“OUR LORD’S RETURN!” 

Matthew 24:36-39 

[36] But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 

[37] But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 

[38] For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered the ark, 

[39] And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 

PRE-AMBLE by Robert 

To watch for Christ’s coming is to maintain that temper of mind which we would be willing that our Lord should find us in. We know we have a little time to live; we cannot know that we have a long time to live; much less do we know the time fixed for the judgment. Our Lord’s coming will be happy to those that shall be found ready, but very dreadful to those that are not.  

If a man, professing to be the servant of Christ, be an unbeliever, covetous, ambitious, or a lover of pleasure, he will be cut off. Those who choose the world for their portion in this life will have hell for their portion in the other life. May our Lord, when he cometh, pronounce us blessed, and present us to the Father, washed in his blood, purified by his Spirit, and fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. 

In Matthew Henry’s (1662 – 1774) commentary, we hear him calling us to be honest, and upfront and center about our position: “To ourselves, then, I say, by the circumstances of our time this question comes. “Will ye also go away?” Will you be like the rest, or will exceptional fidelity be found in you? Is your attachment to  

Yeshua so based on personal conviction, is it so truly the growth of your own experience, and so little a mere echo of popular opinion, that you say in your heart, “Though all men should forsake Thee, yet will not I “?  

It is difficult to resist the current of thought and opinion that prevails around us. Difficult to dispute or even question the opinion of men who have been our teachers and who have first awakened our minds to see the majesty of truth and the beauty of the universe. It is difficult to choose our own way, thus tacitly condemn the choice and the way men we know to be purer in life, and in every essential respect better than ourselves.  

And yet, perhaps, it is well that we are thus compelled to make up our own mind, to examine the claims of Yeshua for ourselves, and so follow Him with the resolution that comes of personal conviction. Suppose we truly love Him and find that He has taken place in our life. In that case, we cannot ever give to another if we are conscious that our future lies His way and that we must in heart abide with Him. All our slowness to understand is patiently dealt with, all our underrating of His real dignity is forgiven us, and we are led on in His company to perfect conformity, perfect union, and perfect knowledge.” 

We also find what was revealed before and again brings the truth forward: James 2:12, “Some give this explanation, that as they flattered themselves too much, they are summoned to the right tribunal. For men absolve themselves according to their own notions because they withdraw themselves from the judgment of the divine law.” 

CLOSING STATEMENT by Robert 

Ok, here is the bottom line that many have not considered, as they are looking into the future for our Lord to return from the clouds to claim His righteous children.  

And it is the position we are to be prepared for as the truth is when we come to the end of our journey in this world and are about to spiritually depart. We find that Yeshua has spiritually returned for us, to guide us through the valley of death unto the new world’s final judgment. What is needed to understand is how, like Job proclaimed, the Lord shapes and moulds us in the womb (Job 31:15), but doesn’t stop there as we learn in the following words, He continues the shaping and moulding right to the end of our journey where He returns to claim what He and the Holy Spirit has put so much work into. The work Yeshua puts into our lives through the Holy Spirit is in preparation for what is described in 2 Corinthians 5:10 KJVS. 

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.  

The apostle quickens himself and others to acts of duty. Well-grounded hopes of heaven will T not encourage sloth and sinful security. Let all consider the judgment to come, which is called The terror of the Lord.  

Knowing what terrible vengeance the Lord would execute upon the workers of iniquity, the apostle and his brethren used every argument and persuasion to lead men to believe in the Lord Jesus and to act as his disciples.  

Their zeal and diligence were for the glory of God and the good of the church. Christ’s love for us will have a like effect upon us if duly considered and rightly judged. All were lost and undone, dead and ruined, slaves to sin, having no power to deliver themselves, and must have remained thus miserable for ever if Christ had not died.  

We should not make ourselves, but Christ, the end of our living and actions. A Christian’s life should be devoted to Christ. Alas, how many show the worthlessness of their professed faith and love by living to themselves and the world! 

Job complained of his diseases and judged by them that God was angry with him; his friends did so too: but Elihu shows that God often afflicts the body for good to the soul. This thought will be of great use for our getting good from sickness, in and by which God speaks to men.  

Pain is the fruit of sin; yet, by God’s grace, the pain of the body is often made a means of good to the soul. When afflictions have done their work, they shall be removed. A ransom or propitiation is found. Jesus Christ is the Messenger and the Ransom, so Elihu calls him, as Job had called him his Redeemer, for he is both the Purchaser and the Price, the Priest and the sacrifice.  

So high was the value of souls, that nothing less would redeem them; and so great the hurt done by sin, that nothing less would atone for it, than the blood of the Son of God, who gave his life a ransom for many.  

A blessed change follows. Recovery from sickness is mercy, indeed, when it proceeds from the remission of sin. All that truly repent of their sins shall find mercy with God. The works of darkness are unfruitful; all the gains of sin will come far short of the damage.  

We must, with a broken and contrite heart, confess our sins to God, 1 John 1:9. We must confess the fact of sin and not try to justify or excuse ourselves. We must confess the fault of sin; I have perverted that which was right. We must confess the folly of sin; So foolish have I been and ignorant. Is there no-good reason why we should make such a confession? 

Nothing is more delightful to faithful ministers, or more to their praise than their ministry’s success, as shown in the spirits and lives of those among whom they labour. The law of Christ was written in their hearts, and the love of Christ shed abroad there. Nor was it written in stone tables, as the law of God given to Moses, but on the fleshy (not fleshly, as fleshliness denotes sensuality) tables of the heart, Ezekiel 36:26.  

Their hearts were humbled and softened to receive this impression, by the new-creating power of the Holy Spirit. He ascribes all the glory to God. And remember, as our whole dependence is upon the Lord, so the whole glory belongs to him alone.  

The letter killeth: the letter of the law is the ministration of death; and if we rest only in the letter of the gospel, we shall not be the better for so doing, but the Holy Spirit gives life spiritual, and life eternal.  

The Old Testament dispensation was the ministration of death, but the New Testament of life. The law made known sin, and the wrath and curse of God; it showed us a God above us, and a God against us; but the gospel makes known grace, and Emmanuel, God with us.  

Therein the righteousness of God by faith is revealed, and this shows us that the just shall live by his faith; this makes known the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ, for obtaining the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. The gospel so much exceeds the law in the glory that it eclipses the glory of the legal dispensation. But even the New Testament will be a killing letter if shown as a mere system or form, and without dependence on God and the Holy Spirit, to give it a quickening power. Thus, Yeshua has a finished product to return, collect, and guide through the valley of death and bring forward to the Judgment seat.