Keep Awake and Be Sober

“Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 

“So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 ESV)

From what I understand, and my understanding of these things is limited, “the day of the Lord” is not necessarily any specific day or just one day, but it symbolizes, in this case, a time of judgment on humankind by the Lord. And the Scriptures teach us about a time of tribulation to come upon the earth, which could or could not be a literal seven years, in which God is judging or yet will judge the church and then the people of the world.

And from what I understand, at the end of this time of judgment, Jesus Christ will return for his faithful bride, and the dead in Christ will rise first and then those of us who are alive and remaining will be all caught up with the Lord in the air, and then we will be forever with the Lord. But those who did not follow Jesus in obedience to his commands, and who continued to obey sin, instead, they will be cast into eternal punishment.

Now for those who are still living in sin, who have not surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ to do his will, even if they profess faith in him, this time of judgment will come upon them as a thief in the night, because they are not prepared. For so many of them have bought into the lie that says they can make a profession of faith in Christ and now heaven is guaranteed them, and all their sins are forgiven, but regardless of how they live.

And that is what is meant here by people saying, “There is peace and security,” I believe. For so many people today are being given a false idea of what it means to be saved from our sins and to have the hope of eternal life with God. For so many of them are being led to believe that if they make that profession of faith that heaven is guaranteed them and that how they live does not matter to God. But Jesus said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING God’s will.

Therefore, there are many people who believe that their salvation is secure regardless of their lifestyles of choice. But that just isn’t biblical. For Jesus also said that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our lives of living in sin, we will lose them for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow Jesus in obedience to his commands, then we have the hope of eternal life with God (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

But we who believe in Jesus Christ, in truth, should not be taken by surprise when the judgments of God fall upon the earth. We should be anticipating these judgments of God and the time of his return when he comes to take some of us to be with him for eternity and when he casts others into utter darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. But many professers of faith in Christ will be told by Jesus, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” because they would not obey God.

And that is why we have the encouragement here to make certain that we are not walking in the darkness while professing that we are children of the light. For John wrote that if we say we are in fellowship with God but while we walk (in conduct) in darkness (sin), we are liars. And if we claim to know God, but we don’t obey his commandments, in practice, we are liars. And we are not to be deceived, because if we practice sinning, and we don’t practice righteousness, we are not born of God, but we are of the devil.

[1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; cf. Galatians 5:16-21]

Therefore, we are not to live like those who are still in the darkness. We are not to be those for whom sin is our practice. We are not to be those who make a practice of lying, cheating, stealing, taking advantage of others, committing adultery, slandering, gossiping, and getting drunk, and the like. But we are to be people of the light who are walking in moral purity, godliness, honesty, faithfulness, and in purity of devotion to our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands – all in his power and strength.

So, when this says that we are not to be spiritually asleep, but that we are to be spiritually awake and alert, and we are not to be those whose lives are out of control and given over to the flesh, but that we are to be sober-minded believers in Christ who have put on Christ and his righteousness via faith in him, and who have put on the love of God which prefers what God prefers, which is what is holy and righteous, it is letting us know that how we live and what we obey determines where we will spend eternity (Romans 6:16).

So, when this says that God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (which will not be complete until Jesus returns and he takes his faithful ones to be with him for eternity), he is letting us know, again, that how we live matters with regard to where we will spend eternity. His plan for us is not hell, in other words, but if we refuse him, and we continue living in deliberate and habitual sin, and not in walks of obedience to our Lord in holy living, we will not have eternal life with God.

And that is why it is so important that we encourage (exhort, urge) one another in our walks of faith and obedience to our Lord so that none of us is hardened by the deceitfulness of sin and therefore walks away from the Lord and goes back to living by the flesh. For if we walk (in conduct, in practice) in sin, and not in righteousness, and not in walks of obedience to our Lord, we do not know God, we are not born of God, and we do not have eternal life with God, regardless of what we profess with our lips.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

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