Our Bibles stand at this time to 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. We'll read the first eight verses. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 beginning in verse 1. Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God. For you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you should abstain from sexual immorality, that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit." Let's pray. Father, we do thank you for your grace to us this morning as we continue to work through this wonderful short letter to the Thessalonians. We pray that you would be pleased to fill us with your Spirit, help us to hear these important truths as we look to the practical applications that Paul would lay out before the Thessalonian brethren. So please, Father, be pleased to meet with us. Give us the blessing of Your Spirit to open our eyes and hearts to what we hear and look at in Your Word. Forgive us, we ask, for our sins, Lord, and give us the grace now to meet with You as we look into Your Word, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Having reminded the Thessalonians of their present that their present sufferings were not unusual but in fact part and parcel for the Christian walk, and having sought to encourage them concerning their perseverance in their faith and in their love, and having poured out his own heart concerning the great pains that he has taken to try to get back to see the Thessalonians, Paul now moves on to exhort the Thessalonian brethren concerning the ways in which they ought to conduct themselves during their times of suffering. And you could apply this, of course, during times of rest for that matter as well. But he especially concerned for them in these kinds of practical ways during this time of suffering where temptation will increase in various ways. In other words, even in the midst of dark and confusing times, there are very clear and general principles that can help keep them on their way so that even when they can't see in a certain providential sense with their physical senses, they are having a difficult time understanding or seeing perhaps what is going on, that they yet can always see in a biblical sense. They have a place where they can fix their attention on things that they can be certain about even though their providential circumstances may seem to be filled with much uncertainty. What I mean by this will become clearer by the time we finish looking at this text. Well, here then in our text we find the first imperative principle which Paul sets forth as a particular focal point, especially during times of suffering, but not limited to times of suffering, but especially during times of suffering and trial, there are certain principles that he would lay forth, imperatives, commands, and he begins with this one this morning. And that focal point is a call to purity. A call to purity. Now, whether or not Paul had received an actual report from Timothy concerning some of the Thessalonians falling into sexual sin, we might be able to assume that in some sense, possibly, but we cannot be certain as to what is motivating Paul to do this, to write about this. But it's irrelevant in one sense, from our standpoint, because the fact of the matter is that especially during, but not limited to, times of trial, sexual sin can become very attractive. Especially during times of sorrow, during times of tribulation, trial, affliction, suffering, sexual sin in particular can become very attractive. When the body is in ongoing agony, the spirit indeed can grow weary. And when the spirit grows weary, it can long for some form of quick fix relief. Something to bring immediate relief, in some sense, because the body is overwhelmed and the spirit is overwhelmed by some type of trial. And so Paul wants to exhort his audience to see the big picture here. so that rather than miss the long-term and greater blessing of spiritual growth through these trials by looking for an escape and regressing into sexual sin, they can instead stand fast and endure and benefit from these afflictions all of which God has ordained for their good. Remember what we read back in chapter 3. Let's look at the first four verses of chapter 3 for a moment. We read about there very clearly that Paul wanted the Thessalonians to know that even their sufferings are appointed by God. Listen to these words again. Therefore, Paul says, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow Libra in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, that no one should be shaken by these afflictions. Well, why? For you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. Right? Even God's sovereign hand is ordering this. He does not have the ill motives of their persecutors. We've talked about that already. But God is the one who has ordained all these things for a bigger purpose. For in fact, Paul says, we told you before, when we were with you, that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know. And so Paul wants them to remember that and now to walk in that light so that they do not give in to sexual temptation or any kind of immorality, that they will be careful and on guard and see the bigger picture, as it were, of what God is doing in this. And so Paul states in verses 1 and 2 of chapter 4 then here, finally then brethren, All that I have said, brethren, being the case, he says, therefore, finally, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk, and to please God, for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. Now brethren, just note for a moment, again, we see this with the Apostle Paul a lot, don't we? We saw it in this letter, you see it in other letters as well. Paul had a gift for being able to express fervency and emotion in words, right? He