The Night and the Day

The end of the world is a subject that is intriguing and mysterious and confusing to many. People in the church and outside the church have all sorts of questions and ideas about what is supposed to happen. And it makes me think of that pin people were wearing in the movie “The Truman Show” that said “How’s it going to end?” How is this world going to end?

From what we’ve seen in our last few studies in First Thessalonians, the church in Thessalonica had been taught about the end by Paul but they still had some questions of their own.

At the end of chapter 4, we saw that the Thessalonian church was concerned about those who had died. Were they going to miss Christ’s return? Were they going to be some kind of second-class citizen in Christ’s kingdom? Paul’s answer was, No. That is not going to be the case. Those who die in faith will be the first to rise and receive their glorified bodies.

Now that we come to chapter 5, we see that the concern Paul addresses is no longer about those who had died; it’s about those who were still alive. Is it possible that those of us who are alive will one day face God’s terrible judgment upon the world?

This coming judgment is known as “the day of the Lord.” Paul had taught the Thessalonians about that when he first visited them. They knew that one day God’s wrath would be revealed on the earth. One day Jesus is coming back to the planet He created. He is coming to judge, and He is coming to rescue. Those are the only two options.

Every single one of us will go either into eternal joy, or into eternal judgment. So, it only makes sense that you want to be clear about which group you are going to be a part of.

Those who are headed to judgment will be caught completely by surprise. That’s the message of verse 3—While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. This is the final verse we looked at last time. Just like a pregnant woman couldn’t escape the coming pain, the world will not escape the coming judgment of Jesus Christ.

Well, it seems that the certainty of judgment made some of the Thessalonians nervous. What if they were to get caught up in that? Is that a possibility? Should a Christian in this world fear facing the wrath of God in the day of the Lord?

Paul’s simple answer to them is: No. That’s not possible. Those who belong to Christ—those who have surrendered to Him as the true King and trusted in in His death and Resurrection on their behalf—they will not face the judgment of the day of the Lord.

Look at verse 4 with me. Notice the contrast Paul make—But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For the rest of the world, that day will be terrifying, but not for the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, which many of us are.

The ESV opted to use the word “surprise” which emphasizes the sudden or unexpected nature of what will happen. For us, surprises can be pleasant at times, but in this case it’s something horrendous.

Other translations use the word “overtake” which emphasizes the powerlessness one feels when Christ comes. In other parts of the Bible, the Greek word here is used to mean seizing or overpowering. Something powerful grips you and you cannot get away. That’s what the day of the Lord will be for the world, but not to us, who belong to Christ.

This is the difference Jesus makes, and this is the confidence we have. We belong to Christ, and there is therefore now no condemnation. We are not going to be horrified by that day; we are going to be free. We are going to be spared.

Why? Because we are not in darkness. That’s what Paul says in verse 4. We are not in darkness. What does that mean?

Light and darkness is a common theme in the Scriptures. Light, as a symbol, refers to two things.

First, light points to knowledge of the truth, or of reality. Darkness, therefore, points to the opposite, which is ignorance. When you don’t know about something, you might say, “I was in the dark. I didn’t have a clue.” When you’re in the dark, literally, you can’t make out reality; you can’t see. And that is true spiritually for unbelievers.

Those who reject Christ are in the dark about heavenly realities. They do not have the light. To use the words of 2 Corinthians 4, they don’t have the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. God has not shone the light of truth into the darkness of their hearts. He has not given them the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. They do not have the knowledge of the truth. They don’t know the truth about God and Christ and sin and judgment and salvation in the gospel.

Secondly, light also refers to the practice of righteousness. It’s the knowledge of the truth, and it is the practice (or the expression) of righteousness.

In other words, being in the light means you’ve learned the truth and you are living the truth. You don’t just know what you’re supposed to be doing, you are actually doing it. Light is a reference to holiness.

The opposite of that, then, is darkness which refers to wickedness. Darkness mean ignorance and it means wickedness.

If you belong to Jesus Christ, you are no longer in the darkness of the world. Jesus said He came into this world as the Light, but men loved the darkness instead of the light because their deeds were evil.

But that’s not who you are anymore in Christ. You have a new nature. You’re no longer a child of darkness destined for wrath. You’re a child of God. That’s what Jesus Christ came to accomplish.

Apart from Jesus, you are condemned for your sin. You deserve, and you are headed for, God’s eternal judgment. But Christ came, in the perfection of His life, and in the sacrifice of His body, and in the power of His resurrection, to pay the price sin deserves. Jesus came to cleanse us from our sin, and He also came to give us a new nature.

In Christ, we are a new creation. We have been freed from the penalty of sin, we are freed from the power of sin, and we will one day be free from the very presence of sin. That’s the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you will turn from your sin and trust in Jesus, begging Him for mercy, He will save you. He will alter your eternal destiny, and He will begin to transform you from the inside out. You will no longer be in darkness.

If you belong to Jesus, you will never face the wrath of God, because Jesus faced it for you. His was a once-for-all sacrifice.

So, here’s a summary of Paul’s point. Normally, I’d give you the point up front, but I’ve already made it, so let me just state it for you. Since you have a new identity, you also have a new eternity. Since you have a new identity, you also have a new eternity. Your new identity gives you a new destiny.

Paul unpacks that in the following verse. You are no longer part of the world system, therefore, you will not face the judgment coming upon the world. Look at verse 5. Paul is going to drive this point home. We have a new identity. Verse 5—For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.

There are only two eternal destinies, and they belong exclusively to the two kinds of people in this world. In Christ, you don’t belong to the night; you belong to the day. You don’t belong to the darkness; you belong to the light. You know the truth and now you walk in the truth. You have the mentality of the light, and you have the morality of the light.

Before I came to Christ, I didn’t know the truth, and I didn’t walk in righteousness. I still have sin that I need to fight and confess, but the trajectory of my life has changed. I was a child of the night, but now I’m a child of the light. And many of you can say the same thing.

Revelation tells us that the eternal heaven has no night. There is no more darkness. It is only day. Those who belong to the light now will have eternal light and joy forever. Those who belong to the darkness will be cast out into eternal darkness.

All of us were headed for eternal darkness because we were of the darkness. But God took pity on us. He showed us mercy and grace and kindness and love. Colossians 1 says He has qualified [us] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Your new identity in Christ means you have a new destiny in Him as well. We are no longer in the night; we are in the day. We are in a new realm. We are in a new sphere.

You need to rest in that truth. You need to preach that to your soul. The sins of your past and your future, which merit eternal judgment, have been paid for by the blood of Christ who died and rose again in victory. You have a new identity, and therefore you have a new eternity.

The false messages of this world tell you that you can change your eternal destiny on your own. They say you can do it with good works or with religious rituals. You can do it if you just try a little harder. But all that leads to is more guilt and worry, because you’ll never know if it’s really enough.

The message of Jesus, however, is that your works will never be enough. We can’t change our destiny by our works. But it has been changed for us by the work of Jesus Christ applied to us by grace through faith. We will be with Him in Paradise.

Now, in making that simple, powerful point, Paul moves on to a second related truth. And it is this: Since you have a new identity, you also have a new morality. Since you have a new identity, you also have a new morality. You have a new eternity and a new morality.

Verse 6 starts with the words, “So then.” Having made it clear that Christians will not face future judgement, Paul moves on to a present implication. The first truth was a comfort; this is now an exhortation, a command.

Since we belong to the Light, we need to make sure we are walking in the Light. Who you are in Christ needs to be expressed in the way you live.

Look at verses 6 and 7—So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. [7] For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night.

Paul is not talking literally here. Otherwise, he’d be saying we shouldn’t sleep at all. He is continuing the symbolic language of light and darkness, day and night. Light means truth and holiness. Darkness means ignorance and wickedness.

In the real world, people typically sleep at night and get drunk at night. Spiritually, we are not night people, so we shouldn’t be sleeping spiritually or getting drunk spiritually. What does that mean?

Sleeping and drunkenness carry the idea of having your senses dulled. You no longer pay attention to truth because your mind has drifted off into some other thing. If a man has been given a duty to carry out, but he falls asleep or gets drunk, he is no longer focused on what he’s supposed to be doing. He is detached from his responsibility.

To be asleep or to be drunk is to no longer be engaged with reality. Sleep might be a more passive thing, and drunkenness could be more of a deliberate choice. Either way, you’re pulled away from the what matters most.

In my early twenties, there are three times that I can remember when I fell asleep behind the wheel. One of those times, I was on the 10 headed to the 405 early in the morning, and I drifted into the lane next to me. Another time, I was on Whittier Blvd after a long night of work at one job and an early morning of work at another job. I was headed home, and I fell asleep at a red light. I was awakened by the honking horn of the guy behind to me.

The most significant time, however, was when I was driving home with a friend after a day at school. He drove us to school that morning in his car, and later that day, he was too tired to drive home, so he asked me. And right here on Rosemead across from Smith Park, he was asleep in the passenger seat, and I fell asleep in the driver’s seat.

Both of us were jolted awake when the front tire hit the center island and we landed in the opposite side of the road facing oncoming traffic.

You might hear that story and think, “How could you fall asleep?!” It’s so dangerous. I didn’t choose to fall asleep, but after staying up late and then being in multiple sports classes, my body got tired, and I fell asleep.

Some of you here are asleep spiritually. You might not have felt it, but it happened. You started focusing your attention and your energy on things that may not even be sinful, but they are a distraction from the things of God. It could be entertainment; it could be politics; it could even be your own job. It could be anything. But you were pulled into a spiritual sleep.

Others of you are drunk spiritually. You’ve done it to yourself deliberately. You’ve gone chasing after sin, chasing after your own desires. And you’ve worn away your sensitivity to the things of God. You’re spiritually drunk. You’re disconnected from the reality of God.

And even if you’re not in spiritual sleep or spiritual drunkenness, all of us are in constant danger because we live in a world of darkness seeking to pull us in, seeking to take our eyes off Jesus and His glorious truth and plan for us. Paul understand that danger; that’s why he includes himself in the warning, “Let us not sleep like the rest of the world.” Let’s not be indifferent to the truth.

