Shabbat Shalom everyone. Open your Bibles please to the book of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, the first 12 verses that the apostle Shaul Paul wrote to the brothers and sisters in the city of Thessalonica and he wrote to them in those 12 verses something that is extremely practical especially for us today and when you realize we just sang this song How Great Thou Art and when we think of a living God who is so great who is so supreme who was willing to enter humanity in the person of Yeshua our Messiah Jesus the Messiah imagine this holy one the holy one of Israel who enter into this world that is so great yet he's willing to deal with things that are so practical in the lives of mankind and in the life of everyone that belongs to him.

In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verses 1 to 12, the Apostle Paul pointing to the importance of living a sanctified life, a life that we called holy life, practical holy living. Let me read these verses. We read in verse 1 furthermore, then we beseech you brethren and exhort you by the Lord Yeshua that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God. So ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandment we gave you by the Lord Jesus, by the Lord Yeshua, for this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the lusts of the desire or concupiscence, as the Gentiles which know no God, that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter, because that the Lord is the avenger of all such as we also have forewarned you and testified, for God has not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

He therefore that despises, despises not men, but God, who has also given unto us his Holy Spirit. But as touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you, for ye yourself are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia. But we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more, and that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commended you, that ye may walk honestly towards them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. And I'm pausing here in verse 12, before we are, Lord willing, going to deal with the subject of the rapture or the catching up or the snatching up of the assembly of the ecclesia of the church which we will deal with it in our next ministry meeting but brothers and sisters can you imagine we just saying of God how great thou art and yet that great God how great he is the creator of the.

Universe, the upholder of all things, was willing to send his son and enter into this world in order to save sinners like you and I, but also to lead us on in spiritual maturity. He didn't only came to this world in order to forgive our sins and to give us a hope to be in heaven, but he also want us to live a life that is pleasing to him beloved brothers and sisters and that's why the apostle is reminding the believers he says to them for you know what commandment we have given to you by the Lord Yeshua and for this is the will of God even your sanctification this is verse 3 The reason that God has left us here on earth is that we, in a way in which the Lord will lead us, will be set apart and a sanctified people for the Lord.

That would give him honor. That will give him glory. That will give him joy in his heart. That will bring blessing upon you and I who are believers in Yeshua, the Messiah. And especially, beloved brothers and sisters, listen. The Thessalonians were younger believers. They were only for a few years in the Lord, in the Messiah. They lived in the city of Thessalonica where there was much idolatry in that city. There was a fornication. There was all kind of sexual immorality in that city of Thessalonica. And oftentimes sexual immorality is connected very much to idolatry. And there was that link between idolatry, sexual immorality. And those believers in Thessalonica were saved out of there.

They were purchased by the blood of Yeshua, the Messiah. And they became part of the family of God. But they lived in Thessalonica. They were influenced by the people around them. And the Apostle Paul wanted them to live for the Lord in the midst of a godless world. In the midst of idolatry and sexual immorality and all the things that is going on in the world in which we live in. Let me remind you that in the first chapter of the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul said to them that ye have turned to God from idols to serve the living and the true God. You used to live like that.

You used to be there. But you have turned to God in order to live for Him and to wait for His Son that is going to come back from heaven to take us to be with Him in glory. So this is a very practical chapter. In fact, chapter 4 immediately, obviously following chapter 3. And in chapter 3, if you remember what we pointed out in a previous meeting together, that the apostle Shaul Paul sent Timothy to Thessalonica in order to establish the believers. To establish the believers is to strengthen them, to cause them to become mature, to cause them to become stable, and then they can go ahead and become servants of the Lord so they will preach the gospel to the rest of the people around them.

That's why you notice that verse 1 of chapter 4, the first word in chapter 4 and verse 1 is furthermore. I've already told you why I sent Timothy to you in order to establish you in the faith. But wait a minute. There is a furthermore things that I want to tell you, beloved brothers and sisters of the city of Thessalonica. And so he tells them in these first 12 verses of chapter 4, three things. Number one, I want you to seek to walk in holiness. This is verses 1 to 8. Thessalonians, brothers and sisters, I want you to seek to live a holy life. Number two verses 9 and 10 i want you to seek to live in harmony among yourself to have a love among the believers and thirdly in verses 11 and 12 brothers and sisters of the Thessalonians and he's telling us as well i want you to seek to live a decent and an honest life verses 11 and 12 We're going to go over those verses, and those verses are very practical.

