Alba 2-11-2024
BE READY FOR CHRIST'S RETURN
I Thessalonians 5:1-11
Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish theologian and philosopher of the 1800's, once told the story of a variety show in a crowded theater with various acts. Each act was more fantastic than the one prior, so it created louder and louder applause from the audience.
Suddenly, a clown rushed on to the stage and said, “I apologize for this interruption, but I regret to inform you that our theater is on fire! You need to leave right away, and in an orderly fashion.”
But the audience thought he was part of the act, so they laughed and applauded. They thought he was very committed to the role. But the clown again implored them that they needed to leave right away or they would get seriously injured, maybe even die. And again, they greeted him with loud and thunderous applause.
At last, he could do no more, and so he left the building, and the people were destroyed. Kierkegaard concluded his story by saying, “Our age will go down in fiery destruction not to the sound of mourning but to applause and cheering.”
God has sounded the warning time and time again. And each year that warning is louder than ever before: Judgment is coming, but there is a way out through Jesus Christ.
There was a cartoon that showed a scraggly man holding a sign that says, “The World is about to end.” Onlookers hear him as he looks at his wristwatch, saying, “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six . . .” Yes the world will come to an end! Jesus is coming again. The message of Scripture is to always be ready.
The apostle Paul was in Corinth, in either late 50 AD or early 51 AD when he wrote his first letter to the Thessalonian church to express his joy at their steadfastness, to encourage them while suffering, and to correct misconceptions about the Lord’s return.
It appears that in addition to being concerned about those who had died, the Thessalonians were also concerned about when the Second Coming was going to take place. So he writes to them in I Thessalonians 5:1-11 so that they will be prepared. So they will be ready.
Let's read the first four verses. “1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.”
1. In other words, the Lord's coming will be SUDDEN.
Paul uses two comparisons to illustrate the suddenness of the Second Coming: A thief in the night, and a woman's labor pains. In the middle of the night a burglar breaks in suddenly. It is the same during the pregnancy; suddenly labor begins.
Because the Second Coming will come unexpectedly, many people will be unprepared. And as Jesus said in Matthew 24 it will be at a time that life will seem normal. People will be eating, drinking, marrying and feeling just as secure as were the people in Noah's day before the flood.
There will be some who will be lulled into a sense of stupor saying “peace and safety” but destruction will come. It will happen unexpectedly, just like a thief in the night. So Jesus urged us to be ready at all times. Because in Matthew 24:44 He said, “the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
The thief certainly doesn’t let anyone know when he intends to strike. He doesn’t send a note encouraging you to be gone on a certain date and time so he can rob your home. A thief comes unannounced. Could you imagine receiving an email: “Tomorrow at 3a.m. I plan to break into your house and steal your valuables. Sincerely, U. Ben Took”
That won't happen. And there will be no warning when God the Father says, “Jesus, its time!”
We are told it will also be like the pains that come announcing the birth of a baby. They come suddenly. And it can cause quite a bit of excitement. There was a man who called 911, saying, "My wife is pregnant, and her contractions are only two minutes apart!"
"Is this her first child?" he was asked. "No, of course not!" the man shouts. "This is her husband!" When that first baby is about to come into the world both mom and dad can be pretty shook up.
There is an obvious similarity between the thief and the labor pains. It is suddenness. But there is also a difference. In the case of a thief, there is no warning. And, once the powerful labor pains begin to do their work, they can’t be stopped. There is no escape at that point.
By understanding both of these things, we can conclude that the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ will be:
• Sudden and unexpected, like a thief in the night and,
• Sudden and unavoidable, like labor pains.
In other words, we do not know when it will happen, so we need to be ready. We need to be prepared because we simply do not know when it will be. Think about it: what would happen if God did let us know the date of His return? What if we knew Jesus was coming back exactly one year from now? How would people respond?
Likely, some people would not believe it, and others would not prepare until the last minute. Neither of these reactions would be desirable. Still people want to know when Jesus is returning. Why? Well, why do workers in a company 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?
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 here’s the deal, King Jesus will return at an hour that no one knows, just like a thief in the night. Even Revelation 16:15 tells us, “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches.”
No one can predict when the Second Coming will occur, but that doesn't mean that we have to be like the five virgins in Jesus' parable who slept before the bridegroom came. They were called foolish because they were unprepared. They had no time to prepare after the cry “The bridegroom is coming!”. But five virgins were prepared and were ready. We can be too, if we stay away from the darkness of this world and watch.
Let's read more from I Thessalonians chapter five. Start again at verse four. “4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.
2. If we want to be ready for Christ's return this scripture tells us to “watch and be SOBER”. In the context of these verses it seems that is a reference to: Don't be drunk! And that is good advice. The New Century Version says, “be alert and have self-control.” The New Living Translation has it, “stay alert and be clearheaded.”
Now you can't have self-control and be clearheaded if you are drunk. And perhaps the Thessalonians needed that warning. But there can be a wider application of this to our spiritual condition. We may not be imbibing alcohol, but it is possible to live numb to the things of God, and not awake to the realities of eternal things. So it tells us, “Let us not sleep as others do.” We can be ready. We can be in the light.
