Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Statement Of Faith

End Times Part 2

Introduction: How many  people here enjoy waiting? You just like the idea of having to delay personal gratification and be the last to get, or know something? Not many and you are not alone. Most people hate to play the waiting game. What do we hate to wait for...

     Our mail: Why is it that I have to be the last one in Oceanport to get the mail. That mailman/lettercarrier,
    doesn't get to my house till almost 4:30pm.

     Our meals: When dining out, we expect fast, courteous service. Right? We don't want to see others getting
    their food before we do, especially if we sat down first.

     Our money: Don't you hate getting behind the person at the bank who doesn't have a clue? They haven't filled
    out any of the proper forms, they have a large bag of coins, and they don't have their account numbers on the rolls.

     Our information: Many of us access the information highway at 56Kbpm. But that is not fast enough. Do you
    realize my first computer modem was a blistering 300bpm. But we didn't know better then. Now we have DSL
    and Cable and want even faster connections. All so we can get more information, faster, regardless of the
    usefulness of that information.

     We have the same desire with knowledge. We don't want to be left waiting. We don't want to wait to find out anything... that's why the grapevine was created. You know the grapevine, the unofficial place to get all the knowledge and information about whoever or whatever you want...when you want it. Although the information and knowledge received via the grapevine is not always accurate, it is fast.

Explanation: By nature, we want what we want when we want it. It is the same with spiritual things. We don't want to be left hanging. We don't want to be out of the loop. We don't want to hear the word, mystery. Yet that is the word the Bible uses concerning many spiritual things. And we don't like it.

Background: Well, neither did the Believers at Thessalonica. Paul had started the church there on his 2nd missionary journey. He had given them the basics of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the foundations of the Christian life and a glimpse into their future with Christ.

     The problem is they didn't want just a glimpse, they didn't want an abbreviated version, they wanted a full length feature presentation, in color and dolby surround sound. Specifically, they wanted to know when and how Jesus would return. It seems that their interest in the end times was not only related to their grieving over their loved ones who had died as Believers. It seems they wanted to know more than Paul had told them while he was ministering to them. And, they really didn't want to wait till Jesus came to find out the answers.

     Before we begin to criticize these early Believers, consider the modern Christians excessive fascination with the end times. We are really no different, except perhaps that we believe since we are more advanced, more educated and sophisticated as Christians, perhaps we should know more than our 1st century counterparts. We demand to know and when our pastors don't give us what we want, we look elsewhere... books and movies. Times have changed from the 1st century church but the waiting game remains the same... especially when it comes to the end times.

     The problem is simply this, we are unwilling to comprehend and accept the word, mystery. And I believe it is this lack of understanding and acceptance that Paul addresses in our text this morning.

Transition: Take your Bibles and turn with me to 1 Thess. 5:1 where we will see how Paul deals with these early Believers hunger and thirst for more and more information.

Read:  1 Thess. 5:1-3

I. A Reprimand (vs 1-3)
     Paul, as the loving pastor he is, deems it necessary to reprimand the Thessalonian Believers. He begins by saying 'You have no need of anything to be written to you.' I believe he must have said this with a sign of annoyance. He says 'For you yourselves know full well'.  Translated into contemporary language that means 'Come on guys, I shouldn't have to spend the time writing to you about this because you already know everything you need to know.  He tells  them there is only one thing that you need to know about the Lord's return, and you already know it because I have already told you... 'He will come as a thief in the night'. And you don't need to know anything else.

    But we want to know everything else. We want no stone uncovered, we want no mystery. And there are plenty of people out there who will indulge your fancy if it will sell books. Even if it is in direct disobedience to the words of Jesus Himself.

Mark 13:32ff Jesus says 'But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. for you do not know when the appointed time is., for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, at cockcrowing, or in the morning'

Acts 1:7 Jesus says 'It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority'

     Paul, here in vs 1-3 is reinforcing Jesus prohibition against making predictions regarding His coming. And I wonder if we aren't being disobedient ourselves when we focus on wanting more than Scripture is willing to give us. This wanton desire for more information has been the reason for many church splits and it has kept churches from fellowshipping with other churches because of their particular view of the end times.

     In our CB Association, all churches must be pre-millennial. That is they must all believe that Jesus will return to the earth and reign  for a literal 1000yrs in a new temple to be built in Jerusalem.  Understand that that view is only about 125 yrs old. There were and still are other views that are equally derived from Scripture.

     When and how Jesus will return and the nature of the millennium is something that should, to some extent, remain a mystery.
 I want to applaud and thank those who put together our statement of faith in this area...it was done before I got here.  Because no one position can be adequately proved or disproved they left that out of our statement of faith.  By doing this they were saying that this is an area we wish not to separate as Believers and we choose to let it remain a mystery. I believe God is honored by your work. By the way, since we don't specifically disagree with the pre-millennial position of the CB we can stay.

    So, talk about, read books and study the end times, but don't go any farther than Scripture will take you. Stay within the bounds of God's Word and you will avoid Paul's reprimand.

Transition: Paul now, in vss 4-11 tells us why it's OK to understand and accept the mystery of Christ's return. Because it is more important who we are in Christ than what we know about His return.

II. A Reminder (vs 4-11)
Read: 1 Thess 5:4-11

     Paul said that the return of the Lord will be as a thief in the night. For modern readers, the intent of this passage is weakened by the invention of electricity. We really don't know what dark is. Even the dark of night here in the NorthEast is not the dark of the mountains in Colorado or the great open plains of the Mid-West.

     In NT times, the night was very dark. And the metaphors of light and dark were much more drastic to them than to us today. It is into these two supremely opposites that Paul separates people into two groups. Those who live in utter darkness and those who live in glorious light.

Darkness:
 Those who live in darkness sleep during the day because they are active in sinful behavior under the cover of night.
 Those who live in darkness get drunk at night because to do so in the light would bring embarrassment and shame.
 Those who live in darkness have lost control of their ability to make wise decisions.
 Those who live in darkness are out of touch with what is going on around them.
 Those who live in darkness are w/o a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ
 Those who live in darkness live w/o even thinking that the Lord will return and therefore don't expect Him to return.
    The return of Christ will be a total surprise to them and they will not escape His judgment.

Light:
 Those who live in the light live during the say and do not sleep because they walk in the grace and forgiveness of Christ.
 Those who live in the light remain sober, with a clear head and pure heart.
 Those who live in the light have accepted  and been saved by the work of Christ on Calvary.
 They are the ones who are controlled by the Holy Spirit who guides their decision making by the truth of God's Word.
 Those who live in the light eagerly await the return of the Lord.

     Paul reminds the Thessalonian Believers that they are not in the dark, but in the light and although the exact time and manner of  Christ's return is a surprise, they are to expect it to happen, all the same. He is saying, Christians are to expect to be surprised by Christ's return and not to be totally caught off guard by it.

The Challenge:
     Finally, Paul gives them a challenge.. Encourage one another, build one another up. Encourage one another with what? With the fact that as children of the Light, as Believers in Christ, they will not face God's wrath but salvation through Jesus Christ. Instead of worrying about when and how Christ will return, encourage one another, be joyful that God has appointed you, chosen you to salvation, to eternal life.  This really is more important and something we all need to hear from one another from time to time as we all often get discouraged.

     We are also to build one another up by encouraging each other to suit up..to put on the armor of Christ. To put on or display faith, hope and love. When we met another Christian, our desire should be to somehow, in whatever the circumstance, to build up their faith in God, their hope in His return or their love for God and His children.

     That is putting the first things first, majoring on the majors. That is honoring God and being obedient to His Word. Are we doing that? Are you doing that? In every meeting with your brothers and sisters in Christ, is it your desire to build them up in the areas of faith, hope and love? I pray that it is.

Conclusion:
 Once we have understood and accepted the mystery surrounding the return of Christ, Paul tells us to get on with what is truly important...living for Christ in a Christ like way. Being ready for His return. The question then becomes how do we get ready, how do we live with the immanent return of Christ on our minds and in our hearts?

     Read 1 Thess. 5:12-22 this week and we will take a closer look at it next Sunday.