God’s Will: Abstain from Sexual Immorality – I Thessalonians

Brandon Werner   -   February 2, 2025

God’s Will: Abstain from Sexual Immorality

Together Church Sermons  |  Pastor Brandon Werner  | 

February 5, 2024  |  Series: 1 Thessalonians

 

 

INTRODUCTION

In today’s passage in 1 Thessalonians, Paul turns his attention to important matters related to how to be imitators of the examples and walk in a way that pleases God. At the top of this list is God’s will for our sanctification: that we would abstain from sexual immorality.

 

The subject matter of this passage is PG-13. At Together Church, parents are always welcome to keep their children with them. Based on the content of this passage, you may want to take advantage of childcare this morning.

 

  • Nursery available for children newborn through age 5.
  • Bible Zone for children age 6 to 4th
  • TODAY ONLY: class for young adults 5th grade – 8th

 

OPEN BIBLES to 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8.

Pray.

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

1 Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

A quick word count reveals that we are already well past the halfway mark of the book of 1 Thessalonians. But today’s passage marks a shift in Paul’s letter to this church.

 

Until now, this letter has been focused on praising the church for the reports Paul was receiving about them. Specifically, Paul had heard reports that told him they were…

  1. Genuine believers of the gospel.
  2. Identifying and imitating the right examples.
  3. Sharing deeply affectionate, meaningful relationships.

 

And Paul couldn’t have been more thrilled.

 

He was so thrilled that he spent THREE CHAPTERS praising them without raising a SINGLE PROBLEM OR ISSUE he wanted to address with them! Now, if you know Paul’s letters, you know that’s highly unusual.

 

From week one, we’ve called this letter “unique”. Add this to the list of things that make this letter and this church special. Paul would often move quickly to the problems and issues he wanted to address with church. Not so in this letter.

 

Instead, Paul spends three chapters lavishing praise for them and expressing his affection towards them. This letter reads more like a love letter from Paul to the church of the Thessalonians.

 

But now, after more than halfway through the letter, Paul decides to turn his attention to issues he wants to address in the church. And that’s the important shift happening in the text today. We are moving from celebrating the reports Paul had received to identifying and dealing with issues Paul wanted to address.

 

And the first issue in the church that Paul decided to address is the issue of sexual immorality.

 

But even the way he treats this issue is unique compared to many of his other letters. For example, look at how Paul addresses this issue in the letter he wrote to the church of the Corinthians…

 

1 Corinthians 5:1-2

1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

 

The reports Paul heard about this church told him that sexual immorality was an evident problem in the church! He addresses it sharply, then spends THREE ENTIRE CHAPTERS addressing issues of sexual immorality in their church.

 

But here, in 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul only spends 8 verses on this issue. Plus, he never says that he has heard a report about this church and their failure in this area. Wow, that’s very different!

 

Clearly, this issue was not prevalent here like it was in other churches. But Paul still decides to address this issue first. Why is that?

 

 

Based on the tone of this entire letter, I think the first thing we need to realize is that Paul deeply loved this church and he knew how sexual immorality would destroy their lives. He addressed this issue because of his great love for them.

 

Paul’s example is showing us what God is like. Have you ever considered that God’s commandments about sexual immorality are a gift from Him that flows out of God’s great love for you?

 

Paul really loved this church. That love motivated him to address the issue of sexual immorality.

 

But that’s not the only reason Paul addressed this issue.

  • Paul understood that this church was situated in a Gentile culture that was sexually permissive and excessive.
  • Paul knew that this temptation was common to all people.
  • Paul realized nothing would destroy these believers, this church, or their incredible witness to others faster than sexual immorality.

 

Do you realize that all these things are true about our church today?

  • God loves us and has given us these commands out of love.
  • American culture is sexually permissive and excessive.
  • This temptation is still common to all people.
  • Nothing will destroy our lives, this church, or our witness to others faster than sexual immorality.

 

 

Again, 1 Thessalonians is scripture. This letter was not just for the church of the Thessalonians, it is for us today. Just as Paul wanted to address the issue of sexual immorality in the church then, God wants to address that issue in us today.

