Hope for the Insecure (preaching resource for November 15, 2026)

 This post exegetes 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, providing context for the Epistle reading on 11/15/2026. Insights are drawn from John Stott's commentary on this passage.

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Introduction

In this epistle, Paul is addressing fainthearted Christians in Thessalonica. In 1 Thess 4:13-18, he offers hope in the midst of grieving for certain believers who had unexpectedly died. Now in 1 Thess 5:1-11 he offers hope to counter insecurities regarding the coming judgment at Christ's return. Paul had evidently taught the Thessalonians about this *day of the Lord* (2), explaining from the Old Testament that it would be a day of judgment. Amos, the great eighth-century prophet, had made that plain. 'Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord!' he had  proclaimed. 'Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light...pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness' (Am.5:18-20; cf.Is.13:6). Joel had called it 'the great and terrible day of the Lord' (Joel 2:31; cf.1:15; Mal.4:5). 

How, then, can we as believers who continue to fall prey to sin get ready for a day like that? The Thessalonians were proposing their solution and wanted Paul's help; but Paul rejected their solution as false, and proposed the true solution in its place. He begins his reference to their solution with 'Now, brothers' (1) and his exposition of his alternative solution with 'But you, brothers' (4).

The wrong solution: knowing the date 

The Thessalonians were asking Paul *about times and dates*. Why? Apparently because they wanted to make suitable preparations for the day of judgment. They thought they could most easily do so if they could know when Jesus would return. Paul responds that the solution does not lie in knowing the date. 

To begin with, nobody knew or could know the date. Jesus had said that he did not even know it himself (Mk.13:32). And later he told the apostles, 'It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.' (Acts 1:7). In consequence, Jesus said, 'the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.' (Mt. 24:44). The Thessalonians knew this too, because Paul had already told them so. That is why he said, *we do not need to write to you* (1). It would be pointless to do so, *for you know very well* (2) that the day will come unexpectedly. It is as if Paul wrote: 'You know that nobody knows the date, and that therefore you cannot know it either.'

Paul then uses two metaphors to illustrate how the Lord will come: First, he will come *like a thief in the night* (2).  Secondly, he will come *as labor pains on a pregnant woman* (3). Both metaphors teach that Christ's coming will be sudden. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, a burglar breaks in. Suddenly, in the pregnancy of an expectant mother, labor begins. At the same time, there is an obvious difference between the two metaphors. For although both are sudden, the burglar is unexpected, whereas labor (once pregnancy has begun) is expected. 

Putting these two metaphors together, we may say that Christ's coming will be (1) sudden and unexpected (like a burglar in the night), and (2) sudden and unavoidable (like labor at the end of pregnancy). In the first case there will be no warning, and in the second no escape. Therefore the Thessalonians' hope that they will solve their problem by finding out the date of the parousia is fruitless (at best) and spiritually destructive (at worst). 

What then is the answer to their concern? If Christ is going to come suddenly, unexpectedly and unavoidably, how can we be ready? Paul goes on to tell us.

 The right solution: staying alert  

Though Christ's return for judgment will occur suddenly and unavoidably, it need not (and should not) take followers of Jesus by *surprise* (4). 'Surprise' is the key word here. A burglar always comes unexpectedly, but what makes matters worse is that the householder is asleep. In like manner, though the exact timing of Christ's coming is not to be known and will, therefore, be unexpected, we must not be 'asleep', rather we are to be awake and alert: *But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief* (4).

Note Paul's analogy concerning day and night, light and darkness. Burglars take people by surprise because they come at night. To begin with, it is dark, so that we do not see them coming. In addition, most people are fast asleep. Or if they are awake, they are probably out at a party and may even be drunk. *For those who are asleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night* (7). So darkness, sleep and drunkenness are three reasons why people are unprepared for a night visit by a burglar. If only he would oblige us by coming in the daytime! Then we would be ready for him. It would be light, and we could see him. We would ourselves be wide awake, and we would be alert and sober.

Just so with the coming of Christ. Will he come in the darkness or in the light? Spiritually speaking, will he come at night-time or at day-time? The answer to this vital question is 'Both; it depends who we are'. In the case of unbelievers, he will come in the night because they belong to the night and live in darkness. *But you, brothers, are not in darkness...(4). You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness* (5).

This truth needs elaboration. The Bible divides history into two ages. From the Old Testament perspective they are called 'the present age' (which was evil) and 'the age to come' (which would be the time of the Messiah). Moreover, the two ages were sometimes portrayed in terms of night and the day. The present age was like a long dark night, but when the Messiah came, the sun would rise, the day would break, and the world would be flooded with light (Cf. Lk.1:78-79).

The Bible also teaches that Jesus Christ is that long-awaited Messiah, and that therefore the new age began when he came 2000 years ago. He was the dawn of the new era. He ushered in the day. He proclaimed the break-in of the kingdom of God (Mk.1:14-15). At the same time, the old age has not yet come to an end. As John put it, 'the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining' (1 Jn.2:8). So, for the time being, the two ages overlap--they exist side by side though they are at war one with the other. 

Unbelievers belong to the old age, and are still in the darkness. But those who place their trust in Jesus have been transferred into the new age, into the light. Already in Christ we have 'tasted...the powers of the coming age' (Heb.6:5). Already, God has brought us 'out of darkness into his wonderful light' (1 Pet.2:9). 

Only when Christ comes in glory will the present overlap end. The transition period will be over. The old age will finally vanish, and those who belong to it will face judgment. The new age will be consummated, and those who belong to it will be fully and finally redeemed. So here's the 'bottom line': whether we are ready for Christ's coming or not depends on which age we belong to, on whether we are still in the darkness or already belong to the light. It is only if we are in the light that we will not be taken by surprise.

So the question which Paul's teaching presses upon us is this: to which age do we belong, the old or the new? Do we belong to the night or to the day? Are we asleep or awake? Verses 4 to 8 became quite clear, once we have grasped the biblical teaching on the two ages - the old age of darkness and the new age of light, for the imagery of day and night, light and darkness, is continued throughout.

Moreover, Paul begins with an affirmation as to who we are, and continues with an exhortation as to what we should be. Indeed, he repeats this pattern for emphasis. First, he declares: *But you...are not in darkness* (4), because *you are all sons of the light and sons of the day* (5a). In consequence (associating himself with them), *we do not belong to the night or to the darkness* (5b). *So then*, because of who we are, *let us not be like others* (literally, 'the rest of humankind', as in 4:13), *who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled* (6). In other words, if we belong to the day (the new day which dawned with Christ), our behavior must be daytime behavior. Let's not sleep or even yawn our way through life. Let's stay awake and alert. For then we shall be ready when Christ comes and we will not be taken by surprise.

The second time Paul affirms who we are and urges us to live appropriately, he goes beyond watchfulness and self-control to the need for us to be properly armed for the Christian warfare: *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* (8). Several times in his letters Paul likens Christians to soldiers and refers to our necessary armor and equipment (E.g. Rom.13:12; 2 Cor.6:7; 10:4; Eph.6:10-18). At the same time, he feels free to vary the symbolism. For example, in Ephesians 6 the breastplate is 'righteousness' and the helmet 'salvation', whereas here the breastplate and helmet together represent the triad of graces he refers to in 1 Thess 1:3, namely 'faith, love and hope. Paul's point? We are equipped, prepared and ready when (and only when) we stand in God's grace.

The foundations of Christian hope

Through God's grace-gifts of faith, love and hope, the Thessalonians can rid themselves of their fears concerning the coming judgment at Jesus' return. In particular, they can stand in hope, knowing that *God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him* (9-10). 

Note Paul's logic of grace here. How we are to behave (awake, alert, self-controlled and well-armed) is the outflow of who we are (children of the day and of the light). And who we are is based on who God is and on what he, in Jesus and by the Spirit has done for us.  

Elaborating on this 'equation" of grace, Paul makes two great statements. First, *God did not appoint* (or 'destine') us to suffer wrath (the fearful condemnation that our sins deserve) *but to receive salvation* (the rescue from God's judgment with its corresponding gift of a free forgiveness) *through our Lord Jesus Christ* (9). Secondly, this Lord Jesus Christ *died for us so that...we may live together with him* (10). 

Note the important truths here: To begin with, he died *for us*, on our behalf (in our place) and for our benefit. He died that we might live. Thus his death and our life are deliberately contrasted and inseparably connected. Our life is due entirely to his death, and the kind of life he has won for us is a life lived *together with him*. So he died our death that we might live his life. Through his death we have been not only reprieved but reconciled. And the fullness of this life with him will be ours *whether* at the parousia *we are awake or asleep* (10)--here a reference to the condition of our mortal bodies--either dead or alive.

It is helpful to bring the apostle's two statements together. First, God appointed us to receive salvation in Christ (9). Secondly, Christ died for us that we might live (share in his life) (10). Thus our future salvation depends on God's purpose, and our future life on Christ's death. Our 'hope of salvation' is well founded, therefore. It stands firmly on the solid rock of God's will and Christ's death, and not on the shifting sands of our own performance or feelings. The ultimate reason why we should be bold rather than faint-hearted in anticipation of the parousia lies not in who we are (children of the day and of the light) but on who God is, as revealed in the cross (the giver of salvation and life).

Conclusion

*Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.* Paul knows that God intends for his church to be a community of mutual support. 'Comfort one another', Paul writes (1 Thess 4:18, RSV); *encourage one another*, and *build each other up* (1 Thess 5:11). All three are, of course, expressions of that yet more basic command to *love each other* (1 Thess 4:9). Moreover, the word translated 'one another' emphasizes the reciprocity of Christian care. We are not to leave it to pastors or professional counselors. These have an important role, of course, but supporting, caring, encouraging and comforting are ministries which belong to all members of the Body of Christ. They were already being exercised in Thessalonica: *just as in fact you are doing* (1 Thess 5:11). No community could call itself Christian if it is not characterized by reciprocal love. Yet equally no community is such a paradise of love that its members do not need to hear Paul urging them 'to do so more and more' (1 Thess 4:10).

How, then, is this fundamental ministry of comfort, encouragement and up building to be exercised? Doubtless in many ways, ranging from the simplicities of a smile, a hug or a squeeze of the hand to the costliness of patient listening, sympathy and friendship. Yet here in 1 Thessalonians we need to come back to Paul's emphasis on 'these words' (4:18). True the Thessalonians' problem of anxiety in the face of judgment was a personal and pastoral one. But the solution Paul gave them was theological. 

Paul emphasizes that Christ's cross, resurrection and parousia must be held together, and that their ultimate objective is that we may live *with him*. 'We believe that Jesus died and rose again...and that God will bring *with Jesus* those who have fallen asleep in him' (1 Thess 4:14). Again, 'He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep [i.e. when he comes], we may live together *with him*' (1 Thess 5:10). The foundation of Christian faith and hope, indeed the essence of the gospel, is that Jesus died and rose in order to bring us into union with him, and that when he comes he will glorify us and take us to be with him for ever. 

Here is good news:  Our coming King in none other than our crucified and risen Savior. We therefore have absolutely nothing to fear. On the contrary, we may be certain that nothing (neither death, nor bereavement, nor judgment) can separate us from him who died to bring us to himself. Therefore comfort, encourage and up build one another with these words!