The Model Life: Alertness, Part 6

Take your Bible and turn with me to the 5th chapter of First

Thessalonians as we continue to look at this marvelous book and

this great passage in verses 1 to 11 of chapter 5 concerning

the coming of our Lord and what it means to the model life, the

the life that truly exemplifies Christ.

In chapter 4 and chapter 5 of First Thessalonians, talk to us

about what that life looks like. It is a life of abstinence

versus 1 to 8 of chapter 4. It's a life of aspiration.

Verses 9 to 12 of chapter 4, it's a it's a life of

anticipation, verses 13 to 18 as to the coming of our Lord for

his church. It's a life of alertness, alert

to the day of the Lord in the coming judgment upon the world.

The model life is consumed with the coming of Christ and how we

live in anticipation of the day of Christ, which is the rapture

of the church and the reward for the believer.

And we live alert to the day of the Lord, which truly is the

revelation of Christ and his retribution upon unbelievers and

his redemption of Israel. It's so important to understand

these, these subjects because it, it motivates us, it

stimulates us, it encourages us, it it moves us to action.

And it's chapter 5, verses 1 to 11.

He's specifically talking about the day of the Lord.

And so he reminds them of a, of a couple of things.

He reminds them of, of the time and ethics.

And no one knows the day or the hour.

He reminds him of the term the the day of the Lord.

He reminds him of the thief that comes suddenly.

He reminds them of of the terror that will come upon the

unbeliever. Look at it with me, if you will,

verse 1 of chapter 5. Now as to the times and epics,

brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you.

For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord

will come just like a thief in the night, 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. But everything about this day of

the Lord sent us around the thrill of the day of the Lord.

And the Bible says in verse #4 But you, brethren, are not in

darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief.

For you are all sons of light and sons of day.

We are not of the night nor of darkness.

So then let's not sleep as others do, but let us be alert,

awake, completely aware and sober.

For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who

get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we are of the day and

let us be sober, have you put on the breastplate of faith and

love as a helmet? The hope of salvation for God

has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation

through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the thrill of the day of

the Lord who died for us, so that whether we are awake or

asleep, we will live together with Him.

Therefore, encourage one another and build up one another, just

as you also are doing. Here's the thrill of this day

that that you are to encourage one another and build up one

another just as as you are doing.

But as I thought about that, I thought about the fact that that

why is it there is this absence in the church today of this

anticipation of the day of Christ and why is it there is

this absence of alertness to the day of the Lord?

Why is it there isn't this thrill to encourage one another

and build up one another as you see this day approaching?

Why is it there there is this sort of stagnation in the church

about the coming of the King. So I thought about that and I

and I thought, you know, that the 21st century isn't really

much different than the 1st century.

In other words, what we anticipate around the second

coming of Christ in the 21st century is a lot like how they

anticipated the first coming of Christ in the 1st century.

As I thought about that, I thought, you know, it would be

good for us to understand what is it about my life that that is

not so thrilled about the day of the Lord and the day of Christ?

Why is it I come to church and I don't live in anticipation of

this? I'm not alert to this?

Why is it off somewhere else in the far corners of my mind, if

at all there? Why is it my life is as dull as

it is? So I begin to think about that

and begin to realize that Solomon said there's nothing new

under the sun. So the way it was in the 1st

century is the same way way it is in the 21st century.

So let me explain to you the way it was in the 1st century and

why is it Israel did not live in anticipation of the first coming

and why they were not alert to the day of the Lord?

They should have been, but they weren't.

We should be, but we're not, and that's because there's nothing

new under the sun. So I thought that it would be

good for us to compare the 1st century with the 21st century.

And there are several reasons why those in Israel we're not

anticipating nor alert to the coming of the Messiah.

The very first reason was apathy, apathy, this complacency

about the coming of the Messiah. And if you're a Jew in the 1st

century and you're going to the synagogue every Sabbath, and

some would go every day to the synagogue to to learn, to read,

to hear. The Old Testament would be

filled with prophecies and predictions and promises around

the arrival of the Messiah. And so they would hear and know

from the very beginning in Genesis 315 that the seed of a

woman, excuse me, would come and crush the serpent's head, that

this Messiah would be born of a virgin.

