How to Fix Deficiencies in Your Faith
Notes
Transcript
As we begin this morning I want to draw your attention to I Thessalonians 3:10.
10 Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?
We need to keep the immediate context of this verse in mind so that we understand why Paul says what he does in the rest of the letter.
Paul’s earnest prayer- that which was on his heart night and day was that God would allow him to see the Thessalonians again so that he might perfect what was lacking in their faith. Another way you could translate this verse is that Paul wanted to complete what was lacking in their faith or he wanted to fix up any deficiencies in their faith.
I am thankful for my wife because she completes what is lacking in my life- she fixes up many of the deficiencies that I have. For instance- she has a tender compassionate heart of a mom for our kids. If one of our children falls and hurts himself they know not to come to dad. I take one look at them, make sure nothing is broken and that they are not bleeding, and I say, “no blood no foul- your fine!” Now, that doesn’t go over very well for my three year old. No he needs the tender loving embrace of his mom- and no one else can do what a mom can in holding that little child. There is nothing so reassuring as the tender loving embrace of a mother for her children. And my wife completes what is lacking in my ability to parent our children- she fixes up my deficiencies.
This is what Paul is seeking to do for the Thessalonian believers throughout the remainder of the letter. And we already know why Paul earnestly desires to help these believers in this manner.
7 But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.
11 just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children,
This was the kind of spiritual relationship that Paul had toward the Thessalonians and it is one of the main reason why the church in Thessalonica was a healthy thriving church. Paul gave them the gospel and they trusted Christ, but that was only the beginning of the ministry for Paul. He says I became like a mother and father to you and the most earnest prayer of my heart is that I might invest my life in your life so that I can complete what is lacking in your faith.
Now, it wasn’t like the Thessalonians were backslidden Christians.
1 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 excel still more.
So, what is important for our consideration this morning is how did Paul go about fixing up the deficiencies of their faith? What exactly did Paul do so that these believers would excel still more and more in their faith?
In other words how do we go about fixing up the deficiencies in each other’s faith?
What Paul does in the remainder of this letter is that he personally calls their attention to the authority of the Word of God. Or you could say it this way, Paul has a series of Bible studies with these believers, and in these studies he exhorts and encourages and implores them, he asks and he urges them, he even admonishes and rebukes them, he helps them and he is patient with them- and all of that is in the context of studying the Word of God.
Now they didn’t have the completed cannon of Scripture back in those days- Scripture was literally being penned in this very letter. But look at verse 2.
2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
2 οἴδατε γὰρ τίνας παραγγελίας ἐδώκαμεν ὑμῖν
For you know what (apostolic) instructions we gave to you
διὰ τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ*.
Through the Lord Jesus.
So if we realize that we have some deficiencies in our faith what should we do?
I would suggest that you need to find someone like the Apostle Paul, or Timothy or Silas- what I mean is you need to find a believer who is more mature in the faith that you are. Ideally, someone with the same heart as Paul- someone who earnestly cares about completing what is lacking in your faith. And if you really want the deficiencies in your faith to be fixed you need them to personally exhort, encourage, and implore you. You need them to ask and urge you. You even need them to admonish and rebuke you, to help you and to always be patient with as you study the Word of God together.
And that works both ways. Chances are there is someone in this church who is more mature in their faith than you and chances are there is someone in this church who is less mature in the faith than you are. So you need someone to exhort you in Scripture and you then need to be doing some exhorting of your own.
How specifically does Paul do that here in chapter 4?
The first bible study that Paul takes the Thessalonians through is a study on sanctification.
Paul sought to fix up the deficiencies in the Thessalonians faith in the area of sanctification.
I think we see four truths in this passage that are vital to know and live out if we are to fix up the deficiencies in our faith.
What are those truths?
I. It is the will of God that you live sanctified lives (4:3)
I. It is the will of God that you live sanctified lives (4:3)
3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
Listen, brothers and sisters in Christ- this morning I want to bring to bear the authority of the Word of God in your life.
And you and I need to be exhorted that it is the very will of God that you live sanctified lives.
So many people wonder, “What is the will of God for my life?”
