1 thessalonians 4

1. 1 thessalonians 4 Grace Bible Church of Pullman Pastor-Teacher, Ron McMurray

2. 1 Thessalonians 4 – Practical Applications in Relationships • Vs 1-8 Sexual Relationships • Vs 9-10 Friendships ( Phileo) • Vs 11-12 Grace Behavior Patterns • Vs 13-18 Teaching Concerning the Rapture • 4:1 “Finally then brethern 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 may excel still more.”

3. EROTAO – PAIndic – to keep asking, urgent request. • PARAKALEO – PAIndic – continually encourage, exhort them to greater spiritual attainments or to walk and live in the divine powersphere. • Principle: True encouragement comes from the Word of God, divine viewpoint. - Mere human encouragement only goes so far. - An encouraging word, a touch, or kind acts may lay the groundwork for future witnessing or spiritual encouragement. • PARELAMBANO – AAIndic – to receive sound doctrine at right time ( used in Rom 8:26, Luke 22:2,4, 23,24 ).

4. PERIPATEO – PAIndic – to walk around, to walk with a purpose in life ( divine powersphere). The CWL is a journey from spiritual new birth to spiritual maturity. We are given our lives as a gift from God and we return it to Him in gratitude by maturity, worship, and service Galatians 5:16 — “Walk in the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit was given to every believer. Walking in the Spirit is the filling of the Spirit, and as you are filled with the Spirit you are fulfilling the purpose for which you were left here.

5. - 2 Corinthians 5:7 — “Walk by faith and not by sight.” Faith refers to the faith-rest technique. - Ephesians 5:2 — “Walk in love.” This is not sentimental, gushy love, it is the filling of the Spirit, divine love, love for everyone, love for the unlovely. - Colossians 4:5 — “Walk in wisdom.” Wisdom is the application of doctrine to experience. - 1 John 1:7 — “Walk in the light.” Walk in the concept of the Word of God. The Word is light. Not only is Christ the Light of the world (salvation) but the Bible is light. Walk in the light of divine viewpoint.

6. - Ephesians 4:1 — “Walk worthy of the vocation.” Every believer has a vocation, he is personally in full-time Christian service, he represents the Lord Jesus Christ on earth. God has a purpose for the believer’s life. “and to please God” - Six ways to describe pleasing God By asking for the right things — 1 Kings 3:9,10 By living a separated life [unto the Lord] — 2 Timothy 2:4. By doing His will — Hebrews 13:20,21 By walking in fellowship with Him — Hebrews 11:5 cf Genesis 5:24. By praising God — Psalm 69:30,31 By use of the faith-rest technique — Hebrews 11:6

7. 4:2 “For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.” • OIDA Pf Act Indic – to have known from the past. • PARAGGELIAS – injunctions, charges, command (Acts 16:24), prohibition (Acts 5:28), correct living ( 1 Tim 1:5 ) , military term in writings of Xenophon and Polybius. • The Lord Jesus gave these commands to Paul and he passed them onto the Thessalonians. • They are recorded in the eternal Word of God for us to study and apply to our lives.

8. 4:3 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality.” • THLEMA – will of God recorded in Bible that overrides cultural norms and standards, personal desires, lusts, or laws. ( Exodus 20:14, Lev 18:20, Matthew 5:27-28 ) • Example: In some African nations it is allowed for a man to have many wives (polygamy). Once the people become believers in Christ then this practice must stop and obey the Will of God ( monogamy -one husband to one wife – 1 Cor 7:2-5 ).

9. HO HAGIASMOS – your sanctification, holiness, or set apart to live according to the values of Christ (Romans 6:11-13, Eph 4:24 ). • This was a problem is Thessalonica as it was in most of the Greek cities where they had heathen temples and where the system of heathen salvation was getting drunk as many times as possible and indulging in as much sex as possible (like college campuses). • This has overflowed into the problem of the Thessalonian believers for this reason. Many of them had been converted right out of the heathen temples and they had been in the practice of these things for a long time. • All of a sudden they find that the pattern has to be broken and they find it a little difficult. Therefore, they ask, how do we handle it?

