Sermon Tone Analysis

/Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape/.

/But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.

You are all sons of the light and sons of the day.

We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.

For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.

But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing/.

At the initiation of each session of Parliament the government through the Crown's representative, whether the Lieutenant Governor of a province or the Governor General of Canada, delivers a throne speech in which the challenges and aspirations of that government are outlined.

Likewise, in the United States of America, where I spent my earlier years, once each year the President addresses a joint session of the Senate and the Congress in the State of the Union Speech.

In that speech he relays similar information to the elected representatives and senators of the people.

The concept of an annual address to elected representatives in which the government recognises and responds to the challenges facing the nation is a tradition throughout virtually the whole of the free world.

Should there not be, then, a means by which leadership of a particular church can address the challenges facing that congregation, outlining the hopes and aspirations of that leadership for the coming year?

Such a concept is not at all foreign to the churches of our Lord, and especially is that true among Baptist churches, for they are impelled by their polity to inform the congregation of challenges and direction in which they hope to lead the church to the greatest possible degree.

Impelled by my responsibility of this assembly to address the congregation, as Pastor (albeit interim) I now deliver the Millennial Throne Speech for *Jasper Park Baptist Church*.

Certainly God has spoken, as we know through His Word.

As His undershepherd appointed to this service and as a herald of His grace I have endeavoured throughout the brief time of our service together to faithfully deliver that message which is given to this community.

Moreover, as those who believe the Word of God we are confident that God shall yet speak, His speech being delivered from the Great White Throne when He judges wicked and fallen mankind.

To the lost, those yet outside the pale of Christ's love, no other message may be given then a warning of coming wrath delivered with a plea for the sinner to flee to the Son of God for refuge from that judgement.

To disobedient Christians we must likewise warn of the consequences of continued rebellion.

With the author of the Hebrews letter we would caution any who are prone to disobedience, See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks.

Referring to those assembled Israelites who saw the awesome display of God's might, the author continues, If they did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from Him who warns us from heaven  [*Hebrews 12:25*]?

To the church assembled, the message must be one which seeks to address the challenges facing us as a congregation and as a Community of Faith.

The message must seek to outline broad hopes and aspirations of Pastor and leadership as they seek to unite us in service to Christ.

We want to build one another, making each believer strong in the Faith.

But how may we accomplish that task?

We want to wisely exercise our gifts as we serve one another in love.

But how may we so serve?

We long to see the lost saved and brought into the fellowship of Christ.

But how shall we realise that hope?

In order to address such challenges, I invite you to join me in review of Paul's words in his first letter to the Thessalonian saints.

As I have outlined in previous studies I find an identity in several critical respects between this congregation and the Church in Thessalonica.

The message has special significance to this congregation in my estimate.

The first matter noted, and which is true of our day as well, is that We Live In Momentous Times [*vv.

1‑3*].

It is easy to draw the conclusion that the inmates are running the asylum from even a casual review of the religious scene in North America.

Spokesmen of the Faith are more frequently chosen and followed on the basis of personal charisma and rhetorical ability than for fidelity to the truths of God’s Word.

As a result, the weird and the aberrant and the speculative predominate in popular theology instead of the steady and the substantial.

Therefore, we live in a day of urgency, a day in which solid teaching of the truths of God is lacking, and in a day in which sound instruction is sorely needed.

Two thoughts are immediately apparent from the words which Paul wrote in *verses one* through *three*.

First, strained interpretations of doctrines intended for the comfort of saints were even then being bandied about.

And second, in light of the hope of Christ’s return there would be a growing tendency to turn from teachings designed to inure against hardships, even as teachers would seek their ease as the age progressed.

Each issue needs to be examined in its turn to demonstrate the urgency of the hour and momentous times in which we live.

The doctrine of the return of our Lord is a precious comfort for the child of God.

We believe that Jesus died and that He raised again and that He ascended into Heaven from whence He shall return.

The Christian dies in hope of the resurrection and not in a state of hopelessness.

This is true because the Christian, though living in this world, has fixed his hope on the world to come and therefore lives for God's glory.

Already, at this early date in Church history there were individuals spreading the rankest myths concerning this precious doctrine of hope and comfort.

Apparently some were teaching that loved ones who had passed on before would be left at the coming of the Lord [see *1 Thessalonians 4:13 ff.*].

