Like a Thief in the Night (CA)

In Matthew 24-25, Luke 12, and Mark 13 we find the words of Jesus; "no man knows the day or the hour". These words are spoken in context to his return, and it is not a day of salvation for the ones he finds on his return, but a day of judgment. He likens it to a thief coming to break into your house. Both Peter and Paul relate the coming of the day of the Lord as the coming of a thief in the night. (1Pet 4:15; 1Th 5:2)
The day of the Lord is not a glorious day for those who are found in rebellion and to be impenitent, it is a day of wrath. Many have confused the coming as a thief to be the rapture or catching away, but you clearly do not want to be the one taken in this time. It does not speak of the catching away.

In Revelation 3:3 the church at Sardis is warned; "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." Watch and be ready for if you do not you will be included in those taken as by a thief. In Revelation 16:15 we hear the call of fulfillment: "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame"
The sudden destruction falls upon those who are not watchful.

In 1 Thess 5 Paul gives hope of another way for those who are watchful:
"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. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ."

Those who are children of light are not taken in this sudden destruction. We are to be watchful and aware of our Lord's soon return. So, if we are not to be surprised by the coming, yet no man knows the day or the hour, how can this be? When Paul wrote in 1 Thess "we which are alive..." He clearly included himself in the group who could be caught away in the resurrection; within his lifetime!
The answer is clear; the catching away can happen at any time, and after it does, sure and sudden judgment will appear to those who were found not ready. Those of us who walk in the light will be removed prior to the events which will overtake many like a thief in the night.

Why is this important? We want to be always ready, denying our selves and following Jesus. We want to be walking in the light, not in the darkness, and we want to be ready to give an account. This constant expectation encourages us not to be slothful, but diligent to keep ourselves in every way in which we are exhorted to do so. Keep yourselves in the love of God, praying in the Holy Ghost. Gather yourselves all the more together as you see the day approaching. Bless and curse not, forgive, hate evil and love righteousness...and so on.

To take away this expectation removes urgency in the lives of believers. If there is no catching away, what are we expectantly waiting for? We expect the final salvation that Paul earnestly contended for, to obtain the resurrection of the dead, not the wrath which will come upon the world and all the rebellious and impenitent ones as a thief in the night.