1 Thessalonians part 4
1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 | Christian, Control Thyself
A funny thing happened this week as I was preparing for this sermon from 1 Thessalonians 4 in which Paul admonishes us to abstain from sexual immorality. A Missouri pastor made national news with a sermon preaching against wives letting themselves go after getting married. Now, had it just been a couple of comments taken out of context, it would just be humorous, but it wasn’t. Allow me to quote from the NBC News article by Elisha Fieldstadt:
You need to know this, men have a need for their women to look like women. Sweatpants don’t cut it all the time huh," Clark said. "Men want their women to look good at home and in public. Can I get an amen?"
Clark said it is up to a woman to keep her weight down, wear makeup and dress well to keep her husband from cheating.
"Don’t give him a reason to be like this distracted boyfriend," he said, showing a picture of the ubiquitous meme.
"Why is it so many times that women after they get married let themselves go," Clark asked.
"Don’t give him a reason to be looking around ... I really don’t believe women understand how visual men are," he added. "I don’t think women understand how important it is for a man to have a beautiful woman on his arm."
"You can call it juvenile, immature, sexist," Clark said. (And you should.)
But "God made men to be drawn to beautiful women. We are made this way, we can’t help ourselves," he said, without a reference to scripture. (Emphasis added)
Now, I don’t know the young lady personally, but Ms. Elisha hit the nail on the head with that last phrase, “without a reference to scripture.” This sermon is an example of two phenomena: the first is what happens when a pastor uses a passage as a springboard to simply discuss what he wants rather than what God has said, and the second is what happens when paganism creeps into a church. The church (or pastor) becomes guilty of 2 Timothy 3:5–they have a “form of godliness but deny its power.” It appears on the surface this man is preaching from the Bible, but he isn’t. And the proof of his error is the willingness to accept a sinful attitude that looks much more like paganism than Christianity.
Contrary to this false teacher, Paul has a much different view. In fact, had this false teacher read that passage much closer, he would have seen admonishments to both wife and husband, but we will cover that when we read Corinthians.
Additionally, the SBC recently disfellowshipped four churches for adopting policies that run counter to the SBC’s Baptist Faith & Message and biblical ethics in general.
No, today, we are going to look at the first part of 1 Thessalonians 4 in which Paul tells the Thessalonians, to put it plainly, “Christian, control thyself.” As Christians called by God from death into life and from darkness into the light, we are also called to a higher standard of morality. But, before we begin, I would like to dispel a myth I have heard in Christian circles (which consequently is also the original introduction to the sermon).
There is a pervasive myth in Christian circles that I must destroy. The myth goes something like this: Today's society is far more perverse than any in the past, and each passing generation gets worse. This myth, I believe, partly comes from a relative misunderstanding of 2 Timothy 3:1-5,
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
Paul is certainly describing the latter days (I'm convinced our day), but he is not saying these things have never been. And, if you argue that he means these sinful attitudes will be far worse than they've ever been, then please pay attention while I dispel this myth.
The world has been in a state of death and decay since the Fall, and that means no perversion is "new under the sun."
Remember, it only took 3 chapters in Genesis for the world to go from 'newly fallen' to "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart." Every culture, in every time period, has seen its share of evil and perversions.
When we observe the rise of sexual libertinism in our own culture, bear in mind we are not seeing a rise in decay, we are seeing a return to the fallen state manifested as pagan ethics. The Jewish people were a very unique people in world history with a very unique ethic. As much as skeptical historians look for similarities between the Jews and their neighbors, they will continue to find many more differences. That unique ethic carried into Christianity, and Jesus demonstrated an even higher ethic. The Christian ethic that calls for one husband/one wife, life is sacred, children are valued, the weak are lifted up, and each ethnicity and person is valued, that ethic comes only from the revelation of Jesus Christ. When a country embraces that ethic, it will look and sound very different from the world around it. But if that country rejects that ethic, it is only returning to the natural order of sin in this world.
And, I will add here, our mistaken brother in Missouri is guilty of returning to the pagan mindset rather than repenting from that mindset.
We must understand this as Christians, because Satan will come in our midsts lying and saying we can never be effective in today's culture, because no culture has ever been this bad. That is an absolute lie, because every culture has been sinful. But, just as Jesus spoke to the Jews, just as Paul spoke to the Gentiles, and just as faithful Christians have been speaking up in every generation since, we can speak to this current generation. We can boldly speak to them saying, "There is a higher way! There is a way that leads to life, to peace, and to the joy that you truly seek."
As we read this passage today, we must put away the false notion Paul didn't understand today's culture. As we will see, he knew something worse. Let’s read verses 1-8 (before I’m guilty of saying too much without saying what God has said).
We are not playgrounds | 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain form sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
The first two verses can be seen as headers for the reminder of the letter. That Greek “finally” is used slightly different than its English counterpart. Typically, we say ‘finally’ when we are drawing to our conclusion or last in a series. But Paul is using it to mean ‘so then’ or ‘in light of all this’. Recall Paul has spent three chapters giving thanks to God for their transformation in Christ, and so, in light of that transformation, Paul says to walk and please God more and more. Why? Because that is the will of God, their sanctification. Recall last week:
The Goal of Faith is to be fully transformed by the love of God, able to stand firmly and boldly on the Day of Jesus’ Return, knowing you have been faithful.
This is what the Bible means by ‘sanctification’: it is the process by which we go from dying corrupted sinners to reflections of God’s Image. So, as we finish going through Paul’s points in the remaining letter, keep in mind that each of these admonitions is to point us towards transformation in Christ.
