What do these men have in common: William Miller, Hal Lindsey, Harold Camping, and Edgar Whisenant? They were all date setters or at least date estimators. They all convinced others of a date or range of dates of Christ’s return. And all were wrong. There have been others—many others—who have led people astray (and not necessarily with evil intentions), started movements, and caused great disappointment with their calculations and hopes of discovering what the Bible simply does not communicate: The day or the hour of Jesus’ return.
When I was 18, I sat in a revival meeting and listened to a man use the passage we are going to look at today—among others—to talk about why Jesus was coming back in October of 1987—or maybe it was 1988: I’ve gotten a little fuzzy on the details 35 years later. I don’t remember all of his arguments, but I do remember that he used this passage as a proof that we could know (because Paul says in verse 4 that we are not in darkness)—we could know, if we did the math right and read the signs of our culture right. Then we could be in on some secret knowledge. I don’t have a secret to pass on to you this morning. In fact, I’m going to be saying something similar to what I have been saying all along from this book: because of what we know to be true, we should live differently.
And I want to explain why this is such an encouraging passage. It’s encouraging precisely because it tells us that Jesus’ return is one less thing for us as believers to worry about. It frees us up, in fact, to get our motivation for living a godly life set on a firm foundation, not a foundation based on fear or speculation or manipulation.
It is precisely because we are secure in Christ’s work on the cross that we can live lives that are prepared for his return and that rest in peace. It is because we have a relationship with the Almighty—with the one who controls time because he is outside of time—that we can know we can’t be separated from him. And thus God’s timing for setting all things right does not have to be something that we either worry about or obsess over. Knowing that the future is secure allows me to be present and ready for today’s needs.
You have no need of anything to be written to you concerning the timing of Christ’s return. So here’s your first application: Don’t go out and buy the latest book on how what’s going on in our culture proves that Jesus’ return is right around the corner—or worse yet, tries to set a specific date. Don’t get caught up in all that. Paul says you have no need of it.
Why not? Because the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. So we need to talk about two things: First, what is the day of the Lord? Second why does Paul use the metaphor of a thief to talk about Christ’s return?
Paul has just finished talking about the resurrection of the dead and those who are still alive not somehow missing out on that. So that should be foremost in our minds as we come to this phrase about the day of the Lord. Paul has been talking about the final resurrection. This is also true in other passages where Paul uses the phrase day of the Lord. Most of the time, Paul uses that positively, where the day of the Lord is when we who are Christ’s are presented holy and complete.
For example, 1 Corinthians 1:8 tells us that in the day of the Lord we will be confirmed blameless. How can that happen? I am certainly not blameless, and you’re not blameless in terms of our thoughts or words or behavior. So how does this happen? We believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection as the sole and sufficient means for forgiveness of sins. This trust gains you Christ’s righteousness. Those who have put on Christ and not tried to dress themselves up in their own righteousness will be finally and ultimately made holy at the final resurrection.
Pastor's Blog 