Well, thank you so much, Brother Rick, for leading us so faithfully in song and worship. Christ is the solid rock. He's the solid rock on which we stand. All other ground is sinking sand. How do you know if you're You're standing on the rock, right? How do you know? Let me ask you this question. Do you love the Lord Jesus? Right? Have you trusted in the gospel of Jesus Christ? That's what matters more than anything. All right, well, And sorry for just the problems we're having here with the air. Don't know what's going on, but God is still good. And, you know, some of the first world problems we got to go through, you know what I mean? But even through this, the Lord teaches us, right? So, I mean, so thankful for that. Well, if you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to 1 Thessalonians. We're going to finish chapter 5 today. So first, or no, number 9, I'm sorry, 4 through 11. 1 Thessalonians 5, 4-11 is the text we're going to be looking at today. I'll title this sermon, Shining Bright in a World of Darkness. Shining Bright in a World of Darkness. I don't know about you, but light is important. Right now, air is important. Cold air at least. But light is an important component to life, isn't it? Just a couple weeks ago, we had some storms go through that knocked the power out. And I was sitting in our house in what's called our reading room or whatever, and just working on some stuff. And some storms come through, lightning is cracking, all of a sudden, power goes out. And it's dark. And I'm just waiting to hear sounds from the living room from my wife and my daughter, and telling them everything's OK. Everything's OK. But when you sit in darkness, you realize, man, I take light for granted. You know, I really take light for granted. I mean, light is just so important. I mean, just sitting there, I mean, we needed to see it, right? We need the light from the sun to, you know, keep the earth warm, right? Just warm, not hot. We need the sun, the light from it, to balance all the life patterns that are here on Earth, the weather patterns, and continue the process of photosynthesis that plants undergo so that we can eat. Without that, there's no eating for humans or animals. And if you're an amateur astronomist, light is a problem. Light is a problem because at night, the last thing you want as an amateur astronomist is to have light blocking the night view or the night sky or washing out the stars and so on. There's an actual border scale, a bordal scale that amateur astronomers use. It's called the border scale. And what it does is it just, it's a nine level numerical scale that measures the night's brightness of a particular location. And here in Seaford, believe it or not, we're a Bordeaux 7. That's a lot. So up to nine, we're a Bordeaux 7. Can you imagine this little city putting out that much light pollution? And it makes it very hard, especially when you're in town and trees are blocking the night sky. You want to get a good fix on a particular star, planet, or whatever. And just to say that, we're a Bordeaux 7. Arizona, New Mexico, places like that would be considered a zero. There's like no light pollution. Best place to go and look at stars. You can even see the band of the Milky Way and all that, right? And believe it or not, three brightest cities in the world, the three brightest cities that emit the most light. The first one, believe it or not, is in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is the brightest city on planet Earth. So if you were to look at, you know, if you're on this space station or whatever looking down and you're, you know, I forgot how fast it moves, you know, how many times, you know, the space station can see the world revolve, but you would constantly see this bright city. And if you want to know what the second one is, it's Russia. It's Moscow, Russia, right? They're the second brightest. And then the third one is Washington, right? It's Washington and three brightest cities. And I bring up these illustrations or whatever to just really talk about the significance of light. Because as we get into this passage, you can see, especially in verse 4, just look at some of the language that Paul uses here. Verse 4, "...brethren, you are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief." Why? 4 or 5, I'm sorry. 4, "...you are all sons of light and sons of day." We're not of night. We're not of darkness. So if we think about that example, if we're sons of light, we're sons of day, then it should show, right? It should show. It should be reflective in our behavior. And this is what we're going to really look at today. How do we be shining bright in a world of darkness? How do we be these luminaries in a world of darkness, especially in a world that's going to be receiving God's judgment soon? A world that we know is even growing darker, right? I mean, you don't have to look far to see that. And this all sits in this whole context of really eschatology, as we've been learning. Remember that. We've been learning that eschatology is what? The study of the last things. And Paul has been going through this subject since verse 13. You know, he's kind of been sprinkling it in his writings at the end of each chapter. He's mentioning something of the coming of the Lord. And then he finally gets to chapter 4, verse 13, and he's talking about the rapture, which is the next event on God's prophetic timetable. which is going to initiate the Tribulation. And then, of course, in the middle of the Tribulation, you have the beginnings, the precursors of the Day of the Lord. And then at the end of the Tribulation, you have the Day of the Lord, the first aspect of it. And then we go into the Millennial Kingdom, a thousand-year reign with Christ on earth. And it's after that that we have the second aspect to the Day of the Lord, judgment. And so in light of that, Paul is going to now talk about this in chapter 5. He talks about this Day of the Lord subject, and we learned about it last week. We learned about what it is, right? So if you want to know more about that, you can go to that sermon. But from 4 to 11, he's going to now show them how to live in light of this reality, this pending judgment that is coming, this judgment that is unstoppable. It cannot be stopped, of course. that is coming upon this world. And so just a really quick review