1 Thessalonians 4 Discussion

God’s will is not a scavenger hunt. Paul says it plainly in 1 Thessalonians 4: your sanctification. That lands in a place most of us would rather keep vague, especially when it touches sexual immorality, self-control, and the call to honor God with our bodies. We slow down and take the passage seriously, including the warning that brushing this off is not merely disagreeing with a pastor or a tradition, but disregarding God Himself who gives the Holy Spirit. 

Then we pivot to the kind of faithfulness that rarely goes viral but changes everything: living quietly, minding our own affairs, and working with our hands. We talk about why ordinary integrity builds real credibility with outsiders, and how private holiness should fuel public witness. If you’ve ever felt the tension between public zeal and private habits, this section hits home with practical application you can start today. 

Finally, we step into one of the most debated paragraphs in the New Testament: the hope of the resurrection and being “caught up” to meet the Lord. We walk through the rapture language, lay out two different ways Christians understand Christ’s return, and keep the main purpose front and center: encouragement for grieving believers. Jesus is coming back, the dead in Christ will rise, and our sorrow is not the end of the story. 

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Transcript

Welcome And Chapter Roadmap

Pastor Plek 0:10

And welcome back to a chapter day. Keeps the devil away. I'm Pastor Pleck. That's Pastor Holland. We're talking First Thessalonians chapter four. We're gonna outline it, observe it, interpret it, and then apply it so that you can be fully equipped to take on the devil in the darkness today by the power of Jesus Christ. Okay, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 1 through 8, a call to holy living. He gives us God's will in these eight verses that we need to pay attention to. Then in verses 9 through 12, he then talks about the next part of our life is to live a life full of love and quiet faithfulness, abounding in brotherly love. Then in verses 13 through 18, he talks about the hope of the resurrection and specifically the rapture. So we're gonna get into that here in a

God’s Will And Sexual Purity

Pastor Plek 0:55

little bit. All right, so let's get into some observations. What do you see here?

Pastor Holland 1:00

All right, in the previous chapter, we found out that our destiny is to suffer for Jesus. And now we get to find out the will of God. It says, This is the will of God. How exciting is that? So many people, what's my destiny? What is God's will for my life? Here's what he says that you abstain from sexual immorality. That is the will of God for your life. I love that.

Pastor Plek 1:21

And that it's kind of wild. Like, and he doesn't just say it. I think when I've read this verse before, I just take that one verse and then I forget that he goes on and on. For a while. Yeah. He's like, for this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual morality. And so you're like, okay, got it. And then he's like, that each one of you know how to control his own body and holiness and honor. And then he keeps not in the passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God. And that no one transgressed or wrong his brother in this manner. How could you transgress and wrong your brother in this matter? Because the Lord is an avenger. Like, this is where like there's like revenge, avenging happening. Yeah. Because your sexual immorality. What do you think that's referring to? That God will judge the sexually immoral. Like, I feel like that. And and then I think I the big piece of this don't wrong your brother by getting him involved in sexual immorality. Do you think that could be the direct correlation there?

Pastor Holland 2:14

Yeah, I mean, you're you're sinning with the person that you're engaged in sexual immorality with, and you're also um corrupting the church and setting a bad example um for other believers and the testimony of the church to the world um by your sin. And so your sin is not just you, it affects other people.

Pastor Plek 2:35

Okay, and this this is distinct. For God has not called us for impurity but in holiness. This feels like, wow, that seems really legalistic. You're going back to Levitical Holiness Codes. What is happening here, Holland?

Pastor Holland 2:48

It's straight up by what holiness means is to be set apart from the world for God.

Pastor Plek 2:53

Yeah, so therefore I love therefore whoever disregards this disregards not man but God who gives his Holy Spirit to you. Yeah. If there was no greater warning to churches that have said, you know what, the the Christian sex ethic of the past is a dated thing from the 1950s or something, um, you need to wake up that this has been the Christian sex ethic for like millennia. And if you tor try to throw that off, you are violating the will of God by violating God's word. It like, because this is obviously God's word, but here Paul's saying, this is the will of God for you.

Pastor Holland 3:30

Yeah, that's that's heavy. It's as clear as can be. Anyone who's like, yeah, I'm a Christian, but uh, you know, sexual immorality, uh, it's okay for me because XYZ is a good thing. We have a deal. God and I have a deal. Yes. And me and her were married in our hearts, and you know, we whatever it is, it's straight up saying you have put yourself at odds with God. Yeah.

