Pleasing God with Your Purity

The believer’s life is to be spent walking so as to please God. Pleasing God is not a matter of personal preference. Pleasing God is a divine imperative! 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 help us to understand that truth, and the first verse of that passage is crystal clear - "we beseech you, brethren, and exhort [you] by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God." Passages such as Galatians 5:16and Ephesians 5:1-2 reinforce that truth. Not only do we have the example and exhortation of Paul to walk pleasing unto God, but this was also the pattern of the Lord Jesus: “For I do always those things that please Him” John 8:29b.

God does not exist for us. He does not exist to grant us our wishes. Instead, we exist for Him; we exist to bring praise and glory to His name! Striving to please God with all that we think, say, or do is the bedrock foundation upon which Christian ethical behavior is established. But do not think that living to please God means taking on a Pharisaical mind-set of observing a long list of “do’s & don’ts”. And do not think that living to please God means that you must lead a monotonous life which is bereft of any joy or pleasure.

That just is not true. Living in order to please God is a radical principle of pleasing the Law-giver; not living to appease the law itself. God is not opposed to your pleasure. He is committed to it, and true pleasure is something that only comes from God. Do not think that God created man only to make man miserable. Instead, the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever!

Now let’s talk in very practical terms; terms which are relevant to our text. One clear and obvious way in which you can walk so as to please God is in the area of sexual purity. God has provided you with His standard in regards to your physical urges and your natural drives. That standard is this: “abstain from fornication”. This standard was repeated in Ephesians 5:3. There is to be not even a hint of immorality in the life of the believer!

You may be thinking, “That’s impossible! Living with ‘not even a hint of immorality’ in this culture is just not realistic. Maybe in Paul’s day when everybody was basically moral this type of standard was doable, but not today!”

“Abstain from fornication” is the standard, and has always been the standard, and will always be the standard, and do not think that Paul’s day was one of moral restraint. Instead, it was a time of licentious debauchery and promiscuity. The Greco-Roman world in which the early churches ministered, and during which time the New Testament was written, was even more debased than our 21st century culture. Immorality was accepted, condoned, and even encouraged. Do not think for even a moment that Paul gave this standard of abstaining from fornication; of living without even a hint of immorality; in some chaste, prudish historical era. The culture to which this letter was originally written viewed immorality as neither immoral nor illegal; it was customary!

From such a lifestyle and culture the Thessalonians had been redeemed. They had been freed by Christ, and were now a new creation, and as such they were to “put off…the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and…put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24).

Have you ever wondered why “lust” is “deceitful”, as Paul said there in Ephesians 4:22? Why do we think that indulgence equals freedom and pleasure? Indulging in your lustful desires will not grant you freedom; it will actually rob you of freedom and true joy and pleasure. When you indulge in a life of sin (“deceitful lusts”) and do whatever feels good, you’re not free. You’re enslaved to your sin. Only the power of the gospel can free you from that prison. Once you are saved God’s Holy Spirit emancipates and empowers you to “abstain from fornication” and to live with not even a hint of immorality. The gospel enables you to do what you were originally created to do: enjoy and glorify God with your life. The gospel frees you from both legalism and indulgence, and because of the Holy Spirit you are able to resist sin and apply God’s Word. A Spirit-filled, Spirit-led life is not one marked by being a “rule-keeper” or by being a “rule-hater”. Instead, it is the life of one who is submitted to the direction, agenda, values, and priorities of God’s Word; walking so as to please God, and thereby enjoying life to the fullest.

In regards to our text, I want to briefly ask and answer three questions.

What Kind of Sexual Conduct Does God Require?

The answer is simple and straightforward: “This is the will of God, even your sanctification…abstain from fornication”. Let’s define some terms. Sanctification is the process of being separated from sin and set apart to God. It is the work of the Holy Spirit, through the power of His Word, and through fellowship with other believers whereby God peels away our desire for sin, renews our minds, and changes our lives.

The word abstain means “to hold back and refrain from”. The Greek word translated fornication is porneia and from it we get the English “pornography”. This term is used to describe any kind of sexual immorality. Therefore, the idea here is to stay completely away from any thought or behavior that violates God’s plan for sex. Any activity, whether physical or mental, which deviates from the monogamous relationship of a husband and wife is not pleasing to God!

Our good God has ordained that the only type of sexual conduct that is pleasing unto Him is within the context of marriage: the marriage of one man to one woman.
How Can a Believer be Sexually Pure?

