5 Now concerning how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters, we don’t really need to write you. 2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. 3 When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape.
4 But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. 5 For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. 6 So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. 7 Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. 8 But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.
9 For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. 10 Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. 11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.12 Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. 13 Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work. And live peacefully with each other.
14 Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.
15 See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.
16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
19 Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. 20 Do not scoff at prophecies, 21 but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. 22 Stay away from every kind of evil.23 Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. 24 God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.
25 Dear brothers and sisters, pray for us.
26 Greet all the brothers and sisters with Christian love.
27 I command you in the name of the Lord to read this letter to all the brothers and sisters.
28 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Chapter 5 tells us to be ready for Jesus’ return. It’s so easy to get caught up in the troubles or joys of life, that we forget that Jesus will return! So many of the Jews did not recognize Jesus’ identity when He was on earth. It took many of them completely unaware. People often scoff about the veracity of Jesus’ return now, but we know better.
God doesn’t just tell us to sit somewhere waiting with our eyes to the sky. He tells us how to live while we are waiting.
Honor, respect, and love the leaders in our church.
Help our brothers and sisters to walk on the path that Jesus laid out for us.
Chapter 5 reminds us to be nice; don’t fight, and stay away from evil!
Then (hardest of all at times) chapter 5 tells us to be cheerful all the time. It seems silly to be “cheerful all the time”, no matter what happens. Our joy is that we have such an amazing future with Jesus and we know that He will take care of us. Besides, if we are cheerful all of the time - it will make other people wonder what we have that’s “different”.
Posted by: Thomas Price | October 12, 2007 at 10:13 AM
I used the website to create those picture map thingy's I posted as comments in the earlier post.
http://www.mindomo.com/main
I made one for chapter five, but had an unforeseen computer malfunction that shut down the computer before I saved it. I'm not going to do it again.
Basically, this chapter hits the same themes that are throughout this letter from Paul.
1) Live Holy lives
2) Love People
3) Live in anticipation of Jesus Christ Return
4) Encourage other Christians
5) Work hard for the Lord
6) Allow accountability in your life.
7) Work hard and be productive in life for yourself, your family, and to honor God.
Posted by: Jim D. | October 12, 2007 at 02:17 PM
When Jesus returns all will see him in the clouds. What that means to me is that Jesus will return in spirit. A body can't float on the clouds. Now, what I came here for is that God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost have made contact recently, 2006. They have a special message for you. It is about the meaning of First is Last and Last is First . The message is this:
In the morning I go to Heaven. In the afternoon I live my life. In the evening I die, death. What does this mean? In other words this means Birth is Last and Last is Birth. Think of this as a continuous circle of life. Birth, Life, Death, Birth. God also said that Judgment will be before Birth in Heaven. AS birth on Earth is painful so will birth in Heaven. Yes, God has recently made contact and he sent a messenger. Spread this message along, just like a chain letter. OH, one more thing of interest. Did you know that Mike Douglas Died on his Birthday?
Mel Steffor
Posted by: Mel Steffor | October 23, 2007 at 07:17 AM
Now chain letters may not be Gods way of getting his message out but I have been on the Internet talking to people since January 2007 and the word just isn’t spreading. I’d say the work is moving at a snails pace. Maybe people just don’t get it or they don’t believe it. Now I do have proof. Lots of it. One piece of proof is in the story of three famous people, Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin, and Nancy Reagan. The story is long so I will make it brief here. Mike dies on his birthday. Merv Griffin dies the day after. Merv and Nancy are born on the same day. Now I found this interesting but I didn’t get it. That night I have a dream. In the dream I hear:
We each die in succession, then we are born on the same day. Now I get it. The reason I believe this dream is from God is that it seems to link up to the message above about First is Last. Then this also seems to be something that God would have to say. So I think this message is important to him. He also had more to say than this. Mel Steffor
Posted by: Mel Steffor | November 05, 2007 at 08:27 AM