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Following is an excerpt of "Service with a Smile (5 of 9)" by Keith Krell added on 10/16/2009.
This content is part of a series.
Service with a Smile (5 of 9)
Series: No Rest for the Righteous
Keith Krell
1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

One day, Frederick the Great of Prussia was walking on the outskirts of Berlin when he encountered a very old man walking in the opposite direction. "Who are you?" Frederick asked his subject. "I am a king," replied the old man. "A king!" laughed Frederick. "Over what kingdom do you reign?" "Over myself," was the proud old man's reply. This old man was on to something. Each of us is "monarch" over our own lives. By that I mean we are responsible for ruling our actions and decisions. To make consistently good decisions, to take the right action at the right time, and to refrain from the wrong actions requires character and self-discipline. To do otherwise is to lose control of ourselves—to potentially destroy our witness or disqualify ourselves from ministry. When we are foolish, we want to conquer the world. When we are wise, we want to conquer ourselves. This begins when we do what we should, no matter how we feel about it.

Today, in 1 Thess 4:1-12 we will learn how to do what we should. It is important to recognize that we have arrived at the center of the book of 1 Thessalonians. To clearly see this, it will be helpful to return to the theme of the letter found in 1:9-10. In these two verses, Paul summarizes the three components of the argument of his book. He writes, "(1) For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols (2) to serve a living and true God, and (3) to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come." The first section entails 2:1-3:13; the second section deals with our present text (4:1-12); and the third and final section encompasses the remainder of the book (4:13-5:28). The structure of the theme verses in 1:9-10 point readers to the center of the letter: "to serve the living and true God." Or as I shall suggest, "walk His way." In the twelve verses of 1 Thess 4:1-12, Paul exhorts us to walk His way by being sexually pure, loving other believers, and working not meddling.

1. Serve God by being sexually pure (4:1-8). In these first eight verses, Paul explains that God's will is for us to become holy ("sanctified") like Jesus. In 4:1-2 he writes, "Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk ), that you excel still more. For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus." Paul begins this chapter with the word "finally." Have you heard the latest definition of an optimist? It is someone who believes the preacher is almost finished when he says "finally." From a purely statistical point of view, it is interesting to note that in chapters 1-3 there is a total of 43 verses, and in chapters 4-5 there are a whoppin ...

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