Like a thief in the night bible series#

This is why the ten virgins are instructed to keep their lamps trimmed and burning (Matthew 25:1-13).

This is spiritual awakening - the restoration and renewal into the divine image through the fire of the divine presence. This is about a lot more than simply expecting a day when Jesus will appear on a cloud in the earth’s atmosphere. What is the Lord’s instruction? Stay awake. He desires that all of our being become His, in and through love. Where our hearts are, there our treasure is (Matthew 6:21). His objective? The treasure of the human heart. The Thief: Christ Himself, who condescends to identify with sinners (He hung next to a thief on the cross). The true light of Christ is already shining - the sun has begun to rise over the horizon of humanity’s spiritual destiny (1 John 2:8). The new creation, the kingdom of God, is already amongst us and growing (Mark 1:15). The Night: The darkness, sin, ignorance, and error of the old creation order that is in the process of passing away. The Day of the Lord: the fullest realization and manifestation of the kingdom of heaven in us and around us, when God’s purposes and presence will be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28). This is what it means for God’s kingdom to be glorified in us and through us (2 Thessalonians 10 2 Peter 1:19). The House: The human heart and mind, where the indwelling Spirit currently “resides,” restoring and renewing the warped human condition to match the glory and perfection of the divine image. So, deciphering the analogy from Matthew 24: Christ constantly communicated (and communicates!) spiritual realities through natural examples. If we can think according to the Spirit and not the letter, we will understand that the thief analogy is a metaphor. What does it mean for the Lord’s Coming to be like a “thief in the night?” This theme or motif - the Lord’s Coming as a thief - appears enough times in the Scripture, through several different authors, that it is worth a closer look. The heavens will disappear with a roar the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.” 2 Peter 3:10 (NIV)

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.

“Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 (NIV) “Look! I (Christ) come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.” Revelation 16:15 (NIV) So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Matthew 24:36,42-44 (NIV) But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. “But about the day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. It is the basis for his book, Unlocking Revelation.In the Scriptures, we are told several times that the Lord’s Second Coming will occur like a “thief” in the night.

Like a thief in the night bible series#

North has become well-known for a popular series on the Book of Revelation, which he has presented hundreds of times throughout the United States and around the world. He has also been a frequent lectureship speaker, served as a local minister, and has been an elder for more than thirty years at the Memorial Road Church of Christ. Stafford North is a distinguished professor of Bible at Oklahoma Christian University, where he has taught for more than half a century. Like a Thief in the Night serves as an excellent companion study to North's book, Unlocking Revelation, and contains teaching outlines for each chapter. What and when are the 'last days'? - What does the Bible teach about the end of time? - Do Old Testament prophets predict an earthly reign of Christ? Will it last a thousand years? - Will there be a rapture? - Are there signs which signal the coming of the end of time? - Do Bible prophets foretell of a great war just before the end of the world? - Will one or two antichrists plunge the earth into that final war? Drawing from a lifetime of study, North explores biblical teaching about the last days, Book of Revelation and second-coming of Christ, while addressing many of the popular end times theories and myths. Stafford North answers many common questions about the end of time.