MOVING TO MY NEW HOUSE
1 Thessalonians 5:1–28
SIGNS PRIOR TO CHRIST RETURN
V:1. Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, \”Peace and safety,\” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
A. Paul is following his discussion of the second coming of the Lord
In chapter 4.
1. Jesus will come again and take the entire body of believers, the
dead in Christ first and than all who are alive to be with Him for
an eternity in heaven.
2. Following that will be a seven year tribulation period during which
Satan will deceive the world
a. There will be three and half years of peace in which Satan will
establish himself as the world leader, the antichrist, commanding
worship of him alone.
b. The next three and a half years Christ will be a war with Satan where
there will be wide spread destruction over the entire world.
Daniel 9:25-27 and Revelations 12:6-9
B. From time to time some religious organizations will claim an
exact date of the end getting prepared to exit the world.
only to find out they were wrong as the day passes.
1. This group is prepared for the end of the world, they got
the date wrong.
2. According to the text no one knows when Christ will return
because He will come as a thief in the night.
3. There is a second group who will not be concerned about the second
coming of Christ.
4. When Christ returns, unbelievers will see peace in the world.
5. According to the text while some see peace, the signs of Christ’s
impending return will be in plain sight.
6. In Mark 13 Christ gave us the signs
Mark 13:8
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will
be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of
birth pains.
7. It is my belief that we have all those signs today.
8. We must remember to God a day is as a thousand years.
OUR POSITION IN CHRIST, DAY PEOPLE
V:4. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.
A. Paul describes two types of people; brothers and sisters in Christ and
brothers and sister in darkness.
1. There are believers and non believers.
2. There are those we live in the light of Jesus Christ.
3. There are those who are totally influenced by Satan, and
live in darkness.
4. There are those who know the truth.
5. There are those who live by the lies of Satan.
B. All believers are sons of the light.
1. Since we know Christ can return at anytime, we should be
ready to meet Him in the sky.
2. We should be in a state of readiness for Christ return.
a. Be alert, on the look out for Christ’s return.
b. Be self controlled, live a life of righteousness
c. Get rid of every hindrance that draws you away from the
light.
LIVING IN THE LIGHT
V:8. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
A. Self controlled is the wiliness to be obedient to the Word.
1. Put on the full armor of Christ. Ephesians 6:11-18
2. Our armor is not physical, but spiritual.
a. Faith and love as a breastplate
The Roman breastplate covered a soldier from his neck to his waist and
protected most of his vital organs (cf. Eph 6:14). That is what
Christians\’ faith and love does that to our heart.
Faith in God protects inwardly and love for people protects outwardly.
These two graces cannot be separated; if one believes in God he will also
love other people (cf. 1 Thess 1:3; 3:5). These attitudes equips
Christians to stand ready for the Rapture.
b. Hope of salvation as a helmet
Hope is the confident expectation of God fulfilling His
promises.
The hope of salvation guards our heads from attacks on our
thoughts.
The salvation we look forward to is deliverance from the wrath to
come, when the Lord returns.
(from Bible Knowledge Commentary/Old Testament Copyright © 1983,
2000 )
GODLY BEHAVIOR
V:12. Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
A. God gave us pastors, men after His own heart.
1. We are commanded to respect our pastors.
2. We are commanded to hold our pastor is highest regard.
3. We are commanded to be in love with our pastors because
of their work.
4. These are not options, they are commands from God.
B. We are commanded to live in peace with everyone.
1. We are to summit ourselves to the admonishment of the pastor.
2. Admonish means to reprove gently or warn.
3. One of the jobs of the pastor is to push us into the same mind
as Christ.
RESPONSIBILITY TO EACH OTHER
C. Paul highlights our responsibility to each other.
1. We have an attitude of not getting in anyone’s business.
2. We also have the attitude of not wanting anyone in our
business. In fact, Paul tells us to mind our own business.
( 1 Thessalonians 4:11)
Our business is the growth and development of every Christian.
3. In love, we are to be counselors to each other.
. The word idle means unruly or disorderly.
a. Those who neglect their duties, should be stirred to action.
b. God never told anyone to sit down and He would bring
them a plate.
Jesus prepares a table before us. But we have to do the work
to get to the plate.
c. All of us have been given gifts and talents to serve.
