1 THESSALONIANS 5:1-11 THE DAY OF THE LORD SURPRISE2020 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 The Day Of The Lord Surprise

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020. Well, this morning or this evening, as we look here at 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, I've titled the message, The Day of the Lord's Surprise.

It's like a big surprise party that we all know is coming. It's the day of the Lord. As we talk about the day of the Lord, as the Apostle Paul addresses the day of the Lord here, a couple things to consider as we get started considering this subject. And that is, first of all, that the day doesn't mean a literal 24-hour day, but you could think of a day as an age. It's an era. It's a period of time.

It's a time period that is to come, that is yet future, and that we are still looking towards, looking forward to in many ways. Pastor David Guzik describes it this way. He says the idea behind the phrase, the day of the Lord, is that this is God's time.

It's talking about this season where God is going to be rapidly advancing his agenda.

He's really allowing man to have his day right now. Of course, God is at work and he is, you know, accomplishing his will and his purposes. But he's also allowing man to pursue what it is that man wants to pursue. He's allowing the God of this age to have an influence. And there is coming a day where he is going to change and take control of the things that are happening to a greater degree.

And he's going to be advancing his agenda, his plan, and his kingdom. The idea of the day of the Lord, again, it's this age, it's this season of time that includes a lot of different things. Here's a quick list or a couple events that will be included in the day of the Lord. Included in the day of the Lord is the rapture of the church.

Also included is then the tribulation period. And then at the end of the tribulation period, the second coming of Jesus. And then after that, the thousand year reign of Christ or the millennium, followed by the great white throne judgment. All of these things are really encompassed in this time period called the day of the Lord.

And so it really begins with the rapture of the church and it ends with that great white throne judgment. And then there's all of these things that God is accomplishing in between. And so it has all of these events. Now, what we look forward to most, of course, as believers today is the first part of that, the beginning of the day of the Lord, which is the rapture of the church.

And so as we look at this and we understand the things that are to come, it's why it is a surprise because, well, the rapture of the church is going to take place at a time when we're not expecting, when the world is not anticipating that. It's going to come at a time that is unexpected. And so this surprise is going to happen anytime. Anytime.

It's like a surprise party, except for it's not scheduled on a day. It's not scheduled at a certain time. Well, let me take that back. It is scheduled, but only the Father knows. Only God knows the day and the time. No man knows the day or the hour Jesus taught. And so we understand there is these events that are going to unfold, and they could begin at any moment. It could begin to unfold and take place this evening, today,

A few seconds from now, a few hours from now, tomorrow morning, a hundred years from now, it could take place at any time according to the Lord's will and his timing. But we are to live in light of this surprise that is coming. And so let's walk through these verses. There's four points that we'll consider as we work our way through. Starting in verses one through three for point number one, you know about the surprise, right?

It's a surprise, but you know about it. You know in advance. God has given you some secret insight into his plan and this surprise that is to come. Jumping back into verse 1 and 2, Paul says, "'But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.'"

Now, just prior to this, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, Paul was addressing specifically the rapture of the church. And it's one of those classic passages that clearly teaches the rapture of the church. In verse 16, he talks about the Lord descending from heaven with a shout and the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God. The dead in Christ will rise first.

And then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. That's pretty much the closing verses of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. And then as we head into chapter 5, Paul really hasn't changed subjects.

He didn't write chapter divisions in this letter that he wrote to the church of Thessalonica that was added later for our convenience to be able to, you know, get right to the specific passage we're looking at. But Paul is talking about the rapture of the church and that's on his mind. That's what he's talking about. And a natural question that happens when we consider the rapture of the church is when? When is that going to take place? When are we going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air?

It is what the Bible teaches. It is going to take place, but the timing of it is a question. And so Paul says in verse 1, concerning times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. You don't need me to write to you about times and seasons because, well, you know that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. It's scheduled, but you don't know the schedule.

And so from our perspective, it's going to be a surprise. It could happen at any moment. Only God knows the time. And so he uses the illustration of a thief in the night. And the idea there is, well, if a thief comes in the night, it's a surprise, right?

