We all live in this world but do we live life as marked people? As people marked by the Lord that is. This message explores what it means to live a marked life.
Introduction
My Favorite Illustrations (Dig a Straight Canal)
Have you ever looked down on a river while riding in a plane thousands of feet above the ground? If so, you know that the river’s course winds here and there like the track of a large serpent. This is because in its formation the river followed the path of least resistance. On the other hand, a straight canal calls for advance planning, toil, and suffering as those who make it dig and blast their way through the terrain.
Lives are like that. Crooked or unrighteous lives follow the lines of least resistance. They twist and turn as they adapt to the changing mores of society. In doing so, they wander aimlessly with no certainty as to their final destination. Like those who dig a straight canal, the righteous determine their goal and pay the price necessary to achieve it. That is the way of Christ.
As we will see today in the text of 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12.
Turn today with me if you will to the text.
Plea: Walk Pleasingly Before God (vv. 1-3a)
Verse 1 exhortation (plea) to live for Christ.
Grow always, expand, have more of Him in your life. By doing this you will be found as pleasing before the Lord.
You will not shrink away in shame or fear. You will be faithful and solid in your walk.
Verse 2 The instructions to live this way are from Jesus, through Paul, or pastors now. It is not an idle command nor is it one that was just made up.
It is from the Lord and one we should all heed. God is the one who said that we are to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16; c.f., Lev. 11:44).
It is God’s will for you and me.
His will is found in verse 3. Our sanctification.
This word, sanctification comes from a Greek word, hagiasmos, which is related to the adjective, hagios [40], meaning “holy.” You may have heard of the Hagia Sophia Church in Istanbul, which means “Holy Wisdom” in English. This word also has a noun form, ho hagios, which means “the saint” or “the holy one.” In the ancient world it referred to people, places, or things that were consecrated for religious service. With regard to the Christian, however, it refers to being set apart for God.
All of us as believers are set apart for God. We are all saints. This is positional sanctification, meaning that every believer has been sanctified in Christ, set apart to God the moment he or she believes (1 Cor. 6:11; Heb. 10:10). This is why the New Testament can call all believers, regardless of their spiritual condition, “saints.”
Even though we are this we also have, progressive sanctification. Sanctification is the goal of life that every believer should be pursuing, that involves separation from evil things and (in this passage) from fornication in particular.
Then there is ultimate sanctification. When we arrive in heaven it is then that we will finally be completely set apart to God in holiness.
All of this is the direction that we should all be striving for. This is God’s will for us. For us to continue to grow in this set apartness, we are to develop this out more and more.
The command of verse 2 is to live a holy righteous life and verse 1 encourages us to live in this set apart life.
It takes work not to allow ourselves to be conformed to the world. It is like cultivating the ground. If we work hard at the ground it will likely bring forth a good yield. If we do nothing, it yields nothing. We need to work at cultivating a deep relationship with Christ. Sadly, there will be those who, “Instead of cultivating a deep and intimate relationship with Christ” will instead “ignore Him, falling victim to the culture and turning to empty worldly pursuits” (MacArthur 6). These will be conformed to the world and not Christ.
This entails seeking wealth over Christ, desire, power, being the best above all others. We seek the world over God. We want our pleasure to come from the world and all it offers. This is not healthy or good. It is from this why Paul said that sanctification is God’s will for us and that to remain pure from sexual immorality and impure passions.
We need to have…
Purity: Walk Away From Sinful Impurities (vv. 3b-8)
As set apart people, we must live out this will of God.
We do this by abstaining from sexual immorality. We control ourselves in all manner of life. As Paul said in 2 Timothy 1:7 we have a spirit of power and self-control.
By trusting in the Spirit of God we abstain from all these improper actions and sexual desires.
Abstain means to hold oneself off of. We do this through the self-control the Spirit gives us.
Sexual immorality was a massive problem in the pagan culture surrounding Thessalonica. There were multiple and various sex gods and practices that involved sexual acts as worship. It was quite terrible.
Much like today. We have abortion for all. This is a sacrifice to the god of sex and self. We have pornography abounding all over. It seems that we are just as bad now if not worse than the pagan culture of the past.
It is prevalent and inescapable. We cannot go a day without seeing some form of sexual immorality. It is predominant and very oppressive today.
What do we do. Paul has written elsewhere that we are to flee from all sexual immorality and youthful passions (1 Cor. 6:18; 2 Tim. 2:22).
We have another example from the OT: Joseph. He was in Pharaoh’s house serving him. Pharaoh’s wife kept making advances. Until one day she just blatantly came onto Joseph and tried to drag him into bed with her. He fled leaving his cloak behind because she would not release it (Gen. 39:6-12).
He ran away and would not sin. He said that to lay with her would be a sin and wickedness and then he made a great statement as a question, “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9).
It is wickedness against God to act in a manner that is not fitting to Him. Sexual activities that are not within the covenant bond of marriage amongst a husband and a wife, male and female, is wickedness and sin against God.
Even though this section is explicitly stating sexual sin, it can go for any impurity. It does not matter what it is, if it is not glorifying to God, we should flee from it, walk away from it.
When we do this we are living out God’s will. We are because we are:
Being contrasted with the world. (5)
Sexual purity is a key marker of believers from the world.
Not defrauding or cheating others. (6a).