Pastor Plek 3:54

And and so there should be a listen, I I don't want to kind of create like a bump, bump, bump, doomsday, but the reality is there is there is a separation between you and God because you are not on God's team. Now, did you know that God will forgive you uh no matter what darkness that you're in? And you're just cry out to him, repent, turn to him. I think that becomes an aspect here of like this is what everybody was doing. The whole culture was immersed in sexual morality. It's like he's like, listen, not in the passion of lust, like the Gentiles who don't know God. Don't be like the rest of the world who has no standard of holiness.

unknown 4:27

Okay.

Pastor Plek 4:28

So amen. Am I getting was that too much of a soapbox? All right.

Quiet Faithfulness As Public Witness

Pastor Plek 4:32

Well, what else do you see here for observation?

Pastor Holland 4:34

I really love verses 11 and 12. Aspire to live quietly and mind your own affairs. Wow. Does that mean not get involved in like public discourse? No. So look, he says, uh, and to work with your hands as we instructed you. But then verse 12, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. He says, your ability to work hard and live with integrity and live a peaceful life will actually be a witness. Yeah, will give you an opportunity to witness and you have credibility because you live a noble and admirable life. Oh, that's really good. So your public discourse, your public evangelism, your public engagement, um, all of that should come out of the fact that you're privately living a life that is honorable to God and peaceful and holy and godly, all those things. Um living that kind of peaceful, quiet life supports your public engagement.

Pastor Plek 5:31

In fact, this might be the classic John Piperism: never let your public zeal outdo your private zeal. Oh, yeah. That's good. Okay.

Rapture And Resurrection Views

Pastor Plek 5:38

How about this last bit here? Like you look at verse 13 through 18. We're talking some stuff about the rapture. This is where the word rapturo comes in the Latin. You may have heard that rapture is not in the Bible, but guess what? It is. Verse 17. When the then we who are alive who are left will be caught up. That caught up is rapturo in Latin. Okay. Rapturo. Rapturo. Okay, so what do you think about this, Holland? I know you and I have a different view here. This could get a little scarioso uh if we look at this too tightly.

Pastor Holland 6:11

Yeah, so here's what he says Um, those who are alive who are left until the coming of the Lord. So this is what we're talking about the coming of the Lord. And uh it says that those who are alive will not precede those who have fallen asleep. So first thing chronologically here is those who have fallen asleep will rise. Um and so this is talking about uh the resurrection of the dead, those who who have already died in Christ will rise, and then it says Jesus will descend from heaven, and then those who are still alive will join him in the air, will be caught up with him in the air, along with the rest of the saints who have already rose. Right. So your view is that this happens.

Pastor Plek 6:56

This is distinct. This is a distinct event where believers are caught up to meet Christ in the air, not on earth, indicating a separate coming from the visible second coming, Revelation 19. So the dead in Christ, who are already to be absent with the Lord, is to be present with Christ, they're already with him, and that the when Jesus comes back, the Christians that are on earth are raptured up to him, and then they stay with him in heaven, and then that's when the seven-year uh tribulation will begin.

Pastor Holland 7:26

Okay. So, in in your view, there's essentially two second comings of Jesus.

Pastor Plek 7:30

It's one second coming split by two different pieces. Because he doesn't make it to the earth at that point, he just is like and we meet him in the air. Otherwise, your view is you get like an elevator up to Jesus and you come back down.

Pastor Holland 7:43

Exactly. Um, yes, which is uh so like in the parable where the um the groom, you know, comes uh to the city into the city for his wedding, they go out to meet him and welcome him and then walk with him back in. That's a common way to greet a king, a ruler, a gentleman. That's how you give a uh a welcome to someone, a dignified person. That's fair. So my my view is that there's one second coming of Jesus. I I agree with that. Well, uh that there's one part. So your uh your view is that this happens, this this first one happens secretly and invisibly, right?

Pastor Plek 8:25

It's not secretly. I mean, because it's gonna happen like all of a sudden there's a bunch of people left behind, and you're gonna go, uh-oh. Uh-oh. There's all the Christians, the holy the restrainer of this world is gone, uh, and evil sort of like gets their day, and that's when the antiquity is.

Pastor Holland 8:38

And this happens with uh a cry of command and the voice of an archangel and the sound of the trumpet of God.

