I Thessalonians 4

Paul has been setting the stage for this chapter since the beginning of his letter. Do you recall how he has been speaking of his past experiences with the Christians at Thessalonica, and of their reputation for faithfulness to Christ? These will show up in your previous paraphrases—review them briefly before launching into these next instructions on how to live and on Christ's return.

Again read this chapter through several times.

Study the definitions given. Look up the undefined words in a dictionary and record the definitions.

Vs. 1 — Beseech
Vs. 3 — Sanctification — Cleansing and setting apart for pure and holy living.
Vs. 3 — Fornication
Vs. 4 — Vessel — Body; self; or perhaps wife.
Vs. 5 — Concupiscence
Vs. 13 — Asleep — Dead.
Vs. 15 — Prevent — Go before; precede.

Again in this chapter you will paraphrase whole paragraphs instead of single verses. Below is a paraphrase of the first paragraph. Rephrase the next two paragraphs in the same way.

Paragraph No. 1—4:1-8 Since you believers have already learned from us how to live a God-pleasing life, we urge you, as followers of Jesus the Lord, to live this way increasingly. You remember His orders that we passed on to you. God's will is that you be set apart from the world and live pure lives free from sexual immorality. Each of you should know how to keep his body and relationships pure and honorable, not living in lust as the unbelieving world does. Do not sin and cheat others in such things for the Lord will punish you, as we warned you before. God has not called us to impurity but to holy living. So if you reject this commandment you are not disobeying man, but God, the One Who has put His Holy Spirit within us.

Does your paraphrase include all the chapter says? Have you used your own words? Is it clear and smooth?

Summarizing, or squeezing the content of a passage into more compact form, is another approach to study you will be learning. Try it now on paragraph 2 (verses 9-12). First read the paragraph thoughtfully several times—either from the Bible or your paraphrase. Then try to put it in fewer words, perhaps about half the length it is in the Bible. The first part is summarized for you.

Scripture is the best interpreter of Scripture. Since the Holy Spirit directed in the writing of the whole Bible, He uses one part to shed light on another. Finding cross references on various thoughts in the chapter is one of the most rewarding parts of Bible study.

Give the key thoughts of the following cross references, and find one cross reference for another important verse in the chapter.

Someone boasted to Evangelist Dwight L. Moody how many times he'd been through the Bible. Moody responded, "It is not how many times you've been through the Bible that counts, but how many times the Bible has been through you!" Spiritual maturity is the result not only of knowing the Bible but of applying its teachings.

Read chapter four again prayerfully and list below some of the verses which you feel might have an application to your life.
Briefly tell how the verse applies.