Like A Thief In The Night

"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" 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2

You can count on the fact that I, for one,will not be putting times or dates on the return of Christ. Evidently this verse, and some others, are not in some folks Bibles or they somehow explain away that we cannot know the day of Christ's return. The way I read my Bible, the Son Himself doesn't know that day and only God the Father knows. Struggle all you want how one of the Godhead knows and the others don't, but the truth remains, His return is top secret. I know this, it won't be on a day when somebody has made some big deal about His return or predicted it precisely. God would not honor that. Although, my understanding of God says that He can do whatever He pleases, whether that works with anyone's calendar or prognostication or not.

The Rapture

"For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.Therefore encourage each other with these things" 1 Thessalonians 4:16

This verse has been studied and torn apart as much as any in the Bible because there are several viewpoints on what, how and when these events are to take place. I have never been fond of tying down the details of what God is gonna do. He does it how He pleases, when He pleases and How He pleases. That is good enough for me. I try to let Him handle those details, because He is so good at them. Let me add three things that are important to me in the passage, one from the beginning, one from the middle and one from the end. First off, I love that it is the Lord Himself that is coming again. He is not sending someone or doing all this from above. He is coming back Himself.

Personal Responsibility

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent of anybody else." 1 Thessalonians 4:11

Wow! Isn't this the freshest definition of ambition that you have seen in a long time? Ambition is usually defined as becoming famous, or the best, or better than everybody else, or getting ahead, or making money, or being influential, or impressing people with all your accomplishments. Be aggressive and assertive and get yourself out there in the public eye for everybody to approve of you! Not quite... I must make a list. This is too good not to illustrate the principle behind it.

More Love

"Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more." 1 Thessalonians 4:9

I am noticing that teaching and talk about love is not as strong as it used to be. Back in the 60's and early 70's there was much talk about love. Some of it was called 'free love', which is love without commitment and without boundaries. The brotherly love that Paul speaks of here is the kind of love that Christians should be known for wherever they are. I think our problem may be that it is hard to say you love when you are constantly creating stress, drama and agenda for people. Or, it is hard to talk about love when you are being mean-spirited or vengeful. It is also hard to spread the love when you are greedy or selfish. Equally difficult is to speak of love when you, yourself feel so unloved or think you are entitled to more love.

Take It Up With God

"Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you His Holy spirit" 1 Thessalonians 4:8

People who want to argue with me about what God's Word says are wasting their time. Of course they say that they are arguing with my interpretation of what God's Word says. Usually I direct their frustration with me to the Bible. Particularly in the cases about sexual immorality. The norm of the day or whatever is culturally acceptable justifies many in their minds to be involved in sexual sin. Some would say that all sexual behavior that is consensual cannot be against God's Word. After all, He made us sexual beings with a need to express that sexuality, therefore whatever way that comes out is a matter of personal choice as long as there are no victims involved. Have you heard these kind of arguments before?

Think About Such Things

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things" Philippians 4:8

Truthfully, this is a struggle, for us all. Controlling our words and actions seems tough enough, but most importantly, we need to control our thoughts. Herein lies the real issue of "control." You see, what we put into our minds determines what comes out in our words and actions.

Don't Be Impure!

"For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life" 1 Thessalonians 4:7

When we as Christians hear the word impure, we most often think of it as a reference to sexual purity. Granted, it is often exactly what the Scripture is talking about. Even in this passage the previous verse references sexual immorality and encourages each of us to control our lusts. It even says that we should not sin against one another or take advantage of one another. To make sure that we are honoring one another. Pure means sexually pure. In our world today we seem to have an uneven view of sexual sin. Christians can rail against homosexuality and the wrongness of it while turning a blind eye to adultery and fornication (sex before marriage). When Paul addresses impurity and is referring to sexual immorality he is talking about all of it. We need to be pure towards one another, in all relationships.

How To Live

"Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus." 1Thessalonians 4:1-2

Not only should we live as though the Lord could come back today, we should also live like we have been instructed in the Word of God. When we do this it pleases God. Oh how I want to do that.... to please God. Good question for today would be to ask yourself.... how conscious are you of pleasing God are you on an ongoing basis? Does it cross your mind regularly that this life you have been given is yours for the very purpose of pleasing God. Our efforts and commitments to do so not only please Him, but glorify Him also. Whatever it is that you are doing, praise God for that. I am not at all knocking whatever it is that you are doing right now in your life to live for Him. But, just as Paul not only asked, but urged the Thessalonians to do, live for Him more. No matter what we are doing or not doing to please Him, we can do more. We can do it more often, more sincerely, with more intensity.

Blameless and Holy

"May He strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all His holy ones" 1Thessalonians 3:13

Many Bible verses that begin with the word "may" are verses intended to bless. The word "may" is the launch word to convey that sense of God doing something good and special for us. Blessings come from God. Even when we bless one another it is only because of God. As the old doxology says..."Praise God from whom all blessings flow." We, like Paul is here are just conduits of His blessing through us.

Really Living

"For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord" 1 Thessalonians 3:8

I am struck again and again by how personal the accounts of Scripture are. These are very real people who care deeply for each other. Some of us have a hard time saying much of anything nice or caring, but the Bible is full of references of how God's people should talk to each other. Paul is writing a general letter to the Thessalonian church, but the personal touch is compelling. He was sincerely distressed about the persecution that the Thessalonians were suffering and when he heard that they were standing firm in their faith it gave him life. It is like a burden was lifted off of him and the others just to hear that the Thessalonians were okay.