1 Thessalonians 5:6,7

Text (1 Thessalonians 5:6-7)

6 so then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that are drunken are drunken in the night.

Translation and Paraphrase

6.

Wherefore then, let us not fall asleep, as the rest (of mankind who are in spiritual darkness have done), but let us be watching and be sober (alert and wary).

7.

For those who are sleeping sleep in the night (of spiritual ignorance and darkness), and those who get drunk are drunken at night.

Notes (1 Thessalonians 5:6-7)

1.

If you were told that a certain child came from a wealthy home, you might say, I suppose he has lots of nice clothes. This would seem like an inevitable conclusion, since wealthy people do usually have nice clothing.

Likewise there are certain things that are inevitable for us as children of light. (The Gr. conj. ara oun indicates the logicalness or inevitability of the conclusion.)

2.

As children of light, we should NOT

(1) sleep; (2) Be drunken.

As children of light, we should

(1) Watch; (2) Be sober; (3) Put on the armor of righteousness. 1 Thessalonians 5:8.

3.

Obviously sleep in this verse refers to being asleep about spiritual things. Many people are just as unaware of sin, salvation, the Lord's return, and everlasting life as sleeping people are unaware of the time of day.

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

4.

Watching is a most necessary thing for the children of light. We need to watch for our Savior, watch the devil, watch ourselves, and watch what is going on around us. We watch, not to be meddlesome, but to protect our own souls, and to help others to walk in the right way, Be sober, be watchful; your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about. 1 Peter 5:8 (American Stan. vers.). See also Hebrews 13:17; Acts 20:31; Matthew 26:41; Matthew 24:42; Luke 21:36.

5.

Furthermore it is necessary for us to be sober. This means to be calm, collected, and alert in our thinking. Compare 1 Timothy 3:2. A person cannot be sober when he is drunken, for alcohol destroys the ability to think clearly.

6.

Our Lord personally warned about being drunken, and fighting, and eating with the drunken, while we are waiting for the Lord to return. See Matthew 24:48-50; Luke 12:45-46. Such a person will be cut in sunder, and have his portion with unbelievers, (As you think of these matters, note how well the picture at the start of this chapter illustrates the thought.)

7.

It is an obvious fact that they that be drunken are drunken in the night. The apostle Peter defended himself against a charge of drunkenness, by declaring that men would not be drunken at nine o-'clock in the morning, the time it happened to be. Acts 2:15.

Not only is the drunkard most likely to be drunken in the hours of darkness, but he lives that way because he is in spiritual darkness to begin with.