Thessalonians Series (Part 6)
A Walk that Pleases God: A Life of Purity - 4:1-8

(1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 NIV) "Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to
live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you
and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. {2} For you know
what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. {3} It
is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual
immorality; {4} that each of you should learn to control his own body in
a way that is holy and honorable, {5} not in passionate lust like the
heathen, who do not know God; {6} and that in this matter no one should
wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for
all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. {7} For God
did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. {8} Therefore, he
who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you
his Holy Spirit."

(4:1-8) Introduction: this begins a major new discussion in First
Thessalonians—the model walk or life of the believer. The model believer
walks to please God. What does this mean? It means that he lives as God
tells him to live, that he keeps God’s commandments. Six commandments in
particular are covered, one in this passage and five in the next passage.


But note where the emphasis is: it is on this passage, the passage where
moral purity is discussed. Why is more emphasis given to the commandment
on morality than to the others? The answer is obvious. Immorality is the
rampaging monster that destroys more lives, families, and nations than
any other single evil. What God has to say is strong, and it must be
heeded by all.
    1.    The earnest but tender exhortation (v.1-2).
    2.    The commandment: God’s will is your sanctification (v.3-5).
    3.    The reasons for purity (v.6-8).

The moral climate in the Roman Empire was not healthy. Immorality was a
way of life; and, thanks to slavery, people had the leisure time to
indulge in the latest pleasures. Blatant immorality was widely practiced
in the Greek world without shame or embarrassment. Demosthenes wrote: "We
keep prostitutes for pleasure; we keep mistresses for the day to day
needs of the body; we keep wives for the begetting of children and for
the faithful guardianship of our homes." There was no shame in having
extra-marital relationships.

But the holy God would not tolerate such a life style for His people who
had been called out of the world. God had called His people to be holy
and to live lives of absolute faithfulness in marriage relationships and
to sexual purity before marriage. The Christian message of holy living
was new to that culture, and it was not easy for these young believers to
fight the temptations around them.

The fact that epistle after epistle in the New Testament warns against
the sins of sexual immorality demonstrates that the problem was real and
pressing. Note that such warnings appear in most of the New Testament
letters:
(Romans 13:13 NASB) "Let us behave properly as in the day, not in
carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not
in strife and jealousy."

(1 Corinthians 6:18 NASB) "Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man
commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own
body."

(2 Corinthians 12:21 NASB) "I am afraid that when I come again my God
may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have
sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, immorality and
sensuality which they have practiced."

(Galatians 5:19-21 NASB) "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which
are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, {20} idolatry, sorcery, enmities,
strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
{21} envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I
forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such
things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

(Ephesians 5:5 NASB) "For this you know with certainty, that no immoral
or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance
in the kingdom of Christ and God."

(Philippians 3:18-19 NASB) "For many walk, of whom I often told you, and
now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ,
{19} whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose
glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things."

(Colossians 3:5 NASB) "Therefore consider the members of your earthly
body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed,
which amounts to idolatry."

(Hebrews 13:4 NASB) "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let
the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will
judge."

Paul’s ‘Walk in Holiness:’
1. To Please God (vs. 1)
2. To Obey God (vs. 2-3)
3. To Glorify God ( vs. 4-5)
4. To Escape the Judgment of God (vs. 6-8)
1. (4:1-2) Believer’s Walk: the earnest but tender exhortation—walk to
please God, and do so more and more. The Christian life is often
described as a walk. Walking is a picture of moving forward and
progressing step by step and day by day. It pictures the utter necessity
of pleasing God every step of the day as we walk throughout life. God is
interested in every step we take. And He is going to judge us on the
basis of how we live and walk.

Therefore, the primary concern of our lives must be to please God.
Þ    If we please God, we will be accepted by God.
Þ If we do not please God, we will not be accepted by God.
This alone shows the utter necessity of pleasing God. We must please Him
if we wish to be accepted by Him. A person is foolish not to want to be
accepted by God, for to be rejected by God leads to the worst
consequences that can be imagined: rejection by God Himself.

Everybody lives to please somebody. Many people live to please
themselves. They have no sensitivity to the needs of others. "The soul of
a journey," wrote William Hazlitt, "is liberty, perfect liberty, to
think, feel, do just as one pleases." That advice may work for a vacation
but it could never work in the everyday affairs of life. Christians
cannot go through life pleasing only themselves (Rom. 15:1).

We must also be careful when it comes to pleasing others. It is possible
to both please others and honor God, but it is also possible to dishonor
God. "For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ"
(Gal. 1:10). This had been Paul’s attitude when he ministered in
Thessalonica. "Even so we speak, not as pleasing men but God, who trieth
our hearts" (1 Thes. 2:4).

Pleasing God ought to be the major motive of the Christian life. Children
should live to please their father. The Holy Spirit works in our lives
"both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13). Enoch walked
with God, and before God called him to heaven, Enoch "had this testimony,
that he pleased God" (Heb. 11:5). Jesus said, "I do always those things
that please Him" (John 8:29).

Pleasing God means much more than simply doing God’s will. It is possible
to obey God and yet not please Him. Jonah is a case in point. He obeyed
God and did what he was commanded, but his heart was not in it. God
blessed His Word but He could not bless His servant. So Jonah sat outside
the city of Nineveh angry with everybody, including the Lord! Our
obedience should be "not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as the
servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart" (Eph. 6:6).

How do we know what pleases God? How do we know what pleases an earthly
father? By listening to him and living with him. As we read the Word, and
as we fellowship in worship and service, we get to know the heart of God;
and this opens us up to the will of God.

Note how tender, yet strong this exhortation is.
1. The tenderness is seen in the words "beseech" and "brothers." By
calling believers "brothers," Paul was expressing deep affection and care
for them. The word "beseech" (erotomen) means to ask or request. But
note: it always has a sense of urgency about it.

Paul was tenderly requesting his dear brothers to continue to please God
in their daily walk, but it was an urgent request. Their walking to
please God was an absolute necessity, a necessity that carried with it
great blessings for obedience and terrible judgment for disobedience (the
displeasure of God).

2.     The strength of the exhortation is seen in the following facts.
a.    The believers had been taught how they must walk and please God. They
had sat under the teachers and preachers of the Word; therefore, they
were without excuse, for they knew exactly how to live and to please God.
The word "ought" (dei) means must; it is an imperative, a necessity. Once
the believers had heard and been taught how they should live and please
God, they were responsible to live that way. Pleasing God was not an
option; it was a duty.

b.    The exhortation was based upon the Lord Jesus. It was what the Lord
Himself had taught. There is no greater authority than the Lord. He is
the supreme majestic Being of the universe; therefore, the exhortation to
live and walk to please God is of the highest authority.

c.    The exhortation involves the actual commandments of the Lord Jesus.
This is a repeat of 1 Thes. 4:1: keeping the commandments of the Lord
Jesus is not an option. A commandment is a commandment, a law that is to
be obeyed. In addition, it has been given by the Lord Himself. Therefore,
it must be kept—regardless. We must walk and please God, and we must grow
in our Christian walk day by day more and more.

When he ministered in Thessalonica, Paul gave the believers the
commandments of God regarding personal purity. The word commandments is a
military term. It refers to orders handed down from superior officers. We
are soldiers in God’s army, and we must obey orders. "No one serving as a
soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his
commanding officer" (2 Tim. 2:4, NIV).

In 1 Thessalonians 4:3, Paul reminded these new believers that sexual
immorality did not please God. God created sex, and He has the authority
to govern its use. From the beginning, He established marriage as a
sacred union between one man and one woman. God created sex both for the
continuance of the race and for the pleasure of the marriage partners.
"Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure" (Heb.
13:4, NIV).

God’s commandments concerning sex are not for the purpose of robbing
people of joy, but rather of protecting them that they might not lose
their joy. "Thou shalt not commit adultery" builds a wall around marriage
that makes the relationship not a prison, but a safe and beautiful
garden.

We never have to seek to know the will of God in this matter; He has told
us clearly. "Abstain from fornication" is His commandment, and no amount
of liberal theology or modern philosophy can alter it. Throughout the
Bible, God warns against sexual sin; and these warnings must be heeded.
God’s purpose is our sanctification, that we might live separated lives
in purity of mind and body.

2. (4:3-5) Immorality—Sanctification—Fornication: the major commandment
is sanctification, that is, moral purity. It can be stated no clearer:
"This is the will of God." There is no higher will than the will of God.
When the will of God is known, then the will of God must be done.
Sanctification—moral purity—is the will of God.

God’s will stated (3-6)
1. To be obedient children.
2. To be like God (1 Pet. 1:14-16)
3. Purity toward oneself (1 Tim. 5:22; 2 Tim. 2:22; 1 Cor. 6:18-20)
4. Purity toward God (Rom. 1:21-32; Eph. 2:12; 4:17-19; Col. 3:5; Gal.,
5:24)
5. Purity toward brothers (Prov. 5:15-20)

Motivation to do God’s will (6-8)
1. God is the avenger (Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:5; Heb. 13:4; Rev. 21:8)
2. Immorality is inconsistent with our call (1 John 3:3)
3. Rejection of this instruction means rejection of God (Col. 3:6).
The word sanctification means to be set apart and separated. We are to be
set apart to God and His will, and His will is moral purity. Therefore,
we are to be set apart to live pure lives before God. This means three
things.

1.    Sanctification means abstaining from fornication. The word
"fornication" (porneias) means all kinds of immoral sexual acts:
adultery, pre-marital sex, homosexuality, and all forms of sexual
deviation.

The believer is not to give his body to an immoral person, not to an
harlot or to an immoral neighbor. The believer’s body belongs to Christ,
which means that we are to honor Christ with our bodies.
We are to take the sexual drive and energy of our bodies and use them as
He has instructed:
Þ    either we dedicate our bodies solely to Him as eunuchs;
Þ    or we marry and build a family with the dynamic virtues of love and
care, trust and loyalty.
2. Sanctification means that a person knows how to control his body and
his spouse. Leon Morris points out that the word "vessel" (skeuos) can
refer either to a person’s own body or to a person’s spouse (The Epistles
of Paul to the Thessalonians. "Tyndale New Testament Commentaries,"
p.75).

Both hold great meaning for the Christian believer. A believer is to know
how to control his own body and how to control his spouse. A person can
neglect, ignore, and abuse his body and a person can neglect, ignore, and
abuse his or her spouse. In discussing a person’s spouse it is important
to note 1 Cor. 7:4-5. Neglecting, ignoring, or abusing one’s spouse can
bring about temptation and can contribute significantly to the spouse
becoming unfaithful and impure.

Note that the believer is to know, to possess his or her body and spouse
in sanctification and honor (the word "how" is not in the Greek text).
There is no excuse for ignorance in this matter nor for disobedience. The
believer is to know...
·    beyond a shadow of a doubt
·    without equivocation
·    without question
    ...that it is his duty to keep his body and spouse pure.

The point is strong: it is unthinkable that a believer would engage in
fornication, that he would bring dishonor to his Lord and to his spouse,
family, and himself.
The believing husband and wife are to know that they must keep themselves
and each other in sanctification and honor. They must not set themselves
apart to dishonorable and immoral neighbors nor to harlots.

3. Sanctification means resisting the passion of lust. We must resist
the passion of lust. Note the double emphasis, that is, the wording, "the
lust of concupiscence." It means the passion of lust, the enslaving power
of lust. When a person begins to lust, he can soon become enslaved to
lust; he can be held by the grip of lust to such a degree that it is
almost impossible to break the bondage.

This is true with the...
·    passion for sex.
·    passion for pornographic films and literature.
·    passion for manipulation.
·    passion for exposure.
·    passion for sexual conquest.
·    passion for looking.
·    passion for touching.

This is the positive side of God’s commandment. Christians are supposed
to be different from the unsaved. The Gentiles (unsaved) do not know God;
therefore, they live ungodly lives. But we know God, and we are obligated
to glorify Him in this world. "God’s plan is to make you holy, and that
entails first of all a clean break with sexual immorality" (1 Thes. 4:3,
PH).

"Possess his vessel" in 1 Thessalonians 4:4 probably means "control his
body," for our bodies are the vessels of God (see 2 Cor. 4:7; 2 Tim.
2:20-21). But it can also mean "learn to live with his own wife," for the
wife is called "the weaker vessel" (1 Peter 3:7). I prefer the first
interpretation, for Paul wrote to all Christians, not just the married
ones. The Christian who commits sexual sin is sinning against his own
body (1 Cor. 6:19-20), and he is robbing God of the glory He should
receive through a believer’s way of life.

This explains why God gives such demanding requirements for spiritual
leadership in the church (1 Tim. 3). If spiritual leaders cannot rule in
their own homes, how can they lead the church? If we glorify God in our
bodies, then we can glorify Him in the body which is the church.

The passion of lust is the way of the world. It is not the way of God. It
is the life-style of those who do not know God. This does not mean that
they do not know that sexual immorality is wrong. It means that they have
rejected God and His commandments; they have chosen to live in the
passion of their lusts.

The believer is commanded to please God and to keep the commandments of
the Lord Jesus. And the major commandment is our sanctification, that is,
moral purity. Therefore, we are to abstain from fornication—from all
forms of immoral sex (cp. Romans 1:18-32).

3. (4:6-8) Immorality—Fornication—Adultery: there are four reasons why we
are to live pure lives, and the reasons stand as a severe warning to us.

1.    Immorality defrauds and cheats a brother. Fornication steals from a
person. It either takes a wife from her husband or else it takes the
husband from his wife. It is that simple—that tragic—that terrible. It
steals one of the two major partners of a family, steals...
·    their heart·    their affection·     their thoughts·    their purity    ·     their
body·    their innocence·    their trust and trustworthiness

And the terrible tragedy is that none of these can ever be recovered—not
completely, not fully. Once the heart, affection, thoughts, purity, body,
innocence, and trust have been lost, they are lost and affected forever
thereafter. The marriage and its bond of trust are gone forever. The pain
and hurt always linger to some degree and the commitment and ability to
totally surrender to the spouse always suffers to some degree.

This is the reason God allows divorce after fornicaiton has been
committed within marriage. (Note: God allows divorce; He does not command
it. All parties involved in fornication—no matter the situation—should
stay together if the injured spouse can bear the pain long enough to
recover and build strength.)

Note this: the same effects take place upon the unmarried when they
commit fornication. The person who seduces the unmarried steals from the
person seduced and from the future spouse—steals the person’s heart,
affection, thoughts, purity, body, innocence, and trust.

2.    Immorality shall be revenged by God. This point needs to be heeded,
especially in a promiscuous society like ours where immorality is not
only accepted, but is encouraged. How can we dare say that immorality is
accepted and encouraged in our society? Compare the emphasis and appeal
of...
·    dress in public and on the beach
·    television and films
·    books and magazines
·    advertisements and promotions
·    conversations and jokes
·    suggestive words and actions that are acceptable today

The list could go on and on, but the point is this: God is going to judge
immoral behavior no matter how much society accepts it. Society does not
make the rules for man’s behavior; God makes the rules.

He has given the intimacy and preciousness of sex for marriage and only
for marriage. And He has made it perfectly clear that any sex outside of
marriage will not only be judged, but He will personally avenge the
guilty party. Why?

Because the guilty party...
·    stole the life of a person.
·    broke the person’s trust and innocence for the rest of his or her life.

3.    Immorality is not God’s call; holiness is. When God calls us to
salvation, He does not call us to live unclean lives, giving us the
license to go from person to person. Such immorality...
·    destroys genuine love for self and for others.
·    destroys trust and trustworthiness of self and of others.
·    destroys discipline and control of self and of others.
·    destroys true care and concern for self and for others.
·    destroys ego and esteem of self and of others.
·    destroys confidence and assurance in self and in others.
·    destroys loyalty and commitment within self and within others.
·    destroys freedom and will within self and within others.
·    destroys justice and fair treatment of others.
·    destroys family and nation.

God would never call a person to do such terrible things. God calls us to
holiness—to live lives that are set apart to Him and to purity, to our
spouses and families. God calls us to build strong character and
communities, strong families and nations.

God calls us to holiness so that we can be strong enough to reach out to
a world that reels under the awful weight of suffering and death. There
is hope; there is salvation from evil and suffering and from death and
judgment. But we must be sanctified and holy, totally set apart to
building the strongest characters and families, communities and societies
possible in order to reach the world.

Again, God does not call us to uncleanness and disintegration of
character and society. God calls us to holiness.

4. Immorality is a sin against God. The word "despiseth" means to
reject. Most persons reject this commandment of God as being old
fashioned and unacceptable in an intellectual and enlightened society.

But note what Scripture says: the person who rejects this commandment is
rejecting God, not some man. The idea is that the preacher or teacher may
be able to do little to us if we disregard the commandment. But God can
take vengeance, and He will. Every human being who ever breaks the
commandment shall receive the vengeance of God—unless he has repented and
sought the forgiveness of God.

Note this also: God has given believers the Holy Spirit. The very
presence of God in all His majesty dwells within our bodies. We must not,
therefore, dirty our bodies with a harlot or some immoral and destructive
neighbor.
This lesson was developed at a time with President Bill Clinton finally
admitted publicly to an affair after seven months of lying about it. The
following comments came from a bulletin in a Little Rock congregation:
"Regardless of one’s political views, Monday’s events had to bring
sadness to those who want to believe that strong leadership, basic values
and the American way are ideals that go together. All three have suffered
terribly as this century has moved to its close.
"Bill Clinton is not the first leader to commit adultery while leading
a nation; nor is he the first to try to conceal it. David committed
adultery with Bathsheba while king of Israel. His coverup included
murder. Only when confronted with the truth did David begin to deal
honestly with what he had done. Although his effort was genuine, his
family (and the nation) would continue to suffer for his moral failure.
"The words of David’s psalms, 32 and 51, reflect the thoughts of his
heart. He seeks mercy, acknowledges the pain in his own body and soul
while he stayed quiet, confesses his sin, asks to be made clean, requests
a pure heart, and declares his intentions to open his lips in praise to
God.
"David does not attempt to use carefully scripted words to preserve
himself. He does not blame anyone else for his year of silence. He does
not charge Nathan with being politically motivated. He does not argue for
his own privacy because kings have private lives. He does not show anger
toward anyone.
"Ánd when David’s story is read, no one questions whether his words
come from a broken and contrite heart.
"Regardless of how deep some may try to bury them, certain basic
truths have a way of coming back to the surface from time to time. On
Monday we were reminded of one that comes right out of the Bible:
Character does matter. Its absence always shows itself in time."
The majesty of God Himself must not be defiled. The Holy Spirit—He who is
holy—is within us. We must, therefore, keep our bodies holy.

God is no respecter of persons; He must deal with His children when they
sin (Col. 3:23-25). A church member criticized the minister because he
was preaching against sin in the lives of Christians. "After all," she
said, "sin in the life of a believer is different from sin in the lives
of unsaved people." "Yes," he replied, "it is worse."

When King David committed adultery, he tried to cover his sin, but God
chastened him severely. (Read Pss. 32; 51 to see what he lost during
those months.) When David confessed his sins, God forgave him; but God
could not change the consequences. David reaped what he sowed, and it was
a painful experience for him.

A holy walk involves a right relationship with God the Father (who called
us), God the Son (who died for us), and God the Spirit (who lives within
us). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes our body the temple
of God (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

Furthermore, it is by walking in the Spirit that we get victory over the
lusts of the flesh (Gal. 5:16ff). To despise God’s commandments is to
invite the judgment of God and also to grieve the Spirit of God.

How does the Spirit of God help us live a clean life, free from sexual
impurity? To begin with, He creates holy desires within us so that we
have an appetite for God’s pure Word (1 Peter 2:1-3) and not the polluted
garbage of the flesh (Rom. 13:12-14).

Also, He teaches us the Word and helps us to recall God’s promises in
times of temptation (John 14:26; Eph. 6:17). As we yield to the Spirit,
He empowers us to walk in holiness and not be detoured into the lusts of
the world and the flesh. The fruit of the Spirit overcomes the works of
the flesh (Gal. 5:16-26).

Paul devoted a great deal of space to this theme of sexual purity because
it was a critical problem in the church of that day. It is also a
critical problem in the church today. For many people, marriage vows are
no longer considered sacred, and divorce (even among believers) is no
longer governed by the Word of God.

There are "gay churches" where homosexuals and lesbians "love one
another" and claim to be Christians. Premarital sex and "Christian
pornography" are accepted parts of the religious landscape in many
places. Yet God has said, "Walk in holiness."