Daylight Dark Night

1 Thessalonians 5: “4 But ye, brethren, jare not in darkness, that cthat day should overtake you das a thief. 5 Ye are all kthe children of light, and the children of the day: lwe are not of the night, nor of darkness.” [1]

I.   Included

     A. Ye

     B. We

II. Illuminated

     A. Within

     B. Without

III. Insured

     A. Light

     B. Night

Introduction:  Paul heard that there were people in Macedonia who were persuading the flock in Thessalonica to leave their first love.  The gossips and others who would pull believers away from the truth were busy telling them that their faith and hope were useless.  It is hard to keep faithfully waiting as you watch things that you can see and have people who encourage discouragement; especially when the same things that are seen seem to be happening while the things that we are patiently waiting for seem to be slipping away while we are still in the place where we have been.

In chapter five Paul seemed to be reinforcing this idea of faithful waiting.  He is coming.  Jesus is most definitely coming soon but His soon is not your soon.  I cannot tell Jesus when to come back and neither can you so why waste time and energy on things that you cannot change while there are things that we should be concentrating on?  Instead of letting those to distract you who don’t know God, you should stand fast and influence them with your faith.

In Daddy’s case he couldn’t tell us when we would arrive in Moncure.  He was busy driving.  We might not have meant to but we were causing him to be distracted on his most important task; getting us here safely.  Momma would see it happening as Daddy’s voice would change.  Then she would come up with games to keep our minds occupied so Daddy wouldn’t be distracted.  Count the red cars.  How many Burma Shave signs have you seen?

Momma knew that if Daddy got distracted none of us might get to Moncure.  We children didn’t know the danger.  Our minds were not set on distraction.  We were just losing patience with the journey.  Momma tried to distract us instead of us distracting Daddy.  The things that she used gave us other things to think about and remember.  I still remember playing hangman in the back of that old Desoto.

Even today as a pilot I myself have had many opportunities of distraction that might have ended very badly.  The landing is the most important aspect of the flight no doubt but you better not be so ready to land that you forget to fly the airplane.  Keep your mind on what you are doing now and don’t distract those who are guiding the journey.

Scripture:  Today’s scripture is 1 Thessalonians 5:4-5.  When you have found it please rise to your feet for the reading of God’s written word.

Prayer: Please be seated

Message:  Please follow as we read 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11…  It seems that some questions about coming things were coming to Paul from Thessalonica.  When each of us is around those who understand that we are Christian, does the conversation start with encouragement from unbelievers or questioning? 

Many years ago my youngest daughter was amazed when Jehovah’s Witnesses would come to her home.  They would start with what Jamie knew and then do their best to take her off course.  Jamie was amazed at how well they knew their propaganda.  She heard them turn what she knew into something else but she felt useless in defending her own faith.  She said something like, “They know their Bible a lot better than I know mine.”

Many cults have come in these last 2020 years.  People come up with all sorts of theories and they really seem to enjoy taking what they don’t know and change your mind on what you do know.  It takes our concentration away from what we should be doing.  Instead of bringing others to Christ, those in the dark often turn those who are on shaky ground in their faith.

I’ll paraphrase the first four verses.  I can’t help what those dark minded folks are asking but it is really not necessary for you to ask me to explain it to you again is it?  You know perfectly well that even Jesus couldn’t say when He would come back before He ascended back to heaven.  When He does come back it will be an awesome surprise.  If you knew when a thief was coming to take you or your stuff your knowledge of his coming would prevent the surprise.

Jesus will not come as a baby through an expectant mother this time.  He will come only when the world is not ready for Him and He will take away the best of this world with Him then.  He will take you.  He will take us.  Let nothing distract your mind from that truth.

I hear and know that there are others who say that nobody but those of us here and now can provide safety but they are the ones in the dark, not you, not us.  Whatever you do don’t let Jesus’ arrival catch you off guard thinking the way that the lost are thinking.

In verse four there is that but again.  This is what they think and are trying to persuade you into believing but!  But you are not like them are you?  You are included with us.  Ye are our brethren! Skip to the end of verse five and see that ye is with we?  God included us together.  We are to lead the lost.  Don’t let the cart pull the horse.  Don’t let the blind who are attempting to lead the ones who can see into the darkness where the night will overtake you like a thief who takes what isn’t theirs.  You are our brethren.  We are your brethren.  God included us together.

