Thinking of all this, I didn’t feel that worried and believed that God would lead me to understand His will. What Brother Chen fellowshiped accorded with the Bible, which helped me understand more about the work of God and His will, and benefited my life. With these thoughts in mind, I became somewhat worried, so I prayed to the Lord in my heart, “O Lord! Please protect my heart, and help me tell right from wrong.” After praying, I carefully recalled several recent meetings with Brother Chen and found there was nothing wrong. At that time, an idea occurred to me, “Is Brother Chen from The Church of Almighty God?” In the past, I often heard the pastors say that the way of Eastern Lightning was so good that many people were attracted by it, and they also asked us not to listen to sermons with our guards down. His words helped me understand some prophecies in the Bible and know the Lord more practically.
Thief in the night bible verse how to#
He integrated some of the prophecies in the Bible to fellowship with us on some truths, such as the differences between “being saved” and “attaining full salvation,” the mystery of God’s six-thousand-year management plan, and how to discern the voice of the Lord. One of the brothers surnamed Chen had light in his fellowship. One time, Sister Zhang invited me to attend a Bible study meeting, and then I was acquainted with several sisters and brothers there. After that, whenever we were free, we would fellowship our own spiritual experiences. Like old school friends we clicked and started chatting. One day in April 2018, I ran into Sister Zhang when shopping. I came across a sister who spreads the gospel. However, won’t everybody see Him if He returns descending on the clouds? What is that really about? This question was always a puzzle to me. That is to say, people are completely unaware. The Lord Jesus’ words clearly told us that He would come like a thief. “ If therefore you shall not watch, I will come on you as a thief, and you shall not know what hour I will come on you” (Revelation 3:3). However, I felt puzzled about his view that the Lord Jesus will descend on clouds, for I saw these words of the Lord Jesus in the Bible: “ Behold, I come as a thief” (Revelation 16:15). When the Lord comes, He will descend on a cloud to take us into the kingdom of heaven.” At that time, most of my brothers and sisters approved of his words. This should motivate every believer to a life of devotion, service, and encouragement to other believers as we look forward to this day.I remembered that our pastor often said, “The Lord will come soon, so we should wait watchfully. Jesus will return at any moment, like a thief in the night. The Christian life is not intended as a solo effort, but is rather a team sport. We can better serve the Lord "awake and sober" when we encourage other believers, build them up, and are likewise encouraged by them. Their example is fitting for our lives as well. Paul instructed them to continue these practices. These believers were already encouraging and helping one another. We are not to serve God with apathy or half-hearted efforts, but rather serve Him passionately.įinally, Paul concludes his teaching in this section by saying, "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing" (1 Thessalonians 5:11). In other words, we are to make efforts to stay healthy and fully alert in our walk with God. We are not to simply keep one eye open spiritually, but be fully awake, completely committed to serving Christ. This means we must be prepared for Christ's coming, both in believing in Him (as the Thessalonian believers already had) and by living a godly life. Paul offered three commands in his response. In contrast, Paul commanded his readers, "So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober" (1 Thessalonians 5:6). Even when a person was home, a thief could quietly enter and commit a crime without being seen. During a time when a home was empty, he could enter and remove items without being detected. Instead, he would commit his crime in the cover of darkness where his identity could be concealed.
A thief did not generally operate in the daytime since he could be seen. The analogy of a thief in the night was a common one in Paul's culture. Instead, Jesus would return at any moment, unexpectedly like a thief in the night. Verse 1 notes, "Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you." Paul had just noted that his readers did not need information about the exact time or season Jesus would return.
The previous context helps answer this question. In 1 Thessalonians 5:2 Paul writes, "For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." What does this mean? Jesus will return like a thief in the night, what does that mean?
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