Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro:

Well, here we are… 2021 is behind us and we are looking forward to seeing what God has in store for 2022.

The start of the new year is always a time for people to make resolutions… They say things like “New Year, New me!…” or “I am really going to stick to my new years resolutions this time...”

For many of us, our New Years resolutions seem to resemble carbon dating – where we can establish the date of our resolution by how many “half lives” it has had.

Here are some examples:

2015: I will read at least 10 books a year.

2016: I will read 5 books a year.

2017: I will finish Portals of Prayer from 2006

2018: I will read some articles in the newspaper this year.

2019: I will read at least one article this year.

2020: I will try and finish the comics section this year.

Or for those of you who are constantly worrying about your weight:

2015: I will follow my new diet religiously until I get below 200.

2016: I will try to develop a realistic attitude about my weight.

2017: I will work out 5 days a week.

2018: I will work out 3 days a week.

2019: I will try to drive past a gym at least once a week.

2020:… … Covid weight

Or for those with money issues:

2015: I will not spend my money frivolously.

2016: I will pay off my bank loan promptly.

2017: I will pay off my bank loans promptly.

2018: I will begin making a strong effort to be out of debt by 2019.

2019: I will be totally out of debt by 2020.

And so goes the cycle…

I know that Covid has been a thorn in the side of many people the past couple of years… But as the year 2021 draws to a close, what kind of year has it been for you?

Has it been a year to cherish or a year to quickly forget?…

Whatever the past year’s tone has been for us, this week fills us with hope.

A hope that a new year will bring a change for us.

A chance for a fresh new start- a new beginning.

And with that many of us make new year resolutions- pledges or promises to yourself or to God that you will personally be different this coming year.

This morning I want to focus upon some new year’s resolutions that each of should consider for ourselves… and I have entitled this Message as “Resolutions for Believers”…

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11…

Pray:

Meat:

I read this whole passage today, but this morning we are going to focus on verses 6-11 and in these few verses...

I see 3 resolutions that we, as followers of Christ, should commit to this coming year.

Paul had spent a great deal of time dealing with the rapture of the church and the second coming of the Lord.

He sought to enlighten the Thessalonian believers concerning the events that are sure to happen.

But now, Paul shifted his focus toward preparing the saints to endure for the Lord until He returns.

He has answered the “When” question… which the answer was, if I may paraphrase… “we don’t know when, but we know that it could be today”… And now he is answering the question they should’ve asked and that is “What”… “What are we to do until He returns?”

As Believers, I see 3 things that…

We need to be…

And it is my prayer that you would see these 3 things as resolutions to work on throughout this coming year… So let’s look at them together…

First of all… we (As believers) need to be…

1. Alert

V.6 says “Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.”

This verse starts off by saying “Therefore”… and anytime you see that word “Therefore” you know that the following verse(s) are going to be a response to the verses preceding it.

so we go back, real quick to vv. 4-5 and Paul says…

“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.

5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day.

We are not of the night nor of darkness.”

“Therefore” or “Because we are the Sons of Light and not of the darkness”.... “let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.”

Because we are Believers, Because we are followers of Christ, we need to be Alert!

Being alert means, first of all… being…

1.1 Awake

Paul says “Let us not sleep”… in Romans, he also says…

Romans 13:11-12 “11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand.

Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”

Scripture often uses sleep as an image of spiritual laziness or a lack of alertness towards God.

People start to view God as some distant being that is off on vacation and seems how He is off on vacation, He cannot see what we are doing, so we should be able to do whatever we want.

I used to work with a fella and one year while the boss was on vacation around the 4th of July, the question surfaced as to how far a fire cracker would propel an airsoft bb out the end of a pipe?

… … Really, that is a legitimate question… Now… Don’t read into this any further than you have too, by trying to figure out why we had airsoft bb’s and fire crackers in the shop to begin with…that part is irrelevant... just stay with me here…

We could try to be all nerdy and smart... and multiply this… divided by that... and come up with an accurate hypothesis of how far this bb would shoot… That is what we could have done...

or we could grab a chunk of pipe, stick a little wad of paper down the hole, put the bb on top of that, light the fire cracker and stick in the other end, cover that end with a chunk of wood… you know, to contain the small explosion… and let er fly…

This plan was working great until he went to grab the chunk of wood… a misplacement of that chunk of wood and the next best thing to contain the small explosion was his thumb...

After that, if you didn’t know where he was, you could follow the red trail to the bathroom...

I am happy to say that he still has both of his thumbs...

It goes back to the old saying… When the boss is away, the boys will play…

Folks, we are to be alert, we are to be awake… we should not be caught sleeping… Don’t get caught with the same attitude of the world, being insensitive to the fact that God is ever present, He is here, He is not on vacation, we are not able to hide anything from Him…

Not only are we to be awake… in order to be alert, we need to be…

1.2 Sober-minded

Paul says “let us watch and be sober.”…

the Greek word translated as “Sober” can also be translated as “Self Controlled”.

It means “to curb the controlling influence of inordinate emotions or desires...” or... “to be free from the influence of intoxicants”

We are not to be intoxicated with the things of this world.

We are to be alert, We are to have our eyes open, We need to be able to stand steady.

Warren Wiersbe says “Paul pictured two groups of people: One group was drunk and asleep, while the other group was awake and alert.

Danger was coming, but the drunken sleepers were unaware of it.

The alert crowd was ready and unafraid.”

A sober person exhibits self-control, lives a serious, balanced, calm, steady life, and maintains proper priorities.

John MacArthur says “To be sober is to be alert; the two terms are essentially synonyms.

Just as sleep and drunkenness define night people’s insensitivity to spiritual reality, so alertness and soberness describe day people’s sensitivity to it.”

Folks if we are going to make the resolution to be Alert, then we need to be Awake and Sober-minded… we need to live as people of the Light… why, because v.7 says…

“For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.”

The world lives in darkness… The world desires that darkness rather than light.

We as Believers are not to be consumed with the desires of the flesh.

Paul encourages us to watch and be sober.

We are to be “alert and on guard, constantly looking for the Lord to come.”

Our lives are to be lived with a rigid discipline, a discipline of purity and righteousness.

The second resolution that I see, is the fact that… we need to be...

2. Armored

v.8 “But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.”

Paul knew this would be a battle.

He knew the enemy would be relentless in his attacks.

If Christians are to endure, we must possess and properly use our armor.

Let’s take a moment to look at this armor.

The first piece of armor mentioned is…

2.1 The Breast-plate of Faith and Love