good evening everyone tonight's
message is called the day of the lord last week we finished
chapter 4 of first thessalonians and paul's subject in the last
two messages has been the blessed eminent return of our great god
and savior the lord jesus christ and we will see tonight that
paul by inspiration of the holy spirit of god will continue on
this wonderful glorious subject. Let's read together the first
11 verses of 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, where we will see
Paul is continuing to write to the saints at Thessalonica about
the day of the Lord, which is the second coming of Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5 verse 1, 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 the 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 she brethren are not in darkness
that that day should overtake you as a thief. You 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, and edify one another, even as also ye do. In this passage
of this epistle Paul continues with his declaration concerning
the coming of the Lord the day of the Lord to gather his saints
to him. Now in the days we live there are many who major on eschatology
in verses 13 from chapter 4 until verses 10 in this chapter they
use this portion to try to sell books and fill up conferences
with which they promote eschatology their view of the end times.
And we have seen clearly that this portion from verse 13 of
chapter 4 till verse 11 here in this chapter is speaking of
the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in our previous
studies, it's been made very clear that the Lord's coming
is not secret, but it's very public. It's a very public coming. we know that the scriptures say
all who are alive will see him both saved and lost to some those
who are his people who are alive at the time of his second coming
this will be a time of great joy now to others who despise
and reject the savior they will be calling on the mountains to
cover them but there'll be nowhere where they can hide from the
lion of the tribe of judah there be nowhere where they can hide
from the Lord Jesus Christ and His Great Second Coming. As we
saw last week in Paul's clearer language, when the Lord gathers
His elect to Himself, that is the entire family of God, they
will go to meet Him. and return with him to destroy
the enemy and make all things new. In the passage that we'll
look at today, Paul will again make it very plain what will
occur when the Lord comes. And it will not be a surprise
to the believer, but again, it will be very much a surprise
to the unbeliever. Let's look at verse 1 of 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5. But of the times and the seasons,
brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. Now take note
in verse 1 that Paul calls the believers at Thessalonica brethren. In the Greek, this word is defined
as brother. So let's read verse 1 with that
in mind. But of the times and the seasons,
brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you." Now when God's
preachers minister to our Lord's born-again blood-washed saints,
we call them our brothers and sisters in Christ. And this is
an endearing term. And this identifies us as a family
of believers. And it is the desire of God's
preachers to comfort God's children. to encourage one another, to
build one another up in the faith. We don't do that. We can't do
that by speculating on things that God has not been pleased
to reveal to us. Those that the Lord sends to
represent Him, we know how serious preaching the gospel is. And
this is what we teach. This is what we preach. And everything
that we teach, preach, or write must be proven from the Holy
Scriptures. The Scriptures declare in Isaiah
820 to the law and to the testimony If they speak not according to
this word, it is because there is no light in them. Now let
us remember also that the Thessalonian believers are facing heavy persecution
during this time. They are facing persecution for
their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, for what they believe. God has regenerated them, given
them faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and by the
power and will of God, They have turned from idols to serve the
living and true God. Now our great God does not save
us and then say, well, you're on your own now. No, beloved
of God, He comforts us with the truth, that He will never leave
us nor forsake us, and that He will ever be with us as we travel
through this world of sin and woe. And He also sends gospel
preachers, fellow sinners saved by the grace of God, to proclaim
the Word of God to His people. And God's people are comforted
by the Word of God as the Holy Spirit illuminates that word
for us. Now for the pastor to proclaim
that Christ will come again and that the dead in Christ will
be raised and that all living believers will be changed into
his likeness is necessary. Why? Well because these great
truths encourage our faith. and hope. It sets our minds on
the one thing needful at all times, and that is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Also, what comfort we can glean
from this great truth, the second coming of Christ, when we come
to die or when we come to bury loved ones, because this truth
encourages us in all trials in this life. Now, Paul brings forth
that to write about the time that the second coming of Christ
will occur in the season of the year that it will take place
in is unnecessary for the believer. Number one, because it would
