1 THESSALONIANS 4:1-82007 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2007. This morning we are beginning chapter 4 of the book of Thessalonians.

And it begins the next part of this book. As I've shared in the past, chapters 1 through 3 of 1 Thessalonians is relating to, and Paul is sharing with the Thessalonians, his experiences, the things that he was going through and feeling and experiencing during the trip as he went through Thessalonica and what took place afterwards and how he was eagerly anticipating the arrival of Timothy that he would know later.

how they were doing and how they were withstanding the tribulation and persecution that was taking place. And so he was just relating to them and sharing with them those experiences in chapters 1 through 3. Now as we begin the last part of the book, chapters 4 and 5, Paul is dealing now with exhortation, with encouragement, with some correction, and he's sharing with them some good counsel for us all.

This morning he begins this section here in chapter 4 verses 1 through 8 teaching us about sanctification. Sanctification. Now sanctification is a very interesting word. It's maybe a little bit longer, more syllables than we typically would use in our normal vocabulary. It's also a very Christian word.

You know, it's not a word that you probably have heard in the new corporate documentation that was handed down to you by your boss, right? There's not talk of, you know, the sanctification of the company or, you know, how to be a sanctified employee. It's not really something that you would find in the workplace. You probably have not heard it on Oprah or Dr. Phil. That's not a word that they would like to use. Nor would you read it in a newspaper or find it really anywhere else outside of religion or outside of Christianity.

Sanctification, the basic meaning is to be set apart unto something, to be set apart unto something. It's separation from, but also separation unto something.

And of course, as we talk about sanctification, we're talking about being separated from the world, from the flesh, from sin, but also being separated unto set apart for God, for his purposes, for his uses. One of the ways that Christians often describe their conversion experience is by saying, you know, that was the time that I gave my life to the Lord.

And that is an appropriate way of describing conversion because that's what God asks of us for us to give him our very lives, our whole self. But I think sometimes we fail to recognize the meanings of the words that we say. You ever do that? You say things and you only think about later, what am I actually saying? What does that actually mean?

To give your life to the Lord means just that. It's more than just I said the sinner's prayer, but I gave my life to the Lord, meaning that it doesn't belong to me any longer. My life belongs to him.

That is what being born again is all about. That's what Christianity is all about, that we no longer belong to ourselves and live to fulfill our pleasures and our passions and our desires. But we live to fulfill the Lord, his passions, his pleasures, his desires.

The point of sanctification is that I have been set apart unto him only for his use, only for his purposes, at his disposal and the disposal of no one else.

I heard a great sanctification illustration a while back. And one pastor, as he was teaching, he was sharing a time when his daughter was going to make him lunch. And I think his wife was away. And so the daughter wanted to be helpful and bless her father. And so she begins to prepare him this lunch. And she makes him this sandwich. And he sees her as she's preparing him.

And she's washing a particular plate and she's washing and scrubbing it and and getting it nice and clean. And she sets it down and she's about to put the food on the plate. And the dad looks at her and says, oh, what are you doing? You can't put the food on that plate. And the daughter looks kind of perplexed, like, why not? I washed it. It's a special plate that I that I wanted to use. And the dad says, I'm not eating off that plate. Put that away. I'm not going to eat off that at all.

And the daughter's like, why? And the dad says, well, because that's the cat's dish. It's not used for us. It's for the cat. And she said, but I washed it.

He says, I don't care if you washed it a hundred times. I'm not going to eat off of that plate. And that's the idea of sanctification. You see, it was sanctified unto the cat. It's only for the cat's use. It's not to be used by you or anyone else. And and that's what sanctification is. We're to be sanctified. And Paul is speaking to us about sanctification. That is, we're set apart unto the Lord, not to be used by anyone else.

Not to be used for any other purpose. Not to be used even for our own purposes, but unto the Lord. His will, His purposes for nothing else. That's how God wants us to be. That is His will for us. That we would be set apart unto Him, to be for Him and Him alone for His pleasures.

As we study through these things, I would encourage you this morning, I would ask of you and exhort you to consider, has that been the cry of your heart lately? Where you come to the point in your life where you cry out to the Lord, Lord, I'm yours. However you want me to live, whatever you want me to do, I am yours completely and fully. I know there's been times in my life where the Lord has brought me to that point where that has been the cry of my heart.

