Thank you for taking the time to listen to one of the recent sermons preached at Wilton Baptist Church. It is our desire as a church to strive together in building a faith, family, and future that honors and glorifies our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If we can be a help to you in any way, please visit our website at wiltonbaptistchurch.com. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Thank you for that good song today. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. I'm glad to have each of you here with us today for this service. We're looking in the book of 1 Thessalonians. This is perhaps our last message from this book. Lord willing, we'll finish this today. We're looking at hope. That's our theme for this year. A principal was visiting the classrooms in school. and said that he would give a prize to the pupil whose desk he found in the best order when he returned. When will you return? When are you gonna come back to class? Was the question the students began to ask. And he said, I'm not gonna tell ya. He said, I cannot answer the question. One little girl who had been noted for her disorderly habits announced that she meant and intended to win the prize. You, her classmates jeered, your desk is always out of order. You're going to keep it clean? You're going to make it clean? I mean to clean it the first of every week, she said. Monday, I'm going to clean up the desk. But what if the principal would come at the end of the week? She said, well, I'll clean it at the morning of every day. And then someone said, well, what if the principal comes then in the afternoon? She said, I had better keep it. Now, some people suggested that yesterday the Lord was going to come back, the world was going to end, and life would be different. The fact is, we don't know when the rapture is going to take place. We do know that we're living in the last days. And instead of getting ready, the Bible mandate is rather be ready. You don't wanna just get ready one day, future tense. You want to live and be ready to meet God today, because it could happen just like that. Look in our text, if you will, 1 Thessalonians 5, verses one and two. But of the times and of the seasons, brethren, you 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." If you are a Bible student, you may want to underline that phrase, the day of the Lord. It's found several times in scripture, and today we'll contrast this day of the Lord with the day of Christ. They are two separate events that are happening at the same time, one in heaven, and the other on the earth. The day of the Lord cometh when people do not know when it will happen. The day of the Lord, which includes God's judgment on a Jesus-rejecting world, that takes place on the earth. Then there's the day of Christ, which includes the marriage supper of the Lamb. There's great rejoicing and celebration, and that takes place in heaven. So here's a chart that we'll put up on the screen here for you to look at, and we'll kind of talk through this just a moment. I think this has a laser on it. Let me see here. Oh, here we go. Nice. Okay, so we're in the church age right here. And the age of grace, the church age, so we're right here. and see the arrow pointing up? That's when the rapture will take place. When is that going to take place? We don't know the specific day, hour, time, year, any of those things, but it could happen at any moment. Since Jesus ascended into heaven about right over here, The apostles, the early Christians, every century and decade since, have always believed we're living in the last days. The rapture could take place, Christ could meet us in the air, or us, rather, meet him in the air, and so shall we ever then be with the Lord. So, following the rapture, when the church is resurrected into heaven, then we have the seven-year tribulation. It starts out, there's a peace treaty signed with the world leader at the time, and he's later on known as the Antichrist. There's the beast and the false prophet. It's an unholy trinity against the Lord. And then there's the seven years of tribulation. And this time period on the earth is known as the day of the Lord. And that's when there's judgment on the earth. They've said no to Christ, and they've said no to Jesus. While this is happening with all the pestilence and the different judgments that's taking place on the earth, in heaven is the day of Christ. And there's that marriage supper of the Lamb, and we're celebrating. We're worshiping the Lord. It's a special time in heaven. And so, this is to be contrasted in your study of scripture to understand. What Paul is telling these Thessalonian believers is that you have been delivered, later on in verse 8 or 9, from the wrath to come. Verse 9, for God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain mercy or salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Christians will not go through the tribulation. Can you say amen for that? Hey, there's going to be a pestilence and persecution. There's going to be a tribulation in a general sense. There's going to be hard times because we're living in the last days. But these are not the last of the last. That is sometime after the rapture, when this day of the Lord unleashes on a Jesus rejecting world. And so understand that in context of this passage, the trigger event. is the rapture. And a trumpet will sound, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. The very next verse says, wherefore comfort one another with these words. That's at the end of chapter four in our book today. And so this whole book is about prophecy, and it's about the fact that Christ is coming for us. And the trigger event that we're waiting for is the