As you probably already know, there are varying and often conflicting views pertaining to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Liberal theologians who are skeptical of the supernatural argue that there will be no return of Jesus Christ to the earth to consummate his kingdom purposes. They argue in this way because they believe Jesus is dead! They deny his bodily resurrection. Quite obviously, then, if Jesus did not rise from the dead, he cannot return in the clouds of heaven as Paul instructed us in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. If there is any meaning at all to the notion of a second coming, liberals may well contend that it refers to the continuous ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church and the gradual progression of faith and maturity in Christians everywhere.

Those who identify as full preterists argue that the Second Coming is a very real event but that it has already taken place. Christ’s “return” occurred in 70 a.d. when the armies of Rome destroyed the Temple and city of Jerusalem. Christ “returned” spiritually in judgment against the people of Israel for their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. Therefore, there will be no personal, physical, visible return of Christ at the end of history. Many preterists contend that there will, in fact, be no “end” to history.

Religious fanatics, although sincere in their faith in Jesus Christ, create scenarios in which they are persuaded that Jesus will in fact return at a particular time that they have been able to discern from reading (or should I say, misreading) Scripture. Perhaps the most well-known instance of this involved a man named William Miller. Miller was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on February 15, 1782. He is often identified as the founder of what came to be known as the Seventh-Day Adventist movement and church.

By all accounts, Miller was a devoted and quite sincere follower of Jesus Christ who believed in the reality of Christ’s second coming. After his study of the Bible, he concluded that Jesus would return sometime in either 1843 or 1844. He later became even more specific and identified the time of the Second Coming as between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844.

When that time period passed and Christ had not appeared, both Miller and his followers suffered massive disappointment and for some, disillusionment. Miller confessed that he had miscalculated the time of Christ’s return but remained adamant that it was still quite near and encouraged his followers not to lose hope. After our Lord didn’t come back when Miller said he would, the date for his return was changed to October 22, 1844. The failure of this prediction was subsequently labelled “The Great Disappointment.” Miller died shortly thereafter, a brokenhearted man.

One would think that this shattering failure to predict the time of Christ’s return would have sent a message to others, but it didn’t. On June 4, 1981, the Chicago Sun Times reported that members of the Lighthouse Gospel Foundation of Tucson, Arizona, had quit their jobs and sold their property in anticipation of the return of Jesus on June 28, 1981.

Edgar Whisenant, a former engineer with NASA from Arkansas, published a book with the title, 88 Reasons Why the Rapture will be in 1988. He insisted that Jesus would return during the Jewish holiday of Rosh-Hashanah, sometime between September 11 and September 13 of 1988. Whisenant stood to make a small fortune from the sale of his book, as the initial print run came to more than 3 million copies. He may well have died a wealthy man, but like so many before him, he died disillusioned and disgraced.

Hal Lindsey, best-selling author of the book, The Late, Great Planet Earth, who died just a few months ago, believed that Jesus would return to rapture his people into heaven in 1987. More recently, Harold Camping of Family Radio, first predicted that the Judgment Day would occur on or about September 6, 1994. When it failed to occur, he revised the date to September 29 and then to October 2. In 2005, Camping predicted that the Second Coming of Christ would occur on May 21, 2011. Like many before him, Camping made a fortune from his predictions, but died a broken and disillusioned man.

Paul’s Pastoral Counsel

We saw earlier in 4:13-18 how Paul offered instruction concerning those who died, having come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. He now turns in 5:1-11 to encourage those who will be alive when Christ returns. Paul makes it clear that the Thessalonians didn’t need to be told yet again about “the times and seasons” (5:1) of God’s purposes for his people. Evidently, he had already instructed them on the matter.

He made it quite clear in 1 Thessalonians 4 that Jesus will return from heaven to transform and translate both the living and the dead. Those who had already died physically are at no disadvantage to those who will be alive when Jesus comes back. When we come to chapter five, he explains that although we can never know the precise time of the second coming, we must be alert and ready for it, whenever it comes to pass. His instruction in chapter five comes in two parts: he first talks about the coming Day of the Lord in relationship to unbelievers. This we see in 5:1-3. He then turns to talk about how Christians should respond in 5:4-11.

