The Day of the Lord - 1 Thess Lesson 30

The Day of the Lord

1 Thessalonians 5:1-3

 Please open your Bible with me to 1 Thessalonians this morning. We have been away from our verse by verse study of this letter for a couple weeks. As we come back to this letter from Paul to this very good church we come to an important topic. In verses 1-11 Paul is writing to instruct the Thessalonians on how to live in light of the certain judgment of God. As we read these verses I want you to pay particular attention to the emphasis. We find very little explained about the details of the day of the Lord. There is some descriptions of the suddenness of coming of that day and the surprise to those who are saying, “peace and safety.” But the emphasis isn’t on detailing everything we might want to know about the day of the Lord.

 The emphasis is on the duty of those who are delivered from judgment associated with the day of the Lord. Paul will point the Thessalonians to their duty and remind them of their destiny. He charges them to encourage and build up one another with the instructions he provides. So stand together with me as we read 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11.

 Since it has been a couple of weeks since we have been here I want to set the context for these verses. This letter was written to a good church. There are no words of condemnation in this letter. There are no strong words of correction. Paul did not address any major moral or doctrinal problems in the church. In fact, he doesn’t even begin with any sort of exhortation until he came to chapter 4. The first three chapters were acknowledgment and encouragement and complimentary words for the exemplary work of God in the lives of these people.

 And I hope that you remember that Paul was not with the people of Thessalonica very long. He had reasoned with the Jews for three Sabbaths and some came to faith and those who rejected Paul’s message fomented an uprising and Paul left shortly after the church had been established. We are not sure how long Paul was there. It was somewhere between a few weeks and a few months. His hasty departure caused him concern. In Chapter 3 you can go back and read about Paul sending Timothy back to the Thessalonians to check on them and to strengthen and encourage them in the faith.

 When Timothy returned to Paul with his report on their spiritual condition, Paul understood the need to write to give additional instruction on some issues. In Chapter 4 Paul reminds them to abstain from sexual immorality. When we studied this we saw just how immoral the culture was from which these Christians had been saved. Some were evidently struggling with a clean break from all that was associated with their lives before they became Christians. Paul also gave practical instructions on living with a proper perspective and behaving responsibly toward the world.

 There must have been some questions the Thessalonians asked Timothy. They had questions regarding those who had fallen asleep, or who had died after becoming Christians. The Thessalonians lived with the expectation of Christ’s return, as did all faithful saints in the first century, including Paul. They wondered what would become of those who had died since coming to faith in Christ. Would they miss out on the blessings and benefits of that glorious event? So Paul gives the instruction in the last part of chapter 4 to explain what happens to those who were asleep in the Lord and those who are alive and remain at the time of our Lord’s coming.

 And it is also likely that the Thessalonians had questions about when the Lord was going to come back. This would be an understandable question. Paul had taught them about the Lord’s return. Chapter 1 verse 10 tells us that the Thessalonians were waiting for Jesus to return from heaven to rescue us from the wrath to come. So the Thessalonians were naturally curious about when this would happen. The Thessalonians are no different that Christians have always been about this subject. In Acts 1 the disciples where were gathered with Christ just before His ascension asked, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom of Israel?” They knew that this would be the reason for His return. It would be to restore the kingdom of Israel. They were hoping it was even before He left.

 Jesus had dealt with this same question during His earthly ministry. Jesus foretold a time of judgment and the disciples asked, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” This provided the occasion for Jesus to teach a great deal about the subject in what we know as the Olivet Discourse. The instruction is given in the most detail in Matthew 24-25. 

 One of the greatest fascinations of the Christian world is this question. There have been many who have attempted to predict the exact moment this would happen. All have been wrong. Jesus made it clear that the answer to this question was something that the angels did not know, and even He did not know, but only the Father in heaven knew. And Jesus details many of the signs that precede His coming back, but so much of what Jesus taught was directed at the same focus Paul emphasizes in our text. It isn’t as important for us to know when Jesus is coming back as it is to be ready whenever He does come back.

 If you take the time to read Matthew 24-25 you will find that this is the clear emphasis of Jesus. The record of His description of the signs begins in 24:4 and ends in 24:31. So, what is that, about 28 verses? Then in He goes on from 24:32 to the end of Chapter 25 emphasizing the need to be ready. There are roughly 66 verses that the argument could be made were given to emphasize the need to live in light of the return of Christ. This is the emphasis of so much of Scripture.

 We have the same thing in our passage. In the first three verses Paul tells us a couple things about the day of the Lord. Then he turns his attention to the duty of the Christian on how to live. He emphasizes our destiny. God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. And the approach that both Jesus and Paul seem to take is one we should embrace. We don’t need to worry so much about when Jesus is coming back. We don’t have any control over that. We can’t know that. But there is something over which we do have some control. That is how we live until He gets here.

 Here is what we do know based on the teaching of Jesus. He is coming back. His return is closer today than it was the day of His ascension into heaven. The parable of the fig tree in Matthew 24:32-35 tell us that He is near. Immediately after the parable of the fig tree Jesus tells us that the world will be doing what the world always does. Jesus said that they will be eating and drinking and getting married just like they were in the days of Noah. They won’t be ready.

 But Jesus told His followers to “be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.” (Matthew 24:42) He urges us to be like the faithful and sensible servant. He wants us to be like the prepared virgin. He taught the parable of the talents to remind us to be taking full advantage of every opportunity we have been given to advance His kingdom. He describes the final judgment to come so we know what it looks like to be on the right side of His judgment.

 I like Paul’s approach to this issue. Evidently the Thessalonians wanted to know more about the expected time of the Lord’s return, or more about the conditions that would indicate when His return was getting closer, but Paul writes, “Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you.” The words “times and epochs” are “chronos” and “kairos.” “Times” would speak to the length of time until the return, and “epochs” would speak of the events, or signs, or conditions related to the return.

 So the Thessalonians wanted to know more about when and what would be going on. Paul said, “you have no need of anything to be written to you.” And he reminds them of what they know full well. This was that the day of the Lord was going to come like a thief in the night and that those who are unprepared are going to misunderstand the times and the epochs and be destroyed. Paul’s challenge to them was to make sure they were not among those who were unprepared.

 I think we must answer an obvious question. Why did Paul think that writing anything to them about the times and epochs was not necessary? First, I am confident that he had taught them everything they needed to know when he was among them. There were many things about the day of the Lord they knew full well. They had been taught these things because Paul had taught them. Or, they had been taught these things because the Old Testament is full of the prophecy regarding the day of the Lord. And, it is possible that the gospel of Mark had already been circulated and reproduced and Paul had shared the contents of Mark 13 with them. Mark is the earliest of the gospel accounts written and it had been completed as many as a year before the letter to the Thessalonians. Even if nothing had been recorded, which is doubtful, the accounts of our Lord’s teaching in the Olivet Discourse would have been widely circulated among the early church.

 The point Paul is emphasizing is that what faithful believers need is not more details about the day of the Lord, or more speculative predictions about how long before it happens. What faithful Christians need to focus on is what they already know. Jesus is coming back. Listen, we have more assurance of the certainty of the day of the Lord than we have of tomorrow’s sunrise. Why? Because the word of God promises it will happen.

 Now, before we talk about the problem regarding those who are not ready, let’s make sure we all understand what Paul is talking about when he says, “the day of the Lord.” This is not an obscure concept in the Bible. The term “day of the Lord” is mentioned 19 times in the O.T and four times in the New Testament. Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Zephaniah, Zechariah, and Malachi all write of the day of the Lord. It is also called the “day of vengeance.”

 To get a sense of what this day involves let’s read quickly a couple passages from the prophets I just mentioned. Turn to Isaiah 13:6-16. Joel 2:1-11. There are many more places we could read about this day of the pouring out of God’s wrath in judgment. The day of the Lord is the time of God’s cataclysmic future judgment of the wicked.

1. The Fact of Final Judgment

a. Scripture frequently affirms the fact that there will be a final judgment of believers and unbelievers. They will stand before the judgment seat of Christ in resurrected bodies and hear His proclamation of their eternal destiny.

b. The final judgment is vividly portrayed in John’s vision in Revelation 20:11-15. “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

c. Other New Testament passages teach this final judgment.

i. Paul told the Greek philosophers in Athens, “He (God) has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness, through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31)

ii. Paul warns in Romans 2:5 “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”

d. The final judgment is the culmination of many precursors in which God rewarded righteousness and punished unrighteousness throughout history.

i. He brought blessing and deliverance to those who were faithful to Him like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and many faithful among the people of Israel.

ii. He brought judgment on those who persisted in disobedience and unbelief, including the flood, the dispersion of the people from the tower of Babel, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and many others, including the people of Israel when they fell into disobedience and idolatry.