The vast majority of these verses deal with sexual immorality. And you know very well, beloved brothers and sisters, that sexual immorality is existing in general in the world everywhere. It happened in the past, it's happening today, and it will happen in the future. And the world and Satan and the flesh tells us, you know what we do not need to follow the instruction that the Lord has given to us we know better than what God says in his word when God in Genesis chapter 2 says let therefore a man leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his own wife and the two shall become one flesh God meant it he established a family, the home it's an institution that was given to humanity by God himself imagine in the garden of Eden Even before sin had entered into this world, God formed Adam, formed the Adama, from the ground.

And then he caused him to slip and out of his side, he created Chava in Hebrew, Eve. And he brought Chava to Adam and he united them together in marriage. What a beautiful picture of the relationship between God and Israel as the wife of Jehovah and the Messiah and the assembly, the church, as the bride of Christ, the bride of the Messiah. This is a wonderful relationship. And the Lord wanted this for us all. But sin came in, as you know very well. Adam disobeyed God, sin came into this world, and from there on, things have deteriorated. Man thought that he knew better than God.

Cain went out of the presence of the Lord, and he went away from the things of the Lord. And you know what God said in Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5? He saw the human condition, and you notice what he said, and I'm going to read this verse. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. And that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart is evil all the day long. In the English it says continually, in Hebrew it says kol hayom, all the day long. And God knew our hearts. He knew that the thoughts, the imagination of our hearts is evil.

And it's not evil once in a while it's evil continually it's evil all the day long that's why we are called sinners that's why we needed forgiveness that's why the Messiah had to die on the tree in order to pay for our sin and sins so he saved us and he purchased us by his precious blood and he brought us to be part of a redeemed company but we find out very quickly that even though we are forgiven And even though we have a new nature, a divine nature, we are struggling every day of our lives. Because this old nature is still here. And there is a struggle that we're carrying on every day.

It's like a battle. The flesh lusts us against the spirit. And the spirit against the flesh. And they are contrary to each other. And the question is, who will win? To whom will we give food to grow and to mature and to win the battle? Well, if we're going to feed the old nature, the old nature is going to win. If we're going to feed the new nature, the new nature is going to win. Because the new nature is a divine nature that is going to defeat the old nature if we allow ourselves to walk in the spirit and not to walk in the flesh, as Galatians 5 and verse 16 tells us.

So here the Apostle Paul, now he's speaking to believers, he's speaking to you, he's speaking to me. He knows our problems, he knows our challenges that we face, but he also wants a blessing for the people of God. Like Moshe, as we read in the book of Leviticus and Numbers, and Moshe gave instruction to our forefathers, to the people of Israel. And Paul, Shaul, giving instruction to the believers in Thessalonica or anywhere else among the churches of Asia Minor. So he says, number one, walk in holiness. Number two, walk in harmony. Number three, walk in decency and honesty in order that you will be blessed and you're going to be a testimony in the world in which you live in today.

And so we begin with the word walk. Notice that, verses 1 to verse 8, he's dealing with the thought of walking in holiness. And that's why it says here in verse 1, furthermore, then we beseech you, brethren, we beseech you, we beg you, we charge you, we challenge you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Yeshua that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God so ye would abound more and more. So the Apostle Paul began with using the word to walk. Interesting, verse 1 used the word walk, and also verse 12 used the word walk. In verse 1, walk as to please God.

In verse 12, that ye walk honestly towards all them that are without. You know, when you think about walking, you know, we are walking every day. We are walking from, when we get up in the morning, we get up and we walk to the bathroom, to the kitchen, later on we go out of the house, we walk to the car, we drive the car, we get out of the car, we walk and we go to work, we go to school, we go wherever we go. Walking is a representation of the way we do things in our lives. The way we conduct ourselves in our life. The Bible teaches us in many places.

Ephesians 4, 1, walk worthy of the vacation wherewith you were called. In Ephesians 4, verse 17, walk not as the goyim, as the Gentiles walk. In Ephesians 5, verse 2, walk in love, the Apostle Paul is telling them. In Ephesians chapter 5, verse 8, walk as the children of light. Walking represents the lifestyle of those that belong to Yeshua, to Jesus, the Messiah. So the first thing he began is by explaining the thought of walking. Important to walk in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. Can you imagine if we would have just get our salvation and leave God aside out of our life and said, God, I do not want you to bother me in my life and just say, I'm so happy that you have saved me but i walk my own way i'm the captain of my ship i'm the pilot of my plane don't you God tell me what to do well in historical biblical time as we read in our reading those of among our own people Israel who violated the law of God they were killed they were judged by God under the law imagine if God would have dealt with us the way he dealt in previous history under the law, if he will deal with us today in this present day, we would probably, none of us going to be at the meeting today because of our sinfulness and our way eeriness.

And yet God is drawing us, seeking to help us to live a life that is pleasing to him. So the first thing that we find out in verses 1 to 8, that Apostle Paul encouraged the Thessalonians to seek to please God to give God pleasure to give God pleasure in his own heart you see he said furthermore then we beseech you brethren and exhort you by the Lord Yeshua that as ye have received of us how ye are to walk and to please God in order that ye will abound yet more and more you know God wants us to please him to give him joy in his own heart to please him in John chapter 8 and verse 29 Yeshua says I always do the things which pleases God Yeshua pleased God in his life he pleased the Father he always gave pleasure to God and we know how much joy it gives us when our children when they obey and they please their mother and their father in their obedience to him.

Well, we are called to please God. We are to seek to please him. And when we don't please him, it's dishonor him and it makes him sad. It makes him sad. And so he said, I want you to please me. Israel was called to please God and you and I are called to please God, beloved brothers and sisters. And in order to do so, we are to seek to live a life that is set apart for him, a life that is sanctified, a life that is devoted to the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. So the first thing is seek to please him. You know, I'm thinking about two men in biblical time, in past history, who pleased God, who walked in a way that was pleasing to the Lord.

You remember the man by the name of Hanoch? In Hebrew we call him Hanoch. In English we call him Enoch. Chapter 5 of the book of Genesis. And verse 24, Enoch walked with God. What does that mean? He walked with God. He walked in such a way in his life that he was so pleasing to God. That the Bible says that God took him. He took him. He raptured him and he took him out of this scene into the immediate presence of God. Enoch pleased the Lord and God took him. A few years later, there was another man. When God was ready to put judgment upon the face of this world through the flood, we read in Genesis chapter 6 that Noah walked with God.

And Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And Noah pleased him and God used Noah to bring his family into the ark and when the judgment came upon the face of this earth only Noah, his wife, his children and their wives came on the other side of the flood in fact, beloved brothers and sisters in Enoch and Noah we see two distinct group Enoch was raptured before the flood and Noah went through the flood and came on the other side to the new world. Enoch represent the heavenly company. Noah represent the earthly company. Those that please God and God preserve them. Enoch was taken to heaven and Noah entered into the new world to please God, brothers and sisters.

It is so important. The Apostle Paul said to them, you have already have been instructed by me. Ye have already received of us how ye are to walk in such a way that it is pleasing to God. You know, when we live for the Lord and we make decisions that are honoring to Him, we give Him joy. But when we fail Him and we don't obey Him, we don't give Him pleasure. We don't give Him pleasure. And that's why Paul is so insisting on that in writing to the Thessalonians in these verses. Secondly, not only that as we are to live in holiness, we are to please God, but we are also to seek to obey God.

Obedience is so important. That's why he's giving us to us in verses 2 and verse 3. And for you know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Yeshua. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication. Now, sexual immorality, fornication is sexual immorality. And you know, it is so interesting, beloved brothers and sisters, that in the time in which we live in, like in the days of the past, the one thing that is constantly being paraded before us is sexual immorality, is fornication. You find it on television, you find it on the internet, you find it in the mail, you hear about it in the radio, you find it everywhere on billboards and all these places, every time you find it, because Satan knows very well the inclination that we have.

You see, sexual relationship between husband and wife is God-given. But sexual relationship outside of marriage, it's not given by God. And therefore the Apostle Paul, he says, listen, you know what the commandment that we have given to you by the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, for this is the will of God. What is the will of God? Your sanctification that you should abstain from fornication. That's the will of God. Now, if the will of God was that there will be fornication existing everywhere at all time by all kind of people, then God will allow it. But Scripture gives us clear instruction. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 13 for a moment.

Notice what it says here in verse 4. God said through the apostle who wrote to the Hebrew believers, and he told them in verse 4, marriage is honorable in all, and the bed is undefiled. But then he adds there, but who mongers and adulterers, God will judge. In other words, beloved brothers and sisters, God is instructing his people to sustain and maintain a life that is honoring unto him, insubmissive to him. And many times when we fail in this, we don't honor the Lord and our disobedience only, ultimately, does not bring blessings but judgment of God. And so we read in verse 2, you know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Yeshua.

Notice the Apostle Paul, he said, it's not my thinking, it's not my opinion, I gave it to you, we gave it to you when we met you when we were in Thessalonica, it was given to us by the Lord Jesus, by the Lord Yeshua. And what is the will of God? Your sanctification. And he continued that ye should abstain from fornication, from sexual immorality. Now, sometimes when we think of the word sanctification or holiness, we think of someone that has a halo over his head and he's a holy man or she's a holy woman. But the word holy comes from the Hebrew word kadosh or lekadesh.

