Bible Diary - 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
February 12, 2008
I suppose it is the most natural thing in the world to want to know when Jesus will return. How could we not want to know? When Jesus was with the disciples at the Temple in Jerusalem, telling them how those massive stones would one day be thrown down, what was the first thing the disciples asked Jesus? It was, “Teacher, when will these things be?”
The Day of the Lord
5:1 Now on the topic of times and seasons, brothers and sisters, you have no need for anything to be written to you. 5:2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come in the same way as a thief in the night. 5:3 Now when they are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape. 5:4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the darkness for the day to overtake you like a thief would. 5:5 For you all are sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. 5:6 So then we must not sleep as the rest, but must stay alert and sober. 5:7 For those who sleep, sleep at night and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 5:8 But since we are of the day, we must stay sober by putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet our hope for salvation. 5:9 For God did not destine us for wrath but for gaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 5:10 He died for us so that whether we are alert or asleep we will come to life together with him. 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, just as you are in fact doing.
The thought of Jesus returning “as a thief in the night” is not terribly comforting. Nor is the thought that I must continually be ready for Him to come. The parallel thought for me these days is that I likewise must be ready for the grand experience of death, for then I also expect to meet Jesus.
Paul seems to be saying here that Christians should not be surprised. Why? Because we already know enough of Jesus, through reading of God’s word and the indwelt spirit of God, that we should not be surprised. I already feel comfortable with my Savior. He has already shed much light into my life. I no longer walk in the darkness of the fear of God’s wrath. I am well armored against the evil in this world, and it is my duty and delight to link arms with my brothers and sisters as we await our Master’s return. I have nothing to fear.
Dave, saying with the writer of Revelation, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
-sdg-
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