How to Walk (1 Thessalonians 4:1-8) - Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

If you would, take your Bibles and open up to

1 Thessalonians chapter 4. You can also find

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

a few Bibles there in front of you. 1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4, as we continue our sermon series through

this letter from Paul to the Christians there

in Thessalonica, our bulletin has us going through

verse 12, but after Much prayer this week. I

think it would be appropriate for us to stop

at verse 8 today and save those remaining verses,

Lord willing, for a future date. So, 1 Thessalonians

4, 1 through 8. Would you please give attention

to the reading of God's Word? Finally, then,

brothers, We ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus

that as you received from us How you ought to

walk and to please God just as you are doing

that you do so more and more For you know what

instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus

For this is the will of God your sanctification

that you abstain from sexual immorality that

each one of you know how to control his own body

in holiness and honor, not in the passion of

lust like the Gentiles who do not know God, that

no one transgress and wrong his brother in this

matter because the Lord is an avenger in all

these things. As we told you beforehand and solemnly

warned you, for God has not called us for impurity.

but in holiness therefore whoever disregards

this disregards not man but God who gives his

Holy Spirit to you this is God's failing word

let's pray father we thank you for your word

we thank you for a word that speaks truth to

us I ask Lord that you would help us to search

our hearts and know if there is any way about

us that is not pleasing to you and that you would

write our course and Help us to follow more closely

after Jesus and that you will continue the work

of sanctification in our lives Give us understanding

now. We pray in Christ's name. Amen Within our

worship service this morning, we have already

touched on sanctification. We have read the Shorter

Catechism. What is sanctification? Sanctification

may not be a word that you use on a daily basis.

It could be, and it should be, perhaps. But there

is a way in which we use the word sanctification

that I think is fairly common, and it's the root

of the word. It's sanctity. And often when we

talk about sanctity, we talk about sanctity of

marriage, right? We talk about keeping holy the

union between man and woman, united in matrimony.

We recognize that marriage is a pre -fall gift

from God. And so we want to keep it holy, right?

Sadly though, the common view today in culture

is not that marriage needs to be sanctified.

The common view in culture today is that personal

choice and pleasure be kept holy and sanctified.

People view marriage not in the way that God

does. Instead, what people want to uphold is

not marriage, but immorality. But friends, our

text tells us we are to please God. That is our

goal. This is why we were made we are to please

God according to the text in holiness and as

Christians we as we are set apart for holiness

and we show it impurity So today if you are saved

by Christ, you are not only saved to heaven which

you are But you are also saved to holiness. Let

me say that again You are not only saved to heaven

but you are saved to holiness. And this, according

to the text, is the will of God. Oftentimes,

we ask ourselves or we ask others, what is the

will of God for my life? And usually, when we

ask that question, we mean something like, where

am I going to go to college? Who am I going to

marry? What kind of career should I have? How

many children? What's the will of God for my

life and my retirement? Where should I retire

and how much money do I need? But friends, these

are fine questions. But the real answer to the

will of God is your holiness. The will of God

is your holiness. Look at verse 1. You can see

that this section kicks off with kind of a transition

word there. The ESV has the word finally there.

So we would expect something new or something

to be, this to be the very end of the letter.

But what Paul is doing here is he's kicking off

a very practical applicable section. And we like

that. We like the practicality of the Bible,

don't we? Because oftentimes we look at the ancient

text and we say, what does this 2 ,000 or more

year old text have to do with me? Anybody ever

ask that? I do. How is this helpful to me in

2025? So we have a practical section, but be

careful what you wish for. Because if you are

struggling with the sins of this passage, this

hits hard. Because Paul has his finger on the

pulse of a common problem. Paul has his finger

on the pulse of a problem that has existed really

ever since the fall, sexual immorality. Today,

we lament the decline of society, don't we? It

seems that each new decade presents a new level

of moral decay. But think about the Thessalonians.

The Thessalonians, they were not living in a

Christian society. And so they were not seeing

new levels of decay. The Thessalonians were already

in the cesspool. What was life like in Thessalonica?

