We Beseech You

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Walk in Holiness

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Verse 8, "Walk in holiness, for God has called us to holiness." Holiness is described by Paul in verse 1 as "knowing how to live and please God." Notice two things:

1. They had already learned this from Paul and Timothy.
2. They were doing it.

But, there is always room for improvement. Please notice, this request from Paul did not effect their salvation, it effected their sanctification (verse 3). Salvation is a gift from God, sanctification is spiritual growth.

The translators of the King James believe that Paul was speaking about sexual immorality, fornication and adultery. Most of the other translations believe that Paul was speaking of all bodily sins, for example, the selection of a wife is referred to, suggesting that it is to be done in holiness not in passion and lust. Also to be considered in this selection is her relationship to others. Don't steal your brother's wife. But we can see from verse 7 that Paul is speaking about all uncleanness. God not only requires holiness of the heart but He also requires purity of our bodies.

These people had grown up in un-holy and unclean circumstances. They had accepted, as a way of life, un-Christ like practices. Even though these people, through the power of the Holy Spirit, had accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior, their lives hadn't changed all that much.

So Paul was concerned with the spiritual growth of these people even though "Holiness" was foreign to them. They were like little children, they were not aware of what was wrong and sinful even though they had received the Holy Spirit, they were not in tune with His leading.

So in these verses, Paul begins their spiritual growing program and he attempts to get them to seek after those things that are God-like in their attempt to walk in holiness.

Walk in Love

Here Paul suggests that the step from holiness to love is not a difficult one. The Greek word used here and translated love is "philia" which means deep affection. It is taken from the Greek word "Philadelphia" which means brotherly love. There are three other Greek words that are translated "love" in the English, one is "eros" which means physical love, and second, "storgey", which means family love and finally and most important, "agape" which means God like love, of which man does not seem capable.

The 11th. commandment is found in John 4:19, Jesus said, "A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another." Now faith, hope and love were distinguishing characteristics of the Thessalonians from the start, and Paul admitted this, "You have been taught by God to love one another and indeed you do," So why was he stressing love again? He felt there was need for improvement. He wanted to encourage them, yes even urge them to do so, even more.

Paul says that God had taught them to love one another, how does He do this? He does this by putting us into circumstances that force us to practice Christian love. This may explain why the people that we have the most problems with, end up being the most loved, much to the amazement of others and often to us.

It has been suggested that we pick someone we dislike and pray for them. It's a proven fact, we cannot sincerely pray for someone and not love that person. So Paul has suggested to these people that they grow spiritually by walking in holiness and love. Now he urges them to consider their honesty in work and their relation to others.

Walk in Honesty

One translation calls this, "Walking in a way that becomes a Christian." Here Paul exhorts them to "live quietly" and to meet their own needs by "honest work". This, Paul believes, is our best witness to outsiders. Actions speak louder than words.

Notice what Paul suggests we do in this category:

1. Live quietly. Do not create problems. Do not bring down unwanted attention upon yourself.
2. Mind your own business. Do not become involved in the arguments of others. Do not be "overbearing" in your witness. Seek the lost in love and patience.
3. Work with your hands. This was interesting when you consider that the Greeks, for the most part, despised manual labor. They had slaves that did the manual work, but because of persecution, many of the believers could not find work other than manual labor, this, Paul says, was better than sitting around begging for hand outs. Paul set a good example for this by earning his own keep by the making of tents. He also knew that idle hands were the Devil's workshop.

Why did Paul want them to live quietly, mind their own business and work with their hands? Verse 12 says so that they might command the respect of outsiders. We must live rightly to deserve the respect of non-believers. And finally the last words of verse 12 sums up this "walk in honesty", "And be dependent on nobody." When it was possible, being self-sufficient was the mark of the early Christian. Paul took from these Macedonian churches and gave it to the church in Jerusalem, who at that time was under extreme persecution. Paul never accepted charity and he believed, in so far as it was possible, all Christians should be self-sufficient.

Walk in Hope

Mark this scripture in your Bibles. It is often mis-quoted, mis-understood and often attributed to the wrong person. The "order of events" at the Second Coming of Christ is secondary in this scripture. The purpose of this scripture is to establish the reality of the resurrection. THIS IS THE CHRISTIANS HOPE.

The Pagan world of Paul's day had no hope. A typical inscription on a tomb stone read,

• "I was not."
• "I became."
• "I am not."
• "I care not."

Paul had told these people that Jesus was coming again and would take them home to be with Him. Now, when Jesus did not come right away, it bothered them very much that some of their people had died. "Would those who were not alive at His coming be lost?" Paul attempts to answer this question.

Paul bases his answer on five fundamental facts, the five "Rs".

1. Revelation.
2. Return.
3. Resurrection.
4. Rapture.
5. Reunion.

First, Revelation, verses 13 thru 15a. Man cannot, in himself, penetrate beyond the grave and find assurance of life after death. Philosophers have tried, spiritualists have tried, but to no avail. But Paul spoke on authority, verse 15, "This we declare to you by the word of the Lord." We should never substitute human speculation for Divine revelation.

Something else you should remember, God's revelation concerning death, was not given all at one time. Many believe in "soul sleep" till the resurrection and get their belief from parts of Genesis, Psalms and Ecclesiastes, but we know that God created man with an immortal soul that would never die nor sleep and Jesus abolished death and brought immortality to the body with His resurrection. Thus at death, our souls go to be with the Lord and our bodies to the dust from which it came. But at the resurrection, our bodies will be resurrected as was the body of Christ. This is our hope and it is God's revelation to us.

