GERLEYS DAVID CAUSIL CASTRO 7 7

77. Provide notes for a teaching sermon expanding and applying 1 Thessalonians 4.1-
12, or at least verses 1-8, providing a unifying title and showing structure for the whole.
TO PLEASE GOD '
1 thessalonians 4: 1
A truly human and familiar expression is this! In such language, the Scriptures appeal to
the common sentiments of our human nature. It is sometimes considered derogatory to
the Divine Being for the thoughts and emotions of our human nature to be attributed to
him. But God made man in His own image and, to some extent, we can reason from the
human to the divine.
I. The Condescension and Grace of God - It should be noted that God has a right to
our service and obedience. If He deigns to present Himself as pleased when His due is
offered, this is an attractive representation of His love and goodness for which we cannot
be thankful enough.
II. The Standard of Christian Excellence and Virtue - A scholar often feels how difficult
it is to really please his teacher. The standard of the preceptor is so high compared to
that of the disciple that there is room for study, for aspiration, for effort, for progress. The
godly man feels that pleasing God is something far beyond and above him. Serving God,
obeying God, is pleasing God. It is an inferior and unworthy goal to strive to please man,
a goal that can often mislead him, because man is only a man. But the spirit and conduct
that will please God are highly admirable and, in fact, morally perfect.
III. The motive for Christian conduct - Sometimes it is difficult for each of us to do the
right thing from a sense of duty. We are not called to act simply for that reason. We are
not merely servants; we are children. Remembering how much we owe to our Lord and
Savior, can we do anything but wish to please Him?
ILLUSTRATION
'If we wanted to summarize religion in one sentence, we could say that it consists of an
established and deliberate purpose to please God. Advocates of all religions will accept
this account of what they really mean in their religious endeavors. In the Old Testament
there is a passage that represents Balak approaching the prophet Balaam with this
question: “With what shall I present myself before the Lord and prostrate myself before
the Most High God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with yearling
calves? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousand rivers of
oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my rebellions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my
soul? Now it seems to our eyes a very strange and repulsive conception of religion that
these questions infer. In truth, the current idea of pagan worshipers is exposed, who
accept the idea of God that paganism offered its devotees. The Prophet answers the
questions by assuming that this view of religion is essentially about pleasing God; but
it points to a very different source of information as to how man can please God. Not in
the temperament and cruelty of the monarchs was found the kind of worship that would
be acceptable to Him; there was a more worthy and closer guide article that every man
could consult and that no one needed to misinterpret. “He has shown you, oh man, what
is good; and what the Lord asks of you, but that you do justice, that you love mercy and
that you walk humbly with your God ”. They are not the things that impress you most in
the public life of the world, but rather those that should deserve the veneration of your
own higher nature. These words of the Prophet will be your guide as you seek to form
an opinion about the soul and character of God and to determine the type of worship
acceptable to Him. Not without you, but within you is the Divine witness. '
Verse 3
THE WILL OF GOD FOR THE CHRISTIAN
"This is the will of God, including your sanctification." ( 1 Thessalonians 4: 3 )
These nine words have an interest of their own; but taken in their immediate connection,
they are truly momentous and moving. So that we can please God, He will have us like
Him. "This is the will of God," says the Apostle, "even your sanctification."
I. The true nature of sanctification - It is sinful man changed and resurrected in the
image of Eternal Purity! And the transformation is complete. It takes place in the soul
and only God can see it; then it is exhibited in life, so that it can be seen by angels and
men. It includes several things:
(a) The abandonment of the world, not the natural world, but the carnal one;
(b) The crucifixion of the flesh: its vain thoughts, ungodly desires, unpleasant actions;
(c) The consecration of the whole being, body, soul and spirit, at the service of the Divine
Master;
(d) The adoption of the law of heaven for the government of life on earth.
II. The efficient means to obtain it.
(a) The soul must first be cleansed from all natural impurity; and how and where can this
be done? (Isaiah 1:18; 1 John 1: 7).
(b) The Word of God as well as the Blood of Christ must play their part in this wonderful
change (John 17:17).
