The closest I've been to standing before a judge was when
I hit a Porsche when we lived in Dubai.
In Dubai, if you get into a Fender Bender and this was a
very minor collision, you don't call the police to come to you.
You go to the police station. And so this lady I hit, we were
in the Mall of the Emirates parking lot.
I was backing out very slowly. I was a little distracted, You
know, I hit her. We immediately said, OK, let's
go to the nearest police station.
We showed up there and, you know, there was a case being
solved before our eyes. We had to wait in line.
Someone else had gotten in an accident.
And I remember watching as the lady in front of me was pleading
with the police officer. She was saying, hey, before I
got here, he said it was all his fault.
Now he's saying it's my fault. He's lying.
And I was like, whoa, OK. And the guy was like, no, no,
no, she did it. It's her fault.
The police officer listened for 60 seconds and then he cut them
off both. And he just said 6040.
And I was like 6040. What's 60% the woman's fault,
40% the man's fault? She started weeping, and the man
had a little smile on his face. And that was it.
The case was settled and then it was our turn.
I immediately said it is 100% my fault.
I did it, I'm guilty. The woman I was with agreed.
I got a small citation, 400 dirhams.
It's about $100. And then we moved on with our
lives. Justice was served.
We live in a world with imperfect justice.
Sometimes the judge gets it right, like in my case, it
really was 100% my fault. Other times partiality is at
play. Sometimes the punishment fits
the crime. Other times it depends on who
committed the crime. Sometimes the guilty walk, other
times the innocent don't. If you're not a believer in
Jesus, do you believe in justice?
Should wrongs be made right? Should evil be punished?
Is there such a thing as good and evil?
Or are good and evil really just illusions?
Is there a moral calculus to the universe?
Imagine living in a world with no justice, no accountability,
no morality, no recompense or reparation for evils.
Such a place would be a terror. It would be intolerable.
It would be meaningless and hopeless.
In the end, when all is said and done, will there be justice?
Turn your Bible to the book of First Thessalonians.
If you don't have a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand.
Somebody would be glad to bring you a Bible.
First Thessalonians in the New Testament.
We're in chapter 5. We've been studying this letter
Paul wrote to a one year old church plant in Thessalonica.
Repeatedly throughout the letter, Paul reminds the
Thessalonians of the end, the last day, the day when Christ
returns to judge his enemies and to save his people.
Couple weeks ago, chapter 4 ended with how believers should
grieve with hope as they face the death of believers.
Paul's comfort to grieving believers is the day of the
Lord, the day when Christ returns, resurrects and reunites
all believers. In chapter 5, Paul again
considers the day of the Lord. The question for the believer is
how should you live in light of that coming day?
Listen, as I read first Thessalians 51 to 11.
Now concerning the times and the seasons.
Brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you,
for you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord
will come like a thief in the night, 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. But you are not in darkness,
brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.
For you are all children of light, children of the day.
We are not of the night or of the darkness.
So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake
and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at
night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.
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. For God has not destined us for
wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ
who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might
live with Him. Therefore encourage one another
and build one another up, just as you are doing.
These verses are about the day of the Lord.
You can see that clearly in verse 2.
Paul calls the Thessalonians in verse five children of the day,
and he encourages them in verse 8.
We belong to the day. So He exhorts them, verse 11, in
light of that day, to encourage one another and to build one
another up. Here's the main point of the
sermon. Prepare together for that day.
What is the day of the Lord?
3 points .1 a day of destruction versus one to three a day of
destruction, .2 a day of salvation, verses 4 to 10 a day
of salvation, and .3 a day we prepare for together, a day we
prepare for together. .1 verses one to three a day of
destruction. Look again at verses 1 to 3.
If you remember in chapter 4, Paul did not want the
Thessalonians to be uninformed about those who are asleep.
The Thessalonians wondered what happened to their believing
loved ones who died. But here in verse one Paul says
concerning the times and the seasons, they have no need to
have anything written. Paul pulls that phrase times and
seasons from the book of Daniel. Daniel uses that phrase three
times to consistently point to the appointed times in God's
plan of salvation for the rise and fall of kingdoms, ultimately
leading to the coming of the Son of Man.
Or you could refer to the coming of the Son of Man as the day of
the Lord. That's what Paul calls it in
verse 2. The Thessalonians don't need
anything more written, for they are fully aware that the day of
the Lord will come. In the Old Testament, as we
heard in Amos chapter 5, the day of the Lord is a day of
judgment, but it's a day of destruction and salvation.
It's a day when God comes to judge his enemies and redeem his
people. It's a day that will come, Paul
says in verse 2, like a thief in the night.
