Read 1 Thess. 5:1-11, Coronavirus (3), Watching

The longer we go on in this pandemic situation the more, it seems, that people are raising issues that they believe indicate the matter was a hoax or that someone has conspired to use this situation for evil purposes.  Let me make it clear: you have no idea what I think about these charges.  I am not interested in whether any or which one of these theories might be true. 

What I am interested in is how our Lord wants me to live in this time in which we live.  Our passage answers that question.  But first, if I may (and its my post so I guess I can), hear the word of the Lord from Psalm 28:3: Do not take me away with the wicked and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors, but evil is in their hearts.  Did you see that?  “Workers of iniquity.”  This is Bible language for people who conspire to deceive people who trust them to do good.  They speak peace but evil is in their hearts.  They are not just hypocrites.  They actually have a purpose in life to plan, develop and produce a lie.  They are leaders in wickedness.

This terminology, workers of iniquity, occurs some 20 times in the OT and once in the NT.  In the OT it’s all in the “poetic books” (Job 3x, Psalms 15x, and Proverbs 2x).  In the NT it is found in Luke 13:27 where Jesus tells them, I do not know you, where you are from.  Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.  They were very real to David as Ps. 28:3 indicates.  And in the NT Epistles several are named, such as Alexander the coppersmith (2 Tim. 4:14) and Diotrephes (3 John 9).  My point is this: there have been these kinds of evil conspirators since Cain (Gen. 4:16-24).  The wicked are evil; the workers of iniquity develop evil systems.  They have always been around and God knows this and has not been caught by surprise as we are sometimes.

Since God has not been caught by surprise, let us note how He would have us live in the light of evil people.  It’s all in 1 Thess. 5:6.

·        First, we should not be asleep.  In this he is not saying we need to figure out all the evil conspiracies.  He is saying we should not be joined in the evil deeds of darkness.  If we are asleep spiritually we will find ourselves patterning our lives after those around us rather than following and pursing the Lord Jesus Christ.

·        Second, we must watch or be on the alert.  This word is often joined with prayer (e.g. Matt. 26:41); tomorrow’s post will deal with this.  What we need to note now is what the Bible tells us to be watching for in these days (and all days as Christians).

o   Watch for false doctrine (Acts 20:31).  There will be those who attack from outside the church, and even worse, those from within who seek to turn us away from the truth of Scripture.

o   Watch for Satan (1 Peter 5:8).  He seeks to devour us, to catch us in his many traps.  We will not go into detail now (we have studied this in previous posts), but Paul says we are not ignorant of his devices (2 Cor. 2:11).  We have to have our eyes open.

o   Watch for “slippage” (Rev. 3:2-3).  “Slippage” is my own word but the command is, Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die … hold fast and repent.  We need to be alert to what is happening in our own spiritual lives.  Are we losing our first love for Christ?  Have we given Satan a foothold in our lives in some way? 

·        Third, we must be sober.  In other words, we must be under the control of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18).  Our minds are being renewed so that we think clearly about our Lord’s desires for us each day.  And by the Spirit and God’s grace we are disciplined, self-controlled. 

We have a life to live.  In a nutshell, as 1 Th. 5:8 indicates, it is a life of faith in following Christ, love for God and those around us, and hope in the promise of Christ to return for us that we might always live with Him.  Just because we are in a certain situation in life that we might think is harder than other times does not mean we have to have a different pattern than what is the normal Christian life.  By God’s Word, God’s Spirit and God’s grace we will do this!