By the Holy Spirit Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5 prophetically paints a vivid contrast between two groups near the close of the Age of the Gentiles which every person needs to pay attention to. Provided that one is not too permeated with the thinking of the world and gives at least some credibility to the Holy Bible they would logically choose to belong to the group in 1 Thessalonians 5:5 that is termed, “the children of the day.” Verses 4 to 7 give four main qualities of this blessed group.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-7 — “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.”
I. Adopted 5
Two positive terms are used in verse 5, viz., “children of the light” and “children of the day.” If we carefully read John 1:1-13 we will see that God through Christ lights (convicts and gives opportunity to accept redemption) every person and that those who surrender to this Light are given the authority to become the children of God.
Given the times we are living in when there is plenty of fear to go around, I think it would be best to briefly focus about the word, “children.” Once we enter into the redemption of Christ His faithfulness trains us to be dependent, trusting, and obedient to our heavenly Father. That is because the seed of Christ, which contains what I might call our new spiritual genetic code, is placed within us upon our true surrender to Him and develops fruit over time. Note what Ephesians 5:8-10 says in regard to “the children of the light”: “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.”
“Children of the day” in 1 Thessalonians speaks to the fact that the Age of the Gentiles is to end after which Christ shall return and rule on earth for 1,000 years (Revelation 20). Keep in mind the Holy Scripture (2 Peter 3:8), “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
Of utmost importance is to make sure you have been adopted by God. This occurs when we respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit of our need to surrender our lives to Christ, Who then translates us from the kingdom of darkness into His Kingdom, all based upon His efficacious work of His earthly life then death on the cross (Colossians 1:13-14).
II. Awake 6a, 7
Since true Christians are the children of the day that is to come, the first description we have just after that title is the fact that those children are not to be “sleeping,” and therefor are to be awake. The Greek word{1} for sleep in verse 6 is being used metaphorically to mean to yield to sloth and sin along with being indifferent to one’s salvation. Verse 7 is a clear indicator that we are doomed if we choose to revert back to being a child of darkness.
III. Alert (watch) 6b, 4
Γρηγορεω {2}, transliterated as gregoreuo and pronounced gray-gor-yoo’-o was the Holy Spirit’s chosen word for what is here translated in the AV as “watch.” Again, its usage is metaphorical and means to give strict attention to, be cautious, active, to take heed lest through remission and indolence some destructive calamity suddenly overtake one. This fits right in with what the Holy Spirit is telling us through the Apostle in verses 2 to 4, where it is written, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”
IV. Aware (sober) 6c
“Sober” is νηφω {3} (nepho, nay’-fo ), which means to be sober, to be calm and collected in spirit, temperate, dispassionate, and circumspect. Vine {4} adds it means to “be free from the influence of intoxicants.”
I can write an article just on the points of those definitions but at the moment I have other obligations that are pressing so let me be brief.
Again, this passage in 1 Thessalonians is definitely prophetic and apparently applies to our time. Christ and the apostles have warned us that there will be great turmoil in the world at the close of this present age. But, those that are truly His redeemed child will find the peace within themselves to be calm and collected in spirit because Christ dwells within. And, because He dwells within the true Christian and the the true Christian dwells within Him, there is also power available for the remaining points of the definitions.
In these final days of the age the true Christian has the ability, thanks to Christ, to be temperate, not going to extremes in the basics of everyday living.
Regarding being dispassionate, given the context of the passage and the whole of the Word of God it does not mean to be dispassionate about the things of God, but dispassionate about the ways of the world. The world (at least my part of the world) wants us to stock up on food, hoard gold and buy guns, and more, which are, given the clear clarion call of our true mission according to His written Word, ploys of the devil to have us sidetracked and venture dangerously out of the will of God.
Just as I was typing this article, I took a break and looked at a news item. Next to it was an ad that read, “When all hell breaks loose will you be ready?” There is so much hype like this that the main question, the most important question, is being ignored: “Will you be ready when Christ comes?” And, while His second coming is important, each person must consider the fact that death can occur to anyone at anytime.
We are to be circumspect, cautious, not taking any risks. If we are a true child of God we will want to depend upon the written Word of God and His Word spoken to our hearts in everything that we do.
We are to stay away from the the enticing spiritual toxicants. While it could be considered that all of us are prone to all sorts of sin, given the fact we have unique personalities and flaws, each of us finds certain sins more intoxicating than others. May each of us permit His Holy Spirit to speak to us on that matter. But it is not only sin, but the spirit behind each sin and the spirits that “enhance” sin to us. For example, I really feel that there is a spirit of stupidity that has come upon most of the world and, to my knowledge, it seems predominately upon the U. S. A. Another spirit is the spirit of extremes. For example, it is absolutely ridiculous, preposterous, that an elementary school student is overly reprimanded for using his hand to mimic a gun, or that the parents who bought into the lie about people being tra-nsg-en-dered {5} sue a school system because their child was not allowed to use the restroom of the opposite se-x, or thousands of dollars are spent on se-x changes, or a disproportionate amount of money has gone into combating AIDS, and the list can go on.
The true Christian needs to walk very close to the Lord, letting His peace calm Him, and His Holy Spirit graciously guide, for the true Christian’s day is coming, and if we remain faithful in and through Him, we shall reign with Him.
Notes:
{1} From an electronic version of Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance by James Strong incorporated in the Online Bible program, and so throughout this article whenever the Greek is mentioned.
{2} In case for some reason the Greek letters do not properly appear on your screen, the word is spelled as follows: gamma rho eta gamma omicron rho epsilon omega.
{3} In case for some reason the Greek letters do not properly appear on your screen, the word is spelled as follows: nu eta phi omega.
{4} Vine, W.E., “Expository Dictionary Of New Testament Words” (Fleming H. Revell Company, Old Tappan, NJ: 1966), Vol. 4 p44
{5} Words are broken apart to avoid unwanted ads.
This article is a form of a message (sermon) outline. God willing, you will find links to the actual message (sermon) sometime hopefully by March 20, 2013 at http://www.sapphirestreams.com/life/audioM.html#M238 .
Holy Scripture, unless otherwise noted, is taken from the King James Authorized Version of 1769.
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God will look who is His faithful servants.