Growing in the Meantime

Paul’s exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 4:1–12 is framed around a distinct timeline:
• gratitude for what God has done
• confident hope in Christ’s return
• a sober, active ethic for the “meantime.”

As a believer in Christ, that new life in Him presupposes growth—conversion is not an endpoint but the beginning of sanctification. And that growth is practical and concrete:
• love that widens from brotherly affection to sacrificial concern for unbelievers…
• a learned and obedient walk that seeks to please God rather than define holiness
by cultural whims…
• a simple, peaceful rhythm of life marked by “minding one’s own business” and
working with one’s hands…
• and a humble submission to God’s will, expressed through habitual rejoicing,
persistent prayer, and thankfulness.

The text rejects two distortions of living between now and Christ’s return: a passive, careless waiting that coasts on spiritual inertia, and a frantic absorption in worldly distractions that erodes spiritual vigilance.

Instead, the Christian vocation in the meantime is active—training the heart and habits by Scripture so that behavior aligns with divine commands. Obedience is presented not as legalistic drudgery but as a grateful response to the grace that saves—learning and obedience belong together.

The sermon presses the social implications of holiness: how love for fellow believers and nonbelievers alike shapes public witness, how diligence or idleness affects testimony, and how quiet, ordered homes and workplaces embody the peace of the kingdom.

Practical illustrations sharpen the appeal—care for suffering neighbors abroad, refusal to indulge gossip, work ethic that honors neighbors, and spiritual disciplines that cultivate thanksgiving even amid hardship.

Ultimately the summons is to take the ordinary practices of daily life as the primary arena for holiness. The Christian is to live expectantly—looking back in gratitude, forward in hope, and now growing steadily in love, upright conduct, simplicity, and humble submission to the Father’s wise providence.

Key Takeaways from the sermon, “Growing in the Meantime”

• 1. Increase in brotherly and agape love. Love is innate to new life but must be intensified: brotherly love (philadelphia) moves toward sacrificial giving for others’ flourishing (agape), including unbelievers. Growing love reshapes priorities, compels practical mercy, and reframes political or humanitarian concern as an outworking of sanctification. Mature love refuses isolation and chooses costly service to the suffering and the neighbor. [10:06]

• 2. Learn and obey upright Christian walking. A right walk requires both instruction and submission; Scripture teaches measurable norms for life and the believer must learn them. Obedience is not legalism but the grateful response to grace—doing what pleases God because Christ’s mercy has first acted. True growth looks like increasing conformity to biblical character. [16:31]

• 3. Pursue simple, quiet, diligent living. Simplicity cultivates peace: a quiet life avoids gossip, unnecessary conflict, and the chaos of restless ambition. Minding one’s own business and working with one’s hands dignifies ordinary labor and repudiates idleness that harms witness. The mundane disciplines of household and workplace become venues for gospel credibility. [24:03]

• 4. Humility through rejoicing, prayer, thanksgiving. Submission to God’s will shows itself in consistent rejoicing rooted in hope, persistent prayer that aligns desires with God, and comprehensive thanksgiving even amid trial. These disciplines rewire the heart to trust God’s providence and to see present hardship through eschatological hope. Humble submission is practiced in practical living, not merely in mental affirmation. [31:52]