Like a thief in the night!

1 Thessalonians 5 v 1-3 says: 'now concerning the times and the seasons brother's you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When people are saying there is 'peace and security' then sudden destruction will come upon them as labour pains come upon a pregnant woman and they will not escape.'

It is interesting that Paul deems the second coming of Jesus unnecessary for the church in Thessalonica to hear about but decides to include it anyway. One could conclude, perhaps, that the church of 2000 years ago were much more prepared to act as if each day is possibly the last of their lives than we are currently. It is quite possible, and relatively likely that we are still a fair way off the second coming. After all arn't there still unreached people groups and isn't there still a bit more due to happen concerning Israel. I personally tend to believe that it is the case but I might be wrong. But one thing that is absolutely misguided is to say to oneself that Jesus is a long time coming therefore I shall let my standards slip. For Matthew 24 says a great deal on the subject not least about the unfaithful master who starts to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards. It speaks of such a man that Jesus will come at an hour that he doesn't expect and will cast him out with the hypocrites where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

It is therefore probably safest to live each day as if it is our last. If we wake up tomorrow morning and it is still 'business as usual' then we have lost nothing. If, however, we wake up to find that we are with Jesus then it would be wonderful to have no significant regrets. For as 2 Peter 3 v 9 says 'the Lord is not slow concerning his promise as some count slow but is patient with you desiring that all should come to repentence'. But there comes a time when even God, rich in mercy as he is, decides that the time has come and that enough is enough. It would also be wonderful to say with the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4 v 7 that we 'have fought the good fight, have run the race and have kept the faith'.

To be able to hear the Lord say to us on that day 'well done my good and faithful servant' will more than make ammends for the injustices of this current age.

Rejoice in the Lord always.

There is a word that appears 11 times in Paul's letter to the Christians/Saints in Phillipi - the word s rejoice.

Indeed the verse which appears to most typify this mindset is from verse 4 of chapter 4 'Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice' It is worth doing this the in context in which it is placed. In Paul's case, on this occasion he is in prison. One can almost certainly assume that the overcrowding would well exceed that of today, as would the stench. It appears to be something of a pattern that Paul and his partners in the gospel were sent to Prison as a result of sharing the gospel.

Another example of rejoicing in the most unpleasant of circumstances is from Acts 16 v 39 where Paul and Silas sang praises to God even though they were in the inner part of the prison with their feet in the stocks - no wonder people had some degree of trepidation re. the early church! What eventually transpired from this was that their was a massive earthquake and the thick, bolted prison doors swung open. All the other prisoners remained where they except Paul and Silas who spoke to the prison guard who was about to take his life - offering reassurance.

The next step was an Evangelists dream, the jailer after going down on his knees before Paul and Silas asked them 'what must I do to be saved?' Paul's response was equally direct 'believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved, you and your whole household'- the jailor's baptism came within a few hours.

One final scripture on the theme of rejoicing in adversity is from 1 Thessalonians 5 v 18 where it says 'in all things give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.'

counting it all joy.

'Count it all joy my brothers when you go through trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your Faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full work that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing'.

By any comparison the book of James goes contrary to normal human understanding. For example, it begins by comparing the trials that we go through in life with joy. To our modern ears this appears to be insensitive and uncaring. Perhaps, you might conclude, James simply doesn't understand what I am going through.

But one valuable aspect of the scriptures is that it looks to the end product of any suffering we might go through and not just the experience itself. After all, the centrepiece of the Christian Faith is the crucifixion where Christ suffered extreme physical agony, untold emotional humiliation, (one modern chorus brings out the point that he suffered at the hands of those he had created), and, perhaps the greatest torment of the whole trial, separation from the Father which prompted the words 'my god, my god, why have you forsaken me?' But had this not happened we would all be 'children of wrath' for as it says elsewhere in scripture 'without the blood there is no remission for sins'. One encouraging scripture is Romans 8 v 28 'And we know for those that love God all things work together for good.' In other words in the Christian life there is no such thing as wasted suffering. For in common with the plant kingdom we need both sunshine and flowers to grow. So, in a nutshell, the opening comment of James is an encouraging one to look beyond immediate feelings and effects of our experience to its ultimate purpose in his unfolding plan which as always is for our blessing and his glory'!