Live in the Manner Pleasing to God

Transcript

GR 1123
4/14/1985
Live in the Manner Pleasing to God
1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
Gil Rugh

Come to a break in this letter which is rather standard procedure in Paul’s letters. It’s his practice to emphasize the personal matters, historical matters, doctrinal matters in the opening portions of his letter and then in the second part of his letter he shows how what he has said should be lived out in their lives. Call it maybe the application of what he has been saying. And that’s where we come in chapter 4 of I Thessalonians.

In light of what I have been talking about. In light of what I have said about our relationship to you, our ministry among you, your response to the gospel. Here are some things that you need to keep in mind about your personal walk in serving Jesus Christ. Chapter 4 opens up with the word "finally." Paul uses this on other occasions. For example, Philippians chapter 3 begins also "finally" and it doesn’t mean now I'm drawing to a conclusion because obviously he has quite a ways to go yet. The idea is now regarding the rest, or further I would like to say. So it’s a way of making a transition and the transition is to the walk of the believer and how we are to walk or live our lives in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord. That is the standard for us as believers. Being pleasing to the Lord in our service for Him.

He says in verse 1 of chapter 4. "Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you may excel still more and more." Now we request and exhort you. We’re asking you and we’re encouraging you in the Lord Jesus concerning your walk and you’ll note—that you might walk and please God. The two are inseparable. To walk in a manner that is pleasing to God. That becomes the standard. That’s going to become important in what he’s going to develop. That the believer does not live his life to please himself but we are living our lives to please someone else—to please God. So we are concerned to walk and please God. Now he says here "as you received from instruction as how you ought to walk.'* This is something that Paul has taught them about and it’s amazing as you read this brief letter and remind yourself of the short period of time that Paul spent with the Thessalonians, of how much material he covered.
And you can appreciate—these are brand new believers. He goes in. He leads them to faith in Jesus Christ. Then he begins to give them something of a perspective on their new life in Christ and in a very short period of time he has to give them something of an overview touching in many areas of what life in Christ is all about. And then he moves on because of persecution.

You received from us instruction as how you ought to walk. And that word "ought" is a strong word often translated "must". How you must walk. It’s a necessity. It’s a requirement. In other words, we as believers are under obligation to walk in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord. This is not something set aside for those Christians who want to go beyond—who want to excel past other Christians. This is a demand and an obligation placed upon every single one of us as believers and that's encouraging. I don’t have to sit back and say, Am I one of the select few that God says must walk in a manner pleasing to Him. Well, I am one of the select few in that I am a believer. But then it’s for all of us as believers. We have this obligation, this demand and this requirement placed upon us—how you ought to walk and please God. Now note what is put in parenthesis. Just as you actually do walk. Paul's not writing because they had failed. He’s not saying this because they are falling way short. Your walk has been good. You are pleasing the Lord. What I want you to do is excel still more and more. I want you to overflow and abound in your walk.

One thing that’s true of the apostle Paul. He's never satisfied with the status quo and it's never well, you're walking pleasing to the Lord. That's good enough. Just keep it up. That's great you're walking in a manner pleasing to the Lord but I want you to excel still more and be more pleasing to Him so that your walk is even more characteristic of the life of Jesus Christ. For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. Paul’s serious in this whole issue. He uses a strong word here. You know the commandments. That word "commandments” is a strong word. In fact, it’s not used often in the New Testament of commands given to the believer. It’s a military word and it’s used in military contexts of orders that are given to be obeyed by soldiers and those in positions of obedience to military authority. Paul used it in writing to Timothy.

Maybe you ought to turn over to I Timothy, just after Thessalonians. I Timothy chapter 1 and verse 5. When he says "the goal of our instruction." There’s the word. Our commandments. Our charge to you. The goal of it is love from a pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith. Then he uses it down in verse 18 of chapter 1 of I Timothy. This commandment I entrust to you Timothy my son. The end of that verse — "that by them you might fight the good fight." Then he uses it back here with the Thessalonians. That's the only time in the New Testament this particular word is used in the context of commanding believers. So here you get something of the force that Paul is talking about. You know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. The ultimate authority for the commands that Paul has given was Jesus Christ. He is the ultimate authority and Paul simply passed on the commands of Christ to them so it lends weight to what he was talking about.

