The Second Advent (A time of unprecedented judgment) 1 Thess. 5:1-11 By Pastor Marco David INTRODUCTION This morning we are going to look at some vital themes from our biblical text related to the Second Advent of Christ. Just in case some of us are not familiar with the term advent, the word means coming or arrival and it s used in reference to both the first and second coming of Christ. As I was preparing for this message I imagined someone asking, Why preach a message on the Second Advent during the Christmas season which is a time we celebrate the First Advent? One essential reason is that although I believe it's appropriate to use the occasion of the Christmas season to speak biblically on the implications of the First Advent, I also believe that it's even more important that a Pastor's preaching agenda be directed by the Scriptures and not by tradition or popular culture. Now this is why I primarily preach through books of the bible like the book of 1 Thessalonians and why we are preaching today on the subject of the Second Advent. We are preaching on this subject because we are being directed to by the text we've arrive upon as we work our way through the book of 1 Thessalonians. A faithful preacher doesn't spend his week thinking, "What do the people want to hear from me on Sunday morning?" A faithful preacher spends his time wrestling in prayer and in a text of scripture to hear and learn what God wants to say to His people. Furthermore, our view of the Second Coming of Christ and the degree to which we are anticipating His arrival says much about whether or not we really know the hope and implications of His First Coming. In addition, the scriptures teach that looking forward to the Lord's return and being awake to the realities of His Second Advent and not just looking back to His first coming works to radically effect how we are living our lives today. We saw last week that the Apostle Paul did not want the Thessalonians to be uninformed about the return of the Lord. We saw that the reason he did not want The Second Advent by Pastor Marco David (12/6/2015) Page 1
them to be uninformed was because ignorance about the Lord s return can lead to, among other things, discouragement, unpreparedness and indifference. These symptoms of being uninformed are contrary to how an enlightened view of the Lord s return should affect our lives. A biblically enlightened view of the Lord s return, like for example that it is imminent, meaning that it can happen at any moment, ought to bring hopefulness to our present lives, readiness to meet the Lord and steadfastness in fulfilling His work until He comes. Now concerning the Lord's return, last week we focused on the rapture, but today we are going to focus on the Second Advent or Second coming. Remember that the Lord s return happens in two stages in that at the rapture Jesus comes for His church before the tribulation that we see in the book of Revelation. At the Second Advent, Jesus comes with His church to judge the nations that are in rebellion against him and to set up His kingdom of Earth. There s another term that we will examine in our text that is related to the Second Advent, namely the Day of the Lord, which emphasizes the judgement of God that is going to fall upon the earth. Once again, Paul wants the believers in his day to be biblically informed about these end time events so as to not be deceived by false teaching or asleep to its eternal implications. MAIN IDEA To live as children of light in a dark world Christians must stay sober to the reality of the coming wrath that will be poured out upon a lost world and that only those who are in Christ will escape. Christians that remain sober and live as children of light do so in 3 ways according to our text. 1. Aware of the calm before the storm To begin with they are aware of the calm before the storm. Paul writes: Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, There is peace The Second Advent by Pastor Marco David (12/6/2015) Page 2
and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3). It s important to highlight that in verse 1 when Paul writes, Now concerning the times and the seasons he is introducing another subject that is related to future end time events, but that should be distinguished from the rapture which he introduced in the previous verses. The words, times and seasons in verse 1, is a broader reference related to end times events which can include the rapture. But it appears, according to 1 Thessalonians 4:13, that on the subject of the rapture, where Jesus comes for the church, the Thessalonian believers were uninformed. However in 1 Thessalonians 5:1, where Paul is introducing a new subject related to end time events they were informed. Paul writes, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. Once again, it appears that on the subject of the rapture, they were uninformed and needed clarity, but on other subjects of end time events like the suddenness of the wrath to come they did not need more clarity because of the teachings they had previously received. What's the point of all this clarifying? How can a view of end time events that is informed about the coming destruction, but not on the rapture effect how Christians live their lives? If we are more focused on the destruction to come and not on the deliverance, we will not have hope and encouragement to live a life on mission for God. This is what Paul was addressing and clarifying in the lives of the Thessalonian believers. Now in verse 2 Paul gets into those specific things about the times and seasons that they were already informed about and that all believers should be informed about. Notice he writes, For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, There is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3). We see here that the Thessalonian believers were fully aware that first of all the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. The term the day of the Lord in both the Old and New Testament can be related to the Second Advent when Jesus returns to the earth, but it denotes more specifically and is connected with the prophesied judgement of God that will come upon the ungodly. The Second Advent by Pastor Marco David (12/6/2015) Page 3