4. We are to encourage the weak.
a. Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we are to
come along side the weak with support.
5. We are to work on our attitude of patience.
a. Everyone of us are unique and grow at different rates.
b. We have to learn to be tolerant of others as we
promote their spiritual growth.
6. Leave vengeance to the Lord, not paying eye for an eye.
a. Be the bigger person showing kindness to everyone.
PURSUE HABITUAL GODLINESS
V:16. Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God\’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
19 Do not put out the Spirit\’s fire; 20 do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil.
A. Be joyful always.
1. My Dad had a saying that sticks with me:
“ Everyday is a Holiday if you want it to be.”
There is a way to make the best out of each day.
2. Being joyful is not the absent of sadness or problems. It is being able
to see the good in your circumstances.
B. Pray continually.
1. Prayer is our direct line of communication with God.
2. Prayer gives us access to God’s power.
3. The prayers of a righteous man avails much.
4. God knows your situation but He requires you to trust Him.
C. Be thankful and grateful for all situations
1. If you start your day off being thankful, you will see the good
in your situation.
2. God promises to make circumstances turn out for your good.
3. It is God’s will that we go through the circumstance of life.
D. Do not put out the Holy Spirit fire in you.
1. It is the Holy Spirit that warms the hearts, enlightens our minds
and powers the righteous behavior in our lives.
2. It is the Holy Spirit that guides and directs right decisions.
3. It is the Holy Spirit guides our understanding of God’s Word.
4. It is the Holy Spirit that comforts us in troubled times.
5. It is the Holy Spirit that convicts us of our sins.
6. It is the Holy Spirit that bring God’s Word to our
remembrance for daily use.
7. The Holy Spirit indwells us and is the God in us.
8. There is a difference between the indwelling of the spirit
and being filled with Spirit.
a. The indwelling of the Spirit takes place the moment you
accept Christ as your personal Savior.
b. The filling of the Holy Spirit is being submissive to the
direction of the Spirit on a daily basis.
9. Without the Holy Spirit, there is no power to do God’s work.
DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT TO EACH OTHER
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
A. We must see God as the author of peace.
1. He is not the God of confusion.
2. He is not the God of distress.
3. He is not the God of sadness
4. He is not God of your hurts.
5. He is the GOD OF PEACE
B. God wants the very best for us.
1. He wants us sanctified through and through.
That pushes out all sin
That clothes us with love
2. Watch this, three parts to us, we got a spirit, soul and a body
a. The spirit is our connection with God.
b. The soul is the seat of all our emotions.
c. The body is the temple of the spirit and the soul.
d. When we don’t respect our bodies, we are destroying
the temple.
C. When Jesus shows up the Father wants us blameless.
1. The only way to be blameless is to submit yourself to the
Holy Spirit and let Him order your steps.
2. You been called by God to be in the body of Christ.
a. You didn’t choose Him, He chose you.
b. God chose you for this pandemic.
3. Jesus is faithful and will do it.
a. Do what?
b. At His second coming, Jesus will step out on a cloud
and change you in an instant to immortality to be with
with Him though out eternity.
OUR DAILY OBLIGATIONS
V:25. Brothers, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27 I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
A. We are commanded to pray for our pastor.
1. It is so important that God repeats it over and over.
2. The devil is ready to do battle with our pastor.
3. The adversary don’t like the idea of our pastor lifting
up Jesus.
4. We got to be there with our pastor supporting his lifted hands.
B. We are commanded to greet each other with a holy kiss.
The holy kiss denotes affection with kindness and love.
1. We do that when we meet on zoom.
2. What about the members that don’t show up on zoom?
a. Have we reached out to them?
b. It our responsibility. It is in the text.
C. It is up to us to share the Word taught with other members not
in our classes. It is in the text.
1. We must pray God’s favor on the Church body.
2. Joy, peace and prosperity is a good prayer, in Jesus name.
IN SUMMARY; GETTING READY FOR HEAVEN
KNOW THE SIGNS OF CHRIST RETURN
KNOW YOUR POSITION IN CHRIST; DAY PEOPLE
LIVE IN THE LIGHT
PURSUE GODLY BEHAVIOR
ENCOURAGE BROTHERS AND SISTERS
Rev. M. Mitchell
