1 Thessalonians 5:2
“For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.”
Years ago, when our twin sons were infants, my wife woke me in the middle of the night. Having been up with the babies, she saw someone in our yard. Concerned that we might be dealing with a home invasion, my instinct was to grab something to protect myself and head into the yard. As I peered through the front window, I realized that it was actually a group of teenagers who were toilet-papering our house. I immediately thought of grabbing the garden hose, getting on the roof and spaying them down. The problem was, the garden hose was in the front yard where I had left it after its last use. Frustrated that I was unprepared for the surprise visit, all I could do was run outside, make myself known, and watch them run off. Thinking they might return to finish the job, I laid on the roof with the hose in hand for the next few hours, only to be disappointed by the fact that I had missed my opportunity. Paul reminds us that the return of Christ will be like an intruder in the night. The time to prepare for His return is not after His arrival, but in anticipation to His coming.
1 Thessalonians 5:3 “For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.”
One of the most interesting signs the Bible warns us to be looking for, is the fact that people will be suggesting He is not coming. Peter wrote, in the last days people would mock the very idea of Jesus’ return. They would be saying things like “you Christians have been talking about that forever.” Paul also reminds us, while many of the signs of Christ’s return are things that have been happening throughout history, they are things that will increase in severity and frequency. Like a woman having contractions, the pain increases the closer she gets to her delivery, so will the signs of Christ’s return increase as the day approaches.
1 Thessalonians 5:4 “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.”
While we cannot know the day or hour of the return of Christ, we can be living in expectancy, so we are not caught unaware. The way to be prepared for His return, is not by twisting every current event into a fulfilled prophecy. Instead, we must be sure, that first, we have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, and second, we have surrendered to Him as Lord. You might be able to rattle off all of the signs that point to His coming, yet you are not living for Him. If that is your story, you will be overtaken as by a thief in the night.
There is little doubt, we are living in the last days. The State of Israel, the climate in the Middle East, the rise of immorality being accepted as good, all point to the imminent return of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. The one question that remains is, are you ready should He come back today?
Pastor Jim
“Oh yeah, what’s in it for me?”
Isaiah prophesied of a day when a nation would come against Judah, and the Lord would defend His people. This happened at the end of the 8th Century BC when the Assyrian forces besieged Jerusalem, and were supernaturally defeated. In light of this, Isaiah calls people to return to the Lord. I find it interesting, that he couples coming to the Lord, with the laying aside of idols.
We are living in uncertain times. Violence rages in the Middle East, the threat of terrorism continues, even increases, despite all of our efforts to eradicate it, the rising threat of hostile nations developing nuclear capabilities, not to mention the domestic violence and uncertainty we face on our own soil. Just today, the headlines on some popular news sites include: “New York store owner funded ISIS,” “South Korea detains Americans,” at least 220 killed in a day in Syria.”
At the time of Isaiah’s prophecy, Israel was resisting the Lord. They decided following God restricted them from really moving forward, so they began a quest pursuing the gods of other nations. Sadly, their pursuit not only left them empty, but at odds with God. Part of the Prophet’s ministry was to remind the people of the blessings that would become theirs once they returned to the Lord. One of the greatest of these benefits was experiencing grace.
There seems to be a great deal of teaching in the church today regarding prosperity. The messages vary, but the basic idea is God wants to bless and prosper you. This prosperity is defined as being wealthy, healthy and successful. There is no question, by following Jesus, you will avoid many of the pitfalls in life that lead to suffering, but it is wrong to use a secular dictionary to define Biblical terms. The same Jesus who promised abundant life, also promised that in this world we would have tribulation (John 16:33). The same apostle who experienced what it was to abound, also went through times where he was abased; he said, “Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need” (Philippians 4:12).
I don’t know if it is “a guy thing”, but whenever my wife arrives home from grocery shopping and asks for help bringing the bags in from the car, I attempt to carry everything in at once. It may be the challenge or it may be out of laziness, but whatever motivates me, it is down right comical to see me laden down with groceries, attempting to open the front door. The fact is, there is a much better way to accomplish a big task, that is, one step at at time.
A few days ago I was working at my computer using a program that had been updated with new features. While I had used the program before, these new features added elements with which I was unfamiliar. I was having trouble with what should have been a pretty simple task. Each time I tried to make it do what I wanted, the program would override my action, doing something else to the document. In frustration, I called out for help from one of the other pastors, who is quite computer savvy. When he came to my aid I said, “This stupid thing is not working.” To which he replied. “That’s because you are doing it wrong.” After a moment of being offended, I realized he was right and I humbled myself allowing him to show me the correct way to work the program. I was delighted to find it was not the program that was being stupid, and the upgrades were actually quite helpful. But what does that have to do with our text?
I recently watched an episode of a “Reality Show” where two individuals were in search of gold. They invested all they had, left their families, traveled to a foreign land, all in search of gold and in hopes of getting rich. Over the centuries, gold has been a highly sought after commodity. For many years, it was the standard by which a nation’s wealth was determined. Gold is not the only commodity man seeks after. Many have spent their lives in pursuit of resources that will make them rich, successful, powerful or at least happy. Perhaps the most sought after of all, is the pursuit of peace. In fact, it seems many would give up all else, in order to gain peace. In one of the most precious of all promises, Isaiah declares where peace can be found.
Many places in the world are subject to devastating storms. Within the U.S., the northern states face blizzards, while the south is subject to hurricanes and the Midwest has its tornados. In order to be safe, when one of these natural disasters strike, certain preparations must be done ahead of time. One of the most important, is to have a structure that can withstand the severe cold or intense winds that come with these storms. Proper preparations go all the way back to when the house was built.
Jim Gallagher 