We are in a series on how to live in the last days. God’s Word teaches us that we are living in the last days. The Bible says the last days started after Jesus resurrected from the grave and the Holy Spirit filled the believers. So, we have been in the last days for about 2000 years. That seems long to us, but that is not long to God. So, stay patient until the Lord returns.  Let’s review what we looked at a couple of weeks ago.

In Acts 2:17 we are told, “In the last days,” God says, “I will pour out my Spirit upon all people” (NLT). Peter is preaching and he reminds the people of what God said. This statement is in the context of Pentecost where God’s Spirit was poured out on the believers after the resurrection of Jesus. The last days started then.

Then in 2 Timothy 3:1, Paul tells Timothy and us, “That in the last days there will be very difficult times” (NLT). Then Paul describes the kind of horrible and sinful environment and world there will be during these last days.

We are in the last days, and God wants us to live a certain way while we are in these last days. We are looking at what God has to say to us about living until the Lord’s return from 1 Thessalonians.

The Return of Jesus

Let’s talk about the context of 1 Thessalonians. By the time you get to chapter 4 and 5, God’s word does a deep dive into the return of Jesus. Paul says things like this in 1 Thessalonians 5:2, “For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night” (NLT). The Thessalonian believers, like many of us today, were very concerned about the future and the Lord’s return. Paul wanted the believers to understand the Lord’s return, but more importantly how to live in the last days until He does return. Let me be clear, the truth of the Lord’s return is not about scaring us, but steadying us. As a follower of Jesus, you don’t need to be concerned about His return… you need to be concerned about living for Him until He returns. It should make your life stable, steady, and consistent.

Let’s take a look at the Three ways believers live ready in the last days.

  • We turn
  • We serve
  • We wait

We Turn

The first thing we do is, we turn. We turn from the idols in our lives to the one true God. Look at 1 Thessalonians 1:9 where Paul says, “They tell how you turned to God from idols…” (NIV). We turn to God from idols.

  • What is an idol? An idol is anything you put in God’s place. It’s replacing God with something else. It’s making anything or anyone more of a priority than God.
  • A couple of weeks ago we saw the Thessalonian believers had turned from idols like Zeus, Apollo, and Artemis. They got rid of their idol statues out of their house and they quit going to the idol temples. They turn from their idols to God. They did this while waiting on the Lord’s return.
  • Today, our idols are just as real, but they look different. They come in the form of productivity, pleasure, people, prosperity, power, popularity and self.

Paul says, in the last days, you are going to see this kind of stuff. You are going to see people idolizing the sinful things of this fallen world instead of being truly submitted to the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. This is what Paul said. I want to show you what he said about the last days and see if you recognize any of this in the world today. He said in 2 Timothy 3:1, You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good (vs. 1-3, NLT). You and I, we are going to live differently. We are going to turn from our idols and our sin and turn to God.

We Serve

What are we going to do? We are going to do three things until the Lord returns. Three things God wants us to do during the last days.

  • We turn
  • We serve
  • We wait

We turn from our idols, and we serve the living and true God.

Paul says this, not only do we turn, but we serve the living God, not dead idols. Look at 1 Thessalonians 1:9, “They tell how you turned to God from idols [Why? Why did you turn? The reason is] to serve the living and true God…” (NIV). We turn in order to serve. You turn from your dead idols and the things you have replaced God with to actually serving the living and true God.

The living and true God

What is the problem with idols? A lot of things, but there are two significant problems with them when you compare them to the living and true God.

  • Idols are not living. This means they can’t produce life. When you idolize pleasure, prosperity, power, popularity, or productivity they all promise a happy and meaningful life, but in reality they don’t apart from God. It is a fake life. It may feel real, feel right, feel good, and make you happy for a while but in the end your idol will leave you hurting, lonely, damaged, and dead on the inside. It’s just a matter of time. Your idol will promise you a lot, but deliver you very little.
  • Idols are not true. What you think your idol will do is give you something real, meaningful, genuine, and authentic. You think your idol will give you this deep, meaningful, true, and abundant life. But it won’t and it doesn’t. It feels like that at first, but it’s fake. It’s fake joy, imitation love, it’s a counterfeit peace, it’s a false purpose. Your idol will not be true to you. Your idol will lie to you.

This is why we turn from our idols to serve the living and true God! Our God is alive! His Word is alive. He is living, active, and powerful. Our God is a living God. He hears you when you pray. Our God moves, our God saves, our God intervenes. This is why we turn from our sin to the only living and true God.

What does it mean to serve God?

But what does it mean to serve God? What does that word serve actually mean? The word serve comes from the Greek word douleuo. It means to serve with complete loyalty, putting the will of another above your own. To serve God is to do what He tells you to do. When Jesus was explaining His purpose and doing what God told Him to do Jesus said that He “came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28, NLT). Part of serving God is serving others. So let’s take a look at your life. Whose in your life? To serve God will be to serve them. To serve God is to be completely loyal to Him and to put His will above your own. His will is for you to serve the people in your life. By serving them, you are serving God.

