\nB.\nExhortation Regarding Eschatological Needs\n(4:13-5:11<\/strong>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nPaul\nnow changes his subject to The Day of The Lord<\/em>. What is this? \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThe\nDay of The Lord<\/em> is a special time of divine visitation mentioned\noften in both the Old and the New Testaments. It is a time when God\nbrings judgment upon the earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n“Paul’s\ndiscussion of the broad Day\nof the Lord<\/em> in the\nopening part of 1 Thessalonians 5 involved the introduction of a new\nand, therefore, different subject from the events\nof at the end of chapter four. Three things indicate this change of\nsubjects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nFirst,\nPaul began verse 1 with a significant combination of two Greek words\nback to back (peri de).\n<\/em>In every other\ninstance, when Paul placed this combination at the beginning of a\nstatement, it was to introduce a new subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nSecond,\nthe second word in this combination, de,\n<\/em>even by itself has the\nessential significance of introducing a new subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThird,\nthe Thessalonians already had a “perfect” (accurate)\nknowledge concerning the broad Day\nof the Lord<\/em> before\nPaul wrote 1 Thessalonians to them (v. 2), but by contrast they were\nignorant concerning the \u201ccatching\naway,\u201d the Rapture of\nthe church (4:13-18). It is apparent that when he was with them prior\nto writing this letter, he had given them exact instructions\nconcerning the Day of\nthe Lord<\/em> but had not\ntaught them about the Resurrection\nand meeting with the Lord in the air of chapter\n4. The implication is that\nthis \u201ccaught up\u201d\nevent was not part of the events\nof the Day of the Lord<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAll\nthree factors indicate the same thing: the broad Day\nof the Lord<\/em> is a\ndifferent subject from the Rapture of the church. This difference is\nsignificant for four reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nFirst,\nit indicates that the broad Day\nof the Lord<\/em> will not\ninclude the Rapture\nof the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nSecond,\nthe broad Day<\/em>\nwill include the Second Coming of Christ; but, since it will not\ninclude the Rapture, the Rapture must be a separate event from the\nSecond Coming. Thus, the Rapture must take place at a time different\nfrom the Second Coming of Christ which\nhappens immediately after\nthe Great Tribulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThird,\nsince the Rapture will not be part of the Day\nof the Lord<\/em>, there\nmust be a period of time between the Rapture and the beginning of the\nbroad Day<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nFourth,\nsince the Rapture will not be part of the Day\nof the Lord<\/em>, it will\nnot be the starting point of the broad Day.”\n(Above discussion copied from: Renald\nShowers, Maranatha, Our\nLord, Come! A Definitive Study of the Rapture of the Church<\/em>,\np. 59.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nSo\nnow let\u2019s look at what the text says about this Day of The Lord<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n a.\nBrethren (you) 5:1-2<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nNow\nas to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of\nanything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that\nthe day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThe\nfirst thing we note is that Paul, in the few brief weeks he was with\nthe Thessalonian Believers, had already taught them about the coming\nDay of the Lord<\/em>. They had no need for anything to be added in\nthe letter in regards to details and descriptions of the Day of\nthe Lord<\/em>. They already knew the imminent nature of this Day<\/em>.\nIt will come upon the world like a thief in the\nnight. As thieves do not send word of their impending break-in\ninto our homes, neither will there be word sent from Heaven of God\u2019s\nimpending break-in into the course of this world. There will be no\nnotices given. It will just happen at God\u2019s appointed time. No\nprior notification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThis\nis something those Believers were aware of. Paul wrote that the\nBrethren, you, have been instructed in this truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nBut\nwe also need to note that Paul wrote that they knew it was pointless\nto try to determine when the Day of the Lord<\/em> would begin. Paul\nwas telling them they knew not to try to set dates. In regards to the\n“times and the epochs” they\nhad already been instructed that trying to predetermine its coming\nwas a pointless act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n b.\nThey (them) 5:3<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nHowever,\nnotice the contrast in verse 3. We have\nmoved to a different group: they \/\nthem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nWhile\nthey are saying, “Peace and safety!” then\ndestruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon\na woman with child, and they will not escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nFirst,\nwe can note that Believers are not the subject here. Not only is\nthere a contrast in pronouns between Brethren\n\/ you and those who are designated they\n\/ them, but the group referred to as\nthey and them\nare in complete ignorance. The events of the Day of the Lord<\/em>\nwill burst upon them suddenly as birth pangs come upon a pregnant\nwoman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAnd\nit will be a time when this group is doubly unprepared for this event\nbecause they believe themselves secure in their \u201cPeace\nand safety!\u201d Who is this group?