be idle speculation to satisfy the curious. And number two,
the scriptures declare very clearly in Matthew 24, 36, that no man
knows the hour, the day, or the season. Listen to the words of the Master
on the Day of the Lord, the Second Coming of Christ in Matthew 24
verse 36, But of that day and hour knoweth no man. That means
no one. No one knows the hour or the
day. No man. Says, but of that day
and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, not
even the angels in heaven know when the second coming is going
to occur. So no man or woman on this earth
knows when the Lord is going to come back and not even the
angels in heaven. know when the Lord is gonna come
back. I'll read the scripture again in full. But of that day
and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but
my Father only. Now only God, only Jehovah knows
when the Son is coming back because he has determined that day. He
has determined that exact second when the Lord Jesus Christ will
return. And true believers do not wish
to know more than God is pleased to reveal to us. We simply rest
in His absolute sovereignty, don't we? We learn more and more
each day who is in control. And who is in control? Well,
Jehovah and Him alone. And He is the only one who knows
the hour and the day when Christ is going to return. Listen to
what Brother Tim James brings forth about the words times and
seasons in verse 1. He says, Paul speaks to the events
leading up to the coming of Christ. Though this is fodder for the
student of the last days, it is neither permission nor admonition
for the child of God to look at times and seasons in order
to guess a date for the Lord's coming. It is a reminder, brother
Tim James says, it is a reminder that as far as times and seasons
go, they know that all has been prophesied and fulfilled. And
the only thing that remains is the actual return of the Lord,
end quote. And that's what we wait for,
isn't it? That's what we wait for. We wait as believers for
the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have no idea
when that will be, but we are content to rest in the fact that
the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back. And we see in verse one
that Paul has no need to remind the believers at Thessalonica
of this fact because they know that this is true. They know
that our great God is coming back. They've been taught of
God that Christ is returning again. They do not have to know
the date or the season because God himself has promised that
Christ is coming back. Now turn if you would to Acts
chapter one, the angels spoke of his second coming at his ascension. Scripture declares the same Lord
who went up to glory is coming again. So what can we conclude
then as believers? Well, we can conclude that it's
a fact, that he is coming back. Now, no man we saw, no man knows
the hour of the day, not even the angels in heaven, but Jehovah
knows, the Father knows, the very one who sent Christ the
first time, he knows when Christ is coming back, because he has
set that time. Look at this in Acts chapter
one, we'll read verses six to 11. When they therefore were
come together, this has been the disciples, they asked of
him saying, Lord, Will thou at this time restore again the kingdom
to Israel? And he said unto them, It is
not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father
hath put in his own power. Very plainly spoken there. But
ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come
upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and
in Judea and in Samaria and unto the outer parts of the earth.
And when he had spoken these things, Well they beheld, he
was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while
they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold,
two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said ye men
of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus,
which is taken up from you into heaven, shall come in like manner,
as ye have seen him go into heaven. So we have a promise right there,
that this same Jesus, who ascended up to heaven, He's going to descend
back to this earth. And he's gonna come in the day
of the Lord. And no man knows the time. It says, look at verse
17 there in Acts chapter one. And he said unto them, it is
not for you to know the times of the seasons. So why speculate? No, it's in the father's hands.
All we are to do as believers in Christ is to look for his
appearing. We're not to speculate on the
time or the season of it. We're just to trust God. He said,
Christ is coming back. Christ himself said he'd come
back. The angels there in Acts 1.11 said he's coming back so
God's word tells us he's coming back so he's coming back and
that's why Paul wrote and said I don't have any need to write
to you about this because you already know this to be true.
Now let's read verse 2 of 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 with that in mind.
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh
as a thief in the night. Look at how Paul brings forth
the certainty of the second coming of Christ. And this is what the
brethren do not need for Paul to write about, because they
already believe he's coming back. They believe what the word of
God says. They've been taught this by the
Holy Spirit of God. And so this is what Paul is bringing
forth. This is what he asserts in verse
two. He tells the Thessalonians that they know this perfectly.
No information needs to be added to what they already know. Now
this verse before us, verse two, brother Tim James brings forth.
