Today, January 24, we come to message seventeen: “Watchfulness and Soberness”
The verses for this message are 1 Thes. 5:1-11 and the sections are:
I. TIMES AND SEASONS
II. THE DAY OF THE LORD
III. THE SAFEGUARD OF FAITH, LOVE, AND HOPE
IV. HOPE IN THE LORD’S COMING BACK
V. THE MEANING OF WATCHFULNESS
VI. SALVATION FROM THE COMING DESTRUCTION
VII. THE MEANING OF SOBERNESS
VIII. THE LACK OF WATCHFULNESS AND SOBERNESS
IX. PUTTING ON THE ARMOR
X. SUDDEN DESTRUCTION
XI. LIVING TOGETHER WITH THE LORD
Keep reading, saints!
To be watchful is to continue fighting.
Only those who are fighting are truly watchful. The more we are fighting, the more watchful we shall be. As long as you are fighting, you need not try to be watchful, for you will be watchful automatically.
We, therefore, need to be on the alert. Are we fighting for the Lord’s interests? Are we watchful? Are we sober and clear about our situation?
We need to keep on fighting!
”To be watchful is to remember that we are in a battle, that we are fighting and are surrounded by enemies. To be sober is to be clear about the situation in which we are fighting. It is to have a proper understanding concerning where we are and where the enemy is. It is to see how the enemy is attacking and how we should fight back. If we are sober, we shall be clear about our direction.
With respect to the coming of the Lord, there is no watchfulness or soberness. We, therefore, need to be on the alert. Are we fighting for the Lord’s interests? Are we watchful? Are we sober and clear about our situation? We need to ask ourselves questions such as these.”
Amen!!
Through reading this message I realised that my concept of watchfulness is much too passive!
To be watchful for the Lord’s coming is not just to wait for Him. This kind of waiting might actually be sleeping, or a stupor!
The real watchfulness is to realise that we are in a battle. We watch by fighting! This is indicated by the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of hope. May we never put off this armor!
“The coming of the Lord in the preceding chapter is mainly for comfort and encouragement. The day of the Lord in this chapter is mainly for warning. ” we must not be “drunk” or “asleep” when the Lord returns! We must be those waiting for His return and cover and protect our heart, spirit, and mind. We must fight for these things. We are in warfare! We must also fight with God for His interest.
Amen! Oh Lord! Make us so sober and watchful! We want to be those one with You and fighting the enemy all the time ready for Your appearing.
Actually, to fight is to be watchful. Only those who are fighting are truly watchful. The more we are fighting, the more watchful we shall be. As long as you are fighting, you need not try to be watchful, for you will be watchful automatically. Sometimes soldiers in an army go for days without sleep. The battle does not allow them time to sleep. This illustrates the fact that to fight is to be watchful. The Christian life, a holy life for the church life, is a life of fighting. We are on the battlefield, and we need to be alert, watchful, vigilant.
Lord be the watchful One in use, we need You to be vigilant while we are fighting for Your interest today. Lord we are on Your side, praise You for opening Your word to us in this way. Amen
I’m so thankful for this message. I never understood clearly the meaning of being sober, “To be sober is to be clear about everything related to the battle. It is to be clear about where the enemy is, what the enemy if doing, and how the enemy is attacking. It is to be clear about how to protect ourselves and to fight back.”
Today’s verses, message, radio brodcast is sooo precious…
Rapture is first for God not for us! For God and His economy to Have His expresion and His reprasantation, His coorpoarate expresion
Lord make us ready, mature to be rapture for Your satisfaction!
“Are we fighting for the Lord’s interests? Are we watchful?
Are we sober and clear about our situation?
We need to ask ourselves questions such as these.
It is important for us to see that watchfulness refers to a proper spirit in fighting a battle. To be watchful is to continue fighting.
To be sober is to be clear about everything related to the battle. It is to be clear about where the enemy is, what the enemy is doing, and how the enemy is attacking. It is also to be clear about how to protect ourselves and how to fight back. Those who are sober are fully clear about their situation.
God did not appoint us to wrath, we should watch, be sober, and fight to cooperate with God that we may gain His salvation through the Lord Jesus…Then we shall enjoy the freedom of the glory of the sons of God.”
Lord Jesus we want to really consider all this things before You and take prayful way to really see something more… Lord make us those who are truly watchful and sober to know how to fight for Your intrest, Your satisfaction.
To be watchful is to fight! When we are fighting, we are spontaniusly watchful. Soldiers don’t have to be watchful if they don’t fight.
Also we need to be sober which is to be clear about our situation in fighting.
In our daily living, we need to be watchful and sober so we can guard or protect the basic structure of a holy life for the church life- faith, love and hope.
Also, we need to put on the armor- breastplate of faith and love(In Eph. 6 it is of righteousness. Righteousness protect our conscience so our faith won’t leak. Faith and love are inseparable. When faith is damaged, our love will also be damaged) and the helmet, the hope of salvation.
Praise the Lord that we have a living hope. But, we also must continue to be watchful and sober. To be watchful is to fight with the Lord against his enemy. To be sober is to be clear about the current situation. Lord, keep us from being asleep and drunk. Lord, remind us to be watchful and sober!