And to be sanctified, Lekadesh means to set oneself apart for the use of God. And when God said that I want you to be sanctified, He's telling us, I want you to set yourself to live a life that is set apart for me. And when we don't do so, we ultimately do not set ourselves apart for the Lord and he doesn't please God, and then God cannot bless us and we cannot enjoy a relationship with the Lord. And so he's saying it, you know, it is for our own well-being that God gave us this. It's because he doesn't want us to end up to bear the consequence of sexual immorality.

And the Corinthians have experienced this. The Thessalonians have experienced it. In the history of Israel, they have experienced this. And every time we find out how much sorrows comes along the way of that which is what we know as sexual immorality, as he called it here, fornication. And so setting one apart, to be set apart for the Lord, it only brings blessing for the people of God. So, the believers are not only called to seek to please God, verse 1, but they are also, in verses 2 and 3, are called to obey the Lord. Obey the Lord in a very practical way. I mean, I don't have to tell you.

The consequences that come upon many families, many homes, many relationships, are broken to pieces. And I'm not talking about unbelieving world. I'm talking about among us, the people of God. How many ruins have happened historically among the people of God? The pain and the sorrows that came because we have not set ourselves apart, sanctified ourselves to the Lord, and we bear the consequences later. And so the apostle is saying this to the Thessalonians in this passage. I would like you for a moment to turn to the book of Acts with me, to Acts chapter 15, when the early assembly, the church gathered together in the city of Jerusalem.

And when the apostle Paul came and declared to them what the Lord had been doing amidst the Gentiles believers. So the local assembly in Jerusalem was vastly made out of Jewish believers. And so they gave a command what to instruct the believers now from among the Gentiles who came to know Yeshua. So we read in chapter 15 and verse 20, it says there, But we should write unto them that they may abstain, notice that, Number one, from pollutions of idols. Number two, from fornication. Number three, from things that are strangled. And number four, from blood. That was a command that was given in order to help the non-Jewish Christians or believers in their spiritual growth.

Notice verse 28 and verse 29. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things. And that ye should, number one, abstain from meat's offer unto idols. Number two, abstain from blood. Number three, end from things strangled. And number four, end from fornication. For which, if ye keep yourself, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. Shalom, shalom, he is saying to the brothers and sisters of the Gentiles who became believers in Yeshua, the Messiah. Notice again, time and again, the encouragement to abstain from this. And you know, Satan is a crafty, crafty, you might say, a person, a creature.

He is constantly parade before us and stir us up in an area that he knows that man has weakness. Believers, unbelievers, he knows our sin nature and he knows very well how to shoot arrows in order to entice us and to cause us to fall. And when we don't keep ourselves close to the Lord, we are no match for him. And therefore, we are ending up disobeying the Lord and ultimately fall into sin and the pain and the consequences that come because of such a way, such a lifestyle. And so it's very practical. You and I might say, well, why do we need to talk about it?

Well, I didn't write it. The Apostle Paul write it by divine inspiration. He wrote it to believers, just like you and I, and instructing them for their well-being in order to bless them. And And this really can help us that we can seek the Lord's guidance and help. You see, beloved brothers and sisters, we are to seek to please God, verse 1. We are to seek to obey God, verse 2 and 3. But not only this. He continues and he is very much speaking about this practical issue of fornication, of sexual immorality. In verses 4 and 5, he is telling us, he is telling to the Thessalonians, you need not only to please God and to obey God, but you need to glorify God in your life.

You need to seek to give him the honor and the glory that he deserves. This is verses 4 and verses 5 of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. And notice what he is saying. That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the lust of your craving and your desires, even as the Gentiles which know no God. You see what he's saying here? He said, I want you, and he's now speaking very practically, You notice he said that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel. You see, brothers and sisters, our bodies are simply vessels. A woman's body is a vessel and a man's body is a vessel.

Within this vessel, the Lord had given us various ways in which we are to live our life. He gave us members of the body, eyes and ears, mouth and nose and so on. But he also gave us members of the body for the physical relationship in a family relationship, for physical relationship between husband and wife. And so what he's really saying, he says, look, if you want to glorify God, you ought to know, every one of you, notice that he used that expression, Everyone, the brother and the sister, the man and the woman, every one of you, notice he says in verse 4, you should know how to possess his vessels.

