1 Thes.5:2 – 7 – For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord is coming just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction will come upon them like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, so that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then, let’s not sleep as others do, but let’s be alert and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk, get drunk at night.
If you pay close attention you will notice that throughout history when there were times of true spiritual awakening the people of God became aware of the nearness of the return of Christ in light of the infinite nature of eternity. Outpourings are a taste of the coming kingdom, our first true taste of the eternal nature of the kingdom of God. From the days of the early church, the Great Awakening in the 1700’s and the Pentecostal revivals of the 20th Century, each one had a sense of the nearness of the return of Christ. As many of you have heard me describe before, the soon return of Christ was intertwined within the Jesus Revolution in the 1960’s and 70’s. I sense a return to an awareness of the nearness of His return again today, that is a good indication of the birth of a fresh move of the Spirit of God. Here is something Barclay said about Paul’s emphasis of being spiritually awake in light of the nearness of Christ’s return.
“He repeats that the coming of the day will be sudden. It will come like a thief in the night. But he also insists that that is no reason why anyone should be caught unawares. It is only the person who lives in the dark and whose deeds are evil who will be caught unprepared. Christians live in the light – and, no matter when that day comes, if they are watchful and sober, it will find them ready. Waking or sleeping, Christians are already living with Christ and are therefore always prepared. No one knows when God’s call will come, and there are certain things that cannot be left until the last moment.”
Carnality has been far to common in the church over the last 25 years. Alcohol use and promiscuity have become common in the church and to me is only an indication of just how asleep much of the church has become. Fresh winds of the Spirit are breathing on His church again calling the sleepers to awake. The love and fear of God is returning to His people and an anticipation of the blast of the trumpet announcing His return is upon us.