1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Summarize the book to this point…

Watch for the Day of The Lord (1 Thes. 5:1-5)

Paul begins to talk about the day of the Lord… the attitudes that non-believers will have, as well as the attitudes that believers should have.

He’s instructing the Thessalonians to “Be Ready for the Day of The Lord.”

Let’s read…

1 Thessalonians 5:1–5 ESV

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.

EXPLAIN

Speaking about the day of the Lord and His return, Paul says, “I don’t really need to tell you this… because I’ve already told you. You already know.”

Isn’t that interesting? Can you imagine if Paul was going to come preach a message at our church and he asked, “Would you like me to preach on the times and seasons of the day of the Lord?” We would all be like… “Uh… YEA!!! I want you to prove that I’m right!”

Considering all the debates we have about it, we would want to know, wouldn’t we?!?

But imagine our disappointment the day he comes, begins speaking and says, “Alright, concerning the times and seasons of the day of the Lord...”

“Yes, Paul… when is it gonna happen? Pre-tribulation? Mid-tribulation? It’s post-tribulation isn’t it?”

And Paul says, “We don’t know when it’s going to happen. It will come like a thief in the night.”

We might be disappointed, but we must be okay with not knowing. Rather than being disappointed about what God’s Word doesn’t say, we should focus on what God has chosen to reveal to us in His Word.

John MacArthur, in his commentary on 1 Thessalonians says…

“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.” — John MacArthur

When does a thief come? When people are least expecting it!

And if the thief is good, people don’t even realize that they came. They only realize when they notice things are missing.

(STORY OF WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS TICKETS)

I remember hearing this story of a thief a while back. I’m not sure if it’s true or not…

A family in Winnipeg came home one night to find out their bbq had been stolen.

A few days later they came home to their bbq on their front step. They were surprised, and they opened the bbq to find a note apologizing for having stolen it. The note said they felt guilty for stealing the bbq, and wanted to make it up to them with tickets to a Winnipeg Blue Bombers game. Inside the bbq were the tickets!

The family couldn’t believe it! The consciences of the robbers had been pricked. Maybe people aren’t so bad after all.

They came home the night after the football game to find their home ransacked. Knowing the family would be gone for a few hours the night of the football game, the thieves had come and taken everything of value!

They came when the family least expected it!

1 Thessalonians 5:3 ESV

While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

“We’re not in danger! There’s nothing to be afraid of or worried about!”

That is when sudden destruction will come.

As suddenly as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman.

If a woman is pregnant, we know she is going to go into labor at some point!

This means that although we don’t know the day or the hour, we should be expecting it at any time.

Non-Christians are oblivious to this day coming. They have blocked it out of their minds, and have, and will falsely believe that everything is okay.

That will not save them from that day. Ignorance is bliss, until the moment that you come face to face with the truth.

“and they will not escape.”

God’s judgement will come on them even though they are not ready for it.

They chose to ignore the warning signs, and now they must come to grips with the decision they made to ignore God’s means of salvation through Jesus.

Christians on the other hand ARE prepared.

1 Thessalonians 5:4–5 ESV

But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.

We are not in darkness. We are children of light, children of the day.

Our eyes are open, and we know the day of the Lord is coming. We don’t know the day or the hour, but we know it’s coming, and could happen at any moment.

We know the end result! This gives us assurance and hope as we live our lives now.

Jesus spoke on this in the gospel of Matthew…

Matthew 24:36–38 ESV

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,

Matthew 24:39–42 ESV

and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

Matthew 24:43–44 ESV

But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

We have been warned that the Son of Man is coming. We don’t know when, but we know He is coming!

Therefore we are commanded to stay awake, to be ready, to be watching for the day of the Lord.

Think of Kevin from “Home Alone”.

He knew Marv and Harry were going to come to his house at 9 PM to rob them.

He didn’t go to sleep that night, but stayed awake, set a bunch of amazing booby traps, and protected his families’ home.

We don’t know the exact hour the Lord is going to return like Kevin knew the exact hour Marv and Harry were coming, but we do know that Jesus is coming!

Therefore we are to be on high alert, watching for that day to come, knowing that IT IS coming!

Can you think of a time you knew something was going to happen, but you didn’t know when? How did you prepare?

Service technician was going to come between the hours of 8am — 5pm.

Pregnant…

Do you think Christians are more concerned about the timing of the Lord’s return, or watching and being prepared for it?

Oftentimes we are more worried about the timing. We should be more concerned about the implications of Jesus’ return than the timing of it.

Why didn’t God give us the day of Christ’s return? How would we live if we knew when Christ would return?

We tend to procrastinate, thinking there is not enough time to get something done when we have a deadline.

Summary

As Christians we should:

Watch for the Day of the Lord

Next we see that Christians should…

Prepare for the Day of The Lord

We are to watch for the day of the Lord, but that doesn’t mean we sit around and do nothing. We have work to do!

1 Thessalonians 5:6–8 ESV

So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

EXPLAIN

What is the non-believers response to God’s promise that Jesus will return? “I’m going to take a nap.”

This reflects that they don’t believe it’s going to happen. They’re not concerned about it.

This is not the believers response. We are not to sleep… or be lazy… or unconcerned.

We are asking the question, “If the day of the Lord is coming, then how should I be living in light of that?”

The believer is awake.

We are paying attention to what’s going on around us. We’re watching and waiting as we go through life.

The believer is sober.

Our senses are not dulled by alcohol or drugs.

Our minds are not diluted by the lusts and pleasures of this world.

Rather, we are conscious and alert, as we are watching and waiting.

John Calvin, speaking on this passage said…

“It is spiritual sobriety when we use this world so sparingly and temperately that we are not entangled in its allurements.” — John Calvin

1 Thessalonians 5:7 ESV

For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night.

Sleeping and drunkenness are for those living in spiritual darkness.

Their eyes have been blinded by Satan.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 ESV

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

Believers are not like that! We have been awakened from our spiritual darkness. We are children of the light, and that light is the truth of God found in Jesus Christ!

Since our eyes have been opened, and we belong to the day, therefore, we live in spiritual sobriety.

We allow God to lead us in the truth of His Word, as He guides us by His Holy Spirit.

The last part of verse 8 describes how we prepare for the day of the Lord. There is action that we must take. We must put on our armour.

Paul here indicates the 2 areas that are in need most of protection… the heart and the head.

We must put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

Speaking on this verse, Mark Howell says…

“Faith and love form the breastplate that protects the heart, and hope is the helmet that protects the head. Faith reflects confidence. Love declares loyalty. Hope provides security. This triumvirate of Christian virtues forms the essence of Christianity.

Believe what God says by faith; do what God requires out of love; and trust what God promises because of hope. Paul therefore encourages the Thessalonians to guard their hearts and their heads by remembering their relationship with Christ.” — Mark Howell

Rather than sleeping or being drunk, as Christians we are to be prepared.

We recognize there is a spiritual battle going on.

A soldier wouldn’t go out into battle without the proper armour.

Neither should we.

Satan is going to attack us, and we need to protect our heart and mind so that we can be of service to God for the building up of His kingdom.

My aunt and uncle had a framed statement in their house that said...

Don’t say anything you wouldn’t want to be saying when the Lord returns. Don’t do anything you wouldn’t want to be doing when the Lord returns. Don’t be anywhere you wouldn’t want to be when the Lord returns.

How does the hope of Christ’s coming encourage Christians to live soberly and seriously?

Since we know He’s coming, we want to live in a way that will be commendable.

How would you explain that faith, love, and hope are like armour that protects the head and heart?

Faith — belief/trust in God and His Word. This helps us extinguish the flaming darts of lies from Satan.

Love — devotion to God and His commands. This helps protect us from the guilt of sinful living.

Hope — trust in God’s promise to bring us into His presence because of our faith in Christ. This protects us from the lies of Satan that we are not good enough.

We know we are not good enough! But our faith is in Christ, who died for us!

As Christians we should:

Watch for the Day of the Lord

Prepare for the Day of the Lord

Lastly, we should…

Long for the Day of The Lord

Armed with faith, love, and hope in God and His promises, we should long for the day of the Lord.

Far from being a day that we are scared of, it ought to be a day that we anticipate.

WHY?

1 Thessalonians 5:9–11 ESV

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

EXPLAIN

These words ought to be an encouragement to us.

And we ought to encourage one another with these words.

It is not a sad, discouraging, terrifying message, but a message of excitement!

God’s wrath is going to come on the world because of their sin and unbelief…

“One of the things that gave salvation so full a meaning to New Testament Christians was that they were sure of the wrath of God, and knew that Christ had rescued them from a terrible fate. In modern days men are often prone to take Christianity lightly because they have emptied the wrath of its content. To remove the wrath of God from the scene is to rob life of a good deal of its serious purpose.” — Leon Morris

To truly understand God’s salvation, we must understand His judgement on sin.

God is so holy, and sin goes so much against His holy nature, that it is deserving of eternal hell.

It must be paid for. It cannot simply be forgotten, or swept away.

Those who have placed their faith in Christ have had their sins paid for, and will not have to suffer God’s wrath.

We will obtain salvation!

This salvation is through our Lord Jesus Christ.

He died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

This is a call back to 1 Thes. 4:13-18 where Paul addresses those who have died.

Both those who have died, as well as those who are awake will live with Christ because of our faith in Him!

Do we as Christians long for the day of the Lord? Why or why not?

We don’t because at times we are enjoying this life.

We do because we long for justice.

As Christians we should:

Watch for the Day of the Lord

Prepare for the day of the Lord

Long for the day of the Lord

What does this mean for our everyday lives? How should this affect how we live?

Mark Howell, in his commentary helps us by…

Bringing the Message to Our Hearts

Paul has instructed us about the day the Lord returns.

He has not done this to start a controversy, but to give us hope and encouragement.

The point of this passage from beginning to end is that our only hope is Jesus.

God has called the church to comfort and not to conflict

As Christ’s church we need to stop focusing on little, petty disagreements.

Our focus needs to be on the coming day of the Lord, and the urgency of being ready, as well as warning others to be ready as well.

We have a limited opportunity to make a maximum impact

Think of where God has placed you in this season of life that you are in.

Think of the people around you in this season of life.

Think of your circumstances in this season you are in.

Then pray that God would give you the wisdom to make the greatest impact that you can in all of those things for God and His kingdom.

We don’t have a lot of time.

God provides the security, but you must take the risks

God has given us purchased our assurance and security through Christ’s blood.

We must be willing to take risks to live and sacrifice for Him!

Faith is the willingness to look foolish. Noah looked foolish building a boat in the middle of a desert. The Israelite army looked foolish marching around Jericho blowing trumpets. A shepherd boy named David looked foolish charging a gian with a slingshot. The Magi looked foolish tracking a star to Timbuktu.

Peter looked foolish getting out of a boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. And Jesus looked foolish wearing a crown of thorns. But the results speak for themselves. Noah was saved from the flood; the walls came tumbling down; David defeated Goliath; the Magi discovered the Messiah; Peter walked on water; and Jesus was crowned King of kings. — Mark Batterson

Closing Prompt

The day of the Lord is coming like a thief. How does that change the way you think about living your life on a day to day basis?