Starting Tonight We are Going to Do a Short, 4 Week Series On the Judgement of God

Each Week We are Going to Look at a Passage that Focuses On the Day of Judgement

You May Be Thinking, “Wow, What a Scary, Depressing Way to End the Year!”

But We are Going to Find in Every Passage that Christians Shouldn’t Fear or Dread the Day of Judgement

For Christians, it is a Day that We Ought to Be Longing For

A Day that Can’t Get Here Soon Enough

Our First Passage is:

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

This is Paul’s First Letter to the Church in Thessalonica

Thessalonica was the Capital of the Roman Province of Macedonia

Being a Large and Bustling City, it was Full of Idolatry and Wickedness

Paul and His Companions Had to Flee Thessalonica in Acts 17…

Because the Jealous Jews of the City Sturred Up a Mob Against Them

They Had to Leave the Infant Church to Fend for Themselves

Many of Them Had Just Left a Life of Idolatry and Sexual Immorality Upon Hearing the Gospel

That, Along with the Persecution They Were Facing, Left Paul Worried About Them

Paul Would End Up Sending Timothy to Check On Them

Timothy Told Paul that They Were Doing Well

But They Did Have Some Concerns and Questions for Paul

We Can Infer One of Their Concerns When We Read Paul’s Words in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

1 Thessalonians 4:13–14 (NASB)

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

Some of Their Siblings in Christ Had Died

And They Were Apparently Worried that Their Dead Siblings Would Miss Out On the Return of King Jesus

But Paul Assured Them that Jesus Would Bring Those Who Had Already Died With Him and Resurrect Their Bodies

And That All Christians Would Be Together With Jesus Forever

That Leads Us to Their Next Concern and Our Text

1 Thessalonians 5:1–2 (NASB)

Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you.

For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.

“Times and Seasons” Refers to When the Day of the Lord Would Occur

The Day of the Lord was a Popular Phrase in the OT…

That Referred to the Day that God Would Bring Punishment On the Wicked and Salvation to the Righteous

It Seems Like They Wanted to Know Details of When this Day Would Come

But Paul Told Them They Already Knew that it Would Come Like a Thief in the Night

No One But God Knows When He Will Come in Judgement

Just as a Thief Doesn’t Announce When He is Going to Break into the House…

God Has Not Told Us When the Day Judgement Will Be

1 Thessalonians 5:3 (NASB)

While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.

“Peace and Safety” was a Phrase Used By the Roman Empire in its Propaganda

This was to Persuade the People of Peace and Security Throughout the Roman World

Paul May Have Been Mocking Empirial Phrase

He Could Also Be Referring to the Arragance of the World Believing Themselves to Be Safe From God’s Wrath

Regardless of What Exactly Paul is Referring to…

When the Day of Judgement Comes, People Will Not Be Expecting it

The Day Will Come Suddenly Like Labor Pains

It Will Be Sudden

It Will Be Painful

And There Will Be No Escape From it

When the Labor Pains Begin, You Know the End Has Come, and There’s Nothing You Can Do to Stop it

1 Thessalonians 5:4–7 (NASB)

But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.

The Day of Judgement is Going to Come Unexpectedly Like a Thief in the Night

But it Shouldn’t Catch Christians Off Guard

Because We Don’t Live in the Darkness of Night, When Thieves Break in

We Live in the Brightness of Day

We Well Aware that Jesus is Going to Return in Judgement and Salvation

We Have Been Rescued From the Darkness

We Have Been Enlightened By the Gospel

So Many in the World are Living in the Darkness

They are Either Asleep or They are Drunk

They Have No Idea or They Don’t Care that a Thief Could Be On His Way at Any Moment

They Aren’t Seeking to Control Their Lusts and Desires

They are Living for Today With No Thoughts of Tomorrow

They are Living for Themselves With No Thought of God

They are Living Day By Day in Complete Darkness With No Expectation of an All-Powerful and Wrathful God Coming in Judgement

They are Asleep and Drunk in the Dark

The Opposite of Being Asleep and Drunk is Being Alert and Self-Controlled

We are Not Like Them

We Know He’s Coming

And We Need to Be Alert and Self-Controlled…

So That We Won’t Be Caught Off-Guard By His Arrival

Next Paul is Going to Tell Us How to Be Alert and Self-Controlled

1 Thessalonians 5:8 (NASB)

But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.

Paul Now Tells Us How to Live as People of Light and Day

We Know the Day of the Lord is Coming…

So We Should Live Like It

How Do We Be Alert and Self-Controlled?

We Prepare for Battle

We are People of Light But We Live in a World of Darkness

That Means We are Going to Be Constantly Battling Against the Forces of Darkness that Seek to Put Out Our Light

Evil Forces Who Want Us to Be Asleep and Drunk as it Pertains to the Judgement of God

Satan Wants Us to Forget that Jesus is Coming Back

So We Need to Be Ready for Battle

Our Battle Attire Consists of Faith, Love, and Hope

We’ve Heard These Before, Haven’t We?

They are the 3 Major Christians Traits

In Order to Remain People of the Light…

We Must Continue Trusting in God’s Promises

We Must Continue Loving God and Our Neighbor

And We Must Continue to Hold On to Our Hope in Christ’s Return and Our Resurrection to Eternal Life

These 3 Characteristics of a Christian are What Set Us Apart From Those in Darkness

1 Thessalonians 5:9–11 (NASB)

For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

When it Comes to the Day of Judgement, Christians Have Nothing to Fear

God Has Destined Those in Christ for Salvation, Not Wrath

Jesus Died to Secure Our Salvation

It Doesn’t Matter if You are Alive or Dead When the Judgement Comes…

All Those in Jesus Will Live Together With Him

The Day of the Lord Should Not Be a Day Christians Dread

It is a Day We Should Long for

Those of Us Who Live Our Lives By Faith, Hope, and Love…

Have Nothing to Dread and Everything to Look Forward to

Any Preacher or Anyone Else Tries to Use the Day of Judgement to Scare Christians…

Should Be Ashamed of Themselves

The Day of the Lord is Not Just a Day of Wrath

It is Also a Day of Salvation, Deliverance, and Rescue

Paul Wanted to Encourage the Thessalonian Christians…

Not Scare or Discourage Them

For the Christian, the Day of the Lord is the Day When Life Begins