Paul warns that for unbelievers the day of the Lord will be an unwelcome thing. It will be an unexpected thing, for they will be living life as usual and behaving as if the world is going to keep going on as it always has. The Lord Jesus gave the same warning, saying, "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." (Matthew 24:37-39)
It's not that the people of Noah's day hadn't been told of the coming flood. Noah preached to them for the hundred or so years it took to build the ark. They heard him, but they didn't believe him. They lived each day as if the flood wasn't going to come; therefore, they didn't repent. In the same way, people in our time are hearing the message that a day of judgment is coming, but some of them don't believe it. They don't believe it, they don't repent, and they keep on living as if there is no God before whose judgment seat they will someday stand.
"Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 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." (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3) No one expects to come home from work to find his house burgled. He thinks his belongings are safe while he's away from them. No one goes to bed at night expecting to hear the sudden breaking of glass downstairs as a thief enters his residence. He doesn't think anyone is going to violate the safety and sanctity of his home. This is the attitude of those who reject the Lord and who reject the idea of His judgment. They go about their lives as if Christ isn't coming and as if they will never have to answer to Him for the way they've lived. They don't expect Him to show up anymore than they expect a thief to break in during the night.
But the Lord's people won't be shocked and stunned when He appears, because His appearing is what we long for. We can't wait to see Him and be with Him forever. "But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness." (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5) Though we don't know the hour when our Master will return, we live our lives in the awareness that He will return. Because we belong to Him, we don't live in fear of the judgment.
Because we belong to Christ and not to the world, we mustn't live as the world lives. We mustn't live in a way that will cause anyone to confuse us with unbelievers. "So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet." (1 Thessalonians 5:6-8) Paul uses a military example in telling us to be dressed and ready to move out. In our passage yesterday he also used a military reference when telling us a trumpet will sound when the Lord tells His people to move out of this world. In the Roman army, trumpet calls were used to ready the troops to move out. The first trumpet was blown to tell them it was time to break camp. The second trumpet was blown to tell them to get into formation. The last trumpet was blown to tell them to move out. We are to be waiting for the last trumpet to be blown. The first and second trumpets have already sounded, for nothing in Scripture remains to be fulfilled before Christ calls His church to move out of the world. So, like good soldiers, we are to be awake and sober, dressed and ready to go.
We who belong to the Lord should look forward to the day when we will be called out of this world. As Paul assured us yesterday, whether we are still alive at His coming or whether our earthly bodies are dead, all of us who have trusted in Christ are going to rise from this earth to be with Him. When he says the word "asleep" in verse 10, he's not speaking of the stupor of the unbelievers who are living as if judgment will never come. He's speaking of the death of the believer---the sleep of the body while it awaits resurrection. "For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." (1 Thessalonians 5:9-11)
The day of the Lord is a day to be dreaded by those who refuse to bow the knee to Him. For them, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Hebrews 10:31) But those of us who have put our trust in Him can say, "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that day---and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing." (2 Timothy 4:8)
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