before we get into Notice what Paul does in verses 1-3. He's switching to that new subject in regard to eschatology. He says in chapter 5, verse 1, "...now as to the times and epochs are now concerning," is really how the original language conveys it. Remember, times and epochs, these are just the way God works through time and His sovereign ordination of time and events within it. Remember, God controls time. He's not bound by it. He's not limited by it. He's created time and within time He has various seasons or events that take place that He's ordained. And we can see that even on a personal level with our own life. But then there's that cosmic level that we see with the world, the universe, and so on, the future, the destiny of the Lord. And with the Thessalonian church, they needed no instruction. Why? Because Paul had taught them very well. Remember, while he was there, three weeks or whatever it was, he spent some time teaching them about this doctrine, about what's to come. They were a persecuted church. They were a model church. But they just needed some reminders. They were going through some things, even though it was a model church. at some sanctification issues. Chapter 4, remember some of the purity issues that we went through. Encourage them to love one another. We're going to get into more of the Christian conduct as we get more into Chapter 5. We're going to see some relational issues that they've had. And he's teaching them, look, there's a way we are to live in light of the Day of the Lord. They need that kind of refreshment, that kind of instruction. But in terms of what the Day of the Lord is, they don't really need much of that. It's not until the second letter he's going to have to do a review again of the precursors of the Day of the Lord. And so that's verse 1. Verse 2, again, he states why they don't need, again, this instruction, because they knew full well, right? They knew the manner of the Day of the Lord is coming like a thief in the night. Remember, Paul taught them most likely from the Old Testament about the Day of the Lord. And for them, there should be an alertness and a readiness, you know, as a result, not of the Day of the Lord, but of the secret coming of Christ for His bride. And remember, and most importantly, the Day of the Lord is not for believers. The Day of the Lord is for unbelievers. And that can be a hard thought to take in or truth to receive because we think of the loved ones in our own life, right? We think of the family members in our life that aren't believers. What's going to happen to them, right? Are they going to make it? Are they going to be succumbed to this event? We don't know. But we do trust a God who is capable of saving. He is gracious and He is merciful. And He is going to do it in His own timing. We don't know when, but we can trust Him. We can trust that He is good. We can trust that He is wise. And who knows how He's going to work that all out. It may be in this age. It may be in the tribulation. Don't know. But the Lord will do His work and we can trust Him for that. But that day is coming. It's not for believers. It's for unbelievers. And the grammatical proof of that is found in really the switch that Paul does in verse 2. He says, for you yourselves, second person plural, speaking of the church, to now verse 3, they, third person plural, they are saying, them. He's speaking of a specific category of people, namely unbelievers. So it's not for believers, it's for unbelievers. And he's going to do more of that with this contrast of darkness and light, right? Sons of day and sons of night. He's going to do more of that. And so that's vital to keep in mind. And again he continues, Paul even elaborates more in verse 3 about this message that people are going to be saying. They're saying it now and they're going to say it even in the future. Peace and safety. Two things that humanity wants more than anything. Peace and safety. They want security. Right? They want this peace, but they want it according to their terms. They want it manufactured by themselves. They want it manufactured by the government. They want it manufactured by the philosophers and the scholars and all the experts of this day and age. They don't want the peace and safety that comes from God according to His terms, which is through one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only way peace is going to result between God and man. And safety, there's only one person that's going to save you from any kind of calamity, any kind of disaster that comes from God that deals with judgment, and that's Christ Himself. And so this again is what Paul is talking about. Notice the verb saying there in verse 3, while they are saying. It's a progressive present, meaning people will have this message, this mentality, all the way up until they are shot by the blazing glory of Christ Jesus when He comes to earth and judges the earth. They're going to be shocked. They're going to be rudely awakened when they see the King of glory come and take back what is His. 2 Peter 10 says right now, people are mocking, right? They're mocking. You've been saying that for a long time. They're mocking the coming of the Lord. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 11, Paul says that God sends a deluding spirit. Now think about that. I mean when you just flip a couple pages to 2 Thessalonians 2, you see it's verse 11, chapter 2 verse 11 of 2 Thessalonians. For this reason God will send upon them, notice where this is coming from, it's God, a deluding influence. Why? So that they will believe what is false In order, verse 12, that they will be judged or may be judged. Why? Who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in wickedness. He's given them over. This is Romans 1. He's given them over to their heart's desire, their heart's content, their idolatry. You want it? Fine. Have it. It comes with a price. There is a consequence. And this is what we tell people today when we're sharing the gospel with them. You need to turn away from that and turn to the true and living God and worship Him and Him alone. And again, you notice the description again, the day of the Lord. Notice how he says in verse 3, you go back to chapter 5, verse 3, he says, this destruction will come upon them suddenly. How? Like labor pains upon a woman with child and they will