Pastor Plek 8:43

That probably only those who uh are saved can hear and see and witness. Everybody else is like, that's not in here, but okay. When whenever uh Jesus is talking to Paul, no one else can understand what's going on. Everyone's just like, I just thought it thundered. You know, I think that might be the Okay.

Pastor Holland 9:00

Yeah. But it says that the dead in Christ will rise at this time. So you believe that the resurrection of those who have already died in Christ happens at this first return of Jesus? So the dead in Christ are already with him. Hold on. No, spiritually they are, but their bodies are on earth. Let's take a look. What is it? So the dead in Christ will rise first, verse 16. At the at the sound of the trumpet. Right.

Pastor Plek 9:24

It's saying that the dead in Christ are already with him. Because he's saying, like, hey, listen, those the the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

unknown 9:34

Wait.

Pastor Plek 9:34

For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. So the those who fallen asleep go first. They're with Jesus, and then whenever we are raptured, we go up to join him, and all those who are with him.

Pastor Holland 9:48

So you take the dead in Christ will rise first that that's already happened.

Pastor Plek 9:51

There are they're like the dead, like when you are you're risen with Jesus in a spiritual sense, like to be Yeah, but they you believe their bodies will be raised, right?

Pastor Holland 10:03

One day, at the re at the second resurrection, they'll be reunited with their body. So that's so I guess my position is that's what he's talking about here. It says the dead in Christ will rise first, um, and then we who are alive will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the body.

Pastor Plek 10:20

And then they go up to meet Jesus first, and then you get on the elevator after them, and then come back down.

Pastor Holland 10:26

Yeah, that basically all the there's that the resurrection, the come the return of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the dead is one event, not two. You say it's two events, yeah.

Pastor Plek 10:38

I'm saying we we join, we join the Lord in heaven, uh in some sort of spiritual sense. And I don't know if that means our bodies are left here, or if like we get to go with our body to heaven, or what that looks like, but there's something that happens there that's separate and distinct from Revelation 19 when you know the the saints all come down following Jesus on the white horse.

Pastor Holland 11:01

So our if we go to heaven, so if our bodies are left here, that means all of a sudden slew of dead bodies are. I don't I don't I I think because our bodies can't join him in heaven without being glorified first. He might glorify him. But doesn't that happen at the final judgment and the new creation?

Pastor Plek 11:18

I think it does for those who are uh martyred during the tribulation period.

Pastor Holland 11:23

Okay. So those are those are some of my problems with it. Of I go, I to it doesn't make sense to me that these are two distinct events, that there's two returns of Christ. My position is basically all of this happens at one time. The Lord Jesus returns, the dead are raised, um, uh the living join him in the air. Uh, and then essentially we participate with Jesus in final judgment. We're judged by him, and then we judge the world, as he says in 1 Corinthians, right? Um, and then uh the uh judgment of unbelievers being cast into hell with Satan and his angels, um, and then the new creation and new Jerusalem coming. Yeah. So all of that happens at one grand final event, would be my position.

Pastor Plek 12:10

Yeah, and I would say that uh Revelation 1 through 3, then after that, you got this like weird awkward between Revelation 3 and 4. Here's 1 Thessalonians 4, 17. Bam, we are caught up into the throne room of God somewhere out with our body, not our body. I don't know, the Lord knows. Uh and we go and experience uh Jesus. There is, and the restrainer of evil, which we'll talk about later, is removed because we have the Holy Spirit.

Pastor Holland 12:36

That's 2 Thessalonians, right? Right.

Pastor Plek 12:37

So we're gonna get into that next uh letter. And and so I think that's what happens is like the evil is fully allowed to go do its its thing because the Holy Spirit is uh not on the earth. And then you have the the antichrist take over, start declaring himself to be God, and then you have all the beasts, the prophets, but people come to faith in the tribulation period, and the blood of the martyrs happens. Eventually, we all come back down to with our white robes on horses, ready to take on the enemy, following Jesus with the sword in his mouth, and we don't have any weapons, we just go, Yeah, get him, you know.

Pastor Holland 13:12

Nice.

Pastor Plek 13:14

All right, all right,

Grief With Hope In Christ

Pastor Plek 13:15

yeah. So, uh, what does this teach about people?

Pastor Holland 13:19

Um, that we have to wait for Jesus to come back.

