Modelling the Christian Life Series

Waiting on God in a World of Darkness

1 Thessalonians 5:1–11 NIV84

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 labor 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.

I. GOD AND DARKNESS:

God works in darkness but in God there is no darkness! - 1 John 1:5 “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”

Darkness Was the Beginning of Things - Genesis 1:1-23“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

“Part of the way the Lord uses challenges for us is our character formation. Many significant individuals in the Bible experienced a period of time when they were positioned in a dark and unexpected place in preparation for a divine assignment. We see the chilling precedent in Scripture: Darkness was an initiation. Darkness preceded new life and new work.

Darkness was the beginning of things.

In the darkness of a dungeon, Joseph received his commission and became a government official.

In the darkness of midnight, Gideon realized his identity and became an invincible warrior.In the darkness of a fish’s belly,

Jonah reconciled with God and became a missionary.In the darkness of insomnia, Samuel recorded God’s voice and became a prophet.In the darkness of a lions’ den,

Daniel recognized God as the King of the beasts and became an evangelist to royalty.

In the darkness of the tomb, Lazarus was resurrected and became an example of new life in Jesus.

In the darkness of blind eyes, Paul resolved to live for Christ and became a father of the Church.And through the darkness of death, Jesus rose to rescue humanity and reign as the Savior of the world.” - Nika Maples, Hunting Hope: Dig Through the Darkness to Find the Light, Worthy Publishing Group.

So let’s recall again Genesis 1:1-23“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”

Darkness is a prelude to light! It is the “womb” in which God begins to creatively work and brings forth light!

If darkness is a metaphor that describes the state of things before God begins his creative work, then light describes the transformation He brings as He begins to work in us - 2 Cor 4:6 “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. “

These Thessalonians had experienced this transforming power of the gospel that brought light into their darkness - “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.”(1 Thes 1:4-5) - “They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. “(1 Thes 1:9-10) - They were clearly a work of God, light had come out of darkness!

II. WAITING ON GOD IN THE DARKNESS:

As children of light, the Thessalonians had been rescured from the Kingdom of darkness but they were not entirely free of its influence - they were waiting on God to finally deliver them from death and darkness as we noticed last time and will notice today. We are in the already-not yet stage andd darkness can be hard to bear as we waith on our Lord

I read this of Mother Theresa yesterday.

We may know that she did amazing things for the poor in the slums of Calcutta but what is less well known is how she struggled for long periods of her life with an acute spiritual darkness and depression.

In a letter to a friend shows just how much she suffered: “Darkness is such that I really do not see—neither with my mind nor with my reason.—The place of God in my soul is blank.—There is no God in me.—When the pain of longing is so great—I just long & long for God—and then it is that I feel—He does not want me—He is not there.—Heaven—souls—why these are just words—which mean nothing to me.—My very life seems so contradictory. I help souls—to go where?—Why all this? Where is the soul in my very being? God does not want me.—Sometimes—I just hear my own heart cry out—“My God” and nothing else comes.—The torture and pain I can’t explain.” From my childhood I have had a most tender love for Jesus..but this too has gone.—I feel nothing before Jesus…You see, Father, the contradiction in my life. I long for God—I want to love Him—to love Him much…and yet there is but pain—longing and love.” - Mother Teresa, Come Be My Light, ed. Brian Kolodiejchuk, Image Books.

It can be tough waiting on God in a world of darkness!

BUT WAIT WE MUST! SO WHY AND HOW HOW SHOULD WE DO SO?...

Paul draws a contrast between darkness and light in this passage.

Darkness is the time when your house gets robbed

Darkness is a time when you are unprepared and unresponsive to danger

Darkness is a time when you sleep and when if you are so inclined you get drunk - see Acts 2:15.

Light on the other hand is not the favoured time for any of these things and Paul says that believers

are not in darkness and should not be caught out by the coming of the Lord

they should be awake and alert, ready to go

self-controlled and full of faith and hope.

