I appreciate very much that some of you are stopping by the book table. As I've announced last evening, some of the books are at greatly reduced price. And I trust you will stop by and see what's offered because I think they can help you in your future Christian life. This morning we turned to chapter three of First Thessalonians. Each chapter has a theme. The first chapter had to do with salvation. And Paul was concerned about their salvation and how they turned from idols to serve the living God. And then he also called attention to the fact that they're waiting for his son from heaven. Chapter two, he had to do with serving and being a witness for Christ. And first of all, how he did it, and he went to the church there in Thessalonica, the synagogue rather, and then how they were serving the Lord. And the tidings went out through that whole area, how faithful they were in spite of persecution and trial. Now, the third chapter deals with the subject of sanctification, and this subject sometimes is blurred a bit by people's misconceptions, so let's see what he has to say about it. Now, first of all, he explains the occasion of this epistle about Timothy visiting Thessalonica, and he said, Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, and I sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the Gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith. Now, I know Paul had to leave town because of opposition that threatened his life, but Timothy was not as public a person, and he could go there and slip in and counsel with these believers there in this church, encourage them, and now he'd come back to report to Paul. And you'll notice how careful Paul is to introduce Timothy here and his credentials, because some of you, oh, he's just a young man, don't pay attention to him. But he said he's our fellow laborer in the Gospel of Christ, a brother and minister of God, and he is going to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith. In other words, he comes with high credentials from the Apostle Paul. And the reason for his visit is found in verse three, that no one should be shaken by these afflictions, for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. for in fact we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation just as it happened and you know in other words paul had made clear to them the christian life is not an easy life sometimes people think because they accept christ everything should be easy you know and it doesn't work that way remember one time a new student at dallas had been there a week or two and he came in his office and said i don't know if i should be here or not it's what's the trouble Well, he started telling all this tale of woe, the things he encountered since he'd come to the seminary and the problems that it rose and so on. And I said, it's perfectly obvious there's someone who doesn't want you at Dallas Seminar, but not sure it's the Lord. You see, the devil can stir up all kinds of trouble. We live in a world of tribulation, and Christ told his disciples, in this world you shall have tribulation. In fact, most of us are more or less sheltered from it, more than we realize, but it's possible, especially in certain areas and places like this where there's strong opposition to have a difficulty in serving the Lord because there is a price to pay. Paul warned them, but he was afraid that somehow their persecutions of these young Christians would deter them from going on in their Christian life. And that's why he sent Timothy there. And because of his worry and concerning them, verse five, he says, for this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, less by some means the tempter had tempted you and our labor might be in vain. You know, some people listen, but their commitment to Christ is quite immature. You remember how Christ spoke of this in Matthew thirteen about the four kinds of soil. Some soil is hard and doesn't receive the seed. Some soil is rocky, that is, there's a little soil on top and the seed falls and starts to grow. But then when the sun comes up, it withers and dies. Some people make a pretense of, or at least go through the outer show of confessing Christ, and if you watch them, you don't see any evidence that it was for real. And then there's the third kind of here, where the seed falls on good ground, but it's choked by thorns and tessels, and our Christian life can be choked by the pleasures and problems of this life. And then there's some seed that falls on good ground that brings forth thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. And so his concern was that these Thessalonians, who had just started out in the Christian faith, might be deterred from going on with the Lord. And now he goes on in verse six to talk about Timothy. Now that Timothy has come to us from you and brought us good news of your faith and love, that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us as also we see you. Therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress, we were comforted together concerning you by your faith. For now we live, we could say we really live if you stand fast in the Lord. You see, to Paul, this is a consuming fire. He wanted to lead people to Christ, but then he wanted them to go on in the Christian life and have triumph over their trials and troubles. And when he heard the Thessalonians Christians are standing true in spite of their limited knowledge of the truth, in spite of the fact they didn't have a mature leader, in spite of the fact they didn't have a New Testament that hadn't been written yet, They were standing true, and he's really encouraged that now we really live. This is what made his life real for him. And so he commends them and tells what a wonderful truth that was that came to him. Then in verse nine, once again, we have a record of Paul's faithful prayers. What a standard that gives us for our prayer life. For what thanks can we render to God for you? for all the joy which we rejoice for your sake before our God. In other words, how can he thank the Lord enough for what he did for those Thessalonians? Night and day, praying exceedingly, we might see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith. Paul wasn't the person that prayed five minutes a day and thought he had enough. It was a continuous burden to him. He had so many churches on his heart, so many individuals that had been reached through his missionary journey. And now here was the church at Thessalonica that was consuming him, and he prayed for them night and day. He constantly was remembering them before the Lord that they might stand true to the faith. No wonder Paul was successful with that prayer life in the background. Now in verse eleven, he gives them an exhortation. Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you. In other words, he prayed. that God would make it possible for him to go back to the Thessalonian church. As far as we know, he never went. You know, even the most godly Christians can pray prayers that God's not going to answer and say yes. I always come back to the idea that God answers prayers three ways. Sometimes he says yes, and most of us can trace some wonderful answers to prayer that he's given us. Sometimes he says no, and we pray and nothing happens. And sometimes he says wait. Now it's a little bit hard sometimes to distinguish when he says no and when he says wait. But you know the exhortations in the Bible are always in the present tense. That is keep on asking. Keep on praying. Asking you shall receive. Seeking you shall find. Knock it shall be open. It's present tense. In other words it's the will of God. We repeat our prayers until we're sure that it's not something that God's going to honor. And of course our guidance here is the indwelling Holy Spirit as he guides us when we pray. and also the word of God that sets forth what God is attempting to do in the world. And we have to pray according to the will of God. But we have this wonderful assurance in First John five that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. You see, God can do anything. The amount of the problem, how great it is, doesn't make any difference. He can do the impossible with God. Nothing is impossible. In other words, that's the kind of God we have. So we can come to him with great requests. And if it be according to his will, we will see wonderful answers. And I certainly have seen some of those in my life. On the other hand, I've had some prayer requests for years that as far as I can see, God has not seen fit to answer. So we have both sides of the coin here, and Paul is praying, and this is one of his prayers that wasn't answered. But in verse twelve, he goes on, May the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one to another And to all just as we do. Remember they had the triad of faith, hope, and love. Familiar all through this epistle. Now he's praying again for their love one for another. They need it in their time of trouble to be knit together in love one for another as Christians. And of course that's true today just as well. Verse thirteen. So that he may establish your hearts blameless in wholeness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all the saints. Now in chapter three, in the first part of chapter four, this doctrine of sanctification is unfolded. And what is his burden? That the children of God at Thessalonica might have a holy life. Now what does it mean to have a holy life? Well, obviously God is holy, and we're exhorted to be holy because God is holy, but be holy means to be set apart for God's work and for God's the manifestation of God's testimony. And you and I as Christians are set apart by God in our very position in Christ. We've set apart and been made holy before God, but now he wants us to have the corresponding experience of knowing that you're serving God and are living in a way that's well pleasing to him. And so he prays here concerning their holiness, and he has the word blameless. that you may be blameless in holiness before God and our Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. In other words, it's possible for a Christian to live a life. It's imperfect. We're going to see that as we go on in the next chapter, but it's nevertheless a life that can be without blame. You know, the Christian life is measured by the power of the Holy Spirit in our life, and as many have pointed out, there's three simple rules for having the power of the Holy Spirit. Yes. The first is First Thessalonians five, nineteen, quench not the Spirit. The Spirit of God indwells every Christian, and it's like a fire. It can be stifled, and its effectiveness can be thwarted, but we're to let it burn. We're to let it manifest itself. We're not to quench the Spirit. And what quenches the Holy Spirit is when we say no. Now, of course, it's an anomaly to say no, Lord. You shouldn't say no, Lord. You should always say yes, Lord. But that's the first test of our Christian life. As far as we know, are we yielded to God? And that's a searching question. But I think we can be. I think there's such a thing, as far as we know, we've turned our life over to God, and we want him to use our life the way he wants to. Now, the second exhortation is found in Ephesians four thirty, where we're told to grieve not the Spirit of God. What grieves the Spirit of God? when we're doing something that's contrary to the will of God sin in our life and of course one of the problems that Christians have if they don't obey God they get out of fellowship and one thing can lead to another and they can really destroy their lives as far as effective witness for God is concerned now what should we do if we find something wrong in our life well we have the wonderful promise of first John one nine if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You see, Christ died for us, and he provides a basis by which God can forgive us at every level, and we can be forgiven our transgressions. But we must come in confession, and the very act of confession has with it the positive power of God to keep us from doing it again. In other words, there is this constant effort to search our lives. There's something wrong. The Word of God reveals it to us. God's guidance reveals it to us. And then as we let God have his way with us, we can be restored to a walk by the Spirit. Now that's the third aspect of it. Walking by the Spirit. I think that's the most difficult side of it. You know, I think it's possible, as far as you know, you're not quenching the Spirit of God. And as far as you know, you're not grieving the Spirit of God. Your life is in conformity to the will of God as far as you know. But walking by the Spirit... That's the positive side. See, the other is negative. This is the positive side. And walking is a good illustration of our Christian life. Did you ever analyze what you do when you walk? Well, you put one foot in front of the other, don't you? But the very act of walking, you're depending on that leg to hold you up. You put your weight forward. If something should happen to that leg and suddenly it would lose strength, you'd go down, you see, because every step is an act of faith. Now, that's the way our Christian life is. When you're to walk by the Spirit. In other words, there's constant dependence upon God to help us. And we're told that if we walk by the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. In other words, our lives will be conformed to the will of God. But this is the positive side, and this is the most difficult thing to walk moment by moment, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, to walk by the Holy Spirit. And as you lead your Christian life, you soon discover it. You can't do it yourself. This is our salvation, something only God can do for us. So holiness and conformity to the will of God is something that can only be accomplished by God himself. And that's why it's so important to obey the Scriptures. Now, that's what he's talking about here in chapter three. And this continues on in chapter four for the first twelve verses. Notice he tells us also that we should be blameless as far as we know walking in the will of God at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints now we sometimes distinguish the rapture as the coming of the Lord for his saints and the second coming when Christ returns to set up his kingdom as coming with his saints because they're going to come to him from heaven to earth now first of all we have to get straight there's no such term as the second coming in the Bible And the Bible doesn't use that expression. It says he's going to come a second time, but doesn't use the second coming. Just use the word coming, both for the rapture and for the coming of Christ that set up his kingdom. And we call it the second coming to distinguish it from the rapture, but actually it's a man-made term, not something that's found in the scriptures. So we have this contrast, coming with and coming for. But now this says coming with his saints. Now aren't we going to be manifested in? as God's own before the second coming or the coming of the Lord to set up his kingdom? You see, that's the question. Now, because of that, I think we have to get a broader perspective here. You see, there's a coming of Christ from heaven to earth to take us from earth to heaven. And that's his coming for his saints. That's the rapture. And that occurs, I believe, more than seven years before his coming to set up his kingdom on earth. But then we get to heaven. He's going to arrive in heaven with the saints. He's going to take him from earth to heaven. And he's going to arrive there with all his saints. So it may be talking about his arrival in heaven now after the rapture. And at that time, of course, Christians will manifest that they are saved and sanctified because at the very moment of the rapture, we're totally changed. We lose our sin nature. We get a nature that will never sin again. And throughout eternity we'll never experience sin in any form or fashion. And that begins at the rapture. And so we get to heaven. We are presented there totally innocent of sin and covered by the blood of Christ because Christ died for us. And it's by grace. And so we're there not because we've attained it, but because we are walking before the Lord there with imperfection. Now, be that as it may. It goes on in the next chapter to say, finally then, brethren, We urge and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you have received from us how you ought to walk and to please God. I always like this word finally. You know, Paul uses it right in the middle of his epistles. He does in the Philippians, and here he does in Thessalonica, which is a letter to the Thessalonians. Finally, you know, when a preacher gets up in the pulpit and preaches a sermon, he says, finally, it doesn't mean a thing. He may go on and on and on for a long time. It may mean that he's winding up to what he thinks is the main point. Well, Paul says here, finally, in other words, what I'm talking about is important because it relates to your personal life of record before God. Now, I notice he said that they should abound more and more. You know, it's a very easy thing for Christians, especially if they're well taught in the word, to sort of plateau. You know, I've met Christians that were sound in the faith, but they also were sound asleep. They weren't going anywhere. And that's the question we have to ask ourselves. We grow in grace and grow in knowledge, and perhaps you know a lot more than other people. Perhaps you're more mature than other people. Look out. There's such a thing as plateauing and not going any further. Now, Paul wasn't interested in that. He wanted them to go on, to abound more and more. The Christian life by its nature is a constantly expanding and enriching experience. And it should be that all through life, regardless of our age or circumstances. We should abound more and more. And that's what he wants these such things to do. And he said he'd received from him, told them how they ought to walk and to please God. In other words, our ultimate question is, are they going to please God? I get in churches usually that are sound in the faith. And some churches are alive and going somewhere, and some churches aren't. And it's a good question to ask ourselves, what direction are we going? Are we just rocking along, you know, no change, no improvement? Or is there growth in grace, growth in love, growth in testimony, growth in conformity to the will of God? See, that's what he's talking about, and that's progressive sanctification. For you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus, and this is the will of God, Your sanctification, that you should abstain from sexual immorality. Now, in Thessalonica, of course, they had idol worship, and prostitution was always a part of that worship. In other words, they were brought up in this culture where sexual sins weren't recognized as such. And Paul tries to tell them, now you're on a different standard of life. This is not God's will for you. He doesn't want you to indulge in these things. He wants you to be sanctified and recognize that your body is holy to the Lord. And so he speaks of their sanctification. Verse four, that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor. Now our bodies are sinful. It's very naturally for them to sin. And of course we're reminded in Scripture there are three major areas where we have problems. We have the The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. The lust of the flesh is what we'd like to do naturally, you know, in our sinful desires. And the lust of the eyes is possessing beautiful things. Now we love beautiful things, and I think God made us that way. But when they become an idol or an objective of our life, then they become wrong. And then ultimately there's the pride of life, people that somehow think they're much better than other people, and they indulge in pride. Now, I think it's obvious that almost every sin we have falls in one of these three categories. So we have to ask ourselves, how about it? In our personal life, what's our temptations? What are the things that might be wrong in the sight of God? And so he wants us to know how to possess our vessels in sanctification, not in the passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God. You see, that is characteristic of Gentile religion. That no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter. because the Lord is the avenger of all such as we also forewarn and testify. In other words, what he's talking about is a man running off with somebody else's wife. You know, it's very common in the Gentile world. It's very common in American culture for people to be untrue to their marriage vows. And that's what he's talking about here, but he says it shouldn't be true of a Christian, you see. You're called to a different standard of life. You shouldn't do that. Because God is going to deal with people who do that. They're going to eventually be judged by God. He sums it up in verse seven. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. He wants us to be a cleaned vessel that he can use to transmit his truth, both verbally and by manner of life, you see. He wants us to be an instrument that he can use. People understand that when a surgeon performs an operation, one of the most important things is that all his instruments be purified and rendered sterile. He can't use a dirty instrument effectively without adversely affecting the patient. And the same thing is true in our life. If our hands aren't clean, if we aren't living the Christian life as we should, God can't use us as well as if we did, you see. And that's the challenge he's giving these Thessalonians to abstain from anything that would hinder their life and testimony before God and their holiness are being set apart for God's use. Verse eight, therefore he who rejects this does not reject man but God who also has given us of his Holy Spirit. Now you see it's possible to listen to a message like this and reject it. Faith is a choice you see. Abedience is a choice. And it's always true that some hear and don't respond. They resist. And he says, but look out, you're not just resisting Paul. You're not rejecting what he's teaching. The person you're ultimately rejecting is God himself, you see. And that's a totally different thing than just rejecting a person. So he challenges them to realize their situation. But then he comes back in verse nine once again to brotherly love. But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. Here he's talking about affection that is right, you see, in contrast to lust which is wrong. He wants us to love one another in Christ. And what a wonderful testimony it is that we have a reputation of one who loves the brethren. And I think that's very important for us. We should connote that to people, that we are desires to help them, that we love them. and our desires to help them any way we can. And that's what he's talking about here. Verse ten, indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. In other words, young as this church was, the tidings had gone up and down the trade route which went through Thessalonica, how this little band of Christians was standing true to the faith in spite of all kinds of opposition and trouble. And it was an encouragement to anybody else who was a Christian. There weren't too many Christians in Greece to be sure. But those that were there could hear and respond to that. But then again, he goes on, but we urge you, brother, that you increase more and more. See, he's not content with status quo. Wherever you are, there's always another step higher. More usefulness, more prayer effectiveness, more testimony for God. And that should be our challenge to stretch, you see. and do the job that God wants us to do. It's so easy to relax and just let things go. How important it is, as he tells us, to abound more and more in all these qualities that relate to the Christian life. Now notice in verse eleven how he sums up a few important things. That you all aspire to lead a quiet life. You know, sometimes we preach a little bit noisy. We're called on to talk a lot, and sometimes we talk too much. But a Christian should have a quiet testimony, not just something he's talking about all the time, but as people that watch him, they see there's something there that is for real, that God is doing a real work in his life, and he leads a quiet life, a life that doesn't upset other people, a life that's in the keeping with the will of God. And to mind your own business. I've discovered that people don't like it if you start minding their business, you know. It's interesting how we all have our own things, and we don't want somebody else to try to tell us how to do it. And we should be careful how you go about it. Now, preachers, to some extent, have to, because they're instructed to exhort and rebuke and correct, you know. That's their job in the pulpit. But we have to be very careful. We don't barge in on somebody else's work. And he tells us here to mind our own business, not to be a busy body, and to work with your own hands. Now, apparently they have the trouble in Pennsylvania that's still with us today, of people that want to somehow let other people support them. We have a lot of trouble with people in America that aren't working, that want the government to support them. They think the government owes it to them. They don't want to work. He said a Christian should work with his own hands. Now at Dallas Seminary, we have students from India, you know, and they have the caste system there. And some of the other upper caste, when they become Christians, they're in their caste system, don't want to work with their hands. They think that's below their dignity. And then they come to seminary and we're limited in what kind of work we can give them. And often the best thing we can do is to appoint them a janitor. That's really hard on them to absorb, you know. I sometimes tell the students at Dallas Seminary, I was three years a janitor in our church. There's nothing wrong with working in your hands. There's something that's good for you to work with your hands. And that's what's true here. He wants us to earn an honest living. As we commanded you, in other words, it wasn't optional, that you may walk properly toward those who are without, outside, and that you may lack nothing. Now, what are you talking about here? is that we should pay our bills. We should have an honorable reputation in the community. I once talked to a credit man, and he said there were three classes that he always had trouble with. He said there are preachers, plumbers, and painters. Very interesting, all three add P, getting their title. And he said sometimes they don't pay. I was in a town one time for a few summers. And one of the local pastors had a practice of going around to all the stores in the community and running up a charge account and then refusing to pay it. Well, the stores couldn't very well sue a pastor, so they just had to eat that account and not get their money for it. But it didn't leave a very good reputation, did it? And I don't think those storekeepers came to that church and enjoyed his preaching. You see, we don't have a testimony unless we're honest, unless we pay our bills, unless we do the thing we should do. And in America, we're so driven these days by credit. We use these credit cards, you know, and run it up as high as we can. Some people do. And I don't think that's exactly what God wants us to do. He wants us to pay our bills and not incur debts that we can't pay. And that's what Paul is talking about here, as a sign of walking with the Lord and also working with your hands means that you yourselves will not lack anything. He says it'll help you too, because you'll have sufficient. Now, what's he talking about in this chapter three and chapter four so far? He's talking about sanctification. A person set apart as holy to God. Now, he should act that way as a person who's a representative of God, whom God is using in his work, in one way or another. And this requires, on our part, yielded to God and doing the things that are well-pleasing in his sight. And having established the fact of their salvation, establish the fact of their service for God, that they should be people that others could imitate. Now he deals with the central task of having a real testimony for God. Now we're going to continue tomorrow in this chapter with chapter four, beginning in thirteen. And I think you realize this is the great chapter on the rapture. And we want to deal with it in the morning. We're going to deal with it at night as well. It's one of the main doctrines of prophecy. It's the most important doctrine. that Christ is coming and he could be coming very soon. And I want you to see exactly what the Bible teaches on it because it's very important on the one hand to see what the Bible says and on the other hand what it doesn't say. That's just as important because sometimes people try to add to it their own ideas and get off and don't teach the truth as they should. So let's tomorrow read this section of chapter four, thirteen to eighteen. The rapture of the church, and let's get thoroughly in mind what God's plan is for this major event that I believe could happen any day. If something excites me, oh, but excites you too, is the possibility, any day, of being suddenly taken out of this world, facing the Lord, and being with Him forever. And that's what this letter is all about, and particularly this high point in chapter four. So may the Lord bless us. Now tonight we're going to continue in our study. of future events and deal with the great catastrophes that are overcoming the world. And you say, why should I study that? Well, I think the reason is that we want to learn what we escape, what we don't have. And there are some that say the church has to go through all this before it can be raptured. I'd like to show you the evidence that that isn't the case. That isn't what the Bible teaches, that the rapture's event that occurs before this time of trouble is But let's get clearly in mind what this time of trouble is, what the Bible has to say about it, and how we should understand this important doctrine. The Lord bless us as we share these important things in the Word of God. Shall we pray? Our Father, how wonderful it is to be a Christian and to trust the Lord with our lives and have this challenge to live for Him. No matter how old we are or how far we're down the pike, that we still have the challenge to abound more and more, that our lives should be more and more reflecting the fact that we have been set apart as holy to God, and he wants to make our lives reflect his glory and his holiness. And so speak to our hearts according to our needs. Draw us close to the Lord. Help us to be delivered from this present evil world in all its enticements. And help us, Lord, to live a life that's well-pleasing to you. As a testimony to the grace of our loving Lord, for we ask it all in Christ's name. Amen.