The Day of the Lord and the Unbeliever (vv. 1-3).

The terminology of “the Day of the Lord” is found many times in both the Old and New Testaments. It typically refers to any time when God intervenes in history either to deliver and save his people or to execute discipline and judgment on his enemies. Here in 1 Thessalonians it refers to both: when Jesus comes back he will first deliver his people and then destroy his enemies.

The key to note here is that Christ’s return will occur when the non-Christian world least expects it! Notice how Paul appeals to three illustrations to make this point.

1. He first says the Day of the Lord “will come like a thief in the night” (v. 2). I have yet to hear of anyone who received a phone call or text message at 3 a.m. telling them that a thief was about to break into their home and steal their possessions. A thief never announces in advance when he’s coming. The thief breaks in, catching the homeowner totally by surprise, while you are helpless and unprepared.

But Paul clearly says that this will happen only to those who are unsaved. We see the contrasting perspectives of the saved and the unsaved in v. 4. We who are alert, always looking for the coming of Jesus, always sensitive to whatever signs the Scriptures may give us, will not be caught napping. So, Paul is not saying the Day of the Lord will not overtake Christians. He says it will not overtake them “like a thief in the night.”

2. Paul’s second illustration is found in v. 3. He says that the Day of the Lord will come “while people are saying, ‘There is peace and security.’” He doesn’t say there actually is peace and security, but that non-Christians will contend that such is the case. In other words, Christ will come when the non-Christian world is convinced that everything is o.k., at a time of great optimism. They will be declaring, “The present is peaceful, the future is bright, the prospects for human advancement are limitless, life has never been better, who needs a savior or a god anyway!”

We can already see this in our world. Unbelievers celebrate what they call reproductive freedom, while the Christian cries in anguish over the unparalleled slaughter of precious babies in the womb. Our pagan society promotes sexual indulgence, while the Christian grieves as he watches our world fall into even greater expressions of perversion and immorality.

Did Jesus provide any information at all of what the last days would be like? Yes. He does describe some of the features of that time in Matthew 24:37-44. And we clearly see from this text that Paul has Jesus’ words in mind when he says what he does in 1 Thess. 4.

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matt. 24:36-44).

There will not be unprecedented global catastrophes or unparalleled calamities that will point people to the impending return of Jesus. Such catastrophes and calamities, be they political or in the natural realm, have been consistently present throughout all of human history. Rather, humanity will be immersed in the routine affairs of life. Even should such catastrophes occur, the unsaved world will pay little to no attention to them., They will never connect such events with the impending return of Christ.

As Jesus said, it will be like it was in the days of Noah. The world will be caught completely off-guard by the coming of Christ. People will be engaged in normal, routine occupations of life: farming, fellowship, marriage, etc. (Cf. Luke 17:28-30). Jesus will come at a time of widespread indifference, normalcy, materialistic endeavors, when everyone is thoroughly involved in the pursuit of their earthly affairs and ambitions (cf. 2 Pet. 3:3-4, 10). His coming will occur at a time so unexpected, so unannounced, that it will catch people in the middle of their everyday routines (see vv. 40-41). When will Jesus come? Jesus will come at a time when his coming is the farthest thing from people's minds!

Of course, Jesus is not comparing himself to the character of a thief but to the coming of a thief. Both a thief in the night and Jesus' coming are unannounced and unexpected: so be ready!

3. Paul’s third illustration of what it will be like when the Day of the Lord approaches is that the sudden destruction that accompanies it will be like “labor pains” for a woman who is pregnant. Suddenly, perhaps in the middle of the night, while thinking that the baby won’t come for another few weeks, birth pains strike, and the baby is born prematurely.

If that is how the return of Christ will strike the non-Christian world, what about the Church?

