Life On The Highest Plane
Our Lord's Return - Attitude
But back of the "catastrophic cataclysm" that ends the rule of "the prince of this world" and overthrows this world system the spiritual man sees the glorious appearing of the Great God and Saviour Jesus Christ to rule the world, and beyond "the dissolving of the havens" and "the melting of the elements" he sees "the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness." So with almost impatient longing he "looks" for the coming of the Lord.
1 Thess. 1:10, "And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come."
1 Corinthians 1:7, "So that ye come behind in no gift: waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
"Wait." Let us not miss the sweetness of this precious truth by failing to apprehend the inwardness of its meaning. We have told some of the blessings that will come to the Christian through our Lord's return, his resurrection from the dead or his translation without dying; his removal from the very presence of sin' his release from all bondage to self and to satan; his reign with the Lord as co-heir of the kingdom. Yes, all these and other blessings await us upon the coming of the Lord.
Yet the chiefest of all blessings will be missed if we stop here. What we wait for is not a blessing but a Person. We wait for God's Son, our Saviour; it is the Bridegroom, our Beloved, for whom we wait. He has promised to come for His own to receive them unto Himself. When He comes, we shall meet Him in the air; we shall see Him face to face; we shall be like Him; and we shall forever be with the Lord.
Our Lord has gone away to prepare a place that we may be with Him forever. During His absence our hearts are comforted and cheered through His Word and we find precious companionship with Him in its study. But He promised to come back and, as we draw nearer and nearer to "the day of Christ" with hearts fixed intently upon this blessed hope, we wait for the Son Himself from Heaven.
Matthew 24:36-42, "But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only ... And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. ... For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away: so shall be the coming of the Son of man. ... Then shall two men be in the field; one is taken and one is left; ... two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left ... Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh."
"Watch." Life will be flowing on in its ordinary channels when "the day of Christ" finally comes. We will rise to the ordinary tasks; we will be in our accustomed haunts; we will be eating, drinking, working and sleeping as usual.
No warning will be given us that we may hastily prepare ourselves to meet the Lord. No time will be given to change our occupation or our garments. So there is but one attitude for the Christian to have toward the coming of the Lord and that is the attitude of watchfulness. He may come any moment, therefore I should be watching every moment.
Revelation 2:25, "But that which ye have already hold fast till I come."
"Hold fast." In these days of growing apostasy the Christian is meeting with very severs tests to his faith, love, zeal and fidelity. The man who rejects the foundation truths of God's Word considers the man who holds them fast an intellectual outcast and consigns him to the slums of scholarship. This is a day in which men are suffering persecution for their faith. As the shadows deepen and the darkness of the apostasy falls more heavily over Christendom every man who is loyal to his Lord will have "to go forth without the camp, bearing his reproach" (Hebrews 13:13). But with tenacity of faith that nothing can shake; with an ardency of love that nothing can quench; with a warmth of zeal that nothing can dampen; and with a constancy of fidelity that nothing can weaken, the spiritual man will "hold fast" to all that is his in Christ till He comes.
"Occupy." The Christian who looks and longs for the Lord's return is sometimes accused by those who reject this truth of being a visionary, impracticable star-gazer, waiting idly for something to happen to release him from a doomed world. They even claim that such a hope "cuts the nerve of service." Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, the exact opposite of this is true. From the early Church on down to the present time it is the men and women who have held this truth who have been the most zealous, ardent, active soul winners. Their one passion was to trade with the pound which their Lord had given them until it had brought Him ten pounds. Their chief concern was not that they themselves might be released from a doomed world but that they might be the channels which the Lord would use to deliver others from it. With unwearied devotion and unflagging zeal they have obeyed the Lord's commission to preach the Gospel to every creature.d The paramount purpose of their lives was to "occupy" faithfully till He comes.
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 8 - "Our Lord's Return - Approach")
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