Thessalonians, Part 4

Well, we're going to have a Bible study today, and we're going to continue on our study on First Thessalonians. Last time we stopped in First Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 20.

That was a little bit over a month ago. So, what I'm going to do first, I'm going to do a brief review of what has been covered, very brief, and then I'm going to go into completing chapter 2, and if we have time, thank you, President Michel, if we have time, then get into chapter 4. So, 2, 3, and the beginning of 4. Furthermore, towards the end, I have prepared 10 questions.

I don't have to go back to it. So, I prepared the questions that I'm going to ask you, but you don't have to answer me. It's just for you to think, all right, at the end. And it's basically just showing some of the things that we could have learned from the Bible study, and then you could answer to yourself, do you have to answer for that or not? And then I'll finish. So, it's just a way to just juggle your memory about some of the things that we've covered. Well, the story of 1 Thessalonians, by the way, was the first epistle that Paul wrote. 1 Thessalonians was the first epistle Paul wrote. And we see that, in background, Paul was a devout Pharisee. He persecuted the Christians. He was converted. And then, after a few years, he went on mission trips. His first mission trip basically, he went to Galatians. His first trip was today's city, the center of Turkey. That was his first trip, which is basically the area of Galatians. So, he started it in the church in Galatians. Then, after the first trip, then there was the whole Acts 15 conference between the first trip and the second trip. Then he went on the second trip, and was intending to go back into the Galatians area. But then God, or God's only Spirit, as the Bible says, threw a number of circumstances, led him to go across to Macedonia and into the Greek areas. And then he went into the Thessalonia. And then, from there, they started the church. You can see that in Acts 17, when he went into that area and converted. But they were precious. There were certain persecutions, or precious. And because of that, he had to leave. And so, he was there to start that church only for a very short period, just a few Sabbaths. And there was a lot of people, there were a lot of people who were converted, but then he had to leave. So, he started worrying about them. And then he then sent Timothy to just see how they were doing. Now, this was, you know, still coming out, down on the truck, coming down in that Greek area, where Greece is, he was coming down. And then he sent Timothy up, a little bit north, with the Thessalonians, to find out how they're doing. And the real challenges they were having in the church at that time were basically two situations.

Christ had shown to Paul, and obviously to the church, that the only way people could receive salvation, could be forgiven, was by the sacrifice of Christ. There's nothing that I could do. It's like if I break a law, if I go through a green, through a red light, going through green lights will not pay the fine of breaking the traffic law. So, the law basically tells us what is right and what's wrong.

But obeying to the law does not pay the fine. And so, what Paul was saying to the Gentiles and to the people out there was saying, the fine for us breaking God's law cannot be paid by Christ's sacrifice, not by works of law, in law, whatever it is. That's basically what it is. So, he was having two extremes when he was going out and preaching of opposition. One was, oh well, and therefore there's this grace, this forgiveness, therefore we're just forgiven and we can just do whatever you want.

So, it's an extreme of just forgiving and therefore we can just do what you want, which is not correct. Once you've forgiven, once you've paid the fine, you've got an hour by the law. You know, you don't pay the fine because you pay the fine, I can keep writing the law.

No, you're going to pay the law. So, that's the two things. It's law and grace. The two are together. The law tells what's right and wrong and grace pays the fine, so you can actually be right. So, one of the extremes was saying, oh well, turning the grace of God into lawlessness. I'll allow you to just go on. The other extreme was a self-righteous extreme that came from a phatocycle type background. Then they would say, no, no, no, but to be right, you've got to put these extra things and you've got to put these extra weights and difficulties around the law.

You know, what Paul used to call works of law, works of law, and those don't justify us. Those don't pay ourselves. It's crassicrophistic by itself. So, those are the two extremes. So, those extremes were pressing on the Thessalonians as well, and therefore there was persecution, and he had to leave there in the rush, as we know. But as I said, he said to Matthew, and then he, Timothy, came back and gave an encouraging report about Thessalonians.

He gave a very encouraging positive report. Hey, those people are changing their way of life. They bring an example to the world. They go from idolatry and paganism to God's way. That other people are talking about how well they're doing. Timothy did give Paul a very positive report, but Timothy said on the other side there are a few little issues.

You know, it's not just good news. I mean, that's good, but there are a few problems because, for instance, some people are expecting Christ to come tomorrow, and therefore they say, well, it's coming tomorrow because, you know, our hope is Christ coming, whatever, because it's coming soon. Then there are some members in the church that have a lot of money, and some members, yeah, that don't have anything. So because Christ is coming tomorrow, we can just be lazy, and the ones with a lot of money can just fund us, and we can just all be happy together, you know, just work together.

Or some people were at camp for paganism, and they brought certain things from paganism, like sexually immorality, and things like that. And so there were certain issues that Paul had to address. And so that is the purpose of the letter of 1 Thessalonians, first, to encourage, and then to address certain corrective thoughts.

And the first part of that letter, the first two chapters of Thessalonians, first and second Thessalonians, is basically encouraging, in fact, into the third chapter as well, the same encouragement. But then on the fourth chapter starts the correction, to put them right on a few issues. So, as I said, we went into first Thessalonians, and what we're going to do is we're going to pick up around chapter 2, verse 14.

First Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 14. I'm going to pick up this just to actually put everything back into our mind struggle. First Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 14. In fact, starting in 13, it says, we thank God without seizing. So, seizing, you know, he's encouraging them. And grieving God, thanks, because he had news that what you heard from us, as the preaching we had, you treated it as the Word of God.

He treated it as the Word of God, the Word of God, and giving good results. For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God, which are engineered in Christ Jesus. In other words, you are following an example, a good example, of the other congregations of the Church of God in other areas. That's really, basically what he said. And now we see the name of the Church of God. It's the Church of God. Like you can read in John 17, 12, it says, keep them in your name, in the Father's name. So, it's the Church of God. It's not referred to normally as the Church of Jesus, or the Church of something else, or whatever.

It's Christ's Church, of course, is ahead. But it's kept in the name of the Father as Christ requested it. And then he continues it, for you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen. That's a very interesting point there, and it's interesting to see where the problems came from.

The problems came from the own countrymen. In today's terms, what we would say is, your persecution, your difficulties in the Church are coming from your own brethren. It is frightening. In other words, it's from those of your own close to you that you are getting the persecution. Because Paul went there and preached about salvation through Christ and Christ's suffering. And obviously, he taught that Christ was a Messiah, and therefore we had to look at Christ. And the Gospel is open to the whole world through Christ. That ultimately will be open to the whole world in its time. But we have to obey God. That doesn't do away with God's law. By now, it doesn't do away with God's law. So you were saying these things. So the people were giving oppositions in those two extremes that I mentioned to you earlier on. One is turning the grace of God into lawlessness, and the other one was just being self-righteous and putting it so long. So they had... and where are they coming from? From their own people. That's by the way, they had from their own people out there. And therefore this is basically a fact you can see in God's church today. It's a fact of life. It just is... we struggle to get along with one another. That's one thing we've got to overcome, and we're going to get right.

But it's just as they did who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets. Because obviously, in that time where the on-country men... so the example, the analogy is the same, but at that time those like the ones that were religious, the ones that were religious, and that were believing in the truth of God up to a point, they killed Christ and their own prophets. And they persecuted us as well. And they do not please God. They do not please God. And our contrary to all men. Now, this is a very important thing. They do not please God. So just keep a finger in there, and I'm going to put a piece of paper down by that, and go to 1 John chapter 3 verse 22. Because the question is, is obeying God's commandments pleasing God? Yes, of course it is. But he said, oh, 1 John chapter 3 verse 22.

1 John chapter 3 verse 22. And he's talking about us asking God for things in prayer, for instance. And whatever we ask, we receive because we do two things. And sometimes we don't see it as two things exist. Because we keep his commandments. So we've got to keep God's law.

Surely, but in addition to that, we've got to do those things that are pleasing in his sight. Pleasing God is more than just obeying God's law.

I mean, it's like, if you, most of you are parents, not everyone, use a parent, yeah?

Most of you are parents, and you know, you might tell certain things your children to do, and I might do those things. But sometimes it's those other intangible things they do over and beyond that are so pleasing to you in your heart, where the children do that to you, isn't it? It's little things they do beyond what you can't expect. That is pleasing. And to God, it's the same thing. Pleasing God is doing things over and beyond some of the things that are actually expected to do. And so, those people were not pleasing God, because those countrymen, let's go back to 1 Thessalonians, in their minds, they were keeping God's commandments. They kept the Sabbath, they kept the Sabbath. They were Jews. They were Pharisees. They kept the Sabbath. They did not lie. They did not kill well. They did kill in the end. But, you know, in their minds, they thought they were obeying God's law. But they were not pleasing God, it says.

