1 Thessalonians 4:1-12, Do You Know What to Do?

First Thessalonians chapter 4 reading verses 1 to 12. Here are the word of the Lord Finally then brothers we ask and urge you in the

Lord Jesus That as you receive from us how you ought to walk and to please

God just as you are doing That you do so more and more For you know what instructions we gave you through the

Lord Jesus for this is the will of God your sanctification That you abstain from sexual immorality that each of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor

Not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter because the

Lord is an avenger in all these things as We told you beforehand and solemnly warned you

For God has not called us to impurity but in holiness Therefore whoever disregards this disregards not man, but God who gives his

Holy Spirit to you now concerning brotherly love You have no need for anyone to write to you for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another

For that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia But we urge you brothers to do this more and more and to aspire

To live quietly and to mind your own affairs and to work with your hands as we instructed you so that you may walk

Properly before outsiders and to be and be dependent on no one

May the Lord has blessings to the reading of his Holy Word It's important to know what to do. I can be sick.

What do you do when you stay home? We stayed home all week long. This is like the first we've encountered real people in this past week

I bet for each of you You know what to do for your job that the rest of us not trained in that job in it

Don't know if you run a restaurant You know what to do. I wouldn't know where to start. I Guess by the guests.

How do you start with a restaurant? Well after you've gotten the location the shop I need to get appliances, which ones do

I need? I don't even know that With then I have to get the raw food. Where would

I get it from? Who do I order it from? What's a good price I wouldn't know that there's probably things that I don't even know to ask about I mean,

I'm so Ignorant of how to start with it. I wouldn't know there's probably something I'm not even able to think about consider because I've never done it before What do

I offer in my pretend restaurant practically every day? What do I do? What time do

I need to start in the morning to start lunch lunch start opens at 11? What time do I need to be there? What's the first thing

I need to do when I open the door? What do I need do any sauces to any packets do I need chopped meats and vegetables

There's regulations on food storage and cleanup and ventilation I have to know I have to abide by it or the

Health Department can close me down How much do I charge if I it can't be too little or I go bankrupt if I charge too much the customers won't buy for me

You need to know what to do or maybe it's teaching or editing our retail business or florist shop or police work or a

Custodian or a software engineer or physical therapy What what do you do?

I tried to show up at any of these jobs. I wouldn't know where to start Now if you've done it for years

Maybe you you now at the point where you kind of do it without thinking so much So you think well, this is easy anyone could do this

But in reality most of us wouldn't even know where to start to do what you do We need to learn how to do things practical things a lot of liberal arts education like history literature philosophy sociology psychology and even

I guess theology Produce people like me who have learned lots of information and ideas and fancy words

But not necessarily how to do anything So a week or so after framing his diploma in medieval literature

A Graduate can't find a job now who cares if a cashier understands

Scandinavian poetry from the 11th century Can he or she work a cash register? Take orders handle money

When it comes to giving a job employers are pragmatic. Do you have the skill you know what to do?

They don't care whether you can discuss the origins of Beowulf and they don't care about the student loans You acquired from learning the origins of Beowulf.

Can you do what our company needs done? They're practical even if the graduate in medieval literature

Expert on the origins of Beowulf gets a job teaching medieval literature He or she still needs to learn

Practically how to teach how to manage a class What about for you?

What do you do? Besides your job or keeping up your home. Do you know what to do with life?

You know how to live since you profess to be a believer in Jesus Do you know how to live like he wants you to live?

Do you know what to do here? We see some of what we need to know to do in three major parts first generally then specifically and finally charitably

Do you know what to do? Generally as a Christian, what do you do now?

You're a Christian was it was a me you wake up in the morning How do you start Paul says that the Thessalonian Christians already know so he's not telling them any new information here

But he is doing two things first. He says asking or imploring Begging nicely or an urging that is encouraging is exhorting them the brothers

He calls them he's asking and urging that they continue to do what they've already started to do they must do more of what they've

They're already doing as you receive from us the instruction in other words as you receive from us

Paul says how you want to to walk Notice, it's not just how you ought to theologize

To believe but how you ought to walk and to please God notice the

Paul is talking about how they they live walking Practically now some people get into theology because they love otherworldly debates about abstract matters some people like get into it because they just They like to escape to this fantasy world where they can discuss these things and don't have to deal with anything practical

On earth and their own lives Change anything and how they live they can just think one reformed man loved theology to discuss

Infra lapsarian ism versus super lapsarian ism I want to discuss that everybody up for that whether God in his logical order of decrees before the fall.

Did he first? Decree that man would be created and have a choice and so choose sin

He could see that and so God didn't decreed who the elect would be After decreeing that he would allow sin.

That's in for lapsarian ism Infra means after the lapsarian laps means the fall after the fall or Did God first decree to have an elect people?

That's his first decree He's gonna have an elect people the church and so then decreed the fall the laps to happen to get the elect

Well that kind of thing he thought was important to talk about think about consider debate, but actually going to church

Giving to the church meeting practical needs being part of the body. Well, that wasn't important at all There's a kind of person who loves theology, but doesn't care about what the

Bible says to do Understand there's some people out there that will just debate every little phrase some kind of one little word to get some right

Doctrine they think is so important and critical but then they don't care about what what Scripture says specifically how you live

Well here Paul is telling the Thessalonian Christians that they've been trained how to walk and how to please

God Now some reform people would insist that since our all our righteousness is filthy rags and that's true that we can't please

God at all, so except by the imputed righteousness of Christ and so let's talk about Justification or imputation like from Romans 5 remember that propitiation not walking.

I'll talk about walking Some people are allergic to getting down to practically talking about how we live now what is true we can only be made right with God by him by God counting

Christ perfect life to us That's justification understand that's being justified

God counts Christ perfect life to us That's justification.

That doesn't mean that now that we're justified He doesn't care how we live We can just live any way we want and he'll just keep counting

Christ's perfect life to us and that's fine We that's it. Well now he does he tells us how to walk

Here that's to live daily and if we walk we can please him how to walk and how to Please God he says in verse 1 or or not.

We cannot please him We walked the wrong wrong way if we use theology as an excuse not to think About how to please

God in our daily living So filling our minds with these abstract infallibility and super lapsed eruditism, but we don't think

I don't please God We think that's good theology Well, God is not pleased with our theology

Justification being right with God in a reconciled relationship with him is based on grace through faith not works not on how you walk

Otherwise you cannot get right with God by walking in a way that pleases God that's not what this passage is saying

But once you are justified you are made, right? You're in a good relationship with him.

He expects you to live, right? Our daily walk isn't the basis of our justification our justification is the basis of our daily walking and Now we please

God by walking right But that's a loading Christians had received from Paul.

Not just theology but knowledge as Skill or practical skill nothing about a doctrinal abstract.

We've got a liberal arts kind of knowledge. We're talking about engineering's practical knowledge And how to live to please

God he commends them near the end of verse 1 that they're doing it The walking that they're pleasing

God he says just as you are doing right now He's commending them in verse 2 and encourages them to keep doing it do so more and more

Keep up the good work in verse 2 for you know, they know how to walk to live the

Christian life You know what instructions we gave you Only was Paul instructed them on how to walk practical things.

He wasn't always discussing just yeah, you do theology, too But he would do practical things we instruct you how to walk daily life in a way that pleases

God So they know these instructions and he's going to repeat some of them here for us. But first generally know

That God is pleased or not by how you live and by whether you as a

Justified person a person to whom the right life of Jesus has been counted

Are living like the one? Whose life is counted to you? Know how to do that how to walk then do it

Paul gave him instructions practically on how to please God in verse 2 through gave these instructions through the

Lord Jesus through teaching his teachings like the sermon on the mount or the kingdom of God and so with this authority so even here at Thessalonians, this is

Through the Lord Jesus. This is the Lord Jesus's teachings for us They've heard it from the

Lord Jesus they've heard it We're hearing it now through Thessalonians from the Lord Jesus for because in verse 3, this is the will of God a

Lot of people claim they want to know the will of God that's a frequent question people want to know guy want to know the will of God for my life and Usually they mean well what career to pursue?

