Good evening everyone. Tonight's
message is called Children of Light. Turn if you would to the
book of 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Tonight we'll be reading verses
1 to 7. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verses
1 to 7. 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 the 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. Now, last week, we looked at
verses one to three of First Thessalonians, chapter five,
where we considered the day of the Lord, which is the second
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is continuing to speak on
this topic that he started in chapter 4. Now he speaks of the
day of the Lord in chapter 5. In verse 2, Paul, by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit of God, brings forth that the second coming
of Christ, the day of the Lord, will come as a thief in the night.
The words, as a thief in the night, is Paul's way of saying
that the coming of Christ could happen at any moment or that
nothing remains that would prevent his coming. The believer, The
born-again blood-washed believer has been taught this wonderful
truth of the certainty of Christ's coming. And verse 2 brings forth
that for the unbeliever, it will be a surprise. The reason that
it will be a surprise to them is that they're not looking for
his return. Now, God's people were eagerly awaiting the return
of Christ. But the unbelieving world, they
refused to consider the approaching storm of God's judgment and wrath.
which will fall upon this world and will fall upon all sinful
men and women outside of Christ. And there will be no escape for
the wicked in that day. And yet the believer in Christ
has nothing to worry about, nothing to fear, because just as Noah
and his family were safe in the ark when the flood came, God's
people are safe in Christ when the wrath and judgment of God
fall upon this world and fall upon sinners outside of Christ. And His coming, the Lord Jesus
Christ's coming, will be a surprise to those that are at ease, because
they are in darkness right now. And this darkness spoken of here
is the darkness of their unregenerate state, which has closed their
eyes to the glorious light of the gospel. Only by the power
of God can they be given eyes to see Christ and to hear the
wondrous message of salvation in and through Christ alone.
Now, the first time our Lord came, At His advent, He came
as the suffering servant and the Savior of His people. We
see clearly in this text, though, He's coming as judge and Lord
over all. And He was Lord over all when
He came to this world. He's King. He's born King, but
He's coming back now as a judge. Now the unbeliever is in a state
of spiritual darkness and death right now. And they will be blindsided,
those who are alive at the return of Christ, The unbelieving world
who is alive at the return of Christ will be blindsided by
the return of Christ, and sudden destruction shall come upon them,
and none, no one outside of Christ shall escape his wrath and his
judgment upon sin. But the born-again blood-washed
believer in Christ, for them it's not so. For them, the return
of Christ will be the conclusion of all that they have anticipated
since they first heard the glorious gospel of peace, the glorious
gospel of salvation in and through Christ alone. the glorious gospel
of a complete full salvation which has been secured by Christ
Jesus our Lord when he shed his precious blood to redeem his
people from all their sins on Calvary's Cross. And this glorious
gospel is all according to the free grace and goodness of God.
With that in mind, let us read verses four to six of this chapter. But ye, brethren, are not in
darkness. Now Paul again is writing to born-again blood-washed believers.
And he says to them, 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. For they that sleep,
sleep in the night, and they that be drunken, are drunken
in the night. Now note in verse 4, Paul uses
this title for the saints, for the blood-washed believers. At
Thessalonica he uses the title brethren. Notice in verse 4 he
says, but ye brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should
overtake you as a thief. who are all brothers and sisters
in Christ. And it's a word that includes
all those who have been delivered from the power of darkness, both
male and female. The Greek word for brethren speaks
of unity. It generally denotes a fellowship
of life based on identity of origin. Also, I found this interesting. It says for brethren, one of
the same nature. One of the same nature. Look
at verse 1 of chapter 4 and we see this word used in that context. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse
1. Furthermore then, we beseech
you, brethren, those saints who have been born again, those saints
who are one in nature. They are born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. They have a new nature. Furthermore, then, we
beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as
you have received of us how you ought to walk and to please God,
so you would abound more and more. Note in verse 4 of 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5, that the believer in Christ is no longer in darkness. We see this clearly brought forth
in this verse. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse
4, But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should
overtake you as a thief. Now, the darkness spoken of here
in verse four is speaking of our natural state when we were
dead in trespasses and sins. And what a miracle of grace regeneration
is, which means being born again. What a miracle of grace it is.
