Father, we thank You for Your presence here this morning because we know that You are here with us. For the scripture says You inhabit the praises and the worship of Your people, we have lifted up our worship, our praises to You this morning, thank You Lord for Your presence in the name of Jesus. Please accept our worship and our service today in Jesus name.
Lord, we thank You for the sacrifice of love that You made on our behalf, sending Your beloved Son 2,000 years and more years ago to go on that journey, that destiny changing journey which committed at Calvary for our sake. Thank You for that big sacrifice, it is because of that that we are here today that we can worship You and that we have hope for the future. Thank You Father in Jesus name.
Lord today, whatever is not right in us in Your presence, by Your mercy please remove it in the name of Jesus. Father, today as we come before You, we ask oh Lord that You will visit every one of us in a unique way in Jesus name. Let the heavens open unto us this morning, let no one go away empty-handed. And at the end, Father, take all the glory, in Jesus name we prayed. Praise the living Jesus!
Welcome to church this morning, brothers and sisters! We thank God that we are alive today to celebrate this wonderful day; over 2,000 years ago to a day like this, our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ started that last week on that journey to Jerusalem riding a donkey with the crowd chanting hossana! hossana! Here comes the King of Israel. Praise the living Jesus!
It was a painful journey yet it was a journey of advancement, a journey of blessing, a journey that He had to go so that you and I can have hope today, and I pray that hope will be everlasting in the name of Jesus.
As we know this month is our month of advancement and God has been advancing us in various dimensions. We had the Economic Summit where we had knowledge given to us about how to advance in life materially, physically, here to have a bountiful life here on earth. And last week we were blessed by our father in the Lord, General Overseer, who was here to also take us further in another dimension of advancement. Praise the living Jesus!
Today marks the last Sunday of the month of advancement, and no matter how slow we have been or how delayed we have been, today God will move us forward in the name of Jesus. Not only physically or materially, but spiritually because the Spirit is greater than the physical. Praise the living Jesus!
So this is a message of advancement, a message of hope, a message of transformation and a message of peace, and I pray that in whatever area of your life that you have been troubled, today you will receive joy, God will move you forward in the name of Jesus. Praise the living Jesus!
Our text is taken from 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-6, “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. 2For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3For 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.
4But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. Praise the living Jesus.
Beloved, if you look at this message, you might think it’s a fearful one, one that brings cause of anxiety or despair, but if you look at it critically, you find that it speaks to two categories of people. By the way, our topic this morning is Like a Thief in the Night; I think it’s just appropriate that we speak about this this morning as we remember the coming of Christ, the sacrifice He made at Calvary and we know that He’s no longer in the grave, He is in heaven but that He’s going to come again for us.
So as we remember the sacrifice, we also have to remember the future and ensure that we move forward so as to ensure that that future does not leave us, that we are part of that future, not of this world but the one that Jesus paid for on the cross and we shall be part of it in the name of Jesus.
You will find that the scriptute talks about two categories of people. Look at verse three, it says, “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. 4But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
So it speaks to two categories of people; the day of the Lord is the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the day He will come and judge the world. It says for some people that day will be a day of sorrow, while they are enjoying, while they think oh everything is well there’s peace, all is well, it says suddenly it will come upon them and they will fall into destruction. And he calls them the children of the night, the children of darkness.
Scripturally, darkness and night symbolize evil, they symbolize failure, they symbolize the things that God does not approve of, they symbolize sin, the things that are contrary to the will of God. Physically, in the world today, we know that most evil things are done at night, even though some are done during the day but most of the things that are done during the day are decided at night.
So he said for those people who are in darkness, who are the children of the night, he says that day they will have no way of escape and they will meet with destruction. That scripture is talking directly to people who are unbelievers, those who are yet to give their life to Jesus, who are yet to appreciate the sacrifice that He made at Calvary and who persist until that day will come, it says there’s no option for them but destruction. I pray that you and I will not be part of that in Jesus name.
