The unbelievers around us are watching the way we live. If Christians are unloving, have wrong priorities, meddle in everyone else’s business, and do not work as they should, unbelievers will blaspheme the name of Christ.

Transition

In this section, Paul gave the Thessalonian believers a Challenge and then described for them the Benefits if they follow the challenge. As we study this fourfold challenge, we will find many applications for our own lives.

The Challenge

1. Increase in brotherly love
   1. Remember, agape love is giving of yourself to meet the needs of another expecting nothing in return. We remember that love for fellow-Christians is very important, especially when facing trials and persecution. We need each other for support and encouragement.
   2. Paul acknowledged that God teaches true Christians to love one another (v.9). While we ought to love God-rejecters and religious people, we must have a special love for those who truly know the Lord as their Saviour.
      1. Jesus taught this to His followers. (John 15:12) “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” (John 13:35) “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
      2. The indwelling Spirit puts a natural love in the believer’s heart for other Christians. (1 John 3:14) “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.”
   3. Paul commended the Thessalonians for their brotherly love (v.10). They were doing a good job of this.
   4. Paul also exhorted the believers to increase more and more in brotherly love (v.10). He did this because we can never be too loving to other Christians. We must keep our love growing, being generous and helpful toward those of like faith. [At church, be careful not to spend time just with your close friends and ignore others. Seek to become more friendly to new people. Talk to them. Invite them to sit with you. Make them feel welcome.]
2. Study to be quiet
   1. When you “study” something, you strongly desire to learn it. Study takes effort. Here the word means to desire strongly or to strive earnestly. It can also mean to consider it an honour.
   2. The phrase “to be quiet” refers to a quiet lifestyle.
   3. In 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 Paul wrote, “For even when we were with you, this we commanded 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 are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.” Some Christians had become so excited about the Lord’s return that they neglected work. Since Paul mentioned the coming of the Lord in 1Th 3:13 and gives a detailed description of the Rapture in 1Th 4:13-18, he may have anticipated that their excitement was leading them astray.
   4. Commentator Peter Pett states, “The general impression here is of some who were going about in an excited way, creating a great stir.” This excitement could have been about the Lord’s return. Whatever it was, the Christians were so stirred up that they were not living quietly. Apparently their excitement was irritating unbelievers around them (v.12).
   5. Instead of allowing excitement to be the focus of life, Paul challenged the believers to strive earnestly to live a quiet life. A quiet life is one that focuses on the Lord without neglecting daily duties. A quiet life is one that does not irritate others. A quiet life is not so busy that the Lord is neglected.
   6. Here are a few applications for us today.
      1. We ought to be excited about the Lord’s return and telling others about it. However, as we witness for Christ, we need to be tactful and kind. Someone wisely said, “You attract more bees with honey than with vinegar.”
      2. There are many things in this life that excite people like sports, parties, pleasures, entertainment, phone apps, games and holidays. Some are evil, but many are not wrong in and of themselves. We must be very careful not to get caught up in the exciting things of life and neglect the more important things in life.
      3. We live in a fast pace world. If we are not careful, we will find ourselves so busy that we cannot keep up and we begin to neglect our time with the Lord and our service for Him.
3. Do your own business
   1. The word “business” refers to anything we do. A modern way of saying this is, mind your own business.
   2. Getting involved in the affairs of others is often wrong. Here is a good policy to adapt: “If you are not part of the problem or part of the solution, it is none of your business. Stay out of it.”
   3. Solomon compared meddling in another’s business to a small leak in a dam that rapidly gets huge if it is not quickly stopped. (Proverbs 17:14) “The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.”
   4. As Christians, we are to focus on our own spiritual growth, our own families, our own affairs, our own work rather than becoming busybodies and getting involved in the affairs of others.
   5. God wants us to be caring people, but we must be careful not to focus so much on helping others that we end up causing problems in our own lives, in our own homes, and in our own marriages.
4. Work with your own hands
   1. Paul challenged the Thessalonian Christians to work with their own hands. They were not to be lazy. They were not to expect others to do the work for them. They were not to live off of handouts from others. God created our bodies capable of work and he wants us to work.
   2. As we read earlier, in 2Thessalonians Paul charged some of the of not working at all (2Th 3:10). He said that if they did not work they should not eat.
   3. Solomon urges us to watch the ant when we begin to feel lazy. (Proverbs 6:6-8) “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.”
   4. Sometimes disabilities make it difficult to work, but under normal circumstances we ought to be working people.

The Benefit

1. It will benefit your testimony
   1. Fulfilling these four challenges will enable us to walk honestly toward them that are without Christ.
   2. The word “honestly” means in a decent manner. When we fail to love each other, to live quietly, to mind our own business, and to work with our hands, we are a poor testimony to those who are without Christ. It irritates them and gives them an excuse to blaspheme the Lord.
2. It will benefit you physically
   1. Fulfilling these four challenges, especially the one to work, it will enable us to not lack the necessities of life.
   2. We need love, a quiet life, a good conscience, and work to provide for our families. Fulfilling the challenges Paul gave will meet our physical needs.

Conclusion

This morning we would do well to apply Paul’s four challenges to the Thessalonian believers to our own lives. 1) Are you seeking to increase your love for other Christians? 2) Are you striving to live a quiet life that is not too busy? 3) Have you been minding your own business? 4) Are you working to provide the needs of your family? If God has spoken to your heart about one of these issues, let Him have His way. Let’s keep a right balance for the glory of the Lord.

Song: Have Thine Own Way – 388
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Living Wisely Among Unbelievers
20 March 2016 AM – 1Thes 4:9-12 – 1Th2016 – Scott Childs