Amen. We're going to turn in God's
Word. We're turning again to 1st
Thessalonians. We're in chapter 5 this morning
and we're going to read the first 8 verses, First
Thessalonians chapter 5 verses one through to 8.
Let's hear the Word of God reading, of course, from the
King James Bible. The words will come up on screen
for all here online and we pray that the Lord will blessed us
this reading of the Holy Scriptures.
Let's hear God's word 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 say peace and safety, then sudden
destruction cometh upon them as travail 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 ye are all the children of light and the children of the
day. We are not of the night nor of
darkness. 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 an helmet the hope of salvation.
Amen. We know that God will stamp with
His own approval and blessing this reading of His own
precious, infallible Word. Amen.
Now this morning we are continuing with our series of
expository studies in the book of First Thessalonians.
And my text today is a rather long one, First Thessalonians
chapter 5, verses 1 to 8. And I want to take up the theme
Living in Light of our Lord's return.
I want to ask you the question, are you living and light of our
Lord's return? Now, as you look at this text of
Scripture, there are three things that come to me.
One, here's the first thing. Now the period that is
discussed, look at verses 1 and 2, 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. Now this is a reference to the
same subject that's mentioned in First Thessalonians chapter 4
verse 15, namely the coming of the Lord.
Here the apostle Paul is simply teaching us that the second
coming called in verse 2. Here First Thessalonians 5, the
day of the Lord will be a sudden and a surprising event.
In other words, it will come to pass when his leaks descended.
Paul is using the analogy of a thief.
A thief comes suddenly, comes surprisingly.
Now he's not saying, as some teach, that the Lord is a thief.
That would be totally wrong. Not saying that the reference
and the idea behind the analogy is about how a thief operates at
night. He arrives at the house
suddenly. It's an instantaneous coming,
and the times and seasons is about the period of time leading
up to the Lord's return and the precise moment when the event
will occur. Down the ages, right up to the
present time, certain men, even professing religious men,
so-called preachers of the Word of God, have taken upon
themselves to predict when the Second Coming would occur.
They have presented their theories.
They have concocted dates. They have twisted scripture in
an attempt to pinpoint the precise moment when Jesus Christ
will return. Let me illustrate a man by the
name of William Miller. He was the founder of the 7th
Day Advent Movement. He set the date the 10th of
October 1843. Jesus is going to return.
The date came and passed. Nothing happened.
He revised his date the 22nd of October 1844.
Now Mr William Miller was a fool.
He was a spiritual fraud. And the same could be said of
Harold Camping who said three deals that have all come and
gone. And of course many others.
Because like these men and hundreds of others, their
attempt to pinpoint the exact time when Jesus returning power
and glory was doomed to failure. And all it did was expose the
folly of the human heart. Because the heart is deceitful
and above all things, desperately wicked.
And who can do it? And if they've taken time to
listen to the Lord Jesus, remember whenever He was
ascended in the presence of His disciples up into heaven by a
cloud, remember what we read there.
And this is what He said unto them.
Acts 1 and verse 7. It is not for you to know the
times or the seasons which the Father had put in His own power.
We live in a world where people are obsessed with predictions.
People want to know when certain events will happen.
When's the next economic crash coming, Mr McLaughlin?
When will political change take place in Russia or Ukraine?
When's the end of the world? When is Jesus Christ coming
back? Yet here's Paul saying, and
remember, this is a young church facing tremendous persecution
with certain questions about their own beloved dead and the
return of Christ. And here in chapter 4, verses 13
to 18, Paul tries to comfort them about the Lord's return and
what's going to happen to the dead.
Now in chapter 5, he moves on from comforting them to
challenging them. And the challenge is not about
when the Lord Jesus comes, but the way we are to live in light
of us coming. You see, we don't know the
precise time, we don't know the particular date.
But what we do know is this, that the day of the Lord will
come. That's a major theme in the
Bible, the Old Testament, the New Testament, Joel 21 and two,
Isaiah 13, verse 6, Zephaniah 114 and 15.
The Day of the Lord will come, and the Day of the Lord is also
a period of divine intervention and judgement, a time of great
tribulation, and that will culminate in the actual,
visible, personal, bodily, glorious return of the Lord
Jesus Christ to this earth. And when He returns, he will
establish His eternal and everlasting Kingdom on the
earth. This is not secret.
This is not silent. We've noted that already last
week. The coming of the Lord will
shake the heavens and the earth. There will be the sound of the
last trumpet. The last trumpet sounds.
There's no other trumpet after it.
There'll be the voice of the Archangel.
There'll be a tremendous visible sign in the heavens and the
earth that there'll be the tremendous power and glory.
You see the reference here to the analogy of a thief.
It's not about something secret. It's not about something sad.
It's something that's sudden. It's something that's surprise.