not escape. A thief in the night, right? Speaking of, you know, it's imminent. You don't know when. And then this pain and sorrow that's involved and then that last phrase there, they will not escape. There's no getting off of this sinking ship. Right? There's none of that. They're going down with it. Somebody has to take them off this sinking ship because they can't do it in and of themselves. And that's what deliverance and salvation is really all about. God has to rescue them. right? This is what it is. Again, Paul, in light of this pending judgment, he wants Christians to conduct themselves in light of this truth, in light of this day of the Lord. So Paul lays out for us in verses 4-11 three precepts. Three precepts that a Christian must have to live considering the day of the Lord. Three precepts because we've got a lot of commands in here. There are a lot of subjunctives that are acting like commands. They're, you know, what they call volitive or cohortative. They're just commands by nature just grammatically. And then, of course, the imperatives that are in there and found in verse 11, encourage one another and build up one another. These three precepts. And the first one is recognize your nature. Let me read to you verses 4 and 5. But you, brethren, are not in darkness that the day would overtake you like a thief. There it is. He's connecting with what he said earlier. And this is an explicit statement that the day of the Lord is not for believers. You're not, right? You, brethren, are not in darkness. Darkness, that's for those, right? For that day. Notice it's a definite day that would overtake you like a thief. And again, he's reiterating, it's not for you. Verse 5, 4, why? Because you're all sons of light and all sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness. And that's the first, again, precept which deals with recognizing our nature, recognizing our identity, recognizing who we are. And let me just say, before I get into this, there are There are variations of people in this. Not only do you have the Sons of Light and the Sons of Day, but within the Sons of Day, within that category, within the Sons of Light, there are those, verse 7, or 6, I'm sorry, that sleep, right? There are those within this category who are sleeping. These are Christians who are sleeping, right? And we're going to get more into that. And then, of course, there are those Christians who have died, verse 10, you know, who died for us so that whether we awake or asleep, that's referring to death right there, we will live together with Him. I think really that concept of sleep really takes in all the sleep plus the dead in Christ, and I'll get more to that later. But I want you to know that right up front. Because it's going to be very important in understanding this section here that Paul brings up. He's not foolish to think that everybody's got it going on in this church. He's not foolish to think that everybody's really living up to their weight, so to speak. Or living in light of this situation. Remember, there were some here who quit working. Right? They quit work because Christ was coming. Why do I need to work if He's coming? Right? And Paul's like, no, you need to get to work. Stop being lazy. Stop being a smoocher, right? Get up and go to work. Stop depending on the church. You need to get busy. Put your own part in. And of course there were those who were dealing with immorality of some sort. Remember the immorality that they were going through? There was some, you know, unholiness issues. So he's not, you know, a fool to think that everybody during this time is living as what their identity is. And we'll get more into that. But again, the first one is that. And I just read it to you. And again, notice the verse 4. Here he's going to speak of what your nature is not. When Paul is speaking about Christians, Paul likes to anchor his commands with truth. He likes to anchor them, the indicatives, or his imperatives, I'm sorry, with indicatives. So before he tells you, hey, you need to do this, he's gonna first tell you who you are. This is who you are, that's why you should be doing this. Or because this is who you are, therefore you should be reflecting this, it should be matching. Now of course not perfectly, right? But you should be consistently striving to live in light of who you are. Because today there's many Christians that call themselves Christians and when you look at them, they don't think like it, they don't act like it, they don't speak like it, and you know, it's like the whole duck thing, right? I mean, does it quack? Does it, does it whatever waddle? I mean, does it quack like a duck? You know, all that stuff. Is it a duck? And today that's a lot of that going on. So he's going to first tell them what they're not. He's using negatives. This is a good way to teach, by saying what is not before you say what is, right? And he tells them, you brothers, and I love that term of endearment, brothers, are not in darkness. that the day would overtake you like a thief." And notice the present tense are in verse 4. Are not in darkness. You brothers are, present tense, at this moment, referring to a state of being, a sphere of being. You are not in darkness. And every time you see darkness, especially used metaphorically, it always speaks of that spiritual nature of man before regeneration. It speaks of that position of a person who is not in fellowship with God. That's what it always speaks of, darkness. And again, if you sit in darkness long enough, fear starts to be produced in you and all that. But here, you know, it's dealing with this darkness, this nature of man before regeneration who has succumbed to his sinful nature. He's morally, willfully, and intellectually, and even emotionally, and spiritually dark. Again, this is what we call total depravity. He's not as bad as he could be. That's because God is what? In His grace, He's restraining that sin. Can you imagine when God lifts the restrainer that 2 Thessalonians 2 talks about? I mean, imagine the darkness, the evil that's going to happen during that day when He restrains His grace, restrains His Holy Spirit. It doesn't mean He's not going to work in the hearts of people, summoning them, because there's going to be a big evangelistic explosion with 144,000 evangelists. But it's going to be a time of darkness. Listen, if God were to let you, give you a glimpse of your own heart, Right? Of really that part of you that isn't regenerated. And the way he sees it, you would be frightened. You'd want to jump out of your skin. You would want heaven right now. You'd want your glorified body now. But God restrains that, praise God. Because I know some of us, you know, even in relationships, I mean, we want to show some of that darkness, don't we? I mean, we really want to get a handle physically, you know, on people. And that's darkness, right? And this is what he speaks to, Colossians 1.13. It's again, this darkness again speaks of a sphere kingdom that we used to belong to, right? Colossians 1.13, God rescued us from the domain of darkness, right? He transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son. And this is the nature that we once had in the realm we once belonged in. 1 Corinthians 5.8, Paul says, "...for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Therefore walk as children of light." Notice the that there. The that speaks of result, right? "...for, but you, brethren, are not darkness." That, with the result, that the day would overtake you like a thief, again further cementing the fact that because you're not in darkness, the day is not going to overtake you. Which is again a clear verse that the day of the Lord is for those who are still in this darkness. Notice the day again is the day of the Lord, has no bearing on the Christian except how they ought to live in light of that reality. And notice he says there, overtake you, just means to be caught by surprise. It's not going to catch us by surprise because we know about it, right? We know about it. And again, like the thief, there, just explains the element of it. So this is what you're not. You're not in darkness. Look at verse 5. For you are all sons of light and sons of day. That's who you are. There's that present tense, are. You are. You're not in darkness, present tense. You are in light. You are sons of light, all sons of light and sons of day. This is who you are, brothers and sisters. This is your identity. You are sons of light, sons of day. Another title for a Christian. This is who we are. We are sons of light. Again, the for there just brings explanation. And the are, you are there is that present tense speaking of the state or sphere the believer's in. All, notice every person, this is every person, the all there, is every person who's repented of their sins and put their trust in Jesus Christ. And so, if you have not repented of your sins and put your trust in Jesus Christ, if you do not love the Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, if you do not love His Word, if you do not see yourself as a transformed individual by the power and grace of God, you are still in darkness. You're still in darkness. And therefore, the day of the Lord is for you. Now, I don't want it to be for you. I want God to, by grace, take you from darkness and put you into light. And the only way that can happen truly is if you cry out to the Lord. Call out to Him. Repent of your sins. Put your trust in Him and Him alone. That's the only way that's going to happen. That's what's happened to all of us here. If you're a believer here, you're no longer in darkness. Therefore, stop thinking like that and stop acting like that. You are now light. Show it. What does light do? It's bright. It makes darkness disappear or vanish, right? It's needed for so many things. This is what our nature is. Christ is the light of the world, is He not? And if we have Christ in us, that light should be reflected. John 8.12, Jesus says, He gives the light of life. This light that we have or possess comes from Christ. Whoever is in Christ is no longer in darkness according to John 12. No longer in darkness. Darkness has no control over you at all. It shouldn't. It shouldn't. Now, sons of light, sons of light, again, because God is light. Remember, God is light, which can mean a lot of things. Metaphorically, He's holy. There's no darkness in Him. There's no immorality. There's no sin in God. God dwells in what? 1 Timothy 6 says, inapproachable light. Again, think about that. It's a light that you cannot even stand in His presence. It's brighter than the sun. Look at Genesis chapter 1. Before there was the sun, there was a light. And this light is created, of course, but this light was the light sustaining the new earth before God created the two luminaries, sun and moon. God is light and Jesus is light and we are light. Again, this speaks of our relationship to God. It speaks of our fellowship with God, right? It speaks that we belong to God. We are heavenly citizens. We are those who have been purchased and redeemed by the blood of Christ. Light also speaks of truth and holiness. So for sons of light, what should be emanating from us? Truth and holiness. Truth and Holiness. I wish I had time to read 1 John 1, 5-7. I'll let you read that. But there John speaks of the fact that God is light and we have fellowship with Him and how it's impossible for someone to say that they are in light yet walk in darkness. It's inconsistent. It doesn't work. And again this reiteration of we are present tense again. We are not of night. Look at verse 5 again. We are not of night nor of darkness. He has to say it again and again. This is not who we are. We are light. Because we are not of night, because we don't belong to Satan's domain, because we don't belong in his dominion, Our conduct, our mentality should not even give a hint of night nor of darkness. Our light instead should be growing brighter and brighter and brighter. I love this passage from Proverbs 4, verse 18, which I think is one of the most explicit passages when it comes to progressive sanctification. Progressive sanctification, that is, at the point of your conversion, you've been justified, you're now growing, right? You're moving up, not descending. There's no spikes down. It's just constantly up until the end of sanctification, which is glorification, which is what God is going to do. But in Proverbs 4, verse 18, Solomon says this, But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn that shines brighter and brighter until the full day. Notice that progression. Those who have been blessed with the righteousness of Christ They should be shining bright and it should be growing brighter