1 Thessalonians #05: an exposition of 1 Thessalonians 4:1-18. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, October 17, 2012.
Intro:
You say you are a child of God. You have trusted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. You are a Christian. So what? What does that mean…practically? What difference does it make? How is your life different because of your faith? Is your life noticeably different from your unbelieving neighbor? Are your attitudes the same as that coworker who mocks your faith? We are to be different. We are called to march to the beat of a different drummer. Our view of the world ought to be markedly different from those who do not believe. We are called to holiness. I’m not suggesting that you need to go through your closet and through out everything that is not black, brown or gray! You don’t have to get rid of your TV or start speaking King James English but your life ought to be different and stand out in the face of an unbelieving world. Like light in the darkness we are to be in sharp contrast to unbelief. Too often that is not the case. I’m not just talking about surface differences. Yes I think our speech and our manner of dress ought to reflect the modesty and the purity of our faith but it is more than that. You can be a “legalist” and have your check list and avoid all those “public” sins and be as lost as the most harden unbeliever. Good for you if you don’t smoke, cuss, chew or hang out with those girls who do – but there must be more to it. Holiness begins in the heart and the mind. It radiates from the core of your being and then shows up in your behavior. Holiness is an inward work not just an “outside” job. Do you remember Jesus called the Pharisees “whitewashed tombs.” They were clean on the outside but full of death.
As the people of God we are called to live so as to be pleasing to our God. This speaks to our motivation as well as our behavior. It is about how we think as well as what we do. Christian does your life stand out? If I were to talk to your coworkers about your being a follower of Christ would they be surprised? Do the Christian virtues of love, purity and faith mark your life? What is required of us as the people of God? How are we to live? For some answers we turn to the 4th chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonian believers.
Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-18
Paul was burdened about the young, struggling church and when he could stand it no longer he sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to find out what was happening and also to encourage and strengthen them in the faith. Letter, after Paul left Athens and was in Corinth, Timothy came with his report. The church was doing well. Their faith was increasing and they were a model for believers throughout Macedonia and beyond. Paul was overwhelmed as he wrote to them. Thanking God for their faith and rejoicing in what God had done and was doing. In chapters 1 and 2 Paul is remembering and giving thanks. He recalls his work among them and reminds them of what he taught them. Now, beginning with chapter 4, Paul instructs them in how they are to live out their faith. In chapter 3 he reminded them that faith was to be lived out together. Such living was to be sacrificial, mutual and intentional.
We find our key for chapter 4 in the first verse:“…you received from us how you ought to live and to please God…”
Thesis: Paul’s word to the Thessalonian believers reminds us, that we are to live lives that are pleasing to our God.
The goal, the aim or your life, as a Christian, is to please God in all you do.
In gratitude for the life He has given you – you seek to please Him.
This is to be done in an atmosphere of love and devotion not begrudgingly out of duty.
It is not a matter of cowering before this all powerful tyrant who demands your all but rather out of genuine love and devotion to the one who found you dead in trespass and sin and breathed life into you. The one who brought you out of the kingdom of darkness and transferred you to the kingdom of light, the kingdom of His dear Son.
What kind of life is pleasing to Him?
What are we to do?
How are we to live?
There are three things I would point out from this text.
- A life pleasing to God is a life of purity. (4:1-8)
- A life pleasing to God is a life of love and quiet devotion. (4:9-12)
- A life pleasing to God is a life of expectancy. (4:13-18)