The Danger of Carnal Security
(No. 2490)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1896.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
OCTOBER 10, 1886.
"Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that
were there, how they dwelt carelessly, after the manner of the
Sidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land,
that might put them to shame in anything; and they were far from the
Sidonians, and hadno business with any man…And they took the things
which Micah had made, and the price at which he had, and came to Laish,
to a people that were quiet and secure: and they smote them with the
edge of the sword, and burned the city with fire. And there was no
deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they hadno business with
any man." Judges 18:7,27,28.
I HAVE for this evening's discourse what some of you may consider to be
rather an amazing text. Let me, therefore, begin by briefly stating the
circumstances surrounding it.
The tribe of Dan found its portion to be rather too small, so the
people held a council to decide what was to be done. They resolved to
send a small body of men to spy out the land–these spies came, in due
time, to a place called Laish, which they found to be inhabited by
certain people who dwelt there carelessly, in supposed security, "after
the manner of the Sidonians." They were attacked without any notice and
the tribe of Dan took their territory and added it to their own. I do
not, in the least degree, commend the action of these people. What I
have to do with the narrative is to use it for the purpose of drawing
from it lessons suited to the present time.
I suppose that these people, who were living at Laish, were originally
a colony of Sidonians, and they had settled in a very fat, fertile
valley–according to the tenth verse, a place where there was no lack
of anything. They did not care to trade with others, they were not at
all an enterprising or busy people. Finding every luxury growing out of
their own soil, they had no care to do business with any other men
whatever. They kept no guard or watch, for, although they knew that, in
common with all the other inhabitants of the land of Canaan, they had
been doomed to fall by the sword of Israel, yet the Israelites had been
very slow in conquering the country. Many years had passed since Joshua
had died. Many judges had come and gone and they had never been
troubled. Therefore they rested in perfect ease, neither drilling
themselves, nor exercising any warlike arts, but feeling altogether
secure, living luxuriously in a fools' paradise. It was so, for, all of
a sudden, these Danites, giving them no notice whatever, fell upon
them, cut them up, root and branch, burned their city and took the land
for themselves.
I am not going into the moral of this business–how far Dan is to be
blamed. I am simply going to use this incident as the picture of a very
common condition which is to be found among the sons of men–which
condition is a very dangerous and false one, and will end, unless the
Grace of God prevents it, in the destruction of those who are thus
carnally secure.
I. First, let us notice THE CONDITION OF CARNAL SECURITY INTO WHICH
CHRISTIANS SOMETIMES FALL.
If they fall into such a condition as that, they may rest assured that
it is one of great danger. Let me describe it to you. Here is a man who
is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. In times long gone by he
struggled hard to get his feet upon the Rock of Ages and, at last, he
obtained a firm footing and there he stood in blessed security. For
some time, perhaps even for years, he has been free from all doubts and
fears–and also free from all internal struggles and conflicts. He
almost thinks that the devil is dead, or, if not, that the devil in him
is dead, that sin has become so broken and bruised in his nature that
it will never rise again, or cause him trouble! He rejoices and
continues to rejoice, but it may be that in
the course of time the dry rot of self-satisfaction will begin to show
itself. The man would not say, with the Pharisee, that he thanks God he
is not as other men, but there is something of that sort of feeling
within his heart. He entered into full assurance of faith at the first,
but that full assurance has begun to rust into confidence in self. And
now, no longer emptied from vessel to vessel, his sin remains in him.
No longer tossed upon the waves, he makes little or no progress towards
the heavenly haven–his ship's keel upon the ocean is still amidst a
calm, but the fear is that the calm will grow into stagnation–and the
stagnation into corruption. God save the man to whom a calm, itself,
becomes more dangerous than a tempest! I think you must know some
people of that kind. Perhaps if some of you look in the mirror, you may
see at least one person of that sort! The Sidonians mentioned in our
text had no dread of warfare, or the sound of the trumpet, or the crash
of arms–and self-confident professors are in much the same condition.
You noticed, also, about these Sidonians that they had "no magistrate
in the land." I think I have known some persons who may have possessed
a conscience, but if so, it had gone to sleep. I have great fear for
religious men with sleepy consciences and it is really amazing what
mischief may be done by men who seem to be heartily religious, yet
whose consciences have gone soundly asleep. There are some ungodly men
who would tremble to do what some professing Christians do without any
qualms of conscience! God save you, dear Friends, from such a state of
heart as that! We ought to long for a holy sensitiveness of conscience.
We should wish to have it tender as the apple of the eye, so that the
very least touch of sin should startle and amaze us! We are all too apt
to grow a skin over our conscience and, after a time, it gets to be
callous and we need to have it wounded and kept open like a fresh raw
wound, so that the least speck of sin may cause it intense anguish! We
are never what we ought to be except we are in that condition! Yet I
have known some professors who have been so long at ease in Zion that
the moss has grown over their conscience and you can scarcely get at it
so as to awaken it to a sense of sin!
These Sidonians, next, had no care at all about other people. We are
told twicethat they "had no business with any man." Are there any
people who are called Christians who are of that sort, and have no
concern, or very little concern, about the souls of others? They say
that they care about the heathen, for they have subscribed five
shillings towards sending a missionary to lay down his life on a
foreign shore! They care about the people who are dying at home, for
they spoke to someone about the Sunday school a little while ago, and
they said a kind word for the City Mission! They have never done
anything by way of teaching children, or visiting the poor and
needy–you could not expect it of them, of course. They are such men of
business–they have so many matters to attend to that you could put
into a small thimble anything they do for the cause of God. They take
little or nothing for the Lord out of the full river of their life's
force, so far as the good of their fellows is concerned. They have "no
business with any man."
Years ago they were very active workers–at least, they tell us so. In
some dim remote past, almost forgotten, they did try to take up
Christ's Cross and to bear His yoke, but now they are gentlemen at
large, supernumeraries, who have entered upon a period of dignified
rest–Sidonians, having no business with any man! Some of these people
never join a church, for they do not care about its responsibilities.
They are going to Heaven, so they say, yet they are trying to get there
without walking in the King's Highway, but sneaking behind the hedges
and taking rest whenever they can. They will not enter the Palace
Beautiful, nor join the caravans of pilgrims that march together, with
their Great-Hearts leading them and fighting giants on the road. We
still have this sort of Christians about. I call them Christians, but
God alone knows whether they are His or not.
These people also live, like the Sidonians did, without any fear of
invasion. It is not at all likely that they will ever fall into gross
sin, at least so they say. Young people, of course, have strong
passions and theymay fall into sin, but these old, experienced people
are not likely to be carried away by temptation. Some people are very
foolish and they may be caught by the subtlety of the old serpent, but
these good old professors are wonderfully wise. Indeed, it is quite a
wonder that one small head can carry all they know! They are so deeply
experienced that if they were to die, half the experience in the church
would die out with them! So excellent are they that, with regard to
their yielding to temptation and falling into sin, it is quite
impossible! Of course, the young folk had better pledge themselves to
total abstinence because drink would be a temptation to them, but these
good people can drink just a sufficient quantity and no more, they have
such control of themselves! Of course, young men and women had better
keep away from doubtful places of amusement, but these old people are
so supremely good that if they were living in the devil's camp, their
hearts would still be in Heaven! They can be trusted anywhere!
Perhaps you enquire, "Does anybody seriously believe this what you have
been saying?" Anybody seriously believe it? Why, yes, some of you do,
only you do not put it into words and if I were to point you out and
say that you believed it, you would flatly contradict me. But you do,
all the same. There are many professing Christians who live as if they
were beyond gun-shot of the enemy and were quite safe and secure. They
say, spiritually, "Soul, take your ease, you have much goods laid up
for many years–eat, drink and be merry." And all the while they are in
imminent danger of falling into the very worst forms of sin, proving
apostates, after all, showing the rottenness of their profession,
letting all see that their religion is nothing better than a painted
disguise to go to Hell in–but not a work of God in the soul by which
that soul is really and truly saved. A friend told me that the other
night, as she sat in this Tabernacle, there spoke with her a person who
is a regular frequenter of this House of Prayer and who said that she
was without sin, that she did not know that anything preached here at
all suited her–and that she believed I was well aware that she did not
require any admonitions or exhortations.
She was glad to hear me earnest about sinners, but she was not a
sinner–she had not been a sinner for a long time and any exhortations
that were directed to sleepy saints, she felt were very proper, but
they did not belong to her. In fact, she only came because it was a
proper thing to come, but she did not expect to get anything for
herself out of the services–she had advanced far beyond that point.
Well, I do not know where you are, my good Sister, but you are the very
person to whom I am now speaking! You superlatively good people who
think you do not need any warning are the exact persons I am most
anxious to warn. Remember Cowper's lines–
"He has no hope who never felt a fear. And he that never doubted of his
state, He may, perhaps–perhaps he may–too late." He that is, as men
say, so "cock sure," may find himself lost after all. He may be but a
dotard and a dreamer, notwithstanding all his confidence. I would
rather go to Heaven doubting all the way than be lost through
self-confidence. I would rather cry out in the bitterness of my spirit,
"Am I sincere or not?" and cry it out every day, than write myself down
among the blessed and, at last, wake up and find myself in Hell!
There is a holy fear which must not be banished from the Church of God.
There is a sacred anxiety which puts us to the question and examines us
whether we are in the faith–and it is not to be laughed at as some
would do. It is all very fine to say, "Believe that you are right, and
you are right," but if you believe that you are right and you are, all
the while, wrong, you put yourself beyond the probability of ever
getting right! He who believes himself to be saved when he is not is
likely to shut the door of salvation in his own face and to perish
self-excluded. God save us from that fatal folly! I would blow the
trumpet of warning even in Zion! I would sound an alarm in God's holy
mountain! May you and I never get beyond spiritual conflicts, beyond
striving against our corruptions, beyond hating the garment spotted by
the flesh! May we never get beyond a holy filial fear and a grave
anxiety that in all that we do we may be pleasing and acceptable in the
sight of God! If not, we may get to be like these Sidonians dwelling
carelessly in their city of Laish–and one of these days destruction
may enter our gates when we little expect it.
II. Now I change the theme to speak of THIS CONDITION OF CARNAL
SECURITY IN THE UNSAVED and to address those who know that they are not
converted, and who make no profession of religion whatever. There are
some of these who live very carelessly and who are very difficult to
awaken to a true sense of their peril.
Let me describe this condition as it is found among many unsaved
persons. Our text tells us that when the spies came to Laish, they "saw
the people that were therein, how they dwelt carelessly." That is the
way with the carnally secure– they are careless. As long as they can
enjoy the present, they are quite indifferent to all thoughts of the
future. Many of you see no further than your hand can reach. Multitudes
of men restrict their vision to that which might be seen by an ox or a
sheep. If there is enough grass in the pasture, the ox is satisfied.
Indeed, he does not look over the whole pasture, for if there is but
grass near his nose, it is enough for him. And, oh, the multitudes of
London, and of England, and in the world at large, whose only questions
are, "What shall we eat? What shall we drink? With what shall we be
clothed?" They live as if they would never die, or as if, when they
died, they would die like dogs and that would be the end of them. This
spirit breeds carelessness about their lives, about their thoughts,
about prayer, about all holy things. They ask, "What is all that to us?
It may do very well for some people to be religious, but we have to
work hard from morning to night and we cannot think about these things
at all." They would reduce themselves, if they could, to the level of
swine! They are as careless as the beasts that perish. Perhaps, my dear
Hearer, that word, "careless," describes you.
And, connected with this carelessness, there is, next, a great
quietness from all trial. It is not so with many of you, for you are
sorely vexed with troubles, sickness, poverty, or bereavement. You seem
to be always afflicted and you may always thank God if you are! It is
evident that He has not given you up and left you to sleep yourselves
to destruction. But there are certain persons who appear to have no
troubles. Their path is wonderfully smooth, they have all that heart
can wish, they touch nothing without prospering. They are contented and
well they may be, for it seems as if Providence had determined to make
them rich! And yet what do I see before me? A bull locked in the stall!
Would I rejoice to be that bull? No, for I know why it is thus fed–it
is fattened for the slaughterand already I see the pole-axe lifted in
the air and about to descend upon the poor beast! And many a man who is
indulged with everything that he can desire is nothing better than a
fattened bull doomed to die! Yet many care not about that–they are
quite satisfied if they can enjoy themselves today–as for tomorrow, it
must take thought for the things of itself.
Meanwhile, these same people are quite secure as to the future. A
funeral perhaps startles them for a moment. The passing bell has a
strange tone to their ears, but, for the most part, they put away all
thoughts of death. They are young, or they are robust–they will not
soon die and, therefore, should they even think of it? And, as for that
Great White Throne, and the Judgment Seat, and the assembled worlds,
and the rocking earth, and the blazing Heaven–well, it is only
preacherswho talk about those things! They put their fingers in their
ears and will not listen to our warnings–and go their way to their
farms and to their merchandise–and let the future take care of itself.
This is the horrible condition of multitudes of mankind that, with the
best possible reasons for being concerned about the future, they
resolve that they will not wake up to it, but that, like these men of
Laish, they will dwell "quiet and secure."
The trumpet is sounding, the adversaries are marching from Dan, they
have already encamped on the way! Men of Laish, why do you gird
yourselves for the dance and for the feast–the sword of the enemy will
soon be at your throats? And, O you men of London, you men of this
world, how can you make mirth and sport while the day of your doom
hastens on and Death, on the pale horse, rides so fast towards you and
judgment follows at his heels? Yet I may say what I will, but, with the
most of men, I shall but waste my breath, for they dwell so carelessly,
and wrap themselves up in their ease!
These people of Laish, it seems, were also free from all restraint
"There was no magistrate in the land." It is a perilous thing for any
of us to know no restraint–especially for that young man who, in a few
days, is coming into possession of a large fortune and will then have
his full swing. Oh, if I could get hold of his hand, I would wet it
with my tears while I urged him not to court ruin with his fingers
jeweled with the mercies of God! To turn the blessings of Providence
into stones to throw at Him who gave them to us is base ingratitude,
indeed! I pray that the young man, instead of acting so, may begin a
new and better life and so use his substance for the Glory of God. We
are all impatient of control, but nothing can be worse for some men
than to have no voice to check, no language to upbraid, no tender wife
or gentle friend who will administer a kind rebuke. But there are such,
and there may be such here who are all the more confident and stolid
because there is no conscience yet awake within them–and nobody to
serve as a conscience for them. "There was no magistrate in the land."
And, once more, these people at Laish were self-contained. "They had no
business with any man." There are some persons who are all the more
hard to get at because they do not want to be interfered with. If
anybody were to speak to such a man about his soul, tonight, he would
say, "Don't you bother about me! Leave me alone, I can take care of
myself." But he who takes care of himself generally has a fool for a
keeper! All of us need some help from others and those of us who
receive most help thank God for all that we get.
Yet once more, according to verse 10, these people at Laish had "no
need of anything." They had all that heart could wish. I daresay that
while I have been describing them, some of you have half envied them.
Of course you do if you are of the same nature as they were! But the
day shall come when some of us will bless God for poverty and for
sickness because we shall get to Heaven by such help–while others will
have to curse themselves because they turned their health, their vigor
and their wealth into occasions and opportunities for sin! If we could,
we would escape all trial, but we would be very unwise to do so. If, by
falling down upon my knees, now, I could prevail with God so that there
should be no poverty to the drunk, I dare not pray the prayer! Or that
there should be no disease to the unclean man, I dare not pray the
prayer! Or that there should be no punishment to the thief, I dare not
pray it! It is, after all, best for society that sin should be followed
by chastisement, and it is best for us all that we should be drawn to
God, or driven to Him, by the troubles and trials of this mortal life,
rather than that we should now be set in the slippery places of ease
and, by-and-by, be cast down to destruction! Oh, that I could say a
word that would make you easy-going men, who have all you can desire,
begin to tremble amidst your plenty–lest eternal ruin should follow
the greatness of God's bounty!
