1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
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.
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.
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.
11: Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.
Paul & Co. knew the Thessalonians were already aware of and watching for the coming of the Lord. He didn’t need to tell them that it was going to happen. The Lord will come as a thief in the night (Matthew 24:42-43), meaning suddenly and without warning to those who are “asleep” and not watching for Him. They will be caught unaware. When they think there is peace and safety, the Lord will come, and their spiritual/eternal destruction will be evident and unescapable.
A pregnant woman knows the time will come for her to deliver the child but does not know the moment the labor pains will begin. However, concerning the coming of the Lord, those who are of the day—of the light—and not of the night or darkness will not be overtaken by that day unaware. The ones who are spiritually asleep, whose shameful deeds are done under the cover of night, will be unaware when the day comes and everything is exposed for what it really, and the wrath of God is poured out upon evil.
Those who are of the day are not spiritually asleep, but are alert, aware, and align their deeds with the light—pursuing what is good and godly—and are not destined to wrath but salvation. Paul mentioned the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of the hope of salvation. Faith, love, and the hope of our salvation are defensive pieces of armor that help us to guard our hearts and minds against the things that would harm us spiritually. Whether deception, discouragement, impatience of the Lord’s return, or anything else that would come to lead us astray into the darkness, we use our defensive armor to remain strong and steadfast.
Whether we are alive or have physically died at the time of the Lord’s coming, we will live together with Him. Paul said to encourage each other with these words, for some had become discouraged over the death of their loved ones, thinking there was no hope of salvation for them.
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.
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.
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.
11: Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.
***
Paul & Co. knew the Thessalonians were already aware of and watching for the coming of the Lord. He didn’t need to tell them that it was going to happen. The Lord will come as a thief in the night (Matthew 24:42-43), meaning suddenly and without warning to those who are “asleep” and not watching for Him. They will be caught unaware. When they think there is peace and safety, the Lord will come, and their spiritual/eternal destruction will be evident and unescapable.
A pregnant woman knows the time will come for her to deliver the child but does not know the moment the labor pains will begin. However, concerning the coming of the Lord, those who are of the day—of the light—and not of the night or darkness will not be overtaken by that day unaware. The ones who are spiritually asleep, whose shameful deeds are done under the cover of night, will be unaware when the day comes and everything is exposed for what it really, and the wrath of God is poured out upon evil.
Those who are of the day are not spiritually asleep, but are alert, aware, and align their deeds with the light—pursuing what is good and godly—and are not destined to wrath but salvation. Paul mentioned the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of the hope of salvation. Faith, love, and the hope of our salvation are defensive pieces of armor that help us to guard our hearts and minds against the things that would harm us spiritually. Whether deception, discouragement, impatience of the Lord’s return, or anything else that would come to lead us astray into the darkness, we use our defensive armor to remain strong and steadfast.
Whether we are alive or have physically died at the time of the Lord’s coming, we will live together with Him. Paul said to encourage each other with these words, for some had become discouraged over the death of their loved ones, thinking there was no hope of salvation for them.
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