1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

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Peace and Security. The coronavirus has shaken our sense of peace and security. In their place have arisen fear, anxiety and uncertainty. Some have asked if the pandemic is a sign of the End Times. And now the fires that rage all around us have turned the sun to darkness and the moon to blood. Is the end nigh? Is the Day of the Lord upon us?

We are all now conscious of the need for protective clothing to provide safety. We wear face masks to protect one another—even at the Tour de France which began yesterday. Healthcare workers suit up in PPE, personal protective equipment, to protect themselves. The firefighters suit up in protective equipment. The police suit up in riot gear. They all hope that their clothing is adequate for their security. What clothing should we put on to feel secure?

Two thousand years ago the young church in Thessalonica was anxious and uncertain about the Day of the Lord. They had two concerns. Firstly, they were anxious about their Christian brothers and sisters who had died under persecution. What would happen to these martyrs when the Lord returned? We looked at this last week (1 Thess 4:13-18). Paul gave them a word of comfort. At the Lord’s return the Christian dead would be resurrected and reunited with the Christian living. Together they would greet the Lord in the air and escort him to earth as its returning King. “And so we will be with the Lord forever” (4:17). Paul urged them to comfort one another with these words.

Secondly, they were anxious about themselves. Would they be ready for the Day of the Lord? Would they pass the Lord’s judgment? This is the concern we turn to today. Again, Paul gives them a word of comfort. And again this passage has aroused speculation about the future. What word of comfort does Paul give them? And how should we live today in such unsettling times?

Our passage today is 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, which I will take in three sections.

1. Like a thief in the night (5:1-3)

Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. (1 Thess 5:1-3 NIV)

In general Paul is very pleased with how this young church is living in faithfulness to Jesus. But there a few areas in which he feels they need some remedial instruction to “supply what is lacking in your faith” (3:10). This he provides in these last two chapters of his letter.

Paul now turns to the topic of “times and dates” or “times and seasons.” This phrase is shorthand for the timing of the End, the arrival of the End Times. Paul uses two terms to refer to the End Times. In the previous passage Paul wrote about the parousia, the coming of the Lord Jesus—his Second Coming, his return to earth. In this passage Paul refers to the Day of the Lord. What is the Day of the Lord? It is the day when God intervenes to put things right. It is the day when God acts in both judgment and salvation, to overthrow the wicked and save his people, and thereby vindicate his own righteousness. It is a day that has come but is yet to come. It is a day frequently mentioned by the OT prophets. Israel was eager for the Day of the Lord to come. But they shouldn’t have been so eager, for God came in judgment first on them. God’s own people had broken loyalty and defected to the side of the wicked. God brought judgment on them, first the northern kingdom Israel, then the southern kingdom Judah. The Day of the Lord arrived in the middle of time, in the death and resurrection of Jesus. God in Christ defeated not any human enemy but the greater enemies of sin and death. Jesus rose as the firstborn into the new age. And all who are in Christ follow him into this new age. The Day of the Lord marks the trans