"Fear God, Love God, Serve God": "Like A Thief!"

"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so

cometh as a thief in the night."

(I Thessalonians 5:2)

It will be a day like no other! The headlines will read, "Millions missing!" Car crashes, plane crashes, train derailments, people wandering the streets crying, Nations in an uproar, Church buildings full ... Huh? Oh yeah, the Churches will be full of unbelievers, who now are seeking, searching, weeping, wondering, scared to the marrow of their bones ... Why? Their families, friends, acquaintances ... are missing! What happened? Where are they? People from every walk of life are missing ... firefighters, police, officials, Senators, housewives, bosses, employees, preachers, children, babies ... all missing, and they are unaccounted for. It will be as it was prophesied; it will be a day like no other; it will be the day the earth gave up the righteous to the Lord in the air, and the remaining in earth entered into judgment; it will be a day of much deep pain, heartache, and tears for those who are left and "know;" it will be chaos and terror like the world has never known. Guess What? It happened ... Jesus Christ came ... "Like A Thief!"

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the

voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in

Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught

up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:

and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

(I Thessalonians 4:16-17)

The Lord Jesus Christ will come like a thief in the night; He comes for something of value; He comes to remove His own before He pours out judgment on the earth for those who did not repent of their sins, for those who loved pleasure more than holiness, for those who ignored the Word of God and did their own thing, and for those who did not receive His love, His gospel, and His redemption message. Jesus Christ is a Just God; He does not punish the righteous with the sinners. He knows what's coming and He is pushing His Church to gather in all who will come, before it's everlasting too late. He loves us so much; He is not willing that ANY be lost or perish.

"Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it,

and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief,

and you will not know at what time I will come to you."

(Revelation 3:3)

No man knows the day or the hour the Lord will come. But, He will come ... and we must be ready.

"Let me tell you a secret. Not all of us will die, but all of us will be changed-

in a moment, faster than an eye can blink, at the sound of the last trumpet.

Indeed, that trumpet will sound, and then the dead will be raised never

to decay, and we will be changed."

(I Corinthians 15:51-52)

Don't you think it would be wise of us to heed the call, get ready, and prepare for this event, repent, be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of our sins, be filled with the Holy Ghost and speak with tongues as the Spirit of the Lord gives us the utterance? It's not a hard thing He asks us to do; it's not difficult; it's just three things, and then live holy until the sound of the trumpet. The Bible says it will be like it was in the days of Noah before the flood came and destroyed everyone. They were eating and drinking, marrying, and they were warned over and over, but Noah was mocked, laughed at, and ridiculed as he patiently built the Ark. Preachers today are ridiculed and mocked ... just recently a well known News Journalist asked this question on the air, "Where is the sign of His coming?" They laughed then; they laugh now, but God doesn't make idle comments. If He said He will come as a thief in the night ... He will! And, if He said He loves You with an everlasting love ... He does! If He said He Is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings ... He IS!

There is a God who rules the universe, who said to Job, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the world?" He did not leave us without information, without instruction, without the impetus to make our hearts, spirits, souls, and bodies ready for Him. The Holy Bible tells us all we need to know, how to be ready, how to stay ready, and what to expect. The Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the gospels and they tell us about the virgin birth, life, death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Book of Acts is where the Church began and this is where we go to find out how to be saved (Acts 2, Acts, 8, Acts 10, and Acts 19). The Books of Romans to Jude tell us how to live holy "after" salvation, after repentance, baptism in His name, and the infilling of the Holy Ghost. The Book of Revelation is the fulfillment of all things. The Old Testament is a prophetic foretelling of the New Testament. We have been well informed, and very well prepared for the One in whom we place our eternal souls.

You say, "I've heard about the end of the world for years." The people heard about the flood for over 100 years in Noah's day too. Many of the prophecies in the Bible have come to pass just as they were prophesied. This is not to scare anyone; we prepare when the Weather forecasters tell us a tornado is in our area and to take cover; we prepare when hurricanes are shown to be headed for our States and cities; we prepare for cold weather and heat waves; we prepare for weddings and funerals; we prepare for just about everything we do in this life ... Don't you think we should prepare for the place we will live for all of eternity, the Rapture of the Church to make a way of escape for us before judgment comes?