The Day of the Lord and the Christian believer (vv. 4-11).

Paul draws a vivid contrast between the Christian and the unbeliever. We who are followers of Jesus “are not in darkness” (v. 4a). “Darkness” is a common biblical metaphor for sin and deception and ignorance of spiritual realities. “Light,” on the other hand, is likewise a metaphor for truth, righteousness and spiritual sobriety. You may recall Paul’s words in Colossians 1:12-13 where he says that God has qualified us “to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.”

His point here in 1 Thessalonians 5 is that the reason why the Day of the Lord will not catch us by surprise nor come upon us like a thief in the night is because we have been spiritually enlightened and thus we will be watching for it. The distinction he draws between the Christian and the non-Christian, between those who will not be caught by surprise and those who will, is whether we are in spiritual darkness or spiritual light. The difference is between those who are spiritually asleep or awake, or between those who are spiritually drunk or sober.

Paul then lists three responsibilities of the Christian, three activities or tasks that we must be diligent to embrace.

The first responsibility of the Christian, according to vv. 6-10, is to remain awake, alert, and spiritually sober (v. 6). Paul illustrates this by appealing to several truths taken from the natural realm. Certain actions are more natural and appropriate at night: in this case, sleeping and getting drunk. His point is that unbelievers are spiritually asleep and spiritually intoxicated. They are unaware of what is impending and are like people who drink to excess and fall into a mindless stupor.

But Christians “belong to the day” (v. 8). That is to say, we are always awake and living in the light of biblical truth, and thus perpetually prepared for whatever may come.

So, how, precisely, do we maintain our spiritual sobriety? Paul mentions three things.

First, we are those who have put on the breastplate of faith (v. 8). Here we see Paul making use of the language from Ephesians 6, with only slight variations. In Ephesians 6 he speaks of the “breastplate of righteousness” and “the shield of faith” (Eph. 6:14, 16).

The “breastplate” (thōraka from which we get “thorax”) usually extended from the base of the neck to the upper part of the thighs, covering what we would call the abdomen or trunk. The reason why the “breastplate of righteousness” is so important is that one of Satan’s most common and effective strategies is to undermine your faith and create doubt in your heart by reminding you of how wicked you are and of how often you have failed as a Christian. Our response must always be to say: “No matter how badly I have sinned, God sees me as perfectly righteous in Jesus Christ. His righteousness has been imputed to me.” In essence, you fight Satan’s accusations with a declaration of faith in the truth of all that God has said he has done in you and on your behalf through Jesus Christ.

So, what, then, does Paul have in mind when he uses the word “faith”? There are at least three kinds of Christian faith described in the NT. There is saving faith (a product of the new birth); sanctifying faith (the fruit of the Holy Spirit), which comes in two forms: a) our faith/belief in the truth of God's Word (faith in the doctrines of the Bible) and b) faith in the trustworthiness/goodness of God himself; and supernatural faith (a spontaneous gift of the Holy Spirit). Paul probably has in mind the second of these: sanctifying faith (l Pet. 5:8-9; l John 5:4). We might also refer to these three expressions of faith as converting faith, continuing faith, and charismatic faith.

But let’s keep in mind several things about “faith”. First, faith, in and of itself, does not protect us against the world, the flesh, and the Devil. Rather, it is the object/focus of our faith: God and his powerful presence in our lives (Prov. 30:5; Ps. 5:12; 2 Sam. 22:3). That being said, it is we who extinguish the fiery darts of the evil one through faith. We are active. Faith is something we do.

Also, faith functions as a breastplate of protection in several ways. Consider Hebrews 11:24-26 where we are told that it was Moses' faith in the glory of the coming Christ and the rewards of obedience that enabled him to say No to the temptations he encountered in Egypt. When Satan whispers, “God may have cared about you once before, long ago, but his interest in who you are is gone,” you adorn your mind, spirit, and soul with the breastplate of faith and say, “That is impossible! God is immutable. He cannot change. His concern for me is eternal. What he has promised me he will fulfill.”

