The Day of the Lord

Order of Service

• Prelude
• Call to Worship — Hebrews 12:22-29
• Hymn — All Glory, Laud and Honor (#325)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin
• Assurance of Pardon — Ezekiel 36:25-26
• Hymn of the Month — Jesus, Lover of My Soul (#450)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Sermon
• Prayer
• Hymn — Who Trusts in God, a Strong Abode (#475)
• Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14

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Sermon Title: The Day of the Lord

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

I. The Suddenness of the Day

A. Paul continues the subject begun in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, now approaching the same event from the angle of its timing

1. "Now concerning the times and the seasons" — the Thessalonians already know what Paul would say
2. The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, language drawn directly from Christ in Matthew 24:42-44
3. Matthew 24:36 — no one knows the day or the hour, not the angels, not the Son, but the Father only

B. Background: the two-phase pattern of biblical prophecy

1. Prophetic promises have a penultimate (next-to-last) fulfillment that anticipates an ultimate eschatological fulfillment
2. Example: Israel's return from Babylon under Cyrus fulfilled Jeremiah's 70-year prophecy (Jeremiah 25), yet Daniel received a further 70 weeks pointing to the ultimate restoration
3. Example: The rebuilt temple under Ezra and Nehemiah anticipated the fuller temple vision of Ezekiel 40-48
4. The Day of the Lord follows the same pattern: a penultimate fulfillment in Christ's first coming (John 12:31; John 3:18), and an ultimate fulfillment at his second coming

C. The character of the day's arrival

1. Sudden destruction comes upon the unready "as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman" — unexpected even when the general season is known
2. "They will not escape" — the day is inevitable and universal in its reach
3. Like the days before the flood, the world will be at ease, saying "peace and security," and then the end comes

II. Readiness for the Day

A. The children of light are not caught off guard (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5)

1. The Thessalonians' status in Christ does not hang in the balance — they are already assured children of light
2. Readiness is compared to a child who has his uniform and cleats on, ready to go the moment his parent arrives

B. The uniform of the Christian soldier — 1 Thessalonians 5:8; cf. Ephesians 6

1. Passive agency — the breastplate of faith: resting in, leaning on, and receiving Christ; clothed in his righteousness, cleansed by his blood
2. Active agency — the breastplate of love (agape): self-denying service, spending and being spent for Christ and his people, especially the church (Galatians 6:10)

C. The helmet of the hope of salvation

1. Hope flows from faith and love working together
2. Resting in Christ without serving produces contentment with this life and dampens hope for the day
3. Serving without resting in Christ exhausts the soul and likewise dampens hope
4. Agape love inevitably brings pain — heartache, confession, forgiveness — and causes the believer to long for the day when indwelling sin is vanquished and love is made perfect (cf. Romans 7)

III. Joyfulness in the Day

A. Assured status produces joyful anticipation, not dread

1. Paul's "but you" language in verse 4 mirrors the great "but God" assurance language of Scripture
2. Those assured of their standing in Christ do not wait in fear to discover which side of the judgment they are on
3. The Reformers and the confessions affirm that assurance, while not of the essence of faith, is to be earnestly sought — cf. 2 Peter 1:10: "make your calling and election sure"
4. Even weak, doubting faith — mustard-seed faith clinging to Christ — is saving faith, because salvation rests on the power of God in Christ, not the size of faith

B. The day is a day of addition for God's people, not subtraction

1. For the wicked, the day removes everything they have trusted in — a day of subtraction
2. For the children of light, the day brings the fullness of what was purchased at the cross — a day of addition
3. 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10: "God has not destined us for wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him"

C. Chapters 4 and 5 speak of the same eschatological event from two angles

1. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 — the perspective of believers who have died: they will not be left behind but caught up together with the living
2. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 — the perspective of the timing of that same day
3. Both sections close with the same exhortation: "encourage one another and build one another up"
4. On that day the glory of God will be its light and the Lamb will be its lamp — Maranatha, come quickly, Lord Jesus