10. Answers: Romans 7:21 we have the OSN in us that fights against the will of God. • 1 John 3:9 the Holy Spirit gives us the desire to please Christ and avoid temptations of the OSN. • Hebrews 4:12 The Word of God evaluates our motives and intents of the heart. • The OSN is capable of producing immoral sexual temptations, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness in our hearts. ( Mark 7:21-23, Lk 6:45 )

11. The OSN is so insidious that many believers think that it is the devil who is directly tempting them but it is the OSN. • The believer must search and cleanse his heart by comparing his thoughts to the Word of God and free ourselves from OSN slavery. ( 1 Cor 4:3-5 ) • 1 Cor 4:3-5 tells us that our motives are known by God. We do not know the motives of others but God does so it is easy for us to misunderstand or misjudge the motives of others. • When the OSN controls our heart (right lobe) then it becomes deceitful and gains strength in arrogance and the body lusts shift into high gear.

12. When the OSN controls our mind and body then we excel in lusts ( power, sex, money, public recognition, chemical stimulation, perversions, self rule) and trends ( religious legalism, asceticism, and lasciviousness, criminal activity ). • James 1:22 be doers of the Word not just hearers only. If lusts and trends dominate us then we are losing the battle. • When the OSN controls the soul it can lead to defeatism, depression, suicidal thoughts, and the world system has no answers.

13. Human psychology falls short of understanding the human soul because it puts emphasis upon the synapses of nerve endings in the brain. • In other words psychologists look for a physical reason for mental problems so they push counseling and medications as solutions. • For believers the solution is found in the Word of God ( Philippians 2:13 God works in us if we allow Him to perform His will ). • The real problem is the OSN and sin patterns that dominate our lives, not nerve synapses in the brain.

14. I have been to many seminars where doctors, social health professionals, psychologists, and psychiatrists correctly identify a problem and then come up with the wrong solutions ( medications, humanistic based counseling, temporary solutions). • Temptation from the OSN ( lusts ) lead us away from the Holy Spirit over and over until it becomes a way of life ( Eph 4:22 “deceitful lusts”, Titus 3:3). • We are drawn away from watchfulness to rationalization, to overconfidence, to dominance by a lust pattern. ( 1 Cor 10:12 “take heed lest you fall”)

15. The OSN tempts us to go ahead and sin ‘because you can always confess it later’. This develops a sin pattern in the soul, sinful nerve synapse path, and causes scar tissue that gives the OSN easier access to the soul. • These sin paths must be destroyed through CSB and rebuilding a Biblical thought pattern. • The first solution is 1 John 1:9 confession of sin that puts the Holy Spirit back in control and breaks the OSN’s power over us.

16. “abstain from sexual immorality” – first area that Paul deals with among Thessalonians. • APECHO – PMInfin – hold away from, abstain from PORNEIA sexual immorality ( fornication, adultery, prostitution, homosexuality, lesbianism ). • The Thessalonians in Greek and Roman culture were cultured in sexual immorality. It was acceptable to them before salvation. • Bible Doctrine overrides Culture. They must learn the ways of Christian virtue. • Corinthians were also warned: 1 Cor 1:4-9, 5:1-5, 6:12-20.

17. 4:4 “that each one of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor.” • OIDA – Pf Act Indic – to have known from doctrine applied, full experience. • KTAOMAI – PMInfin – to continue to acquire or possess. It means to be controlled by the Holy Spirit on the inside. You do not possess your vessel when the old sin nature plays up. • Obviously, when the old sin nature controls things you are not possessing your vessel, you are not solving anything. • The Holy Spirit must control the vessel. So possessing the vessel is the filling of the Spirit.

