Ball of Confusion

 An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, Vote for me and I'll set you free, Rap on, brother, rap on.

Well, the only person talking about love thy brother is the preacher, And it seems nobody's interested in learning but the teacher

Ball of confusion, Oh yeah, that's what the world is today

The sale of pills are at an all time high, Young folks walking round with their heads in the sky, The cities ablaze in the summer time, And oh, the beat goes on

So, round and around and around we go, Where the world's headed, said nobody knows

Eve of destruction, tax deduction, city inspectors, bill collectors,  population out of hand, suicide, Great Googamooga, Can't you hear me talking to you?

It's a ball of confusion, That's what the world is today, hey, hey (Temptations 1970)

                                                                                            

Somewhat dated yet much still applies 51 years later in that 1970 song from Motown's Temptations. One thing that never changes though and hasn't changed for the course of humanities existence is mankinds fallen sinful nature. 

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;  idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions  and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. (Gal 5:19-20)

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.  For everything in the world—the craving of sinful man, lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boasting of what we have and do, —comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17)

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,  backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,  undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;  who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:28-32)

To the believers  Peter wrote "For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, (extreme indulgence in bodily pleasures and especially sexual pleasures)  lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead." 

Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,  nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.(1 Cor 6:9-10)

Well, sounds hopeless doesn't it. The Apostle adds this to the Corinthian verses that changes that despair  to hope.  

 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.(you were cleansed from all your sins, set apart for God and seen as righteous through the only name under heaven by which we can be saved)                                          

The country,  

                          

the world for that matter is a hotbed of confusion.

                                     

 There is so much happening all at the same time: pestilence,  terrorism, threatening storms.  I vision actor  Charlton Heston  imprisoned in the film Planet of the Apes  screaming at the top of his lungs,  "it's a madhouse! A madhouse! The world truly is a Ball of Confusion today.                      

                                          

But God's word is not confused. it gets to the point and doesn't waver. He has promised us a Blessed Hope."  Hope for deliverance from ourselves. God judges in various ways. Sometimes in a temporal sense. Then eternal judgement from the presence of God and the glory of His power. Which  is eternal punishment. (everlasting)  (Matt 25:46) 

Some like to postulate a view of  annihilation. That  the wicked simply cease to exist. Note: both everlasting and eternal (translations from the greek language) is the same word.... in the original Greek in which the New testament was written. Meaning  without end, never to cease, everlasting. 

If the punishment is NOT eternal and everlasting then neither is the eternal, everlasting life promised by God and proclaimed by Jesus Christ himself in Matthew 25:46....and that makes no sense at all for Jesus, the very Son of God said in John 14 "“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.  Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thess 4:13-18)

It would be no comfort all if the eternal life promised by God to his people by grace through faith is not everlasting. 

NO the eternal life is just that: forever, without end. And the everlasting destruction is everlasting punishment for those who have not believed in the only name under heaven by which we can be saved. (John 14:6;Acts 4:12) Saved from the wrath poured out on the world and the eternal judgement awaiting those who have not believed, trusted  and obeyed God's only accepted ONE by which we can be saved. (col 3:1-7;) 

God has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31)

Jesus said eternal damnation in Hell is "weeping and gnashing of teeth." I believe the weeping is having heard the Word of Truth but having denied it. Having refused to believe and accept the truth. And the gnashing of teeth is eternal anger and hatred of the Only True God of creation.  

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”(John 3:36)                                    

                                          

The Word of God proclaims worshipping any other God but the God of scripture and giving worship to His One and Only Son in whom God the Father is well pleased is an act of idolatry.  You are worshipping the demonic.  Satan desires to keep everyone away from the truth.  He is the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning. (John 8) 

                                 

For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked  (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)—  then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,  and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,  whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. (Jude4-11)

(NOTE: The dignitaries here are the fallen angels that were cast out of heaven with satan that devil of old ) false teachers who speak against the divine government established by God for the universe. Jude notes in a similar passage that even the archangel Michael spoke respectfully to Satan, the premier fallen angel (Jude 8-9).(ICR speaking evil of dignitaries) Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.  Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

I pray do not be like those who do not believe God. No one will stand before God and say, "Well if you would have given me more proof." The proof is all around us " since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,"(Romans 1:20)

it's just as Peter says in his second letter chapter 3.... 

