Keep Awake: Be Sober! (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11)
The sermon outline can be found in the ministry guide.
Recently, I have made several visits to Changi Airport. I sent some dear friends off and received friends visiting or returning home. Once, as I was walking past the arrival hall, I noticed a small crowd waiting for their loved ones. Some stood with their arms crossed, and others fiddled with their smartphones. Some children, however, were standing on tiptoes — waiting eagerly for their father to appear. They stood, straining to see their father and joyfully anticipating his arrival.
To stand on tiptoes evokes the image of someone eagerly anticipating and waiting for their loved one's arrival. One of the main themes of Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians is Jesus' second coming. As I was working and reflecting on today's passage, beloved, I wondered how we think and feel about Jesus' return.
Are we waiting in eager anticipation?
Are we joyfully waiting and watching?
Do we live our lives standing on tiptoes, longing for His return?
Today's Scripture passage in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 speaks of Jesus' return. Remember, Paul and Silas planted the church in Thessalonica. They were in the city briefly: at most, several weeks before Jewish troublemakers drove Paul and the missionary team out of the city (see Acts 17:1-10), and the same group continued to create trouble for the young church.
In the first three chapters, Paul encouraged the church in their faith, defended his apostolic credentials and motives, and spoke of sending Timothy in his stead and the good report he received of the church standing fast. The missionary team's evident love for the Thessalonian church and the church's renewed trust in the apostle encouraged the Thessalonians amid their persecution. It also ensures they would be encouraged to obey the ethical and moral instructions
Paul now gives them in the second half of the letter from 1 Thessalonians 4:1 to 5:22. In writing these commands, Paul seeks to "supply what is lacking in [Thessalonian church's] faith" (1 Thess 3:10) — the church had questions in some areas of their faith and needed reminders or instruction.
Last week, in 1 Thessalonians 5:13-18, we were instructed on what would happen to the believers who had died before Jesus Christ's return.
This begs the follow-up questions: When will Jesus return? And what should we (those who are now alive) do in the meantime?
Jesus will return suddenly; hence, staying vigilant and self-controlled is vital.
The big idea of today's passage is: Jesus will return suddenly; hence, staying vigilant and self-controlled is vital.
The outline is:
I. Don't be surprised; Jesus will return suddenly without warning (vv. 1-5)
II. Stay spiritually vigilant and self-controlled as one who has a new life (vv. 6-11)
Don't be surprised; Jesus will return suddenly without warning (1 Thess 5:1-5)
So, when will Jesus return?
The Thessalonian church apparently had the same question — some faced anxiety over this matter. Perhaps they thought they could more easily prepare for Christ's coming in judgment if they knew when He would arrive.
Paul seeks to pastor them, and he replies in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2: “Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night."
Many of us, like the Thessalonian church, wish to know when Jesus will return to fully establish His kingdom. The Thessalonians were like us Singaporeans, in that they like a good plan! Either a letter had arrived from Thessalonica, or Timothy had brought back news, telling Paul of the Thessalonian Church's desire for more instruction on the timing of Jesus' second coming.
Paul answers their questions about the timing of Jesus' return in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2. Paul writes, "concerning the times and the seasons." "Times" here refer to chronological time or the unfolding of time, and "season" refers to "kairos" time or the right and opportune time. Both are used together by Paul to refer to the coming day of the Lord.
When Jesus returns, it will be a significant event that marks the end of human history. A similar expression occurs in Acts 1:7, where Jesus responds to the disciples' question about the timing of the restoration of the kingdom of God: "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority."
Referring again to the church as "brothers," with affection, Paul reminds the church in 1 Thessalonians 5:1 of the instruction they received when Paul and his missionary team were with them in Thessalonica. Rhetorically, Paul emphasizes that they "have no need to have anything written to you." And then he reminds them again, "For you yourselves are fully aware." They had already received teaching on the matter, so they were "fully" aware of the proper reply. Paul replied, "The Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night."
"The Day of the Lord" draws from the Old Testament Prophetic writings and speaks of God's coming judgment. In Amos 5:20, the prophet says: "Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?"
In context, Amos talks about God's coming judgment on the wicked people of Samaria. So, "The Day of the Lord" points to the day when God comes in judgment and wrath against God's enemies and brings vindication for his people.
In the New Testament, "The Day of the Lord" refers to the second coming of Jesus Christ in judgment and salvation. And Jesus Christ's return would be "like a thief in the night."
Admittedly, this reply is disappointing to some: The timing of Jesus' return will be a surprise, Paul did not give them the exact day and time. This stock imagery of a "thief" is used often in the New Testament. In the Gospels, Jesus Himself compared his return to a "thief," who comes in the night when no one expects Him.
