The Soberness of the Believer

Introduction

1 Thessalonians 5:1–9 KJV 1900

1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

In order to get the context of what’s being said in these verses, let’s hop back to chapter 4 for just a moment and see what Paul had to say in those last six verses…It’s very important:

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 (KJV 1900)

13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend

(ya’ll remember last Sundays message? Acts 1:11 “...this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”)

from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

In verse 13, we see a revelation.

In verse 14, we see a resurrection.

In verse 15, we see a reassurance.

In verse 16, we see a rapture.

In verse 17, we see a reunion.

In verse 18, we see a rest.

These verses concluding chapter 4 are dealing with the rapture of the church. This is a subject that has been debated for centuries.

Some believe there is no biblical basis for the rapture because the word rapture is not found in Scripture.

To the fact that “rapture” is not found in the Bible, I will agree, but it is there nonetheless by definition.

We see the phrase caught up in V.17. The word rapture translates the Latin word “rapto or raptus” and comes from the Greek word “harpazo.” The phrase translated caught up literally means “to seize; to claim for one’s self; to snatch out or away.”

While we don’t have the word rapture recorded in Scripture, clearly the doctrine and teaching is there.

The rapture of the church is a foundational doctrine of the Christian faith.

Through our faith in Christ we have the hope of a future resurrection of the dead where all believers will be caught away to meet the Lord in the air and enter into His glorious presence with new, glorified bodies.

Had Christ not risen, and if we had no hope of life beyond the grave, our faith would be no better or different than the false religions of the world.

That hope right there, sets us apart from all others.

Now, in chapter five, which is our actual text today for the message, Paul is refocusing on the revelation of Jesus Christ that we read about in Revelation 19:11-21, and the day of God’s wrath…Just look at our text in chapter 5:

We see the day of the Lord in verses 1-2.

We see the destruction of the lost in verse 3.

We see the darkness and the light in verses 4-5.

In verse 6, we see a word that is very familiar to us and that is the word “therefore...”

The Word of God tells us there is a responsibility resting upon all believers in the light of His coming.

Being a Christian means something. It’s one thing to say that you walk in the light, but it’s another thing to prove that you walk in the light. Thus Paul reminds the Thessalonians that a Christian’s new nature will be reflected by a Christian’s new conduct.

We are not in the “Dark” as to our duty as followers of Christ. Therefore, a grave and sober responsibility rests upon us.

We know this because the Bible says, let us do three things found in verses 6-8…They all have to do with the soberness of the believer...

I-Let us not sleep

1 Thessalonians 5:6 (KJV 1900)

6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; ...

We need to be awake!

The first mark of a child of God living in expectancy of Jesus coming is their attention. What captures our attention captures our hearts.

Paul instructed the Thessalonians to be awake.

In verse 5 Paul recognized that the church was sons of the light and sons of the day. Christians are of the day therefore Christians should not be spiritually asleep.

Listen to me this morning, when a person is asleep, they aren’t alert nor are they involved in what is going on around them.

Spiritual sleep is a state of apathy and indifference towards God and His things. It's a state of being unaware of our spiritual condition and the need for a relationship with God.

Jonah learned the dangers of sleeping while God was talking. He figured that if he slept long enough God would take His message to someone else, but he found out that God has a way of waking you up when He wants to get your attention.

We must be awake because Jesus is coming again.

We need to be awake to the spiritual decay of our churches.

We need to be awake to the satanic destruction of our children.

We need to be awake to the social decline of our country.

We need to be awake to the sinners dying in our community.

While God sounds the sirens of judgment, the world takes a nap.

While an unbelieving world slumbers, “sudden destruction” will come like a thief in the night according to verses 2-3...

Listen to me! We must be awake!

II-Let us watch and be sober

1 Thessalonians 5:6 (KJV 1900)

6 ...but let us watch and be sober.

We can never be aware if we are not awake, but we can be awake and not be fully aware.

What does it mean to be spiritually aware? Paul uses two terms: watch and sober. Our attention must be totally and completely on the Lord Jesus Christ. We must concern ourselves with His work, His will, and be obedient to His word.

We need to be alert!

We are to be focused, observant, looking, examining, anticipating or expecting something to happen!

Jesus taught His disciples not to turn their backs to the reality of His return. They were to be living in a constant state of awareness. He said,

Mark 13:35–37 KJV 1900

35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: 36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

The Bible is telling the church, “Watch!” and it’s also telling us to be sober!

Sober means to abstain from wine, be sober, watch, it signifies ‘being free from the influence of intoxicants. Paul is obviously speaking of spiritual matters, but he also means that Christians are not to be drunk on alcohol, but Christians are to be sober.

Let me give you a profound truth this morning…If you’re not sober physically, you can’t be sober spiritually...

To be sober spiritually means to be rigid in discipline and control for Christ; it means to live a strict life of righteousness and godliness, ever looking for the return of the Lord Jesus. We must be aware of what’s going on around us and why things happen the way they do.

When we are watching for Jesus and sober about the way we are living, then the coming of the Lord Jesus will not catch us off guard.

Marvin Vincent wrote, “Alert wakefulness and calm assurance will prevent their being surprised and confused by the Lord’s coming, as by a thief in the night.”

We cannot be living for Jesus and seeking to win a lost and dying world to the Son of God if we are not sober.

We must be awake, we must be aware and that takes watching and it takes being sober on our part.

The Bible says, let us not sleep, let us watch and be sober, then we see in verse 8...

III-Let us put on the armor

1 Thessalonians 5:8 KJV 1900

8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

It is time to wake up, clean up, and dress up. And when we dress up, we had better put on the breastplate of faith and love: and for an helmet, the hope of salvation!

Our attention must be on the things above and our attire must be from above. Paul admonishes the church to be sober because the church is of the day.

Notice: God does not dress us, that is our responsibility.

He gives you and I everything we need to live the Christian life in victory, but it’s up to us to use what He’s given us…It takes some effort on our part.

God has equipped us with the spiritual armor and we must apply that daily in our lives. By constantly walking with Jesus and living for Jesus we learn to put on the armor of God.

Concerning the purpose of this armor, Paul identifies two areas of great vulnerability for the Christian: the heart and the head.

The Christian virtues of faith, love, and hope are the three defenses available to the believer.

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 triad 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.

Conclusion

Paul’s plea to the church for the last days is to let us be awake, alert, and armored...

We need to be awake to hear the voice of God.

We need to be alert to have a vision for God.

We need to be armored to win the victory for God.