didn't have Skype, he could not talk to them on a telephone, he had to use letters, and he was able to speak in a way though that they could get the impact or the sense of urgency behind what he's saying. And here, he uses these words, urge and exhort, in this command here. And clearly, what this indicates is that what Paul is calling for here is no small matter. He wants them to see this as urgent, as something that ought to lay hold of their attention very fervently, to shake them, as it were, to say, listen carefully to what I say. This is significant. This is a matter of great importance that cannot be overlooked by the Thessalonians. This is, in fact, one of the great purposes of this letter. It is one of the called-for actions which Paul is after and which Paul is most concerned about during this time of tribulation. It is an active purpose of this entire letter. In other words, we went through the first three chapters so far and saw a lot of indicative teaching in Paul's heart, his burden, giving them a lot of information about remembering who God is, encouraging them in their love, etc. But if you think about it and back up a few steps, The very motive for Paul writing this letter is to call for certain actions, right? If you were receiving information from a relative or a brother or sister or someone who was away and you knew they were involved with something or in danger of being involved with something that is wrong or can get them into trouble, you may write them a letter and you'll preface it with several indicative thoughts But ultimately you're looking for some kind of action, there's something you want to get through, some kind of imperative, some kind of command. Well here, we're reaching the imperative. This is what Paul is after, in ensuring that they are doing these things. And that is where we are in the letter. And so what does he urge and exhort here? It says that they would abound more and more, that is that they would increase and improve upon, that idea of abounding, increasing, improving upon it, adding to it, improve upon their obedience to the commandments of the Lord Jesus, which were given to the Thessalonians through Paul and his companions. Now remember, Paul was only there for about less than four weeks. Now he spent time with them in those four weeks. It wasn't just Sundays, so to speak. He was there and he instructed them and probably spent much time with them. But during the process of that time with them, he spent time in the gospel, but also elaborating on sanctification, on the need to be holy before God, caution against sexual sin, as we see in our text. He gave them commands. while he was there. Imperatives. And so he wants to remind them of those things. And in this way, in walking in this way, in pursuing holiness in this way, Paul says that they would please God. Right? In verse 1. Just as you received from us. When? When we were there. When we spoke to you how you ought to walk and to please God. not just jumping around and saying, great that you believe these wonderful things about the gospel, which are amazing how God Christ has died for you, wonderful truths that are the foundation and the continuation of your faith, but we gave you specific commands in light of that gospel so that you can know how to walk in such a way that would please the God who has redeemed you. In pursuing holiness, you would please God. In other words, brethren, that same holiness which Paul prays about, that God would, or he invokes God about, that God would establish their hearts of the Thessalonians. Remember just a few verses back in verses 11 through 13, that same way in which Paul prays for those things, he now exhorts the Thessalonians to pursue from their end as well. Look again at that benedictory prayer that we went over last time, verses 11 to 13. now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you and may the Lord make you increase and abound same word same idea in love to one another and to all just as we do to you so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and with all of his saints. And so what is Paul doing? In that benedictory prayer, he's praying that God would be the one that would cause this in their hearts, establish their hearts in holiness, that he would cause them to abound in love. And then in verses 1 and following in chapter 4, he's charging them to do those very things, saying, look, you need to do this. In one vein, may God do this to you. In another vein, you need to do this. And so, brethren, here again, we find Paul implicating that cooperative effort which exists between God and the Christian in the working out of the Christian's own salvation. You see that here, don't you? In one vein, Paul prays for God to do that work, recognizing the impossibility of the Christian doing anything in his own strength. Verses 12 and 13 in chapter 3. And in another vein, he exhorts the Thessalonians not to sit around and to wait to get zapped with power in some way, but rather to take steps of faith in pursuing such holiness in the fear of God, trusting that God would meet them there and grant them that which they could never otherwise achieve on their own. Do you see that connection there? May God do this to you, and brethren, I exhort you to do this. the very same thing that he's hoping that God will do in them. There is a connection between the sovereignty of God and the accountability of man that we often see in Paul's writings and in the writings of Scripture. Brethren, it is another way of Paul expositing, as it were, the idea, in a very specific context here, of this suffering and what's going on with the Thessalonians. It is very much another way of Paul expositing the idea of working out one's salvation with fear and trembling, recognizing that it is God who is at work in you to will and to do according to God's good pleasure. The two seem almost like contradictory in some sense, but they work together. You work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Fight the good fight. Work it out. Put the death and deeds of the body by the spirit. Commands, imperatives on you. For it is God who is at work in you, to work and to do, to will and to do according to His good pleasure. You are His workmanship in Christ Jesus. He gets all the glory. You could do nothing apart from Christ. Do what God calls you to do. Both. are given by the Apostle Paul. It's also in line, I believe, with the Lord Jesus Christ's command to His disciples to believe that whatever they ask in prayer, they will receive, leading them to act upon their requests by taking steps that would indicate that they believe that God has already granted them. So Jesus says, look, and he's talking within the context of sanctification and of bearing fruit, and we'll get into this next week, Lord willing. And he says, look, whatever you ask for, believe that you've received it and it will be granted to you. And in essence, what Jesus is saying, look, when you pray for certain things with respect to bearing fruit and sanctification, those things that you know are in the will of God, when you're concerned about those things and you pray about them, treat it as if God has already answered the prayer and act accordingly. Lord, I pray that you would give me an increase of faith so that I would be able to testify verbally and in a better way before my family. When the Lord says, okay, start going before your family and testifying before them and I'll meet you there, I will give you that faith, right? We're believing as if he's already answered that prayer. It is like the blind man going by faith to wash in the water, confident that Jesus has restored his vision. Why does Jesus tell the blind man, or in some of his miracles, in his different displays of Christ's attributes and his glory and theological truths that come out in his miracles, they're not all done in the same way. But there are several in which Jesus says, go and do this. Now, is it the case that Jesus cannot heal that person without him going to wash in the water? Of course not. He could do all things. He healed the centurion's servant from afar without even going near the man. Well, why does he send the man to go wash in the water who is blind, who can't see? Well, there's an element of faith that Jesus is calling for there. So that the man, as he by faith obeys Christ and goes to that water, he has already been healed in that sense. It will happen. It will come about. Well, we see that idea in the Christian sanctification. The same idea that God will work and He calls us to work at the same time. How does Paul know that focusing on and obeying the commands of Christ ought to be the primary mission of the persecuted and suffering Thessalonians? The first thing that he's calling for here, by way of imperatives, is to abound more and more, to pursue purity in that sense, to keep the commands of Christ. He says, for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. How does he know that that ought to be the focus of these people in Thessalonica during this time of suffering? Well, he explains that in verse 3. He says, for, here's the reason, for this is the will of God, your sanctification. You see, brethren, those are some pretty strong words, aren't they? God's will is not that we should be without suffering in this life, right? If his will was that we should be without suffering, if that was primary, then we wouldn't suffer. In fact, to the contrary, God guarantees that we will experience suffering in this life because his will is our sanctification. God's will does not even end with the forgiveness and conversion of the redeemed sinner. Again, that's a wonderful thing. It's a wonderful thing to be forgiven for people to be saved. And to think about that, that's a wonderful end, but it's not the ultimate end in God's plan. As we have stated throughout this series, God's will is our being conformed into the image of his beloved son. That's the easy definition of sanctification right there. Being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. His will is the breaking off of what is still defiling in us and the renewing us day by day toward greater holiness. When you think of sanctification, you have to think of holiness. His will is our sanctification. And that process of sanctification, that process of putting to death remaining sin in us, and conforming us more and more into the image of Christ, is progressive in nature. That's why we call it progressive sanctification. We use those terms, not because in scripture it uses that word, but that's what it is. It's something that's progressive. We should be becoming more and more like Christ. More and more holy. There are ups, there are downs. We struggle and so on. Better days than others. But we should be in general moving in that direction. Until, as Paul says in Ephesians, until we come to the completed man in Christ, right? We're on this mission together as a church, we exhort one another, we encourage one another to this end. Everything revolves in a big sense around this mission, this great will of God to sanctify, to hallow a people in himself purchased and redeemed by and in Christ. Now to that end, brethren, as we look further here, Paul brings up, and I've mentioned this already, but he brings up a specific category of holiness which would have been very relevant for the formerly pagan Thessalonians And in fact, we can say arguably deals with the most prominent sin of all cultures to which we are most vulnerable at all times, and especially