1 Thessalonians No.8 Christian Vigilence

How pleased and blessed was I to hear the people cry, come let us seek our God today. Number 57 we'll stand and sing it. First epistle to Thessalonians chapter 5 verses 1 to 11.

1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verses 1 to 11. Now brothers about times and states we do not need to write to you for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night while people saying peace and safety destruction will come on them suddenly as labor pains on a pregnant woman and they will not escape but you brothers are not in darkness so that the day should surprise you like a thief you are all sons of the dark of the light and sons of the day we do not belong to the night or to the darkness so then let us not be like others who are asleep but let us be alert and self-controlled for those who sleep sleep at night and those who get drunk get drunk at night but since we belong to the day let us be self-controlled putting our faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet for God did not appoint us to suffer loss but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ he died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live together with him therefore encourage one another and build each other up just as in fact you are doing thank you all right then let's uh let's come to this passage of scripture which was a stimulus amongst other verses for that particular hymn that we have just lifted in praise and as an expression of our faith before the Lord in his purposes i refer to 1 thessalonians chapter 5 and we're going to be looking at the passage that magumi read right down and including the 11th verse now let me set the context and if you're here for the first time let me just explain so often i feel obliged to do that the syllabus the subject matter of our addresses at the tabernacle really are dictated by the word of God itself it's invariably our practice to work our way through a book or a particular historical sequence and therefore the holy spirit who inspired this book ensures that we look into topics that maybe we wouldn't necessarily alight on otherwise i feel that that's a good principle of exposition of explaining the word of God by allowing the spirit to dictate the syllabus now we're looking into this particular passage which really as far as context is concerned commences at the 13th verse of the previous chapter these are thessalonian christians living obviously in the first century had great problems they didn't have a bible like you have to start with they didn't have a church like this in fact they didn't even have a regular ministry the church had been commenced by the evangelist paul coming into this greek city explaining the gospel maybe standing at a similar place to montague precinct and unlike most britishers who when we're down there with an open air passing by some of these greeks stopped they listened to what was said and they became christians and they really had only as their information what paul had taught them during the weeks that he was there no recourse to any documents whatsoever and of course from time to time they run into difficulty as you and i sometimes run into difficulty even though we've got the new testament and the old testament so what did they do well what does your child do assuming you're a parent if he or she has a problem they come running don't they and they ask you questions as these thessalonians ask questions to the apostle paul they did so by sending him a letter and he's responding to some of their some of their inquiries in this epistle that he returns to them now the nature of their problem in the 13th verse and through to the 11th of the 5th chapter is really twofold what happens what happens to people who die before jesus returns you see they know that jesus is coming back again paul has taught them this but they have made a very faulty equation they have thought that to be really faithful or a mark of faithfulness of successful christian living would be to be present when jesus christ visibly returns to this earth and the idea was well some of these believers these early believers they'd they died what would be their condition them were they in some way second class was their salvation guaranteed the apostle has to deal with them we thank god that he does because we've got questions in this area haven't we the apostle deals with the state of the righteous dead before the return of jesus and i tried to prove to you from this passage of scripture and i brought others to bear that when our loved ones go to be with the lord well that's exactly what does happen they go to be with him in his presence immediately and consciously the very logic of what paul has to say about the second advent even in this particular passage it determines that what i shared with you is true verse 15 of the previous or verse 14 of the previous chapter we believe that jesus died and rose again and so we believe that god will bring at the second advent god will bring with jesus those who have fallen asleep in him they will come back they will be repatriated with their resurrected glorified body and they and those who are alive during that remarkable event will be forever with the lord great encouragement isn't it that's why the apostle says you see the end of the fourth chapter encourage one another with these words used to be said of us of a previous generation of christians our men die well why do christians die well because invariably they do well because death for them is not the last straw it's not the full stop it's just a comma it takes them into another phase and you can die i'm not making light of death i don't look forward to the physical deterioration of the body more than anyone else and i respect people who have fears in this area we're human but nonetheless despite that we can die with optimism knowing full well it's just our bodies that return to the earth from which really they were originally constructed our soul returns to the lord who gave us life in the first instance well that's what the apostle has had to say and it's most exciting it's most