In society, we're turning this morning to 1st Thessalonians
chapter 5. First Thessalonians chapter 5.
We're going to read verses one through to 11.
Let's hear the Word of God. First Thessalonians chapter 5,
verses 1 to 11, reading, of course, from the King James
Bible. The words will come up on a
screen for all who are on the Internet and for any that wants
the Bible, please feel free to contact us and we'd supply you
with a free copy of the Holy Scriptures.
First Thessalonians chapter 5, verse one.
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no
need that I write unto you, for yourselves.
Know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in
the night. For when they shall save peace
and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them,
has travailed upon a woman with child, and they shall not
escape. But ye, brethren, are not in
darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
But year all the children of light, and the children of the
day. We are not of the darkness nor
of the night. Therefore let us not sleep as do
others, but let us watch and be sober.
For they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be
drunken or drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day be
sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love,
and for in Helmand the hope of salvation.
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we
wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.
Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another,
even as also ye do Amen. We know God will stamp with His
own approval and blessing this reading of His own precious and
infallible word. Now this morning, as we continue
with our expository studies in the book of First Thessalonians,
we're turning our attention today to the words of First
Thessalonians, chapter 5, verses 6 through to 8.
And I want to attempt to deal with the theme today with the
spiritual duties of the children of the day.
Listen to what the Word of God says.
Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and
be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in
the night, and they that be drunken or drunken in the night.
But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the
breastplate of faith and love, and for in Helmand the hope of
salvation. Now let's remember, the church
at Thesslonanka was a young church.
It was being persecuted and oppressed by evil and wicked
man. So the apostle Paul had written
to comfort them, especially concerning the question about
those who'd died in Christ. Remember they were wondering
what would happen to the bodies of their dead loved ones who had
died in Christ when the Lord Jesus would be returning in
power and would they be forgotten about?
The Apostle Paul also aimed to clarify to them the second
coming of the Lord Jesus and power and glory, that when He
would return to this earth, He would return bodily and visibly
and suddenly and gloriously. Now let's remember what we
learnt last Lord's Day morning. First Thessalonians chapter 5,
verse one and two. We thought about the period that
is discussed. The day of the Lord will be a
sudden event, a surprising event.
The day of the Lord comes when it's least expected.
Remember here Paul uses the analogy of a thief.
A thief comes suddenly. Surprisingly, he's not saying
that the Lord Jesus is a thief. The analogy is to how a thief
operates at night. He appears at a house suddenly
when it's least expected. I told you the times and seasons
is about the period of time leading up to the Lord's return
and the precise moment when that event will occur.
And what Paul is doing in chapter 5 of First Thessalonians
is challenging God's people not to think about when Christ will
return, but the way that they are to live in light of his
glorious return. We don't know the precise time
or the particular date when Jesus will return, but what we
do know is this. The day of the Lord will come.
That's a major theme in the Bible.
The Day of the Lord is a period of great intervention and
tribulation that will culminate in the visible, bodily,
personal, glorious return of the Lord Jesus to this earth and he
will establish his eternal and everlasting reign.
Remember this event is not it's not secret and silent.
It is sudden and surprising. It's also most solemn because
it's going to catch a whole world of ungodly men who are
totally unprepared out. We also knew that last Lord's
day. The people that are described,
but ye remember he says that there in verse 4, but ye
brethren are not in darkness of that day should overtake you as
a thief. We thought about the contrast
between the godly and the ungodly, the saved and the lost.
There's a particular distinction here.
But ye brethren are not in darkness.
There's a particular description here.
True Christians are children of light.
They're also called children of the day.
This is a reference to those who are truly born again of God's
Spirit. We also thought about a
particular delight. Children of the day belong to
the coming day. And then I closed with this
thought. The posture that is determined,
he says in verse 6. Therefore, let us not sleep as
do others, but let us watch and be sober.
Now I want you to learn something this morning.
And it's this something very important.
The doctrine of eschatology always leads to the duty of
ethics. The doctrine we believe will and
should produce in us a duty, a duty to live not unto ourselves,
but unto the Saviour. What we believe about the second
coming will impact upon our behaviour, and that's what Paul
is teaching. Because we belong to the day.
Because we're designated and described as children of the
day, we must live as children of the day.
Yes, there are those who are in spiritual darkness.