Listen carefully to Colossians 3:23 which says, “Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord…” (CSB). There are three parts to that statement.

  • Part one, “whatever you do….” What do you do at work? What are you doing at school? Whatever you do. What are you doing toward your spouse? What are you doing towards your children? What are you doing about your health? Whatever you do. What are you doing about your time? What are you doing about dating? Whatever you do. What are you doing in retirement? What are you doing with your money? Whatever you do. Whatever you do covers a lot of territory in your life.
  • Part two, “do it from the heart….” That means put your best effort into it, give it all you’ve got! Throw yourself into it. Do the best you can. Do it with enthusiasm. Put your whole heart and soul into it. Don’t just do the minimum. Do it right. Give it all you got! Whatever you do at work, do it from the heart. When you show up to work, work like you mean it. Work with joy and enthusiasm. Do your best. Whatever you do for your spouse, do it from the heart. Give them your best, not the minimum or left overs. Throw yourself into that relationship. Love them big! Whatever you do at school, do it from the heart. Be the best student you can be, be the best athlete you can be. Be the best band member you can be? Have the best attitude. Get after it. Whatever you do at home, do it from the heart.
  • Part three, “Whatever you do, do it from the heart as something done for the Lord.” Sometimes you are not going to want to do your best because you think your boss, your spouse, your children, or yourself don’t deserve the best, but ultimately you are not doing it for them you are doing it for the Lord. No matter what they say or do makes no impact on whether you bring your A game or not. You are going to do your best because you are doing it as something done for the Lord.

We are going to turn from our idols and turn to God and serve Him and we serve Him by serving the people in our lives.

We Wait

What are we going to do while waiting on the Lord’s return?

  • We turn
  • We serve
  • We wait

We turn from our idols. We serve the living and true God. But we also wait.

And so, living in the last days we turn and we serve and we wait. We turn. We serve. We wait.

What does it mean to wait? Well, Paul teaches us, this is how we wait. We wait actively, preparing for the return of Christ. Look at 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, “They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom [God] raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath” (NIV). Waiting doesn’t mean doing nothing. Waiting doesn’t mean wasting time.

The word wait is an interesting word. It comes from a Greek word that is hard to pronounce, but here it is… anamenein. It actually has two root words.

  • Ana: again, intensely. It refers to waiting again and again and again and it comes with an intensity from the deepest part of your being.
  • Menein: to remain, stay, abide. You see this word 11 different times in John 15. In John 15 Jesus says things like “remain in Me” and “abide in Me” and “remain in Me” and “abide in Me” over and over again. Eleven times Jesus says this. And this word means to remain, to stay, and to abide. You are locked in!

When you put these two root words together for the word wait, it means to wait actively and faithfully with great expectation.

How do you wait? Actively and faithfully, with great expectation. How do you wait, we are living in the last days and Jesus is returning soon. You wake up and say, “Today could be the day. I better be loving people today. I better be found serving Jesus today. I better be a bright light today. I need to drift away from the things of the world and let my heart drift toward the kingdom of God today. I’m waiting actively and faithfully and believing that Jesus could even come today. I’m going to love my spouse. I’m going to love my kids. I’m going to make wise decisions. I’m going to serve the people in my life.

I would venture to say that most of us rarely ever think about the return of Jesus. We don’t think it could be today, next week, this year, or within five years. I think most of us are not waiting on Jesus to return. We are too busy living our life and when he comes back… then He comes back, but we are not living as though He is returning. I’m hoping that this series of messages of living in the last days will help move the return of Christ to the forefront of our minds and our thinking because when you are waiting on someone to arrive you live different.

For example, let’s say you get a letter saying that someone you love very much is going to arrive sometime in the next 7 days. You are going to clean the house, you are going to get up make sure you are clean, smell nice and have food in the house they like. You think maybe they will arrive today. You go to work thinking they may be on their way and could be there this evening. When you expect someone is coming that you love and they love you, their arrival is on your mind and it changes how you prepare and live that day. That’s what the return of Christ should do for us as we are living in the last days and waiting on His return.  

Conclusion

As we wrap up out time together today, I want you to think about three questions.

  • What do you need to turn from? What idol? What sin? What do you need to turn from?
  • How does God want you to serve Him? You turn from your idol and sin, to the living and true God in order to serve Him. How does He want you to serve Him? Who does He want you to serve more faithfully that’s in your life?
  • Are you waiting actively, faithfully, and expectantly? Are you living your life in a way that reflects that Jesus may return today? What would your life look like if you thought He would return in the next seven days? The next month? Within the next year? Are you actively and faithfully waiting on the Lord’s return?

We are living in the last days. God wants us to live a certain way.

  • We turn
  • We serve
  • We wait