“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world.” Matthew 24:14
Dear Ones:
One of the age-old arguments for not believing in the second coming of the Lord Jesus, and this is affirmed in Scripture, is that we have waited now for over two thousand years, and He has not come. This is a false statement, and one that needs to be clarified. It is true that there will come a day, an hour, when the Lord Jesus will come from the east, as the morning, as lightning. He will come and gather all believers to Himself at that time, separating them from the unbelievers. He will come as Lord and King. At that time, “…at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.” (Phil. 2:10) In another sense which is so very applicable to us today, and to the believers who have preceded us now for over two thousand years, is the fact that He HAS COME, by the Holy Spirit. This is NOT the visual, physical appearance of the King in His glory, but it IS the blessed presence and power of the Comforter, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Christ’s coming at Pentecost, by the Holy Spirit, is revealed in that He declares: “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you….because I live, you shall live also…at that day, you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I IN YOU.” (Jn. 14:18,19,20) The great call of Christ to the believer is to abide in Him, dwell in Him by faith, live by the Spirit. It is as we grasp that we have all IN Christ, by the Holy Spirit, that we begin to understand that indeed, Christ has come…to dwell in our hearts by faith. What then does this have to do with the last days, His second coming, and the witness to the entire world?
Jesus, in speaking to His disciples before His betrayal and crucifixion, said: “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, HE SHALL TESTIFY OF ME.” (Jn. 15:26) Because of the promise of His presence and power, He goes on to say, “…And YOU shall also bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.” (v.27) True Christianity is not an empty boast. It is a LIFE revealed in “…the demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” (1 Cor. 2:4) The Life of Christ in the believer is revealed in this world by the Spirit of God, and by His power. When the disciples received the Spirit of God in power on the day of Pentecost, they were strengthened to believe God for the full outworking of His will, purposes, and ways, in a context of unbelief and resistance. They overcame the world, and “the gates of hell” could not stand against them. The world was “turned upside down” because of the witness of the Spirit of Christ in and through them. So, how are we to see the second coming, and how are we to live in light of it today?
There is indeed a moment when Christ will come from the East, and this to conquer and to set up His kingdom on this earth. It will be a moment of great blessing, and of terrible judgement. As His servants, we are to be good, faithful, and wise, as we live in joyful expectation of His return. But if we are to be effective, and fruitful, then we must grasp something of the greatness of “His power towards us.” We are to believe in the power and promise of the Spirit of Christ, who dwells in the heart, to strengthen us to BE and to DO that which pleases Him, and which will be a witness to the world. It is as we dwell in Him, and He in us by faith, that the reality of His blessed life by the Spirit will be revealed, and the gospel shall be preached and “seen” in all nations.
Dear Father, give us to see as You see, “Christ exalting, self abasing…this is victory.” We thank Thee that Christ’s life is the ONLY truly victorious life, and it is this life that You desire to reveal to a lost and dying world. Give us to be strengthened by Thy Spirit, that the manifestation of Christ’s life will be seen and known. Enable us to “preach the gospel” by our mouths and lives, that many will truly come to know Thee. We thank and praise Thee, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad