Because the Day of the Lord is Coming

Slide 1: Because The Day of the Lord is Coming Encouraging each other daily until His coming. 1 Thess. 5:1-11

Slide 2: Introduction  Until we are faced with the urgency for the coming “Day of the Lord” it is all too easy for God’s children to become complacent in His work.  It is not that we are complacent with life: many work and are productive for the things of this life.  We need more of an urgency to live “as children of the day” that find many Christians deficient today.

Slide 3: Introduction  This lesson is aimed at encouraging each other:  To gain a greater sense of urgency for the coming Day.  To live with that urgency in our relationship with God and man.

Slide 4: The Day is Coming  We don’t need a reminder about the teaching of the Lord’s return. V. 1-3  Since the first century, Christians have been expecting the Lord’s return. V. 2  Even today, there are those who fully expect the Lord to come “at any moment.”

Slide 5: The Day is Coming  Yet, too many Christians today have lost that urgency and expectation. Matt. 25:14ff  Many live for the pleasures of this life… not really expecting the Lord’s return.  The teaching of the Lord’s return means nothing if it does not translate into a lifestyle of service to Him. Matt. 25:19  Our lives – the daily activities we engage in – reflect on whether we are expecting the Lord’s return. Cp. Lk. 12:16-21

Slide 6: Be Sober  Brethren, we are not in the dark, so that the Lord’s judgment overtakes us. V. 4-7  It is not merely a life of sloth and carousing that God condemns.  Contextually, the apostle is providing a complete contrast to drive home his message of being children of the day.  It is just as destroying for us to live a life of the flesh: work and recreation…for this life.

Slide 7: Be Sober  Instead, we are children of the day: alert to the issues of eternal life. V. 8  We are a people who wear a life of faith and love like a breastplate of protection.  We are a people who live with the hope of salvation.

Slide 8: Encourage Each Other  God did not appoint us to wrath, but to salvation. V. 9-10  God graciously and patiently desires our salvation. 2 Pet. 3:9  But, if we live for this world, and not as ones who wait for the coming day, the Lord’s return will be as a thief in the night…even for us. 2 Pet. 3:10

Slide 9: Encourage Each Other  Build each other up more and more. V. 11  Our souls are much too precious to simply live for only ourselves (follow Jesus’ example).  Spend time communicating, sharing, encouraging one another each day.

Slide 10: Conclusion  With the Lord’s day coming as a thief there must be a sense of urgency about the way we lives each day.  Brethren, sober up and encourage each other as the Day approaches.