All right, let's begin with a word of prayer. Our Father, again, we're just grateful to be able to come into your presence, to know you, to love you, and to worship you. And we do that one of the ways through just the preaching, teaching of your word. And we're blessed to have it, blessed to be able to have many copies, most of us. We can read it in many translations. We've got books to study. all kinds of help. And Lord, help us to take advantage of those things while we still have time to better know you. So as Brent puts it, when we show up in heaven, we won't be tourists, but we'll know your word. And so help us tonight as we take a look at this, we pray now in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, and we only did four verses last week, so we'll just take it from the top and read down to 11. Kind of refresh our minds a little bit. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and starting in verse 1. 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're 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, build one another up, just as you are doing. Okay, so we're gonna pick it up in verse five. You're all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or the darkness. And see the contrast there between light and darkness, between day and night. And Paul works this contrast. He does that quite a little bit, this contrasting through this section that we're going to be looking at tonight. Ephesians 5.8, we should look at that. because he uses the same thing here in Ephesians as he uses here in 1 Thessalonians. But Ephesians 5.8, if you turn there, looking at these contrasts, but what to do with this. For you are at one time your darkness, before we knew the Lord, but now you are light in the Lord. And then this admonition that we keep seeing all over the place, to walk as children of light. For the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true, like the fruit of the Spirit. Try to discern, he says, what is pleasing to the Lord. This word discernment, here's Webster, to see or understand the difference, to make distinction as to discern between good and evil, truth and falsehood. And Linton mentioned it this morning, but here in the highest assemblies of our land, we have people asking, you know, can a man be pregnant? Where's the discernment? How does that even get in those assemblies? You know, obviously there must be some people that think this is right, so it gets in there. I mean, so it's debated. But where is the discernment? It's just unfathomable. We need to be discerning as well in our walk with the Lord, you know, between good and evil and light and darkness. It's just an important, aspect of our walk with the Lord is to be discerning, to understand the times that we're living in. John 8, 12, again, Jesus spoke to them saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. And then we're going to contrast that with we are not of the night out of our text or of darkness. We're not of those who are surprised like the thief that comes in the night. Surprised by the thief, I should say. Back in verse 4, we should be paying attention. We should be alert and sober and awake. Amos 5 says, well, not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light, pitch dark without a ray of brightness. That's pretty ominous. And then 1 John 1, 6, if we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. And where there is no truth, and here I'd like you to turn, Isaiah 5, 20, let's go there. Again, just looking at the night and darkness. We should not be like that. Isaiah 5.20. And here's a woe. There's never a good thing in the Bible when you get to a woe. We're not talking to a horse here. This is a This is a, hey, pay attention. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Boy, are we living in that day. I mean, some contrasts here. Pro-life or pro-death, those are things we're really debating a lot, you know. Today I'm presenting as a girl, okay, or a cat. Self-expression. We already talked about this. Men can have babies. And it makes you think of this. Matthew 19, Jesus speaks. Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female? Is there no concept of that? It seemed to work for about 6,000 years. You know. I remember as a little kid, I was pretty little, but we went somewhere to pick out a kitten. And my sister was there, and she wanted a girl kitten. Well, I was all over that, because I had worked this out. And here's this little box with half a dozen or more kittens, and I'm, here's a girl. Here's a girl. You know, you can figure that stuff out at five. And today, we're questioning that. Where's the discernment? What kind of times are we living in? This is really pretty scary. All right, let's turn over to 2 Corinthians 4. Let's go there. 2 Corinthians 4, 3. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 3. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. Boy, do they not have veils over their eyes, okay? In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel. And where'd it be a light, not darkness? The light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. OK, so again, this is the days we're living in. The distinction between darkness and light is becoming more and more evident. It's becoming, you know, you're either of the light or you're in darkness. And it could be we get called out for that. And hopefully we do, really. I mean, if we're going to make the distinction, we want to be on the side of light and be known for being of light and not of darkness. We really don't want to be wishy-washy in the middle. That's just not the place to be. And it should be known of us that that's where we take our stand, that we want to be children of light. So back in our texts, 1 Thessalonians 5, go to verse 6 now. So it says, so then let us not sleep as others do, but keep awake and be sober. This is not the sleeping that we had earlier in the chapter, where it was a sleep meaning death, okay? This is a sleep of just not paying attention to the things of the Lord, okay? But keep awake, paying attention morally, spiritually. Let's go over to Romans 13, 11, and look at that. Talking about paying attention both morally and spiritually. Romans 13, 11. Besides this, you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. So don't be wishy-washy. We need to get our head in the game of knowing the Lord, okay, knowing His word. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. We know that's to be true. The night is far gone. The day is at hand, there's our night and darkness, day, night, okay. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, and then not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ." It's like putting on a coat. Make no provision for the flesh. Is there an area in our lives where we're just keeping a little provision for the flesh? Just a little area we haven't given up on yet? Something to think about and consider. You know, Lori is like, I don't know where she got this, but an illustration of the Lord goes to work on us and it's like a big field that you're gonna, like this field out here, you've tilled up for the first time and you got a lot of rocks out there and you start, Lord goes in there, he's getting those big rocks out, because you gotta, you don't wanna plant. You gotta get rid of those big rocks. Those are big sins in our lives. Next thing you know, he's working on the smaller rocks. and then the smaller rocks, and the smaller rocks. But he's always got rocks to work on, okay? Because we're sinners, and we got the flesh. But sometimes we hide some of those rocks from him, I think. We try to. He knows they're there, but we got little areas of our lives where we make provision for the flesh. Something to think about. Is that an area where I need to give up? Give that over to the Lord. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ to make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. And then back in our text he goes on, he says, be sober or self-controlled, depending on your translation there. And we should run to Peter here for this, 1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 4 rather. I got three verses here in Peter I'm gonna take a look at about being sober, about being self-controlled. Let's start with that one. The end of all things is at hand. This is the time we're living in. Therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. That's an interesting thought there, that it affects our prayer life. And then 1 Peter 5, 8, Peter says, be sober-minded, be watchful, Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Makes us think of our armor, spiritual armor out of Ephesians 5 and the shield. Seeking someone to devour. The shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. And we've had some good lessons on that. But Satan is looking to attack us, and we need to be sober-minded. We need to be paying attention, and we need to put on light, not darkness. Be walking in the light. And then 1 Peter 1.13, again, looking at being sober or self-controlled. 1 Peter 1.13, therefore preparing your minds for action, preparing our minds, being in the game spiritually, morally, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation or appearing, you can translate that word, it's the same Greek word, at the appearing of Jesus Christ. I totally take that to be a rapture verse. We need to be prepared. He could be here any time. We don't want to be as one that's shrinking back when He shows up. We want to be walking with the Lord. Alright, back in our text, verse 7, 1 Thessalonians 5, 7. For those who sleep, again, these are people that are Is it right to say dead in Christ? It's not really, we say alive in Christ, but I don't know if you're dead in Christ, you're just dead. You're not in Christ at all. But for those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. Unbelievers are neither awake nor alert to these spiritual realities. A drunk is subject to all kinds of influences. I mean, his thought isn't right. He can be subject to anything and go down all kinds of paths. It's not a position we want to be in. Let's go over to Proverbs. It has something to say to us. Proverbs 23, regarding being drunk, not being spiritually aware, spiritually mature, Just kind of floating along, maybe. Maybe we can go to church every Sunday, but we're just not really spiritually equipping our minds, okay? Proverbs 23, 29 says, who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? those who tarry long over wine, those who go to try mixed wine. Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end, it bites like a serpent, and it stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things. You're not in control of yourself. You'll be like the one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies in the top of a mast. They struck me, you will say, but I was not hurt. They beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink. I've always thought this guy was Shanghai. This is what it sounds like to me. Someone slipped him a Mickey, and the next thing you know, he's at sea. Too far to turn back. It's too late. You know, that's what it reads like to me almost, is he's not paying attention to God's message, and the next thing he knows, he's in the tribulation, essentially. Not a good position to be in. Just letting life carry him along without thought to eternal consequences. Not a good position to be in. All right, back to our text in verse eight now. 1 Thessalonians 5.8. 