Can you tell me the date? 1 Thessalonians 5.1-11

CAN YOU TELL ME THE DATE?
1 Thessalonians 5.1-11
Now, Brothers, 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.
But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 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 self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 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.

Good Morning, Brothers. . .

As I write today, I picture some of you in remote lands reading this many days after I first composed it. I understand how Paul called the young believers ‘brothers’ because they were like family to him. I understand how J. Vernon McGee signed off his program, ‘until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.’ As I distribute the love and Word of God and the teaching therewith to people, a love develops in my heart for you—a concern for your well being, a deep devotion that you will come to experience the love of God for you, and a desire that I will one day worship the King with you in Heaven.

Paul writes to these he loves to answer more of their questions about the Lord’s return. What did Paul mean, when he said ‘the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night’? The date of Jesus’ coming will not be known, and it will catch unbelievers completely off-guard. For hundreds of years, individuals have announced exact dates, and they have all been wrong. The Bible is clear that ‘no one knows the day or the hour,’ but there should be no fear for the child of God. That He is coming back for His beloved is a guarantee, and that knowledge should influence how we live, for we should not live just for today. Jesus told us to ‘watch and be ready.’

We know from Old Testament prophecy that certain things would take place in the world to set the stage for Jesus’ return. Among other things:
->Israel would reform as a nation -- prophesied in Ezekiel 37.12-- happened in 1948
->Nuclear capabilities developed so great that catastrophic destruction possible -
prophesied in Zechariah 14 and Ezekiel 39
->“There will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences;
and there will be fearful sights and great signs from Heaven.” Luke 21.11
How about ‘Katrina,’ the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, AIDS, famines, rampant world hunger?
->Great moral decline – “in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be
lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control,
brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather
than lovers of God.” Paul writing to Timothy, 2 Timothy 3.1-4.

It is no secret that men are looking for someone to rescue them from the ensuing chaos—from their financial ruin and wrecked families and lives. . . it is easy to see that the one who comes on the scene with apparent answers will surely be welcomed. To Israel, this leader will have a peace plan, and a plan to rebuild her Temple; they will embrace him. The establishment of the European Union and the move toward a single currency gives us a glimpse of how he will implement a one-world order and a universal cashless system of buying and selling. More on that later, but it is neither man nor government we should place our trust in, but God only.

The Romans were promising peace and safety to the first-century Thessalonians and their countrymen—“pax et securitas” (v.3), but twas only an illusion of something they did not deliver to those they conquered. When the day of the Lord comes, there will be neither peace nor security for any who have not already trusted in Him. Paul writes about that great day as a coming promise – ‘This life is not all there is. . . Jesus promised you the abundant life, and true full life will only be known in Heaven.’ He writes about the day of the Lord as a warning, too—‘Watch how you live, because it matters. Don’t be caught in darkness—either ignorance or immorality—Jesus will come and call for you.’
And again, Paul tells the people . . . well, he tells you and me to ‘be self-controlled.’ In the letter to the Galatians and this letter to the Thessalonians, we see the premium Paul put on practicing self-control. To this modern generation who denies itself nothing, it would seem self-control is only as valuable as what it nets--a more fit body, a more slender self . . . I think Paul had far more in mind that those, like training ourselves to exercise faith, love and hope. (see v. 8 above) In so doing, when Jesus returns, we will be found doing His work, loving and serving others well.

No, it is true that no one knows the day, or the hour . . . but, one day, He’s coming back, you know. I am ready to meet Jesus in the clouds, and I pray you will be, too!

Christine

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