Now the thief knows in advance, perhaps, when he's going and he has his own schedule, but the person being robbed or the, you know, the home that's being robbed or the business that's being robbed, right, they're not aware of the schedule. And so it's a surprise. Suddenly you come home, suddenly you, you know, get to the office building and then you see suddenly everything is gone. It's a shock. It's a surprise.

Jesus also used this illustration talking about his return and the things of the end of the age. In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus says, "'Know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.'" And so he says, "'Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.'"

This is an important aspect as we look forward to the prophetic things that are to come. We need to understand there is an element of surprise. Now, after the rapture of the church takes place, there's a lot of events on the prophetic agenda that are attached to time. We know the duration of the Great Tribulation.

We know the timing of when things take place from when Jesus establishes his kingdom and then the great white throne judgment. There's all these sequences and chronology that we can follow through. But when that begins, we don't know. It begins with the rapture of the church, which as far as we're concerned is unscheduled and can happen at any moment anytime.

Like a thief in the night. And so Paul says, you don't need me to write to you about that because you know I can't tell you the time. Now we can talk about times and seasons in the sense of, you know, the signs and the evidence that we're getting nearer and nearer and nearer. And we're continuing to see that develop. And you can refer back to Matthew chapter 24 and 25 to really kind of see some of those signs of the times and understand that a little bit better.

But here, one thing that Paul mentions about the signs of the times is in verse 3. He says, And so he says, you don't need me to write to you and explain to you about the times because you know it's a surprise. I can't tell you the time. But here's one of the things that will be going on is there will be a cry of peace and safety.

There will be a complacency about how great things are, Paul is saying, or an expectation of peace and safety in the hearts of the people. Now again, there's a lot that we could consider about this. And Matthew chapter 24 and 25 really have a great deal of cross-referencing that we can have and get more insight in. Here's another quote from Jesus in Matthew chapter 24, this time verse 38 and 39.

He says,

They were getting married. They were, you know, having feasts and scheduling events and working out and negotiating deals up until that very day when the water began to flood the earth. It's going to be business as usual, Jesus is explaining. Just like it was on that day before the flood or the day of the flood, the day that the day of the Lord begins,

As far as the world is concerned, it will be business as usual. And people will be eating and drinking. They'll be getting married. They'll be, you know, working out and negotiating business arrangements and deals. These kinds of things will be happening as usual. But also there will be this element of expectation of peace and safety. And so a lot of ways life is going to go on as normal.

with this hope, with this desire for peace and safety. Now, one of the things about prophecy, and it's important to understand this, is we can look at these things and immediately begin to make connections based on our understanding of current events and the life around us and, you know, the life that we know and the world that we know, which is very limited. You know, we have a very small piece of this world, and we can look at these things and immediately begin to make connections based on our understanding of current events and the life around us and, you know, the life that we know and the world that we know, which is very limited. You know, we have a very small piece of this world, and we can look at these things and immediately begin to make connections based on our understanding of current events and the life around us and, you know, the life that we know and the world that we know, which is very limited.

Even in our great nation, we're still just one nation amongst many nations in this world. And so sometimes the connections that we make, which seems so obvious to us, are not fully accurate and not exactly the way that we think they are because, well, we have this limited perspective. Prophecy is there to kind of give us a sense and to help us to be looking forward to those things and to be ready for the things that the Lord is foretelling.

But not necessarily to give all the details. And the way that prophecy works, you can see it all throughout the scriptures, is it's afterwards, many times, that the prophecy becomes clear. That then it's like, whoa, all of those details fell in place and we can see them and we can testify that God truly is God and declares the end from the beginning. And so when it talks about peace and safety here, there's some things that we could think about.

