For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. (1 Thessalonians 5:2-4, KJV)
We need to look seriously at a number of things – in our personal lives, and also in the Church as leaders and as individuals.
The Church has always faced some crisis of one sort or another. Lately we’ve had a crisis precipitated by coronavirus and lockdown. At one time the churches in the UK were closed by law! It was a criminal act to open them! After a lot of prayer – and some action – this was lifted. That was in 2020. But the sad thing is, so few churches are taking advantage of what freedom they now have, and in 2021 many are still closed. But as Christians we are not called to a life of ease and comfort. I think sometimes people have the idea that when you give your life to Christ your life should become a bed of roses. It’s not like that.
We have to face the fact that our Christian life is a constant battle. The illustration is of the children of Israel. When finally, after 40 years in the wilderness because of disobedience, they crossed over into the Promised Land, they had to fight for their very existence every inch of the way. It’s becoming clearer in the generation we are living in now that we are going to have to learn to fight for basic Christian family and moral principles. Governments in Britain, America and around the world are almost making it illegal for us to stand by those precepts.
The challenge to us is to keep the faith. As Paul the Apostle said when he was nearing the end of his life, “I have fought the good fight, I have kept the faith, I have finished my course.” 2 Timothy 4:7. That’s what life was like for Paul. And I’ve got news for you – we have to ‘fight a good fight’ in that same sense, to hold fast to our faith and finish our course!
The danger, even in evangelical churches today, is that some are not sticking strictly to what the Scripture says. This is troubling, because if we are to ‘hold fast to the faith’, it has to be the faith laid out for us in the Word of God. I want to encourage you and lead you in the fight to keep the faith! It is going to be a fight.
There’s a sense of urgency. Look, Scripture says, the Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the nations – until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, until the times of the Gentiles are ended! Matthew 24:14, Luke 21:24. Then, as Paul wrote, when the fulness of the Gentiles is come in, then shall all Israel be saved. Romans 11:25-26. I am absolutely convinced there is coming a time when we can no longer preach the Gospel. Even Jesus said, “I must work while it is still day, there is a night coming when no man can work.” John 9:4. So if the ending of the times of the Gentiles is coming, if a night is coming, we’ve got to get on with the job – FAST!
That’s why, the minute we come out of this lockdown, the first thing I am going to do is get back into evangelism! The sooner the better, the faster the better! We must go into it with all our energy! We have a limited time left!
Let’s look at 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3, “You know perfectly that the Day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes on them as travail on a woman with child, and they shall not escape!” We know this, the Lord’s Coming is as a thief in the night. Ah, but, look how Paul is putting it here. We have to be prepared, we have to be ready, we have to prepare… Because in v4, Paul says, “YOU, brethren, are NOT in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief!” Paul is saying, as far as the world is concerned, the Coming of Christ will be a sudden unexpected happening – but you, brothers and sisters in Christ, should not be in such darkness that the Coming of the Lord will overtake you as a thief! The suddenness of the Coming of the Lord is a shock to the world, but not so to the Believer, who should be expecting it, because we are children of the Light and children of the Day. We are not of the night nor of darkness! V5. Therefore let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those that sleep, sleep in the night, those that are drunken are drunken in the night. But those of us who are of the Day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of hope and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to attain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us that, whether we wake or sleep [in the sleep of death], we should live together with Him. Vv6-10. Whether we have died, or are still alive at His Coming, we shall be caught up with Him!
The whole emphasis here is that, as the real Church, which is Christ’s Body, we should be sensitive to, waiting for and ready for His Coming – so that you will NOT be caught unawares. This is so important.