What job to take and where to move who today to marry specific things like that?

But first Paul wants them to know one general thing the will of God for them for you is there you were

Sanctification That is being made holy This is the will of God your sanctification he says

Verse 3 sanctification literally means becoming holy. God is holy He set apart from the rest of creation by his moral perfection his purity

He's perfectly good without any mixture of greed or selfishness, of course for God to be holy Means that he keeps his own first commandment, but I have no other gods before me

He doesn't have any other gods before himself keeps the greatest commandment to he loves himself

With all his heart and mind and souls. He is the perfect being so he can love himself with all his being

He can seek his own glory to glorify and enjoy himself forever Without that being selfishness now if you love yourself with all your heart mind and soul and you have no other gods before yourself

You are an idolater and you're not loving God. You're not like God But God can do that because God by definition is the standard of right and wrong

He's the spiritual center of the universe and we are not So when we become more holy we become more like God and that we become more

God centered Having no other gods before him Living according to his word because we accept it as the truth glorifying and enjoying him

So sharing God's character now the will of God generally for us justified people is to become more

Sanctified more holy more like God if you love God you long for holiness To be more like him more fruit of the

Spirit more patience more self -control but for the unjustified Sanctification Sounds deadly

Says it's to them. It sounds like enduring long boring prayers and fasting and hollowed -eyed

Gauntness and stone cells and no marriage. So no sex and no jokes nor laughter

Means getting up early like 5 a .m. And afflicting yourself and denying yourself and listening a long dreary sermons and those

Horrible songs we have to sing all that for what? For a

God you don't really care about Now if that's your idea of holiness and you recoil at it,

I don't think it is anyone here your first need though. Is it? Sanctification so many things like that It's justification.

It's being right with God reconcile with him so that the God You used to care nothing for you didn't even know if he existed and you didn't care if he did

Now you love and you want to live in a way that is pleasing to him. So in other words, how do you know if?

the will of God for you is Sanctification here Paul says to these Christians the will of God for you is sanctification

How do you know if that's true for you is the will of God for you? sanctification to be more holy well

You know if You want to be more holy? If that's the will of God for you, you will want to be more holy if you don't

Well, you need to go back to the beginning to where You're getting right with God to justification in the first place because God's general will

For his believers for his people is to make you more holy Well specifically, what does that mean?

It's the second point specifically Do you know what to do? Specifically well specifically he says from the second half of verse 3 to the end to verse 8

I think he lives here three practical ways each of them a variety of the same idea to be holy in a corrupt world

He lists each of them marks them each with a that this is the will of God for you

Generally that your sanctification being more holy that and that Specifically what it means to be sanctified is first That You abstain from sexual immorality

And the word they're translated sexual immorality in Greek is Pornia Which means I'm familiars where we get the word porn from porn is literally immorality pornography immorality writing

Porn is really just immorality. That's what the word means Pornia just generally means immorality and any kind of sexual conduct outside of marriage

It's not just not just fornication and I'm just adultery are just kind of extreme forms of perversity

It covers all kinds of sexual conduct outside of marriage and calls them all immoral and From those we should he says abstain abstain from sexual immorality

Abstain you keep yourself away from be distant from go out of your way to avoid

Don't just be content not indulging in it yourself But keep as far from it as you can

Don't tempt yourself by getting a compromising situations But maybe alone with a person the opposite sex or even unmonitored online

Conversations with someone like that or by viewing porn or other salacious material. It's just all about titillating

Avoided if necessary have your TV or internet set. So such programming is blocked.

