1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 4:1-2

The word “finally” is an intro to this section.  Paul had established his relationship with these folks, speaking of his love and longing.  This became a basis for exhortation.  Paul moves from what had happened and what was current to what ought to be happening in their lives.

In the last chapter, Paul wanted the Thessalonians to be established and encouraged.  We said this was standing up, getting a good foundation under you, and then learning to walk.  Now, Paul urged and exhorted them to abound more and more.  This is a plea from Paul that they continue to grow in the Lord.

This word “abound” is overflowing over and over or reaching higher with every effort.  God had set the Thessalonians on a path.  He sent Paul, Silas, and Timothy to give them a firm foundation.  With that established, they were encouraged to walk in their faith, to let it permeate every part of their life.  Paul told them to keep going, keep walking in the Lord, and grow in faith.

Paul had already told them how to walk, and he had already given them some commandments.  The word “commandments” would be a word found in reference to a general giving orders to his troops.  These commandments came from Paul to them, but they were given by the authority of Jesus Christ.  These commandments were just a starting place for them so they could be established in their walk so that their lives would be pleasing to the Lord.

The Thessalonians had not arrived anywhere.  The journey had just begun.  We don't ever stop growing.  Paul was urging them along.  They just needed to keep going.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-8

The commandments Paul gave these people weren't a list of stuff they couldn't do.  It wasn't mean old God spoiling the fun of the people of the earth.  That's how many of us view God's commandments.  Satan convinced Eve that mean old God was just trying to keep her from the good things in life. 

Our God is a loving God.  If He just wanted to make us suffer or squash us, He could do that, and there is nothing we can do to change it.  But that's not what He wants.  He wants what is best for us.  The problem is we usually think we know what is best more than He does.  The purpose of these commandments given by Paul to these people was to sanctify the believer.  The sanctifying of every believer is the will of God.  Our right behavior is pleasing to God.  It is the right response to His amazing grace.

When you first became a believer, you experienced justification.  Justification is the act of God declaring us free from guilt.  It's a one-time transaction; all your sins, past, present, and future, were paid for by Jesus.  They were nailed on the cross in Christ.  When you repent of your sins and trust in Jesus for your salvation, your sins are washed away.  Once washed, you are declared not guilty.  This is a free gift. It has nothing to do with anything you've done or will do. 

After we are justified, the sanctification process begins.  When you are saved, the Holy Spirit begins a work in you.  That ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in your life is to grow you to look more like Jesus Christ.  It's growing in holiness and righteousness.  It is being set apart from the world.  This process never stops.  This is what was going on in the lives of the Thessalonians.  This is what is going on in our lives.

When our lives are complete, we will be glorified.  This is when we will stand before our God and King.  Our corrupt bodies will be put off, and we will receive a new body.  Our resurrection bodies will be like the resurrection body of Jesus.  This is the glorification process.  So, we are justified when we believe.  We will be sanctified from that day until we die.  Then, we will be glorified and enter into eternity.

Paul clearly taught the Thessalonians this.  So now, in this letter, he reminded them that the ongoing sanctification is the right response to justification.  An amazing grace was bestowed on us.  He is the Lord of our life.  Our lives have been purchased out of spiritual death when we were bought and paid for by Jesus Christ.  Because of that, we should have the attitude of a bondslave.  We should present ourselves to him in service as a response to what he did. 

Sanctification is the will of God.  For them, at that time, this is what should have been taking place.  Isn't it fascinating that Paul's first command was about sexual issues?

• Abstain from sexual immorality.  Of all the things he could have mentioned, sexual immorality was first.  The Greek word “porneia” is one frequently seen in the New Testament writings.  It is a category of sexual immorality.  It is morally objectionable behavior, primarily identified with prostitution. 
  • Sexual immorality was rampant in the Roman Empire.  The only restriction was for lower-class males to have intercourse with an upper-class woman.  Entire religions and businesses were formed and operated around sexual lust.  One ancient historian wrote this regarding the view of sex in the ancient Roman Empire:

“We keep prostitutes for pleasure; we keep mistresses for the day to day needs of the body; we keep wives for the faithful guardianship of our homes.” 