18. This means that every believer must know how to be filled with the Spirit to solve this problem or, as a matter of fact, any other. The filling of the Spirit provides the divine power to meet these problems. • SKEUOS – vessel or human body, 2 Cor 4:7 , and sexual urges, 1 Thess 4:4, our body is a vessel or container of the soul ( Acts 9:15; 2 Timothy 2:20,21 ). • A vessel is a container. Your body is a container and your body contains your soul, your spirit, the Holy Spirit, etc. • EN HAGIASMO in the sphere of sanctification, your body is set apart for Christ’s use rather than for the use by the OSN.

19. Believers are to be sanctified or set apart for Christ in their souls and bodies. • We are given the gift of marriage so that we may have a soul and body relationship with someone of the opposite sex. • Love, companionship, friendship, sexual fulfillment, and contentment are the results of a good marriage relationship. • Your soul and body needs will be fulfilled in a good marriage relationship. Everything else is OSN temptation ( mental and physical affairs, pornography ).

20. It is the OSN that tells you to have an affair and then justify it by thinking: - “My mate does not understand my needs” - “My mate is not meeting my needs” - “No one will get hurt by this” -”I won’t get caught, don’t ask don’t tell” - “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” ( a lie, because what you do in your soul and body stays with you through scar tissue and divine discipline) • If you are having marital problems then talk it out with your pastor and find the Biblical sanctification solution.

21. 1 Cor 7:2-5 husband and wife are to have sex with each other and meet each other’s needs ( including conversation, hugs, kissing, touching, caressing, acts of kindness, sex ). • A great marriage relationship is the solution to sexual immorality and infidelity. • Hebrews 13:4 “let the marriage be honorable in all things and the sexual intercourse undefiled, for fornication and adulterers God will judge.” (Honorable – TIMN – means to stay in fellowship with one another at all times, talk, solve problems, do not allow anything or anyone to come between you).

22. Warning: If you find yourself infatuated with someone ( OSN temptation ) through conversation, social infidelity, desiring sex with them, then you are NOT BEING HONORABLE TO YOUR MATE AND ARE HEADED FOR DIVINE DISCIPLINE. • 4:5 “Not in lustful passions like the Gentiles who do not know God.” • PATHEI EPITHUMIAS – passions or lusts. A man may desire his wife in sex but must not lust after her because that will lead to sexual abuse, disrespect, and perversions. • Man involved in lusts compares his wife to other women ( TV, movie and porn prostitutes who sell their souls and bodies for money but they receive little or no soul fulfillment from the sex ).

23. Husbands are to protect their wives from being expected to be prostitutes, porn queens, or from any worldly promoted sex idol. • Husbands are to first have a soul relationship with their wives and only then will a healthy sex life satisfy him and fulfill her. • Husbands are to reject the modern Sodom and Gomorrah ideas promoted by all media sources which are perversions ( Romans 1:18-32 ) and will destroy a Biblical marriage.

24. “Gentiles who do not know God” – TA ME EIDOTA TON THEON - PF Act Ptc – do not know God experientially through salvation nor His character through the Word. • Gentiles worshipped false gods in their heathen temples and lived for sexual perversions which left them empty and unfulfilled. • Principle: Lusts never satisfy the soul or body. • 1 Cor 10:32 - Under God’s training the believer is able to overcome his lust patterns.

25. Doctrine of Adultery 1. Definition. – PORNEIA AKATHARSIA and other words for adultery are used in the sense of any sexual activity outside of divine institution #2, i.e. marriage. • Sex is designed, of course, by God for right man, right woman relationship only. This marriage relationship protects the right man and the right woman. • But it must be remembered that sex is not love, sex when properly used is an expression of category #2 love relationship. • Adultery may be categorized as fornication, seduction of a member of the opposite sex, or it may be categorized as abnormal as previously noted. 2. The Bible prohibits adultery. • It is prohibited in the Mosaic law — Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18.

