The Return Of The King
1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11
Good morning Maple Grove!
HEY – is anybody out there ready for some living and active WORD of God…
NOW THIS MORNING – as we are going to finish our conversation, The Return Of The King’ that we began last week, as we unpacked 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
AND MGCC – I am going to read those God breathed words again…
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.
For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
UNDERSTAND MGCC – last week we said that all of human history is moving towards 4 great climatic events…
A Return
A Resurrection
A Rapture
A Reunion
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
MAN – last week as we looked at…
• The HOPE ‘IN’ His Return, and
• The REALITY ‘OF’ His Return
was a great day to be in the Lord’s house, AMEN?!
AND THIS MORNING – we are going to unpack what 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 teaches us about…
The Preparation For His Return
UNDERSTAND – there were many Jesus-followers in the church at Thessalonica 2000 years ago.
WHO LIKE – many Jesus followers in the church today
WERE – both convinced and concerned
YOU SEE – they were…
• ‘convinced’ – that one day, most likely in their lifetime, the king would return, and
• ‘concerned’ – not just for their loved who had died ‘in the Lord’ – but they were concerned about whether or not they would be prepared and ready when the trumpet sounds, and the sky cracks open and Jesus descends.
QUESTION, MGCC…
• Are you convinced that one day, and it may be in your lifetime that Jesus will return?, and
• Are you ready? (R/L – are you ready?)
SERIOUSLY - if the trumpet sounded and the sky cracked opened at 3:33 pm today, would you be prepared and ready to meet the returning KING?
OKAY – raise your hand if you want to be ready?
“Do you want to be ready?” “I want to be ready!”
AND LISTEN – the good news is that Paul, in Chapter 5:1-11, tells us, how we can be prepared for the return of our king.
AND UNDERSTAND – in these verses Paul tells us that being prepared for The Return Of The King, has nothing to do with knowing ‘when’ and everything to do with ‘being ready.’
OKAY – so let’s walk through these verses.
AND ALLOW – God’s word to pour down on us like rain coming down from the sky…
AND B/S - I don’t know, but maybe we all should lean in this morning with open eyes, open ears… and with open hearts and minds, because the words that are about to rain down on us, are about where we, and all of mankind will spend forever.
Prayer
Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you,
NOW – Paul has already used that phrase in this letter,
we do not need to write to you…
implying that this is something that these Jesus-followers already knew, most likely because Paul had taught it to them while he was with them.
It would be like me saying ‘Now brothers and sisters about me being a NE Patriot fan I do not need to write you.’
OKAY – so here is the other time that Paul uses this phrase, it’s in chapter 4.
Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia.
Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, - 1 Thessalonians 4:9,10
MGCC - that is some great advice, AMEN?!
NOW – that phrase ‘more and more’ is actually made up of two words in Greek…
- ‘perisseou’: to excel, to exceed, to abound, to have in abundance, to overflow (it’s the word used to describe all of the leftovers after Jesus had fed the 5000
- ‘mallon’: still more, to a greater degree (Jesus in Matthew 6… you are much more valuable to God than the birds of the air…
SO MGCC – what do you say that we strive to love one another more and more…. (perry sure oh, mallon)
AND LISTEN – as we will see a little later on this is one way to prepare for His return.
Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. – 1 Thessalonians 5:1,2
OKAY - Paul uses two metaphors to describe the nature of the second coming -- "a thief" and "labor pains.”
NOW - I have witnessed the one up close, and I have personally experienced the other....
(And I will leave it to you, to guess which is which)
NOW UNDERSTAND - the trouble with a thief, is that they do not tell you when they are coming to steal from you, right?
I MEAN - If the guys who broke into my house several years ago when I lived in Tampa, would have sent me a postcard or text me, to let me know when they were arriving.
I would have stayed home, to ‘warmly’ welcome and greet them.... HOWEVER - they didn’t, because that is not the nature thieves… Thieves do not let us know when they are coming.
AND B/S - that is exactly how it will be when, The King Returns, no one knows when it is going to happen…
Get It?
IN FACT – there is a verse in Matthew 24 where Jesus says this exact thing.
NOW – Matthew 24, is a powerful passage where Jesus (mere days before the cross) teaches His disciples about the signs leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, that they needed to be aware of….
REASON – so that when that terrible of destruction occurs, all the believers would be able to escape from the city before it happens… which we know from recorded history that they did.
AND THEN – in verse 36 Jesus transitions from His conversation about the destruction of Jerusalem, to talk about the day that He will return, and of that day He says,
No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. – Matthew 24:36
QUESTION – what is Jesus saying about His Return in that verse? That no one knows when it will be.
WHICH IS WHY - I have always found it kind of silly that a lot of people write books, draw up charts and hold seminars… all in an effort to predict when Jesus will return.
