Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

Work.

What word comes to your mind when think about work?

Taxing?

Boring?

Hard?

Fear?

Is our understanding of work Biblical in today’s church?

Do we really understand what God thinks about diligent work?

And why in the world is today’s sermon putting the word work and love in the same phrase?

What does love have to do with work?

Aren’t those two words antonyms - opposites?

Today we are going to dive into a Biblical understanding of work.

We are going to see the church in Thessalonica have a few people struggling with a Biblical understand of work, and we are going to see Paul teach through this.

Join me as we seek to understand God’s plan and purpose for work in our lives as we study his letter to the Thessalonians.

Lets look at our text for today:

Let us pray.

Prayer.

Today we are going to discuss three aspects of diligent work unto the Lord.

The first is:

I.

As Followers of Christ, We Should Seek To Worship God Through… Why We Work (9-10)

Paul has spent the entire first 3 chapters of this book with positive affirmations for the church in Thessalonica.

However, he spent the first part of chapter 4 addressing an issue regarding sexual immorality which we discussed last week.

As he prepares to call out a select few in the church that had a struggle with diligence in work, he comments on those who are doing well in this area first.

He brings up those who worship and glorify God well through their love for one another.

However, he wants them to realize that this love that they have for their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ isn’t just a natural born love.

It is a love that they have been taught by God Himself.

And this love mentioned here - is philadelphia - or as shown here - brotherly love.

This Greek word for love normally referred to love for the members of a family during Biblical times.

It usually wasn’t used to describe love outside of familial relationships.

Yet, Paul used this word time and time again when discussing the love between fellow believers.

This is because believers in Christ are spiritually and eternally closer in family than blood relatives who are not in Christ.

Once you have repented of your sins - believed, trusted, and put your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation - the One who took our punishment that we deserved for our sins on the cross, died, was buried, and rose again - and become a born again believer and follower of Christ - then you are adopted into the family of God.

You are called a joint heir with Christ in Scripture.

Obviously we are not equal to Christ.

He is exalted above all as we see time and time again in Scripture.

However, as believers, we are part of the family of God.

Let that sink in for a moment.

We are sons and daughters of the King.

We are sons and daughters of the God who created the universe.

We are sons and daughters of the most powerful Being ever - the one who has no beginning or end.

That God - that King - loves us and desires a relationship with us.

Brothers and sisters, if that doesn’t get your blood pumping and get you excited about our life in Christ, I’m not sure what will.

You are loved, chosen, protected, and pursued.

Our God never loses those who are His.

Jesus Christ stands by you in protection.

He will discipline you when you stray.

I thank my God so much for that discipline.

Because that discipline reminds me that I am His.

And He will comfort you when you repent and return to Him.

How beautiful is our Savior!

And this wonderful Savior calls us to love others well.

And that brings us to the why of working for Him.

We work for God’s glory.

We love others because He first loves us (1 John 4:19).

God is glorified by believers who diligently work for His glory.

Those who sacrificially give of their time and energy, finances, and efforts for others and for the kingdom of God worship God in Spirit and in Truth.

And this work is always stretching to us as believers.

It is hard, but it is necessary.

D. Michael Martin in his commentary on Thessalonians says:

“But the nature of Christian love is such that it is always practiced, never mastered.”

D. Michael Martin

My friends, none of us will ever arrive when it comes to loving God or our brothers and sisters.

But we are encouraged by Paul to continue on more and more as we see at the end of verse 10.

This same phrase was seen in our last section of Scripture when Paul asked and urged the Thessalonian church to purse holiness and walk pleasing to God.

He tells this church and us as well - to pursue brotherly love in the same way.

Don’t be satisfied where you are - keep pressing onward.

We have now seen the ‘why’ of work.

We work to glorify God.

We work because we have been saved by Jesus Christ.

We work because we love Christ and our brothers and sisters in Christ.

However, in the next two verses we are going to begin to practically flesh out how we are to glorify God and love our brothers and sisters through our work and how that reveals Christ to the world.

First...

Scripture References: Romans 8:17, John 10:28, 1 John 4:19

II.

As Followers of Christ, We Should Seek to Worship God Through… The Way That We Work (11)

There are three practical instructions given in verse 11.

Paul ends the verse with letting the church know that he and his colleagues already discussed this while they were with them.

The first of these is to:

1. Aspire to live quietly.

This first practical command is that they are to have peaceful relations with others.

We glorify God through our peacemaking with others.

Have you ever worked with someone who was always stirring up strife?

They were always talking about something and never seemed to take a breath for someone else to speak.

They dominated conversations and ruffled feathers just about everywhere they went?

Maybe you work with one of those people now!

Hopefully you aren’t that person!

Those are usually the people that you do your best to avoid.

They are trouble-makers and are usually not trustworthy.

Paul is letting the church know that they need to be sure to not be like those people.

They need to slow to speak as we see in James 1:19:

Quiet and peaceful believers are not to the first ones to speak at every opportunity.

They take in what is around them and then speak in wisdom.

They also are calculated with their words:

Being quick to speak is a self-control problem as well.

As we discussed last week that sexual immorality is a self-control problem - this is just as much so.

Listen to Paul’s admonishment here and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grow in this area.

My friends, if we want to have good relationships with others while we work to glorify Christ, we must aspire, or seek diligently after - peace.

Let us live quietly and peaceably.