There's some things that we could begin to connect dots and think, well, that's happening right now, this cry for peace and safety. Or maybe not. Right now in this world, in our society, there's all kinds of chaos and the opposite of peace and safety. And yet this idea of peace and safety doesn't preclude the events from happening. So even if there's World War IV happening,

Or World War III, I guess, has to happen before World War IV. But even if we're in the midst of that, it doesn't mean that, you know, there is not the opportunity for the day of the Lord to begin because there's not peace and safety. The understanding of this is a few different ways. And here's one possibility. Paul could be talking about after the rapture of the church into the tribulation period. Although there will be lots of crazy things happening during the tribulation period,

for the first three and a half years of the tribulation period, there is going to be some sense of peace and safety. There's going to be, you know, the signing of an agreement for the Jewish people to rebuild their temple.

There's going to be that world leader that the majority of the world is going to follow after. Now, there's also going to be some opposition to that and problems with that. But there will be a great sense of peace and safety. And so it could be that Paul is saying, you know, talking about the rapture, but then also looking at different elements of the tribulation. And it's as they're looking and thinking, all right, finally, we got the Christians out of the way.

Think about it from the world's perspective, right? Think about, you know, our society right now. There would be a huge part of our nation that would rejoice greatly if all the Christians were out of the way. And then it's like, all right, finally, they're out of the way. We can have our agenda, peace and safety. And then sudden destruction comes upon them.

And so it could be looking forward to that peace and sense of safety that will take place in the midst of the tribulation period. Or it could be a sense of peace and safety that comes before the rapture. Again, we don't know. We can try to make some connections and, you know, dot the lines and do all of that. But we'll know for sure after it takes place because it's a surprise. And so again, he uses the illustration of a thief in the night.

And then in verse 3, he uses the illustration of labor pains upon a pregnant woman. You know, every pregnant woman gets a due date from the doctor. But everybody also understands that's not an exact, you know, science. It's not an exact day. It's not an exact time. It's generally this area, you know, generally this time frame, somewhere around there. And the idea here is that

Just like that. Like you can see it's building and building and building. There's going to be a birth that takes place, right? You can see that develop more and more and more. But the exact time, you can't narrow it down exactly, specifically. And boy, we would love it if that would be possible. But that's not how it works. The labor pains begin when the labor pains begin. It's expected and yet it's always a surprise.

And here Paul is saying, you know about the surprise. You know this is a surprise. You know this is going to take place. There is the day of the Lord. There is the rapture of the church as part of that day of the Lord. And it could take place at any moment. Now as we continue on into verse 4 and 5, here's point number 2. Do not be surprised.

And it's a little bit, you know, contrary to one another. It's a surprise. At the same time, what God calls us to is to not be surprised. Even though it's unscheduled or we don't know the day or the hour from our perspective, the Lord wants us to live in a state of readiness for his return. In verse 4, he says, but you, brethren, are not in darkness so that this day should overtake you as a thief.

You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Paul says, don't be surprised. You know it's a surprise. I can't write to you about, you know, the times and seasons. You don't need me to write to you about that because I can't narrow it down. It's a general idea of, you know, the day of the Lord is coming. It's at any moment. It's imminent. It's going to happen. So be ready.

And don't be surprised by the day of the Lord. Again, that's the point that Jesus made in Matthew chapter 24, verse 43 and 44, when he says that if the master of the house had known what time the thief was coming, well, he would have been ready for it. He would have been prepared for it. And Jesus says to you, therefore, you also be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect. And so it's a surprise. It could happen any moment.

which means that we must be ready at any moment. In order to not be surprised, we just have to live in that anticipation and to be ready for the Lord to gather us together with him. This caused me to think back just a couple months ago. My sister-in-law was pregnant. She had a due date, but of course it wasn't quite exact. And there was an opportunity for Kim and I to go and visit my family.

And we were anxious to do that because we hadn't got to visit the family for a while and all the COVID thing, you know, was happening. And so we wanted to go, but then there was this conflict within us because, well, the baby could come at any time. And so we were, you know, kind of like wrestling back and forth with it. And we decided kind of last minute, all right, we're going to do it. We're going to go visit my family. Now, for those who don't know, my family lives up in Carson City. It's an eight-hour drive north from here.

And so here's what we did. We decided, okay, we'll go, but we are going to be ready at any moment to come back. If the baby comes...

