A Disciple-Maker's Plea

Marc Reynolds

1 Thessalonians • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

1 Thessalonians 4:1–12

Sanctification

Discipleship

Purity

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A Disciple-Maker's Plea for continued growth and commitment

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1 Thessalonians 4:1–12 NASB95

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. For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you. Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.

INTRO: You know, time can really get away from you, can’t it? My kids are growing up so fast… but I cannot think of a single time when I urged them to grow physically. I didn’t have to- that’s normal. But, with my kids and with others, I have taken a number of occasions to encourage and urge them to be more responsible; to take more initiative and to learn to do things for themselves. I want them to be equipped! And the reality is that we spend our entire lives growing in some ways.

In this chapter, we see that Paul transitions from expressing his pleasure in the health and well-being of the church to encouraging them to continue what was started.

It’s easy to think that

A Disciple-Maker Pleads for Constant Growth (1-3a)

Let me rephrase these first 2 and a half verses:

“Friends, we are asking you, urging you- just as you received instructions from us as how you must live - in a manner that pleases God and reflects His character- and by the way, Timothy’s report confirms that you are doing that- still, continue growing and striving to be like Jesus. Don’t become apathetic or complacent. God’s design for you is that you would continually be in the process of becoming holy.”

Now, we have no reason to believe that this church was being lazy or that they were any less faithful and excited about the Gospel. But that temptation is always there.

I tend to think that Paul may have been thinking about that parable that Jesus taught about the sower/ soil. Do you remember that one? The sower spreads seed that falls: hard ground and the birds get it, rocky soil where the seed shoots up quick, but soon dies from the heat; weedy soil where the shoot gets choked out by the world; and finally the good soil where fruit is produced.

You see, it’s all too common to see people who latch on to the Gospel early on- they are passionate, pumped up, eager to serve. And then, they begin to stall. They don’t show up on Sundays anymore, they skip out on their volunteer roles, and they slowly fade back into the culture.

And folks, I believe that this happens too when Christians take a look at their lives and think: “I’ve come a long way. I deserve some sort of reward… I think it’s time for others to step up so I am just going to coast...”

Tell me friends, when exactly are you smart enough? When are you strong enough? When are you wise enough? When are you holy enough?

It concerns me that many in our world today call themselves Christians and are content to just be. They see no need to learn, grow, or change. In fact, I think that many people think that following Jesus is simply “asking Jesus into your heart” and maybe attending a church service every so often.

Might I remind us that Jesus calls us to “die to ourselves” and act on His words, not simply hear them.

Here, we can see that Paul is addressing a real concern- these young Christians could easily compromise full obedience. But Paul reminds them that the instructions they received were give through Jesus’ authority. He didn’t just make up a bunch of arbitrary rules, but instead was teaching them to observe all that Jesus commanded (Matt. 28:19-20)

This is what disciples do. They teach. They encourage. They walk alongside others to aide them in growth; to equip them for the role that God has for them.

The word Paul uses here in v. 3 is “sanctification” This is the process of becoming holy like Jesus. Can I tell you a secret? You and I will never be fully sanctified until Jesus returns. And until then, we are called by God to keep growing; to keep stretching ourselves in faith, love and obedience. That’s why I’m never going to stop bugging you, calling you to repent and to surrender. We need to do this constantly.

A Disciple-Maker is invested in the lives of his/ her disciples and pleads for their constant growth in Jesus Christ.

Discuss: What are you doing to ensure your growth? Have you become stagnant in exercising your faith?

A Disciple-Maker Pleads for Purity (3b-8)

Here, Paul goes into detail explaining a particular area of necessary growth and warning. As you can see, he tells the Thessalonians that being more like Jesus includes putting away sexual immorality.

Now, before we go any further, you and I need to understand the culture that we are dealing with. You see, these Thessalonians lived in a culture that celebrated sexual immorality. They were idol-worshippers and as part of their worship, they would employ ‘temple prostitutes’, they would engage in all kinds of sexual acts outside of marriage. This was normalized in their culture and for many surrounding the church, this new ethic of God-centered sexuality that the church was called to live out was absolutely baffling.