III. So now, thirdly, I want to speak briefly upon THE EVILS OF THIS
CONDITION OF CARNAL CONFIDENCE in which an ungodly man is perfectly at
his ease in a dying world.
The first result of it is that warnings are unheeded. Preach, Mr.
Preacher, and preach your very heart out, but this man does not care a
bit about it all, for he is perfectly at ease and happy–nothing ever
stings him into anxiety! He never wakes at night to cry to God for
mercy. He never dreams of judgment, not he! His companions sing that
"he's a jolly good fellow" and he thoroughly enjoys himself. Just so.
Yet he has no God, no Christ, no hope! He trifles with eternal things
and makes this world his all. Alas, all our most solemn warnings are
lost upon him!
What is worse, all the mercies of God are lost on him. What is the use
of bidding him wash in the Fountain opened for sin and uncleanness? He
does not feel that he is foul. Why present him with garments of
righteousness? He does not know anything about his iniquity. Why talk
to him of a Physician? He feels no sickness. Why point him to a Savior?
He does not believe that he is lost! Oh, how I wish that the pangs of
contrition would strike through ungodly men and women in this house!
Dear Master, fit Your sharp arrows to Your bow and wound them now! Fill
this house with stricken souls that will cry mightily for You! Then
shall they have You! Then shall they rejoice in You! But men miss these
choice mercies of God because they are self-contented and carnally at
ease.
The further result is that, as year follows after year, the heart grows
stiil harder In the young man there once was a little feeling, but now
in the gray head there is none. You might have impressed him when he
was a boy at his mother's knee, but you cannot influence him now. He
does not believe anything you say, for he is case-hardened–the devil
has fitted on him a coat of mail which seems to even turn the edge of
the Sword of the Spirit. Ah, miserable man!
And in this man, worse still, great sin is being prepared. He may not
yet have sinned grossly against the laws of his country or of society,
but where there is such fuel as this hard heart and stolid will, the
devil will not be slow to bring the flame! I look on some
self-confident men and read their terrible future in their present
assurance. And I would say to each one, as to another Hazael, "I know
what you will do. You have been moral and excellent, but the day will
come when, having cast off all fear of God, you will do what it would
horrify you to hear of now." The man asks, "Is your servant a dog, that
he should do this great thing?" No, you are not a dog, but if you were,
it would be better for you than to be what you are! No man knows how
much of devil there is asleep in him–and no man may dream that he is
secure from the worst of evils unless he comes to Jesus, gets a new
heart and puts himself into the keeping of the One who is better and
stronger than himself. Then he will be safe, but short of that all his
fancied security is ruinous to the last degree!
I do not know all to whom I am speaking, but I am convinced that I am
preaching directly to some of you. Whether you are in the top gallery,
or downstairs, or close around the platform, I do not know, but the
Lord, the Searcher of all hearts, knows for whom this message is
intended. Let us, each one, take it so far as it bears upon our case.
Wake, you sleepers, wake! Why sleep? Sin besets you all around. If you
have not fled to Christ for salvation. If you have not received a new
heart and a right spirit, give no sleep to your eyes nor slumber to
your eyelids till these things are set right by the power of the Holy
Spirit–and you are saved from the wrath to come!
IV. Now, finally, I have to notice THE GREAT DANGER OF THOSE WHO ARE
CARNALLY SECURE. Notice the horror of their doom. These poor careless
Sidonians, enjoying themselves, setting no watch, bearing no shield,
wielding no sword, rested in fancied security, till, all of a sudden,
the swords of their adversaries cut them in pieces and they were
destroyed! What I dread most about some men is the change which will
come upon them from their present state of ease. "Oh, it is all right,
Sir!" says one. "It is all right. I feel perfectly happy." An unsaved
man may be in the very article of death and yet be quite at ease
because his conscience has been so heavily drugged that it does not
awake even in his death moments. But it will awake, it will awake!