We talk about that we must, we are obligated to live our lives in a manner pleasing to God—that’s within the context that Jesus Christ has commanded us to so live our lives and so the weight of that obligation needs to be felt. Now the importance of it is seen when we come into the particular area that Paul wants to zero in on. We talk about our walk as believers and being pleasing to God. That’s general. We can say, yes, that should be true of us in all that we do and in everything that we become involved in. But there are some specifics that Paul wants to zero in on and the particular one he selects out first is sexual conduct— that we are to conduct ourselves with sexual purity. That’s what God demands of us. That we might walk in a manner that is pleasing to Him. So He says in verse 3. "For this is the will of God—your sanctification. That you abstain from sexual immorality."

Now it amazed me as I studied this letter again that all that Paul has said about the Thessalonians and their strong testimony. The impact of their life for the gospel of Jesus Christ and their faithfulness under persecution. That when you come into chapter 4 the first thing that Paul picks up in talking about their walk is—watch out for sexual immorality. And perhaps a reminder of the danger of this particular sin as it besets the believer so often. Now for the Thessalonians in their time it would be a particular problem and we have come around to their same situation in our day. Being this—that it was not thought anything particularly unusual or wrong to carry on sexual intercourse on a general basis. It was accepted and that's okay that sex is not just confined to marriage partners. There's no reason to look down on people or view it as something that is terrible or wrong that people are sexually involved who are not married.

Now the Thessalonian church was established in that atmosphere and you are familiar with some of the ideas of the time. Where it was thought that you had a wife to take care of your home and your children. You had a mistress for pleasure and you had the services of prostitutes for the general joy of sexual activity. It was just common place. Nobody thought there was anything bad. Now when the church is in that kind of environment the morals of the society press in on it and everyone around says it's okay and it's acceptable. The danger is that the church accepts the standards of society instead of the standards of God. The morals of society set the pace for the church. We find the church falling into line. And that happens today. The world doesn't see any big deal in conducting sexual activity outside the marriage bond. We don't even call it immorality or adultery any more. We call it having an affair and that has a little bit of a sparkle to it and you can read articles in the magazines that talk about the benefits of affairs as well as the dangers of affairs. That doesn't sound quite so dirty as talking about adultery and immorality and fornication. That's a little bit, you know, you feel like you’re getting a little muddied with that. We can talk about having an affair or a relationship and that’s the way the world looks at it and that is perfectly acceptable. Now those kinds of ideas begin to press in on the church. On the church’s young people and those standards become the standards that we accept without consider—what has God said? So it’s understandable Paul’s concerned about the Thessalonians and the purity of their testimony.

This is the will of God. We often spend a lot of time—oh, if I could only find the will of God. You find the will of God in the Word of God and you come and you read and here's what God says He wants for me as a believer. That’s His will for me. Here's a particular area. The will of God in regard to sanctification.
The particular area of God’s will that He wants to talk about is the area of sanctification. Now this word "sanctification” is related to two other words particularly. Holiness and saint. And we saw these up at the end of chapter 3. Paul was praying for the Thessalonians and then in verse 13 he said "so that He [God] may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness [word related to sanctification] before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints." In other words related to the word sanctification. Basic idea in these words is to be set apart and the idea is on the believer who has been set apart by the redemption that God has accomplished on his behalf. We have been set apart by God from sin for Himself and as Paul uses it in the process here of our walk the idea is of that becoming more and more like Jesus Christ and that growing to maturity in Him. But we have been set apart for God at the moment of faith in Jesus Christ we have become His own possession as will become clear as we move through this section.

God's will for the believer is sanctification—that he be set apart in his life. What particular area is he talking about in being set apart? That you abstain from sexual immorality. The word here is the word "fornication." It refers to sexual sins of all kinds, both among the married and the unmarried. That you abstain, refrain, keep yourself from all kinds of sexual sin.

