The Call to Please God

If you would like to follow passage in your Bibles, if you have the Pew Bible, it's page 1173, 1 Thessalonians 4.

! I'm actually going to read the section that Zach preached on last week and then flow into the next section verses 9-12.

That'll kind of help us to see how this all connects, I think.

So, Paul writes to the Thessalonian church,

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, to mind your own affairs,

and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may live properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

You can see some phrases that Paul uses again in the second part that he used in the first part,

about the idea of, for you yourselves have been taught, and so forth, and I ask you to do this more and more, those kinds of things.

So I think all this connects.

Generally speaking, we try hard to please people, and that's appropriate, at least usually.

We certainly are not to be people pleasers.

The Bible's pretty clear about that, in the sense that we would sacrifice truth and righteousness to accomplish that.

But when we do something, I think we do hope that people are pleased by our efforts.

Surely, we don't begin to do something with the expressed intention of irritating other people, like, I hope this really ticks them off.

You know, we don't start that way.

I'm sorry to say that some people, even believers, are not immune to such immature and unspiritual reactions,

but that really should never be a pattern of life for us.

Even more important than living so as to please others, however, is living to please God.

I mean, do we want God to be pleased with the way we live?

I hope we do.

The author of Hebrews reminded us that without faith, it is, what, impossible to please God.

So, if we have any desire to please God, that can only really happen if we have trusted the Savior,

if we have been born again in Him.

Paul told the Corinthians that God was pleased with the foolishness of preaching,

which God uses as a means to make Himself known through the proclamation of the gospel.

Salvation is, remember, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone,

revealed through the Scripture alone, or the glory of God alone.

So, that's the faith that we have.

That's the understanding of the gospel that we should believe.

The author of Hebrews, remember, commended Enoch as one who pleased God.

So, I take it from that that it must be possible for us as believers to be able to please God with the way we live.

Though we who belong to Jesus Christ have the capacity to please God, it's not automatic.

We read in the Scripture that sometimes God is not pleased.

Surely we don't want that.

These are specific statements.

There are specific statements in the Bible that declare that God is pleased if we do what He says.

That's what we have in this particular text.

So, if you want to please God, Paul tells us in this first Thessalonian letter how we can.

And what he declares to us through the written revelation, I think it's practical, it's understandable,

but it's not always very well accomplished or very easily accomplished.

But if we want to please God, this is what we're called to do.

So, the areas that kind of shape in this passage, at least in my understanding,

first, Paul deals with what Zach did last week, how we use our bodies to please God.

And then the next two sections in the little passage that we read after that,

how we treat our brothers and sisters in Christ, how we treat other believers,

and then how we conduct our business.

All of those are important in our understanding of how to please God.

So, I'm going to sort of do a little bit of a recap on some of the things that Zach said,

not because I think he missed anything,

but because I think it's sometimes good for us to be reminded,

and this also kind of gives us a movement ahead into the rest of the passage.

So, if we are to please God in the way we use our bodies,

we have to meet the goal of holiness.

I want to start out with some preventative maintenance just for a minute.

I mean, we may need to hear some things again, so that's what we're going to do.

Growing in Christ means learning how to walk through life in all kinds of situations

with the goal of pleasing God.

Because of factors such as our own sinful tendencies,

the allurements of the world,

and the relentless tempting of the enemy,

we need periodic checkups.

Without realizing it, I think we suffer something I've kind of called carnal creep.

All right?

We slowly slide towards sin without realizing how far away we've wandered.

Now, anything with the word creep in it usually isn't good.

And by the way, though we may creep into carnality,

we do not creep into righteousness.

Okay?

That's a challenge.

That's intentional.

That's work to do that.

That's the direction we should be going.

Well, Paul was encouraging the Thessalonians

to accept as a priority some mid-course corrections,

and we would do well to pay attention.

So, what is at stake here is doing the will of God,

pleasing God, being set apart,

becoming sanctified people of God.

To be set apart to God is the will of God,

and when that happens, God is pleased.

So, there is to be a difference,

an uncommonness in our walk.

It should be a walk of holiness,

a walk of purity.

One way that we should look different

than the walk of the world is,

and by the way, I think sometimes we think

Christians should be weird.

No, they shouldn't.

Okay?

We're not weird.

Okay?

We're not, we're different.

All right?

That's not, there's two different things there.

All right?

I've met some Christians that were probably that way, weird.

But we're to be different,

and the world should pick up on that.

And I think that as we understand

what Paul is saying here,

we'll get that.

The word sanctification is kind of a big word,

but it doesn't need to be a foreign word to us.