Think about it — no successful thief will send you a note beforehand to inform you of the date and time he will come to steal from your house. He would come unexpectedly and cause harm by stealing from you when you least expect it.
In this verse, Paul references Jesus' own teaching of His return. Throughout the New Testament, this "thief" saying appears in the context of warning. The thief will appear suddenly and without warning and cause injury to the household; therefore, those unprepared for Jesus' return will suffer loss and destruction.
Paul had carefully modelled his response on Jesus' teaching. The disciples asked Jesus this question in the Gospels (Matt. 24:3; Mark 13:4; Luke 21:7). In Jesus' reply, He affirms that, though signs will point to His return, the actual timing of His second coming is not for us to know (Matt. 24:36–44; Mark 13:32–37). Acts 1:7 also reminds us, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority." Only God knows the actual timing of Jesus' second coming.
Believers should wait patiently and always be prepared for His appearance
Instead, believers should wait patiently and always be prepared for His appearance (e.g., Matt. 24:45–25:13; Luke 12:39–46).
Beloved, some of us can be overly concerned with the actual date and time of Jesus' return. And against the claims of some "end-times" classes or messages, where an "anointed" speaker would claim to know the exact time and date of Jesus' return, Paul and Jesus tell us that Jesus will return suddenly without warning. Rather than be overly consumed with anxious speculation on the exact date and time of Jesus' return, the believer should live in constant, joyful expectation of Christ's return.
Jesus and Paul encourage Christians to be simultaneously ever-waiting and ever-ready. We should be prepared for Christ to appear on the clouds of heaven tomorrow and be willing to wait for His return, which may be years, decades, or centuries away (c.f. Matt 24:36–25:30). In the meantime, we should pursue faith, love and hope.
Jesus' sudden return leads to Paul's further warning to unbelievers and comfort for believers in 1 Thessalonians 5:3-5. Since Jesus Christ's return will come as a surprise, Paul warns non-believers that they are in danger of being caught unaware. In 1 Thessalonians 5:3, the "while people are saying," refers to non-believers.
The contrast with 1 Thessalonians 5:4 makes it likely that Paul spoke about those who did not believe in Christ. These people say, "There is peace and security". "Peace and security" is the political slogan of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire occupied much of the known world in the first century. Thessalonica was under the "Pax Romana", or peace of Rome. The people have become so used to the peace and security that they ignore the truth that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead (c.f. also 2 Pet. 3:4). Such a person fails to be prepared for Christ's appearance.
Indeed, "sudden destruction" brings the final judgment at such a moment of Christ's coming. Paul then draws analogies to the unbearable and sudden labour pains of pregnancy -- "come upon them as labour pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape." Labour pains also appear in other end-times word pictures from Jesus and Paul (e.g. Matt. 24:8; Mark 13:8; John 16:21; Rom. 8:22).
With modern medicine, we can somewhat predict the time of birth of a baby, but it is not an exact science. We have a couple in our church who can affirm the sudden arrival of their baby. Their baby was born in a car while being rushed to hospital. Moreover, medical science was less developed in the first century, they could not predict when labour pains would come. Labour pains will come suddenly and inevitably for a pregnant woman.
Hence, no one can flee from the sudden and inevitable judgment Christ brings when He returns.
But what about the Thessalonian believers? In contrast to the people mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 5:3, the Thessalonian believers "are not in darkness" since they had trusted in Jesus and are followers of Jesus, seeking to walk according to His teaching. They already know how to prepare for Jesus' return.
In these verses, "darkness" and "night" refer to those who have not yet experienced the light of the gospel shining in their souls. In contrast, the "children of the light/day" refers to believers who trust and follow Jesus, and can now see clearly.
Believers in Jesus Christ have a new status and a new DNA — we are children of the light and day. Since thieves steal primarily at night (1 Thess 5:2), those children of the day/light will not be surprised by the thief (1 Thess 5:4).
In contrast, those who remain in spiritual darkness will be surprised by the sudden destruction at Christ's return (1 Thess 5:3).
I speak to the non-Christian friends in our midst. You may have been invited to this service by a friend, or you may have been drawn here this morning by your curiosity. I urge you not to be lulled by the "peace and security" we enjoy in Singapore and be caught unaware when Jesus Christ returns. Jesus' return will be sudden and inevitable, bringing great loss to those unprepared. I plead with you to heed Jesus' words in John 12:35-36: “So Jesus said to them, ‘The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."
Jesus, the light of the world, is who we proclaim today. So, believe in the light. Acknowledge that you have sinned and are walking in darkness. Believe that Jesus Christ has died on the cross in your place for your sins, and he has been raised to life so that you can have life with Him. And finally, confess that you need Jesus to shine a light in your darkness, and put your faith in Jesus Christ to save you. If this is what you desire, please speak to your friend who brought you here, or you can talk to any of the Elders or pastors after the service, we will be glad to speak with you about Jesus Christ.
