“To Each Other And To Everyone Else” [Matt's Messages]

“To Each Other And To Everyone Else”

Eternal Encouragement - 1&2 Thessalonians

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

June 22, 2025 :: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15  

Are you ready for the return of Jesus Christ?

We have been talking a lot about the end times this year at Lanse Free Church. First, the prophecies of the King of Kingdoms in the Book of Daniel and now in these two letters to the Thessalonians.

In these two letters, the Apostle Paul has a lot to say about living in light of the return of Christ. He mentions it in every single chapter, and he’s been focusing on it in depth at the end of chapter 4 and the first part of chapter 5 which we’ve studied the last two Sundays.

Do you remember what we learned last week about how to be ready for the return of Jesus Christ? Was it knowing in advance the time and date of His return? Is that how we get ready? No. 

When is Jesus coming back? We don’t know and that’s okay. In fact, it’s better than okay. It’s better that we don’t know. It’s important that we don’t know.

What do we need to know to be ready for the return of Jesus Christ? We need to know who we are and where we are headed. 

We learned last week that we are children of the day. We belong to the day, not the night. We belong to the day of the Lord. It’s our Day. So we eagerly anticipate the return of Jesus Christ because that day is our day. We have nothing to fear because we belong to Jesus are not headed into eternal wrath but eternal salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us and came back to life to give us life forevermore.

And because we know who we are and where we are headed, we stay alert and self-controlled (this was verse 6, “Keep calm and carry on,” don’t get freaked out by the end times), and we put on the triangle of virtues that Paul loves to emphasize in his teaching: faith, love, and hope.

Remember this? Faith, love, and hope. We get ready for the return of Christ by, every day, putting on faith, love, and hope. That was in verse 8.

Paul likens these three things to the body armor of a soldier. Faith in God’s promises. Trusting in everything God has said that He will do. That’s your body armor. That’s your breastplate, your bulletproof vest that you wake up every day and put on. Faith. And the second piece of body armor protecting your vital organs is love. Love for God’s people and for those who are not yet God’s people. And on top of all of that is the helmet of hope in God’s salvation. Hope in everything that God has said is certainly coming for those who belong to Jesus.

His return. Our resurrection. Our being caught up to be with Him in the air. And our being together with the Lord forever. Nobody missing out. All of us–those who have already died and those who are still alive–all together with Jesus forever and ever and ever. “To a land where joys will never end.” Faith, Love, and Hope. That’s how we get ready for the return of Christ.  

Paul said in verse 11, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” Which is what we’re trying to do by studying these words together in 1 Thessalonians.

And that leads us to verse 12. Paul is coming down to the end of his letter, and he gets really practical with the Thessalonians. He starts firing off these short little staccato instructions. Do this, do this, don’t do this, don’t do this, do this, do this and this. We’re going to take two Sundays to get through them all. This week, we’re just going to do verses 12, 13, 14, and 15.

But don’t miss this. Paul hasn’t really changed the subject. Paul is still talking about how we live ready for the Lord’s return. This is how to live in the meantime. This is how we live while we wait for Jesus to come back. Remember, our waiting is not passive. It is active. Active in love.

In verse 12, Paul is “double-clicking” on this idea of encouraging one another and building each other up. It’s all about relationships. The title of this message comes from the last seven words in verse 15, “To each other and to everyone else.” It’s all about how we relate to each other and to everyone else while we wait for Jesus to come back.

Paul is focusing in on the “love part” from verse 8. And I’d like to summarize his teaching here in three points of application. Here’s the first one: 

#1. LOVE YOUR CHURCH LEADERS.

As you are waiting for the return of Christ, love the people who lead your church.

Now, this could be a bit awkward this morning. Because verses 12 and 13 tell me to tell you to respect me and to hold me in the highest regard.

Awkward.

It could be really awkward if you folks weren’t so good at this already. Last Sunday was the 27th anniversary of the first time I preached in this pulpit as your pastor. And George Leathers pointed it out and praised God for it. And you gave me round of applause of appreciation. Thank you!

And thank you for taking a risk on me as a rookie pastor 27 years ago. It struck me really for the first time that the Thessalonian church leaders were all rookies themselves. They hadn’t even been to Bible school and seminary like I had. Look at verse 12.

“Now we ask you, brothers [and sisters], to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work.”

He’s talking about their church leaders.

And remember, this is a baby church. Paul had planted this church not very long ago and then had to leave them in a hurry (see Acts 17). And he had to leave some baby Christians in charge of leading this baby church. 

And he knows that church leadership is hard work. Jeremy, is church leadership hard work? Yes, it is. The church that the Childs serve just recently swapped buildings with another church family in town. Both churches had buildings that were not great for them but would be great for the other, and so they swapped locations. Was that hard work to lead through? I’ll bet it was. Imagine if we swapped locations with any other church in West Branch!

But just the day-in and day-out work of church leadership is difficult.

And Jeremy and I are paid to do it. We are generously supported by our church families. The real heroes of church leadership are those who are unpaid volunteers.

For example, our church’s elders. Keith and Keith and Cody and Abe and Curtis are all serving as elders this year. And that’s a lot of work. I’ve seen a lot of Curtis recently. He helped lead the Membership Seminar on Tuesday and then was the Elders’ meeting on Thursday and then lead the Kentucky Team meeting on Saturday. And he’s got a job, a wife, and three rambunctious girls. Thank you, Curtis, for working hard among us and helping to lead this church in love. We hold you in the highest regard IN LOVE because of your work.

None of these guys do this work for the recognition. In fact, they probably hate that I’m talking about them. But the Bible says here that we need to do that recognition. We need to acknowledge their service, to show our esteem and appreciation. And not because they are better than anyone else, but because they are working hard. Sometimes just one step ahead of everyone else. 

I think about these Thessalonian church leaders thrust forward with almost no training (and probably no pay) and being asked to lead and care for this fledgling church which was experiencing persecution. Paul says, “Respect those who work hard among you...hold them in the highest regard in love.” Love your church leaders.

Again, church, you are great at this. As one of your church leaders, I feel very loved and appreciated. You regularly encourage me. You take good care of my family. You pray for me. I know it. Two years ago when I was fraying at the edges, you granted me a three month sabbatical rest from which I still glow inside.

One of the things you do that encourages me the most is study your Bible with me. You know two of my favorite sounds in the whole world are babies crying in church and the sound of pages rustling when I say, “Turn with me if you would to 1 Thessalonians.”

I love the sound of babies crying in church because it says that we are reaching the next generation. And I love the sound of pages turning because you are not just listening to me but actually reading your Bible and seeing what it says. And then you go out and do what it says! You send that encouragement card! You put on faith, love, and hope. You love your church leaders!

Now, of course, if your church leaders are in the wrong, you don’t follow them, and you don’t just honor them if they are not working hard. If we are out of whack, then we need to have our feet held to the fire.

These verses don’t just tell the church to love the church leaders, but tell those of us who are church leaders how to lead the church!

Church leaders are to work hard among the flock. Some pastors are lazy.  There is joke out there that pastors only work once a week and that for only half day, and I’m sure that’s true for some of us. It could be a cushy job. Jeremy and I need to work hard.

And we need to admonish. Did you see that verse in 12?

“...[W]e ask you, brothers [and sisters], to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you.”

We who are church leaders have a responsibility to correct those who are going astray. To warn those who are getting out of line. To teach the hard  parts of the Bible and not just the easy parts.

On Tuesday at the membership seminar, a number of the people who came said that they appreciated that here at Lanse Free Church we teach the parts of the Bible that are not as popular as the others. That’s hard to do, but it’s our calling.

At our elder meeting on Thursday, we have been talking about discipling, and Abraham asked us what part of making disciples gives us the most joy and what is the hardest to do. And I joked that I really love correcting people. I just love telling people where they are going wrong. Which is totally not true. I really struggle with the admonishing part of my job. I can do it up here at the pulpit. It’s easier to broadcast it, but it’s harder when talking with you one on one to bring the hard parts of Scripture to bear on your lives. But we have to do it.

You know who is good at this? Pastor Kerry, our district superintendent. Right, Jeremy? Kerry is such a good shepherd at telling us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear. He is good at admonishing. He is good at encouraging in both ways–consolation and exhortation. And we respect and hold Kerry in the highest regard in love because of his work among us.

I love going to EFCA One like Keith Hurley and I are this week. It’s a great reunion of our extended church family. And I see a lot of hard working church leaders learning together how to lead better. I often see pastors have to slip out of sessions to get on the phone because someone back home is in a crisis and needs their shepherd. 

Love your church leaders. You do that so well with me. And we need to do it with all of our hard-working church leaders. Not the just the elders but everyone who has a leadership role and who rolls up their sleeves and does the hard work, especially in teaching the Word of God.

I think of Jordyn Skacel as our Director of Family Ministry and all of her teachers getting ready to teach at Family Bible Week. We respect and honor you. While we wait for the return of Christ, we love our church leaders.