They are children of the night. And because they live in a state
of spiritual darkness, they continue then to have a life and
spirit of rebellion towards God and his Christ, that they live
in a state of perpetual unbelief.
Do you know that the vast majority of the population of
this world, including many in Northern Ireland, they dismissed
the doctrine of the second coming of Christ?
That's the stuff of myths and legends.
That's the stuff of fairy tales. But they don't know about the
Scriptures, and they don't know that the Scriptures warns of
sudden destruction. And yet they refuse to believe
not only in God, the coming of Christ, but also in wrath to
come. Remember what Paul says there in
Second Thessalonians? He says this 2nd Thessalonians 1
and seven. And do you hear troubled rest
with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with his mighty angels and flaming fire, taking vengeance,
and them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ. You see in that day the world of
ungodly men, those who know not God and obey not the gospel.
They'll not escape the wrath and judgement of God.
They are not ready for the second coming of Christ.
But we who are in Christ, we are ready not because of our
goodness, but because of God's infinite, free, sovereign,
saving grace. Who are we?
We're children of the late. We're children of the day.
We are saved by the grace of God.
We are ready for Christ's coming whenever that coming takes
place. We have been born again of the
Holy Spirit. We're indwelt by the Holy
Spirit. We have spiritual light in our
soul. We we are gripped by a spiritual
knowledge of God. We we have a knowledge of Christ
and his personal work, the the knowledge of the doctrine of
salvation. We are spiritually prepared for
the Lord's return. We're not like the unregenerate
or the unprepared. We're living in light of the
Lord's return, and living in light of the Lord's return will
be seen the spiritual duty of the children of the day.
That's what verses 6 to 8 is teaching.
In light of our new identity in Christ, we are possessed, we are
gripped, we are enabled by a new spiritual life to to live unto
the Lord in the light of his coming and his true believers in
Christ. We conduct our lifestyle in a
way that is appropriate in light of our Lord's return.
You see, the Christian life's not passive, it is passionate.
The Christian life's a a watchful life.
It's about being super. It's about being spiritually
armed. They look very quickly at our
text of Scripture. I want you to see four things in
this text of Scripture. Children of the day are wakeful
in devotion. You see, there's a spiritual
wakefulness instead of slumber. Look at verse 6.
Therefore, let us not sleep as do others.
The word therefore means in light of this, in light of the
day of the Lord, let us not sleep as do others.
Nepal is not Speaking of physical sleep here.
I don't believe he's referring either to the dead.
I believe it's a reference to spiritual carelessness and
coldness in light of Christ's return.
Let us not be spiritually cold. Let us not be spiritually
careless. The sleep here represents
indifference to divine realities over there.
In the book of Romans, in Romans chapter 13 and in the verse 11,
the apostle Paul uttered this tremendous statement and that
knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep
for now is our salvation nearer than when we believe.
That's the same context. The people who are addressed are
born again believers. The problem experienced is the
problem of spiritual coldness and carelessness.
Let's ask, what is this spiritual sleep?
Could it be a reference to a dull conscience?
Could it be a reference to a neglected prayer life where you
profess the name of Christ but no time for private or public
prayer? You've no desire for prayer.
You've no mindset for prayer? Is it about a refrain from
reading the Bible on a daily basis?
Are you careful or careless about reading for spiritual food
for your soul? Do you have a casual attitude to
sin? Do you treat sin lightly in your
estimation? Well, it's no big deal.
Do you have a feeling, expectation and anticipation of
the Lord's return? I want you to think for a moment
of a soldier. He he's at his post, he's on the
wall, he's in the watchtower, but he falls asleep.
And a soldier who falls asleep in duty is a soldier who invites
destruction upon his city. It was when Samson slept and
delighted his lap and had his hair cut, he wished not that the
presence of the Lord, the power of the Lord, had departed from
him. And you see thousands of
professing Christians all over Northern Ireland and beyond.
The Bible says this in Matthew chapter 1224, verse 12.
Because iniquity shall abound the love of the man, they shall
wax cold. The Lord Jesus said to the
church at Ephesus, I have somewhat against thee.
Thou has left thy first love. And you see if you have new life
in Christ, that new life is evidenced by a transformed life.
If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature.
Old things have passed away and old things have become new, and
all things are of God, and that life is called a life of
separation unto the Lord. It's also a call to a life of
sanctification in the Lord. The Westminster Confession of
Faith speaks of sanctification as a real work of grace whereby
renewed in the whole man. A renewed man should be
spiritually awake, not asleep. A sleepy man is not concerned
about what's important in this life.
He's not concerned about what's important in eternity.
The second thing I want you to learn is this.
The spiritual man, he will be watchful in discernment.
Look again at verse 6. But let us watch and be sober.
Now what does it mean to watch? Being watchful means to be
actively attentive. So he's not just awake, but he's
alert. Think back to the SOLDIER and
duty at his post. He is awake, but he's also
alert. The New Testament Greek carries
the idea of a SOLDIER here who has alerted his post.
He's scanning the horizons. He's looking for some unusual
activity. He's looking for a cloud of dust
and wondering why it's coming. He he's looking for the buzzards
that are flying overhead, thinking that there must be
something dead and rotten out there.
He, he's looking for the glint of a change of sunlight to tell
him that there's soldiers coming with great amounts of armour
against his city. You see, if I ask this, what are
we as Christian soldiers watching for?
Are we watching for the return of Christ?
Behold, he cometh, the Bible says.
What's our response to the second coming of Christ?
Let me tell you a little story. This is true.
In the Larne Mission Hall many years ago, there was a preacher
there called the Reverend Paul Finch, whom I had the joy of
hearing. He was a holiness preacher from
America. I'd never met the man before,
but I was taken there from Coleraine by Mr Ken Atchison.
He's the late father of the Reverend Paul Atchison, who's
the minister in Newtownard's Congregational Church, a dear
friend. I was just a young convert, so
Mr Atchison took me along to hear this holiness preacher
thought I need a dose of holiness.
He was right. OK, so this preacher was
preaching away and I can't remember he speak about himself
or spoke about his own father who was also called Reverend
Paul Fence. He said that this preacher got
up every morning early, and when he pulled back the curtains at
the dawn of the day, as the sun began to stream through the
window, this is what he said. Even so, come Lord Jesus, you
see that preacher was living in light of the sure and certain
expectation of the Lord's return, and it had an impact
upon him, and he was watching out for the deceitfulness of
sin. He knew that sin was a deadly
vapour. He knew that sin was a poison.
He was watching out for the subtly of the devil.
He was watching out for the pool and lure of the world that
wanted to squeeze him into a particular mould and anti God,
anti Christian mindset and agenda.
He was watching out for the weakness of his own flesh.
He knew he was prone to sin. And you see the true Christian
does sin and sins against the Lord and thought and word and
deed. Remember Paul or John says this,
my little children, these things I write unto you first John two
and one that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
There's a call to holiness amongst the people of God, but
there's also a reality here facing up to the corruption of
our own heart. And of course he ends up in the
court of heaven with the righteous advocate, the Lord
Jesus over there in first Peter and in chapter 5 and the verse 8
Paul says this or Peter says this.
Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil is a
roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour.
Remember the Lord Jesus said to his own disciples, what could
you not watch with me one hour, that's all he asked.
And remember, they fell asleep. He told them watch with me and
when he came back they had fell asleep and that physical sleep
symbolised a spirit of spiritual carelessness and a spiritual
coldness. They were commanded to watch
with me in prayer, but they couldn't even watch one hour.
They were so careless and so indifferent and so spiritually
cold. And I want to tell you this
morning, I'm very concerned about the state of Christianity
in Northern Ireland. I'm concerned about the state of
Irish Christianity. I I want to tell you that no
church falls into a state of sudden apostasy.
No church ends up immediately with echo board on the door.
The glory has departed. No, there's a spiritual slumber.
There's a gradual decline. There's a state of carelessness
and coldness. They're not awake, they're no
longer alert, they're not spiritually attentive to God in
Christ and the Holy Scriptures, and that's where we're at.
I'll be writing an article on that and sending it out in due
time. The third thing is we are also
workers in discipline. He he says verse 8 for they that
sleep, sleep in the night and they that be drunken or drunken
in the night. But let us who are of the day be
sober, putting on the breastfeed of faith.
Let's stop there. Notice this word sober.
It's mentioned twice, verse 6 and it's mentioned in verse 8.
Now it's not a reference to the Christian abstaining from
alcohol. So it's not a reference to
alcohol. Mention is made in verse 7 here
of drunkenness. This is the children of the
night for they that sleep sleep in the night and they that be
drunken or drunken in the night. And I believe it represents
spiritual intoxication, being under the influence, under the
control to to be super means to be self controlled, clear
minded, steady, not intoxicated by the world and it's system of
ungodly values. We can connect this with
drunkenness and we get asked ourselves, well, what
spiritually intoxicates believers so that they're
spiritually drunk even though they never consume alcohol?
Could I suggest materialism, An eye for things, a love for
things more than a love for the truth, the love of pleasure,
worldly ambition, entertainment, me first pursuits and power.
There's many professing Christians even taken up with a
political obsession, as if politics is going to sea of
Northern Ireland. As if politics will solve the
problems of the United Kingdom and all its social evils and
ills. Many have a worldly strategy.
They want the success of the world.
So here's a question. Can Christians become
spiritually slothful? And the answer is yes.
Now they'll not lose their salvation, but they can fall
into slumber. They can fall into a spiritual
sleep. They can feel to be watchful.
They can be dull of hearing. They could be living a a a a a,
a, a slothful spiritual life and that appears in their attitude
to prayer. So there's little prayer in
their life really. There's no real heart for God
worship the the so mechanical. It's outward.
They have light views of sin. They might even compromise with
sin. There's a loss of evangelical
burden. There's no love and passion to
win souls. There's a loveless spirit for
the work of God. There's a loveless spirit for
the House of God, the day of God, the word of God, the people
of God. That's a problem.
They're not workers in discipline.
They've there's a spiritual slothfulness that has come upon
them instead of spirituality. It was Calvin that said be
killing sin or sin will be killing you and one other thing.
Here's the fourth thing, the spiritual duty of warfare and
being armour ready. You see, there's a spiritual
warfare instead of weariness. Notice these words putting on
the breastfeed of faith. Now that's important again, that
you've got the image of a soldier, a soldier in warfare.
He's not just awake, he's not just alert, but now he's armed
spiritually. He is battle ready.
He realises that he's in a a spiritual war.
And remember what we read in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse
12. For we wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers, rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.
The enemy is all around us. We live in an ungodly world.
And one of the duties of the Christian soldier is not just to
be awake at his post, not just to be alert, but also to be
armed. He's to put on what look at it,
the breastplate of faith. And you see, the breastplate of
faith is all about a life of dependence on the Lord.
We believe that the way of salvation is clear and plain.
For by grace you see it through faith.
Not, none of yourselves. The gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. Do you believe in God the living
and the true God this morning? Do you believe that he's the God
of the Bible? Do you believe in the person and
work of Christ? Do you believe the Bible to be
the infallible word of God? Do you believe in the literal
historicity of Genesis chapter 1 to 3, never mind Genesis 1 to
11? To me, that's fundamental.
To me, that's foundational. And isn't it sad that in this
age in which we live, there's so much apathy and there's so much
evidence of the work of the devil that even in some Bible
colleges, they're taught to reject the historicity of
Genesis chapter 1 to 3, never mind the rest, Genesis 1 to 11.
They reject the doctrine of creation.
They reject the doctrine of the fallen to sin.
They reject the doctrine of the first gospel promise.
The first gospel promise is all about resting on the finished
work of Christ. But when the fullness of the
time was come, God sent forth a son made of a woman made under
the law to redeem them that were under the law.
So I asked this morning this if you have put on the breastplate
of faith, here's the questions. Have you got faith in Jesus
Christ? Are you depending totally and
fully on him? You see, if you don't believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ, you're not a true Christian.
Acts 1631. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. And if you do not believe the
Bible to be the infallible, inerrant word of God, then
you're opening up yourself to doubt.
Hath God said, opening up yourself to darkness, opening up
yourself to despair? You see, you really can't live
out the true Christian life if you do not believe in God, Do
not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, do not believe in the
Bible, do not believe in heaven and hell and in the doctrine of
salvation. It's impossible.
And it's impossible because your life will be full of doubts and
full of darkness and depravity and that will undermine you and
you'll feel and eventually you'll fall away.
The breastfeed of faith is all about a life of dependence on
the Lord. Notice also it's called the
breastplate of faith and love. It's a life of delight, a love
for him, who he is and what he's like and what he's done.
The call of the Bible is Thy shall love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind and
with all thy strength. Deuteronomy 6 and 5, Matthew
2237 to 40. Do you delight in this person,
delight in his true humanity, delight in His true and
essential deity? He's the eternal Son of the only
begotten of the Father. Do delight in His work.
You stand and think at the cross of how He was obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross isn't the call of the
Bible to delight thyself also in the Lord.
Can you say this day I love Him? We love him, John says first
John 419 because He first loved us.
Our faith worketh by love, a love for God, a love for Christ,
a love for the Saints, the Scriptures, the the, the
sanctuary, the the the Lord's day.
See this breastplate of love it it guards our relationships, our
relationship with the Lord, but our relationship also with
others. Love is the fulfilment of the
law. I'll tell you very quickly.
Look again at our text. And for in helmet, the hope of
salvation. Every soldier needs a helmet and
the Christian soldier needs a helmet.
And what is the Christian soldiers helmet?
The hope of salvation. There's a life of desire, not
just a life of dependence because you have the breastfeed
of faith, and not just a life of delight because you have put on
the breastfeed of love, but a life of desire.
You've put on for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
You see, this hope's a grace. This hope means that you don't
have an element of doubt or uncertainty.
You see this hope, young people, is not about.
I hope I find a wife soon or else I'm going to be left on the
shelf. This hope is not, I hope that I
get a new car soon because my car's about to pack in.
I'm going to breakdown. I'm going to be left stranded
somewhere in some Rd. It's not.
I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow because I've got gardening work
planned. You see, we can't be certain.
You can't be 100% sure you you can't say I will find a wife or
a husband, I will buy a new car, I will do the work because we
don't know what tomorrow brings. Sufficient on to the day is the
evil thereof. But the word hope in the Bible
doesn't mean that. Think of the motto of the Boys
Brigade, an excellent organisation.
I believe our church has failed our whole denomination in 75
years that we didn't have a proper uniformed organisation.
We should have had. We know that now it's too late.
But you think of the word hope in the Boys Brigade sure and
steadfast. It speaks of a guarantee and yet
notice faith comes first, followed by love.
That's to protect the heart and the soul and then the mind.
Hope guards the mind. A helmet protects us, girds our
mind with the truth of the word of God.
I finished this morning. God knows the future.
Reverend Macmillan sang here on Sunday night.
Beautiful song. I haven't got out of my head all
week. My father planned it all.
I would love to be able to sing it.
My wife would love me to be able to sing it properly, but I Can't
Sing. I try my best but let me tell
you this. The Bible says in Romans 828 and
we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God and to them who are the called according to his purpose.
And whatever you're going through this morning, your
trials and troubles, your worries about the future, let me
tell you one thing that's certain for the future.
Jesus Christ is coming back to this earth and power and glory.
And I'll tell you something else about sure and certain the
judgement of God on the nations. You see, the judgement of God is
already upon our nation, and it's impacting on the life of
the church and all of this explosion of immorality and
iniquity that abounds, and the apathy and the indifference and
the apostasy and mainline churches.
It's all a sign. What's it a sign of?
It's a sign of widespread displeasure and judgement from
God. But in the midst of that,
despite the judgement of the nation's been guaranteed, and
Despite that Jesus Christ is coming back again to this earth
and power and glory, you and I have to look up and say, Even
so, come Lord Jesus, and as we look up, then look into our
hearts, let's examine ourselves and let's look out onto the
world. Remember who we are.
We're children of light. We're children of the day
positively. We're light in the Lord, and as
we look out in the day, we're to shine on as lights.
We're progressively learning to live as lights in an ungodly
world, in a world of spiritual darkness.
We walk in light. We're awake to sin's penalty.
We're awake to sin's power. We're awake to sin's presence,
to sin's pollution. And we're to watch and pray,
we're to put on the gospel armour.
We're to plan for the return of Christ.
And what motivates us as we plan for the return of Christ is to
evangelise the children of the night.
Here's the spiritual duties of the people of God.
Let's see to it that we are amongst those that are seeking
to embrace and engage in these spiritual duties.
May the Lord take these few thoughts and bless them to our
hearts this morning. We'll continue with our study in
the weeks to come.