But there's also been those times in my life where that has not been the cry of my heart. There's the continual need for us to stay in a place where we are wonderfully and fully submitted to the Lord, sanctified unto Him. And it's a choice and a decision that we need to make.

Let's start looking at verse 1. Paul says, 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.

Now, I won't do it again, but last week, if you remember, or if you were not here, I had everybody stand up and I did a quick elimination process to find out who had been the Christian for the longest time. And Harvey was left standing for quite a long time. So we asked him, you know, how it was to actually get to witness the, you know, the Europeans coming into America and settling here. And I was just kidding.

What was it like, Harvey, to actually see Jesus on the cross? Just kidding.

But the whole point of that was to find the oldest Christian here, the one who's known God the longest and find out, OK, so you've known God for 35 plus years. When do you stop growing? When is the point that you reach that, you know, that's it, that there's no more growth, that you've accomplished all that God can do in your heart? And of course, the answer is that's never. You never stop growing. You don't stop being transformed and conformed to his image.

Paul said to the Thessalonians last week, hey, you have love, but I'm praying that you increase more and more in love, that you continue to grow in that. And that's what our Christian life is like. Growth, continually growing in the characteristics of God. Growth in our walk with God is essential.

We cannot just get to where we feel good enough and then just stay there. You know, I've accomplished enough. I got rid of most of the major things in my life. And so I'm comfortable here. I'm just going to stay at this place, stay at this level and not continue to press on in my Christian walk. Paul says this morning in verse one, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more.

Here again, he makes it clear to us. We're to be growing in our Christian walk, increasing in love like we saw last week, but here abounding more and more in our walk with God. Now, the fact that Paul urges and exhorts the Thessalonians to abound more and more tells us very something, something very important about growth. And that is that it's a choice.

If he can urge them and exhort them to abound more and more, that means that they have the opportunity to go forward and to be involved in abounding more and more in growing in their Christian walk. But they also have the opportunity to withhold and not do that, to not continue on, to not be growing as a Christian. Are you growing as a Christian? Are you growing in your Christian walk?

You should abound more and more, Paul says. But the question for us is, are we? Have we grown as we look back to the last year? Have we progressed? Have we abounded more and more in the characteristics of Christ? Have we walked more and more in relationship with God? Are we abounding more today than yesterday?

Are we abounding in our walk? That's what Paul says. I urge you. I encourage you. I exhort you. I beg you. Please, grow in your Christian walk. Oh, there's such a desperate need for us to grow. Now, how is that? How do we grow? Paul goes on to say, I urge and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you receive from us how you ought to walk and to please God.

How do we grow? Growth takes place when I walk in obedience in order to please God. Look at verse 2. For you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. Growth goes hand in hand with obedience in order to please the Lord. It goes hand in hand with the commandments that were given through the Lord Jesus. It goes hand in hand with the way that you walk to please God.

Paul says, I urge you to abound more and more in your walk to please God and through the commandments that we gave you through the Lord Jesus. Now, sometimes as Christians, we like to remind ourselves that we are under the grace and not the law. We're under grace, not the law. That's something that we share a lot and say a lot. And we learn that in Galatians very clearly. And how wonderful that is that we do not have to base our eternal salvation upon our faith.

perfectly keeping of the law, that we don't have to approach God on the basis of how well we've kept the commandments. And so it is true we're under grace and not the law. But don't mistake that to mean that we're not called to be obedient to God. Paul says, you know, the commands that we gave you through Jesus.

You know the commands. There were commands that were given by Jesus Christ that you are called to walk in. In fact, as we looked at the Great Commission in Matthew 28, 19 and 20, Jesus says there you're to go into all the world, baptizing them, but also teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. That's a part of the Christian walk. Obedience to Jesus Christ. Obedience to his commands.

It means that we cannot just simply say a prayer and then live however we want and continue in the lifestyles that we once had. There needs to be a change. There needs to be an obedience. There needs to be a walk in relationship to God that complies with his commands.

That follows his instructions. We're not under the law in the understanding that we do not have to receive the punishment that is due for our sin because Jesus received the punishment on our behalf. And so it's like we escaped that one. We don't have to receive the punishment. We're not under the law in the sense that we do not have to keep the commands in order to have relationship with God. Does not mean that you can live in sin and rely upon the grace of God, though.

