"He's Coming Again"

One of the toughest subjects of study in all of scripture is the study of the end times. Prophecy is a very difficult subject. The language is heavily figurative, and some of it hasn’t happened yet. It often feels like putting a jigsaw puzzle together without the box top...

Melissa loves to do puzzles… but part of her being able to do them so well, is the ability to look at the picture on the puzzle box. Have you ever tried to put a puzzle together without seeing the picture??. It is difficult.

In our last study Paul dealt with the comfort, the assurance and the certainties of the rapture of the church that would include all of those who have been born again, living and dead alike. Now he turns his attention to the Day of the Lord.

The rapture of the church will precede the Tribulation and after the church is taken away, the events of the Day of the Lord, or the Great Tribulation, will begin in rapid succession, culminating with the return of Christ to judge the world and Satan, establishing His throne for the Millennial Reign.

The words Paul sent to Thessalonica were not a complete theological examination of the Second Coming, but rather a pastoral address to settle and guide them as they looked toward that day… Part of this pastoral address was showing them the difference between believers that are “Ready and Waiting” for the Lords return and the rest of the world that is living in darkness.

One of his main purposes in writing this section of Scripture is to encourage the believers in Thessalonica and ultimately the believers of today, to live out what they say they believe. We are to be a light in the darkness that surrounds us each and every day...

With that in mind… Lets start in to Chapter 5 of 1 Thessalonians… ( Read vv. 1-5)...

Meat:

As Paul continues on with his letter, he elaborates a little more about…

1. The Return of Christ:

Again, This is a separate event from the rapture... During the rapture Jesus will appear in the clouds, removing every believer and starting the events associated with “the Day of the Lord” (also known as “The Tribulation period”), which we will talk a little bit more about in a few minutes… after that period of time has ended, Jesus Christ will actually return bodily to the earth and stand on the Mount of Olives.

The Thessalonian believers had the same questions that we do concerning these events and the main question they had is one of the main questions that most, if not all, of us have asked at some point or another… and that is a question of; When???

When will all of this take place?… and that tells me that, for them, and hopefully for all of us as well, The Return of Christ…

1.1 Is Expected

Paul tells them in verse 1 “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.”

Remember, Paul is answering questions that Timothy brought back with him after his visit to Thessalonica. So, one of those questions was regarding the timing of the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ.

Paul uses the phrase “The Times and the Seasons”… “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.”

This is a phrase that is only found a few times in Scripture and I believe that Paul is re-iterating the point that Christ Himself made just before His ascension...

Acts 1:7 NKJV

7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.

To often we get focused on the “When” question instead of focusing on the “What” question… We get so caught up on “When will these things take place??”, but in reality, our focus should be on “What am I supposed to be doing until these events take place?”

Just a quick google search reveals that numerous people either skipped over these words of Christ, or just didn’t believe them…

***Examples of Books***

This is Ronald Weinland.

He predicted that Jesus will come back on June 9th, 2019.

What happened on that day?

• Ashleigh Barty won the French Open.

• It was Father’s Day in Austria

• It was Pentecost Sunday.

• Hopefully most of you were in Church.

• And… The Rapture didn’t happen…

But here is the real kicker. Ronald Weinland predicted that Jesus would come back

• On the September 30, 2008… didn’t happen…

• On Pentecost of 2012… didn’t happen…

• On Pentecost of 2013… didn’t happen…

Ron has also said that if Jesus doesn’t come back in 2019 Christ could still return – but not until 2020.

What do we say to people like Ronald Weinland?

- Open your Bible and read it.

- Stop trying to predict when Jesus is coming.

1.1 Is Expected

God has ordained specific times and seasons for the nations on earth, particularly Israel, and all of this will culminate in a terrible time called “the day of the Lord.”

This phrase “The Times and the Seasons” that Paul uses… Comes from the Greek word chronos and deals with “chronological time, clock or calendar time.” He also deals with seasons, from the Greek word kairos, and it deals with “events, eras, or seasons.” Two different and distinct indicators that men look toward to try and figure out when the Lord will return… Paul was stating that there was no need to invest their time in such desires, but instead, invest in living each day in full expectation of His coming.

