Living as Children of the Day - 2022-10-09

“Living as Children of the Day”

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Message #11 in 1 Thess. Series

McEwen Bible Fellowship

9 October 2022

INTRODUCTION:

The study of biblical prophecy has intrigued us for centuries. If you are sitting around with a group of friends and the party begins to lag, all you need to do to get it rolling again is to ask a question about Bible prophecy and before you know it the conversation will be up and going red-hot again with everybody putting in his or her two-bits. 

I want to start out by confessing that I do not have all the answers. I know what I believe, and I will try to share that with you this morning, but the fact is, none of us has the last word on this subject. The Lord did not tell His disciples or anyone else the day and hour of His return. He merely said, “I will be back. Keep busy until I return.” He said, “Stay occupied until I come.”

From my study of the Scriptures, I have come to believe that Christ could come back at any moment. I do not believe there is anything that needs occur before He can return. I also believe that He will come back twice: once secretly, quietly, in the clouds to call His Bride home [i.e., the Rapture]; then seven years later He will return in a big way, in power and glory, seen of all men, to judge the nations and especially the Antichrist and his followers, and to set up His 1,000-year Messianic reign of peace and justice. This we refer to as the Second Coming. It will not be a secret event, any way you look at it. 

My hope is that by the time we finish here this morning you will all agree with me 100%. No, I am just kidding. But I hope we will all have a better handle on the future that awaits the Church. 

TRANSITION:

In our last study of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians we looked at 4:13-18 where Paul lays out for the saints in Thessaloniki what it will be like on the day that Jesus comes back to snatch His Bride away and take her to His House. 

He describes how Jesus will bring with Him the souls of those saints who have died and gone to be with Him. As they come back with Him in the clouds a miracle will happen. In an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, the bodies of those who have died will be changed and reunited with the souls who return with Christ. Then, those who are alive and remain will be changed too, receiving a glorified body fit for eternity in Heaven. Then together we will accompany the Lord back to Heaven to begin our eternity with Him, never to be separated again. Paul closes this discourse in verse 18 telling the Thessalonian believers to comfort one another with these words.

But let’s take just a moment to analyse the event Paul describes in chapter 4:

1.      It is apparently a secret event with no build-up and no warning signs.

2.     It only involves believers, living and dead. Unbelievers are not even mentioned. In fact, I am almost certain that they will not even know it is happening.

3.     Jesus will not physically come all the way to earth. Rather, He will descend, and we will be caught up to meet Him in the clouds. His feet will not touch the earth.

4.     The Rapture is pictured as a totally positive thing, something for Christians to look forward to with great joy and anticipation. No downside is mentioned. 

Starting now in chapter five I believe that Paul shifts gears to talk about a different event, one that is somewhat frightening in nature and one in which Christ’s Bride will not participate. Let’s read the text for today — 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11.

¹ Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, ² for you know very well that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³ While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. ⁴ But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. ⁵ You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. ⁶ So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. ⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. ⁸ But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. ⁹ For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁰ He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep [i.e., alive or dead], we may live together with Him. ¹¹ Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

MAIN BODY:

Verse 1: Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you.

·        What does Paul mean by this? The word “times” refers to an extended period or length of time. It is the Greek word, chronos, from which we get words like chronic (of long duration), chronometer (a time measurer, clock), and chronological (logically arranged according to the order of time).

·        The second word Paul uses here, translated as “dates” in the NIV, “seasons” in the KJV, and “epochs” in the NASV is the Greek word, kairos, which speaks of the kind or quality of time, emphasizing significant events or opportunities.

·        What is the point? I believe Paul is referring to Jesus’ words found in Acts 1:7. When asked by His disciples when He would restore the kingdom to Israel, He responded by saying: “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.” In other words, “It is none of your cotton-pickin’ business. Now get back to work!” Paul’s point is that if Jesus would not talk about the time of His return, then it is fruitless to speculate.

Verse 2: …for you know very well that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

·        Here the plot starts to thicken because Paul throws in a term with which all his Jewish readers were familiar — “the Day of the Lord.” In the OT this phrase always refers to a time of God’s judgment, when God will reveal His power and glory to all men. The prophets of old spoke much of that coming day when the Lord will come to bring justice to the earth.

·        Paul says that the Day of the Lord will be like a thief showing up at your house at night.

o   We do not like thieves, ever, but especially at night.

o   Thieves are not nice people, and we do not want to hang out with them.

o   Thieves always do damage when they show up.

o   The possibility of their coming produces fear in us.

o   Thieves never announce their arrival. They want to take you by surprise.

·        In 2 Peter 3:10 Peter speaks of the coming Day of the Lord. He says: “But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” For one, I do not want to be anywhere close when that happens. And what is more, I do not see any similarity between this event and the Rapture Paul describes up in 1 Thess. 4:13-18.

