CHURCH AWAKE! IT IS LATER THAN WE THINK!
Mat 25:5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
(Eph 5:14 KJV) Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
(Eph 6:10 KJV) Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
(Rom 13:11 KJV) And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. (Rom 13:12 KJV) The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
The things of this world will pass away, but God’s love for you in Christ will not. Are you asleep? Look to Jesus and wake up.
I. We must be awake to know what we are doing.
A. When we are awake we know what we are doing, 1 Thes. 5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
B. We must know the time we are living in.
1. The church is sleeping.
2. We need to be awake know we are living in a world that is becoming more and more like Sodom and Gomorrah and like the days of Lot
3. We are living in the days of (Isa 56:10 KJV) His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
II. Recognize we are the children of light and must be awake and aware of what is happing around about us.
A. Some people change their ways when they see the light, others only when they feel the heat.
III. We should be awake and see that these are the days that will precede the COMING OF JESUS.
1 Thes. 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 1 Thes. 5:3 for when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
1 Th 5:4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 1 Thes. 5:5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 1 Thes. 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 1 Thes. 5:7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 1 Thes. 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
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A. Faith, Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that thou mayest believe, but believe that thou mayest understand. Augustine
B. Love
C. Hope, Hope means hoping when things are hopeless; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength. There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about them.
III. God tells us to be ready 24/7 for His return,
1 Thes. 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Thes. 5:10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 1 Thes. 5:11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
A. We need each other in the Body of Christ.
(Acts 2:42 KJV) And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
IV. We need to know those who labor among us. 1 Thes. 5:12 And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; Our labor for the Lord is: 1) a labor of love (I Thes 1:3).
A. I do not believe that God leads the people to give millions to ministries when they were in living sin.
B. You must be involved with people and ministries to really know them.
C. You must be awake to know them and then you can 1 Thes. 5:13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves.
V. When you are awake you can also recognize the works of the devil. You can rejoice and be glad and have the joy of the Lord.
A. The devil hates joy.
1. Joy gives the devil ‘flees’.
2. Joy gives strength. Neh 8:10.
3. Joy is the byproduct of obedience.
1 Thes. 5:27 I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.
1 Th 5:28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
