# 18 2019. Dev. I Th.5:2. That Day! Read Ch. 5:1-11. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw Gremar and I closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.
Thessalonians 5:2 “for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night”.
After Paul enlightens the Thessalonian church concerning those who have fallen asleep in the Lord and gives them and us a picture of the the Rapture on the last day, he moves to “the Day of the Lord” in chapter 5.
The Day of the Lord will come when no one is expecting it, everyone that does not follow Jesus that is. For those left on the earth on that last day, it will be destructive and unexpected. Followers of Jesus “are children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then let us not be like others who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober”. Commentators talk about a tribulation that is coming but the fact is, for Christians tribulation is here and it has been with us from the early church up to today. Persecution of all religious groups is increasing today, indicating to followers of Jesus that the time is short. However, Paul thought the time was short in his day. No one knows the day but we can be ready by “putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet”.
Many Christians suffer today: after the Easter Service bombings it was reported that every month, world wide 300+ Christians are killed, 200+ are arrested for no good reason, 250 buildings associated with Christians are destroyed. Those statistics are hard to believe for Christians living in this country, yet we are not insulated here because persecution is increasing. Jesus says to his followers while he walked on this earth: “I am rejected and you will be rejected because of me”.
Paul ends this section on the “The Day of the Lord” with these encouraging words and they are meant for us as well: “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, (followers who have died) we may live together with him. Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up”, Praise be to God!
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