“For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.”I Thessalonians 5:2
In Matthew 24:44 the Lord said “Be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him”. The Lord tells us two certainties in this verse. First He is coming back. Men mock that truth. We surely hear these taunts today. Peter said men will mock the Lord and us by saying, “They will say, “Where is the promise of his
coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are
continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:4)
They say nothing changes – things will always be as they are. Believers know God speaks the truth and this will happen. If we believe His truth, we should live in the awareness that Jesus is coming back and that truth should change our lives.
What does God’s word tell us about how our lives should be impacted by His pending return?
First, we are to watch for His return. In 2 Peter 3 Peter talks about the return of the Lord. In verse 12-14 he states three times in a row “looking for…we…look for…looking forward to.” Believers are to
continually look forward and live in the knowledge that Christ will return and establish His righteous kingdom.
Second, we are to live as if we may return today. In the parable of the businessman that goes away, the master tells his servants who he leaves behind, “Do business till I come.” We are to work diligently for him up until the day he returns. The Lord said it this way, “Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing”. (Matthew 24:46)
Third, His returns means we should live in a way that is discerning. Paul writes, “Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him…. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way”. (2 Thess. 2:1-3) The return of the Lord means we should be in His word and study His truth. We are to know His truth because Satan and this world will do all they can to deceive us.
Fourth, the return of the Lord means we acknowledge that we do not know when. The Lord said, “Now concerning that day or hour no one knows—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son—but only the Father. Watch! Be alert! For you don’t know when the time is coming” (Mark 13:32-33) We don’t know what God did not tell us but, even without details, we know what He says is true.
Fifth, the Lord’s return gives us hope. Titus calls it our blessed hope. (Titus 2:11-13) We know this life is not the end, we will live with Him for eternity. Therefore we store our treasures in eternity not in a temporal life of 70-80 years.
Sixth, we use the return of the Lord to encourage each other. This life has trials and is sometimes very difficult. Paul tells us that “the Lord will descend from heaven with a shout” then he says: “Therefore encourage one another with these words”
(1 Thess. 4:18). We encourage others to persist, to keep the faith. Endure through the trials!
What can we learn? John writes “Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3). Why does the Lord remind the dead church at Sardis that He is coming back? The knowledge of Christ’s return should focus and motivate us to abide in Christ and to put off the things of this world to pursue Christlikeness. If it doesn’t, the eternal life of Jesus Christ does not live in us. The Lord also warns Sardis they do not have unlimited time to decide. Whether it is at death or at the rapture, whichever the Lord chooses, He will come quickly and decisively. There will be no time at that point to change our minds. The Lord’s return cannot be avoided or resisted. That is not the time to discover one is spiritually dead.