Heavenly Investments Message Introduction
We’re nearing the end of our message series “Living in Light of the End.” Last week we talked about how to use worldly wealth to make forever friends. To use the resources that God has entrusted to us to help lead people to Jesus. Making forever friends is not just the task of pastors or churches per say, but of every follower of Jesus Christ.
Today my message is entitled “Heavenly Investments.” But it’s not about money at all. Although Jesus talked a lot about using the money that God has given us for the kingdom of God, today, we’re going to talk about how to invest the totality of our lives for God.
Your life is a gift from God. In fact, the life of every human being on this planet is a gift from God. Life is a gift from God whether it’s a baby in its mother’s womb or an elderly person approaching the end of life. God is the one who gives life and God is the only one who should determine when life ends. So, these lives that God has given us are His gift to us. Life is a beautiful thing, when it’s lived hand in hand with your creator. When you invest your life in serving God, nothing you do is wasted. A life invested in living for God is a life that has made an investment in eternity that will last forever.
In 1 Thessalonians 4-5, God’s Word has a lot to say about the coming of the Lord, the end of time as we know it. Yet, we don’t know when the end will come. So how should we live our lives in light of the end? Immediately before the text begins to talk about the coming of the Lord in 1 Thessalonians 4, we have these two verses that give us some principles for living in light of the end.
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 (NIV) Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
What we have described in these two verses is a balanced life, serving the Lord in wisdom. God wants us to live lives of work, taking care of our own needs and making a good impression of outsiders. Outsiders are unbelievers who we are seeking to make forever friends of.
Your work, whatever you do as a career, is an investment in heaven, if you work as for the Lord. There are two extremes with regard to work. The first is those who find all kinds of excuses not to work, they are idle. The second extreme is those who work too hard, they are workaholics, who don’t have time for their families or the church.
God wants us to live balanced lives in light of the end. Putting our families, the church, work and relationships with outsiders in proper proportion. As we do that, we are laying up treasure in heaven as our heavenly investment.
Today, we’re going to look at a passage in 1 Thessalonians 5 about the day of the Lord. This passage will help us understand how believers should live here and now in light of the end.
Understand the day of the Lord for unbelievers
1 Thessalonians 5:1 (NIV) Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you,
Our passage begins by saying that believers don’t need to know about times and dates. Why is that? Because we don’t need to know about times and dates concerning the end in order to live for God today. In fact, Jesus has already told us that no one knows the times and dates of the day of the Lord, so it’s not a question that God will answer.
In this passage, God’s Word is talking about the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord may not be a single day, but rather the period of time surrounding the return of Jesus Christ to this earth.
That day will come unexpectedly
1 Thessalonians 5:2 (NIV) for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
For unbelievers, the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. What are the characteristics of a thief in the night? A thief in the night comes quietly, he breaks in unexpectedly, with no warning. A thief in the night does not announce his coming, he sneaks into houses in the darkness. You cannot put a date or a time on the day of the Lord.
That day will bring destruction
1 Thessalonians 5:3 (NIV) While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
At the time of the day of the Lord, unbelievers will be talking about peace and safety. They will consider themselves safe and secure, yet destruction will come quickly.
God’s Word compares this destruction to labor pains. Labor pains begin quickly, intensify rapidly and come to their conclusion in short time. Once the judgment of God is released at the coming of Jesus Christ, there will be no escape for the unbeliever. The day of the Lord for the unbeliever is a day of doom and eternal destruction.
A Gallup poll asked people whether they considered it likely that the world would come to an end because of Judgment Day in the next century. Over 60%, the majority considered it unlikely that the world would come to an end in the next 100 years.
People speak of peace and safety. Unbelievers think that somehow mankind will be able to figure things out. Somehow, humanity will find a solution to wars, evil and radical Islam. They scoff at the idea that Jesus will return in judgment.
It is today, just as it was in the days of Noah. No one believed Noah who preached that God’s judgment was coming. But when the flood waters came, it was too late. All the unbelievers who didn’t listen were washed away.
Unlike the days of Noah, God has promised that there will be those in our generation who will listen to His warnings and find safety and salvation in Jesus Christ. So, let’s continue to warn those who are not believers, that the day of the Lord is coming. And they need to get ready. For …
The day of the Lord will not surprise believers
1 Thessalonians 5:4 (NIV) But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
The thief surprises because he sneaks in unobserved in the darkness and steals. But as believers, we are not of the darkness, we are people of the light. We know that the day of the Lord is coming and we look forward to it. Oh, we may be surprised as to the actual day that it happens, but it will be a good surprise, the answer to all of our prayers for the return of Jesus Christ. So, the way that unbelievers and believers view the day of the Lord is diametrically opposite.