26. It is prohibited in the New Testament — 1 Cor in. 6:18; Acts 15:20; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3. • Mental adultery is prohibited and can put scar tissue on the soul, i.e. fantasy sexual affairs without accountability to God and your mate— Matthew 5:27,28. • Incest is forbidden — Leviticus 18:6ff; 20:14; 1 Corinthians 5:1-7; Deuteronomy 27:20. • Homosexuality is forbidden — Leviticus 18:22; 20:13. • Bestiality is also forbidden — Leviticus 18:23;20:15; Deuteronomy 27:21.

27. 3. There are two passages which indicate the reversionistic destruction of the soul through adultery as a frantic search for happiness. • The reversionistic destruction of the soul comes from the wrong attitude toward Bible doctrine resulting in setting up in the soul reactor factors of one kind or another. • The reactor factors always begin with something like negative volition toward any authority of any kind. • Boredom or disillusion or discouragement, frustration, are all intensified by mental attitude sins such as bitterness, vindictiveness, implacability, pride, hatred, and so on.

28. These are the reactor factors that start because a believer is out of sorts with regard to the Word of God. In other words, he has the beginning of his negative volition. • Reactor factors under the activity of the old sin nature always lead to a frantic search for happiness. The one in this context is adultery, there are many other types. • The frantic search for happiness, once begun, intensifies whatever reactor factors were involved here.

29. The three stages — reaction, frantic search for happiness, intensification — are already based upon apathy and indifference to the Word of God. • But now comes the strong negative volition, the total antagonism or total apathy, or total rejection of the authority of the pastor, or conflict with someone in the congregation. • Whatever it may be, all of these things start the next phase of the destruction of the soul which is the confirming of negative volition toward doctrine. • This negative volition automatically starts the opening of the MATAIOTAI, the vacuum, through which come the doctrine of demons of 1 Timothy 4:1.

30. And as this sort of information comes into the left lobe the believer is now under the influence of doctrine of demons. (socialism, liberalism, evolution, social engineering, communism, Facism, eastern mysticism in the church, new age theology. • This is called demon influence in contrast to demon possession. • No believer can be demon possessed, believers can only be under demon influence. • Demon influence makes a patriot into a traitor, a conservative into a liberal, etc.

31. All of the demon influence concepts cause the person to take in the doctrine of demons, and this is called “darkness.” • This is blackout of the soul. It causes hardness of heart or scar tissue on the right lobe. This leads to the practice of reverse process reversionism. (adultery, liberalism and evil ). • All of these stages are destructive to the soul.

32. There are two verses that relate these to adultery as a frantic search for happiness — Proverbs 6:21; Ephesians 4:19. 4. Self-betrayal and self-destruction also exist in the field of fornication. • Spiritual destruction is brought out by PLEONECIA which is insatiability toward things called greed, insatiability in the field of sex called fornication, frantic search for happiness in the field of phallic reversionism. • The physical destruction of the body is also mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6:13-18. In other words, promiscuity does have a destructive effect on both the male and the female body.

33. 5. The sanctification of category #2 love is marriage — 1 Thessalonians 4:3,4; Hebrews 13:4. 6. The glory of category #2 love is described in spiritual analogy — 1 Corinthians 11:7. The right woman is the glory of the right man. The sign that she has her right man is her long hair. 7. Adultery is a bona fide basis for divorce — Matthew 5:32; 19:9; Luke 16:18. • The resultant blackout of the soul, scar tissue of the soul, frantic search for happiness, intensified reversionism, destroys rapport between husband and wife. • All types of compatibility have been destroyed by adultery.

34. In Deuteronomy 24:4 the principle of interim sex destroys soul love and sex capacity, and you can never remarry a man and a woman who are divorced when one of them has had sex after the divorce. • The interim sex destroys the relationship. 8. Adultery and fornication is often used in the Bible to describe apostasy or reversionism — Jeremiah 3:8-10; Ezekiel 16:23-43; 23:24-28; Revelation 17:1-5. 9. The application of category #2 love to the single person. a) The right man and right woman were designed by God in eternity past. Therefore there exists for you an opposite number by divine design. b) The exception to this is the rare case of celibacy or the law of supreme sacrifice designed by God for maximum concentration and production — like the apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 9:5; like Jeremiah, Jeremiah 16:2.