First, a believer must control his own body – (1 Thessalonians 4:4). The slogans: “If is feels good, do it” or “It can be wrong if it feels so good” may be contemporary, but the philosophy behind them is ancient. And that philosophy directly opposes this passage. All Christians are to control their bodies, not be controlled by them. To control your body is to gain mastery over it, instead of it gaining the mastery of you. A believer’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and is to be a tool used in the Lord’s service:

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

No Christian should ask, “How far can I go without sinning?” The desire and the passion must be to please God instead of treading the edge of sin. Your body belongs to God, believer; understand that and use it for His glory.

To be sexually pure you must control your body and you must not act like an unbeliever (1 Thessalonians 4:5). Passion and desire are good things if directed towards and for the right intentions and purposes. A husband and a wife having passion and desire for one another is good and pleasurable; anything outside of that may cause a temporal pleasure, but will only bring long-term shame and heartache (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Be pure by controlling your body, not acting like an unbeliever, and by not taking advantage of others: (1 Thessalonians 4:6a). No believer should gain pleasure at someone else’s expense; especially a fellow believer. You would expect the world to cause believers to stumble and sin, but believers should never be stumbling blocks for fellow believers. We must instead seek to be holy and to help others be holy.

Why Should a Believer be Sexually Pure?

God’s standard is to “abstain from fornication”; there is to be not even a hint of immorality about our lives. The means to staying pure is only through the enabling of the Holy Spirit who will empower you to control your body, not act like an unbeliever, and to not take advantage of others. But why should a believer be sexually pure?

Because of God’s Vengeance – 1 Thessalonians 4:6b

Thankfully, only the Lord has the authority and the ability to exact vengeance. The sobering reality is this “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord,” (Romans 12:19; cf. Deuteronomy 32:35). Sexual immorality is something for which God will mete out judgment:

“Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”

Because of God’s Purpose – 1 Thessalonians 4:7

Sexual purity is God’s will and God’s plan for all believers, all of the time, and everywhere. No culture, ethnic group, or era is exempt.
Paul’s usage of the word “holiness” is the third time in this brief passage that he has used that word; the other two times were translated “sanctification”. This emphasizes that fact that when God called you to salvation He also called you to holiness. The call to salvation is inseparable from the call to holiness

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

It is not for nothing that the Spirit God gives is called the Holy Spirit!

Because of God’s Spirit – 1 Thessalonians 4:8

To disobey this command to abstain from fornication is not to disobey your preacher, parents, or whomever; it is to disobey and disregard the Holy Spirit! This standard that we have been discussing is God’s standard, and He has given believers His Spirit to enable us to keep His standard. We have not been left alone to struggle in vain while attempting to hold to this standard. I’m enabled, moment by moment, to live in obedience to God’s Word. We are enabled and empowered by the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36:27)

Whether you are single or married, young or old, you need to take this passage and be alone with it before God, crying out to Him for the grace to be pure in a culture that exults in impurity. Recognize the awesome implications of this passage as it relates to honor, sanctification, and holiness before God. This passage challenges all of us; irrespective of age or marital status. You may be challenged in the terms of failures from the distant past or the immediate present. You may be struggling with the issue of your purity right now; either physically or mentally. God requires that we be pure in both. This passage colors us all.

Beware of the Pharisee’s spirit which says, “I thank you Lord that I am not as other men are; that while this text may be interesting and pertinent to others; it doesn’t seem to have to do with me.” You’re in deep denial and deep trouble if you believe that. If you find yourself in denial or if you find yourself falling short of this standard, then claim the promise that is found in 1 John 1:19,

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

We declare much about our Christianity by how we keep this standard. If you are committed to being sexually pure as God commands, then you must be prepared to be thought totally nuts by the culture around you.

Who are you living to please: the culture or the Christ?

Living to Please God

Whom are you living to please? Think about the way in which you talk; the way in which you work; the way in which you play; the way in which you spend your money and your time; the way in which you interact with others; in short, the way in which you live; whom are you trying to please?

You may have a long list of answers, and some answers would be universal; such as: a spouse, parents, an employer, the payroll clerk. Some answers depend on your vocation. A politician needs to please his constituents. A business owner needs to please his clientele. A performer needs to please the audience. An athlete needs to please the coach.

We understand the dynamics in all of those interactions and associations. We accept the fact that there are certain people in our lives whom we should please; indeed, whom we must please. But have you ever considered the fact that we are to lead lives which are pleasing to God? Living to please God is this week's Thessalonian topic from the text of 1 Thessalonians 4:1-2.

Throughout the first three chapters of this letter we have been instructed as to what we ought to know. These final two chapters will provide us with instruction on how we ought to live. Two words that can be used in summarizing this small book are belief and behavior. There are certain things which we are to believe, and those beliefs should, in turn, affect the way in which we behave. This is always true. Your beliefs will determine your behavior; whether your beliefs are Biblical or not. All of us behave in accordance with our beliefs.