during times of suffering and affliction, and that is sexual purity. That is a sin that was predominant in the heathen culture of that day, practiced in the religious worship, Of course, amongst all, even those who would have been proclaimed atheists in any sense, that was the big struggle. And brethren, we know that today, that is probably one of the biggest struggles in our churches and in our world. Notice what Paul says in verse three as he continues. He says, for this is the will of God, your sanctification that you should abstain from sexual immorality. Now brethren, obviously Paul is not saying that our entire sanctification is summed up on maintaining sexual purity. In other words, you don't have to be concerned about anything else, any other kind of sin, any other kind of struggle, if we just concentrate on sexual purity alone, that equals sanctification. That's not the point that he is making here. But again, this is a specific area of sanctification that addresses a predominant means of defilement within the heathen culture. This is a big issue, Senhir. It was very relevant for the Thessalonians, and that's why Paul is addressing it. And of course it is very relevant for us. Paul is putting his finger on the obvious threat which largely exists and which most wars against the purity of the church. Paul knows this. He knows the culture very well. And so he addresses it very specifically. And brethren, as I've just stated, I don't think this ought to be so surprising to us because it is a great sin which plagues the churches, pastors, deacons, lay people of our own day in the form of adultery, in the form of fornication, that is sexual relations outside of marriage, in the form of pornography, viewing pictures in magazines or on the internet of people involved with sexual activity or with their clothes off, whatever it might be. All those kinds of things plague not only the outside world, but the churches. reformed churches as well of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so Paul exhorts them to fervently abstain from, he says to flee that language, to run away from. It gives you the picture of Joseph Right? Joseph, when he was near Potiphar, in Potiphar's house, and Potiphar's wife was going after Joseph, and Joseph didn't sit there and say, well, you know, I mean, at first he said, look, you belong to my master, how can I sin against God in doing this? But it didn't take long when she reached out, where Joseph couldn't say, well, you know, I'll just kind of fend her off. No, Joseph ran. And it's a good picture here of what Paul is saying. To abstain from, to flee from, to avoid at all costs the gross and defiling sin of sexual immorality which corrupts, erodes, and seeks to destroy the very sanctifying purposes of God and the believer. Paul knows that. God's will is our sanctification of hallowing us, and sexual immorality runs contrary to that very will. It would seek to defile us as God is seeking to purify us. Notice, brethren, that Paul moves on in verses 4 and 5. to add to what he is saying, he says these words. He brings it to a specific point here. He says that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. And so what is Paul saying here? He's saying that the child of God the redeemed, Holy Spirit indwelt child of God, the one who has come to know God, who has had his eyes opened, her eyes opened in truth to the truth of God and who he is, unlike the unregenerate Gentiles, the unbelieving, godless Gentiles who do not see the truth. who cannot see the truth. The child of God, he's saying, has everything that he needs to exercise self-control in the area of maintaining sexual purity. Paul is assuming that by what he's saying here about that we know God. As difficult as it may be at times, brethren, as vulnerable as we are in the flesh, God has given us everything that we need. He has provided and continues to provide us with every means of grace necessary to tame and control the lustful beast of our natural man in Adam. We are without excuse. Now the temptation is real. Probably most at some point or another struggle with this. But we do not have to give in to the lusts of the flesh. In other words, we cannot say, it's just impossible. I cannot control the inner urge. It jumps upon me and I'm done. No, there are means of controlling our own vessel. I believe that this text means, some people think possessing of the vessel here has to do with possessing your own wife. I think it's talking about self-control, possessing your own body, having control over your body. There are means of reckoning ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ, as Paul says in Romans. There are means, as Paul says in Galatians, of walking in the Spirit so that we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. What's Paul's point there in Galatians? In one sense, he's saying, look, there are remaining lusts of the flesh. They exist. And that's one reason we can be encouraged, brethren, that even though we struggle in this way, it doesn't mean we're not saved. Some people say, well, man, I get tempted in these kinds of ways. I have to turn my head. I struggle. It must mean I'm not saved. No, Paul says there are lusts of the flesh. But he tells us that we do not have to follow after those lusts, that we can walk in the Spirit so that we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh as the Spirit lusts against the flesh and the flesh against the Spirit so that we are not our own, right? We can follow the guidance and direction of the Spirit. And if we do not access those means of grace, If we do not avail ourselves to those means, then ultimately brethren, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We cannot say, as Christians who know God, that if we fall in