Isaiah 714. This Messiah would be called

wonderful counselor, mighty God, Prince of Peace, Everlasting

Father, and the government would rest upon his shoulders.

This was the promise Abraham had been given, a promise about a

seed that would bless the nations of the world.

The prophet Isaiah would speak about the suffering of this

Messiah, and through that suffering would come men's

redemption and they would hear these things.

But but there was this, this apathy, this indifference, this

non interest about the coming of their Messiah.

After all, it had been 400 years since the prophet has spoken.

After the prophet Malachi, there was silence.

There was no Angel from heaven coming to make an announcement.

There was no prophet speaking about the arrival of the

Messiah. The Lord was not speaking from

heaven. There was silence and Israel had

come back from captivity and they had begun to to build the

walls around the city and begun to rebuild the temple and

anticipation of Messiah. But there was nothing but

silence and Israel became more and more apathetic to the

arrival of the Messiah. Ezekiel had seen the glory of

the Lord depart. He had seen it leave the temple,

crossover the Kidron Valley, ascend up the Mount of Olives

and disappear. And the prophet Haggai chapter 2

Haggai 2 · chapter mention

would speak of the fact that one day the glory of the Lord was

going to return to the temple. And you think that Israel would

be living in anticipation and completely alert to the arrival

of the Messiah? But when he came, hardly anybody

noticed. And John would say, And the

glory of the Lord tabernacled among us, we beheld the beauty

of the Lord, we beheld the glory of the Lord.

And on the on the day of his, of his birth, the angels came and

and said as the glory of the Lord would shine all around the

shepherds, the Messiah had come. And yet outside of very few

handful of people, nobody really cared.

There was Zacharias and Elizabeth.

That's because for, after 400 years, the Angel Gabriel spoke

to Zacharias as he was doing his priestly duties and told him

that his wife would have a son who would be the, the forerunner

to the Messiah. So he and Elizabeth are

ecstatic. Mary has the Angel Gabriel come

to her and announce to her that she will be the, the mother of

the Messiah. So Mary and Joseph know about

this and they're ecstatic. They're anticipating the arrival

of the Messiah. The there's, there's, there's

Anna, who was married for just seven years.

And so most Jewish girls were betrothed at the age of 13.

And she would have been married around that time.

And she was married to her husband, Luke, 2, tells us, for

seven years. So at the age of 20, her husband

dies and she remains a widow for 84 years.

But Anna was looking for the redemption of Jerusalem, Luke 2

tells us. And so she was in the temple day

and night, fasting and praying for 84 years because she longed

for the arrival of the Messiah. She lived in anticipation.

She was completely alert to what the prophet said about the

Messiah, and she could not wait for him to come.

If you're a widow today, you probably haven't been a widow

for 84 years. But learn the lesson of Anna.

Her hope was resting in the arrival of her Messiah before

she is mentioned. Luke 2 there, Simeon, he's an

old man, he's up in years. He's a righteous and devout man.

He's been looking for the consolation of Israel, the light

of revelation to the Gentiles, and he's in the temple.

And he, he was given this promise by the Lord that that

he's not going to die until he sees the Lord's Messiah.

So he's living in anticipation of the Lord's Messiah every day.

He's looking, he's longing, he's waiting, he's anticipating.

And for years he's waited until one day Mary and Joseph come and

bring the baby Jesus to the temple, and Simeon beholds him

and holds him in his arms and rejoices at the arrival of the

Messiah. There were the magi, first

Gentile converts, the magi. They, they lived in anticipation

that they were, they were longing.

They they weren't apathetic to the arrival of the Messiah.

It's been passed down from generation since the the time of

Daniel by their parents about the star that would come.

They should follow that star because Daniel told them about

the prophecy of Numbers 24 verse #17 that a star will rise, that

a Jacob and a scepter will be in his hand.

This will be the king of the Jews.

So the Magi would, would, would, would get on their Persian

steeds and make that 700 mile journey to Jerusalem, arrive in

the city and say, where is he who was born king of the Jews?

And everybody's like, who? What are you talking about?

The Magi anticipated, but Jerusalem did not.

