Dedicated To The Men of God Who Preach the Word of God As It Is To Men As They Are

"Preach The Word"

Series On My Hope An Anchor
Message #7

Text: 1 Thess. 5:1-11

1 ¶ But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.

2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

3 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.

4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

6 ¶ Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

8 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.

9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

11 ¶ Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

The wonderful thing about knowing the Lord is the realization of what is ours because of what Christ has done for us, when He changed us and transformed us from darkness into His wonderful light. Paul the Apostle speaks of the "hope of salvation." There is a yet future aspect of our salvation that I am going to bring to your attention from this passage of Scripture that I have ready

If we had known the day the Lord saved us all that had happened, we would have been more stirred up than we were the day that God saved us by His matchless and marvelous grace.

This chapter specifically speaks of the Christians lifestyle and actions in light of that fact that Jesus is coming again. The right attitude toward Christ’s return will surely affect what we do as we live in this world from day to day as born again children of God.

The thought of Jesus coming again and the thoughts of the final aspect of our salvation being fullfilled is an exciting and thrilling thought.

Note:

Someone asked me recently, "Are you looking for signs of the Lord’s return." My reply was, "No, I am looking for the Lord Himself to descend from heaven to take His people to be home with Him. Jesus said, "That where I am, ye shall be also" (Jn. 14:3).

He speaks in verse 5 of the "Day of the Lord." If you follow that phrase in the Bible, you will discover that day is a time of wrath, judgment, and retribution toward mankind. I have no doubt that it refers to a future time of tribulation that will come upon the earth in a future day.

The "Day" is actually a period of time when the wrath of God is poured out upon planet earth. As I understand the Word of God, I see that day covering especially the last 3 ½ years of the tribulation period, or the time of Jacobs trouble.

The Bible speaks in Matthew 24:21 of a future day and says "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." You might say, "Preacher, we are undergoing tribulation now." The reality of things is that it is not the kind I see in the latter chapters of the Revelation. The Bible says several things are going to happen:

First seal opens- One on white horse comes to conquer

Second seal- Peace is taken from the earth.

Third seal- Famine comes upon the earth.

Fourth Seal- The rider on pale horse comes- death covers the earth.

Fifth Seal- There is a martyred remnant crying with a loud voice.

Sixth Seal- Anarchy comes upon the earth. Sun becomes back as sackcloth, moon becomes as blood, stars of heaven fall to the earth, and heaven depart as a scroll, and people cry for the rocks and mountains to fall upon them, to keep them from the wrath of the Lamb.

Seventh Seal- out of which the trumpets come

First trumpet- Hail and fire mingled with blood falls upon the earth– 1/3 of trees are burned up and all green grass.

Second trumpet- Great mountain burns with fire and is cast into the sea. The seas become blood. One third of all the creatures in the sea die–1/3 of all ships are destroyed

Third trumpet- Star called Wormwood falls from heaven burning as a lamp and falls upon a third part of the rivers and the fountains of waters. The waters become bitter and men die because of them.

Forth trumpet- 1/3 of sun is smitten, a third part of the stars, and a third part of the moon.

Fifth trumpet- Star falls from heaven to earth. Bottomless pit is opened up and locusts come from the earth and they have power to sting as a scorpion. They hurt those who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads. They torment men for five months. Men will seek death and cannot die.

Sixth trumpet- Four angels bound in the Euphrates were loosed and prepared to slay a third part of men upon the earth. There is an army of multiplied thousands of horsemen. A third part of men are killed by fire, brimstone and smoke.

Seventh trumpet- The kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ.

1^st Vial Sores come upon men who have the mark of the beast.

2^nd Vial- Seas become as the blood of dead men. Everything in the sea dies.

3^rd Vial- Rivers and fountains of water become blood.

4^th Vial- The sun scorches men and they curse and blaspheme God.

5^th Vial- The beasts kingdom is full of darkness and people knaw their tongues in pain.

6^th Vial- Water of the Euphrates dry up for the kings of the East, the armies of China, Asian counties to march into the Holy Land to gather the nation together for Armageddon.

7^th Vial- It is poured out in the air and a voice comes out of heaven and says, "It is done." There then will be voices, earthquakes, lightening, and thunder like men have never know. Great hail falls out of heaven weighing over a talent; that is each hailstone will weigh over 100 pounds.

That is what I believe the Bible teachings is coming upon the earth during the time of the Day of the Lord.

You had better thank the Lord you are saved and ready to go to be with the Lord. I would not want to be on the earth, when the seals are opened, the trumpets sound, and the vials of wrath are poured out upon this present earth.

We are going to look at the passage we have read to you and end up the thoughts with the "hope of salvation."

Let’s look at several things from this passage of Scripture:

What kind of days are we living in?

A. Expectant Days

People cannot help but feel that something big is about to happen. Some think aliens are going to invade, others think that the earth will be crippled by meteor showers that will fall to the earth, while Christians are just looking for Jesus to return to catch away His bride, for the purpose of taking them home to heaven.

