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Grace Bible Church

4000 E. Collins Rd.   P.O. Box #3762   Gillette, WY  82717   (307) 686-1516

 

- Preaching the Living WORD through the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 -

 

 

 

SONS OF LIGHT

1Th 5:1-8 (7/31/11)

Grace Bible Church, Gillette, Wyoming

Pastor Daryl Hilbert

 

I.     KNOWLEDGE OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DAY OF THE LORD (1-3)

 

A.    Future Characteristics (1Th 5:1)

 

1.     To signify that Paul was changing topics from the Rapture (1Th 4:16-17) to the Day of the Lord (1Th 5:1-3), he uses the familiar segue phrase, “now concerning” (peri de - 1Co 7:1; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1; 1Th 4:9).

2.     The Day of the Lord would constitute the phrase “times and epochs” (Dan 2:21; Act 1:7).  “Times” (chromos, Eng chronology) refers to the measurement of time (quantitative) whereas “epochs” (kairos) refers to a period of accomplishment or influence (qualitative). Together they imply the period of the end times and all the judgment that God has planned in it. Therefore, the Day of the Lord is not a single day but a period in the end times.

3.     The Thessalonians obviously were taught about the Day of the Lord by Paul when he was in Thessalonica. They had “no need” (ou chreían) for him to write about them in great detail.

 

B.    Unexpected Characteristics (1Th 5:2)

 

1.     The Thessalonians were thoroughly acquainted (akribōs -characterized by exactness and thoroughness) with the doctrine of the Day of the Lord concerning it characteristics but no man knows its time (Mat 24:36).

2.     Paul would have taught  them about most if not all of the 19 references in the Old Testament referring to the Day of the Lord (Isa 2:12; 13:6, 9; 58:13; Eze 13:5; 30:3; Joe 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14; Amo 5:18 [2x], 20; Oba 1:15; Zep 1:7, 14 [2x]; Mal 4:5), particularly Joel 2:30-31.

3.     He no doubt would have taught them that the Day of the Lord was an epoch that begins after the Rapture of the Church during the Tribulation (Joe 2:30-31 cp. Rev 6:12), through Christ’s Second Advent (Zec 14:1-4), concluding with the destruction of the heavens and the earth (2Pe 3:10; Rev 21:1).

4.     The Thessalonians obviously were taught that the Day of the Lord would come swiftly and unexpectedly like a “thief in the night,” a phrase that never refers to the Rapture but to the judgment at the Second Coming (Mat 24:42-44; Rev 16:15) and the judgment at the end of the Millennium (2Pe 3:10; Jude 1:6).

 

C.    Inescapable Characteristics (1Th 5:3)

 

1.     The Thessalonians would have known (vs. 2 connected with the participle légōsin - “while saying”) that Day of the Lord would come like a woman’s labor pains (cp. Isa 13:8; Mat 24:8).

2.     This will take place during a time when the people are saying “peace and safety” and judgment is the farthest thought in their mind (Mat 24:37-39). This time can be identified as the Tribulation period leading to the coming of Christ (Dan 9:27).

3.     The characteristic of the Day of the Lord will be with sudden (aiphnídios - suddenly, as well as something that one cannot anticipate nor understand how it happened) and inescapable (ekphúgō - escape out with a double negative ou mę for the impossibility of escape) judgment.

 

II.    BELIEVER’S POSITION AS THE SONS OF LIGHT (4-8)

 

A.    They will not be Overtaken (1Th 5:4)

 

1.     In contrast to the Day of the Lord overtaking the unbelieving world, the Thessalonian believers (“brethren”) are not in darkness. The phrase “in darkness” (en skotos) secondarily would suggest that that they have knowledge of the Day of the Lord. But the phrase primarily refers to the fact that the Thessalonians are not part of the unbelieving world.

2.     Because they are believers and will be a part of the Rapture, they will not experience the Day of the Lord. It will not overtake them as a thief. “Overtake” (katalambanō) means not only to lay hold of something but it comes with an intensity that seizes with force (cp. Mar 9:18). The believer was “laid hold” of by Christ (Phi 3:12c, same word) so that the believer will not be laid hold of by the Day of the Lord. Therefore the believer ought to seek to lay hold of Christ-likeness and holy living (Phi 3:12b, same word).

3.     However, the Day of the Lord will seize with force unbelievers who will experience God’s judgment in the Day of the Lord.

 

B.    They are not of Darkness (1Th 5:5)

 

1.     Paul is certainly referring to the believer’s position in Christ, which are the spiritual blessings and status that a sinner receives the moment he trusts in Christ (Eph 1:3). They are not earned or given intermittently but are freely bestowed because of Christ.

2.     He calls them “sons of light” and “sons of day.” These titles mean that the believer does not belong to the night or to the darkness, i.e. is not part of the unbelieving world.

3.     “Sons of light” refers to those who have come to the Light; i.e. the Lord Jesus Christ.

a)    Light refers to life. Christ gives physical life to all men and spiritual life to all who believe in Him (Joh 1:4-5, 7).

b)    Light refers to new creation. Christ removes the believer from the realm of darkness (unbelieving world) and makes him a new creation in the realm of light (position in Christ) (Joh 12:46; cp. 2Co 5:17; Gal 6:15).

c)     Light refers to new life in Christ. Christ is the Light of the way of salvation and the way of walking in the light (Joh 8:12).

 

C.    They are not to Sleep (1Th 5:6-7)

 

1.     The unbelieving world (referred to as “others”), which is in darkness, is also dead spiritually and asleep to spiritual truths (1Co 2:14). The believer however, is alive spiritually and alive to spiritual truths.

2.     But Paul exhorts the Thessalonians (and includes himself) not to live in insensitivity to spiritual truths, especially the spiritual truth of the return of Christ.

3.     Instead of being insensitive to spiritual realities, the Thessalonians were to be alert and sober-minded. “Alert” is the Greek word gręgoréō and means to be vigilant and watchful. The believer is to live in light of spiritual truths and be vigilant in watching for the imminent return of Christ. “Sober-minded” is the Greek word nęphō and literally means not intoxicated. Spiritually it means a believer is to be clear-headed about spiritual truths and self-controlled. The believer does these things by growing in the knowledge of the Word and obedience to it.

4.     Paul uses the analogy of sleeping and drunkenness, which all take place at night. The unbelieving world does all those things because they are part of the realm of darkness and night. But believers are not part of that realm, nor should they act like it.

 

D.    They are to be Sober and Spiritually Minded (1Th 5:8)

 

1.     Paul reinforces the necessity for believers, who are of the day (position in Christ), to be sober-minded and spiritually minded. This is accomplished by maintaining three spiritual characteristics, which the believer has already put on spiritually (aor mid part - enduō).

2.     The breastplate of faith refers to the believer’s fundamental reliance upon Christ for salvation, illumination, protections, and empowerment.

3.     Love is also a breastplate which refers to the believer’s response and motivation to serve God and others.

4.     The helmet of salvation is that which protects the believer’s mind by having eternal security as well as a hope of the climax of salvation in Christ’s return.

5.     All three are found in Pauline writings and coincide with the key verse of this epistle in 1Th 1:3 and GBC Theme, “Laboring in Love while Looking for the Blessed Hope.”

 

III.  OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS

 

A.    As “sons of light” and in anticipation of the Rapture and the Day of the Lord, believers are to be sober-minded

1.     in regard to the Word (Ps 19:7-8),

2.     ministry (1Co 15:34; 2Ti 4:5),

3.     prayer (1Pe 4:7),

4.     spiritual warfare (1Pe 5:8),

5.     and holy living (1Pe 1:13-16).