The Day of the Lord 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5

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1 The Day of the Lord 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5 Eclipsing memories of slavery, We hear the hoof beats of our enemy. They are relentless in their constant quest To vent their rage that we re forever free. The sea before and foes behind are tests Of faith that we must triumph over, lest We never see our hope and heritage, The home of righteousness, the land of rest. So here we wait to cross the Pillar s bridge: The final proof of blood bought parentage. Believing seas will split like scrolling skies, We wait to start our final pilgrimage Beyond this sea that drowns all lusts and lies To Canaan where there are no ifs and whys. Our Savior told stories about lost coins and lost sheep, about lazy sons and lost sons. But He repeated one theme again and again. We see it in Jesus parable of the talents. A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return. Luke 19:12 Our Lord also told a parable about a vineyard. And once again the same theme appears. A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time. Luke 20:9 Just a few days before He was crucified, Christ told yet another story about a wealthy man and his servants. Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come. It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. Therefore, be on the alert for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, Mark 13:33-35 The most important point in each of these parables is not that the nobleman went away. The real lesson is that he returned. And his return was both sudden and without warning. The writer of the book of Hebrews compared God s Word to a sword that is sharpened on both sides. In the same way, the return of the nobleman cuts two ways at the same time. We see that most clearly in the parable of the ten virgins. In that story, five of those virgins kept their lamps ready and full of oil. The other five drowsed off in the darkness, completely forgetting that their lamps had no oil. So the bridegroom s sudden arrival caused both joy and sorrow. It was joy for the faithful and judgement for the unfaithful. The Lord Jesus is the bridegroom. He has been away for a long time. But He will return. And His coming will be sudden and unexpected. The Sword Our Redeemer s return will be much like He described in His parables. In the parable of the

2 gold talents, the nobleman s sudden return was a time of rejoicing and reward for those servants who were faithful to him. But the same event, the return of the lord of the manor, was a time of tragedy and judgement for the servant who was not faithful. Our Savior told a number parables with the same theme for a good reason. That is just the way it will be when He comes. That is clear in the apostle s use of pronouns. In chapter four, Paul described how our Redeemer will resurrect believers bodies. And all through that passage as he wrote to born again Christians, he used you and we. But here in chapter five the apostle wrote about God s wrath and judgement. And suddenly people are referred to as they and them. While they are saying, Peace and safety! then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. Verse 3 There is not the slightest hint in any of the apostles epistles that Christ s coming is a time for believers (we) to fear. Instead, our Redeemer s return is repeatedly described as a time of great joy and rejoicing for the redeemed. However, the same cosmic event that will be a time of triumph for those who have trusted in Christ will be a time of indescribable sorrow and suffering for all those who have rejected Him as Savior. Writing about that time of both joy and judgement, the prophet Milachi highlights the two ways Christ s coming will cut....you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. Malachi 3:18 (ESV) Some people might well behave like believers. They might even profess to know Jesus as their crucified Savior, resurrected King and faithful Friend. But we cannot know for sure if their faith is genuine. And it is a serious sin to judge them. However, we must never be deceived. Our eternal Lord sees the heart of every man and knows if we really are saved or not. And our eternal God makes a distinction between those who trust in Him and those who do not. Yes, He is a God of love and mercy, of kindness and compassion. But He is also a God of righteousness, holiness and wrath. And His judgment is poured out upon all those who do not trust in His beloved Son....the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, Romans 1:18 Our loving Lord paid a terrible price to pay the penalty our sins justly deserve. So our heavenly Father will not extend His mercy to those who scorn His Son s crucifixion and refuse to come to Him. Nothing is left for them but divine wrath. The Sinners Our Savior said it again and again. And the apostle Paul echoes our Lord s teaching. While they are saying, Peace and safety! then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. Verse 3 The day Christ comes for His people will be a day of tragedy for all who have never chosen to trust in His body and blood. In spite of any and every possible precaution people might make, our righteous Lord will surely judge them. And they will not escape. Though they dig into hell, from there My hand shall take them; though they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down; and though they hide themselves on top of Carmel, from there I will search and take them; though they hide from My sight at the

