1 Thessolonians 5:2
2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
For the day of the Lord will come like a thief.
In saying that the Lord comes like a theif.
these are things that are involved.
1) Unexpected coming:
The thief will not announce that he is coming. Or the thief will not come when everybody is awake.
That is why in revelation it says.
Revelation 3:3
Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you
If you are awake, it wont be a theif.
When you are awake, you will know who is coming to you.
you are not surprised that somebody came to you.
Matthew 25:V13 says Keep watch
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
Point 2: Second things is
The Lord does not come like a theif for believers.
1 Thessolonians 5:4
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
The Lord does not come like a theif for believers because believers are not in darkness.
I am not saying people who just come to Church and go, but people who truly believed in the Lord, actually they wait for the Lord.
for those who wait, the coming is not a surprise.
Suppose if a guest said that he is coming to your house at evening 5, and then you will have all preparations done by afternoon and you will be waiting for the guest, even if the guest is delayed for 2 hours you will still wait and when the guest comes you will not be surprised.
Point 3: The thief comes to to steal, kill, destroy.
John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full
The thief, actually comes for these things
Analogy Steal: The thief comes to steal for which does not belong to him.
When a theif comes to your house, nothing in your house belongs to the theif, but a thief comes and steals what belongs to you. or what doesnot belong to him.
But in contrast, Lord Jesus comes to take the people brought by His Precious blood.
1 Corinthians 6:19
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
We should very clearly know that we are not our own. we are completely His.
This will make life very easy.
Suppose if you are using your car, then however is your car does nt matter.
but suppose i took some very good car of yours, then i will be mainting it.
Knowing that we are not our own, but we are completely belonging to God makes life easy and we will be very careful to make sure to keep this body as how the owner likes it.
Remember, although Jesus Christ is coming like a theif, but He is coming to take His own.
Steal Analogy - Theif comes to steal precious things/ Jesus comes to take His precious Church.
The theif comes to steal precious things in your house.
have you ever seen/heard a thief coming to steal the trash in your house. that would be silly. Similarly the devil comes to steal what is precious for a person.
He does not comes to make you look ugly, but he comes to steal your inner joy, to steal your faith, to make you sin. because he knows that is the precious thing in Gods sight.
But Lord Jesus Christ comes to take the precious Church.
Church is so precious in Gods sight. The most precious thing for God on this earth is His Church.
Because
Church is His Body,
Colossians 1:18
he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy
Church is His temple.
The world did not recognize the Church.
It is the through Church that God reveals His Light .
It is the through Church that God changes the lives of people.
It is the through Church that changes sinners to saints.
It is the through Church that God establishes His purposes for this world.
Colossians 1:18
Analogy Kill - A thief comes to kill - we know in many cases, when poeple try to resist or even without resisting the theives kill the people in the house so that nobody will complain.
But Lord Jesus Christ comes to give life and life in abundance.
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
this Theif kills- how it kills
James 1:14,15 says
but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
The devil tempts the people and sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.
But the Lord comes not to kill but to give a life with Him.
Can you every imagine a life with Him. It is so beautiful it is so wonderful.
Analogy Destroy.The thief comes to destroy.
The ultimate goal of the devil is that it knows it is going to be destroyed, but it want the mankind to see the death.
It is like a person who fails in exam is not concerned about his failure, but wants everyone else also fail.
But the Lord Jesus, is coming to restore the mankind.
1 Thessolonians 4:16,17
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lordforever.
The glory that mankind has lost because of sin, because of the thief, now Lord Jesus is coming back to restore that glory.
First dead in Christ will rise.
Then we who are still alive will be caught up in the air and will be with the Lord forever.
Why I shared all these things is: because in verse 18 the Word says that share all these things
18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
For the day of the Lord will come like a thief.
In saying that the Lord comes like a theif.
these are things that are involved.
1) Unexpected coming:
The thief will not announce that he is coming. Or the thief will not come when everybody is awake.
