1 Thessalonians 5:4-11 - Live Awake

4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 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. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Target Date: Sunday, 19 March 2023

NOTES:

Word Study/ Translation Notes:

Darkness - σκότος skŏtŏs – darkness

Greek epistemology starts with the process of illumination, i.e., the movement from darkness to light. Darkness has no great conceptual significance; it serves only as a foil to light. There is no direct line from what is said about illumination to later dualism.

The darkness is vacuous, even an absence of light. It is NOT material or the “opposite” of light – a duality. It is where light has not invaded or conquered.

Darkness is empty, devoid of light.

The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. – Isaiah 9:2

The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. – John 1:5

This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. – John 3:19

While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world. – John 9:5

He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” – John 9:25

being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; - Ephesians 4:18

Surprise - καταλαμβάνω katalambanō – literally “to take down”, to seize, to overcome, to overtake, overpower.

Of a demon possessing a child: and whenever it seizes him - Mark 9:18

Of the supremacy of light: the darkness has not overcome it. - John 1:5

Of a woman overtaken in the act of adultery: the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery - John 8:3

Thief – same as in prior passage.

Children - υἱός huiŏs – literally “sons”, although in this usage, it indicates “sons and daughters”.

Light

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. – Matthew 5:14-16

For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” – John 3:20-21

“For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. 36 While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” – John 12:35-36

so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world - Philippians 2:15

Day - ἡμέρα hēmĕra – the same word used for “Day of the Lord”

Night

Sleep – different from the word in chapter 4. The former verb had the idea of falling asleep. This one is the picture of deep slumber, insensate to the events happening around.

Others

Awake - γρηγορεύω grēgŏrĕuō – be vigilant, watchful

From the idea to shake yourself awake, gather your faculties.

Drunk

They were not sensible of their danger, therefore they slept; they were not sensible of their duty, therefore they were drunk: but it ill becomes Christians to do thus.

Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; 35 for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. 36 But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” – Luke 21:34-36

Sober

Breastplate

Helmet

Hope of Salvation

Thoughts on the Passage:

In Romans, Paul makes essentially the same case there as in this passage:

The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. – Romans 13:12-14

The exhortations in this passage also give understanding to v.11 here: encourage one another and build one another up.

4 – In Darkness/ 5 – of the darkness

This noun for “darkness” is in the dative case, indicating it is the state or location of the subject. Thus, in darkness indicates the state the believer is NOT in – that the believer in Jesus Christ is not IN darkness, contained in it, dwelling in it.

In verse 5, however, the case is genitive, indicating the NATURE or ORIGIN of the subject. Thus he is saying we do not PROCEED out of night or darkness in our nature, that we do not belong to darkness.

The difference is between someone who is circumstantially in a state and one who is nativ to that state.

To belong to darkness is more than to be in darkness.

4 – That day – speaking specifically of the Day of the Lord due to the definite article “that” or “the”.

It is an interpretive question whether the remaining uses of the word “day” (v.5, 8) are likewise pointing to the Day of the Lord or to “day” in general.

In v.5, there is no article there to indicate a specific day, but leaves the interpretation as “children of day”.

Likewise, in v.8, there is no article, leading to the same conclusion.

It is that the day of the Lord divides humanity into two distinct camps—those who are ready and destined for salvation and those who are not ready and are destined for wrath

5 – Children of Light

Includes everyone: you are ALL children of light…

Light arises in the darkness for the upright; He is gracious and compassionate and righteous. – Psalm 112:4

Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. – Isaiah 2:5

No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory. 20 “Your sun will no longer set, Nor will your moon wane; For you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, And the days of your mourning will be over. – Isaiah 60:19-20

Children of light are true children of God. They have undergone a transformation that makes a new life (a life in the light) inevitable, not just preferable. Godliness for true sons of the light is not just a matter of appropriate actions; it is an outgrowth of their essential nature, their relationship to God

5 – Children of the day

To be a “son of the day” is to be one who awaits with expectancy the day of the Lord

5 – of the night, of darkness

These all have one point in common. They depict people who are blind. They cannot or will not see clearly and are therefore unprepared for what lies ahead

Those in darkness would include those who are corrupt, who have actively rejected God’s offer of salvation.

Those would be the ones who loved the darkness over the light because their deeds were evil.

It would also be those who grope in darkness, unable to find their way to God.

you will grope at noon, as the blind man gropes in darkness, and you will not prosper in your ways; but you shall only be oppressed and robbed continually, with none to save you. – Deuteronomy 28:29

This is not a separate group, but a separate understanding of some people in these groups.

To be totally corrupt does not mean we are as bad as we can be – only that we can in no way reach God’s holy standard.

This would also include that group upon God will have mercy and enlighten them to His grace.

Those who God rescues: For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. – Colossians 1:13-14

I am the Lord, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations, 7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison. – Isaiah 42:6-7

Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. – 1 Corinthians 6:11

While it is impossible for the day of the Lord to catch Christians unprepared, it is possible for them to adopt the same life style as those who will be caught unawares. Paul urges his readers not to let this happen

I am not so sure if I agree with this or not, at least with the terms undefined. Those who will be caught unawares, whether they name the name of Christ or not, could be seen to be those who did not persevere until the end, those who cry Lord, Lord, but did not do the things He commanded.

Certainly the grace of God is independent of our worthiness, but the Scriptures declare that it is correlated to our conduct.

Good fruit comes from a good tree.

The one who loves Jesus will keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome.

Otherwise, what is to distinguish between the persevering believer and the false one who sprouts quickly, but has no root and withers with the application of heat and trial?

7 – sleep and drunk – these may well have been sins the Thessalonians were particularly tempted toward. In the parallel Romans 13:12ff, several more sin types are listed there. The narrowness of the sin list to the Thessalonians should not be seen as a failure to be comprehensive, but Paul pastorally addressing the most pressing sins of the congregation.

It could also be mercy that he mentioned only those sins that were causing the most struggle in the church, leaving to their current pastors to make other corrections the apostles felt would be in their strength.

Sermon Text:

We continue with our study of this passage from the fifth chapter of 1 Thessalonians.

Those who have been here should recall that this entire section, from 4:13 to 5:11 deals with doctrines and encouragement relating to the Return of Jesus Christ in His Second Coming.

Last week, we asked the question “so what?”,

or in a fuller form: “How should I live since my Lord will return?”

Last week, we looked at the command to “live in the light” as children of the light and what that meant.

Today we will look at the answer given almost every time the subject of Christ’s Return is mentioned in Scripture: Keep Awake.

Verse 6 – So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake…

Of the 22 times this command appears in the Bible, 2/3 of the time it is an instruction to “keep awake” for the Return of Christ.

Even more, the instruction is found in nearly every passage dealing with the Return of Christ:

Matthew 24 and 25

Mark 13

Luke 12

Romans 13

1 Peter 5

Revelation 3 and 16

And here in 1 Thessalonians 5.

It would not be too much to say that this is the PRIMARY command of our Lord through the Scripture with regard to His Return: Keep Awake!

So this morning, we will look at this vital commandment, spoken by our Lord and his servants.

We need desperately to understand what it means, and how we must put it into practice in our lives.

First of all, let’s get out of the way what it doesn’t mean.

1. It does not mean to do without sleep all the time.

There are some who find great virtue in minimizing their rest, and that is often not a good thing.

Particularly when the cause of the sleeplessness has nothing to do with the work of the Lord.

I am afraid there are many sleepy Christians, though, who are exhausted because they love the goods and the entertainments of this world too much.

That is certainly another subject for another day.

But suffice it at this moment to say that to deprive yourself of sleep to chase after this world’s diversions:

Binge-watching TV shows

Games and sports

And even Social Media.

I read a news article the other day that said there are people who wake up in the middle of the night simply to check their social media accounts and statuses.

These are not the kind of “keeping awake” that works the good of the gospel in our world.

These are the things that sap your strength and distract you from doing the work of the gospel.

2. It doesn’t mean you should never rest.

On the contrary, we should have some times of rest, particularly when we become spiritually empty.

It is a particular hazard of teachers and preachers that we might be tempted to teach or preach in our own strength, on the basis of our own wit and wisdom.

And there is a great danger there.

A mature teacher must recognize constantly that they must feed themselves as well as the church.

That they must deal with their own sinfulness before they can make a suitable lesson for others.

And that the message is vain babble if it is just from them, and not born in the work of the Holy Spirit.

So, even in this case, rest doesn’t mean idleness, but recharging, refilling.

But for most Christians in our nation, exhaustion is most often not because they have been carrying out God’s work relentlessly,

But, in the best case, because they have been carrying out their works in God’s name,

Separated entirely from His power, wisdom, and strength.

Or, more often, because they have been living a double-life:

Living for the ease and comfort of this world each day.

And then coming on Sunday to praise God for those very comforts.

There is no lifestyle more foreign to the commandment to Keep Awake than that:

A church full of sleepy people who have exhausted themselves in their pursuit of leisure throughout the week.