Verse 4. Developing it. That each of you and there is a personalness about this. That every believer needs to come to grips with. That each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor. There has been some discussion on this verse of what does it refer to when it says each of you know how to possess his own vessel. What is his own vessel? Now some would understand this to refer to his own wife and so each is to possess and the word can have the meaning of acquire as well. Did you know how to acquire a wife, but not in lustful passion? Do you acquire your wife in honor and sanctity with godliness as a goal? I think that’s true and ought to be done. But I think in the thrust of the passage here what he is talking about is your own body. That each believer know how to possess his own vessel or his own body in sanctification and honor. And vessel is being used of the physical body.

You know back in II Timothy chapter 2:21. "Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Here in a similar kind of context, talking about our own sanctification. We will be a vessel of honor, sanctified. That's what Paul is talking about. Sanctified in honor in the context of the body.

Back in II Corinthians chapter 4. II Corinthians chapter 4. Verse 7. Paul talks about the gospel that we have and he says in II Corinthians 4:7. "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels." Again, he refers to our physical bodies as earthen vessels. "That the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not of ourselves."

Look at one passage in the Old Testament.. I Samuel chapter 21. Here as David flees from Saul. He comes and eats consecrated bread. We want to pick up with verse 5 of I Samuel 21. "David answered the priest and said to him, surely women have been kept from us as previously when I set out and the vessels of the young men were holy though it was an ordinary journey. How much more than today will their vessels be holy?’"

Their bodies are holy because they have not been involved sexually with women.

So again the word "vessels" used in this context of the physical body and I think that’s the context then when you come back to Thessalonians. I Thessalonians chapter 4. "That each of you know how to possess his own vessel, his own body. And the believer is to have control and mastery of his own body. A possession of it in sanctification and honor. So I am to exercise control over my body. I do that drawing on the power of the Spirit obviously, but I am responsible to be exercising that control over my body drawing upon the power that God makes available. To live in light of the fact I am to be set apart for God and for His purposes.
Now when I use my body in that context then I am giving it its true honor. Impurity dishonors the body, defiles the body. I honor the body. Hold it into esteem. Give it its proper worth when I treat it as it is intended to be treated as a vessel that belongs to God. So in these decisions of sexual activity, I control my body and decide what is right to do with my body in light of the fact this is a vessel that is set apart for God and I am to honor this vessel. Not to dishonor it with impurity.

He goes on in verse 5 to give the negative. You possess it, control it, in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God. Important here. The contrast is between a child of God who is set apart for God from sin and the unbeliever who does not know God. And the danger and the tragedy is that the unbeliever sets the pattern for the believer and so believers begin to live their lives like the unbeliever does. This is tremendous situation in our own young people who live their lives characterized by impurity becoming like the godless. Unbelieving young people that are around them. And it's not limited to that. How much it begins to characterize even us as adults in our day.

Not in lustful passion. Now the contrast here is between the believer who has control of his body and the unbeliever who does not. The believer has control of his body because of the work of redemption Christ has done for him. The unbeliever is in the control of his passions and that leads to lustful activity. The two words here. The word "passion" emphasizes the feelings that control a person. They are the desires that we have that become our masters, that dominate us and when you’re under control of your passions and those feelings, that leads to lustful activity and the lust is the active part here. Passions is more passive. The word "lust" has the active part of the cravings and the desires. The passions manifest themselves in lustful activity, the pursuit of sexual immorality.

Important point that is made here. The unbeliever lives under the control of his passions and his feelings and that leads to all kinds of sinful activity. That’s different than me as a believer. I am to have my body under control and decide what is right to do with this body. Determine what this, body will do. Tragedy that a believer should live like an unbeliever. An unbeliever is out of control and a believer is privileged to be in control and under control through the ministry of the Spirit in his life. Lustful passions like the Gentiles who do not know God. The result of that—sexual immorality.

Look back in Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1. You see the same kind of connection. (pause) In Romans chapter 1 verse 18. After having talked about the poer of the gospel in verse 16, the righteous live by faith in verse 17. Then in verse 18. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." What does that lead to? Well, verse 24. God gave them over the lusts of their hearts, to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them.

