But of the times and the seasons,
brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night. For when they shall say, peace
and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon
a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren,
are not in darkness that you that that day should overtake
you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light
and the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of
darkness, therefore let us not sleep as do others, but let us
watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in
the night and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But
let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate
of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation.
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us. That whether we
wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore, comfort yourselves
together Edify one another even as also you do Now let's read verse one again,
and we'll start there of course and Have a few thoughts this morning
from this passage it is 1 through 11. I think I Thought we were
going to verse 6 because I think that's what's happening tonight,
but versus 1 through 11 here Verse one again, but of the times
and the seasons brethren you have no need that I write unto
you now Paul had just been writing about the Lord's return if you
turn back to chapter 4 and verse 16 let's look at that and sort
of See that as the context of our first verse here for the
Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout and With
the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the
dead in Christ shall rise first Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds To meet the
Lord in the air and so shall we ever Be with the Lord so you
see he speaks of those who are Already gone from this world
the dead in Christ and he speaks of those who are alive and remain
when Christ comes back, and that's why he refers in the text we
just read to whether we wake, therefore, or sleep. We're with
him. We're with him. And what he means
by times and seasons is clear from that and from verse two.
Look at verse two of our text. of chapter five here, for yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night. He's talking about the time and
season of our Lord's return. But the times and the seasons
of it are not something that Paul felt the need to elaborate
on with them. Apparently, that was something
they had questioned about and inquired about. Obviously, that's
something of interest to people today. When's the Lord gonna
come back? love to guess about it, and make theories about it,
and talk about it. But the times and seasons, Paul
said, there's no need for me to write about that, because
you know perfectly well that there is no time or season. There's
no thief season. He said the Lord's gonna come
as a thief in the night. There's no thief time, there's
no thief season, they come when they come. And that's the way
the Lord's gonna come. And he said, you perfectly well
know that. So that's my answer to you about the times and the
seasons is we're not gonna talk about that. We're gonna talk
about who's coming and why. And that's what he does here.
The Lord couldn't have made it any clearer about the times and
seasons. Well, you turn to Luke 12 if
you want to, Luke 12, 35. Let's look at this, because this
is what our Lord also said, and the reason Paul said, you perfectly
well know that the Lord's coming as a thief. Whatever season that
is, that's when he's coming. Luke 12, 35, let your loins be
girded about and your lights burning, and ye yourselves like
unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from
the wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto
him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom
the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching. Verily I say unto
you, that he shall gird himself and make them to sit down to
meet, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come
in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find
them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the good
man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he
would have watched and have not suffered his house to be broken
through. Be ye therefore ready also. In other words, he's saying
the good man of the house don't know, so he's always prepared
for that. He prepared for that to happen at any time. I'm sure
most of you are prepared for that. I'm prepared for that.
If that happens, I will not just stand there and watch it happen.
I'm ready for it. And so that's what he said. Be
ye therefore also ready, for the Son of Man cometh at an hour
when you think not. What need, Paul is saying, is
there to talk of times and seasons when the Lord was very clear?
He's gonna come when you don't think he's coming. So the answer
to the question is be prepared all the time. Be always prepared. The thief ain't gonna come when
you think he's gonna come or else you'd sit, you'd hide in
the bushes and you'd knock him on the head when he comes in
your yard. But be always ready. So that's what he's saying there.
In verse two of our text, Paul makes reference to that teaching
of our Lord that we just read about in Luke. Concerning the
thief in the night and You know People aren't gonna be satisfied
with that sinners aren't satisfied with our Lord's teaching about
how he saves whom he will And he's pretty clear about that.
I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy God have from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
spirit and belief that your people aren't satisfied with that and
They have to get people saved and concoct some kind of man-made
system of salvation. Sinners aren't satisfied with
Christ's teaching concerning his order in the church and in
the home. And so that's a disaster. So it's not surprising that the
Lord saying that he will come when nobody thinks he's gonna
come is unsatisfactory. to religion and sinners in this
world. It's just not gonna be enough for them. It's not good
enough. They have to figure it out by signs and mathematical
calculations. They take certain scriptures
and then they calculate out the years and whatever they do. We don't look to signs and seasons. We're looking unto Him, looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. And that's the
whole message of this passage. Do you need for me to preach
that to you? Do we need to make a big, you know, I've seen them
put like a big old sheet of paper all the way across the back here
and make a timeline. You know, this is, this scripture
says this, and this, that happened then. And, you know, the Jews,
you know, became a nation again in 19 whatever it was, and all
of this kind of stuff. And they try to calculate out,
maybe we could do a series on that. When is the Lord coming back?