• • This kind of behavior was completely normal and accepted as such.  Please notice that Paul didn't tell them they had to stop that behavior to become a Christian.  He just preached the gospel; they received it, repented, and trusted in Christ.  The modification of behavior was expected sanctification.
  • Judaism was a little more strict in their views, reserving se for marriage. 
  • Paul condemned sexual immorality.  He taught the Old Testament view of premarital sex was adultery against one’s future spouse and was as sinful as any other adultery (Deut 22:13-29).
• Each should know how to possess his own vessel.  Notice the “him” of this statement.  The focal point of the commandment seemed to be the men.  Paul uses the word “vessel” as a metaphor for the body.  Men were to control and possess their bodies in sanctification and honor.  The accepted sexual immorality of the culture was inconsistent with the sanctified, born-again disciple of Christ.  It displayed no discipline.
  • The Gentiles were associated with these passions of lust.  The Jews viewed all Gentiles, in general, as unbelievers.  They exercised lust without restraint.  Some false teachers taught it was wrong to deny your lusts.
  • The gentile believers in the church were viewed differently.  In their conversion, they were spiritually non-gentiles. 
  • Rabbis taught that you couldn’t assume the virginity of a female over three years and one day old (IVP).
• Paul called for men not to take advantage of and defraud his brothers.  The terminology could refer to financial matters.  In this context, this speaks of “wife stealing.”  A man sleeping with another man’s wife was a severe offense. However, it was common and rarely punished.  A husband who caught his wife cheating was required to divorce her, or he could be prosecuted for pimping. 
  • It might seem strange that this church needed to teach men not to sleep with other church members' wives.  Sadly, one doesn’t have to look far to see that it still happens today.

Paul provided three reasons why these commandments are important and that part of our sanctification should be moral cleanness.

1. He warned them that the Lord is the avenger.  No one commits adultery by themselves.  Another is also harmed, hurt, and scared.  The bodily lusts and passions of one don’t take into account the long-term effects of particularly the other person – in this case, the woman. 
2. Paul's second reason for abstaining from sexual immorality was that we are called to purity and holiness, not uncleanness.  This “uncleanness” is a life of impure motives.  It's a life driven by the search for the next encounter.  While the world does that, our adventure is in the Lord.  Our call is to a path we've been set on to grow to be Christ-like.  There is no room or place for uncleanness.
3. The third reason to abstain is if you make room for this kind of behavior, you are rejecting God.  Men and women find all kinds of ways to justify this sin, but the bottom line is it is rejecting God and His way.

The Holy Spirit was the source of power for sanctification.  To reject the work of sanctification wasn’t rejecting Paul’s command but rejecting God's will and the Holy Spirit's work.  I think it's safe to assume some of this sexual sin was still going on in their lives.  The difference was that after they were justified, they knew in their heart it was wrong.  The Holy Spirit would convict them.  They would begin to feel different about those sins in their life, even if they didn't know why.  God was beginning to clean them up.

Some false religions and sects of Judaism went the other way and believed sex for any reason other than procreation was wrong.   

Even though everyone else was doing it in Thessalonica, the Christians needed to stop.  Sexual immorality, lust, and impurity are roadblocks to sanctification.   They needed to nail this sin to the cross.  Getting rid of these sexual sins was the first of Paul's commandments to them.

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

The folks in Thessalonica were doing well with brotherly love.  God had taught them to love one another.  Then Paul threw in a “but.”  They weren’t to stop growing in this brotherly love.  The ability to love never peaks out.  There was still room for growth.  These commands of brotherly love included these characteristics:

• Aspire to lead a quiet life.  In throwing away their idols, the Thessalonians no longer participated in social, religious, and civic obligations.   This was part of turning the city upside down.  Their former friends were bothered by this change.  Did these people think they were too good to socialize with others?  Even in angering former acquaintances, they were an example.  For this to be loving, it had to be a picture of humility, not arrogance.
• Mind their own business.  This was a command for the church to keep a low profile.  They weren’t to involve themselves in others' personal businesses.  No one had appointed them the spiritual gift of criticism.  The sanctification process should give us plenty to think about. 
• Work with their hands.  Paul taught of the Lord’s soon return.  It may be that some took this as an excuse to stop working for a living.  Some of the poor believers may have stopped taking responsibility for supporting themselves.  They may have just taken advantage of other’s wealth, saying, “The church must care for me.”
  • In the Roman empire, success was having slaves, not hard work.  It was having others work for you.  The culture had a low view of those who got their hands dirty in physical labor.
  • Some think it possible a group of believers quit work and began begging others for their support.  They would get money from wealthy unbelievers to support them when they could have been working.