The Scriptures exhort us “walk and please God”. I believe that is a thought which should revolutionize our lives; the children of God living so as to please the Father God. The reason the thought is so revolutionary is not because it is new. Indeed not; it’s as old as the scriptures. It’s revolutionary because we live in such a time that desires only the pleasing of self. In a world of self we must become reacquainted with the priority of pleasing God.

Ours is a society of self-love, “pleasing ourselves” is the credo of our culture. All are encouraged to live by their own rules and to engage life without regard to the standards or rules of anyone else, not even God. The basic philosophy of this age can be summed up in two words: “me first.” And this is not just a secular ideology; there are those who call themselves Christian who also trumpet this self-love dogma. This man-centered theology proclaims that Jesus will make your life carefree and painless; that Jesus just really wants you to become a better a salesman, a better ball-player, etc. Jesus just wants you to feel better about yourself, to improve your self-image, to put an end to your negative thinking.

Robert Schuler is the leading evangelist of this self-love gospel; listen to this quote from his book Self-Esteem: the New Reformation,

“Classical theology has erred in its insistence that theology be God-centered and not man-centered.” He goes on to write that the "deepest needs of human beings are self-dignity, self-respect, self-worth; self-esteem…God’s ultimate objective is to turn you and me into self-confident persons...Once a person believes he is an unworthy sinner, it is doubtful if he can really honestly accept the saving grace that God offers through Jesus Christ.”

Now that is as twisted and contrary to the Scriptures as one can be; I mean, if I don’t believe that I am an unworthy sinner, why should I accept saving grace at all. Christ Himself preached, Mark 1:15, “Repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Why repent, unless I realize that I am indeed an unworthy sinner, dead in my trespasses and sins?

If your desire is to please God, if you are to be dedicated to a priority of God in a world of self, you must first come to the knowledge of God’s majesty and man’s misery. Man’s misery consists of this, that we have broken God’s Law and cannot please Him by even our best efforts. Only when we acknowledge the gravity of our condition that we are suffering from a terminal condition the Bible calls sin, only then will we understand our need for a Savior. We will never come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as a reality until we see Him as a necessity; only then can we who are by nature at enmity with God, be declared righteous in His sight. Ephesians 2:8-9 describes this transaction by which the penitent sinner is justified freely by God’s grace. Many are familiar with those verses, but Ephesians 2:10 must not be forgotten, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Paul declares that the believer will proceed to discover and do the good works which God has planned for him to do. Our heavenly Father enables us to seek and to do that which pleases Him, and, I believe, that our heavenly Father takes pleasure in our approaches and our achievements, no matter how minor of insignificant they may appear to others ()Psalm 147:11).

You and I make a grave mistake if we compartmentalize our lives into the “spiritual” sphere and the “physical” sphere, and we please God at church or when witnessing to someone, but pleasing God when we make the lunches? When we make a sale? When we teach a class? Yes!!!! The totality of our lives should be, must be, involved in pleasing God; whether we eat, drink, or whatsoever we do (1 Corinthians 10:31), we labor so that we may be accepted of (pleasing unto) Him (2 Corinthians 5:9).

In a society of self, we must give way to the priority of God; just as the Lord Jesus said in John 8:29. Surely we can do nothing other than to follow in Christ’s steps. And the final two chapters of 1 Thessalonians are intensely practical in how we are to please God. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 inform us how to please God in our love lives; 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 in our professional lives; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 when we mourn the loss of a life; and in 1 Thessalonians 5 how to please God in the life of a church.

As Christians we are called to order our steps according to Biblical standards (1 Thessalonians 4:2). Not only has Christ given us new life, but He also expects us to live a new lifestyle. In Colossians 1:9-12 you will find four common threads that must be woven into the fabric of believers' lives if we desire to “walk and to please God.”

Fruitful Living – Colossians 1:10

The first of these threads is fruitful living. Ephesians 5:8-11 declares that a believer's life was formerly characterized by the fruitless deeds of darkness, but now - following conversion - a Christian should become fruitful. In verse 9 Paul describes this fruitfulness as “goodness and righteousness and truth.” God is pleased by our goodness.

Titus 2 teaches that the mature women are to teach the younger women what? How to be happy in all situations? How to improve their self-image, be confident and assertive in a male dominated world? Not quite, the mature women are to be “teachers of good things” (Titus 2:3), and those good things are listed in Titus 2:3-5.

