1 Thessalonians 5:4-8 (NASB)

4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6 so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 7 For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.

Theme: As sons of light, we as Christians are commanded to be ever attentive and aware in our spiritual battle against sin’s darkness, anticipating our Lord’s return.

Outline:

1) Contrasts between believers and unbelievers.
    a) Light vs. darkness
    b) Day vs. night
    c) Alert vs. asleep
    d) Sober vs. drunk
2) Commands for believers

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 (NASB)

1 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.

An Overview of Eschatology
The Timing of the Rapture

Seven Features of the Day of the Lord:
1) The Day of the Lord arrives uninvited and unannounced.
2) The Day of the Lord arrives unexpectedly.
3) The Day of the Lord arrives rapidly.
4) The Day of the Lord comes destructively.
5) The Day of the Lord arrives inevitably.
6) The Day of the Lord is irreversible.
7) The Day of the Lord’s outcome is inescapable.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NASB)

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed the rest of mankind do, who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. 15 For we say this 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, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, comfort one another with these words.

Words of hope that Christians can take great comfort in regarding our Resurrection and Rapture

1) The Certainty of Resurrection Life (4:13-14)

2) The Order of Events (4:15-17a)

3) The Expectation of Reunion (4:17a)

4) The Eternality of Being with Jesus (4:17b)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 (NASB)

9 Now as to the love of the brothers and sisters, 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 practice it toward all the brothers and sisters who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to excel even 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 instructed you, 12 so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.

Christians are commanded to excel in loving each other and to live respectably among non-believers as testimonies for Christ.

1) Abounding love for fellow Christians (4:9-10)

2) Respectable lives among non-Christians (4:11-12)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

1 Timothy 2:5 (NASB)

5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus

John 1:4 (NASB)

4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 (NASB)

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 one violate the rights and take advantage of his brother or sister in the matter, because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you previously and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in sanctification. 8 Therefore, the one who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

Theme: God’s explicit will for us as Christians is to live a sanctified life of sexual purity.

Outline: Three aspects of personal purity that God requires of you and desires for you.

1) Stop any sexually immoral behavior (4:3)

2) Steward your body honorably (4:4-5)

3) Steer clear of cheating others (4:6)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Philippians 2:12-13 (NASB)

12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure.

1. Man’s discipline (2:12)
2. God’s power (2:13)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

1 Thessalonians 4:1-2 (NSAB)

1 Finally then, brothers and sisters, we request and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received instruction from us as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel even more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

Big Idea: Excel more than you think you need to in your spiritual walk and obedience to Jesus’s commands.

1) What (Mandate)

2) Why (Motivation/s)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 (NASB)

11 Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you; 12 and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; 13 so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.

Four questions to ask yourselves regarding your prayer lives:
1) Do you pray?
2) If and when you do pray, who are you praying to?
3) When you’re praying for others, what makes up most of your prayer requests?
4) To what end do you make those requests?

Three elements if a pastoral prayer which informs how the church ought to pray for each other:
1) Its address (3:11a)
2) Its request (3:11b-12)
3) Its purpose (3:13)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

1) He valued women as persons
2) He showed His view of women by ministering to them
3) He gives women dignity in His ministry:
     a) By teaching theological truth to women
     b) By having women participate in His ministry

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS