GOD HIMSELF WILL BE WITH THEM

“And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’”  (Revelation 21:3-5 NKJV)

Christmas is the promise that the God who came in history and comes daily in mystery will one day come again in glory. God is saying in Jesus that in the end everything will be all right. Nothing can harm you permanently, no suffering is irrevocable, no loss is lasting, no defeat is more than transitory, no disappointment is conclusive. Jesus did not deny the reality of suffering, discouragement, disappointment, frustration, and death; He simply stated that the Kingdom of God would conquer all of those horrors, that the Father’s love is so prodigal that no evil could possibly resist it. 

-- Brennan Manning in “Reflections of a Ragamuffin” 

#5762

STAYING READY

"But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour." (Matthew 24:43-44 NRSV)

I remember reading a story Dr. Charles Swindoll told in a book called “Rise and Shine” some years ago.  Chuck talked about a time when he was in school, working in a machine shop.  He worked with an old-timer named Tex.  Ol' Tex had a kind of invisible sensor down inside.  He seldom had to look at the clock.  He always knew when it was getting close to that last whistle.  Without fail, Tex was all washed up and ready to punch out a couple of minutes before the whistle blew.  On one occasion, Swindoll reminded him that it was about time to start getting ready for quittin' time, and he never forgot the man's reply.  He told Chuck, "I stay ready to keep from getting' ready for quittin' time."

I like that.  How do you prepare for the Lord's return?  You stay ready to keep from getting ready.  Because if you do stay ready, you never have to scramble around to get ready, do you?  And that's the impact the thought of the Lord's return ought to have on us.  Because He may return at any time, we should live our lives as the book of Titus tells us -- in a godly righteous way, so that we might always be ready. 

-- David Jeremiah in “Jesus' Final Warning” 

#5281

WE DO HAVE A PART

“And this gospel of the kingdom swill be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”  (Matthew 24:14)

Some of us may like to think we really don't play a part in the overall scheme of things. That is, we feel as though this ol' world will just continue with or without my help. In fact, we feel rather insignificant in the overall picture. However, the truth is that we do have a part in the world and in fact God entrusts us to deliver His message of salvation to a lost and dying world. The New Testament commands - not suggests - that we share our faith and warn the lost. Could there be any greater job? Is anything more important than sharing the message of Jesus Christ? 

-- Pastor Gary Stone 

#5271

LIVING IN A SENSE OF ANTICIPATION

“So stay awake and be prepared, because you do not know the day or hour of My return.”  (Matthew 25:13 NLT)

Every generation of Christians has expected Christ to return in their lifetime. And they have had one thing in common: They have all be wrong…

Supposing Jesus had said, “I’ll give you three millennia to evangelize the world, and them, on January 1, A.D. 3001, I will return at precisely 9:00 GMT.” What would the promise of His return have meant to generations of believers who lived in the preceding centuries? In the midst of their suffering, exiles, and martyrdom, what comfort would they have derived from His promise, knowing that He would not come soon? And what would have been the effect on the church if they had known that they still had a little time to do what they wanted to do before getting around to doing what He had told them to do? Where would have been the sense of urgency, the challenge of holiness, and the keen sense of tiptoe anticipation?

Jesus’ point was that all His disciples should be living in a sense of anticipation, actively on the job, working hard to bring about the consummation of His purposes and living consistent lives so they would not be ashamed at His coming.

-- Stuart Briscoe


#4798

COME, LORD JESUS

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city… I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.”  (Revelation 22:12-17 NIV)

So, for many there is no emotional yearning for the return of Jesus. The best hope they know is a kind of intellectual, theological hope. But an intellectual knowledge of what the New Testament teaches about the return of Christ is surely a poor substitute for a love-inflamed desire to look on His face!… The crux of the whole matter is this: our wonderful, created world will be restored to its rightful Owner.

I for one look forward to that day. I want to live here when Jesus Christ owns and rules the world. Until that hour, there will be conflict, distress and war among the nations. We will hear of suffering and terror and fear and failure. But the God who has promised a better world is the God who cannot lie. He will shake loose Satan’s hold on this world and its society and systems. Our heavenly Father will put this world into the hands that were once nailed to a cross for our race of proud and alienated sinners.

It is a fact. Jesus Christ is returning to earth.…

I bow my head and continue to pray with the humble writer of the Revelation: “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!”

--  A.W. Tozer in “The Tozer Topical Reader”

#4325

ALREADY BUT NOT YET

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”  (Philippians 1:6 NIV)

It has been said that Charles Wesley’s hymns always begin on earth and end in heaven. So it is with John Wesley’s theology. He was firmly convinced of the coming day of Christ, which is not yet, but toward which humankind, with the whole of creation, is moving. For Wesley, it was necessary to stress God’s ultimate victory; but it was also important to affirm the penultimate reality of God’s presence, now experienced as life that is drawn to God in increasingly focused love. John Wesley had a doctrine of final things, an eschatology, in which God’s Kingdom is being presently realized even as it points toward a consummating future. The Christian lives with the lively hope that God, who has begun a good thing, will fulfill it in the day of Jesus Christ.

-- Thomas Langford in “Practical Divinity”


#4167

ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED

“The moment you began praying, a command was given.”  (Daniel 9:23)


This one revelation has the power to change your perspective on prayer.  It will inspire you to dream big, pray hard, and think long.  The answer is given long before it is revealed.  It’s not unlike the Jericho miracle when God said He had already given them the city, past tense.  Do you realize that the victory has already been won?  We’re still waiting for its future tense revelation, but the victory has already been won by means of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  It is finished.  This isn’t just when God made good on grace; it is when God made good on every promise.  Every single one is yes in Christ.  Past tense.  Present tense.  Future tense.  The full revelation won’t happen until His return, the return that Daniel prophesied, but the victory has already been won, once and for all, for all time.


-- Mark Batterson in The Circle Maker




#3682

THE GLORY OF CHRIST

"Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him." (Revelation 1:7 NIV)

Every person on earth will see our Lord when once more He descends to our planet. He will return personally, suddenly, visibly, loudly, with a cry of command and a blast of God's trumpet. It will be the most amazing and wonderful sight human eyes have ever looked on -- the dazzling, brilliant, awesome splendor of our Lord Jesus Christ in His glory and His Father's glory, and the glory of the holy angels.

-- Warren and Ruth Myers in Discovering God's Will


#3500

ABOUT "THE DAY"

“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36)
We must never speak to simple, excitable people about "the Day" without emphasizing again and again the utter impossibility of prediction. We must try to show them that that impossibility is an essential part of the doctrine. If you do not believe our Lord's words, why do you believe in His return at all? And if you do believe them, must you not put away from you, utterly and forever, any hope of dating that return?

-- C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) in The World's Last Night

 
#2772