It carries the idea of being uncommon,

different, special, set apart for a purpose.

We belong to God because he purchased us.

You remember what Paul said to the Corinthians,

you are not your own.

What?

You are what?

Bought with a price.

Therefore, glorify God in your bodies.

So how we live is to be different

from the way other people live.

How does that look?

Well, he tells us negatively,

some things have no place in the life of believers.

And as Zach addressed this faithfully and firmly last week,

we are to abstain from immorality.

This is a negative aspect of Paul's counsel.

We learned last week that sexual immorality is a general term

describing various forms of behavior that the Bible calls perversion.

We should not be surprised when we see that in the world,

though it is in the world and always before us,

it ought not to have any place in our lives.

To abstain from immorality suggests that we do not participate in the things that would lead in that direction.

Somewhere along the way,

instead of concentrating on pleasing God,

we might begin thinking about pleasing ourselves.

And when that happens,

we begin to see things in the world that appear to answer

the desire for our own pleasure,

which falsely promises to satisfy our appetites.

With approval of flesh

and the encouragement of the enemy,

we start down that slippery slope of perversion.

So Paul says it's time to pump the brakes

and do a rapid 180.

Years ago, I remember coming across a commentary by Warren Wearsby,

and he said something like this

as he was describing this problem of a worldly attitude

and a worldly walk by a believer.

He said,

Anything in the Christian's life

that causes him to lose the enjoyment of the Father's love

or his desire to do the Father's will

must be avoided.

I like that.

Because there are some things that sometimes we do and say

that, frankly, we know

cause us to lose the enjoyment of the Father's love.

And sometimes they cause us

to leave the desire to do the Father's will.

Well, you know that immorality has destroyed countless marriages

and families and careers and churches and reputations.

And for those who have managed to dabble in such things

without actually being exposed,

their lives are at best weak and ineffective,

failing at the very core of Christian responsibility,

which is to please God.

Thankfully, there is a God

who gets our attention,

changes our hearts,

and turns us around.

That's great.

But if we get involved in those things,

we're going to be in trouble.

And we're going to bring chaos

in our lives and the lives of others.

Positively, again,

we are to maintain control.

The believer should be marked by holiness and honor

to provide what we need to live such lives.

We're given the Holy Spirit.

We are to be controlled by the Spirit.

You probably are aware in Galatians chapter 5,

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit.

The last one he mentions is self-control.

How do those two work together?

Well, on the one hand,

we are to be controlled by the Spirit.

On the other hand,

we are equipped by the Holy Spirit

to exercise control over ourselves.

So it's the Holy Spirit who gives us the desire

and the energy to be self-controlled

to the point that we avoid,

even flee from those things

that you read about in the first eight verses.

Always, the nature and work of the Holy Spirit

is holiness.

When we're under his control,

we are moving in the direction of holiness.

One author I came across some time ago said this,

to go on living in impurity

is a direct insult to the divine giver

and a sin against the Holy Spirit

who is the power unto holiness.

He supplies not only the desire,

but also the ability to live a life of purity.

His indwelling puts an end to the pagan plea

that man has no power to resist impure desires.

For believers to go on living in immorality

is to repudiate the gracious provision of God for holiness

and invites his sure judgment as the avenger of sin.

The way to escape is to fly to the giver

and accept and cherish his gift.

So, question,

do we possess a passionate love set on pleasing God,

or is there a passionate lust fixed on satisfying

our carnal desires?

Verse 6 always puzzled me a little bit.

In the text, again, you heard from last week,

that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this manner.

I used to scratch my head and think,

what are you talking about brother here?

I thought this was talking about this individual.

Well, it is true that maybe immorality occurred

and broke up a family or something like that.

I could see how that would hurt another brother.

But it might be simpler than that.

I think Zach hit on this last week.

It goes something like this.

We never sin in a vacuum.

Our sin has a ripple effect on the body of Christ.

When a brother or sister in Christ falls morally,

the church is marked as hypocritical.

The world looks at that,

eh, they're all alike.

Ministry is made more difficult.

The enemy is given more ammunition.

The credibility of Christ takes a hit.

But also, the potential ministry of the person who sinned

is marred or sometimes destroyed.

And God will discipline that individual

and possibly discipline the church

depending on how they respond to the sin

further impacting the work of Christ.

It's a big deal

not to walk in holiness.

If we think we can play around with impurity

while maintaining our walk with Christ,

we really are deceiving ourselves.

And if we blow this off as no big deal,

we are reminded that

to disregard the warning

is not disregarding mere man,

but it's disregarding God.

God has given us this Holy Spirit

to go toward impurity

puts us at odds

with the purpose of God

to sanctify us

and to conform us

to the image of Christ.

If we want to please God,

it really does matter

how we use our bodies.

Check out

Zach's sermon from last week.

You'll be blessed

and taught.

Now let's move into

what he says

in verses 9 and 10

and 11 and 12.

Verse 9 and 10,

he says,

not only do we need to

be careful

how we live our lives

in terms of our bodies,

but also he's saying

how we treat our brothers and sisters

is important.

If the first is the goal of holiness,

the goal here is love.

So again he says in verse 9,

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.

So abstaining from

the selfish, sinful actions

produced by a fallen world,

believers are called

to focus attention

and efforts

toward loving one another

by the purest of motives

and the best of conduct.

Such a response

is a strong outward testimony

to the change in us

due to the Spirit's working

of regeneration

and transformation.

So if we're to please God,

it does matter

how we treat other people.

And sometimes,

we don't treat them

all that nicely.

This brotherly love

is the supernatural love.

We're basically selfish people.

We love for other people.

I'm sorry,

love for other people

does not come naturally.

We want others

to show love to us,

but we're not so quick

sometimes to love them.

There's a selflessness

that all of us have

that we're thinking about

how do they view me,

what are they thinking about me,

do they like me,

you know,

and it's like,

just kind of forget that,

please.

It's about them,

not really about us.

Yes,

but it's a tough one.

But the Father,

actually,

it's interesting,

the Trinity here

has taught us

how to love one another.

When Paul says

in the text,

you have been taught

by God

to love one another,

I'm scratching my head

a little bit,

okay,

what does he mean by that?

And this sort of

came to mind.

The Father taught us

to love each other

when he gave us

his Son

to die for us.

That's really what

John was saying

in 1 John 4,

19.

The Son taught us

to love each other

when he said

in John

John 13:34

chapter 13,

verse 34,

a new commandment

I give you

that you love

one another.

The Holy Spirit

taught us

to love each other.

Romans chapter 5,

Romans 5:5

verse 5,

Paul says,

God's love

has been poured

into our hearts

through the Holy Spirit

who has been given

to us.

So,

God has been teaching us

all along,

the whole Trinity

has been teaching us

all along

to love one another.

If we fail

or refuse

to love one another,

we're not pleasing God

and frankly,

we're not without excuse.

We have been given

both the example

and the power

to love one another.

This is a supernatural love.

I've watched

over the years

a lot of Christians

take each other apart.

It's not pretty

and it's hard

in churches.

It's anything

but love.

One of the greatest

demonstrations

of the power

of God

and the reality

of salvation

in Christ

is selfless love

of one person

to another.

I think that's

one of the reasons

why we were told

in the Bible

to see how they

love one another

was a big deal

in the early church.

When Paul

told the Ephesians

men,

husbands,

love your wives

as Christ loved

the church

and gave himself

up for her,

that was in the context

of one of the most

amazing descriptions

of the love of God

toward sinners

that you will ever read.

Christ is the example.

The commandment

has been given

without qualification

in that text.

God has been given

to us.

And such a seeming

impossible love

has been made possible

by the presence

and the power

of the Holy Spirit.

He's poured out

his love upon us.

It's a supernatural love.

But it's also

a developing love.

The acknowledgement

here is made by Paul

that the Thessalonians

were doing a good job

with this.

But their generosity

and their acts

of mercy,

their selfless

service throughout Macedonia

had not gone unnoticed

by Paul,

nor had it gone noticed

to those who'd received it.

However,

in everything we do

in our walk with Christ,

there's always room

for improvement.

We don't graduate

from that

until we go to heaven.

We just keep on

more and more.

However,

I guess I could say it this way.

It's impossible

to overdo

loving one another.

I read in a commentary

somewhere,

and I forgot to

note where it came from.

I hate it when that happens.

I got this great quote,

and I don't know

who to give it to,

but there is an endless

source of divine energy

available for Christian living.

Paul was not satisfied

until he

and those he worked with

had it all.

Some might say,

but you have no idea

what I must put up with.

You would not believe

the selfless,

arrogant,

self-righteous,

and they go,

you know,

eh,

it happens.

But if God gave the command

to love one another,

and he gave us the capacity

to love one another,

it seems to me

that there's only one thing missing,

our obedience

to love one another.

No excuses,

no buts,

just do it.

And we can,

really.

We have the Spirit of God.

And in fact,

in Peter's letter,

he says this,

just,

I'm going to read this slow,

kind of let it sink in.