encouraging but there was a second question and this really is what he deals with in the opening verses of this uh final chapter this concerns the actual timing of the return of the lord jesus now of course that's an exceedingly interesting subject is it not many have been the bible commentators who've waxed eloquent many have been the people down the centuries and again this is truly human and therefore forgivable who have thought of themselves as being at that particular moment in god's calendar martin luther for example he believed that he would not see death before the lord's return very very concerned to get the translation of the new testament into the german tongue because jesus was just coming martin had seen it all in the political scenario of his day he got it all worked out but the lord didn't come then there were people in the 1930s who believed that mussolini was the man of sin and i can remember uh by hearsay um the the great meetings that were held up and down this country with prophetic speculation running at almost fever pitch as a result of the great political problems over europe which led into the second world war and so forth but our lord has not come we're still here so we need to go very very careful in this handling of the theme not the principle itself it must always be in front of our minds always be at the forethought of our thinking but but the attendant conditions we must be very careful that our speculation does not become dogmatic or else ultimately the future when it becomes history may prove us to have been wrong in our conclusions but having given that word of warning it's right for us of course to rejoice in the fact that jesus christ is coming again i always find it very very hard to understand how in our established church up and up and down the land with the thousands and thousands of churches there are as the creed is declared sunday by sunday people in pulpits can deny the essential statement of the creed this same jesus shall return or worse to that effect incorporated into that grand creedal statement of the established church well i stand by that's why we say it so often here in in wording tabernacle albeit though we're not part of the church of england denomination here is the apostle paul and he brings us face to face with this tremendous truth and first of all in the opening three verses for those of you who like a summary heading let me give you this information imparted information imparted now brothers about times and dates we do not need to write to you for you know very well that the day of the lord will come like a thief in the night he's not going to do a precision job no more than our lord jesus who when asked about the future as far as the early disciples were concerned in acts chapter one and verse seven he says it is not for you to know the times or dates the father has set by his own authority there is only one who knows when the full stop shall occur as far as the human story is concerned and that is god himself but having said that says the apostle there is a sense in which you must always be alert in which you must always be lively in regard to this second coming hope because you see it is going to completely transform the way you live now that's clearly true isn't it you see if i have no philosophy if i'm not committed to anything if i see no end time objective in view i will be very careless in the way that i live my life i could demonstrate this to you most clearly from the philosophical atmosphere in the universities of oxford and cambridge in the 1930s when atheism and secular humanism were very much a feature of the universities and when it was astonishing that a man like c.s lewis should go against the tide and convert to christianity the idea was this that really the future had very little in terms of of any hope at all so it doesn't matter how you live and indeed if you believe that ultimately you will be brought to book for the way that you've conducted your affairs then it would hem you in and you wouldn't be able to do certain things that you felt full license to do in in fact there was a man by the name of jode professor jode and he converted somewhat later in life too but but he gave gave the impression himself and also his contemporaries at that time that there was a a period in their lives when they did not want to submit to the christian faith because if they had done they would be hamstrung as to how they lived you see if you live with a judgment in view if you live believing that the one who gave you life will ultimately call you into his immediate presence then you will be very careful how you go about things now this is the reason why the second advent the great hope of christians needs to be underlined the apostle john he makes it very clear in one john chapter three in the opening verse beloved now are we the sons of god and it does not appear what we shall be but when he shall appear we shall be like and he goes on to say whoever has this hope within him purifies himself what does he mean well you see in the light of the return of christ how you live is very very important indeed if you've got this hope if it's at the forefront of your thinking it's going to condition your relationships the way that you live and so on and so forth during the whole of your pilgrimage here on this earth now the apostle paul i say he had told these uh greek christians all about this event that was going to happen in the future and though he didn't do a very neat job in terms of prophetic precision in in his identifying the time he gives them various principles which are to encourage them and which are in one sense to steady them you know very well verse two that the day of the lord will come like a thief in the night while people are saying peace and destruction will come on them suddenly you know what the uh the quest of the of the successful thief is it is to take you unawares like the persons who broke into the tabernacle offices the other sunday evening they took us utterly unawares if we knew they were coming bernie and land would have been ready for them but he wasn't you see uh we're now taking