When He says that the day of the Lord will so come as a thief in the night, it will surprise everyone but not us, because the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, “It shall not come as a thief in the night for you. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety,’ then sudden destruction comes upon them.” Who is going to celebrate peace in the Middle East, in the construction of the third Temple? Israel. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to tell you something. In Matthew 25, Jesus said, “Watch therefore for neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of man is coming.” We don’t know the day, we don’t know the hour, but it’s not going to surprise us because we know the times. We know the seasons.
In fact, the Bible says, “Concerning the times of the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you for you yourself know perfectly.” I love it. So many Christians, or those who call themselves Christians, they don’t know perfectly anything. In fact, they are not even looking forward to it. When the Bible says, “You know perfectly. For you yourself know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.” And I’m wondering why thief in the night? Because as long as we are in this world, this world is a dark world.
According to Romans 13:12, it says, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand.” So we’re at the very end. The day is at hand, but we’re still in the night. We’re at the tail end of the night. 1 Thessalonians 5:4 and 5 talked about how we are of the day although we are still in the night. The night is far spent, the day is at hand, and we are not of the night but of the day. And this is why I love to conclude this message with the verses from Hebrews 10:23 to 25 because I know there’re so many Christians who are so tired. They’re like, “How long can we still stay here?” I always tell them, “Rejoice in the Lord, always.” Philippians says that, and he says, “The Lord is at hand.” That’s why you need to rejoice.
Those who espouse that the rapture is a recent invention of the overactive imagination of some will have to explain exactly what Paul was talking about to the church at Thessaloniki. He told them in 1 Thessalonians 4 that there was coming a moment in time when dead believers in Christ and those still alive would at the same second meet Jesus in the air and forever be with Him. He said to offer the comfort of those words to each other.
If He was talking about the second coming, there would be little comfort in knowing we are going through the tribulation. And what do we do with this?
1 Corinthians 15:50-52
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 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.
Paul said not everyone’s body is going to die. Sleep was how the early Christians referred to the body in the grave, because they knew it would be resurrected one day. He also said living mortals would be changed into immortals in the twinkling of an eye.
Some will bypass death and become immortal, and then what? Stay here? Doesn’t this too imply a change of location, not just physical habitation? The Bible clearly teaches the rapture of the church and it is inferred by things like the absence of any mention of the church in Revelation 6-18 when the tribulation is in full swing.
Matthew 24:44
Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Jesus is coming at a time when He is not expected, which would include today. The Jews aren’t expecting Him, the world isn’t expecting Him, and the vast majority of the church isn’t expecting Him. So when He’s not expected, we should be expecting Him to come get us at any moment.
The big question is, are you ready? When He’s ready, it will be too late to get ready. While the day and hour are clearly unknown to all of us, the evidence that the season of church history we are now in is a better candidate for the rapture than any other. Namely, because it didn’t happen then, it makes it a greater likelihood now.
Be ready! He could come even, perhaps, today!
Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus,