YOU DO
NOT KNOW WHEN THE TIME WILL COME
Isa. 2:1-5;
Ps. 121; Rom. 13:11-14; Matt. 24:37-44
“Besides this
you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from
sleep. For
salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; the night is far
gone,the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on
the armor of light” (Rom. 13:11-12).
We are now
approaching the day of salvation, the day of Christ and the manifestation
of his glory.
We should therefore wake up from our sleep and walk in his new light that
is already
beginning to dawn upon us, “because the darkness is passing away and the true
light is already shining” (1 John 2:8). So “Arise, shine; for your light has
come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall
cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon
you, and his glory will be seen upon you” (Isa. 60:1-2). His light is already
dawning upon us, for Christ has come. We can therefore walk even now in this
dawning light. Yet we are longing for its full manifestation
when the Lord returns in glory, which every eye shall see (Rev. 1:7). This
is the day
that is now at hand and is nearer now than when we first believed, for the
night is now far gone. “Know that the Lord is coming and with him all his
saints; that day will dawn with a wonderful light”. We are therefore to walk in
the light of his coming. Such is the Christian life, living in pious and joyful
expectation of the coming of the Lord in manifest glory.
We are to live
each day as though he were to come today. So has Jesus taught us:
“Watch
therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” (Matt. 24:42).
“Let us then
cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct
ourselves
becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery
and
licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and
make no
provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Rom. 13:12-14).
It does not
matter if the Lord does not come for a long time—this is still the way we
are to live:
in eager and joyful expectation and preparation. We are to leave behind our
former way of
life, when we followed the disordered desires of the flesh, and unify our
life—body and
soul together—in a new quest for the things that are above, living
henceforth
only for the Lord. Our whole life should be devoted to him alone, for we
cannot serve
both God and mammon (Matt. 6:24). Our spirit cannot serve God while our
flesh serves
sin. Nor do we want to be divided, serving the things that are below and also
those that are above, for this is impossible. Rather, we are to live a new and
risen life in Christ, devoted to him. “If then you have been raised with
Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right
hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on
earth” (Col. 3:1-2).
We have died
with Christ to our old way of living and have risen with him to a
completely new
way of life in the light, preparing ourselves each day for his coming to consummate
all things and fill us with his splendor. We are to hope for this. If we live
this way, we
will be living correctly, and will “be pure and blameless for the day of
Christ” (Phil.
1:10), when the Lord comes with all his saints in great light (Zech. 14:5, 7).
Thus Jesus
Christ came the first time that we might be born anew in him and live
henceforth in
eager and joyful expectation for his second coming in glory. The light of
his glory is
now dawning upon us, for “the night is far gone, the day is at hand” (Rom.
13:12). This
day is now nearer than when we first believed. This is how Jesus wants us
to think and
live. “For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men,
training us to
renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and
godly lives in
this world, awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our
great God and
Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11-13). He appeared the first time to make
us new so that
we would put on Christ (Rom. 13:14; Gal. 3:27; Eph. 4:24) and long for
his
manifestation in splendor on the clouds of heaven. On that day, “the Lord will
become king
over all the earth” (Zech. 14:9). “On that day sweet wine will flow from the
mountains,
milk and honey from the hills, alleluia” “The mountains and hills will sing
praise to God; all the trees of the forest will clap their hands, for he is
coming, the Lord of a kingdom that lasts for ever. Alleluia”.
May we not be
like Noah’s generation, for the flood caught them all unprepared, and
they were
destroyed. Yet Jesus tells us that “as were the days of Noah, so will be the
coming of the
Son of man” (Matt. 24:37). Let us not be unaware and unprepared as they
were, for on
that day, “two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left … Watch
therefore, for
you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” (Matt. 24:40, 42).
Even though we
may die before he returns, we must still live in watchfulness and
eager
expectation for his coming. This is how he wants us always to live—lives of
joyful
preparation
for that day of great light when he consummates all things. Whether dead or
alive, we will
see his coming (1 Thess. 4:16-17). So may God “establish your hearts
unblamable in
holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with
all his
saints” (1 Thess. 3:13).
We await the
destruction of the present world (2 Pet. 3:10-12) and a “new heavens
and a new
earth” (2 Pet. 3:13). So “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what
sort of
persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and
hastening the
coming of the day of God … Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these,
be zealous to be found by him
without spot or blemish and at peace” (2 Pet. 3:11-12, 14).
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