further heed about the security of our building and that's very right it's very proper that our deacons should be concerned about our security as best as you can be in these days but it's even more right and proper my friend that you realize this that jesus christ is coming back again and it will come with surprise in as much as it the conditions will be like they were during the days of noah you remember our lord's prediction about the time when he returned and he repeated how people were living in the days of noah they were marrying and giving him marriage they were feasting they were having a party they were buying they were selling nothing wrong incidentally with any of these things that jesus lists in regard to the days of noah what was wrong well this fundamentally noah the preacher of righteousness had said that a great catastrophe was just around the corner and people should live in the light of that catastrophe they rejected what noah had to say and when the flood came well of course they were utterly unprepared now don't you see our lord says that this will be a perpetual condition in the days prior to his second coming people will be saying verse three peace and safety and then destruction will suddenly come on them as labor pains on a pregnant woman one has the idea of even the pain of pregnancy as illustrating the coming of our lord now you see there are some people who have great problems here with the apostle and they try to devise other schemes into paul's teaching and and i think perhaps deflect the main thrust of what he has to say they say well when jesus christ comes again it's going to be a very pleasurable thing and here reference is made to the labor pains of a woman it doesn't add up and therefore they bring another scheme in that seems to make the whole thing pan out more sensibly in their estimation but what they fail to appreciate is this that when our lord jesus christ returns it will have a twofold effect on society for those people who trust him as lord and savior it will be glory utter glory whatever is the most blissful thing excuse me that has ever happened to you in your life raise that to the ultimate and even then you haven't got a semblance of understanding as to what it will be like he shall come aren't you living for the day when the bride groom comes for his bride a most wonderful thing and yet you see on the other hand as with the proclamation of the gospel there will be an opposite effect on the part of what well on the part of those who are unbelievers those who've heard this gospel these people who have fallen asleep so to speak who have died before the advent of christ and they died in a state of unbelief and the scoffers who are alive at the time of his coming they will be in great difficulty because when that happens that will be the end of the opportunity to repent and to ensure that when that one is right with the lord here i i i clear my point by just directing you to second thessalonians and chapter one the same page if you are following the niv version of the bible drop your eyes down to verse six no drop to verse halfway through verse seven this will happen when the lord jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels he will punish those who do not know god and do not obey the gospel of our lord jesus they will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have belief this includes you because you believed our testimony to you you see my friend it's most important that you appreciate this and that you don't play around as far as your response to the gospel message is concerned jesus tells us time and time again in his preaching that he will return and his return his second advent will be with the same surprise the unexpectedness with which a burglar steals into territory steals into a home and take things away therefore you have to be ready you must be ready for the second return of our lord jesus and there are probably attendant factors today that would emphasize the readiness that we ought to have more than any other time in history and i argue that on social i argue that on political grounds as opposed to but alongside biblical grounds what do i mean well it's only during these past decades that we have had the ability the the extraordinary ability the diabolical ability to rid the planet of the human race completely we pollute our environment we threaten one another we go on from one dastardly deed to another if you think i'm a jerry meyer then i ask you to read your newspapers they say these things far more severely than i'm saying them from the pulpit and in a time like this one well something has got to happen yes indeed something has got to happen i put it in in a different context something will happen god is still on the throne king jesus reigns invisibly and he who brought this world into existence will come back again and he will speak that creative word that will bring back to life those who have dead he will speak that creative word whereby the whole of this universe shall be purged and restored to the blissful condition in which it was when it first left the saviour's hands read romans chapter 8 and you'll discover a great deal of teaching on this read peter's epistle and again you'll get the whole concept of the creation of the new heavens and the new earth so information imparted that's what paul does in the first three verses he reminds them of what has already been taught them that's why he says we do not need to write to you any more precisely there is nothing else that we have to share and sometimes i think modern preachers would be as well to retain the humility of paul and refuse to get involved in reckless speculation but then in the light of this from the fourth verse to the ninth there is uh conduct expected information imparted conduct expected but you brothers are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief you see there is to be a clear distinction between the way that people who are knowledgeable about these things live and the way that other people live i've already brought this out by quoting 1 john chapter 3 and verse 3 how does the apostle how does he