Darkness and Light are polar-opposities! This is the contrast and seen within its context it is clear that it intimately connected with the passage we looked at before this around the theme of WAITING ON GOD IN A WORLD OF DEATH, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 where the exhortation to “encourage each other” in 1 Thes 4:18, is repeated in 1 Thes 5:11.

So Paul wants us to be encouragied as we wait on God in a world of death and darkness. They have had it tough, having been persecuted and having to stand firm for their faith in a society which ridicules their beliefs and excludes them from their social life as a result.

Paul says: “For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!’(Eph 5:8). And in the context of Ephesians 5 that means imitating God; living a life of love and following the example of Christ (v1).

People of the light should avoid the darkness - Avoiding “sexual immorality, impurity...greed…obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes…:(vs 4-5_these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.

And then, “live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (vs 8-20).

III. WAITING ON GOD PATIENTLY BUT EXPECTANTLY IN THIS WORLD OF DARKNESS:

The Lament Psalms of the Old Testament are so helpful because they show us the heart of the frustrated saint, who cries out “How long Lord?” - It is an acknowledgment of the hurt and the pain and the struggle to survive and keep the faith in the midst of the darkness of sufering, pain and death.

How long? Its but the timing Lord, its about the never-ending struggle, the torture of the extended time of suffering and waiting!

Paul addresses this when speaking to these Thessalonians who have burried their loved ones - How Long Paul? How long until Jesus returns and the dead in Christ are raised? How long until we are called to meet the Lord in the air?

Paul says, “about times and dates we do not need to write to you”(v1). The “times and dates” are unknown (see Acts 1:7) and the coming of our Lord on “the Day of the Lord”(see Amos 5:18 - the day of Judgment - 2 Pet 2:9 ) or “the day of Christ Jesus”(Phil 1:6) will be unnanounced, sudden and unexpected - BANG! - it will be upon us! (see 1 Thes 4:16-17),

Indeed it will be a complete surprise to those who “are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”(v3). - This fancied peace is found elsewhere in the Bible as a prelude to destruction - an imagined peace is found elsewhere (Jer. 6:14; 8:11; Ezek. 13:10; Mic. 3:5)

Humans do not make the most accurate social or political commentators! Like Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, who in 1943 said, "I think there's a world market for maybe five computers." - We have more than that in our house alone! And what about H.G Wells assertion first used in 1918 asserting that the First World War would be “the war to end all war.” with 20 million death, nonetheless by the end of World War 2 in 1939-1945 the death rate soared to around 75 million people worldwide and even though the absolute number of war deaths has been declining since 1946 it is still the case that by 2016 the number of all battle-related deaths in conflicts involving at least one state was 87,432.

Leith Samuel remarks, ‘if there is one thing certain about the timing of the Lord’s return it is this, that we cannot be certain of the timing.’

It is inevitable, but unpredictable. (Unlike Thanos in the Avengers!). We wait for HIM PATIENTLY BUT EXPECTENTLY!

Jesus therefore warns: “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:34-36).

At such times, when we can expect no encouragment from society or even perhaps blood family members, we find our encouragment in one another, the family of God, our brothers and sisters in Christ.

And we ought always to remember that our greatest enemy is unseen; malevolent and very dangerous and we need to be prepared and ready to engage him at every turn - Eph 6:12.

IV. BE ENCOURAGED AS YOU WAITING ON GOD IN THIS WORLD OF DARKNESS:

How do we derive such encouragment in such difficult circumstances? We derive it from the certainty of our faith, from the fact that “God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul says that we have been chosen by God as as a result will not suffer His just judgment - or as he puts it in v2 “destruction” which is defined as being “shut out from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thess. 1:9) - but instead “receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Salvation is the general and inclusive term for the whole great work of Christ for us, of which redemption and the like are aspects. The link with hope shows that here the future, eschatological consummation of all things is especially in mind. The hope that rests on what Christ has done and reaches forward to the final unfolding of all that salvation means is indeed a helmet for the Christian, warding off the world’s hard knocks.”(Leon Morris),

And notice Paul uses the word “wrath” of God - “Salvation is salvation from as well as salvation unto. As Heinrich Vogel puts it, ‘whoever thinks he can smile at God’s wrath will never praise him eternally for his grace’. One of the things that gave salvation so full a meaning for New Testament Christians was that they were sure of the wrath of God and had a deep gratitude to Christ for saving them from it. In modern times some take Christianity lightly because they have emptied the wrath of its content. To banish the wrath of God from the scene is to rob life of a good deal of its serious purpose.’(Leon Morris).