Secondly, while we wait for Jesus to come back, we love our church family.

#2. LOVE YOUR CHURCH FAMILY.

Here’s where we really get into the “each others.” Look at verse 13.

“Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

Once again, Paul uses the word “brothers,” and he means both brothers and sisters. He’s talking about our spiritual siblings, our whole church family. He tells them all to “live in peace with each other” while they wait for the return of Christ.

And that’s not always easy to do! It’s not always easy to get along with other Christians, is it? We have conflicts with each other. We have tensions. We don’t always agree. We don’t always see things the same way. We are all sinners, broken and difficult, in our own ways.

And, yet, we are called to peace. It’s not optional.

“Live in peace with each other.”

And that takes work.

Years ago, I learned to differentiate between peace-faking and peace-making (cf. Ken Sande). 

There’s peace-breaking, too. That’s when we cross a line and sin against one another. And we need to repent of peace-breaking and forgive each other. But we also need to repent of peace-faking which is pretending there is peace when there is not. Running away from our conflicts and from each other. 

When Paul says, “Live in peace with each other,” he isn’t telling them to put on a smile and pretend that there is nothing wrong. He’s calling them and us to work at peace-making among Christians so that we live in the shalom that God offers.

Who might you need to confront or forgive today so that you aren’t peace-breaking or peace-faking in your church family?

Because we need each other! This is what a healthy church family looks like. Listen to verse 14 again.

“And we urge you [that’s the word for “encourage” there again, the harder edge to encouragement], brothers [and sisters], warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

What a great verse! That’s one of my favorite sentences in the New Testament.

Notice how Paul recognizes that there are different kinds of people in our church families and they need different kinds of ministry to them. You see that?

There’s the idle, the timid, and the weak. And they are not same. And they don’t need the same things!

You don’t warn the weak.

You don’t help the idle.

You warn the idle, encourage the timid, and help the weak.

So, it’s important for us to get to know one another and identify what each person needs and then give them that. We have to get into each other’s lives so that we can really love our church family. 

 

And that’s not always easy to do. People are not always easy to love. It’s easy to love your church family in the abstract, but it’s hard to do it in the nitty gritty.

Remember that old Peanuts cartoon where Linus says that he wants to grow up to be a doctor and his sister Lucy laughs at him because he doesn’t love mankind? And Linus says, “I love mankind...it’s people I can’t stand.” 

I love the church, it’s church people that I have a hard time with.

The idle, the timid, the weak. You know who that is? That’s all of us at one time or another. And we all need each other.

Verse 14 says, “[W]arn those who are idle.”

That word for “warn” is the same word as in verse 12, “admonish.” It means to point out where someone is going wrong and help them to go right.

The word translated “idle” in the 1984 NIV is more difficult to translate. The 2011 NIV update has “idle and disruptive.” The King James and the New American Standard have “unruly.” And the CSB says, “irresponsible.” The idea is someone who is “out of line” and not doing what they are supposed to be doing. Like working, for example.

These are difficult people to love. When someone is not doing the thing that they are supposed to be doing, it can be really frustrating to live with them. Have you ever had to deal with a lazy person? Somebody who doesn’t do their job? The Bible calls them “the sluggard.” Some of these people might have quit their jobs because they were expecting Jesus to return any minute and were just loafing around playing video games waiting for the kingdom to come. And so hard to move.

Paul says, “warn those who are idle.” Get in their face. Point them to Scripture. Tell them where they are going wrong.

The church leaders have to do that (v.12) but this says that we all do it for each other as we love our church family.

Warning someone like this is not breaking the peace but pursuing peace. This is not getting frustrated with someone because they are driving you nuts with their irresponsibility. This is loving your brother or sister in Christ with a loving warning that they are out of line and they are going to hurt themselves and others.

Do you do this? This is how we stay ready for the return of Christ. We warn the idle. And we “encourage the timid.”

That second group in verse 14 are those who are “fainthearted.” It’s those who are disheartened and discouraged and depressed. The troubled.

And the last thing they need is to be admonished. We don’t say, “Cheer up, Buckaroo” to these folks. We don’t say, “Quit your whining, you dopes. What are you afraid of?”

The Thessalonians were dealing with persecution from the Jews and the Romans. Some of them were getting pounded, and it was wearing them down. Paul says, “Love your church family. Encourage the timid.” 

Some people are afraid to stick their heads out because they might get chopped off. By now, we should not be surprised to hear Paul say, “Encourage your brothers and sisters. Comfort them. Send them a card. Send them a text. Give them a call. Be in their DMs and PMs.”

Remind them what is true. Remind them what we’ve learned the last two weeks:

Jesus died and rose again, and so will all of us!

Jesus is coming back for all of us!

All of us will be with Jesus forever! 

We belong to the Day.

We are not appointed for wrath but for salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And that makes all of the difference. Remind each other of what is true. The timid can be difficult to love. Some of you would rather warn an idle person than encourage a timid person. And some of you, it’s the opposite. We’re called to do both. We have to love the brothers and sisters in front us. Whoever God gave us and whatever they are struggling with. And we need to tailor our love to their particular needs.

Like the weak. We need to (v.14), “help the weak.”

It’s not an hundred percent clear what kind of “weakness” Paul is talking about. Some of the commentators I read this week emphasized spiritual weakness. These people might be anxious, struggling to believe the promises, weak in faith. 

Others think that it was physical weakness, bodily weakness. Those struggling with an illness, a disability, a limitation. As I get older, I struggle more and more with my limitations. I need reading glasses. I don’t sleep as good. I can’t concentrate for as long. I can’t go as long without a break. And I need more people to help me.

The weak can be difficult to love. You have to slow down. You have to come alongside. That’s what the word “help” here means. It means to stand with someone, to be devoted to them. To hang with them. The Bible is saying that we need to hang on with the weak.

Is there someone in our church family that you need “hang on with?” Don’t leave their side. Don’t leave them hanging. We need each other! Yes, church people can be difficult to love. I am difficult to love.

But this is how we live in the meantime while we wait for the return of Christ.

Every day we put on the body armor of love.

Every day we put on the body armor of love.

Every day we put on the body armor of love.

Paul says (v.14), “Be patient with everyone.” And by that, he means “everyone.”

We are need to be patient with the idle, the timid, and the weak. Even the idle! Even the disruptive, unruly, irresponsible, “crazy-lazy” (c.f Alistair Begg) folks in the church. Even those that need warned. 

“Be patient with everyone.” Do you need to hear that? I know that I do. We have to adapt our ways of loving to the particular needs of our spiritual siblings, but we also have to be patient with all of them. And we hope that they are all patient with us. Because we are all three of these at some time and sometimes all three at once. Love each other. Love your church family.

Our theme verse last year as a church was John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (NIV84).

One thing I worry about as our church grows in size is that we not lose our family feel. We need to know each other and be in each other’s lives and love one another in a 5:14 way.

“And we urge you, brothers [and sisters], warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

Love your church family. And number three and last:

#3. LOVE YOUR ENEMIES.

Look at verse 15.

“Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.”

This is probably the hardest thing that the Lord ever asks us to do. To love our enemies. To love those who do us wrong.  

Paul knows that we will be sinned against. We will! But the Lord Jesus taught us in His Sermon on the Mount that citizens of His upside-down, inside-out kingdom that is here already yet still to come are not allowed to hate those who hate us but must love them back (see Matthew 5:38-42)!

Personal retaliation is not an option for followers of Jesus Christ (see also Romans 12:17, 1 Peter 3:9). The Thessalonians were not allowed to get to revenge on those who harmed them, and neither are we.

In fact, it’s more than just non-retaliation. We are called to be kind to our enemies and to seek their good. “Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.”

That phrase “be kind,” isn’t quite strong enough. The 2011 updated version of the NIV has, “...always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else” (1 Thess. 5:15 NIV). Not just kindness (though that’s in there) but goodness. We are called to seek the best for our neighbors and even for our enemies.

You see how this stretches from “each other” to “everyone else?” We don’t just love our enemies within the church–those with whom we have a church disagreement. We are called to be children of the Day loving even those people outside of the church who hate and oppose us.

Is that what we’re doing?

Is that what we do when we get cut off in traffic?

Is that what we do when somebody undercuts us at work?

Is that what we do when somebody gossips about us in our family?

Is that what we do when we hear a news report about our political enemies? 

Is that how we act on social media? Are we paying back wrong for wrong or always trying to be kind to each other and to everyone else?

Seeking their good, seeking what is best for them?

Every day we put on the body armor of love.

Every day we put on the body armor of love.

Every day we put on the body armor of love.

That’s how we get ready for the return of Christ.

It’s hard to do! So hard to do. But our Lord Jesus showed us how to do it. The Bible says that Jesus loved us when we were His enemies.  Jesus died for His enemies. He took the punishment for the sins of His enemies into Himself on the Cross, and when He rose from the dead, He gave His own righteousness to cover His enemies with grace. Jesus showed us how it’s done. So that, now, we can show His love to each other and to everyone else.