Well, like in many places in the Greco -Roman

world, tolerance of misconduct, encouragement

towards misconduct, particularly relationships

of an intimate nature outside of marriage. And

you might say, well, that's the same in our day,

and that is very true. We're dealing with the

same things today. This is why this is so applicable.

However, there's something else that was going

on. in these Greco -Roman cities related to marriage.

And it's that marriages were often arranged.

Marriages were often arranged. Now, as a father

of two beautiful, sweet, cute little girls, I'm

thinking, yes, Lord, that seems like a great

idea. You're telling me I get to choose who they

marry? Sadly, that's not really the way it went

in Thessalonica. Listen to this quote from a

philosopher from Athens in 300 BC, so hundreds

of years before Christ and before this letter.

This philosopher said, are women are seething

right now. What could change such a despicable

ethic? What about the gospel? What about a biblical

sexual ethic? And so here comes Paul with his

talk of Jesus, talk of holiness, talk of sanctification,

saying it's the will of God that you refrain

from this behavior. and that you would be able

to control your own bodies. It's very much what

Paul has to say to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians

6, 18. And Paul had a lot to say to the Corinthians,

but he says, flee from sexual immorality. What

Paul, Silas, and Timothy have to share with the

Christians there in Thessalonica would have been

revolutionary. Paul is saying, get rid of the

concubines. Get rid of the mistresses and be

committed to holiness. Friends, it's no wonder

that Acts 17 records the people driving Paul

out of the city, right? It's no wonder that they

were accused of turning the world upside down,

because they were telling people to give up this

sin. And in doing so, Paul and the Christians

there, they're really destroying society. And

I think that they were doing this in two different

ways. The first way in which they were bringing

on the destruction of that heinous society would

have been in business. In saying, put away the

concubines and the mistresses and be committed

to your wives, they are destroying business in

this city. For we know this, that prostitution

was big business in Thessalonica. It was. Thessalonica

was a big city. It was on the water. A lot of

people coming into port and out of port, right,

pursuing all kinds of heinous things. And so

you tell them to stop this practice. This is

hitting people in the wallet. And now you're

really making them mad, but also in terms of

religious practice. If Paul had said to the people

there, Hey believe in Jesus, but don't change

your lifestyle whatsoever The Thessalonians would

have said hey, no problem here. Let's just add

Jesus to our list of gods Collect them all but

that's not what Paul said and pagan worship was

connected with Immorality consider this quote

The many references in 1st Thessalonians to suffering

being experienced by the church are best understood

as referring not primarily to physical persecution,

but to social harassment for Christians' refusal

to take part in their former cultic activities.

And so the Christians are saying no to this way

of life because there's somebody different. They

are in Christ, a new creation. And the non -believers

in the city, they don't like this whatsoever.

And so you see what Paul is doing. Paul is relating

our sanctification to abstaining from immorality.

Now you might say, well, how do I do that? How

can I grow in godliness in such a culture as

ours? How can I be committed to holiness? when

there is immorality all around, when it's ubiquitous.

