1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 - Outline

[Jim Watt]

“*TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE” MINISTRIES*

*Jim & Marie Watt*

*Tel: 253-517-9195 - Email: jmbetter at gmail.com*

*Web: www.2rbetter.org*

March 25, 2013


 *OCT 3 - 1 THESSALONIANS 4:1-12 - A LIFE OF CONDUCT AND CALLING*


 *1. 4:1, (NNT) EXHORTATION: TO AN ABOUNDING WALK. “For the rest, brethren,
I ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as you received of us :how
you ought to walk and to please God, even as you do walk, - that you abound
more. *Father, we bless You for *growth* in the Kingdom of God. How we
please You today, we can do it more abundantly tomorrow! Our capacity for a
well-pleasing walk increases. *Hallowed be your :name!*


 *2. 4:2. CHARGES: GIVEN BY THE LORD JESUS. “For you know what charges we
gave you through the Lord Jesus.” *Father, it was *Jesus* through the
apostles giving charges. Your Kingdom is *more* than the word of man (1
Corinthians 14:37). Yes, we *glory* in the privilege of walking out these
truths! *Your :kingdom come!*


 *3. 4:3-4 (4:3-6) SANCTIFICATION: CHIEFLY CONCERNING FORNICATION. “For
this is the will of :God, your :sanctification; that you abstain from
:fornication; 4 that each of you know how to possess himself of his own
:vessel in sanctification and honor.” *Father, we would keep our bodies
free from sexual sin. All sin is apart from the body except fornication and
perversion. We hear your word. *Your :will be done, As in heaven, so on
earth.*


 *4. 4:7. SANCTIFICATION: CONTRASTED WITH UNCLEANNESS. “For :God called us
not for uncleanness, but in sanctification.” *Circumcise our ears and
hearts Father, that we may hear this word. Your wave of *holiness* precedes
Your Kingdom wave. May we not only be *used* of You, but may we also be *
approved* of You! O forgive us the smallness of our commitment to You! We
give *our utmost* for *Your highest*! *Our :daily :bread Give us this day.*


 *5. 4:8. UNCLEANNESS: DESPISES GOD AND HOLY SPIRIT. “Therefore who
rejects, rejects not man, but :God, who gives his :Holy :Spirit unto
you.” *Anoint
our eyes with eye-salve Father, that we may see! He who despises a servant
of the Lord despises *You* (1 Samuel 8:7). Cleanse us from all hindrances
that prevent us from seeing. *And forgive us our :debts, As we also have
forgiven our :debtors.*


 *6. 4:9-10a. BROTHERLY LOVE: TAUGHT BY GOD. “But concerning brotherly
:love you have no need that one write you: for you yourselves are taught of
God :to love one another; 10a for indeed you do it toward all the brethren
:in all :Macedonia.” *We bless You Father, that in this teaching You give
us through the apostles, *brotherly love* is Your emphasis. We receive Your
Word, Father! We embrace it! We love one another with Philadelphia love. *And
bring us not into temptation.*


 *7. 4:10b-11 (4:10b-12) GOAL: A QUIET BUT INDUSTRIOUS SPIRIT. “But we
exhort you, brethren, that you abound more; 11 and that you be ambitious to
be quiet, and to do your :own business, and to work with your :hands, even
as we charged you.” *Brotherly love must increase. Good work habits must
increase. You said so Father, through Your apostles. And You above all have
the right to do this! *But deliver us from the evil one!*


 *NOTE**: 4:5-6 (4:3-6) GOD SPELLS OUT YET MORE CLEARLY AREAS OF
FORNICATION. **“Not in passion of lust, even as the nations who know not
:God; 6 that no one transgress, and wrong his :brother in the matter:
because the Lord is avenger in all these, as also we forewarned you and
testified.” *Keep fornication thought out of our minds, Father. We curse
pornography in Jesus’ Name! Let it not once be named amongst us!


 *C.H. Spurgeon Quotes: “Conduct is Character” - *Should everything seem to
go amiss with us after we have done the right thing, there is no cause for
regret. Remember that our conduct is the maker of our character.


 *Our Psalm for the Day: 93:1 (93, ESV) THE LORD REIGNS. “The LORD reigns;
he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his
belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.” *Kings of
earth are not arrayed with Majesty such as You, O Jehovah Father! Their
pomp and splendor palls into insignificance before You. Concerning *You
alone* we say, *Hallowed be your :name!*


 This brief Psalm is without title or name of author, but its subject is
obvious enough, being stated in the very first line. It is the Psalm of
Omnipotent Sovereignty: Jehovah, despite all opposition, reigns supreme.
:Possibly at the time this sacred ode was written, the nation was in danger
from its enemies, and the hopes of the people of God were encouraged by
remembering that the Lord was still King. What sweeter and surer
consolation could they desire?


 93:1. *The Lord is clothed with strength. *May the Lord appear in His
church, in our day, in manifest majesty and might, saving sinners, slaying
errors, and honoring His own Name. Oh, for a day of the Son of man, in
which the King immortal and almighty shall stand upon His glorious high
throne, to be feared in the great congregation, and admired by all them
that believe.


 93:3. *The floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their
waves. *Sometimes men are furious in words - they lift up their voice, and
at other times they rise to acts of violence - they lift up their waves;
but the Lord has control over them in either case. The ungodly are all foam
and fury, noise and bluster, during their little hour, and then the tide
turns or the storm is hushed, and we hear no more of them; while the
kingdom of the Eternal abides in the grandeur of power. The whole Psalm is
most impressive and is calculated to comfort the distressed, confirm the
timorous, and assist the devout. O You Who are so great and gracious a
King, reign over us forever! We do not desire to question or restrain Your
power; such is Your character that we rejoice to see You exercise the
rights of an absolute monarch. All power is in Your hands, and we rejoice
to have it so. Hosanna! Hosanna! *(From “The Treasury of David” by C.H.
Spurgeon, abridged by D.O. Fuller)*



 *TO SUBSCRIBE - Please Email: mailing-subscribe at 2rbetter.org*


 *TO UNSUBSCRIBE - Please Email: mailing-unsubscribe at 2rbetter.org*


 *FOR ARCHIVE ARTICLES - Web:http://2rbetter.org/pipermail/mailing/*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://2rbetter.org/pipermail/mailing/attachments/20130325/2d23130e/attachment.htm>