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| 1 Thessalonians
5 Memory Verses, John 1:12; James 2:19 Good Evening Brothers and Sisters, Memory verses to date: Ephesians 2:8-9; James 2:19; John 1:12; Romans 3:23; Romans 5:8; Romans 6:23; Romans 10:9-10; Romans 10:13. 10 verses so far! How is it working for you? The theme of the end times is carried forward in this chapter, along with exhortations to grow in the Lord. 1 Thes 5:1-7 The Day of the Lord. What is "the times and the epochs"? This term has been used three times in the Bible, all referring to Israel. What is the "day of the Lord"? This is not the rapture, this takes place after the rapture, according to the scholars. According to common thought, the rapture takes place then the "day of the Lord" occurs. This is laid out in detail in Revelation 6-19. Apparently the "day" will last for quite some time. It is referred to by Old Testament prophets, Isa 13:9-11; Joel 2:28-32; Zeph 1:1-18; 3:14-15. If you read through these verses you will see that the world will be in calamity, and there will be blessings for the children of God. He will cause lots of destruction upon the earth. And along with this, if any man repents, he will be saved. "Thief in the night", this is a common theme in prophecy concerning the day of the Lord. It will catch man unaware. Matt 24:43-44; Luke 12:39-40. In regard to the attitude about "peace and safety", isn't that a common thought today? I speak with many people at my job, and am amazed at how many are unchurched, and have never been in church. They scoff at God and have the attitude of "who needs Him, He is for the weak". They feel secure and safe, knowing that medicine can prolong life much longer now. Also they do not believe in an afterlife anyway. They will definitely be caught by surprise, see Daniel 9:25:24-27, in v. 27 the hammer falls. If you were able to read through these verses listed above, you will see that the world is going to have a wake-up call. Will Christians be caught by surprise also? Since we are of the day, and not of the night, meaning that we walk in the light of the Lord Jesus, not in the darkness of sin. Col 1:13; Eph 5:8. If we were in the darkness, the day would catch us by surprise. However, since we are of the Light, we being alert will see the signs of His coming. Look at this note: Paul’s exhortation was for his readers to behave in keeping with their enlightened condition and to be prepared in view of the day of the Lord. He presented this exhortation as a logical conclusion from what preceded. Besides being logical to behave this way, it is also a necessary duty. Christians should not be indifferent to the reality of the Lord’s return; they should not be asleep on the job. The word for “asleep” ( katheudōmen; cf. v. 10 ) differs from the one used thrice in 4:13-15 where it means death ( koimaō ). Here it means spiritual lethargy and insensitivity. This is the condition of the unsaved, the others. Christians, on the other hand, should be watchful and soberly waiting for the Lord’s return (1 Cor. 1:7 ; Titus 2:13 ; Heb. 9:28 ; 2 Peter 3:12 ), and self-controlled (1 Thes. 5:6 ), maintaining self-discipline in view of the great events to come. cf. confer , compare v. verse Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-c1985). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures (1 Th 5:6). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. v. 7 Refers to the unbelievers, they are unable to respond to the light since they love the darkness. This is a pretty strong word picture. We can see a sloppy drunk wasting the night away. The same is true in life. If a person never comes to know Jesus, he is just wasting his life away. 1 Thes 5:8-11 Armor of God. We are of the day, therefore, we are to be sober, making the most of the time. As sober people we have responsibilities, we have things to do, places to go. We have armor to put on for the defense of our souls. One is the "breastplate of faith and love" This protects our heart and emotions. Another is the "helmet, the hope of salvation", this protects our minds. I find it interesting that here we are not told to hold the Sword of the Spirit, but rather, we wear armor which protects us from the elements. It is not offensive weapons, or defensive weapons, but rather body armor which will protect us if we stand firm. We are not to make the fight in the day of the Lord, He does the fighting. We are to resist and look forward to Jesus coming back. v. 9 Backs up the idea of us standing without attacking, "For God has not destined us for wrath". Our job will simply be to repent, and obtain salvation through Jesus Christ, then if we get killed, or if we live, regardless the outcome, in the end we will be with Jesus, forever. We are to "encourage one another and build up one another" using this attitude. I wonder where the discipleship and edification went in our churches today. Too often all we see is backbiting and spoiled brats trying to play church through getting one up on the next guy. I believe that we are in these end times, and it is time to start shaking our brothers who have become lethargic and waking them up. It is time to get serious about the Lord. 1 Thes 5:12-13 Appreciate the labororers. God has placed workers in every church. Otherwise in most cases, these churches would fall apart. It is time to join with the workers who are serving out of genuine "agape" love as is indicated in v. 13. Who are the workers? These are our pastors, deacons, elders, those appointed over us who are genuinely serving the Lord. We are to appreciate these people and give them the respect that they deserve, then as an outcome of this, we will naturally get along. The brattiness will go away as we focus our minds upon the Lord. 1 Thes 5:14-22 Instructions in Christian living. Here are guidelines for us to follow. v. 14 says that we are to exhort those around us to spark them to grow and leave their state of lethargy. v. 15 Encourages us to watch and make sure that these who were awakened do not trip and slip back into their previous lifestyles. v.16 Attitude: "Rejoice always". This is not a startling new revelation, Paul has written about this in other epistles for example Phil 3:1; 4:4. How can we have an attitude of rejoicing when the world is falling apart around our shoulders? Many of us have 4:4 memorized because of a praise song that was popular a few years ago. Another praise song like this came from Nehemiah 8:10, "......Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." The point I am making is that it is easy to say be joyful until we are in a situation where it doesn't seem possible. So "rejoice always" is a decision, not an emotion. We have to decide to put it in the Lord's hands and be glad that He has control over every aspect of our lives. v. 17 Attitude, and mindset: "pray without ceasing" The Greek lexicons point to a continuous constant action. Walvoord has a little different take on this: "Continual prayer is not prayer that prevails without any interruption, but prayer that continues whenever possible. The adverb for continually ( adialeiptōs, also in 1:3 ) was used in Greek of a hacking cough. Paul was speaking of maintaining continuous fellowship with God as much as possible in the midst of daily living in which concentration is frequently broken." Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-c1985). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures (1 Th 5:17). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. Either way, the idea is to always be in touch with God, with an attitude of prayer. v. 18 Attitude: Thankfulness. Ro. 8:28, We covered this somewhat with v. 16, but it is a different angle, in other words, we are to be totally focused upon God in every area of our life, because He works things out for the good. v. 19 Attitude: Humility and Submissiveness. Listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit and follow His leading. By ignoring the Spirit's leading in our lives we effectively quench the Spirit. v. 20 "prophetic utterances" Speaking literally of the gift of prophecy, which is, in my understanding, one who speaks the truth as God lay's it on his heart. There are other genuine prophets, such as the Old Testament prophets. Some people think that this is a gift of the past, I beg to differ, otherwise why would it be listed in a passage that is clearly pointing toward the rapture? v.21 Have a careful attitude. Be careful to examine everything you are told, sift through the garbage and glean the jewels which are hidden there. In this day where there are so many ear-ticklers, it is hard to find a pastor or teacher who speaks the genuine Word. I thank God that we have a pastor who is in touch with God's heart, unfortunately, in many churches, this is not so. Many pastors are in the church for wrong reasons, and seek to edify themselves. v.22 Keep Out signs posted on evil. If it looks like evil, we are to abstain from it, why squabble over gray area's? What is the point of jeaphordizing our relationship with God over a gray area? 1 Thes 5:23-24 God's work. Isn't it great, look at what God has done for us in salvation! He has made us entirely holy. He will preserve our body and soul for the coming of the Lord Jesus, Also, he will recon us to be without blame. He called us, and He will do it! 1 Thes 5:25-28 Farewell. Paul gives the final greetings, a request for prayer, and encourages them all to read this letter. I drew heavily from Walvoord in preparing this study, I have enjoyed his teaching for years. I realize that there is a lot of information that could be added to this, I gave it my best shot, I hope that you enjoyed this study as much as I did in preparing it. Lord, I ask as we look forward to the Day of the Lord, that you will give us the wisdom to encourage those who are sleeping around us to wake up and to be alert. To ready themselves for the coming of the Lord. In Him, Joe Turner |
| Joe, Thanks for the 1 Thessalonians 5 study. The gift of prophecy is the special ability to communicate God's message, sometimes foretelling the future or forthtelling the truth and applying it to the present. (Note the Old Testament prophets who did both. Often, predictions of the future were tied to application of the Pentateuch and warnings of what would happen due to disobedience.) New Testament prophets with a large "P" who predicted the future were of the first, foundational generation of the Church (Eph. 2:20). Prophets with a small "p" are like pastors who preach the word on Sundays, "forthtelling" God's word. Lifted up the requests. IHG, Erik |
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