Holiness is Happiness

Scripture Reading

side or the other. Well, why don't we go ahead and turn in our Bibles to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, and this morning we'll be looking at the first eight verses. Again, if you're using your Pew Bibles, you can meet me there at page 1049. If you're using your iPhone or Droid or something, just click 1 Thessalonians and find your way to the T's. First Thessalonians chapter four, and we'll read the first eight verses together. Brothers and sisters, this is the word of God himself. It contains no error. It never fails. Let's pay careful attention to it.

Finally then, brethren, 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. 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 or defraud his brother in this manner, because the Lord is the avenger of all such. And we also forewarned you and testified, for God did not call us to uncleanness, but to holiness. Therefore, he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.

Prayer for Illumination

Let's pray. Father, we pray now that You indeed would soften our hearts, open our eyes, enlighten our mind, that we might understand and believe Your will for our lives, that Your Word would pierce deep into our souls and spur us on towards holiness. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Sermon

Why? That's the question I want to ask. Why another sermon on purity? Why? Why does it seem like this comes up again and again and again? Why does this seem like every time we're working through a book, all of a sudden we get to this uncomfortable passage when we go through the New Testament where we got to talk about ethics in the bedroom? Well, it's not because it's my favorite topic.

It's just because the Lord talks about it. It's because God gives us explicit commands, and here it says more clearly than that. It's not just, you know, the God of the Old Testament who's a God of laws and stuff. What does the passage say to us today? That Lord Jesus who loves us so much, verse 2, for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. Because this was on Jesus' heart. Because Jesus' heart of love for us is that we would understand what true love is, and the closest of relationships.

And so as we go through this passage today, we should be asking ourselves, what is God's will for my life? Right, what is God's will for my life? What does God want me to do? He wants you to be holy. He wants you to be sanctified. And what we find out here is that looks like in the most intimate of relationships and in the deepest places of our hearts, loving rightly. He wants us to have a happy life, and a happy life comes from having a holy life. A blessed life looks like a holy life.

First Point

So first we need to see that this is from the Lord Jesus. If you look with me at verses 1 and 2, finally brethren, 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. What does that word Lord mean? We hear this all the time. There's a lot of kind of Christian-y, biblical language we have in this passage, but we don't sometimes think about what does it mean. What does it mean when we call Jesus Lord? It means that He's our King. He's our Master. He's the one who's able to tell us, here's the law, here's the rule, here's how you live your life. Here's what my kingdom is. Have you ever thought about that?

Jesus comes as Emmanuel, God himself, as the king of the kingdom of God. It's upon his brow that the crown sits. It's upon the throne that Jesus Christ sits, and from this throne, this is part of the commandments he gives us, live holy lives. This is not a law of legalism, this is a law of Christ.

If you wanna flourish, if you wanna bring God glory, if you wanna find happiness in your life that looks like loving God and loving your neighbor, follow me. Love with a pure heart. This is coming from our King Jesus himself. But what is the will of God? This is such an interesting passage here in verse three. Look with me at verse three.

For this is the will of God, your sanctification. This is what God wants in your life. This is what God has ordained in your life. This is what the Lord is desiring in your life. This is what God has made you for. This is what God has called you for. This is why you exist in His kingdom, your sanctification. But what does sanctification mean? Sanctification, its root word is from holiness. God has declared you holy.

This is why when we look all throughout the New Testament when Paul or Timothy or Titus or Silas or any of the other men are writing to the churches, how do they write to them? Do they say, to the sinners who are always sinners in Rome? No. To the holy ones. To the saints in Ephesus. to the saints in Thessalonica, to the saints, to the holy ones in Colossae.

God has declared you holy if you are in Christ. So there is a sense in which you have what theologians call definitive holiness. You are holy if you believe in Jesus Christ, if you hold to Jesus Christ, if you believe in the gospel, you are holy now. declared righteous, set apart for God's use, no longer a vessel, an object of wrath, but an object for royal use. But there's a real sense, and that's who we are declared, that's what our identity is.

