1 Thessalonians 5
The key takeaway from Chapter 5 is how to live while waiting for Jesus to return.
1 Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you.
2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.
3 While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.
It is no point trying to predict when the end will come. Some people waste a lot of time on trying to predict the end. Paul blithely says, “You have no need to know this.” Similarly, when people want to tell you why they think the world will end on a certain day, we too should say, “I have no need to know this.”
The only thing you can be sure of is that it will come. It will not be something that anyone can hide from or escape from.
However, it will not come when most people expect it. It will come when people have a sense of security. For them, it will come suddenly, not gradually.
Given knowledge of this, how should you be spending your time? The best thing to be doing is to be spending your resources (time, money, talent) wisely until the end comes.
4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief;
5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night, nor of darkness;
6 so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.
7 For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.
What does being alert and sober entail? It is contrasted with sleeping and getting drunk.
A person who is asleep – a person of the night, that is – is not aware of what is happening around him. He is not aware of the passage of time either. A person can harm him and he will not even realize it.
In the same way, a person who is not spiritually alert can be spiritually harmed and not even realize it.
A person who is drunk is in a similar situation, but he has brought this upon himself by his own folly.
If you are alert and sober, then you realize that you have a limited amount of time before Jesus returns, and you realize that each day must count. You know that you have a limited amount of time to gather up treasure for eternity. You do not waste too much time on your pleasures, but you work out your salvation and you serve God. If this is not happening then you are drunk or asleep, and the day of Christ’s return will overtake you like a thief.
So are you a son of the light or a son of the night? You must ask yourself this question honestly, and you must act upon your answer.
8 But since we are of {the} day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.
9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.
Paul now begins with a list of things to keep doing until Christ returns.
Our first obligation is to take heed to ourselves. Faith, hope and love are mentioned here as things that the sober person has. These are our defense against the attacks of the enemy. Faith and love protect our heart, and hope protects our mind.
11 Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.
Our second obligation is to encourage others and to build them up spiritually. That is how we accumulate treasure in heaven.
We must take this obligation seriously.
12 But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction,
13 and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.
Notice again how Paul makes a request instead of a command.
Our third obligation is to not make life difficult for those who are doing their second obligation by ministering towards us.
Those who minister are to be esteemed very highly in love – that is, we need to shower lots of love on those who serve us in the Lord, and not find fault with them and fight with them over miniscule things.
Are you someone who easily takes offense at some little thing the pastor mentioned in the sermon because some time ago he said something to expose you or embarrass you, and that turned you against him? Do you then go and tell others things to make the pastor look small? Over here, Paul is saying, “Stop doing that!”
14 We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
Again, Paul urges, and doesn’t command.
We must be patient with everyone. Everyone! Especially our children.
We must take time to understand where our brothers and sisters are spiritually, and then meet their need, admonishing when necessary, encouraging when necessary, and helping when necessary.
While doing this, if we don’t see them respond, we must not get upset with them, but be patient with them. People don’t respond immediately, and (like bacterial infections) most things need multiple doses of antibiotic to get rid of.
15 See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.
Our fourth obligation is to deal wisely with those who have done evil to us. Those who repay evil for evil escalate evil in the world, and make the world a worse place to live in. While waiting for Christ to return, we should not be making the world a worse place than it already is.
One wonderful thing about Christians is that we don’t repay evil for evil. We stop the escalation of evil in the world by not repaying evil for evil.
One way to examine what we do is to ask if it will bring good to others, both in the church and outside the church.
16 Rejoice always;
Always? You can only do this if you really believe that God causes all things to work for your good (Rom 8:28-30).
17 pray without ceasing;
How can one pray without ceasing? Only by having an attitude of dependence on God always.
Prayer is our means for tapping God’s resources. It is a marvelous benefit that we have, and we would be foolish to not use it while waiting for Jesus to return.
18 in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Give thanks in everything? Did Paul really mean ‘everything’?
Why is it God’s will for us to give thanks in everything? It only makes sense if everything in our lives is orchestrated by God.
If God is sovereign, and everything is orchestrated by God, then having a complaint about something is like finding fault with God.
Rejoicing and giving thanks while we struggle to overcome sin on earth is possible when we are full of hope, and are looking forward to being rid from the presence of sin, that is – looking forward to receiving a body that will never even be tempted to sin.
19 Do not quench the Spirit;
If God is using the circumstances around you to tell you something, and instead of paying attention to what God is trying to tell you, you start complaining about the situation, then you are quenching the Holy Spirit.
20 do not despise prophetic utterances.
21 But examine everything {carefully;} hold fast to that which is good;
How do you respond when someone speaks to you concerning spiritual things? Do you just ‘hear and forget’, or do you ‘ponder and practice’? The way you listen will make a huge difference in how much you advance spiritually as the years pass by.
We can also quench the Spirit by despising (and ignoring) prophetic utterances. You know, if someone reminds you of a word of Scripture, and instead of seriously considering it, if you ignore it and go about your way without thinking about it again then you are quenching the Spirit.
On the other hand, we don’t have to accept everything that a person says as something coming to us from the Lord. We are to examine everything (yes, everything) carefully and only hold fast to it if it is good.
How do we determine whether something is good? By knowing God’s word and comparing what they say with not just what is written, but with what is also written, just like Jesus did when Satan threw Scripture at him.
22 abstain from every form of evil.
What are the different forms of evil? A Christian must be sensitive to the presence of evil and abstain from it. Sometimes we have to flee evil. Other times we have to fight evil. But it is nicest when we can avoid evil in the first place.
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.
God is at work in us, to make us more like Christ (Php 2:13). It is God who sanctifies us.
The sanctification has to happen in spirit, soul and body.
Our goal should be to be blameless in every part – spirit, soul and body, so that all three will be preserved completely when Jesus returns.
When we abstain from evil then God will be faithful and sanctify us entirely. God will do His part, but we must also do our part.
25 Brethren, pray for us.
Paul was humble enough to ask the Thessalonians to pray for them. He didn’t think that God only answers his prayers because he was so spiritual and these Thessalonians were not as spiritual as him.
26 Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss.
In today’s culture, Paul would be asking us to great each other with a firm handshake or a warm smile.
27 I adjure you by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brethren.
Paul wanted to make sure that everyone in the church heard the message of this letter because there were specific things for specific people in the letter.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Paul’s final desire was that they remain on God’s side. After all, that is the most important thing.
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