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nIt\nis natural to conclude this group is made up of the vast numbers of\nhumanity who are not Brethren. They are those who have not placed\ntheir faith in Jesus as their Savior and who are alive on the earth\nat the moment the Day of the Lord<\/em> begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThey\nbelieve themselves to be secure in their lives. This vast number of\npeople were described so well by David in Psalm\n10:3-11. Listen to his description:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nFor\nthe wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, And the greedy man curses\nand spurns the LORD. The wicked, in the haughtiness of his\ncountenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, “There is\nno God.” His ways prosper at all times; Your judgments are on\nhigh, out of his sight; As for all his adversaries, he snorts at\nthem. He says to himself, “I will not be moved; Throughout all\ngenerations I will not be in adversity.” His mouth is full of\ncurses and deceit and oppression; Under his tongue is mischief and\nwickedness. He sits in the lurking places of the villages; In the\nhiding places he kills the innocent; His eyes stealthily watch for\nthe unfortunate. He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair; He\nlurks to catch the afflicted; He catches the afflicted when he draws\nhim into his net. He crouches, he bows down, And the unfortunate fall\nby his mighty ones. He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He\nhas hidden His face; He will never see it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThis\nis a people who completely ignore God. They have no sense of God\u2019s\ncondemnation of sin. They feel themselves secure in their \u201cPeace\nand safety!\u201d They have no concept of their deadly condition\nof living under the wrath of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nIt\nis upon this group that the Day of the Lord will suddenly burst upon\nthem with God\u2019s mighty destructive power. And none of them will\nescape. There will be no escapees of the unsaved from the destruction\nof the Day of the Lord<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThis\nsuddenness means, of course, that none of the judgments of Revelation\n6-18 will have occurred. Otherwise, there would be frightful\nwarning that the Day of the Lord<\/em> was about to begin. This\nimplies that the Day of the Lord includes all of the judgments given\nin Revelation 6-18. In other words, the\nentire seven years of destruction and distress given in those13\nchapters is all part of the Day of the Lord and is preceded by the\nevents of 1Thessalonians 4:13-18, the\nRapture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n c.\nBrethren (you) 5:4-5a<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nSo\nnotice that at verse 4 Paul switches back to writing about the\nBrethren \/ you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nBut\nyou, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you\nlike a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nIt\nis interesting that the Old Testament prophet Joel described the Day\nof the Lord<\/em> as \u201cA day of darkness and\ngloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness.\u201d Joel\n2:2<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThe\nprophet Zephaniah described it in this way in 1:14-15:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nNear\nis the great day of the LORD, Near and coming very quickly; Listen,\nthe day of the LORD! In it the warrior cries out bitterly. A day of\nwrath is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of\ndestruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of\nclouds and thick darkness,<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nFor\nthe world, it will usher in the darkest days of human history since\nthe Fall. Even the destruction of the Flood happened fairly quickly\nand simply involved death. What is described in Revelation is not\njust death, but vast prolonged suffering leading to death, and even\ndeath is sometimes kept from them in their suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nBut\nguess what? We are not children of darkness. We, as the Brethren, the\nChildren of God, are not in darkness. We\nare all sons of light and sons of day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nPaul\ndescribed our condition in Colossians 1:12-14 when he wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n\u2026 giving\nthanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the\ninheritance of the saints in Light. For He rescued us from the domain\nof darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in\nwhom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nWe\nhave been rescued from the domain of darkness.\nThat is what the rest of the world exists in: the domain\nof darkness. We have been transferred from that dark kingdom\ninto the kingdom of His beloved Son. And\nWho is this beloved Son? In John 8:12\nJohn recorded \u201cThen Jesus again spoke to\nthem, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me\nwill not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nBeing\nin the Kingdom of God\u2019s beloved Son is being in the Kingdom of the\nLight of the World. This is why we are all sons\nof light and sons of day. Because of this, that great and\nterrible Day of the Lord<\/em> will not overtake us as it will the\nunbelievers of this world. We need never fear its coming because it\nwill not overtake us. That Day<\/em> is not for us Believers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n d.\nWe (us) 5b-6<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAt\nthis point, Paul began to include himself in the discussion. He\nworte:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nWe\nare not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others\ndo, but let us be alert and sober.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nPaul,\nalong with all other Brethren, all other Believers, is not of night\nnor of darkness. Paul is also a son of light. So Paul began to\ninclude himself. As he is included in being a son of the light, he\nalso included himself in the instructions he gave in light of that\ntruth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nBecause\nwe are all sons of light and of the day, we should not\nsleep as others do. What does that mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThe\nword translated \u201csleep\u201d is not the\nsame word used in 1Thessalonians 4:13-15.