Beloved, I speak now to you. Are there areas in your life where you feel spiritually complacent or asleep? How can you address these areas?
I speak to those among us who may be complacent. Affluence is a dangerous thing. We can be lulled by the "peace and security" Singapore offers, leading us to be dulled spiritually, trusting in our stable government and accumulated wealth and our own hard work, rather than eagerly waiting for Jesus' return.
Are we standing on tiptoes, waiting in eager anticipation, joyfully waiting and watching for Jesus to return? Would you be happy if Jesus were to return next week? Or would you say, "Wait, ah, Jesus, let me get my promotion first, or let me enjoy my new HDB for a while, or let me go on the three-week dream holiday first? Then you can come back...” Beloved, let us not be "too much taken up with the present life." Let us be found eagerly hoping, "Come, Lord Jesus!"
I speak to those who are anxious about Jesus' return. If you had trusted Jesus Christ, "you are all children of light, children of the day." You will not be unaware when Jesus returns because you have already placed your faith in Jesus Christ for your salvation. Destruction will not be your destiny.
I speak to those pressing on and waiting with joyful anticipation. Continue to live faithfully in all of life, living out faith, hope and love as proof of your faith.
In fact, in 1 Thessalonians 5:6-11, Paul himself addresses how we should live in the meantime while waiting for Jesus' return.
Stay spiritually vigilant and self-controlled as one who has a new life (1 Thess 5:6-11)
And what should we (those who are now alive) do in the meantime? Paul continues to instruct us in 1 Thessalonians 5:6-8. Paul now introduces two additional related word pictures. When he says, "Let us not sleep," he certainly does not mean literal physical sleep. Sleep points to a passive, callous disregard for the need to be spiritually vigilant.
Drunkenness also does not refer to physical drunkenness but suggests a lack of self-control and irresponsibility. In context, sleep and drunkenness make one ill-prepared to encounter the surprise of a "thief" during the night.
Connecting these metaphors to Paul's preceding points of darkness and light, Paul observes that those who sleep and those who get drunk inhabit the space of night and darkness. In contrast, the children of light will be found awake and sober and thus prepared for Christ's return. Thus, the directives to "keep awake" and "be sober" refer to being spiritually watchful and ready for Christ's appearance. The ongoing soberness and wakefulness of the children of light have to do with how they conduct themselves as those living in the day.
So, what does preparing for Christ's return look like? How should we conduct ourselves?
Preparedness for Christ's return means "putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation." It means we live in faith, love, and hope in Christ. Paul frequently talks about this triad of faith, hope, and love. Here, he speaks of faith, hope, and love together with the image of the "armour of God" (Eph 6:14–17). This imagery of the "armour of God" is best known in Ephesians 6. However, we should first examine what Paul intends to say in his letters to the Thessalonians rather than impose Ephesians 6 on this text.
To put on armour is to be ready and prepared for war. In 1 Thessalonians 5:8, the "breastplate" refers to "faith and love." "Faith and love" is used also in 2 Thessalonians 1:3. Paul writes: “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing."
So "faith" here refers to faith in Jesus Christ and trust in His person and work. And "love" here refers to our love for one another in the church. The "helmet" points to the "hope of salvation". This idea is further picked up in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, which speak of our salvation in Christ. The broader imagery is Paul's main point: Faith, love, and hope are likened to armour that protects believers and prepares them for a spiritual battle against an enemy.
So, beloved, to be spiritually vigilant and self-controlled is to live the Christian life pursuing faith, love and hope.
To be spiritually vigilant and self-controlled is to live the Christian life pursuing faith, love and hope.
We pursue faith in Jesus Christ: We constantly read and hear God's word and remind ourselves of Jesus' person and work to strengthen our faith.
We pursue love for one another: We love and serve one another in the church with our words and deeds.
We pursue the hope of salvation and the joy of heavenly glory: We remember and delight in God's gospel promises.
A personal word to those suffering grief and experiencing pain, where the joy of Jesus' return seems far and hard to hold to. God is not asking us to treat pain as though it were pleasure or grief as though it were joy, but instead, you bring all earthly difficulties and suffering into comparison with the hope of heavenly glory and be strengthened to endure. In the meanwhile, we learn to ache and lament while in this fallen world.
Aching acknowledges the brokenness of this fallen world, while simultaneously longing for restoration when Jesus Christ returns, when everything will be made right. We ache and lament while waiting for the blessed hope and the appearance of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13-14).
Paul continues to expand on the hope of salvation we have in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10: “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him."
