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Jesus Is Coming Soon – Part
2
Introduction:
Recently, we began
looking at this section of 1 Thessalonians. And I suggested that the
theme is that “Jesus Is Coming Soon.” We discovered that in chapter 4,
beginning with verse 13, Paul Pointed to a Catching Away in This
Passage. Now we’re going to look at the first three verses of chapter 5
where Paul Pointed To A Cataclysm (Or Catastrophe) In This Passage. The
signal phrase for this cataclysm is “the day of the Lord” in verse 2.
The important biblical term the day of the Lord describes God’s
cataclysmic future judgment on the wicked. It will be the time when God
pours out His fury on the wicked. Paul had preached the sobering truth
about the Day of the Lord to the Thessalonians during his relatively
brief stay in their city (2 Thessalonians 2:5). After he left, questions
arose in their minds about both the Rapture and the Day of the Lord.
Having answered their questions about the Rapture in the previous
passage (4:13-18), Paul now dealt with the Thessalonians’ concerns about
the Day of the Lord. From the blessed event of the catching away of the
church, Paul turned to the horrible event that follows it—the
destruction of the wicked rejecters of the Lord Jesus Christ. The key to
understanding this passage is to consider carefully the personal
pronouns involved in the discussion. Mark them carefully. Note the two
classes. There are those addressed as I, ye, you, yourselves, we, and
us. These pronouns embrace believers, those who are candidates for the
Rapture. In contrast with this group, Paul referred to another group by
using the personal pronouns they and them. Saints and sinners will thus
stand out in evident contrast—saints destined to be caught away from the
coming wrath and sinners destined to be caught up in the
turmoil
of coming wrath. So then, the Catastrophe that Paul is talking about
here is called in verse 2, “the day of the Lord.” And “The Day of the
Lord is that time when God will judge the world and punish the nations.”
I.
THE ASPECT OF A
TIMETABLE
(V.1)
A.
There Is A Specific
Meaning Associated With These Terms Of
Time
“Times” – suggests the passing moments of
time. “Seasons” – suggests the particular markers in time. Note the
meaning of “times” and “seasons.”
⇒ “Times” (chronon)
means chronological time, the events that follow one another and roll in
and away from one another. Paul had already covered the times, the order
of events that were to happen in the end time.
⇒ “Seasons” (kairon)
means the particular time and the nature of the events that are to take
place. Paul had already covered the critical events and discussed what
would be happening in the events.
Taken together, the two terms suggest that
the Thessalonians were curious about the timing of the end-time events.
That both nouns are plural indicates that many different time periods
and events (e.g., the Rapture, the rise of Antichrist, the salvation of
Israel, the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments, the Second Coming, the
battle of Armageddon, the sheep and goat judgment, the binding of Satan,
the millennial kingdom, the loosing of Satan and subsequent worldwide
rebellion at the end of the Millennium, the Great White Throne judgment,
and the new heavens and the new earth) make up the end times.
Specifically, the congregation wanted to know when the Rapture and the
Day of the Lord would take place.
(This expression) “the times and the seasons”
repeats (Acts 1:7)
“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.”
Jesus’ statement in Acts 1:7 leads us to the next point that I want to
emphasize, namely that…
B.
There Is A Secretive
Mystery Associated With These Terms Of
Time
(1 Thess. 5:1) (Acts 1:7). The Thessalonians
did not need to know when the Day of the Lord would come; they already
knew all that God intended them to know.
·
Being spiritually prepared for the return of Christ does not involve
date setting, clock-watching, or sign seeking.
God has chosen not to reveal the specific
time of end-time events so that all believers will live in constant
anticipation of them. Our duty is, not to pry into the times and seasons
which the Father hath put in his own power (Acts 1:7), but to exercise
constant watchfulness.
·
Jesus left no doubt about the futility of playing the dating game when
he told his disciples three times in Matthew 24 not to go there:
-- “But
about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor
the Son, but only the Father (Matthew 24:36).
--
“Therefore keep watch because you do not know on what day your Lord will
come” (Matthew 24:42).
--
“The Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him”
(Matthew 24:44b).
II.
