Sermon Outline
First United Methodist Church of Sanford
“Purity and usefulness to God” (Part 2 of ‘Some Faces of Holiness’)
October 19, 2014
Scripture
1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact
you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more
and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the
Lord Jesus. 3 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid
sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a
way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do
not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take
advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already
told you and warned you. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy
life. 8 Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who
gives you his Holy Spirit. 9 Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to
you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in
fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you,
brothers, to do so more and more. 11 Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to
mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so
that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be
dependent on anybody.
Core Idea, challenge, and summary
Core Idea: In order for God to set us apart and use us, we must become pure.
The more pure we are the more God can use us.
Challenge: To encourage the people to seek purity of heart by surrendering to
the loving authority of God so they can be used by God to spread His love and
proclaim His kingdom.
Summary: People often make decisions that are designed to please their
parents. Some people go into the family business as a way to honor their
parents. I participated in sports partly because it pleased my dad and joined the
army as a way of walking in my dad’s footsteps. It’s not unusual for people to
want to please their parents and walk in their footsteps.
As followers of Christ, we have a heavenly Father that we should desire to
please and emulate. We should also follow our Father into the family business of
spreading God’s love and proclaiming God’s kingdom. This is what it means to
be sanctified. To be sanctified is to be set apart by God for a special purpose.
We, the church, are set apart by God for the purpose of spreading God’s love
and proclaiming God’s kingdom. In order for God to set us apart and use us, we
must become pure. The more pure we are the more God can use us.
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Sermon Outline
First United Methodist Church of Sanford
“Purity and usefulness to God” (Part 2 of ‘Some Faces of Holiness’)
October 19, 2014
Purity is being devoid of contaminants. We are contaminated by a sinful nature.
This sinful nature prevents us from being obedient to God’s loving authority. In
order for God to use us, we must be cleansed of this sinful nature. As we let go
of hate, lust, selfishness, greed, jealousy, etc… we become more pure and
useful to God.
This is what 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 is all about. In verse 3 it says that God’s will
is for us to be sanctified. As previously explained, to be sanctified is to be set
apart by God for a special purpose. Then, in verse 7, it says, “For God did not
call us to be impure, but to live a holy life”. In order to be sanctified, we must
become pure (holy). As we walk in relationship with God through faith in Jesus,
the Holy Spirit cleanses our hearts of sinful attitudes and desires. This makes us
more pure and this purity is demonstrated in our sexuality (Verses 3-8), love of
each other (Verses 9-10) and our work (Verses 11-12). Although not explicitly
stated in this passage, purity can also be demonstrated in our family lives and
how we treat all people.1 In other words, purity is demonstrated in all aspects of
our daily lives. The more we demonstrate purity in all aspects of our daily lives,
the more God can use us to spread His love and proclaim His kingdom.
How pure are you? Are there any contaminants, such as hate, jealousy, anger,
lust and/or greed, in any area of your life? If so, talk to God about it. Ask God to
cleanse your heart of contaminates and replace them with His Holy love. In this
way, you will become more like Christ and more useful to God.
Sermon
I.
Introduction: It’s not unusual for people to want to please their parents and walk
in their footsteps.
A. People often make decisions that are designed to please their parents.

Some people choose their college majors and careers based on
their parents’ wishes.

Some people go into the family business as a way to honor their
parents.
B. My decisions to please my dad
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
I participated in sports partly because it made my dad proud

I joined the army as a way of walking in my dad’s footsteps.
Ephesians 5:21-6:9; Colossians 3:17-4:1; Matthew 5:43-48; Matthew 22:37-40; Luke 10:25-37
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Sermon Outline
First United Methodist Church of Sanford
“Purity and usefulness to God” (Part 2 of ‘Some Faces of Holiness’)
October 19, 2014
C. As followers of Christ, we have a heavenly Father that we should desire to
please and emulate. (Matthew 5:48)
II.
Pleasing and emulating our heavenly Father
A. Jesus tells us that we should strive to be like our heavenly Father: “Be
perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48)
B. We should also follow our heavenly Father into the family business of
spreading God’s love and proclaiming God’s kingdom.
C. This is what it means to be sanctified

To be sanctified is to be set apart by God for a special purpose.

