Watchful and Sober

Paul provided the Assembly of Thessalonica with instructions on how believers must live in anticipation of the “Day of the Lord.” It will not overtake them since they “are not in darkness.” They are the “Sons of Light” and the “Sons of the Day.” Unlike the unrighteous of this fallen age, the watchful believer who lives in the light of the Gospel will not be caught off guard by that Day’s sudden arrival.

Believers will avoid “destruction” by remaining spiritually ready for that Day. It will bring salvation to the righteous, but for the unprepared and the sinner, it will result in “everlasting destruction from the face of the Lord.”

[Photo by Fré Sonneveld on Unsplash]

• (1 Thessalonians 5:4-7) – “But you are not in darkness, that the day overtakes you as upon thieves. For you are sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of night nor of darkness. Hence, let us not sleep like the rest, but let us watch and be sober; for they that sleep by night do sleep, and they that drink by night do drink.”

Paul makes several contrasts between the prepared and the unprepared.  Unbelievers are in “darkness” and belong “to the night” - They are asleep. In contrast, the followers of Jesus are “not in darkness.”

There is a verbal link between this passage and Chapter 4 where Paul expressed his desire for the Thessalonians not to be “ignorant concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as do the others who have no hope.”

Paul calls on the congregation not “to sleep as others do but let us be alert and sober.” Both passages refer to unbelievers as “the others” (hoi loipoi), and both refer to “those who are asleep.” Jesus instructed us to remain vigilant while watching day and night for his sudden appearance. “Take heed, watch, and pray, for you know not when the season is” - (Mark 13:33).

In Chapter 4, those who “sleep” are dead believers, but in the present paragraph, Paul commands living saints not “to sleep” as “the others.” Instead, they must “watch” always for the sudden of Jesus on the “Day of the Lord.”

HOPE OF SALVATION

• (1 Thessalonians 5:8-11) – “But we, being of the day, let us be sober, putting on a breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. Because God did not appoint us for wrath, but for acquiring salvation through our Lord Jesus, who died for us that, whether we are watching or sleeping, together with him we should live. Wherefore, be consoling one another and building up each the other even as you are also doing.”

Next, Paul encourages believers to “put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.” The same triad of virtues is found at the start of the Letter - “Your work of faith, labor of love and steadfastness of hope” - (1 Thessalonians 1:3).

Of special relevance is the theme of “hope.” Our hope will be realized when we find ourselves standing “before our God and Father” at the “arrival” of Jesus. The “hope of salvation” sustains us while living in this fallen age - (1 Thessalonians 1:3, 2:19).

In Chapter 4, Paul declared that believers were not “without hope” since at his “arrival” the dead in Christ would be raised first. Our “hope” is the “acquisition of salvation” and avoiding the destruction that will overwhelm the unprepared when Jesus “arrives.” Final salvation is realized only at the “arrival” or ‘Parousia’ of Jesus.

The “wrath” of God will be manifested in the disobedient when that Day arrives. Paul contrasts “wrath” with the final “salvation” that the faithful will receive. Those who persevere in faithful living now will “obtain salvation through Jesus Christ,” but the unprepared will find they have been “appointed to wrath.”

The Lord “died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we will live together with him.”  In Chapter 4, saints who died before the ‘Parousia’ were described as “those who had fallen asleep.”  In the present passage, Paul refers to two different groups of believers - those who are awake and those who are “asleep.” Both acquire salvation when Jesus returns. Both “will live together with him” forever.

The clause “together with” concludes this and the preceding section in Chapter 4 about the “arrival of Jesus from Heaven.” Disciples who remain alive when he returns will be caught up “together with” the “dead in Christ.” Likewise, whether alive (“awake”) or dead (“asleep”), believers “will live together with him.” The same set of events is in view in Chapters 4 and 5.

The assurance of salvation is anchored in the Death and Resurrection of Christ - (“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again”). Whether asleep or awake, everything we receive from God is based on what Jesus accomplished for us in his Death and his Resurrection. Because he rose from the dead, we rest assured that we will rise from the dead. This is a common theme in Paul’s letters.

Paul told the Thessalonians to “comfort one another with these words” at the end of Chapter 4. They are commanded likewise in Chapter 5 to “comfort one another and build up one another.”  This is another verbal connection between the two sections - (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Another link is the promise that believers will be with Christ after he arrives.  After the saints meet him "in the air," they will be “with the Lord forever.” Likewise, “whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.”

The verbal links prove the same events are discussed in both literary sections, especially the “arrival” of Jesus “from Heaven.” The previous section concerned the resurrection of dead saints when Jesus “arrived from heaven.” The present one focuses on how that event will overtake the unprepared.

If we eagerly await the “Day of the Lord” and live accordingly, though we remain ignorant of its timing, we will not be overwhelmed by its sudden arrival because we are the “Sons of Light.” We prepare for that day by right conduct and living in the light. That Day will mean nothing less than our final and complete salvation.

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RELATED POSTS:

• The Day of the Lord - (Jesus will arrive to gather his people on the Day of the Lord. In the New Testament, this event becomes the Day of Christ)

• The Day of Christ - (The return of Jesus will be the Day of the Lord when the dead are raised, the wicked are judged, and death will cease)

• The Last Day - (In explaining the resurrection, Paul listed key events that will coincide with the arrival of Jesus on the Last Day)