Getting Ready For The Imminent Return of Jesus Christ

“Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you,  for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” (1 Thess 5:1-2).
A young man was caught in the act of loosening, with the aim of stealing, the brain box of a Toyata Hiace bus in a mechanic workshop. He was apprehended by people around and beaten severely. His clothes were torn and he was left naked. Some in the crowd had actually suggested that he should be burnt alive; but an elderly man, highly respected in that area was passing by at that time, met them at the scene, pleaded and prevailed over the crowd to forgive this young man and let him go. This elderly man took the young man away, counselled him, clothed him and gave him some financial assistance. He above, all charged and encouraged him to go and steal no more.
At another time, barely eight months later, this same young man was again caught in a shopping mall, stealing a mobile phone. He was over-powered, handed over to the Police and was eventually charged to court. At the court, on the judgment day, this young man looked up and saw that the Judge who was presiding over his case was the same elderly man who pleaded and prevailed upon the crowd for his release eight months earlier. He therefore leaped for joy in his heart, thinking that the “saviour” had come who would plead again for his release just as he did previously.  But alas! To the dismay of this young man, the Judge sentenced him to six years’ imprisonment for filching!
Beloved, the second coming of the Lord Jesus is one of the most important subjects for the Christian. The writers of the New Testament discussed it more than 300 times, and the language used was always imperative. The first thing we need to know about the second coming is that it is CERTAIN! This is a very clear truth of the Holy Scripture. Jesus Himself personally spoke about His return. On the last night He spent with His disciples before His crucifixion, He told them in very clear terms that He was going to return to heaven to prepare mansions for them, before He would come back to take them to Himself (John 14:1-3). Angels also foretold it (Acts 1:10-11), the Holy Spirit bears witness of it (2 Cor. 5:5) and the early Church encouraged one another with it (1 Thess. 4:16-18).
Many have, since the biblical records, expressed some discordant views on the Lord’s second coming. Some claim that “Jesus was like any other leader who had led people in the world at one time or the other and therefore had come and was gone forever”. Some say that He had already come in the spirit. Some even say that there will be no physical appearance of Jesus for the second time; rather, He will only come for each individual at death.
The views of people notwithstanding, the incontrovertible truth is that the Lord Jesus Christ will return and from the state of the world, the coming is imminent. What is important is to prepare for His Second Coming as urged by the Holy Scriptures. One of the major preparations for the return of Christ therefore is our conscious effort, through the grace of God, to part ways with sin. No sinner can survive or escape the judgment of God when He shall come again. We must also ensure that we maintain our human discipline on our stand for Christ to the end, just as the wise virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 did. When Christ shall return, it is not going to be for the same reason He first came. His former coming was to deliver and save us from the consequences of our sins. He came as a mediator between man and God. But when He shall later return, He shall come to judge the living and the dead. The same man who was pleading with God for our forgiveness, shall one day return to judge the world. He will return unexpectedly (1 Thess 5:1-3), He will return in full view of all (Rev 1:7) and He will return the same way that He left (Acts 1:10-11).
Beloved, let us not sleep, as do some; but let us watch and be sober (1 Thess 5:6); and let us also strive to be part of the elects that will be caught up with Christ in heaven when He shall come again to judge the world; and let us go out in this new week in the power of the Holy Spirit to tell as many people as possible about Jesus, our Saviour before He returns to judge them.
Have a fruitful week as you continue to prepare for the SOON return of the Son of God, JESUS!

  Your brother, Vicar & Archdeacon
  Igein Isemede