Because at its root, the commandment to keep awake means to be vigilant.

The remain alert, to stay focused on the work our Master left to us, until he returns.

It is the very word that describes a soldier on guard duty, on a watch.

And the stakes are just as high.

We see this in Mark 14:33-34, where Jesus went to Gethsemane to pray:

And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. 34 And He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” – Mark 14:33-34

Watching until our Lord’s Return doesn’t simply mean “watching for His Return”.

It is not about keeping our eyes on the sky, expecting at any moment for Him to break it open.

Watching is much more active than that.

In fact, to many Reformers, including Calving, Owen, Richard Rogers, M’Cheyne, and many others, the discipline of “watching” was considered an indispensable spiritual activity.

And at this point, I would also recommend to you an excellent book by Brian Hedges – Watchfulness; Recovering a Lost Spiritual Discipline.

In his tremendous research and writing, I found many helpful examples and explanations of “watching” or keeping awake.

What it comes down to is this: live with all your heart, mind, and strength focused on being a faithful child of God.

It is what you do to keep yourself free from the entanglement of sin.

It is what a believer desires to be found doing when our Lord returns.

To quote Hedges:

“To cultivate watchfulness is to preserve freedom – from the world and its snares; from sin and its enslaving power; and from the temptations, deceptions, and accusations of our adversary, the devil.”

Again, in another place, he summarizes in this way:

“Watching involves staying awake both morally and spiritually; paying attention to God’s word, to our own souls, and especially to Christ Himself; maintaining vigilance against our mortal enemies: the world, the flesh, and the devil; and hoping in the Lord – in His promises and His return.”

What a wonderful summary of this subject!

It pulls instructions from the totality of Scripture into a single sentence.

If it sounds like a lot of work, it is.

A lifetime full of work.

To quote the early Puritan, Richard Rogers: “Watchfulness is counted too strict until people be well acquainted with it.”

So what form will watchful vigilance take in the life of a believer?

1. A constant vigilance against temptation and sin.

We are not scared enough of sin.

Most believers might be wary of a sin or two, but not relentlessly at war with sin.

Many believers seem to live with the delusion that we can be stronger than temptation, conquerors of sin.

So much so that they step too close to temptation and fall into sin over and over again.

Some will, in their self-righteous pride, quote 1 Corinthians 10:13:

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. – 1 Corinthians 10:13

But they take exactly the wrong message from it.

I have known believers who thought they would be protected from sin no matter how close they flirted with it, and that is just foolish.

Notice the promise in that verse: God will provide a way of ESCAPE.

Not provide you with the strength to “just say no”: the way to RUN from temptation.

The very next verse says FLEE from idolatry.

And the verse before it warns us:

let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. – 1 Corinthians 10:12

Our Lord, in the Model Prayer, did not teach us to ask to OVERCOME temptation, but to avoid it:

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver [rescue] us from evil. - Matthew 6:13

Being vigilant, being watchful means that we are constantly on the lookout for snares of temptation that can trip and bind us.

Like soldiers on patrol in enemy territory, watching for the telltale signs of danger and ambush.

For too many believers, this seems like quite the effort for a righteousness that was given to us.

It is a lot of work.

That is why in our text today in 1 Thessalonians, the apostles bring in the picture of the soldier, armed and armored against the foe.

No one ever wore armor because it was comfortable, fashionable, or easy to move in.

Armor is there for one reason – to save your life.

A person who claims to believe in Christ, to trust Him in all things, but who neglects those things which separate him from the world will find his faith to be useless, being by itself.

Keeping awake, vigilant, watchful over your own soul ensures you will continue to progress in righteousness, away from sin.

It means looking each moment at our thoughts, words, and actions and weighing them against the holy standard of God’s word.

The results will NOT be complementary toward you.

No one will find that they are BETTER than they believed they are.

When you speak a word, you examine both the word and the intent behind it, asking things like:

Was this a good thing to say?

What this a good thing to say at this time?

Was this the right thing to say?

Did I say it in the right way?

You can make a list for yourself to measure your heart because you KNOW if there is something wrong with your thoughts or words or actions.

You know, if you have a conscience informed by the Spirit, that something did not fit the holiness God would have in our conversations.

In those cases where you are not sure, we move on to the second element of watchfulness.

2. A constant diligence in seeking the Law of God in your life.

Believer, the standard that God has set out in His word is the ONLY standard for your conduct that matters.

From Genesis to Revelation, the instruction of God is there to show you the right thing to do.