Second, Return. We have noted from time to time that Paul believed that Jesus would return, perhaps even in his lifetime. This letter emphases this belief. But it has been almost 2,000 years, and Christ has not yet returned. When will Christ return? Does the fact that He hasn't returned in all this time, take from the reality of it? No, we only know that, in God's time, He will return and the Book of Revelation says that at that time, millions of people will vanish from the face of the earth, caught up to be with the Lord. This is our hope, the revealed revelation of his return.

The third fact is the resurrection. Paul uses the resurrection to calm the fears of those who were concerned about loved ones who had died. He assured them that there would be a resurrection. This was not an easy doctrine for the Greeks. When Paul preached this to the Athenian Philosophers on Myers Hill, they made fun of him. The Greeks hoped to get rid of the body after death, the idea of it being resurrected was not something that they hoped for. Why would any spirit want to have a resurrected body. They had seen the body return to dust and could not believe that it could be resurrected. To them, the doctrine was not only foolish but it was undesirable.

You can see why these Thessalonians believers were worried about the death of loved ones and the delay of Christ's coming. They had trouble with the separation of the body and the soul. Their God was too small. They could not see how a body that had returned to dust could be resurrected to its original form.

The events of the resurrection is spelled out in these verses and in John 5:28-29 and in Revelation 20:1-6. From the three scriptures we see the following sequence of events:

1. Jesus will return in the air, He will issue the "shout of command" and the bodies of the dead in Christ will arise first. This is the "First Resurrection" or the resurrection of the dead. The question was, how can dust and bones be reconstructed to resemble its former self? Two events come to mind. We know from those who saw the resurrected Lord that He looked as He did before He died. Also, Peter and John saw Elijah and Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses had been dead about 1200 years and Elijah about 600 years, and Peter and John had never seen either one before, yet, they both saw and recognized the two men who were in resurrected bodies. Paul, in First Corinthians 15:35, points out that the resurrection of the human body is like the growing of a plant from a seed. The seed must die before the plant can come into being. The new plant is like the one that produced the seed. So Jesus will come and those who are dead will be caught up into the air to be with Him.
2. Then those who are alive will be caught up into the air. These will never know death. These two events make up the "Resurrection of Life". These people, the saved who are dead at the second coming and the saved who are alive at the second coming, will be caught up to be with the Lord for eternity.

Now what about the lost? At the "end of time" before God ushers in the "new Heaven" and the "new earth", there will be another resurrection. This will be the "Second Resurrection". Between the two resurrections, there will be a 1000 year period called the "Tribulation". Then comes the "Judgment".

Notice what signals the Second Coming.

1. A "cry of command". This Jesus will do just as he did outside the tomb of Lazarus ( "Lazarus, come forth." ) John 5:28 says that those who are in the grave shall hear His voice.
2. There shall be an Archangels call. Only one Archangel is mentioned in the Bible, Jude 9, Michael. Daniel suggests that there is more than one Archangel, never-the-less, these special messengers of God shall share in the Second Coming.
3. The trumpet will sound. At the time of Christ, trumpets were used to get peoples attention before an announcement was made. The Jews used trumpets to declare war, announce special times and seasons and to gather the people together. When God gave the Law to Israel in Ex.19:18, the event was heralded by a trumpet blast.

These three events will announce the Second Coming of Christ.

The doctrine of the resurrection assures us that death is not the end. Paul says in Philippians 1:20, this about the death of the believer, "The body goes to sleep but the soul goes to be with the Lord." At the resurrection, the body will unite with the soul.

The fourth fact is the "rapture". Many speak of the "rapture". Some use it to include all that will occur at the Second Coming, but actually, only those who are alive at the Second Coming, will experience the rapture. The word literally means, "caught up". In verse 17, Paul says, "Those who are alive shall be caught up." There are four variations of this Greek word in the Bible. In Acts 8:39, when Philip finished witnessing to the Ethiopian Eunuch, he was "caught up", referring to Philip. This is sometimes translated "caught away speedily". The same word is used to explain how Jesus "withdrew" to the hills when He had finished feeding the 5,000, realizing that they might take Him by force and make Him king. John says of this event that He was "caught up". In Acts 23:10, Luke suggests that the church, the body of believers, will be "taken up" , rescued from danger, before the Tribulation. Sometimes the word "translation" is used as in the case of Enoch, who never knew death.

One question still remains, will the lost be aware of what is happening? Will they hear the "cry of command", the shout of Michael or the sound of the trumpet? First Corinthians 15:52 suggests that it will happen so suddenly that it will be over in the "twinkling" of an eye. Sense these signals apply only to the saved, there is no reason to believe that the un-saved will hear them, but certainly they will notice that millions have vanished from the face of the earth. This will, undoubtedly, cause chaos and accept for those who know the Bible, the world will simply wonder where they went.

The fifth way that Paul tries to silent their fears concerning their dead loved ones, is the "reunion". Reunion in the air, caught up, the dead with those who are alive, to be with the Lord. Surly that will be a great reunion. Everyone all dressed up in their "glorified bodies". Eternity with the Lord. Our Lord when He was still here on earth said, "I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, you may be also."

Then comes the Christians Judgment. (First Corinthians 3:13-15) Our works will be judged and rewards will be given. Each mans works will be tried by fire. If any mans work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved.

"Therefore," Paul says, "Comfort one another with these words." Is there any comfort in knowing that we have God's revelation, that Jesus will return and that we will be resurrected, caught up to be with the Lord and that all that are in Christ will be reunited in one big reunion, is there any comfort in these words?

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