Seeking the Lord's help for a
little while this evening and your very prayerful attention
term with me to the chapter we read, Paul's first epistle to
the Thessalonians, chapter five, and reading the last part of
verse six. Paul's first epistle to the Thessalonians,
chapter 5, and reading for our text the last part of verse 6. But let us watch and be sober. But let us watch and be sober. The chapter begins, But of the
times and the seasons, brethren, ye 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 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. And so Paul, he's writing
to the church at Thessalonica and he's speaking to them and
warning them of those times that shall come and very much of the
end times but also very much of those things that will come
upon us unlooked for and completely unexpected. And so as we are
living and we sang in our first hymn, in mercy put a stop to
war, 646, in mercy send us peace, Nor let thy vengeance on us fall,
Almighty King of Grace. And as we are approaching the
first anniversary of that of that desperate invasion of Israel,
completely unlooked for, they were completely caught off guard,
and many were hurled into eternity, and many hostages taken. and since then the repercussions
that there have been and now just yesterday with Iran firing
those 180 ballistic missiles at Israel. And so the world is on alert,
the world is fearful of that which will come to pass. And
as we have had that war now with Russia, that pointless war, Well,
they're all pointless, but as Russia is determined to have
Ukraine and all of the bloodshed and the loss of life and destruction
that there have been now for over two and a half years. And
so we see that the world is in a desperately, desperately precarious
situation. A most solemn, solemn situation. And there are those that are
at enmity with us. with Great Britain. Sad, isn't
it, that even our politicians are embarrassed to speak about
us as Great Britain. There was that which was brought
in a few years ago by a well-known politician and insisting that
we're Britain. Well the Lord, yes we're nothing
really now are we? The Lord has been very very gracious
to us in times past and we would ever seek to remember how merciful
he has been to us, that he raised us up from a desperately solemn
situation a long, long time ago, and he raised up godly men, and
a stop was put to slavery and all the other things that were
a disgrace to our country. And we truly did become known
as the Land of the Book. Well, as we think of those two
great world wars, and only just probably one, two, three or four
of you were alive at that time. of the Second Great War and would
have been very young at that time. But for most of us, those
of us that are under the age of 80, that we have never ever
known war in this our land. How precious that is, isn't it? To remember and to praise God
and bless God for that. That as you think of that first
world war from 1914 to 18 that raged and oh the desperate loss
of life and destruction that was there and then hardly 20
years, what, 21 years passed by under another great war which
raged for several years. And so we have much for which
to give thanks, don't we, that we have known, the majority of
us, that we have known peace in our entire lifetime. And so as these things are threatened,
as these things are threatened, and as we know not what a day
nor an hour will bring forth. We've had an example of that
from amongst our congregation today, haven't we? That dear
John, that without warning, without warning, he He has an incident
on his bike and the paramedics are called and he's taken off
to hospital. And so there are repercussions
with everything, aren't there? As our pastor, his place is with
his son at the hospital. so he is not with us tonight
and we see that don't we in all of our lives those things that
come into our lives and we see the consequences that there are
that some of them are for good some of them are for good but
some of them they cause us much distress don't they cause us
much distress much turmoil much agony and yet to be amongst the
Lord's people and to be favoured that in all of these things that
they're truly sanctified and we can come in and endorse that
which Paul wrote to the Romans in chapter 8 and verse 28 and
we know Now there are some of you that can testify to that
this evening, isn't there? That of all the things that the
Lord has brought into your life, and yes, and some of them, they've
almost sunk you, haven't they? Indeed, hasn't it been so that
you've proved that when it was to sink, you were sinking and
sinking, and yes, and you did fall right into the everlasting
arms of Jesus. And that's why it is, dear friends,
that we, the people of God, how favoured we are, aren't we? And we can say in all of these
things, as Paul wrote to the Romans, in chapter 8 and verse
28, and we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them that are the cool. according to his purpose
and it is his purposes isn't it friends and his purposes they
will ripen fast unfolding every hour the bud may have and you
prove it at times don't you that the bud the bud does have does
have a bitter taste but sweet will be the flower And so it
is in the light of these things that we come around God's Word
this evening to seek that we may bless Him and praise Him
for all that is to pass, that all that is past, and to trust
Him for all that is to come. And so he gives these examples,
doesn't he? Gives these examples of those.