rapture. If you go down to Washington, D.C. sometime, you can look at these incredible buildings. I've been in the Pentagon. There's incredible inscriptions and paintings and scripture on the walls in the Pentagon. If you go to the Capitol and the Rotunda, there are paintings and inscriptions and One of those inscriptions there in the dome of the Capitol building in Washington DC says this, One person asked the guide about that phrase and that statement, what's that talking about? And he said, I think it refers to the second coming of Christ. And indeed it does. Somebody believed the Bible back when they built that building, and they put that up, that all of creation is moving towards this singular event when Christ comes back. Now, the second coming of Christ, you can look at it in two stages. There's the rapture, where we meet the Lord in the air. Jesus doesn't actually touch down on the earth. That takes place at His return. That's after the tribulation. That's after the battle of Armageddon, and that's right before He sets up His Millennial Kingdom. And so we're waiting for this first event, which is called the rapture of the church. It is the next event in the eschatological timeline in scripture. And so we're waiting. We're waiting. I've already given you a lot of information, but we're just waiting. We are waiting like a waiter or a waitress would serve a table. We're waiting in time, but we're also waiting in our service to the Lord. We're waiting upon the Lord while we're waiting for him to come back for us. And so I would encourage you with this truth today, let the wait change you. Let the waiting change you. Let's look at these verses here. In verse three, we'll continue reading in 1 Thessalonians 5. For when they say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape." You can't escape that. There's a lot of pain associated with childbearing, and you cannot escape that. And it's evident, the baby comes when the baby comes. Christ will come when He comes for us. So we must not just get ready, but be ready. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. We should be prepared ahead of time. For ye are the children of light, and ye are the children of the day. We are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night." There are four imperatives, if you would, that we must recognize in our lives while we are waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ to come for us. The first one is this, to wake up. to wake up. We must be aware of what is happening in our world, but especially in our personal lives in our walk with the Lord. We must wake up, we must be awake. Notice the word watch is used there, to watch in verse six. It means to keep awake, to watch, to be vigilant, to be aware of what's going on. What are we watching out for? Here are several examples from Scripture. 1 Corinthians 16, 13, We need to watch our faith. We need to continue in prayer in Colossians 4, verse 2, and watch. in the same with Thanksgiving. While waiting for Christ, we need to look at our faith, examine our faith. We must also be watching with prayer and be a thankful people in the meantime to have Thanksgiving in our lives. 2 Timothy 4 verse 5 says, watch down all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist. So we're to endure the persecution that we'll face, the troublesome times that we're gonna be in, to endure those things, and in the meantime, also do the work of the evangelist. Give out the gospel, evangelize the lost around you. 1 Peter 4, 7, the end of all things is at hand. Be therefore sober and watch unto We need to pray in these days. In Revelation chapter 3 verse 3, remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent. If thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. That's Revelation 3, verse 3. By the time you get to Revelation 4, verse 1, the rapture takes place. God says, come on up. That's chapter 4, verse 1 of the book of Revelation. And so we're to hold fast, keep being faithful, repent of any sin, not just get ready, but be ready to meet the Lord. I encourage you that we're to essentially do this. Watch our lives. Watch our lives in light of the Word of God to ensure that we're walking in the light. Lord, help me to keep being faithful. Help me to stick with the faith. I want to keep praying and being thankful enduring the afflictions, and being an evangelist, telling other people about the Lord Jesus Christ. So be awake. Next then, to be aware. And notice the term sober is used. Sober means to abstain from wine, to abstain from alcohol. In the Bible there's a alcoholic wine and there's non-alcoholic wine. It depends on fermentation process. You can read and look at the context of that. Here it's talking about wine that is alcoholic that would inebriate a person. Think about this for just a moment, to be sober. Now, to be sober is so important. We think about an inebriated person kind of floundering around and tripping over stuff, and they're of no useful good while inebriated. You couldn't depend on them. Their senses are dulled and slowed down. A person who is drunk is not a reliable person to do the right thing. It would be a poor person to have on guard duty. You wouldn't want a person who's inebriated to be on guard duty. Why? Because he's not aware. He's not aware. And if someone did get his attention, he wouldn't know how to respond or his responses would be very slow. That's why people take the keys and call a cab. That's why many homes are broken up and wives and kids sometimes are beat. And that's why many deadly car crashes happen, is because of alcohol. So we preach the Bible concerning alcohol. We encourage you don't even drink to begin with. But the Bible says to be aware