1 Thessalonians 5:1-4 Now
concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have
anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware
that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While
people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will
come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not
escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day
to surprise you like a thief.
There is consistent teaching
throughout the New Testament concerning the fact that Jesus Christ will come
again! Jesus himself promised, more than once, that he would be coming back. In
some of his last teaching to his disciples he stated, “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may
be also” (John 14:3). On the Isle of Patmos, John saw the Revelation. In
the very beginning we are told that “he
is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced
him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him” (Revelation
1:7). We should join with John in saying “Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).
One thing we can be absolutely
certain of is…
The
day of the Lord is coming. Let’s look at the words of the Lord Jesus
found in Luke 17:22-24. And he said to
the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days
of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will
say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 For
as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so
will the Son of Man be in his day.
God, in his own time and in
his own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. The promise of
Scripture is that Jesus will return personally and visibly in glory to the
earth. When he does the dead will be raised and Christ will judge all men in
righteousness. The unbelievers will be sent to hell which is a place of
everlasting punishment. The believers in Christ, in their glorified bodies,
will receive their reward and dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
Remember it was Jesus who
said, “And they will say to you, ‘Look,
here!’ Do not go out or follow them.” (Luke 17:23) I urge you not to go
after these people who claim they know when Jesus is coming again. There is
great danger in getting caught up in the
WHEN while losing sight of the WHY!
Bible believers have the word
of God and, though we cannot know everything about the future, God knows
everything! In the Scriptures he has told us about the major events yet to come
in the history of the universe. We can be absolutely certain these events are
going to happen because God is never wrong and God never lies.
In the words of Jesus…
It
will be a surprise to most people. Let’s continue with Luke 17:26-29. Just as it was in the days
of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They
were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the
day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise,
just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and
selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went
out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—
Jesus gives us an insight into
what was going on in the days of Noah. While Noah and his sons were building an
ark the world around them was going on with their everyday tasks. They were
eating and drinking. They were marrying and being given in marriage. We can
assume from that description that they were not paying much attention to Noah
and his family. The ark to be constructed was a very large venture for four
men. I assume, and I realize that is dangerous, that they employed workers.
What did their workmen think about what was going on? Did they think of the Ark
is a huge oddity? Did they consider it as having some strange meaning? I believe,
according to Genesis 6, the period of time spent in Ark building was 120 years.
At least that is the period of time God said his Spirit would abide with man.
The other example Jesus used
was the days of Lot! When we read the account in Genesis we see that the people
of Sodom were busy with their normal activities. They were eating and drinking,
buying and selling, planting and building and threatening Lot’s houseguests!
They were totally unaware of the disaster that was about to happen! Fire and
sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all as soon as Lot was out of
danger.
Using these examples we can
see that when Christ returns…
Life
will be going on. Jesus described the scene for us in Matthew 24:38-41. For as in those days
before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they
were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the
coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field;
one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding
at the mill; one will be taken and one left.
Again we look at the situation
in the days of Noah. Life was going on day by day. And then Jesus said that
Noah entered the ark and the people of the earth were unaware of their
situation until the flood came and swept them all away.
In the same manner people will
be about their day-to-day activities when Christ comes again. Two men will be
working in a field. The believer in the Lord Jesus Christ will be taken and the
unbeliever will be left. Luke adds to the account that two people will be in
one bed. One will be taken and the other left. He speaks of daytime activities
and nighttime activities going on at the same time. We know that when it is day
for us in the Western Hemisphere it is night in the Eastern Hemisphere. That
could be a simple explanation of Jesus’ description.
The people of earth will be
unaware until Jesus appears in the air and calls his people. We do not know the
day or the hour.
There is a great danger in
following a leader who claims to know when Jesus is going to return. In fact, I
would say that anyone who claims to know specifically when Jesus is coming back
is automatically wrong! Many people have been deceived by groups like the
Jehovah’s Witnesses only to find that the day comes and goes with nothing
particular happening. Meanwhile people have begun to withdraw from long-term
commitments. They might take their children out of school. They might sell
their houses and make other life altering decisions based on these false
claims.
Bible believers agree that
Christ is coming again and that there will be judgment of unbelievers and a
final reward of believers. We believe that believers will live with Christ in
the new heaven and a new earth forever. God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
will rule and be worshiped in a never-ending kingdom. There will be no sin or
sorrow or suffering.
And by the way we do not even
know the month or the season no matter how people will try to explain to you
that they do. We are left enough hope in Scripture that we will have some grasp
on what is happening. The Bible tells us that…
We are
not in the dark. Let’s return to 1 Thessalonians 5:5. For you are all children of light, children of the
day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.
Many people take this, and
other passages, to mean that we will not go through any kind of tribulation
period. I take it to mean only what it says. We are not in the dark about the
things God is doing in the world. And…
Since
we are light we should be alert. Let’s continue to read 1 Thessalonians 5:6-8. So then let us not
sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For
those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But
since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of
faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
Since we belong to the day and
are light in the world we need to use the light we have to draw others towards
Jesus Christ. We know that Jesus is the light of the world and since we follow
him we will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life (John 8:12).
That light in us comes from Jesus. Because he is the true source of light (John
9:5 and John 1:4-5). The purpose of the light is to give us day-to-day
direction according to Scripture and cause us to be attractive to people who
are still in the dark.
The Bible teaches us that we
are to maintain a good report with those who are on the outside. We are to
maintain such positive relationships that the outsiders will listen to us when
we bear witness to Christ. God created mankind to glorify himself. And the
light of Jesus Christ in us is part of that glory. We were created to enjoy God
and delight in him! In order to do that…
We
must focus on Jesus’ revelation. Let’s check out the words of
Peter found in 1 Peter 1:13-15. Therefore,
preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on
the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As
obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former
ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be
holy in all your conduct,
While we’re waiting on Christ
to return we have a responsibility. We need to clear the battlefield which is
our mind. I don’t know if you’ve noticed -- but I certainly have -- the enemy
uses all kinds of influence around us to affect our mind. The result is
confusion and backsliding.
Peter is in full agreement
with Paul on the subject. We are to be transformed by the renewal of our minds
rather than being conformed to the world (Romans 12:2). So a part of our
preparation for battle is to be sober minded. We are to stay away from foolish
thoughts and worldly ways. We have a responsibility to allow Christ to control
our minds because our warfare is not won by our strength but it is won by
divine power that destroys the enemy strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4). We are
to be obedient to Christ and live a holy life set apart to him.
Our Lord Jesus who lives in us
is the light of the world and we have a responsibility to push back the
darkness and bring in the light.
We should not be concerned
about whether we will be successful…
Since
we have spiritual armor. Let’s return to 1 Thessalonians 5:8-9. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober,
having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of
salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to
obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
In Paul’s letter to the
Ephesians, Chapter 6, he discussed in more detail the whole armor of God. Here
in 1 Thessalonians he gives us the shortened version. Since we are light we
should be acting like light. We are to be steady and sober. Our breastplate,
that covers our vital spiritual organs, are faith and love. Our helmet is the
hope of salvation.
In our modern world we have a
problem with the word “hope” because of the way it is used today. One might
say, “I hope it doesn’t rain today”, or, “I hope I win the lottery”. There are
many other ways that we might use the word. Most of them would not have
anything to do with what we surely expect. The words “hope of salvation” do not
mean that we do not know if we are saved.
Biblically, “hope is the confident expectation, the sure
certainty that what God has promised in the Word is true, has occurred, and or
will in accordance with God’s sure Word.” (Bible.org) Since we have this
hope…
We
should encourage one another. Now let’s read 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12. For you know how,
like a father with his children, 12 we exhorted each one of you
and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls
you into his own kingdom and glory.
We live in a very pessimistic
world. We are surrounded by so much wrong! Most people that we deal with are
not very happy or encouraged. They live in the dark. But since we are light in
this world we have great confidence that God will do what he says he will.
Therefore we are able to encourage one another. This evil world is going to
come to an end. Our Lord is coming and we can rejoice in that. As a part of our
encouragement of each other we should live a life that is obviously filled with
hope. If indeed we have hope in Christ then we have confidence that our Lord
will come for us.
As we can see, several
passages teach us that we cannot know the time when Christ will return. Be very
careful with anyone who wants to tell you that they know when he will return.
We have seen cult groups, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, prophesy again and
again dates that failed. All Christians who take the Bible as their final
authority agree that Christ will return and the world we live in will one day come
to an end! In the meantime we should rest in the promises he has given. And be
prepared! Have you placed your faith in him? Today can be your day.
All scriptures quotes are
from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard
Bible Society.
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