The second category talks about believers. It says for you, that day is not a day of fear, even now as you hear the message, you are not supposed to be afraid, it’s not a day of anxiety, but it’s going to be a day of joy because that day you are not going to be part of that destruction. Praise the living Jesus!
The Bible says that that day it will be like a thief coming in night. Jesus Christ also said it severally that He will come, Matthew 24: 43 says He is going to come like a thief in the night; in other words, a time that the owner of the house is sleeping, a time that nobody is expecting. Hallelujah!
That scripture tells us that that day, for some, even though it’s a day of surprise, everybody’s going to be surprised, but he says it will be a pleasant surprise for believers. You’ll be surprised but you’re not going to be shocked, you’re not going to be caught unawares because you are already prepared, the only surprise is that wow, I didn’t know it’s this day, so it has come, it will be a pleasant surprise, but for those who are unbelievers and the day comes suddenly, to them it will be a day of terrible negative surprise.
Now two things again stand out in that scripture, number one is that the day of the Lord is certain, it is a certainty that the day of judgment, the coming of Jesus Christ is certain, there’s no doubt about it, but it is also so clear from the scriptures that the timing is uncertain.
The event is a certainty, the coming of that day is a certainty, Jesus will come again, there’s no doubt about it, so He’s coming is a certainty but the timing is unknown to nobody, even Jesus Christ Himself says nobody knows except my Father, only the Father knows the day and the hour.
So how do you prepare even as believers who the Bible has say as long as you are in right standing till that day it will be a day of joy and pleasant surprise, how do you prepare for an event whose certainty you know of, an event whose certainty is not in doubt but whose timing nobody knows? How do you prepare even as God’s children?
I was trying to look at it myself and trying to find a very simple answer for myself, I say how do I prepare, this event will come, nobody can stop it but the timing I don’t know, how do I prepare? It can be now, it can be next week, it can be 10 years, how do I prepare for that event? And I said to myself, looking at every option, I think the best way is to live every day as if it will come that day.
You know it is going to come, the day of judgment is going to come, Jesus is going to come, it is a certainty, yet you must be prepared, it says you must be prepared. The Bible says we should watch and pray, Jesus Christ kept on admonishing us in various scriptures, He says watch and be ready, watch, vigilance. But how? So I said to myself, I think the best way is to live every day, every hour as if the event will come that day, so that way you will not be caught napping.
But how do you live every day as if the coming of Christ will be that day? For the unbelievers, for you who have not yet given your life to Christ, the first thing you must do is to just ensure that you surrender your life to Christ so that you can move from darkness to light. We are talking about advancement in the Spirit now, advancement to the Kingdom of God because that is even much more important than any physical advancement. Hallelujah!
But for those of us for whom there’s an assurance already, is it that we must now fold our arms and sleep and say, “Well, the Bible has said that day for me is going to be a day of joy, so, I’m already saved, I can relax and enjoy my life,” is that how to live every day as if it’s going to come? And then I looked further and I say, okay, if I’m going to live every day as if Christ is going to come every day, then what should I do? How do I put that in practice that I will live a life of eternal vigilance, a life of watchfulness?
Is it that I’m just going to wake, sleep, wake up and not sleep at all, every day I’m not going to sleep and watching for Him to come? I said no. For me as a child, I think the easiest way for me to live that kind of life is to try my best every day to do the things that Jesus loves and also every day not to do things that Jesus hates.
So if I try my best with His grace to do the things that Jesus loves every hour, every day and I try to run away from things that He hates, so anytime He comes, He will meet me doing the things that He loves and He approves, He will not meet me with things that He hates and does not want to see.
So I believe that for us as believers who will laugh and rejoice on that day when He comes like a thief in the night, the best way to prepare because scripture makes it clear that we must be prepared, we must prepare, we must be watchful. It’s not so much only about prayer but we must practicalize it, and I think that the best way to prepare is for us to live every day, every hour doing the things that Jesus loves and avoid the things that Jesus hates and wants us to depart from.