 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder,  that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”  For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,  by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.  For He says:“In an acceptable time I have heard you,And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Cor 6)

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

A Stumbling Block and the Foolishness of the Gospel

Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?  For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.  For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,  but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Cor 1:20-25)

The Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Good-News....The greek word (language the NT was written in)   εὐαγγέλιον pronounced (yoo-ang-ghel'-ee-on) means just that. It's Good-News. That Good News is that there is a blessed hope that God has sent down from heaven to this tainted, sin-cursed world. To a world of heartache...a world of confusion...a world of death and destruction. A world lost in the throes of it's own evil which is devouring in its rapidity unmercifully all those who inhabit its sphere. 

It all began with the first man and first women. They wanted to be like God. They believed the lie, disobeyed their creator, their Lord, their God and all of creation was subjected to futility. (meaning worthlessness, pointlessness, uselessness, meaningless, emptiness, hopelessness.) 

That emptiness must be compensated for, must be filled with something to give meaning to this short life each of us have. If the God of all creation, the God of Scripture does not inhabit ones inner being, the heart, something must compensate for that. Yes even atheists believe in something. A  striving for the betterment of humankind or the pursuit to disprove the existence of a divine creator and spiritual realm. 

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Cor 4:4)

Every single human being born into this world isn't born into this world a child of God. But a child of God's wrath. (Eph. 2:1-3)

It isn't long before that innocent little baby commits it's first lie or deception, it's first disobedience and needs correction from a loving parent.  Yes we are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. We are born that way. David, King and prophet in Israel proclaimed in Psalm 51:5

"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me."

Apostle Paul the  new testament  tells us "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God....There is no one righteous, no not one....You are dead in trespasses and sin....

We not only commit sin, it is our nature to sin. It has tainted every single fiber of our being, making us prone to what the apostle Paul  calls the lust of the flesh.   

adultery, fornication, (*any sexual immorality outside the marriage bond of a man and woman*)  uncleanness, lewdness,  idolatry, sorcery (pharmakeia-druging enchantment), hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,  envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gasl. 5:19-21)

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators,(those sexually immoral*)  nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor. 6:9-10)

Peter reiterates saying we should  "no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles (pagans, unbelievers) when we walked in lewdness, lusts, (This word stresses the longing, craving,  or desire for what is forbidden or evil.)  drunkenness, revelries (a nocturnal and riotous procession of half drunken and frolicsome fellows who after supper parade through the streets with torches and music in honour of Bacchus or some other deity), drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. (worshipping false gods and goddesses and anything you put before the God of Scripture...all other gods so called are idols to be shunned for souls sake) 1 Peter 4:1-3) 

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.  For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (the boasting of what we have and do) —comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17)

There is much going against us in this world. The draw of the evil one, tempts, distorts, perverts, deceives, tricks, and lies with the same words spoken to our first parents, the federal head of the human race, with the beguiling deceptive enunciation, "has God said"? His promise "we will be like god." And so humans are led down a path to everlasting punishment, from the presence of God and from the glory of His power. 

You have heard it said, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)  

You must be born again....born of the spirit...God comes to live in you. "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,  rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving." (Col. 2:6-7)

Have you been changed by the power of God? Have you cried out to God "have mercy on me a sinner!"  Or did you say a so called sinners prayer and nothing changed. You have continued in your sinful lifestyle. Loving and embracing the things of this world rather that God? 

"Remember Lot's wife."  