Or when Satan whispers, “God doesn't love you anymore; not after you've failed him so many times,” you stand firmly, adorned with the breastplate of faith and say, “That is impossible! God's love for me can't cease to exist, for he demonstrated it when he gave his Son to suffer in my place.” Or again, the breastplate of faith functions whenever we say to the enemy, “I'm going to believe God when he tells me that there is great gain in godliness and therefore I will not fall prey to your seductive temptations.” Simply put, the breastplate of faith functions each time we hold up the truth of the Scriptures under the onslaught of the lies in this present fallen and corrupt world.

Satan, the world, and the flesh conspire to tell you, “You’re no different from everyone else in the world. You are hopeless and helpless and there’s no one to come to your aid.” But as I don the breastplate of faith, I stand on the truth and confidently believe that God has chosen me to be holy, that he has adorned me with the righteousness of Christ, that he has declared me justified by faith alone, that he has adopted me into his family, that I am no longer a child of darkness and despair but a son and daughter of the Most High God, that I am no longer enslaved to sin and death but have been redeemed and assured of eternal life. That is how “faith” functions and keeps us alert to the impending Day of the Lord.

Second, Paul encourages us to put on the “breastplate of love.” Does he mean the love that we have for one another in the body of Christ or the love that God has for us as his children? Yes! I think Paul must have had both in mind. When we face the temptation to turn our backs on God and walk in step with the world, we are reminded of the unparalleled love that God has for us. In Ephesians 2:4 Paul referred to “the great love with which he loved us.” There is nothing ordinary about God’s love for you. There is nothing boring or routine or average about the affections God has for his children. This is no fleeting infatuation or passing fancy. God’s love for you and me is steadfast, pervasive, constant, unending, extravagant, and infinitely powerful such that nothing in all of creation can ever threaten to separate us from it.

But he likely also has in mind our love for one another in the body of Christ. Living in the light and resisting the temptation to join the world in its darkness is rarely if ever an individual endeavor. We need each other! We find strength from our unity in Christ. We are encouraged by one another to remain steadfast. This is what the author of Hebrews had in mind when he encouraged us all to “exhort one another every day . . . that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13).

Yet another piece of the armor God has provided is the helmet which is the hope of salvation (v. 8b). The principal battleground in spiritual warfare is in the mind. Thus, we have need for a helmet of protection, a “spiritual hardhat” if you will. The helmet of the Roman soldier was made of iron or bronze with a sponge of some sort lining the inside. The “helmet of the hope of salvation” is most likely a reference to the assurance of our salvation. Satan knows he can gain a major strategic advantage over us if he can sow the seeds of doubt in our minds concerning our relationship with God. In every instance of serious and sustained demonic attack that I have encountered, the individual was plagued with doubt concerning his/her salvation. Thomas Brooks described it this way:

“Such is Satan's envy and enmity against a Christian's joy and comfort, that he cannot but act to the utmost of his strength to keep poor souls in doubt and darkness. Satan knows that assurance is a pearl of such price that will make the soul happy forever; he knows that assurance makes a Christian's wilderness to be a paradise; he knows that assurance begets in Christians the most noble and generous spirits; he knows that assurance is that which will make men strong to do exploits, to shake his tottering kingdom about his ears; and therefore he is very studious and industrious to keep souls off from assurance, as he was to cast Adam out of paradise” (Heaven on Earth, 130).

To put on the “hope of salvation” as if it were a helmet means to live in the knowledge and assurance of the truth expressed in Romans 8:1, 31-38 and Hebrews 13:5-6. There is nothing Satan can do to alter or undermine the fact that we are saved. As Paul said in Romans 8,

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39).

But what he can do is erode our assurance and confidence that we are saved. Our salvation, our standing with God, does not fluctuate or diminish with our success or failure in spiritual battles. But Satan is determined to convince us that it does. Observe that Paul doesn’t speak merely of salvation but of the “hope of salvation.” In other words, this assurance of salvation is not simply a confidence now that I'm saved now, but also a confidence now that I will be saved later.

