The Spiritual Duties Of The Children Of The Day

In society, we're turning this morning to 1st Thessalonians

chapter 5. First Thessalonians chapter 5.

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

We're going to read verses one through to 11.

Let's hear the Word of God. First Thessalonians chapter 5,

1 Thessalonians 5:1–11

verses 1 to 11, reading, of course, from the King James

Bible. The words will come up on a

screen for all who are on the Internet and for any that wants

the Bible, please feel free to contact us and we'd supply you

with a free copy of the Holy Scriptures.

First Thessalonians chapter 5, verse one.

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

But of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no

need that I write unto you, for yourselves.

Know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in

the night. For when they shall save peace

and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them,

has travailed upon a woman with child, and they shall not

escape. But ye, brethren, are not in

darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

But year all the children of light, and the children of the

day. We are not of the darkness nor

of the night. Therefore let us not sleep as do

others, but let us watch and be sober.

For they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be

drunken or drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day be

sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love,

and for in Helmand the hope of salvation.

For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation

by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we

wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.

Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another,

even as also ye do Amen. We know God will stamp with His

own approval and blessing this reading of His own precious and

infallible word. Now this morning, as we continue

with our expository studies in the book of First Thessalonians,

we're turning our attention today to the words of First

1 Thessalonians 5:6

Thessalonians, chapter 5, verses 6 through to 8.

And I want to attempt to deal with the theme today with the

spiritual duties of the children of the day.

Listen to what the Word of God says.

Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and

be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in

the night, and they that be drunken or drunken in the night.

But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the

breastplate of faith and love, and for in Helmand the hope of

salvation. Now let's remember, the church

at Thesslonanka was a young church.

It was being persecuted and oppressed by evil and wicked

man. So the apostle Paul had written

to comfort them, especially concerning the question about

those who'd died in Christ. Remember they were wondering

what would happen to the bodies of their dead loved ones who had

died in Christ when the Lord Jesus would be returning in

power and would they be forgotten about?

The Apostle Paul also aimed to clarify to them the second

coming of the Lord Jesus and power and glory, that when He

would return to this earth, He would return bodily and visibly

and suddenly and gloriously. Now let's remember what we

learnt last Lord's Day morning. First Thessalonians chapter 5,

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

verse one and two. We thought about the period that

is discussed. The day of the Lord will be a

sudden event, a surprising event.

The day of the Lord comes when it's least expected.

Remember here Paul uses the analogy of a thief.

A thief comes suddenly. Surprisingly, he's not saying

that the Lord Jesus is a thief. The analogy is to how a thief

operates at night. He appears at a house suddenly

when it's least expected. I told you the times and seasons

is about the period of time leading up to the Lord's return

and the precise moment when that event will occur.

And what Paul is doing in chapter 5 of First Thessalonians

is challenging God's people not to think about when Christ will

return, but the way that they are to live in light of his

glorious return. We don't know the precise time

or the particular date when Jesus will return, but what we

do know is this. The day of the Lord will come.

That's a major theme in the Bible.

The Day of the Lord is a period of great intervention and

tribulation that will culminate in the visible, bodily,

personal, glorious return of the Lord Jesus to this earth and he

will establish his eternal and everlasting reign.

Remember this event is not it's not secret and silent.

It is sudden and surprising. It's also most solemn because

it's going to catch a whole world of ungodly men who are

totally unprepared out. We also knew that last Lord's

day. The people that are described,

but ye remember he says that there in verse 4, but ye

brethren are not in darkness of that day should overtake you as

a thief. We thought about the contrast

between the godly and the ungodly, the saved and the lost.

There's a particular distinction here.

But ye brethren are not in darkness.

There's a particular description here.

True Christians are children of light.

They're also called children of the day.

This is a reference to those who are truly born again of God's

Spirit. We also thought about a

particular delight. Children of the day belong to

the coming day. And then I closed with this

thought. The posture that is determined,

he says in verse 6. Therefore, let us not sleep as

do others, but let us watch and be sober.

Now I want you to learn something this morning.

And it's this something very important.

The doctrine of eschatology always leads to the duty of

ethics. The doctrine we believe will and

should produce in us a duty, a duty to live not unto ourselves,

but unto the Saviour. What we believe about the second

coming will impact upon our behaviour, and that's what Paul

is teaching. Because we belong to the day.

Because we're designated and described as children of the

day, we must live as children of the day.