Let’s quickly look at a few of the things that Jesus loves. I’m trying to make it as simple as possible for myself and hoping that at least the youngest of us who wants to see that day and see Christ and embrace Him will also have an understanding. I pray that God will give us the understanding as simple as possible in Jesus name.
So living every day as if Christ will come that day, living every day doing the things that He loves and avoiding the things that He detests. Number one, what are the things that Jesus loves? Jesus loves God. John 14:31, it says, “But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do.”
He loves the Father and He demonstrates it by obedience, so if every day I love God by keeping to His commandments, by doing what will please God, then if Christ comes that day, He will meet me in an atmosphere of love for God. Praise the living Jesus! So we must live daily manifesting our love for God by obedience and doing all the things that show love of God.
When people come in contact with us, they will know that this person there’s a picture of God in him, because I tell you beloved that God made us in His image, it may not be physical but what it means is that everywhere we go, we must reflect a picture of Him. There’s a picture of God inside every one of us, no matter how big my head may be, no matter how big my tummy may be, no matter how my leg may be, there’s a picture of God that the world wants to see. That picture of God in you, the world will see it in the name of Jesus.
Number two, Jesus loves doing the will of the Father. All through His ministry on earth, He never did His own will, He was consumed with passion to do the will of God. In John 9:4, it says, “I will do the work of him that sent me, while it is yet day: night is coming, when no man can work; I will do the will, the will of God, the will of God must be done; and He said in John 4: 34, He says, “My meat, (my food) is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”
Our ambitions, our desires, all the things that we aspire for must pale into insignificance as the will of God must prevail; if you live every day putting the will of God ahead of us in everything, in our career, in our business, in our offices, in all that we do, relationships, in our marriage, relationship with other people, everything that we do, we put the will of God, you will find that when you put the will of God, you can hardly go wrong.
You can hardly cheat anybody, you can hardly lie because no matter your ambition, you will not run it or pursue it in a way that God will not approve of. Everything you pursue in life, once you submit to the will of God, you will find that if Christ should come, the day of the Lord will come, He will meet you in His will. Hallelujah!
But if He comes and He meets you doing your own will, doing your own thing, you may make billions, you may have all the world, but He comes and finds you pursuing your own agenda, then there will be a question mark. But if He comes and He finds you doing His will, you don’t have to preach to do His will, but even in ministry or anywhere, whatever you do even as a trader when you do the will of God, the will of God is manifested in His fear and His approval – fear in the sense of reverence and approval, you say ah what will God say or do? You may be the only one, you may have all the power, in fact, the bigger power you have, the more afraid of God you must be, everything you do must be subject to the will of God.
That means sometimes you have power, you don’t exercise it, sometimes some things at your beck and call you don’t take it, some things are given to you that are huge that people will die for but you don’t take it because this is not the will of God and people will think something must be wrong with you because you don’t know when Christ will come. I pray that when He comes, you and I in His will.
That means for Christians, for believers, it is not every door that opens that you must enter, it is not every bus you must enter, it’s not everything that other people are doing that you must do. When others were going to Egypt, God told Isaac, don’t go with them, you must only enter a door that you know that God has opened for you. The fact everybody is doing this business does not mean that you must do; everybody is sending their children to this place, no, ask the will of God, work it out with prayer, the beautiful thing is that God never leaves us forsaken, He always speaks but we may not hear, in everything that we do, God will manifest His will.
So if you are careful to listen, you will find the will of God in every dimension of life, and when you do that, you’ll find the kind of excitement that nobody else can understand. When you look at flowers, you will see God, anything you see you can see God, if the will of God is your passion, you will see God everywhere, so if you can see God everywhere, why won’t you see God in your own little things?
When you’re about to miss your step, God will come and impose His will because He knows you have a heart of understanding, a heart of obedience. May that be our portion, the grace to do that, may He give it to us in the name of Jesus.
