September 6, 2016 - Christians have been watching for Jesus to return to earth since His ascension to the Father for He promised that He would indeed return for his own.
He gave us this advice before he left; "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But you know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." (Matthew 24:42-44)
We do not know when, for the Lord wants us to live in a state of expectancy and watchfulness. Believers know He could come at any hour, and must beware of those who claim to know the hour for they are false prophets.
Like the master of the house, if we knew the hour many would not live as they should until the final minutes before His return. Our souls might be prepared, we might be saved, but our bodies, minds and hearts might not. Our "house" might not be in good order if we knew the time.
In verses 6-8, Jesus warns us of hard times to come; of the distress of nations, of wars, rumors of wars, of catastrophes of gigantic proportions. Look around, today almost all nations suffer unrest, distress and distrust and many are even gripped by rebellion just as God's Word predicts. Jesus tells us that this is still not the end, that these are only the "beginnings of sorrows", that we will still suffer tribulation and that many will even die.
But he gives us a promise; that all who endure to the end, will be saved. Praise God and His grace and mercy and for this promise, amen...
Paul told us in Romans 12, that we are not to be conformed to this world; we must live in it but we cannot be a part of it, we must remain apart from it.
Jesus tells us to look for false religions to abound in the last days all through the 24th chapter of Matthew. We can see these all around us today, all types of heretical teachings even to Satan worship being pawned off as religion.
Many people subscribe to these false teachings and feel they have religion, but these "religions" have no power other than the deceptions they hold their people with.
In the book of Revelation Jesus gives us this promise; "Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life." (Rev. 2:10)
As His children, what should we be doing as we wait for His return?
We should first be faithful until death or until He returns.
We should spend much time each day in prayer and in the study of His Word.
We should be actively engaged in service to Him every day.
We should hold all persons blameless in our hearts, for Jesus has told us that if we cannot forgive one another that we will not be forgiven by the Father.
What should we be doing?
We should be about our Father's business... AMEN...
May God bless and keep you each day...