these kinds of ways, that we just could not control ourselves. Paul is eliminating that excuse here by commanding us to exercise self-control over our vessels. And so, brethren, that passion of lust, that spurring and riling of the erotic emotions is controllable by the grace of God in Christ. And friends, this is that important to God. You have to see that. This is important to God. Sexual sin, adultery, fornication, looking at pornography, all of these, while certainly not unpardonable sins, are to be taken very serious in our pursuit of holiness. That's the point. Not to condemn those who have struggled in these ways, but to say, look, keep fighting the good fight, don't surrender, don't give in, you have no excuse. God has given you everything you need to flee with Joseph. In fact, Consider, brethren, the opposite of the words sanctification and honor here. He talks about possessing your vessel in sanctification and honor, and see as well the gravity of this specific type of sin. You see, partaking in sexual immorality is to subject your body, it's the opposite, to defilement. The opposite of sanctification is to be unholy, it's to be defiled, it's to move in the direction of corruption. and dishonor. It is to dishonor your own body according to the implications of what Paul is saying here. And so, without denying the fact that we constantly need the grace of Christ because of our failure in these or in any regards for that matter, without flushing out all hope of grace and forgiveness for those who have fallen in these kinds of ways, this grace that comes to us at the cross, without ignoring that, we do need to see, brethren, that this matter of our sanctification is extremely important in the sight of God. You see, we can get lost in two extremes here, can't we? We can say, well, I am saved where sin abounds, grace abounds more, and yes, I've struggled with this kind of sin, and kind of tone things down and not fight fervently, not attack sin tooth and nail, and say, well, I'm glad that I'm in Christ, and become loose about this, and to not be sober minded, not to be careful, not to fight. That's one extreme. The other extreme is to see the ways in which we have failed in these areas, and to say that there's no hope, that I'm lost, and not to see that in the gospel of Christ, yes, we can be forgiven for even these types of sins. Those who are in the fight, those who are battling, those who are seeking to overcome, and yet who have fallen, there is grace, there is forgiveness in the Lord Jesus Christ. But brethren, it is a battle. And it is a battle that must be fought fervently and viciously because the will of God is our sanctification. As you might settle back and say, well, it is what it is. It's a difficult struggle. Remind yourself that it is God's will for you to overcome and to fight against that sin. And brethren, Better men than you and I have become ensnared here, and that unto significant temporal consequences. We've gone over the life of David. We've seen the great consequences of David's sin of adultery with Bathsheba, the horrendous thing, the way David looked like Saul. In that one chapter, if you changed the names, you would have said, this is Saul or someone else. It's not David. And we saw the horrifying effects of how that sin spiraled into greater sin, into lying and murder, and the effects that it had on David's children and his family. We know about that sin with Solomon, that Solomon who was so caught up in his many wives, was not content with one or even two or three or even ten, but had to have 700 wives and 300 concubines. And how his idolatrous wives took his heart away from God. so that he fell away. We know about the sin of Samson, who was a man who was mighty in spirit in certain ways. He had great power. He did things we look at and we say, how does a man kill a thousand people with the jawbone of a donkey? How does a man tear down pillars? And yet the man was as weak as ever when it came to being involved in an issue of fornication with women who were foreigners. These men, great men, had caved into this sin, and so we ought to be cautious. Brethren, all of them in their own ways have suffered some real major temporal consequences because of those sin, even though I believe that all of them were saved. Paul continues in verse six, let's look at verse six. He continues on, he says here, that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter because the Lord is the avenger of all such as we also forewarned you and testified. Wow, what strong words. Paul, you're speaking to Christians here, brother. How are you gonna talk about Jesus avenging, about defrauding your brother and so on? You think that Paul is serious about this matter? You see, brethren, when Paul speaks of not taking advantage of or defrauding your brother here, clearly he is specifically addressing the matter of adultery at this point. He is talking about being involved with an adulterous relationship with a woman or man who belongs to your brother or sister in Christ. which obviously was not uncommon amongst the Thessalonian people even as it is not uncommon today. And so there is a heavy, weighty caution here against tampering with the wives of our brothers in the church. And I think one of the reasons why he focuses on the male aspect of this is, first of all, usually the word brothers or brethren is meant to mean all, but because the woman in particular is that which, in a sense, belongs to the man, is given to the man. And so you're defrauding your brother of what is rightfully his in Christ. But yes, women, it is to defraud other women when you seek to be involved with their husbands. It is also equally sinful. I'm just telling you why I think the male is emphasized here. So relevant was