Of those that are without. Those that are in darkness. Those
that are in darkness. But He comes to this, He comes
to this as He joyfully and thankfully addresses and we thankfully receive
it in that fourth verse. But ye brethren, are not in darkness,
that that day should overtake you as a thief. And he says, ye are all the children
of light and the children of the day. We, we are not of the
night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep,
as do others, but let us watch and be sober. Well, as we think of those things,
we're reminded, aren't we, of those times of Jesus. those warnings that he gave. And in the 24th chapter of St. Matthew, and he speaks of being
watchful, watchful. He says in verse 36, but of that
day and hour knoweth no man, this is preceded by heaven and
earth, shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Oh, that which has been applied,
that which you have effectually heard and received, that can
never be taken, that is firm, that is firm, as indeed your
hope, your glorious hope is built upon a precious Christ, upon
His precious blood, upon His righteousness. And so he says,
heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of the day and hour knoweth
no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. As in the days of Noah, so also
the coming of the Son of man shall be. For as in the days
that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying
and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into
the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all
away, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Friends, oh friend, you who are
resting in Christ, you who are resting in the Ark Christ Jesus,
that's who he's speaking to us tonight, isn't he? That we are
not the children of darkness, that we are the children of light. We have these warnings, these
exhortations given to us, the people of God, the people who
are safe in the ark of Christ, safely on the rock, safely in
His riven side, sheltered in His sight. that they're given
to us to be watchful for we are in enemy land still we have an
enemy we have that war going on in our hearts the new man
of grace and the old man of sin and so he says in the 42nd verse
as he follows that up in Matthew 24 watch therefore For ye know not what hour your
Lord doth come. And he uses this very simple
and yet a profound statement. But know this, that if the good
man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come,
He would have watched and would not have suffered his house to
be broken up. Those of you that may have suffered
at the hands of a burglar, well you know, don't you, that had
you have known that that was going to happen, well you would
have been on the alert, wouldn't you? And in the same way that
we know not, when heaven and earth shall pass away, when Jesus
shall return, when Jesus shall return in His glory, in His glory,
and there shall be those that shall be calling for the rocks
and the mountains to hide them, too late, too late for them,
that they are to be forever damned in eternity in hell. But oh, what a thing to watch
for, isn't it? To watch for the Lord to come. Whether He comes, whether He
comes to take us by the hand of death, or whether He comes
to call us whilst we are alive and remain, to call the dead
in Christ from their graves risen as glorified bodies. and to be taken up in the air
together with those that are alive and remain and to all be
taken up together and to be forever with the Lord. We'll all know,
particularly when we were younger. But even so, as we're older,
there are those things that we look forward to, aren't there?
