The Day of the Lord (1 Thess. 5:1-11)

[Sung Psalm: 30]

Last time we looked at the Coming of the Lord – and now we turn to the Day of the Lord.

The idea of the Day of the Lord is closely connected with the theme of "Judgment Day" in scripture.

Isaiah 13:6-9 speaks of the Day of the LORD as the day of destruction.

Jeremiah 46:10 refers to the Day of the LORD as the day of vengeance.

Ezekiel 30:3 speaks of the Day of the LORD as the day of doom for the nations.

The whole book of Joel is organized around the Day of the LORD as the day of judgment.

Amos 5:18-20 warns that the Day of the LORD is a day of darkness – not light.

Zephaniah 1 speaks of the bitter sound of the Day of the LORD.

And Malachi 4 says that the Day of the LORD will be a day of consuming fire.

So when Paul speaks of the "Day of the Lord" here in 1 Thessalonians 5, he is building on a familiar theme.

While the coming of the Lord is used at the end of chapter 4 as a comfort and encouragement, the day of the Lord has a very different connotation!

And while the main theme is the judgment day at the end of history, it is important to recognize that for each of us, we all face the Day of the Lord.

For each of us it is appointed to die once – and then judgment. And no one knows the hour of his death!

As John Chrysostom put it, "Do not place your confidence in your youth, nor think that you have a very fixed term of life, 'for the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night.'...Let the old man keep this admonition; let the young man heed this advice."

So as we look at the Day of the Lord in 1 Thessalonians 5, remember that this life is the training ground for the next. How you live now sets the trajectory for eternity...