and brighter until that day. What is that day? That is the day when we are in our glorified bodies and we're shining bright. Now that's who we are. What's the conduct? What's the right mindset and conduct? That's the second precept. The first one is recognizing our nature, verses 4 and 5. Here's the second precept. Maintain the right mindset and conduct. Maintain the right mindset and conduct. That's verses 6 to 8. Look at verse 6. So then, therefore, it's a conclusion, summing it up. Here's the let us. This is the first command, right? It's the first command. It's a subjunctive. Let us do what? Let us not sleep. Now here's the danger for Christians, sons of light, sons of day. You've fallen asleep, like some of you are right now. And that's probably because of the heat, of course, right? And I totally understand that. But here, this sleep, Paul is going to use it as a metaphor. He's going to use it as a metaphor. Again, so then, as a result, let us not sleep. And the mood of this verb, let us not sleep, indicates Paul is exhorting and he's commanding the church to not sleep. It doesn't mean physical sleep because we need that, right? God has designed our bodies so that we need sleep. Well, at least for now, right? But here it's speaking metaphorically. And you need to know that in verses 7, there's sleep again, right? Those who do their sleep and sleeping at night, right? And then verse 10, who died for us so that whether we're asleep. That word sleep is all the same Greek word. It's kethudo. It's not the same Greek word that we learn in verses 13 through 18 in chapter 4, 1 Thessalonians, where he talked about those who are asleep. That's koimao, where we get our word coma. Cthulhu is different, okay? Koima'o is, this is sleep, those who are dead. Cthulhu typically speaks of a moral indifference, right? It speaks to an apathy, this apathetic attitude towards the things of God. Really, it almost has a hint of rebellion, a Christian really not wanting to obey scripture or live in light of their identity. Believe it or not, there's Christians like that. There's Christians like that. But it speaks of that, right? It speaks of, really it's antithetical to what he's saying there in verse six, to let us not be asleep as others do, but in contrast, let us be alert and sober. So this sleep here refers to a moral indifference again. And it's defined by the opposite nature, being alert and sober. That's what we ought to be, which is another command. I think it's important for us to keep in mind that because we don't want to get confused here. In Paul's mind there were Christians who were sluggish in their walk with Christ. They needed more encouragement than others, right? That's not unique, right? They were struggling. There are some Christians even amongst us who struggle with sin a lot more than probably you do. Right? That doesn't mean they're not Christian. It just means that they're in a struggle right now. And the question is, what are they doing about that struggle? How are they continually struggling with that? And there were those who were dead in Christ. Right? Amongst, you know, they were dead in Christ. And the living Christians needed comfort as to them. And so Paul is going to speak to all of them. He's going to speak to all these categories here. Specifically, those who are of light, those who are sluggish and sleeping, and of course, you know, bring up the comfort of those who are actually dead in Christ. Notice he says, as others do there in verse 6 there, right? Yeah, as others. Notice that. So they let us not sleep as others. Again, this category is another way of showing distinction between believers and unbelievers. And he's pulling really from chapter 4 verse 13. Remember when he talked about not grieving as do the rest? Well here, as others and do the rest, it's the same category. It's the same category. So Paul is really making a distinction between believers, unbelievers. It's very clear here. Now, what does he want the Christians to do? What does he want those sons of light and sons of day to do? By virtue of their identity and nature, how should they conduct themselves? Well, verse 6 tells us, we looked at that, be alert. First of all, don't sleep, right? And then be alert and be sober. And He gives the explanation why in verse 7, "...for those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we are of the day," here it is again, "...let us be sober." How? having put on, this is the means, having put on the breastplate of faith. So show that you're sober, how? By putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. This is very clear here what Paul is trying to talk about, the, but again, contrasting sleep, this apathetic, lethargic attitude to the things of God. And we've all been there before, right? Maybe it's through a hard trial where I just don't feel like picking up, I don't feel like praying at this moment, right? Or maybe it's just an indifference because of things that's happening in church or whatever it may be. It's easy for us to fall into this pattern of One of the hardest things, believe it or not, and I'm not saying this to just attack that, but how hard is it the moment you stop, you miss a day of church, to get back into the routine of coming again? It's easy to succumb to that, right, and just get into the habit of, you know what, this feels really good. I really like the rest. I really like just doing what I'm doing right now. Forget the body of Christ. Forget coming to the family, right, and meeting their needs and serving them. There's ways we can get very apathetic to the things of God. If our nature is one of light and day, because of our union with God, then let us act like it, right? Let us act like it. And how we're to do that, Paul tells us with the second command, be alert and sober. Again, here's the proof of being light and day. You're already in light and of the day, now you must live in light of that reality. That phrase there, alert and sober, those exhortives there speak of being awake at all times. They're present tense verbs. So all the time, we're constantly on guard. The word alert there is an interesting word because it's where we get our word Gregory. It's where we get the name Gregory rather and it means alert. It speaks of somebody who's vigilant, who's expectant, anticipating and sober balances it out. It speaks of being free from the influences of intoxicants. So in other words, you are in constant battle mode. That's what I mean. We're all of us soldiers in the army of the Lord, right? We all should be attentive. We should all be ready and alert. We should be aware. We should be open-eyed. We should be mindful of the things that's trying to creep into our minds and control it and subjecting it to the Word of God, to the obedience of Christ. We're going to be alert and sober. Holy and godly lives are the key to being alert and sober. 1 Peter 1.13 makes that clear. Also, remembering what pleases God. Remember, pleasing God is our ambition. And that's the key, Ephesians 5, chapter 5, verses 16 to 21. I wish I had time to read it, write it down. But Paul talks about the opportunity that we all have. Why? Because the days are evil. And then he says what? Do not get drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit. And then he talks about how we are to live in light of that. Read that verse when you get a chance. Not now, of course, but later on. Ephesians 5, 16 to 21. And notice verse 7, this sleep and sleeping again. Paul uses this real sleep again as a metaphor of sleeping and getting drunk. These two again go together. It's an apt metaphor to further reinforce the lethargic, lazy, apathetic, and moral indifference toward the calling God has called His people to. People at night, what do they do? They do a lot of things. One of them is just getting drunk, right? But people of the night, what do they do? There's a lot of criminal activity that takes place at night. What should people be doing at night? Sleeping. Instead, they're out and about. Of course, our day in our culture, people work and all that. But when Paul is talking about sleep here, he's using this to show that in the same way people are sleeping at night, Christians are also sleeping and having this lethargic attitude in their own walk with the Lord. And then almost you can, in verse 8, you almost, this but again, this contrast, this sharp contrast, again Paul just introduces, but since we are of the day, but because we are of the day, right? This is but, again a sharp contrast to speak of how unfitting it is for the believers to behave in such a way, to think in such a way. And again, contextually, culturally, historically, remember a lot of the Thessalonians had quit their job and they were just being lazy because they were waiting on the Lord. And Paul is attacking that mindset. You need to be busy. You need to be serving in the body of Christ, using your gifts. You need to be making the most of every opportunity. So he uses that drunkenness again. It speaks of that controlling influence. Because sleep can be like that. Sleep can have a controlling influence on a person. You ever been really tired? You know, some people, I hear stories of when people are really tired, they start to hallucinate. I remember reading about Navy SEALs and how they go through a process called Hell Week. And one of the things that's taken away from them is, you ready? Sleep. Sleep. And I remember hearing one testimony of a Navy SEAL who's out in the water, okay, haven't had sleep in days. And he says he saw a dolphin come out of the water and start speaking to him. I mean, like that's crazy, right? I mean, that's borderline like a drunkard, you know what I mean, who's acting crazy and all that. It's just unfitting for a believer. We are the day, we're forcing our identity, our unity, our union with Christ, present tense of the day. Let us be sober, let us be clear-headed, not dazed, not distracted by the things of this world, not preoccupied, but ready for the general from heaven to come. And how are we to do this? Again, like soldiers on duty. Listen to me, soldiers understand that they are warriors, that it's part of a team, don't they? They know this. I love, if you were to go to the Army's website and look at the Soldier's Creed, it is a fantastic creed, right? You might see it in some recruiting stations or whatever, recruiting buildings that have a poster out there with it. But these soldiers, they understand their role. And as Christians, we have to understand our role. Like them, they serve and protect their people and country and the values that make for a strong nation. We do the same thing. We serve the church, and we protect the church and the values that make for a strong church, a lot of the doctrines and all that that we know. We put the mission first. Just like they put the mission first, as Christians, we put the mission first. What is the mission? Making much of Christ, making disciples, Matthew 28, 18-20, getting the gospel out. Right? They don't accept defeat. As Christians, we shouldn't accept defeat. Right? We don't accept defeat. We don't give in to the devil. We don't let Him just run all over us. No. James 4 tells us we're to submit to God and resist the devil and he will flee from us. We don't accept defeat and we don't quit. We persevere. That's the language of the Bible. We persevere. How long? To the end. To the end. We don't quit. We don't leave others behind. As the church, we're practicing one another's, holding each other accountable, sharpening one another, encouraging one another, he's going to tell us here, and building up one another. We don't leave no one behind. When we don't see sheep here, we go after them. We want to make sure they're okay. What's going on? Why? Because they could be falling in that category of sleep. We want to go after them, right? We remain disciplined, right? Physically, taking care of ourselves. Mentally, staying sharp. Spiritually, right? Soaking up the Word of God, making sure it's governing us, right? It is our constitution. And we keep our weapons clean and ready on our person, ready to use. What are our weapons? We have the sword of the Spirit. And Paul's going to give us some more here, right? The breastplate of what? He says here, faith and love. Look at that. He says, having put on speaks of means, right? These are means the believers to avail and equip themselves with God's armor. How do you stay away from falling asleep? Put on the armor. Put on the armor. And again, God's armor is metaphoric, of course. But we put it on the same way a soldier puts on armor for battle, so does the Christian put on the armor of God. Notice what we're putting on, the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of the hope of salvation. And notice the triad of Paul again, faith, hope, and love. This is something we kept seeing, a recurring theme or motif in the 1 Thessalonians letter. And he's going to reiterate this to the Ephesians, the church of Ephesus in Ephesians 6, verses 14-18. He uses the same language. But the breastplate of faith and love, first of all, faith is the knowledge of truth and doctrine. How do you protect yourselves from lethargy and apathy and all moral indifference? Build up what you know. Build up what you know. Build up your knowledge of truth and doctrine. This is why it's so important that you learn doctrine and you're studying your word, you're keeping your sword sharp. The second thing is love. Love, which is first vertical, it's to God, to the master, and then it's horizontal, to God's people. The proof of your love of God is horizontal, proof of your love for his people. So you put on these two things, faith and love. This is the breastplate. And Roman soldiers, when they would wear a breastplate, it was used to protect their chest, protect their back. It could be made of leather with linen underneath, and it could be covered in brass or silver or gold. But they always kept it on them because they were always ready so that they wouldn't be caught off guard. It protected their vital organs. And then, of course, there's the hope, the helmet of the hope of salvation. This hope, again, is what is not seen, right? Romans 8, chapter 24, Paul says, we don't have a hope that is seen, right? Because that's not hope at all, he says. And believe it or not, that's a lot of people's hope. Give me some tangible proof. There's my hope. No, no, no, no, no, no, my friend. Hope, biblically, is what you don't see, but you know. You know God is doing it. You know God is working in some way, shape, or form conforming you to the image of His Son, which is the greatest goal, and it's for His glory. You don't want hope that you can see. That's the world's hope. That's a secular hope. You want a hope that you can't see, according to Romans 8.24, and it looks to the future, always looking to the future, waiting for the secret return of Christ. It looks to the inheritance to be given and the glories that follow. So not only do we recognize our nature. and maintain the right conduct, putting on this armor, being soldiered up. But now we apply the third and last preset, which is to encourage and build up one another. This is what a soldier does one to another, right? This is the third precept, encourage and build up one another, verses 9 to 11. Notice, they remind themselves of what God has done. Look at verse 9, for God has not destined us for wrath. What beautiful words. Like, camp out on that. God has not destined you for wrath. If you repent of your sins, put your trust in Christ, it doesn't matter what happens in this world. It doesn't matter what happens in your life. What you can absolutely know for sure and for certain is that you are not destined for wrath. You're destined for salvation. This is something that should just dominate our thinking. Look at what God has done for us. Again, speaking of God's mercy and grace for what He's done for the believer, He spared them of His own wrath. This white, righteous, hot indignation that He is ready to pour out on this earth. It is amazing that He has not done so already. But yet He's withholding it because we know there are still those who are the elect who have not come to Christ yet. But when that day happens, when that last person, that last Son of Light comes into the kingdom, it's game on. They're all on the ark. The flood comes. And there's nothing that can be done after that. Nothing. But He spared them. The word destined means to take place or make stand. Right? For God has not made us to stand, right, for wrath. He's not placed us in wrath. But He's destined us. Notice what He's destined us for. But contrast again. He loves these contrasts. For obtaining salvation. The word destined means to place or make or it could be translated appointed. He's appointed us for, not for wrath, but for salvation. Wrath here refers to the seven year tribulation of the day of the Lord along with the final judgment as we already learned. And again, what is He destined us for? Obtaining salvation. Notice through. Look at that preposition. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, which we all know very well. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone. It's going through Him, the way, the truth, and the life. Every aspect of our salvation for the believer, every aspect of their salvation, past, present, and future is done in the mind of God. It's done. We're just getting there. But it's done for Him. Christ has accomplished it all. There's nothing you can add to it. There's no works you can do that can add to it. There's nothing you can take away from it. He's accomplished it all. He's accomplished it all. He's done this for us. The word salvation there is what's called a genitive of destination. God has destined us not for wrath, but for the purpose of salvation. It's toward deliverance. It's toward salvation. And notice verse 10, this beautiful, really concise version of the Gospel. Verse 10, who died for us. Who's the who? The Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us. Every time you see in the Bible just a mentioning of His death, you should remind yourself of the Gospel. Because there, what did He do? He took upon Himself the very wrath you and I deserved for our sins. He died for us. This is the gospel, brothers and sisters. He died for us. And this is what we're going to do here in a little bit with the Lord's Supper. Remind ourselves of what God has done. It is a promise. It is a reminder. It is a means of grace that God shows us every time we partake of the Lord's Supper. This is why you must meet at the family table. This is why you come to the fellowship, to eat, to fellowship with one another and remind ourselves what God has done and what He's going to do. And we should walk out of here with our heads held high, gear on, shining bright in this dark world because we know what's going to come upon it. We're not passive. We're very active. Notice, so that, see that? So that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Again, Paul provides the purpose