You can't just live however you want because you at one time have said a prayer. See, the real issue is having a heart and life that's devoted to pleasing God. That's why Paul says, we urge you and exhort you to abound more and more in what? Well, you remember what we gave to you, Paul says, that you receive from us how you ought to walk and to please God. The real issue here is pleasing God.

That you should abound more and more in your desire to please God. And if you desire to please God, guess what? You're going to be walking in his commands. That's why Jesus said, hey, if you love me, keep my commands.

Because it's not an act of, well, I've got to do this or I'm going to be punished. It's not an act of, I've got to do this in order to have a relationship with God. No, it's, I want to do this because I love Jesus. Because I desire to please God, and so I'm walking in obedience to His commands. Because I want to live my life to bring pleasure to Him, to please Him, to bring Him joy, to glorify His name. Now, there's a common question, very often among younger people, but at all ages, is,

Can I do this and still be a Christian? Can I be involved in this thing and still be a Christian? Or another way of putting it is, you know, how far can we go in our dating relationship? How far can we go and still, you know, be walking with God? And how can we, you know, know where the line is and know what we shouldn't step over and the boundaries that we should not cross? It's a very common question, but I believe it's the wrong question.

The right question is, does this please God? Does this bring glory and honor to his name? Does this bring joy to him? Is this fulfilling to him? And that will answer most of those questions. See, the issue is not how much can I get away with and still be a Christian? It's how do I grow a little bit more to please God more this day?

How do I please God more tomorrow? How do I please God more than I have in the past? That needs to be the primary concern and passion of our heart, that we live in order to please God. Not too long ago, I was involved in a counseling class where they take you through counseling.

Different scenarios and situations and look at the word of God and how to answer those and deal with those. And one of the things that they continue to stress, which is so important, is this issue of pleasing God. And they would teach that, hey, when someone comes in to seek instruction from the word of God, to seek counsel from the word of God, the first thing you ask is, why are you here?

As you come in to ask for counseling, you're asked, why are you here? Because you need to consider. Now, a lot of times husbands come in because, well, you know, I'm here because my wife has some problems and you need to fix her. Sometimes you come in because, you know, I'm in this disarray.

debt and I have this financial situation. I need that fixed. And and you come in with these problems expecting the solution to the problems. But the real issue, if you're coming to the word of God, if you're coming to the Lord, if you're coming for for that type of counsel and biblical instruction, the issue is not solving that particular problem or fixing that particular person. But the issue is, how do I learn how to please God?

Because right now I'm in a place where I'm not pleasing him, where I'm living contrary to his will. If you're going, if you're not going to learn how to please God, if that's not interesting to you, if that's not what you desire, there's no use in coming to the word of God. There's no use in coming to counseling to hear what God says about particular things. The main issue is to please God. It must be your primary goal and your passion in life.

What pleases God, what he desires, his will for you and his will for you is for you to say, Lord, I'm yours completely set apart unto you, wholly consecrated unto you, separated from the world, from the flesh and separated unto you for your purposes. Have you said that to the Lord lately? Has that been the cry of your heart?

Will you make it the cry of your heart? Lord, I'm yours. I want to be pleasing to you. I surrender. Lord, if there's anything in my life that's not pleasing to you, show me and I will deal with it. I will get rid of it. Lord, if there's ways that I need to walk that I could be more pleasing to you, show me that I may walk in those ways. It's a focus on the Lord Jesus Christ. Not looking to please ourselves, but looking to please him. Sanctification.

Now, verse three tells us, for this is the will of God, your sanctification. This is what God's will is for you, your sanctification, that you would be set apart unto him for his use only, for his purposes only, for his glory and honor only and not your own.

1 Corinthians 6, verses 19 and 20 say this, Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? And notice this, and you are not your own. Verse 20, For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Here's what the Lord says in 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20. Remember, you are not your own. You were bought at a price.

Jesus Christ paid the price of his own life. He shed his own blood in order to purchase you, to redeem you. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. You belong to God. He purchased you. You are not your own. And so to be sanctified is only God.

It's nothing more than living out in reality what has taken place already when Christ died upon the cross to redeem you. Now, you have a choice. You don't have to live in obedience to God to be pleasing to Him. You don't have to live that way. Just like you do not have to receive the gift that He gives to you in Jesus Christ. You don't have to receive eternal life. You can be eternally damned if you desire. He gives you that choice.