And we will receive this salvation because Jesus, “died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.” The death of Christ as a vicarious, substitutionary act of atonement, has transferred us from being objects of God’s wrath to being subjects of His grace and this extends beyond life into the grave so that even if we are “asleep” when Christ returns, we shall nonetheless be saved “through our Lord Jesus Christ.” see also Rom 14:8. “whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”

In other word we have escaped the darkness and been “brought…into the Kingdom of the Son He loves”(Col 1:3).

That’s a massive relief for those who have buried loved ones! That’s a real encouragment for us living in such a hostile world. The world of death and darkness cannot separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord!

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

Notice that emphasis - there is so much in the world that discourages us, let us not add to the burden.Sons of the light encourage one another!

Sons of the light are “self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.” - the language of the army; of preparedness for battle! The language of discipline! Perhaps ‘the mention of vigilance suggested the idea of a sentry armed and on duty’ (Lightfoot)

Our faith, love an hope gird us up and make us strong agains the enemy of our souls. They are qualities that act like armour to protect us from all that would discourage us in this world of death and darkness.

FAITH AND LOVE AS A BREASTPLATE - to guard the vital organs of heart; lungs; kidneys, etc - the seat of the emotions when so much challenges for our affections and sees to control our passions.

HOPE OF SALVATION AS A HELMET - to guard the head and the brain - the mind of the Christian when so much depresses and discourages. We have a ground for our hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, it is a hopeful expectation. A “hope that does not disappoint”

We have an anchor that keeps the soul steadfast and sure while the billows roll; fastened to the Rock which cannot move, grounded firm and deep in the Saviour’s love!

(Priscilla J Ownes).

And this takes disciplined effort! It will not happen automatically - “let us be…putting on...”

Paul calls upon us to eschew the dark tendencies of the soul - the satisfaction of the sensual passions - “let us not be like others”, those who are carless and get drunk, instead he says “let us be alert and self-controlled.”

And let us delibrrately seek to control our body and mind by ensuring that the things which occupy us are the things which build our FAITH, HOPE and LOVE. This thought is repeeated in Romans 13:11-14: “The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.“

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

The concept of building each other up or edification, is one that Paul uses often. The verb oikodomeō is is used of building a house (e.g. Matt. 7:24, 26). and of Jesus building his church (Matt. 16:18). It is also applied to the growth of the church (Acts 9:31). And for Paul hit has the thought of believers being built up into a temple of the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Cor. 3:9–17, Eph. 2:21–22).

We need to support one another; pray for one another and encourage one another because it’s tough to live in a world of death and darkness.

Your “enemy the devil prows around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” and so we are “to resist him”, strong in our faith but made so much stranger by the supportive arms of our brethren who support and encourage us in our faith, hope and love.

So let us as Paul says elsewhere “put on the armour of God. so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”(Eph 6:13-18).

“Soldiers of Christ, arise, and put your armor on, strong in the strength which God supplies thro' his eternal Son. Strong in the Lord of hosts, and in his mighty pow'r, who in the strength of Jesus trusts is more than conqueror.

Stand then in his great might, with all his strength endued; but take, to arm you for the fight, the panoply of God. Leave no unguarded place, no weakness of the soul; take ev'ry virtue, ev'ry grace, and fortify the whole.

To keep your armor bright, attend with constant care; still walking in your Captain's sight, and watching unto prayer. From strength to strength go on; wrestle and fight and pray; tread all the pow'rs of darkness down, and win the well-fought day.”

(Charles Wesley).