Yes, there are those who are in spiritual darkness.

They are children of the night. And because they live in a state

of spiritual darkness, they continue then to have a life and

spirit of rebellion towards God and his Christ, that they live

in a state of perpetual unbelief.

Do you know that the vast majority of the population of

this world, including many in Northern Ireland, they dismissed

the doctrine of the second coming of Christ?

That's the stuff of myths and legends.

That's the stuff of fairy tales. But they don't know about the

Scriptures, and they don't know that the Scriptures warns of

sudden destruction. And yet they refuse to believe

not only in God, the coming of Christ, but also in wrath to

come. Remember what Paul says there in

Second Thessalonians? He says this 2nd Thessalonians 1

and seven. And do you hear troubled rest

with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven

with his mighty angels and flaming fire, taking vengeance,

and them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our

Lord Jesus Christ. You see in that day the world of

ungodly men, those who know not God and obey not the gospel.

They'll not escape the wrath and judgement of God.

They are not ready for the second coming of Christ.

But we who are in Christ, we are ready not because of our

goodness, but because of God's infinite, free, sovereign,

saving grace. Who are we?

We're children of the late. We're children of the day.

We are saved by the grace of God.

We are ready for Christ's coming whenever that coming takes

place. We have been born again of the

Holy Spirit. We're indwelt by the Holy

Spirit. We have spiritual light in our

soul. We we are gripped by a spiritual

knowledge of God. We we have a knowledge of Christ

and his personal work, the the knowledge of the doctrine of

salvation. We are spiritually prepared for

the Lord's return. We're not like the unregenerate

or the unprepared. We're living in light of the

Lord's return, and living in light of the Lord's return will

be seen the spiritual duty of the children of the day.

That's what verses 6 to 8 is teaching.

In light of our new identity in Christ, we are possessed, we are

gripped, we are enabled by a new spiritual life to to live unto

the Lord in the light of his coming and his true believers in

Christ. We conduct our lifestyle in a

way that is appropriate in light of our Lord's return.

You see, the Christian life's not passive, it is passionate.

The Christian life's a a watchful life.

It's about being super. It's about being spiritually

armed. They look very quickly at our

text of Scripture. I want you to see four things in

this text of Scripture. Children of the day are wakeful

in devotion. You see, there's a spiritual

wakefulness instead of slumber. Look at verse 6.

Therefore, let us not sleep as do others.

The word therefore means in light of this, in light of the

day of the Lord, let us not sleep as do others.

Nepal is not Speaking of physical sleep here.

I don't believe he's referring either to the dead.

I believe it's a reference to spiritual carelessness and

coldness in light of Christ's return.

Let us not be spiritually cold. Let us not be spiritually

careless. The sleep here represents

indifference to divine realities over there.

In the book of Romans, in Romans chapter 13 and in the verse 11,

Romans 13 · chapter mention

the apostle Paul uttered this tremendous statement and that

knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep

for now is our salvation nearer than when we believe.

That's the same context. The people who are addressed are

born again believers. The problem experienced is the

problem of spiritual coldness and carelessness.

Let's ask, what is this spiritual sleep?

Could it be a reference to a dull conscience?

Could it be a reference to a neglected prayer life where you

profess the name of Christ but no time for private or public

prayer? You've no desire for prayer.

You've no mindset for prayer? Is it about a refrain from

reading the Bible on a daily basis?

Are you careful or careless about reading for spiritual food

for your soul? Do you have a casual attitude to

sin? Do you treat sin lightly in your

estimation? Well, it's no big deal.

Do you have a feeling, expectation and anticipation of

the Lord's return? I want you to think for a moment

of a soldier. He he's at his post, he's on the

wall, he's in the watchtower, but he falls asleep.

And a soldier who falls asleep in duty is a soldier who invites

destruction upon his city. It was when Samson slept and

delighted his lap and had his hair cut, he wished not that the

presence of the Lord, the power of the Lord, had departed from

him. And you see thousands of

professing Christians all over Northern Ireland and beyond.

The Bible says this in Matthew chapter 1224, verse 12.

Because iniquity shall abound the love of the man, they shall

wax cold. The Lord Jesus said to the

church at Ephesus, I have somewhat against thee.

Thou has left thy first love. And you see if you have new life

in Christ, that new life is evidenced by a transformed life.

If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature.

Old things have passed away and old things have become new, and

all things are of God, and that life is called a life of

separation unto the Lord. It's also a call to a life of

sanctification in the Lord. The Westminster Confession of

Faith speaks of sanctification as a real work of grace whereby

renewed in the whole man. A renewed man should be

spiritually awake, not asleep. A sleepy man is not concerned

about what's important in this life.

He's not concerned about what's important in eternity.

The second thing I want you to learn is this.

The spiritual man, he will be watchful in discernment.

Look again at verse 6. But let us watch and be sober.

Now what does it mean to watch? Being watchful means to be

actively attentive. So he's not just awake, but he's

alert. Think back to the SOLDIER and

duty at his post. He is awake, but he's also

alert. The New Testament Greek carries

the idea of a SOLDIER here who has alerted his post.

He's scanning the horizons. He's looking for some unusual

activity. He's looking for a cloud of dust

and wondering why it's coming. He he's looking for the buzzards

that are flying overhead, thinking that there must be

something dead and rotten out there.

He, he's looking for the glint of a change of sunlight to tell

him that there's soldiers coming with great amounts of armour

against his city. You see, if I ask this, what are

we as Christian soldiers watching for?

Are we watching for the return of Christ?

Behold, he cometh, the Bible says.

What's our response to the second coming of Christ?

Let me tell you a little story. This is true.

In the Larne Mission Hall many years ago, there was a preacher

there called the Reverend Paul Finch, whom I had the joy of

hearing. He was a holiness preacher from

America. I'd never met the man before,

but I was taken there from Coleraine by Mr Ken Atchison.

He's the late father of the Reverend Paul Atchison, who's

the minister in Newtownard's Congregational Church, a dear

friend. I was just a young convert, so

Mr Atchison took me along to hear this holiness preacher

thought I need a dose of holiness.

He was right. OK, so this preacher was

preaching away and I can't remember he speak about himself

or spoke about his own father who was also called Reverend

Paul Fence. He said that this preacher got

up every morning early, and when he pulled back the curtains at

the dawn of the day, as the sun began to stream through the

window, this is what he said. Even so, come Lord Jesus, you

see that preacher was living in light of the sure and certain

expectation of the Lord's return, and it had an impact

upon him, and he was watching out for the deceitfulness of

sin. He knew that sin was a deadly

vapour. He knew that sin was a poison.

He was watching out for the subtly of the devil.

He was watching out for the pool and lure of the world that

wanted to squeeze him into a particular mould and anti God,

anti Christian mindset and agenda.

He was watching out for the weakness of his own flesh.

He knew he was prone to sin. And you see the true Christian

does sin and sins against the Lord and thought and word and

deed. Remember Paul or John says this,

my little children, these things I write unto you first John two

and one that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an

advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

There's a call to holiness amongst the people of God, but

there's also a reality here facing up to the corruption of

our own heart. And of course he ends up in the

court of heaven with the righteous advocate, the Lord

Jesus over there in first Peter and in chapter 5 and the verse 8

Paul says this or Peter says this.

Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil is a

roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour.

Remember the Lord Jesus said to his own disciples, what could

you not watch with me one hour, that's all he asked.

And remember, they fell asleep. He told them watch with me and

when he came back they had fell asleep and that physical sleep

symbolised a spirit of spiritual carelessness and a spiritual

coldness. They were commanded to watch

with me in prayer, but they couldn't even watch one hour.

They were so careless and so indifferent and so spiritually

cold. And I want to tell you this

morning, I'm very concerned about the state of Christianity

in Northern Ireland. I'm concerned about the state of

Irish Christianity. I I want to tell you that no

church falls into a state of sudden apostasy.

No church ends up immediately with echo board on the door.

The glory has departed. No, there's a spiritual slumber.

There's a gradual decline. There's a state of carelessness

and coldness. They're not awake, they're no

longer alert, they're not spiritually attentive to God in

Christ and the Holy Scriptures, and that's where we're at.

I'll be writing an article on that and sending it out in due

time. The third thing is we are also

workers in discipline. He he says verse 8 for they that

sleep, sleep in the night and they that be drunken or drunken

in the night. But let us who are of the day be

sober, putting on the breastfeed of faith.

Let's stop there. Notice this word sober.

It's mentioned twice, verse 6 and it's mentioned in verse 8.

Now it's not a reference to the Christian abstaining from

alcohol. So it's not a reference to

alcohol. Mention is made in verse 7 here

of drunkenness. This is the children of the

night for they that sleep sleep in the night and they that be

drunken or drunken in the night. And I believe it represents

spiritual intoxication, being under the influence, under the

control to to be super means to be self controlled, clear

minded, steady, not intoxicated by the world and it's system of

ungodly values. We can connect this with

drunkenness and we get asked ourselves, well, what

spiritually intoxicates believers so that they're

spiritually drunk even though they never consume alcohol?

Could I suggest materialism, An eye for things, a love for

things more than a love for the truth, the love of pleasure,

worldly ambition, entertainment, me first pursuits and power.

There's many professing Christians even taken up with a

political obsession, as if politics is going to sea of

Northern Ireland. As if politics will solve the

problems of the United Kingdom and all its social evils and

ills. Many have a worldly strategy.

They want the success of the world.

So here's a question. Can Christians become

spiritually slothful? And the answer is yes.

Now they'll not lose their salvation, but they can fall

into slumber. They can fall into a spiritual

sleep. They can feel to be watchful.

They can be dull of hearing. They could be living a a a a a,

a, a slothful spiritual life and that appears in their attitude

to prayer. So there's little prayer in

their life really. There's no real heart for God

worship the the so mechanical. It's outward.

They have light views of sin. They might even compromise with

sin. There's a loss of evangelical

burden. There's no love and passion to

win souls. There's a loveless spirit for

the work of God. There's a loveless spirit for

the House of God, the day of God, the word of God, the people

of God. That's a problem.

They're not workers in discipline.

They've there's a spiritual slothfulness that has come upon

them instead of spirituality. It was Calvin that said be

killing sin or sin will be killing you and one other thing.

Here's the fourth thing, the spiritual duty of warfare and

being armour ready. You see, there's a spiritual

warfare instead of weariness. Notice these words putting on

the breastfeed of faith. Now that's important again, that

you've got the image of a soldier, a soldier in warfare.

He's not just awake, he's not just alert, but now he's armed

spiritually. He is battle ready.

He realises that he's in a a spiritual war.

And remember what we read in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

12. For we wrestle not against flesh

and blood, but against principalities, against powers,

against the rulers, rulers of the darkness of this world,

against spiritual wickedness in high places.

The enemy is all around us. We live in an ungodly world.

And one of the duties of the Christian soldier is not just to

be awake at his post, not just to be alert, but also to be

armed. He's to put on what look at it,

the breastplate of faith. And you see, the breastplate of

faith is all about a life of dependence on the Lord.

We believe that the way of salvation is clear and plain.

For by grace you see it through faith.

Not, none of yourselves. The gift of God, not of works,

lest any man should boast. Do you believe in God the living

and the true God this morning? Do you believe that he's the God

of the Bible? Do you believe in the person and

work of Christ? Do you believe the Bible to be

the infallible word of God? Do you believe in the literal

historicity of Genesis chapter 1 to 3, never mind Genesis 1 to

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

11? To me, that's fundamental.

To me, that's foundational. And isn't it sad that in this

age in which we live, there's so much apathy and there's so much

evidence of the work of the devil that even in some Bible

colleges, they're taught to reject the historicity of

Genesis chapter 1 to 3, never mind the rest, Genesis 1 to 11.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

They reject the doctrine of creation.

They reject the doctrine of the fallen to sin.

They reject the doctrine of the first gospel promise.

The first gospel promise is all about resting on the finished

work of Christ. But when the fullness of the

time was come, God sent forth a son made of a woman made under

the law to redeem them that were under the law.

So I asked this morning this if you have put on the breastplate

of faith, here's the questions. Have you got faith in Jesus

Christ? Are you depending totally and

fully on him? You see, if you don't believe in

the Lord Jesus Christ, you're not a true Christian.

Acts 1631. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ

and thou shalt be saved. And if you do not believe the

Bible to be the infallible, inerrant word of God, then

you're opening up yourself to doubt.

Hath God said, opening up yourself to darkness, opening up

yourself to despair? You see, you really can't live

out the true Christian life if you do not believe in God, Do

not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, do not believe in the

Bible, do not believe in heaven and hell and in the doctrine of

salvation. It's impossible.

And it's impossible because your life will be full of doubts and

full of darkness and depravity and that will undermine you and

you'll feel and eventually you'll fall away.

The breastfeed of faith is all about a life of dependence on

the Lord. Notice also it's called the

breastplate of faith and love. It's a life of delight, a love

for him, who he is and what he's like and what he's done.

