Be Ready For The Unexpected

INTRODUCTION

In preparation for the cold and snow in the coming days, Bonnie and I watched The Day After Tomorrow with our three oldest.

Climate alarmist propaganda

Fun plot development of the world entering another ice age due to human impact on the world’s climate

Big idea: you never know when the climate might shift to the detriment of mankind, so do your part

While it is similar to the experience that over 100 million Americans will have in the coming days, one thing is for sure: we have been given ample notice of the cold and snow to come.

Despite how you feel: it is not the next ice age

This is New England climate at its finest (and coldest)

Unfortunately, not all natural disasters can be predicted and prepared for:

2004 tsunami (~230,000 deaths)

1976 earthquake in China (~300,000 deaths)

79 - Mt Vesuvius and the city of Pompeii (~16,000 deaths)

Disasters are exactly that: a disaster.

a sudden calamitous event bringing great damage, loss, or destruction

typically, it exceeds peoples abilities to cope with the event using their own resources

That brings us to the greatest disaster that will ever be experienced in world history: The Day Of The Lord.

It is God’s cataclysmic future judgment on the wicked

God will pour out His wrath on the wicked

Paul says the return of Christ will be far more sudden — and far more significant — than any disaster the world has ever experienced.

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11.

Today, we are going to focus on the first 3 verses, and the need to Be Ready For The Unexpected.

The Timing Is Unknown

verses 1-2

You yourselves are fully aware…

It is our human nature to want to know exactly when and how things are going to go down.

How many people were obsessing over the weather forecast the past few days?

Paul emphasized that they already knew this is coming. 

There is no need to for them to be told the times and seasons.

Over preparedness can lead to complacency

We have a job to do (i.e. Matt 28:19-20)

Day of the Lord

Mentioned 19 times in the Old Testament and 4 times in the New Testament

When it is mentioned in the Old Testament, it conveys a sense of imminence, nearness, and expectation.

Isaiah 13:6 ESV

Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come!

Ezekiel 30:3 ESV

For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.

Joel 1:15 ESV

Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.

Joel 2:1 ESV

Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,

Joel 3:14 ESV

Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

Obadiah 15 ESV

For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head.

There has always been a real expectation that the day of the Lord was at hand.

Thief in the night

Not about stealth, but unexpectedness.

The metaphor of a thief coming is never used to refer to the Rapture of the church.

It describes the coming of the Lord in judgment

A thief coming is not a hopeful, joyful event of deliverance, but an unexpected calamity.

Jesus Himself taught this:

Matthew 24:42–44 ESV

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 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.

Christ is the returning Judge and King, and He is expecting His people to always be ready.

The World Will Be Unprepared

verse 3

Peace and security…

As the time draws near, there will be an abundance of false teachers, false prophets, and false religions.

They will succeed in explaining away the signs so that people will not recognize that they point to the Day of the Lord.

Matthew 24:5 ESV

For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.

But the epitome of all of them will be the Antichrist. He is known in Scripture by many names:

the little horn (Dan. 7:8)

the king who does as he pleases (Dan. 11:36–45)

the man of lawlessness (2 Thess. 2:3)

the son of destruction (2 Thess. 2:3)

the beast (Rev. 11:7; 13:2–8)

The Antichrist will be a demon-indwelled individual, and he will be a man of charisma, charm, persuasiveness, brilliance, authority, ruthlessness — and wickedness.

He will at first appear to be everything a desperate world longs for — a man who will unify the world under his leadership and usher in a short-lived era of global peace and prosperity.

He will even make a seven-year pact with Israel (Dan. 9:27), promising to provide the security and protection that nation has always longed for.

But halfway through that pact, Antichrist will reveal his true colors.

He will put a stop to Israel’s religion and desecrate the temple by setting himself up as God and demanding that the world worship him

2 Thessalonians 2:4 ESV

who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

The world will have a false confidence in the leadership of the Antichrist.

Judgment will come while people assume everything is fine.

Labor pains provide an imagery that indicates a sudden, unavoidable, and irreversible course

CONCLUSION

Beware of cultural Christianity.

Social justice and twisting Scripture to make it mean what we want it to mean.

Misapplying the Bible to circumstances in order to pass judgment on people and justify our erring behaviors.

When we get comfortable in our walk, without repentance, we are deceiving.

Being ready as a believer is not about date-setting, but faithful living. Ask yourself:

Am I in the Word and allowing the Spirit to convict me of my disobedience?

If Christ returned today, would it interrupt my priorities?