Verse 26. "For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions which" leads to homosexual activity among women. Verse 28. They did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer. God gave them over to a depraved mind. Sexual immorality. Impurity. Isn’t it interesting? It is part of the punishment of God that those who reject him become the slaves of their own passion and those feelings master them and control them and dominate them and lead them into all kind of impure activity. Only freedom from that kind of power comes in Jesus Christ. Now word of warning here. Even as a believer. It is characteristic of sin.
Romans 6 talks about this. That sin enslaves. And that’s why I as a believer am not free to go back into sin. Among other reasons. But one of the reasons and Romans 6 argues this, is the characteristic of sin to enslave me. So because I have been set free in Christ does not mean now I can go back and dabble in sin and get back out whenever I want because you know what the trap of that is? Sin takes hold of me and enslaves me and controls me and it's always a downward pattern. Always starts out the same as something fun. It’s something enjoyable. It’s something pleasing. When all is said and done and the sordid story is over, it results in ruined lives. That’s what Romans 1 says the pattern is. That's what Paul is talking about in writing to the Thessalonians in chapter 4. The unbelievers live under the control of their feelings, their sensual passions. We as believers are those who are in control by the grace of God.

Come back to I Thessalonians 4. Strong word of warning here in verse 6. "That no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things. Just as we told you before and solemnly warned you that no man transgress and defraud his brother." Transgress. To- cross the line. To go beyond what is proper and take what belongs to someone else. That's what happens in sexual sin. A third party is always wronged and defrauded. In the marriage relationship obviously that's the case because the husband or wife is wronged. We have taken something that belongs to someone else. That's true where marriage is not in view. You're carrying on a sexual relationship with someone you're not married to even if they are unmarried. Because you are taking that person and that body and you're defrauding someone else. The purity of that body belongs to the person that that person will be married to. So from God's perspective you have wronged someone. You have transgressed and crossed the line and taken something that belongs to someone else and that’s a serious matter. We fail to understand that. You see how many young people today. I saw an article that maybe some of you saw in the paper recently of how many women are involved sexually before marriage. What a tragedy in light of what the Word of God says here. Someone has been robbed.
Not only the two people that are involved in the sin have suffered for it and will suffer but also a third party has been wronged and defrauded and something that belonged to them has been taken. You say, well, it was fun and you know, we go on and so what? The so what is you ought to note the next part of the verse.

"The Lord is the avenger in all these things." We think we get away with it you know. And nobody ever found out perhaps in your case, but the eyes of the Lord run to and fro on the face of the earth observing the good and the evil and He is the avenger in all these things. That’s a strong statement. That’s more serious than being found out about parents or someone’s husband or wife or that kind of situation. The Lord takes it upon Himself to be the avenger. We saw some of that in Romans chapter 1 with how He pours out wrath and the resulting ruin that that brings into lives. Ultimately they will culminate in the judgment for all those who will stand before Him to be judged someday. He is the avenger in all these things.

You note what Paul says. "Just as we told you before and solemnly warned you." This is not new. Isn't it amazing? We sometimes think, boy, I’ve just about taken in all I can take in biblically or theologically. How would you like to have been these Thessalonians? Have the Apostle Paul just pouring it on in a few weeks period before he moved on to a new area? I warned you. You're going to give an account to God. He is looking over these things. We ought to keep that in mind. We think we sneak off and do these things on the side. We forget we do it in the full light of the view of God Himself and He takes it as a personal affront that must be dealt with. Verse 7. Really what he’s doing in verses 6, 7 and 8 is giving a series of reasons why we ought to maintain our purity. And he’s talking to believers here. You note in verse 6 he says not to transgress and defraud his brother. You see what happens is the conduct of the unbeliever infiltrates among believers. That's the tragedy here. Infiltrates among believers. God will avenge these wrongs.

Number two. God has not called us for the purpose of impurity but in sanctification. We have to understand the purpose of God in calling us to Himself. It was not for impurity. The whole idea almost sounds blasphemous to even imply that God could have called us for impurity to do impure things. Obviously that's not what He called us for. He called us in the realm of sanctification is the emphasis here. Not for the purpose of impurity but in the realm of sanctification and so I’m to live my life in the context of one who has been set apart by God for Himself. That controls all that I do and all of my actions and all of my decisions. I am one who is set apart from sin to God.

Yeah, but all my friends do it. I am one who has been set apart by God for Himself. Yes, but there's so much pleasure in it. But I'm one who has been set apart by God for Himself.

Look back in I Corinthians chapter 6: Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body but the immoral man sins against his own body. You see that similar kind of thing that Paul was saying. In sanctification and honor. You honor the body when you live in sanctification. "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God. That you are not your own." That’s going to come up in a moment in I Thessalonians. "For you have been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body." You see this actual physical body is now God's, for His use. He has purchased it and now I am to use it in a way that honors Him.

Come back to I Thessalonians. So the call of God. Understanding God’s purpose in calling me. It’s that I might live in the realm as one who is set apart.

Verse 8. Serious matter. "Consequently, he who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you." You see here God's standard doesn’t change. The world has, you know, put some whitewash on it, gives it new titles. Says now it's okay. You know what God says? You reject this—you're rejecting Me. That's it. No, you don't understand. We live in a different day. Our culture is different. Our society is different. Our morals are different. He who is rejecting this is not rejecting man. He is rejecting God.

So what all these things now that men say are acceptable and okay in this liberated sexual day. What does God say? They are rejecting Me. That's all. So it doesn't surprise me that the unbeliever who is in rebellion against God is rejecting God and His Word. But what God is concerned about in Paul's writing to the Thessalonians is they don't adopt the standards of those who are rejecting God and live in sexual impurity and that's what is happening. They are rejecting God and note here what He says because He is talking about believers. "Who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who gives "and that word "gives" is in the present tense. Who is giving His Holy Spirit to you? It doesn't say who has given His Holy Spirit to you, but who is giving. I think the point on that is that God has provided the Holy Spirit to us, for us, to us and in us as believers, to empower us and enable us to live sanctified lives. So the provision of the power of the Spirit is constantly feeing given to me and when I choose to turn and indulge in sexual impurity, I am rejecting God's provision for me to live a pure life. Now that's encouraging. The stamp that I am reminded that I need never be overpowered by my passions and lusts.

The unbeliever is all the time. He thinks he's under control, but he's a fool. But the believer always has the assurance that God is giving to him the Holy Spirit. Now He has given the Holy Spirit, but He is giving him the Holy Spirit in the power available to be victorious in that given situation. So I have the assurance from God that He is giving me the power adequate in the Holy Spirit to live a sanctified life in every situation. That’s what's missing for the unbeliever. No sense in trying to get Him to live a godly life. He has no power available. God is not giving the Holy Spirit to unbelievers. His power is not available to them to live godly sanctified lives, but it is for you and I as believers. So there’s a marked difference and there's to be a difference in our life. Now I as a child of God don’t want to be rejecting God, grieving the Spirit that He has given me and that’s the exact situation that we are in—rejecting the God who is giving us His Holy Spirit. I'm saying, No, God, I don't want the Spirit's power in this situation. I don't want the Spirit to enable me to live a sanctified life here because I really want to indulge in impurity. I really want to pursue. You say, oh no, you don't know my situation—it was just overwhelming. You know why? We didn't want the power that God made available. You say, oh, you just don't understand. You're naive'. Well, I don't want to be any more naive' than God says I ought to be, but isn't that what He says here. When I indulge in impurity I am rejecting the God who is giving me the Holy Spirit. Now I certainly don't want to do that and that is an encouraging reminder that when temptation comes that the power is there and it's available and needs to be utilized.

We need to deal with these issues with our young people as well. Concerned that there's a tremendous breakdown that runs through the church of Jesus Christ because it runs through the world. You see the break down of the family and the morals in adults collapsing. We see it carried over among the church of Jesus Christ and we see young people growing up with worldly morals. We need to realize we are to be a sanctified people. We think—well, this is a different day. That's the very kind of situation that Paul had to face with the Thessalonians and the situation they had to realize is we are a sanctified people. We are set aside. The world is going this way and we're going this way and that's a totally different lifestyle and there’s no way to mesh the two together. Those who are under the control of their lustful passion are the godless and we certainly can’t decide—now how close? How much can I be like the godless person under the control of his lustful passions? That's not the goal of my life. The goal of my life is not to see how much I can be like the godless person under the control of lustful passion.

The goal of my life is to see how much I can be like the Savior who loved me and redeemed me and empowers me to be like Him. That’s the goal. Sometimes think we as believers forget that and say, I’m still safe. I’m just seeing how close I can get here. I’m still safe. Say, wait a minute. You're going to wrong direction fella. The goal is not to see how close or how much like them you can be. The goal is to be as much like Jesus Christ as we can be. That means that there will be a marked difference because we are the sanctified.