and to be sober. I mean, this is a serious thing. Christ could come back at any given moment. So we need to be aware of the times. Turn back a couple pages, if you would, to 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy 3, verses 1 through 5, this know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, petty, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such turn away. In the last days perilous times shall come. Do those five verses describe our environment today? It does. The people around you, the society that we live in, these five verses encapsulate what we see on a daily basis. We must be aware of the times. We must be sober. We must be aware of the temptations. In Revelation 3, verse 10, Speaking to the church in Philadelphia, the Bible says, because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. Now, we live in the last days, but we're not in the last of the last days. What he's referring to is the tribulation. But as we get closer to the tribulation and as we get closer to whenever the rapture is going to be, there's going to be great temptation. Because men, evil men, will wax worse and worse, the Bible tells us. And there'll be temptations for you to quit, to give up, to stay away from church, to stay away from Christians, to give up on Christianity. And the Bible says, just keep going. You keep enduring. As we see the day approaching, we need one another oh so much more. So we need to wake up. Number two, we need to dress up. We need to dress up. Verses 8 through 11, back in 1 Thessalonians 5. Let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplates of faith and love and for in helmet the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him." Whether we live or die. If you die before the rapture, or if you're resurrected when the rapture takes place, or if you're alive when the rapture takes place, The Apostle Paul is telling us, God is telling us, that God's not giving us this wrath. We're not going to go through the wrath, but whether we live or die, we know we'll be with the Lord when a rapture trumpet sounds. Wherefore, comfort yourselves together and edify one another, even as also do. And so dress up. Now when we think about the clothes that we wear, there's different principles that we could talk about. Modesty and appropriateness and distinction. Those are three principles that are good for how we clothe ourselves. And in this passage, God gives us three characteristics of how we clothe our spirits and how we should be living in these last days. And we find that in verse 8. We need to put on, like clothing, this breastplate of faith and this breastplate of love, the breastplate It includes faith and love, and then there's this helmet, which is the hope of salvation. Think about faith for just a moment. The breastplate protects your heart. It protects your chest, and it protects your heart. Faith is so important in verse eight. Now, the word faith means persuasion, reliance, and moral conviction. Folks, in these days that we are living in, we must protect our heart. Protect your heart. And God's Word is true. The Bible is real. Jesus is alive. The world is going to fight against truth. The world is going to fight against the Bible. The world will fight against you if you are living Bible Christianity. And you need to protect your heart. You need to be aware of this culture in which we live because they will persecute and will suppress you. Now, it's not always a direct attack. Sometimes we think, well, I know this is persecution. Well, I know I'm getting this. This is definitely against me over here. But sometimes when it comes to protecting your heart and protecting the faith that God has given to you, thank the Lord for it. Sometimes we we have attacks that are subtle attacks. that are against us. Sometimes it could be a false teaching, perhaps evolution, or humanism that's creeping in, just in a subtle type way, it's creeping in against you. It could be a God-hating teacher. You respect them, they seem to know what they're talking about, but they hate God. and in a subtle way, they are undermining your faith. It could be the corrupt media and the talking heads on TV that are altering how you are perceiving and thinking through, and we need to be careful that we're protecting our heart. Sometimes it's a humanistic film. It could have just a really gushy story, and just, oh, it's just a moving story, and it pulls at your heartstrings, but it diminishes your faith. It could be a good story, but it's taken away from your faith, a humanistic film. It could be music that is fine, even, but has no hope in it. No hope in it. No hope. The hope of the gospel is not there. And that could be diminishing your faith. People will try to draw away your heart from faith. We must protect our hearts. We must protect what we love. Notice how the breastplate is associated with love as well. Most of the time, the battle is raging. Listen. for your heart. Satan doesn't want your heart to be totally in love with Jesus. The world doesn't care if you're totally in love with Jesus. In fact, they want you to be in love with them. They want you to love your sin. Sinful people feel better when Christians go along with the idea of, yeah, let's just sin just like everybody else. but God has changed your heart. He's transformed you from the inside out. We have a different hope for life. Most of the time, there's a battle raging in your heart, in the life of you as teenagers, and your young people parents. There's a battle raging, pulling, assaulting what you are loving. The world and the devil, even your own flesh is in this battle for the devotion of your mind. the fixation of your eye, the activity of your body, the hearing of