In other words, how to handle the body which the Lord had given to us. How to use it. In the context is the sexual immorality. And here in the context he's speaking about the necessity of living a life that is pleasing, to the Lord. So he does not want the people of God to use their bodies in a way that it's not pleasing to him. And that's why he's mentioning everyone use the vessel in sanctification and in honor. What does that mean? To use the body in setting it apart for the Lord. In setting it apart for the husband or for the wife. That's what he's really saying here.

You would know how to possess your vessels in sanctification and in honor. Now, let me read to you a couple of verses. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Now, this is something that we often don't like to talk about, but the Bible speaks about it. And we are passing through 1 Thessalonians and we are arriving to certain passages that are extremely practical. And at times they speak to our hearts in order to change our manners and to help us to please God, to obey God, and to glorify God. In 1 Corinthians 6, in verse 19, the Apostle Paul said to the brothers and sisters in the city of Corinth, he said to them, don't you know?

He says, what? Know ye not that your body, this is the vessel, that your vessel, that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? This is brothers and sisters, he's saying to the Corinthian. Don't you know? Don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit of God, which is in you, which ye have received of God, and you are not your own? You know, brothers and sisters, I don't think we realize this sufficiently, that we really not belong to ourselves anymore. That we belong to God.

God has saved us through the person of His Son, the Mashiach, Yeshua. And really, we don't fathom that, really. We think that we are still our own captains. But Apostle Paul says, listen, don't you know that your body He's a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you. The body becomes a temple. In the body resides the person of the Holy Spirit of God. God the Holy Spirit. And He resides there. And when we grieve Him, when we hurt Him, He's grieved. And He cannot have liberty to use us in our lives. So you are not your own anymore. And why we are not our own, verse 20 tells us, for ye have bought with a price.

Therefore, he says, you have been bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which belongs to God. Don't you know? He is saying to the believers at Thessalonica, in this case, the believers at Corinth, your body become a temple. This temple is the temple where God, the Holy Spirit, is residing. And he's the one that ought to be the one that guides us and governs us in order to help us in staying close to the Lord. Very interesting verse that the apostle is mentioning here in this verse 19. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 15. Now, I know we don't read those verses often, but the Apostle Paul said that He died for all.

This is the Messiah, Jesus. He died for all. Why? Why? Notice. The day which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again. Let me read this again. Verses 14 and 15 together. For the love of Messiah constrains us, Because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead. Verse 15, And that he died for all, the day which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. You see, beloved brothers and sisters, we are no longer to live for ourself, but we are to live for the one who died for us.

Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, which have been purchased by the precious blood of Yeshua the Messiah. We are not our own. We belong to the Lord Jesus Yeshua the Messiah. And therefore, everyone, everyone, verse 4 of 1 Thessalonians 4, every one of you should know how to possess his vessels in sanctification. Bikdushah. Bikdushah in Hebrew. And in honor, Bekavod, to use our bodies in order to set it apart for the Lord and to honor Him by the way in which we live, especially in the context in relation to fornication, to sexual immorality. And what a pleasure that gives to God. And you know, sometimes some of us say, well, therefore, I messed it up, you see, because I failed in my life, I've sinned.

Some of us came from a past history that was dishonoring to the Lord, the way we live. He said, I've already messed it up. Why are you telling me all this? Well, the answer is simply this. The reason that Yeshua came is to save us. He knew our failure. He knew our sins. He knew our old nature. That's why He came. But when He came to this world and He paid the price for our sins, now He wants us to seek to live on for Him from here on. And if we fail and we do fail a time as believers and sin creep into our life, what do we do?

Is the door shut? No. 1 John 1.9 says, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us for all our righteousness. In other words, there is no such a thing as being hopeless because the door is always open for the believer to be restored back to God. And that's why we can please God, we can obey God, we can glorify God, when we allow ourselves, as it says here, every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and in honor, and not, look at this, verse 5, not in the lusts of the cravings as the Gentiles which know not God.

I see we all came some of us of course coming from among the nation of Israel some of us are Jewish some of us are not Jewish are from the nations, Gentiles but we all came from a past history of failure and sin and in love for you and I Yeshua died for us on a tree and paid the penalty that we had to pay we could not pay this penalty He paid this for us But now, He wants us not to live anymore like we used to live in the past, but to live in a way that is pleasing the Lord in sanctification and in honor, not in the lust of the flesh as the nations of the world do so today because they know not God.