His first admonition then is for us to abstain from sexual immorality and control ourselves in holiness and honor. Now, why would Paul feel the need to begin here? Recall the myth we discussed earlier. If that myth were true, shouldn’t the Thessalonians have great morals? After all, they’ve never had to deal with the type of debauchery we see today...right? No, Paul knew much worse than us. Consider Roman law allowed for abuse from older men to younger men (boys, really) and abuse of slaves. One doctor is recorded stating that wives are good for having legitimate heirs, but concubines, prostitutes, and slave boys are good for pleasure. The pagan religious system provided means for a variety of perversions and activities veiled under religious pretext. Heading to the local theater yielded entertainment in the form of cross-dressing vulgarities and on-stage licentious behaviors. Don’t forget this is the same culture that gave us to-the-death gladiatorial games. We may lament the modern progressive agenda which seeks to normalize sexual perversions, but the fact is, they are not progressing into the future, they are regressing into humanity’s past.
The call toward holiness and honor does not predicate on how easy society makes it for us—it comes from God’s purpose for our salvation.
Now, it is important to know the command, but it is equally important to know the ‘why’ behind a command. As we face an ever-increasingly paganized society, we must be ready to “give a defense for the hope we have,” which includes giving a defense for why we believe in the ethic we do. Paul gives us two reasons—the first is God is transforming us into holiness and honor, and the second is in verse 6, “that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this manner.”
How does sexual immorality transgress a brother? Consider the root and purpose of sex. It is the intimate act between husband and wife in which children are made. That is its created purpose, and when we look back into the Garden, that is the picture we see. Sex is not wrong in and of itself; it has a proper place, and in its place is a lot of fun. But, outside of its proper place, it breaks the 8th commandment. Further, whether the participants are married or not, it is still adultery because they do not belong to each other, they belong to someone else. Thus, even for two singles to engage in sexual acts is adultery, because they have not committed to each other. There still exists the possibility they belong to other people. Now, should the teenager give the typical response of “Well, we might get married,” then I’d reply “Then get married, but until there’s a ring on the finger, you never know what the future holds.”
I understand this standard is completely foreign to our modern world, but please understand it was foreign to the first century world, as well. But it goes to the created order prior to the Fall, and if we are to reclaim the image of God we are to be, then that means following God’s purpose for sex as well.
“But no one lives this way.” Maybe so, but it is the standard God places on His people, because He is far more concerned with our holiness than our ability to blend in with our neighbors. This is the same Paul inspired by the same Holy Spirit who wrote, “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The Bible in Basic English puts it very well, “And let not your behavior be like that of this world, but be changed and made new in mind” (Romans 12:2).
You can’t be like Christ if you’re like the rest of the world.
Paul will then turn toward brotherly love, which the Thessalonians are doing very well. Let’s continue.
We are an interdependent family | 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12
Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.
The Thessalonians are an example for all of Macedonia concerning the care and love they have for the brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul urges them to do this more and more. Now, we could read verses 11 and 12 as separate commands from the preceding statement, but that would dismiss the flow of Paul’s thought. These final verses are how the Thessalonians can love each other more and more. Consider how each of these points towards brotherly love.
1) Aspire to live quietly
It is difficult for us to understand the balance Paul is expressing with this phrase, because we live in a world of free speech. Political activity was seen as either obedience or sedition—public criticism of authorities was sedition and met with a violent response. Paul wants the Thessalonians to avoid unnecessary retribution. But at the same time, Paul would tell them to proclaim the Gospel. After all, this is the same Paul who was driven out of town on numerous occasions.
Christians do not seek political conflict, but must stand on the Gospel if it comes.
2) mind your own affairs
This one can be coupled with the previous “aspire to live quietly” to give us something reminiscent of Jesus’ exhortation, “Take the beam out of your own eye, and then you see clearly to take the speck out your brother’s” (Matthew 7:5).
If we want to see change in the society around us, we must get our own affairs in order first.
3) work with your hands
I once heard a radio DJ state, “People who make a living without using their hands are a burden to society.” Now, the irony of a DJ whose job entails talking into a mic all day telling the world to use their hands to work aside, his point is well taken. When our occupations center on building something and bringing value into the world, it gives us a much different outlook than those who need others to supply their needs. Even in the career field of ministry, I have come to the conclusion it is probably better for ministers to be bi-vocational for their own spiritual growth. But, at the same time, if a pastor is bringing value to a church, and that church wants to pay their pastor a full-time salary, then they should absolutely do so. The principle for Christians is simply this:
Christians bless the world by bringing value to it, not mooching off it.
Now, why does Paul say such things? Again he gives us the reasoning—“so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.” Just as Paul and his team were self-sufficient in order to reach the Thessalonians without being a burden on them, so now Paul urges the Thessalonians to be self-sufficient to not be a burden on the wider world.
Our devotion and dependence should always be on the Lord, not on anyone, or any government.
In this way we walk “properly before outsiders” so they see examples of the transformation power of the Gospel.
It is the pagan way to be devoted to their passions, to their authorities, and to seek value from others.
It is the Christian way to be devoted to God and to bring value to others.
As we close for today, let us seek to control our passions being transformed by Christ. But let us also seek to live quiet lives that point others to the love of Jesus by bringing value into the world. Bring the value of Christ’s love and the prosperous life that comes from Christ.
But, if today you find yourself a slave to your passions, then turn from it. Ask for forgiveness and freedom from our Savior who saves all who call on His Name.