of Jesus dying on the cross. Why? To live together with Him. Speaks of our salvation. It's predicated totally on the work of Christ and nothing you and I can add to it. And notice who he's speaking of here. He's even speaking of those lethargic Christians. Now to me that's mind-blowing. Because you have these who are, you know, growing in their knowledge, they're growing at a fast rate in their faith, and then you have those sins that are struggling. And Paul is saying, listen to me, even you struggling saints, it's done for you. You may not even live up to a lot of these things, but guess what? It's done for you. Why? Because of what Christ has accomplished. That's the gospel. So you may be thinking here, you know what, I do struggle with sin. I struggle all the time. It is a battle for me. I don't think I'm going to make it. Rest, rest, be at ease. Christ has died for you. He's accomplished it for you. And you will be taken up to be with Him. And you will be spared the wrath. Now does that mean because you're struggling in sin, does that mean because, you know, that you should just go live a life of licentiousness? No. Because we're saved by grace, does that mean we now live a life of sin, go to the bar, go to the strip club, do all these things, take on drugs, commit adultery? No! Right? Romans 6. May it never be! But even for those struggling believers, God isn't going to forget you. He loses none of them. And this to me, I think, is just one of the most... I mean, as I sat and studied this, I could not but just lean back on my chair and praise the Lord, because I think that of myself. Like, Lord, there's nothing, nothing I add, nothing I can bring to you. I'm a beggar. I'm a beggar. What can I bring to you? Nothing. Jesus does it all. Again, whether we are awake or asleep, that is those who are alive or dead. Again, this sums up the rapture of the church. Christ is going to rescue His bride totally. That is the struggling Christian. That is the alert Christian. And that is the dead Christian. All of them are going to be taken up to be with Him, spared the day of the Lord. And as it says here, what should we do about this? We will live together with Him. Look at that. That is a reiteration of what He said in verse 17 of chapter 4, we will always be with the Lord. What should we do with this? Here is your application. Other than the commands, be alert, be sober. What should we do? Here's our relationship response, right? And we should do this continually and consistently? We should encourage one another. Encourage one another. Sum up. He's summing up the instruction he gave. All the indicatives in this section are finalized with this application. Encourage one another. What does encourage mean? Come to one's aid. Come to one's aid. He knows they're struggling Christians. What should you do then? Find out who they are and go to their aid. go to their aid. The Lord is going to use you to help build them up. And that's what he says next after encourage one another, which the word just means comfort. It's the same word used in 418. But notice the one another, again, which reveals the horizontal relationship we have towards all. But now it gets personal. He not just says encourage or comfort one another, he says build up one another. And the words build up mean to building a house, erecting a house, which means to edify. This is what we ought to be doing all the time. Ask yourself this question. Am I building up? Am I comforting? Am I encouraging my brother and sister in Christ? Am I building up the one who's lethargic and apathetic? Am I showing love to him? Am I helping him put his armor on so that he too can battle? Again, a lot of people think that Christianity is this personal and private thing. No! Christianity is personal, but it's not private! It's horizontal. It's one to another. We're the skin of a body. We ought to be functioning to protect and help and uphold one another. And this word, build up, one another, you see the other one another there? There's two one anothers. The last one another, the words, that word there, the second one another in that verse, you could translate it one on one. One on one. It's the two Greek words. And Paul, he's like, I mean, he doesn't want to be redundant here. He alleluces one another. And then, hasenah, one-on-one. That just shows you more of the kind of relational aspect as believers we should have discipling one another. It is one-on-one. Ask yourself this morning, brother and sister, who's that other one that's in your corner? Who's that other one that's helping you put on, make sure that armor's tight, reminding you of who you are, a son of light, son of day? Who is that one? If you are really a son of light and a son of day, and if you're already wondering that, am I a son of light and a son of day? You probably already are a son of light. Again, notice what Paul says when he finishes, just as you're also doing. This church was already doing it. You know why he reminds them to do it? It's his theme, excel still more. And that's what we ought to do. That's what we ought to do. So as we think of this, brothers and sisters, think about it. We are sons of day. We ought to be shining bright in this dark world, and the best way we do that is not just going out on the streets preaching the gospel, but it's also inside, holding up and building up one another. Amen? Let's pray. I'll call the men up forward as I pray. Lord, we thank You for Your Word and its truth. Lord, we thank You for a reminder of who we are. in you, in Christ, not because of our own work, but because of what you've done. And Father, we're thankful. We praise you, God. Help us, Lord, to be alert and ready. Help those struggling Christians right now. You know who they are. And it might be all of us, because at times we do struggle, Lord. There's no such thing as a Christian who doesn't struggle. But Lord, we know you're there for us as well, there for them. Help us to walk faithfully and uprightly, just like a soldier, alert and attentive. Help us to shine bright near God. Lord, bless this time. And Lord, as we think of the Lord's Supper, we think of what you've done for us in Christ. Be with every person here. Forgive us of our sins. Cleanse us, Lord. Help us to proclaim Christ's death in a worthy manner. We ask it all in the name of Christ, we give you thanks. Amen.