Number three, (the things that we can do daily so that when He comes He will meet us in the right position), Jesus loves others. He didn’t just love God, He loved others, that’s why He had to leave everything in heaven to come to die for us, that’s why He went to the cross to pay a price for a sin He never committed. And He says in the scriptures in John 13:34, He said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another”.
John 15: 12-13, He says greater love has no man than this, that a man may lay down his life. He showed us the height of love, the extreme of love; I’m not saying you should go and die as I died, but if I can go to this extent, then you have a big latitude to show love. And you find that Jesus showed love more to the unlovable, to those that the world detested, to those that the world considered as cast away, even to sinners. He didn’t love the sin in them but He loved, He embraced them.
Do we love as Christ loves us or are we picky in our love? Is our love subjective? Is it selective? Is it conditional? How do we love? So if we live our life, it’s tough, but there’s nothing grace cannot enable us to do, and Christ will not tell you to do what is impossible, that’s the beauty, when He says be thou as perfect because your Father in heaven is perfect, it is because He has given us what it takes to do whatever He asks us to do, only if we are willing and we are able to pay the price, we’re able to crucify this flesh.
Our problem most of the time why we cannot do what Christ has asked to do is because we have refused to allow the cross, that cross that looks ugly to fall upon us and to crush and to destroy all the things that are ungodly in us. So even though we sing ‘oh that rugged cross’, our flesh is still standing, the cross is only seen from afar, not in our flesh. But we are supposed to feel it in our flesh, supposed to destroy all the things that make us react to hate and to envy, and to do all the things that Christ does not love. The grace to love even as Christ has loved us, may we have it in the name of Jesus.
On the day of His coming, if He meets us exhibiting hatred, if He meets us showing lack of love, then it may not be a day of joy. But that will not be our portion in Jesus name.
Jesus lived a life of forgiveness. He loves forgiveness, so we must live daily a life of forgiveness. When we live to forgive, He says when you forgive those who offend you, your Father in heaven will forgive you, that means if you don’t forgive, we can’t receive forgiveness. So one of the things we must do daily is to practice forgiveness, no matter the enormity of the sin, even Jesus Christ loved those that killed Him, He said to God before He passed on, He said, “Forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”
But many of us, we are believers but we have heard some people say, “This one, only when I get to heaven will I release him or her,” it is that same resolution that will stop you from getting to heaven, there must be nobody, nothing that we cannot forgive.
If Jesus can forgive us, every day for me, my life is an amazement that I can be so privileged to even know the scriptures not to talk of even standing on this exalted altar to talk to God’s children because I imagine if God can love me, then who am I to say I won’t love somebody else? If God can forgive my sins and wipe my sins away, who am I to say I won’t forgive somebody who has killed or who has done something terrible to me?
It can be awful, it can be so terrible, but He says your forgiveness must not be conditional, it must not be “oh well, okay I have forgiven o but I’m not talking to that person, I’ve forgiven you but you must not come near me”. Yes you must be wise, you must lay boundaries but in your heart are you sure that you have truly released that person? Is there anybody in your life now that you have sworn that you’re never going to forgive? It’s going to stand no matter what else you do, when that day comes suddenly, if it comes now or tomorrow, you may do all other things right.
Is it your wife, your ex-wife, your ex-husband, even a child of yours? Somebody who has hurt you so badly but you are still alive, God has given you victory, if you don’t forgive, no matter what else you do, it’s going to stand against you on that day. The grace to forgive completely, receive in the name of Jesus.
Jesus Christ lived and loved and commanded us to live a life of purity and holiness. In Matthew 5: 6, it says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,” if your heart is not pure, if my heart is not pure, no matter what, we are not going to see God. That means when He comes, we are not going to see Him because from afar He sees our heart, He sees that it is not pure, we must live a life of holiness.