that the words thief in the night are like milk and honey to people
who hold to a secret rapture. Oh, and we know, we know they
sell lots of books on that, don't they? Oh man, these religious
folks, they get out there and they got all kinds of book series
on it and all kinds of things, and there's all kinds of theories
about the different things, and they have conferences which cost
money to go to, and oh, somebody's making a lot of money off all
this. Somebody's making a lot of money off all this. Beloved
God, given the context of the scriptures which we've looked
at here and what we've studied so far and what we will study,
we can clearly see that these words inspired by the Holy Spirit
of God are simply Paul's way of saying that the second coming
of Christ could happen at any moment. Nothing remains that
would prevent his coming. Turn if you would to Matthew
chapter 24. Listen to the words of the Master here in Matthew
chapter 24 where we read verses 36 to 39 in light of what we've
looked at so far. he can, but it will be at God's
exact timing. Look at this in Matthew 24 verse
36, But of that day and hour knoweth no man. No, not the angels
of heaven, but my father only. That's the verse we looked at
earlier. Look at that. But of that day, the day of the
Lord and hour knoweth no man. No, not the angels of heaven. So there's no man or woman on
this earth who knows when the Lord's coming back and the angels
in heaven don't even know. Only the Father knows. Now, you
can count it a surety. If anyone says that the Lord's
coming back on a certain day, they are not coming back because
only the Father knows the day and the hour of the Lord's return. Now, What is the scene at the
Lord's return? But as the days of Noah were,
so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the
days that were before the flood, they were eaten and drinking,
marrying and given 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. Now look at verses 38 and 39. When the flood came, men and
women were found eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.
They were so absorbed in their worldly pursuits that they utterly
disregarded Noah's repeated warnings of impending doom. They saw no
likelihood of a flood, and they did not believe that there was
any danger at all. But what happened? Well at last
the flood came, and it came suddenly, and it took them all away. All
that were not with Noah in the ark were drowned. They perished,
dying in their sins, unpardoned, unconverted, and unprepared to
meet God. And in verse 37, our Lord declares,
so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. We see also that
the believer in Christ is told by the master in verse 44 of
Matthew chapter 24 to be ready. This is why Paul says to the
saints that he has no need to write to the saints at Thessalonica
of these things, because those who are born again by the Holy
Spirit of God We await with eager anticipation the second coming
of Christ. Look at Matthew chapter 24 verse
44. Therefore be also ready, for
in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man cometh. Now
ready there in the Greek is prepared. Be prepared. Now wonder at this
precious truth, that we're made ready for glory by the Lord Jesus
Christ. In Colossians it said we're made
meat. which Paul wrote to the Colossian believers, which means
we're qualified for heaven. We're prepared for heaven. We're
clothed in the perfect spotless righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. God's saints are. His born-again blood-washed people
are. Therefore, we as believers eagerly await the second coming
of Christ, as we have nothing to fear. We have nothing to fear,
and we have glory to gain, all because of the complete, finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary. And praise be to
our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shed his
precious, precious blood to redeem the eternal souls of his people.
And all the saints of God for eternity will sing salvation
song in glory. Worthy is the lamb that was slain
to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor
and glory and blessing. Blessing and honor and glory
and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the
Lamb forever and ever. And we'll be singing that song
with the blood-washed saints of God, God's people, God's born-again
blood-washed believers on this earth. When we depart this earth,
we'll be singing that song with the saints of glory that went
before us. We'll be singing that forever and ever. All because
Christ is the one who made us to differ. All because His love
was set upon us from eternity. Let's read verse two again. It
says, For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh
as a thief in the night. Now God's apostle was reminding
the saints at Thessalonica that our Lord Jesus had given them
accurate understanding concerning his return. And when they heard
the gospel church preached from the preachers of our Lord sent
to them, they received them with gladness. These born-again, blood-washed
saints knew perfectly well that our Lord's return would be very
sudden. And they also knew that the unregenerate
would not be looking for Christ's return. They would not be looking
for that glorious day of the Lord. Just as the unregenerate
in the days of Noah were not looking for the flood, which
Noah warned them about. He said, there's a flood coming.
And they laughed him to scorn. Therefore, the unsaved during
the time of the second coming of Christ will not be expecting
our Lord's return. And our Lord's return will come
as a thief in the night to those who are still in darkness. Anyone
who knows what night a thief plans on stealing their goods
or breaking into their home They'd make preparations, wouldn't they?