And let me remind you, I don't have to go far, just turn the television. Just turn the internet off. Go through your emails and you find out how Satan knows very well how to parade before us the lust of the flesh. He knows our problem, he knows our need. And again, let me remind you that sexual relationship is given by God. But is to be maintained within the family, the husband and wife relationship. The Lord said it already through the apostle to the Hebrews. Marriage is honorable. The bed is undefiled. It was given to us by God. The urges of physical relationship is a God-given.

He had instilled this in his own human race, but he kept an order to keep it within the family relationship. And when it's kept within a godly order, there is blessing. There is pleasure. There is blessing. There is fruit for that. But when we go outside of God's divine order, there is a mess. And eventually it catches us and it causes us to stumble and to fall and to later on to look back and to say, Lord, I have been foolish in a way that I have conducted myself. And so, not only did we have to please God, 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 1. We are to obey God, verse 2 and 3.

We are to glorify God, verses 4 and 5. And then finally, in this context, in verses 6, 7 and 8, is we are to seek to avoid God's judgment by obeying what He says. Now listen to this, beloved brothers and sisters. God is going to judge sin one way or another. He has to do so. He must judge sin. And so notice what he says here in verse 6, 7 and 8. And I'm reading in order to avoid the judgment of God because God is an avenger. He's going to deal with sin. And it says in verse 6 that no man go beyond and defraud his brother. In any matter, because that the Lord is an avenger of all such as we also have forwarded you and testified.

Verse 7, for God has not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness. Verse 8, he therefore despises not men but God who has given unto us his Holy Spirit. You see what Paul is saying? Listen. He said, do you think that if you as believers carry on in your own ways, that God will pass by and not deal with you? He said, listen, God is an avenger, as we read here in verse 6. He is an avenger of all that do such a thing. You know, Paul said, be not mock. Whatsoever man sows that shall he also reap God is not food and you notice now he is not dealing with us as he deals with the unbelieving world he is dealing with us as a father as Abba who deals with his children whom he loves so much by correcting us when we need to be corrected yesterday in our Bible class we read Hebrews chapter 12 and the apostle had to remind the believers, the Hebrew believers, don't you know, don't you know that whom the Lord loves, He chastens and He scourges every son whom He receives?

Don't you forget this for a moment. But one thing for sure, God will have to avenge and to discipline His own people. And so we read here in verses 6, 7, and first notice verse 6, the Lord is an avenger, the Hebrew word for avenger is nokem he's going to get it he's going to deal with it don't worry he's going to deal with it God is an avenger against all who live such a way and does not deal with it and judge it. Confess it and repent I'm reading verse 6 once again that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter why? Because that the Lord is an avenger of all such as we also have forewarned you and testified.

Apparently, already when the Apostle Paul was in Thessalonica, about two years earlier, in about 50 AD, when he first came to the synagogue in the city of Thessalonica, where he preached the gospel, first of all, in the synagogue, those Jewish people who became believers were joined by some of the Gentiles and some women, And together they became believers and they founded the local assembly in the city of Thessalonica. And even then and there the Apostle Paul said, because they haven't been there again, he reminded them and he said to them, you know, we have already forewarned you and testified this to you when we were there many years ago, two years ago.

And of course you can imagine, because Thessalonica, they were worshipping idols, they were a lot of sexual immorality there and the Apostle Paul already taught the early believers, he said, listen brethren when you became believers in Yeshua the Messiah, don't continue in the way you used to live before. Don't continue in the way you used to be in the past because this is past, this is the wrong way, idolatry, immorality is that which was existing in your life before you trusted in Jesus the Messiah. But now you became children of God. And therefore, he says to them, listen, in verse 6, God will avenge, God will deal with all who do such.

And we know, beloved brothers and sisters, we know very well that God deals with us when we wronged him. He deals with us. He has many ways in which he deals with his own people. We read again in our Bible class about the tribulation period, how God will sow divisions among men, among the nations. And you remember when we talked about the fact that when Gideon went to fight against the Midianites, how the Midianites were fighting against each other because God had sent against them this, you might say, this delusion, this cause to fight against each other. And sometimes God sends into our life things that to cause us to turn around and to stop in our path of wrong in order that we will turn to Him.

He wants us to listen to Him. He wants our well-being. He loves us. He cares for us. So He sends into our life all kind of things that will draw us back to Him. That we will stop in a wrong way. As it says here very clearly that he is the avenger of all such. He is the avenger. The Hebrew word nokem. Nokem. He is going to get back at those who violate his word. Then in verse 7, God has called us unto holiness. He is reminding the Thessalonians in verse 7. He says, for God has not called us unto uncleanness. He didn't call us in order that we will live our lives.