Likewise, mature men are to exhort the young men “In all things shewing…a pattern of good works” (Titus 2:7). Yes, the Gospel is theological in its foundations, but it is ethical in its implications. This fruitful living, these good works, are not accomplished by human endeavor but by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We are not left alone to figure out how to please the Father. He has given us His book and His Spirit, and thereby He enables us to do that which is pleasing to Him, and He loves it when we do well!

Knowledgeable Living – Colossians 1:10

Christianity is not served by mindlessness, but by the knowledge of God through the Word of God, and such knowledge engages our minds, stirs our hearts, and transforms our lives.

This knowledge is personal and is fostered by listening to what the Lord says (priority of preaching), by engaging God in conversation (emphasis of prayer), by spending time in God’s company (need for a devotional life), and by being with others who know God too (gathering corporately for worship and in smaller groups for fellowship). This knowledge is also progressive; it is dynamic not static, so that at the end of our journey we may speak as does Paul in Philippians 3:10-14.

Powerful Living – Colossians 1:11

To be focused on a priority of God in a society of self will require a power beyond you or anything this world can offer. As the prophet Zechariah said, “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). Christian service demands divine resources; aspiration, determination, nor perspiration are adequate for the challenge, but by the indwelling Spirit of God which resides in any and all who trust Christ as Lord and Savior. He will enable you to please God. And according to Paul this divine enabling is a present continuous experience. It is not like being a human cannonball – experiencing a great initial surge of power followed by the awareness of being on your own! Not at all; the Biblical picture is one of steady allotment of power that is sufficient for the journey.

Notice what the second half of v. 11 says, “…unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness." We are so infatuated and intrigued with dramatic manifestations that we miss the point that powerful, Holy Spirit led living is displayed most often in lives of quiet confidence in and steady persistence to glorify God. Powerful living is demonstrated in the lives of those who care without complaint for the needs of others; displayed in the fortitude of those who endure the pain of progressive illness or personal heartaches without succumbing to bitterness and resentment. Don’t be so enamored with God’s power to heal illness and restore relationships that you fail to understand the miracle of God’s grace in granting the power necessary for joyful endurance and patience.

Thankful Living – Colossians 1:12

God is pleased when gratitude colors everything that you and I do. Some of the distinguishing marks of the last days will be men who are “lovers of their own selves…unthankful…lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:2-4). Unthankful people take things for granted and assume that they are owed something or have a right to receive but no obligation to give, and believers should stand in stark contrast to that mindset, not blend in with it. We who are so undeserving of Christ have been made by Him as inheritors of the Kingdom of God. God has “Delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13).

We who are saved have nothing for which to be ungrateful, and everything for which to be grateful! An unfading awareness of God’s mercy must yield in our lives the fruit of thankfulness, but therein lies the problem, because we often become obsessed with this preset world and our awareness of God’s mercy does fade away. Let it not be so among us!

Fellow believer, all our desires, decisions, aspirations, and affections should be governed by a prior determination to please God. This desire to please God is distinct from a superficial interest in religious things that is really nothing more than a thinly veiled form of self-preoccupation. God does not exist to please us, but we do exist to please God.

Therefore, make sure that you avoid the pitfall of living to please men – (Galatians 1:10) or living to please myself – an inverted Matthew 6:33. Adopt the perspective of 2 Corinthians 5:9, “We labor, that, whether preset or absent, we may be accepted {please} of Him”. (cf. Luke 6:46)

Where should we apply the principle of living to please God? Everywhere! With whom should we apply this principle? Everyone! To what should we apply this principle? Everything! There is not a thing that you can think about to which this principle does not apply.

Ask yourself, “Who is [your church's name here] living to please?” Ask yourself, “Who am I trying to please?” Determine as an individual and as a church family to make a concerted effort of living to please God.

The Boundary of the Adversary

Satan is not the ruler of hell. He has never been there; although that is his ultimate destination, and of this he is well aware. There are no rulers in hell. The adversary’s boundary is not a physical one; like the boundary of a kingdom or backyard. His boundary is established by God. He is only able to do and go what and where the Father allows. Martin Luther said that even “The devil is God’s devil.” He was right. The only freedom Satan enjoys is the freedom God permits. Satan surely means to pulverize the saints, but God means to purify them. We must fight before we celebrate, and learn before we are approved. The Puritans said that God allowed Satan’s temporary reign to increase the saint’s eternal joy.

The enemy is powerful. He is a formidable foe, but he is not like God. Satan is not omniscient, omnipotent, or omnipresent. Satan is wholly evil and will sorely tempt you to do likewise, but he cannot force you to do anything. Geraldine may have blamed the devil for her sin – “The devil made me do it!” – but he can no more make you sin than he could make himself like the Most High. Don’t blame Satan for everything wrong that happens. Don’t ascribe to him more power and authority than he actually has.