Clearly the church today ought to live in expectation and earnest anticipation of the Lord’s coming. It is not a fairy tale or a myth… It isn’t something we hope will one day happen. The Lord will come for His Bride (The Church) and rapture us out… The question is; Are we really living with that expectation? Did you wake up this morning thinking, this could be the day?

Christ’s return should be Expected and...

1.2 Is Imminent

v.2 “For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.”

Now we have come to that phrase “The Day of the Lord”…

When studying Scripture it is very important to realize that even though the same word is used, it could be referring to several different things…

For example, the word “Day” in the Scriptures can be talking about a literal 24 hour period…

Genesis 2:3 NKJV

3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

“The Seventh Day” of creation was a literal 24hr day…

But the word “Day” can also talk about a longer period of time in which God accomplish some other special purpose…

Genesis 2:4 NKJV

4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,

“Day” in this verse refers to the week (7 - 24hr days) of creation.

Also, look at the words of Christ...

John 11:9 NKJV

9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

In this context, a “day” is considered... the amount of time that the sun is up...

When we are looking at the “Day of the Lord” mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 5, we are talking about the period of time when God will judge the world and punish the nations…

Another term for this period is “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7). Many students of the Scriptures also call it the tribulation period and point to Revelation 6–19 as the Scripture that most vividly describes this event.

Paul tells us that this period of time comes like “a thief in the night”

Peter says the same thing…

2 Peter 3:10 NKJV

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

1.2 Is Imminent

When is the last time someone walked up to you and said “hey, if you get woke up by some strange noises tonight, don’t worry about it… I am just downstairs robbing you of anything that I can carry...”

I am guessing that nobody has ever had a conversation like that… and if for some strange reason a burglar (or thief) was that considerate to let you know that he was coming,… my guess is y’all wouldn’t just leave the front door unlocked, the safe open and a snack on the counter just in case they were hungry when they showed up.

You would stay up all night waiting, ready for action, protecting your belongings…

Folks, Thieves do not schedule their nighttime appearances with homeowners in advance… Likewise, the events that usher in “The day of the Lord” will happen suddenly and to the ones that are not ready and waiting… they will happen unexpectedly… and they can happen at any time…

Christ said…

Matthew 24:43 NKJV

43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

This analogy describes the suddenness and the surprise involved in the coming of the day of the Lord.

Warren Wiersbe says “Christ used this image to warn believers not to be caught napping. Since we do not know when the Lord will return for His people, we must live in a constant attitude of watching and waiting, while we are busy working and witnessing.”

The world will not be ready or prepared for that day when it comes… and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it…

Christ’s Return…

1.3 Is Unstoppable

v.3 “For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.”

Paul likens these events to that of “labor pains of a pregnant women”… now this is subject that I know a little bit about…

***Illustration of contraction monitors***

- Thankfully Melissa has a strong relationship with her heavenly Father and He commanded her “Thou shalt not kill” or else I probably would not be here today…

A standard pregnancy lasts 9-10 months but the Labor and delivery portion only lasts, for some, a few hours up to 1 - 2 Days. Once hard labor has started, the pregnancy will soon come to an end.

Once the Church is raptured out and we meet Christ in the air…, the hard labor pains will start to intensify and get closer and closer... and very soon after… the Lord will return to earth as Ruler and King!

As I said before, the start of all of this will happen suddenly and will take the world by surprise. Paul says that it will happen at a time when they are saying “Peace and Safety”

That word safety can also be translated as “Security”… again a quick google search of the words “Peace and Safety” and the first things you will see are articles with biblical references, but not to far down the page and I stumbled upon this…

From what I can tell, this section of their website is dedicated to articles that deal with what they believe are things that are important to get the world to a point of being Peaceful and Secure… and would you know it, the first one that I read, had several suggestions for the nation of Israel to make changes in their customs and practices in order to have peace in the middle east.

Folks, the platform is there… and I strongly believe that we could be living in the generation that see’s these events take place.

The world will be caught by surprise because they choose not to hear God’s Word or heed God’s warnings. God warned that the flood was coming, yet only Noah believed and his family was saved (1 Peter 3:20). Lot warned his family that the city would be destroyed, but they would not listen (Gen. 19:12-14). Jesus warned His generation that Jerusalem would be destroyed (Luke 21:19ff.), and this warning enabled believers to escape; but many others were killed during the siege.

