van Posted June 1, 2013 Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 Believers in Christ should already be ready, so they can seriously say come Lord Jesus come. They have nothing to fear! To be sober or self-controlled means to be calm, collected and always staying faithful to Christ. To be alert or watchful means staying awake, always on your guard praying faithfully for strength to stand against the enemy. Normal life style go day in and day out to work, shopping, clubs, etc., without even thinking about the seriousness of Christ return. Most focus more on the mighty dollar bill than Christ coming back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissioned Posted June 16, 2013 Report Share Posted June 16, 2013 Q4. (1 Thessalonians 5:4-8) What effect should a belief in Christ’s soon coming have on believers? What does it mean to be “sober” or “self-controlled” (verse 6)? What does it mean to be “alert” or “watchful” (verse 6)? How does this differ from our normal Christian lifestyle? Christ soon coming should cause believers to be always in a state of readiness, expecting our Lord at any moment. To be "sober" or "self-controlled" means to be level headed and not giddy, unaware of the seriousness of the season that we are living in. To be "alert" or "watchful" means that as believers we ought to have our minds on things eternal, always in a state of listening and expecting to hear from God as He guides and directs us on this journey. Sadly, for most of us, myself included; we are too often side tracted by the carnal, material things of life. Help us Lord! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onerivertrail Posted July 10, 2013 Report Share Posted July 10, 2013 Q4. (1 Thessalonians 5:4-8) What effect should a belief in Christ’s soon coming have on believers? What does it mean to be “sober” or “self-controlled” (verse 6)? What does it mean to be “alert” or “watchful” (verse 6)? How does this differ from our normal Christian lifestyle? We should maintain a holy and disciplined life and keep a watchful eye for the time that comes unexpectantly like a thief in the night. To be alert and watchful is to maintain a level head and be sober minded, not caught up with the cares or excitements of this world. Always be prepared to greet your master. Our normal christian lifestyle is earthly concerns and activities. We are a scheduled and sometimes apathetic people forgetting what the day is! Some of us may depart early. We must always be ready! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshine1962 Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 We should always be ready for His return. We should always live our lives like He will be here in the next minute or so. To be self controlled means that we stop be stop and think about our actions before we react or that we ask ourselves "What would Jesus do" before we take action. We also need to seek opportunities to let lights shine and to be a witness for Christ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinstonY Posted October 29, 2014 Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 Q4. (1 Thessalonians 5:4-8) What effect should a belief in Christ’s soon coming have on believers? What does it mean to be “sober” or “self-controlled” (verse 6)? What does it mean to be “alert” or “watchful” (verse 6)? How does this differ from our normal Christian lifestyle? We should carry our selves as a guard for a military encampment. Those on guard never know when the enemy will attack. The guard must always be alert and watch for an intrusion. In Ottawa last week (October, 2014) a guard standing at the war memorial was shoot and killed. We must be alert. We Christians should also be alert for the enemy is about , waiting for us to let down our armour, our shield of salvation and our sword of the spirit of Christ. We must stand ready with all the armour of God.In so doing we are being watchful. This really is no different; we must at all times be alert for Satan lurks behind each tree and behind each bend in our road of life. We cannot battle alone-we need Christ our saviour as our pilot to guide us through the troubled waters and through the valley of death. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoanG Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 Believers should always be prepared for Christ's return. We need to have a soul that is clear and whole. We need to be right with God. We need to constantly pray and follow the examples of Christ. We need to love everyone as Christ did. We need to be above all those around us. Our light needs to be a shining beacon for all to see. We need to be the watch towers for the Lord's return to glory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lighthouse2014 Posted June 17, 2016 Report Share Posted June 17, 2016 Q4. (1 Thessalonians 5:4-8) What effect should a belief in Christ’s soon coming have on believers? What does it mean to be “sober” or “self-controlled” (verse 6)? What does it mean to be “alert” or “watchful” (verse 6)? How does this differ from our normal Christian lifestyle? Believers who await for Christ second coming should be alert, self controlled, watchful and put on the armor of God, faith, hope and love. To be sober or self-controlled illustrates we are to be alert as in sober which