“For you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety! Then sudden destruction comes on them, as travail upon a woman with child.And they shall not escape.” 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 (Read 1-11)

When will the Last Day come - that Day when the Lord Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead and condemn the wicked and unbelieving to hell and take all believers to be with Him forever in heaven?

Paul wrote to the believers at Thessalonica: “For you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety! Then sudden destruction comes on them, as travail upon a woman with child. And they shall not escape.”

Jesus said, “For as the lightning comes out of the east and shines even to the west, so also will be the coming of the Son of man” (Matt. 24:27). “But as the days of Noah were, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark. And they did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So also will be the coming of the Son of man” (Matt. 24:37-39).

When people are thinking all is well, suddenly and unexpectedly their judgment will come, as labor upon a woman with child. And as the Scriptures say, “They shall not escape.” It will be too late! They will be condemned to the eternal fires of hell to suffer forever because they rejected God’s gracious calling and His offer of forgiveness and life in the Son (2 Thess. 1:5-10;

Matt. 24:36ff.).

But need we be afraid of that Day? The Bible says to those who trust in the shed blood of Messiah Jesus for forgiveness and life: “But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the Day should overtake you like a thief … But let us, who are of the day, be calm, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and the hope of salvation for a helmet. For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we watch or sleep we should live together with Him” (1 Thess. 5:4, 8-10; cf. v. 23-24).

Yes, Jesus is coming to judge the world, and at a time when people do not expect it. On that day the wicked and unbelieving will be condemned to the eternal torments of hell, but those who look to the Lord Jesus for pardon and forgiveness will be gathered together to Him to reign with Him forever in heaven.

O Holy Spirit, graciously keep me trusting in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for forgiveness and life everlasting. Amen.

[Devotion by Randy Moll. Scripture taken from the Modern King James Version of the Holy Bible Copyright © 1962 - 1998 by Jay P. Green, Sr., used by permission of the copyright holder.]

News, Pages 4 on 11/16/2011