The second coming of the Lord, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

 

The subject of this passage is the second coming of the Lord.  Now we say second coming to distinguish it from the first coming, known as the incarnation, but the title of second coming  is not given in the scriptures.  In vs 15 it’s just the “coming of the Lord,” or as it is referred to in chapter 5 vs 2, “the day of the Lord.” 

I suppose the day of the Lord is more helpful, because there are a lot of other things that happen concurrently at the second coming.  It would seem that there were some questions that the Thessalonians had concerning death and the resurrection that had been delivered to Paul by Timothy after his visit.  And so Paul wants to answer those questions, and reassure them concerning their own death and resurrection as well as comfort those who had lost loved ones.

But understanding exactly what Paul is talking about here Is very important.  Because this passage is often used as a proof text to support the pre tribulation rapture of the church.  When I say “rapture” I am referring to the premillenial, pre-tribulation view of eschatology that says there will be a secret coming of the Lord at the beginning of the tribulation for the Christians.  But I believe that if you look closely at the text, there is nothing to support that view over our view that it’s referring to the second coming of the Lord at the end of the age, and at the end of the tribulation period.

And by the way, a pre tribulation, rapture view of eschatology was not something that early church fathers believed, nor later theologians.  It did not become a prevalent view until the late 19th century, being popularized by a pastor named Darby, who had visited a young girl in Scotland, who had a vision of the rapture.  Being convinced by her vision and his own study, he propagated that view in the United States, and greatly influenced Scofield who wrote the Scofield Bible which included notes about the rapture and dispensational eschatology in that Bible, which became the standard study Bible for a lot of evangelical Bible colleges across the country, like Moody Bible Institute and Dallas Theological Seminary.  But prior to the turn of the century, prominent Bible teachers such as George Whitfield, John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, John Calvin, Martin Luther, or Charles Spurgeon did not preach or believe that doctrine and in fact was not taught for the first 1850 years after Christ’s ascension.

So let’s begin by looking at this passage as Paul gave it, in the hope that he will address some of these concerns as we go along. Paul begins by saying in vs13; “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.”  He doesn’t want them to be ignorant of what had been promised concerning the resurrection.  Ignorance concerning spiritual things is not good for the faith of a Christian.  For one, it leads to a lack of comfort.  And secondly, ignorance can be harmful for one’s faith.  As I have said many times before, faith is not blind, it’s not wishful thinking.  Faith is founded on the knowledge of God’s promises and believing them.  And so to know the truth is to be strengthened in the faith, which results in being comforted.

Someone recently asked the question, what difference does it make if someone believes in a pre tribulation rapture and someone else believes in an amillenial view of tribulation which has the Lord’s second coming at the end of it? My answer was that I know good conservative theologians on both sides of that debate.  And so it should make very little difference in terms of our fellowship as brothers and sisters in the Lord.  We both are looking forward to the Lord’s return.  What separates us is a matter of timing for the most part, though I think they are going to be disheartened when they find that they are not raptured out before the tribulation, and in fact have to go through it.

But on the other hand, I believe it is more comforting to understand the truth concerning such things.  After all, our faith and hope are in the second coming and the resurrection and our eternal life with Christ.  As I have said before, I think that the doctrine of the resurrection is woefully under taught today in the church.  And yet as this passage indicates, Paul speaks about it as a means of giving the church hope and comfort. And so to me, it is much more comforting to know for certain all that the Bible teaches us concerning the resurrection and not just base our hope  on inaccurate speculation.  And Paul wants the Thessalonians to take comfort from what he has to say on this subject as well, especially concerning those loved ones who have died in the Lord.

Now I said it that way on purpose - “those who have died in the Lord” - in order to explain what is meant by the expression he uses in vs 13, “those who are asleep.”  The death of believers is often referred to in scripture as having fallen asleep.  On at least one occasion it is used and then  clarified as in John 11:11-14 Jesus said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep." The disciples then said to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover."  Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep.  So Jesus then said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.” Believers are spoken of as having fallen asleep, whereas unbelievers are referred to as dead.  Fallen asleep is not a reference to soul sleep, but the idea that the body is asleep but will be reawakened, yet in the meantime the spirit still lives.

