Coming as a Thief?
By
Pastor F. M. Riley
January
28,2021
“For
yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord
so cometh as a thief
in the night,” 1 Thess 5:2.
A
THIEF IN THE NIGHT
The
references to Christ coming as “a thief in the night,”
occur only five
times in the New Testament. “5” is
the Bible number signifying “the grace of God.”
These five Scripture
references
are…….
1
Thessalonians 5:2
1
Thessalonians 5:4-5
2
Peter 3:10
Revelation
3:3
Revelation
16:15
This
first reference in 1
Thess 5:2 is spoken to the Lord’s
church. The
inspired Apostle was talking
to the church at Thessalonica about “the
times and seasons.” 5:1.
THE
DAY OF THE lORD
The
expression, “the day of the Lord” occurs repeatedly in
both the Old and New
Testaments. By
studying the Scriptures
where this expression occurs, and the context in which it
occurs, it becomes
glaringly obvious that “the day of the
Lord” refers primarily to the seven year tribulation
period, however some
references suggest that it extends right on over to the
Millennial
Kingdom. It
particularly is a day of
judgment in which the wrath of God will be poured out upon
unbelieving, Christ
rejecting, mankind on the earth.
But in
the next two Scriptures, Paul
assured the Lord’s church…….
“But
ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day
should overtake you as
a thief.
Ye are
all the children of light, and the
children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of
darkness,” 1 Thess
5:4-5.
Then in this same chapter and context, the inspired
Apostle clearly
stated to the Lord’s church and believing people…….
“For God hath not
appointed us to wrath, but
to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” 1 Thess 5:9. This is
referring to our deliverance
at the time of the resurrection and rapture.
Praise the Lord!
From these inspired passages, it is quite clear that
the Lord will
not come upon His church and believing people “as a thief” This
being
clearly stated, then why are there so many who “profess” to be
believers, who
aren’t even interested in the coming of the Lord? Why?
Because they are not seriousl-y studying and watching,
as the Lord Himself
instructed His church and people to
do, Mark 13:35-37. Didn”t this
same inspired writer,
speaking to this same church, later say
something about a “falling away? Read it for yourself
in 2 Thess 2:3. Folks,
we have arrived! We
are here!
Many “professing” Christians today never seriously
study the Scriptures,
and therefore are not watching for the coming of the Lord to
rescue and rapture
His church and believing people to glory.
They are too involved in the things of the world and
the flesh to pay
attention to the “signs
of the times,” which
clearly indicate the SOON COMING of the Lord.
While those who are true believers will not lose their
salvation, and they
lwill be raptured, they most certainly will miss the special
blessings the Lord
pronounced upon all whom He would find faithfully watching, Luke 12:37.
Read and take
heed to 1 cor 3: 11-15 and 1 John 2:28.
THE
THIRD PASSAGE
The third passage referring to Christ coming as a thief
is found in 2 Peter
3:10…….
“But the day of the Lord
will come as a thief in the
night, in the which the heavens shall pass away [pass by] with a great noise,
and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are
therein shall be
burned up,”
This is a fantastic Scripture!
This is due to it being both
mis-translated by the King James translators, and being
falsely
interpreted by many
who do not
carefully study Bible prophecy.
Dear reaers, do not take this as a proudhearted
statement.
It is not!
Rather, I am grateful that the Lord graciousy showed me
the truth about
this Scripture. Now
let’s examine this
Scripture carefully. 2
Timothy 2:15 is
still in the Bible.
First, the prophecy is about the coming of “the day of the Lord.
This is a
reference to the tribulagion period, which is right now
staring mankind on the
earth in the face.
However,
the masses of mankind on the earth
do not realize whazt is happening, nor where
they are at in relation to the fulfillment of Bible
prophecy. So it will
most certainly
come upon the
unbelieving lost world as “a thief in the night.”
The
remainder of this Scripture sets forth the “signs” which
indicate that “the
day of the Lord” is at hand.
First,
the expression, “the heavens shall pas away with a great noise.” Here is an
important
mis-translation. In
the Greek text, the
Greek word translated as “pass
away,´literally means, “to pass by; to go past; to come
pas; to fly past.” See
Strong’s No. 3928. The
meaning of the
word, has nothing to do with something going out of
existence, as some
foolishly teach today.
God
established the heavens, and they are here to stay, Eccl
14275 Co. Rd. 8120esiastes
3:14.
What this Scripture is
actually predicting is
that some planets, comets, asteroiuds, etc. will come flying
right past the
earth, and as they pass they will make a great noise. Folks, these heavenl
ybodies are passing
through space traveling several thousands of mile per hou, or
even per minute.
Have our readers ever heard a jet plane breaking the sound
barrier? Traveling
at only 700 MPH?
Then how much greater
will the sound be,
when these heavenly
bodies come flying past the earth flying at several thousands
of MPH? , I will
come on thee as a thief and thou
shalt not know , I will
It is more than coincidence that asteroids and meteors
have already
began flying through space past the earth.
This has been going on for several years, but it is
becoming more
frequent, and the objects flying past are becoming larger. Are our readers
paying attention? During
the swiftly approaching “day
of the Lord” people LEFT BEHIND on the
earth, may very well see gigantic asteroids pass by the
earth at close range. Read
Revelation
6:12-13 8:8. Some
readers may be playing “religion,” but
God is setting forth “ LIFE.”.
Receive
Christ now, or you may lose your soul for ever.
Next, notice the earth
will become extremely HOT.
So hot
that the elements will literally melt from the heat. Read ISAIAH 13:13,
30:26, and Malachi
4:1. This extreme
heat will be caused by
every volcano on the earth erupting, all at
the time, plus the Sun becoming seven times brighter
than it is
today. This will
cause people to flee
from their fine homes and run for the mountains; to find
refuge from the heat,
Isaiah 2:12 and 2:19.
But pay special attention to the statement about the
earth and all the
works of man on the earth being
burned up. From
this statement has
come the silly theory that the
whole earth will one day completely burn up and cease to
exist. Many of
our readers have probably seen artist
drawings showing the earth completely engulfed in flames
burning itself out of
existence. This
artist conception is
a lie, and is unscriptural
false
teaching. Why do
I say this? Because
the inspired Word explicity states five
times that the earth is established FOR EVER. The earth will never
cease to exist.
John’s revelation tells us that time after time in the
coming “day of
the Lord”, different parts
of the
earth’s surface will be burned,
ultimately purifying the whole earth by fire, Psalm 104:30..
Now let’ go to the last two places in the inspired Word
which speaks of
the Lord coming “as a
thief in the
night.”
Revelation 3:3…..
“Remember therefore
how thou hast received
and heard, and hold fast,
and
repent. If
therefore thou shall
not watch, I will come on threeas
a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon
thee.”
The
Lord is admonishing His
church to
remember how they had “received
and heard” the Gospel of their salvation and to WATCH. The Lord warned
those in His church, that if
they refused to obey, He will come upon them
“as a thief,” and
they will not
know when He is coming.
This Scripute
certainly has a warning for all true bekievers living toda.
Finally the
passage in Revelation 16:15.
“Behold, I come as a
tihief. Blessed is he that
watcheth, and keepeth his garmenss, lest he walk naked, and
they see his
shame.”
This
passage is in the context
of the end of
the Tribulation. After
seven terrible
years the wicked on the earth will not hae learned a thing. Other inspired
prophecies make it clear that
at the end of the Tribulation, there will be a great army of
thousands [or
millions] who
will be gathered to fight
against the Lord Himself.
They will know
that He is coming, for He visibly appears in the heavens above
before He comes
down to the earth. Matthew
24:29-30. But
the wicked will not
know exactly when He is going to strike.
And once again He will come upon them as “a thief in the night.” Glory to God!
CONCLUSION
After carefully studying all five Scriptures which
speak of Christ
coming as a thief in the night, we conclude…….
:It
is the lost unbelieving world upon whom Christ will come and
heard, and hold fastas
a thief.
It is true believers who are so caught up in the things
of the flesh and
the world that they are not watching, upon whom the Lord will come as a thief/ ,Read
again Revelation 3:3 and take heed.
The Lord will not come as
a thief in the night upon true believers who are faithfully
studying His Word
and “watching.” Why
not? Because we are looking
for and expecting His
return. For us,
the Lord,s return will
be the fulfillment of our “blessed hope,”
Titus 2:11-15. Praise
the Lord!
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This message and warning is finished.
What our readers do
with it is
between them and the Lord.
.
Pastor F. M. Riley, 14275 Co. Rd. 8120, Rolla, MO 65401
My email address francismriley34@gmail.coBecause
we are looking for and
expecting Him to come for us. m
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