And Jerusalem had all the prophecies, all the promises,

but here come these magi. And and you would think that

when the Magi would arrive in Jerusalem, and Matthew 2 tells

us that Herod was terrified and the whole city was in fear.

Why? Because it wasn't 3 Magi on the

backside of camels riding into Jerusalem.

It was hundreds of kingmakers on the back of Persian steeds

coming into Jerusalem. They were kingmakers.

There were hundreds of them, and all of their entourage was

following them. And they come riding into

Jerusalem saying where is he who was born king of the Jews?

And all Jerusalem is in fear and terrified.

But they were apathetic. Do you think that any of the

nasty? What are you talking about?

Let us follow you. Where you going?

We want to be and see this king. But no one did because apathy

and complacency rule of the day. They just weren't interested

anymore. It had been too long.

They'd waited and waited and waited and nothing had come.

So whether it's the Magi who ride into the city of Jerusalem

announcing that there's a king and want to know where he is, or

whether it's Simeon or Anna Zacharias or Elizabeth or Mary

or Joseph or the shepherds, the shepherds went proclaiming

everywhere about what they had heard and what they had seen.

But do you think anybody said, hey, the Messiah, where is he?

We want to see him. No, apathy ruled the day and so

there were just a few who lived in anticipation and were alert

to his arrival in. The same is true today.

Most people just are not interested.

They don't care that much. After all, it's been 2000 years

since he came the first time and so many years have have passed

since his arrival and his announcement that he's coming

again. In spite of the fact that there

is. There is more said about his

second coming than his first coming in the Bible and that one

out of every 25 verses speaks of His second coming in the New

Testament and every New Testament book except for two

Philemon, the third John, speak of the second coming of the

Messiah. We live in apathy and we're not

interested in his arrival. How sad Peter would say it this

way in second Peter chapter 3, verse one.

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

This is now, beloved, the second letter I'm writing to you in

which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder.

Peter was a master of reiteration of the same thing.

He was a master of reminding people of the same thing over

and over and over again. He says, I, I want to stir up

your sincere mind. I want to remove from you the

complacency. I want to remove from you the

apathy, and I want to revolutionize the way you think

about the day of the Lord. So I'm going to stir up your

sincere mind by by way of reminder, because when I

reiterate this truth to you, it is going to give you a renewed

conviction. It is going to give you what you

need to disturb you on and spur you on.

So I'm going to write this to you by way of reminder so that

you don't forget. Peter was a master at this.

In fact, if you go over to to chapter one of second Peter, he

says this verse 12. Therefore, I will always be

ready to remind you of these things, even though you already

know them and have been established in the truth which

is present with you. I love that verse people say you

review so much week after week after week.

Of course I do. Peter did.

And if Peter did, and he was a great apostle and preacher, I'm

going to follow his example. So he says, I'm going to stir

you up by way of reminder. I know you know the truth.

I know you've been established in the truth, but but you need

to be reminded. And they said this in verse 13.

I consider it right as long as I am in this earthly dwelling to

stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the lane aside of

my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ

has made clear to me. In other words, I'm I'm going to

die. My time is short, and if my time

is short, you know what I'm going to do.

I'm just going to keep reminding you over and over and over again

the same thing why tells you. And I will also be diligent that

at any time after my departure, you will be able to call these

things to mind. One day I'm going to be gone.

One day I'm going to die. If the Lord tarries, I'm going

to go home to be with the Lord. And I want you to be constantly

reminded over and over and over again of the truths that have

been established in your heart so that when I'm with the Lord,

you will say, our pastor used to always tell us this.

He used to remind us of this over and over and over again

because one day I won't be here to remind you any longer.

So I'm just going to keep reiterating the same thing over

and over and over again. Go back to second Peter, chapter

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

3. Peter says This is now, beloved.

The second letter I'm writing to you in which I am stirring you

up, string your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should

remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets

and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your

apostles. I'm going to remind you what the

prophet said. I'm going to remind you what the

apostle said. I'm going to keep reminding you

over and over and over again so that you never forget.

What about the day of the Lord? Look what He says.

Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come

with their mocking, following after their own lust, and

saying, Where was the promise of His coming forever, since the

fathers fell asleep, all continues, just as it was from

the beginning of creation. For when the mountain of Excuse

me? For when they maintain this, it

escapes their notice that by the Word of God the heavens existed

long ago, and the earth was formed out of water, and by

water through which the world at that time was destroyed, being

flooded with water. But by His Word the present

heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the

day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved,

that with the Lord one day is like 1000 years, and 1000 years

like one day. The Lord is not slow about His

promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not

wishing for any need to perish, but all to come to repentance.

This is what I'm going to remind you of about the day of the

Lord. It's coming again.

Paul in in first Thessalonians chapter 5 says I I, I don't need

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

to write anything else to you because I've already said this

to you. But by way of reminder, let me

tell you about the day of the Lord coming like a a thief in

the night and sudden destruction will come up on those who are

saying peace and safety. But know this.

You're not of the night. You're of the day I'm going to

remind you of these things. Why?

Because all good preachers are into reiteration.

They're into reminding people of that which they know.

Because they know. They know that the only way to

destroy the apathy in the lives of people is to keep driving

them back to the same truth over and over and over again.

They need to hear what the word of the Lord says.

And you would think that Israel would know about their Messiah,

but they were apathetic when he arrived and they missed him.

They missed him completely. Why?

The same reason we miss him today.

John chapter 5, verse #39 You search the scriptures, he tells

John 5 · chapter mention

the religious elite, and in them you think that you have eternal

life. But in your searching you missed

me, the giver of life. That's why we're apathetic when

we read the scriptures and we're in searching.

The scriptures define that which we think we need, but we miss

Jesus. Listen, the scriptures are all

about Christ and if you're looking for something else when

you read the Bible other than the Christ, you will become

apathetic in your life because in all reality, you're looking

for things outside of Jesus and Jesus is all you need.

And people miss Him. The religious leaders missed him

and therefore when he came, there was no longer an

anticipation. No longer were they alert

because of apathy. Let me give you another one.

Wow, time flies. Activity.

Not just apathy, but activity. When we become apathetic, we

become involved in the, the meaningless and mundane things

of, of life. There, there are certain

responsibilities that we have. We have to go to work and we

have to take care of our children and we have to be

responsible. We have to pay our bills.

Those are things that that we, we do because we're responsible

people. But there are activities that we

engage in because we're so apathetic that somehow they

will, they will fill the void of our, our pathetic lives.

If I can say it that way, that's where Solomon was, right?

Solomon would search the ends of the earth with all the money and

power and prestige that he had to do and, and, and fill the

void of his life and somehow find meaning and, and

significance in life. Then maybe it's in the gardens I

plan, or maybe it's in the buildings that I build, or maybe

it's in the women that I collect, or, or maybe it's in

the gold and money that I obtained.

Maybe it's in this or maybe it's in that.

Maybe there's meaning here. Maybe there's meaning there, but

you know, it's all empty. It's all vain.

There's nothing there. That was his conclusion,

realizing that the end is all about fearing God and keep his

keeping his commandments. But he went on a search.

If you're with us for the last 26 weeks on Wednesday night,

you're well aware of his empty search for meaning and

significance in life, even though he was the king of

Israel. But we involve ourselves in all

kinds of activities that really don't mean anything.

And Paul would say in Second Timothy chapter, chapter 2,

verse #4 I believe it is these words.

No good soldier engages himself or entangles himself in the

affairs of this life so that he can please his commanding

officer. No good soldier.

We have a lot of soldiers in the Army of God who entangle

themselves in the everyday affairs of the world, but no

good soldier is going to do that.

No self respecting soldiers going to do that.

No God fearing soldiers going to do that.

He's not going to engage in all these extracurricular activities

so as to detract from the arrival of the Messiah,

anticipating his coming and living in light of his coming.

No, he wants to please his commanding officer.

He knows his commander is going to come.

He knows about the day of Christ.

He knows about the day of the Lord.

So he lives in anticipation of those days.

And yet like the people in the days of Jesus when they gathered

together in Bethlehem, because there's been a, a decree set out

by, by Caesar Augustus that there would be a census taken.

And so everybody was going back to their their hometown.