I would not dare set a date, but I believe from what I see this Bible says, and from how I feel in my heart, that it will not be long until we are removed from this earth, and ushered into a perfect, heavenly world.

There is a lot of excitement and hype about the year 2000 and what it will hold. Will the Lord come? I am not about to say that He will when the year 2,000 strikes, but I have no doubt His coming is very, very near.

You had better pray-up, speak-up, and stand-up, because the Lord’s coming is nigh, even at the door.

B. Expensive Days

Just what it cost to live today makes you long for the Lord to come back and take you to a land where all is free and paid for through what Jesus did for us at Calvary.

There cost of living in this day and time is soaring out of sight. In heaven there will be no dentist bill, power bill, rent or housing bills–it will be a glorious and wonderful society.

Men are expressing in general that God means little or nothing to them. They had rather watch TV, boat, golf, or have some other thing going on the Lord’s Day that to go to church on Sunday morning or Sunday evening. They are saying, "Give me the world and you take Jesus." But I said, "Take the world and give me Jesus.

Some folks live as though God has not said what we have in His Holy Word. Some think things will simply go on as they are with little or no change.

There are going to be some drastic changes in a future day. The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:12, " Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? God will purge the heavens and the elements with fire and intense heat.

1 Thess. 5:4 says, "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.

The Day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night(1 Thess. 5:2). Jesus does not have character of a thief, His coming will be sudden and unexpected, like the coming of a thief to your house.

The Day We Are In

The Lord knew the pressures and battles we would face, so He gave us some things that will help provide a defense for us in the troublesome days just prior to the "Day of the Lord."

You recall how Paul was falsely accused and arrested. He appealed to Caesar and Rome. Finally he was to go to Rome. A great storm arose at sea. Those on board the ship were about to despair of life. But, the Apostle Paul said in Acts 27:25, "Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me." God had told him he would go to Rome and appear before Caesar. He knew God would get Him there.

We know God will get us to the desired port. We are sailing as the Old Ship of Zion- the church of the living God. We are on our way home.

Love is a product of the Holy Spirit of God- Read Gal. 5:22-23 and see the fruit of the Spirit of God.

If you are full of the Spirit and His fruit, then you can love the brethren. However if you are full of self and carnality all you will love is yourself.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 says, "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ."

A. Wrath of God As Revealed In Hell

Romans 5:9 says, "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." The wrath he refers to is the eternal wrath of God in a literal, horrible place called hell.

I do not plan on going through the tribulation. If you look at the chronology or sequence of events in the Book of the Revelation, you will discover that the door opens in heaven (Rev. 4), the church goes up, then the seal, trumpet and vial judgments occur.

God has not appointed His children to experience the time of wrath that is coming upon this earth one day. We are appointed to move into our mansion not made with human hands, eternal in the heavens. That is the appointment that you and I have as the saints of God.

IV The Promise We Believe

1 Thessalonians 5:10 promises us, "That whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him." That is better than a Sealy Posture-Pedic to sleep upon.

Paul said to die is to depart and be with Christ,which is far better. Not just better, but "far" better (Phil. 1:23). He said, "I am in a straight betwixt two----staying and departing.

A. Why Stay?

1. Our loved ones

2. Our labor for the Lord

3. Our love for life

B. Why Go?

1. Jesus is there.

2. Saved loved ones are there.

3. Unimaginable beauty is there.

4. There is no pain, heartache, trouble, misunderstanding,
    and many other undesirable things that are not there.

No bad news over there. That will be blessed!

1 Thessalonians 5:11, "Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do."

There is comfort when we look into the future. What if we had no idea what was coming and what the plan of God would be? It would be miserable.

Illustration:

It would be like a kid sitting under a Christmas tree wondering what is inside of every package, but not knowing a thing. That is torture! You what to know what is inside.

We do not know everything that is coming to pass, but thank God we know some of what is inside the package of God’s program.

When we speak of these coming things, we edify, or build up the people of God.

You say, "Preacher I am already saved." If you have been born of God that is true but there is more to it than meets the eye.

Rom.6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death (eternal separation from God) but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." I am as saved as I will ever be from the penalty of sin because Jesus bore the penalty of separation and suffering for me.

That is an ongoing process as long as we live on the earth.

What does that mean?

1. Removal from the results of the sin nature..

2. Removal the sin nature itself. If you and I still had a sin nature in heaven, it would not be a perfectly holy city. God is going to competely take care of the old Adam tendency. Nothing can enter heaven that can defile (Rev. 21:27).

My hope involves eventual removal from the very presence of sin.

Hope makes the future look bright for the saved.

Rejoice in your hope,

Rest because you have hope,

And let others know why you have hope for the future.

Sermon From Tom Walker
Zion Hill Baptist--Marion, NC-USA

Site created by Tom Walker