
It is so like Paul to mention or bring up a topic and then after he will give more information about it. And that is what Paul is doing in Chapter 4 and part of Chapter 5.
1THESS 4:1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
First Paul said the goal is for Him to establish your hearts unblameable in holiness.
And the next thing Paul says is he is beseeching them and exhorting them that they walk to please God according to the teaching they have received of Paul and his team.
These teachings what are they? Paul tell us.
1THESS 4:2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
1THESS 4:3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
These commandments Paul did not make up. They are given by the Lord Jesus. It is the will of God that you are sanctified. Sanctified means being set apart to God.
Salvation is instantaneous and happens in a moment. Sanctification is a lifelong process.
After a person gets saved, they are then to learn and read their Bibles and grow. You grow in knowledge and in grace and a very important part of the Sanctification process is the heart.
You are to grow closer to your Lord. As time goes on you are to care more and more about the things that God cares about and care less and less for the things that this wicked world cares about.
Sanctification has a lot to do with letting the Lord have His way with your heart and growing closer and closer to His goal of establishing your heart blameless in holiness before you see Him.
The first thing Paul mentions is abstaining from fornication, which is sex outside of marriage. Single people commit fornication for married people they call it adultery.
1THESS 4:4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
We are to be in control of our passions. We are to possess as in being in control of our bodies and have them in sanctification and honor. Sanctification is being set apart for God. That means doing with our bodies what pleases God and not our sinful flesh.
While this certainly includes physical sex, it includes much more than that.
1THESS 4:5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:
Concupiscence is to covet or lust after carnal things which would include unlawful sex, but it also includes and inclination and appetite for worldly enjoyments that displease the Lord.
This coveting and lusting can also involve schemes, and money, and defrauding people.
The Colon at the end of verse 5 connects the lust of concupiscence to verse 6 which is talking about defrauding your brother.
Defraud is to deprive someone by obtaining something by deception. Or taking something wrongfully without the consent of the owner. Cheating or stealing.
So having Jesus establish your heart in holiness means that you would not be lusting after, or coveting what your brother has and you would not be defrauding them.
1THESS 4:6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.
1THESS 4:7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
Here is a warning to all Christians to not defraud your brother in any matter. God has called us unto holiness. We are to depart the wicked ways of the world. No trickery, no lies, no cheating.
If you are a car salesmen, then no overcharging and deceitful trickery on the financing. If you are a doctor, then you should not be over charging patients. If you run a hospital, then you should not charge 20.00 for one aspirin.
If you are a politician, well don’t get me started on that one.
The verse says that you are not to defraud your brother in any matter. Any! There are no loopholes here, no gray areas. No situation ethics. The circumstances do not matter we are not to take part in such uncleanness as defrauding our brother.
And one of the reasons given is God’s law of sowing and reaping. “because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.” If you defraud your brother, make no mistake about it God will see it and He will make sure that you reap from it. God will discipline His own.
We should not defraud our brother because: God said not to, it is wrong and unholy, it is what is best for our brother, and it is what is best for us because we will reap what we sow.
And any Christian who does is obviously not walking with God and they are not letting the Lord establish their hearts. They will reap chastisement in this life and they will not be prepared for seeing their Lord face to face.
I have seen Christians who get this all messed up. They say I am saved and getting to Heaven is enough for me. And they sear their conscience about how they treat others.
They go to Church and put money in the plate and do things, maybe even teach a Sunday school class. So they think the Lord is pleased with them and that everything is good.
And then they go to work on Monday, and it is all dog eat dog. Coveting, lusting, defrauding, and so on. Working to get what they can get and not concerned with treating others like God wants them treated.
Many people do not understand this basic truth.
How you treat your fellow man is a big part of your relationship with God.
And just to be clear I am not talking about relationship as in being saved. After you get saved, you can backslide, and you can backslide a long way and you are still His child and you are still justified. Lot is an example of this.
I am also not talking about doing good to your fellow man to earn a relationship with God. You become His child by grace and faith and not of works.
What I am talking about is the quality of your fellowship with God. I am talking about your daily walk with God.
I am talking about how well are you pleasing Him or displeasing your Lord and Savior.
How you treat your fellow man does impact your blessings in this life and / or your chastisement in this life.
A man asked Jesus what is the greatest commandment and Jesus said:
Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
If you defraud your brother you are actually despising your brother. And God does not look the other way. Some people wrongly think they can love God and be in great fellowship with God and at the same time despising their brother.
It does not work that way. When you despise your brother God considers it as you despising Him. This is what verse 8 says.
1THESS 4:8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
Your brother in Christ who you despise has the same Holy Spirit of God indwelling Him.
And you are under God’s command to love your brother. So when you despise your brother you are in direct rebellion to God and the way God looks at it, when you despise your brother, you are actually despising God. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God.