(c) The Spirit of holiness must operate in unison with the blood of Christ and the Word of
God, and apply both to the soul of the believer (2 Corinthians 3: 17-18).
(d) Prayer must always ascend heavenward from the altar of the heart so that this higher
and better work may be divinely performed, until the journey of life is completed and
heavenly Paradise is obtained.
If this is God's will for us, shouldn't it be our will for ourselves?

ILLUSTRATION
'There can be nothing so great and blessed for a creature as having the will of God
perfected in it. "Thy will be done" is a prayer that shows us all the struggle and misery at
the end, and the sun shining on a peaceful, green and fragrant world. Only in holiness
are eternal life and bliss possible. To have pure thoughts, life at every point and in all its
interests as music to the words of the law of God, the soul molded in the image of Christ,
that is, to begin eternal life. "In keeping your commandments there is great reward."
(SECOND SCHEME)
HOLINESS
It is the will of God, the great purpose that he has in his heart with respect to men, that
they be holy. Sanctify them in your truth: your word is truth. Forgiveness and all other
blessings are a means to this great end. The Great Sculptor would think, plan and work
just for a torso, in a statue room, without this; the Great Builder would never see the top
stone of His chosen temple without this; the Great Farmer would never taste the fruit of
His vineyard without this. Now if our sanctification, our growing holiness here, and our
perfected holiness hereafter, is God's will, then:
I. Holiness is a great and blessed consummation.
II. God will spare no effort to create and perfect holiness in a man's soul. -He has or
spared sacrifices, inasmuch as he sent his Son; because the essence and the heart of
Christ's mission was 'to purify for himself a peculiar people, zealous for good works'. And
even towards us and in us, He will direct His work towards this great end. He will prune
his vine so that it bears more fruit. He will hammer the rough block, if necessary, with the
strong blows of that law of His which is both inside and outside of man, with the loving
severity of His Providence, etc., until the shape of the member and the feature stand
out. He will cut, chisel and polish it until it becomes the beautiful image of Christ. And as
we mourn and weep, and marvel at the severity of our Heavenly Father, let us think of
the great purpose to which he is bowing, and hear in all our Savior say, 'This is the will
of God, yes, your sanctification.'
III. We are obligated to cooperate with God in this great end. "God wills it," exclaimed
the crusaders, and fastened their armor for the conquest of the Holy Land. 'God wants'
us to fight, to exert ourselves and to pray for a purer and higher conquest, the
achievement of holiness itself. And what a beginning God gives us in his total forgiveness
through Christ! In this way he gives us freedom, gratitude, momentum; And in all of our
warfare with sin, He gives His Holy Spirit to inspire, direct, and sustain. 'Mortify, then,
your members that are on the earth; fornication, uncleanness, etc.
IV. We are assured of success - If it is God's will, then God's will must be done. "If God
is for us, who is against us?"
ILLUSTRATION
Sanctification means to sanctify. In the Old Testament, the silver and gold vessels are
said to be sanctified; and it will be very clear to everyone here that vessels cannot be
sanctified, as mute and unintelligent things, in the same sense as people. The vessels
and other things for the use of the worship of God in the Tabernacle and the Temple
were to be sanctified to God in the first sense of that word, since they were separated
from the profane and ordinary uses of the sacred. A golden cup can be used for common
drinking purposes, or it can be set aside for use only in the celebration of the Lord's
Supper. In this case it is separated for sacred uses. Therefore, when Saint Paul tells us:
"This is the will of God, your sanctification", he means that both in our body and in our
mind we must be separated, not only from the particular evil of which the Epistle speaks,
but, in the full meaning of the word, of all evil. As Christians, we must be separated from
all that is profane, wicked, and ungodly, and bear the "white flower of a spotless life."
SANCTIFICATION AND HONOR
"May each of you know how to hold your glass in sanctification and honor." ( 1
Thessalonians 4: 4 9
Here we have a call to holiness.
I. The contrast.
(i.) Holiness is eternal and divine: the eternal God is the holy God.
