Word of Salvation – Vol.49 No.18 – May 2004

 

Be Ready

Sermon by Rev J Haverland

on 1 Thessalonians 5:1-10

 

Scripture Reading:  Matthew 24:36-51

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This sermon is about being ready as we wait for the unexpected return of Christ and our salvation.

New Zealand’s most well known theologian is Dr Lloyd Geering. Whenever the media want a controversial comment on something about the Bible or Christianity, he is the man they will approach because he represents the liberal perspective of the church.

He has written a book called “Christianity Without God”. It was first published in New Zealand in 2002. For us the title is really a contradiction – how can you have Christianity without God? – but the title expresses Geering’s aim. He has Christianity without a divine Jesus; Christianity without a virgin birth or the resurrection of Jesus; Christianity without a physical return of Christ – this is Christianity without God.

Geering excludes from Christianity anything that is supernatural and certainly any idea of heaven or a world to come. He emphasises the here and now. We need to make the most of this life, he says, and try to establish heaven on earth.

This is not theology any more. The word Theology comes from the Greek word ‘Theos’ which means ‘God’, but Geering has no belief in God. Nor is this Christianity because there is no belief in Christ as the Son of God. This is the viewpoint of secular humanism where man has replaced God as the centre of the universe. The focus is on man and what we can achieve on our own and by ourselves.

True believers, however, believe in God and in Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit. Christians who are true to the name of Christ believe that Jesus, the Son of God, was born as a man, died, rose, ascended into heaven and will come again – visibly, gloriously, publicly! This is what we are looking forward to! Sure, we need to make the most of the life we have here and now, but there is a better world coming when everything will be made new.

This was the hope of the believers in Thessalonica. The Apostle Paul wrote to remind them of what he had taught them on this subject. They knew it already, but they needed reminding. So do we. Sometimes we forget what we know and we need to hear it again.

But these Christians also needed some further explanation because some of them thought Jesus would come soon. They were expecting Him at any time. Why was He taking so long? Where was He? When would He arrive?

Paul reminded them that we do not know when Jesus will come. We are not given a date or time. Jesus told his disciples about this: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mt 24:36). His coming will be unexpected. He will come like a thief in the night. And thieves don’t make appointments, they don’t send postcards informing you of their arrival time, they don’t give you any warning. This is how Jesus will come – it will be unexpected.

So we must be ready. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come” (Mt 24:42). Some won’t be ready when Jesus returns – unbelievers will be caught completely by surprise. But believers will be ready – the return of Jesus won’t surprise them.

Let’s consider these two groups and their responses and what will happen to them.

1. Many UNBELIEVERS think of themselves as being smart and clever people. And they may well be sharp in business, intelligent in their minds, knowledgeable in their subject area. But when it comes to spiritual matters, they are in darkness.

This word describes the realm of Satan and all the people under his dominion. Darkness is a picture of the world of evil where people are darkened in their understanding and alienated from God. They use the cover of darkness to hide their evil activities and sins.

In verse 6 they are described as being “asleep”. Of course this is what most people do at night – they sleep. But here it is a picture of spiritual sleep; they are spiritually drowsy, dull, apathetic. They are indifferent to God and take little or no interest in the Bible or the church. Their main concern is to have everything go smoothly in their lives so they can enjoy “peace and safety” (vs 3).

This darkness also provides the setting for people to get drunk. Most people don’t do this during the day; they do this at night when they go to parties. This lifestyle is a result of living in darkness. Spiritual ignorance will lead to moral depravity. If people don’t know about God, then they don’t know about His law and they won’t care how they live.

We see examples of this in our own society all the time. We live in a society that is ignorant of God and the Bible, where people lack a spiritual awareness or appreciation of God. This will produce drunkenness and alcoholism, immorality and homosexuality, violence and crime, lying and stealing.

Are you part of the world? Are you living in darkness? Are you spiritually blind? Are you out partying and getting drunk? Are you living an immoral lifestyle? If you are, then you won’t be prepared for Christ’s coming.

This is Paul’s point in verse 3 – that unbelievers will be unprepared. “While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety’, destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (vs 3). The return of Jesus will take them by surprise, it will catch them unawares. Satan lulls people into a false sense of security. He gets them completely taken up with what is going on at present, here and now, so they don’t think about the future. The prospect of a future judgment seems remote, far away, even impossible.

People scoff at the warnings and make fun of the open air preacher proclaiming, “Prepare to meet your God!”, or the man with the sandwich board parading, “The end is nigh!” Maybe those aren’t the best ways to communicate the message of the Bible today; yet the Lord is going to come and unbelievers will be destroyed. There will be no escape. In the Old Testament this judgment was described as the Day of the Lord. For those who don’t believe, it will be a day of destruction, of ruin, of loss. This is describing the punishment of hell.

Some Christians today are softening this by saying that unbelievers will be annihilated, obliterated, destroyed. It is true that Paul uses the word ‘destruction’, but he is picturing a catastrophe, a disaster. Christ will come as the Judge and those who have not believed will suffer the eternal punishment of hell. This is a terrifying and sobering subject but it is clearly taught in the Bible. Jesus will come. You must believe in Him and live for Him, otherwise you will suffer in hell.

2. But this day of punishment will be a day of blessing for all BELIEVERS.

They are not in the realm of darkness and of Satan but in the realm of light and of God. They are followers of Jesus who is the Light of the world. They are “sons” of the light, which means that they are not just living in the light but they are light themselves. In Ephesians 5:8 Paul wrote, “For you were once darkness but now you are light in the Lord.”

These people are alert; they are awake and keeping watch. The verb is a present continuous, so it means that they are always awake and watching. Again this is not a literal picture – because we need our sleep – but it is speaking spiritually. Believers are people who live in the light of the day and they are spiritually awake, not asleep. They know God and they read the Bible and they are regular in prayer and they are looking for Jesus to come.

Think of the men who were building the wall of Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s time. They worked and slept with their clothes on and they kept their weapons by their side all the time. They were ready for anything.

Someone has updated that picture by saying that soldiers of Christ sleep with their boots on. Again this is a picture of being spiritually ready. His coming will be unexpected because we don’t know when He will come, but it will not catch us by surprise.

Are you ready for Jesus to come? Are you watching and waiting? Do you have your mind focussed on God? Would you be happy for the Lord to find you in your present spiritual condition? Are you living in such a way that you will not be ashamed at His coming? That is often given as a rule of thumb for places to go: If Jesus was to return, would you be happy for Him to find you in this place? With these people? In this situation? Be alert, watching, ready.

And be “self-controlled” (vs 6). The word means to be steady, calm, sober, sane. Some of the believers in this city were all excited about Christ’s coming, so much so that they had given up their jobs. They had gone to an extreme, they were carried away, they had lost their heads. Paul writes; stay focussed, be sensible, keep working, stay in control of yourself.

The same applies today. Whenever something happens in the world, especially in the Middle East, some Christians are all in a fluster; “This is the end”, they say. “Here is the fulfilment of biblical prophecy!” But then the crisis passes and all returns to normal and nothing comes of their silly predictions, foolish prophecies and wild speculation. Don’t get caught up with the fads and fashions going around. Stay sober.

And always be prepared.

The way to do this is by “putting on faith and love as a breastplate” (vs 8). Paul borrowed this picture from the armour of a Roman soldier who wore a breastplate to cover his chest, shoulders and back. It was made of metal or thick cloth or leather. It protected his heart.

In the same way the Christian needs to protect his heart with the spiritual armour of faith and love. Keep believing in Jesus and keep serving Him in love.

At the beginning of this letter Paul commended them for their “work produced by faith“, their “labour prompted by love” (1:3). We need to do this too: keep busy with the work that flows out of faith and the labour that arises out of genuine love for the Lord. Don’t be so heavenly minded that you are of no earthly use. Put on faith and love.

You will also be prepared for the Lord’s coming if you put on “the hope of salvation as a helmet” (vs 8). The helmet protected the head of the Roman soldier from blows from a sword or from sharp arrows. In the same way we need to protect our heads with a sound knowledge of God’s salvation and a firm hold on what we know to be true.

As you wait for the coming of Jesus, you may be tempted to get discouraged. He seems a long time coming. Why is He taking so long? Why do we have to struggle so much with sin? Why all this trial and suffering? These questions may lead to doubt. You may be tempted to unbelief.

In this situation you must keep the hope of salvation as a helmet. Remember that God has saved you through faith in Jesus. Remember that Jesus is coming again to give you the inheritance He has kept for you. Don’t give way to doubt and don’t get discouraged and give up. Remember your salvation.

This leads Paul on to a further description of the salvation of the believer [now read verses 9-10].

The word ‘salvation’ is the broadest term for all that God has done for us covering the past, the present and the future. Here he is referring mainly to the future – to our eternal inheritance, to what God has in store for us in heaven.

When Jesus returns, you will “receive” salvation. God will give it to you as a gift. It is not something you have earned or that you deserve because you have worked so hard. It is something God planned and thought of. It comes from His initiative. He gives you salvation as a gift, given to you by His grace.

It is based on the death of Jesus on the cross: “he died for us.” That occurred in history 2000 years ago. It really happened. And He did that “for us” – on our behalf, in our place, for our sake, for our benefit.

He did that “so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him” (vs 10). If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are always with Him and He is always with you. You belong, body and soul, in life and in death, to your faithful saviour Jesus Christ (Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 1). If you believe in Him, then you will be with Him forever, whether you die and your body ‘sleeps’ in the grave, or whether you are living and awake when He returns.

We can encourage each other with these great truths. What we believe about Jesus will encourage us in life and comfort us in death. It is truth to live for and truth to die by. So let’s be sure that we do encourage each other with what we believe about Jesus. Keep building each other up, as we are doing, so that we might be strong in our faith and hope in Jesus and so that we might be ready to meet Jesus when He comes.

Now is the time to get ready – this is the time to prepare. Don’t leave it too late. You don’t know when God will bring your earthly life to an end. Put your faith and trust in Jesus now – today! Don’t leave this to the last minute.

It is too late to prepare for an exam when you walk into the examination room. It is too late to repair the roof of the house after the storm has burst. It is too late to decide to follow Jesus when you hear that sound of the trumpet.

When Queen Mary of Orange was dying, her chaplain offered to read the Bible to her. She replied, “I have not left this matter till this hour.” What about you? Have you attended to this matter? Are you prepared? Are you ready? Are you alert, watching and waiting for the salvation that Jesus will bring to all who trust in Him?

Amen.