The “hope” that each of us has is that “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 9). Listen closely. As bad and oppressive as life may be for you now, the promise of God to you is that you will never, ever be subject to the wrath of God. The wrath of human beings, the hostility of Satan, the pain of living in a fallen world, bad as they are, can never compare with suffering God’s righteous anger and wrath. And that is something we will never experience. The closest you and I will come to the wrath of almighty God is reading about it here in 1 Thessalonians 5 and elsewhere in Scripture.

I know this sounds strange, but listen carefully. On the cross, Jesus endured the wrath of Jesus so that we might never experience even a hint or drop of it. The wrath of God the Father is shared by God the Son. Listen to the way John describes this in Revelation 6:15-17.

“Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?’” (Rev. 6:15-17).

Be it noted that judgment comes upon all, regardless of their status in society or their wealth or their influence. Kings and slaves alike are accountable to God. The manifestation of God’s wrath is a leveler of humanity. The rich and the powerful can’t appeal to their earthly achievements to escape judgment. Generals can’t call upon their troops to fight the Lamb.

But perhaps the most important and instructive thing for us to see is the reaction of all these individuals to the undeniable presence and power of the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Would it not be the easiest thing in the world, the most sensible thing in the world, for these people simply to stop and take account of what is happening and who it is who is bringing this judgment? Is it not the height of folly to think that you could hide from God in caves and under rocks? It is utter insanity and evidence of the spiritual blindness and foolishness of sinful man to think that he can escape the coming judgment of God.

You and I look upon the Lamb and we see one who has been slain and whose blood “ransomed people for God.” We love the Lamb. The Lamb loves us. We will never have to suffer the wrath of the Lamb, because the Spirit has led us to put our confidence and faith in what the Lamb did for sinners on the cross. By the way, does the image of a lamb filled with wrath strike you as odd? It seems to be a contradiction in terms. A lamb is by nature calm, docile, gentle, and easy-going. So, too, is the Lamb of God, until such time as unrepentant and defiant sinners spit in his face and mock him and ridicule his claim to be God.

But why is it that God’s wrath and the wrath of the Lamb will never fall upon a believer? It is because of one and only one truth: The wrath of the Lamb fell upon the Lamb! Jesus Christ died for us, and in doing so propitiated or appeased or satisfied that wrath and suffered its penalty in himself. This is the ground of our hope, that whether we are “awake” when Christ returns or whether we are “asleep,” that is, whether we are physically living or physically dead, we will live forever “with him” (v. 10b). Back in 1 Thess. 4:17 we are assured that when Jesus returns his people will be “with” him. Here again Paul assures us that whatever we may suffer or endure or experience in this life, we will live “with” him!

Earlier I said that Paul identifies three responsibilities of the Christian. The second and third are here in v. 11. In view of this incredible truth, we are to “encourage one another” and “build up one another.”

When you come across a friend who is downcast, depressed, on the verge of emotional collapse, “encourage” them by reminding them of what awaits all believers when Christ returns. Every tear will be wiped away. All suffering will end. All hope will come to fruition. The pain and abuse inflicted by others will be healed. Every disease and affliction known to the human race will disappear forever. As you know, I grew up in a southern Baptist church. I also had a mother and sister who are trained and extremely gifted pianists. And I can still remember most of the songs we sang, the songs they regularly played in our home. The chorus of one of them goes like this:

It will be worth it all when we see Jesus!

Life's trials will seem so small when we see Christ.

One glimpse of his dear face, all sorrow will erase.

So, bravely run the race, ‘til we see Christ.

And we must “build one another up” or edify each other and instruct one another in the truths of the gospel, in the truths we read about in a passage like this in 1 Thess. 5. When another believer is struggling with doubt or perhaps fear that God will visit their sins on them when the Day of the Lord finally arrives, instruct them that God “has not destined” them “for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”