That's what Paul says in Romans chapter 6, but sometimes does it feel like that in our lives? I mean, if God saw you arguing with your brother or sister this past week, would people walk into your house and say, oh man, they're just the most holy family I've ever seen? Or if God saw how you spoke to your spouse this week? Or if the Lord saw your heart and somebody walked in this week, could you say, oh yeah, I'm holy in everything I do? No. You know it, and I know it.

1 John says if we're not willing to acknowledge that, if we say that we are without sin, we deceive ourselves and make God a liar. So we know that there's somehow in which we are declared holy, but God is still conforming us now to the image of Jesus. God is working in your hearts now to make you more and more holy, to conform you more and more into that image of perfection, which we will be after we die with no more sin. He's progressively making us more like Jesus. This is God's will for your life. Sanctification. In this instance, He wants to talk about something very specific. The Lord wants to tell us something very specific, what that holiness looks like in our lives.

What does it say after the semicolon there in verse 3? That you should abstain from sexual immorality. What does sanctification, what does growth and holiness, what does looking more and more like Jesus mean in our lives? Abstaining from sexual immorality.

Alright, what's that? It's a broad word. It's a broad word, we've talked about it before. It's anything outside the holy bonds of marriage. Alright, this means if you're a single person and you're trying to figure out how far you can go, that's sexual immorality. Sexual immorality is fornication, it's incest, it's bestiality, it's lust, homosexuality, pedophilia, prostitution, adultery, and the list goes on and on. Anything that takes the beautiful thing that God did in the garden when he told man to procreate, to multiply, to fill the earth and take dominion of it, and twists it. That's what the Lord is saying here, sexual immorality. He called us to holiness. Look with me at verse 7. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but to holiness. He did not call us to impurity, but to purity.

There's a whole bunch of people on YouTube and on Facebook and Twitter and TikTok who are giving all their deconversion stories and how horrible it was that the church preached to them that the children need to be pure. Brothers and sisters, this is not a command of God. Men, this is the command of God. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is saying. If you look with a woman lustfully with your eyes, you've already committed adultery in your heart.

God didn't call us for uncleanness, He called us for purity. He called us for holiness, for sanctification. He called us to have good interactions with one another. He called us to be able to talk to women in the church and be able to treat them like sisters. He called husbands to be able to live with their wives as a weaker vessel, caring for them and loving for them. He called husbands and wives to love one another purely. He called single people to be able to have relationships, and even if those relationships break off, to still be able to meet each other at a fellowship hall 15 years later and still be friends. This is what the Lord called us to do, to have pure relationships.

It's amazing that this follows straight after verse 11 through 13 in chapter 3, isn't it? Now may our God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love toward one another and to all, just as we do to you, that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness. The goal here is to love one another with a Christ-like love, with a pure love, with a sanctified love.

You know, there's something that strikes me, strikes me when we get to this conversation. There's often in scripture when you're talking about a certain sin that God will talk about battling against that sin, putting that sin to death, wrestling with that sin. But do you know what God's command is when it comes to sexual immorality in 1 Corinthians? You ready for it? Flee. Run. Get out of Dodge. Don't do it. Don't come near to it. Don't play around with it. Be like Pharaoh who left his cloak and hightailed it out of there. Don't play around with it.

This idea of sexual immorality and uncleanness is exactly the situation Joseph found himself in. Do you remember that story? when he's a slave in Potiphar's house, and Potiphar's wife is burning with lust for him, she desires him, and what does Joseph do? He honors the Lord. How shall I commit this sin against my master and against the Lord? And what does he do? Does he say, well, let me talk you out of this? No, he runs out of there. He gets out of Dodge.

This is not a sin we play around with, and at this time, in the first century when Paul was writing, This would have been a distinguishing mark. I mean, this is, at that time and age, a radical command. The culture of the time, if you know anything about Greek or Roman mythology, I mean, if you've ever heard of Zeus, I mean, their idea of God was a playboy in the sky who had all sorts of relationships, and his wife, Hera, was always mad and chasing after those other women he would go after. And this was right there in their stories, right there. This was OK, and this is good. And things good came out of that.