Have you ever asked yourself that question? Well, I can tell all of you what the will of God is for your life and you don’t have to wonder because God tells us in His Word plain as day- God’s will for you is to become sanctified!
“Sanctification” / ἁγιασμός— the act of becoming more personally dedicated to God; especially by becoming more distinct, devoted, or morally pure.
It is the idea of personal dedication to the interests of God- to become holy or consecrated or set apart solely for God both in the character and content of your living.
19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
It is becoming all the time more and more like Jesus Christ our Savior.
30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
To become sanctified effects every area of your life- it is all encompassing.
31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
How specifically does Paul apply the area of sanctification to the lives of the Thessalonian believers?
3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
Abstain from fornication or sexual immorality.
“Fornication” / πορνεία- meant any kind of sexual relation outside of heterosexual marriage, whether it was fornication, adultery, homosexuality, incest, prostitution, or bestiality.
4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
Intimacy is beautiful thing within the confines of commands of Scripture. It is between a man and a woman and it is honourable and undefiled only in marriage.
As children of God who have been purchased with the Blood of the spotless Lamb of God- as Paul tells the Colossians
We have been qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints in LIGHT.
We have been rescued from the domain of darkness.
We have been transferred into the kingdom of His beloved Son.
We have been redeemed and we have been forgiven.
Because of our identity in Christ- it is the will of God that we should become more and more sanctified in our daily living- we should become more and more personally dedicated to God in the area of moral purity. Because of what we are in Christ our lives should be changing to be more and more like Christ. And that means we must abstain from πορνεία or sexual immorality of any kind. And this goes so much deeper than just the physical acts.
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.
How do we do that? How do we live such sanctified lives that sexual immorality of any kind in not even named among you. In other words when someone in our community brings up Faith Baptist Church how do we live our lives in such a way that the furthest things from their mind is that we are involved in any way in πορνεία.
II. It is the will of God that you learn how to control your bodies in holiness and honor (4:4-5)
II. It is the will of God that you learn how to control your bodies in holiness and honor (4:4-5)
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:
4 εἰδέναι ἕκαστον ὑμῶν
That each one of you know,
τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σκεῦος
his own vessel,
κτᾶσθαι
how to possess
ἐν ἁγιασμῷ καὶ τιμῇ*,
in sanctification and honor
5 μὴ ἐν πάθει ἐπιθυμίας καθάπερ καὶ τὰ ἔθνη
Not in lustful passion like also the Gentiles
τὰ μὴ εἰδότα τὸν θεόν*,
who do not know God,
This can be a real problem- some people really struggle with this especially in the area of sexual immorality. So how do we do it? Well, in and of ourselves it is impossible, but God enables us and He gives us everything we need for life and godliness.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
This is the exact opposite of what Paul is teaching in I Thessalonians 4- Each one of you need to know how to posses his own vessel in sanctification and honor. Nothing the flesh does is holy and set apart unto God and nothing the flesh does is honoring to God in any way. And every moment you are alive and in an un-glorified state you will battle against your flesh. So what is the key? What is the answer? How do we control our bodies in sanctification and honor?
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
If you don’t get this or you struggle getting this let me tell you right now- you need a mature believer like a Paul or Silas or Timothy- to study the Bible with you and help you- you need a life that you can imitate and grow. I am afraid that we have too many Christians who are going around still living in lustful passions like the Gentiles who do not know God because they have never had anyone who was willing and able to come along side of them and to pray as earnestly as possible for them so that any deficiency in their faith might be fixed up. People, the church desperately needs these kinds of relationships everywhere and for everyone so that all of us can learn how to control our bodies in holiness and in honor because Jesus deserves it!
III. It is the will of God that you do not exploit Christian brothers and sisters in this area (4:6)
III. It is the will of God that you do not exploit Christian brothers and sisters in this area (4:6)
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.
“Go beyond” / ὑπερβαίνω- to transgress by going beyond proper limits in behavior.
To overstep v. — to pass beyond limits or boundaries, whether figuratively or literally.
Don’t overstep the boundaries of moral purity.
