1 Thessalonians 5:1-28 - Part 8

I am going to read you some names and I want you to see if you know what they have in common.

Hippolytus of Rome

Iranaeus

Joachim of Fiore

William Miller

Charles Taze Russell

Edgar Whisenant

Harold Camping

Melchior Hoffman

Herbert W. Armstrong

Chad and Lori Daybell

All these people (and many more) predicted the return of Jesus and were wrong!

1 Thessalonians 5:1–28

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! 4 But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; 5 for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. 6 So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; 7 for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

12 But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; 13 esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. 15 See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise the words of prophets, 21 but test everything; hold fast to what is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil. 23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this. 25 Beloved, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. 27 I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all of them. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

1 Thess 5 can be broken down in to three sections

VS 1-3 - Time of the Parousia

VS 4-11 - Children of the Day

VS 12-28 - Final Instructions and fFarewell

And each of these 3 sections can be broken down even further, and that is what we are going to do today.

The time of the Parousia - the coming of Jesus

1 Thessalonians 5:1–3

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!

Now concerning the times and the seasons - time and seasons of what? The day of the Lord.

The day of the Lord is not a single day, but a day that starts an event. that event is the end time. The judgement of God upon the people of the earth.

he doesn’t need to write to them, presumably because they were already informed about the “times and seasons.”

There are a couple things he tells them about the Day of the Lord.

It is an OT expression going back to Amos 5:18

“18 What sorrow awaits you who say, “If only the day of the Lord were here!” You have no idea what you are wishing for. That day will bring darkness, not light.”

it will come like a thief in the night - it is inevitable but also unpredictable.

“they” will say “There is peace and security - they being the unbeliever

destruction will come suddenly like labor pains

there will be no escape.

Children of the Day

1 Thess 5:4-11

4 But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; 5 for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. 6 So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; 7 for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

Paul next addresses those who will and will not be affected.

“You” here is a reference to believers like “they” referenced unbelievers.

Children of light - Children of day not children of night - children of darkness

Because you are children of the day don’t fall asleep as others do - Keep awake and be sober.

Sleep and drunk happen at night. Sleep here is not the same greek word used in the previous chapter. dIn 4:13-15 Paul uses the greek word Koimao and here he uses the word Katheudo. While there is not much difference actual meaning, it’s implied meaning is significant. Here he is talking about those who have moral indifference. A condition natural to the enemies of Christ.

The believer is called to be awake and sober which implies being alert and self-controlled.

Leon Morris says this about awake and sober

the first verb is concerned with mental alertness, being watchful for the parousia, while the second has a moral emphasis an dis used to condemn all kinds of excess. It can be used of the avoidance of alcoholic intoxication, but it seems to be used metaphorically here, for there is no indication that the Thessalonians were addicted to drunkenness and this in need of an exhortation to sobriety in the literal sense…Paul is saying that christians must live temperatly, avoiding excess of all kinds, they must live balance lives.

Starting in vs 8 Paul tells them what they need to do since they belong to the day

put on the breastplate of faith and love

a helmet of hope of salvation

We can do this because God has not destined us for wrath but for salvation in Jesus.

We see here the triad of faith, hope, and love

Paul again reminds the believers to encourage one another and build up each other…as you are doing.

Paul final few sentences in 1 Thessalonians is words of instruction and farewell.

1 Thess 5:12-28

12 But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; 13 esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. 15 See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise the words of prophets, 21 but test everything; hold fast to what is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil. 23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this. 25 Beloved, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. 27 I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all of them. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

There is an appeal to the believers to do a couple things…

respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the lord and admonish (To advise someone about avoiding wrongdoing) you.

esteem them very highly in love because of their work

be at peace among yourselves

urge you to admonish the idlers

encourage the fainthearted

help the weak

be patient with all of them

Don’t repay evil for evil but seek to do good to all

rejoice always

pray without ceasing

give thanks in all circumstances - this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you

do not quench the Spirit

Do not despise the words of prophets but test them

hold fast to what is good

abstain from every form of evil

Closing words

pray for us

greet each other with holy kiss

command to read this letter to all

offering of grace of Jesus to be with them.