These characteristics of love allowed them to walk properly while lacking nothing.  The proper walk was consistent with the gospel and displayed a life changed by the Lord.  To “lack nothing” is to reach a place of spiritual maturity.  That was the expectation for all Christians.  We are to live out our faith by walking with an unwavering commitment.  Then, when the unbeliever sees you, Paul calls them those on the outside; they will see a person who is content with life.  To ‘lack nothing’ was to find contentment on the path set before you.  But that love needed to increase all the more.  They needed to aspire to a quiet, humble life, to mind their own business.  This is working on my own spiritual maturity and not meddling in the lives of others. 

Just like this command was odd to the people of Thessalonica, it is equally odd to us.  We are to have the heart of a servant, live a quiet life, be content with our place in life, and work hard. 

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

Paul’s first command regarded sexual immorality.  His second command was about brotherly love of the believers.  And, now, the third command is in regard to their understanding of the Lord’s coming. 

If you remember, Paul had only spent a very short time teaching them among these people.  It is amazing all that they knew and how established they were in such a short time.  It's clear from these verses that Paul taught them that Jesus was coming soon.  They were living their lives looking for the Lord's return any minute, and that's good.  That's what we should be doing because it could be any minute.

They grew concerned because they saw their Christian brothers and sisters dying, but Jesus hadn't come back yet.  They had fully expected Jesus to come back soon.  As time passed and some of their church family died, they wondered how this was going to work out for them.  Would they miss out? 

These Christians were commanded not to be ignorant of this truth about those who had passed away.  It would bring sorrow and a lack of hope if they didn't understand this properly.  Paul just affirmed that believers who died aren't left out.  They would be with Jesus when he returned. 

This reinforces the belief that when a believer closes their eyes in this world, they will be with Jesus in the next.  Jesus said to the thief that he would be with Him that day, in paradise. 

The Thessalonians could have this hope.  We can have this hope also.  To be ignorant of this, not know, and live your life accordingly would be a sad existence.  This life is but a breath, and then we will be gone. 

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

These words were given to comfort the believers who were looking for the Lord, living in times of persecution.  They were feeling the pressures of life in their circumstances.  They also had loved ones pass away and were left wondering if they would somehow miss out on the Lord’s coming. 

The enemy will use every doubt, distress, persecution, and weakness to turn it into fear in our lives.  In any difficult time, doubt will creep in.  We know how this is, so we can know Satan was wearing them out.  They needed this information for sustenance and bolstering of their hope. 

They were looking around and seeing the unbelievers getting by just fine.  The pagans went about their sin and immorality and looked at the Christians like they were strange for not joining them.  They were doing whatever pleased them.  Meanwhile, the Christians were learning to be content with life, working, and minding their own business while waiting for the return of Christ.  But, when fellow believers began to die, and the Lord had not returned, this caused doubt and concern.  Wasn't Jesus coming back?  Where was He anyway?

It feels like He’s late, doesn’t it?

Paul didn't want this to make them stumble.  He reminded them that Jesus was coming back.  Each believer, no matter age or generation, should live expecting the Lord to return any minute.  Their loved ones were with Jesus and returned with Him; they would be the first to receive resurrected bodies.

Life is filled with so much color and activity and noise and stuff and distractions that it's easy to miss what's really important. 

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  (Hebrews 11:1)

We need to not look with their eyes.  We need to be certain of what we can't see.  We can't see it, but He's coming.  Jesus Christ is coming soon. 

***

There is an order to this coming of Jesus:

1. We will hear a couple of things upon His arrival. 
   1. The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout.  As Jesus called forth Lazarus from the grave by name, I believe this will be Him calling for the children of God from the grave. 
2. The trumpet of God will sound.
   1. This trumpet is the call to assembly, gathering God’s people. 
3. Then, the dead in Christ will rise first. 
   1. This is the resurrection of all the saints that have died before us.  While they were present with Jesus upon death, they will now have their resurrected body.  There are three main schools of thought on this:
      1. Immediately upon the death of the saints, no matter when it happened across time, they are at the resurrection.  At death, we enter into eternity beyond time.
      2. Saints receive some sort of temporary body while waiting for their resurrected body.
      3. Saints are without a body, existing in spirit only, waiting for the resurrection.
   2. We can know how this works.  We can’t imagine what eternity and timelessness mean.  It is indeed an exciting mystery we’ll get to experience.
4. Then, those who are alive will be snatched away from this place.  This is referred to as the rapture.   A word derived from the Latin Vulgate word ‘rapture.’  The Greek word is harpazo.  It is a rapid relocation, snatched from one location and brought to another.

©2017, 2024 Doug Ford