So it really is a big deal.
And the Holy Spirit in him and in you wants you, and prompts you, and guides you, and teaches you to love each other.
1THESS 4:9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
1THESS 4:10 And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;
The Thessalonians were doing a good job at loving the brethren but notice Paul says keep increasing this more and more.
So the first major category mentioned possessing our vessels with honor. Controlling our passions, and being in line with God’s will about fornication and also not coveting and lusting after the things of the world.
And not defrauding our brother. Doing any of that clearly shows we are on the wrong path and we are not letting Jesus establish our hearts in holiness before God.
Next thing mentioned is do your own business and work. And do not cause a bunch of trouble while you are doing it.
The word study in verse 11 is not talking about studying books as in book learning. It is study to be quiet. Learn how to work without being the drama queen. Study as in your thought process, and pay attention to, and meditate upon how to be quiet while doing your business.
1THESS 4:11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
God built man to work. Even in the garden before the fall, Adam was to dress the garden. He was created to work as a gardener.
We are to be workers and we are to do it honestly. And honest to both brothers and sisters in Christ but also honest in our dealings with the lost.
1THESS 4:12 That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.
These two verses are seldom heard from today. In verse 12 Paul says that he would have us lack nothing. You have to take this in the context of verse 11, which is talking about how we are commanded to work with our own hands.
Many Christians want to have financial blessings. God does indeed want us to have enough money to pay our bills and He will bless but we are to work.
I prayed that God would make my job last, but I had to go into that building every day and work.
Verse 12 says that ye may walk honestly toward them that are without. We are to be able to pay our bills and have a good testimony as an honest person.
The problem is that many people want God to just give them the money. That is not the way it works. We are to roll up our sleeves, quit being lazy and work. If you can’t get a job doing what you have been trained for, then do some lesser job that takes no training.
It is a bad testimony to sit around and not be working doing something. We need to work to pay our bills and we should also do work for others out of a love for Christ. Help your brothers and sisters in Christ. Be busy for the Lord. Being properly industrious will take care of your bills and you will not lack there, but it also does your Spirit good to be busy for the Lord. It is never good for a Christian to be sitting around doing nothing all the time.
And as Paul does in every Chapter of 1st Thessalonians he brings up the fact that Jesus is coming back. And what Paul brings up about it has to do with your heart.
1THESS 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1THESS 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1THESS 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
Verse 13 do not sorrow for Christian loved ones that have died. Do not sorrow like those which have no hope, that means the lost.
Verse 14 those that have died before in Jesus will God bring with him. We will see them again. They are with Jesus. Notice it says will God bring with him.
When? Verse 16.
1THESS 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1THESS 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1THESS 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
A part of having your heart established unto holiness is trusting God in what He says. And living like this world is temporary. Don’t sorrow for saved loved ones who have gone on before like the lost world does. They are in a good place and you will see them again.
And don’t get too wrapped up in this world and the things of this world because we are going to be leaving one day. And if we live long enough we will hear the trumpet and we will see the dead in Christ rise and then we will be caught up together with them in the clouds.
And we will meet the Lord in the air and be with Him forever.
And the Bible says to comfort one another with these words. We are on the winning side. This world is not our home, we are just passing thru.
Knowing this and living this way and having our heart in line with this is the will of God and it does bring comfort.
The subject does not change at the end of this chapter. I had said it before the Chapter breaks in the Bible were done by man and not God and they are not inspired.
And here is another case where the topic continues with no break into Chapter 5.
1THESS 5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
Paul is still on the same subject talking about Jesus returning at what we call the Rapture.
1THESS 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
Stop and think about verse two before you go on. The day of the Lord is talking about Jesus coming back. It clearly says that it will come as a thief in the night. How does a thief come in the night? He comes unannounced.
The thief does not phone ahead and let you know when he is coming. You do not know the thief is coming until he is there and you hear him. That is the way that Jesus is coming back. He will come without warning at a time when you think not. No man knows the hour.
1THESS 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
Again in verse 3 you see the suddenness of His coming.
1THESS 5:4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
The saved know that He is coming back. We do not know the hour, but it will not be a surprise to us whenever it is. Verse 4 does NOT teach that we will know the day that He comes back. It only teaches that we will not be surprised by it, because we are to be watching.
And this all ties in with the subject Paul has been dealing with since the end of Chapter 3.
God’s goal for us is:
1THESS 3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
And our desire should line up with His.
We should want to grow closer to the Lord. We should want Him to do a work in our hearts.
We should want Him to help our hearts to want to live for Him and live with honor and a good work ethic and to treat others correctly.
Walking with God really is a heart matter. And we do need Him to establish our hearts.
Our part is to let Him and our part is to cooperate, and our part is to put feet to our prayers and work and do right and possess our vessels with honor.
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