Are You Watching Or Sleeping??
Thursday, August 05, 2010
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye 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 say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail 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. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 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 are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, 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." I Thessalonians 4:16-5:11
There is SO MUCH in this portion of Scripture and I do NOT pretend to know all that can be learned here! There are two different groups of people that stand out to me here. There are those who are "watchers". These are the ones looking for Christ. Then there are the "sleepers". These are the ones not looking for Christ.
If you are a watcher, you KNOW the Lord is going to come as a thief in the night (v2), therefore you are always looking for Him. If you are a watcher, you are sober (v6,8) and you have faith, hope, love, and comfort (v8, 11). If you are a watcher, you are a child of light (v5).
If you are a sleeper, you expect to have peace and safety (v3) throughout your life. If you are a sleeper, you will find sudden destruction and travail (v3) and you will not be able to escape. If you are a sleeper, you are sleeping (obviously!) and drunk (v6-7). If you are a sleeper, you are a child of darkness (v5).
These are interesting contrasts. I hope to be a "watcher" ready for my Lord to return. "Work for the night is coming!"
"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." I Corinthians 15:51-53