Jesus’ Coming Draws Near

“…I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:3

The pages of the Bible ripple with promises of Jesus’ coming again. We are reminded the signs of the time are everywhere.

Candidly I believe every one of the prophecies foretelling His return have been fulfilled. There is not one unfulfilled. The stage is set. I don’t look forward to the undertaker. I long for the uppertaker.

I love a cloudy day. When someone says of a beautiful day there is not a cloud in the sky, I regret to hear it because Jesus is said to come on the clouds. Even so, come Lord Jesus.

I don’t believe in the immediate return, but I do believe in the imminent return, meaning it can be at any moment, but not essentially immediately.

Candidly, won’t that be a grand day? Hallelujah, yes, and amen, it will be.

BUT, what if He doesn’t come in our lifetime?

I know that in response to our faith He promises the forgiveness of our sins. However, there is no guarantee in that arrangement of a promise that He will return in our lifetime.

Don’t do as members of the New Testament church in Thessalonika did. They just stopped their normal activities and started looking for Him. Not a good idea. 

Instead trim your wick. In the New Testament story groomsmen who at the wedding while waiting for the bridegroom, illustrative of Jesus’ return, trimmed their wicks, meaning they got ready for His coming. So, trim your wick, get ready for His return. How?

You do so by living so that if it were today He would find you faithfully exercising your responsibilities as a Christian to the fullness.

Most often Christians are heard to say they hope He will come during current hard times. They even speak of the hard times as assurance He is coming at any time. Don’t you know that when the Mongol hordes were sweeping across western Asia and eastern Europe slaughtering Christians many thought that was assurance of His immediate return.

In Ephesians 4: 1 – 6 believers are beseeched, given a gentle wooing in love to live for Jesus. 

Jesus did not say, “Obey me and I will bless you.” He in effect said, “I have blessed you, now obey me.” This is not a human command, but divine compulsion.

Believers are urged to walk worthy of the Lord. Worthy translates “axios” meaning in a manner worthy of the Lord. It is an adverb of manner. It was a term used at the time balancing scales were used to determine a weight. It meant to bring up the other beam of the scale, or to be equivalent. Your calling of the Lord is on one side of the scale and your lifestyle the other. We are beseeched to live a balanced life for Jesus. We are therefore beseeched to walk in harmony with our calling. Our relationship with Jesus should motivate right living.

If looking for His appearance doesn’t prompt us to do so, nothing will.

Lift up your head our redemption draws near.