Well, then we're going to turn around. And so on the way up, we had our phones on. You know, every time there's a loss of cell signal, we get a little bit of, you know, nervousness, you know, anticipation of, okay, is it happening now? We don't know yet. And then we get the signal back and, okay, no, no messages yet. No baby yet. Okay. So, so we, we drove that eight hours up, but at any moment, if we were six hours up and we got the notification, we were ready to, okay, we know we're going to turn around and drive six hours back to

That's going to be painful, but baby's coming. So it's time. And we have to be ready at any moment. And then we stayed a couple days up there with my family. Baby didn't come while we were driving up. And so we got to spend the day, but we also had to be prepared. Today could be our last day with the family. If we get the notification right now, we get the call right now, we're getting up first thing in the morning and boom, we're gone. And so we lived every day as if it was our last there visiting my family.

knowing that we needed to come back at any moment. And it turns out the Lord, you know, delayed, to my sister-in-law's agony, the Lord delayed the coming of the baby. So we got to, you know, enjoy our trip, complete our trip and come back as scheduled. And the baby came right then as we were heading back on the schedule. And that worked out perfectly. When it comes to the rapture of the church though, we don't know the schedule. We have a general sense of

It's going to be a surprise. In order for us to not be surprised, we just have to be ready to be, you know, looking at the signs, to be looking at the notifications. Okay, Lord, is it right now? Is it time? And at any moment, okay, we're going to go, Lord. We're ready to go. And to live with that kind of anticipation for the return of the Lord. Paul says, you're not in darkness so that this day should overtake you as a thief. To live in light is

To walk with the Lord is to walk with that sense of anticipation of his return. These are not separate things. Like, okay, walk with the Lord and, you know, develop your relationship with him and love him and worship him. And then also, you know, side note, separate thing, be ready for his return. No, these two are sewn together. They're permanently attached. Right?

That as we walk with the Lord, we are going to be looking up, understanding that our redemption draws near. He says, you're sons of the light and sons of the day. We're not of the night. We're not of darkness. We know the Lord. We walk with the Lord. And there will be scoffers who come and say, hey, Peter talks about this in 2 Peter 3. Everything has continued on as it always has.

But don't be shaken, don't be swayed. Understand there is this surprise and we are to be ready and prepared at any moment to be caught up, to meet the Lord in the air. Whether that be through the rapture of the church or whether that be death in this life and we enter into eternity with the Lord. The best thing for us is to walk in the light, to walk with God and to be ready to be with him at any moment.

Well, moving on through verses 6 through 8, we get the third point for tonight, and that is be prepared with faith, love, and hope. So how do we prepare ourselves? How do we live in this anticipation and live in this state of being ready at any moment to be with the Lord? Well, Paul explains a little bit here in verses 6 through 8. He says, therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sobered.

So Paul says, therefore, let us not sleep. He calls us not to sleep. We're children of the light. And so he calls us to stay awake. It's daytime. It's not nighttime. It's time to be awake.

To be alert, to be watching. And he says in verse 6, to be sober. He'll contrast soberness and drunkenness here in verses 6 and 7. And he's not specifically talking about alcohol or no alcohol. It's another illustration, but they are related to one another. Because the idea here is soberness, that you are not distracted or deluded, but that your senses are tuned. Right?

Your reflexes are ready to flex. You're ready to react. You're alert. Whereas if you're drunk or intoxicated in some way, your senses are dulled. Your reflexes are loosened and slackened. And you're not prepared for what is to come. In a similar way, we are to be sober. I like the way that Warren Wiersbe describes this idea of being sober. Here's what he says.

The sober-minded believer has a calm, sane outlook on life. He is not complacent, but neither is he frustrated and afraid. He hears the tragic news of the day, yet he does not lose heart. He experiences the difficulties of life, but he does not give up. He knows his future is secure in God's hand, so he lives every day creatively, calmly, and obediently.

There is this soberness that we can have as believers. There's also a franticness that we can have as believers, where we're reacting to all of the things that are happening around us. But as Paul is going to now call us to walk in faith, love, and hope, that develops in us an evenness, a soberness, so that we're not freaked out by every moment, even though we face difficult things in the day.