( ii .) Man was created in the image of the holy God.
( iii .) By the first transgression sanctity was lost; the flesh became prone to all filth.
( iv .) There was uncleanness in the world before the flood, in the Gentiles and in Israel.
(v.) Uncleanness, public and private, is in this professingly Christian land.
(vi.) The world winks at filth and tries to justify it. Not so God (Ephesians 5: 6; 1
Thessalonians 4: 7).
II. The call.
(i.) To Israel and the Church (Leviticus 20: 7; 1 Peter 1: 14-16).
( ii .) Holiness was taught by external purifications under the law (Exodus 28:36).
( iii .) The reason for the call: God's purpose is to make his children like himself, to renew
their lost holiness (Ephesians 1: 4; Ephesians 4: 22-24).
III. The grace.
(i.) The God of holiness is the God of grace.
( ii .) Grace to cleanse from filth, by the atoning blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 5:11; 1
John 1: 7; Revelation 1: 5).
( iii .) Grace to sanctify, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

( iv .) Grace to strengthen, by the Holy Spirit enabling us to stay under the body.
IV. Warnings and exhortations.
(i.) The written Word uses great clarity of discourse on this subject; that's how it should
preach the Word.
( ii .) The judgment recorded in Sacred Scripture on the unclean. In one day God gave
twenty-three thousand proofs of His hatred of filth (1 Corinthians 10: 8).
( iii .) To despise the call is to despise God and bring down His wrath here and hereafter.
( iv .) Secret sinner, your sin will reveal you. He who exposed David's sin will expose
yours.
(v.) The effects of despising the call and doing what the Saint hates are polluting,
degrading, buffering, destructive.
(vi.) Your body is the temple of God. Keep it for Him against all profanation.
( vii .) Strive through prayer to be like Jesus, like Him in holiness now, so that you can
be like Him in glory hereafter.
ILLUSTRATION
'The human body is in other parts of the Holy Scripture compared to a tabernacle or tent,
here we speak of a glass. The two figures convey some common ideas, both represent
what true life contains, and both refer to its temporary and not permanent
occupation. Both also have their proper uses, but while the use of a tent is primarily
limited to its occupant, that of a boat relates more to its owner. As for our bodies as tents
prepared for the time of our pilgrimage, we are asked to use them correctly in our own
interest. But considering them as vessels in the house of God, we have a higher view of
them brought before us, and we are reminded that those vessels are not only to be used
by Him, but also to be kept by His servants for Him, " purified and gathered together for
the Master's use "(2 Timothy 2:21) '.
(SECOND SCHEME)
MAINTAINING THE BODY
Everything possible on God's part has been done to cleanse this vessel from our body,
to adapt it to a place in the home of many mansions. We are scandalized by the impiety
of the pagan king who used the vessels that he had taken from the house of God in
unbridled revelry and sacrilegious blasphemy; but we are guilty of an even greater
impiety when we dishonor our bodies and make them instruments of sin.
I. By sanctification we mean the willingness to feel and appreciate the movements
of the indwelling Spirit , resulting in a continual restraint on the corrupt desires of the
flesh and a more complete dedication of the whole being to its own Lord. By honor we
understand what we can call due self-respect due to the body, as a vessel of grace and
glory; as the redeemed property of the Lord of Hosts, designed to contain heavenly
treasures, destined to occupy a position of honor in heavenly places. Thus we have
before us the service and destiny of the vessel of the body, the charge of which has been
entrusted to us by the One to Whom we belong. Oh that we can fulfill the trust by
possessing them in sanctification and honor!
II. Not only Scripture, but nature itself cries out against its abuse - We are told that
in some countries a kind of drinking glass was used, which cracked when a certain
common poison was put on them. In a similar way it happens with our bodies; the poison
of sin produces defects in them, and the abuse of their organs naturally results in pain,
disease, and death. However, these results of sin can have a purifying effect if the true
antidote is applied in time; and in the furnace of affliction our bodies can be purified in
such a way that they again become vessels of honor sanctified and fit for the Master's
use.
