The
American
Wisdom Series
Presents
Pamphlet #5139 KC1Thes5
They
just called it things like "shacking up" or "living together" or "having
a good time".
When we concluded our last study,
Paul had just finished praying for the Thessalonians that the Lord would
make them "to increase their love one toward another and
toward all men" and strengthen their hearts unblameable in holiness.
He now takes some precious space
in his letter to exhort them to continue to conduct their lives in a manner
befitting their calling.
Knowing that the subject of these
two letters by Paul is the return of Jesus Christ, then wisdom dictates
that this exhortation applies especially to that generation who will see
His return.
How apropos seeing that the heathenism
of this generation is rampant among us and available in the added dimensions
of multimedia and cyberspace!
1 Thes.
4:1
Furthermore
then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as
ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would
abound more and more.
The Thessalonians had come
a long way from their former heathen way of life, from doing those things
adulterous in the flesh and idolatrous in the spirit which were not pleasing
to the Father.
Have you ever known anybody like
that?
I'm sure some of us need look no
further than in the mirror.
Anyway, Paul was pleased with their
progress and exhorted them to excel even further in leading a wholesome
life.
Yes, he is talking to us!
Continue to clean up your act, Paul
says!
[2]
For
ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
Paul and Silas and Timothy
had shown the Thessalonians how to "walk the walk" in a manner which was
pleasing to God.
Their commandments to them were
simply to follow His commandments.
1 Thes.
4:3
For this is
the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from
fornication:
Fornication was not regarded
as a sin at all among the heathen back then.
They just called it things like
"shacking up" or "living together" or "having a good time".
However, today as we are slouching
towards Gomorrah we are ever so more "enlightened" than the heathen of
Thessalonica.
Not only are adultery and fornication
socially acceptable but homosexuality and sodomy are in now in vogue.
So we see the mottos of the heathen
have not changed one bit even from the beginning: "If it feels good, do
it!" and "Anything Goes!"
The problem is that sooner or later
there is a price to pay for "everything" in the "anything"!
However, it is the will of God that
we His children be sanctified, which means we are to be "set apart" from
the wicked ways of this world.
In other words we are to act like
His children and abstain not only from the lustful adulterous sins of the
flesh but also from the idolatrous "feel good" traditions of men as regards
religion.
Of course none of us are capable
of a perfect walk under the sun in these flesh bodies and we all fall short
occasionally and need to repent, but even so we still do not accept ungodly,
lustful behavior as the norm.
That alone "sets us apart", over
on the "far right wing" from the rest of society in that we become politically
incorrect.
So you see, we already stand against
the beast!
1 Thes.
4:4
That every one
of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
[5]
Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:
Of course we should learn how
to discipline ourselves and control our own flesh vehicles so that they
do not "run the show" and do what they "darn well please".
But Paul in this verse is actually
talking about something more specific regarding self discipline.
If you check out the Greek you will
find that the word "possess" means "to acquire" while "vessel" is used
figuratively for "wife" (see 1 Pet. 3:7).
Here is how Dr. Moffat translate
verse 5:
1 Thes.
4:5
"That each of
you should learn to take a wife for himself chastely and honorably, not
to gratify sensual passion like the Gentiles in their ignorance of God."
(Moffat)
This day and age there are
many diseases like AIDS, etc., that one who engages in adultery and fornication
can pick up.
Many people live in the "bondage
of fear" worrying whether or not they may have "gotten something".
In contrast, we Christians who know
God and who follow His ways are FREE from that bondage of worry, and that
Freedom and peace of mind which accompanies our freedom permits us to have
"more FUN than a human being should be allowed to have".
In other words, we never have to
wake up and "Worry" about what happened last night.
We just wake up and remember how
much fun we had!
1 Thes.
4:6
That no man
go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord
is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.
The word defraud means "to
be covetous" or to "make a gain".
Do you realize that when a person
commits fornication he not only commits sin himself but he "wrongs" another
person and causes that person to also transgress.
You see, "the Lord is the avenger"
and the Day of Vengeance soon comes with the return of Jesus Christ.
Do you remember in Luke chapter
4 when Jesus stood up in the temple and read from the 61st chapter of the
scroll of Isaiah?
He quoted verse 1 but only the
first half of verse 2.
Then He stopped.
