Text: “…the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2).
What does that Scripture mean to you?
What is the day of the Lord?
What does the word “thief” mean in this Scripture?
Didn’t Jesus already come into the world as a baby? Yes, He did. Every Christmas season we read the story of His birth. We understand and believe that He did not have an earthly father, but entered the world through Immaculate Conception. Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit.
His entrance into the world was a plan orchestrated by God the Father. God had a plan that would give man a chance to be redeemed. Salvation could not come through man because every man born after the sin of disobedience was born with a sinful nature. Man could not save or redeem man. Consequently, man was lost.
Jesus came into the world knowing His mission. He knew exactly what was going to take place. He knew about the punishment and abuse He would suffer. He knew about the Cross to which He would be nailed. He knew about His burial, His time absent from the Father and His resurrection.
Jesus knew all this, yet He came to humankind with open arms. He came because the love His Father had for every man, woman, boy and girl. He came because “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Jesus came proclaiming to be the Messiah. Many believed Him and many refused to believe Him. Many followed Him, but many stood afar off. The Sadducees and the Pharisees did not accept His teachings. He was condemned and forced to carry the cross-beam of the cross on which He would die.
“And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS” (John 19:17, 18).
The evening of the Crucifixion, Jesus was placed in a tomb by Joseph of Arimathea. Three days later Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and found it empty. As she cried, Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” (John 20:15)
At first, May did not know who was speaking to her, but her eyes were opened when Jesus said to her, “Mary!” After appearing to the disciples several time and the Scriptures were opened, “He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven” (Luke 24:50, 51).
Jesus was with the disciples and then He departed from them. “And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven’” (Acts 1:10, 11).
The Scripture tells us that He will come again in like manner as He ascended before the eyes of His disciples. We believe the Scripture to be true; therefore, we expect Jesus to come again.
Our text tells us “…the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2). This is telling me that the Lord is going to return, but we don’t know when. He is going to come at an unexpected time. He is going to come as a thief comes in the night.
We don’t know when a thief is going to strike. If we did know, we could prepare for him. The Lord is definitely going to come again, but we don’t know the day or the time. We must always be ready so then we will not be surprised. He will make His entry at a time we least expect.
He was here one time, why does He want to come again? Yes, He was here 2000 plus years ago, and His mission was to redeem humankind. He came to save us because there is no way we can save ourselves. He came and paid our sin debt.
Jesus had no sin, but He took our sins, past, present and future and buried them at the foot of the Cross. He came as our Savior. He came to rescue us or save us from spending eternity in the pit of Hell.
Didn’t He do a good job the first time? Yes, He did everything He was supposed to do. Jesus taught us how to live the good life. He told us we are “the salt of the earth and the light of the world”. He explained to us the evil in our heart. He told us how to treat people and how to go the second mile for them. Jesus talked to us about love and gave us the right recipe for prayer. He told us that it was more important to serve God than to worship riches.
He asked us not to worry and not to judge. He taught us how to build our future upon the Rock instead of the sand of the world. He cleansed the leper; healed a Centurion’s servant; healed Peter’s mother-in-law; cast demons out of two men; restored a little girl to life, and healed a woman who was bleeding for twelve years.
Jesus told us how much His Father loves us. He said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Jesus fed the five thousand and the four thousand with a few loaves and a few fish. He said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12). Then He went on to say, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9)
Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” (John 10:11). He told Martha and He tells us today, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25).
Lastly, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except; through Me” (John 14:6).
Jesus spoke these words over 2000 years ago and He speaks them to us every day. They were relevant then and they are just as relevant today.
These words are very plain and very easy for us to understand if we just listen.
He did many great deeds while He walked the earth, but many people would not listen. They were more concerned about finding something to accuse Him of saying or doing. To many people, Jesus was just blowing His own horn, but what many people did not understand and do not understand today is that He does not need us, but we need Him.
He was judged guilty and crucified upon the Cross. He could have stopped the pain and agony, but His love was so great for us that He chose to have all the sins of humankind placed upon His shoulders.