There is no opium that can send your conscience into an eternal
slumber, else you might venture to die with your sins uncleansed. But
it will awake, and oh, the awful change from the fools' paradise to the
fools' perdition, from playing with trifles to find that there are no
trifles, but that everything is real, earnest, serious in that dread
world into which your soul will plunge when God says to you, "Return,"
and your spirit shall return to God who gave it! I dread the change for
you who are now carnally at ease.
And, further, when I think of the doom which will ultimately come upon
careless souls, I dread that sense of self-deceiving which comes upon
men. If they went to Hell merely by virtue of a Divine decree, it would
not be such a Hell to them. But to go there by their own folly–this is
a fire that can never be quenched! This is a worm that never dies! Such
a man will have to say, "I brought myself here. I was warned. That
preacher in the Tabernacle spoke to me on that October night as best he
could–in rough words, but real earnest–and he bade me awake and
escape from the wrath to come, but I said, 'Leave me alone!' Like the
sluggard, I turned over to the other side and said, 'A little more
sleep, a little more folding of the hands,' and now I am in Hell! I
shut myself in here! Those iron bolts I fastened by my own folly! These
fires I kindled and the terrible truth burns in my conscience that I,
myself, supplied the fuel for this flame." O Sirs, I do pray you,
commit not everlasting suicide by resting at ease and peace when there
is no rest and no peace, for, "there is no peace, says the Lord, to the
wicked."
There is a short, sad sentence in the 28th verse–"There was no
deliverer." When the Danites were at the gates of Laish, "there was no
deliverer." Thank God there is a Deliverer, now! There is a Savior for
sinners! Come, guilty souls, and trust yourselves with Jesus! Free,
full and immediate pardon is proclaimed to all who trust Him. Submit to
His dear will. Look to His blessed wounds and live! But if your ears
refuse the language of His Grace. If you despise the invitations of His
mercy, there will come a time when there shall be no deliverer, no
deliverer, NO DELIVERER in Heaven, or earth or Hell–no
deliverer–nothing but the sword and the fire, the just and righteous
wrath of God which you have, yourselves, obstinately incurred.
Then there came back upon these people of Laish, in their death agony,
the fact that they had no business with any man and, therefore, nobody
pitied them. Nobody came to their rescue! They had no business with
any, so none had any business with them–and they died, "unwept,
unhonored, and unsung"–only remembered by preachers who, like myself,
try to turn their doom into a warning and a lesson for others! You
self-contained people who have no business with anybody and do not want
anybody to interfere with you. You who do not wish to be warned and
would resent anyone's touching you on the shoulder and asking you if
you are saved–thus shall it be with you in the evil day–no man shall
have any business with you! Shame and everlasting contempt will be the
portion of that man who boasted that he could take care of himself, but
who found, at last, that he had no deliverer and no man to care for his
soul! My dear Hearers, may God save you, every one of you! Could I look
you in the face and wish anything else for any one of you but that you
might find eternal salvation in Jesus Christ? No, I could not have any
other desire than that! Do you not also wish it for yourselves? Now, a
wish is half a prayer–make it a whole one! Breathe this brief prayer
to God–"Lord, save me."
Then listen to this Word of Grace which has the message of salvation in
it–"Look and live." Jesus died upon the Cross that whoever believes in
Him should not perish, but should have everlasting life. He is lifted
up before you, now, that you who have been bitten by the fiery serpent
of sin may look to Him, as Israel in the wilderness looked to the
brazen serpent–and in that looking, you may be healed. As I shall meet
you in that Day of Days for which all other days were made. As I shall
make one of the vast throng that will be gathered before the Judgment
Seat of Christ, I pray you, bear witness to me, in that day, that I
have spoken honestly and faithfully and fearlessly–certainly in no
smooth and flattering terms–to every one of you! And if you perish I
shall be clear of your blood in that great day. If you will not have
Christ and will be damned, you must. But it shall not be without my
crying to you, "Turn you, turn you, for why will you die?" "Turn you,
turn you," says the Lord God, Himself! Turn them, O Lord, by Your
Grace, for Jesus' sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: 1TTHESSALONIANS 4:13-18; 5.