Having purified your souls

by your obedience

to the truth

for a sincere brotherly love,

love one another earnestly

from a pure heart.

Since you have been born again,

not of perishable seed,

but of imperishable,

through the living

and abiding word of God.

When God saved us,

remember,

he poured his love into us

so that now we have the capacity

to pour out that love

to one another.

It's there.

So when we say,

I don't know,

I can't love that person,

maybe we need to re-examine that.

Yeah, you can.

So the goals so far

in pleasing God

have been holiness,

verses 1 through 8,

and love,

verses 9 and 10.

The final one

that Paul deals with here

is respect.

And he sets the context here

that it's important

not only how we use our bodies

and how we treat one another,

our brothers and sisters in Christ,

but how we conduct our business.

So here the goal is respect.

Here are the verses.

I'm going to pick up on verse 10

running into verse 11.

We urge you, brothers,

do this more and more,

and to aspire

to live quietly,

to mind your own affairs,

to work with your hands

as we instructed you,

so that you may walk properly

before outsiders

and be dependent

on no one.

ambition.

So ambition

of a quiet life

he addresses first.

Now that may seem

a little bit paradoxical.

It's kind of interesting

how Paul says it.

Strive eagerly

and zealously

to be quiet.

Kind of weird,

you know.

But

he said something similar

to Timothy

when he said

that you may lead

a peaceful and quiet life,

godly and dignified

in every way.

So,

regardless of your personality,

there is a responsibility

to live a quiet life.

That's an ambition.

Let's see if we can figure out

what that means.

The word quiet

probably carries

the idea

of peace of mind.

It's a striving

to have a balanced,

tranquil perspective

in life.

It's not all hyper,

crazy,

or look at me,

or always stirring the pot.

It's not that.

It's living in quiet confidence

of God's providence,

trusting him

through all kinds

of circumstances,

all kinds of situations,

both pleasant

and difficult.

That says something

about those around us.

It gains

their respect.

It speaks volumes

about our great God.

And such a life

pleases God.

Closely connected

to this ambition

of a quiet life

is an ambition

of a private life.

We need to live lives

that give attention

to our own business

and not be pressing in

on everyone else's business.

It's long been a problem

among believers

to be over-interested

in other people's affairs

while failing to attend

to our own.

Paul would later

have to tell

the Thessalonians

in his second letter

in chapter 3 this,

For we hear

that some among you

walk in idleness,

not busy at work,

but busy bodies.

Now such persons

are we command

and encourage

in the Lord Jesus

to do their work

quietly

and to earn

their own living.

Pastor Mike

will get to

the idea

of something

that was happening

in Thessalonica,

but apparently

people were waiting

for Jesus to come.

And they're excited

about Jesus to come.

Is that a good thing?

Sure.

But they were so excited

and so anticipating

that return

that they quit working.

And then when they quit

working,

they run short

on things.

And then when they run

short on things,

they start depending

on somebody else

to take care of them

while they're

righteously waiting.

And Paul says,

no,

don't do that.

You have a responsibility

to have a quiet life

and a private life,

and we'll get to it

in a minute,

productive life.

That's the call.

Well,

so,

he said,

I mean,

again,

this was a problem

in the first century.

Paul attested to Timothy,

besides that,

you learn to be idlers

going about

from house to house,

and not only idlers,

but also gossips

and busybodies

saying what they should not.

That's a problem.

So,

if you would please God,

then if we would please God,

we need to take care

how we conduct our business.

Paul continues to make the case

that if we would be respected,

we should also make it

our ambition

to be that of a productive life.

Now,

we ought not to be afraid

to work with our hands.

The Greeks believed

that free men

should never stoop

to the level of manual labor.

There was a slave for that.

So,

you don't need to do that.

That's what they would say.

But the attitude

is inconsistent

with true Christianity.

There's no inconsistency

between holy living

and honest work.

By so living to please God

in what we do,

we will gain the respect

of a watching world,

and we will gain

a dignified independence.

It's kind of weird.

Looking back over my life,

I'm not sure anybody

was enamored by sermons

I preached,

but a couple times,

and this, by the way,

was done with the wrong attitude,

but we were in a church

for a while

that there really wasn't,

there wasn't paid people

to help clean

and so forth.

And so people would clean

on a scheduled basis,

you know,

and I would go in

really early

on a Sunday morning

and work on the message

and so forth,

and then I'd kind of

get my heart ready

for the day.

And a few times,

I'd go in

and realize that

the volunteer person

on the list

didn't come in

and clean the church.

Sermon laid aside,

time to clean the church.

And a couple of times,

I hadn't finished yet

when somebody came in

and I was vacuuming

or cleaning the bathroom

or something.