Believers are to be alert and sober
1 Thessalonians 5:5-6 (NIV) You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.
Believers of children of light, we live in the light of Christ each and every day. The image that God’s Word presents here is that unbelievers sleep in the darkness and will be surprised at the day of the Lord like a thief breaking in. Believers are people of the day, we are to be alert and self-controlled.
The Bible tells us repeatedly to be watching and alert for Jesus’ return, expecting that it could be any moment, yet being faithful to what God is calling us to do in the meantime. We are to be alert and self-controlled. In the Greek, the word self-controlled is “nepho” which means to drink no wine or to be sober. In other words, our minds need to be clear and sharp, not dulled by any drug or drink.
Believers are protected on that day
1 Thessalonians 5:7-8 (NIV) For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
Unbelievers are described as being the exact opposite of the alert and sober believers. They are described as being asleep and drunk, completely surprised at the coming of the day of the Lord.
So how should alert and self-controlled believers live in the light of the day? We are to put on spiritual armor. Our hearts covered with a breastplate of faith and love. Faith towards God and love for others. Our minds are protected with the hope of salvation. The hope of salvation is the calm assurance that the day of the Lord will bring our complete salvation of eternal life.
A new product called Tikker was introduced last year. Tikker is a wristwatch that counts down your life. It estimates your time of death based on life expectancies and then counts down the years, months, days, minutes and seconds you have left on earth. It’s purpose is to help you better prioritize your time on earth.
While you don’t need to buy a Tikker, believers are to be alert and sober as they await the day of the Lord. We’re either going to meet the Lord when we pass on or when Jesus returns on the day of the Lord. God wants us to use our time on earth for Him.
We should ask the Lord “Help me to be alert and self-controlled in the time you have given me to live my life on the earth.” “Help me to do everything in my life as for the Lord, whether my work, interacting with my family, serving in my church or reaching out to the lost.” We look forward to the day of the Lord because …
The day of the Lord brings salvation
1 Thessalonians 5:9 (NIV) For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The day of the Lord brings destruction and the wrath of God on the unbeliever. Yet for the believer, that day brings salvation through Jesus Christ.
Someone might ask, But aren’t I saved right now? How can salvation come in the future? The Bible teaches that although we are saved now, we are working out our salvation in this life and will receive in fullness our salvation at the return of Christ.
The fullness of salvation will include our resurrection bodies, that will never die and our free from pain and sin. The fullness of salvation will include seeing Jesus face to face and experiencing heaven. The fullness of salvation will include inheriting eternal life that can never be lost.
So, we look forward to the day of the Lord every day of our lives because …
That day continues our life with Jesus
1 Thessalonians 5:10 (NIV) He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
Jesus died for us so that our sins could be forgiven and we could have a relationship with Him. So that we could live together with Him. When a person is saved in this life, they begin to live their eternal life together with Jesus. In this verse, our time on earth is spoken of as being awake.
When we die or fall asleep, we are absent from our bodies, but present with the Lord Jesus. Our relationship with Him does no skip a beat, even though our hearts have stopped beating. We still live together with Him, whether we pass on or He returns on the day of the Lord. How can we invest our lives in light of the day of the Lord?
Encourage one another about that day
1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV) Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Here we have the conclusion to the passage. Since we understand what is going to happen on the day of the Lord, since we look forward to Jesus’ return, we should encourage other believers.
When someone is having a rough time, no matter the cause, we can always encourage them that the day of the Lord is coming. When that day comes, all will be healed and made right. It will be a day of rejoicing.
Others may be weak and succumbing to temptation, we need to build them up and make them stronger in their faith. Not only must we invest our lives for God, we look to encourage others as well.
During the first Iraq war, there was an Air Force pilot named Robby Robins. After he flew his 300th mission, he was surprised to be granted permission to fly his crew and plane home. So he flew across the ocean to Massachusetts and then drove all night to his home in western Pennsylvania. When his buddies dropped him off in his driveway just before sunup, he was surprised to see a big banner across the garage “Welcome Home Dad!”
Robins wondered how they knew that he was coming, no one had called or told his family, he wanted to surprise them. When he walked into the house, his children and wife shouted for joy and embraced him. He asked his wife, Susan “How did you know?”
She replied,” I didn’t. Once the war was over, we knew you’d come home and try to surprise us, so we were ready every day.”
Isn’t that how Jesus wants us to be ready for His return? Living our lives in anticipation of the day of the Lord. When you live everyday of your life in light of Jesus’ return, you’ll be making a sound heavenly investment that Jesus is pleased with.
Message Audio, Outline & Study Guide
Living in Light of the End Message Series
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