Verse 3: While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

·        Who are these people who are crowing about their peace and safety? They are unbelievers who will be alive on the earth when Christ comes back to judge the earth at the end of the Tribulation period. When we get into Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians you will hear him share about the Antichrist who will be a world ruler during the Tribulation and will be adored as “the prince of peace,” a counterfeit Christ.

·        At that time God is going to lower the boom on the whole world to bring death and destruction on those who follow the Antichrist. He speaks of labour pains. I have never experienced those personally, but I have been present while others have gone through it. It is not pleasant. Paul is also speaking of the fact that once labour sets in, there is no escape. The birth will certainly happen!

Verse 4: But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.

·        Here Paul changes his focus from those who will be the target of the destruction, to those who belong to the Lord. “But you, brothers…”

·        Paul reminds us that our natural habitat is not darkness but light. We are of the day, not of the night. He goes into this in more depth in Ephesians 5:8ff where he says: “For you were formerly [i.e., BC, before Christ] darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk therefore as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them.”

·        Notice too that this is the second time in this passage that Paul refers to the Second Coming as being like the nasty surprise visit of a thief. 

Verse 5: You are all sons [generic = children] of the light and sons [children] of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

·        Paul shares the same thought again, driving his point in a little bit deeper. 

Verse 6: So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.

·        “So then…” Here Paul gets to a conclusion, an action point. What is it? “Let us…” We who are Christians should act like it. We should not act or live like unbelievers [i.e., those who are asleep at the switch and ignoring God, thinking that nothing bad will happen to them, like the people who lived in Noah’s time]. The word Paul uses here for “asleep” is different from the one he uses up in 4:13ff. This Greek word always carries the idea of moral indifference.

·        Christians should be “alert and self-controlled.” Self-control is one of the Fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22. The KJV uses the word “sober,” but to us that word has come to mean, “alcohol free.” But Paul is not talking about alcohol consumption but rather our ability to be calm when everybody else is running around like their hair is on fire.

Verse 7: For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.

·        Sleeping and drunkenness are habits customarily performed at night. Therefore, they have no place in the lives of children of the day.

Verses 8: But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

·        Paul reemphasizes that we are now by our new nature, children of the day. Therefore, we should walk/live as children of the day. That “walk,” or lifestyle is characterized by self-control, unwavering faith, unfailing love, and unshakeable hope. By the way, can you remember another passage where Paul speaks about faith, hope, and love? (Answer = 1 Cor. 13:13)

·        One more thing about this verse… It bears a striking resemblance to Paul’s exhortation in Ephesians 6:10-18. Let’s look at that passage: “¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹ Put on the full armour of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore, take up the full armour of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸ With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.”

Verse 9: For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

·        I believe that this is one of the most important verses in the NT for helping us understand biblical prophecy. In the NASV it reads like this: “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” While we know and agree that eternal salvation only comes through Jesus Christ, in the context, I do not believe that is the point Paul is trying to make here. I believe that he is using the word “salvation” in its other sense. We say, “He was saved from the burning building.” Or “They were saved from the deck of the sinking ship.” I believe that Paul is referring to the fact that we who belong to Christ will be saved from the horrors of the Tribulation period by the fact that Jesus is going to come back before it starts to take us home to be with Him. I do not believe that the Church, the Bride of Christ, will go through the Tribulation. I believe that we will be snatched out, caught up, raptured, before it starts.

·        This verse must be tied to a couple of others.

o   Back in 1 Thess. 1:10 Paul wrote that we are to “…wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

o   In Romans 5:9 Paul wrote: “…having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from [= kept away from] the wrath of God through Him.”

Verse 10: He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep [i.e., alive, or dead], we may live together with Him.

·        Here Paul goes back to the language he employed in chapter 4, referring to the dead in Christ as “asleep,” and to the living at the time of the Rapture as “awake.” Again, his point is that all the believers, living and dead, will be caught up together to go to be with the Lord, and we will live with Him forever.

Verse 11: Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

·        This verse is reminiscent of 4:18. Again Paul exhorts his readers to use this truth about Christ’s return as a motive for encouraging one another and building up one another’s faith and trust in Christ.

·        As a wise and tactful teacher, Paul here combines forceful exhortation with fervent praise. It is a good technique for any leader.

CONCLUSION:

As Christians we are urged to live every day as though this could be the day the Lord returns for us. If we really believe that He might come back today I think it will change how we live out our lives.

Are you looking forward to the Lord’s return or do you secretly dread it? Why does it affect so many people that way? I think it is because they are afraid that He will come back and find them doing things they know they should not be doing, or not doing the things that they know they should be doing.

Paul’s point is that if we live our lives in the light, then we will have nothing to be ashamed of when Christ returns.

FEEDBACK:

What do you think? Will the Church go through the Tribulation? And if so, how do you balance that with the biblical exhortation to keep looking for the Lord’s return? If we are going to have to go through the Tribulation, then should we not really be looking out more for the appearance of the Antichrist?