Eagerly Awaiting The Return Of The Lord

We’ve already looked at the New Testament description of an apostle. If you want a description of what it’s like to be a prophet, we can find it in Hebrews 11, the last 2 verses. This is the prophetic ministry.

“They were stoned, they were sawn in two [that was Isaiah], they were put to death by the sword, they went about in sheepskins and goat skins, destitute, persecuted and ill-treated. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.”

How many want to be prophets? What’s needed? Endurance.

We’ll go back to verse 10 of James 5:

“My brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed, we count them blessed who endure. You’ve heard of the perseverance [notice that word] of Job, and seen the end intended by the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.”

Not an example of glamour but of suffering. If you go through those verses you’ll find the theme is patience, perseverance, endurance. And that’s the pattern for the people of God who are preparing for the return of the Lord.

I have to say that I preach these words to myself as much as anybody else. I tremble often when I hear the irresponsible way in which people are talking today about ministries and gifts. It’s tough to have a ministry in the body of Christ. The more harm you do the devil the more he’ll fight against you. If you’re not prepared for conflict and agony, you might just as well resign.

We’re coming to the next, number three. This is worse still! Do you know what it is? It’s waiting. The importance of waiting is almost totally overlooked in the contemporary Church. And yet it’s a central part of our preparation for the return of the Lord. Hebrews 9:28:

“So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time apart from sin for salvation.”

To whom will He appear? To those who eagerly wait for Him. Some translations don’t put in the eagerly but it’s a double preposition in the Greek. I think eagerly accurately represents the real meaning of it. It’s not just waiting for Him but it’s eagerly waiting for Him.

I have a friend who is a preacher. He has a rather droll way of expressing himself and he says when the Lord returns he’ll expect to hear something more from us than “Nice to have You back.” If we’re eagerly waiting for Him we’ll have more to say than that!