This idea of where the spirit of a believer goes when he dies is what prompted me to start to really look intently into what the Bible really teaches concerning death and resurrection. When my dad died about 37 years ago, I wanted to know where he was right then, at that exact moment.  I wanted comfort in his death, but I wanted to know the truth.  Paul said he was writing these things to comfort them, so that they would not be ignorant.  He says in vs 18, “therefore comfort one another with these words.”

The Greek and Roman world of Paul’s day was a world with little hope in the afterlife.  At the most, they believed that there was some sort of existence in the soul, but not in the body. The Greek philosophers taught the immaterial nature of the soul, but they held out no hope for the body at all. 

But for the Christian Paul says there is hope after death that is based on the promises of God. He says in vs 14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.”  Now to be a Christian is to believe that Jesus died and rose again.  Believing in that is the basis for our salvation. But there is much more that Paul is indicating in that sentence than just a creed.  He is saying that Jesus is the first fruit of the resurrection.  And if Jesus is the first fruit of the resurrection, then we can expect to be resurrected as well.

Paul speaks of this resurrection of Christ as the first fruits in 1Cor. 15:20-24 “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.  For since by a man [came] death, by a man also [came] the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.  But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming,  then [comes] the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.”

So you see there is more indicated in this phrase “Jesus died and rose again” than simply a reiteration of our creed.  But it is a promise to those that die in Christ,  that just as Christ died and rose again, so they that are in Christ who die will rise again in the same manner. Notice the timing indicated in 1 Cor. 15; “Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.” Then “But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming.” What that tells us very clearly is that those who are asleep will remain in that condition until Jesus comes again. 

Now what exactly happened when Jesus died and rose again? Where did Jesus go during that three days His body was in the tomb? First of all, immediately after His death on the cross, Jesus went to what He called Paradise.  He said to the thief on the cross who believed in Him, “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”  Where is Paradise? Well, it is a figurative name that is used to refer to the abode of the dead who are in Christ. In this case, I believe He is referring to the upper chamber of Hades which was also known as Abraham’s bosom. You remember the story Jesus told of Lazarus and the rich man who both died, and the rich man went to a place of torment, while Lazarus was being comforted ( notice the use of that word) in Abraham’s bosom.  And Jesus went on to give a description of that place in which He said there was a great gulf dividing the two that no man could cross over.  Lazarus was with his father Abraham, he was being comforted, he was resting from his labors, he was cognizant, conversant, aware, and alive.  The Jewish rabbis taught that this place was Paradise which is in the heart of the earth, which in the OT is called Sheol, and in the NT Hades.  (Very early Christian theologians St. Augustine, Hippolytus of Rome, and Tertullian believed in the righteous abode of the dead in a separate part of Hades)

I believe Jesus indicates that this place where He was before His resurrection was not heaven - as we think of it as the abode of God. You remember that when Jesus was raised from the dead He appeared first to Mary Magdalene and He said, ““Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” So we know that Jesus had not yet entered into heaven and in fact it was 40  more days before He ascended into heaven.  

Furthermore, Peter writes about where Jesus went in His death in 1Peter 3:18-19 “For Christ also died for sins once for all, [the] just for [the] unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;  in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits [now] in prison.”  So Jesus, though dead in His flesh, but alive in His Spirit, preached to those who were dead in prison.  That prison is Hades, the place of torment.  So Peter agrees that Jesus was in Hades, albeit the place He referred to as Paradise, or Abraham’s Bosom, from which He preached to those spirits in prison. 

The Apostle’s Creed says the same thing.  It’s not scripture, but it is a creed of the early church which attests to this doctrine that Christ went to Hades.  It says, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.”

Now I show you all of that to say that if Christ is the first fruits of those that are asleep, then we shall follow suit. When we die in the Lord, I believe nothing has changed from when Christ died and rose again.  We still descend into the Paradise of Hades, a place where we are with the Lord, we reunite with our loved ones who are believers,  where we are comforted, where we have rest from our labors, and where we await the resurrection.