35. c) Every believer will eventually come into contact or meet his/her right man or right woman. If you come together on God’s timing it is going to work out beautifully. God has perfect timing. • d) However, there is no benefit in meeting your opposite number unless you have capacity for life based on Bible doctrine, unless you have waited on the Lord in faithfulness to this principle. • e) Therefore, your life and conduct must be based on the doctrinal principle that there exists on the earth your right man or right woman designed by God and no other person will do.

36. f) Fornication or adultery is accepting a cheap substitute in order to gratify a biological or emotional urge, or to enter into a frantic search for happiness at stage three of reversionism. • g) Divine viewpoint plus faith-rest says “Flee fornication.” • Spiritual maturity, the ECS, and growth reject the principle of frantic search for happiness through fornication, or even being a holy roller.

37. h) Fornication builds scar tissue on the soul, destroys the design of the body and organs related to sex, as well as spirituality. • Fornication, therefore, is the enemy of right man, right woman relationship. It is therefore prohibited in Ephesians 5:3 in the strongest terms. • i) Doctrine in the soul is capacity for category #2 love. The greatest preparation for your right man or right woman is learning and applying BD. • j) Spiritual maturity status gives maximum capacity to express love in sex.

38. 4:6-10 Social life. • 4:6 — “That no man go beyond” introduces another purpose clause; “no man” is literally, “no one”; “go beyond and defraud his brother.” • “Go beyond” is a PAInfin meaning habitual, and it means to overstep, to wrong someone, to give someone pain or sorrow. One of the great dangers in the Christian life is to give pain and sorrow to others. • “defraud” means to take advantage of a believer because he is a believer or to cheat him. • “because the Lord is the avenger of all” — just leave it in the Lord’s hands and the Lord will do a marvelous job of discipline; “as we also have forewarned you and testified” — apparently there had been a lot of that going on in Thessalonica and they need to take up the slack on it. Paul had warned them ahead of time.

39. 4: 7 — “God hath not called us to uncleanness” — social relationship. • Uncleanness is defined as going beyond and defrauding; • “but unto holiness.” Holiness is just sanctification again, and it is practical sanctification. • God has called us to stay in fellowship. When the believer is in fellowship it is called holiness or practical sanctification, if he is out it is called in this passage uncleanness. • We haven’t been called to live out of fellowship, we have been called to live in fellowship.

40. 4: 8 — “He therefore that despises” — he despises in the sense of rejecting God’s provision; • “despises not man, but God” — in other words, he is fighting God in the matter; “who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit” — once again, practical sanctification is defined, the Holy Spirit is given to us. The Holy Spirit controls us when we are in fellowship. • 4: 9 — as a result of having the Holy Spirit our social relationships in a positive manner should look like this: • “as touching brotherly love” — this is not simply overt signs of affection. Brotherly love is what you think. It is the mental attitude of the believer that gives others the benefit of the doubt. • Remember, this is divine love and the Holy Spirit produces divine love, a mental attitude on the inside of the believer that makes him very relaxed and keeps him from minding everyone else’s business.

41. “ye need not that I write unto you” — dative of advantage. It is to Paul’s advantage as well as to theirs that he doesn’t have to go over that ground again. • “for ye yourselves are taught of God” — the teaching is through the Word of God. This is not a verb, it is an adjective. Consequently, where you have an adjective where you expect a verb you just underline it. • “to love one another” — “to love” is present active infinitive. The infinitive is purpose.

42. 4: 10 — “but we beseech you brethren.” He is talking to believers; “that ye increase more and more” — i.e. increase in your love. The increase is in the mental attitude. • Verses 11-12, business. • There are two kinds of business, business which is construed as being industry, making a living; and then business in the sense of minding other people’s business. • 4: 11 — “That ye study to be quiet.” There are three infinitives which follow the purpose clause. “Study to be quiet” means that you make it a point of honor to be quiet. To be quiet means to be peaceable, to mind your own business. • “and to work with your own hands” — to do your own business, referring to industry. “Have the habit of attending to your own affairs and conducting your own business.” • Why is this written? Because many of the Thessalonian believers have quit their business. That think the Rapture is about to occur, it could occur at any time, so they have quit business and are killing time.