I Know you're gonna do it, but that makes you have to think about what you're doing You know put obstacles in your own way to getting involved in immorality if you can't have

HBO or other such channels without being tempted to view some of their Somewhat pornographic shows and don't have

HBO Have your viewings open so someone else like your spouse or another church member can see it

There's an online app called covenant eyes and what specifics well your specifics Covenant eyes which reports your internet activity to someone else

To hold you accountable do that do these specific kind of things that you need to do to avoid

Immorality don't think well, I'm too sophisticated for that. I don't need that kind of thing.

That's for the week. I'm better than that Don't think you're too sophisticated that you can watch some things that might tempt others but not you

You're above such you think I'm above all that kind of legalistic Puritanical control it's not for me

Maybe you are but you're not just called to barely avoid falling into the sins themselves

But to abstain to avoid coming even close to them the

Thessalonians like us lived in a moral culture Greece Greek culture here that they're in was famously just called wildly immoral

It's not it's not it's not clear They had any sexual ethics at all. It's like whatever you felt like doing is you just indulge yourself in it wasn't at all

Okay, we need to think clearly about this because it wasn't at all like the pharisaical Jewish culture of this time

So don't read this. You know what? This is the Bible people were all puritanical back then and straight No, and maybe that's true and where Jesus was in the

Gospels not here in Greece where Paul is keep in mind We're far out of Israel here No one is stoning adulterers here in Thessalonica because if they did hardly anyone would be left

Famous Greek leader named Demostheses said a little before this time for the

The time Thessalonians was written. He said quote He's not admitting. This is a sin.

This is kind of like he's this is the way we live We keep prostitutes for pleasure We keep mistresses for the day -to -day needs of the body and we keep wise for beginning children and for the faithful guardianship of our homes

And that's like this is way. This is it He's proud of that and so into that culture

Comes Paul and his team with with the gospel and the Thessalonians accept the gospel some of them did anyway

Accepted as the Word of God remember last time they accepted as the Word of God not just Paul's opinions and he instructs them

Specifically you have to abstain from sexual immorality and they're like to me to them. That's like mind -blowing.

What do you mean? It's just like saying it's just be like saying you have to abstain from hamburgers abstain from pizza.

They're so common is everywhere Well, you're gonna have to change got to be totally different from your culture

We need to tell people that specifically today new now porn is easily available

But sometimes you have to practically have to go out of your you have to go out of your way to avoid it It'll come in your own email.

There's nothing you could do even you didn't solicit it People see some nothing unusual about living together before marriage

Sex before marriage is now just normal in the culture I mean, it's right as normal and adultery is treated like a minor piccadillo, you know

We call it cheating as if it's on the level of not reporting all your strokes at putt -putt, you know

That that's cheating adultery is not just cheating. It just makes it something small. That's our culture though That's where we live and the good thing is that it's a good thing about that is that it makes us

In this basically the same as the culture here of the Thessalonians So what Paul says of the

Thessalonians here is applies right to us otherwise our culture today is

Almost the same as the Greek Roman culture of that time that Paul was surrounded by so it applies right to us

Takes very little adjustment and that nice. It's convenient. It is it and the word is staying from sexual immorality

So these instructions are just as on target for us as for them It doesn't matter if the culture around us now thinks it's normal as though we can change what is right or wrong if we can't

Now if they accuse us of being hung up or prudish Like they did when vice president Pence when he said he doesn't have lunch alone with a woman other than his wife

And they'll do that kind of thing to you. Oh, that's so he's so primitive and was he so hung up like that It doesn't matter how widespread our culture's acceptance of sexual immorality becomes

It's still something we are to avoid specifically Another specific example it's grounds for church discipline a

Church member who engages in sexual immorality after a process of challenging the person confronting the person hopefully generally

But then in groups if he or she doesn't repent such a person will be expelled from the church and any other church the unrepentant goes to Will be told of that It will be told this person is in unrepentant sin because we have bound them on earth

Remember the command what you're bound on earth has already been bound in heaven so what we bound on earth they Means they are already bound in heaven and every other church then needs to know about that until they repent