ILL: We can actually relate pretty well if we consider the debased sexual revolution that is taking place in America. Think about it: Hollywood has normalized the idea of sex outside of marriage, sex with multiple partners, same-sex partners, etc. In fact, even many within the church have accepted cohabiting, that is living and sleeping together before marriage. There seems to be no standard here and that mentality is evident on our college campuses and even in our very community.

And our role is not simply to condemn the practice, but to lead Christians in Godly morality under the authority of Jesus Christ. And, looking back a couple weeks ago, you and I need to understand that this is only fruitful in relationships where people receive God’s Word as truly God’s Word. You’ll never convince Hollywood or anyone else that they need to be more like Jesus until they have surrendered to His Lordship.

But for us as Christians, Paul says that our sanctification- the process of becoming holy- includes sexual purity. That is, defining and practicing our relationships based on God’s definition of marriage and His values. This is not about being inclusive… let me just say that Christianity is inclusive of everyone who surrenders their life to Jesus. But you cannot surrender your eternity and hang on to your worldly definition of sexuality.

The Apostle boils this down to having self-control. (Knowing how to possess one’s own vessel)

You can imagine that this would have been a major temptation for the Thessalonians. It might be a major temptation for you today. If you are struggling with lust- maybe you have an addiction to pornography or you find yourself staring a little too long, you need to have someone in your life who will hold you accountable and help you build self-control.

And if you are one who thinks that this is out-dated hogwash, let me just remind you WHO God is. He is your creator. He is the Designer of life and the architect of your sexuality. He created sex and man perverted it. Let’s read v. 7-8 together again.

1 Thessalonians 4:7–8 NASB95

For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

God did not call you to be just like the sinful world around you. He did not call you to simply say you are a Christian, but to continue living in the bonds and sins of this world. No, Paul reminds us that God has called us to be in the world, but not of the world- we are called not for impurity, but to be LIKE JESUS.

And friends, let me just reiterate v. 8- If you are one who does not think you need to grow. If you are here and you think that you can continue in sin and it’ll all be ok because you asked Jesus in your heart a long time ago- listen Paul says that your actions reflect the rejection of Jesus in your heart.

This is dangerous ground friends, and it’s no wonder that Paul was pleading for their continued growth and purity.

Discuss: Do you struggle with purity? What does it mean in v. 6 that the Lord is the avenger in all these things?

A Disciple-Maker Pleads for Increasing Love (9-12)

The church in Thessalonica was a loving church. In fact, Paul tells us that they were “God-taught” to love one another. In other-words, God has written His law of love on our hearts. Now, this is an interesting comment, and I think that we should acknowledge that love is indeed a hallmark of Christianity.

Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians about the importance of love-

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 NASB95

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

This church was a caring, loving church. They practiced love- it was evident that they cared for one another!

ILL- I want to just brag on you for a minute, church. A couple weeks ago, we have a visitor and so many of you went to her and engaged her in conversation. She was so blown away by your kindness, that she wrote a letter to that effect. And I can tell you that I truly believe that you too are God-taught to love one-another and, like the Thessalonian church, you practice it.

I am excited as I see Life Groups nurturing relationships and our Missions team seeking ways to show God’s love to the community around us!

The church in Thessalonica was doing this too. But, Paul challenged them to “excel still more” (10)

None of us love perfectly. In fact, the practice of love is often a very intentional action. And this is why I think Paul addresses it. We can say we love, we can talk nice, we can smile pretty, but love is exemplified through our actions. James addresses this in his letter. Let me read to you

James 2:15–17 NASB95

If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

While James uses the word “faith”, we can understand his point is the same as Jesus’ in his parable of the Good Samaritan.

Love requires intentionality, and so a Disciple-Maker will urge his or her disciples to love on purpose.

Discuss: What does it look like for you to love on purpose?

When we consider these things together, we must do two things:

We must evaluate our personal walk. Are we growing in Christ-likeness? Are you more like Jesus today than you were yesterday?