But he purchased you nonetheless. You're not your own either way. And if you want to receive the fulfillment, the joy that he offers, if you want to receive the peace and forgiveness that he offers, if you want to have the life, the abundant life that he offers and the eternal promises that you can't even describe awaiting for you, give your life to him for salvation, but also for sanctification to be set apart for him.

It's the reality of what he's done for you. It's realizing I am not my own and living that way. Lord, what pleases you? Remember the way we say it. I gave my life to the Lord. It's his because I've been bought with a price. So I cannot just continue to do whatever I please. He bought me not for me to fulfill my pleasures, not for me to live out my dreams, but

But for me to live for him, for his glory, for his honor, for his pleasure, for this is the will of God, your sanctification. Again, is that where you are at this morning? Is that the cry of your heart? Lord, I'm yours. However you want me to live, whatever you want me to do, I am yours. It needs to be the place of our heart. Paul says, abound more and more in this because this is the will of God for you.

for you to surrender all, for you to be fully devoted and consecrated to him. Now, as we go on in these verses, Paul goes on to speak about three specific areas relating to your sanctification. Well, notice then they all begin with the word that in the next couple of verses. Three areas really as examples of sanctification for us to challenge and

And check our hearts. Number one, he'll tell us to abstain from sexual immorality. Number two, he'll tell us to possess your own vessel. And number three, he'll tell us to not defraud your brother. Now, there is a little bit of differing opinion on these verses. Many believe and teach that all three areas are really only dealing with sexual immorality.

But I believe, and as I'll share with you this morning, that God is speaking to us about more than sexual immorality here. Although that is included, of course, but it's not the only issue in sanctification. There's more going on in our hearts that God wants to deal with. But first and foremost, he says, here is God's will for you. Your sanctification, continuing on in verse 3, that you should abstain from sexual immorality.

So the first area that Paul deals with in sanctification is that you should abstain from sexual immorality. Again, to be sanctified is to be separated unto the Lord, but it also means to be separated from the things that are not of God, separated from sexual immorality. And so Paul says you must abstain. You shouldn't abstain from sexual immorality.

So God says, you know, my will for you is for you to really, really cut back in those areas of sin or really kind of slow down in that sexual immorality or really, you know, just try not to do it so much. No, the will of God for you, your sanctification is to abstain.

from sexual immorality, to refrain, to keep yourself from sexual immorality. You cannot claim to live to please God and be involved in sexual immorality. It can't happen. It doesn't take place. That's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5, hey, don't associate with anybody who claims to be a Christian and continues to live in sexual immorality. And he also lists some other types of sins there.

Because you cannot be involved in that lifestyle and living that way and claim to be a Christian. It doesn't work. It doesn't happen. You're lying, in other words. Because your life proves you're not living to please God because you're involved in sexual immorality. If you're involved in sexual immorality, it proves that you're living to please yourself and not living to please God.

You cannot claim to live to please God and be involved in sexual immorality. You can't claim to be sanctified and continue to be involved in sin. We're told in other parts of Scripture to flee from sexual immorality, to run from it, to not play with it, to not dabble in it. First Corinthians 618 says, flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

This is a particularly important one because this one is one of the most destructive to yourself. Sexual immorality. It's the Greek word pornea, which is a word that includes all types, all forms, anything imaginable in the area of sexual sin. God's will for you, your sanctification is to abstain from sexual immorality. That is fornication.

Any type of sexual relationship before marriage, you're to abstain from. Adultery, any extramarital affairs, you're to abstain from. Homosexuality, you're to abstain from. Pornography, sexual stimulation of the like, you're to abstain from. Now, God created the whole idea of sex. He created sex.

The the purpose, the pleasure he created, the the organs that make it possible, and he created those to be enjoyed within the marriage relationship. Any other context, any other use is forbidden and sinful. Are you involved in sexual immorality?