“To be watchful and sober is part of the living we should have as we hope in the Lord’s coming.” Hallelujah! The Lord is coming back, but we must be watchful and sober in our daily living. We should realize that there is an ongoing battle. If we are watchful we will have the proper spirit to fight the battle. We also need to be sober that is clear concerning where we are and where the enemy is. When we are watchful and sober we will be living a life fighting in the proper spirit. We will have the breastplate to protect our faith and love and we will have the helmet to guard our hope. This is crucial! We need to be in our armor every moment of every day! O Lord, make this our living to be always watchful and sober until you return!
In chapter four, the apostle Paul comforted us with the hope of the Lord’s return. However we are not those hoping and merely waiting. In chapter five he goes on to tell us that this hope requires a LIVING of watchfulness and soberness. Oh Lord! May we be those who have a living, which preserves the structure of our Christian life, and maintains the hope of Your coming!
“To be watchful and to be sober are related to safeguarding the three basic structures of the holy life for the church life: faith, love, and hope.”
“It is important for us to see that watchfulness refers to a proper spirit in fighting a battle. If we grasp this thought, we shall have in large measure the proper understanding of what it means to be watchful.”
“In these verses to be watchful is to remember that we are in a battle, that we are fighting and are surrounded by enemies. This is the reason we need a helmet and also a breastplate.”
“The Christian life, a holy life for the church life, is a life of fighting. We are on the battlefield, and we need to be alert, watchful, vigilant. ”
“To be sober is to be clear about everything related to the battle. It is to be clear about where the enemy is, what the enemy is doing, and how the enemy is attacking. It is also to be clear about how to protect ourselves and how to fight back. Those who are sober are fully clear about their situation.”
Amen! Thank you, Lord, for this message!
We’re so privileged to have this ministry. Many brothers and sisters in Christianity today are decieved by the sugar-coated teachings of going to heaven and having a mansion. “these teachings do not prepare believers for fighting. Instead, they cause them to be drugged and in a stupor.” How, very, sad!
What a good reminder that we need to bring a spirit of watchfulness and soberness into our daily living! We make so many decisions each day. Lord, turn us! Turn us to make every decision with the awareness of this spiritual warfare!
“In these verses to be watchful is to remember that we are in a battle, that we are surrounded by enemies….Actually, to fight is to be watchful. Only those who are fighting are truly watchful. The more we are fighting the more watchful we shall be.”To maintain a genuine Christian life our mind related to hope, our emotion related to love and our will related to faith, need to be protected.
Our hope for the Lord’s return should cause us to be watchful and sober. To be watchful and sober is actually to fight for and with the Lord. The apostle Paul was clear of the battle going on behind the scenes. He exhorted the Thessalonian believers to fight to safeguard the basic structures of their Christian life. Our Faith, Love, and Hope are protected by fighting. These 3 crucial elements need to be covered every day. Every day we are surrounded by enemies, so we need to be watchful. The attack always comes at the most strategic point. In addition, we also need to be sober. Sober is to be clear about the situation and to understand how the enemy is fighting. Morning by morning the Lord would be pleased to hear a prayer containing the ingredients of faith, hope, and love. I believe this kind of prayer waters the Lord; even refreshes Him in His fighting.
Dear Lord, appear to us in a most captivating way. All else would grow dim. And Lord, may Your appearing infuse us with faith. You are the only Faithful. You are the faithful One we love. Open us, draw us, constrain us, and gain us. Bring us into a depth of love unknown. And produce a hope unmatched. A hope for Your return this year! Praise You Lord! Amen.
To be watchful and to be sober are related to safeguarding the three basic structures of the holy life for the church life: faith, love, and hope. Verse 8 indicates this: “But we who are of the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and a helmet, the hope of salvation.” The words breastplate and helmet both indicate spiritual warfare. The breastplate is of faith and love, covering and protecting our heart and spirit according to God’s righteousness (Eph. 6:14). The helmet is the hope of salvation (Eph. 6:17), covering and protecting our mentality, the mind. Faith, love, and hope are the three basic structures of the genuine Christian life as depicted in 1 Thessalonians 1:3. Faith is related to our will—a part of our heart (Rom. 10:9)—and to our conscience—a part of our spirit (1 Tim. 1:19). Love is related to our emotion, another part of our heart (Matt. 22:37); and hope is related to our understanding—a function of our mind. All of these need to be protected that a genuine Christian life may be maintained. Such a life is watchful and sober. At the beginning of this Epistle, the apostle praised the believers’ work of faith, labor of love, and endurance of hope (1:3). Here, at the conclusion of the Epistle, he exhorts them to keep these spiritual virtues covered and protected by fighting for them.
Soberness is related to watchfulness. To be sober is to be clear about the situation in which we are fighting. It is to have a proper understanding concerning where we are and where the enemy is. It is to see how the enemy is attacking and how we should fight back. If we are sober, we shall be clear about our direction.
To be sober is to be clear about everything related to the battle. It is to be clear about where the enemy is, what the enemy is doing, and how the enemy is attacking. It is also to be clear about how to protect ourselves and how to fight back. Those who are sober are fully clear about their situation.
We need to be watchful and sober, to keep on fighting. We also need to safeguard the structure of our Christian life by wearing the armor. Then when the Lord Jesus comes, we shall be saved from the sudden destruction. Ephesians 6
In message 17, I appreciated that Paul wrote chapter 5 to the Thessalonians following his word on the Lord’s second coming, highlighting the need to be watchful and sober in the Christian life. Being watchful and sober implies that we need to be vigilant, like soldiers during battle, for attacks by the enemy.