EXPERIENCING WHOLENESS

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

Pastor Dennis Clanton

Woodland Church

Wednesday, August 28, 2024

“My most painful experiences have been where I’ve had a problem and no one loved me enough to tell me about it.” Paul Cedar, Leadership, Vol 5, no. 3

(1 Thessalonians 4:1–8, NLT) “Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more. For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor—not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. Never harm or cheat a fellow believer in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before. God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”

1. LIVE IN A WAY THAT PLEASES GOD.

(1 Thessalonians 4:1, NLT) “Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more.”

(1 Thessalonians 4:1, RSV) “… you ought to live and to please God…”

(2 Corinthians 5:15, NLT) “He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.”

(1 Corinthians 6:19–20, NLT) “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” – Steven Covey

“… do so even more.”

2. LIVE BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE LORD JESUS.

(1 Thessalonians 4:2, NLT) “For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.”

3. GOD’S WILL IS FOR ME TO BECOME MORE LIKE JESUS.

(1 Thessalonians 4:3, NLT) “God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin.”

a. Justification is what happens when I become a Christian. My sins are forgiven, washed away by Christ’s blood.

i. By God’s grace.

ii. By Christ’s blood.

iii. By Faith.

b. Sanctification or Holiness is the process of growing in Christ. Holiness is becoming more like Jesus.

i. Holiness is becoming excellent, trustworthy, strong, loving, compassionate, and whole.

ii. Immorality destroys wholeness.

c. Glorification is what will happen when I get to heaven.

4. LEARN TO CONTROL MY BODY. LEARN TO SAY YES TO REAL LOVE.

(1 Thessalonians 4:4–6, NCV) “He wants each of you to learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable. Don’t use your body for sexual sin like the people who do not know God. Also, do not wrong or cheat another Christian in this way. The Lord will punish people who do those things as we have already told you and warned you.”

a. Control increases pleasure.

b. Limits increase intensity and enjoyment.

c. Sin hurts everyone.

“We want to be a saint, but we also want to feel every sensation experienced by sinners; we want to be innocent and pure, but we also want to be experienced and taste all of life; we want to serve the poor and have a simple lifestyle, but we also want all the comforts of the rich; we want to have the depth afforded by solitude, but we also do not want to miss anything; we want to pray, but we also want to watch television, read, talk to friends, and go out.

It’s a small wonder that life is often a trying enterprise, and that we are often tired and pathologically overextended.” – Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing, p 9

d. God’s standards cannot be violated without consequence.

(Deuteronomy 28:65, NLT) “… your soul to despair.”

5. GOD GIVES ME HIS HOLY SPIRIT TO EMPOWER ME.

(1 Thessalonians 4:8, NLT) “God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”

(Ephesians 3:20, NLT) “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”

6. EXCELLENCE IS AN EVERYDAY DECISION.

“The children who planned to play for a few years had modest success. But there were some children who said, in effect: “I want to be a musician. I’m going to play my whole life.” Those children soared. The sense of identity that children brought to the first lesson was the spark that would set off all the improvement that would subsequently happen. It was a vision of their future self.” – David Brooks, The Social Animal, pp. 134-135

(Ruth 3:11, NASB) “People in the city know that you are a woman of excellence.”

(Philippians 4:8, NASB) “If there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

(2 Peter 1:5, NLT) “Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge,”