1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and from verse 1 to verse 11 the Apostle continues with his theme that he started in the previous chapter as I said the chapter division is very poor here there was an issue at Thessalonica some of the believers were anxious questioning, fearful, doubtful. What's happened to our believing brothers and sisters, perhaps father and mother? What happens to them? Christ is coming back. What will happen to those believers who have died? And Paul answers that and shows that the believers should encourage each other with the thought that Christ is coming and will raise the believing dead and they will come first, as it were, from the tomb and then the living saints will be gathered together with the resurrected believing and be raised together to be with Christ and be with Christ forever. But as with the apostle, whenever he seems to take up a theme, a difficulty or a problem, he not only answers that problem, that particular issue, but he extends it. further important teaching to be of permanent value to the following generations of believers. I'm amazed at this man, I'm thrilled, I stand amazed as I read him how he develops these things and brings out these tremendous points. Now I have already elsewhere on this website uploaded longer sermons on this passage. This is just brief thoughts on 1 Thessalonians 5, 1 to 11. What do we have here? Well, Paul starts off by talking about the times and dates, and it's very interesting, is it not? Whenever you mention the second coming, So many seem to want to go straight into dates and times and charts and all the events and all that kind of thing. What do I say to that? What does Paul say to it? Stop it. Stop it. You're not going to know any date. You're not going to know any time. Christ told us this. Stop it, he said. All you need to know is Christ is coming back. Plus, it's going to be sudden and unexpected. He uses the illustration of the thief in the night now the thief doesn't send a postcard and say i'm coming next tuesday week at four o'clock or whatever it is it just breaks into our lives it just happens we know in general that we're open to thieves breaking in and we lock our doors and cars and all the rest of it but the truth is when it comes it's like a bolt out of the blue it's it just touches us unawares perhaps even though we're generally aware of the presence of thieves around us we're already told by Christ that when I come he says it'll be like the days of Noah and you know what that was like, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage saying it won't be happening, this judgment didn't know it's predicting, lullaby wash and they were going on, as Peter says men will say, oh everything goes on the same as it ever did what does Paul say to that? look at his words, sudden destruction will come on them suddenly labour pains on a pregnant woman they will not escape when people are saying peace and safety destruction will come on them suddenly it will come the Lord will come like a thief in the night so what do we learn from this give up the ideas about dates and speculations Christ is coming be ready be prepared as much as you can think about this dwell upon it let it rest in your mind and heart Christ is coming it will be sudden unexpected when men are saying the opposite Of course, he's speaking here to unbelievers in particular. He's speaking to believers, saying to them, stop dwelling upon these dates and speculations. But what is he saying to the unbeliever? Be warned. This is how this man preached, my friend. This is how this man preached. I know he's tending to the Thessalonians here, but this is how he preached when he preached. He warns the unbeliever. Christ is coming back. What is his comfort for the believer? What is hope and encouragement for them? What is the bringing in all their joys? What is it for the unbeliever? It's sudden destruction. No escape. Inevitable. I warn you of it, unbeliever. You're sleepwalking, as we shall see, into eternity. That's the illustration he goes on to see. Darkness and light. Sleep and awake. He goes on to that illustration. And he says the human race is divided into two. Believers and unbelievers. Now I stress this. We're coming into a culture now, a climate now in the churches where the believer and the unbeliever are all mixed together. There's a kind of semi-light to semi-darkness. It's a kind of grey area and we're sort of all jumbled together and we really can't tell the difference. Paul says there's believers and unbelievers. There's regenerate and unregenerate. There's light and darkness. There's sheep and goats. there's broad and narrow, there's near and far off, there's in Adam, there's in Christ, there is dead, there is alive awake and asleep, you see all these comparisons and it's always two there's no sort of jumble together believers, you can say to them, you are all sons of the light and sons of the day we don't belong to the night or to the darkness, of course we did, we were dead in Adam but Colossians 1.13 God has translated us out of the kingdom the realm, the rule of darkness, satanic rule translated us into the kingdom of Christ we don't belong to the night or the darkness now what does he say to us as believers then? now in the light of Christ's coming let's be like the others you see again the division those who are in Christ, those who are not us and the others As I say again, we're losing this emphasis today. Paul was a discriminating minister. Jesus was. John the Baptist was. All the preachers of the Bible were discriminated. You do not belong. You do belong. He says to the Jews, you're not my sheep. You don't believe because you're not my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. You see, always making there's the others now we mustn't be like the others we were the others at one time of course but Christ has drawn us to himself by his spirit now we must be alert and self-controlled and he says it twice here self-controlled verse 6 and verse 8 harking back of course we've already had that self-control in sexual matters let us be self-controlled let us put on faith and love and hope and salvation you see salvation, spiritual things, let's dwell upon that. What are the unbelievers doing? What does he say? Sleeping, they that sleep for seven, they sleep at night and those who get drunk, they get drunk at night. What is he saying? What does the unbeliever live for? What else can he live for but this life for his body? What can I eat? What can I drink? What can I put on? Where can I go? What pleasures can I have now? How can I satisfy my pleasures