It takes us from darkness to light. It takes us from our dead,
natural state, spiritually dead, to being alive in Christ. to
being born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Now listen to
these verses in scripture in light of that. And note who is
doing the work of transformation, regeneration from darkness to
light. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse
6 the scripture says this, For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. All the born-again blood-washed
believers in Christ are children of light, because our Lord Jesus
Christ Himself has commanded His light to shine in our hearts,
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Now in creation of this world
God made something out of nothing. It was He who commanded the light
to shine in the darkness. So also in the new creation in
Christ. God makes something out of nothing
and commands the light, Christ who is the light, to shine in
our darkened hearts to give us the knowledge of God in His glory. I'll read that verse again in
2 Corinthians 4 verse 6. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of the darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. The light of Christ is the first
thing in the new creation. The conviction of sin, the honoring
of the law, the satisfaction of God's justice and faith in
Christ are all accomplished in the sinner in relation to Christ
Jesus by the power and might of God, the Holy Spirit. Listen
to this verse in 1 John 5, 20. And we know that the Son of God
has come and hath given us an understanding that we may know
him that is true. We are in him that is true, even
in his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God in eternal
life. God's people know that the Son
of God has come. God's people know that the Lord
Jesus Christ has come. We know that He's given us an
understanding, that we may know Him that is true, that we may
know God, and we are in Him. We are in Christ. He's the head
and we're the body. And this is the true God in eternal
life. Even our spiritual growth, even
as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, from the
new birth to perfect conformity in Christ, when we get the glory,
the whole of the work of redemption is relative to Christ in Him
alone. And it's all by the power of God, the Holy Spirit. Listen
to these verses in Psalm 107, verses 13 to 15. Then they cried
unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their
distress. That's what the Lord does for
us. We're showing our sinfulness, we as believers. The Holy Spirit
shows us our sinfulness, reveals our sinfulness to us. And we
cry out to the Lord, don't we? We cry out in trouble. Oh, we're
in trouble when we see the awfulness of our sin when we see how we're
guilty before a holy and righteous God. And what's it say? He saved them out of their distress.
Oh, we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God, all by the power
and will of God. And then it says this in Psalm
107, 14. He bought them out of darkness. Oh, there we go. He
bought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and break
their bands and sunder. Oh that man would praise the
Lord. for his goodness and for his
wonderful works to the children of man. Note that statement in
Psalm 107 verse 14. He bought them out of darkness
and the shadow of death and break their bands in sunder. Beloved,
this is what God has done for his born again redeemed people.
His darkness here brings forth the sphere of the unconverted
life, the natural man in darkness. Oh, what darkness that is, and
oh, what darkness the darkness of sin is. We were ignorant of
God. We were unaware of the perfect
sin-atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We were unaware
in our natural state in the darkness of the regenerating power of
God, the Holy Spirit. We were unaware of all these
things. And what darkness we were in,
it was an intellectual darkness, It was a darkness of our understanding. It was a darkness of our heart
and of our will, which act and react upon one another. And darkness
of the heart results in darkness of the understanding. You know,
in our natural state, we were dead in trespasses and sins,
guided by a dead nature, veiled in darkness. Now looking at this
state, there's no human help, no human ability that can change
that state. But oh, the mighty power of our
great God. He can take one who walks in
darkness and bring them into the light, which is the light
of Christ Jesus our Lord, as salvation is in Him, in Him alone. Listen to this wonderful verse
in the book of Isaiah. Oh, this is wonderful. Isaiah
42, verse 16. And I will bring the blind by
a way that they knew not. I will lead them in paths that
they have not known. I will make darkness light before
them and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them
and not forsake them. Oh, listen to that again. Isaiah
42, 16. And listen to the I wills of God here. And I will bring
the blind by a way that they knew not. That's God who would
do that. God alone can do that. We were
blind, weren't we? Spiritually blind. And we were
bought by a way that we knew not. We were made willing in
the day of God's power. And he goes on to say, I will
lead them in paths that they have not known. Oh, we now walk
in the way, don't we? We walk in the way. We're children
of light. We were once children of the
darkness. Now we're children of the light. We walk in paths
that we never knew before. Oh my. And it says, I will make
darkness light before them. Look at that. Oh, we used to
grope around in the darkness of our sin, didn't we? Not knowing
anything, not knowing anything, doing that which we thought was
right in our own eyes. And God says here, I will make
darkness light before them. And oh, he's lighted the way,
hasn't he? And Christ is the way. And he
says, and I'll make crooked things straight. Well, has he not done
that? Oh, we were lame by a fall, beloved.