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. So we, now he's talking about us, I hope. He's talking to the Thessalonians. We belong to the day. Unlike the drunk and the deeds of darkness. Let's go now to Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5.11. And we're looking at belonging to the day. Ephesians 5.11, have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them, for it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. When the rapture takes place and the Lord takes the believers, the Holy Spirit in believers is gone, there's no light left to expose darkness. That's a really big deal. But while we're here now, how is our light doing at exposing darkness? Or do we kind of hide it under a bushel basket? You know, when we walk into a room, is it known that we're a Christian or is it we're just another guy and you don't really know and another person? Does our light really shine in our lives? It's something to ask ourselves. Do they know me as a Christian? Do I say enough? What's the other thing that has been said? Is there a, could it be proven in a court of law that you're a Christian, you know? Is there enough evidence? You know, to prove that you're a Christian. Would your friends think of that? Or your co-workers? Do they know? You know, something to think about. Everything exposed by the light becomes visible. For it is light that makes everything visible. And then we're looking at that, let me just insert this at 2 Corinthians 4, 4 passage. The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of God, who is the image of God. They've been blinded. Even if we are light, they just don't see it to change, but they hopefully know we are believers. Now we're continuing on. This is why it is said, wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Wake up, non-Christian, O sleeper. Be very careful, then, how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. And again, you know, We need to make the most of every opportunity to share the gospel, to be a light to the dark. A life that reflects the light of Jesus will be sober and self-controlled. Let's turn over to 1 Peter 1.10. 1 Peter 1.10, talking about being sober or self-controlled now. 1 Peter 1.10, concerning this salvation, the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you searched intently and with the greatest care. How do I read my Bible? Do I search it intently, with great care? Do I really try and check stuff out? Something to consider. Trying to find out the time and the circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. And that's the part we're talking about now. Christ suffered in the past, but now we're looking out in the future, the glories that will follow. Part of the glories that would follow from that standpoint was just us becoming believers in the whole church and all that. But continuing on ahead, the glories that follow is Christ's return to get the church. And that's what we're looking into. All right, verse 12. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you. When they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. Therefore, now this is what we're talking about, being self-controlled. Prepare your minds for action. Be self-controlled. and set your hope fully on the grace to be given to you when Jesus Christ is revealed. And again, I take that to mean the rapture. I think we will see him. Certainly we're gonna see him when we're in the clouds with him. And maybe even before we get to the clouds with him. So, self-controlled, being sober, looking intently, trying to discern the times and to understand what he tells us about this stuff, so we're not caught unaware and surprised. 1 Corinthians 16 says, be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, I like that, and be strong. This is how we ought to act. Continuing with our text of verse 8, 5-8, It says, but since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on, here we have a little bit of a change up from Ephesians 6, where he's got a breastplate of faith and love, okay, where in Ephesians 6, it's a breastplate of righteousness. And here he's just looking at a small aspect, and he calls it the breastplate of faith and love, and then the helmet for a helmet, the hope of salvation. And as we're looking at this, I want us to see that trio in there of faith, hope, and love. That's in this passage as well, this trio that keeps popping up, and it's all over Scripture, faith, hope, and love. looking first at a breastplate of faith and love. And MacArthur just puts it this way, he says, the breastplate covers the vital organs of the body. So what we call today your bulletproof vest. And an essential protection against temptations. Because it is trust in God's promises, plan, and truth. It is unwavering belief in God's word that protects us from the temptation's arrows, is how he puts it. Needing that breastplate protects us in that way. If we look at it negatively, it is unbelief that characterizes all sin. When believers sin, they have believed Satan's lie. I