Jesus said it. I'm just telling you what he said. Do you know what to do? Generally this is the will of God for you your sanctification specifically first that you abstain from sexual immorality and second in verse 4 that Each of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor

Now the word there for body is actually vessel like container or instrument

Or it could be translated utensil It's the same word is Romans 9 remember Romans 9

Paul talk about vessels of wrath In other words God's instruments either could be to bring wrath on someone else

God's God vessels of wrath of the Old Testament was the Assyrians and the Babylonians he used them to bring wrath of the

Israel or it could Be mean their containers of wrath like glasses or pitchers or cups are to be vessels containers of water or drinks

To hold to receive wrath. Well here in Thessalonians. It's the idea that your body is a vessel that contains you

So when it's an instrument the body is an instrument that you use it's a utensil that you wield like a fork or a chopstick

Can you handle your utensils? Well, probably you can Can you handle your body?

Well, you can control of it. You should have a specific skill of Controlling your body just like you have a skill of controlling your fork

Hopefully you're not like a child, you know clumsy Stabbing your food half the time it squirts off the plate because you can't hit it right dropping it

Are your bodies like a cup? Vessel it contains you and you but you can handle it You inside can handle it without spill it not like a toddler.

It's a sippy cup because he'll spill a normal one You know how to control it to you know control your body

It's your vessel. So you mastered it you make your body do what you tell it to do and you tell it to avoid sexual immorality

So stop having the idea is now just kind of assumed in our culture taught loudly in our culture

That you can't control your body. I mean, that's the assumption today, but you can't really control your body

You're controlled by your body if you have urges to do this or that If you just have an inclination

Orientation they now call it to have sex with that kind of person. Well, that's who you are That's your identity and you can't stop yourself from doing it.

That's almost like an unimaginable thought That yeah, you can be oriented to do all kinds of things, but you need to control that if it's wrong, you don't do it

You are but the culture says you are your desires you and so to be whole and to be happy We're told you have to give in to those desires you have to be controlled by your body whether they control it but Here Paul is saying you've been justified

The body is your vessel And so if you're right with God then to be happy, you'll need to be sanctified

You need to control your body handle like you do a fork or a cup to be whole You need to be holy

So control your body like a musician controls his musical instrument makes it produce the sounds He wants it to make what a good musician does, right?

But the instrument makes the sounds the musician wants it to make he's perfect control of it

So we control our body in the same way that it does the things we want it to do Not that it tells us what to do control it and holiness and honor.

So we make our body Produce holiness and honor to live holy and honorable lives to control it

So you make it live holy not like the world is tempting it But set apart for the

Lord because your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit Controlling so that near that near the end here verse 8 you have the

Holy Spirit so that you can live That gives you the power to live honorably to control your body.

So control it in honor So it's honorable. It doesn't get to have sex whenever it wants to it's under control

That doesn't mean no sex because in marriage sex can be a holy and honorable but only in marriage

Is it holy and honorable so you control your body? So it does what is honorable not degrading yourself and following your passions right the

Dishonorable ways the passions are telling you what to do The honorable way is you can you can control the passions now, that's what he says in verse 5

Not in the passions of lust Like the Gentiles who do not know God It's an interesting sentence

It's telling us what not to do. We don't live in the passions of lust and Not because that's that's the way that the

Gentiles who do not know God notice by the way About the subject of this sermon, but notice by the way that in that verse verse 5

Gentiles is no longer defined ethnically You know, but by not being

Jewish, that's the original definition of the word Gentile someone who's not Jewish But here is defined as someone who doesn't know

God So a Gentile is now someone who doesn't know God and lives like it

Thessalonians Americans and all these people around who were indulging in sexual immorality Who aren't even aware that it's something to be ashamed of who think there's something wrong with you if you don't go along Their problem isn't first their lack of sanctification of Not being holy.

