1 Thessalonians 5

Doctrine: That day of the Lord will come upon us as a surprise. The spiritual Day of the Lord is the pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church. The physical Day of the Lord is the coming of Jesus to earth at the end of the Tribulation at the battle of Armageddon. Both of these events will come as a thief in the night.

Doctrine: The first half of the Tribulation will be a time of peace and safety, which will cause many to believe the Christians that were Raptured were hindering peace on earth. Halfway through the Tribulation, the Antichrist will claim to be God and he will set up the abomination that brings desolation in God's temple to be worshipped by everyone. In Matthew 24:15-18, Jesus told the Jews to immediately flee into hiding when they see this event (which was spoken of by Daniel 9:27; 11:31; and 12:11). Paul was stating that for the Jews that remained in Israel during the second half of the Tribulation, there would be no escape.

Doctrine: Children of the light (believers) will not be overtaken as a thief (unbeliever) in that day. There are two ways of looking at this verse:

• First, the spiritual Day of the Lord will not take believers who are watching as a thief in the night because they will be living in a manner that will cause them to be Raptured. Being of the light also implied events being manifest/apparent: able to be seen. This did not mean believers would know the hour and day of the Rapture, just that they would be ready for it.
• The second way of looking at this verse is that believers who are Raptured during Jesus' spiritual return would not be present on the earth to experience Jesus' physical return during the Day of the Lord.

Doctrine: Believers ought to watch and be sober, we need to be ready always for the return of Christ. Again, this did not mean we could know the hour and day, but we ought to be able to see that day getting nearer, otherwise Paul would not have told us to watch and be sober.

Paul referenced pieces of the armor of God ten years before he wrote Ephesians 6:11-18.

Doctrine: Believers are not appointed to experience wrath. Believers are not supposed to be present during the Tribulation. All believers, whether dead or alive, will live with Christ.

Paul's reason for explaining this deep Doctrine was so that the believers in Thessalonica could use this information to exhort/encourage each other.

Paul told the believers in Thessalonica to know and esteem those who were their leaders in the Lord in love for their work's sake: elders/pastors.

Paul gave them some things to focus on, things a leader would do: admonish, encourage, support, and be longsuffering.

Paul stated in Romans 12:21 that we ought to overcome evil with good.

In everything give thanks! Rejoicing was the overarching theme of the Book of Philippians. Knowing the Will of God was a theme of the Book of Colossians.

Quenching the Spirit was the same as hindering grace.

One of Paul's themes in 1 Corinthians 14 was desiring spiritual gifts, especially prophesying.

To "prove all things," you must be contrastive, you must consider you could be wrong.

Refrain from fornication was a theme throughout all of Paul's writings.

Theme of Chapter 5: Paul continued with the deep Doctrine of the spiritual and physical Days of the Lord. Paul briefly referenced concepts that he would eventually write in detail about in later epistles.

The First Epistle to the Thessalonians was the eighth book of the section of the New Testament known as the Pauline Epistles. Paul's visit to Thessalonica was documented in Acts 17:1-9. Paul wrote this letter around 54 AD from Corinth, making this letter, chronologically, the earliest of Paul's epistles. The previous epistles covered the full spectrum of teaching:

• Romans presented the most foundational Christian Doctrine: Salvation.
• 1 Corinthians focused on the application of the foundational Doctrine towards a very new church.
• 2 Corinthians was a more mature application of foundational Doctrine.
• Galatians was a review of these first three Pauline Epistles.
• Ephesians presented an overarching framework for the rest of Christian Doctrine unto its end, which is The Meaning of Life: All believers interact with each other as "cells in the body" of the Bride which is married to Jesus.
• Philippians focused on the day-to-day effects that ought to result from a believer understanding the previous five epistles: joy regardless of the circumstances.
• Colossians focused on growth during our day-to-day walk, both what is able to hinder our growth (deceivers trying to focus believers on the Law) and what we can do to intentionally grow: know God's Will and understand the Word of God.

The church in Thessalonica consisted of Gentiles that Paul had spent a month teaching. Consequently, Paul focused on teaching and encouraging these new Gentile believers. This letter gave us a glimpse into how Paul approached new believers ten years before the last of the previously covered epistles were written. Paul encouraged them to continue growing and being a good witness to unbelievers. Paul also shared deep Doctrine with these new believers in hopes they could use the information to encourage each other.