THE CHURCH AND CHRIST’S RETURN

THE CHURCH AND CHRIST’S RETURN

 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to be with him: I beg you, my friends, ² not to be so easily confused in your thinking or upset by the claim that the Day of the Lord has come. Perhaps it is thought that we said this while prophesying or preaching, or that we wrote it in a letter. ³ Do not let anyone deceive you in any way. For the Day will not come until the final Rebellion takes place and the Wicked One appears, who is destined to hell. ⁴ He will oppose every so-called god or object of worship and will put himself above them all. He will even go in and sit down in God's Temple and claim to be God.{2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 GNT}

You probably have heard about the end times and the signs which will precede the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many theologians and prophecy predictors have in the time past speculated different dates suggesting the end of the world but they have all failed. The dates they predicted have come and gone but we are still here. This goes to buttress what Jesus meant when he said “NO MAN KNOWS THE DAY OR THE HOUR”.As seen in 2 Thessalonians 2 above, the apostle Paul states again how that we should not be deceived to thinking that any man can predict the day of the Lord’s return. 

He however said the day of the Lord will not come until two things happen: first there will be a time of great rebellion against God and then the Man of rebellion will come- the son of hell. This man of sin will go in and sit as God in the temple of God claiming that he himself is God. This man of sin will come as Satan’s tool, full of satanic power and will trick everyone with strange demonstrations and great miracles. He will completely fool those who are on their way to hell because they have said no to the Truth; they have refused to believe the truth, love the truth and let it save them. The bible says God will allow them believe lies with all their hearts because they rejected the truth. They will be judged for believing falsehood, refusing the Truth and enjoying their sin.

⁹ The Wicked One will come with the power of Satan and perform all kinds of false miracles and wonders, ¹⁰ and use every kind of wicked deceit on those who will perish. They will perish because they did not welcome and love the truth so as to be saved. ¹¹ And so God sends the power of error to work in them so that they believe what is false. ¹² The result is that all who have not believed the truth, but have taken pleasure in sin, will be condemned. {2Thessalonians 2:9-12 GNT}

Did you notice that their sin and the reason for their condemnation is lack of faith in the Truth? They rejected truth and held on to lies. Well what is truth and what is false in this contest. Jesus speaking in the gospels said “you shall know the TRUTH and the truth shall set you free” {John 8:22}. Again he said” I am the way, The Truth and the Life. No man will get to the father except through me” {John 14:6}.This means that Jesus is truth. To reject him and his finished work is to reject truth.

Why did Apostle Paul relate the coming of the Lord to faith or lack of faith in the Truth? The answer is because in the end time many will lose their faith in God. Our faith will be tested by the terrible events that will happen and are already happening in the world. Those whose faith will endure till the end shall be saved but those who will lose their faith shall be condemned. This means that one of the most important virtue the church must protect in these end times is FAITH. Jesus mentioned it before he left the earth.

⁸ I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? {Luke 18:8}

Jesus doesn't ask a question because he lacks knowledge. He knows that faith will be scarce on earth at His return. This lack of faith is what provokes fear in most Christians whenever the subject of the Lord’s return is discussed. Fear has taken hold of many Christians just because they don’t believe in the finished work of Christ on the cross. Surprisingly those who will be saved in the end shall be saved by faith. Now this is what I have to say to the church;

We must thank God at all times for you, friends, you whom the Lord loves. For God chose you as the first^[a] to be saved by the Spirit's power to make you his holy people and by your faith in the truth. ¹⁴ God called you to this through the Good News we preached to you; he called you to possess your share of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So then, our friends, stand firm and hold on to those truths which we taught you, both in our preaching and in our letter.

¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and in his grace gave us unfailing courage and a firm hope, ¹⁷ encourage you and strengthen you to always do and say what is good.{2Thessalonians 2:13-17 GNT}

The church people must realize that by their faith in the truth, they have been made God’s holy people and chosen for salvation. All that needs to be done is to stand firm and hold on to the truth. If we keep on having faith, it will give us unfailing courage and hope of eternal life no matter what happens in these last days.

We need not fear the day of the Lord as Christians who have faith in Christ. Any church that is afraid of the coming of the Lord is a self-righteous church. A church that thinks that her salvation is based on the number of Jewish laws she could keep. The faith-righteous church has nothing to fear. This is the church that is full of children of light and so the coming of the Lord cannot take such a church by surprise.

             There is no need to write you, friends, about the times and occasions when these things will happen. ² For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief comes at night. ³ When people say, “Everything is quiet and safe,” then suddenly destruction will hit them! It will come as suddenly as the pains that come upon a woman in labor, and people will not escape. ⁴ But you, friends, are not in the darkness, and the Day should not take you by surprise like a thief. ⁵ All of you are people who belong to the light, who belong to the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

 ⁶ So then, we should not be sleeping like the others; we should be awake and sober. ⁷ It is at night when people sleep; it is at night when they get drunk. ⁸ But we belong to the day, and we should be sober. We must wear faith and love as a breastplate, and our hope of salvation as a helmet. ⁹ God did not choose us to suffer his anger, but to possess salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰ who died for us in order that we might live together with him, whether we are alive or dead when he comes. ¹¹ And so encourage one another and help one another, just as you are now doing.{1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 GNT}

Did you notice in the verses above that the true church is not in darkness? Therefore what we need in this time is FAITH, LOVE AND HOPE OF SALVATION {verse8}.Any church that has faith in Christ’s finished work, has God’s love and hopes for glorious salvation. Such a church is not appointed unto wrath but chosen to obtain eternal salvation through Jesus Christ.

³⁵ Do not let this happy trust in the Lord die away, no matter what happens. Remember your reward! ³⁶ You need to keep on patiently doing God’s will if you want him to do for you all that he has promised. ³⁷ His coming will not be delayed much longer. ³⁸ And those whose faith has made them good in God’s sight must live by faith, trusting him in everything. Otherwise, if they shrink back, God will have no pleasure in them.

³⁹ But we have never turned our backs on God and sealed our fate. No, our faith in him assures our souls’ salvation. {Hebrews 10:35-39 TLB}

As the day draws near, you must protect your faith. There is so much God will be doing through the church in these last days but not with a faithless- fearful church. Only the church of faith will enlist in God’s end time army. Fight therefore to protect your faith because His coming will not be delayed much longer. How do I fight for my faith?..…check out the next article.