Paul refers to what Jesus taught about the coming of the Son of
Man, which we can read about in Matthew chapter 24.
Jesus said stay awake, for you do not know on what day your
Lord is coming, but know this, that if the master of the house
had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he
would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be
broken into. Jesus and Paul teach us that
when thieves strike tells us something we didn't know about
when Jesus will return. On March 18th, 1990, the
security guard at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum looked up
from his homework. He was a college student when
the buzzer rang and two uniformed police officers were
standing outside. The officers told him, we've
received a report of a disturbance.
We need to check it out. It was 1:24 AM in the morning in
Boston's Fenway neighborhood. Once the guard let the officers
in, the officer looked at the guard, studied his face and he
said, you look familiar. Is there a warrant out for your
arrest? The guard said no, of course
not. Well, the officer said, let me
see your ID. And so the guard stepped away
from the desk, from the only place in the museum where he had
access to the alarm, and he handed over his ID.
The officer said, I'm going to arrest you now.
And he called the second guard. The second guard showed up, also
a college student. And the officer said, you're
also under arrest. The man said, what?
What did I do? I didn't do anything wrong.
But they handcuffed him. And that's when the officer told
them, you're actually not under arrest.
You're being robbed. This was when Rembrandt's famous
painting The Storm on canvas over 5 feet tall was stolen.
That painting has never been seen again.
It's the largest property theft in America's history, with an
estimated value of more than $500 million.
Now listen. The thieves did not announce
their arrival. They came in the middle of the
night. They came unexpectedly.
They came without warning. Jesus made it clear you do not
know on what day your Lord is coming.
Meaning you can't predict Christ's coming by poring over
details in Daniel and the Book of Revelation.
If there's one thing certain about the timing of Christ's
coming, it is that you cannot be certain of the timing of
Christ's coming. Christ's coming is unpredictable
and yet in verse 3 Paul also says Christ's coming is sudden
and inevitable. Look at verse three.
People will be 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.
When Jesus teaches about the coming of the Son of Man in
Matthew 24, he also reminds us of the days of Noah.
The days of Noah. People are eating and drinking.
They're marrying and giving away in marriage, and only Noah and
his family are preparing for impending judgment.
The flood swept everyone else away.
False prophets throughout the Old Testament proclaimed peace,
peace to God's people, when in reality God was preparing to
bring judgment for their idolatry and their rebellion.
When Paul wrote this letter, both peace and security were
common expressions of the Roman Empire to state what it had
accomplished. Everything's fine.
We've got everything covered. There's nothing to worry about.
You don't need to think about death and judgement.
Jesus teaches us, and Paul teaches us that the day of the
Lord will be a day of sudden destruction.
It will be a day like when labor pains arrive for a pregnant
woman. Three months ago, my wife Hannah
went into labor with our daughter Sunday.
She was nine months pregnant, so of course we knew that she was
going to have a baby. We just did not know when that
baby would come. And our daughter Sunday really
surprised us because Hannah had her in triage just 10 minutes
after arriving to the hospital. The birth was sudden.
Paul saying it's also inevitable.
I remember the birth of our son Shepard during labor.
Hannah and I got permission to share the story from Hannah
during labor. She kept saying I can't do this,
I can't do this. And I remember looking at the
nurse and we were both thinking. Sorry.
You're doing this, it's happening, it's inevitable, Paul
says. There's a suddenness and an
inevitability to the day of the Lord.
And Paul says on that day, when it comes, they will not escape.
If you're not a Christian, what do you make of Paul's
assertions? Many believe that Christianity
is a set of private beliefs. You know, kind of like, that's
good for you Christians. It doesn't really affect me.
Satan has convinced many that a threat of judgement is really
just an empty one. But Paul is shouting to you,
friend. He's shouting, warning the day
of the Lord is coming. It will take you by surprise.
It doesn't matter when you whether you believe in it or not
and he's warning you, you will be tempted to say peace and
security. There are illusions of peace and
security that blind us from spiritual realities at play.
Big bank accounts can be a temptation for many that they're
protected. A dream home, a successful
career, none of these things can stop the day of the Lord.
In that coming day of destruction, friend, how will
the peace and security that you claim protect you on that day?
Brothers and sisters, Paul writes to us about the fate of
unbelievers. Why?
One reason, which we'll look at in .2, is to urge us to
persevere. Paul wants us to persevere in
the faith and prepare appropriately for the day.
Another reason, though, if you remember the context of the
letter of First Thessalonians, is for our comfort.
The Thessalonian church was a new church.
They were a struggling church. They were a persecuted church.
They were a church with enemies, members of Trinity Baptist
Church. We can also be comforted as we
look at the future. Whatever wrongs we may face,
whatever enemies we must suffer, whatever persecutions we must
endure, all of that will be light and momentary affliction
compared to the day of destruction that awaits our
enemies. The day of the Lord is a day of
destruction for God's enemies, but not for the believer.
For the Christian, the day of the Lord is not a day of
destruction. It's a day of salvation .2
verses 4 to 10. A day of salvation.
In verses 4 to 10. Paul first tells the
Thessalonians who they are, their identity in verses 4:00
and 5:00. Then Paul reminds them how they
should live in verses 6 to 8, and he encourages them in verses
9 and 10 with their great salvation.
Look at verses 4:00 and 5:00. But you are not in darkness,
brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.
For you are all children of light, children of the day.
We are not of the night or of the darkness.
Who are they? Here are the indicatives.
They are not in darkness, verse 4.
Not of the night or of the darkness, verse 5.
Who are they? They are children of light,
children of the day, and so that day, the day of the Lord,
shouldn't surprise them. Surprise is the keyword in
Paul's argument. The day of the Lord is
unpredictable, yes. It's inevitable, yes.
But it is not a day the Christian will be surprised by,
because Christians are children of the day.
Paul draws on imagery of light and darkness from Isaiah 59 and
60 here in this section. Sin and idolatry 'cause people
to live in darkness. Sin and idolatry are morally
blinding. It's like walking through life
with a blindfold everywhere you go, stumbling left and right.
But when God's people turn to him for salvation, Isaiah
writes. Arise, shine, for your light has
come, and the glory of the Lord shines over you.
For look, darkness will cover the earth, and total darkness
the peoples, but the Lord will shine over you.
Isaiah promised today when the people who walked in darkness
would see a great light, and those who dwelt in a land of
deep darkness would have light shine on them.
Friends, that day has dawned in Jesus Christ.
Believer, you've been brought from darkness into light by
Jesus, the light of the world. And so, as Paul says in verse 5,
your identity, believer, is children of light, children of
the date. Believer, that is who you are.
How then should you live? Look at verses 6:00 and 7:00.
So then Paul says this is who you are, so this is how you
should live. The Christian life is not earn
your salvation. The Christian life is live out
your salvation. So then verse 6, let us not
sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
How should the Thessalonians live?
Paul gives 2 pictures, 1st and verses 6:00 and 7:00.
This is my paraphrase. Stay spiritually sober.
That's the first picture here. Falling asleep is a metaphor for
evil. Paul saying stay awake.
You can hear echoes of Jesus in Matthew 24.
Don't sleep, stay spiritually sober.
Those who sleep are of the night.
They belong to the darkness. Ironically, in chapter 4 verse
14, the believing dead were called those who were asleep.
But here in verse 6, the living believers are exhorted to not
spiritually fall asleep. Or in other words, Paul warns us
of the danger of being spiritually drunk.
When Christ returns, Benny will be walking in darkness.
You don't need to use your imagination of the things that
go on in the middle of the night.
People will be morally intoxicated with evil.
They'll have imbibed the ideologies and the ways of the
world, and Christ himself will shock them out of their
spiritual sleep. Believer Paul saying here, don't
get spiritually drunk. Don't fall asleep.
Don't be someone who will be ashamed of how you're behaving
when Christ Jesus returns. One essential way to.
Say spiritually sober, To stay awake is to keep walking in the
light. Children of the Light.
Walk in the light. Children of the light serve the
Father of lights. The apostle John says God is
light. In him is no darkness at all.
Not even. A hint, If we walk in the light
as He is in the light, we have fellowship and forgiveness.
What does it look like practically to walk in the
light? It looks like continually
confessing your sins. Who of us doesn't?
Sin. Who of us isn't?
Renewed by the honesty of confession, confessing sin helps
us stay spiritually sober by splashing cold truths in our
face, truths about our sin and truth about our Saviour.
Yes, we are sinners and we sin, but we have a Saviour, and His
blood cleanses us from our sin. But friend, when you.
Refuse to confess your sin. When you conceal your sins from
God, from yourself, from others, you walk in darkness.
You act as a child of the night. You choose fiction over fact,
fantasy over reality. You imbibe lies and get
spiritually drunk. And it is dangerous to be drunk
at night. Friend, what sin is Satan
tempting you to conceal for yourself, to cover over
yourself? Where are you most tempted to
hide in the dark? Brothers and sisters.
The. Way to?
Forgiveness is not through secrecy and hiding in the
darkness. It is through the burning light
of God's holiness. When we uncover our sins, God
himself covers them and he blots them out, and he puts them as
far from us as the east is from the West, and he remembers them
no more. That is the beauty.
And the freedom of confessing your sins.
There is fellowship with your brothers and sisters and with
God Himself in the light. So stay.
Spiritually sober by honestly confessing your sins.
The second picture Paul gives in verse 8 is to get spiritually
dressed. You can see that 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.
Paul continues to draw from Isaiah 59, which would have been
very convenient to read this week, but we read it last week,
so I hope you remember from last week.
They're the Lords depicted as a divine warrior.
He's depicted with righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of
salvation on his head. Here Paul applies the Divine
Warriors clothing to the Christian.
If it's freezing. When it's when it's time for my
kids to go outside, I as a good father tell them you need to
wear a thick coat and they usually fight me on that.
And I say you need to wear a warm hat and you need to wear
gloves. These are the essential clothing
items to stay from being freezing outside.
The Christian. Needs proper clothing, and in
many jobs, if you're not properly clothed for your job,
you could get seriously hurt. What does the Christian's
clothing reveal about their job? A breastplate.
A helmet. The Christian is a soldier in a
battle and must get spiritually dressed with the armor of faith
and love and hope. The breastplate of faith is
learning to take God at His Word.
It is learning to walk by faith, not by sight.
It is learning to trust God who is always faithful, especially
when the evidence suggests otherwise.
Without it. Doubts can cause you to forget
what's true. The breastplate of love is
learning to love God and God's people and even your enemies.
It is learning to love the things of this world loosely,
with open hands, with generous hearts.
It is refusing to love the pleasures and the pursuits of
the world which constantly vie for your affections.
Without it, bitterness, unforgiveness can harden your
heart and hinder your relationships.
The Helmet of Hope is learning to meditate on eternal matters
that are here now but also coming soon.
It is learning to hope in heaven and the new creation and our
forever union with God and with his people.
It is letting the hope of heaven shape and mould your troubles
today. Without it, earthly concerns can
crowd out spiritual realities you need.
John Calvin. Asks us regarding this passage.
He says Satan is always alert and seeking our downfall with
his 1001 schemes. Should we not be at least as
vigilant as soldiers? Stay.
Spiritually sober, Get spiritually dressed.
Don't be surprised or caught off guard or be found in darkness on
that day when Jesus Christ returns, brothers and sisters.
Children of Light. Children of the day, that day
will be the day of our salvation.
That's what Paul looks forward to in verses 9 and 10.
Look at verses 9 and 10. Paul ultimately grounds the
Thessalonians. Hope not in how they live.
Keep that mind. Not in how they live, but in how
Christ died for them. Verses 9 and 10.
For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation
through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us.
So that whether we. Are awake or asleep.
We might live with him. If you remember earlier.
In this letter, Paul reminded them they were destined for
suffering. But here Paul assures them
you're not destined for wrath, you're destined to obtain
salvation. Yes, you're destined for
suffering in this life, but ultimately you're destined for
salvation in the next. The security of every believer,
the hope of every Christian, is never ultimately on their
behavior, but on God's sovereign goodness in choosing them for
salvation. He has chosen us.
That's what Paul told the Thessalonians in chapter 1,
verse four. He has destined us.
For salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who died for us so that we might live for Him.
This is the good news of the gospel.
If you're not a Christian because of your sin, you live in
the Kingdom of darkness. You are a.
Child of wrath, you deserve judgment, and on the day of the
Lord you will stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Christ is the perfect judge. He is never impartial.
He is always fair. His judgment is not arbitrary or
whimsical. He does not throw down
thunderbolts without 'cause He always and only gives what is
deserved. Friend, will you?
Dare to face the wrath of Christ on that day.
Or will you, before that day, turn from your sin and find
refuge in Jesus Christ? Though you have walked.
In darkness. You can be.
Transferred from the Kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of
Life, Christ died our death so that we might live his life on
the cross. Jesus took the wrath that
sinners deserve, so that if you've trusted in Him, you'd be
rescued from the wrath that is to come.
And Jesus rose from. The grave so that you could be
confident that whether you live or die, ultimately you will live
with Christ. If Christ is your.
Saviour, you are destined for salvation, and if Christ is your
Saviour, your salvation is secure.
And if Christ is? Your Savior, one day you will
meet Him, the one who died for you, so that you might live with
Him forever. Christians, we belong to the
day. We are children of the day.
For us, it is a day of salvation.
It's also a. Day that we prepare for together
.3. Finally, verse 11.
A day we. Prepare for together.
What do we do? With these wonderful truths,
these glorious spiritual realities that Paul has placed
before our hearts, verse 11 therefore, encourage one another
and build one another up, just as you are doing.
Paul follows the same pattern of chapter 4, the ending.
He wants them to do something with these truths.
He wants the Thessalonians to speak these words back to one
another for one another's encouragement.
He wants them to prepare for that great day together In the
spring, birds build their nests in the.
Fall. Squirrels bury their nuts in the
winter. Bears store up their fat in
every season. Christians prepare together for
the day of the Lord. Believers do not come to faith,
then get cryogenically frozen until they awaken the new
heavens and the new earth. That is not the Christian life.
Believers know that the dawn is coming, but that it is a long
night to endure. Believers do not come to faith,
then fend for themselves until Christ returns.
No believers belong to the day, and they belong together.
Paul is extremely practical. He gives two ways we prepare
together. First, encourage one another.
Second, build one another up. What believer is too encouraged?
What believer does it need these encouragements?
The person does not exist. These truths should.
Be an encouragement to you. We are not in darkness.
We bask. In the light of the light of the
world, we have an eternity of sunny days ahead of us.
Those are truths we need to hear.
Because it's a long. Journey.
I've been on some. Long flights.
The longest flight I've been on is 17 hours.
You can get a good night's sleep and still have 8 hours to go on
a 17 hour flight. You can read a couple books.
You could watch. Many movies you will eat
multiple meals unless you have children.
If you have. Children, that flight is a
survival mission you're just trying to endure.
In order to endure. When Han and I would fly with
our kids, we would have a mantra that we'd repeat to one another.
These are lessons learned through affliction.
We'd say to one another, I could do anything for 17 hours, do
anything for 17 hours. We'd do anything for 17 hours.
We'd also have a mindset that we'd remember to stay United.
It would be easy to turn on one another on one of those 17 hour
flights. You're trapped.
We. Tell each other we're.
A team. We're in this together.
We can't turn against one another.
We need to help one another. And by God's grace, we did
endure those flights. Brothers and sisters, we're
travelling together to a glorious destination.
Our journey is long, but it's temporary.
We must help one another on the way.
Remind your brothers and sisters of their destination.
They're heading to heaven. Encourage them of who waits for
them at the end, the Lord Jesus Christ and all his Saints.
Exhort them to dress appropriately for the journey,
with faith and love and hope. Encourage them and build them
up. Paul used the verb here that
often refers to building construction, and yet when Paul
uses it every single time in the New Testament, he uses it to
describe spiritual edification. Build one another up.
And that every member is responsible for this is implicit
because Paul uses that little phrase.
One another build one another up.
There are a billion ways to do this.
Like joining yourself? Like a living stone to God's
temple, the local church. Like prioritizing the weekly
gathering of God's people around God's Word.
Like studying God's Word and seeking to apply it with other
members. Like fellowshipping together
over a meal in one another's home.
Like praying together through the great joys of life and in
the deep valleys. Like discipling one another,
mentoring one another in the faith, investing in new
believers. Like selflessly serving side by
side. Like a community that cares for
one another. Like rejoicing at each other's
joys and weeping in each other's sorrows.
Like fighting for unity together with people you sometimes
disagree with. Like singing cheerfully during
corporate worship of heavenly truths.
Like out doing one another in showing honor and cheering one
another on and pointing out every evidence of God's grace
along the way. It looks like Paul says as you
are doing. That's what Paul says.
Don't you love Paul? He's always ready to give credit
where credit's due. As you're already doing these
things, do these things more and more as one of your pastors at
Trinity Baptist Church. It's a joy to say to you, just
as you're doing. Do so more and.
More, keep preparing for that day together, friends, the day
of the Lord is coming soon. It's a day of.
Perfect justice. It will be.
Unexpected. It is inevitable.
It's a day of destruction for some.
It's a day of. Salvation for us.
It's a day when. Some will get what they deserve.
The wages of sin. Is death.
It's a day where we'll get more grace, the gift of eternal life.
Brothers and sisters, you belong to that day.
You are children. Of that day, let's live and
prepare together. For that day, let's pray.
Father, we do pray. Come Lord Jesus.
We long for that. Day we look forward to that day.
We pray that our days would be shaped by that day.
Lord, help us as children of the day to walk in the light.
Help us as a church to prepare well for that day when we'll see
our Saviour face to face. Lord, come, come soon, we pray
in. Jesus name.
Amen.