Matthew 5:48 says, “Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,” don’t say oh, I’m not God nau, no, we must strive and then we must receive grace so that we can get to a point where God can say yes, you have done well. All around us are things that want to destroy our purity, that want to tarnish us, but we must do everything possible to run away from sin, to ensure that we keep our righteousness, our garment of righteousness, and if you are willing, God will do it.
There’s nothing, no temptation, nothing at all that we cannot resist, it’s in our DNA as children of God to be able to overcome. When Jesus went unto the mount, when He was going to start and the devil tempted Him with the three categories of temptations, those categories of temptations represent all the things on this world that the devil can use to tempt us to sin, and He resisted all of them and has given us the grace to resist. Whatever the devil brings your way to tarnish your garment of righteousness, no matter how tough or difficult the decision may be, the grace to overcome, the Lord will give to you in the name of Jesus.
Jesus Christ loves and He commands us to live a life of humility. So if you live every day with humility, one of the things that God hates is pride, but He wants us to be humble, but most of us because of the substances that God has given us, positions, wealth and all that, it gets into our head, it gets into our blood, our flesh is standing.
When you are walking, you are carrying all your billions in the back with you, your bank accounts are walking with you, all your houses are walking with you, your position is walking with you, before you know it, even without you knowing it, you’re already exhibiting arrogance and pressure. So, we need to pinch ourselves all the time, especially when God has blessed you, the more God has blessed you, the more careful you must be. You may not intend to be proud but this thing has a way of coming into you and making you proud.
Jesus gave us a classical example when He washed the feet of His disciples, and then in Luke 14: 4 – 8, He demonstrates that when you go to a wedding, don’t go and sit in the front, go and sit at the back, if you sit in the front because of your position, because when somebody who is greater than you comes, your host will say ah uncle, I’m sorry please, don’t mind this, please come, he will take you to the back, so if you sit in front, you must pray that somebody greater should not come to that party because once somebody greater than you comes, they will take you to the back.
But if you sit at the back to show humility, when the host comes and says oh mommy, please come to the front, that is honor. So it’s just to show to us that He says we must live a life of humility every day, no matter what God has done for you, be humble, you have to be intentional. And in any case, if truly our flesh is crucified, it’s not going to be hard, humility will be part of your DNA.
Humility, you don’t have to struggle, if you are struggling to be humble, then something is still wrong with your flesh; if you are struggling to be humble, then you need to check, you have a problem; there are moments that I struggle and I pray and say, “Ah, God, help me…” Everybody has that tendency, let’s be frank, but we must get to a point where it will become something that we do without thinking, we practice so that anytime Christ comes He will meet us in a humble spirit. May God give us that grace in Jesus name.
Jesus loves compassion. He showed it to us in the parable of the Good Samaritan, He showed this to us when He healed the sick and He fed 5,000 and in many occasions.
What are the things that Jesus hates that we must try to avoid on a daily basis? Number one, Jesus hates pride, He hates hypocrisy. You find that many times He castigated the Pharisees, why did He do that? Because He saw pride in them, they were proud people, they were arrogant. Jesus hates the pride that is in us, and we just spoke about humility, you must do everything to be humble and not be proud.
He hates lying. You look at the scriptures, Proverbs 6:16 – 19, it talks about the six or seven things that God hates; He hates wickedness and mischief, evil things; Jesus looks at our hearts all the time, He doesn’t look at our actions, and when He sees evil things, He sees darkness, He sees the things that don’t glorify Him – anything that does not glorify God, you know that it is against the will of God, Jesus detests it.
False witnesses, unforgiving spirit, all the opposite of the things we have said Jesus loves, those are the things He hates, anything that is contrary to God’s commandment, He hates. Hallelujah! So, anything you are going to do, even if you’re not sure, ask yourself, look at the scriptures, pray about it, if it’s not approved by scripture then you know there is something that God hates.