That's why Mary and Joseph left Nazareth and and went to

Bethlehem when she was nine months pregnant and make that 75

mile journey, either walking the backside of a donkey or in a

cart. However, she would make that

journey and everybody was busy with all kinds of activities,

finding a place to stay, finding food to eat, doing all kinds of

things. And here the Messiah would be

born in Bethlehem, just like the prophet Micah said, and the

glory of the Lord would shine all around the shepherds that

that's the presence of God manifested in in brilliant

light. Don't you think that's all these

people in Bent Lane would, would at least got a glimpse of the of

the brilliance of the light of the glory of the Lord as it

showed around all these shepherds?

Were they, were they at all interested?

No, they were busy doing everything else but the one

thing they needed to be doing, and that is focusing on the

coming of their Messiah. But all of their activities, all

their busyness, all their mundane, meaningless efforts to

fill the void of their lives, to make them somehow satisfied with

their everyday, boring, pathetic lives, they missed the arrival

of the Messiah. Same as true in the 21st

century. We engage in all kinds of

activities. We do this and we do that, and

we go here and we go there because we're so apathetic.

We need to somehow fill the emptiness of our lives with

something that will give us meaning, happiness, joy.

So we go here, we go there, we do this, we do that, and all the

time our lives are absent from anticipation and alertness to

the arrival of the Messiah. So whether it be apathy, whether

it be activity or, or whether it would be familiarity, that's

another reason we we don't live in anticipation.

I hear this all the time. Well, yeah.

I, I, I've heard about the coming of Jesus.

I, I, I know all about that. Do you?

I talk to people all the time. Oh, yeah.

I, I know about that. OK, Explain to me the difference

between the day of Christ, the day of the Lord, and the day of

God. And they say what?

And I say, explain to me where, where Jesus is going to return

when he comes. Oh, I know, Zachariah 14, the

Mount of Olives wrong. Didn't read Isaiah 63, Isaiah

34, You missed it. He will eventually go there, but

then he's going to descend there.

So how familiar are you with the coming of the Messiah?

I asked him, Do you know anything about the Battle of

Armageddon? Oh, yeah, I know all about that,

I said. There is no battle of

Armageddon. It's called the Battle of

Bosraw. You missed that too.

You see, you're we're not as familiar with the coming of the

king as we think we are. But familiarity breeds contempt,

does it not? And we think we know enough.

Like the days of Jesus in the 1st century, his own brothers

did not believe in him until after the resurrection.

They were so familiar with him in Luke 4 when, when Jesus gets

up and quotes or reads from Isaiah 61 and, and reads about

that prophecy and says that today this prophecy is fulfilled

in your hearing. Every rabbi would come and say

one day this prophecy will be fulfilled in your hearing.

But on this day, Jesus says today, this prophecy is

fulfilled in your hearing because the Spirit of the Lord

is upon me, and I've come to proclaim the favorable year of

our Lord. He closed the book and sat down

and everybody said, whoa, is this not Josephson?

Who is this guy? Does he actually think he's the

Messiah? And then he would begin to

interpret more and speak more. And they became so angry with

them, they wanted to kill him. See, Familiarity hindered their

alertness to the coming, the Messiah, their anticipation of

His arrival, because they were so familiar with Him.

His own brothers and sisters did not believe in him.

They grew up with him. You would think that they would

believe but they didn't until after the resurrection and then

James his brother would write about the coming of the Lord in

James 5I love what he says. It's so good.

He says these words in in the 5th chapter of of James.

He says, therefore be patient, brethren, into the coming of the

Lord, be patient. The farmer waits for the

precious produce of the soil, being patient about it until it

gets the early and late rains. You too, be patient.

Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

Do not complain. Listen, why do we complain?

Why do we bellyache? Why do we moan?

Because we're not patient until the coming of the Lord.

His arrival is not in our mind. We're not anticipating His

coming again. We can't be patient with anybody

else. We complain about everybody

else. He says do not complain

brethren, against one another so that you yourselves may not be

judged. Behold, the judge is standing

right at the door. Stop complaining about your

brother. Don't worry, God will judge.

The judge is right at the door. You be patient unto the coming

of the Lord, like the farmer waits for the early and late

rains. Be patient.