We, the church, are set apart by God for the purpose of spreading
God’s love and proclaiming God’s kingdom. We all have a part to
play in this purpose

In order for God to set us apart and use us, we must become pure.
The more pure we are the more God can use us. In other words,
the more pure we are, the more sanctified we become.
D. What it means to be pure

Purity is being devoid of contaminants.
 Pure water is absolutely nothing but H2O – no dirt, bacteria
or anything else is in pure water – no contaminates
 Pure gold or silver has absolutely no dirt, soil, or other
metals mixed in it – no contaminates

We are contaminated by a sinful nature.
 This sinful nature prevents us from being obedient to God’s
loving authority – it prevents us from being set apart by God
to be used by God
 Our sinful nature consists of attitudes and desires such as
hate, lust, selfishness, greed, jealousy, etc…
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Sermon Outline
First United Methodist Church of Sanford
“Purity and usefulness to God” (Part 2 of ‘Some Faces of Holiness’)
October 19, 2014
 Hate, lust, selfishness, greed, jealousy, etc… will always get
in the way of our ability to spread God’s love and proclaim
God’s kingdom
 In order for God to use us, we must be cleansed of this sinful
nature.

As God cleanses our hearts of hate, lust, selfishness, greed,
jealousy, etc… we become more pure and useful to God. This, of
course, is pleasing to God.
E. Becoming pure (cleansed of our sinful attitudes/desires) so that we can be
sanctified (set apart by God for a special purpose) is what 1
Thessalonians 4:1-12 is all about.
III.
First Thessalonians 4:1-12 is all about becoming pure so that we can be
sanctified
A. Verse 3: God’s will is for us to be sanctified.

“It is God's will that you should be sanctified…” (1 Thess. 4:3)

As previously explained, to be sanctified is to be set apart by God
for a special purpose.
B. Verse 7: God calls us to be pure

“For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life”. (1
Thess. 4:7)

In order to be sanctified, we must become pure (holy).
C. As we walk in relationship with God through faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit
cleanses our hearts of sinful attitudes and desires.

It starts when we receive forgiveness through faith in Jesus as our
Savior and Lord

As we pray, worship, study Scripture and seek to serve others, the
Holy Spirit engenders a holy love in our hearts that drives out the
elements of our sinful nature – The Holy Spirit decontaminates us.
D. This makes us more pure and this purity is demonstrated in our…
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Sermon Outline
First United Methodist Church of Sanford
“Purity and usefulness to God” (Part 2 of ‘Some Faces of Holiness’)
October 19, 2014

Sexuality (Verses 3-8)
 Sex is good. The first command God gives humanity is to be
fruitful and multiply. That means having sex. (Genesis 1:28)
 Sex, however, is meant to be done within the boundaries of
marriage and marriage is defined as the union between one
man and one woman (Genesis 2:24).
 When done within marriage, sex becomes an act of selfgiving love because there is a commitment to submit to each
other and become one.
 When done outside of marriage, sex tends to become a
selfish act of using another person for self-gratification
because there is no commitment to submit to each other and
become one.

Love of each other (Verses 9-10)
 The Greek word translated as love in this passage is
filadelfi,a,(Philadelphia). It refers to the love between
brothers or family members.
 The church is a family.
 We demonstrate our purity when we love our fellow
Christians as if they are our blood relatives. (This assumes
we love our families)

Our work (Verses 11-12).
 We demonstrate purity when we work hard to do our duty
and become a contributing member of society
 This makes us less dependent on other people and that
frees us to be more righteous and loving in our daily lives.
E. Although not explicitly stated in this passage, purity can also be
demonstrated in our family lives and how we treat all people.2
2
Ephesians 5:21-6:9; Colossians 3:17-4:1; Matthew 5:43-48; Matthew 22:37-40; Luke 10:25-37
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Sermon Outline
First United Methodist Church of Sanford
“Purity and usefulness to God” (Part 2 of ‘Some Faces of Holiness’)
October 19, 2014

In other words, purity is demonstrated in all areas of our daily lives.

The more we demonstrate purity in all areas of our daily lives, the
more God can use us to spread His love and proclaim His kingdom.
IV.
Conclusion: How pure are you?
A. Are there any contaminants, such as hate, jealousy, anger, lust and/or
greed, in any area of your life?

Do you have lust for anyone outside your marriage or are you loyal
to your spouse?

Do you have hatred or jealousy toward any person or are you doing
your best to treat all people with love and respect?

When working, do you do just barely enough to stay out of trouble
or do you work hard to do your best?

Are you a parent who always puts their own desires before their
children or are you a committed parent?

These are the types of questions we all need to ask ourselves in
regards to every aspect of our lives.
B. If you find your sinful nature contaminating any area of your life, talk to
God about it.

Ask God to cleanse your heart of contaminates and replace them
with His Holy love.

In this way, you will become more like Christ and more useful to
God.
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