 

 

What is God’s will for us concerning sexual immorality?

 

 

To guide us, we will ask and answer these three questions…

  1. What is sexual immorality?
  2. What is God’s will for sex?
  3. What are the consequences for sexual immorality?

 

 

BODY

  1. What is sexual immorality?

 

The English words “sexual immorality” are a translation from the Greek word “porneia” (por-ni’-ah).

 

The Greek word “porneia” was a word that was used to describe any form of sexual perversion; including fornication, adultery, incest, and bestiality.

 

Sex was God’s idea; a fact that Paul draws our attention to in today’s text. After raising the issue of sexual immorality in the church, Paul says…

 

1 Thessalonians 4:7-8

7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

 

If we disregard what God says about sex, we are disregarding God.

 

Sex was God’s idea:

  • He is the one who created the first man and the first woman with the ability to share sex.
  • He is the one who made the first man and the first woman with the physical attributes to have sex with one another.
  • He is the one who created it to be pleasurable so that we would have an appetite for it.
  • He is the one who made this physical act an act for marriage. He said the two shall become one flesh.
  • He is the one who made this physical act the means of procreation.
  • He is the one who made this act of marriage the single most important reminder of the marriage covenant.

 

As the Creator, God designed sex for marriage and marriage for sex.

 

According to God, sex is an act reserved for marriage. And, according to God, a marriage can only be established when His terms are met.

 

What are God’s terms for the marriage covenant?

  • One man and one woman
  • One flesh
  • One lifetime

 

When God’s terms for marriage are met, and when the act of marriage is exclusively shared within this marriage covenant, this marriage act is an incredible blessing from God.

 

The act of marriage is a memorial, a constant reminder that a man and a woman have entered into a sacred and exclusive partnership with one another before God. This exclusive partnership is based on this agreement: “All I have is yours and all you have is mine. What you own, I own, and what I own, you own.”

 

ILLUSTRATION:

Pastor Brandon, I was just offered the perfect job…

 

 

There’s nothing like the marriage covenant on earth! When a married couple align with God, they share a kind of commitment and oneness unlike any other human relationship. For this reason, God uses marriage as a portrait of the gospel and as an illustration for His relationship between Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5).

 

God knew this marriage covenant was so special, so unique, so wonderful, that there needed to be a physical act that would both celebrate and renew the covenant. That when we did things His way, our oneness in marriage would be so great that we wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less that a physical way to enjoy it.

 

So, he gave us sex as the marriage act.

 

According to God, sexual immorality is any sexual act practiced outside the marriage covenant.

  • When the marriage act is shared within the marriage covenant, it is a wonderful gift and is pleasing to God.
  • When the marriage act is practiced in any way outside the marriage covenant, God calls it “porneia” or “sexual immorality”.

 

So, what is sexual immorality? It is an abuse of God’s good gift. It is any form of practicing the marriage act outside the covenant of marriage.

 

 

  1. What is God’s will for sex?

 

The Apostle Paul tells us God’s will in this passage:

 

1 Thessalonians 4:1-3

Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality

 

God’s will for us, according to these verses, is for us to…

  • Walk in a way that pleases Him
  • To follow the examples He has provided
  • For us to follow the instructions we have been given

 

God’s will is for us to abstain from sexual immorality.

 

Paul said the church in Thessalonica was doing this, but that didn’t stop him from addressing this issue. He said they needed to do it and keep doing it more and more.

 

God’s will for sex is that we would abstain from sexual immorality.

 

  • He is the one who said this act of marriage should never be shared with anyone other than the one person with whom you have entered into a marriage covenant with.

 

  • He is the one who set limits on who a person could marry. Those limits included restrictions on incestual relations and relations with a person of the same gender.

 

  • He is the one who called performing the act of marriage before marriage fornication.

 

  • He is the one who called performing the act of marriage with another person outside of your marriage adultery.
  • He is the one who said that the act of adultery is so severe that it is justification for divorce.

 

  • He is the one who told the Jews that adultery was a capital offense. In other words, He is the one who made sure that if a married man or a woman committed adultery, there marriage to their spouse was over because their spouse was executed according to His law.

