Day People and Night People
1 Thessalonians: Christ is Coming again • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Is truth objective - are there things that are always true - or is truth subjective? There are some statements that we make at times that are subjective. A few weeks ago I asked people for their favorite worship song and got dozens and dozens of responses. Someone might answer and say that their favorite song is “It Is Well” and another might say “Victory in Jesus” and another might say “Amazing Grace” and another might say “Living Hope.” Who is right? Well the question is naturally subjective. People give their answer and to them, that song is the right answer and we could say, true. In some respects, truth can vary and be subjective. There are other things out there where truth is very much objective. 2 + 2 must equal 4. There is no wiggle room. There is a right answer and a wrong answer! In our world, absolute or objective truth is under attack as people try to water down the truth or convince others that truth depends on one’s feelings or emotions. This includes all types of things, but it certainly includes discussions about God.
Some will say that God is ________. Some will say that God is love, which we know is in the Bible as 1 John 4:8 tells us that God is love. That’s objectively true - but some will take that to mean that God’s love excludes Him from being anything other than love. Because God is love, some will argue that they feel that He can’t judge anyone or send anyone to hell. If you quote a Bible verse to someone, they might say that that’s your truth but their truth is different. Do you see how confusing this gets? We need the Word of God to correct our false views about God and those false views propagated in our fallen world. What do we see in God’s Word?
God made everything and it was good
Mankind sinned against God
All have sinned - all are guilty
God sent His Son, Jesus, into this world to seek and save the lost
Jesus never sinned - yet He died for sinners
Jesus rose from the grave - He ascended to heaven and is alive!
Jesus will come back
These are objective statements that are true according to the Word of God! People can disagree with them, but the Bible is black and white on them. Tonight, as we look again at the return of Jesus, we see how the Day of the Lord will either be a day of condemnation or a day of celebration depending on what you have done with Jesus Christ. Depending on if you are a child of the day or a child of the night. Let’s see what 1 Thessalonians 5 has to say about this coming “Day”
1 About the times and the seasons: Brothers and sisters, you do not need anything to be written to you.
2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.
3 When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, for this day to surprise you like a thief.
5 For you are all children of light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness.
6 So then, let us not sleep, like the rest, but let us stay awake and be 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 and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation.
9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.
Praise the Lord for the hope found in these verses for believers - let’s pause and pray for those who do not know about this hope and for us to be eager to evangelize with this community as we talked about this morning
God Destroys those Walking in Darkness (1-3)
God Destroys those Walking in Darkness (1-3)
Before Paul shares the judgment coming towards those walking in darkness, he opens up with a simple statement that bears repeating - no one exactly when the Day of the Lord will be. He says that nothing needs to be said about this because they know this reality. We know this reality as well, don’t we? We know it - but people sure do like to study it and speculate about it. This was true in both Old and New Testaments as we see in places like Jeremiah and Daniel that the people of Israel were interested about when exactly God would bring about the end of this evil world and we also see the disciples were eager about this as well in the Gospels. This was prevalent in 1 Peter as we’re nearly through that study during Wednesday nights. What is Paul’s point in saying that they need nothing more to be written to them about this? Simply this: They have all that they are going to get and they don’t need anymore than what they have already gotten. What is the result of what they have received about Jesus’ return? They know He will return - therefore, Because Jesus is coming back, be prepared! Don’t panic. Don’t be lazy. But be prepared.
Whenever Lindsey and I were getting ready to have Gabriel, we lived about 50 minutes away from the hospital and around the 32 week mark, we had a hospital bag packed and ready to go in the laundry room. Why did we have the bag packed? Because we didn’t know when the “DAY” was coming. We knew it was coming but we didn’t know “when.” Paul shares that the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Some say that because of this you shouldn’t be prepared but that’s foolishness. While we don’t know when, we do know that Jesus will return. We can think of it like having a bag in your house packed for the hospital, but you don’t sell your house just because you know that you’ll have to go to the hospital at some point. That’s foolish. John MacArthur shared this, “Being spiritually prepared for the return of Christ does not involve date setting, clock watching, or sign seeking. God has chosen not to reveal the specific time of end-time events so that all believers will live in constant anticipation of them.”
God has told us what we need to know - no more, but also no less! The point of Jesus’ return being like a thief in the night is that His return will be sudden and His people need to be prepared. We need to have our affairs in order. There needs to be urgency in our daily walk with the Lord and with our Gospel interactions with others as we know that Jesus’ return could be at any point and we don’t want people to stand before the Lord dressed in their own righteousness.
What happens to those people? Verse 3 - they will not escape God’s destruction. In the Roman world at this point in time there was a motto called the Pax Romana - Roman peace. People were saying peace and security left and right. They were promising this. Don’t we hear these expressions often? Vote for so and so and you’ll have peace and security. Our world thinks that with enough power and strength that we can purchase our peace and security, but Paul is saying that the person who thinks that they are their own savior will be in for a rude awakening one day as destruction will follow. Just as labor pains intense and hit suddenly, this person who trusts in self for safety will have no hope when God’s judgment strikes. They will not escape this destruction.