It’s not a matter of applause, there are many things you do that people applaud you, people will give you praise and all that but the question is does it have the approval of God? It may look good on the surface but is contrary to God’s approval is evil, it’s not every good thing that we do that God likes.
That’s why it’s unfortunate that there are so many good people in this world but who will not make it on that day, eternity is not based on your goodness. He’s a good man, very generous, oh, he’s a philanthropist, yes, these things are good, Christ commands it, but if you don’t do them according to the approval of God, as a matter of fact, He has to first approve your person to be right on the day that He will come.
You must have both the person of Christ and His principles; if you’re a good person, you only follow the principles of Christ – generosity giving and all that but you don’t have Christ, your efforts are wasted. Sometimes we look at the rich people and say why would this one make heaven, he’s feeding millions, no, God does not judge by what we see, He judges by the heart, your good deeds must be founded in Christ, whatever is not founded in Christ may look good to the world but has no record with God is an abomination.
So you must have both the person of Christ, that’s why for believers that’s the difference, if you are coming to church every day, you alone build the church, you contribute everything, you do all things but you don’t have relationship with Christ, you don’t give your life to Christ, it’s evidence of pride, you are being proud to your Maker.
Your heart is standing, you hear the word every day, you say well, I do everything, what do they want from me again? I pay everything, so what else? No, there’s no approval, God does not recognize it. He must first recognize your person first, your heart, are you submitted to Him? The day will come, He will be looking for those who submitted to Him in whose life He’s reigning, you may not be as lucky as a thief on the cross who had a last minute entrance because that day will be sudden, no time to prepare, is the preparations you have done that when the opportunity comes on that day then you go in.
Let’s rise to our feet. So for us, this is a sober moment, a moment of appreciation, a moment of joy because God has shown us the secret of how the day of the Lord’s coming will be a day of pleasant surprise for us, not a day of fear, not a day of anxiety, not a day of gnashing of teeth.
So as believers, when the Bible says we must continue to work out our salvation, what it means is that on a daily basis, renew your person in Christ, live daily as if that is going to be the end, live daily as if Christ will come that day. And if you know that you made a mistake and you fell into sin, quickly repent, don’t postpone your repentance.
You may have been living well all these years and maybe it’s the minute that you say let me also just do this before you repent and then He comes, how will He meet you? He’s not going to look at your past history, He’s not going to say bring his testimonial, He will just say this is where I found you. May He find us well in Jesus name.
So this morning we’re going to pray but let me first quickly say this as we bow our heads, let’s bow our heads and be praying silently and just say Father, when You come, let me not gnash my teeth, let it be a day of joyful surprise for me. Pray that prayer.
[Altar call]
Beloved, say Father, at Your coming, let me be ready for You in the name of Jesus. Pray that prayer for yourself, Lord, at Your coming, make me ready for You, let me be ready for You at Your coming. Anytime You choose to come, Father, let me be ready for You, in Jesus name we prayed.
Say Father, give me the grace daily to resist the things that You hate and to do the things that You love. Pray that prayer. Father, on a daily basis, give me the grace to resist the things that You hate and to do only those things that You approve, that You love till You will come. Daily, give me the grace to please You, to do only the things that You love and to see those that you hate. The grace beyond my physical ability, give me the grace oh Lord, in Jesus name we prayed.
Say Father, help me daily to advance in my walk with You till You will come. Help me daily to advance in my walk with You, to progress, to move forward in my walk with You physically, materially, more importantly spiritually until You will come. Give me the grace to advance in my walk with You on a daily basis.
Finally, say Father till You will come, keep me in Your light in the name of Jesus. Keep me in Your light till You will come so that You will find me in Your light in the name of Jesus. Thank You precious Father.
Lord we give You all the glory and all the honor and adoration, Father we pray that Your coming will be a day of pleasant surprise and joy for all of us in Jesus name. It will not be a day of sorrow, it will not be a day of lamentation but a day of glorification in the name of Jesus. Thank You precious Father, in Jesus name we prayed.