And contrary to all men. And those people, it says, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved. That's interesting. They wanted to believe the truth, but they didn't want it to go out to the Gentiles, because this is something special for us. We are better than them.

You see, so forbidding us to speak to Gentiles that they may be saved. So, as always, fill up the measure of their sins, for wrath is counted upon them to the uttermost. So, for the Gentiles to be saved to the Jews was really a stumbling block. Because to them, the Jewish covenant, the old covenant, and the things that made them different from the rest of the people, it's like a coffee machine, whatever, that's a cat. But anyway, it's to them, it was a stumbling block, the world being saved. Because they were not Jews. You have to be a Jewish to be saved. So, let's see that this is not something new that was coming. Because if you turn to 1st Timothy chapter 2 verse 4, 1st Timothy, just a few pages ahead, chapter 2 verse 4, it says, 1st Timothy chapter 2 verse 4, for this, he was talking about God, who desires all men to be saved. God desires all men to be saved, not just the Jews, but the Jew and the Gentiles. God's intent is for the whole mankind to be converted, to be changed, to become sons and daughters of God. It's not just for the Jews, it's for everybody. But for them, it was a problem. And if you turn also a little bit further, a little bit further into 2nd Peter, 2nd Peter chapter 3, 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 9, 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 9, it says, the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, the Son counts slackness, but is long-suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God wants the whole of mankind to come to repentance. So that's a thing that God wants all, all to come to repentance. So let's go continue back with where we were in the miscellaneous. We finished verse 16. So these people, they do not want them to go to the Gentiles. So that's not according to God's word. And so Paul made that very clear. Then he continues here, but we brethren, having been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in art, in other words, we went there, we preached the gospel, we were there just for a very short time, and then we have to leave. But so we have been taken away from you for a short time, and every more eagerly to see you, your face with great desire, we really want to come and see you. Therefore, we wanted to come to you, even I, Paul, time and gain. But Satan hindered us. Conditions were such that just made it difficult that they were not suitable for them to, for Paul to go. They just, they were problems. It's like me going on this trip, you know, there suddenly were problems that I just can't go and got to make out of plans. Should I cancel the trip? Whatever, you know, it's just, and then God opens the doors because Satan is injuring us. And that's the thing we've got to see. So Satan tries to stop the work of God. All the time he tries to stop the work of God.

Sometimes we underestimate the power of Satan. Obviously, God's power is a lot greater, but sometimes we underestimate the power of Satan. Turn with me to Daniel chapter 10. You could figure there on Thessalonians because we're going to come back there. But turn with me to Daniel chapter 10.

Daniel is Aion. Daniel chapter 10.

This is a time that Daniel was praying. And then in chapter 10 verse 13, talking about Gabriel, the archangel, Daniel 10, verse 15 says, But the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia.

Now, this was not a physical Prince because, I mean, it's Gabriel. There was coming. I mean, it wasn't a physical Prince that is holding back an archangel.

So, the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia, remember, we have to understand that there are spiritual rules, powers, dominions out there that we often don't understand. And they're very powerful. Because that is the being very high in the angelic dominion of the Kingdom that was held back for 21 days.

And beyond Michael, one of the chief princes came to help me. So, there are strong evil powers out there, for I had been left along there with the kings of Persia. There was more than one. And he was trying to come to Daniel, but he could not come. And he was delayed for three weeks. So brethren, we have to understand there are spiritual factors. And you and I, we looked around us and we see what is happening in the world. We only see the effects. We really don't know what's happening. I mean, you look at the world today. I mean, even over the last week or two, we saw, for instance, that the leader in North Korea died. And there's this new leader in North Korea. I can't even say his name. But I don't know if you watch this young man's face. I mean, he must be 20-something. He's the third son, because the other two are either in exile or in jail or whatever. So he's the third son, he's the youngest son. He's 20-odd. And the first of this young man gives me a horrible feeling. And I don't know what it is. It's either he's so scared, because that face is blood. You see, millions of people perfectly lined up. And there's this 20-odd young man leading this, and his face is blank. He's absolutely not an emotion. And he's either so scared or he has absolutely no feeling for people. I don't know which one. Brethren, we just see the effects of spiritual rulers, and that's only one area. As the United States, as we heard this week, or whatever the last few days, is going to start trimming down its budget, because we have to, and particularly in the military, we're going to see nations jogging for power. They've done it, jogged for that number one position. They're going to fight amongst themselves to jot for that position. So we're going to see situations happening in the world that you and I are going to be amazed, amazed. It really, we are coming in to times like never before. For certain, we've got to understand our spiritual rulers of people around us, that we are to see physical puppets. Let's do it this way. Physical puppets in this chess game, and we need to understand their strong spiritual. Look at Romans chapter 1 verse 13. Romans chapter 1 verse 13.