is free from mental and spiritual drunkenness. Self controlled which is calm and collected in spirit, temperate, not being impartial, cautious and precedent in our lives. Being alert and watchful, we pray continuously expecting Christ return at anytime. We are to remain sober, not in mental or spiritual drunkenness. These warnings differ from our normal Christian lifestyle because as Christians we become complacent with our routine lifestyle. We know not when Jesus will return but we can determine spiritual blindness in society and sinfulness that continues to grow before he returns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damary Alembi Posted September 6, 2017 Report Share Posted September 6, 2017 What does it mean to be "sober" or "self-controlled" (verse 6)? Sober is to be free from every form of mental and spiritual drunkenness, from excess, passion, rashness, confusion to be well-balanced, self-controlled. To be calm and collected in spirit, to be temperate, dispassionate, circumspect. What does it mean to be "alert" or "watchful" (verse 6)? Is to stay awake, be watchful. To be in constant readiness, keep your eyes open, be vigilant. How does this differ from our normal Christian lifestyle? It causes us to watch our behaviours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reuben Posted November 19, 2021 Report Share Posted November 19, 2021 Q4. (1 Thessalonians 5:4-8) What effect should a belief in Christ’s soon coming have on believers? What does it mean to be “sober” or “self-controlled” (verse 6)? What does it mean to be “alert” or “watchful” (verse 6)? How does this differ from our normal Christian lifestyle? The belief of Christ soon coming should have an effect of waking you up with a real sense of earnestness and anticipation of the reality that it could be any day any time, and not just something that is somewhere on the horizon. This should make a believing Christian put oil in his lamp every day and not have the flame go out and he was caught asleep, and unprepared. Being sober means to have a clear understanding of what your actions should be like and how you should be living your life as a Christian believing that Jesus is returning for His people at any moment. You should not be careless and irresponsible in your walk with Jesus, like a person that is the opposite of sober, being drunk. It is very much the same as being alert, but I think being alert could refer to Christians who are sober, but they are in autopilot mode and go about with the same daily approach and lukewarm relationship in their faith. Time to wake up and draw closer to God, for your redemption is near. This is what our Christian life should be like, being sober, and alert every day, but we are often drawn away from this by our lives being here and now, and life with work, family, self, etc, taking over our days and hours and God and what he wants not always being first. If we remind ourselves that God comes first in everything that we do we will be more ready and alert on a daily basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Edwards Posted May 23, 2023 Report Share Posted May 23, 2023 Each day, the Christian needs to be circumspect. Indifference and being unfaithful have no part in the life of the true believer. We have to have "niptike theoria". We must be recollected in Monday as we tend to our daily duties. Faithful in Bible study and daily prayer. Each day, we don't permit ourselves to be overthrown by temptation. We are a sober people. We aren't like the pagans who indulged in drunken proclivities prior to their conversions to Christ. The Thessalonians were very much involved in such drunken religious rires before they got saved. Watchfulness is very crucial. We are always alert and live godly in Christ. Deep in our hearts we are in prayer even we are driving or shopping. By our lives, we are living Epistles, a sweet aroma, glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ. We are diligent as Christian believers. In this present life, salvation we must sow in the Holy Spirit. The fruits of the Holy Spirit need to bear forth in our lives. At the end of our lives, salvation will be an unforfeitable eternal possession. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krissi Posted November 13, 2023 Report Share Posted November 13, 2023 There seems to be eras of hyper-concentration on Christ's return. I'm not only thinking of the occasional groups of sincere Christians who would gather on hills dressed in white ... until they figured out He wasn't coming right then, but those who focus on eschatology, numerology and signs of His coming again. The prophetic edge of today's church is ramping up to one of those eschatological fervors now. They may be right or it may be another false alarm. Only God knows. To be sober and self-controlled has two meanings. First, it has to do with our ethical behavior, that is, our character. Secondly, it has to do with our tendency to look at current events and assert God's imminent return. To those who live as if He will never return, the admonition is to be alert and watchful; to those who imagine He's returning at a particular time/place, the admonition is to be circumspect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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