How did you wake up this morning? Did you wake up thinking about the “Day of the Lord”? Or did you wake up reading your phone notifications, thinking about work, planning your next vacation? Paul here states that the Christian is to think about the day of the Lord and it should be weighing on their minds.
(A) Children that belong to the light: God informed certainties for the uncertain timing of His return (1 Thess 5:1-2)
The Day of the Lord is something we should be thinking about as Christians. Yet in 1 Thess 5:1-2. Paul states he does not need to write more about the “times and seasons”. This is because the Day of the Lord will come so suddenly that we cannot predict it, but that does not answer the question of how we can live assured while not knowing the times and seasons. For reassurance we can look to Dan 2:21-22, which states that God has control over times and seasons, over power and authority, and over wisdom and knowledge. Knowing this, we can live assured not knowing the exact time God will return because nothing happens without God’s assignment. God is in control of even the superpowers in the world today and gives His wisdom to the individual to know Him.
All that we need to know in that day will come and it will be surprising. We can’t know everything, but there are things we can know surely, and we should take them seriously.
The Day of the Lord isn’t just something that Paul writes about in the New Testament. We read of many instances in the Old Testament where God spoke to the people through the prophets.
In Amos 5:18-27, it was written to Israel regarding idolatry as a reason for their exile. The Day of Judgment comes when we least expect it. Amos 5:19 asks why they are looking forward to the Day of the Lord. Amos was the first of the minor prophets to write about the Day of the Lord and prophesy about the Israelites’ exile to Assyria; Zephaniah prophesized about Judah’s exile to Babylon.
Obadiah 10-15 records for us the Lord’s prophecy about how the Edomites will receive recompense for the violence they have committed against Israel on the Day of the Lord, as well as their apathy in Israel’s time of need.
In the New Testament, in John 5:26-29, Jesus has the God-given authority to judge to all mankind. All the living and the dead will face the judgment foretold in Amos and Obadiah fulfilled before Jesus’ final judgment.
The passage in Amos called the people to be prepared to meet their God. John calls the people to prepare to meet the risen Jesus. Thus, we can see that God is consistent throughout the ages and works through agents who are the prophets. This God, If He were to visit, would judge the unfaithful. John also tells us about the reward that will be given to those that remain faithful. They can look forward to resurrection life.
The warning before judgment is also a personal one, for He sends a messenger, a human, to call out and warn. It is a warning that with judgment comes a rendering to all what they deserve – good to good, judgement to the evil. We need to prepare to meet the living Jesus. Are we putting our trust in things that are not God, like those written of in 1 Thess 5:3.
(B) Children that belong to the light: God informed identity to anticipate Christ’s return (1 Thess 5:4-5)
What is the Thessalonian’s current status? They are not in darkness, so they will not be surprised by the Day of the Lord. They can face the impending Day of the Lord with a different disposition and can anticipate His coming without fear. Their identity as children of light, not of darkness, allows them to wait differently.
When we feel tired of obeying God in the small things, remember that there is reward in obedience. His will shall be perfectly done when we are weary of battle. Like the labour pains of a pregnant woman and a thief breaking in at night, the Day of the Lord will be unexpected and painful. But what are we to do? How does this knowledge change the way we live?
(C) Children that belong to the light: Welcome to the family (1 Thess 5:6-11)
What are the two things that children of the light are called to do? They are called to “keep awake and be sober” (1 Thess 5:6)—in other words, to be alert and self-controlled. The two things that children of the light are called to avoid are being asleep and being drunk so they can be aware of what is going to happen. Isaiah 59:9-10 points out how people in darkness have no direction or vision. Paul’s warning is to those who are at risk of sleeping or being drunk even when they are in the light, like people who think they have something when they don’t.
All of us have had an experience of something we thought was real but is not. We can procrastinate on an essay by watching a three-minute video and pretending that the deadline does not exist, but once that video is over, we’re three minutes closer to the deadline. Whenever the finger of death touches something, it’s gone. We often work for achievement, job security, status and power, but we are not easily satisfied, and these things will eat into us. As we pursue achievement, we will turn away from God. There is a strong connection between idolatry and injustice, since idolatry is fed by exploitation that comes with power.
When we put on the armor referred to in 1 Thess 5:7, we’re no longer defenseless against the thief in the night. The breastplate of faith and love and helmet of hope of salvation are linked to the traits Paul praised the Thessalonians for in 1 Thess 1:3: their “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ”. The Thessalonians needed to keep up what they were doing. Yet sometimes we can be so tired that we can’t keep up our labors of love all the time. Are we just supposed to keep up a performance then?
Luke 15:21-22 reminds us that like the father of the prodigal son, even when God finds no one just, He accepts us as His people through Jesus. We are clothed as children of light even before we find favor in His eyes. Yet even when we feel we are children of the night God welcomes us and desires to clothe us in the finest robes.
It is not our love for Jesus that gets us through the door. It is his love for us that redeems us.
It is the fire of love in His heart that warms us to love and do His works. Don’t try to warm it alone. If we’re really a family in Christ, it should be reflected in how we treat each other. God settles the lonely in families and for someone to not be welcomed in a church is heartbreaking. At the same time, if we are all children of light, no one can believe for you. Your relationship is between you and God. We are called to receive Him.