The Coming of the Lord
Southaven, Ms
By: Mike Upchurch
Could 2019 be the year the Lord comes again? Could it be today? In the book of Revelation, Jesus gave these warnings to John the disciple….
“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”Revelation 22:12, 20
In those verses, He wasn’t so much advertising the time frame. The word ‘quickly’ in the original Greek has two different meanings…..
ταχύ Pronounced takh-oo’
neuter singular of 5036 (as adverb); shortly, i.e. without delay, soon, or (by surprise) suddenly, or (by implication, of ease) readily:–lightly, quickly.
He was describing more the manner in which He would come rather than when. It would be suddenly and would take people by surprise! Paul tells us that His coming will be as a thief would come…..
“For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.”
1 Thessalonians 5:2-3
So with that said, are you ready? If He came today would you go with Him?
I was in traffic the other day stopped at a red light, and noticed a woman in front of me who was in the far left lane of three lanes. She must have realized she needed to be in the far right lane in order to turn right at the intersection. While traffic was stopped for the red light, she turned her wheels to the right and pulled out a little, turning her blinker on. She signaled her intent, but she was at the mercy of the other drivers around her as to whether she could proceed or not. Just because you signal your intent, doesn’t mean you’ll always be allowed to go where you’d like.
It’s no different in the Kingdom of God. You can certainly signal your intent that you want to be in Heaven, but it is up to the Lord as to whether you’re permitted entrance. The Bible is clear that not everyone is allowed entrance. The conditions MUST be met that you have believed Jesus is the Son of God; you must have confessed your sins; and more importantly, you must have repented, meaning you turned away from your former life. We are assured Eternal Life when we have met those conditions.
Paul laid out the formula for salvation…..
“But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”-that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”Romans 10:8-10
And Paul was clear we must turn from sin…..
“Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”Romans 6:11-14
You must then seek a personal relationship with the Lord. That means walking with Him in conversation and being obedient to His commands. If you’re not walking with Him and choose to live by your own code after accepting Him as your Savior, it’s possible you could hear these dreaded words…..
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”Matthew 7:21-23
How horrible it would be to be turned away from Heaven and end up in torment in Hell!I am convinced we’re living in the last days. Don’t let His coming catch you off guard! Surrender to Him. Live your life for Him in obedience. And then be ready to go suddenly!
“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.”Matthew 24:42
Pastor Mike