It probably made more impact

on them spiritually

than the sermon

I preached that day.

And they said,

what is wrong

with this guy?

Oh, well,

I guess it's good

that he's doing that.

And I, again,

I was like irritated

that people didn't do it,

but I think what happened

was that they said,

oh, this guy,

he's doing the right thing here.

He's,

that's good to see that.

And it does make a difference

when we demonstrate

that we're not afraid to work

and that we pitch in

and help.

Paul is saying that

to a certain extent.

We need not be dependent

on other people

for our basic needs.

And all this kind of works

around that idea of love.

If we love each other,

we're not going to be

messing around with immorality.

If we love each other,

we're going to be doing

our own,

doing the right thing

by taking care

of our own needs,

by living a quiet life,

by not stirring up things.

All that's around

the idea of love

that he centers on,

love your brothers

and sisters in Christ.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians

about slaves,

about bond servants.

He said,

bond servants,

obey your earthly masters

with fear and trembling,

with a sincere heart,

as you would Christ.

Not by way of eye service,

as people pleasers,

but as bond servants

of Christ,

doing the will of God

from the heart,

rendering service

with a good will

as to the Lord

and not to man.

So when we're serving

other people,

when we're doing honest work,

those kinds of things,

it's not just doing that,

it's as to Christ,

as to the Lord.

That's the kind of service

that we're supposed to do.

Such ambition,

men pleases the Lord

and it gets the attention

of a watching world.

You've probably heard

this little poem.

You are writing a gospel,

a chapter each day,

by the deeds that you do

and the words that you say.

Men read what you write,

distorted or true.

So,

what is the gospel

according to you?

Oh, that we would set

our desires on pleasing God.

Pleasing God

is not a checklist activity

that can be completed

and considered accomplished.

It's an ongoing responsibility

that every believer carries.

And it's inclusive,

involving our personal lives,

involving our relationships

with other people,

and particularly

in the body of Christ,

as well as our interaction

with our community.

So,

we are to walk in purity

and respond in love

and gain respect

from those

with whom we live

and work.

And when that's true,

Paul says,

God is pleased.

And when we fail

at those things,

we fail to please God.

And when we act

in impure ways,

we are not loving

one another.

We are self-absorbed.

And when we fail

to respect others

by not living

a quiet,

productive life,

we're not loving

one another.

We're depending on others

to do for us

what we should be doing

for ourselves

and others.

Sometimes when the Scriptures

take us in a direction

where we're called

to look at ourselves

and make some corrections,

we stumble.

We might want to make

those corrections,

but we either believe

that we are so far off

the path of righteousness

that we can never

find our way back,

or we believe

we're just too weak

to make the return journey.

In either case,

we are thinking

that if we have failed

to please God

at that point in our lives,

we will never be able

to please Him.

That's not true.

There's a way back.

There's hope,

and there's help

in the Lord.

We confess our failures.

We trust Him

to cleanse us,

and He will.

And then we start

walking in holiness

and love and respect.

He promises

to walk with us.

He promises

to provide us

with protection

and grace,

with power

and provision.

And in the process,

God will be pleased,

and we will gain respect

from a watching world,

and the best part of it

is God will be glorified

in all of that.

So,

God will someday,

for all believers,

sanctify us completely.

He will someday

present us blameless

before Him

with exceeding joy.

And how do I know that?

Because

He who calls me

is faithful.

What does that mean?

It means

He will surely do it.

And that's the promise

that Paul recorded

at the end of this letter

in chapter 5,

verses 23 and 24

that you'll hear about

before too many weeks.

And that's God's promise

to us as well.

Let's pray.

Father,

thank You

for Your

kind grace

as You're working

in our lives.

We're flawed people,

but thank You

that You are

a faithful God

and a forgiving God

and a merciful God.

and so our

hope is in You,

our trust is in You.

Thank You

that even if we're

really struggling

and some of these things

have us

pinned down,

thank You

that by Your Spirit,

through Your Word,

with Your grace,

You're able to

turn us around

and make us

productive

and pleasing to You

all for Your glory.

May You make that happen

in us today.

If we're doing

reasonably well,

may we,

with Paul's words,

keep on doing it,

keep on

more and more

loving one another,

maintaining a purity

as we live our lives

in this world,

and serving,

working,

to be respected

by the community

and again,

pleasing to You.

Thank You

for this congregation.

Thank You

for Your kindness

that You've poured out

upon us.

Thank You

for Your mercies.

May we be

a light

to a watching world

for the glory of Christ.

In His name we pray.

Amen.