THE
ABRUPTNESS OF A
THIEF (V.2)
A.
The
Discernment
That We Have Of This Time Of Judgment
“For yourselves know perfectly.”
What the Thessalonians already knew full
well was that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the
night—suddenly, unexpectedly, unwelcomed, and
harmfully. The Thessalonians knew for certain that the Day of the Lord
will arrive unexpectedly. Obviously, then, the time of its arrival will
not be revealed; no sane thief announces in advance what time of the
night he plans to rob someone.
B.
The
Description
That We Have Of This Time Of Judgment
“…the
day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”
·
Jesus described the actions of a thief in…
(John 10:10)
“The thief cometh not,
but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might
have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
In the Olivet
Discourse—Jesus’ own sermon on His second coming—He used the imagery of
a thief in the night to refer to the unexpectedness of His return:
(Mt 24:43)
“But
know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the
thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his
house to be broken up.”
·
Like the Day of the Lord, the exact time of the Second Coming will not
be revealed, though there will be signs that Christ’s return is imminent
(Matthew 24:4-33).
Jesus put every generation on notice that
they must live in expectation of His return and the events of the Day of
the Lord that lead up to it. The metaphor of a thief coming is never
used to refer to the Rapture of the church. It describes the coming of
the Lord in judgment at the end of the seven-year Tribulation period,
and the judgment at the end of the thousand-year kingdom of Christ on
earth (2 Peter 3:10). A thief coming is not a hopeful, joyful event of
deliverance, but an unexpected calamity.
III.
THE
ANALOGY OF
TRAVAILING (V.3)
A.
The
Ignorance
That Is Indicated
they shall say, Peace (means a quietness) and
safety (means security or certainty); then sudden destruction cometh
upon them
·
(Matthew 24:37-39)
“But
as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
{38} For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark, {39} And knew not until the flood came, and took
them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
·
The impenitent and wicked world will be sunk in carnal security when he
comes.
They will regard themselves as safe. They
will see no danger. They will give no heed to warning. They will be
unprepared for his advent. So it has always been. It seems to be a
universal truth in regard to all the visitations of God to wicked people
for punishment, that he comes upon them at a time when they are not
expecting him, and that they have no faith in the predictions of his
advent. So it was in the time of the flood; in the destruction of Sodom
Gomorrah, and Jerusalem; in the overthrow of Babylon: so it is when the
sinner dies, and so it will be when the Lord Jesus shall return to judge
the world.
B.
The
Implications
That Are Involved
“…as
travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”
Read Matthew 24:1-8 and the events that seem
to parallel in the seal judgments of Revelation 6, and note that all of
these things, Jesus said were “the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:8),
which means the beginning of childbirth pains (the same Greek word that
is translated “travail” in 1 Thessalonians 5:3). The false teaching, the
wars (see note below), the earthquakes, famine, and pestilence is just
the beginning.
·
In
his May 2nd, 2011 “Turning Point” devotional, David Jeremiah said…
The U.S. Department of Defense has identified
43 combat zones in the world today, up from 23 in 2007. The things that
we are seeing now and have seen for years remind me of contractions, or
premature labor pains. But the contractions seem to be getting closer
together as time progresses.
·
“…they shall not escape”…
The day of the Lord will be a day of no
escape. “They shall not escape”. This is a double negative in the Greek:
they shall not, by no means, escape. Judgment and destruction are an
absolute surety; they shall not, in no wise, escape. All human beings
who have not truly trusted Jesus Christ will face the terrible day of
the lord.
“Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how
can ye escape the damnation of hell?” (Matthew 23:33). “And thinkest
thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the
same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God” (Romans 2:3).
“Therefore thus saith the lord, Behold, I
will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and
though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them” (Jeremiah
11:11).
“Woe unto you that desire the day of the
lord! To what end is it for you? The day of the lord is darkness, and
not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went
into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him”
(Amos 5:18-19).
“Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine
hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them
down” (Amos 9:2).
Conclusion:
The only way to be ready for this cataclysmic
time of judgment called “the day of the Lord” and to avoid that great
and terrible day is to put your faith and trust in Jesus as Savior. Have
you done that?
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