So Paul says “if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.”  So those that are in Paradise are not forgotten about at Christ’s second coming.  But actually they are the first to be raised from the dead.  He says in vs15 “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of [the] archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”

Now let’s look at the order of the resurrection from this passage.  First the Lord Himself will descend from heaven.  Jesus is coming back, physically, visibly, in all His glory.  Other scriptures tell us that it will be as the lightning flashes from east to west.  The day nor the hour anyone knows.  But Jesus said it will be at a time when you do not expect Him.  In 1 Cor. 15:52 it says it will happen in the twinkling of an eye.  In the blink of an eye.  There will not be an opporunity for conversion at that point. When Jesus comes you are what you are, and you will be judged for what you are. Either in Christ, or without Christ. Christ comes to deliver those who are His, and to judge those who are not.

Paul says He will come with a shout, with the voice of the archangel.  Not much is known about archangels.  There are only two places where this term is used, here and in Jude.  In Jude we are told that archangel is Michael. In Daniel 10:13 the angel Michael is called one of the chief princes, so that we might suppose there is more than one archangel. Perhaps Gabriel is another, but there could be seven, as in the seven angels before God’s throne.  We simply don’t know too much about them.  But regardless, here we learn that an archangel who is at the top of the hierarchy of angels shouts at the return of Christ.  I suppose the whole earth will hear it.  I can’t imagine an archangel shouting and no one hears. I can’t imagine a secret rapture happening with an archangel shouting and a trumpet blasting loud enough to raise the dead.

And so this is the last trumpet. 1Cor. 15:52 says, the Lord will come, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”

Then notice in our text Paul says the dead in Christ will rise first.  There are some who believe that when Christ rose from the dead He took with Him those in Paradise who had died in the Lord and they were moved to heaven.  And they use Eph 4:8-10 to back that up.   “Therefore it says, "WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN."  (Now this [expression,] "He ascended," what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?  He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)”. 

But I think the better interpretation of that passage is that when we were in sin, we were held captive by Satan to do his will.  But when Christ rose from the dead, He released those who were held captive by Satan  and transferred them to the kingdom of God.  That’s speaking of a spiritual condition, not a physical one. There is no indication that verse is teaching that Christ delivered all the dead in the Lord to heaven.  Besides, there is an interval of 40 days between Christ’s resurrection and His ascension. But there is in that verse a further support for my claim that Christ first descended into Hades, or as it says there, into the lower parts of the earth. 

So I believe our text indicates that the dead in Christ are still in Paradise awaiting the resurrection.  Paul speaking some 30 years after the resurrection of Christ says in Rom 6:5 “For if we have become united with [Him] in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be [in the likeness] of His resurrection,” He is speaking of the resurrection as something future, not something that has already happened. 

So when Christ descends and the shout and the trumpet sounds, the dead in Christ will rise first.  They will meet Christ in the air.  Paul speaks of Christ coming in the clouds.  So we are talking about the sky above us.  That is what is commonly referred to in scripture as the heavens.  Peter said that the earth and the heavens will be burned up at the second coming of Christ.  So in those heavens, in the clouds, Christ will appear, and the dead will rise first and meet Him in the sky above earth. 

And Paul adds to that in 2 Cor. 15 that at their resurrection, the dead will receive a new body.  1Co 15:42, 52-54 “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable [body,] it is raised an imperishable [body;] ... 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.  But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.”  The resurrection brings about the immediate glorification of the body as the spirit is raised from the dead so that we will be immortal, imperishable.

After the dead are raised, then those who are still alive on earth who are Christians will be raised.  Vs17 “Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”  Those who believe in the rapture have a little difficulty with this verse, because according to them, the church will have already been raptured out at this point.  But they solve that problem by saying that a few people will be saved in the tribulation because they will finally understand the truth of the gospel when they recognize that all the Christians are gone.  But I find that to be not in keeping with the teaching that at the second coming there is no more opportunity to be saved.  In the split second that Christ returns, your eternal fate is sealed. 

According to the amillenial view though, the church will persevere to the end.  Some will be martyrs for the faith.  Some will escape persecution unto death.  In fact, it would seem that Revelation teaches that for the most part, God will preserve His church during the tribulation.  If you read carefully the plagues that  come upon the earth, they are intended for the ungodly, to bring them to repentance,  not those who are sealed by Christ. I think there is a correlation there to the plagues that came upon the Egyptians prior to the exodus of Israel.  But nevertheless, things will get worse and worse until the end, until the Lord descends from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God.  And those that are alive on the earth who are Christ’s will rise to meet Him and the departed saints and they too will receive an imperishable body.  Paul says in 1 Cor. 15, “we shall all be changed.”  And so all receive a glorified body.

And bear in mind what it says in Revelation 20-22. The second coming of Christ results in this earth being burned up as Peter also said in 2 Peter 3:12 “looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!  But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”  So John sees in his vision in Revelation Jesus descending to earth, the saints being raised to meet Him in the air, and then the world and it’s works being burned up and remade as a new heavens and new earth in which we will dwell forever with the Lord.  Heaven comes down, not we go up into a place called heaven somewhere in outer space.  But we remain on earth, though it is a new earth.

You know with all that is known today about cloning, it’s apparent that a body can be made from just a cell.  So the Lord doesn’t need our entire body in order to raise it, and change it to an immortal, glorified body. God can recreate our glorified bodies out of thin air if He desires to.  So we don’t know exactly how our resurrected body is going to look.  There are millions of Christians who have died in the last 2000 years whose bodies have been scattered to the four corners of the earth by now.  Think of those who died at sea, or who were eaten by animals.  But if necessary the Lord is able to keep track of whatever cells there are left, and He promises to raise us up as indestructible, immortal, and glorified.

Paul speaks of that glorified body in 1Cor. 15:35-49 “But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?" You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies;  and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.  But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.  All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one [flesh] of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the [glory] of the earthly is another.  There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable [body,] it is raised an imperishable [body;]  it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual [body.]  So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam [became] a life-giving spirit.  However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.  The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.  As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly.  Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.”

John told us in 1John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”  We will have a body like Christ.  A body that isn’t corrupted by sin, that is righteous as He is righteous.  We will be immortal.  And in that glorified state,  Paul said in our text, “and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

That is a comfort, isn’t it?  I hope you have found comfort in these words. Jesus said, “he that lives and believes in Me will never die.  Do you believe this?”  I hope that you do believe and your faith is in Jesus who died and rose again, so that we might have life in Him.  Even eternal life.

Love versus lust, 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

Paul begins this section with the word finally.  We might be tempted to think that this means he is about to complete his letter.  But Paul is using pastor lingo here.  He means he has finally finished his introductory remarks and is now beginning the main part of his message.  Chapter 4 does mark a new section, a new theme.  Up to now, in a sense Paul has been in the mode of making personal remarks to his friends, his spiritual family in Thessalonica.  Now he begins a new section, and this section is really about sanctification.

I have said before, and it bears repeating, that there are three stages to our salvation.  First there is justification, when we are made acceptable to God, when we are given new life by God, transferred from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of righteousness.  We are credited with the righteousness of Jesus Christ at justification and born again, saved by the grace of God.

The second stage of our salvation is sanctification.  Sanctification is a process of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.  Sanctification is walking in the Spirit and not by the flesh.  Sanctification is the process of being holy, even as God is holy.  It’s learned behavior, as maturity in the human realm is a process of growing and learning once you have been born.  So sanctification is becoming mature in the spiritual realm, walking in the Spirit and not according to the lusts of the flesh. So sanctification is a process of being set apart unto Christ, then following His example as we walk after Him, as we pattern our life after Him.

The third stage of our salvation is glorification.  Glorification is when we are raised to be with Christ in a new body, in a new heaven and earth, in the eternal realm forever and ever.  This happens at the second coming of Christ, when Christ returns for His bride, the church. The second section of this chapter deals with glorification.  But this first section deals with our sanctification.  How we are to live now in the power of the Spirit as we await the return of the Bridegroom.

Now excelling and persevering in that process of sanctification is what Paul speaks of in vs 1. He says, “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.”

Notice that Paul uses a double imperative in beginning this subject.  He says we request and exhort you i the Lord Jesus.  This is about as strongly worded as you can make an appeal.  It’s not simply a suggestion.  It’s as if he is saying, I urgently command you in the name and authority of Christ Jesus. If Jesus is our Lord - as we must confess Him to be if we are to be saved - then He has the authority to give us commands and instructions about how we are to live.

Paul wants the Thessalonians to understand that the purpose of their walk – their manner of living – was to be pleasing to God and not just to please themselves. When the Christian has this basic understanding of the purpose of their new life in Christ, then the following instruction regarding Biblical morality makes sense.

Furthermore, he emphasizes that this is accomplished by adherence to the commandments, or instructions which the apostles gave to the church, through the Lord Jesus Christ. Scholars tell us that the word translated instruction - rendered commandments  in the NKJV - is a military term. It’s not a suggestion, it’s an order.  So this is an order that Paul is making an urgent plea to them to accomplish.  There is a pervasive mentality in the church today that in the new covenant, since we are under grace, then we are not longer under obligation to any commandments.

But nothing could be further from the truth.  We are still obligated to keep the moral law of God.  There is no other way we can define sin outside of the commandments.  The cross took away the penalty of the law for those who trust in Christ for their atonement. We are reconciled to God, we are credited with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, through justification by faith in what Christ accomplished for us through His death and resurrection.  But there remains the law of God which we are to keep, which we are given the power to keep by the indwelling of  the Holy Spirit.  And so if we are going to progress in sanctification, then it will be by adherence to the commandments.  Now there are ceremonial laws which we are no longer obligated to fulfill, because they were a picture of the finished work of Jesus Christ.  And as scriptures tell us, when the perfect comes the partial is put away. Jesus was the perfect fulfillment of the law, particularly the ceremonial laws which prefigured Him. And so for instance, the Sabbath rest is fulfilled in Christ, and we find rest from our labors in Him.  So we are free from the ceremonial aspects of the law. But we are still obligated under the moral aspects of the law.

Jesus said in Matt. 5:17  "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”  He also spoke of two commandments which we are to keep, which encompass all the commandments; that is, to love God with all your heart, and to love your neighbor as yourself.  He said love is the fulfillment of the law.  To love God and love your neighbor encompasses all the law.  Now that law of love isn’t an easy version of the law which was given to us in the new covenant.  If you truly do what that law requires, I guarantee you that it is every bit as difficult if not impossible to keep as the ten commandments. The ten commandments are simply condensed into two laws - loving God and loving your neighbor.

So what follows are commandments given by the authority of Jesus Christ.  He makes that clear by vs 2, “For you know what commandments we gave you by [the authority of the Lord Jesus.”  And then he goes on in vs 3 to exhort them to keep the first of these commandments, which is to abstain from immorality.  Vs3 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; [that is,] that you abstain from sexual immorality.”

Notice Paul introduces this commandment by saying, “this is the will of God.” That phrase emphasizes the fact that this is not optional.  This is a commandment.  God’s will doesn’t change from day to day, from generation to generation.  Paul isn’t saying that this is the Lord’s preference, but you can take it or leave it.  It’s not a deal breaker.  No, he says, this is the will of God, your sanctification. You’ve been set apart for this. There is no other way to sanctification than by observing this command. If you disregard it, you do so to your own peril. And sanctification is not optional either.  Hebrews 12:14 says, “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”  So this commandment concerning immorality is essential to our sanctification.

Immorality is from the Greek word porneia.  That’s the root for our word pornography, or pornographic.  The ancient Greek word translated sexual immorality (porneia) has a broad meaning, referring to any sexual relationship outside of the marriage covenant.  The broad nature of the word porneia shows that it isn’t enough to just say that you have not had sexual intercourse with someone who is not your spouse. All sexual behavior outside of the marriage covenant is sin.

 I think that is important to recognize, because we tend to think today, perhaps as did the Thessalonians, that immorality is not such a big deal.  Living together before marriage or outside of marriage is not a big deal in our culture, even within the realm of the church. Young people today think that living together is more practical.  After you have lived together a few years, have perhaps bought a house together, have tried each other out, then maybe you can get married and have a big ceremony and get a lot of presents.  But it’s more logical to live together first for a while.  But God has not sanctioned sex outside of marriage, and He does in fact forbid it.  Contrary to popular opinion, sex outside of marriage is not love, it’s lust. It’s selfishness.  It takes advantage of another.  True love does not take advantage of another person for selfish reasons.

God grants great sexual liberty in the marriage relationship. Hebrews 13:4 says “Marriage [is to be held] in honor among all, and the [marriage] bed [is to be] undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”  So sex within marriage is good, it’s honorable. But Satan’s not-so-subtle strategy is often to do all he can to encourage sex outside of marriage and to discourage sex in marriage.  Satan makes the same lie he offered to Eve in the garden, that God is withholding something from you that is good.  And so he seduces you through lust while at the same time disparaging God’s motives.

And that idea of sex within marriage being honorable is echoed in the next injunction. Vs 4 can be viewed as a separate injunction, which builds on the first.  Paul says in vs 4, “that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor.”  In the past, when I read this verse, I always assumed the reference to “his own vessel” referred to my body.  But actually, Greek scholars tell us that vessel was also a term that the rabbis used in reference to one’s wife. I suppose it could be interpreted either way, but I think the context suggests that the wife is to be held in honor.  Marriage which is the union of husband and wife, is to be held in honor before all, as we read in Hebrews 13:4.  And this is speaking of honoring one’s wife and the marriage commitment. 

Marriage honors the wife and marriage honors God. Marriage is a picture of Christ’s relationship with the church, which the Bible calls the bride of Christ. Marriage was instituted by God in creation.  We find that account in Gen. 2:23-25 And Adam said, “This [is] now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.  And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” 

So immorality is in a sense uncovering the nakedness of someone who is not your wife, who you are not committed to be one flesh with for the duration of your life.  To extrapolate on that, immorality is dishonoring someone else’s wife, dishonoring someone else’s marriage. Even if it occurs before either party is married, it is still dishonoring the future marriage of both. Immorality in all it’s various forms is debasing to all concerned.  It reduces love to lust, to degrade something God intended to be honorable, to something that is on the level of animals. And yet I have heard people who try to excuse immoral behavior use animal conduct as an excuse or even a validation of their desires.  Contrary to what evolutionists would try to tell us, we are not animals. We were made in the image of God, we were made to be the companion of God. We are made to rule over the animal kingdom, not be ruled by animal passions and lusts.

Paul equates such sexual immorality to the unsaved pagan nations in which they lived. He says in vs 5 “not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God.”  Paul gave these commands to a first-century Roman culture that was marked by rampant sexual immorality. At this time in the Roman Empire, chastity and sexual purity were almost unknown virtues.  In fact, sexual immorality was a major component of a lot of their pagan religions.  Temples were staffed by prostitutes.  Homosexual lifestyles were prevalent and accepted. But Christians were to take their standards of sexual morality from God and not from the pagan  culture in which they lived.

In vs 6, there is another addendum to this commandment.  Paul says, “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.]”  To defraud someone is to cheat them, to take illegally from them what is not yours to take. When we are sexually immoral, we take advantage of and defraud others and we cheat them in greater ways than we can imagine. The adulterer defrauds his mate and children. The fornicator defrauds his future mate and children, and both defraud their sexual partner.

Repeatedly in Leviticus 18 – a chapter where God instructed Israel on the matter of sexual morality – the idea is given that one may not uncover the nakedness of another who is not their spouse. The idea is that the body of an individual belongs to his or her spouse and no one else, and it is a violation of God’s law to uncover that body to anyone else.

Now Paul has already stated that this commandment was given by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.  But he adds to that in vs 6 the reason for the commandment.  “Because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you.”  We see here the first of four reasons for sexual purity. We can trust that God will punish sexual immorality, and that no one gets away with this sin – even if it is undiscovered.  He says, the Lord is the avenger in all these things.  He will punish those who transgress and defraud another in sexual immorality.  I don’t know what that always looks like, whether it is in this life or in the judgment.  But Paul gives a solemn warning about it.  I do know that you don’t want to presume upon the grace of God or think that God doesn’t really care about it.  

Paul gives us more insight into why God may avenge immorality in 1Cor. 6:15-20 which says,  “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be!  Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body [with her?] For He says, "THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH."  But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit [with Him.]  Flee immorality. Every [other] sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?  For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”  Our body does not belong to us but to Christ. And so we must honor God in our body by honoring our wife or husband in marriage.

