As A Thief In The Night
Author: Josué Mora PeñaBoth Peter and Paul speak about Jesus coming as a thief in the night. Paul tells the Thessalonians that Jesus is coming in that same manner, "as a thief in the night" (First Thess. 5.2). Peter and Paul specify that He would come at night, and as a thief, meaning, unexpectedly. Now days thieves dont wait to be dark in order to rob and steal. They do it at any time, day or night. The idea of Jesus coming at night is symbolic because, if Jesus returns during the night in the Western Hemisphere, He will come during the day at the other Hemisphere.
Peter is writing to Gods people, the elect, the Christians who have been dispersed due to persecution (First Peter 1.1). He tells them about the last days (Second Peter 3.3.). " . . . scoffers, walking after their own lust." Verse 4 says, ". . .
where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." And many people today still question Jesus coming. "Is He really coming back"? they ask. In many of the churches today the theme of Jesus coming again is never heard. People are not looking forward for His second coming, that glorious day when Jesus will return to take away His Church to heaven because in many pulpits this kind of doctrine is seldom, or never proclaimed.
For those who believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, we dont have any problems accepting that Jesus is coming back, and that He is coming very soon. During the time of Jesus, it is believed that those who spoke against His coming again were the early Gnostics who resisted the idea of a time of judgment and moral accountability. You see, they were not living according to Gods will and therefore denied Jesus returning to earth again. Even today, those who disobey God, dread "the great day of His coming wrath and who can stand"? (Paraphrased) (Revelation 6.17).
According to the NIV Study Bible, the argument against Christs return was: "Since he has not occurred by now [thirty years later after Jesus ascended into heaven], probably it will never occur". Peter reminds them of the Judgment in Noahs time. And when Jesus returns, there will be another Judgment. Peter also tells them that with God, a day is like one thousand years and one thousand years is like a day. Some scholars argue that as God rested after the sixth day of His Creation, now He is about ready to rest again after another six-thousand years (days). Since the creation of man to Christ are 4,000 years, and another 2,000, after His birth, is a total of 6,000 years or, six days, (according to Gods time). So God is about to rest on the seventh day, or the beginning of the seventh thousand year.
God does not view time as we humans do. He stands about time. God has no past and no future. He is an eternal present. He has always been. He told Moses at the burning bush, "I am that I am" (Exodus 3.14). The late Physician Albert Einstein came up with the idea that contrary to what we were taught in school about the present, past and future time, there is no such thing as present time. He argues that we can not live in the present time in a world that is constantly rotating. He says that we live from the past to the future but never in the present time. If I would snap my fingers and say, this is the present time, it has already gone. The present time would be if the world would stop for a fraction of a second, that would be the present time. On the other hand, God is an eternal present. He has always been. He was not. He will not be. He always is.
God is now entering into the last second in His clock. And Israel is Gods clock. Many of the prophetic preachers on Television and in the radio are proclaiming that we are living in the last days before the return of Christ. I preach salvation and repentance. I want you to have the joy of being saved, of knowing that you belong to God. And thats why you need to come to Christ and give your life to Him.
The Bible tells us "that the Lord is not lack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (Second Peter 3.9). The scoffers that we mentioned at the beginning of my sermon "misunderstood" the reason for Jesus divine delay. He is a long-suffering God. Hes waiting for you to give your life to Him and your family and friends, and acquaintances.
Conclusion: Read verse 10 (slowly). Then read verse 11 and 12 and let us live that way.
Amen.
josue.mora@iglesiabautista.org
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And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 