Pastor Plek 13:24

Yeah. I like that. You know, Jesus coming at all was a two-parter, right? He came to die on the cross, and then he's coming back again. It just happens to be there's a two-parter with a two-parter. Anyway, uh also, how about um that we can be uninformed? Uh, people can be uninformed about those who are dead, and they can grieve like people who don't know Jesus do. And we need to be trained to grieve to have sadness, but to know that our hope is in heaven and that Jesus is gonna make all things sad, untrue.

Pastor Holland 13:55

Yeah, that's good. Um, also, kind of back from the rapture stuff to the first section, yeah. Um uh teaches us about people that we are really tempted towards sexual immorality. Yeah, this is something that comes up in like every single letter, and it always gets a little bit like more treatment than other sins, even. Like um, Paul talks about it's the only one that kind of um that the affects the Holy Spirit in that way. Yeah, well, is it First Corinthians uh six? Um somewhere around there, uh, where he talks about like every other sin is outside of a person's body, but sexual immorality, like this is unique in the way that it affects your body, it's inside a person's body in a sense. First Corinthians six eighteen. Um and so here he he you know singles it out again and gives several verses on just warning about how impure and unholy it is. And so it teaches that like we really need to understand um the sin of sexual immorality and we really need to repent from it and keep ourselves

Holy Spirit Power And Practical Obedience

Pastor Holland 15:01

from it. Yeah.

Pastor Plek 15:01

All right, let's get into the character of God. God is all about holiness. I think probably first sorry, sorry, when we talk about uh yeah, character God, he is holy, he is different, separate, and he's calling Christians to be unique and separate from the world in a distinct way. And I remember when Paul writes to uh the Corinthians in that same chapter, 1 Corinthians 6, he's saying not that you should like not have anything to do with outsiders, because then you'd have to leave the world. Yeah, but you should be distinct in the way that you characterize yourself, and the primary way that makes you distinct is your uh sexuality. It seems to be that's a primary way to show you're distinguished from the world.

Pastor Holland 15:40

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's just so common in the world. Um, and God calls us out of it because he's holy. Um, we also see that uh God is He resurrects the dead, and um He's coming back again to judge bring us back uh you know, those who have already died, um, and we who are still alive, you know, we don't know when He's coming back, but to give us resurrection bodies, to give us eternal life, um, He's a He's an eternal God and He's a resurrecting God.

Pastor Plek 16:14

I think God gives us His spirit to empower holy living and promises resurrection. So I I just love how God is all about empowering us. Like He doesn't just like I think the sexuality thing can be so challenging because people are just stuck. And when you're stuck like Chuck, you're like, I don't know how I'm gonna overcome this. Uh it's impossible for me. But God doesn't just leave you alone, be like, figure it out down there. No, he indwells you by the power of the Holy Spirit. He gives you his promises, he gives you the strength, the courage, surrounds you with the church. Uh, and I always say, like, you know, God's word, God's spirit, God's people, he gives you all three of those things to do God's will.

Pastor Holland 16:52

Yeah, that's good.

Pastor Plek 16:53

Um, how about application, which is sin to confess or or uh avoid a promise to claim, example to follow, command to obey, or knowledge to believe. What do you have here for that?

Pastor Holland 17:04

Aspire to live quietly and mind your own affairs and work with your hands. Nice. I think that's a really good command for the church today.

Pastor Plek 17:13

Okay. How about sin to confess impurity or sin to avoid sexual sin?

Pastor Holland 17:21

Yeah. Um don't be uninformed. Verse 13. Know the word. Yeah. Um, study, study the word, and um read, you know, every time if you ever read something in the Bible where you're like, that's weird, I don't know what that is. My encouragement is like write it down, look it up, study it, find use your Bible, you know, cross-reference stuff, um, get a study Bible. Don't just kind of be like, oh, that was weird and keep moving. Like, really study to to know know God's word.

Pastor Plek 17:52

That's good. Uh how about just encourage others with the hope of Christ? Like, I feel like that's a great command obey. Encourage 18. Yeah, encourage others. Like, we need to remind people, Jesus is coming back soon. I I just feel like there's so many people with sicknesses and ailments, and it's temporarily the worst. Like you're just like, I am so sorry, and it's hard, and the marriage is hard, and the kids are hard, and the body organ failure and sickness is hard, but Jesus is coming back, and your hope is in him leaning to that.

Pastor Holland 18:24

Amen. Yeah, that's great.

Pastor Plek 18:27

Um, yeah. Hey, why don't we wrap it up there? Hey, thanks so much for joining us. We'll see you next time on a chapter a day.