By Milton Jamieson
Amid all the noise of politics, the hustle and bustle of the stock market, the hammering of trade, industry and commerce, the laughter of mockers, the cheers for sports men and women, the songs of performers and all jolliness and fun – yes, the excitement of our times: Never forget to listen to the pacing, calming, assuring voice of our Lord Jesus Christ, who said, “I will come again” (Jn. 14:3 KJV). It is a promise “both sure and steadfast” (Heb. 6:19), for not one of His words has ever failed nor will fail. He declared, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away” (Mt. 24:35).
“God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?” (Num. 23:19). We can hang all we have on the word of the Lord, for His word is like a nail in a sure place.
The Lord has made every believer spiritually ready. The very moment we believe on Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord we are ready to meet Him, ready for heaven and ready to enter the Father’s house; but am I morally ready? Am I ready in my soul, my spirit and my affection? When I am saying, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20), is my heart truly set on things above, or am I grabbing, scraping and reaching for all that can be gotten in this world?
Why seek for the world’s things? Will I present to the Lord all the real estate that I have purchased? Will I tell Him how very educated I and my children are, showing to Him our certificates from various universities? Will I reveal to Him millions of dollars that I was able to save? God forbid that there should be in any of His servants such a low and wicked thought – or such behavior.
We should be careful not to fall, like the servant in Luke 12:45 who said in his heart that his lord delayed his coming, and began “to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken.” Spiritual drowsiness and moral misconduct ought never to mark those who are waiting for the Lord to come. Instead, “let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them” (vv.35-37).
Our stay on earth is temporary, but not like those only to be removed by death. We who are Christians await His return, the rapture, which may take place at any moment. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Th. 4:16-18).
We are not, as it were, to pack our suitcases, climb a high mountain, fold our hands and do nothing. No, no, a thousand times no! Instead, we ought to heed the exhortations that we find in the Word of God. “He called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come” (Lk. 19:13). Occupation with the Lord in the glory will lead one to be occupied for the Lord on the earth.
Another exhortation to be heeded is found in 1 Corinthians 11:26, which says, “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till He come.” It is the Lord’s desire that we remember Him in the breaking of bread until “He come.” We should also be spending time in the Word, as we are told in 1 Timothy 4:13, “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.” There are further exhortations such as: “But that which ye have already hold fast till I come” (Rev. 2:25) and “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised;) and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Heb. 10:22-25).
May the Lord help each of us to be obedient to these exhortations as we anticipate His return.
