Sermon: 1 Thessalonians 4: 1-12 Walking Worthy in Holiness

Have you ever been driving off the beaten track, no signposts, grass up the middle of the road, and you come to a crossroads. You haven’t a clue where you are. You have to decide what to do, which road to take. How do you make your choice? Pick one at random? Take the one that looks the nicest? Follow your intuition? It’s one thing if you’re out for a Sunday afternoon drive, just exploring, and you know that sooner or later you’ll come back to a main road with some kind of signpost. It’s different, though, if you’re on your way to someone’s house for dinner. You’re late. You’re lost. You’d need some direction. Where to turn?

As we travel through life, we’re faced with all sorts of decisions about all sorts of things. Some people see those choices as whatever makes you feel good. You pay your money and take your chance. But oftentimes Christians want to know what God’s will is for them - who to marry, what job to take, and so on. Sometimes we get so worked up about knowing God’s will for every detail of our lives. In our reading today, Paul gives us what God’s will is for our life. In this passage, it’s not complicated - but working it out might not always be easy.

Look at verse 3. ‘For this is the will of God, your sanctification.‘ God’s will is our sanctification. Now what does that mean? Sanctification is one of those churchy word that sounds great, but no one really knows what it is. It simply means the process of becoming (more) holy. And holy, or holiness (as we have in our passage) is being set apart. So God’s will for us is to be set apart (for him).

In nearly every home (although less so these days with the healthy eating advice), we have something that’s holy, set apart. If you still have a sugar bowl, then you probably have a spoon which is set apart, only to be used to lift the sugar from the sugar bowl. You don’t use it to put sugar in your tea, then stir it, then put it back in the bowl. You’ll get hard, brown lumps of sugar. The sugar spoon is holy, set apart only for the use in the sugar bowl.

In the same way, we’re holy, set apart for God. There are lots of things we could do, but we’re set apart to only do the things God wants us to do. Back at the end of chapter 3, Paul had prayed that God ‘would strengthen {their} hearts in holiness that you may be blameless...’ So now he gets to the heart of what that will look like. In verses 1-2, Paul reminds them that he had told them how to live and to please God, and they have been doing it, so now they should do it more and more. But remember that this isn’t a ten step programme to make God accept you. This is written to Christians who have already turned to God from idols (ch 1). This is how we’re to live when we are saved. Not how to live to be saved.

So what does holiness look like? What is God’s will for our sanctification? Paul breaks it down into three parts, which follow on from each other. The first is in verse 3. ‘that you abstain from fornication.’ Newer versions use the words ‘sexual immorality’. But the word Paul uses is ‘porneia’ - from which we get ‘pornography’. It’s any sexual activity outside of marriage. Christians are to be set apart for God, by being set apart for their own husband or wife - or in the absence of a spouse, to be celibate.

Following on from that - and in order to do that - we’re called to ‘know how to control your own body in holiness and honour, not with lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God.’ The world will be different, it burns with lustful passion - as is clear in so many ways around us. But we’re called to be different, to control our bodies in holiness and honour. You’re not responsible for what someone else does, but you are for yourself. Be self-controlled (one of the fruit of the Spirit). Take control of yourself - if certain situations or programmes or internet causes you to stumble, then deal with it.

Thirdly, ‘that no one wrongs or exploits a brother or sister in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things.’ A few years ago we celebrated the 200th anniversary of the ending of the slave trade by William Wilberforce. Yet today human trafficking still continues. Even in Northern Ireland, women have been brought to work in the sex industry. Exploitation continues.

We’re called to be different. That call is expressed in verse 7. ‘For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness.’ God didn’t call us to say ‘yes’ to lustful passions and impurity. He has set us apart for him. You see, this is God’s will, not just something Paul made up. This is God’s call, so we don’t reject human authority if we disagree - we reject God’s authority over the creation he has made. His holy will calls us, and wants to make us holy, separate, different. We’re called in his holiness, to be holy, by saying no to lust.

