That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter, because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. 1 Thessalonians 4:6
Five of us were working on a group project, and each morning, members of the group took turns going to the coffee shop down the street and buying a round of coffee for the entire group. There was one problem with that; each Friday, the man whose turn it was to go get the coffee was always tied up with some particular task that prevented him from being able to go. Nobody said anything the first couple of times it happened. But as the weeks went by and the man continued to enjoy coffee without ever having to pay for it, resentment started to grow. The cheapskate was shunned and mocked, and paid a high social price for his unfair attitude. It was not a big deal, just a weekly round of coffee, but it destroyed the team spirit that our group should have had. The same can happen when Christians take unfair advantage of any other Christians.
In Chapter four, Paul is reminding the Thessalonian Christians of several things that are the will of God for them. And treating each other fairly is one of those things on the list. It is surely the will of God that we should not only treat each other fairly and honestly, but that we should also treat each other generously. Being willing to share and being quick to do so displays the love that our Lord wants us to have each other. If I truly care for my brother or sister in Christ, I will never take advantage of him or here in any way. Besides, as our text declares, it would be dangerous of me to do so.
God is the avenger of all who wrong or cheat other Christians. This is not referring to the unfairness and dishonesty of the world; that is normal behaviour for much of mankind. No, this is referring to the behaviour of one Christian toward another. And God will avenge if the behaviour is inappropriate, in particular, if it is unfair. How will He do that? I don’t know, and I don’t want to know. Neither do you. For we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10). How shameful it would be to stand at that Bema and to be reminded of every act of unfairness toward other Christians, and to hear the Lord admonish, ‘You did it unto one of My own’!
Our Lord takes it seriously how we treat each other. Because we are to treat each other in the same way that He treats us. -Jim MacIntosh