We are called to be awake and alert so that we will be ready no matter when the Lord returns. Sleep is a state of insensibility which too often infects even the best Christians. When a person is asleep he is numb to his surroundings.
Can you imagine what would happen to a person who falls asleep at the wheel? Joe Adaline, a minister told this story: “I remember as a young boy, my father took me down to Southfield Road and showed me where his young co-worker had smashed his sports car into a tree next to the highway. My dad said: 'He fell asleep at the wheel last night.' I remember thinking that I would never want to do that. Forty years later you can still see the scar on that big Silver Ash tree.” He adds, “That’s also the reason I don’t drive Corvettes.”
The “night” and the “darkness” in verse five are always associated with that which is wrong and is opposite of God. Night and darkness are associated with undisciplined and unholy behavior, and with being asleep and not paying attention. It refers to spiritual sleep and darkness.
There is danger coming, but the drunken sleepers are unaware of it. Those who are not expecting the Second Coming are going to be caught off guard and unprepared. Too many are unaware, unconcerned, unaffected and unaccepting of God’s truth and spiritual things.
This should not be true of the church. Romans 13:11 says, “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.” God wants the church to be awake! Tony Campolo said, “Instead of praying, 'If I die before I wake', you should pray, 'Lord, wake me up before I die!'”.
It can be dangerous to be asleep when you should be awake. A sleeping Samson had his hair cut and the Philistines subdued him. A sleeping Eutychus fell out of the window, and was taken up dead. And sleeping Christians are always in danger because the spiritual muscles get weak.
Now, that doesn’t mean we should get less sleep, but it speaks of priority. Being the body of Christ means staying alert so we can respond to God’s call to serve, and not be deceived by Satan’s traps.
We have a choice: to be like the foolish virgins, or the wise ones. We don't want to be sleeping when our Lord comes. All believers should be prepared, waiting and watching, because His coming to earth may be soon. But we are not to be idle. We are to be “models” of what we will become when He comes for us and meets us in the air!
3. And to be fully prepared for that, we need the SALVATION that comes only through the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed on the cross. So verses 8-10 tell us, “8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.
So if we as Christians are clearheaded about life, we will take the protection of faith, hope and love that comes from knowing Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.
We are told to put on the armor of God. That is the imagery of a soldier suiting up for battle. It illustrates what it means to be awake and self-controlled. We are to be like a soldier putting on our breastplate of faith and love to protect our hearts from evil. And the helmet of salvation reminds us of the hope we have in this evil world of something much better yet to come.
These are not new concepts to the Thessalonians because in chapter one verse three they were commended for their faithful work, loving deeds, and enduring hope. Here these things are described as armor to protect us while we await Christ’s coming. Faith and love are like a breastplate that guards our hearts, the center of operations in our relationship to Jesus.
And “hope of salvation” is a sturdy helmet that protects the mind and gives us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled. It is a hope that guards us now and looks forward to our salvation that will one day be fully and completely realized when Jesus comes again.
These can be dangerous times, but with faith in God we can move forward with confidence; with His love for others, we can drive out hate; and with hope in the promises of God, we can persevere through any problem or trouble we might face. Being ready includes keeping on our armor.
Verse nine tells us that God has made an appointment for those who are in Christ to “obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” In Christ, salvation is something we already possess; and now we are looking forward to the time of completion.
When we are covered by the blood of Christ we do not have to fear the wrath of God. We can be sure of our salvation, not because of what we know about ourselves, but because of what we know about Jesus and what He has done for us.
He is coming again and He will claim His own. It will be sudden. So we need to be sober (self-controlled and clear headed) and have the salvation only Jesus is able to give. Then we will be ready for His return.
Let's take another lesson from an expectant mother. When she walks into the hospital, she is already the mother of a baby, she just can’t see it. Soon it will be plain for all to see.
The one she’s talked to for all those months, and wondered what he or she would look like, and feel like, suddenly is there, in her arms; anticipated – realized.
Our salvation is like that; we possess, and are possessed by it. Others may see our condition, and know that something is different; but some day it will be revealed in all of its glory. That’s what "being the body of Christ" is all-about.
Knowing this, we can comfort and edify each other.
But remember: Be ready!
CLOSE:
Do you remember which childhood game included these words: “Ready or Not, Here I Come”? I think most every child has played “Hide and Seek”. Which did you enjoy more: being the one hiding or the one seeking?
You remember how the game goes. The seeker covers his or her eyes and counts out loud up to the agreed number, whether it be 20 or 50 or 100. While counting, everyone else tries to find a really good hiding place. When the seeker reaches the magic number, he or she screams: “Ready or not, here I come.”
When you play the game, four things are always certain:
a. The seeker is surely coming.
b. The seeker is coming when he gets ready.
c. The seeker is coming whether you are ready or not.
d. If you are not ready, then you pay the consequences.
Have you ever thought that this fun childhood game so closely parallels the Second Coming of Jesus ? Just like the game of hide and seek, four things are always certain about the second coming:
1. Jesus is surely coming.
2. Jesus is coming when he gets ready.
3. Jesus is coming whether you are ready or not.
4. If you are not ready when Jesus comes, then you will pay the consequences.