If you are, you need to repent. You need to turn from sin because you are not living to please God. You're living to please yourself. You need to repent, to be set apart unto God from sexual immorality, to live in a way that's pleasing to the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, to live in sexual immorality is to choose to be pleasing yourself instead of God. It shows your heart that you are more important to you

then God is not as important to you as you are to you. That you're living to please yourself, to fulfill your desires, your passions, your sanctification. Paul says, first of all, you must abstain from sexual immorality. Number two, we find in verses four and five that we're to possess sexual,

Your own vessel. Verse 4 says that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor. Verse 5, not in passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. So here we find the next thing Paul says in dealing with sanctification, with you being set apart from sin and set apart unto God, is that you need to know how to possess your own vessel in sanctification and honor. Now, some take this phrase wrong.

your own vessel, to refer to a man's wife. And so what they say is the idea here is that instead of being sexually immoral, you know, possess your own wife and have sexual relations with your own wife and not be immoral. Or obtain for yourself a wife and that way you won't be living in immorality. But the words that are used here in the context, I believe,

Don't limit it to just that issue of sexual immorality. And the rest of Scripture, these words are used in a variety of ways to describe a lot of different things. Paul's not limiting this discussion to the issue of sexual immorality. The idea here is that you should possess your own vessel or your own self in sanctification today.

and honor. I like what Oliver Green said, a Bible commentator. He says, believers, possess yourselves, control your bodies, master the vessel in which the spirit lives. See to it that the inner man is on the throne and in control at all times, thus providing a vessel sanctified and fit for the master's use. This is the idea that Paul is talking about. You're to be set apart.

Controlling yourself, having self-control, controlling your body, not involving yourself in the lust of the flesh, in the cares of this life, but having control over the desires that you have within you. This is the will of God, that you know how to control yourself and not to indulge in every whim of your flesh. That's why in verse 5 he says, "...not in passion of lust."

Now, lust, we usually take that and connect that to sexual immorality. As Jesus said, if anyone looks at a woman to lust after her, he's already committed adultery.

But this word lust is not just used in that context. In fact, many times in the scriptures, it's used in positive ways because the word simply means a strong desire. And so it's used throughout the New Testament for good things as well as bad things. Whatever a person might have a strong desire for.

The phrase passion of less describes a state of being consumed by and driven by those strong desires, caught up with and consumed with those strong desires. And so as Christians, we are to put to death the members of our body, like we learned in Colossians, not to be driven by them like the Gentiles who do not know God.

The world easily gets caught up into the passions of lust, consumed by strong desire, given themselves over to fulfill their desire. Again, not just in sexual immorality, the desire to be wealthy, to be popular, to have this or achieve that. It's it's the desires that they're caught up within.

If you read the how to be successful books or how to get rich books or listen to the motivational speakers in that realm, they will tell you that you just need to focus, focus yourself on what you want intensely. And in a sense, they're teaching people to consume themselves even more with their strong desires, their

To the point, I remember listening to one that was saying, you know, if you really want to be successful, if you really want to be rich, then that needs to be a part of you and everything that you eat and drink and breathe and sleep the dream that you have, the focus that you have and the goal that you want. But this is not God's will for us. God's will for you and your sanctification is for you to possess yourself, right?

In sanctification and honor, you have control of yourself to keep yourself in a place where you're separated unto God, where you're separated from the things of this world and even from the appetites and desires of your own flesh to be set apart for him and not caught up in your own desires and passions. See, as Christians, your passion and strong desire should be to know God.

He says, don't be caught up in the passions of lust like those who do not know God. You know God. So let your passion and strong desire be to know him, be to draw close to him, be to be pleasing to him. Unbelievers don't know God. So they're involved in all these other passions and they're consumed by these things. But you don't live that way. Don't continue on that way. You consume yourself. Have the strong desire to.

To walk with God, to let him be your passion, eat, drink, breathe, sleep to know God and to be pleasing to him. Pooley read to us this morning from Philippians chapter three. And I want to read that to you again. Philippians three verses eight through 10. Paul says, yet I yet indeed, I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. I'll just stop there for a second.

Here's Paul. He's saying, I count all things loss, all things rubbish for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. Paul is living what he's sharing with us.

Everything else doesn't compare. Everything else doesn't matter. The most important thing to Paul, the most excellent thing to Paul, his passion was the knowledge of Christ Jesus. He said, For whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death.

Paul's focus, his passion, his strong desire was to know God. This this one thing I do, he says, forgetting what is behind and pressing forward his desire, his strong passion. What he was consumed by was to know God, to please God, to walk with God.

So don't be caught up in in in fulfilling your own passions and desires. Don't don't be caught up in the lust of the flesh. Learn how to possess your own vessel to control yourself, that you keep yourself focused on, consumed by the thirst for the knowledge of God, the walk with God to please him and not to please yourself, not to be caught up in the things of this world.