And Paul is writing now to the Romans, and he says, now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren.

So he's saying, brethren, please take note. This is serious stuff that I have often planned to come to you. But was hindered until now. He was hindered to visit the Romans by whom? By Satan and his powers of evil. So you can see, and then if you turn in chapter 15, the same book, chapter 15, Romans 15 verse 22, Paul says that he gets the same thing for this reason, 1522. For this reason, I also have been much hindered from coming to you. And Satan tries to stop the work of God. He really does. He has done so in the past. You do it again today. And he's doing it. And God's ministers are, in many cases, encountering some great difficulties. I mean, I've gone through some difficult trials, health issues, problems, etc., for the last few days and weeks. This is making me just about to cancel the trip.

And I've been trying to be careful. My wife's been very careful with me, with what I eat, and things like that. But there is this power trying to destroy the trip. So, brethren, just let your examples that Satan is around. So, let's continue back to 1 Thessalonians. We were on verse 18 of chapter 2. Let's go on to the last two verses. For what is our hope or joy?

Crown or rejoicing? What is our hope or joy? You know, as ministers, for instance. And as members in the church, too. What is our hope and joy?

What is it really that makes you happy? Well, I'll tell you what really makes me happy is to see the brethren in the church being together in unity and pleasing God, and the church growing, and brethren growing. That, to me, is one of the greatest joys I have.

And as I go to Brazil, there's those people out there in the bush, in the middle of nowhere, they've got contact to practically nothing, and they're being willing to go. And the little bit we do for them and see they're responding, that's a great joy. To me, and I'm sure to you, as well, to see God's people together is a joy. And so he said, for what is our hope or joy, or crown or rejoicing? It is not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ that is coming.

Imagine Paul. Happiness. And he's genuine now. He's genuine. He's not fighting it. Seeing so many people being the first fruits at the marriage supper, and knowing that a lot of those people are there because of the legacy of Christ.

I think he's going to be moved, and I think we all want to do the same thing, feel the same way. So I get very emotional first because it really is what counts. It's really what counts. So then it continues to explain how he was concerned for them, and he's happy to see they grow. So he's encouraging them. He's really talking about encouraging the brethren. And that is the point there. And then continuing in chapter 3, therefore, when we could no longer endure it, because I just couldn't bear not knowing, that's what Paul was saying, how you guys are doing in Thessalonians. Therefore, we thought it good to be left in Thessalonians alone. So I thought it would be good for me to just say by myself in Thessalonians and say Timothy, I'll be left brought a minister of God and our fellow library in the gospel of Christ to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith. So I thought it was good to send Timothy to help you, to encourage, to build your own.

Because Paul trusts Timothy. I mean, you can read in other scriptures, Paul trusts Timothy.

You can read in Corinthians how Paul sent Timothy and a number of other responsibilities.

He also said, I can be sure that Timothy will look after you because I know he's done. He's got a good reputation. He's that sort of, I know his character. I know him. And therefore, he knew that Timothy would do the job and he could rely on me. So he's saying our responsibility as God's ministers is to establish you and encourage you.

Okay, of course, the church of God, we have a mission to preach the gospel, but also to care for the brethren. And for the brethren is to establish you and to encourage you. And that's what he was doing. But also, he's going to come back to us and write us. He also has a responsibility to admonish them when they're wrong. You see, so to establish you and encourage you. So at the moment, at this stage in the letter, he's just saying to establish you and encourage you. It works to teach and to encourage. And to encourage. And that means it's not, I'm coming here and I'm a great dictator. You do this and you do that and turn this way. No, it's a different, softer, gentler approach. It's a gentler approach. It's not one that there is already. In fact, we read in chapter 2, we lost time. We did a battle study, but let's just look at example. Chapter 2 verse 7 says, But we will be gentle among you as a nursing mother cherishes our own children. And he was an ebb. And you know how we are exalted and comforted and charged. Every one of you is a father that has his own children. So he's comparing himself as a parent, as a mother, as a father, to help people, to encourage people. So our duties as ministers, obviously, is not to be tight. It's not to be hard, but it is to care for the church and to encourage. But look at the point here. Paul absolutely trusted him.