In a way that is not pleasing to him. So why did he call us? Why? So we will carry on in our own way? So we will do and live the way we used to live in past history? No, he called us not unto uncleanness. In this context, he's fornication. He didn't call us to live this kind of life, Paul is saying to the Thessalonians. But the opposite verse 7 he called us to be hallowed unto holiness and again that word holiness does not mean that we are becoming some kind of a saintly kind of a it means in a practical way to set ourselves devoted to him and to abstain from that which is not pleasing unto him that's what he called us to be now of course we cannot do it on our own we need the help of the Holy Spirit of God.

And that's why verse 8 says, notice now, in connection with avoiding God's judgment, in verse 8 it says, the believer who live a life of fornication have to remember that God gave us the Holy Spirit of God. You see, we read in verse 8, he therefore that despises, Despises not men, but God, who also had given unto us his Holy Spirit. You know, when a believer continues on and on and on without to judge it and to forsake it, he does not despise men, but he despises God, the living God. We're just saying, how great thou art. When we live a life that is not judged continually, and again, the context is sexual immorality.

And we don't stop it. We don't despise men, but we despise God. And God, notice that, which he has given to us, his Holy Spirit. You see, he doesn't talk about unbelievers here. An unbeliever does not have the Holy Spirit of God. It is only the believer in Yeshua, the Messiah, that he received the Holy Spirit of God, new divine nature that is indwelling in him. And when the believer lives this life consistently, he doesn't judge, he or she may fall, but repent and turn back and confess our sins before the Lord. He's faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And so he's saying, listen, don't you forget that God had given us the Holy Spirit of God. And the Holy Spirit of God speaks to us. You know, remember, we read in Ephesians chapter 4, don't you grieve the Holy Spirit of God. You know sometimes why the Holy Spirit of God is grieved? Because we as believers think that we can do our own thing, carry on our lives that is not pleasing to the Lord, and the Spirit of God will be there indwelling in the body of the believer and be happy. He can't. He's grieved. He's grieved and we don't have liberty, no joy, no blessing because we did not glorify God and ultimately we will not be able to avoid the judgments of God because God is an evangel.

He will ultimately deal with His own children whom He loves so much because He says, Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, you and I have the Holy Spirit of God indwelling us and I just want to make a point here. All the three persons of the Godhead involved in our salvation God the Father has chosen us in eternity past we were chosen in the Messiah before the foundation of the world God has chosen us God the Son, Yeshua paid the price for our sins when he came into this world and he died on the tree and he shed his precious blood in order to save us from our sins but God the Holy Spirit is indwelling us in a believer to lead us to move us along in our spiritual progress so we will be able to please God to obey God to glorify God and to avoid the judgment that will come upon the believers not only the unbelievers the believers upon us upon me, upon you when we are consistently going on in our own way.

God loves us so much that He will not allow us to continue in our own path without being submissive to Him and turning back to Him. And it's by the Holy Spirit that we can do so, not in our own flesh. Walk in the Spirit, Galatians 5.16 and He shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, in the first eight verses, the Apostle Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 1 to 8, encouraged the believer to walk in holiness, set apart to the Lord. Bekdushah, set apart to the Lord. The context here, sexual immorality. And it is only the Lord that is able to help His own in a daze in which we live in that is so much paraded before us, drawing the people of God away from that which is honorable to the Lord.

And many times we stumble and fail when we don't allow the Spirit of God to guide us and control us. And so the Apostle Paul is very practical in this matter. And I know it is something that was needful in the past and it's also need in our own life today in the years in which we live in. So walk in holiness. Be separated unto God, verses 1 to 8. Now notice verses 9 and 10. In verses 9 and 10, it's not only walk in holiness, but also walk in harmony. We need to have harmony among the people of God. And so verse 9, he said, But as touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you, for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.

And indeed ye do it towards all the brethren which are in all Macedonia. But we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more. See, he's now shifting from walking in holiness to walk in harmony among the believers. And in order for the believers to walk in harmony, we have to love the brothers and sisters. And loving the brothers and sisters is not easy. We are not always lovable, right? We are not always make it easy for one another to love the other. Brothers and sisters are complicated. We all have our sin nature. We all have our mannerism. There is pride. There is self-will. They one way or another that one lives this way and one does things say things one way or another it's not easy to love the brethren but you remember what the Lord said Yeshua said many many years ago in the upper room in the city of Jerusalem he said by this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one towards another if we are to let the world know that we really belong to the Lord, to Yeshua, we must practice this, love one towards another.