Because our hearts are desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9) we have a natural inclination to shift blame onto someone or something else. About this propensity to find a scapegoat Kent Hughes writes:

We need the theological wisdom and honesty of the little girl who had a terrific fight with her brother. When her mother came in and pulled her off, she said to her daughter, ‘Why did you let the devil put into your heart to pull your brother’s hair and kick him in the shins?’

The little girl thought for a moment and said, ‘Well, maybe the Devil put it into my head to pull my brother’s hair, but kicking his shins was my idea.’"

We are very capable of being evil all by ourselves.

We need to accept our responsibility to obey the Lord and not shift blame for our own misdeeds onto Satan or his subordinates. Satan will attack. He must be resisted (James 4:7). He may be resisted because, “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

This great truth reminds of another little girl. She was asked if Satan ever tempted her to wrong. “Oh, yes,” she replied, “The devil does try to get me. But when he knocks at the door of my heart, I just pray, ‘Jesus, please answer the door.’”

“What happens then?” She was asked.

“Oh, everything turns out all right. When Satan see Jesus, he runs away every time!”

Believers must understand that the most powerful weapon with which to attack the forces of evil is the Gospel. It alone is the power of God unto salvation. It alone has the power to change lives, including those that are mightily influenced by demonic powers such as the Demoniac. In every instance where Jesus, Paul, or some other New Testament figure exorcised demons from individuals it was within the context of Gospel proclamation. We should expect the gospel to come in power and triumph over the works of the devil. Christ commissioned Paul (and us) to preach among the Gentiles (Acts 26:18):

To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness into light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in [Christ].

You cannot have a Biblical theology without a corresponding demonology. Satan and his demons are real, and they are powerful. They will be ultimately defeated, but they are not presently dissuaded. Satan is subtle and crafty. The devil is ferocious. He hates God, the things of God, and the people of God. He is persistent and resilient. He will retreat from time to time, but he will return for more battle. That’s fine, because we are not ignorant of his devices. In His Book God has revealed the adversary’s tactics. The serpent’s head has been crushed by Christ, and only through Him will you have victory. With the weapon of His Word and the wisdom of God, not to mention His promises, prayers, and the power of His Spirit, we like Christ have been prepared by God not only to wage the war but to win.

With that we’ll bring this series to a close by reading, and hopefully being encouraged, from Hebrews 4:14-16:

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast [our] profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Saturday Morning Commentary

I've been busier than usual this week. So this is a scaled down version of Saturday Morning Commentary. Still, I hope you find the following few and select op-ed pieces from the past two weeks interesting and enlightening.

• Britain Resolves, US Wavers - Roger Cohen
• A Long Range Strategy - Cal Thomas
• Radio Free America - Cal Thomas
• A Tale of Two Soundbites - Mark Steyn
• Nixon & Obama: Soul Brothers? - Pat Buchanan
• Feminists Psychoanalyze Themselves Again - Phyllis Schlafly
• Feminism Unfulfilled: Why are so Many Women Unhappy? - Al Mohler
• Dismantling America - Thomas Sowell
• The Problem of Evil (Yes, it IS a Problem) - Phil Johnson
• Where the Wild Things Aren't - Russell Moore

Overwhelmed and Underpaid

According to this CNN Money report, the fifteen most stressful jobs include a pastor and a music minister. Music minister ranks #5. Pastor is #10. Someone needs to explain that one to me!

JAWS!

There is a reason why I like to be only ankle deep in the ocean. There is a reason why deep sea fishing has never appealed to me. Can you guess what that reason is?

This 10 ft great white was nearly bitten in half by, according to estimates drawn from the bite marks, a 20 ft great white shark! The above chew toy was found near one of Australia's most popular beaches. Click here to read the article.

Learning to Pray

This week our serial exposition of 1 Thessalonians has landed on 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13; a text in which we learn to pray. “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples” that is what the Twelve asked Jesus in Luke 11:1. They wanted to learn how to pray. I think that was an interesting question because, as young Jewish men, they had undoubtedly heard and offered many, many prayers. Prayer was not new to them. By no means was it a new concept, but everything about Jesus was new and unique when compared to the routine religion that had dominated their culture. The disciples knew that prayer was important to Jesus. They had seen Him “in the morning, rising up a great while before day…depart[ing] into a solitary place” to pray (Mark 1:35). No doubt, His prayers were totally unlike the ones which they heard in the synagogues or from the Pharisees and rabbis. Prayer was not a new concept to them, but as young and growing Christians they wanted to learn how to pray like Jesus prayed: “Lord, teach us to pray.”