Paul absolutely trusted him. But, certainly, can God trust us? Can God turn around and say, I absolutely trust you that you will do it, what is supposed to be done?

Does he know us? Does he know us? Does he know our hearts? That he says, well, I can trust in you. And because of that, he has to test us. Sure, we have to test to see if we can be trusted.

I mean, the time's in a come when he's going to say, good and faithful servant, I'll give you five and ten cities. I'll give you ten galaxies, even beyond the world tomorrow, into eternity. Who knows? You know, you maybe will be ruling over ten galaxies, which has got millions and millions of planets and whatever God has in plan, therefore, the future. He has to trust us and he has to know that we are faithful. Like Timothy was faithful there. So, we have challenges, we have to be cookies, we have to overcome now, but we have to prove that we are trustworthy. Look at examples here in 1 John 2, verse 16.

For all that is in the world, the last of the flesh, the last of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. These things we have to overcome, because when he's going to send us out into the future, these things have to be gone. He's going to be able to trust us that we're not going to have these attitudes, that we're not going to be like that. Also in John, in chapter 5, verse 18. For we know that whoever is born of God does not sin. First John chapter 5, verse 18.

Now, it is important to fully understand what is signing there. This is for we know that whoever is the now of God. The actual Greek is the now. So the translation there, the true translation, should be begotten of God, not born. We're not yet born into spirit- We are begotten. The Holy Spirit has begotten us. And so we are His children, children of the Father, because the seed of the Father, which is the Holy Spirit, is coming to our spirit of the manning man. We think of it as like the egg. It's now being fertilized with the seed of the Father. And so spiritually, we are the begotten children of God, not yet born, but still in the mother's womb.

And the mother is the church. And so, at the resurrection, we will then be born. So we're not born yet, but we are begotten. But it says, we know that whoever is begotten of God, and you and I are begotten of God because we have God's Holy Spirit in us. And we have Christ living in us, you know, who's Christ's mind, which is God's mind, which is the Holy Spirit. It says, who is born of God, does not sin.

Now, we all can turn around and say, but I still sin. Yes, we do. But we are walking in the light. You see, you read it. Earlier on in John, about walking in the light. We're walking in the light. We're not walking in darkness. So we're walking in light. There is light here. I can walk, but I could, even though there is light, I could still trip on something on the floor and fall. But I'm trying to walk in the light. But I could trip. The trip, the fall, is quote-unquote spiritually speaking, a sin.

But my intent and desire is to walk in the light, not to trip. Walking in darkness is just the opposite. So we walk in the light. So there is, we know that whoever is born of God does not continue to live in sin. In other words, continuing that life of sin is actually got away from that life of sin. It's not continuing the life of sin, but it's in the light of light of trying to do right, doesn't it? Yes. I mean, earlier in John, he says that we all trip. If you don't, if you say you don't trip, that you are not speaking the truth. We all do, but he's saying, we that are begotten of God, we that have God's only spirit, we are trying to live without sinning. In other words, we do not continue in the life of sin, but he who has been born or begotten of God, but he, in other words, who has been begotten, he that has God's only spirit, tips himself. In other words, he tries hard not to do anything wrong. He really tips himself. And the wicked one does not touch him. The wicked one, in other words, exactly, does not touch him.

So we have to be overcome. We have to be worthy. And so, going back to 1st Psalm 3, chapter 2, and it says, and he says, yourselves know that we are appointed to this.

For in fact, we told you before, when we were with you, that we should suffer tribulation, just that he's happened and you're not. In other words, you in Thessalani are having trials. From your own country man, as we saw earlier on, from within, you're having trials, you're having a living of this. But don't be shaken by these problems, by these things that are afflictions. I mean, we all like to have afflictions in the church. We all say, man, look at these problems. We have afflictions. But don't be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. Wow. For in fact, we told you before, when we were with you, that we would suffer tribulation, in those persecution, afflictions, difficulties, from your own country man, just as it happened and you know.

Paul was saying Christians will suffer, particularly from within. That's what he's saying. For this reason, verse 5, when I could no longer endure it, I was just wondering how you do it, and I couldn't take it anymore. I therefore decided, I said, to know your fight. I decided to send Timothy to know your fight. Less passant means the tempter attempted you, and our labor might be in vain. So because of that, I decided to send Timothy to find out how you're doing, so that Satan would not be tempting you in the wrong way, and our labor would be in vain.