He's coming. But because of apathy, but

because of activity, but because of familiarity, the anticipation

wanes. We find ourselves more asleep

than alert to the day of the Lord.

There's another reason I got a whole bunch of them.

Religiosity. That's a good one.

Religiosity. This was the religious elite,

the Pharisees in the time of Jesus.

Religion is a good word. We don't like to use it because

quote we're Christians, but James uses it.

James says it this way. If anyone thinks himself to be

religious and yet not bridles his tongue, he deceives himself.

And then he says in verse 27, James one pure religion, pure

religion and undefiled before the father exists that you visit

the widows and orphans in their affliction and keep oneself

unstained by the world. So James, the brother of our

Lord would talk about religion, but it's religiosity that's a

killer when it comes to anticipating the return of the

king. It's the it's the church

attender, the one who involves himself in the rituals of his

religion. You see, when we become so

familiar with the story, but unfamiliar with the savior of

the story, then we engage in religious activities and our

religiosity tends to, to, to, to hinder our anticipation of the,

of the coming of the Messiah. And even though the scribes and,

and, and the Pharisees would, would hear the Magi say where,

where is he was born king of the Jews.

And, and they would go and search the Scriptures and know

that it was Micah chapter 5, verse #2 they couldn't make the

Micah 5 · chapter mention

five mile journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to see whether or

not this had taken place. Why?

Because their religion was good enough.

The religious status was good enough.

And we come to church and, and we sit in church and we sing a

few songs. We, we hear a hear a sermon.

We might put a A20 spot in the offering and, and we, we might

even engage in some kind of service, but we quickly go home

because we're, we're more into the religiosity of our

Christianity than the true relationship we have with the

Christ who is the author of Christianity.

That's always a problem. We have so many people who come

to church that are into religion, but not true and pure

and undefiled religion before the Father that are willing to

keep themselves unspotted from the world.

So whether it be apathy or activity or familiarity or

religiosity, there's there's, there's also also jealousy.

This is where Herod comes in. King Herod.

Where was he who was born king of the Jews?

And Herod's like, whoa, there's no other king here but me.

I'm the king. But he wasn't Jewish.

He was an Idumean. He was a descendant of Edom, the

Edomites. He wasn't a Jew.

And so he, he didn't want a rival to his kingship.

That's why he he set out to kill all those two years and, and

younger because he was trying to assess when the Magi saw the

star and the time it was. So he figured that if I kill

everybody two years and younger, all these boys two years and

younger, then I can rid myself of any competition.

I can still be the king. See, we have people today that

that believe that they're own king, their own master, their

own ruler of their own lives. And they don't want to give way

to to the Messiah. They don't want to subject

themselves to the the King of kings and Lord of Lords that

they don't want to deny themselves, take up the cross

and follow Christ and be subject to another king because they

want to rule their own lives. They want to be God of their own

lives. Destroys the anticipation and

the alertness to the arrival of the Messiah.

Idolatry is another. That's Rome.

Rome plays a big part in the life of Christ.

It was from Rome came to decree about the census.

It was Rome who arrested Jesus. It was Rome who killed Jesus.

Rome was involved in the life of Jesus.

The Rome was an idolatrous nation and they were into

worshipping other gods. Israel worshipped the true God

the wrong way and Rome just worshipped the wrong God all the

way. That's what they did.

And so it's in the 21st century we we can very easily engage in

idolatry and not even know it. Paul was saying Colossus 35 that

that covetousness is idolatry. In Romans 7 verses 7 and 8, Paul

Romans 7:7

says it was because the law said thou shalt not covet is where I

realized that I was a Sinner. He would go through the whole

entire list of the commandments and realize that he was a keeper

of the commandments until he came to the end when it says

thou shalt not covet. He realized that in his own

life, there were things he he coveted after things he wanted.

And just because it's the last of the 10 commandments doesn't

mean it's the least of the 10 commandments.

It means that it's the root of the sin of all the other reasons

we break the 1st 9 commandments. The reason we murder is because

we covet. The reason we lie is because we

covet. The reason we commit adultery is

because we covet. The reason we have other gods is

because we covet. We want something other than the

one true God. We want something else to

fulfill the emptiness of our lives, and that becomes

something more important to us than the God of Israel himself.