43. That is the whole problem. Your business, whatever it may be, is the Lord’s service and you conduct the Lord’s service until the Lord comes. • The imminency of the Rapture which is a bona fide doctrine can have false conclusions: - the first false conclusion is to sell the business, quit work, because the Lord may come tomorrow. Believers should continue in business for this is a part of their ministry unto the Lord. • “as we commanded you” — Paul has previously taught them this.

44. 4: 12 — when you are on the job, one more purpose clause — “That ye may walk honestly.”Your job is a part of your service but your job must be characterized by honesty. • Believers in their testimony before the Lord ought to be so faithful and so good at their job that the Lord Jesus Christ is honored. • “toward them that are without” — unbelievers. Many a Christian ruins his testimony by dishonesty in whatever phase of business he happens to be in. • “that ye may have lack of nothing” — if you do your job as unto the Lord. Lack of nothing means material needs, the Lord will take care of your needs.

45. 4: 13 — an unwarranted sorrow. “But I would not have you ignorant, Brethren, concerning them which are asleep.” • “I would not” means “I do not wish.” Paul is expressing a wish or desire on his part. And the great wish or desire with regard to the brethren who, of course, are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ is that they would not be ignorant.

46. We have a negative plus a present active infinitive. The negative indicates the negative purpose, the infinitive amplifies the purpose, the present tense means an habitual negative purpose. It was Paul’s objective in life to see that no believer remained in ignorance. • The ignorance which is expressed at this particular point is the ignorance with regard to the future. It is a problem with phase three ( eternal state). • What about those who have departed from this life? Here was one of the great problems among the Thessalonian believers, they were all mixed up about the future of those believers who had previously gone on to be with the Lord.

47. “them which are asleep” is a present middle participle. The present tense means that from time to time believers died. This can also be construed as a dramatic present in that it is quite a dramatic moment for those who are left behind and, as a matter of fact, it is a very dramatic moment for the person who departs from this life because to be absent from the body is to be face to face with the Lord. • Life has several dramatic moments. The most dramatic of all is the moment we personally receive Jesus Christ as saviour. Second, the next most dramatic is that moment when we depart from this life because death is the means of entering into the presence of the Lord. Revelation 21:4 declares that for the believer who departs from this life there is no more sorrow.

48. The sorrow is with those who remain behind and it is that sorrow which is mentioned at this particular point. “Them which are asleep” is a middle voice which means the subject is benefited by the action of the verb. The believer is benefited by departing from this life, for to be absent from the body is to be face to face with the Lord. • The verb itself here means sleep in the sense of physical death of the believer. This word sleep is never used for physical death of the unbeliever, only the believer.

49. Why? Because the body of the believer sleeps, the soul and the spirit are awake in the presence of the Lord. • When the soul of the unbeliever leaves the body it enters into Torments, into suffering. • The reason that the word “sleep” is used here for the body of the believer who has died is anticipation of the resurrection. • Resurrection of the believer is simply the soul and the spirit rejoining the body where it checked out and the body wakes up, and at that particular point it takes on a resurrection body, a body like that of the Son of God.

50. “Them which are asleep,” then, referred to believers who had died in Thessalonica, and some of the people were all upset. • They were afraid that loved ones who had already died and had gone to be with the Lord were going to miss the Rapture. • Myth of Soul Sleep: There are a number of passages which tell us that soul sleep is a heresy (false doctrine ). • — Matthew 27:52 says “the bodies which slept,” not the souls. The soul is never said to sleep. • - 2 Corinthians 5:8 — “absent from the body, face to face with the Lord,” the soul is awake in the presence of the Lord - Luke 16:19-31, when the soul of Lazarus departs from his body it is very much awake in Abraham’s bosom;