That leads us to the second reason we should be sexually pure is found in vs 7 “For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.” The second reason for sexual purity is because of our call, our purpose in salvation. That call is not to uncleanness, but to holiness; therefore, sexual immorality is simply inconsistent with being the bride of Christ. As we just read in 1 Cor. 6:20, we are to glorify God in our body and spirit, which belong to God. 

The third reason for sexual purity is because to reject God’s call to sexual purity is not rejecting man, but God Himself. Vs 8 “So, he who rejects [this] is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.”  We may make a lot of excuses for our immorality, we may try to rationalize sexual immorality, but actually we still reject the will of God when we sin in this way. We are in effect saying I know what is best for me.  I know what is good.  God doesn’t.

Paul doesn’t seem to issue such a strong command here because the Thessalonians were deep in sin. No specific sin is mentioned; it seems that this was meant to prevent sin rather than to rebuke sin, in light of the prevailing low standards in their society and because of the seductive nature of sexual immorality.  

But on the other hand, I think it’s possible that many of you don’t think you can be tempted in this way, or think that sexual immorality is not an issue for you.  But I would suggest that you might be deceiving yourself.  There are lots of ways that we can sin in regards to sexual immorality.  When you even look at another man or woman in lust, when you look at nudity on television or in the movies, you are in effect defrauding that person of their honor and sinning against God.  And I don’t think that such temptation necessarily has an expiration date on it.  You may have lost desire for your husband or wife, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t still tempted for another person’s husband or wife, even if you never plan on actually doing anything about it.  

The fourth reason for sexual purity is God has given us the Holy Spirit. Paul says you are rejecting “God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.”  We have been given the Holy Spirit, who indwells us and empowers the Christian to overcome sexual sin. By His Spirit, God has given us the resources for victory; we are responsible to use those resources. To sin in this way then quenches the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit is given to lead us.  But when we sin, we suppress the Spirit and take the lead ourselves. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  And so when we sin with our body, we defile His temple.

Now the thing about the commandment to love one another is that if we truly keep that commandment, then we will not defraud our brother or sister by sexual immorality.  So Paul wants to show the fullness of that command to love one another as a contrast to the desire for sexual immorality which is defrauding.  Love, biblical love, instead of lust.  So he says in vs. 9 “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.”  This is really an elaboration on what Paul said about them in the previous chapter, “may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you.”

What that shows is, though you may observe the commandment to love one another, you can still continue to practice it, so that you may excel in it. It’s a process of sanctification, as I said earlier.  We will not reach perfection in this age, but we will be perfected in our glorification.  But for now, we must abound more and more in love for one another.  We must practice it, live it out.  But true Christian love does no harm to another.  Love is doing what is good for them, what is beneficial for them.  And as we just saw in the previous verses, sexual immorality defrauds another person.  It doesn’t build them up.  Love edifies the other person.

The final commandment in this section has multiple parts, but I think it’s obvious they are all related.  We find that commandment starting in vs 10: 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.”

Notice once again Paul reiterates that this is a command.  But when he speaks of living a quiet life, I don’t think he is necessarily saying that you have to go live on a farm in the country. I think it means living a life that is content with what God has given you. A life that is content with your husband or wife, or that is content with being celibate, if that’s your lot in life. I think he is talking about a life without lusting after the world or the things of the world. 

I was talking with someone the other day about how we are such a consumer society.  And the world want’s us to be consumers.  They are always selling us something, something newer, better.  They are always tempting us with grass that is greener on the other side of the fence. It’s like a carrot that is continually dangled in front of our noses.  The world can never satisfy, but the Lord can satisfy.  

Paul says if we focused on working with our hands, to provide for our needs and not be striving after what we are told we need to be happy, then we will learn the secret of contentment.  I think that is the goal of this instruction, that we learn the secret of contentment.  Paul said in Phil. 4:11-13 “Not that I speak from need, for I have learned to be content in whatever [circumstances] I am.  I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every [circumstance] I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.  I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

The secret to contentment is found in Christ.  He is the living water by which those who drink will never thirst again.  He is the bread of heaven which those who eat of it, will never hunger.  He is the Shepherd that those who follow will never want again.  Our lives belong to Him, and if we walk after Him and live to please Him, then we will find satisfaction and sanctification in this life, and glorification and exaltation in the next.