JESUS CHRIST IS COMING AGAIN!!
"This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11, NKJV)
Devotion #10 of 15

THE DISRUPTION OF THE NATURAL ORDER
     Those who embrace the view that Jesus will some secretly to snatch His church undetected, speak of Him coming "as a thief in the night." Indeed, the Scriptures declare that He SHALL so come. "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as A THIEF IN THE NIGHT. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness" (1 Thess 5:2-5). "Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee AS A THIEF, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee" (Rev 3:3). "Behold, I come AS A THIEF. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame" (Rev 16:15). 

     The notion is entertained that "as a thief" means secretly. However, this is not at all the meaning. "As a thief" means UNEXPECTEDLY. In this case, when the thief appears, his presence is evident, not hidden. The Thessalonian text relates it to the "sudden destruction" of the lost, not a secret withdrawal of the saved. Also, His return is likened to that of a "thief" because He is going to take everything away from the ungodly, leaving them utterly naked before the living God.

     Now, all of this does relate to the passing away of the heavens and the earth. That is the precise point at which everything will be taken from the  ungodly! Peter is explicit on this point. "And saying, 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 . . . But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; IN THE WHICH the heavens shall PASS AWAY with a great noise, and the elements shall MELT with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be BURNED UP. Seeing then that all these things shall be DISSOLVED, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be DISSOLVED, and the elements shall MELT with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2 Pet 3:4,10-13).

     All of this will occur on "the day of the Lord," when He will come as a "thief in the night." It certainly does not sound like a secretive affair. I cannot conceive of this day escaping the attention of anyone any where, be it heaven, earth, or under the earth. "The heavens shall pass away with a great noise" on
the day Jesus comes "as a thief." Note, not just "a noise," but "a GREAT noise." It is then that "the elements shall MELT with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be BURNED UP."

     This is the destruction promised in the Psalms. "Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. THEY SHALL PERISH, but Thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed" (Psa 102:25-26).

     Isaiah also prophesied of these things. "The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be REMOVED like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and IT SHALL FALL AND NOT RISE AGAIN . . . Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall VANISH away like smoke, and the earth shall WAX OLD like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but My salvation shall be for ever, and My righteousness shall not be abolished" (Isa 24:20; 51:6).

     Jesus proclaimed these things also. "Heaven and earth shall PASS AWAY, but my words shall not pass away" (Matt 24:35). 

     John the beloved also proclaimed the demise of the world. "And the world PASSETH AWAY, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever" (1 John 2:17).

     The passing of the heavens and the earth are, by revelation, related to the coming of Jesus Christ. The present heavens and earth are "kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men" (2 Pet 3:7). In a clear word from God, that day is declared to be "the day of
the Lord," when He comes "as a thief in the night." It is difficult to conceive of anything being more clear.

PRAYER POINT: Father, give me grace to prepare for the passing away of the heavens and the earth at the coming of the Lord. May I lose nothing when the world passes away! In Jesus name, help me to be ready for the return of Your Son, Whom I confess to be my Lord!

-- TOMORROW: WHEN GOD WORKS ON THE HEART --