I Thessalonians 4:1-18

I Thessalonians 4:1-2 – “Excel still more.” Every church should want to mature to this point. They were not perfect, but were doing well and the next step was to grow.

I Thessalonians 4:3-8 – In Paul’s day, chastity was regarded as an unreasonable restriction. The phrase “possess his own vessel” has been debated for a long time. It could mean one’s own body or could be a reference to one’s wife. (Romans 6:13; I Corinthians 6:19-20; 7:2) The overall message is to abstain from sexual immorality.

• Job 31:1; Matthew 5:27 – We have to guard ourselves from sexual immorality.

• The idolatrous practices in those days involved sexual immorality, which was part of what made it so popular. These Christians had come out of these idolatrous practices.

I Thessalonians 4:8 – See Nehemiah 9:30; Acts 7:51-52; I Thessalonians 1:5; 2:2, 8-9, 13; 3:2; 4:1-2, 6, 11. The gospel was from God! The “Holy Spirit” here refers to the inspired message they had received and were receiving through Paul as a messenger.

I Thessalonians 4:9-10 – See Matthew 23:23; I Corinthians 13:1-3. It’s possible to follow every law precisely, but ultimately fail if you lack love. Verse 9 is an example of a figure of speech called paralipsis, in which emphasis is added by professing to say little about it. Compare other examples in Philemon 1:9; I Thessalonians 5:1.

I Thessalonians 4:11-12 – Compare II Thessalonians 3:11-12. Get to work!

I Thessalonians 4:13-18 – The dead in Christ will rise first, then those alive in Christ will meet him in the air. This should be a great comfort to us. This does not say that Jesus will come to earth (pre-millenialism). The doctrine of rapture comes from a misinterpretation of this verse. John 5:28-29