That leads us to ask the serious question - where do we get our values from? Who do we look to for approval? Whose pleasure are we living for? Our own? The world’s? Or God’s? As Paul writes to the Corinthians - You are not your own. For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Cor 6:19-20) To do this, what things will need to change? Who might you need to step back from? What do you need to stop watching or thinking about or doing? God’s will is for us to be holy by saying no to lust.

At the same time, God also wants us to say ‘yes’ to love. Look at verse 9. We’re getting into the season of school reports. We’re all different, but most of us probably had things we were good at, and then there was always some subject that said ‘must do better.’ Paul says in verses 9-10 that the Thessalonians are top of the class. In terms of love for the brothers and sisters, they don’t need to be told; God has taught them, and they are doing it. Full marks, top of the class.

But look at the middle of verse 10. Top of the class, but keep going, more and more! Verse 11 shows us how to love one another - but it might not be what we would expect. To love one another you would... fill in the blank. Did you say ‘to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands’? This is how Paul describes loving one another in this context. It seems that some people were expecting Jesus to return any day - so why bother working? They could exploit the generosity of their fellow believers and live off handouts. But Paul says the loving thing is to get on with your own work (if you’re able - 2The3), so that outsiders won’t be disgraced by your actions, and that you’re not dependent on anyone else.

God’s will is that we say yes to love. How can we grow in love for one another? What are the ways we can love each other, so that those watching on say ‘see how these Christians love one another?’

When we started off, we were in the wee country roads with no signposts, facing a decision. Left, right, straight on? Going to a friend’s house, we’ll have their directions. As we come to those decisions, big and small, in our daily life, as we choose which way to go, we have God’s directions. God’s will is for us to become more holy, as we say no to lust and yes to love. We’re on a lifelong journey. We’ll sometimes take wrong turns. We’ll find ourselves at the same junction a few times. God’s will is for us to be holy. He is guiding us, restoring us, forgiving us, and encouraging us. And he will bring us home, if we listen to him.

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 14th June 2015

Book Review: The Holiness of God

If there is one characteristic of God that is poorly understood in the church and the world today, it is probably God's holiness. We want to make God in our image and likeness, to mould him the way we think he should be. Surely we have no place for holiness in the God we want?

RC Sproul takes up his pen to explore, explain and expose the holiness of God and its necessity. Through the book he shows how holiness isn't an optional extra that we can reject, but rather that it is a fundamental part of who God is - indeed, the very heart of who God is. Indeed, it is inescapable throughout the Scriptures: 'The one concept, the central idea I kept meeting in Scripture, was the idea that God is holy... it is basic to our whole understanding of God and of Christianity.'

The opening chapter is a compelling story, a retelling of Sproul's encounter with God's holiness, which draws the reader in. Many writers could take note of the way he breathlessly brings the reader with him to that midnight chapel: 'I was alone with God. A holy God. An awesome God. A God who could fill me with terror in one second and with peace in the next.'

I must confess that some of the other chapters aren't just as thrilling, and at times I found it harder to read, whether through my dullness or what, I don't know. There were moments when I wouldn't agree with everything that was said (but then, what would I ever completely agree with?), but there were enough gems to make the reading of this book very profitable.

'There is a pattern here... God appears, people quake in terror, God forgives and heals, God sends. From brokenness to mission is the human pattern.'

'The delay of justice was not the denial of justice but the establishing of mercy and grace.'

'Even though God gave no answers, Job's questions were put to rest. He received a higher answer than any direct reply could have provided. God answered Job's questions not with words but with himself.'

I'm happy to recommend this book, coming as it does with Sproul's passion for God's word and his clarity at explaining that word. Prepare to meet your God, and to give thanks for his holiness and his grace.

Sermon: 2 Peter 1: 1-11 Growing in Godliness

It’s always really sad to see someone who doesn’t live up to expectations; who doesn’t reach their full potential. Whether it’s a football player who is on the team, but doesn’t put the effort in; or someone in work who doesn’t pull their weight; or a pupil whose grades aren’t where they could be. They’re ineffective and unfruitful.