refer to uh to to to people who are christians well he does so in terms of those who have seen the light look at verse 5 you are all sons of the light and sons of the day our lord jesus was the light of the world not so the gospel that shines in our heart shines the glorious truth of the good news that god has not left this world to spin around uncontrollably on its axis you and i have an insight there is something different about you if you're a christian person not only mentally not only in your understanding but in your way of life now the apostle makes this clear as he goes into two illustrations and i've coupled them together to make it easy for you to understand in two words first of all he refers to the inert you know that word if you feel a little sluggish if you don't feel on top of things or if you're just downright lazy then you are inert and he refers to people like this those who are asleep those who are like the drunkard those who refuse to face up to the conditions of modern times those who refuse to face up to the uh the contradictions of their own nature these are the inert now says the apostle alongside the inert there are the alert those who do not sleep at night so to speak those who do not get drunk those who are concerned to respond to the gospel of christ those who are like roman soldiers on sentry duty all the time that's what he has to say in these verses four through to nine let's take them again but a little more slowly the inert well he's referring to the unbeliever isn't he those who are not sons of the light and sons of the day in other words put it the other way around as he does in the latter part of the fifth chapter of the fifth verse we do not belong to the night or to the darkness when jesus was on earth there was great darkness not so there was an utter hopelessness the realm of greek philosophy of roman political theory even the jews had got little hope no prophet had spoken for centuries but jesus came as a shaft of light and on one occasion he said i am the light of the world and then he addresses his followers and he says you are lights of the world let your light so shine amongst men but not everybody responded to jesus's gospel did they he came to his own but his own preferred darkness to light his own preferred drunkenness the drunkenness ignorance to the truth of the gospel that he brought but there were some happy exceptions so those who were inert those who are inert are those who do not respond to the gospel and you would expect conduct compatible with their philosophy but you see christian people are not part of the inert they're part of the alert that's why the apostle uses on a couple of occasions the word self-control look at verse 8 but since we belong to the day let us be self-controlled putting on faith love as a breastplate and so forth now what would be the obvious example to paul in the roman world of someone who had got their emotions under control well it would be a soldier wouldn't it i mean the roman world was policed obviously by its armies and the reason why the romans were so successful was that their forces were so disciplined now says paul you who believe in the in the soon return of jesus christ you who are children of the light you show the nature of your profession by the control that you exercise in the way that you live and he refers to two of the several pieces of christian armor does he not in the eighth verse you get a commentary an exhaustive commentary at least a full one in the sixth chapter of ephesians 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 how do christian people contrast with unbelievers today surely we're hopeful you have the breastplace of breastplate of faith on you faith it protects your breasts protects your shoulders that's what the breastplate does and what's more you have love an active love coupled with an active faith which enables you to make an impact on society today isn't it amazing that paul uses a defense piece of armory the breastplate and he uses that as an illustration of active qualities faith and hope faith and love because when we are full of faith and our faith is active when we are full of love and our love is active we have a marvelous protection in the world in which we live which is to some degree bankrupt of faith and love you see the apostle is really homing in on what he said earlier on in the third verse of the first chapter he's congratulating these remarkably mature thesalonian christians who don't have all the helps that you and i have that we listed a little while ago and and he picks out in the third verse their strong points we continually remember before our god and father your work produced by faith your labor prompted by love and your in endurance inspired by hope in our lord jesus faith love and hope here you get it again i say in the eighth verse of the fifth chapter you have the hope of salvation as a helmet says calvin comment on commenting on this verse and the fact that paul doesn't use all the parts of the armor he says he um he omits nothing that relates to spiritual defense for those who are furnished with faith love and hope will not be caught unarmed in any respect now my friend have you understood my teaching thus far not my teaching it's a scripture why is it that we don't have a specific indication when jesus is coming again well to quote what i put down at the heading of notes and news for for this sunday that day lies hid that every day we might be on the watch not inert but alert st augustine he is from a puritan preacher william gurnell christ has told us he will come but not when and then he uses quaint elizabethan language that we might never put off our clothes or put out the candle you see this is the sort of contrast that there is between the unbeliever and the believer the children of light and the children of darkness so what has paul done well there's been information imparted from verses one to three he's outlined conduct expected from verses four to nine now let's close down on his teaching here is assurance restated verse nine to eleven you see it's assurance that he's concerned as far as these thessalonians