Those things that we make preparations for. And as that time comes,
we become more and more earnest in our desire for them. We're looking forward to it. But how much more, isn't it,
how precious it is when we are looking forward, day by day,
hour by hour, to that time when we too shall be forever with
the Lord. And so he says, therefore be
ye also ready For in such an hour as ye think not, the Son
of Man cometh. And then he speaks in the following
chapter in Matthew 25 of the 10 virgins, those that were wise
and those that were foolish. Five were wise and five were
foolish. And we read in there, don't we,
that the foolish, they had no oil in their lamps. And they
asked the wise to give them oil. But no, they says in verse 8,
give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. But the wise
answered, saying, Not so. lest there be not enough for
us and you. But go ye rather to them that
sell, and buy for yourselves. And what happens? While they
went to buy, the bridegroom came. This, friends, is that warning
to those that are careless, to those that are in the dark. The
Lord knows who each one is. And so that effectual call will
go to those who are present dead in sin. And yet the Lord will
have a favour to them, so that they will be called, they'll
be effectually called, they'll be called out of nature's darkness
into his most marvellous light, favour with living faith in a
precious bleeding Jesus, and to see their sins by faith imputed
to him. But all he says, he says that
the foolish, the foolish virgins, they leave it too late. And whilst
they're gone, whilst they're gone, the bridegroom cometh. The bridegroom cometh. And He says again there, Watch
therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein
the Son of Man cometh. And so dear friends, He says,
Ye yourselves, ye children of the light, Ye who are of the
LORD's people, ye who are the children of God, ye yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the LORD cometh as a thief in
the night, for when they shall say, Peace and safety, And that
really is, isn't it, how the world continues. The world continues
as though there's no tomorrow. It's eat, drink and be merry,
for tomorrow we die. But friends, that he says, he
says these that falsely declare, that falsely behave, as though
all is peace, all is safety. He says, Then sudden destruction
cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and
they shall not escape. And how very true that is, isn't
it? That a woman, she has, she's
got no choice, she must give birth. She must give birth. It
will happen. It will happen. And Jesus says,
and Paul says, and in as much, in as much as this contrasting
this with the certainty that a woman must be in travail, in
pains as she brings forth a child. There's no escaping it. So there's
no escaping for anyone when that day comes, either as we're taken
by the hand of death or Jesus returns. so he says when they
shall say peace and safety then sudden then sudden destruction
cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child and they shall
not escape and he says but ye brethren are not in darkness
that that day should overtake you as a thief. The hymn 644 of Gadsby's, based
on our text, is, Watch, watch, and be sober, ye children of
God, your wonderful lover has bought you with blood. Oh, what a price has been paid. What a price has been paid as
He has brought us out of darkness. The darkness of sin. The darkness of impending hell. The darkness of being without
Christ. been purchased, been redeemed,
an atonement has been made whereby poor sinners are plucked as brands
from the burning and are no longer in the darkness but are adopted
into the family of God, fellowship with the Lord's people. And so he says it is to you brethren,
to you brethren, that ye are not in darkness. Oh, he says,
he goes on to warn us, to warn us to be on our watchtower, to
be ready, to be sober, to not be sleeping. But there's that
certainty, isn't there, that he's a covenant keeping God. There is that certainty that
once in Christ, Once in Christ, in Christ forever, thus the eternal
covenant stands. None can pluck us from his hands. We're safe, we're safe. But that doesn't lead, that doesn't
lead to apathy, that doesn't lead to apathy no no no indeed
if we are amongst the children of God what we love we love the
people of God don't we we love his ways we love worshiping the
Lord whether that's in public around the family altar in private
or wherever it is he's our he's our meat and our drink isn't
he why Jesus I am the bread of life How precious that is. And so it is that as we feast
upon Him, as we are favoured with close communion with Him,
then we are kept in the light. Now don't misunderstand me. Yes,
we still have an enemy. Yes, there are those times when
we go through seasons of much darkness and blackness and doubts
and fears. But friends, the truth is that
we've proven it all. Trials bring me close to God. Trials make the promise sweet. Did I meet no trials here? Might I not with reason fear
that I should be a castaway? And so it is that as he sanctifies,
oh, we'll ever be in the school of sanctification, friends, this
side of the grave? Oh, we will indeed. And we'll
be proving in it all again and again that all these things,
they're working together for good because we love God. We
love God, we've been called by Him, we've been called out of
the blackness of hell into His most marvellous light, favoured
with eternal life and not that dreaded, dreaded eternal damnation. that your wonderful lover has
bought you with blood your husband and savior for you gave his life
then be your behavior becoming his wife and so it is isn't it
that as a wife seeks to please and honor her husband and there
is that mutual love between a husband and wife So it is with Christ
and His Church, Christ and His Bride. And so he says, O watch
against trusting to your native strength. Behold Peter boasting. Oh dear Peter, he believed, didn't
he? He believed that he could prevent
Jesus from being taken and crucified. He believed that he would never
deny him despite Jesus telling him, yes Peter, before the cock