And the religions and the cults of Dionysius, Aphrodite, Osiris, Isis, and other pagan cults, you would go to the temple, and there would be prostitutes. Sexual immorality was abounding. And so when Paul is writing to them and God is commanding them here, don't be like the Gentiles. and their sexual immorality, this means don't be like your friends. Don't be like your buddies you went to school with. Don't be like your girlfriends you go out to coffee with. That's exactly what verse five says. Not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God.

See, in the Roman world at the time, this was perfectly acceptable, especially amongst men. There's a whole bunch of Roman writers who will say, well, you know, you have a wife, but your wife is really just there to give you legitimate children. But then every good Roman man also has a mistress. And if you really are well off, you could have a couple concubines to care for you too.

And Jesus Christ is saying here, no. No, that's why 1 Timothy 3, the qualification for an elder is he's got to be a one woman man. Eyes and heart for one woman alone. That's what the elders and the deacons are called to be. One woman men for this reason. Christians are marked by this self-control. Look at verse four. That each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor.

Paul in 1 Corinthians, when he talks about the reality of this, he says, you know, every other sin, God says every other sin is outside your body. You know, if you steal something, that's outside your body. If you're murdering someone, that's outside your body. But when we're talking about intimate sins, sexual sins, it's a sin against your own body and the other person's body. And this is where our Christian ethic The command of Christ that He says, this will be good for you, is so different than our world.

If you listen to Freud or modern psychology, it's all about if you feel these feelings and if you feel these urges, that must be true love, that must be good. It's wrong and repressive to try to push that down and have self-control. You need to freely express those desires if you're going to be your most authentic self. And the Lord's saying here, no, that's not holiness. Now, each one of you should know how to possess his own vessel and sanctification, honor, control. What does that mean? Control your own body.

This is not something we just do by, you know, I'm going to pick myself up by the bootstraps, I'm going to clench my fists and grind my feet, and I'm just going to have enough self-control in and of myself to do this. Maybe that's some of you. Maybe you've tried. And you've tried, and you've tried, and you've failed, and you've failed, and you've failed. Where does self-control come from? Where does the ability to be able to control your own body and... By the way, notice, this isn't saying those urges, temptations, desires aren't there. It's saying they are. So how do you control them?

Brothers and sisters, this is only something that we can have by the Spirit. Galatians chapter 6 is clear, this is a fruit of the Spirit, that we might have self-control, that we might control our own bodies. This is 1 Corinthians, I'm going to have you turn over there with me, 1 Corinthians chapter 7. 1 Corinthians chapter 7, and we're going to do a little bit of work here together. Because there's a problem we have. The narrative in American culture for the longest time has been, this is a dude's problem. This is a guy's problem. It's not true. This is a human problem.

Look at me at 1 Corinthians 7, verse 2. Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. And then drop down to verses 8 and 9. Now this is talking about widows. But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, it is good for them if they remain as I am. We'll get to that in a second.

But if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passions." Let me just say, if you're a single person, it's okay. Paul was a single man and he rejoiced in that. Actually, he goes on in chapter 7 verse 32. But I want you to be without care.

He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But he who is married cares about the things of the world, how he may please his wife. I remember listening to Paul Washer one time at a homeschool conference thing, and if you don't know Paul Washer, go listen to his sermons. He's pretty good.

And anyways, Paul Washer was saying, if I had stayed unmarried, I could have been an amazing bachelor missionary. I could have stayed in Peru. I could have preached and preached and preached. I could have cared for people. I could have poured out my life for the ministry. But the second I had a family, the second I took a wife, the second I had children, I gave up that blessing. Why? Because I had to care for my wife. I have to care for my children.

And Paul is saying, hey, if you're single, cool. You have time to do evangelism. You have time to serve the church. You have time to go and do the work of the Lord. You can read your scriptures. You can go do evangelism. You can care for the children in church. You can do all sorts of amazing things as a single person. That's wonderful. to serve the Lord. You have freedom that us married folk don't have. But if you burn with passion, it's better for you to be married. And that's what he says. Look with me again what he says to the widows. Verse 9. But if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. Let's go back to verse 3.

Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to the husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time that you may give yourself to fasting and prayer and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

God gave marriage to those of us who are married as a blessing. You get to care for your spouse. The marriage bed is to be kept pure. or to love one another. This is part of this growth in holiness. This is why Proverbs chapter 7, if you ever want a time to blush at family worship, read Proverbs 7 and you can go home and read that at some other time. But let me just say, husbands be satisfied in your wives and wives be satisfied in your husbands. It means caring for them, that means loving them, that means loving each other. That's the beautiful bounds of marriage that God has given to express biblical sexuality. That's what He did in that garden.

Again, brothers and sisters, this isn't fun to talk about. To be honest with you, there are many people who are just like, okay, can we just skip over this passage? But if this is not something we can talk about in a safe environment of church, I don't know where we can.

Because I guarantee you the world is talking to your children about it. Walk down the cereal aisle, and there's a pride box made by Kellogg. Turn on YouTube, and you're going to see it filled. Walk down the streets of any major city today, and there's going to be a pride parade, three pride parades today, two happening in Spain and one happening in Brazil. On the Lord's Day, people saying, I'm going to do whatever I want with my sexual ethics.

And brothers and sisters, I'm telling you, This will be the mark. I hate to sound like this broken record, but this will be the mark that as our culture goes more and more the way of Romans 1, that we're going to be tempted more and more. Do I just go in line with the world? Do I just turn a blind eye? Do I be seduced by the philosophy of this age?

Or do I know that Jesus Christ wants nothing but what's good for me. That Jesus Christ lived a chaste life. That Jesus Christ was tempted in every way as I am, yet without sin. And that Jesus Christ died, that I might walk in purity and holiness. This was a trial, this was a difficulty in the first century. It's been a trial and a difficulty for 2,000 years since then. And until Jesus Christ returns, it will continue to be a perennial trial in the Christian church.

The question is, do we believe God or do we believe the world? That's the question I have for you today. What is God's will for your life? Why did Jesus Christ die upon that cross? Why did God save you? Why did He care for you? Why does He love you? He loved you that you might walk as He walks, that you might love what He loves, that you might do what He desires, that you might grow in holiness and sanctification, that you might look more and more like Jesus tomorrow than the day before.

And this happens in our hearts. And brothers and sisters, this is not an external issue, this is a heart issue. Remember, it was Jesus who said, it's not adultery just by going out and having an affair. Now, if you've lusted with a woman at your eyes, you've already committed adultery in your heart. Don't believe the world's excuses. I beg you, do not believe the world's excuses that this is just a human condition. This is just something ingrained in you. This is just part of your nature and it cannot change. Cry out to God. Search Him in His Word. Seek Christ in prayer.

Know that He can reform your hearts, change your desires as you think and meditate upon the things that are good and lovely and pure and noble and praiseworthy. As you think upon those things, He will conform you more and more to the image of Jesus. And as we walk in purity, we see that we love one another more and more. Because when we don't, the text tells us that we harm one another. And God will judge. So seek holiness. Live pure lives for Jesus Christ. Not out of legalism, but because you love Christ. Because you want to be conformed to His image. Because this is His will for your life today.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. Father, we thank you We thank you for the blessing it is to have our desires and our affections changed by you. Lord, we pray that you would make us holy, conform us to the image of Jesus. Lord, I pray specifically for those who are struggling with specific sins today that you might give them victory. I pray that you would give them confidence and the strength to flee from sin and from sexual immorality. Lord, I pray that we might walk in purity. Lord, please do not leave us, but let us love you with all of our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen.