1 Thessalonians 5:1-8 Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
Believers should discern the times, but sometimes because we dissipate our spiritual strength in the wrong places on the wrong things, we Christians are much like the virgins without oil in their lamps on the day of the bridegroom's return. Christians tend to get excited and believe the last days are upon us when they see a political figure they don't like come to power or when troubles are happening in their country or in their personal lives, but they don't seem to understand that the times will be as they were in Noah's time. Jesus said, No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. (Matthew 24:36-39) While Noah was preparing for the flood, the rest were living as we live: eating, drinking, celebrating, cheering on their favorite sports team, congratulating their kids for good grades, commuting to their jobs, ordering pizza from Pizza Hut, buying McDonald's hamburgers, playing computer games, and the like. The people in Noah's time were ignorant of God's clock. Their hedonistic lives determined the time of destruction for them because they lived for themselves, not for God. Sometimes in our modern world, some Christians have clothed themselves in the same lifestyle as the people in Noah's time. Instead of living lives dedicated to loving God and serving in his righteous kingdom, producing a harvest of the Spirit for the world to see; with their self-serving, pleasure seeking attitudes, they say, "I am going to get all I can out of life for I only go around once, and I deserve the best." However, as the people in Noah's time found out after their demise in the flood, there is an afterlife. As Paul reminded the Roman church. It is written: “As surely as I live," says the Lord, "every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God." So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. (Romans 14:11-12)
Since Jesus' ascension, we are living in the last days. When He arose, He promised to send the Holy Spirit. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49) The disciples stayed in Jerusalem, and this promise was fulfilled: In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Acts 2:17-21) We have been living in the last days for a long time. Many of the signs of the last days that Jesus related in Luke 21 have taken place on this Earth. Christians who angrily and bitterly advocate additional political panaceas for these days would be surprised if God's judgment were to finally fall on this world. If they were at ease because they finally got what they wanted IN THIS WORLD so they could cry peace and safety, what would they think when destruction comes on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman? The Bible says the Lord will return as a thief in the night, when we are performing our perfunctory duties, concerned only about our daily activities, our pursuits to fulfill our natural appetites. The drunk will keep on drinking, the workaholic will keep on working, the electronic addict will keep on viewing the screen, and so on. All things will be as they have been from the beginning: self-centered, hedonistic, against the perfect will of the Father who poured out his mercy and grace. These are the daily choices and activities that can consume our time. But Paul encourages us not to live in the darkness of the heathen, but to live as children of the light, discerning the times we live in. He says, Since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. As children of the light, we live lives oriented towards God with faith, love, and endurance. Children of the light will not faint in doing good; they do not retreat from loving their enemies. They fix their eyes on the author and finisher of their faith rather than the interests and the pleasures of this world. Complaining, unforgiveness, bitterness, and rage will not be in their mouths. In Christ we choose to die daily, enduring to the end as servants of the Most High.
We might ask, How is this possible? I am not consistently that person: I fail so often. Know who you are in Christ and who He is in you. The Bible says, Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:2-3) We are no longer citizens of this world. We are looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. (Hebrews 11:10) If we live as if we belong in this early domain, we will become contaminated by its many distractions, and we will fail to discern the times properly. If we put our trust in the Lord and yield to him, He perfects what concerns us. For generations Christians have believed in the Lord's return and rightly discerned the times and seasons. They sought his glorious appearing while working for him till He comes or takes them home. They knew the world is oriented towards the terrestrial, the temporary. We know as they did we have an eternal home found IN CHRIST: we will reign with him forever. Because He lives, we live also. Therefore, our tent pegs are not buried too deeply in the terrestrial: we are always ready to move on to the celestial. If we focus only on eating, drinking, and being merry as did the people in Noah's time, we will find only death within our lives and within the lives of those around us. Our primary mission as born again people is to serve the Lord joyfully for his glory. Therefore our lives should be ones full of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) Noah's day was hedonistic: seeking pleasure for today; but our lives are defined by servanthood: the joy of total commitment to our Lord. When we hear the trumpet sound or when our bodies lie down for the last time, we will be as the diligent virgins with oil in their lamps; for we will carry within us the precious oil of the Holy Spirit: the harvest of keeping in step with the Holy Spirit as we share the peaceable fruits of righteousness with those we meet every day. And the Lord will say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Come and share your master’s happiness!"
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