don't want to live by God's arbitrary laws in this area of my life. We see that right away with Eve. He just tempts her and she goes with it because it sounds good. I don't want to fall under that commandment that he puts out there for us. Satan attacks us with thoughts. You're not a Christian. A Christian wouldn't act like that. You're a hypocrite. You've sinned that same old sin again. These are some of the darts that come at us, OK? Proverbs 26 is like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly. We can dwell on that stuff and we can get pretty down. It's our faith that brings us up out of that. It's our knowledge of the word of God that protects us. We'll go on and see some more here. Our faith is not a blind faith or because the preacher said so. I hope that's not it. It should be based on the truth of God's word, and it should be written in my heart. Okay, let's look at that, Proverbs 7. Let's go there. We need this protection from Satan's darts that burn. Proverbs 7, 1. Of course, this is Solomon probably writing to his sons. My son, keep my words. Treasure up my commands within you. Keep my commandments and live. Keep my teachings as the apple of your eye. Most important thing you can have. Bind them on your fingers. Write them on the tablet of your heart. In the Old Testament, the heart and the mind are kind of synonymous. When truth is written on the tablet of our mind, it guards our thoughts from those attacks of Satan. So again, how is my daily Bible reading? Am I writing these things in on the tablet of my heart and I keep adding and adding to them and keep going over and over and over so that I have them down when I need them. It's really easy to get beaten down by Satan's attacks and get this, you know, man, I've done that sin for 20 years. I can tell you about some of that. I've struggled and struggled and struggled with some sin, you know, and I don't think I'm unique. But we keep working on them, and the Lord will eventually... I mean, I've had victory over some sins that were easily 20 years. And it's the Lord's doing. I shouldn't say I've had victory. The Lord's worked me over until it happened. Let's put it that way. Okay. There's one big rock out there for a long time, I'll tell you. Okay. And then the breastplate of love. Love is combined with faith in this section here. Love protects us like a breastplate from the sins or offenses of our brothers. Love protects us like a breastplate from the sins or offenses of our brothers. Other Christians, okay. 1 Corinthians 13, 7, love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Do you see the protection for yourself if you bear the offenses of a brother because you love them? The left does this all the time. Old Uncle Joe, as they call him, has hoof and mouth disease. If you know what, Uncle Joe is our president. That's what they often call him. They have for years. And he's put his foot in his mouth forever. He says things that anyone else would be thrown under the bus. Oh, that's just Joe. He's known for that. They just let it go because that's who Joe is. And you know, when we, I don't know how much they love him, but when we really love a brother, it covers a multitude of sins. I mean, we just, when we really love someone, maybe he wasn't the best example, but it is a comparative thing to me in that they just let things slide. And we do the same thing. If we really love someone and they do something dumb, we're just much more forgiving of it than if we got a problem with them. And so, love does cover over a multitude of sins. First Peter 4.8 says, Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins, both yours and your brother's sins. Think of this one. Noah decided to become a farmer, and he got a vineyard going, and he got drunk. And he was laying naked in his tent. Now, Ham saw it, and I don't know exactly what went on there, but I get the impression he made light of it with his brothers. Ha ha, look at dad in there. But the brothers took it right. I mean, this isn't a good thing. And they got a blanket, they backed in, so they didn't see their father's nakedness, and they covered him up. They covered a multitude of sins there, essentially, because of love and respect for their father. And then when the blessings came around, that paid off, certainly for them compared to him. It didn't go well with him. So having a love for brothers helps cover a lot of sins And that's a good thing to have that. I hope we're seeing that. I hope I've explained that enough. But it's a really positive thing for us to love each other. And we love each other through the difficult things, because we do stupid things. I do stupid things. I think maybe some of you do too. And we really need that love to cover over those sins. Put on the breastplate of faith and love. Paul combines these two now, faith and love, together. And if, back in our text, or actually previously, the previous chapter, I'll just read it to you, 1 Thessalonians 3, 6. But now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us good news of your faith and love, reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us as we long to see you. And that's very important to Paul. It's very good news. And then this faith and love that Timothy reported, that's a big deal. And then he seeks to bolster it with hope. And that's what we're looking at here in chapters 4 and 5, the end of 4 and the start of 5, is this hope, this hope of this future glory, the glorious appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That's