To love our church leaders who work so hard among us.

To love our church family, the idle, the timid, the weak.

And to love even our enemies.

Until Jesus returns and takes us home to be with Him forever.

***

Messages in this Series:

01. "To the Church of the Thessalonians" - 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
02. "We Loved You So Much" - 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16
03. "You Are Our Glory and Joy" - 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13
04. "Do This More and More" - 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
05. "Encourage Each Other With These Words" - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
06. “We Belong to the Day” - 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

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“We Belong to the Day” [Matt's Messages]

“We Belong to the Day”

Eternal Encouragement - 1&2 Thessalonians

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

June 15, 2025 :: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11  

Who wants to be ready for the return of Jesus Christ?

We’ve noticed so far in our study of these letters to the Thessalonians, that the Apostle Paul brings up the return of Jesus Christ an awful lot!

He mentions it in every single chapter. And, last week, at the end of chapter four, he really emphasized it. Paul reassured this beloved church family that none of their loved ones who belonged to Jesus Christ and who had already died would miss out on His Return.

The dead in Christ and the alive in Christ would together be caught up with each other to meet the Lord in the air when the Lord comes down from heaven. Return, Resurrection, Rapture, Reunion (cf. John Stott). And Paul said, “And so we will be with the Lord forever” (4:17). Which is just the greatest thing, isn’t it? 

So, how do you get ready?

Well, one idea for getting ready would be to find out when it’s going to happen. The date and the time. That might be helpful to know, right? I mean, if I knew that my Dad was coming over on Father’s Day for lunch, I might get the house ready for his arrival. Maybe hide my dirty socks and get them off of his place at the dining room table. (Don’t worry, Dad. I did it already.)

It might be helpful to know when someone important is going to arrive so that you can get your place cleaned up. And Paul is telling us that the Person Who is on the way is the King of Kingdoms!

But Paul says that knowing the day and the time is actually NOT what we need to be ready for the Lord’s arrival. Look with me at chapter 5, verse 1. He has not changed the subject. He’s still talking about the return of Christ. 

“Now, brothers [and sisters], about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (vv.1-2).

We said it last week. When is Jesus coming back?

We don’t know. And that’s okay!

We don’t need to know. And that’s okay.

In fact, it’s better that we don’t!

Paul says, “We don’t need to write to you about times and dates.” 

Those are the same words that King Jesus used with His disciples in Acts chapter 1 when they asked Him “when?”

He said, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set...” (Acts 1:7). Jesus said at one point that He didn’t even know. So it must NOT be important for us to know. In fact, it must be important for us to NOT know.

Paul had already taught this to them when he planted the church. He says, “you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”

How many here know when your next home invasion is going to be? Me neither. Thieves don’t tend to send a notification. They don’t even knock!

Jesus used the same illustration when He was teaching about His return (Matthew 24:43-44, see also 2 Peter 3:10, Revelation 3:3, 16:15). I think the emphasis here is on how unannounced and therefore unexpected this event will be. It will be just sprung on those people. And for those who are not ready, it will be very scary. Verse 3.

“While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”

These people are not ready. They think that life is hunky dory and they have everything together and they don’t need Jesus to have peace and safety. Those words were used in the ancient Roman world to describe the “Pax Romana,” the “Peace of Rome.” “Peace and safety.” “Peace and safety.” All is well. “Peace and safety.”

And then destruction hits. And they are doubled over in pain. Labor pains. The Lord Jesus used that metaphor, as well, when He was teaching about His return in Matthew chapter 24. The birth pains.

We’ve heard about a lot of those in the last few weeks as all of these moms have been having their babies!

Labor pains say that something big is happening, but you don’t know exactly when, right? And they get increasingly intense and inevitable, but you still don’t know exactly when it’s going to happen. Unpredictable. That’s what Jesus was emphasizing with this metaphor (see also Isaiah 13:8, Jer 6:24).

But I think Paul is also really emphasizing how dangerous and scary it could be. Back in those days a lot of women died in childbirth. And so that first big contraction hitting out of nowhere might be the harbinger not of joy, for some, but of doom. 

“And they will not escape.” They will not escape what? Verse 2 calls it, “The Day of the Lord.”

“The Day of the Lord” is a phrase that comes up again and again especially in the Old Testament. It’s a time period predicted in the future when the LORD will bring both judgment on evil and salvation for His people. It’s not just one thing, it’s all of that. It’s a complex of events where evil is finally judged and God’s people are finally saved.

The Prophet Joel calls it “great” and “dreadful” (see also Amos 5:18-20).  

“The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?” (Joel 2:11).

“Great” and “dreadful.” Especially for those who are going to experience judgment when Jesus returns (either in the Great Tribulation or/and in the Great Judgment).

“They will not escape.”

They don’t even know it’s coming! They might have heard something about it, but they don’t believe it. They think everything is “peace and safety,” and then destruction falls.

That sounds scary, and if you are not ready for it, you should be scared. Let this be your wake-up call! The King of Kingdoms is coming. The Day of the LORD is on the way. And you won’t know when. So get repent while you still can.

But that’s not the main the reason why Paul writes about it here. Paul actually writes to reassure the Thessalonians that they will escape! Not to scare them but to encourage them. “Eternal encouragement!” Look what he says in verse 4.

“But you, brothers [and sisters], are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day” (vv.4-5a).

“Children of the light and children of the day.” It’s not just the boys. The title of this message comes from verse 8 where it says, “We belong to the day.” Literally, “We are OF the day.”

We belong to the day. We are characterized by the day. We are children of the light and children of the day. That means that we are characterized by the light and by the day.

What a beautiful thing to say, right?! “Hello, Light People! My, you are glowing today!”

King Jesus said that He is the Light of the World. Remember that? And He also said that we, His people, are the Light of the World. The Children of God are the Children of the Light. And the Children of the Light are the Children of the Day.

What Day is that? It’s the Day of the Lord! We belong to that Day. It’s ours. And we are it’s. We are not scared of it. We want it to come, amen?

I have three simple points this morning. Here’s the first one.

Because we belong to the day we are:

#1. NOT SURPRISED.

We will not be surprised when the Day comes. Listen to verse 4 again.

“But you, brothers [and sisters], are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.”

What does he mean? He doesn’t mean that we will know the timing of Jesus’ return. We will NOT know the timing. We’ll still be surprised in that way.

“We don’t know, and that’s okay.” It’s better if we don’t.

But we do know that it’s coming. And it won’t be for us like a home-invasion and everything is ripped away from us in the night. No, we belong to the day, so when the day comes, we will rejoice!

I once saw a movie where these zombie-like things came out a night, and when the dawn came and the sun broke through and hit them, they all died. If they saw the sun, they were stopped. They hated the day arriving! But the good guys in the movie were happy when the sun came out because they were safe in the daylight. They belonged to the day.

We will not be surprised that the Day of the Lord has arrived. Because we have been looking forward to it with great anticipation.

That’s our Day! 

We know who we are. We are children of the light and children of the day.

Do you know who you are? Paul is encouraging the Thessalonians by reminding them of their true identities. “You are all sons of the light and sons of the day.” How encouraging that must have been for them to read!

I love that word “all” there in verse 5. He doesn’t leave out any true believer in Jesus Christ. 

“You are ALL sons of the light and sons of the day.”

I won’t make you say it to your neighbor, but you should do it anyway. We should say this to each other. Tell them, "You are a child of the light and a child of the day.”

On this Father’s Day, your Father is light, and you are a child of the light. Your Father is the Day, and you are a child of the day. Paul goes on to say it the other way around (v.5).

“We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.”

And that means we are not surprised, and we are not asleep.

#2. NOT SLEEPING.

Look at verse 6.

““We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.”

There are a lot of contrasts here in this passage, aren’t there?

They and you.

Night and day.

Darkness and light.

And here, asleep and alert. Some versions have “asleep” and “awake.”

Now does that mean true believers in Jesus Christ never go to sleep? “Sleep is bad!” 

Of course not. We all need sleep. Even our Jesus Christ needed sleep. Sleep can be a really good thing, amen? God made Sunday afternoons for naps!

But this kind of “sleep” is a bad thing. Sleep here is a metaphor for spiritual indifference and spiritual lethargy. [It’s not like last week where “sleep” was a metaphor for death.] In verse 6, Paul is talking about how unbelievers are insensible to spiritual things. They are dull and lethargic and missing out on true life. They are cut off from the light and the day.  And they are out of control. It’s like they are drunk. Look at verse 7.

“For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.”

He’s saying that’s the general rule of when that happens. And it was back in that day because there wasn’t any harnessed electricity. You sleep at night because that’s your chance. There was no third-shift working under the lights. And if you were going to get drunk, the night was when you did that, too. Because it’s hidden.