III. We believe in the resurrection of the body ; and we know that Jesus himself has
taken his human flesh, as the first fruits of that resurrection, to heaven itself. This glorious
prospect is sure to stir our minds and stir our hearts. It should remind us that our bodies
are a precious gift, to be used in holy uses, destined for a glorious future. So let us learn
to assign a fair value to them, and strive to possess them in sanctification and honor,
remembering that we are committed to keeping them in temperance, sobriety, and
chastity, and that unless we do our best with God's help to fulfill that promise, we will not
we can hope to inherit His eternal kingdom.
ILLUSTRATION
'If the Apostle chooses only one example, and that chastity, of the duties that we owe to
ourselves, is it not clear why the lack of chastity was only one of those vices to which a
community like that of Thessalonica would be more prone? Think of the state of our great
maritime and commercial centers on this earth! Is not debauchery a prevailing and
damning sin? But the pagans knew nothing of that commandment: "Be holy, for I am
holy." Their very worship was the seat and home of unchastity, and their very gods were
pleased with the most hideously impure rites. If the Old Testament warned the Jews
against these sins, shouldn't an apostle of the pure and holy gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ warn Christian men against these sins? And so the Apostle teaches us that our
body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, or, like the words used here, it is at least worth
interpreting, a glass, our own glass, of the Holy Spirit, which must be kept in
sanctification. and honor. Only under the Cross can we learn that we, who belong to
Christ, must "crucify the flesh with its affections and desires."
Verse 9
FRATERNAL LOVE
"But when it comes to brotherly love, I don't need to write to you, because God taught
you to love one another." ( 1 Thessalonians 4: 9 )
Taught by God to love one another! ' It was a new lesson. The Old World had nothing to
show that it was so. A small society of men and women in a Greek city, under Roman
rule, sending a contribution to those poorer than they in other Greek cities, some thirty
or forty miles away.
I. Brotherly love the note of Christian society - This brotherly love was the first note
of early Christian society. This was so because that society was formed with the special
purpose of continuing the life of Christ in the world. The life of Christ was above all a life
of help. And this life of his was not lost to the world when he ascended to heaven. Rather,
He expanded into the life of a society created expressly to represent Him on earth and
to reproduce His service to others on a larger scale and in a permanent way. It had to
grow and grow until it covered the world and had absorbed all of our humanity into the
life of service, making it one man in Christ. In this way, as Saint Paul said, the Church
was the realization of Christ.
II. It is a true communion . It was not a mere feeling; it was real help, literally sharing,
real companionship. God had taught them to love one another, and they did. The world
saw what it had never seen before. 'Look how these Christians love each other!' they
exclaimed. The world saw it and shuddered. For a society like this, with ramifications
throughout the empire, bound together by these bonds of mutual support, its members
willing to do or suffer anything for each other, what could it not accomplish? His power
was omnipotent; nothing could oppose him, unless he could be crushed in his youth.
III. The evil of internal division . —If God's purposes for the world through the Church
had not been hampered, frustrated, and rejected by human frailty and the wiles of the
Devil, the only Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, in which we still say we believe, must
have irresistible result. Two thousand years would have been more than enough to win
the world for Christ. But you know the sad story. The mantle of Christ is torn, and faith
can hardly bear the strain of this lifetime punishment. And worst of all, we don't see their
sin, but as it is written, 'My people love it that way.'
IV. Let's go back to the ideal. Is it wonderful, in the face of this spirit of division and
antagonism, that serious men come to the conclusion that the life of the Church is no
longer a path of blessing and peace? We have drawn it upon ourselves by our
forgetfulness of Christ's primary lesson of self-denial, service, and love. We must return
to the ideal of the first days. We must pray that this ideal may once again arise before
our minds, that we are no longer content with our divided state; so that the Holy Spirit of
communion can meditate on the chaos and confusion of our English religious life, and
come out of it, as only He can, order, harmony and love. With the Holy Spirit of unity as
our teacher, once again God can teach us to love one another.