The call of the Bible is Thy shall love the Lord thy God with

all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind and

with all thy strength. Deuteronomy 6 and 5, Matthew

2237 to 40. Do you delight in this person,

delight in his true humanity, delight in His true and

essential deity? He's the eternal Son of the only

begotten of the Father. Do delight in His work.

You stand and think at the cross of how He was obedient unto

death, even the death of the cross isn't the call of the

Bible to delight thyself also in the Lord.

Can you say this day I love Him? We love him, John says first

John 419 because He first loved us.

Our faith worketh by love, a love for God, a love for Christ,

a love for the Saints, the Scriptures, the the, the

sanctuary, the the the Lord's day.

See this breastplate of love it it guards our relationships, our

relationship with the Lord, but our relationship also with

others. Love is the fulfilment of the

law. I'll tell you very quickly.

Look again at our text. And for in helmet, the hope of

salvation. Every soldier needs a helmet and

the Christian soldier needs a helmet.

And what is the Christian soldiers helmet?

The hope of salvation. There's a life of desire, not

just a life of dependence because you have the breastfeed

of faith, and not just a life of delight because you have put on

the breastfeed of love, but a life of desire.

You've put on for a helmet, the hope of salvation.

You see, this hope's a grace. This hope means that you don't

have an element of doubt or uncertainty.

You see this hope, young people, is not about.

I hope I find a wife soon or else I'm going to be left on the

shelf. This hope is not, I hope that I

get a new car soon because my car's about to pack in.

I'm going to breakdown. I'm going to be left stranded

somewhere in some Rd. It's not.

I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow because I've got gardening work

planned. You see, we can't be certain.

You can't be 100% sure you you can't say I will find a wife or

a husband, I will buy a new car, I will do the work because we

don't know what tomorrow brings. Sufficient on to the day is the

evil thereof. But the word hope in the Bible

doesn't mean that. Think of the motto of the Boys

Brigade, an excellent organisation.

I believe our church has failed our whole denomination in 75

years that we didn't have a proper uniformed organisation.

We should have had. We know that now it's too late.

But you think of the word hope in the Boys Brigade sure and

steadfast. It speaks of a guarantee and yet

notice faith comes first, followed by love.

That's to protect the heart and the soul and then the mind.

Hope guards the mind. A helmet protects us, girds our

mind with the truth of the word of God.

I finished this morning. God knows the future.

Reverend Macmillan sang here on Sunday night.

Beautiful song. I haven't got out of my head all

week. My father planned it all.

I would love to be able to sing it.

My wife would love me to be able to sing it properly, but I Can't

Sing. I try my best but let me tell

you this. The Bible says in Romans 828 and

we know that all things work together for good to them that

love God and to them who are the called according to his purpose.

And whatever you're going through this morning, your

trials and troubles, your worries about the future, let me

tell you one thing that's certain for the future.

Jesus Christ is coming back to this earth and power and glory.

And I'll tell you something else about sure and certain the

judgement of God on the nations. You see, the judgement of God is

already upon our nation, and it's impacting on the life of

the church and all of this explosion of immorality and

iniquity that abounds, and the apathy and the indifference and

the apostasy and mainline churches.

It's all a sign. What's it a sign of?

It's a sign of widespread displeasure and judgement from

God. But in the midst of that,

despite the judgement of the nation's been guaranteed, and

Despite that Jesus Christ is coming back again to this earth

and power and glory, you and I have to look up and say, Even

so, come Lord Jesus, and as we look up, then look into our

hearts, let's examine ourselves and let's look out onto the

world. Remember who we are.

We're children of light. We're children of the day

positively. We're light in the Lord, and as

we look out in the day, we're to shine on as lights.

We're progressively learning to live as lights in an ungodly

world, in a world of spiritual darkness.

We walk in light. We're awake to sin's penalty.

We're awake to sin's power. We're awake to sin's presence,

to sin's pollution. And we're to watch and pray,

we're to put on the gospel armour.

We're to plan for the return of Christ.

And what motivates us as we plan for the return of Christ is to

evangelise the children of the night.

Here's the spiritual duties of the people of God.

Let's see to it that we are amongst those that are seeking

to embrace and engage in these spiritual duties.

May the Lord take these few thoughts and bless them to our

hearts this morning. We'll continue with our study in

the weeks to come.