There's no need for that, that's what Paul is saying. There's
no need for that. There was no need also because believers in
Christ do not need their curiosity satisfied. I'm glad that the
Lord reveals some things that we don't need to know because
he's gracious to comfort us in things. But we rest in the Lord
Jesus Christ right now, today, not at some season that we look
for. We trust in him now to do what's
right. I believe he's gonna come at
exactly the right time by his grace, I believe that. We're
not gonna brag about the quality of our trust, but we trust Him
today. When our Lord says to us, be
ready, instead of giving us a date and time, instead of giving us
an exact moment that He's gonna
come back, He just says, be ready. Is that fine with you? Be ready
for it. That's okay with His people.
He doeth all things well. We say in our hearts, even so
come Lord Jesus. We'd love for it to be right
now. But we know also that he will
come at the perfect time. Perfect time. There's no need
also to speak of times and seasons because though meeting the Lord
face to face will be a wonderful aspect of our salvation, our
salvation was secured in eternity. It'll be wonderful to meet him,
to see him, not through a glass darkly anymore. But our salvation
is already secured in Christ from the foundation of the world.
Look at verse nine of our text. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. We
are appointed to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. From
the foundation of the world, God appointed us, he ordained
us unto salvation. So though we do look for him,
we do wait for him, we do desire for that day to come. Our salvation
was appointed before we were ever born. So that's why there's
no need to talk about times and seasons. How else would you be saved other
than being appointed to it? Are you gonna be saved by being
smarter than other sinners? Or less sinful than other sinners?
Or by making a better decision than other sinners make? The
scripture says there's no difference in sinners themselves. And it
also says that God looked down upon the children of men to see
if there were any that did seek after him. And he didn't see
any. Scripture says that salvation is not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth or striveth, but of God that showeth mercy.
And he said, I'll have mercy on whom I want to have mercy
on. There's no need to speak of times
and seasons also because Though seeing our Savior again face
to face is the fullness of salvation. That's the culmination of salvation.
That's glorification because we'll be like him when we see
him as he is. Nevertheless, our salvation was fully secured in
time on Calvary. When our Lord died for our sins
according to the scriptures, look at verse 10 of our text.
Who died for us? That's enough, isn't it? That's
enough that Jesus died and that he died for me. I don't need
to know when he's coming back. He secured my salvation already
when he shed his precious blood for me on the cross. Oh, think of just the vast sea
of wisdom and comfort in those words, our Lord Jesus Christ
The last part of verse nine, look at it. Our Lord Jesus Christ
who died for us. They put the emphasis on every
word of that in order. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the one
who appoints salvation, the sovereign. Sovereign in creation, sovereign
in providence, and sovereign in salvation. The one who says
your sins are forgiven. It doesn't say that to everybody,
but he has power Forgive the sins of whoever he wants to forgive
What a beautiful our Lord Jesus his human Name being interpreted
as God Manuel God with us Jesus Jehovah Savior Thou shalt call
his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins Just every word of it Christ,
God's anointed, the sent one, the one upon whose shoulders
the government, who died, it's who died, who died is our salvation. Not that somebody died for us,
but Christ died for us. For, for us, for me, died for
me. who it is that died for us. Nobody in heaven, earth, or hell
can lay any charge of sin or guilt against us because it is
Christ that died. What a wonderful truth of substitution
contained in those words, for us, in our place and for our
benefit, both meanings in that. He died for us, that is, in our
stead, instead of us. Our sin deserved the wrath of
God, but the wrath of God was poured out on him for our sins. So instead of us, in place of
us, as our substitute, he died, but also for us in this sense,
for our benefit, that we might be saved, that we might be with
him eternally. As he came to the place where
his hour had come, he said, Father, I will that they be with me where
I am. That's what he accomplished at
Calvary. I go to prepare a place for you.