They wouldn't be caught off guard. You and I wouldn't be caught
off guard if we knew that someone was planning on robbing our house
on a certain night. Well, we wouldn't be caught off
guard. We would not be caught unawares. And it would be a rude
awakening for the thief to find out that those he planned to
rob knew he was coming. But think of this. It would be
a rude awakening for those who were asleep when the thief came
and robbed them. Can you imagine how you'd feel
waking up some morning and finding out that someone had robbed you
while you slept? Could you imagine how you would
feel knowing that someone had come into your house and robbed
you while you lay there sleeping? Now consider what a rude awakening
it will be for those who have never been raised from their
sleep of spiritual death. For those who have never been
born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Think of how much it
will be a surprise at the second coming of Christ. Now let's read
verse 3 of this chapter. 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. Now let me
tell you this, outside of Christ there is absolutely no peace
with God. None. None. The Scriptures declare,
there is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked. Isaiah
48, 22. Now false religionists, they
think they have peace with God. Oh, they've prayed a prayer,
or they walked an aisle, or they believe that you have to be baptized
to be saved, or they believe there's something you have to
do, and they're ungodly preachers. They've deceived them with religious
lies that rob God of all his glory. and cause their hearers
to be filled with nothing but false hope. These people who
believe that they're saved by praying a prayer, by something
that they do, they have nothing but a refuge of lies. They are
trusted in their own works to get them to heaven, and they
deceive themselves when they foolishly and sinfully believe
what they are hearing from these false teachers of works-based
religion. And beloved of God, their eternal
souls are at stake. Yet they will not search the
Holy Scriptures to make sure that what they are hearing is
the truth. The Scriptures declare that they have no excuse. 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. Verses 10-12 says this, They
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
No, they believed a lie. Because it goes on to say, And
for this cause God should send them strong delusion, that they
should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed
not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Let me tell
you this, salvation is of the Lord, period. It's not of anything
we do. It's of the Lord. It's God who
saves. It's God who says, now we're made willing in the day
of his power, right? And we flee to Christ. But I'll
tell you what, if God didn't make us willing, we'd never come
to him. And there's also the ungodly who never darken the
door of a church building. They deceive themselves as well.
They all know they're going to die. They all know. People all
around us die every day. The older we get, the closer
to death we are. Yet the ungodly, they make no
preparations for eternity. Now they make preparations for
their retirement and they make preparation for things as they
get older. But I'll tell you what, I've seen people make preparations
for their retirement and then drop dead a week after they're
retired with no preparations for eternity. Now some foolishly
deceive themselves thinking that their good will outweigh their
bad on that great day of judgment. But you know what? They do not
believe the report of scripture. Because the report of scripture
proclaims there's none righteous, no not one. And that means nobody.
There's nobody who can make themselves righteous before God. So they
do not believe the report of scripture. And it also says,
the scripture says there's none that seeks after God. the report
of the scripture says there's none righteous on the top side
of this earth and there's none that seek it after God and unbelievers
have deceived themselves into thinking that there's good in
them and you hear them speak of peace and safety they say
well I've already taken care of all that and they promise
themselves much ease and peace and good health for years to
come and then suddenly death and judgment and the coming of
the Lord are upon them as in the days of Noah. Turn if you
would to Luke chapter 17, Luke chapter 17. And keep this in
mind again, our text says, sudden destruction cometh upon them
as a travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape.
Look at this, Luke chapter 17, we'll read verses 26 to 30. And as it was in the days of
Noah, so shall it also be in the days of the son of man. They
did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage,
until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came
and what? Destroyed them all. Likewise,
also as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank,
they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, but the
same day that Lot went out of the Sodom, it rained fire and
brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Look at what verse
30 says. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man
is revealed." Oh, that great coming, that great second coming
of Christ. And let's read our text again
in verse 3, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 3. Sudden destruction
cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child. and they
shall not escape. A woman who is with child knows
she's pregnant. No one has to tell her that.
She knows that there's coming a day when birth pains will come
upon her. She doesn't know the exact time
that they will hit her, but she knows they're coming. And the
day comes when she suddenly doubles over with excruciating pain.
This has to happen before a child's born. So it is with the wicked.
They know they're going to die. No one has to tell them that,
but the appointed time of their death will come suddenly. to
come upon them and no matter how much they struggle to stay
alive there's no discharge in that war. Sudden destruction
will come upon them and they'll go through that doormark death
and they'll lift up their eyes in eternal torment and they shall
not escape the wrath of God Almighty. So beloved of God look up, look
up beloved of Why? Because your redemption draweth
nigh. Comfort one another with the
certainty of our Lord's return, and the fact those he has saved
he will keep. And those he keeps, those he
saved, and those he keeps, here one day bring them home to glory
with him. And you know what? We'll be with
him forever, beloved. all because of his perfect sin-atoning
death on Calvary's cross as our substitute for his chosen blood-bought
people. Praise his mighty name, amen
and amen.