Over the past three devotions, we have established that Jesus is coming on the clouds to take His church home. Is that going to happen in secret? This daily devotional concludes the series by examining the results of His coming and what we can do to prepare.
Nuggets
- When Jesus comes, He will come for His children.
- The Bible is clear that those remaining will know believers have been taken.
- His arrival in the clouds will be seen by all.
To read devotions in the How Do We Know If We Don’t Know series, click the appropriate button below.
We Will Know When He Comes
"Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other" (Mt. 24: 30-31 NLT)
There is one sure fire way to tell those claiming to be the messiah are imposters. When Jesus comes for His children, everyone will see.
Matthew 24: 40-42 talks about one person being taken and one remaining. It makes it clear that those remaining will know those taken are gone.
Do the math. What percentage of the people of the world are Christian? Let’s say 10%. How many people are in the world? Let’s use 7,500,000,000. That is a bit low, but it makes the math easier. (It never has been one of my strong subjects.)
750,000,000 people. Gone. Vanished.
And no one is going to notice? No way!
Revelation 1: 7 sounds like it won’t even get that far. “Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him — even those who pierced him. And all the nations of the world will mourn for him. Yes! Amen!” (Rev. 1: 7 NLT emphasis added).
Even if it happens at night (because it is going to be night somewhere in the world), everyone is going to know Jesus has returned. Everyone — even those who don’t believe.
Matthew said it this way: “For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Mt. 24: 27 ESV). Jesus is going to be seen by all.
Making the Connections
We’ve covered a lot of ground in the previous three devotions. How can we mill it down to what is important?
Let’s go back over a distilled version of the nuggets.
- Jesus didn’t want us to focus on the specific day and time of His return.
- He would rather we focus on being prepared for His return.
- Jesus warned that there would be impostors claiming to be Him.
- Wars, famines, and earthquakes are going to happen.
- Believers will be persecuted.
- False messiahs and false prophets will cause believers to turn away.
- All will hear the gospel story before the end of the age.
- A ruler will suspend sacrifices and offerings and erect a sacrilegious object.
- The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars will fall from the skies.
- When Jesus comes, He will come for His children.
- The Bible is clear that those remaining will know believers have been taken.
- His arrival in the clouds will be seen by all.
Yes, the day of Jesus’ coming will be a surprise. However, it shouldn’t be surprising.
Yes, even believers will mourn Jesus’ coming. Still, believers must know that He is coming to take us home with Him.
Jesus has given us enough signs so that we should be prepared. We should be watching the eastern sky for our first glimpse of Him.
We won’t completely figure out how Jesus will be returning. That isn’t what we have been tasked to do. We are to watch for Him.
We have to remember that Jesus is actually coming twice. The first time He comes will be to call His children home (I Cor. 15: 50-54; Thess. 4: 13-18). The second time will be to defeat Satan (Rev 20: 7-10).
How Do We Apply This?
We need to do what Jesus has said. Admit our sins. Believe in Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer. Confess God as Sovereign Lord.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
We need to build our relationship with God. Paul tells us to “… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2: 12 ESV). I also like this translation: “… Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear” (Phil 2: 12 NLT).
We need to tell others. Remember, we said that everyone having heard the gospel was a sign. So, we need to “… go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mk. 16: 15 ESV).
We might have problems with this one. We don’t think we are qualified. Yet, Peter said, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (I Pet. 2: 9 ESV). We can do this because it isn’t us — it’s God
In Matthew 28: 19-20, believers are commissioned to go, make disciples, baptize, and teach. We talked about this in a previous devotion.
We want others to have what we have. We want others to be ready when Jesus returns. That means we have to tell them. We have to get out of our shells, conquer our insecurities, and do it. Start small. Let our love for Him bubble out of us.
Loving Heavenly Father. We long for the day that Jesus will come for His church. We keep an eye on world events to see how the signs are being fulfilled. Most importantly, we watch the skies, looking for Him. Help us to keep firm in our faith. We long for the day that we will live with You. Amen.
What do you think? What were you familiar with in terms of Jesus’ return? What did this series help clarify for you?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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