I go to the cross to make sure a mansion in heaven is yours. What's a mansion in
heaven? If I go to prepare a place for
you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I
am. There you may be also. That is
the luxury of heaven. Not earthly things. For us, the Son of God died in
our place that just for the unjust that he might bring us to God.
Only if the just dies for the unjust can we be brought to God. Sinners did esteem him smitten,
stricken of God, and afflicted for some guilt of his own. But
they were wrong about that. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we're healed. Souls are healed
our sin is gone The lamb of God Died in our place
the lamb without blemish and without spot for wretched sinners
And so we are healed of all of our souls disease. We cannot
fall And we're presented faultless before the presence of God's
glory In our Redeemer So that So that, look at it,
verse 10. Who died for us so that whether
we wake or sleep, whether we're alive when he returns, whether
we're gone from this earth when he returns, doesn't make any
difference to him. Doesn't make any difference to
us. Whether we wake or sleep, We shall live together with him. How many times does the scripture
call heaven with him? We keep seeing him, don't we?
We keep seeing him together. Paul just talked about in the
context of this how that when He returns, we which are alive
and remain shall be caught up. And when He comes to get us,
those who are dead in Him, He's gonna bring them with Him, with
Him, with Him. Even when He comes to do that,
they're with Him, we're with Him. We're going to be with Him. We're gonna meet Him in the clouds
and so shall we ever be, what? With Him. That's heaven. That's heaven
if that's not heaven to you oh Then it's just You're just wrong
about it Philippians 123 I am in a straight betwixt to Paul
said having the desire to depart and to be with Christ Which is
far better? Streets of gold are not far better
Pearly gates aren't far better being with the Son of God face-to-face
is far better. Second Corinthians 5.8, we are
confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the
body and to be present with, with the Lord. Man, that ought to comfort our
souls. We're gonna be with Him. We're with Him now. He said,
I'll never leave you nor forsake you. Even if we go to be with
Him, when He comes back to get the rest of us, He's gonna bring
Dee and Don and Scott and all of the people with Him. That's what salvation
is, with Him. His name is God with us. And
why is He with us? He said, this is a faithful saying,
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Salvation is with him, him with
us, and we with him. As I mentioned, he said this
in the context, that we which are alive and remain shall be
caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. together and
think about who we're with, who's with us, who we will never be
apart from ever again as believers. From right now, we've never been
away, He's never been apart from us, has He? Was there ever a
time that when the Lord was absent from me and from you, we who
know Him, who He knows and always has known? and has love with
an everlasting love? Think about that. With him who's
on the throne. People like to name drop in this
world how pathetic that is. We're with him who owns everything.
and who reigns supreme, who owns everybody, who runs everything
and runs everybody. We're with Him and He's with
us. Together with Him, who has loved
us with an everlasting love. We ought to just sit and think
every once in a while, if we ever even do that anymore. Do
we even do that? Sit and think. Thinking is out
of style these days. It's out of style But may God
give us grace to just sit and think about the love of God in
Christ Behold What manner of love The father hath bestowed
upon us that we should be called the sons of God We're with him
who loved us who's always loved us and who loves us so much he
gave himself for us and always will, to the end, to the end. Together with him who spared
not his own soul for us, but made his soul an offering for
our sins. Lot of this passage concerns
the difference between those who will be destroyed at his
coming And those who will be rescued from the body of this
death you saw that contrast Children of the day children of the night
Children of light children of darkness So this wonderful passage
of scripture is not without warning that The return of the Lord Jesus
Christ will not be desirable for everyone. In fact, for most
on this earth, it will not be. Remember this verse in regard
to that, 1 Corinthians 16, 22. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ. What are we talking about? We're
talking about when the Lord comes back. You know what Paul was
talking about when he said that? When the Lord comes back. If
any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, when the Lord comes back,
let him be accursed. Let him be accursed. That's what
our text deals with. Anathema maranatha. And our text
confirms that that will indeed be the case. Notice the words
in verse three, and they shall not escape. They shall not escape. If you love not the Lord Jesus
Christ, if you still hate God's son, as he's revealed in this
book, now you can't make one up and love him and be okay. You've got to love the sovereign
one. You've got to love the one that's on the throne. You remember when he told them
that he's going to be on the throne? He said, hereafter you're
gonna see the son of man sitting on the right hand of the majesty
on high. And you remember what they did? They started to spit
on him for that, for saying that. That's how man feels about the
sovereign son of God. You gotta love him who does as
he pleases in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth. If not, you shall not escape. You can ignore the Lord Jesus
Christ for now. Most do. You can ignore him. You can get on with your life.