\nThis word tends to be used of those who are in a deep sleep. For\nexample, in Matthew 8:24 when Jesus was\nfast asleep in the boat, not even wakened by the horrible storm. It\nwas the word Jesus used in the parable of the wheat and the tares\nwhen the workers slept while the enemy sowed tares in the field in\nMatthew 13:25. Because it has the idea\nof a deep sleep unaware of things around, it is used metaphorically\nof being spiritually asleep, i.e., secure and\nunconcerned in sin, or indolent and careless in the performance of\nduty. This is the type of sleep the world is in. They are spiritually\nunaware and unconcerned about their true spiritual state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nWe\nBelievers, since we are sons of light, living with the light of\nChrist in our hearts, should never be people who are spiritually\ninsensitive. That should never be us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nInstead,\nwe should be alert and sober. \u201cAlert\u201d\nsimply means awake. This\nis being spiritually awake. Awake to the darkness surrounding us in\nthis world. We should be people who are not spiritually insensitive\nbut ones who are very cognizant of the darkness of this world, this\nculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n\u201cSober\u201d\nis a word meaning to be sober\u2013minded,\nwatchful, circumspect. It is the opposite\nof being drunk. We are being instructed to not be spiritually\ninsensitive but rather very spiritually aware of this world in which\nwe live and its spiritual darkness. The Apostle Peter used both these\nwords, in reverse order, when he wrote in 1Peter\n5:8:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nBe\nof sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls\naround like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nSatan\nwants to destroy us. We need to be spiritually aware of his devices\nthrough maintaining our spiritual wits about us and being very much\non our guard against the wickedness of this world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n e.\nThose 5:7<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThen\nPaul, in verse 7, goes back to considering the lost as a contrast to\nthe Brethren. He wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nFor\nthose who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk\nget drunk at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThis\nspiritual insensitiveness and spiritual dullness is typical of those\nwho live in spiritual darkness, the spiritual night. They love the\ndark and shun the light. This is why John wrote of Jesus in John\n1:4-5:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nIn\nHim was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in\nthe darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nDarkness\nis the condition in which this world exists and, because of this,\nthey shun the light. They dull their senses with drink. They love the\nspiritual darkness and dullness in which they live. That is the\ncondition of the lost, those who live in the kingdom of darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n f.\nWe (us) 5:8-10<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nIn\ncontrast to them, Paul wrote of all of us Believers in the next three\nverses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nBut\nsince we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the\nbreastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of\nsalvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining\nsalvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that\nwhether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nSince\nwe are of the day, we should not be like the lost. Rather, we should\nnot be spiritually dull but spiritually watchful, spiritually\ncircumspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nHow\ndo we maintain this soberness, this watchfulness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nWe\ndo this by protecting our emotions and our mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nWe\nprotect our emotions by putting on the breastplate of faith and love.\nWhen we are struggling it is easy for our emotions to take us down.\nWhen we focus on the hurts, the pain, the struggles, we can plunge\ninto an abyss of self-pity and destructive thoughts. We can begin to\ndoubt God and His love for us. We can become angry with God and our\nfaith can become shipwrecked on the rocks of tribulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nTo\nprotect our emotions, our hearts, we need to have on our breastplate\nof faith and love. Paul is not real specific on whose faith and whose\nlove. He is most likely thinking of our own faith, our trust in God.\nThis faith is a faith that transcends the tribulations, the trials.\nThis trust that protects our emotions is a trust that focuses on God.\nAs Job said: Though he slay me, yet will I\ntrust in him (Job 13:15). This is\na faith that does not depend on the circumstances. How do we maintain\nsuch a faith?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nBy\nalso focusing on God\u2019s love. Paul wrote, in 2Corinthians 5:14-15:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nFor\nthe love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died\nfor all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who\nlive might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and\nrose again on their behalf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nWe\nneed to be controlled by the love of Christ. We need to hold on to\nthe truth that we are loved by our God and our Savior. Faith and love\nwill protect our emotions as we live among a people in darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nNot\nonly our emotions need protecting, but our minds as well. What\nprotects our minds, our thinking, is the holding on to the hope we\nhave in salvation. This hope is what Paul wrote about in\n1Thessalonians 4:13-18. Words applicable only to those who believe\nthat Jesus died and rose again. Words that only apply to those who\nare saved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nNo\nmatter what this world throws at us. No matter how we are attacked.\nWe have a sure hope in Jesus. As Jesus said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nDo\nnot let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.