"But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (9) The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (10) But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."
How sweetly the Apostle turns from scoffers, in answering them, in order to comfort the faithful. And what a blessed plan hath he adopted in doing it. The comparative statement of a thousand years, and of a day, is chosen by way of manifesting, that in relation to His Being, and existence, who inhabiteth eternity, all calculations of time lose their very meaning. I AM, which is the Lord's distinguishing name, renders past, present, and future to Him, but as one eternal Now. And it should not be forgotten by his people, that it is the eternity of his nature, and the unchangeableness of his purpose, counsel, will, and pleasure, which gives being and accomplishment to all his promises in Christ. The people or God, therefore, have an everlasting bottom to rest upon, in the assurance both of Christ's coming, and his coming to perform all his gracious intentions to his Church. And so sudden, as well as sure, will be his coming, that that great day, or night, will be to all the earth as unlooked for, and unexpected, as when the midnight thief breaks into the house while men sleep. Alarm will rouse up the whole of the unregenerate world, and those awful events will take place with them all, which in various scriptures are so described. Matthew 24:27 to the end.