Now, this is an interesting point here, to mention about the word tempter and tempted. They're basically the same Greek word. Obviously, one is a verb and the other one's not, but it's the same Greek word, perazo, which means to try to see whether a thing can be done.

So, the tempter was, he was trying to see whether a thing could be done, whether you would go the wrong way or not. But it's an interesting word, because the first word to try to see whether a thing can be done could be used in a positive way or in a negative way.

You can see, for instance, you've seen on TV, they take calls and they do quality tests, for instance, whether a safety belt is functioning correctly, like, or a test drive to make sure that the thing is working properly.

It's to see whether a thing cannot be done. So, it's a test drive, it's a test, it's a quality test, but it's in a positive way to make sure that there's safety in a call.

You could also try to see whether a thing can be done in a bad sense.

You could test something with a malicious intent, a crossing, to put somebody to proof with the intent that they are going to fall and trip.

So, that word, in fact, is used in both ways. So, sometimes that word, in Greek, which is one word, we've got to look at the context to see what it's meant, because it could be used in a negative way, or it could be used in a positive way. Maybe, I don't know exactly how it was, there may be in English today, we've got a richer language, and we can say it's like testing of the quality, and the other one is a terreting, and maybe in English we've got two different words, and maybe they didn't have at that time, I don't know. But the point is, we've got to look at the context to see what it's meant, because you can see in this way, in this context, just as less by any means attempted you, and our labor being vain, meaning certain act, try to see what whether you could actually do what you could go wrong, and therefore our labor would be vain. But sometimes that word could be used in a positive way as well.

Let's continue then in... oh, let me give you an example with that news. Turn to me, with me to James chapter 1 verse 3. James chapter 1 verse 3. James chapter 1 verse 3.

The eyes where the word can be used with, or is being used with one, and then with the different meaning. Let now one say when he's tempted, I'm tempted by God. It's the same little word. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. It's all the same word.

But when one is tempted, he's drawn away by his own desires and impasse.

You see, God cannot be tempted to sin.

So when it says here, where God cannot be tempted, actually the word God cannot be tempted is slightly different. But the point is, that word, we've got to read it in a context to see the meaning. God never tries us with a malicious intent. God allows us to be tested for quality, to have a positive impact, to see our heart, to see our character. But it's got a positive intent to it. A test of quality, like a test drive, like a test of quality. So we need to understand that God never tempts us with a malicious intent. That's what it's meant. So just explaining that. So let's go back to where we were in verse 5. First The Solonius 3 verse 5, let's go on to verse 6. But now that Timothy has come to us from you, but now Timothy has returned and brought us some good news. And brought me some good information about your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us as we also desire to see you. Therefore, brethren, so he was encouraged by Timothy Paul, but now he's encouraging them as well. Therefore, brethren, in all our afflictions and distress, we were comforted concerning you by your faith. We were encouraged that you would be remained loyal. For now, we live if you stand fast in the Lord. So now we are encouraged and live if you remain possible. And then continue. For what thanks can we render? What thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy which we rejoice for your sake before God? Night and night, praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith. So we really desire to see you, and we also desire to help you, perfect you, whatever is lacking in your faith. So you can see he's starting to introduce the correction that I'll ever sell gently and kindly. He's been encouraging all along until the eye, but he's now starting to bring that correction. In verse 11, he continues, Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you. So our prayer is that, and it's a minister's prayer, that you might grow in Christian characteristics like a bounty in love for one another and to all. So that he may establish your heart's blameless in holiness. And you can see he's now again introducing the correction that he, may God bless you, that may continue growing in love through a prayer that is specifying out, but says at the same time that he may help you to establish your heart's blameless in holiness before our God. In other words, he's bringing out the point and says there's certain things that you are not quite holy and you need to work to become holier and cleaner and I want to address that subject in a moment in a sense. That's how he's bringing it in. Before God and Father, I take coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his signs. And he says basically it's a lifetime goal because it really, we hope that you will have that and will be at that stage by the time Christ comes. But that's how he's introducing that.