The day of the Lord is not simply a reference to a specific day, but a specific time when God, who after much patience, brings destruction to the earth. The day of the Lord can more broadly include the great tribulation period that follows the rapture and culminates with the Second Advent of Christ. It can also include a period of judgment that will come after the 1,000 year reign of Christ. Now, in addition to being fully aware of the day of the Lord, the Thessalonian believers were aware that it would come like a thief in the night. We learned last week that the return of the Lord referred to as the rapture, where Jesus comes for His church, is imminent, meaning that it can happen at any moment. But it s important to see that Paul is not referring to the rapture here. He's referring to the day of the Lord's wrath, which he writes will not overtake the believers like a thief. But it will overtake unbelievers, who are left behind at the rapture, like a thief in the night. Paul makes this clear in verse 4 when he writes: But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. Now notice that Paul also writes concerning those who will be caught off guard: While people are saying, There is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape (1 Thessalonians 5:3). Note the shift from you to they in verse 2 and 3. In verse 2 he uses the word you because of what applies to the Thessalonian believers, but in verse 3 in reference to the sudden destruction he writes, they will not escape. How many of you are glad that they doesn t mean you if you re saved? This change from using the word you to using the word they is extremely significant. One reason that it s significant is because in addition to the fact that unlike the saved, unbelievers will not escape the coming judgement, Paul is also describing what ought to be another clear difference between believers and unbelievers. Unbelievers are indifferent to the prophetic warnings of end times events and in particular the unprecedented tribulation that will fall upon the earth. But believers who are biblically informed and enlightened should not be indifferent about the destruction to come or be fooled by any promise of peace and security. Time does not allow us to get into subjects like the false peace and security that the anti-christ will bring to the earth by which he deceives the nations and in particular Israel (Dan. 9:27; 2 Thess. 2:9-11). But what I will say is that based on The Second Advent by Pastor Marco David (12/6/2015) Page 4
the increasing conflicts in the Middle East that centers around Israel and that is affecting the world as the bible prophesied it would, the world is ripe for a world leader to follow who can show them the road to peace in the Middle East. However believers who are biblically informed and enlightened should not be distracted by the promise of peace and security of any kind in a way that will cause them to become apathetic to the end time calamities that will fall upon the earth and how they are to live in light of them. This was true of believers in Paul s day. They were not unaware of the day of Lord that will come like a thief. But is this true of all believers today? Are all believers fully aware of these end time events and living in the light of them? I believe that it s safe to say that not all professing believers today are biblically aware of end time events. And the main reason for this is the same reasons that people will be deceived during the tribulation period of the book of Revelation when the anti-christ is revealed. What s that reason? The reason is the promise of peace and security. By the way the spirit of the anti-christ is alive and well today (1 John 3:3). And that same spirit that will deceive people in the tribulation period is deceiving believers today and rendering them ineffective at fulfilling the cause of Christ. And what is the spirit of anti-christ s greatest weapon? Once again it s the promise of earthly peace and security. What is the greatest hindrance to the advancement of the gospel today? The greatest hindrance to the gospel, as terrible as it is, is not Islamic terrorism. It s not persecution. It s not politicians or the homosexual agenda. The greatest hindrance to the advancement of the gospel are Christians that live more for the comfort, peace and security in this life rather than the eternal hope that is ours in Christ and that He will usher in when He returns. Illustration: Most of us are aware that when a hurricane hits an island that there is what is called the eye of the storm. I was reading some info about preparing for a hurricane and one of the warnings given was the following: "Don t be fooled by the calm eye of the storm. The worst part will happen once the eye passes over and the winds blow from the opposite direction." If you happen to encounter the eye of the storm you may view it as welcome relief from the devastation that a hurricane brings. But if you re smart you will know that it s temporary and you will not allow it to give you false hope or to distract you from staying prepared during the calm before the storm. The Second Advent by Pastor Marco David (12/6/2015) Page 5
Similarly, we can enjoy the comforts and security that life affords us sometimes. We can be wise and plan for retirement. We shouldn t be oblivious when it comes to the real threat that Islamic terrorism poses in our world. If you believe that you need to legally buy a gun to protect your family that s you re right as a citizen of America. But brothers and sisters let us not believe the lie that many have bought into today namely that the Christian life is striving to live out a Christian spin on the American dream. Let's not fall in love with or live for the calm before the storm. Were the Thessalonians believers living for the calm, comfort and security of this life? Listen to Paul s testimony concerning their faith: And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, (1 Thessalonians 1:6-8). The Christianity of the Thessalonians believers was marked by persecution and suffering because of their gospel witness and not their political positions. And yet in spite of their afflictions, threats, and persecutions they had the joy of the Holy Spirit and their Hope in God spread forth everywhere. Those of us who profess to know the hope of Christ what s our Christianity marked by? What is truly our passion? What are we living for? Is our Christianity marked by a striving for earthly peace and security or a willingness to suffer affliction for Christ sake to see others saved including those who appear to be a threat to our peace and security? Let s be sober about the increasing threats that exist in our world. Take wise precautions to protect yourself and your family. Pray for our government to make wise decisions regarding things like the refugee crisis. But let s not allow are natural instincts for peace and security to distract us from the greater call to love others supernaturally and spread the hope of the gospel to all the peoples of the world, beginning with our neighbors whoever they may be. This leads us to our second point: 2. Awake to the calamity that falls suddenly The Second Advent by Pastor Marco David (12/6/2015) Page 6