We know how the Lord answered His disciples. He said,

“When you pray say, ‘Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.”(Luke 11:1-4; cf. Matthew 6:9-13)

I do not believe that the Lord intended for His disciples, or us, to routinely recite those words. The mindless, incessant recantation of words, whether it be the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer of Jabez, or anything else is not what Jesus was instructing us to do. Instead, what we have here and so many other places in the Bible, is a pattern for proper prayer, and that pattern is to pray for God to be glorified and for His will to be done; those two go together and come first; not just in order but in our desire. Then we are to pray for personal needs: food, forgiveness, deliverance.

In Matthew’s gospel he records that Jesus said, “When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking” (Matthew 6:7). Therefore, thoughtless, mechanical repetition of the same words in our prayers, whether those words come from the Bible or your own tradition, is not pleasing to God. The many prayers that are recorded in scripture are there to instruct us in how to pray. We learn to pray, first of all, by praying, but also by modeling our prayers after Godly examples. Those Godly examples are first and foremost found in the Scriptures, but also in “faithful men [and women] who are able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).

Christ taught His disciples how to pray, and they in turn taught the next generation how to pray. Epaphras was discipled by Paul, and that is obvious when we compare Colossians 4:12 with 1 Thessalonians 3:10. Epaphras’ prayer for the Colossians sounds a lot like Paul’s prayers for the Thessalonians.

In our text Paul provided the Thessalonians, and is now providing us with a pattern for proper prayer. For that reason, do not look at this text as just some prayer to recite, but as a pattern to follow.

Paul’s Pattern in Prayer – 1 Thessalonians 3:11a

It is important that our prayers are directed to the right Person. That may seem as obvious as the rather prominent nose on my face (Be thankful, dear reader, that my nose is hidden to you!), but this issue has many people around the world confused. Practitioners of non-Christian religions pray often pray to their ancestors or to various spirits. Obviously, we reject that as false and even demonic. But there are many who are considered “Christian”; speaking about the Catholic Church, that pray to “saints” or to Mary the mother of Christ.

In 2006, not long after I moved to central Indiana, the "Blessed Mother" Theodore Guerin, a 19th century nun in the Terre Haute area, was canonized as a Catholic “saint”. Many Catholics now pray to St. Theodore Guerin, asking her to intercede with God on their behalf.

Please hear me, we do not pray to past loved ones or to great men or women of the faith who have gone to be with the Lord or to angels. Our prayers are to be directed to God. That is what we see from Paul’s pattern: “Now God Himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 11a).

Paul’s pattern not only teaches us that prayer to be offered to God alone, but it also affirms the deity of Jesus Christ. The close linking of the Father and the Son acknowledges the fact that Jesus Christ is God; the second Person of the Trinity. The use of the singular pronoun – “Himself” – and the singular verb – “direct” – with the plural subject – “God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ” – emphasizes the unmistakable unity of the Father and the Son in the Godhead. The Lord Jesus is here united with His Father in terms of His deity, but separated from the Father in terms of His person. Jesus Christ was God incarnate. Jesus was, is, and always will be God!

It is also worthy to note that 1 Thessalonians was one of the earliest NT letters, and it provides us with valuable evidence that the early Christians accepted and taught the deity of Jesus Christ. This directly contradicts the fallacious statements of author Dan Brown in his immensely popular book The Da Vinci Code. Two of the main characters in that book asserted that Jesus never claimed to be God and neither did His disciples or the early churches. In fact, the book says, the doctrine of Christ’s deity was a political maneuver made by 4th century Roman Emperor Constantine. One character in the book states,

“Until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet…a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal”

Not so!

Jesus claimed to be God. His disciples believed Him to be God. The Bible declares that He is God, and when we pray we pray to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Biblical pattern of prayer is to the Father, through the Son, and in the Spirit. Here are a few passages that clarify that:

• John 16:23-24
• Acts 7:59
• Romans 8:26-27

Paul’s Purpose in Prayer – 1 Thessalonians 3:11b – 13

Paul’s pattern was to pray to the Father, through the Son, and in the Spirit. His purpose for prayer, specifically in our text passage was three-fold: perfecting faith; prospering love; purifying hope.

Perfecting Faith – v. 11b

Paul prayed for God to “direct his way” because the way had been blocked. The word “direct” expresses the idea of removing obstacles in order to make a straight, smooth path. Up to this point, Satan had blocked Paul from returning. Paul knew, and we must understand, that God is greater than Satan, and the power of the Lord could overcome Satan and allow him to return. While Paul’s desire was to return; he only wanted to do so by the will of the Lord. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” That last phrase could also read: “and he will make straight your paths.” (Psalm 37:1-5).