really the section that we're in here still. So a little bit different aspect in this breastplate of faith and love. Galatians 5.6, for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision or uncircumcision counts for anything but only faith working through love. And then one other verse that I personally like, 1 Timothy 1.5, not that I don't like the others, but the aim of our charge or instruction or command, okay, the aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart in a good conscience and a sincere faith." Again, you see love and faith working together there. So, continuing on in our text of verse 8, we're going to now look at the helmet, the hope of salvation. And that's similar to what is in Ephesians 6, with the full armor of God, only he adds to the helmet, hope. Let's look at that a little bit. The hope of salvation, pictured as a helmet, guards our heads from attacks on our thinking. Of course, we know hope is having a confident expectation in God's word. God's word is true. Having confidence in God's word protects our thinking. And that's really all I had on that. But as a summary for this trio of faith, hope, and love, I'll just remind you of 1 Corinthians 13. Now, faith, hope, and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love. Remember that probably pretty well. And then our current verse says, but since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on a breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. There's our trio of faith, love, and hope. So faith, this is a bit of a review here, faith speaks of our salvation by faith. Galatians 3.11 says, Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith. And then regarding hope, is having confident expectation in God's word. John 14 one, let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself." There's our hope, okay? That where I am, you may be also. What a precious promise that we have. of us, and again, that take is that taking in a familial way, to be close with Him, okay? And then the love is, again, 1 Corinthians 13, but the greatest of these is love, the outward expression of lives that have been changed and are conforming more and more to our Savior, Jesus Christ. And then again, then just to ask myself, am I characterized by that kind of love? Do people see me that way? Okay. Okay. Just to kind of look at that as a package, let me just read again, starting at verse four down through, I want to go to eight, I think. Yeah. Four through eight. of our text. But you, us, are not in darkness, brothers, for that day, the day of the Lord, to surprise us like a thief. It's gonna come like a thief, but we're not in darkness. It shouldn't surprise us. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. I want to make sure that can be said of us. So then, let us not sleep as others do. Let's not be paying attention 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. 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. Okay, so that's what we've worked over so far. Now we get to this verse nine. Okay. For God is not destined us to wrath. We'll just look at that. So bleers, those that are born again, or changed, okay, with faith, hope, and love, That wasn't there before we were born again. That's a big change. It should be a big change. It should be evident. The coming wrath of the tribulation, which is really Revelation 6 through 18, Pre-tribulation is we don't hang our hats on just one peg. So what I'm meaning by that is for God is not destined us to wrath. Is that the only place we see that? It's not. We've got quite a few verses, more than I thought, actually, and I don't think I have them all, but let's work through these. 1 Thessalonians 1.9, we can go back there. 1 Thessalonians 1, 9, for they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. Very clear, there's wrath coming, and he's gonna deliver us from that. Okay, so that's the first peg. You know, said there were multiple pegs that we don't hang our hat on just one peg, okay? Turn over to Revelation 3.10. Revelation 3.10, because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming upon the whole world to try those who dwell on the earth. And remember now, we don't find the church after chapter four. Remember chapter four verse one says come up here, and we may get a similar call at the rapture. So there's an hour of trial that is coming upon the whole earth. I think this is very clearly another picture of that, of us not being here. I will keep you from that hour of trial. Okay, the next verse, next peg we're gonna hang our hat on is Romans 5-8. Romans 5-8, but God shows his love for us in that While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God? God's wrath is distinct from man's wrath. Just spent some time reading through those the bulls and trumpets and vials or the seals, the trumpets and vials or bulls. Bad judgments, terrible things happen, really big things. A third of the earth is killed, I think at one point. That's God's wrath, it's huge and really big. Okay, our fourth peg, Luke 21, let's go there. And I think Jonathan mentioned something about escapism last week. I can't remember how you said that, but here's my escapist. Are you an escapist? I was accused of that because I believe in a pre-tribulation rapture. I didn't think I answered quite right, but here's how I'd answer today, Luke 21, verse 34. Be on guard that your hearts may not be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness, this is what we've been looking at earlier, and the worries of this life, and that that day come on you suddenly like a trap, we know that's how it comes, okay? We looked at that last week, how the one day ushers in the other day, and when we go out, it ushers in the tribulation time, day of the Lord. Verse 35, for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth, but keep on the alert at all times, here again, being told to be sober, praying in order that you may have strength, or be found worthy, to escape, okay, I'm an escapist, all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of the Man. So if you're asked if you're an escapist, say, yeah, that's the verbiage that the Bible uses. So probably be the better answer. Some people object that we're not going to go through the tribulation. But you know what? My dad and mom didn't have to go through the tribulation. No one in the church age yet has had to go through the tribulation. Why do we have to go through the tribulation? It's just one of the arguments they put out there that they seem to think we need to go through this tribulation. It seems to me the Lord's being pretty clear that we're not gonna go through the tribulation if we're trusting him. There seems to be almost a need to be punished, and it almost comes out to a work of righteousness in my mind. I don't think they would ever agree to that. but it's almost what it's like, in my mind. Okay, fifth peg, 1 Thessalonians 4.17, let me just read it to you. We looked at it last, a couple weeks ago. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. Well, that's a big encouragement, to be with the Lord, to be caught up together with him. And then here's the sixth one. Probably turn here if you want. It's our text, which I hadn't included. God is not destined us to wrath. but to attain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so whether we are awake or asleep, and this asleep here is being dead in Christ, we might live with Him. And in this verse nine, it says, to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us. This is the gospel, this is the good news, okay? Our sin separates us from a holy God. He's paid the price for man's sins by shedding his blood on the cross. And remember, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins, Hebrews. Dying on my behalf, he was buried, he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. I'm quoting 1 Corinthians 15 there. He appeared, he appeared, he appeared, he appeared. Which kind of struck me, but four times, four distinct times, Paul mentions that Christ appeared to Peter and the disciples and the apostles, I think, and then some 500 people all at one time. Some are still alive or most are alive. Interesting he says that four times to make sure we know he rose from the dead. The gospel teaches that Christ died for our sins that we might obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him. When we're awake, that's when he returns. My dad's asleep. He's absent from the Lord, absent from the body, present with the Lord. And if the rapture happens tonight, we'll be awake and we'll be with him. And rather, if you're asleep, Paul says, Philippians 1, my desire is to part and to be with Christ, that's far better. And then he also says, we are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. And so that's a blessing too. Then the last verse in our text, 511, therefore encourage one another and build one another up just as you are doing. Therefore encourage one another. I'm encouraged that I'm looking for our Savior to come in the clouds, to meet us in the air, and I'm not waiting for the tribulation to start. I'm not looking for the man of lawlessness, which is not very encouraging to think that I just don't know how you can take that as any kind of encouragement to think that, oh, maybe that's the Antichrist. Well, who? Now we've sort of started. There's no encouragement in that in my mind. Wiersbe says this, the church is the body of Christ, and he is the head. When he died for us on the cross, he bore for us all the divine judgment necessary for our salvation. He has promised that we shall never taste any of God's wrath. And then John 5, 24, truly, truly I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment. He has passed from death to life. That would be our seventh peg that we can hang our hat on, saying, we're not bound for wrath. The Lord's going to take us out of here. So with that in mind, we need to build one another up. just as you're doing. And it just shows how much we need each other and we need each other around God's Word. So let's close with that. Father, we're again grateful just to look at all these verses that point to the fact that We're not going to see your wrath. It seems you've made that abundantly clear. But you have asked us to stay alert, to stay sober, to be light in a dark world. to share your gospel. We've got that great commission you've given us. That's still something that's there for us to shed the light of the gospel to those who are in darkness around us. And that's most people. And we are living in really troubled times, Lord, where discernment is just gone. But help us to not dwell on how bad this world is, which it really is, but to dwell on how good you are that others might see that and say, man, I'd rather live in that light than in the darkness I'm in. Help us to have that in our minds and to desire to be bold to share the gospel when we get the opportunity. I pray this now in Jesus' name, amen.