Alert & Ready - Live Today with the Hope of Tomorrow
Live by Faith with Hope
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Have you ever experienced the relief of not receiving the punishment you thought was coming your way? In this passage, Paul pastorally counsels the young believers in Thessalonica who were anxious about the coming judgment of the day of the Lord. Paul reassures them that “God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” In light of this good news, he challenges them to focus on living by faith with hope.
What should motivate us as we live by faith with hope?
1. What We Know (vs. 1-3)
- Do not live in fear of the coming judgment in the day of the Lord
- Appreciate that there is a clear distinction between what will happen to those who are outside of Christ verses those who are in Christ, when He comes (vs. 3 versus vs. 9)
Have you been delivered from the judgment that is coming? Have you received Jesus as your Saviour, repented of your sin, and are you following Him? If so, do you live by faith, with hope and not in fear, because of what you know?
2. Who We Are (vs. 4-8)
- Walk in the light while we wait for His coming (cf. Col. 1:13; 1 Jn. 1:5-7)
- Be “awake, sober” and battle ready (cf. Mk. 13:35-37; Eph. 6:10-18)
Are you enjoying the blessing of living a life filled with hope because you are a “child of the light”? Are you just living like others or are you living differently because you “belong to the day”? How committed were you this past week to daily prepare yourself to be spiritually ready for battle?
3. God’s Promised Deliverance (vs. 9-11)
- Rejoice in the fact that we will not experience His wrath (cf. 1:10; Rev. 3:10)
- Be loyal to Christ who died for us so that we could be delivered from the curse of sin (cf. Rom. 6:23; Gal. 3:13-14; Eph. 2:1-10;)
Are you living by faith with hope because of God’s promised deliverance (according to His Word)? “He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.”
Therefore ENCOURAGE one another and BUILD EACH OTHER UP, just as in fact you are doing!
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