1 Thessalonians 5:2

For ye yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night

Christ coming as a thief in the night

Here we have a striking comparison--one which, to all appearance, had passed into a recognized formula, yet one which no Christian would have dared to use had it not been hallowed by our Lord’s own lips.

And so we find it first of all in His own parable (Matthew 24:43; Luke 12:39). Next we find it caught up by His disciple Peter (2 Peter 3:10). Then we find it adopted by Paul; and last of all we hear it again from our Lord (Revelation 3:3; Revelation 16:15). The formula means--

I. That as the thief comes unexpectedly, So His coming will be stealthy, under cover, as it were, of darkness; when the children of night and darkness, the dreamers (Jude 1:8), do not in the slumber of carnal security, even momentarily think of His approach. But if this were all, the idea would lack much of aptness and dignity. Therefore--

II. As the thief comes to steal, So the day of the Lord comes to take away by force the so-called goods--the possessions of the worldling. The children of the night have their most valued substance snatched from them. They are robbed of their soul (see Revelation 16:15). Vigilance is needed that the garment may be kept--not torn from him--that he may not be found robbed of the robe of the Redeemer’s righteousness, but clothed therewith, and accepted at last. (J. Hutchison, D. D.)

The suddenness of the Second Advent

This present state of things is ever close upon the next world, and resolves itself into it. As when a man is given over, he may die any moment, yet lingers; as an instrument of war may any moment explode, and must at some time; as we listen for a clock to strike, and at length it surprises us; as a crumbling arch hangs, we know not how, and is not safe to pass under, so creeps on this feeble, weary world, and one day, before we know where we are, it will end. (J. H. Newman, D. D.)

A reminder of mortality

One of Gotthold’s friends had a little scent box, made in the shape of a death’s head, with a screw at the skull for opening and taking it asunder. It then showed various cells filled with fragrant balm. Being asked why he had made the box in this particular shape, he replied, “In order to have something continually reminding me of my mortality.” On this, Gotthold rejoined, “You have done well if such was indeed your object, and not, rather, to possess a curiosity for people to gaze and wonder at. The thought of the mortality to which, like all your race, you are subjected, may be infinitely more profitable to you than all kinds of balm. If seized with the delirium of pride, reflect that death will one day reduce you to dust and ashes, and wither your pomp like a flower. If overcome by angry passion, take to heart that death stands behind you with his axe, and only waits the signal from God to reduce you in an instant to the impotency of a dead gnat. If your heart ache, and your head be distracted with cares, recollect that all your trouble and anxiety will one day come to a blessed end.”

Preparedness

When war was declared between France and Prussia, Von Molkte was fully prepared. The news was brought to him late one night: he had already gone to bed. “Very well,” he said to the messenger, “the third portfolio on the left,” and went to sleep again until morning. (H. D. Mackay.)

The day of the Lord

The day of the Lord, yet future, is the day on which, most assuredly, all thoughts will turn to Him, whether willingly or by constraint, whether in terror or in joy; the day in which His truth will silence into nothingness all human errors and guesses at truth, in which His justice will take the place of all that is named justice, rightly or wrongly, among the sons of men; the day in which everything else but He will be lost sight of, and will be as though it were not, in which the eternal reality of His relation to the world and to man will also be the acknowledged reality. As surely as we have seen this morning’s sunlight, we shall hereafter behold the eternal Judge upon His throne, the countless multitudes before Him, the division between His creatures deep and irreversible, the disciplined activities of His angels, the issues on this side and on that, as all gradually settles down into the last unchangeable award. (Canon Liddon.)