We need to teach them to right and wrong We need to teach them these ways of living are immoral and so that they'll apply themselves to be disciplined

Really they can't there. That's not their problem. Their problem is the root of that problem They don't know

God If they knew God They'd know what to do

Control their bodies and holiness and honor If you're driven by lust so that you're under its control

You need to know God Hope there's no one here But you sometimes people out there you need to tell people out there under the control of lust

Your problem is that you don't know God if you knew God You'd know what to do.

Do you know what to do? This is the will of God Generally your sanctification specifically that you avoid sexual immorality you control your body and third and verse six that No one transgress or it means trespass step over the line and wrong his brother in This matter so we still talk about sexual morality our culture sexual morality has developed.

It's a fable That it lives in this fantasy world that it lives in that as long as Their conduct it is is between quote consenting adults

Well, then no one else is hurt and is no one else's business But people are not just individuals.

They come as part of families They come with spouses maybe with future spouses or with parents with fathers who want their daughters cared for For Christians they come as part of churches if you transgress that is you step out of the line

That sex is only for marriage And so you transgress into sexual immorality then you've not just sinned against your own body you have

But not just that by letting it control you when you supposed to control it Not just that and not just against the other person.

You've done that too, but not just that but also Against their family against their perhaps against the father who wanted to deliver a virgin to be married

Against perhaps a future husband or a current husband if she's married or a church that they're a part of You've transgressed against all these other people.

In other words, there's always someone else you are affecting and if that person

You're affecting that father or their future husband or some desperate grandmother Who's praying that her granddaughter isn't taken advantage of by selfish men

That person is a believer a brother or sister Then you wronged him or her you've transgressed trespassed against that person to not just between you and them and He says in the middle of verse 6 the

Lord is an avenger in all These things those that all there's no exceptions.

He takes vengeance on those who transgress Against his people like that He will bring vengeance down on you for what you've done to some father some future husband to some praying grandmother

Or to some church you've heard He will punish you I Told you that sexual morality brings church discipline about eight years ago

We did just that because a church member had succumbed to sexual immorality Even though I think she was being taken advantage of she was responsible for her actions and we did what?

The Bible commands us to do That sin hurt us as a church and her mother who was a church member at the time and as we were going through this

Our psalm of the week happened to be one of those imprecatory songs You know what? That means imprecatory song cursing

Psalms Cursing on God's enemies and I applied that to that young man taking advantage of our church member by name

Into my prayer that God's wrath would come on him Eventually, I think our actions helped bring an end to that unhealthy and moral relationship

We've got went through the whole process Finally church discipline and expelled her as a member and that young man and in like I said earlier

We informed other churches you try to go to look This is what she's she's involved in and the young man.

She was involved with at that time had a thriving business But just last year,

I believe it was just last year One of his workers his employees was hurt on the job he fell off a roof and Was going to sue him apparently didn't have the insurance or whatever

He's supposed to have and so he fled the country and it supposedly I was told as in now either in Germany or Ukraine You know running away from I guess losing his money and from the government or from lawsuits

The Lord brings vengeance on those who trespass who only think of their sexual urges only think of themselves

Who only think it's between them and their partner? They don't really care about the partner either and so transgress a brother or sister or church like us

Notice at the end of verse 6 we told you beforehand Before you're tempted to sexual immorality

We've told you already Paul is saying and we solemnly warned you We warned you that God takes sexual purity seriously and will bring down punishment and anyone who steps over the line

Because any of his people violating his people in verse 7 giving the reason why he's solemnly warning against God's vengeance

God has not called us for impurity He doesn't give us grace for salvation

So that we can then take that and use it to live in sexual sin. He never does that He calls us instead.

In other words, but in verse 7 a strong contrast instead of the sexual impurity

He on the other hand to live a holy life in sanctification growing in holiness therefore

Because of that because he doesn't call us to impurity but to grow in holiness The conclusion in verse 8 since God is vengeful

When he comes to sexual impurity telling us to stay far from it as we possibly can To not sin against the family or the church of someone we might be tempted to with therefore whoever disregards this

Disregards this warning disregards the fact that he takes vengeance on all these matters whoever disregards this

He says disregards not man. Otherwise, this is not my opinion. He's not just disregarding me what

I think but God This is God's Word This isn't just ancient cultural hang -ups from unenlightened puritanical people this is

God and He's given us the Holy Spirit given the Holy Spirit to you so you can be holy.

