Chapter Study & Analysis
Overview
1 Thessalonians 4 exhorts the church to "walk and to please God," specifically regarding sexual purity and brotherly love. It concludes with the foundational comfort regarding the Rapture, explaining that both the dead and living in Christ will meet the Lord in the air.
CONTEMPORARY APPLICATIONS
1. The Will of God: Sanctification: God’s clear will is our sanctification, specifically that we "abstain from fornication" (v. 3). We must possess our vessels in sanctification and honor, contrary to the lusts of the world.
2. Doing Your Own Business: Believers are told to "study to be quiet" and to work with their own hands (v. 11). A quiet, productive, and honest life is a powerful testimony to those who are outside the faith.
3. Comfort in the Resurrection: We sorrow not as others who have no hope (v. 13). The promise of the Lord’s descent with a shout and the reunion with our departed loved ones is our ultimate comfort in the face of death.
Practical Lessons
FORMAL PRAYER
O Lord, who shalt descend from heaven with a shout: we thank Thee for the blessed hope of the Resurrection. Grant us grace to walk in purity and quietness, comforted by the promise that we shall ever be with Thee. Amen.