1 Thess. The Day of the Lord

1 Thessalonians 5

The Day of the Lord

“That Day,” as we know it, usually refers to the end of history. In Scripture, in both Old and New Testaments, it can refer to God coming to bring judgment on the land or on a certain group of people.

And in that sense, the Day of the Lord, has already happened. But in this context… there is another day that is coming. There will be a day of visitation… a day of wrath… a day of consummation.

There is coming a day when the righteous shall be with God, there will be a new heavens and a new earth… there will be absolute peace, rest, eternal security, and all evil will be punished and destroyed.

Life, existence is going somewhere. We are all facing the day of the Lord, and the final judgment of all things. It is going to happen...

But when????

Verses 1-2 - The day of the Lord, or the event of the Lord, comes as a thief in the night.

This is not a negative figure of the Lord… It just means, it will happen without you expecting it to happen. It will happen suddenly. You will be surprised. You may not be prepared.

During this time and season… people will be going about their day to day activities, just as in the day of Noah, when the preacher of righteousness and his family built the Ark, and every thing was normal… it was a normal day… and then the floods came.

Just like the days of Noah… so shall be the coming of the Lord. You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars… you shall hear the preachers give warnings… and you shall hear others say “peace and safety… all is well… no need to prepare… no need to repent and turn to Christ… It’s all good…

The government, or military says… “There is no threat, we are safe, and protected. The king says, there is no need to stand guard and prepare. And so no one is standing on guard. No one is ready that night… when they are visited...

You are in your house. You leave the door unlocked. There are no guns. No Awareness or care of what is coming. And then the thief comes in the night…

The woman, who knows that a baby is coming. (I have only heard of a few times when the women didn’t know… and I do not understand this). But here comes the labor pains… all of a sudden...

Romans 8:22 - All of creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now… we ourselves groan eagerly waiting for the redemption that is coming...

Christians are looking, waiting and groaning… Because we are in the light, living in the light, in the truth of the Gospel.

WE have times and seasons; we have markers to give us signs. But the exact day and hour… no one knows…

Christ will come at a time you will feel at peace. Christ will come when you are sleeping. Christ will come when everything looks normal…

The people back in Biblical days were living like it could happen anytime… They lived in the light and looked for it to happen...

Verse 4-6 - There are those in the dark about this and there are those who are in the light about this. There are those who are sleeping, they have their eyes closed to this reality and truth. They are not seeing; they are not watching; they are not waiting and watching their lives closely. They are not sober, or self-controlled…

They do whatever they want to do… Not living in light of Christ’s Lordship or His Second Coming.

There are those who are awake. They are watching. They are waiting. They are watching their lives closely. They are self-controlled.

Why? Because Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Savior, Jesus is Coming again.

We see 2 different people here, two different groups of people: Which one are you?

Verse 5 - You, Church, are the sons of light and of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.

Unbelievers are in the dark: their understanding is darkened (Eph. 4:18; 5:8); they love the darkness (John 3:19–21; Eph. 5:11); they are controlled by the power of darkness (Eph. 6:12); and they are headed for eternal darkness (Matt. 8:12).

But the Christian is associated with the light, for God is light, and Christ is the Light of the world (John 8:12). The Christian is a child of light (Eph. 5:8–14), though at one time he was darkness itself, and lived like it… You now live in the light.

Verse 7 - The lifestyles of those in the dark, live lifestyles of darkness. What does that look like?

1 John 1:5-6 - We are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.

You do not practice the truth (God’s Word.) You turn, rebel, against Jesus’ Lordship and do whatever you want to do. You do not want to do His will. Your mind and heart is filled with yourself, with this world, with your own selfish ambitions. You do not love the church.

Your lifestyle reflects this: You are immoral, drunkards, covetous, filled with envy, greed, contention, hatred, showing outbursts of wrath, believing and teaching heresy, causing trouble and problems wherever you go, picking fights and practicing murder. 1 John 3:15 - Whoever hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Your lifestyle reveals that you are in the dark, that Satan has you in the dark.

You don’t want Jesus and you do not want Him coming back. You want this life and this world forever.

Verse 8 - But those who are of the day live a different lifestyle. What does this look like?

John 8:12 - Jesus said,”I am the Light of the world; whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

Sons and daughters of light follow the Light of the World, imitate Him, obey Him, seek His will, His kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus is everything to us and we seek to be like Him and to bey Him.

This has a lifestyle: We grow in knowledge and wisdom of God, we worship, praise and pray. We fellowship with other believers, love the church… and we all grow in holiness, purity, thanksgiving, and virtue.

We want to watch our lives closely. We want to live for God, live lives to please God, honor the Lord. we do not want to offend God. We love Him and we want to be with Him always.

Our citizenship is in heaven, and we know it! We love Jesus!

Verse 8 - We are of the day… our minds are set, being renewed… we are wearing faith, hope and love… and we are moving forward… looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

The End is Coming! And we say, “Come Lord Jesus, Come!”

The Children of light are expecting this and we are not living in fear because of this...

Verse 9 - There is coming a day of wrath. God is going to bring it. God will separate the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the weeds, the fish from the trash… And destruction will fall upon those who live in darkness. God’s justice will fall on those who are not in Christ.

Verse 9-10 - But we are not appointed to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is appointed for you to be with Him, to have heaven, to have His promises and rewards.

Church: Wrath is not in your future. Hell is not in your future. Torment in hell’s prison is not in your future.

Paradise in in your future. We all, who are in Christ will live together with Christ, together, forever.

Unbeliever/Non-Christian: Wrath is in your future. Hell is in your future. Loneliness, misery, hell’s prison, with no hope… is your future...

Unrepentant sinners should fear this day, but the redeemed can look forward to this day with excitement, joy, peace and hope.

Christian/Church Family - Verse 11 - Therefore… comfort each other… and build up one another as you are doing…

For God’s people, Jesus has satisfied the Holy wrath of God… and there is no wrath waiting for you… Approach God and Jesus’ Second Coming without fear.

Live in light of Who He is and what He has done for you. Live holy lives and meet your Savior on that day without any shame. Make the most of time and life… Do not waste your life and time with foolishness… Live for God today!

Be alert! Live with faith; live with love; and live with hope!

And live to tell others… to warn others… Before the Day of the Lord appears… Wake up! He is Coming! Wake up! Repent! Come into the light! Believe in the Lord today!

Close.