The Sign of His Coming ?

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Bro. Ken,

You wrote, in part:

<snip>
| 
| 
| Many pretribbers quote verses about the "thief in the night" to support
| their "at any moment" doctrine. In Revelation 3:3 written to the church
| at Sardis, Jesus says, 
| 
| "Remember then what you received and heard; keep that, and repent. If you
| will not awake, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what
| hour I will come upon you."
| 
| However, it is "the day of the Lord" which comes like a thief.
| 
| "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens
| will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with
| fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up." 2
| Peter 3:10. "For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will
| come like a thief in the night." 1 Thessalonians 5:2.
| 
| But when we keep reading, we find, "But you are not in darkness,
| brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief." (vs.4)
| 
| It is in this context that we are commanded to watch (vs. 6.)

<snip>

In my *very* humble opinion, (not being clergy, and not wanting to usurp
authority), I think many verses alluding to "theif in the night", etc. and
Jesus speaking about "coming quickly" could mean *more than just the
rapture*.  Allow me to explain.

After a well-loved and respected saint from my church died, we received a
message in tongues/interp. the very next Sunday.  The message was in part
"no man knows the hour" "I come as a theif in the night", etc.  I had a
small revelation about some passages in the Bible where Jesus speaks of his
imminent return, but it is unclear whether he is specifically talking about
the rapture.  

These verses could also mean, "you cannot predict nor control the day of
your death."  Just last Sunday, our pastor read a passage about the man who
was so rich he didn't know what to do with all his harvests, so he decided
to tear down his old barns and build new.  The Lord said to him, "thou
fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee:" (Luke 12:20).  The
man was so concerned about protecting his earthly wealth, he forgot to
"watch" for the "day of the Lord".

There is another passage that comes to mind when Jesus says that if a man
knew the hour that the thief would come, he would have watched so his house
(soul) would have been ready.

We are not guaranteed tomorrow by any means.  This could mean not only a
"rapture" interpretation, but also, that we might get hit by a bus while
crossing the street to our car, for example.  We must *always* be ready
(watching), because we never know just when or how our "soul will be
required".


Just a thought,
Anneliese