Does it matter?

Buzz Laubach

1 Thessalonians • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

1 Thessalonians 4:1–12

Commandments of the Church

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1 Thessalonians 4:1–3 (NASB95) — 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. 2 For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;

Does it matter how we live, if we are covered by Grace?

Shall we just confess our sins and yet go on and live like the heathen knowing that God, “has our backs?”

If Paul gives instructions on how we ought to walk, that is how we ought to conduct ourselves while in the body, do you suppose it matters much that we do conduct ourselves properly as royal family of God?

Ephesians 4:1 (NASB95) — 1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

Romans 12:1–2 (NASB95) — 1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

What do you suppose this training is all about?

2 Timothy 3:16 (NASB95) — 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

I am supposing that it is a big deal of how we as Christians ought to carry ourselves.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 (NASB95) — 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;

Every generational and cultural decline seems to be marked with Sexual promiscuity.

Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (4202 πορνεία)

πορνεία [porneia /por·ni·ah/]

Paul put the one thing at the top of the list

Nothing new under the sun, folks. Visiting temple prostitutes was being done all the way back to the days when Judah went into Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-Law, thinking that she was a Temple prostitute, and going on at the Babel and prior. there is a whole history of Porneia going all the way back to when the angels took human wives in Genesis 6

“What I do with my body is my business and no one else.”

You might be right if you are of the world. But as one who belongs to the Lord, your body is a temple that belongs to the Lord. And when we take what belongs to God and give it up to impurity, we are desecrating that which had been deemed holy to God.

How does given your bodies away for the cause of demonic religion help contribute to man’s integrity? It doesn’t. It progresses in moral decline. You have broken the first and the second commandments.

Exodus 20:3–6 (NASB95) — 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Attach this with Romans 1

Romans 1:18–32 (NASB95) — 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

It began with Idolatry.

Man takes that which was blessed from the beginning when God blessed man and desecrates the image that was of God made in man

Genesis 1:27 (NASB95) — 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

What man does with the outward appearance of his body is a indication of what goes on within the soul. Poinea is the spiritual aspect of the rebellion within the soul of man. with the mantra “it is my body to do what I want with it!”

with that in mind all social and moral norms are cast away. It would seem that man takes pleasure in marking up his or her body with ink and piercing from top to bottom. black makeup on woman and men. and basically mutilating that which is holy to God.

“Oh, it is just an expression. It’s Art! Get over it!”

Ok. I’ll take up that argument. What does that one’s spiritual life look like then? their walk with God? You ever walk into the art studio where the body piercing and tattooing is taking place? You probably won’t see a bible or Christian conversation going on. I don’t mean to offend those who in their youthful indulgences led them to mark up their bodies and have since repented, these are but scars of a former life. We all have scars both inwardly and outwardly. The expression that seems that these things express is, “ I hate this image that I have been made into and I will spend my life desecrating it.”

I don’t mean to set this up as a legalistic sermon of the do’s and don’ts of a christian, but to bring to your attention of a society like the one Paul is warning the Church about and telling them not participate in it.

Can the Christian, the Child of God participate in this course of life?

Well if one can’t, why is Paul warning the Church to stay away from these things?

1 Thessalonians 4:6 (NASB95) — 6 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.

Exodus 20:15 (NASB95) — 15 “You shall not steal.

Leviticus 19:11 (NASB95) — 11 ‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.

Proverbs 11:1 (NASB95) — 1 A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, But a just weight is His delight.

Remember the Pharisees? they were engaged in all of this. they were living it up under the cover of religion.

Jesus Said

Matthew 5:20 (NASB95) — 20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

“Oh, but I got the blood of Jesus that covers my sin, I don’t need to worry about it. I’m forgiven. I’ll be in heaven.”

I don’t know where a person with such thinking will be. but what Jesus says, I know where he is not going to be. this type of thinking should worry us.

Such a Christian, if one at all, is also guilty of taking the Lord’s name in vein. He wears for himself the title of Christian declaring the standard of the Lord while desecrating his Holy name which is in view by way he cheats his brothers.

No, my friend, if you treat lightly God’s name you will not go unpunished.

Exodus 20:7 (NASB95) — 7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

The things that God values are holy consecrated in His sight. God values these things. He values his own image which man was made to be. Paul says do not do these things. The wrath of God is being kindled even with the message that is being communicated there is a further indictment that none can say, “we didn’t know!

There is the teaching that the ten commandments is not relative to the church age believer. OK, the 10 are not and never were a spiritual code. but you better bet they are still relative to any believer in any given age. they form an indictment against the unlawful practice that is set against God.

1 Thessalonians 4:7 (NASB95) — 7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.

New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries: Updated Edition 167 ἀκαθαρσία (akatharsia)

ἀκαθαρσία akatharsia; from 169; uncleanness:—impurity(9), uncleanness(1).

this is uncleanliness. the Jewish mind understands clean and unclean.

Clean = καθαρίζω Cleanse 1B5 to consecrate, dedicate. 2 to pronounce clean in a levitical sense one is declared worthy to approach God in worship. Acceptable for worship.

Unclean = ἀκαθαρσία one is walking in sin. and is outside of the boundaries of Sanctification which is the only place where true worship takes place.

Does it matter how we conduct ourselves in this life, Christian’s .

Does fornication, adultery, homosexuality, and the like matter?

does lying, cheating, stealing, matter at all when you are covered by grace.

what does Paul write?

Romans 6:1–4 (NASB95) — 1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

Oh, might our consciences be stirred this morning and may fall prostrate before our Sovereign God.

“Nah, I’m saved. I’m going to heaven. that’s all that matter.”

Remember outside the sphere of Sanctification your spiritual life is put on hold. Sanctification and the cleansed spirit puts you into the place of worship. Personal sin puts you out and as you remain out your spiritual life deteriorates.

What does impurity means

no meaningful worship

No spiritual advancement

no meaningful fellowship with God or with fellow believers

no good works are produced

no blessing by association

this means that others lose out on blessing through you that they could have had

marriage

family

Church

community

nation

Loss of testimony

no credibility

NO discernment of the truth

8. perpetual stay means loss of reward decoration and privileges attached to the eternal life.

9. abandonment from the Kingdom

10. agent of the devil (anti Christs)

a. if you are not for Christ, you are against Christ.

A Word of Caution

1 Corinthians 10:12 (NASB95) — 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.

This sphere of Sanctification must be so important that we must keep watch over our lives. We might even be out without even knowing it. Oh we might be sincere and all of that. Can we sin in ignorance and therefore be out of bounds?

Yes. and be sure that all unrighteousness is sin.

But as we are now residing in darkness, it is not long until we begin to commit sins that we do know are indeed of sins. Sins of commission. And soon our apparent uncleanliness becomes apparent.

1 John 1:9 (NASB95) — 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse καθαρίζω us from all unrighteousness.

1 Thessalonians 4:8 (NASB95) — 8 So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

How many times have you heard that the bible was written by man and therefore since man is fallible so is the world of God?

Very well, Mr. Expert on all that is right and Holy. Pleased list the errors and please try not be so stupid to bring up the debated little nit picky things like the two creation stories or the gospels do not line up.

God has given us his god breathed infallible word of God.

and God has given us the spirit which teaches us all things and recalls to mind those things that we have forgotten.

1 Corinthians 2:12–16 (NASB95) — 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. 14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

The Standard of right and wrong does not belong to man but to our righteous God.