Written ~ 10-16-2024
Read 1 Thessalonians Chapter Five
1 Thessalonians 5
At the end of chapter four Paul talked about the glorious return of the Lord and the hope believers have, which is, if a believer dies before this happens, they will rise again just like Jesus did. All believers, dead or alive “…will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air…” (vs. 4:17). These words are to be an encouragement to all believers, and we should encourage each other with these words given to Paul directly from the Lord.
Chapter five continues with a deeper explanation of these things…
1 Thessalonians 5:1-3…
1 “Now concerning how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters, we don’t really need to write you. 2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. 3 When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape.”
Paul is telling us that we will not know how or when the Lord will return. But there will be those who will try to predict His coming, there will be those who will try to convince us that everything in the world is going along just fine. Even though it will be quite obvious that it is not. There will be a false assurance that the world is heading in the right direction, when that’s not what the Bible is saying will happen before Christ’s return. When you don’t know the Lord, when you don’t have the Holy Spirit living within you, there is a shadowing cloud of ignorance hovering over the non-believer. When the Lord returns, even though it will be a joyous time for believers, it will be a disastrous time for the non-believer.
In the Life Application Study Bible footnotes, it says this of verse 5:2 regarding “The day of the Lord’s return.”
- “The day of the Lord’s return refers to a future time when God will intervene directly and dramatically in world affairs. This intervention is predicted in the Old Testament, the “Day of the Lord” will include both punishment and blessing. At this time, Christ will judge sin and set up His eternal Kingdom.”
The Old Testament passages that are referenced in these footnotes are as follows:
- Isaiah 13:6-12
- Joel 2:28-32
- Zephaniah 1:14-18
If you take time to read these passages, it will give you an eye-opening revelation as to what will happen when Christ returns to gather up the believers and then deal with the sin of the non-believers. We cannot take this lightly! When people are saying everything is peaceful and everything is going along great, verse 5:3 says, “…there will be no escape.” So, if you are a non-believer, if you are not a Born-Again Christian at the time of Christ’s return, you will not escape the punishment of disobeying the Word of God.
Next, we see further instructions for believers…
1 Thessalonians 5:4-8…
4 “But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. 5 For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. 6 So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. 7 Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. 8 But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.”
Even though we don’t know the date or the time of Christ’s return, we know it is imminent. If we knew exactly when Jesus was coming back, that might lead to laziness and living like a heathen until just before the set time of His return comes. God has not given us a date or time, that gives us all the more reason to fully live for the Lord in everything we do, in every moment of the day because we don’t know when Jesus will return. We need to stay busy with sharing the transformation we received when accepting Jesus. It is time, here and now, to get the Word of the Lord out to all people. So, if you aren’t doing that already, you need to ask the Lord how He can work through you so you can be the type of vessel that will be used to bring people to Salvation in Jesus Christ before it’s too late.
Let’s look at the things Paul points out to us in these verses…
- We are children of the Light
- We do not belong to the darkness
- We must be on guard, not asleep like others
- We must be alert and clearheaded
- Those who live in darkness are asleep
- We must be protected by the armor of faith and love
- Confidence in our Salvation is the Helmet we wear
1 Thessalonians 5:9-11…
9 “For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out His anger on us. 10 Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when He returns, we can live with Him forever. 11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”
God’s Will… God’s Choice… is that everyone would be saved! It wasn’t His design for anyone to be punished then sentenced to eternity without Him in a place that was originally meant only for Satan and his demons. But people rebel, they disobey, they do not heed the instructions given to them in the Scriptures. For this reason there will be those that perish without knowing the Lord. That will result in God’s anger being poured out on those who would not believe and for eternity they will be separated from the love and forgiveness of God.
As believers, we must encourage one another, build each other up with this truth… because we put our faith and trust in Jesus we will be saved from the punishment of eternal death. We have the assurance that when Christ comes back, we are going to be in Heaven with Him forever.
In Paul’s final thoughts in this first letter to the Thessalonians, he challenges us to honor our leaders who do the work of the Lord, plus we need to warn each other, but also encourage each other….
1 Thessalonians 5:12-22…
12 “Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. 13 Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work. And live peacefully with each other.
14 Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.
15 See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.
16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
19 Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. 20 Do not scoff at prophecies, 21 but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. 22 Stay away from every kind of evil.”
In this passage, look at how many items Paul gives us to make sure we continue steadfast in the work of the Lord…
- Honor church leaders
- Show respect and wholeheartedly love church leaders
- Live peacefully with each other
- Warn other believers not to be lazy
- Encourage the timid
- Be tenderhearted to the weak
- Be patient with everyone
- Try to be good to all people, do not pay back evil for evil
- Always be joyful
- Never stop praying
- Be thankful
- Do not stifle the Holy Spirit
- Do not scoff at prophecies – but test everything that is said
- Hold on to what is good
- Stay away from every kind of evil
The following three action words are the things we need to practice each and every day to make sure our hearts and minds are remaining pure and holy before the Lord. Verse 5:18 gives us the reason why we must do these three things no matter what… “For this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
Be Joyful ~
Be Prayerful ~
Be Thankful ~
Verse 5:19 says, “Do not stifle the Holy Spirit.” I wanted to make sure I understood the meaning of the word stifle and how it could apply to the Holy Spirit, so I looked it up in the dictionary:
Stifle ~
- To Withhold Expression
- To Cut Off
- Deter or Discourage
- Muffle
- Smother
- Suffocate
The Holy Spirit is our guide, He brings understanding and wisdom, He convicts our hearts of sin and helps settle our thoughts. The idea of stifling the Holy Spirit means we are not allowing Him to be a part of our lives. In my “Life Application Study Bible” footnotes it says that stifling the Holy Spirit also means we are tossing aside all of the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to believers (see 1 Corinthians 12:4-11). Can you imagine knowingly stifling the Holy Spirit? Smothering or muffling His wisdom, discouraging His help? Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit when He ascended to Heaven, He knew we would need a constant teacher and helper. The Holy Spirit is the one who will help us with all the other things Paul listed in verses 5:12-22.
We must be filled with the Holy Spirit! He is the one who helps us discern everything we hear from the Word of God; He is the one who helps us test everything that is said (vs. 5:21a) regarding the things of Heaven to make sure it is truth! If you don’t remember anything else from this chapter… remember this: Never Stifle the Holy Spirit!
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24…
23 “Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. 24 God will make this happen, for He who calls you is faithful.”
We are all called to obey the Word of the Lord, when we do our lives will be made holy in every way. When we follow the instructions laid out for us in Scripture, our spirits, our souls and our bodies will be kept blameless until the Lord returns. We need to remain faithful to the Lord while we wait for His return. If it feels like we’re waiting too long for Christ to return and decide we have time to mess around, we risk grave punishment for that kind of disobedience. The Almighty God is faithful to keep His promises, what He says in His Word will come to pass. We are the ones who must remain faithful. We are to stay awake, to be alert and be on guard for the coming of the Lord! Live clearheaded and live in the light of Jesus and have Him shine through you in everything.
Paul closes this chapter with one more “command” for the Thessalonian believers to follow and that is to read his letter to everyone, get the word out about what the Lord is telling believers to do! That goes for us as well, we should be sharing the things we are learning from Scripture. If you aren’t reading your Bible, how can you share what you are learning! It is important to be ready with the wisdom the Holy Spirit gives us because we are reading and studying the Word of God.
Let’s close with verse 5:28…
28 “May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
~AMEN~