It is interesting that in verse 9, there's two times the word love is mentioned. In verse 9a, it's called brotherly love. The words there is, the word in Greek is phileo. And then it says, at the end, it says, you are taught of God to love one another. The second love is the word agapeo, is another Greek name for love. One is phileo, the other one is agapeo. There are four ways in which in Greek they use the word love. There is the sensual love, is eros. There is the family love, which is stargo. There is a, you might say, friendship love, which is Philadelphia or phileo.

And there is the God's love or the unconditional love, which is agapeo, four different Greek words to use almost the same thing in English for love. In Hebrew, we say ahava, ahava. You know, in Israel, we have this special cream that's called ahava. It comes from the Dead Sea, and it's a special cream that's supposed to caress you and make you feel very good and help you to have your skin very well taken care of. But brothers and sisters, here, the Apostle want the Corinthians to have the love among the brethren. Ahavat achim, love one towards another. In other words, to have harmony among the people of God.

To have harmony among the believers. And he used these two words, Philadelphia, phileo, brotherly love, and agapeo, God's love, you might say, unconditional love. And if we are going to be successful in being a testimony to the world around us and to enjoy harmony among the people of God, it is only possible when we really mean business in our relationship with each other. That means that we will need to be patient towards one another. That means that we will have to bear with one another. That means that we will need to forgive one another in order to have harmony. It's not possible to have harmony among the people of God unless we have this set in our hearts and practice every day.

Walk in harmony, be of one mind and not to seek to have divisions among the people of God. And again, I would like to say that Satan knows that. We cannot fool him. He knows very well that if he is going to cause problems among the people of God, he will sow discord among the brethren. He will cause all kind of things to happen among the believers. So they will not be in harmony. They will be divided. And yes, he doesn't take us out of heaven, but he sure causes us not to be happy here on earth. The best thing is to learn from the challenge that Apostle Paul gave to the believers at Thessalonica, he said to them, but touching brotherly love, ye have need not that I will write unto you, for you yourself are taught of God to love one another.

And indeed ye do so. That is something that he's commending them. Apparently, the Thessalonians had been commended by the fact that they do love the brethren. Indeed ye do it toward all the brethren. All the brethren, it was evident. So the people of Thessalonica watched the believers at the local assembly and they said, boy, this group of people, look at the way they treat one another. So beautiful to see that. Ye do so towards the brethren that are in Macedonia, but we beseech you, brethren, that you will increase it more and more. So never stop. We are never to stop to bear with each other, to be patient with each other, to forgive each other, to care for each other because it is an ongoing challenge until we get to heaven.

You know, when we're going to get to heaven, we will no longer hate anyone. We will no longer speak evil about anyone. We will no longer think evil about anyone or do evil to anyone. We will be without this sin nature and we will have eternity to enjoy one another. And so finally, in verses 11, and 12 of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, he actually moving along and he's saying, now that you are to live in holiness, you are to live in harmony, now you are to live, as it says here, in a decent way. In a decent way. And so we read, and I'm reading these verses 11 and 12. And that ye study to be quiet.

And then he said than to do your own business and to work with your own hands as we commended you that ye may walk, here's the second time walk, that ye may walk honestly towards them that are without and that ye may have lack of nothing. Now he's saying to them, listen, you are to walk in honesty and indecency. You are to walk in such a way because notice it says the thought of to study now the word for study here it means to strive to labor work hard at that in order to be quiet to be calm to be simple to be the kind of a person that is at peace and at ease and at rest learn to be so practically he's saying to them and then especially towards those that are without the outside the outside world who watches us who sees how we live our lives that he may have a lack of nothing as he says here at the end of verse 12 to walk honestly towards them that are without in order that we may have a lack of nothing.

Brothers and sisters, this is very practical. It is extremely practical that the Apostle Paul is writing this for brothers and sisters. Now I just want to read one verse and I'm going to close. In order to mind or do your own business and to work with your hands. Just turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 10. For even when we were with you, this we commended you that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, Working not at all, but they are busybodies. See what he's really saying? There's always a danger to be busybodies.

We seem to always be in somebody else's business or affairs in his whole life. We're trying to enter in, and instead of taking care, studying to be quiet, doing my own thing, working with my hand, doing what I need to do, and seeking to pray for each other, and not dealing with one another and causing problems and so on, in order that there will be all sort of friction. He says, don't be so, because that is not the way that it is pleasing unto the Lord. So, brothers and sisters, in conclusion, number one, walk in holiness. Number two, walk in harmony. Number three, walk in honesty in order that blessings will flow from the Lord and spiritual growth will come into the life of the people of God.

May the Lord help us to do so. Can we say Amen?