"For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so
comes as a thief in the night" (1 Thessalonians 5:2). A
thief does not call you on the phone and tell you that he is going to rob you
tonight.When he robs you, you
wake up in the night and he is there. The
same will be with the appearance of the Lord at His second coming. No
one knows when our Lord will come again. It
will be a total surprise. Jesus
says, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of
Heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (Mark 13:32).
When our Lord comes, it will happen in a split second. "In
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For
the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we
shall be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:52). We
must constantly be prepared for the Lord’s coming again. We
will not have any time to get ready or change after He does come. "Therefore
if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know
what hour I will come upon you" (Revelation 3:3). We
must be ready now. "Behold, I
am coming as a thief. Blessed is
he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his
shame" (Revelation 16:15). "Therefore
you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not
expect" (Matthew 24:44).
Our Lord’s coming will be a great and wonderful day for those who are
prepared; but for those who are not prepared it will be horrible and beyond
description, since it will be the beginning of their eternal punishment. "The
Lord Jesus is revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire
taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These
shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord
and from the glory of His power" (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). Everyone
will know when our Lord does come the second time because "every eye
will see Him" (Revelation 1:7).
There will be those members of the Lord’s church
who will then discover they are lost because of their unfaithfulness and other
sins of which they have not repented. But
it will be too late then to get one’s life right. "The
Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom
all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them
into the furnace of fire. There
will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then
the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He
who has ears to hear, let him hear" (Matthew 13:41-43). Notice
there will be those who will be gathered out of His kingdom, the church, and
be cast into the eternal fires of Hell. Those
gathered out of His kingdom are members of the Lord’s church who are going
to be lost in Hell.Jesus wants us
to pay attention to what He is trying to tell us.He says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear"
(Matthew 13:43).Our Lord is trying to warn us if we will only listen.He has already paid the awful price for our salvation and He doesn’t
want to see it wasted. Jesus is
telling us that we had better listen up.
But why are some members of the Lord’s church going to be lost? "But
his lord answered and said to him, you wicked and lazy servant. And
cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness. There
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 25:26, 30). These
are members of the Lord’s church who are going to be lost because they are
unprofitable and lazy or they have wickedness in their lives of which they
have not repented. We must repent
of any sin in our lives and get busy now in working for our Lord.
This life is so short and eternity is sure, final, and forever. Job
says, "My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle" (Job 7:6). We
cannot stop time or even slow it down. Job
continues to say, "Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of
trouble. He comes forth like a
flower and fades away; he flees like a shadow and does not continue" (Job
14:1-2).
People try to hide their fear of dying and cover it up with the pursuit
of "material success". Many
people put off becoming a Christian, or those who become a Christian become
unfaithful and delay their repentance because they feel it's necessary they
get everything just right before they obey the Lord. They
seem to think they will live forever on this earth. In
talking to people about their soul, many respond by saying, "I’m not
ready yet". The problem is
there is not much time left to get ready. They
will soon run out of time. It will
be too late then. "Behold,
now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2
Corinthians 6:2). We must get
ready now, while we have time. Let's "work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians
2:12). There
will be no second chances. One who
is not ready will not go to Heaven.
In less than one hundred years from now we will all be dead. We
will either be with the many being tormented in Hell or with the few in the
glory of Heaven (Matthew 7:13-14). We
make the choice in this life as to which place we will be. Let’s
make the right choice.
Questions Lesson #2
As A Thief In The Night
(Click on the button of the answer
of your choice)
1) (1 Thessalonians 5:2) When the
Lord comes
He will let us know ahead of time.
It will be no surprise because we already
know.
He will come as a thief in the night.
2)
No one knows when the Lord will
come again.
3) (1 Corinthians 15:52) The coming
of the Lord
Will be in a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye.
Will never happen.
Will be very slow as it is happening.
4)
When the Lord comes the dead will not
be raised.
5) (Matthew 24:44) When the Lord
comes
We will have plenty of time to get ready
after He comes.
We must be ready for we don't know when
He is coming.
We know the hour when He will come.
6)
There is no need to be ready for
the Lord's coming.
7) (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)
When the Lord does come, vengeance will be taken on
No one.
The faithful.
Those who know not God and have not
obeyed the gospel.
8)
The punishment will only last
for a short time.
9) (Matthew 13:41-43) What will
happen to the lost who are gathered out of the Lord's kingdom, the church?
They will also go to Heaven.
They will be cast into the furnace of
fire.
They will only be scolded.
10)
The righteous will shine forth
as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
11) (Matthew 25:26, 30) What will
happen to the unprofitable servant (Christian)?
Nothing.
He will be given another chance.
He will be cast into outer darkness where
there will be weeping & gnashing of teeth.
12)
The Lord will have sympathy on
the unprofitable and lazy Christian.