“YOU BETTER BE READY!” 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
FBCF – 3/22/26
Jon Daniels
INTRO – We are constantly getting ready for something – getting ready to eat, go to work, go to school, go to bed, go turkey hunting, go to a party or go on a date. Most of us are gathering our documentation & receipts right now to get ready to file our taxes. Students study to get ready to take a test. Athletes practice to get ready to play in a game. Firefighters train to get ready to fight a fire. National Guardsmen drill to get ready to be deployed. Preachers study to get ready to preach a sermon. Readiness is simply an integral part of our everyday lives.
And readiness for the return of Jesus should be an integral part of our Christian lives. MacArthur: “…Christ taught that we should be expectant & ready for Him to return at any time; & He also taught us to be prepared & stay faithful even if He tarries longer that we suppose. So true readiness for Christ’s return involves both expectancy & patient endurance.” (The Second Coming, p. 17)
Bible makes it clear that the return of Jesus IS going to happen & we must be ready:
- Matthew 24:36 – “…no one knows the date and hour when the end will be—not even the angels. No, nor even God’s Son. Only the Father knows.” (TLB)
- Matthew 24:44 – “So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (NIV)
- Revelation 1:7 – “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him. Even so. Amen.”
- Hebrews 9:27-28 – “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.”
- John 14:1-3 – “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again & will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
- Acts 1:11 – “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Simple illus: You get home from work. Your kid has a school function that you & your wife need to go to. But you left something at your office. You tell your wife, “I’ve got to run to the office. So be ready to go when I get back.”
Jesus was crucified, buried, & rose again, then had to leave & go to the Father. But He clearly told His followers, “Yall be ready to go when I get back!” That’s what we’re talking about today.
EXPLANATION – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 (p. 987)
Paul answered the question about those believers who have died before the Rapture happens. Assured the church that those who have died will enjoy all of the excitement & blessings of the return of Jesus that those who are still alive will enjoy. Now turns his attention to the question: “When will this happen?” There have always been questions about the timing of His return, but Jesus clearly said that only God the Father knows this. It’s His responsibility to work out the time & details of the return of Jesus – It’s our responsibility to be ready for the return of Jesus. Our application point is the same as our sermon title – Simply put:
APPLICATION – You better be ready!
SECURITY FOR THE CHRIST-FOLLOWER – v .1, 4 – MSG – “I don’t think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen. You know as well as I that the day of the Master’s coming can’t be posted on our calendars. He won’t call ahead & make an appointment any more than a burglar would.” Don’t recommend The Message for serious Bible study, but it is fun to read it sometimes just to get a different perspective.
There’s security for us as Christ-followers in the simple, beautiful, amazing knowledge that Jesus is coming again. That’s enough for us to know. It’s ok to study & speculate on the details & times & events, but bottom line for us is that our Savior is coming back to get us soon. It’s more important that you live w/ an urgency for the Gospel & telling lost people about Jesus than spend your time trying to figure out what the 7-headed 10-horned beast in Rev. 13 is going to look like or what the locusts really are in Rev. 9. We ought to live our lives focused on what Jesus wants us to do right now & that is to make disciples. He will get here when He gets here.
Verse 4 tells us that we are not in the dark about this. We won’t be surprised by it. It’s a promise that has been made to us & the Lord has never broken a promise! When He comes for us, our response will celebration not surprise – “Hallelujah!” not “Help us!” – “This moment is awesome!” not “This moment is awful!” Rest in the security in knowing that Jesus is coming again.
SURPRISE FOR THE LOST PERSON – v. 2-3 – Completely different reaction from the lost person. When that “thief in the night” moment happens, there will be a dreadful surprise for those who have lived their whole life rejecting Jesus’ offer of salvation & eternal life. Whereas v. 4 says that the saved believer WON’T be in darkness, the unsaved person IS in spiritual darkness. Eph. 4:18 says that “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.” They live in false security like the people before the Flood. They think everything is great in their lives & they have nothing to fear or worry about. Satan, who is a liar & the father of lies, has convinced them of that. They truly believe they can live anyway they want to live, rejecting God & His Word, totally consumed w/ themselves, & there will be no consequences. They may go through motions of appearing religious – attending church, serving on committees, helping the poor, maybe even working on the staff. These are who Jesus was talking about when He said in Matt. 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
Apart from Christ & Christ alone, when Jesus returns, “sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, & they will not escape!” What an awful surprise! Do you see why we MUST tell the world about Jesus? Let your heart be broken for those who are not ready for His return. Tell them about Jesus!
STAY AWAKE & ALERT – v. 5-8a – Christ-follower, keep your spiritual eyes open. Stay awake & alert – “sober.” Don’t get lulled into a drowsy lifestyle of mediocrity, worldliness, & sin. Sad thing is that there are believers who have fallen asleep. They’re a backslider, a word that once was used for this condition that we don’t hear very often anymore. Def. – “The word backslide, in a Christian context, implies movement away from Christ rather than toward Him. A backslider is someone who is going the wrong way, spiritually. He is regressing rather than progressing. The backslider had at one time demonstrated a commitment to Christ or maintained a certain standard of behavior, but he has since reverted to old ways.” Not talking about someone who was never saved. Talking about a Christian who has lost their passion, their zeal, the fire for the Lord. Their relationship is intact, but their fellowship is broken. These are those who have fallen asleep. Awake at one time – asleep now. If that’s you – WAKE UP! More damage done by a sleeping Christian than by a spiteful atheist. You need to wake up, come running back to your Father like the prodigal son did, & start living for the Lord again!
STAND WITH JESUS, YOUR SAVIOR – v. 8b-11 – A Christ-follower who is awake & alert stands w/ Jesus, confident in their salvation & confident that they are ready for His return. They stand w/ their armor on – the breastplate of faith & love: “faith” – Heb. 11:1 – “love” – agape’ – “hope” – confident expectation – Faith, hope, & love form the bedrock of our Christian life!
They stand b/c they know that they know that they know they area saved! V. 9 NLT: “For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us.”
They stand as they worship & rejoice in Jesus b/c they know that He died for them so they could live w/ Him one day in that place He has prepared for them.
CONCLUSION – So, are YOU ready? Do you have the complete security of your salvation? If not, come to Jesus today!
Have you fallen asleep in your Christian life? Have you backslidden in your walk w/ Jesus? If so, come back to Jesus today!