go why do they need assurance well as i've explained they they had this worry as to what the condition of christians would be who died before the lord returned and maybe one or two of them were a little bit worried as to what exactly would happen if they were alive and jesus did come back well here's this grand assurance verse nine god did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our lord jesus you're afraid of death there's only one logical reason for a person to be afraid of death and i tell you this because it will help you to understand that even tucked into the psychology of human nature is evidence for the truth of the gospel you see most men without faith die afraid why you see if annihilation is what reaches me at death what becomes me at death then logically why should i fear that fear not being it doesn't really make sense at all but there is that in man that tells him that beyond this life there is something else now that can be a most alarming prospect if you know nothing of the assurance of the gospel of jesus christ so paul says to these thessalonians god did not appoint us to suffer wrath what does he mean well the wrath of god the wrath of god paul do you really mean that god can be angry indeed i do says the apostle to the extent that three or four times already in this letter i've referred to it here is the here is my first indication of the return of jesus christ verse 10 of the first chapter i'm exhorting christians to wait in anticipation of his coming and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath and here is the apostle speaking in language which you might think is anti-semitic but remember he is a jew and he is pouring out his own felt anger against his own kith and kin for the way that they are stopping the gospel message reaching the gentiles and in verse 16 of the second chapter he says in their effort to keep us from speaking to the gentiles so that they may be saved in this way they always heap up their sins to the limit the wrath of god has come upon them at last do you know anything about the wrath of god it would hard be hard pressed to get time on the bbc to preach the doctrine of the wrath of god the love of god yes the forgiveness of god the mercy of god all these positive endearing heartwarming characteristics they are taken and they are portrayed and rightly so but you distort them if alongside the wrath of god alongside the love of you know nothing of the wrath of god jesus christ is coming again it's the most wonderful anticipation that anyone could have but before you glory in this ensure that your soul's condition has been guaranteed through you confessing that jesus christ blood shed on the cross of calvary is the means whereby you are declared righteous before a holy god it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living god it says the new testament writer of the epistle to the hebrews and so the apostle he you say you see he's bringing to bear these encouraging factors as far as the destiny of the thessalonian christians is concerned they are it is secure in the purposes of god they have received salvation through our lord jesus christ great words at the end of that terrible ninth verse have you received that salvation through our lord jesus christ there is no other way there is no other hope it's through him he died on our behalf he died in our stead that's the reason why his precious blood was shed now if this you realize then your destiny is sealed along with the thessalonian christians and not only your destiny but obviously your security during this earth during the pilgrimage that you have in this earth you have not been appointed to wrath but to receive salvation he died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep you see the point here are these two contradictory situations whether we're awake or whether we're asleep whether we're alive it is coming or whether we're dead it is coming if we know him as savior we are secure we have a destiny guaranteed through the precious blood that he shed on calvary's cross therefore says the apostle concluding his brilliant argument in the 11th verse encourage one another with these words well of course paul there's nothing else you can do is there you have given us an insight into the great program that god has in store for us you have reassured us of the fact that our loved ones who've died in christ are in the presence of god you have told us that when jesus returns his shed blood will deflect the wrath of god from us therefore we have great comfort great encouragement great material with which to come alongside people who are distressed and minister to them the consoling healing rejuvenating reviving word of the blessed gospel of the everlasting gospel of the blessed god forgive me my friends if my emotions are aroused but really i'm not a lump of clay i'm not just a piece of stone these things they they warm my heart they focus my vision they direct my life he's coming again if they can get excited when when when the wells seem as though they're going to beat the french so they didn't at the rugby final last week if they can jump for joy in the terraces then don't be afraid if a preacher occasionally gets a little excited at the thought that jesus will come back again and the government of this world shall be placed upon his shoulders and the rottenness of northern ireland and that which causes a cleavage in southern africa and the gas bombing in in iraq all these hideous obscene things of the 20th century the abortion the age disease and what have you these things will be done away with that's my hope one looks for that not to cop out of responsibilities now but to live now a life of quality because on the horizon filling every particle of that horizon is the notion the knowledge that he jesus christ is coming again wherefore brothers and sisters comfort comfort one another with these words to the eternal glory of our god amen we go to a lady for one of the best hymns 229 thou art coming all my saviour verse three let's lift it to the heights in terms of enthusiastic expression or the joy to see thee reigning two to nine