Even though we face pandemics and experience loss and have hurts and pains in our lives, we face the difficulties of life, but we continue to be steadfast and immovable and abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. And I think this is something important to consider as we think about the prophetic events that are to come and the day of the Lord, that soberness, that evenness, that

You know, sometimes in thinking about prophecy, we can go a little bit overboard. And I think in some ways we need to be careful as believers that we don't cry wolf, that we don't just like freak out and panic over everything and say, that must be the Antichrist.

You know, something terrible happened, something bad happened, someone that we didn't want to be president was elected president or whatever, and that's got to be the Antichrist. It's the only explanation, right? And we can use these references to prophetic things in a way that's really not soberness. And of course, that's not a crazy big deal for us because we kind of come back to our senses, you know, as we walk and we realize, okay, you know, I was just overreacting in the moment, right?

But at the same time, I think we need to be mindful of the people around us. And again, that example of the boy who cried wolf, right? The idea was, hey, people are going to start to be dull and lose their sense of alarm if we keep sounding the alarm when the alarm isn't ready to be sounded yet. I don't know if it's an apt parallel, but maybe you might kind of think back to...

or maybe even the middle or the current of the coronavirus pandemic and the great exaggeration that was there and the panic that was there and there was all this talk about all kinds of things, Christians saying it's the end of the world and Antichrist and all those things, right? And things have evened out a little bit, but also things are still crazy. I understand that. But we need to be careful that we're not caught up in that and calling these things...

what they're not because, well, perhaps they have a hint or a shadow of the things that are to come. Now that's different then. And I'm not saying that we shouldn't, you know, call people to repentance and say, look, the Lord is coming back soon. I'm not saying that. At the same time, I think we need to be careful to not say and call things as the fulfillment of prophecy when that's not actually clear just yet. There's a balance to this.

And there's totally room for us to say, look, these are the kinds of things that the Lord says will take place. We need to be sober-minded. He says in verse 7, those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. There's a drunkenness, an intoxication that we can get immersed in and involved in, both physically, literally, but also spiritually, where we're deluded and we're not really aware of what's going on. Paul says we're children of the day. Don't live like those who are in the night.

Commentator F.B. Meyer says, Paul uses the illustration of a soldier here in verse 8. He says,

He uses this picture of armor to describe how we are to be. Instead of being drunken or deluded spiritually, we're to be sober. We're to put on the breastplate of faith and love. Now, as you look at this armor and compare it to Ephesians chapter 6, we just read not too long ago the armor of God there that Paul gives in Ephesians 6.

There's a little bit of differences here, and that's because these are illustrations. They're not meant to be, you know, literal, precise things. But it's the idea of protection here. It's this armor that we carry. It's this armor that we wear, the breastplate of faith and love. Now, all throughout 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Paul really emphasizes these three things, faith, love, and hope, also tied together and referred to in other portions of Scripture as well.

but faith, love, and hope. These are to be three strong characteristics of our lives, Paul is saying. These are to be things that we are living by, actively involved in, known for. Faith. I like to describe faith or define faith as obedience to God at his word. Our lives are to be filled with faith.

That we take the word of God and we put it into practice. That we obey God when he speaks. Whether that be through his scriptures or whether that be him speaking to us personally and directly. Obedience to God at his word is faith. He says, put on the breastplate of faith and love.

And of course, faith and love go hand in hand because God is love. And so obedience to God is going to be, well, engaging in love towards the people around us. I like to define love as doing what is best for people. Having that eternal best or that eternal good in mind for people. And that's what love is. It's actively doing what is best for people.

And when we are obeying God at his word, we are going to be doing what is best for the people around us. And when we're looking for answers as to what are we to do in these situations that we face, as we look to figure out how to love the people around us, we can also look at obedience to God and understand that the best expression of love to the people around me is to obey God at what he says. And so put on the breastplate of faith and love.