In anything that rises above God in your life is your idol.

Is that what you worship? And when you commit covetousness

because you're an idolater, what happens is that this destroys

your anticipation and your alertness of the coming Messiah.

Another one is self-sufficiency. I'll end with this one.

Self-sufficiency describes the chief priests, the keepers of

the law, the interpreters of the law, the transcribers of the

law. They live the life of

self-sufficiency. Our lives are good enough.

We're OK. My family's good.

My job is good. My health is good.

Everything's good until it's not.

But right now, everything's good.

I'm self-sufficient. I ruin my own life.

I'm good and self-sufficiency is a is a is a killer to a life of

anticipation and alertness to the day of Christ and the day of

the Lord just destroys it. Maybe you fall into one or two

or even all of those categories. It will be the reason why you

sit here today and you think, are you covering First

Thessalonians 51 to 11 again? Haven't we heard it enough?

Are you speaking on the coming of Christ again?

Yes, and I'm not even done yet. Although this is the 10th week

on chapter 4 verses 1318 to chapter 5, verses 1 to 11.

This is the 10th week of covering that material and we're

just scratching the surface. Just scratching the surface.

So let me close with this. If you have your Bible turn to

the last book of the Old Testament, the book of Malachi.

Let me close with this. These 6 verses are are just

absolutely rich with truth. Malachi is the messenger of God.

Malachi means my messenger, my my Angel, and Malachi is is the

last prophet in the Old Testament.

He's going to speak and he ends with the day of the Lord in the

coming Messiah. But he but he's speaking to a

nation. He he, he speaks the writes 100

years after the decree from Cyrus for Israel to go back to

their land and to rebuild the walls in the city of Jerusalem.

So it's been 100 years since that decree.

And you know why he writes? It's he writes because of the

apathy and complacency of the nation of Israel.

He's God's messenger and he writes because of the fact that

they are morally corrupt. They'd come back and they had

done their duty around the city of Jerusalem, and they sat and

waited. And in there they're waiting.

Their anticipation waned. Their anticipation became wet

and damp. And so he wants to stir them up.

How? By way of reminder to get them

to remember. And so he he gives, he gives

this prediction, then he gives this promise, and then he gives

this plea. That's how you outline the last

6 verses of Malachi chapter 4. Here's the prediction.

Malachi 4 · chapter mention

For behold the day. What day is that?

That's the day of the Lord. The day is coming, burning like

a furnace, and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be

chaffed. And the day of that is coming.

We'll set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will

leave them neither root nor branch.

The day of the Lord is coming. It's coming like a blazing

furnace, and everybody's going to be destroyed and be burned

up. There's no root left.

This is the prediction by Malachi.

He wants them to understand that this is a guarantee because the

Lord of Hosts or the Lord of Armies makes this decree.

Then he gives the promise, the prediction.

Judgement is coming, the promise.

But joy can be yours, he says. But for you who fear my name,

the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in its wings,

and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the

stall. You will tread down the wicked,

for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day

which I am preparing, says the Lord of Armies.

Wow, There's going to be salvation, there's going to be

vindication, there's going to be celebration.

That's the joy that's coming for those of you who fear my name,

those of you, those of you who live in the fear of God, because

right now you're not doing that, but because you fear my name,

the Son of righteousness. And every rabbi before the time

of Jesus would say the Son is the star of #2417.

And he's called the Son of righteousness because in

Jeremiah 23, five and six, it's the Lord of righteousness who is

the branch, who is the star, who is the Son.

So the Son of righteousness is the Messiah in Psalm 8411 says

the Lord God of Israel is a sun and a shield.

And that's why Jesus said that he was the bright and morning

star in Revelation 22. That's why the promise in

Revelation chapter 2 is you will receive the morning star.

Revelation 2 · chapter mention

That's why Peter calls him the day star that rises in your

hearts. And that's why Zacharias and

Luke chapter one would quote from Malachi chapter 4 about how

Malachi 4 · chapter mention

the Sun of Righteousness has has arisen and now is here.

This is the joy. Those who fear my name, here's

your promise. You'll be vindicated.