So, as I said, Paul has been encouraging, but now he's starting to address a need to correction. And the first point that he's going to start addressing, which is we're going to read from verse 1 to verse 8, is about sexual impurity. So let's just read that section from verse 1 to verse 8 and then we're going to go through it briefly and then we'll conclude the Bible study. So that's what we're covering today. So finally then brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God. For you know what commandments we have brought you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not impassion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God, that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the danger of all such as we have forewarned you and testified. For God will not call us to uncleanliness, but in holiness. Therefore, he who rejects this does not reject man but God, who has also given us his Holy Spirit. So we're basically introducing the first correction area and then in verse 9 he's correcting in a different area. So he's correcting an area. So basically what was happening is that they're coming from Gentile pagan practices and they were in a society which was really immoral, very similar in a way to today's society with a lot of immorality. And he's saying that coming from that pagan society, one of the things for instance they had temple prostitutes and things like that, it's very difficult for me to understand how those things were because not being there and not reading in so so it says finally then we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus. So it's basically saying we are pleading with you, please in Christ's name, okay, that you should have found more and more just to receive from us. You know, it was that you should be living more and more in the right way just like we showed you in the example by the way we lived to be doing the right way. That you promised. How you ought to walk and to please God. And so we get back again to please God.

Very important, yeah, to please God. We saw that a little early on. We want to be pleasing God.

And do you remember what scripture I went to that we say to what do we need to be doing to please God? So that was 1 John.

Okay, let's look at 1 John 2 verse 4, which is also a nice one on that subject.

1 John 2 verse 4. So, what we saw early on is 1 John 3 verse 22. But let's look at 1 John 2 verse 4.

It says, for he who says, I know him and does not keep his commandments, he's a liar and the truth is not him. So these people were saying they know God, but they actually don't know God because they're liars, because they're not keeping the commandments. So that's one thing. We've got to keep the commandments. But as we saw in 1 John 3 verse 22, we've got to keep these commandments and do those things that are pleasing to God. And so, how do we please God?

There's many ways how we please God, but let me show you one example how we please God in Hebrews 11 verse 6. Hebrews 11 verse 6.

Hebrews 11 verse 6. But without fight, it is impossible to please God.

Without fight, it is impossible to please God. For new comes to God must believe their beliefs, and there is a reward to those who delicately seek him. So there's a lot of lessons, for instance, we got from us on the net today as well, of points, then we can please God. And so, yeah, we have without fight, it is impossible to please God. For new comes to God must believe that God is, and that God is a reward of those who delicately seek him. We must have confidence in God. And so when we have confidence in God, we please him.

Okay, let's go back to 1st Thessalonians chapter 4. 1st Thessalonians chapter 4.

In verse 2, For you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. So I'm not telling you anything new now. You know that we told you about this before.

So he's just re-ecorating some instruction that he had given there before. He reminds him, and therefore ministers are not just to encourage and to help and to monitor, but it's also to admonish to provide some correction. And he says, For this is the will of God.

What is God's will? Your sanctification. This is God's will that you and I are set aside for a special purpose. Sanctification means set aside for a special purpose. That we're set aside. You know what I'm saying? We're holy. For instance, when we are married, during the marriage ceremony, the minister lays the hands on one's hands, the lay-on of hands, to sit to a side to be separated as one. And so any sexual immorality is breaking that. And therefore he wants us to be sanctified. Here's an example. When we are sick and we get anointed, we're anointed for healing, we also got hands laid on. Set aside for healing for God's specific intervention.

When one is ordained, hands are laid on. Sanctify, set aside for a specific purpose. When we're baptized, hands are laid on. Sanctify, set aside to receive God's Holy Spirit.

So we, God's will is that we are separate. That we are separate from the world, from the things of the world. And therefore that says, you know what God's will, your sanctification. So that was God's will that we have sanctified. That you should abstain from sexual immorality. As I mentioned in the pagan wall, there was a lot of that there. And today in society, the same is true. That each of you should know how to possess his own vessel, in sanctification and honor. That you should know how to take care and possess, take hold and take care of your own vessel. Now, what is your own vessel? Well, it could be our own body. It could be our body. Our body is a vessel that we need to look, take care. And we need to make sure we take care of our own vessel, because it's the vessel of God's Holy Spirit. And therefore, we need to take care of our own bodies, because it's the temple of the Holy Spirit. Our own vessel could also be our spouse, because it says, you know, elsewhere, your spouse, our vessel. So our vessel could be our spouse, could be our future spouse. Because it's talking about sexual immorality, not necessarily just about adultery. So you might not have a vessel yet, as a spouse, but you will have one.

And maybe that man or that woman is going to be the vessel or the spouse of somebody else. And therefore, by you honoring that vessel, which will be somebody's spouse in the future, you are showing respect to that person in the future, to that brother of yours in the future. And therefore, you're not cheating that brother of yours in the future. So it could be in different ways. So, but then each of you should know, of course, this his own vessel in sanctification and honor.

And this is not in passion of lust. And for instance, marriage, it's not passion or lust. It's in love, in genuine, out of love. Like the Gentiles, who do not know God. So he's again comparing to the pagan ways. That no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother.

So again, we're not to defraud the brother. What is defraud? Defraud is cheat, basically. Defraud is doing something that should not be done or typed from somebody else. Something so, so if you are doing some sexual immorality, you are defrauding somebody else, taking a blessing from somebody else. And so it could be looked at, even if a person is single. I mean, I remember there's some years back, there was somebody at ABC that said, oh well, you know, it's only if you are married, or if you're not married, whatever. And a person was completely wrong and wasn't. I think it was stupid. It wasn't one of the lectures. So just the same that, okay? But I'm just saying it was a student. And there was a problem there that then we had to address it that student, but it just shows when the mind is going along those lines, there's something, something wrong, because they're trying to justify something else.

And the point here is, don't defraud his own vessel. And yes, you don't know whose vessel, if you are single, and you doing some sexual immorality of somebody else, you're defrauding your brother. Because your brother may one day marry that girl, or that man, or sister, or whatever it is, and you're defrauding that brother in the future. So that's what it says, so that no one should take advantage of defraud his brother in this matter. Because the Lord is the adventure of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. So he sang to the Thessalonians, we've told you this before, but you still had this problem, and I'm correcting you on this issue. It is a problem there. For God did not call us to uncleanliness, but in holiness, in our sanctification, to be set aside, to be different. Therefore, verse 8, we who rejects this does not reject man but God.

He who rejects this does not reject man but God. In other words, if you are despising this instruction about sexual sins, it says you are not rejecting my instructions. You're rejecting God's instructions.

And the point applies as a principle. If a minister gives us some instructions on God's word and we reject God's word, we're actually not rejecting the minister, we're rejecting God's word. So the principle is applicable to that, and rejecting God is a spirit respect to God, and therefore that's not pleasing God.

So Paul is saying very carefully, listen to this instruction very carefully, and be careful, because you're not just rejecting what I'm saying, but you're rejecting the very God that has given you the Holy Spirit. Because it says the God who has given you the Spirit, and why do we receive God's Spirit?

He's a helper, and God's Spirit is a helper to help us overcome. So we've got to use God's Spirit to overcome and not to reject and just throw this away. So he's basically saying we've got to develop self-control as one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, self-control, and this is basically where I'm ending today. But as I mentioned, I have 10 questions that I want to leave with you, and the 10 questions are, what did we learn from first Thessalonians today? So I've got 10 questions, you can maybe write them down and take home and see, well, did we get something from the Stalingers? What is one of the responsibilities of a minister? And we heard about some of the responsibilities of a minister. Can we, you know, what are some of the responsibilities of the church?

The next question, what lesson of faithfulness have we learned? We saw that Timothy was faithful. What lesson of faithfulness? How can I apply in my life some principles of faithfulness?

We saw that they had trials, they had difficulties, they went through trials, and the question is, how do we handle ourselves? When do we have difficulties? When do we have trials? When do we have those afflictions? When things don't go my way. That person is not treating me well because they, as he says, you're going to have afflictions within your own body, which means people within your own body, from within, from your own country, men, people are not going to treat you well. What are you going to do when you do that? Are you going to split and cause a vision? So you're just going to, how are we going to handle that? And then, who is begotten of God?

And what must he do as a begotten Son of God? And so, look at it, go home and just say, how can I apply these things in my own life? Then we see a difference between testing and tempting, even though it's a similar word. And in Greek, can we understand the difference between testing versus tempting? Give an example about you and I can please God. And maybe, maybe it's a nice 2012 kind of things to do. How can I change my life to be more pleasing to God in the months ahead? Explain how we should be possessing our bodies.

Give an example of how people befraud one another and therefore how we need to be conducting, making sure that we're doing things correctly. What does it mean, they don't know God?

And we said, well, they don't know God. What does it mean? And last but not least, and what does one do to God when they don't maintain sexual purity?

Or, in a sense, when they don't listen to an instruction from God, taking the principle about that. Anyway, brethren, thank you very much. That's it. We're going to now have the experience.