“Stop Hitting the Snooze”
1 Thessalonians 5
1Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
4But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 7For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8But 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. 9For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Final Instructions
12Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
19Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22Avoid every kind of evil.
23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
25Brothers, pray for us. 26Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.
28The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
If anyone has ever worked the graveyard, or third shift, or try and function on little rest, you know that you’re bound to fall asleep. When you’re asleep, you have no awareness of what’s going on around you. Why is this so important? Think about it from a physical point of view. The National Sleep Foundation estimates that sleepiness costs $18 billion a year in lost productivity.
Even light sleepers can’t escape danger in every type of situation – especially if you’re a heavy sleeper.
There are many Christians that are HEAVY SLEEPERS – they are so fast asleep and hardened to the things of God, they want to get up right before the rapture happens and that’s it. They’ll hit the snooze day after day after day and be ok with it. They want to have their way and their will for their life instead of God’s. The problem lies in the fact that time is running out. Jesus is getting ready to come back for His children and those that are awake.
3 Reasons Why Christians Are Still Asleep Hitting the snooze
1. They don’t want to have to help anyone but themselves
2. They don’t want to have to be committed to something that is not on their list of things to do
3. They’re lazy
4. They’re sick and tired of being sick and tired
I don’t understand something, how we can take our lives, spend it doing whatever we want to, and even THINK about risking losing our souls all because we’re too lazy.
Laziness when it comes to being a Christian is a top reason why the church is suffering today.
It all stems back to PRIDE. I believe the #1 reason why people today are still in bed is because they care way too much about themselves, and not enough about other people.
You can’t tell me that you care about other people unless you’re winning people to Christ, period. NO questions asked.
Many of you probably remember the story of the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus went to pray - and left them to themselves. It had been a long day, and they were under the stress of knowing that Jesus could be arrested any time. As the darkness fell, and the disciples tried to keep watch with Jesus, they couldn’t help but fall asleep. And what did Jesus say to them, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” But what did the disciples do after that? They fell asleep again. So how did Jesus react? He went back and prayed. He came again, and they were still sleeping. So what did Jesus do? He went and died for them. He took those sins of the Garden on his shoulders.
How many times have we - like the disciples - fallen asleep on the job? How many times have we let the devil humiliate us when we let our guard down? Have we let him turn the lights down and slowly lull us to sleep? But the good thing is that instead of condemning us, Jesus went and took our condemnation on Himself! The literal word for “receive salvation” in today’s text is actually “the hard earned purchase of salvation.” Instead of lazily giving up on us, Jesus performed the most difficult work of all - He took our sins on His shoulders and died for us! And now He still doesn’t let us sleep. He sends His Holy Spirit through the Word to wake us up! And so here we are again today. Living in the light of forgiveness - the light of grace. Even though our body is weak, we will be more determined to never say ‘good night’! Why? If we don’t the devil will take us to hell!
1. They don’t want to have to help anyone but themselves
a. Squeakers
People like this disgust me. Their idealogy is: I’m going to heaven, I’m saved, I’m eternally secure – I’ll worship enough to get by, I’ll pray enough to get by, I’ll live my life enough to get by – they’re going to squeak their way into heaven – just BARELY make it – and they seem to be satisfied and content with it – A LOT of churches have people like this in it – Revival will not come unless God sees that the church as a congregation and a whole wants to EXCEED all expectations and be all that God wants them to be.
2. They don’t want to have to be committed to something that is not on their list of things to do
b. So-so ers
They serve God when it is convenient for them. They show no regard to their own relationship, but only strive for themselves.
Here serving God becomes an obligation rather than a privilege.
I have to go to church because people expect me to be there.
I guess I have to raise my hands now
I guess I have to listen to this boring preacher again
This shows a lack of commitment – you might as well not even come.
3. They’re lazy
a. Slackers
These people are the worst – they want to reap the benefits of everyone else’s sacrifice – they want to stay in bed, dictate what goes on, and they want to be in charge of everyone, but do not want to serve. These are the folks that in school got D’s and F’s, not because they were brainless, but because they were lazy. These people don’t make a difference for God, and could care even more less about it.
Remember the story of the man that was given talents? He was lazy, and buried them into the ground. Some of us are burying our talents, and our lives into the ground because we’re lazy.
To you I ask the following three questions:
If not you, then who?
If not now, then when?
If not here, then where?
Lazy Christians spend more time getting ready for church physically than they do spiritually. What a shame.
Here’s a question – how many times have you read your Bible and 5 minutes after you read it, can’t remember what you read?? It’s LAZINESS!!
Busy people help, lazy people watch and they talk…
If you don’t want to be lazy, that requires you to turn the alarm OFF and get up and do something!!!
Hebrews 6:12
5. They’re sick and tired of being sick and tired
a. Somnolent
These people are tired and weary and sometimes think about throwing in the towel on this whole Christianity thing. They don’t want to hit the snooze anymore, they just want to stay in bed. They run around afraid of what might happen to them. They don’t want to face everyday life – they’ve become cowards to their own ways --
