Surprised But Not Napping Series

You can listen to the full sermon here:-

http://nec.org.au/strong-and-ready/

Message

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Surprised But Not Napping

Why is it that there are so many modern Christians who seem to think that we are somehow smarter than the first century Christians.

I’ll show you what I mean.

Let’s turn to 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 (read)

Even in the short time he was in Thessalonica Paul was still able to give the church a great grounding on events that are related to the end times. In doing so Paul was passing on the teaching of Jesus.

But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Matthew 24: 36, 42-44

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.

Acts 1:6-7

You can’t make it any clearer than that. We don’t know when Jesus will return.

If Jesus didn’t tell the disciples when he was coming back, why do people still think he will reveal it to them?

This is Ronald Weinland.

He predicted that Jesus will come back in 9th June this year (2019). What happened on that day?

• Ashleigh Barty won the French Open.

• It was Father’s Day in Austria

• The Cooly Rocks Car show was on in Coolangatta.

• We were in Church listening to a sermon on Psalm 77:7-12.

• It was Pentecost Sunday.

• Jesus didn’t come back.

But here is the real kicker. Ronald Weinland predicted that Jesus would come back

• On the September 30, 2008.

• On Pentecost of 2012, or 2013.

Ron has also said that if Jesus doesn’t come back in 2019 Christ could still return – but not until 2020.

What do we say to people like Ronald Weinland?

Open your Bible and read it.

Stop trying to predict when Jesus is coming.

Focus on being the Christian Jesus wants us to be while we wait for the return.

It actually isn’t that difficult to do.

The new Christians in Thessalonica got it – and they only had a few weeks of teaching.

What did they clearly understand?

Jesus will come back like a thief in the night

Be clear about this.

He will come like a first century in Israel thief … not like a 20th century Australian thief.

Because when we think about thieves today we often think about someone who is sneaky. We are asleep upstairs and they quietly sneak in down-stairs – because they were able to pick the lock. Or because we have used the Jesus will look after our house method – that is where you just leave the door unlocked and hope there is a guardian angel there to stop people coming in. The thief quietly sneaks around and takes stuff. Including the keys to the car which they hop into a drive off and we don’t even hear them because we are fast asleep.

In the first century most people’s homes were only two or three rooms. Often built around a courtyard. When the thief came the first thing they would do is over-power the occupants. So it was more an issue of force.

We would call it a home invasion.

The preparation for such an event are quite different to the preparations needed for the sneaky 20th century thief.

The preparation for the sneaky thief is to make sure doors and windows are locked with good deadlocks. And the house is secure. And the car is in the garage and it is locked. Doing stuff like this in the hope that thieves won’t be able to pass our security measures.

The preparation for the invading thief is more complicated. It would require being vigilant and awake. Keeping an ear out for any sign of trouble. Having a capacity to know how to defend yourself and even push back those who would seek to be home-invaders.

So being watchful is not trying to predict when an event is going to take place.

Being watchful is a state of readiness and being vigilant.

When we think about the return of Jesus we need to ask the right question.

The wrong question is, “When will it happen?”