now? This is his heaven, my friend. Unbeliever, this is your heaven. This is the best it's going to be. and you're starting to stuff your life with all the things and all the pleasures and gratification you can. What does a believer look for? Christ. And what does he dwell upon? Faith. Love. Hope. Salvation. Spiritual matters. Christ himself. You see, believer, once we were sinners. We're still sinful in ourselves, but in Christ we are complete and without condemnation. God regards us as Christ, as sinless as He. But what were we once? Dead in our sins. But why are we now believing? For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath. He appointed us in election to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. It's all in Christ, isn't it? The Lord Jesus Christ. This is how this man preached. All our hope is founded on Christ, His death. That's what he says here. For God did but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us particular redemption, vicarious atonement, substitutionary atonement. In my place condemned he stood. Christ died for my sins. Christ died for me. He who was righteous was made sin and a sin offering for me that I might, though I'm sinful, be made 2 Corinthians 5. He died to bring us to God. Though he was rich, yet he became poor, that we, though we were poor, yet we might become rich in him. 2 Corinthians 8. He died for us. We're not saved by his teaching. We're not saved by his incarnation. We're not saved by his example. We're not saved by his miracles. by one act of obedience, he has made us righteous. Romans 5, 19. He died for us, so that whether we're awake or asleep, whether we live or die, he means here, we shall live, we may live together with him. We live in him now, we're in Christ, we're living with him, I will never leave you or forsake you, even through the tomb, the grave, in the resurrection, and forever we shall be with Christ. Therefore I encourage one another and build each other up just as in fact you are doing this takes me back to yesterday's discourse in 418 therefore encourage each other with these words he says here therefore encourage one another and build each other up just as in fact you are doing how very different this is today if paul was writing today if he was following the method of today's churches in christendom he would probably say something now pastor blogs encouraged one encouraging the flock but it's unknown to have one man or a few men just building us up Paul says therefore encourage one another and build each other up just as in fact you are doing these are brief discourses if you want to see my full thoughts on this read my two books the pastor does he exist and the priesthood of all believers notice Paul says you are building each other up just as in fact you are each other. Are you doing that, my friend? Believer, brother, sister, do you practice this? Do you encourage other believers? Do you talk to them about spiritual things? What things? Faith, hope, love, salvation, Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, His coming again, His death for us. Do you encourage each other? Do you encourage another? Do you pray with them? Do you read with them? Do you talk to them? Do you build them up? Oh, I'm a new believer. I'm a young believer. I'm not very... I can't teach. Of course you can. Read my books and see what I've said about it. All believers in the New Covenant, all New Covenant members, all believers are priests, ministers of God. We've all been given profit. Our teachers and rulers should be facilitating this, Ephesians 4. We should be building each other up. and I'll tell you this the more you try to build me up the more you will learn for yourself I'll get the profit and so will you unbeliever notice this once we were in the same position as you I don't say this pejoratively or patronizingly We were suffering wrath, we were under the condemnation of God. But by God's grace, we've heard the Gospel. Paul, Silas, and Timothy went to Thessalonica. We in our turn have heard the Gospel in some way. A tract, a leaflet, a preacher, a mother or father reading the Bible, somehow or another, a sermon on the web, whatever it might be. We've heard the Gospel. And by God's grace, we have trusted Christ. We have received salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is being preached. I am my poor way of trying to lift up the Lord Jesus now. You're hearing. You've been warned about your sin. You've been warned about Christ's coming and the judgment and destruction. I've read these passages to you. I'm warning you. But I say to you now, though you're in darkness, though you're Come, my friend. He will receive you. Come out of this darkness. Wake up from your sleep. Come to Christ, and you will find in His death, in His resurrection, in His intercession, in His coming again, you will find your complete salvation, for Christ is all. Trust the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will live with Him, and you will live together with Him, and you'll be part and parcel of this. Otherwise, sudden destruction, the wrath of God, is on the road for you. The rest of our life begins now. One day it will be, and even this day it might be, the end of this life, an eternal life, eternity will start. Which will it be? Suffering wrath and sudden destruction? Or will it be everlasting bliss and everlasting joy? So this passage then speaks to us all. Unbeliever, it warns you and it pleads with you and it encourages you to come to Jesus. Can I have my might first to that? Oh, come to Christ now. That's why I'm speaking to you. I pray about this and I shall pray about it afterwards that God will bless this word to you. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ now while there is time. Unbeliever, You have come to him by God's grace. God did not appoint you to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. You know he died for you. You know he's coming again for you. Be encouraged then for yourself and take part in this mutual all-body ministry. Minister to other believers. Encourage them and build them up in their most holy faith and you too will be built up and be encouraged. I assure you of it. We should think more, I said yesterday, about the resurrection of Christ than we do. And we should think more about the coming again of Christ than we do. Let us think and talk and sing and pray and rejoice in the resurrection of Christ and our resurrection in Him and the coming again of Christ. Let us be men and women of these two passages in 1 Thessalonians. Christ is coming again. O sinner, come to Him now. O Believer, be encouraged!