Be Encouraged... by the Blessed Hope of Christ's Return - I Thessalonians 5:1-10

Be Encouraged… by the Blessed Hope of Christ’s Return

I Thessalonians 5:1-10

Introduction: I think it was Mark Twain who said, “Some people are bothered by the things they can’t understand in the Bible. As for me, the things that trouble me most are those I do understand!” Our series in I Thessalonians has brought us to a section teaching doctrine, specifically eschatology, or Last Things. There is a lot of disagreement between Bible-believing Christians about the details and the timeline surrounding the return of Christ. We agree that He IS coming, and that is Good News!

       It is good to remind ourselves that I Thessalonians is a letter Paul was writing to encourage a young church that was experiencing some hard times. That certainly resonates with many of us in the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic – living under a virtual lockdown, some facing financial uncertainty and layoffs, some working on the front lines and putting themselves at risk… I want to focus on the message of encouragement that was at the heart of this passage.

       Of course, since this was a letter, we know that it did not go to its original readers with chapter divisions and verse markings! The “catching up” described in the previous section (4:13-17) talks about what we call “the rapture” of the church, which is closely connected with the resurrection of the faithful who had died. I take it that the rapture is imminent, when together we are “caught up, to meet the Lord in the air, and so will they always be with the Lord.” That teaching should bring comfort to all who know Him, because whether we live or die, we belong to Him, forever (4:18). Paul doesn’t give his readers a timeline, but rather calls on them to live in hope, guided by faith and empowered by love.

The Maine* Idea: We live in the light of our sure hope: Jesus will return! That means certain judgment of the lost, and joyous rescue for believers.

I. Stay ready: The Day is coming, and will come suddenly, when God will judge sin and unbelief (1-3). That is not a threat for believers, it’s a promise!

^5:1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. ² For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³ While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

       Notice, first of all, that Paul addresses the Thessalonians as “brothers.” These are his spiritual family, his brothers and sisters, fellow believers in Jesus and co-heirs of the kingdom. He was separated from them for a time by necessity, but his love for them, his compassion and concern, comes through on every page. It’s unnatural for us to be meeting like this, with a computer screen or a smartphone between us. This too will pass! We can still, we must, uphold each other in prayer, and through telephone or facetime or Zoom we can fellowship and encourage one another. By the way, if this lockdown continues into May, as it appears it will, I’d like for us to be able to share in the Lord’s Table together, having a virtual meeting over Zoom… I’ll be working on that with the elders and we’ll try to schedule it for Sunday, May 3^rd. In the meantime please call or text any prayer needs you have, and consider joining us for our virtual prayer meetings through Zoom on Wednesday nights at 6:30. We’re a family, and in this letter Paul is addressing the Thessalonians as family, as his brothers and sisters in Christ. He wants to encourage them and strengthen their faith.

       Remember the context of the letter, Paul had received word of their authentic faith and perseverance; and had already commended them for the same. At the end of chapter 4 Paul had just reminded them of our sure hope in the second coming of Christ, to resurrect the bodies of the faithful who had died, and to rapture and transform believers, taking them up together to be with the Lord forever. That hope is good news, and it is a promise to encourage and strengthen the faithful as they live in this fallen world. How long O Lord? Can we know when He will come?

       “…concerning the times and the seasons, you have no need to have anything written to you…” Paul made a similar statement a few verses earlier about brotherly love (4:9). The idea seems to be that this was a topic that Paul had taught them, in which they were well established. Even so, by way of encouragement, he brings out a few details and reminds them that their hope is not just about the future, it has practical implications for how they can live today. It is easy to get excited about prophecy and the study of last things. Paul is not intent on answering some the questions we would ask: “Paul, are you pre-mil, post-mil, or amil? Pre-trib rapture or mid-trib?” Those are modern discussions that we should study and pursue, but Paul is a pastor-theologian, wanting to apply the sure hope of the return of Christ to rescue believers and to judge unbelief. Did it matter to the situations the church was facing? Does it apply to our situation? This pandemic did not catch God by surprise. He is not worried about how He will supply for His people or how He will fund the continuation of His church and His mission in the world. But He does want to grow our faith, and draw us closer to Him, and deepen both our love for one another and our burden for the lost! Let’s be open and teachable, making sure our ultimate trust is in Him.

       The Thessalonians may have wondered in the midst of their trials, “Paul, may we ask when? How long will evil prosper and the people of God suffer?” Remember the disciples, in Acts I, asked Jesus a similar question. After 40 days of teaching about the Kingdom, they ask “Lord, will you at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). They expected an earthly kingdom, with the king present. They had a pre-millennial expectation it seems to me. And Jesus doesn’t rebuke the question as completely wrong-headed, as though he had just wasted 40 days of post-resurrection teaching on the subject! No, but he says, “It is not for you to know the times and the seasons that the Father has set by His own authority, but…” When Jesus comes is not for you to know. Be encouraged by the promise of His coming, but your focus should be on what you should do, how you should live, until that day!

       “…For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night…” This same language had been used by Jesus himself to refer to the suddenness of the Parousia (Matt 24:42-44; cf. Rev 3:3; 16:15; 2 Pet 3:10). A thief does not set up an appointment before coming right? It’s usually when you would least expect it. During this lockdown, I’ve heard a couple of reports in the media that in different areas of the country there have been break-ins. I even saw one caught on home security video, of two men in broad daylight coming up to the front door of a house, wearing N95 masks, and then forcing themselves in! That one didn’t go well for them, the next thing you see is the homeowner chasing one of them out of the house! It was worse still for the other guy… But you get the imagery here, thieves will come suddenly, unexpectedly, usually at night. For those who are not watching, the coming of the Lord will be sudden and unexpected. Paul uses another metaphor to highlight this idea, but also the inevitability of that day…

     “While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” The sense of peace, security, continuity, these are ideas that the world looks for. Believers however can also be lulled into a sense of spiritual complacency… When things are going well especially, we can get comfortable in this life, forgetting that we were created for eternity, and that God will not allow the world to continue indefinitely in its rebellion. He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness. Our hope is in a new heaven and a new earth… the best is yet to come!

       The Thessalonians were not living a life of prosperity and ease. Their faith came at a cost. That has been the case for most believers throughout history. We know the truth, the Lord will return at the time appointed by the Father, and we should live expectantly, looking for “…the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ… (Titus 2:13, NKJV). In our passage Paul uses the picture of a pregnant woman suddenly going into labor. It isn’t exactly a surprise, other than perhaps the moment it began, but the idea of suddenness, and inevitability comes through.  This makes me think of the words of Peter, in 2 Peter 3:3-4…  

…scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.  ⁴ They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation."

But then He says in 3:10-13…

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.  ¹¹ Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,  ¹² waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!  ¹³ But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

The day of the Lord will be one of wrath, and judgment for unbelief. The good news is that today is the day of salvation, and whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved! Let us be faithful witnesses, urging those in our sphere of influence to be reconciled to God!  We live in the light of our sure hope: Jesus will return! That means certain judgment of the lost, and joyous rescue for all who believe. So, we must, 1) Stay ready, and…

II. Stay faithful: In Hope we guard our hearts and minds: Our certain rescue means our hope is sure, and so we live by faith, strengthened by love (4-8).

⁴ But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. ⁵ For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. ⁶ So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. ⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. ⁸ But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 

       But you brothers… Paul begins with an emphatic contrast. The world continues in unbelief, “BUT YOU BROTHERS are not in darkness…” The unrepentant are living in willful ignorance, denying the light of revelation in creation and conscience, and for many, rejecting the Word that they have heard plainly and repeatedly. As we read in John 3:19-21,

¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.  ²⁰ For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  ²¹ But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.

Jesus is the Light of Life, the Light of the world! Light is life giving, it leads us through the darkness – His Word is a lamp to our feet, a light to our path. But for those who reject the truth, who continue in unbelief, light has a different function, it exposes what is hidden in darkness, even in the dark recesses of the human heart. It reveals unbelief.

       You are children of light, children of the day… (5). This is again the structure that Paul often uses, the indicative followed by an imperative. You are children of light, this is your new nature, your reality, your position, now live like it! As he writes to the Colossians 1:11-14,

¹¹ May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,  ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.  ¹³ He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,  ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins…

First he assures them of their position in Christ, then later, in 3:2-6,

² Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  ³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  ⁴ When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.  ⁵ Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  ⁶ On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

You have a new life, you are kingdom citizens. Now live like it! Walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called! Here in our passage in I Thessalonians Paul says “you are children light.” That is your position, your new nature. And then he says “So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober” (6).

       How can we live as children of light in the midst of the darkness that surrounds us? Look at verse 8, “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” This imagery of armor that we put on, specifically here, armor that guards our heart and our head: the breast plate of faith and love, for a helmet the hope of salvation. Remember back in 1:3, as Paul thanked God and prayed for the Thessalonians, he remembered their “…work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Our heart and our head can be protected from the enticement and delusion of this fallen world. Our hope is bigger, it is eternal. That is the Maine* Idea: We live in the light of our sure hope – Jesus will return! That means certain judgment of the lost, and joyous rescue for believers. So we 1) Stay ready; 2) Stay faithful, and…

III. Stay engaged: Knowing our future is secure, we are freed to serve others, encouraging them and building them up (9-11).

 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰ who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. ¹¹ Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

       The language here is interesting, “…God has not destined us for wrath…” Some English translations say, “appointed.” What is our destiny? Most relevant to you today, what is your destiny? Can we really know? Well, if you believe, if you have trusted Christ as your Lord and Savior, you can!  Paul uses the plural, including himself with the Thessalonian believers. We have believed, we’ve been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.  We have heard His voice, and followed Him. Our trust in Christ assures us that we are His, eternally secure in Him. We have been destined not for the wrath that will be poured out on unbelief on the Day of the Lord, but for “salvation” through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul uses this language of “wrath” back in 1:10 where he says Jesus “rescues us from the coming wrath.” Paul uses the same word in Ephesians 2:1-3 where he describes the former state of the Ephesians,

…you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Notice what Paul said there, before they believed, by nature they were “children of wrath,” destined for judgement, like the rest of mankind. But God, by grace, through faith, saved them, made them alive, loved them. Before they believed was their “destiny” clear? No, not to any human. We can describe their apparent state, but not their eternal destiny.  The Thessalonians had believed, and their lives demonstrated the authenticity of their faith. It was clear by their faith, hope, and love that they belonged to Christ. And so Paul could include them with himself as he said, “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation.”

       “salvation” can refer to our rescue from sin and judgment, past, present, and future. We were saved when we believed, we are saved in the present, and we will ultimately be saved when it is consummated in the resurrection. That seems to be Paul’s emphasis here, our final rescue.

     Verses 9b-10 are essentially a summary of the passage at the end of chapter 4. Here he says, “through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰ who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.” And that promise is not just to satisfy our curiosity or end our debates. It is intended to edify, and to encourage. And so, we should “…encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (11). Two “one another” statements that are part of fulfilling our calling as the church: We encourage each other, come alongside to help, bearing each other’s burdens; And we use our gifts to edify, to build each other up, so that we are strengthened and equipped to carry out God’s mission in the world.

What is God saying to in this passage? The Maine* Idea: We live in the light of our sure hope: Jesus will return! That means certain judgment of the lost, and joyous rescue for believers.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Does the idea of the return of Christ bring peace and hope to your heart, or does it stir up feelings of uneasiness, or even dread? Don’t miss this: none of us is good enough to stand before a holy God. As Paul writes, “There is none righteous, no not one…” and “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Rom 3:10,23). None of us deserves salvation, we can do nothing the earn it. But “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…” (I Tim 1:15). The two destinies of humans are set forth in John,

¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God (Jn 3:17-18).

Jesus came to do for us what we could not do for ourselves, to lay down His life, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. The greatest and first pandemic is sin (Rom 5:12). Admit your need (Rom 3:10,23), believe that He died for you sins, as your substitute (Isa 53:6), satisfying divine justice, and that He rose again the third day. And believe, trust Him, entrust yourself to Him (John 3:16). If you do that, you can know that you are appointed not to wrath, but to salvation!

       Believer, we don’t know how much time we have before either the Lord calls us home, or He returns to take us home. So, let’s stay ready, awake and alert, remembering that we are pilgrims in this fallen world, created for eternity. Stay faithful, guarding your heart and your mind, and walking in the light of the Gospel. And stay engaged, we have a mission, He saved us on purpose, for a purpose. So then, while it is still day, while it is the day of salvation, let’s be light in the world. Encourage the faint hearted, admonish the weak, build each other up, so that we’ll be better equipped for the mission He has entrusted to us.  AMEN.