Christ is sure to return to earth again to take His own unto Himself, that we may ever be with the Lord. He promised this, and will certainly perform it.
John 14:3 – “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
Many preachers with whom I associate emphasize that one must be ready to meet Jesus when He comes, but they very seldom explain how to be ready. The Bible is not silent on this. You can know that you are ready to meet Jesus Christ at His coming.
Sinners – Be Saved!
James 4:8 states, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”
Before all else, you need to be saved by placing ALL of your faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is by faith (Ephesians 2:8, 9), and it is by faith IN HIS BLOOD (Romans 3:25). This means that you have called upon the name of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:13), trusting only in His finished work upon the cross. It means that you are not trusting in baptism to save you; you are not relying on “standards” to keep you; you are not leaning upon sacraments to rescue you; but you have rather turned loose of every sorry attempt to save yourself, and you have fallen solely upon Christ, putting all of your weight upon Him, trusting Him fully to save you. This is what the Bible calls “believing,” and at that very moment, Christ saves you! “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Let me ask you – in what are you trusting to save you? If the Lord were to come at this very moment, would be taken, or would you be left? It will happen just like that! Notice,
Matthew 24:40, 41 – “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”
Christ, when He comes for His church, is coming as a thief in the night. What does a thief do? He comes to take something! A thief breaks in suddenly, at an unannounced and unexpected time, and takes that which is not his! Christ will come AS a thief. Now, listen carefully. Christ is not a thief! The thief takes what does not belong to him. However, when Christ comes for His church, He will not take one thing that is not His! If you do not belong to Jesus Christ, He will not take you with Him when He comes. You will be left! Christ is coming to take only what belongs to Him. How can you know if you belong to Him? Note the scripture –
John 1:12 – “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
As I have stated in previous blog posts, this verse shows clearly that you are a son – that is, you belong to Him – by believing on His name! When you ask Him to save you, “believing on” Him, or trusting only in Him to save you, He does so at that instant, and you belong to Him! You immediately become a son!
If you are lost and without Christ today, you WILL be saved by trusting solely in Him to do so, or else you will be lost forever when He comes!
Those Who Are Saved Need to Prepare!
Now, what about those who are saved? The reader may say, “I’ve already been saved. There’s nothing else for me to do to prepare for His coming!” I say, “No, you are dead wrong.” If you are saved, and you are love the Lord, and you are striving to please Him by living by the Bible, there is still preparation you need to make!
I would like to draw your attention to a verse in I John –
I John 2:28 – “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”
Now, in this verse, He is not making reference to those who are lost when He comes. Notice – “…that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at his coming.”
The first thing you should note is the phrase, “We may have confidence.” John includes himself in this group. I believe in the verbal inspiration of the Bible. No word in scripture is wasted. In the past, referring to only myself, I have stood behind the pulpit, and said, “WE are so glad to be here.” But, there was no “we.” I traveled alone. Sometimes, I use the word, “we” referring to just myself.
In the Bible, however, when it says “we,” it means “we.” John included himself in the “we” in this verse. John says, “I am intending to be taken when He comes, and I don’t want to be ashamed at that time!”
Notice another phrase – “…and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” Who is going to be “before Him?” Not the lost. They will be left. The ones who are taken will be “before Him.” Notice:
Luke 21:36 – “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”
In this verse, Christ admonished His disciples to pray that they might escape the things coming upon the earth, and to stand before the Son of man. The ones who will be before Him at His coming are those who are saved – the ones who will be taken with Him – not the lost.
So, going back to our verse, I John 2:28 – “…that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming,” we see that there will some who will be taken in the rapture, who will be ashamed when they see the face of Jesus! I want to be ready – I do not just want to be taken; I want to be able to look Him in the eye with no shame!
Understanding this, I want to look at a couple of things that will make a Christian ashamed when Christ comes for His church.
PAST IMPURITIES WILL MAKE SOME ASHAMED
Notice the scriptures in the third chapter of I John –
I John 3:2, 3 – “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”
When we look for His appearing, this passage shows us that we will purify ourselves, even as He is pure. Looking for the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ will cause one to live in a holy, pure manner. When Christ comes, and we see the scars in His hands and feet, I think every Christian present will experience at least some shame, for it was our sins that placed those scars upon the Saviour. I will see those scars, and I will admit – I did that! I put those there! Even since I have been saved, I have sinned and had to ask the Lord to forgive me. There’ll be some shame when I think of that at the moment of His coming. I want to live pure and holy for my Lord. Even if, after I sin, I become genuinely sorry, and obtain forgiveness from the Lord, I still do not want to sin – I do not wish to be ashamed before Him when He comes.
THE FAILURE OF CHRISTIANS TO LABOR WILL MAKE SOME ASHAMED
Notice Christ’s words regarding His servants at His coming –
Luke 12:42, 43 – “And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find SO DOING.”
When Christ returns, He wants to see His servants SO DOING. This means He wants to see His servants WORKING. Now, please listen carefully. I am not mad at anyone. But our churches are full of people who shout and speak in tongues, yet have not lifted a finger to get a soul saved. I’m talking about people who have been saved, and supposedly “Holy Ghost filled” for years, and are not responsible for the first soul being saved. Days, weeks, and months go by before some Christians get the slightest burden for anyone’s condition other than their own.
Now, I am not saying that if that is your case, that you are not saved. If you are washed in the blood of Jesus when He comes, you will surely meet Him in the air! There will be those who will meet Jesus in the air, who have been washed in the blood of Jesus. They have striven to live to please God. They have been separated from the world. But they have done so little for the kingdom of God. I do not write this as though I am the prime example of a man building the kingdom of God. Know this – I will be first to say that I need to do more for the cause of soul-winning, and building the church of Jesus Christ. I do not want to be ashamed when I stand before Him at His coming. When I look at the scars upon His hands where, at the cross, He put His hands in the fires of hell to pull men out, then I will look at my own hands. How will my hands look? Scarred from reaching for souls? Bloody from being ashamed to warn the lost? So many will hang their heads in shame when they see the glorified Son of God who gave His all for the lost, and yet we give so little.
Yes, those of us who are saved need to be ready for His coming. We need to be prepared so that we are not ashamed when He comes!