Like the Thessalonian believers, Christians today, in addition to being aware of the calm before the storm-the promise of peace and security by which the spirit of anti-christ deceives the world, are to also be awake to the calamity that will fall suddenly upon the world. Notice that Paul writes: But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. (1 Thessalonians 5:4-8). We see from our text that like the Thessalonians we are to be more than intellectually aware of the end-times event. We are to be spiritually awake to the sudden and unprecedented destruction that is coming. What does it mean to be spiritually awake? It doesn t mean that we are to live with a frantic and paralyzing fear about the future. To be spiritually awake means that we who know what the future holds, are to serve the cause of Christ with a sense of urgency until the trumpet sounds and Christ comes to deliver us. We are to be spiritually awake and not paralyzed by fear because, as Paul also wrote in verse 5: believers belong to the day they are children of the day and not of the night. This means according to Colossians 1:13 that God has delivered us who have trusted in the finished work of Christ from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son... We are not of this world. And because we are not of this world and know what will befall this world we don t live like the world and we don t live for what this world promises us. Our security is in Christ! Therefore we go out into this world as Paul goes on to write in verse 8: having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation (v.8). Notice that in times of persecution, which the Thessalonians were living in, Paul didn t call them to take up physical arms. He called them to put on their spiritual armor namely, faith, hope and love. Now please don t hear me saying something that I m not. The Pastor isn t against the second amendment right to bear arms. I may be carrying right now. But what I The Second Advent by Pastor Marco David (12/6/2015) Page 7
am highlighting from the scriptures is that whether in times of calm or calamity our main preoccupation should not be with securing our lives, but with spending our lives for the sake of the gospel. The great revivalist Leonard Ravenhill said this about the times we live in: "The early church was married to poverty, prisons and persecutions. Today, the church is married to prosperity, personality, and popularity." And that to me seems to be the greatest hindrance to the spread of gospel. This leads us to our final point: 3. Awaiting the coming of the Savior How is it possible that in times of great danger for Christians where their very lives were at stake that the spread of the gospel was more than unstoppable, but at times persecution fueled the fiery spread of the gospel? The reason the gospel could not be stopped speaks to the power of gospel in the lives of those who are not only aware and awake to prophetic and future end time events, but who most of all are awaiting the coming of the Savior. Notice the reason why Christians can live on mission for God in spite of the difficult times they live in or what they know is coming. Paul writes: For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:9-11). How was it possible for the Thessalonian believers to live out the exhortations that Paul laid out, namely to put on faith, hope and love as children of light in a dark world while experiencing great affliction because of their faith? The reason that it was possible is that as believers their destiny and our destiny, if we are saved, is secured in Christ. What s our destiny if we are in Christ? According to verse 9 our destiny is that we will be delivered from the justifiable wrath because of our sin to fully experience salvation with Christ who is coming for us so that we might live with Him forever. CONCLUSION The Second Advent by Pastor Marco David (12/6/2015) Page 8
Can I tell you how best to honor and show Jesus our appreciation for His First Advent this Christmas season? By loving radically and living radically for Jesus with urgency and expectancy in light of His soon return. This is not the hour to run for the mountains in fear. These our days in which we are to redeem the time for the days are evil and time is short. The Second Advent by Pastor Marco David (12/6/2015) Page 9
COMMUNION (Call the servers to come forward and pass out the elements. Call the church to prepare their hearts to receive the elements.) When Paul was giving instruction on observing the Lord's supper He wrote: For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord s death until he comes. 1 Corinthians 11:26 Notice that Paul's instruction on observing communion call us to look back to Christ's first advent and forward to His future return. So as we prepare now to receive communion (bread) let s look back to the First Advent when Jesus took on a body of flesh to absorb the wrath of God for our sin on the cross. Pray and eat the bread. Let s remember also that as sure as Jesus came the first time in fulfillment of hundreds of Old Testament prophesies to wash us from our sin with His blood, He is coming again at any moment. He's coming so that where He is there we may be also. And until then let's not live for the promises of peace and security in this life, but for the prince of peace who when He returns will usher His faithful ones into the eternal peace, security and joy of The Lord. Pray and drink the cup. (Benevolent offering) The Second Advent by Pastor Marco David (12/6/2015) Page 10