These are hard times and a man must remain vigilant at all times.”
–John Deacon (The Provider–4)
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”
–Titus 2:13 (KJV)
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Are you ready should the trumpet sound today? Paul writes, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, NIV)
I was doing some research and the hymn, “Lo, He cometh!” appeared. It was written in 1752, by John Cennick and it is even more apropo today than when it was written. Every day that passes brings us one day closer to the Lord coming for His saints. (And let me give a personal ad here–my new devotion, “New Trails Through the Old Hymns,” should be ready by the end of August. Be looking for it and get yourself a copy.)
Lo, He cometh! countless trumpets
Christ’s appearance usher in:
‘Midst ten thousand saints and angels
See our Judge and Saviour shine:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Welcome, welcome, Lamb once slain.
After writing my devotion yesterday morning this fits right in. Are we looking for His coming? Whether we are or not, He is coming! We don’t know when, but we are to be ready; ready to meet with Him. We need to be welcoming and looking for Him. From the time Jesus ascended into heaven, the saints have been looking for His return. It may not be today, or this week, or this year; yet it come be this very hour–be ready.
Now the song of all the ransomed,
“Worthy is the Lamb,” resounds;
Now resplendent shine His nail-prints
Every eye shall see His wounds;
Great His glory, great His glory!
Every knee to Him shall bow.
We, as the ransomed, should be longing for His coming, but sadly, too many are heavily involved in this world. We are fulfilling our own desires, and seldom turn an eye to the sky. Do we really welcome His return or are we so involved with our affairs that we say, “not yet, Lord”?
Every island, sea, and mountain,
Earth and heaven flee away;
All His enemies confounded
Hear the trump proclaim His day;
Come to judgment! Come to judgment!
Stand before the Son of man.
It is going to be a frightening day for those who did not accept Christ while they had a chance. The Day of the Lord will cause men to tremble and all will bow before His presence. The old enemy, Satan, will be bound for a thousand years in the pit that is bottomless. Christ will reign, the curse will be removed.
All who love Him view His glory,
In His bright, once-marred face:
Jesus cometh; all His people
Now their heads with gladness raise:
Happy mourners! Happy mourners!
Lo, on clouds He comes, he comes!
“Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of Him,” so wrote John in Revelation 1:7 (NIV, I capitalized personal pronouns). Yes, our redemption is near, look up, be ready!
See redemption, long expected,
On that awful day appear;
All His people, once despised,
Joyful meet Him in the air:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Saviour, now thy kingdom comes.
Now we wait, longing, enduring, but expecting. We occupy the day, working for the Kingdom while at the same time look heavenward for His appearing. John writes, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3, NIV)