The Bible is clear that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is God in the flesh. He was born to a virgin. He lived a sinless life. He was crucified and died for our sins. He was resurrected from the grave conquering sin and everything that comes with it. 40 days later Jesus ascended to the Father. But the Bible is also very clear that someday this Jesus will return for His people. And every day we are one day closer to His return. We are closer to his return today than we were yesterday and we will be closer tomorrow than we are today.

When you take a look around the world and you see all the wars, the natural disasters, and all the sin that seems to be escalating in the lives of both Christians and non-Christians, do you ever wonder if we are living in the end times? Do you think we are nearing the end? Do you think that Jesus might be returning soon, rather than later? If you ask questions like that, you are actually not the first to ask.

About 2000 years ago, there was a group of new Christians in Thessalonica that were asking the very same questions. So today we are starting a new message series. We are going to do an overview of the book of 1 Thessalonians and we are calling this series, “Living in the Last Days.”

Are we living in the last days?

Let’s start with this question, “Are we living in the last days?” The answer is, yes, we actually are living in the last days because the Bible teaches us that we are living in the last days. And the Bible shows us that the last days actually began when Jesus ascended into heaven. If you remember on the cross, Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sins, and three days later, the stone was rolled away, the tomb was empty, and he was not there. And 40 days after the resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven. And then at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on people and the Bible actually shows us that was the beginning of the last days. So, from that moment on, we have all been living in the final chapter of God’s redemptive plan.

  • 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 people. 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, which we will look at later.

When the Bible talks about the last days, it is always in the context of the Lord’s return. So, if you are asking, “Are we living in the last days?” Then the answer is yes we are. We have been living in the last days for about 2000 years. And so every generation since then is called to live with a very sincere and faithful spiritual urgency because we know that every single day, we are one day closer to the return of the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords.

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. 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.

Introduction to 1 Thessalonians

Throughout the book of 1 Thessalonians, Paul gives us some things we need to focus on as followers of Jesus until our Lord returns. The book starts this way, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-3, “… To the church of the Thessalonians… We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (NIV). What’s beautiful about this text is that Paul’s writing in a very relational tone. I remember you, we are praying for you, I’m thankful for your work, and it actually makes sense if you understand the background and context of the Thessalonian Church.

Around 50 AD, Paul took his second missionary journey, and if you look all the way up at the top left-hand corner, you will see him on his journey arriving at Thessalonica. And according to Acts 17, you can read about this if you want to, but Acts 17 tells us about his visit there.  He visited this major city population of over 200,000 people that he knew was important and strategic because it was the capital. And also, if you will see up there, it was a port city. So Paul knew if he could reach those people with the gospel, the gospel could spread from there to places around the world.

Now, how did the church start? Well, according to the Book of Acts, Paul preached in Thessalonica for about three weeks. And when he preached several people gave their life to the Lord and there was a new little revival going on. The problem is some of the Pharisees and Sadducees got angry and jealous of Paul. And so they literally ran him out of town. So he’s there for about three weeks. He preaches, a bunch of people get saved and boom, there’s baby Christians and a brand-new church. So they are like loving God, but they are being persecuted and they are scared.

The Love and Power of God

So what does Paul do? He writes a letter to them and he’s very, very relational and he starts with talking about the love of God. Watch what he says in 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5, “For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God [Hey, don’t be afraid, God’s with you, He is for you, He loves you], that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power [the gospel is not just words, but the gospel came to you with power], with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction…” (NIV).

He says, “I want you to know and understand that God does love you, He loves you, He is with you. He accepts you, He chose you, He has forgiven you, He has made you new. He loves you. But God didn’t just give you His love. But God gave you His power.” Paul said, our gospel is not just words we say, but the gospel is power to live by. The gospel is power to change your life. The gospel is power to set you free from sin. The gospel is power to give you a new life in Christ. God’s Word says in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” (NASB). That “salvation” refers to your complete salvation. The gospel has the power to save you from your past sins, your present sins, and your future sins. The salvation deals with your justification, your sanctification, and your glorification. The gospel gives you the power to love those you need to love. The gospel has the power to give you the spiritual endurance you need to get through your valley, to make wise decisions, to be faithful, to be holy, to be bold, and to be humble. The gospel is not just words, it comes with power.

You know that God loves you. Many of you, you embrace the love of God, but maybe you are living without the power of God. Some of you right now are like literally, “Okay, I’m saved. And okay, now what?” The same power that raised Christ from the dead, the Holy Spirit, that same spirit dwells within you if you are a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so, yes, God’s love secures you, but God’s power strengthens you and transforms you to live with victory, overcoming in the last days. Don’t just enjoy the love of God. Enjoy it, embrace it, but tap into the power of the living God that will help you overcome the temptations of this world and defeat darkness. God doesn’t just love you, but His gospel comes with power.

