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Welcome to Daily Drive Time Devotions. Hi, this is Pastor Tom and we are looking
at 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 this week, the last chapter in this book. And
really as we look at verses 1 through 3 in this chapter today, we're going to be
picking up on what we started looking at last week in chapter 4.

Chapter 4, at the last part of the chapter, talks about the return of Christ. In
the beginning of this chapter, as I said to you last week, talks to us about
when we know Jesus Christ is going to return. Let me read for you verses 1
through 3.

Now brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know
very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, 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. I love that phrase in
verse 1 about times and dates we don't need to write. All the debate, all the
questions that we have about the timing of the second coming of Jesus, Paul just
writes to them and says, "You understand this, we don't need to write to you.

" And he uses an interesting phrase there when he says about times and dates.
It's two Greek words, kronos and kairos, the two most familiar words about time.
One is an exact time and one is a period of time.

One is hours and minutes on a clock, the other is the seasons of time as you
look at how God is at work in human history. Paul writes to him and says, "You
know, God knows what he's doing. " And he reminds us that this thing of the
exact period of time that sometimes we get hung up on is not the importance in
the Bible that it is to us.

Acts chapter 1 verse 7, "Jesus said, 'It's not for you to know the times or the
dates that the Father has set by his own authority. '" It wasn't as important
for us to know it according to Jesus. And so you and I, when we talk about times
and dates, need to realize what's important to God and not what's important to
us.

In Luke 17, Jesus said, "When the Son of Man comes again, it will be as when
Noah lived. People were eating and drinking and marrying and giving their
children to be married until the day that Noah entered the boat. And then the
flood came and killed them all.

" Jesus says it's like Noah. Here's what I want you to get. It was unexpected
and yet it was real.

It was coming. So when we talk about times and dates and get hung up on what's
the exact day, how can it going to be like in weeks or months from now, when God
talks about it, he says, "Here's what I want you to understand about the timing.
What's the exact heart that you should have?

What should you be looking for and what God's doing in your life and in the life
of this world? " When Paul talks about what it means for Jesus to come again and
talks about timing, the word that he uses, in fact he uses two, the words he
uses are "suddenly" and "certainly. " Don't miss that.

Suddenly, he says, Jesus will come and here's this familiar picture you might
have heard like a thief in the night comes out of this verse, 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5 verse 2. Jesus also gave us this picture. Over in Matthew chapter 24,
Jesus said, "But understand this, if the owner of the house had known at what
time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have
let his house be broken into.

So you also must be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you
do not expect him. " So Jesus tells us what that means, a thief in the night. It
means you don't know when to expect this person to come.

If you went to your mailbox today and you pulled out a postcard and it said,
"Dear resident, this is to inform you that I will be robbing your house next
Tuesday at 1 a. m. Please make plans to be out for that evening.

And if you could leave me a key and a list of valuables, I'll be able to make as
little mess as possible. Please email me the location of the key to
yourthief@hotmail. com.

If you got a silly note like that, you would not respond to it because you
realize this is a thief that's coming and it's ridiculous that he would tell me
when he's going to come. Jesus says when he's coming again, it's ridiculous to
think that we would know the exact time. In fact, the idea of suddenly here at
any instant, any teaching on the second coming that doesn't recognize this truth
is built on a wrong foundation.

Jesus can come again at any moment. Now I have to admit there's many things I
don't understand about exactly when Jesus will come again. But I do understand
this.

He has taught that he could come at any moment. And some people think, "Well,
why hasn't he come already if he could come at any moment? " Well, for 2,000
years, the world has been in this any moment state.

Jesus has said he could come at any moment. I believe what Jesus says. So he
could come at any moment.

Suddenly he will come. But also, certainly he will come. Paul in verse 3 says
there's this picture of as labor pains on a pregnant woman, certainly when the
labor pains start, you know that a birth is going to happen.

When a pregnant woman says to her husband, "It's time," her husband's not going
to say, "Hey, could we wait until this movie is over? I'd really like to see the
end of the movie. " No, he knows certainly the baby is coming and he starts to
react immediately.

At any moment, Jesus can certainly come and change all of our history. He
already did that once when he came into this world the first time. And he will
do that again when he comes back.

So what should our attitude be any moment? I've talked to a lot of people about
the second coming of Christ. And a lot of people that I talk to have kind of a
nervousness in their soul about it.

Instead of feeling the peace of God, they feel a sense of wonderment about what
God is going to do at the end. And if you had to be honest, one of the ways to
term how people feel is they're a little bit afraid. How do you deal with that?

Well, first, be honest about it, God. I don't know why, but I feel a little
nervous, a little afraid about the fact that you're coming again. We're often
afraid of the unknown.

And if you are afraid, let me calm those fears. If you're afraid of his
judgment, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, the Bible says you have already
passed out of judgment into life. If you haven't become a believer yet in
Christ, if you haven't said to Jesus, "I need your forgiveness.

I need the new life that you can give me," start there. And once you're a
believer, you can rely on his promise. If you're afraid of him catching you,
some people are afraid, "What if I'm doing the wrong thing when Jesus comes
again?

" Well, that's a pretty simple answer. You start to live for him. You start to
do the right thing.

You let that fear motivate you to a good action in your life. I've talked to
some people who are afraid of another thing. They're afraid of not being able to
fulfill a dream.

They have some dream, some desire in their heart. It may be to have children. It
might be to build a business.

It might be to accomplish some ministry dream. And they think, "I would really
like to accomplish that for God while I'm in this world. " And then they think,
"Well, what if Jesus comes again?

I'm halfway there. Is it going to be disappointing? " No.

No. Remember, we're going to heaven. So let me just share with you.

If God puts a desire in your heart, it will be more than fulfilled when you get
to heaven. If you begin a project on this earth and get halfway through, the
rest will be more than fulfilled when you get to heaven. Whatever you do on
earth is more than fulfilled in heaven.

So you don't have to be afraid of not being able to fill a dream, not in heaven,
because heaven is all about the fulfillment of all of our heart's dreams. So
what should I do? I certainly shouldn't be afraid of the fact that Jesus is
certainly going to come again.

What should I do? I should look forward to it. I should anticipate His return.

The fact that it's suddenly and certainly means I should anticipate it. And it's
sort of crazy. Sometimes we act like we can't enjoy the return of Jesus Christ
until it actually happens.

If I can anticipate something as small as a vacation, it's coming this summer
and I'm looking forward to it. Or if I can anticipate something as small as a
new flavor of ice cream that I have waiting in my freezer, I've hidden it in the
back where the rest of my family can't see it. And I'm thinking when the kids go
to bed, then I'm getting that ice cream.

Part of the enjoyment is the anticipation. If we can anticipate little things,
certainly we can anticipate the fact that Jesus is coming again. Why wait until
He comes again to begin enjoying it?

You can enjoy the fact that He is coming again right now by longing for it in
your heart. You can try this prayer every once in a while. Lord, I can hardly
wait.

I can hardly wait until that day. In fact, let's take some time to talk to Him
right now. And Lord, that is what we pray.

We can hardly wait until that day, until that day when we will be able to. And
you might just want to fill in that blank in your mind. It might have something
to do with a loved one that you'll meet.

It might have something to do with the worship that you'll give. It might have
something to do with the joy that you'll have, with a burden that will be
released when you get to heaven. I can hardly wait.

Jesus, I can hardly wait, tell Him personally, until that day when we will be
able to talk face to face, when I'll be able to wrap my arms around you and give
you a hug for what you did for me on the cross. That is the day I'll be able to
see the scars that you receive because you gave yourself on the cross. I can
hardly wait until that day when I'll be able to stand with billions of other
believers and sing to you and rejoice in who you are.

I can hardly wait until that day when I will get a perfect body, a resurrected
body that reflects and rejoices in the body that you already have, Jesus. I can
hardly wait until that day when there is no more pain, no more sorrow, no more
cry. I can hardly wait.

I anticipate your return right now in my heart. I set aside all the doubts and I
anticipate because I trust you. Jesus, I trust you.

In your name, I pray. Amen. Well, make sure to join us tomorrow.

We're going to be looking at verses four to 11 of First Thessalonians chapter
five.