this concern to Paul that during the short time that he was among the Thessalonians, remember he was only there for a handful of weeks, he considered it a priority to address this issue. He says that we spoke to you about this, look what he says, that the Lord is an avenger of all such as we also forewarned you and testified. One of the things that Paul did while he was there in his teaching and preaching was to warn them against the cultural practices of sexual sin and adultery and how God views those things. He had warned them against the practice and the warning was quite fierce. And brethren, let's be honest, this warning of the Apostle Paul is quite unbecoming in the context of many evangelical churches today. How many churches would even read this text or recognize that this is actually something in the scriptures given to Christians as warnings? It's not too often that you hear of the Lord. It's not too often that you hear of Jesus as an avenger of any sort. That doesn't sound like a nice, friendly, kumbaya Jesus who is out there and just loves everyone into the kingdom, does it? And yet, In keeping with the fiery-eyed, sword-mouthed, glorious depiction of Christ given in Revelation, Paul states here that Jesus is an avenger of sorts. He's an avenger. And in this case, it is related to those who are defrauded by others who tamper with their wives in any sexual sense. The word defrauded even speaks volumes, doesn't it? When you take another man's spouse, and sleep with them or are involved with them in some immoral sense. You're cheating them. You are defrauding them. You are going in and cheating them out of what's theirs. There's a conscious effort to do that. In other words, you don't just wake up one day, come to church, and see someone's wife and go into the back hallway and do some things. It's premeditated. There's a gradual sense to it. It's defrauding someone. Again, This is not to say that adultery is unpardonable and there have been brethren, many throughout church history, who have been involved with this sin, who have repented, who have been restored into the membership of various churches and so on. But it is a matter not to be taken lightly in any respect. God hates adultery even as He hates idolatry, which is spiritual adultery. It's interesting that the one particular sin that is most emphasized as to idolatry against God is the idea of adultery, which is pictured in the relationship that a man and a woman have in marriage being violated in some sense. And so Paul reminds them of this warning, all the more as the temptation might increase during this time of great tribulation. That's his point here. They are going through suffering. They're in trial here. They are being persecuted from the beginning. This church has been beat upon. They can grow weary. And as time goes on, the temptation to adhere to the culture and to their former habits will come upon them. And Paul is saying, don't. God has ordained this. The will of God is your sanctification. Don't defraud your brother. Don't conform again to the world and to those inner lusts. But keep on the path of maintaining faith, abounding more and more in faithfulness to God. Some of you in this room real quickly, and I didn't intend on saying this because next week I want to get into applications, maybe in that process where you're coveting in the heart somebody else's spouse, in this church or outside, wherever it may be. You may not have committed the act yet. There may be slight flirtations going on. Be cautioned by what the scripture says here. Confess, repent of your sin, get on your knees before God, seek accountability, get help if need be. before you give in to this sin that will defile you, that will bring down in some way God's vengeance upon you, perhaps. Moving on then, Paul says in verse 7, For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Again, in keeping with the will of God, being not simply our justification, but also our sanctification, not simply our being declared righteous in His sight immediately, which is what happens when we come to faith in Christ, but God's will also being that process of sanctifying us so that we become more and more like the Savior who has justified us. Paul reminds the Thessalonians that their calling was not simply unto forgiveness for sin, but also unto the forsaking of sin. Do you see that here? For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness, not only unto being forgiven for sin, but unto forsaking of sin. God has called us. The whole entire system that of unclean and clean that was a part of the Judaistic form of worship in the Old Covenant, not eating certain foods, not mixing certain cloths, planting certain seeds, this whole idea of mixing all of that which is done in Christ. was picturing this very thing. It was a lesson with all of these things that God had said were holy and unholy, to teach them the importance of separation, of distinction, of sanctification, apart from the world, in their own community, even by what they ate and what they did and how they lived. It was to picture this very issue of, in one part, of sexual immorality, but of maintaining sanctification, of being those who pursue holiness, not to be unclean. but to be clean in Christ. And so, in keeping with the will of God, being not simply our justification, but also our sanctification, Paul reminds the Thessalonians that their calling was not simply unto forgiveness for sin, but also unto the forsaking of sin. The call to the sinner is a call unto faith in Christ, but not apart from repentance toward God. It is a holy calling, a call not to remain in the defiled and unclean state of the sin from which Christ has redeemed us, but a call forward unto pursuing holiness in the fear of