Dan Herold | 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 | November 29, 2015
(Sermon begins at 16:08)
Have you ever come across a part of Scripture that just makes you scratch your head and wonder why? This has always been one of those sections for me. I have always wondered why God couldn’t be a little more specific about when Jesus was going to come back. I’ve always wondered why Jesus didn’t know when that day would come? In 1 Thessalonians 5 Paul provides some answers and explanation to those things we wonder about.
When Jesus told us about his second coming and when Paul writes about it in 1 Thessalonians 5 they find a balance between a scheduled test and a surprise quiz. Jesus makes it clear that he is going to return—that there will be a final test on Judgement Day and there’s no other option—but, he doesn’t tell us when it is going to be. In fact, he tells us that it could be at anytime so we always need to be prepared for it. Until that time comes Paul tells us how to prepare for the test—to encourage each other by being ready, being different, and being confident.
We have to be ready because we know that Jesus is going to return, but we don’t know when—we always have to be ready. When Paul wrote about this to the Thessalonians he said,
“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.”
Paul said he didn’t even need to mention dates or times because Jesus made it so clear that no one can know the time (Jesus himself said he didn’t even know!) when Judgement day will come. So, Paul tells us to be ready and not to fall into the false sense of security that Satan wants to trap us in.
It’s kind of strange that the Bible—the definitive authority on Judgement Day—says that there’s no need to talk about times or dates, but that seems to be the thing that people want to talk about the most! Our sinful nature likes to think that if we can figure out when Judgement Day will be then we can get out of having to always be prepared for it and we can just cram all our preparation in right before it gets here.
You Don’t have to look hard to find people analyzing the calendars of ancient civilizations, and people watching the stars and the moon to try to predict when the end will come, and still others trying to twist God’s own word to come up with some date for Jesus to return. All of those people say, “Get ready because it’s going to happen on this day or that day,” But what happens when they are wrong? What happens when that date comes and goes or what would happen to their souls if Jesus were to return before they predicted? Would they be ready then? Paul says,
“While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”
Why to delay in getting the right treatment when you can order viagra to fix up the problem instantly. Hypnotherapy is truly the most natural way to generic cialis online purchased here nourish your reproductive system. And that’s not all, the acai berries http://deeprootsmag.org/category/departments/bordercrossings/?feedsort=rand cialis samples also help in improving the blood circulation; and when required, can act as a big confidence booster helping you overcome the anxiety. Please be very assured that these drugs are viagra canada cost 100% natural, FDA approved ensures that consumption of these won’t affect anyone’s health. As God’s followers we are to always be ready, we are going to look different and act differently from the rest of the world—and Paul encourages to be different. Paul tells us that we aren’t like everyone else—he says,
“But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons 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.”
What Paul is saying here is that the unbelievers in the world are the ones who are going to be caught off guard when Jesus returns, but believers are different. We don’t know the date just like unbelievers don’t know the date when Jesus will return, but we know that he will return. So, we are always ready and that makes believers different.
Believers look and act differently because of their perspective. We don’t view Jesus returning as something to be afraid of or something to worry about. We don’t worry because we are ready for it and because we know what is going to happen when Jesus returns. It is going to be a day when everyone will be shown for what they truly are. To unbelievers that is a scary thing because it means that all those things that Paul says they do in the dark—getting drunk and being unprepared—are going to be exposed. But again, believers are different because we truly are God’s redeemed children who have been bought with the blood of Christ and made perfect through him—and that is what will be revealed on the last day.
There’s one last temptation that Paul warns us about today though, and that is the temptation to doubt—to doubt whether or not Jesus really is going to return. So, he tells us to encourage each other to be confident. Like we just talked about, believers are different—they stand out from unbelievers. Anytime you notice that there’s something different and that you aren’t quite like everybody else there’s the temptation to doubt and wonder if you really are on the right track. Well, Paul assures us that as believers in our Lord, who has promised to return, we are on the right track, and therefore we can be confident!
Paul urges us to be confident in our Lord—that he will carry through with his promises. He also tells us to be confident in our faith and to let our light shine in this world of darkness. Paul talks about that confidence when he says,
“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. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath 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.”
We can be confident because our hope isn’t based on a guess—our hope is built on the absolute truth of God’s Word. Our hope is made secure by the historical fact that Jesus Christ lived a perfect life which he sacrificed on the cross to take away the sins of the world and that he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Our hope is built on God’s promise—which is recorded in the same book that records those historical truths—that he will return again to judge the world.
When our sinful nature hears that the final exam is coming—that Judgment Day is coming—it is terrified. And each of us still has a sinful nature so at times we might even feel some of those fears, but God assures us that we don’t need to be afraid. In fact he even tells us to band together with other believers, just like we have done here in our congregation, and to use the words of Scripture to encourage one another. So, as we look forward to our Savior’s glorious return, remember Paul’s instructions in 1 Thessalonians 5…Encourage one another—encourage one another to be ready, to be different, and to be confident. Even if we don’t know the date or time we know that our Lord, Jesus Christ, most certainly will return.
Amen.