Friends, we need to turn off the TV. There is

such grime on television. You need to be careful

with what you watch. We need to be careful with

what we watch. We need to be careful with what

we view on the internet. There is so much on

there that we should never see. so much honor

that our children should never see, and so we

must protect our children from it. I commend

those of you who carry around what's called a

dumb phone so that you cannot access videos on

your phone. Why? Well, because I think Jesus

says it best for Matthew 5, 27 through 28. This

is within the Sermon on the Mount. which should

show us something. You have heard that it was

said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say

to you that everyone who looks at a woman with

lustful intent has already committed adultery

with her in his heart. I know I've shared this

illustration before, and so my apologies for

a recycled illustration. but I think it's been

long enough. When I was living in Poland, I remember

in Warsaw how night clubs would advertise their

establishment by having little cards printed

with inappropriate pictures and putting them

on the windshields of vehicles. So you would

go into a parking lot and it's just filled with

these cards and sometimes they would blow off

and they'd be on the streets, littering is bad

too. And this isn't unique to Warsaw or Poland

or any of that but what was interesting is one

day I saw a Polish priest walking to his car

and so he enters into the parking lot he sees

what's on the windshields and he covers his eyes

like this as he walked he covered his eyes meaning

that he bumped into nearly every Volkswagen in

the parking lot but he would not allow himself

to even gaze on such sin And at the time, I can

remember thinking as a young man, being like,

aren't you mature enough that you don't have

to do that? Can't you just keep walking? No,

he wasn't even going to allow Satan to have a

foothold. He knew how dangerous that was. And

so as he got to his car, he brushed that card

off the windshield and he got into his car and

he left the parking lot. Friends, we need to

be like that. We need to turn away from sin before

it's ever a problem. And it's not just in terms

of pictures or videos or television, books even.

There are some writers who write with such a

flair that they can depict something even better

than a video. Friends, be careful what you read.

Take the book back to the library, sell it, throw

it in the garbage if you need to. Be careful

with what you read. Also be careful with how

you dress. We need to be people of modesty. The

text is going to tell us that there's a relationship

between who we are as we pursue holiness and

looking out for others. And so we need to dress

with modesty. We also need to be careful with

how we talk. We need to be careful with the language

that we use. And we need to be careful with how

we talk about our spouses. Friends, when you

talk about your husband or your wife, do you...

build them up in the eyes of other people? That

will show how we feel about marriage. That is

a gift from God. And so for all these ways, be

careful. Additionally, in terms of sanctification,

we realize something else. That we need to replace

the sinful things with good things. Because that's

what God does with us, right? We're a new creation

in Christ. And so we need to take that which

is wrong for us and cast it off. But we need

to replace it with good things. And the good

things I have in mind are called the means of

grace. Friends talked about how there are some

very bad books. There's also a very good book.

We should read this. We should read this privately.

We should read this with our families. We should

read this here at church. So go to the WIC meetings,

women. Men. Men of the Covenant, Sunday School,

Table Talk, be committed to these things, and

most importantly, be committed to the very Word

of God. Also be committed to prayer. You want

help in standing against the wiles of the devil?

Be committed to prayer. Ask for God's help if

this is a struggle of yours. Also we need one

another, don't we? In order to stand against

that which is evil, we need one another. We need

the church. We need accountability, and so again,

if this is a struggle, have people in your corner.

You've got elders in this church who want to

help. You've got wise Christians who have been

walking this road for such a long time enlist

the help of others. Look at verse 6, as we also

recognize that sexual sin hurts not just us,

but it hurts others. You remember the seventh

commandment, do not commit adultery. Do you also

remember how the tenth commandment relates to

the seventh? Because there God says, do not covet

your neighbor's wife. Friends, sexual sin hurts

others. Think about how much heartache would

be saved if people would follow the Bible's teaching

on saving the gift of sex until marriage, and

that marriage would be exclusively between married

man and married woman. Sexual sin hurts other

people. But also look in verse eight and let

me read this. Therefore, whoever disregards this

disregards not man, but God, who gives his Holy

Spirit to you. Primarily our sin is against God.

That alone right there should be enough for a

Christian to say no to this. Because God calls

us to not to impurity but to holiness if you

disregard this you ultimately disregard God Who

is the giver of the Holy Spirit right there at

the end of verse 8 now? Why does Paul include

that there the giver of the Holy Spirit to you?

Why does he put that there? There's a writer

named Andrew Malone who sees a connection between

this statement and the giving of the Holy Spirit

or the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit

in Ezekiel chapter 36. I'm going to read just

Ezekiel 36 · chapter mention

a little bit of Ezekiel 36 for us from about

25 through 29. Listen to these words. Again,

the promise of the Holy Spirit. Listen for the

connection to our text. I will sprinkle clean

water on you. and you shall be clean from all

your uncleannesses and from all your idols I

will cleanse you and I will give you a new heart

and a new spirit I will put within you and I

will remove the heart of stone from your flesh

and give you a heart of flesh and I will put

my spirit within you and cause you to walk in

my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

The emphasis there, as in our text, is on the

walking and the cleansing and the receiving of

the Holy Spirit. This is a clear picture. You

who have the Spirit are to walk according to

the Spirit. You who are a Christian are to follow

after Christ. And so let's think about this for

a second. Who are you trying to please? Are you

trying to please yourself? Or are you trying

to please God? This is a very common way for

Paul to speak. But you might say, well, yeah,

I'm trying to please God, but it's difficult.

We're in the middle of a cultural war. You know,

Christianity gets criticized very often by progressives

for our sexual ethic. They say, why can't everyone

just love whomever they want to? Why not? Well,

Among other places because of Romans chapter

Romans 12 · chapter mention

12 1 through 2 I appeal to you therefore brothers

by the mercies of God to present yourselves your

bodies as a living sacrifice Holy and acceptable

to God, which is your spiritual worship Do not

be conformed to this world but be transformed

by the renewal of your mind That by testing you

may discern. What is the will of God? What is

good? and what is acceptable and what is perfect.

Friends, you are a living sacrifice. That is

your purpose in Christ. And so it's incompatible

for you to live for the flesh and to live for

God. And these sins of the flesh are not pleasing

to God in any way. And so we need to be committed

to holiness. I'm so thankful that there are people

who are not just committed to personal holiness,

but there are people who are committed to helping

other people be committed to holiness. There

are a number of great organizations and people

who are doing wonderful work to help others be

freed from the trappings of sexual sin and the

trappings of the lust of others. When I was living

in Eastern Europe, I was fairly close to a group

of women who were going about and helping those

who were entrapped in these ways. Friends, there

are a number of good people doing this and we

should be committed to praying for those who

would risk their lives to uphold a biblical sexual

ethic. Christians who are on the front lines

just like Paul was. We need to be committed to

this ourselves and we need to be committed to

helping others who are committed to these things.

But you might say, well, why would you go to

such trouble? Why would you go to such danger

to stand up for marriage and purity and holiness?

Why? It's in verse five. Because we know God.

The reason to be committed to these things is

because we know God. The people who act in these

sinful ways, they do not know God. And God calls

us, according to verse 7, to holiness. And actually,

as you look at the text, there is a Trinitarian

reason here, a Trinitarian reason to be committed

to a biblical sexual ethic and to be committed

to holiness. And it's because of the past call

of God in verse 7, the present gift of the Holy

Spirit in verse 8, and the future judgment of

Christ in verse 6. Friends, sanctification is

a product of our knowing God through Christ by

the power of the Holy Spirit. Christians are

set apart from the world. We live in this world,

but we do not belong to this world. We are to

live following after Christ. Christ is your goal.

And Christ tells us to seek first the kingdom

of God and His righteousness. Friends, these

sins, and I'm trying not to be explicit. I'm

trying to be mindful of young ears. These sins

are so common. Teenagers are struggling with

this. Adults of all ages are struggling with

this. Friends, I want to give you good news.

If this is your struggle, please know this. There

is forgiveness for sexual sin. There is forgiveness

for this sin. in Christ alone. It should not

be lost on us, especially those of us who have

studied the life of David recently, that he really

struggled in these areas, didn't he? And yet

he was called a man after God's own heart. And

you can read his Psalm of repentance in Psalm

51. It's a must read. Friends, Jesus has come

for the forgiveness of sin for the Christian.

He has nailed these sins to the cross. So if

this is an area of struggle to you, for you,

take it to Jesus. Jesus, who not only saves us,

but Jesus who cleanses us. I want to leave you

with two scriptures. Before we conclude. First,

John one nine. If we confess our sins, he is

faithful and just to forgive us our sins. and

to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And then

1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 13. No temptation

1 Corinthians 10:13

has overtaken you that is not common to man.

God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted

beyond your ability, but with the temptation,

he will also provide the way of escape that you

may be able. to endure it. Friends, Christ is

faithful to provide the way of escape and Christ

is faithful to forgive those who call upon him

in faith. As 1st Thessalonians 4 .1 says then,

let us seek to please God more and more. For

this friends, this is the will of God. Let's

pray.