crows, you will have denied me three times. And he's so confident,
isn't he? And that's these things, friends,
for our warning. Dear Peter, dear Peter, he was
greatly blessed, wasn't he? This rough fisherman, plucked
and chosen, chosen by Jesus to be a disciple, a natural leader. Peter loved his master well,
yet a loving Peter fell. And so to us, to us tonight,
it is but let us, let us watch and be sober. Behold Peter boasting,
but overcome at length, your strength will forsake you and
leave you to fall unless the Lord make you to trust Him for
all. And it is, isn't it? It's when
we look away from Jesus, as Peter, when he was walking on the water,
wasn't it? He was alright all the while,
he looked at Jesus, but the moment he looked at the dreaded sea,
though he was a hardened fisherman, he began to think, Lord, save
me! Lord, save me! And that's it,
isn't it, dear friends? To ever remember, to ever plead,
to ever plead those promises of the Lord. I will never leave
thee, nor forsake me. Come unto me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Look unto me,
all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved. So he says, trust,
treat, treat all as deceivers that lead not to Christ. As holy believers, rely on your
priest. Rely on your priest, our precious
Jesus, our Redeemer, our Savior, our substitute, our friend, our
husband, our brother, a brother that is touched with the feelings
of our iniquities, or indeed a friend that sticketh closer
than a brother. Watch ye against sleeping, and
stand to your post, lest you should go weeping while Canaanites
boast, by awful temptations attacked and distressed, and you'll know,
those of you that know what it is to walk in a dark pathway,
though you've been favoured with being brought out of darkness
into the marvellous light of the Kingdom of God, and are favoured
with redeeming love and blood, and yet you have days of darkness,
perhaps weeks of it, months of it, But he says, Yes, so it is,
though you have thousand vexations, that each moment they are molesting
you. He says, Yet watch against falling,
and yield not to doubt. On Christ your Lord calling,
your foes you shall rout. When I was 16 years old, the
chapel that I attended, the old deacon there, dear Mr Burford,
a most godly man, and he used to start the singing, and he
wanted every verse to be read and so they would read a verse
sing it then read another verse sing it seems very quaint doesn't
it but you know friends I remember something very very precious
about that and it was when I was 16 and I remember the date so
well February the 12th 1967 and I'll tell you in a moment why
I remember that and he gave this hymn out for
the last hymn for the last hymn of that Sunday and as he read
the last verse before that last verse was sung He couldn't finish
it as he got to yet watch against falling and yield not to doubt
on Christ your Lord calling your foes you shall rout but he sung
that those two lines so heartily and within a day he was in glory. He was in glory. And you'll say, well, how do
you remember that? How do you remember it? Well,
friends, we went to see Mrs. Burfoot. We went to see Mrs. Burfoot. And there, and there,
and it was the February the 14th, St. Valentine's Day. And there
in the car outside was Crystal, who was to be my dear wife, and
I'd sent her a Valentine's Day card. And so we see, don't we,
how the Lord will use things to stay in our memory. And that
is so precious, isn't it? And it is to watch, to ever be
watchful. And it's to watch in all things
and those how good it is to see our young friends and the children
amongst us this evening. Oh may the Lord bless you with
your desires in life, those right desires and those things that
those ambitions that you have that have been rightly given
to you. Nurture them and nurture them
friends, dear children, dear young friends, nurture them by
with everything by prayer and supplication. Let your requests
be made known unto God, and don't just leave it there, but keep
watching and waiting for the Lord to answer. And perhaps there
will be times of much frustration and much despair and much disappointment. Perhaps tonight you're finding
that things that have come into your life, in the family, whatever
they are, you cannot understand them. But friend, they're happening
to the people of the light. The people of the light. And
they're amongst those all things that are working together for
good. And so he says to you tonight,
He says to you tonight to be patient in all of this. Be patient
in all of this. Oh, he says, he says, a time,
a time he has set to heal up your woes. Now, ultimately, that
will be as we have before us here, that day when Jesus will
come again. But friends, there are those
woes, those disappointments, those fears, those mountains
that you have, even the youngest of you here tonight. And He says,
a time He has set to even deal with this, a season most fit,
His love to make known. And until He is ready to show
His goodwill, be patient, be steady, and wait on Him still. And so He says, 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." Friend, he knows it all and he
understands it all and that is not meant for you as you are
so desperately debilitated under this load which the Lord has
been pleased to bring into your path. But it's that careless
sleeping. It's that careless sleeping. When you could be awake, when
you could be alert, Let us not sleep as do others, but let us
watch and be slow. Oh, the night time, the night
time is referring to the night when we sleep and the drunken
man gets drunk. But he says, therefore, let us
not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober. And so, dear friends, as we seek
to bring our thoughts to a close, and dear Peter, in his first
letter and in the fifth chapter, he speaks there in verse six,
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that
he may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him,
for he careth for you. Be sober. Be vigilant. because your adversary the devil,
as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Oh, Jesus knows all about it.
He knows all about the sorrows, the sadnesses, the temptations,
everything. He knows all about it. Look at
him, just after he was baptized, wasn't he? He's there up in that
mountain. And look how the enemy, how Satan
tempted him, tempted him to do all manner of things, quoted
scripture to him. Bless God in our troubles, in
our trials, that this Jesus, he knows it all because he's
walked it, he knows it. And so he says, resist steadfast
in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished
in your brethren that are in the world. We have that glorious
catalogue of faith, don't we? Of the Lord's people in Hebrews. And he says of all of them and
of you, of you, you in your small corner and I in mine, that know
the afflictions, the sorrows, the sadnesses, the temptations,
the desperate straits in the way. He says, but the God of
all grace who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ
Jesus, after ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish,
strengthen, settle you, to Him be glory and dominion for ever
and ever. Amen. And so just in conclusion,
as we seek to bring these things to a close, Jesus in St. John, in St. John chapter 12, and he says there in in verse
in verse 26 if any man serve me let him follow me and where
I am there shall also my servant be if any man serve me him will
my father honor and then he says this And it's for you that are
walking in tribulation in trial tonight. Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father,
save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto
this hour. You see, friends, how he's submissive. Oh, as he will go on, won't he?
In the garden. Oh, my father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done. And then he said, arise, let
us be going. Let us be going. The cup which
my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? And friends,
this is the submission that He'll grant you in your trouble, in
your trial, and you'll be favoured to walk in communion with a suffering
Jesus. He says, Father, glorify Thy
Name. Then came there a voice from
heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people, therefore, that stood
by and heard, said that it thundered. Others said, an angel spake to
him. Jesus answered and said, This
voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Take that home and plead it,
friends, that it's for your sake and it's for Jesus' sake that
you're in this. You're one of his jewels and
he'll have you plead for his dear name's sake. Oh, how he
loves to hear his people plead the name of Jesus and to plead
those precious promises. Jesus answered and said, This
came not because of me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment
of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
oh lifted up was this precious Jesus, he whom yours and my hopes
of heaven depend, he was lifted up from the earth, he was crucified,
oh he bear the sins of his own dear people, on the tree the
agony of his soul and he says and I if I be lifted up from
the earth will draw all men unto me This, he said, signifying
what death he should die. And so, dear friends, he says
to you and I, however long that we have left in this waste-howling
wilderness here below, whether it be short or whether it be
long, whether He is going to come whilst we are alive, or
whether we have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death. He says to you and I, 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 and remember Jesus,
your wonderful lover, has bought you with blood. Amen. May the Lord help us in singing
our final hymn, 461, to the tune 671. 461. Lord, dismiss us with
thy blessing. Fill our hearts with joy and
peace. Let us each, thy love possessing, triumph in redeeming
grace. Oh, refresh us. Oh, refresh us,
traveling through this wilderness. 461. Knowledge bestows with thy blessing,
fill our hearts with joy and peace. Let us teach thy love-possessing,
triumphant redeeming grace. O refresh us, O refresh us, traveling
through this wilderness. Thanks be given their doration
For life's most joyful sound. May the fruit of thy salvation
In our hearts and lives be found. May thy presence, may thy presence
with us evermore abound. So when e'er thee signals given
pass from earth to call away, Born on angels' wings to heaven,
Glad to lay the copper's clay. May we ready, may we ready, Rise
and reign to endless day. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God, the communion of the Holy Ghost, rest and abide
with us all, now and for evermore. Amen.