3 bottom of the sea, from there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them; though they go into captivity before their enemies, from there I will command the sword, and it shall slay them. I will set My eyes on them for harm and not for good. Amos 9:2-4 (NKJV) The apostle Paul gives that time of judgement a title that is repeated a great many times in the Old Testament. He calls it the Day of the Lord....you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. Verse 2 That time of judgement will come so suddenly and unexpectedly, there will be no time for people to change their mind. Decisions about the Savior and salvation, about repentance and redemption they have made over time will be irreversible. And despite their pleading and prayers, their tears and terror, they will be unable to escape God s judgement. That is the warning the apostle echoes in this letter to believers at Thessalonica. It is a warning that is repeated many times by God s prophets. Zephaniah s description of the Day of the Lord is typical.. I will bring distress on men so that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord s wrath; and all the earth will be devoured in the fire of His jealousy, for He will make a complete end, indeed a terrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the earth. Zephaniah 1:17-18 No amount of earthly power or influence will be able to deliver unsaved people when God pours out His judgement. Neither will riches deliver the damned from destruction. That time might well seem far off now when skies are blue and day s roll by, each like the last. But God keeps careful accounts. And He not only records all of our sins. He also make an eternal record of each time we reject His offer of mercy and love....because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, Romans 2:5 Today, it is not fashionable to talk about God s wrath and the judgement He warns He will pour out upon those who do not trust Him. But it is essential that we do not avoid the subject. When judgement comes, there will be no time repent of our rebellion and come to Christ. So we dare not postpone trusting in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:2 The Schedule There is a string of events that will mark the end of human history. And both the prophet Daniel and the book of Revelation say that time of trouble and tribulation will last seven years. The Bible calls those years the Great Tribulation. It will be a time when God pours out His wrath on an unbelieving world. And both the Old and New Testaments teach that believers will delivered from that terrible time. Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew is as the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits. Come, my people, enter into your rooms and close your doors behind you; hide for a little while until indignation runs its course. For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; and the earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer cover her slain. Isaiah 26: there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be

4 rescued. Daniel 12:1 Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Revelation 3:10 Notice that Jesus promise is to keep those who faithfully persist in trusting Him from the hour of God s testing: the hour that is about to come. Not from the testing that has already come. Clearly, the risen Christ s promise is that His people will be delivered before the terrible trials of the Great Tribulation begin. Those passages are part of the reason why we believe the seven year Great Tribulation will begin when our Savior raises the bodies of both dead and living saints. Sitting on the Mount of Olives less than a week before He died, our Lord listed a number of events that will precede the Great Tribulation and the resurrection of the saints. However, Paul was as definite as our Savior was. We cannot possibly know precisely when our Lord will return. Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. Verses 1-2 The word times refers to time in a linear sense. It refers to the length of time that will pass before Christ comes. The word epochs refers to the ages, the significant events and signs that will signal that the Redeemer s return and (therefore) the Great Tribulation are near. Paul told the Thessalonians He did not need to write anything to them about those times and epochs. There was no need, because just before He rose up into the clouds, Christ said those times and epochs are beyond our understanding. It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; Acts 1:7 Yes, there are signs that must be fulfilled. But we are more than merely foolish to suppose we can pin down precisely when the Lord Jesus will return. That information is the property of God and God alone. The Servants There is an important reason why we cannot read signs clearly enough to know when Christ will come for us. For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. Matthew 24:44 If we do think we know when Jesus will come, we can be sure we are wrong. He will not come when we think He will, but when we do not think He will. Christ s coming will be a trap that is sprung on an ungodly and unsuspecting world. But that snare will not catch Christians. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; Verses 4-5 To fully understand Paul s promise in those verses, we need to remind ourselves precisely what the images of light and darkness mean. Our Lord defined those two terms when He first called Paul. I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, Acts 26:17-18 That verse defines darkness as the domain of the devil. So to be of and in darkness is to be Satan s slave, chained by sin. And to be in and of the Light is to belong to Christ s kingdom of life and love. However, no human being can break the chains of darkness: chains forged of failure, pride and

5 passion. Neither can we make ourselves a part of Christ s kingdom. Only God Himself has the power to make that happen for us....the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, Colossians 1:12-13 Actually, the problem is not merely that men serve Satan, unaware of both where they are and where they are going. The real problem is that they love, enjoy and prefer the devil s darkness. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. John 3:19 Those who are part of the devil s domain are the ones who will be caught up in the winepress of God s wrath. Children of the Light will not. When our Savior died on the cross, He paid the penalty for our sins. At the same time, He paid the purchase price to forever deliver Satan s slaves: to buy us back from the slave market of sin. The first time the Lord Jesus spoke at His hometown synagogue at Nazareth, He said He came to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord: the time when God will accept any sinner who comes to Him in contrition and confession, in confidence and commitment. However, that age of acceptance is fast coming to a close. And Christ could come at any moment. Surely, the time to seek His eternal salvation is now.