Anticipating the Lord’s Return
Life Principle 30: An eager anticipation of the Lord’s return keeps us living productively.
Throughout Scripture, we find three admonitions given to us about the Lord’s return:
1. We’re to watch faithfully. The Word of God encourages us to stand fast in the faith with courage and strength (1 Cor. 16:13), watching soberly and arming ourselves with faith, love, and salvation (1 Thess. 5:8). As we watch, we’re to remain especially aware of false prophets, discerning the spirits and rejecting all who do not confess that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh (2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:1-2).
Jesus spoke to John in a vision and gave this great promise to those who remain watchful: “Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake” (Rev. 16:15).
2. We’re to work diligently. Why does Jesus leave us here on earth after He saves us? Why aren’t we born again, then immediately taken into the Lord’s presence? Simply because we still have work to do!
We’re to be the Lord’s witnesses, telling of the love of God and the atoning death of Jesus Christ. We’re also to testify to others about all He’s done in our own lives, both with our words and by our example. As long as there remains a soul on earth who hasn’t heard the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, we still have much to do.
3. We’re to wait peacefully. More than four hundred times in Scripture, the Lord commands us to not fear but to enjoy peace—and He calls us to peace as we await His return. We’re taught in the Bible that apart from Jesus, there is no peace … not within a human heart and not among human beings or nations. With Jesus, we can experience peace that surpasses our rational capacity and settles deep within (Phil. 4:7). We are to seek and find this peace as we await the Lord’s return.
When the Lord comes, will He find you among those who love Him and call Him Savior and Lord? Will He find you doing what He’s commanded of you, eager to see Him and ready for His appearing? You have it within your grasp to positively answer these questions. So how will you choose to respond to the Lord’s call upon your life?
The fact is, He is coming again!
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Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.
Revelation 22:12 NIV
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
1 Corinthians 16:13 NIV
But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
1 Thessalonians 5:8 NIV
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them —bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2 Peter 2:1 NIV
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God
1 John 4:1-2 NIV
“Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”
Revelation 16:15 NIV
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7 NIV