You'll be saved, you'll be protected because he'll rise

with with healing in his wings and and wings is a symbol of how

God protects his people, how he shelters them under his mighty

wings and protects his own. You'll have protection, you'll

have salvation, you'll have vindication.

Why? Because I will have performed my

ultimate destruction upon your enemies.

That's the promise. So now it gets really good.

If that wasn't good enough, now it gets really good.

Listen to this verse 4, remember?

There he is good enough for Paul, good enough for Peter,

good enough for Malachi, good enough for me.

Remember, remember what? The law of Moses, my servant,

even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb

for all Israel. Listen, you want to receive the

joy of the Lord, understand the righteousness of God.

You need to understand this plea.

Remember my servant and His submission to my law, because

you are my servant and I want you to submit to my law.

Remember. And then he says, behold, I'm

going to send to you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the

great and terrible day of the Lord.

He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children,

in the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will

not come and smite the land with a curse.

Things are going to change when Elijah comes before the great

and terrible day of the Lord. Revelation 11 speaks of two

witnesses, one like Moses, one like Elijah on the mount.

Transfiguration with Jesus was Moses and Elijah.

In Acts chapter one there were two men in white apparel.

They were not angels. There were two men in white

apparel, maybe a definite maybe. One was Moses and one was Elijah

because in this text he mentions who Moses and Elijah.

Elijah will come before the great and terrible day of the

Lord. Well didn't Jesus say that that

that, that if you had would have received what John said he would

have been the Elijah like figure and the Kingdom would have been

restored? Yes, he did say that he did, but

they did not receive their Messiah because of their apathy,

because of their activity, because of their religiosity,

because of their idolatry, because of their familiarity,

because of their jealousy. They did not.

But the problematic guy says before the great terrible day of

the Lord is going to be Elijah, who's going to come When he

preaches the hearts of men will be revived, they'll be redeemed,

they'll be changed. So I will not curse the land in

the Old Testament closes. That's 400 years until God

speaks again. But I wonder this morning if the

Sun of Righteousness has risen in your heart, if you understand

the beauty of Christ's forgiveness.

Let the Lord Jesus Christ came because it was promised that He

would come. And they came to die because

that was the promise that he would rise again, again, the

promise that He might redeem his own, which He has done and is

still doing, but he is going to come again.

And the model life man just lives.

This great thrill that it could be today lives in anticipation,

excitement, joy, and celebration because the sun, the day star

has risen in our hearts. We know the Lord, but as the

Bride of Christ, we anticipate the coming of the Bridegroom.

We live this way. That's the model life.

And if you want to live the model life, the Christ like

life, it's centers around not just abstinence from sexual

immorality and not just aspiration to loving the

brethren, but it lives to the anticipation of the day of

Christ and the alertness to the day of the Lord and all that

entails because this is the sanctifying event of our lives.

He who has this hope in him purifies himself even as he is

pure. It was Nathan Buznitz who said

the hope of Christ's coming was of paramount importance for the

early church. In fact, it's certainty was so

real that 1st century believers would greet one another with the

term maranatha, meaning the Lord come quickly.

Instead of being frightened by the possibility, they clung to

it as a culmination of everything they believed.

Maranatha, Maranatha, my friends.

My father used to close every card, every letter he wrote with

that phrase. Maranatha our Lord come because

my father used to live in anticipation to his coming again

is a rival. I want you to live that way.

I want you to be able to walk into church and say Maranatha

and hear someone say back to you, Maranatha our Lord come,

let's pray. God, Father, we thank you for

today. The opportunity you give us, as

brief as it is to study Your word, I pray for everyone in the

room. They would know Christ as the

Lord and Savior. They would have embraced the

stun of righteousness who rises in their hearts, offers them to

protection and salvation so needed in their lives, which

leads to the ultimate satisfaction of every person, or

he who believes in him will never be disappointed.

Peter tells us. So we thank you for this day and

this opportunity once again to be reminded to remember, to stir

up our sincere minds by way of remembrance.

Lord, help us never to forget. Help us not to be so preoccupied

with the everyday events that we've lost.

Focus and touch and preoccupation with your coming

again. Help us to live each day

anticipating, alert to your arrival, until you come again,

as you most surely will. And all God's people said Amen.