We were lame by a fall. And oh my, the Lord has restored
us. We're born again by the almighty
power of God. He's done this. He says, I will. And he's done that, hasn't he,
for the believer. He's done that for every single believer. And
he says this, these things will I do unto them and not forsake
them. Oh my, I was talking to a dear
brother on the phone this morning. And we were just rejoicing in
the fact that despite our sinfulness, the Lord Jesus Christ will never
leave us nor forsake us. What a glorious God we have. Not only does he save us by his
precious, precious blood given his life for us, not only are
we regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, but beloved,
we are kept by the power of kept by the power of God all according
to His will and His purpose. And all we can say is praise
His mighty name for His goodness and His grace towards us. Now
let's read verses 4 and 5 of 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. The
scripture declares, are not in darkness, that that day should
overtake you as a thief. Look at verse five. Ye are all
the children of light and the children of the day. We are not
of the night nor of darkness. Look at verse five, beloved of
God. Look at verse five and rejoice. You're all the children of light
and the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of
darkness. Again, I'll read that verse that
I quoted in 2 Corinthians 4, 6. For God, God did this for
God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has
shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God did that.
And all of God's children are of the day. They're all children
of the gospel day. And this is what distinguishes
us from those that are steeped in religious darkness and in
natural darkness. And it is true that in our unregenerate
state, we were in that same spiritual darkness. That's why I say, never
forget the pit that we were in. Never forget the rock that we
were hewn from. We were all there. We were by
nature children of wrath. even as others, but under the
preaching of his glorious gospel, under the preaching of the glorious
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's gospel. It is God who has
enlightened our minds to the truth concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is God who has enlightened
our minds to the perfect redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh, and it's God who's who's done this. And it's God who's
showing us that Christ's perfect redeeming work was done for his
promised children, those who were given to him by the Father
in the eternal covenant of grace before time began. And it is
God, it is God and God alone who chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world. And by the gift of God's faith,
we see Jesus Christ as the living true God, who he really is, our
creator. who became a man so that he could
redeem us, so that he could purchase us with his own precious blood,
so that he could satisfy the holy justice of God that was
against us by suffering and dying in our room and place. Our Lord
Jesus Christ had to become a man before he could suffer the wrath
of God as our substitute. And true saving faith also sees
the Lord Jesus Christ, the God man, on his throne in glory right
now. not only as our High Priest who
intercedes on our behalf, not only as our Blessed Surety who
will never allow any of His sheep to perish, but we also see our
Risen King as Jehovah God, our Sovereign Lord, ruling over the
whole universe and everything in it for the good of His people
and for His glory, beloved. And brethren, rejoice, we're
no longer in darkness. By God's sovereign, irresistible,
drawing power, we have come by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ,
the true and living God, who by himself purged our sins, all
of them, past, present, and future. And God has shined in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ to his people. The true light now shineth, and
we have access to God in and through Christ Jesus who is the
light, and we walk in His ways as He leads us and guides us
through this world of woe upon His path. We have the light and
the knowledge of God as He has revealed Himself to us. We who
were once in darkness and knew Him not, He has given us eyes
to see Him by faith. and ears to hear his voice through
the preaching of the gospel. And this is truly an act of the
free and sovereign grace of God. And God did this for us. Again,
the natural man's understanding is darkened with respect to the
true knowledge of God. The natural man's understanding
is darkened with respect to the nature of sin. natural man's
understanding is darkened with respect to the way of salvation
by Christ in him alone, and the natural man's understanding is
darkened with respect to the second coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and also the natural man's understanding is darkened
with respect to the eternal glory of God, and to the eternal condemnation
of Christ-rejecting sinners. Listen to this in Ephesians chapter
4, verses 17 to 19. This I say, therefore, and testify
in the Lord that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk
in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through ignorance that
is in them because of the blindness of their heart. That was where
we were. That was where we were before the Lord saved us. It
goes on to say, who being past feeling, have given themselves
over unto lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness.
That's the natural state of man. But beloved of God, rejoice.
We have been called out of darkness and born again by the Holy Spirit
of God, all by the power of God and by the will and purpose of
God. And we are not in darkness. Therefore,
we live in expectation, looking for the return of Christ. Look
at First Thessalonians chapter one, verses nine and 10, for
they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had
unto you and how you turn from idols to serve the living and
true God. Now, these Thessalonian believers,
these Gentile believers, They used to worship idols, idols
of stone and wood and whatever they could make it out of. Now
it says here that they've turned from idols to serve the true
and living God, the true and living God, the one true living
God. And now what do they do? Look
at verse 10. And to wait for his son from heaven, whom he
raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath
to come. God's people wait. for the return of the Lord Jesus
Christ from heaven. Now over in 2 Corinthians 4,
let's turn there. 2 Corinthians 4, we're gonna
read verses three to seven. I've already read verse six,
but I wanna read the context that that verse is found in.
Because it's God who has done this great and mighty work. It's
God who calls us children of light, which we saw in our text,
and it's God who's made this so. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter
4 verses 3-7, But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that
are lost. We have no understanding of the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ before we are saved. It is hid
from us. Look at verse 4, In whom the God of this world hath
blinded the minds of them which believe not, so the unregenerate
are blind to the things of God. Lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto
them. Now look at what Paul says is
most important for the gospel preacher to preach. For we preach
not ourselves. This is how you find out if one
is a gospel preacher or not. Who gets the glory? So this says,
for we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and
ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, now here's who's
done the work. Joe Terrell and I were talking
yesterday and he said, we do what we're told to do as gospel
preachers. We get up and we preach Christ Jesus our Lord. We leave
the results in God's hands. And look at this, the verse brings
that forth. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6, For God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Look at that. It's God's work.
It's not man's work. It's God's work. For we have
this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power
may be of God and not of us. So we who are the people of God
are regenerated born-again persons, whose understanding has been
enlightened by the Holy Spirit of God concerning the person
and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ." Turn, if you would,
to Ephesians 1, where we read verses 17 to 23. And we will see this brought
forth. Ephesians 1, verse 17. that the
God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give
unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of him. Now look at that, that God may
give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation. The eyes of your
understanding being enlightened. Remember, we saw over there in
2 Corinthians 4, verse 4, that the God of this world has blinded
the minds of them which believe not. Well, look at this. See,
we're no longer blind. At one time our understanding
was blinded. Look at this, the eyes of your
understanding being enlightened that you may know what is the
hope of his calling. and what the riches of the glory
of His inheritance in the saints. And what is the exceeding greatness
of His power to us who believe according to the working of what?
His mighty power, not man. Man has no power at all. Man
has no ability. If we're saved, it's according
to the working of His mighty power, of God's mighty power,
which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and
set Him at His own right hand in heavenly places. far above
all principality and power and might and dominion, in every
name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that
which is to come. Look at that. He hath put all
things under his feet. Now look at that. He has all
dominion. He has all power. And given him to be head over
all things to the church, which is his body. the fullness of
him that filleth all in all. Beloved of God, we who are the
people of God are children of the lights, made so by the power
of God Almighty. We are children of the gospel
day, in distinction from the religious darkness or natural
darkness which the unbelieving world is in. Therefore, let us
not be in a sleepy, indifferent frame of mind and spirit like
the unbelieving world. Let us not be taken up with the
cares and concerns of this world, but let us set a watch over our
hearts. Let our faith be set upon Christ. Let our fellowship be with our
dear brothers and sisters in Christ. And let us live as temporary
citizens of this world, because we are travelers who are just
passing through this world of woe. And we desire a better country
that is a heavenly country. where our God is, where the one
who purchased us with his own precious blood dwells, where
we will see our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, our
surety, our great God face-to-face one day, and so shall we forever
be with him, all because of the grace and mercy of God. Glory to his name. Amen and amen.