The burial and resurrection were in the Father’s plans. It had to be this way so as to open the eyes of each of His children. Seeing what He did for us, and accepting Him as personal Lord and Savior should have made an impression upon every man, woman, boy and girl.
Some people did accept Him as Lord and Savior, but some people cast Him aside saying He was just another prophet. Many people this day are doing the same thing. When we Christians try to witness to some people they refuse to listen to us. We are considered “Jesus freaks or Jesus fanatics” and they turn us off.
Jesus did all He could when He was here on earth. He gave people the opportunity to be redeemed and to come into a right relationship with Almighty God. The Father gave each of His children the ability to choose. God did not want puppets on a string, although He could have made us that way.
Since Jesus first walked upon the face of the earth, mankind has not really changed. Man is making the same wrong decisions now that He made years ago. Many are living worldly instead of concentrating on their future life and where they will spend it. There are those who believe there is no Heaven or Hell, so why give them second thought.
These people are not ignorant, but the world seems to offer more to them. The materialistic things of the world can be seen and these are the things people place their faith and trust in.
They said in Acts 1:11, “This same Jesus…shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven.”
All of us will die at some time. We will not get out of this world alive. Our bodies will be placed in the ground when we die, but our spirit will be present with the Lord.
We will be ushered out of this world and into Paradise by the angels. “So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22). Abraham’s bosom is a place of Paradise.
“If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep (or have died) in Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 4:14). The bodies of all those who have died will be resurrected changed and united with their spirit. They will be like angels.
“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). The people who have died and those living at the Lord’s return are the people who have believed and trusted in the words in red.
We do not know when Jesus will return, so we must be ready at all times. We must have our ducks in a row. We must be living the life He intends us to live. He must occupy first place in our heart. He must be first in our thoughts and in our daily walk through life.
Jesus will come as “a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2). A thief comes quickly and at the most unexpected time. Jesus, too, will come at the most unexpected time and day. We need not be surprised because God’s word says, “You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:5-6).
In other words, we are to conduct our lives in a sober manner. We are to be alert and prepared. We are not to be in a drunken stupor. Our faith and our hope are in the love of God.
Conclusion:
Jesus is coming again – there is no doubt.
They said in Acts 1:11, “This same Jesus….shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven.”
He will come at an unexpected day and time.
Jesus will come as “a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2).
He will bring all those who have died and who have accepted Him as Lord and Savior.
“….God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 4:14).
He will announce His entrance on that day.
“The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
What will happen to those who are still alive?
“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
What should we do until He comes?
Get our life in order be ready and wait.
Story: “He Stayed and Waited and Watched”
A little boy was told by his father to wait on a corner by a department store, while the father had a tire changed on his car. It turned out that the car required more attention than the man had anticipated, and it took over an hour.
The father anxiously hurried back to get his little boy, and found the little fellow right where he had told him to stay. He said to the boy, “Did you think your daddy had forgotten about you?” “Oh, no,” was the reply, accompanied by a smile of perfect trust, “I knew you would come just as soon as you could. I wasn’t a bit worried. I stayed where you told me, and waited, and watched for you.”
Dear child of God, worried and confused by present day world events, you, by the grace of your Lord, can be like that little boy. Have a perfect trust in Him, as you await His coming, watching and waiting in perfect obedience to Him. He has the “times and seasons” in command.
-------------------Sunday School Times
Poem: “What Would He say?”
If He should come today
And find my hands so full
Of future plans, however fair,
In which My Savior has no share,
What would He say?
If He should come today
And find my love so cold,
My faith so very weak and dim
I had not even looked for Him.
What would He say?
If He should come today
And find that I had not told
One soul about my heavenly Friend
Whose blessings all my way attend,
What would He say?
If He should come today
Would I be glad, quite glad?
Remembering that He died for all
And none through me had heard His call,
What would He say?
-------------Selected
Amen.