IN FACT - back when I left the Navy and started Bible College (in 1988), all the rage among many were these two books
’88 Reasons Why Christ Will Return In 1988’
‘1980’s Countdown To Armageddon’
WELL – 33+ years later….?
AND – you know to me the crazy thing is that these 2 authors have continued to write other books predicting Christ’s Return.
NOW – Jesus before ascended back to heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. His guys ask him dates and times…
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” – Acts 1:7-9
This week I did some extensive research on and found that…
The Greek word for ‘it is not for you to now’ is the word ‘none-ya’
QUESTION…
• WHY - would people, want to know when Jesus is returning? Well,
• WHY - do workers or companies want to know when the big boss is coming into town?
• WHY - do teenagers left home alone, want to know when mom and dad are coming back into town?
YOU SEE…
IF WE - know when someone is returning…
THEN - we also know how long we can do what we want to do -- and still have enough time left to get ready before they come back....
BUT MGCC – here’s the deal, King Jesus will return at hour that no one knows just like a thief in the night…
AND SO - Paul continues in our passage…
While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. – 1 Thessalonians 5:3
Paul says, that while people are saying "Peace and safety” In other words while people are (saying, thinking and believing)…
THAT - everything is cool,
THAT – they are fine and okay doing what they are doing, living how they are living. Being who they are being.
Suddenly destruction will come on them.
UNDERSTAND - Jesus talked about people having this same attitude at His Return in Matthew 24, comparing it to the attitude of people before the flood…
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;
and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.
That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
– Matthew 24:37-39
While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. – 1 Thessalonians 5:3
UNDERSTAND MGCC - by making these 2 comparisons (thief and labor pains) Paul is saying that the second coming is going to be sudden.
SUDDENLY - in the middle of the night a burglar breaks in SUDDENLY - during the pregnancy, labor begins.
BUT LISTEN - though there is an obvious similarity between the 2 (suddenness), there is also a difference.
AND SO – here’s the deal…
BY - putting these 2 metaphors together, we can conclude that Christ’s coming will be:
• Sudden and unexpected, like a thief in the night..
• Sudden and unavoidable, like labor pains
UNDERSTAND…
In the first case (a thief) there is no warning and in the second (labor pains) there is no escape.
While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
– 1 Thessalonians 5:3
They will not escape what?
The wrath of God.
Remember Paul already said earlier in this letter that the Jesus followers in Thessalonica were…
waiting for God’s Son from heaven,
whom he raised from the dead—Jesus,
who rescues us from the coming wrath.
– 1 Thessalonians 1:9,10
MGCC - I do not know about you, but I find those words not only unsettling, but terrifying…
AND SERIOUSLY – I am sorry to do this to us… but I want to spend a few minutes increasing the weight and making us more unsettled and more terrified, by these truths…
UNDERSTAND – John in Revelation 6 reveals a horrifying picture of what The Kings Return will be like for so many people.
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty,
(no matter how powerful, wealthy, popular, well known, admired… they were in this earthly life)
and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?” - Revelation 6:15-17
MGCC – take a moment for the Holy Spirit to help you feel the weight of this…
Do you know anyone, for whom this (at least at the moment) will be their reaction to The Return Of The King?
UNDERSTAND – as we said last week, if we are not prepared for His coming, our forever will not be that great resurrected reunion with the Lord forever… but rather the eternal (never ending) suffering of hell.
In his book, ‘Erasing Hell’ Francis Chan opens up a chapter, ‘What Jesus Actually Said About Hell,’ with these words…
As I write this chapter about hell, I’m sitting in the middle of a busy Starbucks. Every time I look up from my computer screen, I see that I’m surrounded by thirsty customers racing to the counter to fuel up on lattes and Ice-T’s and mochas.
They’re happy, busy, enjoying life, laughing, chatting, and of course, texting. Two moms look as if they just got done jogging and sit next to me, digging into each other’s lives. Another couple just left. They were all over each other, a typical young couple, without a care in the world.
The girl last in line looks sad. Really sad. It makes me wonder what just happened in her life. What about the employees? Are they happy? Some look that way, but others don’t.
Joy, laughter, coffee, jazz, texting, talking, flirting, friendship, depression and the hope to be freed from it one day. This is life! I love it, so do they,
The place buzzes with life. Meanwhile, I sit here reading passage after passage after passage, which all say that some of these people are going to hell.
It sickens me to say that, and I can't explain how conflicted I feel right now.
There are at least a dozen people within 10 feet of me right here, right now, that may end up in the agony that I'm studying.
What do I do? Do I keep writing? Keep studying?
Should I bag this whole book thing and start building relationships with them? How can I believe these passages yet sit here silently?
I know that some of you have faced this same conflict.
Even as you're reading this, there probably people within a few feet of you who may also go to hell. What will you do?
It could be that the Lord wants you to put the book down.
Coming face to face with passages on hell and asking these tough questions is a heart wrenching process.
It forces me back to a sobering reality:
This is not just about doctrine; It's about destinies.
And if you’re reading this book and wrestling with what the Bible says about hell, you cannot let this be a mere academic exercise.
You must let Jesus’ very real teaching on hell sober you up. You must let Jesus’ words configure the way you live, the way you talk, the way you see the world and the people around you. AMEN?!
SO – how are you doing?
SERIOUSLY – how are you doing?
LIKE B/S – this the most important truth facing every single person breathing in this planet, whether they realize it or not… OR – whether we want to think about it or not.
if we are not prepared for His coming, our forever will not be that great resurrected reunion with the Lord forever… but rather the eternal (never ending) suffering of hell.
Hell a place that Jesus says is a place of (fire and darkness) and the (weeping and gnashing of teeth)
AGAIN – preparing for The Return Of The King is not about ‘knowing when’ but about ‘being ready.’
Paul continues…
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
Surprise – ‘katalambano’: to overtake, to seize, to lay hold of, to take possession of, especially with hostile intent
• Mark 9:18 – used to describe a demon seizing a young boy
• John 8:3 – used to describe the religious leaders laying hold of, the woman caught in adultery
QUESTION – why does Paul say, that this day should not surprise (overtake, seize, lay hold)… of us like a thief…
Because we are not in darkness.
NOW – darkness is a common theme in Scripture to describe those who are:
• lost, unbelievers,
• oppose and or deny God’s truth
• still live their lives influenced by the evil ways of this world
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. – 1 Thessalonians 5:4,5
OKAY – just a few verses the emphasize the contrast between light and darkness…
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. – John 3:19
I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
– Acts 26:17,18
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light – Ephesians 5:8
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
- Colossians 1:13
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. – 1 Peter 2:9
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.
QUESTION – why should HIS RETURN, not surprise us like a thief… because we know He is coming and we know what it means to be ready. (the lights on and a shotgun in our hands)
So then,
In other words, because of who we are ‘children of the light’ and ‘children of the day’ our behavior, the way that we live, must be different than those living in darkness…
So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep,
Who are what?
NOW – the word ‘sleep’ here means…
• to be unaware, to be unconcerned
• to be unaffected to be unaccepting
of God’s truth and spiritual things.
So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.
– 1 Thessalonians 5:6,7
Awake to what? Awake to…
• What God’s word says about becoming a Christian and living the Christian life.
• Our love for Jesus, as evidenced by our obedience.
• The sin in our lives
• The evil one and his desire and schemes to bring us back into a life of dakrness
• What we… say, think and do. where we go and who we go with
• What the priorities in our life ‘really’ are (not what we say they are)
So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and self-controlled.
Self-controlled
Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control. – Proverbs 25:28
AND LISTEN – self-control begins in our minds…
Take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.
1 Corinthians 10:5
How you think determines how you feel
How you feel determines how you act
But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
NOW HERE PAUL – is using the imagery of a soldiering suiting up for battle to further illustrate what it means to be awake and self-controlled.
A favorite image for Paul
(Romans 13:12; Ephesians 6:10-16)
UNDERSTAND B/S – being awake and self-controlled is about being like a soldier and putting on your breast plate
QUESTION - what keeps us in the light and protects our heart, so that we will be ready.
Putting on faith and love as a breastplate, putting on our…
• Faith in the all-powerful, nothing is impossible
God
• Faith lived out
• Love for God
• Love for others
AND - what keeps us in the light and protects our mind, so that we will be ready.
The hope of salvation as a helmet
A hope that comes from the salvation we already have in Christ, and
A hope that looks forward to our salvation that will one day be fully and completely realized…
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Salvation through our own feeling and performance?
He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep,
Whether we are alive when he returns, or are with Him in paradise when He returns…
And listen – the one who is returning for us is the one who died for us…
He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11
Here the encouragement is too positive Christian behavior and resistance to temptation. The point is made clear by the addition of the term build up.
Paul often uses his term and related ones, picturing the church and its members as being under construction by God.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
- Matthew 28:18-20
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” - Acts 2:37-39
Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them,
- Revelation 20:6
Question - what is the first resurrection?
To answer that question, let’s first answer the question what is the first death? The first death is a spiritual death...
God told Adam, “when you eat of it you will surely die...” (Gen 2:17). This is when sin entered the world and man died spiritually. Because his sin separated him from God, the wages of sin is death.
“Having been buried with Him in baptism and raised (first resurrection) with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins (first death) and in the uncircumcision of you sinful nature, God made you alive (first resurrection) He forgave us all our sins....” Col 2:12,13
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. Therefore encourage each other and build each other us, just as in fact you are doing.”