 

If America was following God’s law for the Jews, there would be random piles of stones all over this great nation reminding us how serious this offense of sexual immorality is to God.

 

If you’re not familiar, stones were often used to cover the graves of people who had been executed in the nation of Israel according to God’s law for sins they committed unto death.

 

While these laws of capital punishment for adulterers are not prescribed for the church to follow today, they do reveal how serious God is about this sin.

 

 

God said it. His will for you is to abstain from sexual immorality.

How does a person learn to do this? The Apostle Paul tells us that, in order to abstain from sexual immorality, a person must learn how to control their own body.

 

There are appetites in the flesh. Those appetites are not always inherently evil. ILLUSTRATION: Food and sleep.

 

In the same way, God made our bodies with an appetite for the marriage act.

 

To control our own bodies, we must learn how to stop allowing the appetites of our flesh to control us. How do you do that?

 

It’s already been covered in the text. It’s what Paul was celebrating in them in the first three chapters. It’s why they were already winning in this church…

  • They were genuine believers of the gospel
  • They were identifying and following the right examples
  • They were sharing real relationships with others in the church

 

If you want to learn to control your own body, you have to devote yourself to these things Paul celebrated in this church. You cannot do this alone. You need the gospel, you need discipleship, and you need real relationships with others. That is the only way you can learn to live the holy life God wants you to live.

 

What is God’s will for you concerning sex? His will is your sanctification; that you would learn to control your body in holiness with honor; that you would abstain from sexual immorality.

 

 

  1. What are the consequences for sexual immorality?

 

We’ve already heard some:

  • For the Jews, it was death.
  • For married people, it is grounds for divorce.
  • For the man in Corinth, it was excommunication from the Christian community.

 

In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul warns the church that God does not overlook sexual immorality. He says he’s giving them this instruction to abstain from sexual immorality – WHY? …

 

1 Thessalonians 4:6

that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you.

 

This is not the only place in the Bible that God’s Word warns us of consequences for practicing sexual immorality, especially when believers practice sexual immorality in the church.

 

For example, here’s how the Apostle Paul described the consequences of sexual immorality in…

 

1 Corinthians 6:18

18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

 

This is a scary warning. In this verse, Paul elevates the consequences of this sin above every other sin. He says that, unlike every other sin, the sin of sexual immorality is a sin committed against your own bodies.

 

There are several ways the realities of this verse can be seen in those who practice sexual immorality. I’ll give you just a few of them…

 

When you practice sexual immorality, you sin against your own body. The consequences of this sin are seen in the way this sin…

 

  • Damages your mind.

 

Even secular organizations are sounding the alarm for how pornography and other sexual sins destroy people’s minds.

  • It ruins relationships
  • It turns people into objects
  • It leads to sexual abuse

 

Sexual addition is real. Like any addiction, sexual addiction is an assault on your mind. But that’s not all. Sexual immorality is a sin against your own body in the way it…

 

 

  • Makes you callous towards truth.

 

Ephesians 4 warns that sexual immorality will cause a person to be callous towards the truth.

 

Show me a person who has fallen away from the church, and I will show you a person who is practicing sexual immorality. This sin is almost always at the root of a person becoming callous towards the truth. Rather than receiving God’s forgiveness, finding freedom from shame, and learning to walk in God’s truth, these people allow shame to overcome them, and they finally resort to abandoning the truth.

 

 

  • Ruins your relationships.

 

The world wants people to believe that sharing the marriage act outside of marriage is normal and doesn’t ruin relationships. But everyone knows that sex changes relationships. Perhaps a person can sear their conscience so much that they become numb, but that searing doesn’t stop the trauma, pain, and shame this sin invites.

 

 

  • Leads you to greater sin.

 

Sexual sin is never satisfied. The appetite continues to grow. Eventually, this sin leads to terrible perversions and choices.

 

Our society recognizes the seriousness of this sin through the laws it creates to punish this sin as it grows. If you don’t learn to control your own body, you could end up in prison. No Christian who ends up in jail for this sin ever thought they would. This sin is never satisfied and it always leads to greater sin.