How much worse, then, to be a Christian, to have a knowledge of the Lord Jesus, and to be ineffective and unfruitful. Like an adult who has never really grown up, there’s little maturity. Such a waste.

As we begin our new series tonight in 2 Peter, the apostle Peter wants to make sure that we aren’t going to be ineffective or unfruitful as a Christian - that the knowledge we have of the Lord Jesus will be effective in our lives, and that we will be producing the fruit of godliness. How can we be effective and fruitful as Christians?

It’s the concern of the whole letter - our growth in godliness, but don’t just take my word for it. Very often, as we look at the letters in the New Testament, we can see the theme clearly because it is what starts and ends the letter. So if we top and tail 2 Peter, what do we find? 1:2 - ‘May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.’ Turn over to 3:18 ‘But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.’ Growth in grace and knowledge (with the day of the Lord in view).

In these verses, Peter is going to tell us how we can grow in godliness, and it all boils down to remembering what we have received, and making every effort. Now even as I say that, you might be thinking, surely they are contradictory? Stay with me, and we’ll see how they fit together.

So first of all, then, what we have received. Let’s look at verse 1. Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. It’s the standard way of opening a letter at the time - not putting the name of who it’s from at the very end (as we do), but right at the start. It’s Simeon Peter, Peter, a servant and apostle. This is one of the twelve, one of the three, one of the prime leaders of the early church - the one who took the lead on the day of Pentecost.

How amazing would it be to get a letter from Peter. I’m on Twitter, and sometimes some of my friends try to get a ‘tweet’ from a famous celebrity - a wee message direct to them from their favourite singer. Here we have a letter from one of the top men in the church, but he says something even more amazing straight away: ‘To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.’

We might think of ordinary Christians being on one level, missionaries slightly higher, Christian celebrities higher still, and Peter and the apostles right at the top with a much more important level of faith - no, says Peter - to be a Christian means you have a faith of equal standing with the apostles. But it’s not something we have worked up ourselves, or performed for ourselves - no, we have obtained it through the righteousness of Jesus (our God and Saviour).

What a great start, as we think about how to be effective and fruitful as Christians - recognising that we are on an equal standing with the apostles, not second class or amateur league compared to them. But there’s more. Verse 3 - ‘His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.’ As well as giving us our faith, God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness - everything we need to live a godly life, becoming more like Jesus. How has he given us these things? What do they look like? It’s through the knowledge of him who called us. As we come to know the Lord Jesus, as we come to know more of him through the Bible, we see what pleases him, we see how he lived, and we are given the resources to do it.

There’s still more! Verse 4 - God has ‘granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature...’ We have been given faith, given all we need for godliness, and on top of all that, we have been given God’s precious promises. Through the rest of the letter we’ll see more of these promises, but you can immediately think of what some of them are - forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, comfort, assurance, hope of eternal life / heaven and many more. Through these promises we come to share in God’s eternal life, escaping the world’s corruption of sinful desire.

As a Christian, even this evening, you can see how much God has given you - faith, everything you need for godliness, and precious promises. As you think of all these, you might say to yourself, well, if God has given me all this, then I can just sit back and relax. It’s all in hand. You might even have heard the saying ‘Let Go, Let God.’

If that’s your slogan, then what Peter says next will give you a great shock. Look at verse 5: ‘For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue...’ and so on. It’s not that someone else has taken over and is promoting a kind of works do it yourself religion - no, it’s because God has given us all these things, for this very reason, make every effort.

It’s the same kind of “both and” we find in Philippians 2: ‘work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you...’ So what is it we have to make every effort to do?

Supplement your faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. Such a list, and we don’t really have time to explore each of them in the detail we would like. Suffice to say that these are the marks of the Spirit working in our lives - you’ll notice certainly similarities to the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5. I don’t think Peter is saying that you necessarily follow in a strict line; that you have faith, then add virtue (wait until it’s good) then add knowledge - rather that each of them are increasing. They’re rooted in what God has given us, they’re based in the faith we have received, and yet we can make an effort to increase them.

What happens if we don’t have these qualities? Peter goes on to tell us in v8-9. The reverse of verse 8 suggests that if we don’t have these, then we’ll be ineffective and unfruitful, as we see further in verse 9: ‘For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.’ To reject this work of the Spirit in your life, to refuse to make an effort to become more like Jesus, Peter says, is to be nearsighted so much as to be blind, forgetting the sins that have already been forgiven and cleansed. It’s to say to yourself, well, I’m not so bad really, am I?

As we come towards the end of the passage, Peter gives us some encouragement to be effective and fruitful as Christians; to keep making the effort towards godliness. ‘Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’

Peter isn’t saying here that our calling and election is made sure because of our works - but rather that our works are a sign that we have been elected, chosen by God, called by him, that we are being kept by him, and that we are heading for this rich welcome into Christ’s eternal kingdom. Do you see that? You, who have been given a faith of equal standing to Peter, won’t be entering heaven through a back door, through the tradesman’s entrance, just about making it and no more. No, there’ll be this great welcome, this richly provided entrance. We are headed for heaven - what an encouragement to keep going, making the effort, pushing ahead.

So how do we apply this passage? What will you take away with you tonight? Perhaps you haven’t even started on the journey. You can’t supplement your faith with anything, because you haven’t even got faith in the first place. This assurance, these qualities aren’t really for you until you are a Christian - to try to perform these qualities by themselves won’t provide any assurance. You see, we can’t make it on our own - we need that righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ to make us right with God. We’re here, we’ll be delighted to help you find out more about how to become a Christian.

Or maybe you’re someone who is an activist. You come to every Bible passage, every sermon wanting to know the one thing you need to do. Perhaps your mind is racing with ways to make every effort to improve these qualities. Remember that our effort must be rooted in what we have received - pause, and remember all that God has given you - your faith, everything you need for godliness, his precious promises.

As you remember God’s mercy towards us, take some time by yourself this week and work through the list - ask yourself - how is my self-control; how am I doing with virtue; where are the areas I need to work on, making an effort in? How can I continue to become more like Jesus?

Think as well about this time last year, or five years ago - are they, in the words of verse 8 ‘yours and increasing’? To ask these questions and to be serious about answering them means that we’ll together become more effective and fruitful as Christians - and all for the glory of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

This sermon was preached in St Elizabeth's Church, Dundonald on Sunday 13th March 2011.

Nearer, but Further Away

I've noticed something slightly odd on my travels recently. While you're getting nearer to a place, you're actually further away. Allow me to explain.

When you're leaving the village of Augher on the A4 heading east, there's a signpost which declares Belfast to be 56 miles away. Drive a mile or so closer to Belfast, and the next signpost declares Belfast to be 57 miles away! You're going in a Belfast direction, but you've still further to go.


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Sounds strange, doesn't it? It's all down to the recent roadworks, and the extension of the A4 dual carriageway from Dungannon to Ballygawley. The 56 miles to Belfast sign is from the pre-dual carriageway days, along the old A4 through Killeshil, Cabragh etc. The closer to Belfast but further away sign was installed when the new road was built - which doesn't follow the path of the old A4, but loops further south, slightly closer to Aughnacloy. In effect, Augher and Enniskillen are now further from Belfast, thanks to the course of the new road.

You think you're getting somewhere, only to find you're not as far as you thought you were. The believer's sanctfication is a bit like that. You've come to faith in Jesus, your sins are forgiven, you're free to love and serve the Lord, and you're ready to go places, thinking that you're going to be just like Jesus tomorrow.

The gift of the Holy Spirit, though, highlights our sinfulness, bringing things to light which must be dealt with, repented of, abandoned. We're making progress to be more like Jesus, but these can seem like setbacks. The closer we get to God, the more we're aware of our sinfulness.

This isn't a bad thing - it's the way it's meant to be. Just think of Isaiah, who was pottering along, then he had that vision of the Lord in his holiness, and Isaiah is ruined (Isaiah 6).

It might seem like you're further away, but you're going the right way. Keep going!