Daily Devotion
The Signs of His Coming
Created: Tuesday, 22 May 2018 17:58
Hits: 1492
LUKE 17:20-37
IN VERSES 20, AND 21 JESUS ANSWERED THE QUESTION OF THE PHARISEES AS TO WHEN THE KINGDOM OF GOD WOULD COME. HE SAID THAT IT WOULD NOT COME WITH SIGNS THAT YOU WATCH FOR. THE WORD HE USED IS THE WORD FOR A DOCTOR WATCHING A PATIENT FOR SYMPTOMS OF SOME DISEASE THAT HE SUSPECTS.
WE ARE NOT QUITE SURE WHAT JESUS WENT ON TO SAY. THE GREEK MAY MEAN TWO THINGS. (A) IT MAY MEAN "THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU", THAT IS TO SAY, THE KINGDOM OF GOD WORKS IN MEN'S HEARTS; IT IS TO PRODUCE NOT NEW THINGS, BUT NEW PEOPLE. IT IS NOT A REVOLUTION IN MATERIAL THINGS THAT WE ARE TO LOOK FOR, BUT A REVOLUTION IN THE HEART OF MEN. (B) IT MAY MEAN, THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AMONG YOU. THAT WOULD REFER TO JESUS HIMSELF. HE WAS THE VERY EMBODIMENT OF THE KINGDOM, AND THEY DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIM. IT WAS AS IF HE SAID, "THE WHOLE OFFER AND SECRETS OF GOD ARE HERE IN ME, AND YOU WILL NOT ACCEPT ME."
VERSES 22-37 SPEAK OF THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS. OUT OF THIS DIFFICULT PASSAGE, WE CAN PICK ONLY THE THINGS THAT ARE CERTAIN---AND IN TRUTH THEY ARE ENOUGH.
(1ST) THERE WILL BE TIMES WHEN THE CHRISTIAN WILL LONG FOR THE COMING OF JESUS. LIKE THE MARTYRED SAINTS, HE WILL CRY OUT, "HOW LONG?" BUT HE WILL NEED TO LEARN TO LIGHT A CANDLE OF PATIENCE AND WAIT. GOD TAKES HIS OWN TIME.
(2ND) THE COMING OF JESUS IS CERTAIN, BUT IT'S TIME IS UNKNOWN. PEOPLE WILL COME WITH FALSE PROPHECIES AND FALSE PREDICTIONS, BUT WE MUST NOT LEAVE OUR ORDINARY WORK TO FOLLOW THEM. THE BEST WAY THAT JESUS CAN COME UPON A MAN IS WHEN HE IS FAITHFULLY, AND HUMBLY, AND WATCHFULLY DOING HIS DUTY. AS A COMMENTATOR SAID, "NO MAN WILL FORSEE IT, AND ALL MEN WILL SEE IT.
(3RD) WHEN THAT DAY COMES THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD WILL OPERATE, AND OF TWO PEOPLE, WHO ALL THEIR LIVES LIVED SIDE BY SIDE, ONE WILL BE TAKEN, AND THE OTHER LEFT. THERE IS A WARNING HERE. INTIMACY WITH A GOOD PERSON DOES NOT NECESSARILY GUARANTEE OUR OWN SALVATION. "NO MAN CAN DELIVER HIS BROTHER." IS IT NOT OFTEN TRUE THAT A FAMILY IS APT TO LEAVE THE DUTIES OF CHURCH MEMBERSHIP TO ONE OF ITS NUMBER? IS IT NOT OFTEN TRUE THAT A HUSBAND LEAVES THE DUTIES OF THE CHURCH TO HIS WIFE? THE JUDGMENT OF GOD IS AN INDIVIDUAL JUDGMENT. OFTEN ONE WILL BE TAKEN, AND ANOTHER LEFT.
(4TH) WHEN THEY ASKED JESUS WHEN ALL THIS WOULD HAPPEN, HE ANSWERED BY QUOTING A WELL-KNOWN PROVERB, "WHERE THE BODY IS, THERE THE VULTURES WILL BE GATHERED TOGETHER."THAT SIMPLY MEANT THAT A THING WOULD HAPPEN WHEN THE NECESSARY CONDITIONS WERE FULFILLED. THAT MEANS FOR US THAT GOD WILL BRING JESUS AGAIN IN HIS GOOD TIME.
WE MUST LIVE SO THAT WHENEVER HE COMES, AT MORNING, AT MIDDAY, OR AT EVENING, HE WILL FIND US READY.
Life Application: Are you ready for Jesus to come now? I know that we don't know when He is coming, but are you always ready? We often think we are ready for Jesus' coming, but this is what we must be sure about.
Praise/Prayer: Dear Father, You are the only One who knows when Jesus is coming for the Church Victorious. Father, I want to be ready at all times. Wash me, and make me ready. I want a song of victory always filling my mind. I know that Jesus is coming for His Church victorious. What a day that will be! Amen!