God. So we're called out in one sense, and we're called forward then to pursue holiness. It is a call of grace unto a battle in that very same grace, which now suits us up in the armor of Christ's righteousness, so that we can begin to put sin to death in us, even as it was put to death in Christ's death. We would seek to put it to death. What an insult. Isn't it an insult? to think for a moment, as we would have taught in the gospel of easy believism, no gospel at all actually, but in that false gospel, to think for a moment that we could simply merely profess Christ and not be committed to pursue to death the very things for which Christ died for so that we would be redeemed. To not pursue to put those sins to death and to take them lightly after redemption is beyond hypocrisy. Well, brethren, finally Paul closes with a plea his plea for sexual purity with these words in verse 8, he says, Again, clearly Paul wants to be thoroughly emphatic in this exhortation. His urging and exhorting in the Lord Jesus Christ that we've read about already confirmed this. His speaking of the Lord as an avenger of the victims of adultery has confirmed this. And here he's emphasizing the fact that to spurn this exhortation, to reject it, is to reject God and not man. It is as if to flip off God. to refuse this teaching. And this God is the same God, Paul says, and we will really focus on this in part of next week's message. It is the same God, Paul says, who has graciously given us his Holy Spirit as a down payment in our salvation. Why does Paul use that? Why does he mention that here? It is a sobering reminder, brethren, that as we Christians conduct ourselves in this life, we do so with the Holy Spirit having taken up residence in us. To carelessly engage in sexual immorality is to defile the body which is attached to the body of Christ and which is indwelt by God's Holy Spirit. It is to subject the Holy Spirit, the very real and present director and guide to all holiness, to observe the very defiling and corrupting of that body which He indwells and which Christ has claimed by virtue of His Lordship, the very temple of the living God, to defile it. It is worse than sacrificing a pig in the sanctuary of the old covenant temple to defile our bodies. where the Holy Spirit resides in this way. Again, brethren, this is no small matter. We will see next week, Lord willing, we will also read a little bit again what we read in our first scripture reading in 1 Corinthians 6 and chapter 5 of 1 Corinthians to kind of confirm these things even further, hopefully give us a sober warning in this regard. But brethren, there are several applications that we can take from this and I would like to address several applications. However, we will not do that this morning. I decided as I was working through this that it would be better for the sake of time to take our time and to work through the applications in one whole message. And so next week, Lord willing, I will commit pretty much the bulk of the message to dealing with specific applications to be taken from what we are told in this text. So please be here, hear the message. If you're not here on audio, it is important to get the applications. Encourage those who are not here to hear this morning's message. And suffice it to say for now, brethren, in closing, that Paul's first order of business, and the imperative that is in the command section of this epistle, deals with the significant matter of pursuing holiness, of purity in our walk with Christ. and that very consciously in the face of great trials and tribulations. The whole purpose of it is all the more, not just in trial, but all the more even during trials, when we might seek to excuse ourselves to see that Paul is fervent to convince us, to compel us, to keep our eyes fixed, on the Lord Jesus Christ and to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. May God give us the grace to take these things to heart and to be encouraged in the grace of Christ that he gives us to do these very things. Well, let's pray. Next week we'll get into the applications. Let's pray. Father, we do thank you so much for your abundant grace to us in Christ. We thank you, Lord, that even the great sins that we've committed in this way when we were unsaved, Lord, that we find that, as 1 Corinthians tells us, that we were washed, that we were cleansed in the blood of Christ. We thank you, Lord, that even the struggles with these kinds of sins in our Christian walk, Lord, these are realities that Christians will face. Lord, that we still have grace, that those who are in the battle have grace and there's forgiveness to be attained in Christ, that this sin is not unpardonable. We thank you for that. And yet at the same time, we do pray, Lord, that we would absorb the sense of sobriety that Paul would call us unto in dealing with this sin. that we would not take it lightly because we are in grace, but all the more we would seek to put it to death because we are in grace. So, Father, please work in our hearts your truth and guide us and lead us to do your will. And we pray for those this morning, perhaps, who are in the process of struggling with this sin, even right now, we ask, Lord, that you would be pleased to deal graciously with them to restore them, to renew them, to bring them back, Lord, into the position where they would see their need to work out their salvation with fear and trembling, and to see that they have all the hope and grace that they could ever need, and more, in Christ, to fulfill that. Father, please hear our prayers. We ask and rescue those who are in their sin, who are outside of Christ this morning. Bring them to Christ, that they might be forgiven and sanctified in Him by His blood. We pray in Christ's name, Amen.