And as a helmet, the hope of salvation. I like to define hope as a confident expectation of eternity. Hope does not indicate, you know, any kind of doubt. It's a confident expectation of eternity. We have this promise and this is why we can be sober. This is why we can experience tragedies and go through crazy times without freaking out. Because we have this hope, this confident expectation of eternity.

This trust in God and in his promises. He will be with us. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He will take us into eternity with him. We have this confident expectation of all that he's promised to us. And with that, we obey God at his word and we love the people around us. This is how we can be prepared for the unexpected. By walking in faith and love and hope.

Well, finally, verses 9 through 11 gives us the fourth thing to consider tonight, and that is comfort and edify each other. Comfort and edify each other. Verse 9 says, For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Here Paul says, For God did not appoint us to wrath.

Here's what we should be focused on. Faith, love, and hope. Be sober, walk in faith, love, and hope. Why? Because Paul says, you know, God did not appoint you to wrath. When you think about the day of the Lord, you understand as the events of the day of the Lord include the tribulation, which is when the wrath of God is being poured out upon this earth. It's important to know, to grasp hold of the reality God did not appoint us to wrath.

And so the world may fall apart from our perspective, but the Lord did not appoint us to wrath. We're not going to experience the wrath of God as believers. That's one of the aspects that is important about the rapture of the church. That before the wrath of God is poured out upon the earth, the Lord takes his people out of this earth. And so we'll be caught up to meet the Lord in the air because God did not appoint us to wrath. And so we can walk with sobriety, with faith and love and hope.

knowing that confident expectation. We're not appointed to wrath. We're not going to experience God's wrath. But instead, he says in verse nine, we're gonna experience salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us. And this great reminder that this is Jesus we're talking about, the one who loved us so much that he was willing to die for us. And he died for us that we might be forgiven, that our sins might be washed away so that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

He died for us so that whether in this life or when we lose this life and enter into the next life, we will be together with him. Again, pointing back to chapter four and talking about the rapture of the church, the dead in Christ will rise first. We'll be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air and thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Not just me and Jesus, but me and those who have gone before me in Jesus. We're all going to be together with the Lord forever. And so there is this great hope of eternity, this great hope of reunion for those who have believed in Jesus and entered into eternity before us. We are not appointed to wrath. We're going to be together with Jesus right now, the future of this life,

but then on into eternity in the next life. And so Paul says in verse 11, therefore comfort each other. This is something Paul says that we can use to encourage, to build up, and to comfort others around us. We are going to be with the Lord.

No matter what we go through, no matter what we experience in this life, no matter what heartache, what hardship, no matter what difficulties we face, we're not appointed to wrath. As a believer in Jesus, you are not appointed to wrath. You're not going to experience the wrath of God. You're going to experience salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Comfort each other with this, Paul says. Therefore, since that's the case, comfort one another.

Pastor David Guzik says, Paul tells us not to take comfort, but to give comfort. If all Christians have a heart to comfort each other, then all will be comforted. The idea is of a church full of active participants, not passive spectators. Comfort each other, Paul says. Now we can look at these things and of course we can take comfort and we can be comforted by the scriptures and these truths that Paul is revealing here.

And this expectation of the Lord's return and eternity with him and all that that includes. But here Paul is encouraging us. Don't just take comfort. Give comfort. Comfort each other. Learn to take these truths and express them to each other. As a means of providing comfort and helping each other through the things that we face, the difficulties that we experience. That is the responsibility of

for all of us as believers, comfort each other. And Paul also goes on to say, and edify one another. To edify means to build up. So there's the comfort, that's the coming alongside, the encouraging, the soothing, but then also help to build up and establish one another. Now, he tells the Thessalonians, just as you also are doing,

So they know about this and they are involved in this. And yet Paul also tells them to do this. And so it's appropriate for us to consider these things. Perhaps you might think, you know, I already know this. I don't need to hear this or I don't need to think about this because I'm already doing it. But Paul says, yes, you're already doing it. And make sure you keep doing it. Make sure that you comfort each other. Make sure you edify one another. This is to be something that is on our minds and on our hearts.