I’m sure some are familiar with the story of “The Phantom of the Opera.” It was originally a French novel published in 1910. But in 1986, a musical was made by British composer Andrew Lloyd Weber.

In the story, there is a disfigured, masked man who lives in the darkness under a theatre. He is “the Phantom,” and he falls in love with a singer named Christine. So, he lures her away from the light into his dark home.

In depicting that scene, Webber wrote a song called “The Music of the Night.” It’s the man who lives in darkness, luring the woman who lives above. The song says, “Slowly, gently night unfurls its splendor. Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender. Turn your face away from the garish light of day. Turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light, And listen to the music of the night.”

In the second verse, the hideous man sings, “Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams. Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before. Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar. And you'll live as you've never lived before.”

A final verse meant to win her over completely says, “Floating, falling sweet intoxication. Touch me, trust me, savor each sensation. Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in To the power of the music that I write—The power of the music of the night.”

That’s the same song we all hear every day. That’s the song Satan sang to Eve. He was grooming her away from trusting and walking with God. This world belongs to Satan, and it’s trying to groom you in the same way.

 That’s why God is warning us and exhorting us. Don’t go down that path. Don’t give in to worldly forces of darkness. You have a new identity; therefore, you have a new morality. You are the light of the world, so act like it. Kindle the fire of love for Christ.

Think about the things you take in. The things you listen to or the things you watch. Think about the things you’re looking at on your phone. Does that help you be more in tune with the beauty of Christ’s love and the urgency of His message? Or is it pulling you away from that? Don’t get caught spiritually asleep. And don’t give in to spiritual drunkenness. Wake up and pay attention.

If you’re not walking in the Light, to use John’s language, you won’t walk with the confidence that you belong to Jesus Christ. You can’t lose your salvation, but you can lose your assurance. You start to doubt your faith when you stop fight for it.

So, don’t get drunk, and don’t live a lazy life. You might end up being an unconverted sinner, deceived about your salvation. Or, if you belong to Christ, you will forfeit the joy and the assurance and the confidence He wants you to live with.

We need to fight against the night. We need to fight against the spiritual darkness of lust and apathy and discontentment and anger. This is a war. Look at verse 8—But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

You might remember that back in chapters 1 and 4, Paul mentioned that this was a loving church. It was a church of faith and hope as well. But those virtues aren’t just characteristics to express; they are part of the armor we need to wear in the battle against the darkness of this world. The way Paul writes this verb, it’s not pointing to something you do repeatedly. It’s pointing to something you do once decisively. Put on the armor and leave it on. That’s how you stay spiritually sober, thinking correctly about that which matters most.

The breastplate is the piece of armor that protects out hearts. In the Bible, the heart is the real you. It’s what controls your thoughts and your emotions and your decisions. We need to protect our hearts with the breastplate of faith and love. We need to remember that we believe in Christ and that we love Him. We are also called to show His love.

If you’re constantly focused on Christ and on His love, your heart is not going to be led astray by the deception of this world.

The second piece of armor is the helmet. And notice, the helmet here isn’t salvation itself; it’s the hope of salvation. Remember that you belong to Christ. You’re on the winning side. No matter how difficult it gets to stand up for righteousness, no matter how much persecution or personal pain it brings, we have the victory in Christ.

And that’s the reminder once again in verse 9—For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, [10] who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

The first part of that verse is the first point I told you. Paul is simply repeating it. In Christ we have a new identity; we belong to Him, therefore, we have a new destiny. “No wrath remains for us to face. We’re sheltered by Your saving grace.” That’s from a song we sing called “Now Why This Fear.”

The opening verse of that song asks, “Now why this fear and unbelief? Has not the Father put to grief His spotless Son for us? And will the righteous Judge of men Condemn me for that debt of sin Now canceled at the cross?” And every time we sing that, my heart feels like I want to shout out “NO!” The righteous Judge of men will not condemn me for the sin that was cancelled at the cross. I have a new destiny. I will be saved forever.

Verse 10 says whether we are awake or asleep, we live with Christ. That’s going back to the metaphor of life or death. While you are alive, Jesus is with you always, to the end of the age. And when you die, you will be with Jesus forever. Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. God has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

What a wonderful message not just to hear, but to remind one another about. Verse 11 says—Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

That’s what Paul said back in the last verse of chapter 4. For those outside the love of Jesus Christ, the end of the world is confusing and mysterious, and it will be terrifying. But for those who have trusted in Jesus, it’s the fulfilment of God’s promises. It’s the entrance into our eternal reward.

What a beautiful encouragement, and we all need it when life feels especially difficult and when the darkness of this world is pulling at us. We belong to Christ. We have a new identity. We are of the Light. We are not destined for wrath or for eternal darkness. So, let’s walk in the light of His righteousness.

Psalm 2 talks about how the world rebels against Christ. But one day, Jesus will come to break the nations with a rod of iron. So, it calls on this world to turn to Christ, lest His wrath be poured out upon them. But even in that solemn warning, the closing words of the psalm are so beautiful. And I’ll close with them as well. Psalm 2:12 ends with this short statement concerning Jesus Christ: “Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.” Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.