Others, Hymenaeus and Philetus to name two whom Paul denoted, were teaching that the resurrection was already past [see *2 Timothy 2:17,18*].

Yet other teachers were apparently teaching a spiritual resurrection [see *1 Corinthians 15:35 ff.*].

Each of these was a strange, unwarranted eschatological teaching.

Even today distortions of biblical positions are presented as truth and accepted as such by the unthinking and the unwary.

A growing number of fellow Canadians, some of whom are no doubt fellow believers in the Lord Christ, give every evidence that they are living for the present alone.

They tacitly adopt the position of a spiritual resurrection, or at the least minimise the importance of the resurrection.

Hence, they unconsciously adopt the view that this life is all that matters, thus destroying the hope of many.

Others openly question the historic hope of the Church … the presence of departed saints with the Lord.

There is for them neither accountability nor recompense, but only the pleasure of the moment.

Yet others so emphasise the doctrine of the blessed hope that they deny the doctrine of service in the present.

All such aberrations need to be exposed as unbiblical and destructive for any believer deceived by them.

Another matter of significance deals with the expected response of believers to the coming of Christ.

Too many today, though believing that Christ shall return, view that coming in a self‑centred manner emphasising only their anticipated rewards.

Like the Millerites of another century they set dates and map out times and use what they consider to be superior knowledge to ready themselves for His coming.

The preparations have little to do with holiness of life or with rescue of the lost.

Instead, they dress themselves in robes of their own making and situate themselves where they wish to be while the work of God languishes.

Yet others in derision ask, Where is this coming He promised  [*2 Peter 3:**4a*] ignoring the message of repentance.

Dear friends, Christ shall come again just as He promised.

The fact that His return has been delayed this long is a mark of divine patience toward our fallen race.

Though we dare not assign dates and times we are to live our lives in anticipation, in expectation, in hope, knowing that His promise is sure.

In the certainty of that knowledge we should be impelled to live lives worthy of His Name, reaching out to rescue the lost even while building one another in the Faith.

Our challenge is to provide sound instruction in the Faith even while living as a people whose lives have been changed by the residence of that hope which is the heritage of each saint.

Our challenge is not only to know the truth but also to live the truth, thus serving as lights in a darkened world.

And that is the subject of Paul's next point.

If you are taking notes, and I hope you are, the second point from Paul's concluding remarks, and again of vital importance for our own day, is that We Have Grave Responsibilities [*vv.

8,11*].

Knowledge confers responsibility, and how much greater is such responsibility when the knowledge possessed relates to judgement of our fellow man?

For what we are has an impact far greater than we might imagine.

Our life‑styles both strengthen fellow believers and attract outsiders to the Faith of Christ Jesus the Lord.

There is a strong phrase employed in the *sixth verse* to point out the responsibilities of believers.

That phrase, a[ra ou

, is translated in our English version, So then.

The English is such a common expression that it may easily escape our notice.

However, the Greek is a relatively rare expression in the New Testament, being used only by Paul and that for the purpose of introducing an inescapable conclusion.

It is a strong expression for a necessary logical inference from the information presented.

As Christians we are not in the dark, we are sons of light and sons of the day.

Therefore, certain activities should *necessarily* mark our service and our lives.

The teaching of the imminence of the Day of the Lord should not surprise you.

As Christians we are not only called but we are empowered by God to live as sons of the light and [as] sons of the day.

This means we must be alert, must be self‑controlled, must encourage one another, must build each other up.

Each aspect of our responsibility as children of God mentioned is related to the proper response our knowledge should elicit.

Let's examine each feature in its turn.

Unlike others, referring back to those in darkness, who belong to the night and who are asleep, we who are Christians are expected to be alert.

This concept is best understood by way of contrast with the condition of those in darkness who belong to the night; they are said to be asleep.

But the word used for sleep here, katheu'do, differs from that used to describe the saints who have passed on, koima'o.

The word here carries the thought of moral indifference, as is evident from the words of Jesus recorded in *Mark 13:36* and from Paul's words in *Ephesians 5:14*.

This is the condition of non‑Christians; but Christians are to be alert, vigilant.

In particular, we who are Christians are to be mentally alert, watching for the return of Christ.

We are to live in anticipation of His return, as Christ Himself taught [*Mark 13:32‑37*].

It is possible that some hearing the command to mental alertness and to watch for Christ's coming view such a charge as license to ignore all other Christian responsibilities.