See, nobody truthfully or accurately can say.
Not a preacher, I have found to know the precise date and time
when Jesus Christ will come back.
Look with me at First Thessalonians chapter 5, verse
3. For when they notice this shall
save peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon
them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not
escape. You see, the second coming of
Christ is characterised by suddenness, like as a thief
comes to your house. It's characterised by a
surprise, but it's also characterised by solemnity.
We could add in the solemnity of his coming.
Why? Because his coming to this earth
and power and glory will touch people totally unprepared, a
whole multitude. And what are men and women
saying? Listen to it.
For when they shall say what? Peace and safety, then sudden
destruction. Has the world not gone mad to do
with peace and safety? Is this not part of themes that
are connected to A1 world government that is coming and a
one world church that will eventually be set up in a
Pascate church? And in that world, they that are
living in that generation, this is what they'll be saying, as
they're saying now, peace and safety, or we've got rid of
those fundamentalists. The troublemakers are gone, the
Free Presbyterians have stopped. And then what's going to happen?
Sudden destruction cometh upon them.
You see, if you turn over there to the Gospel of Matthew and
look with me at Matthew chapter 24, the Lord Jesus said this
verse 36, Matthew 24, verse 36. Let's turn to the word of God,
Matthew chapter 24, verse 36. But of that day and hour knoweth
no man know not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son
of Man be. Verse 38.
For as in the days that were before the flood, they were
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the
day that Noah entered into the ark and knew not until the flood
came and took the mall away, so shall also the coming of the Son
of Man be. You see, it was a big surprise
when the flood came. It was sudden and it was solemn.
The flood came and took them all away when they least expected
it, and they didn't escape. And verse 3 is a reference to
the world of ungodly men and women and young people.
Notice the word they their hearts and minds are in temporal
and material things. They're thinking peace and
safety. The image in their mind is all
as well. I'm not in any danger, have
nothing to fear. There's no reference to God, no
reference to grace, no reference to the greatness of God.
They they imagine the world will not end.
We have many years yet let's live and enjoy.
And of course we live in a world where not only thinking of peace
and safety, but we're thinking of a world of drink and drugs
and and desire lifestyle. Judges 2125 comes to mind.
Then every man did that which is right in their own eyes.
And as they live out their life, then they're swept away.
They're suddenly gone, like the day of the flood when it came.
So will it be. The coming of Christ will take
the unconverted by complete surprise.
His coming will be like a thief. It will be sudden.
It will be surprising. It will be unexpected.
It's unannounced for the unprepared.
See, no thief sends advance notice.
I'm going to rob your house. The whole world.
We'll be caught off guard. Remember, I've already read
Before the flood, Genesis 6 and Seven.
What were they doing? They were eating and drinking.
Life seemed normal. They were getting married.
They were giving in marriage. They were building a new house,
building a palace, working on a stadium.
The sun was shining in all its strength on a glorious day.
Until the judgement fell, Jesus compared his coming to those
days and the world in our days, proclaiming peace and safety.
As I said, it's gone mad, and yet it doesn't know that it's
standing on the brink of divine judgement, not by a flood this
time, but by fire from heaven, the period that is discussed.
Notice also the people that are described.
They come to verse 4. But ye, brethren, are not in
darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
Ye are all the children of light and the children of the day.
We are not of the night nor of darkness.
Now there's a contrast here being laid down by the apostle
Paul, a contrast between the ungodly and the unregenerate,
the unconverted who are not ready for Christ's return.
Christ's coming, as I've said, will take the ungodly by
complete surprise. They will not be ready, that is,
ready spiritually to meet Him when He comes.
But the Lord's people will be ready.
The Lord's people will be prepared.
Now if you notice here, there's a particular distinction, but ye
brethren are not in darkness, that that day should overtake
you as a thief. Here's the distinction.
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness.
That's a reference to all true believers, those that are born
again of the Spirit, those are washed in the precious blood.
Those that are peace with God. They are not in darkness.
It's not a reference to physical darkness.
It's not because they don't have electricity.
The darkness is not even a reference to a lack of knowledge
about His coming. God's people do know that He's
coming. They know that His coming will
be like a thief in the night. Suddenly, surprisingly, it's a
reference to spiritual darkness. But ye, brethren, are not in
darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief.
We are not in spiritual darkness that that day should overtake
you as a thief. With suddenness and surprise.
Why, ye are all the children of light and the children of the
day. We are not of the night nor of
darkness. The darkness here is a
particular description of the unregenerate state.
And Paul is saying you believers are no longer in a spiritual,
moral dark state. You're no longer in a world of
spiritual and moral darkness. Yes, you used to be.
Yes, when you lived in that world of spiritual darkness at
that time, you had No Fear of God.
You had no love for Christ, you had no thought of the things of
God. And as you sat in that state of
darkness in your sin, unaware that you're dead, unaware that
you're blind, unaware that you're diseased, then the gospel
came. The gospel came with light and
truth, and the gospels shine or shone like a great light into
your soul. Remember what Paul says in the
book of 2nd Corinthians 4. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, have shined in our hearts to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ. See, those that are the Lords,
those that are in Christ hears our spiritual identity.
If you listen again to verse 2, it says for yourselves know
perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as the thief of
the night. For when they underline the
Word, they shall say that's a particular group of people.
And then you come to verses 4:00 and 5:00.
But ye, brethren, ye are all the children of light.
You see, there's a contrast. We are not in spiritual, moral
darkness anymore because the light of the gospel is dawned.
We are now in Christ. We are now children of light.
We we are now children of the day.
And because we are now children of the light, we demonstrate and
we exhibit something of that new nature that we have in Christ.
The Bible says God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
And those who are saved have become recipients of God's
divine nature. Remember what we read in Peter,
and we read there in second Peter chapter 2 and in the verse
4, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises, that by these you might be partakers of the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world
through lust. And if you have been a partaker
of the divine nature, then because God is light.
You have light in God and notice we're not only children of
light, we're children of the day.
You see, the darkness symbolises something.
What does it symbolise? It symbolises ignorance.
It symbolises sin, immorality, iniquity, lawlessness, no
knowledge or fear of God, no dread of judgement.
You see, by this particular nature, being in darkness there,
there's nothing of God there, there's nothing of the fear of
him, there's no love for him. There's nothing of God, the
gospel, nothing of grace, nothing of the greatness or or
goodness of God. But we're not of the night, he
says, nor of the darkness. Oh yes, we used to be, but as
God's people were no longer in such darkness, He's not saying
that we have a perfect knowledge, but we have the
witness of God's Holy Spirit. We have the word of God.
We have been made wise unto salvation.
The Spirit of truth within us has given us understanding and
gauge us into truth. Do you know that in Exodus
chapter 10, one of the plagues that came in Egypt was a plague
of darkness, Thick blanket darkness over the land.
It was persuasive over the land of Egypt.
It was all-encompassing. It could be felt over the whole
land of Egypt, a darkness that they could feel, a darkness that
caused fear. Yet in Goshen, read Exodus
chapter 10. The children of Israel, where
they lived, they had light. It's not amazing.
It wasn't that they had light in their dwellings.
It it it meant that in Goshen, where the Jews lived in the land
of Egypt in the days of after Joseph, the days of Moses, they
had light. The rest of the land was
darkness. See the ungodly world, they
repudiate the gospel. They live according to their own
mind and sinful desires. They have No Fear of God.
They're happy and they're sin. That's the environment that they
live in. It's a world of spiritual and
moral darkness, and they haven't a clue what's happening or going
to happen to the world yet. True believers are different.
Why? Because God in Christ has made
them different. There's a particular distinction
I want you to see also very quickly.
There's a particular description, he says in verse
five year all the children of light and the children of the
day. Here's a reference again to all
who are saved. It's a it's an illustration.
It's a reference to the power and effect of the Holy Spirit
and the new birth. Yes, we were once in spiritual
moral darkness, but not any longer.
We're now children of the light. We're children of the day
children. We've been adopted into God's
family. We've tasted the power and
wonder of divine grace. If you're a Christian this
morning, you're one of the sons and daughters of light.
Remember Jesus said I am the light of the world.
John 8 and 14 in Matthew 4. In Matthew 514, he said to the
church, the Christians, the disciples year, the light of the
world. You see, the light symbolises
something. It symbolises truth, holiness,
revelation. It symbolises a new nature.
There's a contrast and the difference of course is, is
Christ. Because Christ, the light of the
world, we who are now in Christ are made children of light and
their attitude to the children of darkness is different.
That's why we come to worship in the Lord's Day.
That's why we learn the Word of God, have a love for the Word of
God and live out the Word of God That that's why we give
ourselves in service to the work of God.
That's why we live in a beach and do all that God has revealed
and said. Our lifestyle is different, our
words and speech is different, Our dress is different.
John the Baptist was a burning and a shining light.
Why? Because John the Baptist, of
course, remember, was full of the Holy Ghost from his mother's
womb, and that burning light was the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And because he had a burning light, he was also a shining
light. He shone forth because of the
Spirit of God who indwelled him something for the glory of God.
No longer was there a manifestation of the darkness of
sin. See, the darkness of sin,
remember, has to do with unbelief, immorality, iniquity,
lack of knowledge of God. Remember what Paul said to the
church in Ephesians, Ephesians 5 and verse 8.
He said this, for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are
ye light in the Lord walk as children of the light.
And John the Baptist was a child of the light.
He was a child of the day. And what did he say concerning
Christ? He must increase, I must
decrease. There's a dying to sin, a dying
to self, putting the Lord first. Matthew 6 and 33 But seek ye
first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these
other things shall be added unto you.
You see, in the Christians mind, Christ is present.
In the Christians mind Christ is preominant.
In the Christians mind, Christ is being presented as he lives
out his life in the home, church, society, the workplace.
Christ is being proclaimed. Remember what Paul says in
Ephesians, the Philippians, chapter 2 and verse 15, that ye
may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke,
in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye
shine as lights in the world. There's a particular
description, children of the light, very quickly here.
There's a particular destiny. And look at this year, all the
children of light and the children of the day.
You see, the Christian belongs to the coming day of the Lord
Jesus, the day of the Lord. So cometh 5 and two, and you in
Christ are destined for the day of the Lord.
You're destined for everlasting joy, everlasting glory,
everlasting bliss. In other words, the future's
bright. You're going to the land of
eternal day, the land where there's no sin, night or
darkness. Yes, you were once the child of
wrath. You were destined for hell and
destruction. You're now among the company of
the children of the day. Let me ask this, do you know
anything of this distinction this morning?
Because you're a Christian. You're different in your
attitude, your words, your lifestyle.
Do you know this description? Do you see yourself as a child
of light? Do you know what your destiny
is? Your children of the day?
I asked this Where are you bound in eternity?
Are you bound for hell or heaven and home?
Are you bound for outer darkness and eternal blackness?
Because you're a child of the devil and and you love the world
and the things of the world, and sin has blinded you and you've
been bound and you're bound for eternal destruction.
Where are you heading? Where you belong to determines
the way that you behave. There's a particular distinction
here, particular description. There's a particular destiny.
The period that is discussed is very important.
The people that are described is very important.
And let me finish this morning with the posture that is
determined. Look at verse 6.
And we'll then we'll, we'll leave it there.
We'll have to come back to seven and eight.
Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and
be sober. Because of who we are in Christ,
children of light, children of the day, we live differently, he
says. Therefore, let us not sleep as
do others, but let us watch and be sober.
The word watch means to stay spiritually alert.
Are you spiritually alert in the times and seasons in which we
live? Watch means being morally
vigilant. Have your love for truth and
righteousness. Do you buy the truth and sell it
not. It also means to live in a sense
of expectancy. You see, the Lord Jesus
commanded watchfulness and it's all about our conduct here.
Think of this word super and be super.
Nothing to do with alcohol. It means being clear minded.
It means having self-control. It means not intoxicated by the
world's system and the world values.
Verse 7 connects the world's system and values with darkness.
But they that sleep, sleep in the night for they that be
drunken or drunken in the night. Notice the night is connected
with drunkenness. That's still true to this day.
The world is drunken pleasure. The world is drunken power and
possessions. The world is drunken pride and
possession and prominence. But we live differently.
We live with a spirit of watchfulness.
We live with a a clear mind, self controlled by the Spirit,
not intoxicated by the world's system because we have
experienced a a spiritual awakening.
What? We are not sleep.
We are awakened. We are there for alert.
Isn't it so sad that many in the professing Christian community
have fallen into a state of stuff fullness?
They've lost out with God. They've lost the vision of who
God is and what the Christian life is really all about.
They don't have any burden and zeal for the work of God and the
witness of Christ in the world. They're forgotten to shine as
lights in their small corner and in mine.
They're happy and content. And that's a danger that we all
face. And Paul's aware of it, even to
this young church. And he says, therefore let us
not sleep as do others. He's aware that some have
already gone to sleep. It's a a sleepy slothfulness
that has come upon the heart and mind of those that even profess
the name of Christ. Remember what we read in Titus.
He says this. For the grace of God that
bringeth salvation have appeared to all men.
Their sanctifying grace teaching us, not denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts. We should live soberly,
righteously, and godly in this present world.
Looking. Here's the connection for that
blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and
our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He
might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto
himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
These things speak and exhort, and rebuke with all authority.
Let no man despise thee. Remember the Lord Jesus said to
his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, watch ye one hour
and come back and find them sleeping.
And he said, what could you not watch one hour 3 times?
In Matthew chapter 26 He used the word watch and it was in
relation to his disciples. And even the best of disciples
can drift into a state of spiritual slothfulness.
If we profess to be Christ, are we awake?
Are we alert? Are we active in the work and
witness and service of God? The posture that is determined
because of who we are, because we've experienced a spiritual
awakening, This is how we should live with a spirit of
watchfulness. We should be sober in light of
His return, living in light of the Lord's return.
I pray the Lord will take these few remarks and bless them to us
and give us understanding at this particular time.