1 Thessalonians 4:13. But I would not have you to be ignorant,
brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even
as others which have no hope. You cannot help sorrowing, for you miss
your dear ones so much. But you do not sorrow like the heathen who
believe their departed friends to be extinct and annihilated. You have
a glorious hope concerning those who have fallen asleep in Christ–you
believe that they still live and that, by-and-by, their bodies will
rise again!
14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, they,
also, which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. There is such a
union between Christ and His people that they never can be divided from
Him. In life they live in Him, in death they seep in Him. And when He
comes again, He will bring them with Him. Christ cannot be without His
people. A head without a body would be a ghastly thing–and Christ
without His people would be incomplete and imperfect.
15. For this we say to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are
alive and remain to the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which
are asleep. We shall have no preference over the saints who are
sleeping in Jesus. We shall not go before them, we shall be on a
blessed equality with them.
16. 17. For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the
dead in Christ shall rise first: then we who are alive and remain shall
be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the
air: and so shall we always be with the Lord. Whatever ideas we have
concerning the details of Christ's coming, this summing up of the whole
matter is unutterably precious to us–"so shall we always be with the
Lord." There is no separating Christ and His people! If you are one
with Him, He will not be in Heaven and leave you behind. Nor will He be
glorified in the Presence of His Father without making you to be
partakers of the Glory. What joy there is for us in this blessed Truth
of God!
18. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 5:1, 2. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, you
have no need that I write to you. For yourselves know perfectly that
the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. That is, most
unexpectedly to an ungodly world. Even they who are watching for
Christ's coming may be, to some extent, surprised at His appearing, as
the most watchful person may be when the thief, at last, comes. But we
shall not be taken altogether unawares. We shall be, at least in a
measure, prepared for the coming of the Lord. But as for the world at
large, it will be an awful and surprising visitation–
3. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction
comes upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not
escape. Let no ungodly man dream that he will escape! Apart from vital
union to Christ, there will be no escaping for any of us in that
tremendous day of the Lord.
4. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should
overtake you as a thief You who truly know the Lord. You who are saved
through His First Coming and are expecting His Second Coming–
5, 6. You are all the children of light, and the children of the day:
we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep,
as do others.–Night is the time for sleep and we sleep best in the
darkness, but if we have come into the daylight, if the Sun of
Righteousness has risen upon us, let us be wakeful, let us be watchful.
When the sun is shining, it is not right that men should sleep.
"Therefore let us not sleep, as do others."–
6, 7. But let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the
night; and they that are drunk are drunk in the night. Even in Paul's
day, drunkenness was a thing that seemed more at home in darkness than
in the light. As for us, Brothers and Sisters, let us never be carried
away by excess–either drunkenness of body or inebriation of mind–for
there is a drunkenness which abjures the cup and yet is as gross an
intoxication as the other is. We may be drunk with pride, or drunk with
ambition, or drunk with wrath, or drunk with worldliness, but we are to
avoid all these evils because we are not, now, in the night, when these
drunken fits might be in some sort of harmony with the surrounding
darkness.
8-10. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the
breastplate offaith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we
should live together with Him. This seems to be a theme which the
Apostle constantly brings up, as though he could not help it–that we
are to live together with Christ. There lies your safety, Brothers and
Sisters–"together with Him." If you could get away from Him, you would
go down to destruction! But "together with Him" is the path of life,
safety and perfection.
11-13. Therefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another,
even as also you do. And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which
labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to
esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace
among yourselves. So that these Apostolic Churches had a ministry set
over them in the Lord and they were commanded to know these laborers
for the Master, to recognize them as appointed by God to their
ministerial position, "and to esteem them very highly in love for their
work's sake."
14-26. Now, we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort
the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See
that none render evil for evil to any man, but always folow that which
is good, both among yourselves and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray
without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit Despise not
prophesying. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain
from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you
wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved
blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that
calls you, who also will do it Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the
brethren with an holy kiss. That was the Oriental manner of greeting
and it means to us, "Greet all the brethren with a hearty shake of the
hand." Such tokens of fellowship ought never to be forgotten among the
followers of Christ.
27, 28. I charge you by the Lord that this Epistle be read to all the
holy brethren. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.