What Is Your Goal in Life? - 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

Judging from a recent photograph, the author of Life Way literature, Eli Landrum, Jr., must be in his mid 60s; and since he is writing to adult Christians, there is only one valid answer to his question. However, since there may be some of all ages studying the lesson today, it may be ambiguous. There is a truism that applies here: Time changes everything! Let us mention a few of the times in life when the answer to this question will vary greatly.

I have a brand new great grandson who seems to have only a very few goals in his life. He simply wants something that taste good and will quench his hunger and thirst. He feels uncomfortable and wants his diaper changed. He is spoiled rotten and wants someone to hold him that will stand and continue moving, up, down and sideways, so he can continually enjoy a bouncing, swaying, roller-coaster-ride.

My second great grandson is sixteen months old and his first three goals are the same regarding food, drink, and clean pants, but the third is very different. His goal is to move around so fast that no one can keep up with him and interfere with his desire to punch every button, turn every knob, and personally investigate everything that is in his reach—especially those that are delicate and breakable.

Now watch this. As they move through the stages of development, their goals will continue to change. From three to five, they will want to please their parents and others they love. When they start to school, their goal will be to please their teachers. As they enter their early teens their greatest goals will be to please their peers. In high school their goal will be to excel in sports, to please their coaches, and be popular with all the queens and their maids. This won’t change much as they enter college—but at some time along life’s way, if their parents do their job well, they will realize that the most important question facing them is: “What is my goal in life?” Any one beyond the age of accountability without goals for life is like a ship without a rudder; they are being guided by winds that are constantly changing direction. Or, they may be like a ship with no propeller, going no where.

Far too many of our young people today set their goals early in life without leadership and Christian counseling, and the focus is on pleasing themselves. They want to start at the top without the experiences needed and gained by working their way up. Any man that wants to start out as the CEO, and desires to retire as a millionaire at 30, is ego-centered and everything else—and everybody else is of no real importance in their life. Selfishness is an evil spirit used by Satan to lead God’s people to go for the things in life that gives them a false sense of pleasure, satisfaction, and fulfillment. They lose all desire to please even their families or any person that has befriended them along the way; and surely have no desire to please God.

I hope that you have the right mind set by this time to see that our lesson today is designed to encourage all Christians, regardless of age, that our number one goal in this life is to please God, by doing his will, keeping his commandments, and expressing our love for him as we live our lives with others in mind. He has told us that; “If you do it unto one of these, my little ones, you have done it unto me.”

Paul and his helpers spent about three weeks in Thessalonica preaching and teaching how to become Christians, and then how to live to please God. He was forced to move on before he was ready, but continued to be very interested in how well his message had been received. He made arrangements and tried to get back to see them, but Satan interfered, and so he sent Timothy back to check on the new church. Timothy came back with a glowing report on the successful growth of the church, and Paul was pleased and wrote and told the so. However, Timothy must have found that there was some immorality being practiced; otherwise why would Paul have written this 4th chapter of Thessalonians? In the second verse Paul reminds them that they had instructions from the Lord Jesus to live a life of purity.

In the verses through eight, we find that sexual standards were very low in the Roman Empire. From my reading and studying the practices of sexual promiscuity among the American people today, there is a close parallel. I worry about the possibility that this ungodly practice is even more prevalent today than it was then; and we know that Rome was destroyed because of their sin sicken, ungodly lives, supported and even encouraged by the leaders of that day. The sexual attraction that leads to overt sin has always been one of the strongest forces that have tempted man to sin against his fellow man and also against God. Succumbing to this temptation almost always brings a disastrous result. Sadly, we find that it usually reverberates through the family, the church and many times even the business community. These physical consequences are devastating, but are never more harmful than the spiritual consequences that follow. Do you understand that your body is the spiritual temple of the Holy Spirit? Do you understand that the Holy Spirit and Christ are one and the same? Do you realize that Christ will not, can not, live in a sinful surrounding? For confirmation you should read [1 Cor. 6: 18-20].

We must remember that sexual desires were created by God as a means to ensure reproduction among his people and it is spiritual pure and blessed by God when it is kept within the confines of a growing Godly family; only between the man and wife.

Verse 4 tells us that we must be sanctified—which starts with salvation and continues through life. Salvation is a single process that occurs instantly at the time you accept Christ as your Savior. It is a one time experience that never changes, never grows nor diminishes. Once saved, always saved—and you will never be any more saved than that first moment when you accept Jesus as Lord of you life. The event of salvation starts your sanctification process in motion but does not assure it to be complete. As Christians, we are being sanctified daily. That means that we are becoming more holy… [We become more like Christ]…in the process of living the Christian life. Unlike salvation, sanctification is not a single event; it is an ongoing process that includes every act, or thought, and it can change. Never forget that it is easier to loose your right relationship with Christ than it is to gain it back. It takes years to slowly build your reputation, but it can be lost in a moment’s time while committing a blatant sin. Thankfully Christ will forgive the sin of a Christian and remember it against you no more—but people are not nearly so forgiving…should be…but are not.

Verses 11 and twelve reminds us that there is more to sanctification [or Christian living] than just loving other Christians and being good. Evidently some of these people had gotten the idea that they were not obligated to work, and they could depend on others for handouts. Some of the converted Greeks actually looked down on those that did manual work. [This sounds like that several million of them are still living here in America, and voted in the last election.] Paul rebutted. He told them to work hard and live a quiet life. It was so then and it is in America today: you cannot be effective in you witness, [in sharing your faith with others] if they do not respect you. You can not live in negativity and grow in sanctification. What ever you do, you must live faithfully, guard against the sins that so easily beset you, and be a positive force in society. Nothing less pleases God.

Verse 13 indicates that the Thessalonians were not sure about the resurrection of the believers. Many of their friends had fallen asleep and they wondered about what happens to a Christian between death and the return of the Lord. He did not complicate his answer. We have nothing to worry about—because when Christ returns, all believers both dead and alive, will be with him never to be separated again.

Verse 15 refers to a fact that is according to “The Lord’s own word,” and there is no reference that indicates where this is to be found in the bible. I searched “feebly” and did not find this exact statement. I believe that this was a direct revelation that Christ gave to Paul—or it may have been a teaching of Jesus that did not get into print, but was heard by those that followed him daily and passed it along orally to or through the apostles. The truth is that those of us who are still alive will not be treated any differently from those who have died in Christ. We will be here and know what is happening, but the dead in Christ will be called first, when they arise, we will be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air. It reads like it will be a cloudy day. But there will be no cloudy minds, for we will be with the Lord forever.

To Paul, the exact order of things were not as important as it was for them to believe that there will be a resurrection, and that their loved ones will all be present to participate. It is meant to assure us of preferred treatment by God; and to comfort those that lose those that they love. We can use this passage to assure our love ones that they should have no dread for death. Death is a natural process just as living. Death is one of God’s blessings bestowed upon his people. Do you agree? If not, just think about how it would be to live 2000 more years on this earth with the illnesses and deformities that some have to bear. Paul thought that it would be better for him to be with the Lord than to have to continue as he was being persecuted.

Verses 15 to 18 teach that our new life totally depends on the fact that Christ Arose! The Archangel with the trumpet is an angel with leadership and authority. He will be God’s bandmaster blowing the last call to worship.