Paul’s ultimate concern was that the Thessalonians’ faith would grow. His prayer for the Lord to direct his steps is tied to what he said in v. 10b, “[to] perfect that which is lacking in your faith”. The word translated "perfect" means “to adjust, equip, supply”. No one’s faith ever reaches sinless perfection; there is always need for improvement and room for growth in your faith. Faith is like a muscle; it gets stronger with use.

Paul didn’t want to lead a pep rally. He didn’t want to return for their famous Thessalonian lamb chops. He wanted to feed them the Scriptures so that they could mature by it. The only way in which a person is able to know and serve Christ is through the precepts, principles, and promises of Scripture. God’s will for your life and for mine is revealed in His Word. It is not a secret. It is not lost. Instead, God will make His will clear to us by means of His word.

If your knowledge of God’s word is increasing, and you are living what you’re learning; it’s not just an academic exercise, then your confidence in God will be greater; your trust in His sovereignty will be stronger; your obedience to Him will be consistent, and you’ll be able to count it all joy when you are meet with various kinds of trials, because you’ll know that the testing of your faith produces patience/steadfastness (James 1:2-3).

Paul wasn’t able to return to Thessalonica until his third missionary journey (Acts 20:1-3). But Timothy was sent, and an inspired letter was penned and delivered, not only for the edification of the Thessalonians but for all believers!

Paul’s prayer begins with a request that God strengthen and mature their faith, providing them with the solid foundation needed for obedient and powerful Christian living.

Prospering Love – v. 12

Paul prayed that the Thessalonians’ growing faith be accompanied by a prospering love. We have already learned that this church did love: 1 Thessalonians 1:3 and 1 Thessalonians 3:6. That is good and as it should be. Paul desires that their love will continue, increase, and abound. In all three instances the love spoken of is agapē; the purest and noblest type of love; not a love dependant upon or fueled by emotions, or simply responding to kindness with kindness. This is the ultimate, sacrificial form of love.

We can never have too much of that kind of love. We can have too much love of...

• Money
• Power
• Education
• Pleasure
• Ease

We can never have too much agapē love. This kind of love is a direct fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), and is more an action of the will than an emotion. We should note that Paul asked first that this love would “increase and abound…one toward another”; that is within the church. And second of all “toward all men”; we are to have an ever increasing and abounding love for this lost world, and even for those who would persecute us. As Christ said in Matthew 5:44, “I say unto you, Love {agapaō} your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”

We know that the Thessalonians, like Paul, had endured afflictions and more were coming! Paul prayed for them to love with an increasing, super-abounding love; first for each other, but also towards their enemies. “Win them by love” was Paul’s advice, because to respond bitterly to persecution is self-defeating and destructive of character.

Of course, Paul was again their example. Never from Paul came the axiom “Do as I say. Not as I do.” The Thessalonians were to love just as Paul had loved them. He loved them enough to endure affliction so that he might share the gospel with them, and he loved them enough to endure afflictions that he might establish them in their faith. He loved the Philippian jailer enough to rescue him from suicide, and then to lead him to Christ.

Purifying Hope – v. 13

This third request for the Thessalonians, and it is true for us, is that they would lead holy lives, and the imminent return of Jesus Christ is the motivating factor for leading a holy life. If we believers are genuinely looking for Christ’s return then we will lead lives of obedience to God’s word, reflecting His glory and proclaiming His gospel.

Here is a blessed truth: Christ is coming again! But until He comes believers are to establish their hearts in His word and to lead unblameable lives in this world; knowing that we will soon be in His presence. The promise of Christ’s return to Rapture and reward believers is the essence of a believer’s purifying hope.
A pure and clean heart will not feel shame at Christ’s return, but disobedient, backslidden believers will be ashamed; like a disobedient child who does not want to be caught by his parents.

Therefore, as the apostle John says in 1 John 3:2-3, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”

Churches are called to be faithful, and to be faithful unto the end. In order to be faithful we must have…

• A perfecting faith
• A prospering love
• A purifying hope

The Strategy of the Adversary

In the preface of his book The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis wrote:

There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.

I agree with Clive Staples Lewis, and I believe that Satan is effective at tricking us into following one of two patterns.

1) To underestimate him – so that he can lure us into a hidden snare.
2) To overestimate him – so that we may be so intimidated by him that we are paralyzed by his threatening power.

As we have seen from Isaiah’s prophecy (Isaiah 14:13-14) Satan…

• Desires to Be like God
• Desires to Sit on God’s Throne
• Desires to Be Worshipped as God

That is what Satan wants for himself (goals he knows he’ll never attain), but what does Satan want from mankind? He desires for humanity to reject God’s authority just as he did. This is his desire because he wants us to share his fate. Satan hates God, and he delights in the destruction and degradation of man because man is the only being created in God’s image.

