Dr. Rodney Plunket

Ancient words

ever true,

changing me,

and changing you;

We have come with open hearts,

O let the ancient words impart.

We have just heard read some ancient words, words written over one thousand nine hundred and fifty years ago.  The teachings from Paul imparted by these words will be the focus of our lesson this morning.

Something that conveys a blessing and likely should be done more often is the reading of a biblical passage from more than one translation.  This is especially true of 1 Thessalonians (1Th) 4:3ff because it does have some translation difficulties to which a reader can be introduced by comparing a variety of English versions.  So I want to begin this morning by reading 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 from the New Living Translation.  Please follow along.

Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you.  You are doing this already, and we encourage you to do so more and more.  For you remember what we taught you in the name of the Lord Jesus.  God wants you to be holy, so you should keep clear of all sexual sin.  Then each of you will control your body and live in holiness and honor—not in lustful passion as the pagans do, in their ignorance of God and his ways.

Never cheat a Christian brother in this matter by taking his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before.  God has called us to be holy, not to live impure lives.  Anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human rules but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

One reason that I wanted to read from the New Living Translation is that it translates the relevant Greek term as “sexual sin.”  Many English versions translate it as “fornication.”  We more commonly use the English word “fornication” to refer only to sexual activity between a male and a female who are both unmarried.  However, the Greek word Paul uses here is much more comprehensive.  It refers to sexual activity between any two people who are not married to each other.

What Paul is doing is calling his readers to sexual purity, a sexual purity that treats human sexuality as set apart/sacred/holy because it is experienced only by a man and a woman who are married to each other.  The view that Paul presents here is one that ran counter to at least some of what was taught and practiced in the non-Jewish world of Paul’s day.  A statement by Demosthenes, the great Greek orator, is often quoted to illustrate the view of sexuality among the ancient Greeks.  He said, “We keep mistresses for pleasure, concubines for our daily bodily needs, but we have wives to produce legitimate children and serve as trustworthy guardians of our homes.”  The laxness of such an attitude and the demeaning of women, which it perpetuated, is clear.  Apparently it was in the sixth century B.C. that “Solon, the great legislator of Athens, . . . legalized prostitution and proclaimed that the profits from state brothels should be used for the building of temples.”  In such a climate it is not hard to understand why “[n]o official religious sanction could be expected against the practice of prostitution.”[1]  It would have been like biting the hand that fed them.

Paul taught the Greeks whom he converted that they were to live by a much higher ethical standard than that.  He called them to a life of holiness.  The word “holiness” means to be set apart; and when used with reference to the way people live, it indicates a lifestyle based on the nature and will of holy God.  A set apart lifestyle is markedly different from the lifestyle embraced by the surrounding world.  That is the standard to which we are called, a standard of holiness.

Notice again how Paul concludes his teachings here.  In verse (v) 8 we read,

Anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human rules but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

I want you to see two things here, but I want to spend most of my time on the second.  Paul first makes clear that God prohibits sexual immorality.  This is not some rule that Paul or some other human being came up with.  The call to sexual purity is from God!

I want to spend more time on the second thing that Paul says here.  He refers to the fact that it is God “who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”  Paul makes clear, in Romans 8:5-13, that the Holy Spirit of God is the power within us that empowers us to live lives that triumph over sin.  Please follow along as I read.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.  To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.  For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you.  Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.  But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

I believe Paul’s reference to the Holy Spirit in 1Th 4:8 also has to do with the power of the Holy Spirit for ethical living.  In this context, the reference is to the Holy Spirit’s ability to empower any believer who struggles with sexual sin.  In other words, it seems to me that Paul in v 8 is making sure that his readers know that the call to sexual purity is from God and the ability to fulfill that call is also from God.  God does not just tell the Christian what to do; God also empowers us to do it.  That empowering force is the Holy Spirit within us.

Sisters and brothers, I am getting very tired of Christians who almost casually declare that they think that biblical teachings regarding sexual purity are out­moded and should not be followed.  The culture of Paul’s day was no more sexually restrained than is our culture today, and yet, Paul stood fast and taught holiness relative to sex in and to that culture.  He didn’t back off at all.  How in the world can we?!

If you just cannot imagine that there are professing Christians who have an unbiblical attitude to human sexuality, please let me read a true story recently sent to me via email by a Christian who is one of the most trustworthy persons I know.  I have changed all the names of the people in this story as well as its location to protect the privacy of those involved.

Here’s a true story for you.  It’s about Wilma McVitie’s daughter Freda, and Wilma has given me permission to share it with you.  Freda is notoriously picky about men, but her mother was thinking earlier this year that she had found The One.  He was a Christian man she had known at ACU, and they met again in Oklahoma City.  They hit it off immediately and were able to progress to a deep level of communication right away because of their common faith.  They progressed to discussing future church homes, the ones that would allow them to bring up their children in a strong faith community.  Wilma said Freda had NEVER talked about a man the way she talked about this one!

Sadly, they broke up just a few weeks ago.  After a while, Wilma found out why.  Freda related the following conversation to her.  This man had said to Freda, “It is time for us to start sleeping together.”  Freda, taken aback, said, “We’re not married, we are not committed!”

The man was shocked!  “We are not NEARLY to the point of making a commitment yet!!”  How will they know if they are compatible enough to be married if they don’t have sex?  How can they progress to the next level of commitment if they don’t have sex?  Freda should ditch her antiquated ideas.  He knows the Bible says to wait for sex until marriage, but he just doesn’t understand how anyone could make such a commitment without testing their sexual compatibility first.  He has had sex with numerous partners, but not recently, because he hasn’t been that serious about anyone in a while.

So Freda broke it off.  The tragic thing is, she has expected this kind of attitude from the non-Christian men she has dated in the past, but this was her brother in Christ.

Paul declares that sexual holiness is the will of God.  Paul makes clear that the power to live a life of sexual holiness is provided by the Holy Spirit whom God has given.  To teach and/or live otherwise is to fly right in the face of Scripture. You don’t want to do that and then face the living God.

Now let’s be clear.  Our God stands ready to forgive all sin through the blood of Jesus.  If you have been or are currently sexually immoral, God wants you to repent of that sin, turn away from it, and come to the cross for forgiveness.  But forgiveness is not a license.  Forgiveness is a divinely given opportunity to break the cycle of sin that keeps us from being what God wants for all of us!  And with that forgiveness comes the power of the Holy Spirit who gives us all that we need to ensure that the cycle is indeed broken.

We will stumble and fall sometimes.  We will never outgrow the need for ongoing forgiveness.  But to decide that what God says isn’t relevant or doesn’t matter is rebellion against God.  It is the exact opposite of faith.  And “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6a).

Top | Sermons | Home