Are you caught up in your own strong desires? Are you caught up fulfilling your own plans and dreams? Repent. Turn from your sin. Be set apart to God and live in a way that's pleasing to him. Make knowing God your passion. Make walking with him your passion. Make pleasing him and bringing honor and glory to his name your passion. That is God's will for you in sanctification. Finally, we have the third thing.

Found in verse 6. The third point in sanctification is do not defraud your brother. Verse 6 says that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter. Because the Lord is the avenger of all such as we also forewarned you and testified. The final example of sanctification here is not to take advantage of and defraud your brother. We've talked about this a few times in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 11.1 says,

It tells us that dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight. The Lord hates dishonest scales. Now, dishonest scales, not like scales on a fish, but the scale that weighs things.

And they would have, you've seen the old-fashioned scales, right? I'm not saying it very well. Scales? I don't know. Now it sounds funny to me, too. Skills, scales, scales. They would have these scales that would be based on the balance of weight. And so they would have these weights that were set amounts.

And they would put them on one side and then they would put the amount of wheat or barley or whatever it is that you're purchasing on the other side. And you would purchase it based on the amount of the weight. Well, what some people would do, they would have dishonest scales. So when they were purchasing something...

They would have heavier scales. So the seller would need to put more things on top of the other side, more goods that they were giving to them for the same price or for a lesser price than what they're actually purchasing. Or when they were selling things, they would have lighter weights. So they wouldn't have to actually give as much merchandise for the amount that they were being paid for.

And so these were dishonest scales. The idea is dishonest business practices, having different weights and different measures, different ways to manipulate in order to take advantage of another person. Paul says that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter.

This matter, it's a thing or a lawsuit or a business transaction. All of our dealings and all of our things and all of our everything that we're involved in should be based on what is right and just and fair. Paul says, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, he will avenge those who are dishonest, those who are dishonest.

manipulating in their business practices. Those who are manipulating, and it doesn't have to be in business transactions and in the store, but taking advantage of and using other people. The Lord will avenge them, Paul says. We learn that also in Proverbs, in Proverbs 22, where Solomon there says, Do not rob the poor because he is poor, nor oppress the afflicted at the gate, for the Lord will plead their cause and plunder the soul of those who plunder them.

It's bad for your health to take advantage of the people around you. God will avenge them. God will plunder the soul of those who plunder others. And so again, the question is, are you taking advantage of others? You know, taking advantage of the innocence or ignorance or the fact that they're gullible. Are you defrauding others to get ahead or using people to accomplish your own purposes? Repent.

Turn from sin and be set apart unto God to live in a way that's pleasing to him. Verse 7. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Why should I abstain from sexual immorality? Why should I learn how to possess my own self in sanctification and honor? Why should I not defraud my brother? Paul says, because God did not call us to uncleanness.

But he called us in holiness. Here's the point. God didn't call us to continue to live in the filth that we've been living in. He didn't call us so that we could stay in the muck and the mire. No, he called us and he set our feet upon the rock.

Not for us to crawl back in the mud. Not for us to crawl back in the filth and go back to our old lifestyles. No, he set us free. He called us in holiness to be set apart from that. To be set apart unto him. You have been bought with a price. You are not your own. Christ did not shed his blood for you to live your own life and fulfill your own desires and build your own kingdom.

He didn't call you to uncleanness. He called you out of uncleanness. He called you out of sin, out of sexual immorality, out of the desires and passions, the greed, the lust, the covetousness that is so prevalent in our hearts. He called us out of those things, out of this world, out of the practices of this world and our flesh. He didn't call us to uncleanness, but he called us in holiness.

There's a great need for repentance in our lives. We've been comfortable in the filth for far too long. We need to turn from sin. Are you living in uncleanness instead of holiness? Are you living in sin? This word holiness that he uses, it's the same word as sanctification.

It's the same word. It means to be set apart unto God, set apart from sin. He didn't call you to uncleanness, but he called you to be set apart from that for him and for his purposes, for his pleasure. God did not call you in uncleanness, but to be set apart for him. So are you set apart unto God? That's why he sent his son to die upon the cross for you.

He purchased you, bought you at a price, gave his own life to redeem you and to redeem me. Are you living in sexual immorality? Are you living to fulfill your own desires and passions? It's time to repent. To repent means to change your mind, to change your direction. It means to go the opposite way. You know you've repented when you do not continue in that sin anymore.