31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
The word for destruction only appears a handful of times in the New Testament and every time it appears it is in reference to God’s judgment of the wicked. This is the ultimate form of destruction and separation from God. As we think about the return of the Lord, we see that this is a day of condemnation for those apart from Christ. Paul is warning them from panicking but He’s also exhorting them to make sure that their trust is in the Lord and not in earthly systems or personal power or institutional tradition. Those things will be destroyed one day. They will not stand. This world might promise peace, but there is no such thing as peace apart from the peace that the Prince of Peace gives to redeemed sinners.
God’s People Walk in the Light (4-8)
God’s People Walk in the Light (4-8)
For those who have received this gift of peace, we are saved and we walk in the light. Paul addresses these people in verse 4 as brothers and sisters - an indication to those who are saved and in Christ. These brothers and sisters, blood bought and born again by Jesus Christ, they are children of the light. We see this contrast show up a few times in Scripture, light versus darkness. To be in darkness was to be without hope, unable to see, lost, confused, in a state of ignorance. Think of Romans 1 as Paul shares that God gives people over to their depravity. They know God exists, but they suppress the truth. This is like many in our world as they know God exists in creation, they know the truth, but they deny it. Last week it was extremely foggy a few nights - imagine the danger of driving in that kind of condition every minute of every day! What’s eventually going to happen to even the best of drivers? You’re going to get in an accident because there’s danger all around you even if you can’t see it. This is how it is for these people in the darkness, but Paul shares that these believers are walking in the light of day. Take that same illustration of driving in the fog, now remove the fog and imagine driving at noon with the sun right above you with clear visibility as far as the eye can see. That changes everything! This is Paul’s point. These people not only can see (have knowledge of what’s going on), but they have hope because they are saved.
How do we exactly walk in the light? Paul lists several things that these people do as they are set apart by God.
Do not sleep like the others but be self-controlled (6)
Sleep is a beautiful thing and Paul is not saying that believers should never sleep although I’ve met a few folks who seem to think that’s the case! Think about the state that sleep puts you in - you’re completely unaware of your surroundings. How many of us have ever played a prank on someone who was asleep? Maybe the fake mustache or the toothpaste/soap on someone’s hands before you tickle their nose with a feather, or maybe physically moving their bed while they sleep and they wake up in a different room or even in a pond! People are mean sometimes! They can do this because whenever the person is asleep, they don’t know what is going on around them. Paul is saying that this is how it will be for the non believer whenever the Lord returns. They will be surprised because they were not paying attention. They didn’t know what to expect. Jesus cautions His followers against this type of slumber and tells His disciples to be on guard and watchful as they are to be prepared. To be ready. To be self controlled.
Do not act like others, be sober minded (7-8)
This is similar to the previous verse but slightly different as the believer is not only awake, but also to be sober rather than drunk and walking in darkness. Paul is encouraging these believers to continue acting different for God and standing out from those in their culture in Thessalonica. To live for God’s glory rather than their personal pleasure. People are great at being disciplined in some respects - I can think of a few friends who would be very structured in their schedules in the morning so that they could have the freedom to party late into the evening. What was the purpose of that early morning discipline? The freedom to pursue personal pleasure at night. Paul’s exhortation is to not be like this person and instead to practice discipline and self-control for God’s glory.
Put on the armor of God (8)
We see the armor of God show up in places like Ephesians 6, but Paul uses military language often to describe how Christians are to be prepared for a battle against our spiritual opponents. Paul doesn’t get into the detail of Ephesians 6 here in our text, but he does list 2 specific places that this armor protects: The heart and the head. To put on this spiritual armor requires discipline. As a child I was involved in a discipleship program called Leaders in Training every Wednesday immediately after school - think of Kidz Choir but instead of singing it was just Bible. Every Wednesday we’d have a few minutes to play in the gym and eat a snack then we’d head upstairs and break into our small group classes based on gender and grade. Every week we had a memory verse and we had a daily quiet time that we’d go over during this weekly meeting and we’d discuss God’s Word as 5th and 6th graders with our small group leader. Fast forward to the summer and we’d go on a mission trip to place like Dallas Texas, Tulsa Oklahoma, or Branson Missouri and as 5th and 6th graders, we would lead VBS’ all around the city. Some years we’d have 100-150 students involved and there would be even more salvations than LIT students! It was incredible to see God move in remarkable ways as children taught the Word to children and the Word did the Work.
