Mar 4 2012 - E100.90b – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, Dates and times
Christians should be looking forward to and longing for the return of the Lord. But when will he come?
Last year (2011) we saw some confident predictions by an American pastor that the Lord would return before the year ended. There have always been those who have tried to work out the date and time of the Lord’s coming – and the folly of their predictions has been proved time and time again as their predicted dates come and go.
On the other hand there are those who would mock the very idea that Jesus will return. With logic similar to that described by the apostle Peter (see 2 Peter 3:4), they argue that the universe is a closed and self-sufficient system; it continues by its own power day by day and will carry on tomorrow just as it did yesterday. Religion may be tolerated if it helps people to come to terms with the world or work to improve it, but if it talks about God intervening in the world it is dangerous fanaticism.
Jesus condemns both of these extremes when he assures his disciples that he will return but also tells them that no-one knows the date of his coming. Paul makes the same point when he reminds the Thessalonian Christians that, “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2). No thief announces when he is going to break into a house. In the same way, Jesus has not told us when he will return.
But Paul continues by telling us that the Christian should not be taken by surprise by the Lord’s coming. We should be a people who are always ready for his appearing; always alert, always about the Lord’s business. As Peter was later to write to the scattered Christians in Asia Minor, “And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight” (2 Peter 3:14 New Living Translation).
Great is the darkness that covers the earth,
oppression, injustice and pain;
nations are slipping in hopeless despair,
though many have come in Your name
watching while sanity dies,
touched by the madness and lies.
Come, Lord Jesus, come Lord Jesus,
pour out your Spirit we pray;
come, Lord Jesus, come Lord Jesus,
pour out your Spirit on us today.
May now Your church rise with power and love,
this glorious gospel proclaim;
in every nation salvation will come
to those who believe in Your name-
Help us bring light to this world,
that we might speed your return.
Come, Lord Jesus, come Lord Jesus,
pour out your Spirit we pray;
come, Lord Jesus, come Lord Jesus,
pour out your Spirit on us today.
Great celebrations on that final day,
when out of the heavens You come;
darkness will vanish, all sorrow will end,
and rulers will bow at Your throne;
our great commission complete,
then face to face we shall meet.
Come, Lord Jesus, come Lord Jesus,
pour out your Spirit we pray;
come, Lord Jesus, come Lord Jesus,
pour out your Spirit on us today.
(Noel Richards & Gerald Coates)
Peter Misselbrook