 

 

  • You will experience God’s discipline.

 

In today’s passage, Paul warns the church that “God is an avenger in all these things.” Specifically, this passage is talking about when a believer defrauds another believer through this act.

 

As this sin leads to greater sins, you’ll be amazed at the people it will cause you to harm. We’ve all heard the stories of pastors committing this sin and it coming to light. We’ve all heard stories of affairs in the church, abuse in the church, or inappropriate conduct among members of the church.

 

God will not be passive. What Paul is explicitly saying in this passage is that God will not overlook the sin of sexual immorality in the church, nor the way that sin defrauds others. When you practice this sin in the church, Paul warns that God will act.

 

 

I tell you, I’ve only scratched the surface of the devastating consequences for those who disregard God and practice sexual immorality in the church. I haven’t even touched how it ruins our reputation for Jesus, destroys our witness, makes us appear as hypocrites to outsiders, causes severe harm to children in the home, or opens ourselves up to greater attacks from Satan.

 

The consequences for this sin are unlike any other. Contrary to popular narrative, no sexual sin is a “victimless crime.” There are always casualties to sexual immorality, and the Apostle Paul says YOU are always a victim of your own sexual immorality because this sin is a sin against your own body.

 

 

CONCLUSION

So, we return to our main question: What is God’s will for sexual immorality? The answer? That you abstain from it. That you would control your body in holiness and honor.

 

This issue may not have been visible on the surface in the Thessalonian church when Paul wrote this letter; but that didn’t stop him from addressing this issue. Paul loved this church, and he understood the devastation this sin brings.

 

So, Paul loved this church by addressing this issue first. Paul’s example of loving addressing this issue is a picture of God’s love for us. Every commandment from God flows out of His love. God knows that when you abuse His good gifts and practice sexual immorality it will destroy your life.

 

Today, you’ve experienced God’s love. Instead of this sin going unaddressed, God has blessed you by revealing His truth to you. If you are recognizing that, what should you do?

 

First, realize that keeping this sin a secret will only make it worse:

  • If you have committed adultery and haven’t told your spouse, you are holding your spouse hostage in a marriage where they don’t have a choice to exercise their right to either forgive you and reestablish the marriage covenant with you or divorce you and leave the marriage.
  • If you are living in sexual immorality, your secrecy will keep you trapped while the consequences for your sin continue to grow.
  • If you think no one knows about your sin, you are wrong. God knows and sees it all. And your disregard for this sin is not a disregard for man, it is a disregard for God.

 

Let me ask: are you practicing sexual immorality? Or are you constantly struggling with a temptation to sexual immorality but you are keeping it secret?

 

God’s Word warns us: be sure your sin will find you out.

 

Do not assume you can escape the consequences of your sin and continue in it. If you’ve been engaged in sexual activity of any kind outside of marriage, your best hope is to confess, repent, and throw yourself on the mercies of God. I cannot promise you will not face any more consequences if you are honest, but I can promise that genuine repentance and bringing sin into the light is always better than hiding.

 

1 John 1 says if we bring our sins into the light and confess them, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleans us from all unrighteousness.

 

Aren’t you tired of living in unrighteousness? God has made a way for your sins to be forgiven, your shame to be covered, and for you to live a new life of holiness and honor in Christ Jesus.

 

God is merciful and full of love. If you will be honest, His grace will be enough for you regardless of what you face. Will you turn to Jesus today?

 

 

INVITATION

The first part of this invitation is for believes in Jesus. Have you been practicing sexual immorality as a member of Jesus’ Church? Or have you been struggling with the temptation to practice sexual immorality?

 

  • Confess your sin to God
  • Come receive prayer
  • Purpose to get into a discipleship relationship (transparent)

 

 

INVITATION TO LOST

There are some here this morning who have never decided to follow Jesus. But perhaps you are experiencing God’s love through His conviction of sin. If that is you, I have great news for you…

 

SHARE THE GOSPEL

INVITATION TO BAPTISM

Watch the Sermon