I’ll always remember this: Every morning before we’d go out to lead VBS, we’d have a time of worship and whoever was doing the morning message during worship would always end by having us pray on the armor of God. Some would do this robotically and didn’t seem to care, but for others it really got us thinking about what we were saying. We’re getting ready for battle. There is an enemy who has deceived people into thinking that the darkness is fine. He wants to prevent us from sharing the Gospel truth and he will likely try to prevent us from doing this. We need God’s help because we’re not strong enough ourselves. So, we’d pray on this armor and ask God for His provision and protection - and this is what Paul is imploring these believers to do. They’re sharing the Gospel, they’re loving on others, but persecution is coming. Paul is saying to guard your hearts and your heads by remembering who Jesus is and what Jesus has done to save them.
As they remember and as they walk in the light, there is only one thing that happens as they look forward to the return of Christ: They see that this is a day of celebration! But for those who are still walking in darkness, this is a day of condemnation.
God Delivers His People (9-11)
God Delivers His People (9-11)
Paul concludes this passage with an encouraging reminder for these believers concerning their eternal destination. Whenever we think of eternity, we often think of 2 locations: Heaven and Hell. This is because the Bible speaks of these realities. However, in recent days it has become less and less popular or politically correct to talk about hell or the wrath of God, so much so in fact that some denominations have subscribed essentially to universalism and say that as long as you’re basically a good person, God will accept you and welcome you into heaven, just don’t murder someone or be a jerk and you’ll be fine just as you are. We have to understand the bad news of the Gospel before we understand the good news. First we see that we are all sinners separated from God. Dead in sins and trespasses walking in darkness, this is our past! We deserve separation from God - each one of us. But the good news is that Jesus died on the cross to save His people from their sins
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
What Paul is saying in our text is that God gives His people salvation that we don’t deserve instead of the wrath that we do deserve because of what Jesus Christ has done for us on calvary. Wrath and Salvation are God’s to give. We can’t be like the Presbyterian Church of America and try to drop the words “The wrath of God was satisfied” from In Christ Alone just because we don’t like them. Biblically we see that God gives wrath to those who reject Him and He gives salvation to those who accept Him. He destroys His opponents and He delivers His people. While that might not be popular in a “Love is Love” world that idolizes the love of God at the neglect of the holiness of God, this is what we see in Scripture. We see that we are sinners in need of a Savior and that Jesus came to, verse 10, die for us.
This is substitution language. We don’t celebrate that Jesus came to die, we celebrate that Jesus died for our sins. Every sin ever committed will be paid. It will either be paid in eternity to come by the sinner, or it was paid in full by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross of calvary. That’s it, only 2 options! People ask, “Well why did Jesus have to die?” That seems harsh, maybe we think that there had to be another or a better way. In Scripture we see that this was God’s plan before the foundation of the earth
8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.
This was God’s plan. God knew that we would sin and be separated from Him and from eternity past He had a perfect plan where His Son would come to the earth to seek and save lost sinners so that we would be reconciled and spend eternity with Him in glory! This is incredible news. Imagine that you were 1 trillion dollars in debt. You are facing an insurmountable mountain before you. It doesn’t matter how hard you work or what you do. You could rob a bank and not even come remotely close to solving this problem. It doesn’t matter how wealthy your family is, you can’t pay this off. The punishment facing you is lifetime in prison for failure to pay your debt. Into this situation, Jesus writes a check that clears and pardons us from the debt we owed. But Jesus doesn’t just do this, He brings us into God’s family as adopted sons and daughters of the Father
4 When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5 to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
We have not been appointed to wrath but to obtain salvation. This is God’s plan for all Christians! We don’t have to worry about His wrath - we get to celebrate His gift of salvation. It doesn’t matter if we’re alive or asleep whenever Jesus returns, we will live forever with Him in glory. Paul’s goal in talking about eschatology and the end times is to bring about hope for these Christians. To encourage them. To build them up. To tell them to keep running the race well with their eyes heavenward. The purpose in sharing this reality is not to stir the pot and cause a debate regarding a pretribulation rapture or a post-tribulation rapture. The purpose was not to debate premillennialism or amillennialism - the purpose of 1 Thessalonians 4-5 is to encourage believers to live for Jesus today and everyday after because they know that He is coming soon and until He does, there is work to be done.
We know that our days are numbered. We’re not guaranteed tomorrow… It’s easy to put things off and say that we’ll do them whenever we have time. I’ll have that conversation with this person whenever I feel like it. I’ll tell this person about Jesus later. I’ll pray for him or her when I have more time. But we’re not guaranteed more time. It’s natural and not always bad to put things off. But we have to have wisdom as we do this.
Because Jesus is coming back, I must:
Walk in the Light
Warn Those in Darkness
Worship Jesus for Who He is and all He’s done
We are called to be day people, not night people. To live differently. We acknowledge that the time that we have been given is a gift that we can’t take for granted. We must know the essentials, we must go therefore and make disciples of our neighbors and the nations for God’s glory and the good of our community as we talked about this morning. Walk in the light, warn those in darkness, worship Jesus for what He has done for us!