The author of Hebrews in Hebrews chapter 10 tells us to consider one another, that we may stir each other up to good works. That is to put some thought into, you know, comfort one another, edify one another. It's not just like a knee-jerk reaction to a hard conversation, right? Or a hard moment that someone's going through. But to consider, it means to think about it in advance. Hey, I know I'm going to Wednesday night service and I'm going to see Elsa. How can I comfort her?

How can I build her up? I know Pastor Siska is gonna be there. And yeah, he's the guy who comforts and edifies others, but how can I comfort and edify him? I know, you know, I'm gonna be spending some time with family and there's gonna be this situation. And so how can I? And the idea here is to think in advance, comfort and edify each other. Yes, you do that, but keep doing that and continue to seek the Lord on how you can be used in the lives of the people around you.

to bring comfort and edification as we work through this life with great anticipation of the life that is to come. And so here in chapter five, Paul talks about the day of the Lord that is a surprise. We know it's happening. We know it's going to come. It's scheduled, but we don't know the schedule. And so we need to live in that expectation, that anticipation. He says, you know about the surprise. Don't be surprised.

Instead, be prepared, filling your life with faith and love and hope and walking through this life together with others around you, bringing comfort and building up the people that God has placed in your life. Well, I want to finish up with one last quotation from Jesus, this time from Acts chapter 1. In Acts chapter 1, the disciples are asking Jesus. It's after he's resurrected, before he's ascended to the Father,

And they're, you know, kind of hanging out with Jesus, getting to know Jesus again, and realizing all of the scriptures that have been fulfilled, and wondering what's next. In Acts chapter 1, verse 6, the disciples asked Jesus, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Is now going to be the millennium, is what they're asking, really? Is the day of the Lord right now that the millennium is here, that you're going to establish your kingdom? And Jesus says in Acts chapter 1, verse 7,

It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father has put in his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. And I was thinking about this passage because what Jesus says, it's not for you to know times or seasons. Very similar to what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, right? You don't need me to write to you about times and seasons, right?

You can chase those things down. You can spend a lot of time trying to figure out the times and seasons and narrow down the dates. And you can try to figure those things out in advance. But Jesus says, that's not really your place. The Father's put that in his own authority. He knows that. That's all you need to know. And instead, here's what you should focus on. Receive power as the Holy Spirit comes upon you and be witnesses to me. Combining that with the words of Paul in Philippians,

1 Thessalonians chapter 5, we're to comfort and identify one another and we're to be witnesses to Jesus to the world around us. That's the thing. Instead of, you know, trying to figure out or freaking out about the events, you know, and all of those things, we should be empowered by the Holy Spirit to bring comfort, to build up, and to be witnesses to the world around us. And so as we anticipate the surprise of his return, let's be ready.

Let's be about our Father's business. That's not figuring out all of the dates and times, but it's serving one another, loving the lost, comforting each other, and building up those that God has placed in our lives. Let's pray. Lord, I pray for each one of us. Lord, out here in the parking lot, those who are watching online at this moment or later on, Lord, I pray for each one of us as we consider the things that are to come.

And Lord, there is great excitement and anticipation of what you have in store. At the same time, we still walk in this life and there is challenges and difficulties and things that we face that are painful. And so God, we need help to live this life, to walk this walk, to move forward together in the life that you've called us to. And so God, right now, I pray that you would pour out your Holy Spirit, just as you promised your disciples yesterday,

As you told them, don't worry about the times and the seasons, but wait for that outpouring, that empowering of my spirit. Lord, I pray for us. We don't have to wait any longer. The day of Pentecost has already come. Lord, you desire to pour out your Holy Spirit upon our lives, that we might be equipped, enabled, and empowered to comfort, to edify, and to be your witnesses to the world around us.

I pray, God, that you would help us to believe your word, to receive your promises, empower us, fill us, overflow us. Lord, that we might live lives that are filled with faith, love, and hope. That we would make a real impact on the world around us, not moved by times and seasons, not moved by events, but Lord, sober, alert, ready for your return, but busy, busy.

about your work until then. Lead us out, we pray. In Jesus' name, Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.