That's when you know when you don't continue to live the same way. Because repentance is to change your mind, to change your direction, to go a different way. Now, as Christians, we have seasons in our life. We have ups and downs in our Christian walk. As we started in the beginning, Paul's urge and exhortation was to abound more and more. And there's been times in our Christian life

Where we have abounded more and more. Where there's been true and real growth. But there's also been times in our Christian life where there's been the opposite of growth. Where there's been a regression back into some areas. Back into some lifestyles. Back into things that God delivered us from. That God pulled us out of.

You know, after walking with God for 35 plus years, you would think Harvey was pretty perfect, wouldn't you? I mean, if he was growing the whole time and stuff. But I can tell you, I spent some time with Harvey this last week even. If we were to continue growing, yes, we're going to be closer and closer to the Lord. But often what happens is we find ourselves in a state of immaturity because there's those seasons, there's those times, maybe you're in one right now where you're not living to please God.

You're not living to bring Him glory and honor. You're not willing to be set apart for Him. You need to repent. Your goal should be to please Him. The exhortation and urge for all of us is to abound more and more, to grow closer and closer, to be more like Jesus Christ.

To be more pleasing to him. And it means that we must turn away from and let go of the filth and the junk of this world. The filth and the junk that we've held on to. We're called to be sanctified. But it's a call. It's a command. It's a choice that you have to make. It's not that you're going to wake up tomorrow morning and, whoa, no more sexual immorality. That was cool. Thanks, Scott. No, he sets you free from it.

He's crucified the flesh at the cross, but you have to make the choice. Will you be set apart? Will you repent and turn from those things that have captured your life, that have sucked you in and kept your focus off of the Lord? Will you turn from the things that keep you from living a life that's pleasing to God? Will you turn from the things that keep you from drawing close to him?

The things that keep you from abounding more and more. Will you turn? Again, you know that you have. You know that you've repented when you do not continue in that sin any longer. God wants to do that in your life. He wants to help you. But you have to make the choice. Are you willing to please God? Is that the cry of your heart? Lord, I'm yours. Whatever you want to do. There's...

There's a new work that God wants to do in us this morning, I believe. Setting us free from, as we turn away, those things that we've been bound to. Yeah, maybe you've been a Christian for a while. Maybe you've walked with the Lord for a long time. But so often we find ourselves back in the mud, back in the mire. Not intentional, intentional.

Very often we don't seek out to rebel against the Lord, but our eyes begin to be captivated. The strong desire, we begin to follow it. We begin to get caught up in these other things. And we're slowly led astray until we find ourselves at the point we're at today. We're now at the struggle. Will I continue with the Lord or am I just going to continue on in sin? You can't do both. You need to make a choice. Which way are you going to go?

To be set apart unto God, fleeing from sin, repenting from uncleanness, or continuing on in sin towards destruction. Verse 8, Paul says, Paul says,

Because this is God's will for you, that you would be sanctified, set apart unto him and set apart from sexual immorality and that you would know how to possess your own self, that you wouldn't be caught up in the desires and passions of the flesh.

You wouldn't take advantage of others and be just looking out for number one, focused on and consumed with yourself. This is God's will for you. But if you reject this, you do not reject man. You're not rejecting Jerry. You are rejecting God who has given us the Holy Spirit. These are the words of the Holy Spirit. These are the words of God, the will of God. If you reject it, you reject God. God gives you the choice.

Accept him or reject him. Grow and abound more and more or reject him and walk away. It's a choice to receive or reject sanctification, to be set apart for him. If you reject these things, if you decide that you still want to continue in your sin, if you're determined that you can be a Christian and keep on living the life that you're living, you're not rejecting man, but you are rejecting God.

Don't fool yourself. Don't be deceived. God cannot be mocked. Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. If he sows to the flesh, he will of the flesh reap corruption. But if he sows to the Spirit, he will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. You have a choice. I have a choice to abound more and more and reap everlasting life or to sow to the flesh, to continue in uncleanness and reap destruction.

This morning I want to encourage you to walk to please God. Follow the commandments that were given through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. Notice how it's all of the Godhead involved. It's the commands through the Lord Jesus, the will of God, given by the Holy Spirit. The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. You have the full Godhead. The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.

beseeching you and saying, live to please me. I died for you. I gave my life. You were bought at a price. Be sanctified. You have the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit with you right now saying, turn from your sin. I have greater things, better things in store for you. Let those things go. You have the eternal power of God at your disposal. The old man has been crucified with Christ.

You do not have to be subject to that sin. You do not have to be controlled by that passion of lust, by that strong desire. You have the opportunity this morning. God is here with you right now. Many of you speaking to your heart saying, let go. Will you just surrender completely? Will you be sanctified and set apart unto me that you might live your life pleasing to me?

That you may reap everlasting life. The benefits that you can't even imagine. Will you be sanctified? Will you abstain from sexual immorality? Will you possess your own vessel? Will you not take advantage of or defraud your brother? Because God didn't call us to uncleanness. But he called us in holiness. It's time to repent. One last portion of scripture. 1 Timothy chapter 2 verses 21 and 22. Actually verses 19 through 21 rather.

Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal, the Lord knows those who are his, and let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

But in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the master, prepared for every good work. Paul, writing to Timothy here in chapter two of First Timothy, says, listen.

Here's the solid foundation of God. Number one, the Lord knows who are his. And number two, let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Again, you cannot continue to live in sin and claim to be a follower of Christ. You're not living to please God. The Lord knows who are his. He knows which are wheat and which are tares. He knows those who are living to please him and those who are not. And that's why he says in the house, hey, there's vessels.

Gold and silver, wood and clay, some for good things, some for bad things. So if you cleanse yourself from the things that are of dishonor, if you cleanse yourself from the sin, if you sanctify yourself and remove from yourself those things that God has commanded you to stay away from, those things that God says that will destroy your life, if you cleanse yourself and set yourself apart from that, you will be a vessel for honor.

Sanctified, useful for the master, prepared for every good work. It's time to repent. It's been too long that we've been comfortable living in the filth that we live in. It's time to repent and to cleanse yourselves from the things of dishonor, to cleanse yourself from sin, that you might be a vessel of honor, ready for the master to use for every good work.

Paul says, let everyone who needs the name of Christ depart from iniquity, depart, repent, change direction, run away, flee. That is to be our relationship with sin. We sing a song a few minutes ago that said, as far as the east is from the west, that's how far he has removed our transgressions from us. And praise the Lord. Hallelujah for that.

I do not face the punishment and judgment for my sin because Jesus Christ paid it for me. He received it for me. As far as the east is from the west, he has removed our transgression. But how far have you removed yourself from transgression? He's removed it from you as you believe in Jesus Christ. But how far have you removed yourself from transgression? We need to repent. It's time to clean house.

Is there things in your heart that God has been speaking to you about this morning, maybe this past week or month or maybe for years? God wants you to clean it out so that you might be a vessel for honor, sanctified, set apart for every good work. God desires to do something new and powerful in your heart this morning if you'll just let him.

I urge you this morning, I exhort you, abound more and more. Be sanctified. It's the will of God, but it takes the choice for you to surrender. I'm going to have the worship team come up, and they're going to close us in a song, and I would encourage you, I ask and exhort you, as they close in a song, that you go before the Lord. You don't have to do a public demonstration or a big show. You get right with God.

Remove those things from your heart. Surrender completely to God. Let the cry of your heart be, Lord, I'm yours, completely and wholly. If there's anything that's not of you, if there's anything that's not pleasing to you, show me that I may get rid of it, that I may dispose of it, that I may remove it from my life. Or perhaps there's an area where God says, no, you know, it's not so much that you're involved in something that's unpleasing to me, but you're

You're holding back and you're not going in the direction that I want you to go. You're holding back and you're not involving yourself in the way that I want you to. You're not being obedient to the promptings I'm putting upon your heart and the leading where I'm prompting you with the Holy Spirit. There's ways I want you to walk pleasing to me that you're not doing. Will you surrender to the Lord this morning? Will you be sanctified? Let's spend a few moments together.

with the Lord as they lead in worship. Afterwards, there'll be people up here who would love to pray with you and agree with you. And maybe the Lord would put that upon your heart that you need someone to bear witness with what God has spoken to your heart so that you don't return to it later, so that the enemy doesn't deceive you and say later, ah, that was just nothing. That really didn't happen. Maybe you need someone to bear witness. And so we'll be up here. We'd love to pray with you and encourage you. Let's worship the Lord and allow God

to challenge and change our hearts, and then you'll be dismissed.