So we will always be with the Lord

1 Thessalonians 4:1-5:3 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. ² For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. ³ For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, ⁵ not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; ⁶ and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. ⁷ For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. ⁸ So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

⁹ Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; ¹⁰ for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, ¹¹ and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, ¹² so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.

¹³ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. ¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. ¹⁵ For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore comfort one another with these words.

5 Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. ² For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. ³ While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.

There are many today who looking at the circumstances of the world are saying the end is coming. Whether by judgment at the hand of God or by the hands of man, through war and violence, through the destruction of the planet, many fear the end is near. As believers we should not join our voices with those who express or decree destruction for the world. In today’s text it says:  Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.    So neither then should we be among those who are saying peace and safety, unless of course it is the peace of God and the safety of abiding in Him.

The truth is, knowing, or not knowing the day or the time of our end, the end for others or the end for all man should not change or determine how we live and act. Even more than not knowing the day or time that the Lord will return, we cannot know the day or the time of anyone’s death. Whether naturally in the course of time or suddenly at the hands of careless or evil people, no one knows for whom this could be the final day or hour. Paul encourages believers in how we should live, not in fear, but in faith. He says:  We request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more… this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.    Religious scholars and theologians will debate what happens if a believer dies in unrepentant sin. I’ll leave the theological debates to them, but trust God and Christ for the outcome. Instead, with Paul, I will not presume on God’s grace, but will trust in it. Whether doing well or struggling to walk out my sanctification, I will heed Paul’s exhortation to: excel still more. That should be the motivation for believers each day, regardless of what lies ahead or behind, today we should live to excel in the will of God, our sanctification.    He who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

The uncertainty of the future should also affect how we treat and interact with others today. Paul says:  Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.   In Romans 12:14-21 it says:  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.    Blessing people does not necessarily mean that we bless all that they do or say. It simply means that we pray for and be at peace with them. We allow God to be the one who determines the outcome for both them and us. We overcome evil with good, as Jesus says:        “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)   Not knowing the days or the times for ourselves or others, we should live each day to shine the light of Christ where we go.

Although some will try to fully comprehend and even explain what heaven is like, what we will experience after this life, we cannot fully comprehend what is spiritual, infinite and eternal, as people who are locked in these physical, finite and temporal bodies and minds. Just as we cannot, no one can, know the day or hour of Christ’s return, neither can we fully comprehend whether through resurrection or rapture, what it will be like when we are joined with Christ. Paul encourages us that we should neither fear our own death, nor grieve the death of others. That does not mean that we don’t mourn the loss, but rather we have confidence in their gain. Paul says:  We do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.    In 2 Corinthians 5:8 Paul says:  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.    When this life is over, when we are no longer physical and finite, but rather are spiritual and infinite, then time will no longer be significant, like God we will be eternal. So understanding the timeline of our being with Christ becomes irrelevant. The truth is, He knew us before we were born. He abides with us now:   and so we shall always be with the Lord.  

May we find comfort, encouragement and heed the exhortation of Paul’s words. Since we do not know the days or the times, may we live today according to God’s will, in peace and safety, in sanctification, shining the light of Christ in the world.   Amen.