2. The Time of Final Judgment

a. The final judgment will occur after the millennium and the rebellion that occurs at the end of it. John pictures the millennial kingdom and the removal of Satan from influence on the earth in Revelation 20:1-6.

b. “When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out and deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, God and Magog, to gather them together for war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Revelation 20:7-10

c. “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it…” (Revelation 10:11)

3. The Nature of the Final Judgment

a. Jesus Christ will be the Judge.

i. Paul speaks of “Jesus Christ, who is to judge the living and the dead…” (2 Timothy 4:1)

ii. Peter preached, “And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.” (Acts 10:42)

iii. Jesus said, “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.” (Matthew 25:31-33)

iv. John records these words of Jesus, “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave it to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.” (John 5:26-27)

b. Unbelievers will be judged.

i. All unbelievers will stand before Christ in judgment. This judgment includes “the dead, the great and the small…” (Revelation 20:12), and Paul affirms that God “will render to each person according to His deeds” (Romans 2:6) “to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.” (Romans 2:8)

ii. Every wrong deed will be remembered and taken into account in the judgment that is meted out that day. 

1. “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.” (Matthew 12:36) 

2. “For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:14)

iii. Even the secrets of men’s hearts will be revealed and judged accordingly.

1. “…God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.” (Romans 2:16)

2. “But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops.” (Luke 12:2-3)

c. Believers will be judged.

i. Paul said, “For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God…So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:10-12. He told the Corinthians, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Cor. 5:10)

ii. This judgment of believers will be to evaluate and determine how to bestow various degrees of rewards, but they fact that believers will face judgment should not cause believers fear that they will be eternally condemned.

1. In John 5:24 Jesus promised, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” The judgment spoken of here is the condemnation of eternal death that will be the destiny of all who do not believe in Christ.

2. Romans 8:1 promises, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

3. God has chosen to remember our sins no more and has cast them into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19, Psalm 104:12, Isaiah 43:25)

4. The fact that we will appear before God for our lives to be evaluated should provide a motive for godly living.

4. The Justice of God in the Final Judgment

a. Scripture clearly affirms that God will be entirely just in His judgment and no one will be able to complain against Him on that day. God is the One “who impartially judges according to each one’s work…” (1 Peter 1:17), and “there is no partiality with God.” (Romans 2:11)

b. For this reason, on the last day, “every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God.” (Romans 3:19) None will be able to accuse God of treating them unfairly. In fact, the purity of God’s justice will be one of the reasons for His praise in eternity. “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; because His judgments are true and righteous…” (Revelation 19:1-2)

5. Moral Application of the Final Judgment

a. The doctrine of judgment satisfies our inward sense of a need for justice.

i. The fact that there will be a final judgment assures us that ultimately God’s universe is fair. God is in control and He keeps accurate records and renders just judgment. Colossians 3:25 promises, “For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.”

ii. When the picture of final judgment is found in Scripture, there is the fact that “books were opened.” (Revelation 20:12, Malachi 3:16) Whether these are literal books or symbolic, they remind us that a permanent and accurate record of all our deeds has been kept by God and ultimately all accounts will be settled and made right.

b. The doctrine of final judgment enables us to forgive others freely.

i. We realize that it is not up to us to take revenge on those who have wronged us, because God has reserved that right for Himself. “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19)

ii. Whenever we have been wronged, we can give into God’s hands any desire to repay, knowing that every wrong in the universe will ultimately be paid for – either by Christ on the cross, or at the final judgment.

iii. In this way we can follow the example of Christ in all the wrongs committed toward us. (See 1 Peter 2:22-23)

c. The certainty of the final judgment provides a motive for righteous living.

i. The final judgment is an incentive for believers to live faithful lives and engage in good works. Jesus tells us to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” (Matthew 6:20)

ii. For unbelievers the doctrine of final judgment still provides some moral restraint on their lives. The greater the understanding among society that all will someday give an account to the Creator of the universe, the more a general “fear of God” will restrain evil. By contrast, those who have no deep consciousness of judgment will give themselves over to greater and greater evil, demonstrating that “there is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:18) These people are scoffers who question the promise of God’s coming. (2 Peter 3:3-4)

d. The certainty of the final judgment provides a great motive for evangelism. 

i. Since those who reject Christ will endure eternal judgment, our appeal should be, “Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why should you die…” (Ezekiel 33:11)

ii. Peter explains that the reason for the delay of the Lord’s return is “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

It is not necessary to worry about when the final judgment of God will come. However, it is important to understand that it certainly will come. We must be ready whenever it comes. We must tell those we love and those whom God puts in our path that it certainly is coming. We will come back next week and see the problem with those who are not ready, and see how we are to live so as to make sure we are ready. Let’s pray.