Isaiah
61:1
The Spirit of
the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good
tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to
proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them
that are bound;
[2]
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
This was speaking of His first
advent which He fulfilled.
The next part of the verse speaks
of His second advent which was and is yet to come.
...
and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
The Higher Court, the one Thomas
Jefferson wrote about in the Declaration of Independence that supercedes
man's courts, will someday convene and payment in full for all debts not
forgiven will be required.
So do not defraud your brothers
and sisters in any matter, business or otherwise.
You will never get away with it!
1 Thes.
4:7
For God hath
not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
He has called us unto "holiness"
which does not mean "holier-than-thou-ness".
[8]
He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also
given unto us his holy Spirit.
Paul says you can disregard
living a clean life both physically and spiritually but
when you do, you do not disregard man but rather you disregard God,
bringing also reproach unto our family,
the body of Christ.
He has not only given us gifts of
the Spirit as in Acts 2:4 but He has also given us His Holy Spirit to strengthen
our own spirit so that our inner man can overrule the outer man and keep
that sucker in line.
Sometimes I think of our dwelling
in the flesh like being a little jockey tied onto or into the body of a
feisty gorilla with a mind of its own and forced to ride that animal until
it either gets killed or drops dead.
Whoa baby! What a ride!
Hang onto those reins and don't
that gorilla loose.
You probably already know what happens
when you do, right?
[9]
But
as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves
are taught of God to love one another.
The Thessalonians were a friendly,
lovable and loving people, i.e. little fuzz balls, and they were full of
zeal in spreading the Word of God among the heathen.
Paul knew that they knew that he
knew how friendly and loving they were and he encouraged them to increase
even more in that love.
1 Thes.
4:10
And indeed ye
do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech
you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;
Keep up the good work!
[11]
And
that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with
your own hands, as we commanded you;
Remember the overall subject
of these two letters to the Thessalonians is the return of Jesus Christ
whom they were expecting soon.
Paul wanted to make sure they kept
their "day jobs" and did not neglect their daily duties in the zeal of
their expectation and suddenly find themselves in a financial situation
where they were now dependent on handouts from others to make ends meet.
That doesn't look good for the home
team!
Note: History shows that down through
the ages many groups and churches have obviously not understood either
1st or 2nd Thessalonians and have set dates for the return of Christ and
even sold all their possessions and discontinued their daily duties accordingly.
In their cumulative ignorance they have given the scoffers of these last
days additional fodder to bring accusations upon Christianity.
Peter knew how it would be in these
last days and he foretold of it in his second epistle:
2 Peter
3:1
This second
epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure
minds by way of remembrance:
Peter isn't going to tell us
something here that we shouldn't already know.
He is REMINDING us!
[2]
That
ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets,
and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
Have you read the words of
the holy prophets?
Good!
Remember also the commandments and
good advice Paul and Silas and Timothy gave to those Thessalonians.
There is a lot of lust out there!
[3]
Knowing
this first, that there shall come in the
last days scoffers, walking after their
own lusts,
My how Scoffertown has grown
today with a multitude of groups walking after their own lusts.
We could start a long list of them
beginning on the far left wing with all the Gay & Lesbian organizations
and then add one lustful liberal wacko group after another.
[4]
And
saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell
asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
The Scofferites will ALL point
to the history of those we spoke of earlier who have expected Christ to
return at any moment, and they will scoff at anyone who believes these
are the last days.
You know what?
That is one of the very signs
of the last days.
We just read it in 2 Pet. 3:3.
1 Thes.
4:12
That ye may
walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of
nothing.
The point Paul is making is
that we should do things God's way.
If we work hard and are honest in
dealing with our fellow man and live a good clean lifestyle following His
commands, He will see to it that we have lack of nothing.
Maybe we won't all become rich with
earthly possessions but then we look forward with maturity to getting rid
of the feisty gorilla and inheriting the riches of eternal life in a spiritual
body.
Meanwhile we won't have to beg someone
for a banana.
In our next few studies we are going
to find out where the dead are and learn what happens to them and "we who
are alive and remain" when the last Trump sounds.
To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits;
to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, you accomplish both.
1 Corinthians
10:11 Now all these things happened unto them {the
ancient Israelites} for
ensamples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends
of the world are come.
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