Immorality defrauds and cheats others because transgress means to go beyond, to cross a line. This is to trespass. Any sexual encounter with someone that is not your spouse is trespassing.
To be judged by God. (6b).
As 6b says God will judge. This can be in many avenues in this world. We can lose trust family or many other things. We can even lose our lives if the sin continues (1 John 5:16).
Not Living contrary to our calling (7).
To live in sin and act in an immoral way is not in accordance with our calling as believers.
Not rejecting God. (8).
If we disregard this teaching we disregard God. As the first two verses of this chapter say, this teaching is from Jesus not man. When we reject this teaching of purity we reject God and say we know better than He does.
Paul emphasizes that we have the Holy Spirit in us. God has given Him to us. He indwells us. We are now the temple of God (1 Cor. 6:19-20). As such we are now the Holy of Holies where God would rest in the Temple (Lev. 16:2). When Israel continued in sin and idolatry God’s Spirit left the temple (Ezek. 10:15-19).
One thing we know is that we are sealed with the Spirit and He will never leave us but we can grieve and quench Him (1 Thess. 5: 19; Eph. 4:30). But to grieve and quench is about as bad. We have rejected God and His ways for what we say is better. We have attempted to expel the Spirit from the temple.
Paul is encouraging us to take a stand for something so we don’t fall for anything. Just like the Aaron Tippin song, “You’ve Got to Stand for Something or You’ll Fall for Anything.”
In this song he says that we are not to compromise what is right and uphold your family name. Our family name is the name of God and when we compromise we do not uphold the family name.
Just as the song says that if his daddy had done a little more givin in they might of had more or a bigger house. But he did not because he stood for what was right. Sometimes standing for right means standing alone. But know that when you stand for the right and for the glory of God, you are never alone. God is with you He is inside of you. You have His power.
We do this for a…
Purpose: Walk so Others See Christ in You (vv. 9-12)
When we walk in this manner that Paul has wrote for us, we stand in stark contrast from the world.
Christian love is in stark contrast from the worlds lust disguised as love.
It is because we have genuine love because we know what love is because we have been loved first (1 John 4:19).
We also love genuinely because Jesus has taught us what love is by his teaching us in John 15:13–Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
We love in this way. We do this by standing fast against lustful thoughts, covetous desires, bitter thoughts, or anything that is harmful to others.
When we love in the way just stated we may become ridiculed and demonized. We stand for purity and sanctity and we will be destroyed in the public. This is okay because we willingly do this so others see Christ in us and will believe. We, “let our light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).
The way of excelling in this is by improving our love and seeking to make it complete by this threefold manner Paul lays out for us.
Lead a Quiet Life.
Slow down. We are so busy that we miss life. We miss out on loving others who need love. Being too busy means we are too restless and leave no room for anyone else in our lives. We mistake busyness with productivity but this is wrong. We are busy because we want more and do not want to rest and love.
Much like the the song “Cat in the Cradle.” This man is so busy that he misses so much of his childs life. He missed it and when his kid grew up he did not have time for his dad. The busyness of life ruined this relationship and it will ruin more if we do not lead a quiet life and be different than the world. We need to be content with having enough and not seek to gain more. Enough is enough. Family, friends, and life are worth more than any amount of money or property.
Mind our own Business.
We do not butt into other peoples affairs. We do not meddle. We do not gossip. We do not join a prayer group just so we can talk about people under the guise of it being prayer. We need to live our lives on the need to know basis. When we need to know we will know. Until then we do not need to but into other peoples business.
By doing this we are different than the world. We show love by not injecting ourselves in other peoples lives. We love them enough by letting them live their own lives.
Be Self-Supporting: Earn our own Living
We work to earn our own wage. We do not expect others to pay our way. We work honestly. We were made to work (Gen. 2:15).
We are to work until we die or the Lord returns. The hope of His return does not mean we do not continue to work. We continue to work and stay steadfast in this world. Just as this climber who kept climbing.
My Favorite Illustrations (Keep Climbing)
A mountain climber died trying to reach a lofty peak. When a search party found his body they saw that he fell with his face toward the peak. The party’s report was, “He died climbing.” So should we!
We continue to love and work because He is coming. We do not give in and give up we continue to hold out and fight for His glory daily by living in a sanctified way. We live our lives in God’s will. We do this by walking in the way we have been commanded by God, walking in purity of life, and by walking with the purpose of drawing others to Christ.
We continue to climb just as that climber did. We do not give in because we know Christ is coming. We hold on and hold out until He does or we die. Those are the only two options for a Christian.
Conclusion
The Christian life is a life that is committed to Jesus Christ. It is a life that is conformed and transformed to and by Him. We live in a manner that is worthy of Christ because of Christ. He has given us a new life upon salvation. He has sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. He has given us the holy Scriptures to follow. Not only that, but He has given Himself as the model to follow.
It is by seeking to imitate Christ that we will live a Marked Life. We who consistently seek to live a life of holiness will not allow money to rule, nor sexual desires, but we will love God and others and live out the covenant of marriage if married. The Christian life is work, but it is a blessed work with the Holy Spirit to guide and care for us. Not to mention the guidance of Jesus and the apostles through the reading of Scripture.
He is coming and we will receive our rewards when He does. Will your reward be burnt up because of compromise, or will you receive manifold blessings because you stood fast for Christ?
Stand fast dear Christian for Christ is coming and all will be made right and you will have victory.