That is why in revelation it says.
Revelation 3:3
Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you
If you are awake, it wont be a theif.
When you are awake, you will know who is coming to you.
you are not surprised that somebody came to you.
Matthew 25:V13 says Keep watch
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
Verse 5 says all of them fell asleep.
So keep watching is not about whether you are physically sleeping or wakeup..
it is about whether you are filled with Holy Spirit and led by the HolySpirit when the Lord comes.
Have you ever filled the gas in your car and drive life time.
No every time the gas runs out youwill fill it.
its everyday filling of the Holy Spirit and being awake for the Lord.
Point 2: Second things is
The Lord does not come like a theif for believers.
1 Thessolonians 5:4
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
The Lord does not come like a theif for believers because believers are not in darkness.
I am not saying people who just come to Church and go, but people who truly believed in the Lord, actually they wait for the Lord.
for those who wait, the coming is not a surprise.
Suppose if a guest said that he is coming to your house at evening 5, and then you will have all preparations done by afternoon and you will be waiting for the guest, even if the guest is delayed for 2 hours you will still wait and when the guest comes you will not be surprised.
Point 3: The thief comes to to steal, kill, destroy.
John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full
The thief, actually comes for these things
Analogy Steal: The thief comes to steal for which does not belong to him.
When a theif comes to your house, nothing in your house belongs to the theif, but a thief comes and steals what belongs to you. or what doesnot belong to him.
But in contrast, Lord Jesus comes to take the people brought by His Precious blood.
1 Corinthians 6:19
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
We should very clearly know that we are not our own. we are completely His.
This will make life very easy.
Suppose if you are using your car, then however is your car does nt matter.
but suppose i took some very good car of yours, then i will be mainting it.
Knowing that we are not our own, but we are completely belonging to God makes life easy and we will be very careful to make sure to keep this body as how the owner likes it.
Remember, although Jesus Christ is coming like a theif, but He is coming to take His own.
Steal Analogy - Theif comes to steal precious things/ Jesus comes to take His precious Church.
The theif comes to steal precious things in your house.
have you ever seen/heard a thief coming to steal the trash in your house. that would be silly. Similarly the devil comes to steal what is precious for a person.
He does not comes to make you look ugly, but he comes to steal your inner joy, to steal your faith, to make you sin. because he knows that is the precious thing in Gods sight.
But Lord Jesus Christ comes to take the precious Church.
Church is so precious in Gods sight. The most precious thing for God on this earth is His Church.
Because
Church is His Body,
Colossians 1:18
he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy
Church is His temple.
The world did not recognize the Church.
It is the through Church that God reveals His Light .
It is the through Church that God changes the lives of people.
It is the through Church that changes sinners to saints.
It is the through Church that God establishes His purposes for this world.
Colossians 1:18
Analogy Kill - A thief comes to kill - we know in many cases, when poeple try to resist or even without resisting the theives kill the people in the house so that nobody will complain.
But Lord Jesus Christ comes to give life and life in abundance.
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
this Theif kills- how it kills
James 1:14,15 says
but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
The devil tempts the people and sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.
But the Lord comes not to kill but to give a life with Him.
Can you every imagine a life with Him. It is so beautiful it is so wonderful.
Analogy Destroy.The thief comes to destroy.
The ultimate goal of the devil is that it knows it is going to be destroyed, but it want the mankind to see the death.
It is like a person who fails in exam is not concerned about his failure, but wants everyone else also fail.
But the Lord Jesus, is coming to restore the mankind.
1 Thessolonians 4:16,17
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lordforever.
The glory that mankind has lost because of sin, because of the thief, now Lord Jesus is coming back to restore that glory.
First dead in Christ will rise.
Then we who are still alive will be caught up in the air and will be with the Lord forever.
Why I shared all these things is: because in verse 18 the Word says that share all these things
18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
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