1 Thessalonians 4
Sanctification and Love
4 Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to [SUP][a][/SUP]walk and please God (just as you actually do [SUP][b][/SUP]walk), that you excel still more. [SUP]2 [/SUP]For you know what commandments we gave you [SUP][c][/SUP]by the authority of the Lord Jesus. [SUP]3 [/SUP]For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from [SUP][d][/SUP]sexual immorality; [SUP]4 [/SUP]that each of you know how to [SUP][e][/SUP]possess his own [SUP][f][/SUP]vessel in sanctification and honor, [SUP]5 [/SUP]not in [SUP][g][/SUP]lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; [SUP]6 [/SUP]and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. [SUP]7 [/SUP]For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but [SUP][h][/SUP]in sanctification. [SUP]8 [/SUP]So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.
[SUP]
9 [/SUP]Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; [SUP]10 [/SUP]for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, [SUP]11 [/SUP]and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, [SUP]12 [/SUP]so that you will [SUP][i][/SUP]behave properly toward outsiders and [SUP][j][/SUP]not be in any need.
Do we lead a quiet life, or are things always in turmoil? Do we live in peace, or is it in constant strife? If we are living in strife and turmoil, what are we doing to contribute to it?
Do we mind our own business, or are we busybodies and meddlers? Do we always want to know what the other person across the fence is doing? Do we always call up somebody for the latest news about what's going on over in this church or with that person and his problem?
Is our "helpfulness" really a guise for poking our nose in where we are not wanted? With some people it is. They serve in order to get the goods on others.
Do we work, or are we lazy? This does not mean just our physical labor for the food we put on our table. It could be spiritual work. It could be our service to one another. Do we work with our own hands, or are people always making allowances for us? Are we living off the goodness of another's heart? Some people think they are owed something. They are victims of circumstance, and so they want everybody to give to them, rather than working for it.
Do we show the same Christian character to our work buddies as we do to the people who sit beside us in church? Paul asks that here in terms of "walk[ing] properly toward those who are outside." Are our lives hypocritical? Do we put on our best character and slip into a chair at church just once each week? Do our acquaintances in the world see Christ in us, or do they see "Joe Six-Pack" who has downed a few too many six packs? Do they see someone who curses a blue streak six days a week, but one day a week, he is the soul of pleasant and wise speech? How do people in the world see us?
Lastly, Paul says, "I urge you that you may lack nothing." He does not mean, "Do we lack a pair of shoes, a new DVD player, or the latest PlayStation game?" What he means is, "Do we lack anything that makes us better Christians, or are we satisfied with ourselves where we stand?" Have we come into the church and accepted God's grace, and then say "Take me as I am, Lord, without one plea"? Or do we know that we lack some quality that would make us better Christians and strive to add it to our characters?
lackey - definition of lackey by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.
lackey [ˈlækɪ]n
1. a servile follower; hanger-on
2. (Business / Professions) a liveried male servant or valet
3. a person who is treated like a servant
Sanctification and Love
4 Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to [SUP][a][/SUP]walk and please God (just as you actually do [SUP][b][/SUP]walk), that you excel still more. [SUP]2 [/SUP]For you know what commandments we gave you [SUP][c][/SUP]by the authority of the Lord Jesus. [SUP]3 [/SUP]For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from [SUP][d][/SUP]sexual immorality; [SUP]4 [/SUP]that each of you know how to [SUP][e][/SUP]possess his own [SUP][f][/SUP]vessel in sanctification and honor, [SUP]5 [/SUP]not in [SUP][g][/SUP]lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; [SUP]6 [/SUP]and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. [SUP]7 [/SUP]For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but [SUP][h][/SUP]in sanctification. [SUP]8 [/SUP]So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.
[SUP]
9 [/SUP]Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; [SUP]10 [/SUP]for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, [SUP]11 [/SUP]and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, [SUP]12 [/SUP]so that you will [SUP][i][/SUP]behave properly toward outsiders and [SUP][j][/SUP]not be in any need.
Do we lead a quiet life, or are things always in turmoil? Do we live in peace, or is it in constant strife? If we are living in strife and turmoil, what are we doing to contribute to it?
Do we mind our own business, or are we busybodies and meddlers? Do we always want to know what the other person across the fence is doing? Do we always call up somebody for the latest news about what's going on over in this church or with that person and his problem?
Is our "helpfulness" really a guise for poking our nose in where we are not wanted? With some people it is. They serve in order to get the goods on others.
Do we work, or are we lazy? This does not mean just our physical labor for the food we put on our table. It could be spiritual work. It could be our service to one another. Do we work with our own hands, or are people always making allowances for us? Are we living off the goodness of another's heart? Some people think they are owed something. They are victims of circumstance, and so they want everybody to give to them, rather than working for it.
Do we show the same Christian character to our work buddies as we do to the people who sit beside us in church? Paul asks that here in terms of "walk[ing] properly toward those who are outside." Are our lives hypocritical? Do we put on our best character and slip into a chair at church just once each week? Do our acquaintances in the world see Christ in us, or do they see "Joe Six-Pack" who has downed a few too many six packs? Do they see someone who curses a blue streak six days a week, but one day a week, he is the soul of pleasant and wise speech? How do people in the world see us?
Lastly, Paul says, "I urge you that you may lack nothing." He does not mean, "Do we lack a pair of shoes, a new DVD player, or the latest PlayStation game?" What he means is, "Do we lack anything that makes us better Christians, or are we satisfied with ourselves where we stand?" Have we come into the church and accepted God's grace, and then say "Take me as I am, Lord, without one plea"? Or do we know that we lack some quality that would make us better Christians and strive to add it to our characters?
— Richard T. Ritenbaugh
lackey - definition of lackey by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.
lackey [ˈlækɪ]n
1. a servile follower; hanger-on
2. (Business / Professions) a liveried male servant or valet
3. a person who is treated like a servant