Paul goes on in concluding this particular section in verse 9 to speak to them about love for one another. Their walk—they are to maintain sexual purity. They are also to manifest the love of God for one another in their dealings and relationship with one another. So he says in verse 9. ’’Now as to the love of the brethren you have no need for anyone to write to you for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia, but we urge you, brethren, to still excel more."

Isn’t it amazing? That section on sexual purity and impurity put in. Now here he moves right from that into talking about the great love of Christ that they demonstrate in their dealings with one another. That’s a reminder. We need to be careful. No matter how strong we are. No matter how much we are being used by God, we need to be very careful of the dangers that are there to be sure that we are in control of our bodies in the power that the Spirit makes available. And so here you don't have a church that's like the Corinthian church that is dabbling in things it shouldn't and carnal issues. But here you have a godly church that needs to be careful to maintain the purity of its testimony.

The love of the brethren. Philadelphia is the word. Brotherly love. Paul says you don't have any need for anyone to write you about brotherly love. That's an amazing testimony for this church. Love is to be the identifying mark of a believer. "By this shall all men know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another, “Jesus said in the Gospel of John chapter 13 and verse 35. I John chapter 3 and verse 14 John says if you don't love the brethren you don't belong to Christ. Now he says you don't have any need to have anyone to talk to you about the love of the brethren because you are taught by God to love one another. Incidentally both words for love are used here. Philadelphia— phileo love is in that word and then agape love is the word here taught by God to love one another. Agape love—that love that centers in the other person. Phileo love, more the family love characterize us as the family of God. And this love. We are taught by God to love one another. I Corinthians chapter 2:13 says that we are taught by the Spirit of God. I take it that's what's in view here. God is giving us His Spirit in verse 8. One of the things that the Spirit does in our lives is teach us and we are taught to love one another as believers and He produces this love. It's a fruit of the Spirit in our lives as His children. Verse 10. "Indeed, you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all of Macedonia." Not just in Thessalonica. But they had a love for fellow believers that went throughout their whole province. Isn't that great. That's a commendation and then what does Paul say? I want you to excel still more. That's great that you have such great love for the brethren. Now let me tell you, you ought to love them even more. You know he constantly wants to push on to excel, to do still even more. As you are doing that, make it your ambition—the goal of your life. Paul used this word in writing to the Corinthians. We have as our ambition whether present or absent from the body to be pleasing to Him. Here he says make it your ambition.

Three things. To lead a quiet life. To attend to your own business and to work with your own hands. So we ought to be ambitious as believers. But we ought to be ambitious in a biblical sense. Here you get some idea that there may have been some difficulties that we know did exist at Thessalonica. That some of the Thessalonians weren’t working as hard as they should have. Perhaps they have become so excited about their new life in Christ and the hope that they have that Jesus is coming and He may be coming today that they had become negligent and who wants to go their job and hammer away at that mundane thing when I am a new creature in Christ and He may be coming today. You think I’m going to waste my time—beat my head against the wall at that job over there? huh-oh.

Look over in II Thessalonians. That helps us understand this was going on II Thessalonians chapter 3:11. "For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life doing no work at all but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread." You see something of the difficulty that was already developing at Thessalonica among believers. It's amazing—the strategy of Satan. He works one thing and he works another. Here, this godly church. But the danger. Work to lead a quiet life, a tranquil life. A calm restful life.

I think we as believers need to have the right balance. It’s interesting to me that Paul writes this. Paul says make it your ambition to lead a quiet life. You're familiar with the life of Paul. Would you characterize that as quiet life? Sometimes wonder if he knew what he wrote here. But what Paul stirred up all centered around the gospel. Evidently some of the believers at Thessalonica were just stirring the pot. We’re unsettling things and that was not healthy and the goal of us as believers is not to be causing problems and unsettled condition but to lead a quiet life. To have our own life tranquil and quiet. That does not mean therefore I will sacrifice the truth of the gospel. Obviously Christ did not do that and Paul did not do that either. But by the same token he just didn’t go in and cause difficulties. The difficulties around Paul's ministry always centered in the fact he was proclaiming Christ and that was unacceptable. But in the other areas he was above reproach. He challenged anyone to find anything wrong with what he did. He went out of his way to he sure he conducted himself in a manner that was above question. That’s what Paul is talking about here. Lead a quiet life.