When you are at a loss as to why you are troubled by something you just said or did, the Scripture will help you identify the reason.

How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. 10 With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments. 11 Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You. – Psalm 119:9-11

This may come by memorized or treasured passages in your heart or from your daily reading and studying of Scripture that is a part of a believer’s habit and life.

I cannot count the times I have read something and in the next moment remembered when I had violated the commandment in ignorance.

I was still as guilty as if I had known: it still required repentance.

But it made me more aware of my sin than I had been before.

That is the word of God being a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. – Psalm 119:105

the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. – Hebrews 4:12-13

3rd element of watchfulness: A constant rejection of the pleasures of this world.

Brothers and sisters, we live in a hedonistic, material, and sensual culture.

We are everywhere surrounded by greed, covetousness, licentiousness, and all manner of evil.

And we ourselves can be infected with it in many ways, some of which are insidiously hidden.

The problem is that rather than rejecting the things of the world for their sinfulness and evil, we make excuses for it, declaring that those things aren’t THAT bad.

“That movie didn’t have that much foul language or nudity.”

“That show didn’t exactly teach God’s ways, but what do you expect from secular entertainment?”

“I only miss worship occasionally for football or NASCAR or my other diversions. But I try to pray more on those days.”

Each of these “pleasures” is a temptation wrapped in shiny paper, tantalizing to our flesh that is, as Calvin said:

A smoldering cinder of evil, from which desires continually leap forth to allure and spur him to commit sin.

So what should we do – abstain from all entertainments that do not glorify God?

Yes.

But what about my favorite show? It has some bad stuff, but it’s not that bad.

Ultimately it is between you and your Lord, not me.

But do you love your entertainment more than you love your Lord?

So should we just turn off the entertainment of this world and find our pleasure in the things of God?

I would reply – how could that be a bad thing?

Sounds a LOT like denying yourself:

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? – Matthew 16:24-26

4th element of watchfulness: A consistency in using God’s ways in all things.

Finally, everything we do must be done in God’s way, not our sinful ways.

Not even our preferred ways, unless they are preferred because they are God’s ways.

This is not simply proof-texting, finding an incident in the Bible that fits our preferences of the moment.

But in seeking God’s way in all things:

Love

Humility

Justice

Holiness

Mercy

Peace

One example I would offer is the disturbing tendency to see the things we have as a reward from God.

Our wealth, our job, our health, or our family – to see them somehow as a reward God has given us.

Something we have earned or merited.

The mistake is understandable: much of the reward we see in the Old Testament was demonstrated temporally, on earth.

Abraham’s faithfulness credited by God as righteousness, and he was given the land that would become Israel.

But those temporal blessings were mere types, shadows to illustrate the true reward we expect on the Day our Lord returns.

where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. – Matthew 6:21

Nowhere I am aware of in the New Testament is ANYTHING here on earth called our reward. Our reward is ALWAYS after His Return.

Everything, then, that we have been given by God is a TRUST that we hold as a steward of God.

Our money, stuff are His, entrusted to us to use in His ways: caring for others, helping those in need.

Even our families and the people in our lives are a trust:

They are a talent (from the parable of the talents), given to us to make an increase for our Master.

The capitalist mantra of greed: “It’s my stuff, and you can’t have it” does not become a slave of our Lord.

I close with the wonderful poem by Charlotte Elliott – “Christian, Seek Not Yet Repose”:

1 Christian, seek not yet repose,Cast thy dreams of ease away;

Cast thy dreams of ease away;Thou art in the midst of foes:

Thou art in the midst of foes:Watch and pray.

Watch and pray.

2 Principalities and pow'rs,

Must'ring their unseen array,Wait for thine unguarded hours:

Wait for thine unguarded hours:Watch and pray.

Watch and pray.

3 Gird thy heav'nly armor on,Wear it ever, night and day;

Wear it ever, night and day;Ambushed lies the evil one:

Ambushed lies the evil one:Watch and pray.

Watch and pray.

4 Hear the victors who o'ercame:Still they mark each warrior's way;

Still they mark each warrior's way;All with one sweet voice exclaim,

All with one sweet voice exclaim,"Watch and pray."

"Watch and pray."

5 Hear, above all, hear thy Lord,Him thou

Him thou lovest to obey;Hide within thy heart his word,

Hide within thy heart his word,"Watch and pray."

"Watch and pray."

6 Watch, as if on that aloneHung the issue of the day;

Hung the issue of the day;Pray, that help may be sent down:

Pray, that help may be sent down:Watch and pray.

Watch and pray.