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Cor 5:17)

One day we all, Christians included, will stand before the judgement seat of Christ. For God will judge the world in righteousness.....Jesus said, "you must be perfect as the father in heaven is perfect to have a place in the Kingdom of God, the new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells..... by the man he has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.  (Acts 17:31) 

In the Gospel of John chapter 11 Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” (John 11:25-27)

In Acts chapter 4 verse 12 Peter said, there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved. Saved from what you might ask...."the wrath of God that is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves  once walked when you lived in them. " (Col. 3:1-10) 

I can truly say "been there done that" amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me....Now I think most everyone has heard and sang this song, played many times at funerals. And you may have thought "wretch?" What is a wretch? Can you say, scoundrel · villain · criminal · (imagine having broken His law; just one lie will make you a criminal before God) a good-for-nothing · a reprobate...a despicable (deserving hatred and contempt) a contemptible (revolting, loathsome, offensive, shameful, unworthy)  person.

ALL HAVE SINNED and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23) 

His judgement should not be taken lightly. What he has written through the Holy Prophets and Apostles in Scripture  will happen. In the fullness of time. God will not tarry forever. The Lord will return and mete out His judgement on the world. 

Do you mock or doubt this? Heed this warning from the Apostle Peter  "scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,  and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”  For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,  by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:1-7)

With the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. Time is of no consequence to the creator God. The new heavens and earth are coming...."when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,"

And the wicked will be turned into hell....and ALL THE NATIONS that forget about God. (Ps. 9:17-20)

See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven,  whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.”  Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.  For our God is a consuming fire. (Heb 12:25-29)

But for those of us who are born again, "as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:  who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.(John 1:12-13)

Many believe the time is nigh. The nations have embraced the idols of false deities. Islam has become the second most prodigious religion and could soon pass the first largest religion Christanity. Judgement day is near. Whether the Lord returns soon or you close your eyes in death. You will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 

For the Father has committed all judgement to the Son, so that all may honor the Son as they honor the Father. For all judgement has been committed to Jesus the Christ. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. And No one comes to the Father except through Him.  

Those who have the Son  have life (eternal) Those who do not have the Son, do not have life (eternal) but the wrath of God abides on them. And it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb. 10:31)

Your life is a vapor, a mist. You are here  for a little while then vanish away.  Where will you spend eternity? As the Lord Jesus Christ  Himself said in Matthew 7:13 and 14 "  “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Come to Him all you who labor and are heavy laden and Jesus the Messiah will give you rest. He is the Lord of your Sabbath rest. For when you stand before his judgement seat you will have no excuses.  If you proclaim "God you didn't give me any proof you existed." Your mouth will be shut. The die cast. Your fate sealed. 

For the words of the Holy Apostle will ring forth from the Book...   "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteous of men, who suppress the truth in unrightousness. For what can be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made,  even his eternal power and divine nature— so that people are without excuse." (*Romans 1:18-20)

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. (Proverbs 1:7)

God is love yes, he sent Jesus, God the Son, His One and Only, as the perfect lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. But God is a just God. And  God has appointed a day when He will judge the world in righteousness, by the man he has ordained. And has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead." It was a cost for us beyond our comprehension. Of Jesus and Only Jesus could God the Father say "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him." 

You hear him in His word. If you haven't partaken of this salvation treasure in the bible, please, I implore you, don't delay.

Eternal life is a gift of God, not of works less anyone should boast. Jesus is the only name under heaven by which anyone can enter into the Kingdom of God.  You must be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect. Jesus the Christ was tempted in every way as we are yet without sin. No one else is or ever was.  He paid the cost by his perfect obedience, the cost that you  otherwise  will have to pay when you stand before God's judgement seat. Without Christ's atoning sacrifice accredited to your account. Without His blood covering. He will say "depart from me, I never knew you."   

But if God the Holy Spirit is, has or will convince you of this truth "confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved." Then you will have a citizenship in heaven and will eagerly await our savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body. Now is the accepted time. behold now is the day of salvation! 