Have you ever been in a strange place and woke up to a nightlight in the next room?  Clocks and other things don’t put off much light.  You don’t pay attention to them while it is daylight because the light overpowers them.  At night though, if you’re used to sleeping in a dark room, that extra night light might be just enough to upset your rest.

Rachael always had room darkening shades so that I can sleep.  After 24 years of shift work now it doesn’t matter if it’s 12 noon; with those shades drawn I can sleep whenever.  If we go somewhere and there is a bathroom nightlight, I have to turn the thing off.  It keeps me awake.

After years of sleeping whenever I could; now it doesn’t take much light to disrupt my sleep.  We have a main north-south railroad in our backyard but noise doesn’t bother me.  I sleep right through that.  Sometimes even at night, something will stop me from going to sleep.  If I don’t go ahead and get the thing straight in my heart and mind, I might as well give up and get up.  I’ll turn on the TV or a light and go ahead and get my mind right.  If something takes your resting in the Lord away, illuminate that thing.  Get it out into the light so to speak so that you can understand what bothers you and then put it out of your mind.

Focus on Jesus and keep Him within your heart to light the truth so that you can see.  Put that glimmer of doubt without; otherwise it will invade the spaces that will break your concentration on the thing that you have the power to accomplish.

Rather than “Good Hands Insurance” verse six sounds like an assurance policy.  If we sleep though and disregard this storm we might wake up to disaster.  This world in this time is especially stormy.  Jesus told us the signs.  He led John through what would happen in the end of this time as it was revealed and now we can read of those things that will come.

We can watch and wait and know that the time is surely coming, but we have assurance against theft. We have the light.  We are children of the light.  It looks like another period of darkness is on the horizon.  God is allowing others to be afraid and taken out of His comfort zone.  Don’t let it happen to you!

Yes the so-called world leaders are telling us to prevent our neighbors from being with their family.  They would rather that we all would be kept in the dark so that they have what they do to be hidden.  It is no different than it has always been as we wait for Him to take us home.

How can we do that which we are supposed to do in such a time as this?  Be sober!  Stay alert to the truth of God because there is no substitute teacher on the internet that will guide you to love your neighbor.  They would rather that we would all lock ourselves away while they are drunk with worldly power that destroys the light.  Our armor cannot be penetrated unless we let it down.  Let us pray.

Prayer:

Invitation:  So are we to respond with anger toward those who attempt to distract us?  Never!  We are to respond with love…

Remember verses 8-11, “8 But let us, kwho are of the day, obe sober, sputting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God hath not tappointed us uto wrath, but wto obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 xWho died for us, that, whether we nwake or msleep, we should live together with him. 11 Wherefore ||ycomfort yourselves together, and zedify one another, even as also ye do.” [2]

Communion one with another; as we are about to observe “The Lord’s Supper” let us not be distracted by those who would rather that we would stay in the dark.  We are not of the dark.  We have the light which pervades all the recesses of this dark fallen world.  Our mission is to save the lost.  Let us not be overtaken by their darkness.

j So Rom. 13:12, 13. 1 John 2:8.
c See Luke 17:24.
d See Matt. 24:43. Comp. 2 Thess. 2:2.
k See Luke 16:8.
l See Acts 26:18.
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 1 Th 5:4–5). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
k See Luke 16:8.
o ver. 8. 2 Tim. 4:5 (Gk.). 1 Pet. 1:13. & 4:7. & 5:8. So 1 Cor. 15:34 (Gk.).
s See Isai. 59:17. So Eph. 6:14, 16, 17.
t John 15:16 (Gk.). See 1 Pet. 2:8.
u Rom. 5:9. & 9:22. ch. 2:16. So ch. 1:10.
w 2 Thess. 2:14. Heb. 10:39 (Gk.). See Eph. 1:14.
x See Rom. 14:9.
n ver. 10 (Gk.). See Matt. 24:42.
m Matt. 25:5. ver. 10 (Gk.). So Rom. 13:11.
|| Or, exhort. See ch. 4:1 (text).
y See ch. 4:18.
z See Acts 9:31. & Rom. 14:19.
[2] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 1 Th 5:8–11). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.