And “drunk” is a metaphor here, as well. He’s not just railing against drunkenness (which is sinful, of course, see Ephesians 5:18), but he’s warning against all kinds of being out of control and acting like the darkness, acting like the night.

We’re supposed to be different. As children of the day, we need to be different from the children of the night who are going to be “caught napping” when the Lord returns.

Paul says (in v.6), “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.”

What does it mean to be “alert?” The Lord Jesus used the same word when He was teaching on His return (see Matthew 24:42-43, 25:13). It’s the opposite of “asleep” in this context. It means to be vigilant, aware, sensitive to spiritual things. It means to be connected to the light and the day with the eyes of our heart fully open and taking in truth, seeing things for how they really are. It means to be spiritually conscious.

And Paul pairs it with a word that means the opposite of “drunk,” sometimes translated “sober,” but it doesn’t just mean not having too much alcohol, but not being out of control. So most of our English versions say, “self-controlled.”

“Let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled” (v.6).

That means calm, cool, and collected. It means steady and unfazed.

Have you ever noticed how people lose their minds over the end-times? Every time something happens in the world that seems like it might be a part of what Jesus said was going to happen, people start going crazy. Speculation. Following conspiracy theories. Listening to crackpots. Quitting their jobs. Stocking up on ammunition. Going into a panic.

I get it. Sometimes it seems like the world is ending. And one of these times, the world is going to end.

But we are not going to know when!  And the New Testament tells us that when it seems like it’s the end world, that’s not the time to go into a panic. Again and again, the New Testament says, “Alert and self-controlled.”

As the Brits say, “Keep calm and carry on.”

“Alert and self-controlled.” Why? Because we are not sleeping. We are not children of the night. Look at verse 8.

“But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled [same word], putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet” (v.8).

That’s the very opposite of sleeping. That’s dressing for battle!

“...putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”

The picture here is of a warrior who is putting on his armor. It’s kind of like “the armor of God” from Ephesians 6, but it’s a little different. Here, the breastplate, which protects the soldier’s core, is faith and love. And (as in Ephesians) the helmet which protects the soldier’s head is the hope of salvation.

Paul says that we (and notice how ever since he got to verse 5 he’s been including himself in all of this. It’s not just “you;” it’s “we.” We) belong to the day, so we need to put on this armor.

Faith, Love, and Hope.

Faith, Love, and Hope.

Faith, Love, and Hope.

Do three things sound familiar?

Paul loves these three virtues, and he employs them over and over again his letters. The most famous is in 1 Corinthians 13 when he puts them in this order, “Faith, hope, and love.”

It’s sometimes called “The Pauline Triad” or Paul’s Triangle of Virtues. Faith, Love, and Hope. He’s already used this triangle back in chapter 1. Do you remember this? Paul was so thankful for the Thessalonians? He wrote, “We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:3).

This is the answer to the question we started with this morning:

How do you get ready for the return of Jesus Christ? By putting on faith, love, and hope. 

Put on faith. Faith in God’s promises. Believing what God has said. Trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that genuine faith will work itself out in genuine love. Loving one another and loving even our enemies!

You know, since we don’t know when the Lord will return, we have to wait. We have to be patient. He may come sooner than we expect, but He may come much later than we expect. We just don’t know, so we have to wait.

But the waiting we do is not like waiting at the bus stop or at the gate at the airport, just passively sitting there waiting for our ride to come. "Beam us up, Jesus!" No, our waiting is active. We stay busy. We stay awake, alert, and active loving other people, putting other people ahead of ourselves.

Following our Lord’s example of love.

Put on love. This week, I had multiple occasions to watch God’s people loving others with a Christ-like love. These loving people “belong to the day” and they showed it with how they gave of their time and energy and life-blood. They were warriors–not against flesh and blood but against the darkness.  And not with worldly weapons of iron and steel but heavenly weapons of love.

“Faith and love as a breastplate, and [on top of it all] the hope of salvation as a helmet.”

One thing that’s really neat to know, and maybe you’ve got a footnote or something to point this out, but Paul is almost certainly drawing this imagery from Isaiah 59:17. Isaiah writes about this armor with a breastplate and a helmet, but it’s not believers who are putting it on, but the LORD Himself.

Isaiah says, “The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak” (Isa. 59:15-17).

In that context, the LORD put on His armor to save His people–fully fulfilled perhaps on the Day of the Lord. And here Paul says that we need to put on the armor ourselves, so it’s not just our armor, but it’s the Lord’s armor for us!

We can’t do this on our own. But He has done it for us. And that includes our salvation. We have hope for our salvation from our sins, not because of us, but because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross and at the Empty Tomb. Because of Jesus, we can put on that helmet of the hope of our salvation to come.

And it’s real hope. Biblical hope. That’s not just wishful thinking or what we want to happen but don’t know if it will. This is real hope. This is certainty. This is God’s promises guaranteed.

Look at what Paul says in verse 9.

“Putting on...the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him” (vv.9-10).

Because we belong to the day, we are:

#3. NOT SCARED.

We are not scared of God’s wrath.

It must have been so encouraging for them to read this, right?! 

Paul assures and reassures this church that because they belong to the day they are not headed into wrath but headed into salvation. They have nothing to worry about! Nothing to worry about in the grand scheme of things.

Again, I see Christians getting worried about the end times. Every once in a while, somebody tells me that they think the end is near, and what do I think about that. There is some development in current events that has them spooked. 

And if I have a good relationship with them, I like to say, “Great! That means that Jesus is coming back soon, and He’s going to bring us salvation! The King of Kingdoms is going to bring the Kingdom of Kingdoms!”

We who are children of the light, children of the day, have nothing to fear.

God has not appointed us to suffer His eternal wrath, but to receive eternal salvation. [Pre-tribulational Christians would also say that Christians will not receive God’s wrath poured out on those alive during the Tribulation.]

And not through ourselves, but through His Son! V.9, “...salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

And here’s how He did it. He suffered God’s wrath in our place. V.10

“He died FOR US.”  He took our place. He died the death we deserve. He took the wrath of God that we had earned in our sin. And He died on that Cross to save us. And He did save us, and He is saving us, and one day He will bring salvation in all of it’s fullness. Body and soul. Verse 10.

“He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.”

I think that Paul is going back to talking about “sleep” the way he was at the end of chapter 4. “Sleep” as in a metaphor for “dead.” Paul is saying that whether we are alive or dead, when Jesus Christ returns, if we belong to the Day, then Jesus’ death and resurrection guarantees that we will “live together with him.”

Like he said in chapter 4, verse 17, “And so we will be with the Lord forever”

That is our blessed hope, is it not? That is the helmet that we put on every single day, reminding ourselves of our salvation that is on the way. We have nothing to be scared of, if we belong to the day.

And how do we apply that truth to our lives today? 

By now, it should be no surprise. We encourage each other with this truth. Look at verse 11.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

Paul wants to encourage each other. Remember, encouragement comes in two related flavors: consolation and exhortation, comfort and command. This one is both. 

Paul is comforting them. “Don’t worry, Christians. You are not headed into wrath. You are headed into salvation.”

And He’s also urging them to live differently than the world does. Awake, alert, and active.

Faith, love, and hope.

Faith, love, and hope.

Faith, love, and hope.

And we need the same.

Who have you encouraged this week? Did you send an encouragement card? A text? A message? A phone call? 

Did you remind another Christian who they are?

“You are a child of the light.”

“You are a child of the day.”

“We belong to the day.”

Did you remind another Christian where they are headed?

Not just where this world is headed. The Day of the Lord is coming. “Great and dreadful” like a thief in the night, like the first dangerous contraction out of the blue, like destruction that the world will not escape. But we will! We will escape the wrath of God, not because we deserve to escape, but because Jesus absorbed the wrath of God in our place on the Cross. So that we are headed into salvation.

Have you encouraged somebody with that truth this week?

I’ll bet you have! Paul says that the Thessalonians were already doing it.

And he was just encouraging them to do it more and more. And I know Lanse Free Church. For the last 27 years, I’ve seen you in action encouraging each other and building each up in this truth.

“Just as in fact you are doing.” Keep it up, church! Keep it up!

Because we belong to the day!

We are not surprised. We are ready. We are waiting. We are eager for the return of Christ.

We are not sleeping. We are alert. We are self-controlled. We are putting on faith, love, and hope, every single day.

We are not scared. The world should be, the darkness should be, the night people should be scared, but we belong to the day.

Jesus Christ is coming back to bring wrath and salvation. And we know which one of those is ours!

Because we belong to the day.

***

Messages in this Series:

01. "To the Church of the Thessalonians" - 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
02. "We Loved You So Much" - 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16
03. "You Are Our Glory and Joy" - 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13
04. "Do This More and More" - 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

05. "Encourage Each Other With These Words" - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

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“Encourage Each Other With These Words” [Matt's Messages]

“Encourage Each Other With These Words”

Eternal Encouragement - 1&2 Thessalonians

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

June 8, 2025 :: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18  

There are some really encouraging words in this passage today, and Paul says that we are not just supposed to be encouraged by these words, but to encourage each other with these words.

So my goal in this message today is to encourage you with these words and to encourage you to encourage each other with these words! Does that make sense? We are not fully obeying this verse until we have encouraged someone else with these encouraging words.

Our summer series on these two letters is called “Eternal Encouragement,” and I hope it has been encouragement to you already. It has to me. 

The last section, that we looked at last week, was really encouraging because Paul said that these folks were doing really well and just to keep the up good work. They were striving to please God with their whole lives. They were living out a holy sexuality with their bodies. They were loving their brothers and sisters in Christ and not being a burden to each other. And Paul said, “Well done, you, keep it up. Do that more and more and more and more.”

But the words in this section, the last 6 verses of chapter 4 are maybe even more encouraging because they are directly about the return of Jesus Christ.

[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]

We’ve noted that Paul talks a lot about the return of Christ in these two letters. He mentions it at least once in every chapter. But now, he’s not going to just mention it, but to go deeper into teaching about it and its relevance to their (and our) daily lives. Because Paul was concerned that the Thessalonians may have not understood some important things about the Lord’s return. Specifically, about how it related to Christians who had already died. Look with me at verse 13.

“Brothers [and sisters], we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope” (v.13).

Paul was concerned that there was something lacking in their understanding about those disciples of Jesus from Thessalonica who had already died (see 3:10). When he says, “those who fall asleep” in verse 13, 14, and 15, he doesn’t mean people who got sleepy during a long sermon. They might not be missing anything too important!  

He’s using “sleep” as a metaphor for death. Where have we seen that before? Have we, perhaps, recited a famous passage in the Book of Daniel about that already this morning?

“Multitudes who [what?] sleep in the dust of the earth...” (Dan. 12:2)

We say at funerals that the deceased’s body is being “laid to rest.” Jesus said that Lazarus had fallen asleep, and what He meant was that Lazarus had died.

That’s why he mentions “grief.” Because the Thessalonians were confused about those who had already died.

Now, it’s not 100% clear what their exact point of confusion was. Some, perhaps, had missed what Paul had taught them already about the resurrection and the return of Christ. They weren’t there that day. Others, perhaps, had misunderstood what they had been taught. It seems like they thought that maybe their loved ones were really missing out on something important if they died before the Lord returned.

Some may have gotten the idea that no Christian would die before the Lord returned. Paul had taught them that the return of Jesus could be very soon, and so they all might have expected it to happen right then, and then be shocked when some of them died before Jesus came back. What happens to them?! Did they miss it?!

Paul had taught them that the return of Christ was going to be glorious. And, here, their brother or sister in Christ had died, and did that mean that they were going to miss Jesus’ return? 

Some of them might have even thought that the dead were going to miss heaven altogether. Because Paul says he didn’t want them to grieve like the rest of the population that have no hope.

Does that mean that Christians should not grieve? Do followers of Christ feel bad and weep and cry when their Christian loved ones die? Yes, often, yes. Is it bad if we do? Of course not. What did Jesus do at the tomb of his friend Lazarus? John 11:35 (shortest verse in the Bible), “Jesus wept.”

His tears were perfectly appropriate, and so are ours when we have to say “goodbye” to a loved one. Even if it’s not “Goodbye forever,” but “See you soon.” Jesus knew that He was going to raise Lazarus, and yet He wept. 

So, yes, we grieve, but we do not grieve like the rest of the population who have no hope. If our loved one belonged to Jesus, we have hope!

For the world, death is the end. If you are an atheist, then you think that when you die, that’s it. There is no more. There is no more you. There’s nothing to hope for, nothing to hope in. No hope.

But it’s different for us who belong to Jesus. We grieve, but we grieve with hope. And verse 14 says what our true hope is:

“We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.”

I want to summarize the encouraging words of this passage in three points, and here’s the first one.

Encourage each other with these words:

#1. JESUS DIED AND ROSE AGAIN, AND SO WILL ALL OF US!

Amen. Isn’t that encouraging?! Say that to the person sitting next you. Say their name, and then say, “Jesus died and rose again, and so will all of us!” That is, if we belong to Jesus and if we die, then we will rise again. 

Paul starts with what we know based on what has already happened. Jesus had died and has come back to life. He has laid down and gotten back up again. It actually says, “He died,” not just that He fell asleep. No quiet metaphor here for Jesus.

We know how He died. He was crucified. And we know why He died. He was bearing our sins in His body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24).

That’s why it’s good news that He died. Because He was dying in our place. But He did not stay dead. He got up again.

Do you believe that? I do! That may be the craziest thing we all believe as Christians, and we believe a lot of crazy things! We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that means that our sins are paid for and that He is going to bring us back to life, as well.

You and I may die, but if we belong to Jesus, we are not going to stay dead!

A lot of people think that the point of Christianity is that when we die we go to heaven. And, praise God, when we die, our souls do go to be with Jesus (see 2 Cor 5:8, Philippians 1:21-24).

But that’s not the end of the story! We believe that we are going to come back to life, body and soul reunited (see Romans 8:11, 1 Cor. 6:14, 1 Cor. 15:12-25, 2 Cor 4:14, Col. 1:18).

And that’s guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus. Remember on Easter, how we said that Jesus is the “firstfruits?” The early crop that shows how the harvest is going be. Because Jesus lives again, we will live again!

“Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life...” (Dan. 12:2).

The unimaginable power that brought Jesus back to life will bring you and me back to life one day, someday, too. And that’s true, not just of us, but of all the Christians who have died including all of the Christians that you and I have known and loved and lost.

I said the other day that I have never preached through 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. I’ve preached from these books, but never through them. But I have preached this passage several times. Because it is very appropriate for the funeral of a Christian. 

I preached it at my Grandma Mitchell’s funeral in 1999. My dad’s mom. Grandma has been gone now for almost 26 years. But I expect to see her again. Because Jesus died and rose again and so will she. She hasn’t missed out.

Ever walk through a graveyard and see the names of the Christians buried there? Some you may know. Most you do not. One day, every single one of them is going to come out. And they are not going to miss out on the return of Christ! Verse 14 again.

“We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.”

When Jesus returns, He’s not leaving His sleeping followers in their graves. He’s bringing them with Him! And not just their souls but their bodies, as well. And we know that on the authority of Jesus Himself. Look at verse 15.

“According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.”

Do you follow that? It’s a little twisty, but it’s wonderful. Paul says the Lord Himself has revealed this. I’m not sure when He did. I don’t think it’s directly taught in the Gospels though Jesus did talk a lot about His return in the Gospels. 

He may have taught this then, but it wasn’t recorded in the Gospels. We know He taught many things that didn’t make it into Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There wasn’t room (remember John 21:25!). Or maybe, He revealed it directly to Paul, and now Paul is giving it to them. Any of those could be when, but what we know for certain is that Paul knew for certain that this was from Jesus Himself.

And that is that we who are alive when the Lord comes (the “parousia”) will not be privileged ahead of those who have died!

He’s saying, “Don’t worry, Thessalonians, your loved ones will not lose their place. They will not miss out. You are not going to have the greatest experience of seeing the return of Christ with your own eyes, and your dead loved ones just missed the boat and are out of luck.”

No, no, no. If anything, they will have the front row seat. Look at verse 16.

“According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. [V.16] For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.”

They are not going to miss anything!

How encouraging that must have been for these precious people to read.

“The dead in Christ will rise first.”

Now, I don’t think that means that they will be the first to be resurrected, though that’s probably also true (see Revelation 20:4-7).

I think he means that before the next thing that he’s going to talk about in verse 17, first, the dead in Christ will be resurrected. This is the order of things. Jesus died and rose again, and so will all of us (if we die)! And it will happen in this way. Listen to verse 16 again.

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven...”

The Lord Himself. He doesn’t just send somebody. He’s coming in His own flesh. His own body. The same body that He died in and rose with and ascended with.

And He’s coming...in loud! V.16 “...with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God...”

That sounds loud to me! When the Lord comes, He’s going to issue a very loud order. Remember when He was at tomb of his friend Lazarus, after He was done weeping, what did He say? “Lazarus, come out!” And we said last year that maybe if He hadn’t specified “Lazarus,” that everybody would have come out!

Perhaps the loud command here is, “My people, come out!” And all of the Christians who have died will obey! They will be getting up out of their tombs. They’ll be rising up out of the sea if they were buried in the ocean. Their molecules will reassemble and reform if their ashes were spread somewheres. 

And not like zombies. It doesn’t say so here, but Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 and Philippians 3, that their bodies will be changed, transformed to be like His glorious body. These are the just the undead. These will be the truly alive.

Church, this is not a metaphor or a bed time story; this is what’s going to happen! Paul doesn’t want us to be ignorant about this! He wants us all to know this and to be encouraged by it. And encourage each other by it!

“The Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel...”

Who’s that? Who is the only archangel who is named in the Bible? What’s his name? Michael.  Remember him from Daniel chapter 10...and chapter 12 where our memory verse is found (see Jude 9, as well)? The archangel is yelling, too. 

And somebody is playing a trumpet! Trumpets in the Bible aren’t so much for music as they are for assembly and announcing God’s marching orders. 

All three of these loud noises are there to wake up the sleeping and get them going. Even if their sleep is the sleep of death!

“And the dead in Christ will rise first.”

And notice it doesn’t say the “sleeping in Christ.” It’s really clear here. These folks were totally dead, and they will be totally alive. And they will totally not miss the return of Christ!

Encourage each other with these words:

#2. JESUS WILL COME BACK FOR ALL OF US!

Amen?! He’s coming back, and He’s coming back for all of His people. Isn’t that encouraging? 

Say that to your neighbor. Encourage the person next to you. Say their name, and then say, “Jesus will come back for all of us!”

That’s the point that Paul is making in the first part of verse 17. Look at that.

“After that [after the dead in Christ rise first, then], we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”

“Together with them.” You see how it’s all of us? It’s not just those who are alive when the Lord returns. And it’s not just the those who have died before the Lord returns. It’s both at the same time. It’s them, and us, and Jesus together. Nobody misses out. None of Jesus’ people miss out.

Jesus is going to come back for all of us.

The Greek word translated “caught up” in verse 17 is “harpazo,” and it means “snatched up, or swept up, suddenly.” It’s often a violent word. Like somebody got grabbed or swept away like by a rushing river. And, of course, this is the opposite of being swept away into death, this is being swept up into the life that is truly life!

The Latin translation of “harpazo” is “rapiemur” from “rapio” which is where we get our English word “rapture.” The alive in Christ will be “raptured” together with the formerly dead in Christ “caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”

Let me ask you a question: When is this going to happen? When is Jesus going to come back for us?

Answer:  I don’t know...and that’s okay.

All I know is that it will be soon. And that “soon” is a very elastic term. I also know it’s closer now than it ever has been.

The Bible is very clear on the fact that it will happen and very vague about when it will happen. Jesus said in Matthew 24 that at that point He didn’t know!

And I’m sure that Paul didn’t know either. Some people think that Paul expected to be alive himself when the Lord returned because he says, “we who are alive and are left” in verse 17.

But that’s just because he was alive then. The “we” are any Christians who are alive when Jesus returns. “We” will be taken up together with those who had already died.

And there are several different opinions among faithful Bible-believing Christians about when this rapture will take place in relation to the other events of the “End Times,” especially that dark time period we often call “The Great Tribulation.” 

The three main views are called:

The Pre-tribulational rapture.

The Mid-tribulational rapture.

And the Post-tribulational rapture.

So it’s whether the rapture happens before, during, or after the tribulation. 

Some of you have never heard of these things. Some of you have heard too much about these things. Some of you have been taught that there’s only one right way to think about these things.

If you want to find out more about the different arguments for the different views, I recommend this book by three different distinguished professors from Trinity that presented all three main views at what we now call the EFCA Theology Conference, back in 1981. 

Which one is right? I’m not sure, and that’s okay.

I think it’s okay for us to differ on this. All three positions are acceptable within the Statement of Faith of the EFCA.

Article 9 says, “We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.”

If can agree about all of that, then we can disagree about the timing of Christ’s return and be just fine. Because we can’t change it, anyway about it.

I heard someone say once, “We’re not on the planning committee. We’re on the welcoming committee.”

And we need to be ready to welcome Him!

I was taught the pre-tribulational rapture position when I went to Bible school, and I respect that viewpoint and revere all of my teachers. It very well may be right, and it makes sense of a lot of the biblical data. It might very well be your position, and praise God if it is.

Over time, however, I have come to lean in the direction of the post-tribulational rapture position. 

One reason is that this “rapture” does not seem very “secret” to me. It seems loud and public. With resurrections and shouts and trumpets.

And the word translated “to meet” the Lord (“apantaysis” in verse 17) was often used to describe the reception of a dignitary, perhaps a king, and the people who come out meet him then turn around and come back with him on his royal visitation (see Matthew 25:6, Acts 28:15 for examples of this word in action. Is that what is meant by “bring with Jesus” in verse 14?). 

Perhaps that’s the picture here. All of Jesus’ people being swept up into the air when Jesus returns and then following Him down to earth to inaugurate His kingdom.

But it does not say that outright. It only says that they will be caught up together with each other in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. It doesn’t say where they are after that, in heaven or on earth.

It does say, however, WHOM they will be with!  V.17

“And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

#3. ALL OF US WILL BE WITH THE LORD FOREVER!

Encourage each other with these words!

Say that to your neighbor. "Neighbor, all of us will be WITH the Lord forever!”

Yes, forever. As in, there will be no end to our “withness” with the Lord. We will never be separated from Him in any way that matters.

Right now, we have His Spirit in us. Hooray for Pentecost! But we are away from Him, bodily. And those who have died are with Him in their spirits. Absent from the body means present with the Lord.  But they are not with him bodily either.

But one day, and one day soon, we will all be–body and soul together–reunited, resurrected, raptured, and with the Lord Jesus forever!

All of us! 

That’s the emphasis here. That we’re together with each other and Him. Nobody left behind. Nobody second class. Nobody missing out.

Everybody caught up together in the clouds to meet the cloud rider, the Son of Man who approached the Ancient of Days and received a kingdom that would never pass away (Daniel 7:13-14).

The King of Kingdoms. And we will never leave His presence.

Never, never, never. With the Lord forever, with the Lord forever, with the Lord forever.

No wonder, Paul says (v.18), “Therefore encourage each other with these words!”

This time last year, we were studying chapter 14 of the Gospel of John where Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be [what?] with me that you also may be where I am” (Jn. 14:1-3).

It doesn’t get any better than that. And it doesn’t matter what your position on eschatology is, because it’s the same for all of us, “We will be with the Lord forever.”

What is the application of all this glorious truth? It’s verse 18, “Therefore encourage each other with these words.”

Encourage each other with these words!

Take these words and encourage each other with them. Write them on a card and give them to a brother or sister in Christ. Remind your brothers and sisters in Christ that Jesus died and rose again and if we die, we will rise, too! Remind your brothers and sisters in Christ that the Lord himself will come down from heaven for all of us. Remind your brothers and sisters in Christ that we will be with the Lord forever. And encourage them with these words.

Remember, encouragement comes in two major flavors: consolation and exhortation. I think the emphasis here is on consolation. These are comforting words. This is not just helpful information. This is consolation. “Comfort each other with these words.” Say these words to someone, and say that this is going to make everything okay.

It’s right for us to say these things at a funeral for a Christian. Don’t just say, “He’s in a better place.” Especially if he’s not. But if the one who died is a Christian, say, “He will not miss the return of Christ! He will not miss the resurrection. He will not miss the great reunion.”

It’s right for us to encourage each other that the dead in Christ will not miss out on anything truly important. And it’s right to tell each other that on our deathbeds. When I’m on my deathbed, and you come to visit me, I want you to remind me of this.

“Matt, you’re dying. But you’re not going to miss the return of Christ. You’re not going to miss the resurrection. Matt, you’re not going miss the great reunion in the air.” 

Because this is our blessed hope. Brothers and sisters, encourage each other with these words.

Urge each other with these words. The emphasis here is on comfort, but the other flavor of exhortation is also true. These words should spur us on. Our statement of faith says, “The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.”

We’re going to talk about that more next week when get into chapter 5.

Encourage each other with these words. Because are not obeying this verse if we just believe these words. We are not obeying this verse even if we are just encouraged by these words. We are not fully obeying this verse until we are encouraging other believers with these words.

Now we know. We are not ignorant. We have been taught, and we are now responsible for what we do with what we know.

“Therefore encourage each other with these words.”

***

Messages in this Series:

01. "To the Church of the Thessalonians" - 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
02. "We Loved You So Much" - 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16
03. "You Are Our Glory and Joy" - 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13
04. "Do This More and More" - 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

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“Do This More and More” [Matt's Messages]

“Do This More and More”

Eternal Encouragement - 1&2 Thessalonians

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

June 1, 2025 :: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12  

“Well done! Keep up the good work! Attaboy! Attagirl!”

There are few things more encouraging to hear than someone telling you that you’re doing a good job.

I just said those words to Keagan when he read to us. I used that phrase that I learned in the UK a couple years ago, “Well done, you.”

“Well done, you. Keep it up!>A pat on the back and an encouraging word, “More of that, please.”“You’re doing it right. Keep going! “Stay on that track, and you’ll get where you are supposed to be.”

Those kind of words are some of the most encouraging you will ever hear.