Just because people don’t want to accept God’s Word as absolute truth, doesn’t mean that it’s not… the things recorded in this sacred book will come to fruition whether you are ready or not.

Mankind may deny the Lord’s return; they may continue to live as if there is no end, but one day the Lord will bring swift, unrelenting judgment upon them.

Their destruction will be swift and (Paul says) “they shall not escape”. When the Lord begins to pour out His wrath and judgment upon the earth there will be no escape, no place to hide or avoid the destruction that will come.

Christ’s Return and the events to follow are Unstoppable…

The last two verses that we are going to look at this morning I have labeled as…

2. Encouragement for Believers

Paul just got telling them that the Day of the Lord will come suddenly, it will take the world by surprise and no one will escape the Judgement that it entails… if he were to stop there, I am pretty sure most of his readers would say “well thank you for those words of encouragement Paul, I think we will just go dig a hole and hide out in there for the rest of our lives...”

However, he doesn’t stop there… he doesn’t leave it as all doom and gloom… I love his transitional phrase… “But you, brethren,...”

vv.4-5 “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.”

very quickly this morning, I want to share with you 3 encouraging things that I see here…

First of all…

2.1 Our Association

“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.”

If we have placed our faith in Christ, we are not in darkness… we are not associated with the world, but with Christ. Those who are unsaved,. those who have never placed their faith in Christ… Never asked Him to forgive them of their sins, will be left to face the wrath of God, but the church will be caught away into the presence of the Lord.

They were worried about the Day of the Lord but had failed to realize their relationship with Christ and the enormous benefit that provided them.

I rejoice that we do not walk in darkness. Let me be the first to admit that I can’t comprehend all that God is or all that He does. I don’t fully understand all that will transpire during the Tribulation. But I know that it will be a terrible time to be on the earth…

I also know that I have been born again; I walk in the light as He is in the light… I have the assurance of eternal life and I know my Lord loves me, He will care for me and He will save me from the wrath to come!

Are you associated with Christ this morning? Do you know that He loves you? are you confident that He will care for you and save you from the wrath to come?… I pray that you are…

The Second area of encouragement is…

2.2 Our Anticipation

“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.”

The events that will take the world by surprise should not take us by surprise. As we see this world going deeper and deeper into the cesspool of sin and darkness, we should be living with a great anticipation of the Lord’s imminent return.

We have no way to predict His coming, but it should not come as a surprise if it were today. In all honesty, we should live each day expecting the Lord to return for the church…

Next week we will dig a little deeper into how we are to live as we look for His return… but let me just say this today… God does not want us to sit back in our recliners and do nothing as we wait… He has given each and everyone of us a set of skills, talents and gifts, and He fully expects us to use to the best of our abilities until that day that He returns or until He calls us home…

Finally this morning, let me encourage you with the reminder of…

2.3 Our Allegiance

v.5 “You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.”

The world around them us is filled with darkness, those who live according to the lusts of the flesh and with no reflection of the Lord or His coming.

But we are not of the world; we are of the light and of the day. We have been born again into the glorious light of Christ. He is the source of our strength. Even if others deny His coming, we as the church (The Bride of Christ) are to live a life that honors the Lord and expects His return.

Closing:

Would you not agree that we need to be watching today?… We need to live lives in light of the Lord and seek to reach others before it is too late. When the Lord returns for the church, those who are left will face the horrors of God’s judgment in Tribulation.

These verses have been somewhat challenging to comprehend, but they serve as a great reminder that we need to be busy for the Lord. He could return at any moment and the time of our labor for Him will have ended. We need to be doing what He has called us to do. There is a world of lost people around us who would face the judgment if the Lord were to come today.

So again I will ask… Where do you stand with the Lord? Have you trusted Him for salvation? The Day of the Lord is coming, following the rapture of the church. If you are unsaved, you will be left to endure the wrath of God. I don’t say that to be a scare tactic, but as a Shepherd who loves his flock… There is no need for you to go through this terrible time that Scripture describes as the worst this world has ever seen.

Yesterday we celebrated the birth Jesus… and His sole purpose of coming to this earth was to give His life as a sacrifice, that you might be saved. All you have to do, is come to Him by faith.