Sons of Light

Introduction

How do you know you are ready for the return of the Lord?

Many people focus on the study of end time events, presumably so they can know when the Lord might come back.

What practical value does this have?

Is such an interest an admission that someone does not see themselves as ready?

Are some interested in “running out the clock” in the sense that they wish to live according to their own interests for as long as possible?

Hopefully, this morning, we will learn to see ourselves differently as we learn along with the Thessalonians from the Word of God.

We should see ourselves as positionally something in the world not people trying to be something different to the world.

What We Learned Last Sunday Night

Paul told the Thessalonians they already have adequate knowledge of the information about the “Day of the Lord.”

His interest, then, is not in delineating the circumstances of the Lord’s return per se.

Instead, he wants to remind the Thessalonians how they differ in the world.

The day of the Lord is coming in the same way a thief does.

There is a general sense of security right up to the moment when sudden destruction comes.

Paul likens this to birth pangs.

Unbelievers are the only ones who will be overtaken by the sudden coming of the Lord.

We know to expect the Lord to come unexpectedly.

We know that Jesus will return and that when he does it will be at an unexpected time.

For a people who will be convinced they have nothing to worry about, there is nothing to anticipate, no judgment to fear.

Life will be lived in complete darkness reveling in the delusion that God’s wrath and Jesus’ return have no purchase on their lives.

In the passage to follow, Paul uses four pairs of contrasting terms:

Day and Night

Light and Darkness

Awake and Asleep

Sober and Drunken

A State of Being: Sons of Light

Paul reminds the Thessalonians of their different state.

Unlike unbelievers, the Thessalonians are not in darkness.

They live a life that they see no reason to disrupt.

On the the one hand, this must mean the Thessalonians know the Lord will come as a thief in the night.

We know we should expect the Lord to come unexpectedly.

The Lord’s coming, then, should not overtake us like a thief.

As sons of light, we are not ignorant of the Lord’s coming.

As sons of light we are ready prepared for that day.

Paul does not call upon them to “become sons of light” or to “become sons of the day.”

He says that is who we are.

His point is that knowledge of the unexpected coming of the Lord compels us as people of the day always to be ready for his coming through faithful, obedient behavior.

1 Thessalonians 5:5 offers the support that the Thessalonians, and likewise we, are now a different people from the unbelieving world.

A State of Being: Awake and Sober

The reality of who we are exhorts us to be awake and sober.

These are the proper ways we should “be” in the world as sons of light.

Paul describes “the rest” as sleeping:

This refers both to their previously mentioned ignorance as well as to the behavior that ensues.

He offers this characterization in 1 Thess. 5:7.

Drunkenness contrasts with sobriety.

Right mindedness might be a good way to think of sobriety here as opposed to drunkenness which would then have to equate to not being in ones right mind (this would include about “The Day of the Lord”).

Evening Introduction

God does not hide the truth from us. He tells us the truth and teaches us how to live in the world. He also teaches us how to prepare to live in the world.

We know from Jesus’ own teaching and the letter to the Hebrews that believers can make two errors in thinking:

Assume Jesus’ is taking too long to return.

Assume Jesus isn’t taking long enough.

These errors in thinking can lead to disillusionment and resentment toward God because of the assumption that Jesus ought to have returned by now.

People are not ready to face the moral dilemma of living for Christ in a hostile world because they never thought they would have to do that.

The New Testament uses the metaphor of getting dressed to meet the conditions faced by believers in the world.

1 Peter 1:13

Colossians 3

All of these utilize the picture of getting dressed to live in the world according to God’s nature and will.

Whatever the conditions of life might be, no matter how much things might change, living as believers in the world will not change.

These are universal truths to learn.

What is right does not change depending on the circumstances we happen to face.

What is right does not change depending upon how we might feel.

Paul offers a further explanation of what he means by “sober.”

1 Thess. 5:8.

Being dressed for battle.

Breast plate of faith and love. (Revisit these in the evening service in light of 1 Thess. 1:3).

Helmet of certainty of salvation.

Paul knew the Thessalonians were practicing these. He wanted to encourage them to continue the consistency.

We should note the similarity of language with:

Isaiah 59:14ff.

Ephesians 6:13 ff.

Be Encouraging One Another

Paul offers these reminders in light of the reality of who we are in regard to God’s overall intention for us as believers.

He offers them the comfort that whether we are awake (living) or asleep (dead, see 1 Thess. 4) God has not appoint us to wrath but to salvation.

We can live with uninterrupted certainty now because this certainty.

We should be a loyal, loving, and looking people.

The certainty of who we are gives us a foundation for encouraging one another and edifying each one.

Paul knew the Thessalonians were already doing this.

This reinforces what they already know to be true about themselves, how they ought to live, and how they ought to view the world.