This fellow right here has said that to me so many times in the last 27 years. Wallace Kephart turns 89 years old tomorrow. Happy birthday, Wally. 89, wow! Can I brag on you for a second?

One of the things that Wally has consistently done for me over the last 27 years is to tell me that I’m doing a good job and to keep it up. He’s not been afraid to tell me when he disagrees with me or give me counsel to change something that he thinks needs fixed. But Wally has always told me when he appreciates what I’m doing and encourages me to do that same good thing more and more. Well done, you, Wally! Keep it up! Thank you and happy birthday to you.

That’s the kind of encouragement that the Apostle Paul is giving here to his beloved friends from the church he planted in Thessalonica. He’s written three chapters about his love for them, his desire for their continual growth in godliness, and his longing to be back with them once more.

He’s been constantly praying for them, and he even broke out into prayer in the last two sentences of chapter 3:

“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones” (1 Thess. 3:12-13 NIVO).

And now in chapter 4, Paul turns to telling them what he wants them to do. He’s going to give them instruction. And in this section (4:1-12), it’s repeated instruction. Paul is reminding them about stuff that he’s told them before. 

And one of the most encouraging things he says is that they are already doing it. Paul knows that they are already living this way.  He just wants them to do it more and more.

Did you hear that phrase when Keagan was reading it to us? “Do this more and more.” It’s in verse 1, and it’s in verse 10. And the idea is all over the place in these twelve verses.

Paul is not confronting them with their failures like he sometimes has to do with other churches. Paul is encouraging them to keep up the good work. And to double it. And to double it again. 

“Do this more and more.”

I think there are at least three major things that Paul is encouraging them to do more and more which could serve as a summary for this section of the letter. Here’s the first one:

#1. LIVE TO PLEASE GOD.

“Do this more and more.” Look with me at 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 1.

“Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.”

There is so much encouragement in that verse! Starting with this idea: It is possible to live to please God!

I think that we often think about God as impossible to please. He is holy, after all, and we are not. We can get to thinking of God as implacable, unhappy, demanding, harsh, always looking to find fault and telling us, “You’re doing it wrong.” Some of you had a father or a mother like that, and it has skewed your view of God. 

But Paul says that not only did he teach them how to they can live (literally “walk”) to please God, but that these Christians are actually doing it!

"....we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living.”

That’s so encouraging to me. And it must have been encouraging to them.

Now, of course, they could not do it on their own. For starters, they needed Jesus to forgive them of their sins, and they needed the Holy Spirit to come live inside of them and give them power to live to please God. And they needed to have faith. Because without faith it is impossible to please God (see Hebrews 11:6). But they had those things! And they were doing it. The Christians in Thessalonica were living their lives in a God-pleasing way. And now Paul writes to them, “Good job! Now keep it up. Do it more and more.”

I said a couple of weeks ago that encouragement comes in two basic flavors. There is comfort (or consolation) and there is urging (or exhortation). One flavor of encouragement is, “You are doing it right. It’s going to be okay. God has you where He wants you.” That’s comfort or consolation. The other flavor is more of a kick in the pants. “I encourage you to do this or to do that.” Like, a parent saying, “I encourage you to go clean your room.”

This verse has both of those kinds of encouragement, doesn’t it? And the one feeds the other. “You are doing it right. Now do it more and more!” 

Paul says, “We ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus.” That word for “urge” is the same word translated “encourage” in other parts of Thessalonians. Your version might have “encourage” there. I think the CSB translates it that way. It’s more than just a suggestion. This is not optional, but it is not a rebuke either! Do this more and more: Live to please God.

Is that your basic stance in life? Are you focused on living your life for the pleasure of God? Or are you trying to please someone else?

Maybe yourself? Our default setting is to live for our own pleasure. Our entire culture is built on that idea! “Suit yourself. You do you. Have it your way. Whatever makes you happy.” 

Or many of us have fallen into the trap of living to please other people. That’s one of my biggest temptations. I like to be liked, and I loved to be loved. And I want people to approve of me. So I start doing things to make them happy with me. And that leads to all kinds of trouble.

Paul says he taught the Thessalonians to live for something higher and holier; to live to please God. And they were doing it!

Not perfectly. Not as much as they could. He wants them to increasingly do it more and more. But they were doing it. And to the degree that you and I are living for God right now, praise God! Way to go! Well done, you. I see it in so many of your lives. You want to know what God wants and you want to walk it out in your own life. You pray, “Have Your Own Way, Lord. Have your own way!” And that’s exactly right! Keep that up! And do it more and more and more.

Because the opposite is a terrible thought. Living our lives to displease God! What a scary idea. I don’t want to walk in that neighborhood. And neither did the Thessalonians. They wanted to know what God wanted, and then they wanted to do it. And they even knew what it was that God wanted. Look at verse 2.

“For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. [They were taught this already.] It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality...” (vv. 2-3).

Do this more and more:

#2. LIVE OUT A HOLY SEXUALITY.

Paul says, “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified.” We don’t have wonder about that.

Have you ever thought, “I wonder what God’s will is for me.” Well, He’s told us right here! God’s desire is for you and me to be holy. To live holy lives. That’s what it means to be “sanctified.” It means to be set apart from the world, set apart from our old way of living, to be set apart from sin. God wants you and me to live differently from how we used to and how the world still does.

And specifically here, Paul says that God wants us to be holy in how we use our bodies in sexual ways.

V.3, “[Y]ou should avoid sexual immorality...”

What is that? The Greek word there is “porneia.” And it refers a whole range of sexual misconduct–basically any sexual act that take place outside of a loving biblical marriage of one man and one woman covenanted together for life.

So that includes adultery. A married man or a married woman having sex with someone other than their wife or their husband. Cheating. (Or an “open marriage” if both spouses are complicit in this immorality.)

And it includes sexual abuse and rape, of course. It includes incest.

And porneia includes prostitution, both selling or buying. In Thessalonica, prostitution was often tied to the worship of idols. The idols that the Thessalonians had turned away from to serve the living and true God (1:9).

In the Greek and Roman world of this time, there was almost an “anything goes” kind of ethic about sex, at least for the free men. Men could do just about whatever they wanted with other men, with children, with slaves, with prostitutes, with concubines, and against their wives.

But Paul says that God wants the Christians to “avoid” all of that. To say, “no to porneia.”

Porneia includes homosexual acts. Many of the things our culture is planning to celebrate this month with “pride.”

It also includes the use of pornography. You can see how we get our word “porn” from “porneia.” Lusting after, fantasizing over, desiring other bodies, bodies of those with whom we are not in covenant.

And porneia also includes boyfriends and girlfriends having sex with one another before they are married. Not just hooking up in promiscuity but also committed couples living sexually as if they are married when they are not married.

I know that’s “normal” now. Both in the culture and increasingly among people who claim to be followers of Jesus. But the Bible is saying that true followers of Jesus will run away from all of that. “It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality...”

We should run like the plague from porneia!

Notice that Paul doesn’t just say what not to do, but also what to do. What to do instead, verse 4.

“It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality [v.4] that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God” (vv.3-4).

More and more, God wants us to live out a holy sexuality. To control our bodies in a way that is holy and honorable.

Now that phrase, “to control his own body” is a difficult one to translate from the Greek. It could be woodenly translated, “to possess his own vessel” which what does that mean? Some of your versions have a footnote with the reading, “acquire your wife” which takes the “possess” as “come into possession” and assumes that the “vessel” is like where Peter calls wives a “weaker vessel” (like 1 Peter 3:7). And that’s possible. That’s why it’s footnoted. 

But most English versions take the “possess” as “controlling your possession” and the “vessel” as either being your body or perhaps the more sexual parts of your body. The parts that men, especially, sometimes have trouble controlling. I think that’s more likely and fits better in the context.

The point is that Paul is saying that Christians don’t have to sin sexually and shouldn’t. That it’s possible to learn to control your body in way that is holy and honorable!

Sexual self-control is possible. 

Isn’t that encouraging?! You and I do not have to engage in porneia of any kind.

If you are single, you can be chaste unless and until you are biblically married. One man and one woman promised to each other for life.

If you are married, you can be faithful to your husband or to your wife.

If you are addicted to pornography, you can quit.

If you have been visiting a prostitute, you can stop going. If you have been selling yourself, you can get out of the trade. And that includes selling yourself on OnlyFans. 

If you have been living like you’re married when you are not, you can move out and live a God-honoring life with your body.

Sexual self-control is possible. A pure sex life is possible. Paul says to live it out more and more.

It will be hard! That’s why Paul was praying for it in verse 13. “May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones” (1 Thess. 3:13 NIVO). It takes strengthening of our hearts. But it is possible to be blameless and holy with our bodies!

You will not hear that from the world. We must be different from the world. Verse 5, “... not in passionate lust like the heathen who do not know God.” We don’t have to live “hot and heavy like the heathen” (Kerry S. Doyal). We can and should live differently, distinctly, set apart, holy. And the Thessalonians were! So Paul encourages them to do it more and more.

Notice that he doesn’t say that we should lecture the world on how to control their bodies, on how to possess their vessels. He’s writing to Christians about the Christian sexual ethic. More than telling the world, we should be showing the world how to live out a holy sexuality. We probably ought to get our act together before we go lecturing the world on how to behave with their bodies.

Now, I can imagine someone saying, “Pastor Matt, I just don’t see why this is so important. Who are we to judge?” And I understand that there other things to also be concerned about than just sexuality. Sometimes, Christians can get a reputation for thinking and talking about sex all the time. And some do. There are many other things that we should be concerned about: injustice, violence, and much more.

But it’s actually the world that talks about sexuality all the time. It’s like they know deep down that they are doing something wrong and are desperate to justify themselves and keep us on the defensive.

And the same is true for Christians caught up in sexual sin. There are so many justifications and excuses that some Christians offer up to downplay the importance of avoiding sexuality immorality in all of its forms.

But it is important because it is God’s will. It says so right here. And it also says that sexual self-control is possible because it’s God’s will.

And it doesn’t just affect us. Our sexual sin affects others, as well. That’s bound up in that word “honorable” in verse 4. Did you notice that word? Have you ever thought about your sexuality being either holy or unholy? Well, how about honorable or dishonorable? Paul says in verse 6 that when we sin sexually we are dishonoring other people. Look at verse 6.

“...and that in this matter [of sexual practice] no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him.”

Do we think about sexuality that way? That when we engage in porneia of any kind that we are not just sinning against God but against other people. 

For example, if we engage in adultery, we are sinning against a spouse. Wronging a brother (or a sister).

If we engage in sex before being married, we are sinning against a potential eventual spouse. If you don’t get married to that man or that woman, and they eventually get married to someone else, you were illicitly having their marriage partner. You were stealing from them.

It doesn’t matter that they were giving themselves to you willingly. You were taking what isn’t yours.

Sexual sin is stealing. The point is not just that you might make a baby you didn’t intend to. The point is that you didn’t honor their body the way you should. It wasn’t your body to enjoy.

The same thing is true with prostitution. 

The same thing is true with pornography. Her body on that screen is not yours to enjoy. His body on that page is not yours to enjoy. You are wronging someone, probably multiple someones. You are taking advantage of them. You are exploiting them. Even if they are complicit.

Of course, that’s true with abuse and rape. That’s obviously stealing.

And that includes marital rape. Just because her body is yours in covenant, guys, does not mean that you can demand it or take it at any time you want.

Our sexuality must be holy and must be honorable. We should be honoring others with our bodies and in how we treat their bodies. More and more. 

Because God cares, and He will do something about it. Look at the end of verse 6.

“The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.”

If sexual sin is stealing (and it is), then it is an injustice. And God hates injustice and will eventually balance all of the scales. Some English versions say, “God is an avenger.” That means He will make things right once again. God will right every wrong. That might be some time. It sure seems like people are getting away with very impure lives. Our culture keeps going down, down, down that trail.

And one day, the Lord will bring judgment on all porneia. Paul already told them that and warned them. Because God cares. He didn’t save us so that we could live unholy lives. He didn’t save us so that we could just go on like we always have. He saved us to make us holy like Him. We were saved to be sanctified, down to our sex lives. V.8

“Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.”

This isn’t just Paul saying this or Pastor Matt. It’s God. The same God who put His Holy Spirit inside of you wants you to be holy, too. And to live out a holy sexuality more and more.

Now, what if you haven’t? These are strong words and serious ones. And we have all sinned sexually. We are all sexual sinners. Every last one of us. 

The question is do we repent of our sexual sin and do we trust in what Jesus did for us on the Cross and at the Empty Tomb? Through that we can be forgiven. Jesus took the punishment for our sexual sin, and He came back to life to give us the power to live a holy life. Look at verse 7 again.

“God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.”

And, therefore, it is possible! That’s how the Thessalonians were living. The question is if we are aimed in that same direction, as well. We will all sin from now until Jesus comes, but we don’t have to at any given moment, and we don’t have to be controlled by it. We confess it and (by the power of the Holy Spirit living within us) learn to control our own bodies in a way that is holy and honorable. More and more.

In verse 9, Paul changes the subject, but only slightly. He is still talking about honoring in another other, but he broadens it from our bodies to brotherly love. Look at verse 9.

“Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more” (vv.9-10).

There’s that “more and more!” And that’s point number three and last:

#3. LOVE YOUR SPIRITUAL FAMILY.

More and more. Love your spiritual family.

Look at how encouraging Paul is once again! He says that he doesn’t have to teach them about how to love each other because they have been taught by God to love each other. And they’re doing it! That must have been so encouraging for them to read.

“Way to go, Thessalonians! Well done, you. Keep it up. Do it more and more.”

I’m not exactly sure what he means when he says they were taught by God. Perhaps he means that they have learned by the example of the Lord Jesus. They knew how as the Son of God Jesus showed us how to love each other. That’s certainly true.

Maybe he means that the Holy Spirit has been working inside of the believers in that church so that they obviously had been “God-taught” to love one another from the inside out. That’s probably true, as well.

Whatever he means, Paul could tell that God had taught them to love each other with “brotherly love.” The Greek word there is actually “philadelphias” where we get the name of our Pennsylvania city over by New Jersey. 

It basically means “love for siblings of the same Father.” And we Christians have the same Father, don’t we? Paul says that the Thessalonians were doing a great job of loving each other (that’s encouraging!), and at the same time, he encourages them (same word) to do so more and more.

How we doing at loving our brothers and sisters in Christ? Especially those who are different from us. It’s easy to love people when they are the same or think the same or act the same as we do. But what about those who are different? Or those who are difficult? Some siblings are easy to love and others take a lot more effort. We have to work at it more and more.

One key way to love our spiritual family is to encourage them. That’s why I asked Jenni to create these “encouragement cards” that are in your bulletins. And there are more out in the foyer. Who might you send one of these to this week? Let me encourage you to think about someone whom you have maybe just met here at Lanse Free Church. We are growing as a spiritual family, and it’s harder to know each other and to encourage each other since there are now so many of us. How about looking around and picking someone that you are just beginning to get to know, and look in the church directory for their address or put it their box out in the foyer? Or hand it to them!

Our church family is a very loving church family. I’ve seen it again and again and again and again. Well done, you! Now, do it more and more!

There are lots of ways to love our spiritual family, but in verses 11 and 12, Paul focuses on one particular way–not being a burden to each other. Look at verse 11.

“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you [this is another thing they had already been taught], so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody” (vv.11-12).

Do you see how that is loving?

Paul says that we should be ambitious to be quiet. That’s a surprising way to put it! I think he means not “quiet” as in the opposite of “loud,” but quiet as in peaceful and peaceable. We are good neighbors. We’re not trying to be a problem. We’re not trying to stir up trouble in our relationships. Sometimes trouble comes, and we deal with it. And of course we speak up when we are called to. He’s not saying to always be silent. Paul was not always silent! But we are striving for peace.

And we are supposed to “mind our own business.” Not to be busybodies, not to meddle in things that don’t have anything to do with us. “Not my circus, not my monkeys,” right? Solomon said, Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own” (Prov. 26:17, NIV). That’s not loving! Paul will have more to say about that in this letter and the next.

And then Paul says, “Work with your hands...” And I don’t think he’s emphasizing manual labor as much as personal labor. Paul wants Christians [who can] to work for their own living. To be busy instead of busybodies. And not to be a burden to others.

Maybe some of the more poor Christians were tempted to give up work and let the more wealthy Christians support them. Paul had shown them with his own example that even a Christian who could rightfully be supported might pass up that support for loving reasons (see chapter 2). And now he’s encouraging them to think about others and work hard themselves to not be burden on the other brothers. v.12  “...so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”

Now, of course, if you need to be dependent, then be dependent. The Christians in the New Testament took care of widows and the disabled and their elderly parents.  If you don’t have your own hands to work with, then you can’t “work with your own hands.” But Christians who can, should, out of love for the brothers.

And as a witness to the world. Look at verse 12.

“...so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders...”

The world is watching to see if we love our spiritual family. The world is watching to see if all the things we say about Jesus actually changes our lives. The world is watching to see if we live our lives differently, including our sex lives.

Is it true that because of Jesus those Christians can be self-controlled?

Can they honor other people with their bodies?

Can those Christians keep from fighting with each other and lead quiet lives?

Can they mind their own beeswax?

Can they stay busy and not be a burden on each other?

Can they actually live to please their God?

What’s the answer to that?

Yes, it is possible! The Thessalonians did it. 

And the Lord was calling them (and now us) to do this more and more.

***

Messages in this Series:

01. To the Church of the Thessalonians - 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
02. We Loved You So Much - 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16
03. You Are Our Glory and Joy - 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13

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