your ear, and the consent of your voice. It's all included. We must protect our heart. Now, when it comes to love, there's only two things the Bible tells us to love. We're to love God, and we're to love people. Now, when we say, oh, I love my car, or I love my house, or I love this object, or I love my cell phone, or I love the internet, or I love a building, or I love my sports team, I like my two puppy dogs. I like my two puppy dogs, Lincoln and Quincy, that's their names. It sounds presidential, doesn't it? Lincoln and Quincy, that was on purpose. And I like Lincoln, he's got a good personality. Then Quincy, she's about this tall, she's not very big yet, just a puppy. And I've had both of them this morning. And I avoid saying things like this, oh, oh, I love you. You know why? Because the Bible only tells us to love two things in this world. It's God and other people. Now, I like my dogs. And I understand we'll say, we'll use the term love sometimes flippantly or carelessly. And I like animals and I like my car. It's a Jeep. I like it. I like you. I like, I like this building rather. But let me tell you something. I love God and I love you. And I love my family. And there's a different approach to life when you think about that. We can love a lot of different things. We should be protecting our heart. And so God is for us to love him and to love other people. So protect your heart with this breastplate of love. Then notice then the word hope, and it's connected with a helmet. I don't have a helmet like what they would have had back then, but a helmet to protect your mind. to protect your mind. Think about philosophy. Your philosophy should come from the Bible. Is the Bible full of philosophy? Yes. Philosophy means a way of thinking. It's a paradigm for seeing things. That's what the word philosophy has to do with. So, you can either get your philosophy from the world, You can get it from the government, if you would. You can get it from culture, if you would, or from society. You can get it from your upbringing or from some other people, and that's fine. You can get it from all those places, but listen, your philosophy shouldn't come from this book. This is how I'm going to live. This is how I'm going to think. Now maybe you were taught that by your parents, or maybe you were taught that by a teacher. It doesn't matter who was used of God to instruct you or to help you, but whatever it is, it must come from this book. Our lives are built on the Bible. And so this hope This hope that we have protects our mind. Philosophy comes from the Bible. Our worldview should come from the scriptures. That's why it's so important to protect your mind. To know the truth. And a truth, in turn, sets you free. Our mind must be protected. No carnality would be let in. That means like a fleshly perspective. In Romans 8 verse 5, for they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. And it's talking about following the Spirit of God rather than our own flesh. How about pride? No pride. A mind that's set upon Christ would say, no pride. Colossians 3, 12. Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, and longsuffering. No worry. In 2 Thessalonians 2, 2, that you be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us that the day of Christ is at hand. Some people back by the time 2 Thessalonians was written, it said, we're already in a tribulation. We're already, the day of the Lord must have already happened. Paul said, no, you don't have to worry about that. How many times do we live in fear and worry and have great anxiety? We need to claim these promises of scripture. No worry. How about no fear? God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind. Protect your mind! No defilement. Titus chapter 1 verse 15. Unto the pure all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience. conscience is defiled. If your mind has started to shift or to change, if you started to have a bad attitude towards life or Christianity, if you started to have a more pessimistic outlook on life, check your mind! You need to protect your mind. Lord, help me to think right. Help me to perceive right. Lord, help me to have my mind protected by the Word of God. If you have a negative and a bad attitude, it's time to search your heart. Search your mind. And Lord, would you search me and help me then put safeguards in place that I'm not listening to this negative stuff and this garbage over here and this person that's against God. I won't let that to impact me and influence me. Lord, help my mind to be protected in these last days. So we need to wake up. We need to dress up with that breastplate and helmet. Number three, we need to look up. Now, I didn't add these verses to the passage. I didn't add them. They're there. God put them there in context of what we're talking about. Look at what it says, verse 12. And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake, and be at peace among yourselves." So we need to look up to the leaders that God has given to us in the church. One person wrote that this is what being a pastor means, spending years studying systematic theology only to discover the most scholarly comment you can make is that God loves you. It's receiving two anonymous letters in the same week, one correcting grammar in last Sunday's sermon, the other containing money to give to a family in need. A pasturing could be looked at as seldom living near relatives, but always living near friends. Try not to laugh when someone asks you to ask a blessing at the dedication of the town's new sewer treatment plant. It could include that. Always working overtime, but seldom feeling the need to watch the clock. Uniting with God's children at all the turning points in life. Sharing the joys of the wedding, of the birth of the child, the baptism of the believer, the tears in the hospital, and the tears at a funeral home. Helping people with hope, those who've hit rock bottom. Being a pastor in a church includes all of those things. Notice how the Bible says to know those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord. To know them means to appreciate them. To be thankful for all they do in service to the Lord and to his church and for his church. I know a lot of times you'll hear in Christianity, Pastor Appreciation Month, and they'll say October, and they'll talk about things like that. Maybe you'll hear stuff like that on the radio. And those are good things. The Bible says for you, personally, individually, to know them, it has to do with appreciation and thankfulness. Now, preacher, you're preaching this to us, and what do you want, a pat on the back or something? No, I'm not looking for that. Remember, I didn't put it here. You've got to put it here in the context of this passage that is needed in these days in which we live. Notice the word esteem. Now, that's an unusual word. In the Greek language, this word esteem means to lead. It literally means to command with official authority, to deem, to deem, to esteem someone. So that word has to do with respect and admiration. Respect and admiration for them. God has given the pastor, he's given church authority, spiritual authority, if you would, a special responsibility that he's not given to every other church member. to every other visitor that may walk through the doors. And now, here's a by the way. One bad apple doesn't mean all the apples are bad. Sometimes we'll come to church and maybe a bad past experience with another church member or with even a pastor in the church would kind of taint your perspective of ministry or church or pastors in general, and that ought not to be the case. Sometimes people look with a very critical eye of pastors, and I understand that. More church members fail even statistically than pastors do statistically. You could look at it just by sheer numbers and volume like that. So know them and esteem them. One $20 bill that's fake does not mean that all $20 bills are fake. So don't let that change your impression of how to interact at church or with the pastor of a church. Now notice then, verse 13, not only should there be this esteem and knowing of them, but causing peace for them, in verse 13. To esteem them highly in love for their worth's sake, and be at peace among yourselves. This is amazing! So in context of this looking up to the spiritual leadership that God has given, make sure that you're working along with other people. calls peace for them. Having personality problems with other Christians, listen, in a church setting, is at the expense of a pastor and other church members not being able to fulfill the Great Commission, or taking time away from discipleship, or time away from studying prayer and visiting those who have real need. And so be at peace, is what he says, among yourselves. That actually helps the pastor out. that helps the church out, that helps the ministry move forward, that people get along to do the right thing in God's church. Now sometimes church members forget this idea of spiritual authority and maybe a person will get in their flesh and want to be the boss or neglect to recognize or honor the spiritual authority that God's given to the pastor of a church. I've heard of that. I've heard of that. I've talked to pastors who've experienced things like that as well and tried to encourage them. And if a person has that bad attitude about the pastor or church authority, things like that, they need to check the attitude with the Bible. Members volunteer themselves to God within the context of a local church. It's a volunteer thing. I am willingly joining together. I'm willingly falling under this leadership structure that God has given. Because notice that phrase there, over you, that are over you in the Lord. This speaks of spiritual authority. There's a spiritual authority here. In the middle of, we're waiting for Christ to come back for us. That's incredible. And so you, as a member, have volunteered your devotion to the Lord and serving through the local church. That word or phrase over you means rank, order, to preside, or to organize. Now, I may not be the best organizer in the world. I understand that. There's some things that I do okay. There's other things I don't do well at all. I understand that. I'm just talking to you personally here. But this position of pastor in any church and the person in that position should be respected and lifted up. I'm not talking about worship or anything like that, but in esteem and there's a spiritual structure that God has given. Now, our boys on our soccer team, I'm the soccer coach, and we had our first game the other night. It was a good game, competitive game. And Henry, I haven't seen Henry. Sometimes he sits around over here in the services. I don't see Henry here, but he is our referee. I'll call him or text him and say, we need a referee for Friday, and he came out. And this is amazing because I'm the pastor of the church here, and then I helped him with premarital counseling, him and Michaela. This is exciting. So I'm giving all this instruction, all these things. And then we get out to the soccer field. And do you know who's in charge of the soccer field? It's not the coach, and it's not the players. And believe it or not, it's not the fans either. Who's in charge of the soccer field? It's the referee. He's the one who gives structure. All right, we've got 15 minutes left. With coach, we've got eight minutes left. I would like to say our team's down by one. We need 10 more minutes. Come on. I would like to do that. But I respect his authority. I willingly said, he's the ref. I'm going to listen to what he says. If he says we have this much time, if he makes a bad call, you know what? It's all right. That's not my position. I'm not the referee. I'm fine with that. I'm fine with that. That's called authority. It's structured there. In a church, we call that spiritual authority. Pastors look out for church members. They lead you to new spiritual goals. They protect you from false doctrine. They feed you the Bible, just like we're doing today. I encourage you, if you've not yet joined the Wilton Baptist Church, that you would. Place yourself in this spiritual atmosphere with the spiritual authority, this structure that God describes in this passage, under the lordship of Jesus Christ, following the servant leader, the pastor that God has given. So I encourage you with that today. Wake up, dress up, look up. Number four, step up. And we'll round out this chapter and our study in this passage because now it's our turn. Now it's our turn. It kind of says now right there. You see that in verse 14? Now we exhort you. Back in 1960, John F. Kennedy was in his presidential campaign And he concluded a moving speech with a story of a judge in Hartford, Connecticut, who was presiding in court one morning in the middle 17th century when the eclipse of that decade occurred. And the sun went dark and the courtroom began to panic. The judge then called out, he rapped for order with his gavel and he said, if this be the end of the world, let us at least be found doing our duty. Bring some candles in. He was gonna continue on. That's the mindset that we should have as we see the day approaching. Notice here that sanctification is a process. And as we see the day approaching for Christ to return, we have a whole list of things that God would want us to be aware of and to wake up about. We exhort you, brethren, warned them that are unruly. Comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. Notice these are daily choices to warn the rebels, to comfort the feeble-minded, to support the weak. They could be weak in body, they could be weak in spirit, they could be weak in their mind. Whatever it is, weaken the faith, and I want to support those folks. Show patience to them in verse 14. See that none render evil for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good both among yourselves and to all men. Do good in verse 15. Verse 16, rejoice in everything by saying rejoice evermore. In praying without ceasing, we should be praying continually. Notice the next verse, in everything give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." It's not just in November that we give thanks. It should be every day that we give thanks. Every day be a thankful Christian. Verse 19, quench not the spirit. We could say it this way to keep the fire going. Don't put the fire out. Do not extinguish what God is doing in your life. Keep the fire lit. The spirit of God many times is likened to a fire. And folks, as we see the day approaching, our passion should not diminish. We should keep going out for the Lord. Keep being zealous and have a fervency about the Lord as a church, as a family, as individuals. Keep focused on Christ. Keep the fire lit. Keep going forward by looking forward. Verse 20, despise not prophesying. So we look at the scriptures. And people will say, well, where is the promise of His coming? He didn't come yesterday. People make a big deal about that. You know a lot of people make a big deal about that. Well, some of these people said, numerologists said, Bible believers didn't say. We can't say. We don't know when. But people will take away and say, well, where is He coming? They'll become sarcastic about the promise that Jesus will come for us. We need to keep looking forward with great Anticipation. Despise not prophesying. Verse 21, by the way, all those prophecies are already written down. It's not like somebody just tweets something or says something new. It all comes from the Bible. All those prophecies are already written down for us. We need to look forward. We need to test everything. Prove all things. It means to test. Hold fast that which is good. Verse 22, abstain from all appearance of evil. Not just some evil and not just abstain from evil, but even abstain from evil appearances. And then we have verses 23 to the end of the chapter, and we can find how the sanctification process is complete because you'll never be completely perfect while you're in this body on this earth. Can't happen. can happen. Sanctification on earth is a daily process. Lord, help me to be more like Jesus today. It's more than a list of do's and don'ts. It's all about your appearance and how much you look like the Lord Jesus Christ. That's an everyday proposition. But notice when we are totally transformed and changed, it's when a rapture takes place and we're given new bodies and we'll forever be with the Lord in heaven. There's no sin or evil or wrong there. So notice then in verse 23, and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. When Christ comes back, that's when we'll be wholly transformed and wholly sanctified. But every day I can be set apart to God, set apart from the world. I won't be sinless or perfect in that sense, but Lord, I want to be blameless. Lord, help me to be blameless. I'll do the best I can every day. Lord, help me every day to be more like you. Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it. Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss. I charge you by the Lord that this epistle, that means letter, this book, 1 Thessalonians, be read unto all the holy brethren. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. By the way, that next last verse said all the holy brethren. Friends, you can live a holy life. He's talking about people who read the letter that we just read, that we've studied together. Now the end is near. That's what we've called our message today. We've learned from this passage, this is how to live. And so we need to wake up, dress up, look up, and step up in your own life. Do I have these qualities in my life each day? Now you think about counting time. We count miles per hour in driving. We count minutes and seconds in sports. A scientist will count in seconds and milliseconds. When it comes to the rapture, we can look at it this way. Gabriel has the trumpet in his hands. It's in his hands. He's drawn the trumpet up close to his lips. He has taken in A big breath, and perhaps it's this close. His lips are on the trumpet, and he's waiting for God to say, blow the trumpet, and look down and say, come on up. The rapture is that close. Believers of all time have always believed the impending nature of the rapture. That means it could happen at any moment. So I encourage you today, don't just get ready. Be ready. Now it could start with getting ready today. Lord, I need to be saved. I need to trust Christ. Forgive me of my sin. I believe what you did on the cross. You died in my place. You shed your blood. You rose again. I believe in the gospel. If you have never prayed to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and expressed your faith in Jesus alone for salvation, you need to do that or the trumpet will sound and you won't go up. You need Jesus Christ in your heart. You need to have a definite moment where you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then Christian friend, think about these truths we've talked about here. We need to wake up. We need to look around and know what's happening, but also look at our lives that we're living the way that God would have us live with that faith, love, and that hope. How about this when it comes to looking up to spiritual leaders? There's some who need to join a church, they need to be led by the pastor spiritually over them to guide, and we need to follow and serve God together. in the organized way that God has told us in the scripture. Now, there are many areas we describe today to step up in. And you can pray this way today, Lord, help me not just to get ready today as a Christian, help me to be ready. We don't know when the principal is gonna come back to the classroom. We need to be ready today. Let's bow together in prayer. Thank you for your good listening, good participation in the service today. Now, we call this an invitation. We're gonna pray in just a moment. We invite you to respond. I invite you to raise your hand when I ask you a question, and you can talk to the Lord in prayer. It's a personal time, no one's looking around, but I'd like to pray with you. concerning some of these truths today. Maybe you'd say, Pastor, as you mentioned salvation, the forgiveness of sins, I do not know for sure that I would go to heaven. I do not know for sure that when a trumpet sounds that you mentioned, I do not know for certain that I'll go up and meet the Lord Jesus Christ. I'd like to know. I want to know today how to have my sins forgiven, how to be saved. Is there anyone like that? Just raise your hand quickly. You'd like to know more about salvation. Just raise it quickly so I can pray with you about that. All right, I see a hand. Is there anyone else? Just raise your hand quickly. I want to pray with you. All right, God bless you. Then what about this faith, love, and hope, waking up and dressing up, being aware, examining our own lives? Perhaps the Lord talked to you about that. Maybe it's about spiritual authority and working together as a church and following leadership and serving together. Maybe God's worked in your life about that. There's many areas for us to step up in. You examine your life in light of those and you respond accordingly as God leads you. Father in heaven, we thank you for your spirit working in our hearts and lives. We thank you for this passage. What a challenge and a help it's been today. Let's each person here with the decisions in their life that they're making right now. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you please stand as the pianist plays? Just have a moment where you can respond. However God's working in your life, maybe you have loved ones that you'd like to see trust Christ. Maybe that faith, hope and love hasn't been clothed in your life and you need to put that on. Maybe you've been under the assault of Satan or this world. And you need to protect your body, you need to protect your love, your heart, your mind. Talk to the Lord about that today. Heavenly Father, we thank you for these amazing truths that you're coming back for us. And if there's one here that's not ready, they haven't trusted Christ for salvation. We pray that today would be their day for that. Lord, for us that know for sure, for sure, we pray that you would help us to be ready each day to examine our lives and to be living the Christian life that you've called us to live. We thank you for these amazing truths and we pray they'd be true in our lives whenever that trumpet sounds. Lord, we look forward. We anticipate with excitement this day. And Lord, help us to live in light of this rapture. Lord, I pray you'd help each of us and take these truths with us as we go. We pray for safety, that we would and then be able to come back and worship you again in the next service. And thank you for hearing our prayers and for meeting with each of us today. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.