God's gracious salvation and redemption in Christ deliver hope to believers, assuring us that our destiny will not be God's wrath (God's wrath refers to God's right and righteous anger towards our sin). Our destiny will not be God's wrath and eternal destruction but rather eternal salvation. While believers are in some sense "saved" in the present, in this context, "salvation" is placed side by side with future wrath and judgement.
Paul looks forward to the final and complete salvation of Christ's people in the resurrection ("live with him"). Such salvation is obtained only through faith in the work of Jesus, who is declared both the eternal "Lord" and "Christ."
In a brief summary of the gospel in 1 Thessalonians 5:10, Paul reminds us that Jesus' death was "for us" — His death in our place made an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Moreover, Jesus' resurrection provides the assured hope that someday we shall live with Him — our resurrection lives have been made possible through our union with the risen Christ.
Paul uses the metaphor "whether we are awake or asleep" in 1 Thessalonians 5:10 - what do they mean here in this text? Paul changes the metaphors and likely refers to his discussion at the beginning of this section, the teaching about Jesus Christ's second coming in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18. "Asleep" refers to the dead in Christ, and thus "awake" here would indicate the believers who are presently alive. Concerning Jesus' followers, both the dead in Christ and the currently living believers await our final resurrection and the joy of eternal life with Christ.
Beloved, "therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing" (1 Thess 5:11). Paul concludes this section with a call to mutual encouragement based on the gospel truths in his teaching. Alongside "encourage one another,"Paul adds, "Build one another up," which also carries the idea of encouraging and strengthening others.
The church community here assumed, for if we (both individually and collectively) are to be built up in Christ, we need one another for mutual encouragement. We need each other; that is why we gather as a church, not to tick a box in our duty to God, but to encourage one another and build one another up. So, make every effort to gather as a church to obey the Bible's commands.
In this verse and throughout this letter, Paul affirms that the Thessalonians already follow and obey Christ ("just as you are doing"). Remember, in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, Paul wrote of the Thessalonian church's obedience of faith: "For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come."
This affirmation that they were holding fast to the gospel, was one way Paul "encouraged" and "built up" the churches: he commended them for what they were doing well, and encourage them to do so more and more.
What practical steps can we take to be a source of encouragement to others this week in light of our resurrection hope? What does being prepared for Christ's return look like?
Paul's answer is relatively straightforward: Living all our lives in faith, hope, and love in Christ.
The New Testament authors encourage us to persevere in this world primarily by living out the essential ethics of Christ's kingdom in grateful response to our gracious salvation through Christ's death and resurrection. They leave the timing of Jesus' return to God. Therefore, being awake and sober means living with faith, love, and hope.
We already know Christ's salvation in the present and have confidence about its future culmination at Jesus' return. Believers will be raised to be with our Lord, whose appearance we eagerly await. Longing and thinking often of heaven and the age to come not only enables us to hold onto this life loosely and hold on to Jesus tightly but also helps us to respond appropriately to the death of others and to be prepared for our own departure, and in doing so, live our lives well.
We do well to encourage and build up one another in these foundational truths and live anticipating Jesus' return. Or, to use the metaphor of my starting illustration, we live life standing on tiptoes.
Borrowing from a conference speaker, I heard some years ago who spoke on living life with the perspective of Jesus Christ's return, I ask you, beloved, do we live all our lives standing on tiptoes, longing for His return?
Young men and young women, go to school, study hard, and prepare yourself for fifty or more years in a productive and exciting career. But do it standing on tiptoes!
Let all of us diligently labour at our place of business. Honour our employers by giving them a good day's work for a day's wage. But always work standing on tiptoes!
By all means, get married. Enjoy the delight of romantic love. Devote yourself to your spouse, yet do it standing on tiptoes!
Educate your children well. Prepare them for life. Raise them in the fear of the Lord, but always standing on tiptoes!
Celebrate life with your friends over a good plate of Chili Crab and a glass of Bandung. But eat and drink standing on tiptoes!
Weep at the funeral of a child. Mourn at the loss of a friend. But may it always be standing on tiptoes!
Read a book. Write a book. But read and write standing on tiptoes!
Cheer for your favourite soccer team and celebrate wildly with every victory. But do it standing on tiptoes!
Plant a garden. Plant a church. Revitalize a church. Open a savings account. Top up your CPF Enhanced Retirement Sum. Invest in a retirement portfolio. But do it all in anticipation and heightened expectancy of the life with Jesus to come. Do it all standing on tiptoes!
And we wait on tiptoes, we remember that as believers in Jesus Christ, we are now children of the light and day. We are destined not for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are alive or dead, we might live with Him. And we stand on tiptoes and longingly shout, "Come, Lord Jesus!" And all of God's saints say, "Amen!"
Let us pray.
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