That's the will of God For you, you know what to do

How about not only with your body But with your money Now we're getting specific aren't we?

Can you control your cash in a holy way? The will of God for you is that you handle your money two ways charitably and responsibly starting at verse 9 concerning brotherly love

The Greek word is literally Philadelphia Concerning Philadelphia. It's not talking about a city in Pennsylvania They know what they are to do

Paul says in verse 9 that they've been taught by God God has enabled them To love one another to have

Philadelphia That love was it's a feeling it was a dissent immense It's not sweet words cards nice cards sent to each other.

Occasionally it translated to practical action They were showing brotherly love to all the brothers throughout

Macedonia. That is to other churches in that region of northern Greece They lived in they were hospitable.

They were giving they were generous supporting other churches other Christians and Paul Thanks them for it encourages them to keep doing it more.

I've keep keep up your Philadelphia They knew what to do with their time their attention particularly here their money.

They were charitable with it But they seem to have some people with a problem of not knowing what to do with their their hands

They were just folding them Relaxing maybe waving them wildly as they were talking excitedly about their favorite topic the second coming

Now leading up to the next section first Thessalonians where he begins to talk about the second coming

It sounds here like some of their people were so expecting

Jesus to return you any moment now probably by the end of the week That they stop working

You know, why work if you think Jesus is going to return, you know in a week or so Would you?

Would you keep working when you blow off your job? If you believe Jesus was returning in the next few days or weeks when you just forget that alarm sleep at late and then

I'm staying home and do whatever cuz no I have to worry about paying bills Cuz by the time they come do I'll be out of here

Are you really gonna keep getting up early and going to that job if the end is very soon? Well, of course not here the

Thessalonian Christians were so eager and expecting Jesus to return that they were making a lot of noise about it

About it, but the second coming talking about that a lot and skipping work But Paul tells him in verse 11 to aspire as literally to strive eagerly try your hardest to live quietly

You ever had to try hard to live quietly Seek to be the reliable bill paying tax paying job doing type

The time that's on the job every day and you're called to doing your job you pay your bills

You're you're that kind And he says mind your own affairs you go to work

You don't be discussing arguing complaining about all kinds of things that don't involve you and to work with your hands make spring rolls

You want the will of God for you? Is to make spring rolls or for arrangements or computer code restored bodies stock shelves

Work with those hands as We instructed you. In other words, you should know to do this already

We already told you all this stuff, but you've got so excited about the second coming you've forgotten. So do that in verse 12

That you may walk properly Here we are back to walking again daily living

To what you do every day what you do when you wake up Monday morning Walking God's way means doing your job

Make those spring rolls Take care of your business and your family be self -supporting.

That's the responsibly be charitable and responsible Be self -supporting not sponging off others because you've spent all your time

Talking about the second coming or whatever Don't be a burden but a burden bearer

Be someone who has something to share with others because you were responsible Now you can be charitable have brotherly sisterly love

Philadelphia well Do you know what to do? You know what to do to make a living, you know what to do to live

Sexual immorality might appear like living like living it up But it's the way to death some people want the church to always be about impractical kind of other worldly Theology distract ourselves escape to this world of fantasizing about things that have no impact in our lives

Maybe so caught up in expecting the second coming that we don't think about paying the rent or buying groceries But it's really about What he calls us to is really about controlling our bodies

Handling our money so we can take care of ourselves. So it'd be charitable and responsible using our hands

So we have something to share like a spring roll The will of God is for you to know truths that change your life

Now sure feelings sometimes that thrill you or mystify you leave you at all But then they guide

How you walk out of this building? They guide your feet into the world

How you relate with others? What you do? with your feet with your hands with your body

With your cash So do you know what to do?