The second thing involved in leading a quiet life really develops one of the ingredients in having a quiet life. Attend to your own business. Concentrate on your own responsibility is what he is saying. The second ingredient in a quiet life. Work with your own hands. They were to be occupying themselves with a job. You know it backs up. If you're not busy about your job then you're not attending your own business. Then you got time on your hands. You get into other people's business and you're not leading a quiet life any longer. That’s what happened to these believers. So it is a responsibility for us as God's children to be busy in supporting ourselves, giving attention to providing for my family, and leading a quiet tranquil life—not at the sacrifice of the gospel now. But' believers ought to be hard workers, diligent workers. I do have questions about some of the projects and activities believers get involved in in stirring up things that are not really directly issues involved in the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I do not see that this verse says that we as believers are to be stirring up certain conditions in society. But in our own personal life we are to be living just as we commanded you so that you may behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need. Two things here—their testimony before the unbeliever and meeting their own needs and they go hand in hand. Person comes to trust Christ and instead of now providing for his family, he neglects his job and becomes a poor, undisciplined worker. He's not attending to his own business. Then he's free and he's over here stirring up problems in another area. What kind of testimony is that before the unbeliever? How open are they going to be to the gospel? Oh, yeah, that's what the gospel does. When you come to trust Christ, next thing you'll do is quit your job. You won't be a very good worker and you'll be rattling around in somebody else's business and there are Christians like that and their life makes no impact for good for the gospel of Jesus Christ. And to meet our own need. I'm not to be in any need. This is a balance, isn't it? He talks about love for the brethren here. And we know that the churches are going to give toward the need of believers at a later date in Jerusalem. But you know I am to be occupied with meeting my own needs. That ought not to be your responsibility. That's my responsibility. I ought not to be depending upon you to put food on my table, clothe my family. I am to be diligently working a job to do that. That's a responsibility, a command that God has given me. That’s part of maintaining my testimony for the Lord. So I need to be careful I'm functioning as God would have me here. So I don't like that job and nothing worthy of me well, it doesn't say anything about that here anyway. There aren't many jobs on earth that are worthy of those who are heirs of the kingdom of God anyway so it doesn’t really matter. You know that's a cop-out that all of us could use. You know I'm destined to be an heir with Jesus Christ. You think there's any job on earth worthy of me? No, but it doesn't matter does it? I might just as well take any of them as long as it helps provide food for the table. Enables me to do what God says I ought to do in the context of my family and meeting my needs and being a good testimony for Him.

Basic simple things. Now you see what happens? We've got two issues here. We have sexual impurity and we say, oh, boy, that's a strong one. That's an outstanding one. In the same context he talks about this basic practical one of living my life in an orderly fashion. Doing my job to the best of my ability in a way that honors Jesus Christ. You know we need to be careful. I get so…..going to put up my defenses and watch out for sexual impurity and the devil sneaks in and gets me in a very practical area and we need to be careful about it going the other way too. So in all this, what's the standard? That we might walk in a manner that is pleasing to God. And when you think about it isn't it amazing that we fallen sinful human beings should be privileged to be challenged by God and enabled and empowered by God to live lives that are pleasing to Him. You think about that—that the Eternal God, righteous and holy as He is, says He desires Gil to live his life in a manner that pleases Him.

What an honor. And He has given me His Spirit that enables me to do that. What a challenge. What an opportunity. That takes the mundane out. We won’t develop the issue of jobs on this occasion that we as believers, and Paul writes to this on other occasions, we do whatever we do as unto the Lord and that takes the mundane out of it. Don't do it because it's worthy. I do it because I am pleasing the Lord. And I don’t work so hard at it because I see benefits here. I work so hard at it because I’m doing it because I'm doing it so that He'll be pleased with what I do and that puts every job and every activity on a different level. Our goal personally. Our goal as a local church—to walk in a manner that is pleasing to Him.

Let’s pray together