• He wants our souls to be separated from God.
• He wants to prevent the believer's practice from matching his profession.
• He wants to divide the family and corrupt the society.

That has been his desire from the beginning. He tempted Eve in the Garden, and he fanned the flames of jealousy in Cain’s heart (Genesis 3:1-5; 4:6-7; 1 John 3:10-12); a jealousy which culminated in the first human blood being spilt on the earth. The family is God’s design not only for procreation but for the propagation of the faith from one generation to the next, and the family is beleaguered by dysfunction, disobedience, abuse, immorality, materialism, and addictions. Satan would utterly destroy the family if he could. Of course, any society or organization will only be as strong as the families of which they are constituted. Kill them or corrupt them, Satan’s design is to wreck havoc on God’s creation.

We have been warned by the apostle Peter:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. (1 Peter 5:8-9)

The story of Job’s (Job 1-2) life certainly verifies the veracity of Peter’s warning.
We know from Hebrews 4:15 that Christ was “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” This doesn’t mean that He was tempted to visit illicit Internet sites or falsify His income tax report. It does mean that he was tempted in the core areas of life just as we are. What 1 John 2:16 calls the “lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.”

The strategy of the adversary may be clearly observed by examining his temptation of Christ in the Judean wilderness. Before I list the three-pronged attack, please notice that Satan will furiously attack during times of stress, hunger, and fatigue. That is what he did to Jesus, and he will do the same to us.

#1 – Turn Away from the Will of God

Matthew 4:3-4 – And when the tempter came to him, he said, "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

Turning stones into bread was no problem for Christ. In a matter of months He would feed a massive crowd with five loaves and two fish. He would do that twice during his ministry. Christ met the needs of other people. What would be wrong with meeting his needs?

Nothing; except for this: it was not Christ’s time to eat. To have done this would have been acting independently of God. That would have interfered with the divine timetable. Christ was to endure 40 days and nights of fasting and then the temptation of the Devil. Jesus lived by a set of priorities, and His top priority was doing the will of the Father (John 4:34).

As always, the enemy tempted one to meet a legitimate need in an illegitimate way. The temptation’s essence was that the needs of the body are more important than the needs of the soul; that physical needs should take priority over spiritual needs.

We may guard against Satan by doing what Jesus did, using the Word of God! “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” We would do well to cultivate a Job-like appetite (Job 23:12). Even through hunger pangs that I cannot imagine Christ saw through the temptation. The bread that satisfies the soul is more important than the bread that satisfies the body.

#2 – Turn Away from the Word of God

Matthew 4:5-7 – Satan is no easily defeated. He immediately pressed the Lord in another area, and this time he quoted scripture. After taking the Lord to the pinnacle of the Temple he tempts the Lord to throw Himself down, and quotes Psalm 91:11-12 as evidence that Jesus will be supernaturally protected from harm. Again, this was not something which Jesus was powerless to do. Christ calmed storms with a word. He walked on water. He could have leapt from the Temple and floated to the ground, but that was not the Father’s will. Jesus was not a circus performer who did miracles on demand!

In his use of scripture, the enemy used one scripture passage against another, instead of putting passages beside one another so that they might be rightly understood. His error was not in omitting a line from the Psalm, but in misinterpreting the lines he actually quoted. His desire is to get us to sin even while pointing to a Bible verse. Don’t be fooled. Satan is able and more than willing to say right things. He can mouth sound doctrine, but his intentions are always evil. Satan deliberately misused God’s Word to tempt Christ to ignore God’s Word. Jesus knew that it was important to not only know what scripture says but also what it means. He resisted the temptation of using one verse of scripture to nullify another.

#3 – Turn Away from the Cross of Christ

Matthew 4:8-11 – A person can be measured by how much he will pay or give up to gain power. Satan offered Christ a shortcut to the kingdom – instant power. He offered a crown without the cross – painless power. This was an offer to wear the crown with no need to bear the cross. Satan, as Lucifer, once worshipped Christ in heaven. Now he attempts to have Christ worship him on earth, but Christ would not turn aside from the Father’s will. He went to the cross.

Satan can no longer tempt Christ to avoid the cross, but he does tempt us to be ashamed of it, to belittle it, to lack confidence in it, to minimize it, or just plain forget it. Satan desires for you to believe that a crown is possible without a cross; that salvation is attainable without the Substitute.

We must be obedient to God’s will by rightly dividing the word of truth and glorying in nothing but the cross.