“Defraud” / πλεονεκτέω- to take advantage of, exploit, outwit, defraud, cheat
To exploit v. — to use or manipulate to one’s advantage.
Don’t overstep the boundaries of moral purity and don’t take advantage of your brother (church members) in the matter of sexual immorality.
Oh pastor that would never happen. Oh really? Listen, if you are not walking in the Spirit, being constantly controlled by the Spirit, letting the Word of Christ dwell in your entire being richly in all wisdom, but instead have have allowed yourself to become careless in your spiritual walk and you are being controlled by your lustful passions just like those who do not know God- you better believe that overstepping moral boundaries and exploiting your Christian brothers and sisters in the are of sexual immorality is entirely possible!
You have heard the stories of pastors falling from the ministry because they were participating in adultery. Or church members who can’t even be in the same town as each other because sexual immorality has destroyed their lives. And that kind of thing destroys any kind of testimony that the church has in the community. This kind of activity is the antithesis of the way local church believers are supposed to treat one another- friends we are supposed to love one another- agape love, self sacrificial love- I am called upon by God to sacrifice my life for your sake. Sexual immorality is the exact opposite- it is me taking advantage of you for my own personal gain. And God hates it! So let me warn all of us- don’t do it! Why?
διότι ἔκδικος κύριος
because the Lord is the avenger
περὶ πάντων τούτων*,
concerning these things,
καθὼς καὶ προείπαμεν ὑμῖν καὶ διεμαρτυράμεθα*.
Just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you.
IV. It is the will of God that you live up to the calling that He has for your life (4:7-8)
IV. It is the will of God that you live up to the calling that He has for your life (4:7-8)
7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
“Uncleanness” / ἀκαθαρσία- immorality, filth, impurity, refuse
Beloved, God didn’t call you unto immorality or filth or impurity. And the negative particle is the first word in this Greek sentence. God put the NOT at the very beginning for emphasis- I did NOT call you for this.
BUT- emphatic conjunction! BUT I called you for holiness / sanctification- same word used above, this is the third time Paul has used this word in this little paragraph.
For this is the will of God- your SANCTIFICATION - your HOLINESS
Know how to possess your bodies in SANCTIFICATION- in HOLINESS and honor.
God has called you beloved UNTO SANCTIFICATION- unto HOLINESS!
Do you know what it took for God to call you unto holiness?
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Believer- God has called you unto HOLINESS- unto SANCTIFICATION. His purpose for you is to be conformed to the identical image of HIS SON. And in order to make that possible God love you so much that He spared not His own Son, but delivered him up for us all!
So don’t live in immorality, don’t live in filth, don’t live in impurity- live unto holiness. Why? Because that is what God has called you to. So live that way.
Why else? There is a second reason given here why we should live up to our calling.
8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
Here Paul warns these believers for a second time.
The Lord is the avenger concerning these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you (v. 6)
And now Paul warns- if you reject this you are not rejecting man, you are rejecting GOD Himself-
In other words I am not telling you this on my own authority, Paul says, rather I am bringing to bear God’s authority in your life. I think it is interesting that at least here in this section Paul knew he was writing the very Words of God. He was penning this letter himself, but he understood that what He was writing was the very WILL OF GOD, and it carried with it the very AUTHORITY OF GOD! So listen and obey.
How do you fix deficiencies in your faith? Friend if you are struggling in the area of impurity. If you need help- this is exactly what the church is for. You need a godly mature individual that will earnestly pray for you, that will constantly encourage and exhort and urge you by means of the authority of the Word of God to grow together unto Christlikeness.
It is one thing for me to say:
It is the will of God that you live sanctified lives- and
It is the will of God that you learn how to control your bodies in holiness and honor- and
It is the will of God that you do not exploit Christian brothers and sisters in this area- and
It is the will of God that you live up to the calling that He has for your life.
But let me tell you this if you are really going to grow in this area of your life- you need someone to come along side of you and help you, you need someone you can imitate, you need someone to earnestly pray for you.
AND someone in this church and in this community needs you to do that same thing for them.
And then we can all of us together grow unto Christlikeness, grow unto holiness, fulfill the calling of God in our lives, and be people that bring our Savior glory!