Three ways to live ready in the last days

So you can see what Paul’s doing. He is like going, “Hey, here’s some new  believers and they are afraid. Don’t forget God loves you and there’s power.” And then he actually gets very direct in teaching. And I’m going to show you and summarize what he taught. Three ways believers live ready in the last days.

So how do we as followers of Jesus live ready in the last days? We are going to do three things:

  • We turn
  • We serve
  • We wait

Let’s all say this together out loud. What do we do? We turn, we serve, we wait.

We turn

The first thing we do is we turn, what do we turn from and turn to? Paul is going to teach us that we turn from idols that deceive to the God who saves. Look at 1 Thessalonians 1:9. He says this, “They [they are the other believers in the region] tell how you turned to God from idols…” (NIV). TO God and FROM idols. What does it mean to turn to God from idols?

Well, Thessalonica was a very pagan culture. They worshiped all sorts of false gods. Some of them worship Greek gods like Zeus and Apollo and Artemis. Others, believe it or not, they worshiped Caesar and called him Lord.

Now, I’m thankful that we live in a time where people wouldn’t worship politicians. They literally would worship Ceasar and call him Lord. They had these household idols that they would worship as well. They would have these little carved statues of gods, creatures, and other things that they believed would protect them from evil and bless them financially.

So, turning to Jesus meant rejecting the popular idols, turning away from the idols that brought them perceived status, or perceived comfort, or perceived security. They turned away, and it was costly because they were rejecting what everyone else embraced and accepted. It was costly, but it was clear. They were committing that Jesus was Lord and they would serve him only. And when they made that turn, everyone knew it. These people, they belong to Jesus. They would remove these idols from their homes, from their jewelry, and quit going to the various temples where these idols worship. So when they turned from idols to the one true God people knew it.

It wasn’t like maybe where you live, where you worked somewhere for six years and somebody says, “Oh, you go to church? I didn’t know you were a Christian.” There was none of that. It’s like we have turned away from culture, from these deceptive idols, and we have turned completely to the Lord our God.

Now, the good news is most of you probably don’t worship Zeus or Caesar, but pretty much all of us battle with idolatry in some form. We all had or have idols in our life. You may say, like, what is exactly is an idol? Well, an idol is anything you put in God’s place. An idol is anything that you ask that only God can do. It’s replacing God with something else. And what do many of us idolize?

  • Some idolize productivity. All their decisions are based on success. They will sacrifice their family, their faith, their integrity, and their reputation in order to climb the ladder of whatever they consider success. Why would you do that? You do this because you believe your worth is directly tied to what you produce. Your believe your value is based on what you do. You want to be productive so that you feel valuable. And so we idolize success.
  • Some people idolize pleasure. This is could be anything that brings you pleasure that you are using to replace God. This could be food, exercise, shopping, drugs, alcohol, sex, entertainment. In some way you are seeking pleasure apart from God and outside of His will. Some of these things are not bad in themselves, but they become an idol when they replace God or used outside of His will.
  • Some people idolize people. They will compromise their purity, their integrity, their reputation, their identity, their heart, and a host of other things for someone. They are more devoted to that person or that group of people than they are God. That person controls their life more than God. There are some parents who idolize their kids. They cut God out for their kids. They cut out their marriage for their kids. There are their number priority when it should be God.
  • Some people idolize prosperity. Their life revolves around money, nice things, bigger house, new car, nice clothes, new gadgets, and the like. Their identity is in what they have, what they own, or how much money they have.
  • Some people idolize power. Their life is focused on gaining and having power. Political power. Financial power. Relational power. They have to be in control. For them their identity is about being in charge.
  • Some people idolize popularity. They want everyone to like them. What other people think about them is more important than what God thinks about them.
  • Some people idolize self. Their body, their health, their life is the most important thing to them. This includes living your life your way based on your truth. This is the me first approach. The most important thing to me is my happiness. This is a far cry from what we are called to do as Jesus followers.

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).

In the last days we are going to have to make an intentional choice to turn away from the lower things of this world and turn to the higher things found in God’s word. The Biblical word for that is repent. “Re” means to turn. “Pent” is that which is the highest, like a penthouse. You are turning from low living and pursuing high living. You are turning from worldly living to heavenly living.

In fact, for some of you, your one assignment is to turn in the right direction, turn away from the lower things that are distracting you from the higher things of the kingdom of God and turn toward him. And the problem is, today it’s very common and very acceptable to have one foot in the church and one foot in the world. You are essentially split. And what do you do. You turn away from the things of the world. You turn to the things of God. You turn away from selfishness and turn to God. You turn away from pride and turn to God. You turn aways from entitlement, and you turn to God. You turn away from the sins of the world, and you turn toward God. Somebody say, “I’m turning.” What are we doing? We turn and then we serve.

We Serve

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.

Conclusion

We will pick up here next week. But I want to ask you this one question. Since we are living in the last days and are looking forward to the Lord’s return… what do you need to turn from? What do you need to stop doing and turn to God start doing right? What sin and what idol do you need to turn away from?