\nIn My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I\nwould have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and\nprepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself,\nthat where I am, there you may be also.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThat\nis our hope. If we focus our thinking on the future we will have with\nJesus and all the other Brethren, it will protect our thinking and\nhelp us not to adopt the thinking of this world. If we keep ourselves\nalways aware that one day we will be with Jesus and stand before Him,\nit will help us not to adopt the spiritually dull views of our world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAnd\nwe have this hope because God has not destined\nus for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus\nChrist. Wrath is coming to this world. That wrath lands on\nthis world and its inhabitants when the Day of the Lord<\/em>\nbegins. But we are not destined to suffer the wrath of God. Instead,\nwe are destined to be delivered through our Lord Jesus Christ. We are\ndestined to obtain salvation through Jesus. This is speaking of\nultimate salvation; deliverance from this world and transformation\ninto the image of Jesus. This is the deliverance Paul wrote about in\nthe last six verse of chapter 4. We know this as the Rapture, the\ntransforming us and taking us out of this sinful, dark world to spend\neternity in the presence of our precious Lord and Savior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAnd\nwe can take this as a guarantee because Jesus\ndied for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live\ntogether with Him. The wonderfulness of this promise is not\nconditional for Believers. We will be delivered from God\u2019s wrath\nbecause Jesus took God\u2019s wrath upon Himself there on the cross.\nBecause He did, whether we are spiritually watchful or whether we\nbecome insensitive to spiritual things, blending into the darkness of\nthis world, either way we will live together\nwith Him. As Paul wrote before, and so\nwe shall always be with the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nOur\nfuture with Jesus does not depend on how we live our lives here on\nthis earth. Our future with Jesus only depends on the sacrifice of of\nour Savior. We should live in watchfulness, but whether we do or not\nwe will escape God\u2019s wrath because Jesus took it upon Himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n g.\nConclusion 5:11<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nIn\nlight of that truth, Paul gave two commands to us in verse 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nTherefore\nencourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are\ndoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n\u201cEncourage\u201d\nis the verb form of of the Holy Spirit\u2019s title in John 14:16. It\nmeans to come to the side of someone to give them aid or help and,\nthus encouragement. We are to come alongside of each other in our\nstruggles in this dark world to give each other help. To give each\nother encouragement. To help lift each other\u2019s spirits in the\nbattle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAnd\nthen we are to build up one another.\n\u201cBuild up\u201d means exactly what it\nsays. We are to make each other stronger buildings. Buildings? Well.\nWe are the Temple of God. We are described as parts of a building\nand, individually, temples of the Holy Spirit. So the building\nmetaphor is appropriate. And in the struggle, we can become damaged\nbuildings, rundown structures not fit to house the Spirit of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nSo,\nas we are in the struggle, we need to protect our emotions and our\nthinking. But it is not always easy to do. So when we are struggling\nspiritually, we need others to come alongside of us and give us aid.\nThen help us to be a stronger dwelling for God. We need to encourage\neach other and build each other up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nPaul\nwrote that they were doing this, but they needed to keep doing it.\nThe struggle only ends when we are no longer here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nWe\nare not destined for wrath, but the world is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nWe\nneed to reject the darkness and spiritual dullness of their thinking\nand keep our hopes and hearts focused on our Savior and His\nsalvation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThen\nwe need to encourage each other and build each other up, until the\nLord returns for us and we, all together, are transformed and taken\nfrom the earth to be with Jesus, that where He is, there we shall be\nalso.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nWherefore,\ncomfort one another with these words.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 1Thessalonians 5:1-11 IV. Exhortation to the Thessalonians (4:1-5:22) B. Exhortation Regarding Eschatological Needs (4:13-5:11) Paul now changes his subject to The Day of The Lord. What is this? The Day of The Lord is a special time of divine visitation mentioned often in both the Old and the New Testaments. It is a time when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastorsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unionchapel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unionchapel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unionchapel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unionchapel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unionchapel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=490"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unionchapel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":494,"href":"https:\/\/unionchapel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490\/revisions\/494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unionchapel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unionchapel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unionchapel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/unionchapel.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Day-of-the-Lord-e1552584202211-1024x687.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n