PRACTICAL CHRISTIAN LIVING
I Thessalonians 4:9-12
The city of Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn
to serve as the capital of the colony of Pennsylvania. He named the city Philadelphia meaning “city of brotherly love” because as aQuaker, he had experienced religious persecution and wanted
his colony to be a place where anyone could worship freely. This tolerance for anyone to practice their faith was much greater than what most of the other 12 colonies allowed.
It led to better relations with the local Native Indian tribes and resulted in the rapid growth of Philadelphia into the most important cities in the colonies so they held the Continental Congress there. It was there on July 2, 1776 that the Declaration of Independence was signed that the United States might become a new nation.
People want to be accepted, cared for and loved even though they are different than those around them. Even though everyone is
different and unique they want to be included in a group.
Brotherly love is demonstrated by:
1. Accepting others even though they are different than you.
2. Believing God loves them as much as he does you.
3. Caring about what is important to them.
4. Helping them do something they are struggling with.
5. Working together to accomplish a goal.
LOVE FELLOW BELIEVERS :9-10
Practice love :9
Brotherly love (6x) – Gk. philadelphia from philos meaning
love and adelphia meaning brother. It is the natural love which family members have for one another because they are related.
Note: this is a different word than agapa which is translated love. It is a choice you make in the best interest of the other person.
Brotherly love is the natural love you have for your father, mother, sister, brother and other member of your extended family.
Genesis 33:4 After being separated for 20 years when Esau saw his brother Jacob he ran to met him and embraced him and kissed him.
Esau embraced Jacob with the greatest respect and tenderness and fell on his neck which showed his great affection. He loved Jacob because he was his brother even though he had stolen his rightful blessing from Isaac their father.
In the NT “brotherly love” is always the love we have for fellow believers in Christ because we all are part of the family of God.
Romans 12:10 Love one another with brotherly affection.
The believers in Rome came from many different backgrounds.
Some were Jews and others were Gentiles, but even more than that
some were slaves and others were businessmen. They came from
different cultures and backgrounds, but now that they were believers in Christ they were all part of the family of God.
Taught by God – composed of the words God and instruction.
This word does not occur anywhere else in the NT.
John Calvin – “He means that love was engraved on their hearts.”
They were not taught to love fellow believers because someone taught them that was the right thing to do, but by the Spirit of God.
I John 4:7-8 Let us love one another, for love is from God and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone
Who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Continue to love :10
Macedonia – the province to the north of Greece where they lived which included the cities of Berea and Philippi.
They needed to persevere in their love because it is easy to begin, but harder to continue to do be faithful in loving others.
1. Circumstances cause us to change what we do.
2. Difficulties can take away our desire to love others.
3. Time tends to cause us to not be as faithful as when we started.
Application
Brotherly love is the natural affection you have for your family.
Matthew 10:37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me
is not worthy of me and whoever loves son or daughter more
then me is not worthy of me.
1. You care about their needs and desire to help them.
2. You want them to be successful in what they do.
3. You support them in what they are going through.
Love can be shown in practical ways:
1. Help meet a need – pay a bill, make a meal or fix something.
2. Pray for their specific need and let them know you are praying.
3. Visit them so you get to know them and their needs.
LIVE AS EXAMPLES TO UNBELIEVERS :11-12
Your life :11
1. Live a quiet life.
Aspire (KJB study, NIV your ambition) – Gk. desire or goal.
It will take effort (Romans 15: 20 strive, II Cor. 5:9 labor).
Live quietly – Gk. to be at rest or be still.
Luke 23:56 When the women returned from the crucifixion
they prepared spices and rested the Sabbath day.
Here it means Christians are not to be running here and there,
but they are to stay at home and mind their own business.
They should first minister to their own families instead of being involved in everything that takes place in their communities.
M. Henry – “It is the most desirable thing to have a calm and quiet temper, and to be of a peaceable and quiet behavior. This tends much to our own and others’ happiness. We should be ambitious and industrious how to be calm and quiet in our minds, in patience to possess our own souls, and to be quiet towards others; or of a meek and mild, a gentle and peaceable disposition, not given to strife, contention, or division.”
Satan uses trouble and strife to cause us to be disturbed.
2. Mind your own business.
Believers are to be faithful in what God has given them to do.
They are not to be involved in things that do not concern them.
Some believers, probably because they were not working,
were involved in the affairs and business of other people.
II Thess. 3:11-12 We hear that some among you walk in idleness,
not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly.
Henry – “Those who are busy-bodies, meddling in other men’s matters, have little quiet in their own minds and cause great
disturbance among their neighbors.”
3. Work to support yourself.
The Greeks in general thought manual labor was degrading and was only fit for slaves to do. Christians took seriously the need for earning their own living, but some were lazy thinking that the Lord would return at any time and did not work to support themselves, but instead relied on others to support them.
With your hands – work is always done with our hands whether
it is working a computer, cutting the lawn, washing dishes, digging a ditch or sowing a garment it is our hands that do the work.
Calvin – “He uses the word “hands” as a synonym; but there can be no doubt he includes every useful employment of human life.”
Paul gave dignity to work with one’s hands by his own example.
He worked to support himself by making tents (Acts 18:3).
Examples of work
1. Abraham, Moses and David were all shepherds.
2. Amos was a shepherd and orchardist (1:1; 7:14).
3. Joseph, Mary’s husband, was a carpenter (Matthew 13:55).
4. Peter, James and John were fishermen (Matthew 4:18).
5. Matthew was a tax collector (Matthew 9:9).
6. Luke was a medical doctor (Colossians 4:14).
7. Dorcas made clothes for people (Acts 9:38).
All our work is to be done to the glory of God.
Application
1. Work is not punishment, but obedience to God’s command.
God made man to work even before Adam and Eve sinned.
Genesis 2:15 The LORD God took Adam and put him in the
garden of Eden to work it and keep it (NIV take care of it).
2. Laziness is sin because God created man to work.
Proverbs 10:4 Lazy-hands (KJB sluggard) result in poverty.
Proverbs 13:4 The lazy person craves food, but there is none.
Our society today rewards those who will not work by giving them government subsidies such as: welfare checks and food stamps.
It creates a dependency on the government and more taxes for those who do work to support themselves and their families.
3. People are to work to support themselves and their family.
Christians are not be lazy, but instead to be an example to others.
Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord.
Calvin – “Nothing is more unseemly than a man that is idle and good for nothing, who profits neither himself nor others.”
Protestant work ethic
The phrase was initially coined n 1905 by Max Weber in is
his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
It emphasizes that hard work, discipline and living simple lives are the result of a person’s belief in the values of the Protestant faith.
Martin Luther and John Calvin both stressed the importance of God’s calling on a person’s life and the opportunity of serving
our fellow man and glorifying God through one’s work.
Your reputation :12
Properly (KJB honestly) – Gk. what is right (3x).
Romans 13:13 Let us walk honestly as in the daytime, not in orgies
and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality . . .
I Corinthians 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.
NIV – “that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders.”
Be dependant (KJB lack nothing) – each person should work to support themselves so that others do not have to support them.
Christians should be an example to others by their work ethic.
Unbelievers should respect you for the way you live.
APPLICATION
1. Respect the government by obeying the laws.
2. Pay your bills on time – don’t make them come after you.
3. Be honest in all of your dealings with others.
4. Don’t live above your means to keep up with others.
CONCLUSION
In Aristotle’s classic book Art of Rhetoric he outlined three forms of persuasion that can apply to the way we witness to others.
1. Ethos (character) sets an example of our faith to others.
People see your character and therefore believe what you say.
2. Pathos (feeling) is an emotion plea to someone to act.
You can manipulate their feelings to get them to do something.
3. Logos (reason) when we live a godly life people will notice and then we will be able to share our faith in Jesus Christ with them.
When people around us see the reality of Christ in our lives,
they take what we say about our faith more seriously.
Henry Morton Stanley was an explorer in the 1860’s who was famous for his exploration of central Africa and his search for missionary and explorer David Livingstone. Upon finding Livingstone, he reportedly asked, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
Livingstone was a hard worker who kept his word. He treated
the natives as people instead of slaves and earned their respect.
Stanley said, “He never tried to convert me, but if I had been
with him any longer I would have become a Christian.”
Our actions and attitudes reveal our faith in Christ.