(Ro. 10:9;Phil 3:20; 2 Cor 6:9)

Standing Before The Lord

 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. (matt 24:27;29)

For the stars of heaven and their constellations

Will not give their light;

The sun will be darkened in its going forth,

And the moon will not cause its light to shine. (Is 13:10)

That the Lord Jesus Christ will return and establish a new heavens and a new earth is a essential doctrine of the Christian faith. This earth's days as is... corrupt, fallen, sin cursed is passing away. And we are nearer to that day now more than we can imagine. In the sense as how we look at time it seems as if it will never occur. But we forget that time is of no consequence to the only true God of this creation. For one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.  This One, True, Holy and Righteous God is outside time as we know it. But He hasn't forgotten, He is a God who can not lie and what is written will come to fruition. 

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. (2 Peter 3:10)

For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. (Luke 17:24)

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. (Mark 13:32-33)

People go about every day living Godless lives. No thought of God and thankfulness for the God of Scripture's blessings....life, breath and all things. Even many Christians, so called, think God owes them a prosperous life. A life of wealth and health and earthly blessings galore. God owes us nothing. But through his One and Only Son gives us all the blessings of eternal life in a new heavens and new earth to come where righteous dwells. 

But: this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. (Luke 17:19-20)

They willfully forget that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water...(2 Peter 3:5-6) 

But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men.   

For the majority of this world,  it will be a day of darkness not light. A day of clouds and gloominess...people hiding themselves in caves and in the rocks of the mountains. Saying "hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come." 

And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:  They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.  Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;  but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.  Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. (Luke 17:26-30)

Most know the story of Lot and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. 

Consumed by the wrath of God as the Lord told Abraham "because the outcry against Sodom and  Gomorrah is great and because their sin is very grave." 

Their destruction is a type that will be meaded out on all the world who has deserted and denied the God of Scripture. Who has refused to accept and believe and obey the only name under heaven by which we can be saved. (Acts 4:12) 

“He who believes in Him (Jesus the Christ) is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18)

But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.  For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. (1 Thess 5:1-3)

all this happens after....

The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.  Therefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thess 4:16-18)

Remember there were no chapters and verses in the original and copies of the manuscripts....before the Lord comes as a thief in the night....God's chosen are caught up to be with the Lord.....same event that happens just before the Lord comes as a thief in the night...God rescues His Chosen people from the destruction of the world. 

other Scripture referring to the Lord's coming as a thief ....

"Look, I come like a thief ! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed." (Revelation 16:15) "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your LORD will come.  But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.  So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.(Matthew 24:42-44 )

God's people should be attentive and bold about the gospel. Knowing that at any time God  the Son may return to gather His people and establish the new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells. No Christ. No hope. Only fear and dread of the judgement that is coming on the whole world. For you must be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect. Only One is. God's only Son.  The eternal, Holy, Righteous Word who was in the beginning with God and was God. The Word who became flesh and dwelt among us. God made Him (Jesus) who had no sin to be a sin offering for us. So that in Him we might become the righeousness of God. A people called from darkness to light and from death to life. A people He calls His own. Born again. A people to whom....

He gave the right to become children of God,  those who believe in His name:  who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. (col. 2:6-7)

Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31)

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,  but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.  Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,  and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:5-11)

No number of good works anyone does can atone or make them right before God. The Old Testament prophet and King,  David understood that:

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. (Ps. 51:5)

as the Apostle Paul quotes from the Old Testament ...In Romans 3:11-12

as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;

   no one understands;

    no one seeks for God.

  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

    no one does good,  not even one.” (Rom. 3:10-11; Ps. 14:1-3;53:1-3; Eccl. 7:20)

 It took a perfect human being to do that. Only one fulfills that requirement. Jesus the Christ.  theanthropos-God/Man

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Heb. 4:15)

Tempted yes...sinful No. 

For God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor 5:21)

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:

God was manifested in the flesh,

Justified in the Spirit,

Seen by angels,

Preached among the Gentiles,

Believed on in the world,

Received up in glory. (1 Tim 3:16)

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.(Phil. 2:12)

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Cor 5:10)

God works in the hearts of His beloved chosen. That they might be more like His Son and enter into the joy of the Lord. Which is everlasting life.  (1 Thess 4:3-8)