ILLUSTRATION
The world tried to crush the early Church with fire and sword, but the blood of "the martyrs
was the seed of the Church." The more they trampled on it, the stronger it grew, until at
last, under Constantine, it claimed to be recognized as the only true religion of the empire
itself. A little later, Julian — who had been brought up as a Greek, but then endeavored
to resurrect the ancient Roman religion, and was therefore called the Apostate — Julian,
knowing the secret of the strength of Christianity, strove to defeat it by copying it. But the
spirit of fellowship could not be created by imperial edicts any more than it can be today
by the laws of Parliament. The world can only be one man in Christ, and Julian failed
miserably. "Oh, Galileo, you have conquered! " He was reported to have said with his
last breath. The fact was true, whether the story was historical or not. The life of Christ
reproduced His Body in the Church, and His fulfillment was divinely strong. God had
taught them to love one another.
Verses 10-11
QUIET WORK
"We exhort you ... to study to be calm, and to do your own business, and to work with
your own hands, as we entrust you." ( 1 Thessalonians 4: 10-11 )
While no good man can look indifferently at the conditions of life in England, while a
selfish acquiescence in mere personal comfort is deeply immoral, it is quite possible, on
the other hand, to insist on these things in a morbid and unprofitable way. As an aid
against morbid anxiety, which leads, as so often, to false excitement, let us always
remember that the world is in God's hands, not in those of the Devil, and not in ours at
all; and also, that things are not as bad as they seem to us. Nor is it true to say that the
masses are being completely neglected, or that a vast permanent work has not been
and is not being carried out among them. Much is being done, but much more is needed.
I. The whole goal of our lives should be to work for God, to spread His kingdom.
II. The life of Christ and the lives of his holiest saints will save you from
unnecessary self-reproach , if while doing your best you are not called or fit for any
prominent or noisy ministry. What was the life of our Blessed Lord on earth? Barring one
anecdote from his childhood, most of his life - thirty years of his life from infancy to
adulthood - is summed up in one word: "the carpenter." During all those years of silent
preparations and holy stillness, growing like a lily beside the water courses, he was
teaching us the eternal lesson that the Kingdom of God is within us; that the life of the
true Christian is 'hidden with Christ in God', and that the main work in the world of the
great majority of mankind is, each in our own sphere, each one through the use of our
special gifts, to establish the example of faithful duty. Let nothing steal the meaning of
that life of absolute calm and holy self-repression , of humble service and humble
silence.
III. If from time to time in the centuries the Church has needed the apocalyptic
fulmination of the Baptist, the battle words of St. Paul, the haunting disquiet of a
Bernard, the fierce pronouncements of a Luther, the passionate oratory of a Whitefield,
there is a even more constant need for virtues that are available to each one of us; for
the stillness of Mary sitting humbly at the feet of her Savior; for the interior recollection
of Saint Thomas of Kempis; by the playful genius of Addison; for the magnificent studies
of Newton; for Wordsworth's secluded life ; for the pastoral calm of Oberlin ; for the
sweet songs and parish charities of Keble ; for Newman's cloistered retirement, yes, and
for millions of men who have patiently possessed his soul, and for millions of women,
blissfully innocent of all oratory .
ILLUSTRATIONS
(1) 'When Livingstone was accused of neglecting missionary work, he boldly responded:
“My views on missionary duty are not as contracted as those whose only ideal is a man
with a Bible under his arm. I have worked in bricks and mortar, and in the forge, and in
the carpenter's bench, and in medical practice, as well as in preaching. I am serving
Christ when I kill a buffalo for my men, or I make an astronomical observation, or I write
to one of his sons who forgot, during the little moment of writing a note, that charity that
is praised as' not thinking of evil '.
(2) 'Do we not have many examples of that' adornment of a meek and quiet spirit which
is of great price in the eyes of God '? There was that good Hatherley , whose glory and
happiness it was, though if he had been Lord Chancellor of England, to work for forty
years as a humble Sunday school teacher. Sunday after Sunday he had taught the
children of the poor »