You know, you could be mowing your grass this morning or, you
know, saw somebody in overalls out there working in their field,
you know. If that's what the day of worship
is to you, that's even your plowing is sin. That's
this world. You can ignore him now, but not
for long. Not for very long. You can't get away from him.
That's what we tried to do in the garden, didn't we? Couldn't do it then, can't do
it today. You know, I'm not worried about
whether you're gonna come to know the Lord. You're gonna come
to know the Lord. I'm worried and concerned that
you come to know him now. You're gonna know him. You're gonna know him. You're
gonna bow to him. You're gonna confess that he's Lord. Oh, but by God's grace, I need
you to know him now. I need you to come to know him
now. May he reveal himself in love and hope and salvation. What a difference is made between
the children of the night and the children of the day The difference
you might say is night and day What a difference Wrath or salvation
verse 9 for God has not appointed us to wrath but to obtain Salvation
You know that you notice that It doesn't say that the difference
is between wrath or bliss, wrath or joy. That would be accurate. But it's wrath or salvation.
You think about that for a minute. What keeps you from the wrath
of God is that you've been saved. All said, my heart's desire and
prayer for Israel is that they might be saved. You don't need
to change your mind about doctrine. You will if you come to know
the Lord. Your doctrine's gonna change. That's not salvation. You can change your mind about
doctrine and agree with all the good doctrines. Satan agrees
with it. The Pharisees did. They knew
Christ was, they knew that God was sovereign. Didn't believe
that Christ was him It's a person you see that they were wrong
about a Person Isn't that what the Lord said
to him it wasn't that they were wrong about the scriptures themselves
He said you search the scriptures For in them you think you have
life, but your problem with knowing the scriptures is they testify
of me And you won't come to me that
you might have life. Their problem concerned a person.
A person. They knew the scriptures real
well. Wrath or salvation. Oh, the Lord has saved us. Do
we ever think about that word, what that means? Saved us. Saved us. To most people, the
difference between wrath and eternal bliss is a decision that
they make. But no, the difference is being
saved. Saved. That's another thing we ought
to think about that word, saved, rescued. I was a goner. I was bound for hell. I was doing
everything I could to go to hell. And God wouldn't let me. He wouldn't
let me go. And you notice that that's something
that you obtain to obtain salvation. You don't earn it. You don't
merit it. It's either wrath or God saves
you and you obtain salvation. But notice in this portion of
the passage in closing where the distinction is made, we as the children of light,
we're exhorted to act that way. There's a distinction made in
there. There's a difference. There's a separation, two kinds
of people. and we as the children of light
are exhorted to act that way. Not because we're better than
other sinners, not because we're smarter, not because we have
a free will, not because we've made the right decision. There
are wise virgins and foolish virgins, but why? Why are there wise ones and foolish
ones? Notice what the distinction has
to do with look at it. He talked about it all through
this passage now night day sleep sober Light darkness, what's
the difference for God hath not appointed us to wrath? God hath put a difference between
the world and the children of his spiritual Israel those who believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. God hath appointed, that is,
he has set, S-E-T, set, fixed, established, ordained us to obtain
salvation. That's how you become a child
of life, by the free grace of God in Christ. And in your experience,
What that looks like in your experience is you coming to Christ,
you believing on Christ, who died for us. That whether we wake or sleep, it's a win-win. If I go to be
with Him today, I go to be with Him. And if I'm still alive, when
the Lord returns to this earth, oh, what a day that will be,
I'll be with Him. Whether I wake or sleep, I'm gonna live, live, live with Him, live with Him. That's where words begin to fail.
When you think about that, I can never be apart from my Savior.
Not now, not ever. I can never be alone. I can never
be without Him, with Him. He died that I might be with
Him, live with Him. That's where I am. David said
it this way, beautiful for situation. The joy of the whole earth is
the Lord Jesus. Let's pray.