The Lord's Coming is At Hand!

(Overcomer Wu)

“You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” --James 5:8

As we approach the end of yet another year and the coming of the New Year, how much we need to be reminded that the coming of the Lord is that much closer. "The coming of the Lord is at hand” says James 5:8. The events of the world is truly set for the coming first of the anti-Christ and then of course the coming of Christ Himself to judge this world along with the anti-Christ, the false prophet, the devil and their cohorts. The geo-political unrest in the Middle East is about the spread out of control in the region for certain in this coming year. Turkey has already started to bomb Northern Iraq for fear of the Kurdistan State spreading into its border region which are predominantly Kurdish. The Iranian may have ceased their nuclear program 4 years ago, but some intelligence sources show that presently it is well underway. Hence, they have proceeded with their nuclear enrichment program deep underground. What do they have to fear or hide if they are simply building a nuclear power plant? Why do they deny the International Atomic Energy Agency of the U.N. to inspect their nuclear facility? Clearly they are definitely bent on building their own nuclear bomb, which will then most likely spark a preemptive strike by Israel against Iran's nuclear facility once they have acquired a bunker-buster bomb that will penetrate deep enough through the extra deep and reinforced nuclear facility of Iran, because Iran's president has stated publicly that they wanted to erase the state of Israel off the map. That bombing will of course be answered by Iran with a strong retaliation which will then pull the whole region into war with Israel. The United States of course will be forced into defending Israel since we look at them as our little brother in our relationship with them. A war in the Middle East will then cause the closure of the Gulf of Hormutz, through which about 2/3rds of the world's supply of crude oil comes from. Needless to say, that will result in a worldwide energy crisis with soaring inflation from the rise of energy prices.

Economically, the U.S. Federal Reserve Board has finally admitted the obvious that we are in stagflation, which most likely will be followed by recession next year as the recent action of the Federal Reserve has indicated by creating an entirely new way of injecting liquidity into the economy by bypasses the current network of approved dealers for open market operations, and expands the acceptable collateral for loans. This also intertwines the Fed with other Western central banks, so they can all inflate their economies simultaneously. What this means is that the Fed has, in effect, surrendered and confessed defeat. Its previous monetary tools — which have been around since 1913! —were utterly inadequate to control today's growing financial crisis. So it has created a new tool: a way to flood the economy with newly-created dollars. Waves after waves of them. What's more is that the US Dollar is on the verge of collapse after losing about 1/4 of its buying power in the past year alone. When the US dollar collapses, again most likely next year, the other European currencies as well as currencies of other countries that trades with US are likely to follow. This will then set the stage for a world-wide economic crisis, especially in Europe, for the emergence of the anti-Christ to come in and appear to be savior of the world by saving the European economy and bring peace to the Middle East at the same time.

There are countless other signs pointing to the fact that we are indeed at the end times, but I believe that what I have said so far should be sufficient for now to convince most of you that the end is near. What then can be the reason why the coming of the Lord occupies our consciousness so little? In spite of much less outer reason for it, this thought was lively, present and common even with the first-century Christians as well as throughout all the centuries, who were fervent seekers of the Lord. What then can the reason be that even with such signs of the times as those of our days can numbed us from the sense of urgency of the Lord's soon return and paralyze us into lukewarmness rather than to love and pursue the Lord with all our hearts, our soul, our mind, and our strength?

I am certain that most, if not all of us Christians, believe in the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; however, this belief does not necessarily follow that we also would live daily as the wise and vigilant virgins of Christ who are eagerly awaiting the coming of Christ as our hope and our Bridegroom. It is not a question of: do you believe that the Lord will come again? But: does your living reflect that you have put this hope of glory at the forefront of your every thought and action in a real expectancy of His coming? Not many among us can reply in the affirmative to this question. If all believers were walking in this hope and waiting for the coming of our risen, ascended, and glorified Lord, then this hope would reveal itself more in our speaking, in our Christian fellowship, in our daily actions and decisions.

What then is the reason why the thought of the coming of the Lord is almost unwelcome by many of us, when it was so lively, dear and present to the hearts of the Christians throughout the past centuries? It definitely is not a good and healthy sign. Every hope presupposes a wish; every wish has its root in what we love; and every love originates from our heart. Do we really desire and long for the coming of the Lord, when all weakness, all sin, all unfaithfulness and unrighteousness against our dear Savior and His people will come to an end? Do we desire to bring in God's kingdom and for His will to be done soon as we are taught to pray in Matthew chapter six? Do we apprehend Christ the way we have been apprehended by Him and see Him as He is and seek to be transformed into His image without delay that we may express Christ in all His fulness collectively as the Church (Eph 1:23)? If we do, then we would lay aside all weight that slows or hinders us from this pursuit and live daily in a fully consecrated manner for the blessed hope of His glorious coming day.

May the Lord recover all of us to where the blessed hope and the glorious coming of our Lord Jesus Christ become our dearest theme of our life from day to day. With a heartfelt longing we look forward to the day when the heavy fog enveloping our faith here will be dispelled by the great glory of the Lord's second advent. We look forward to the day when we will see our Savior, Friend, Sanctifier and Lover of our soul. Here we have believed in Him. We have spoken with Him and we have been accompanied by Him, though we have not yet seen Him face to face, except in our mingled spirit where He dwells. We look forward to the day when we will at last enjoy forever a perfect clarity, a full assurance, the perceptible, tangible Presence of the Lord. In addition, we will then be freed from the flesh for ever, the flesh that brought along so much sin, weaknesses, pain, and tribulation. The kingdom of this world shall be fully under the authority, dominion and rulership of our Lord Jesus Christ and all His enemies shall be cast into the bottomless pit if not the lake of fire directly.

If we were more dead to our self, the world, and things of this present age, and set our mind, our life, our hope, and our joy in Christ alone, then surely we shall have a foretaste even in our present life in this age of the blessed hope that our hearts are eagerly awaiting for at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, where the heart is divided into seeking after other priorities, the pleasures of this world, and things of this age, yes, including our families (though I am certainly not saying to ignore them but to give Christ the preeminent position in every aspect of our lives), and we're so consumed by these seemingly innocent things such as using the Lord's entrusted money to us for vacationing more than for His purpose and His people, in such a heart the longing for the heavenly Bridegroom cannot find an entrance or a residence and our love for the Lord will surely grow cold inadvertently. Such a life attempts to serve two masters cannot be rightly wholesome and healthy before the Lord, as it does not agree with the Word and the mind of Christ in all things.

Let us be reminded that "... our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” (Phi 3:20-21). We are in this world, but not of this world; therefore, let us live the life of a pilgrim as prefigured by Abraham, Issac, and Jacob by their living in tents (as opposed to a permanent dwelling place like a solid building) and the erecting of an altar along side the tent for offering our sacrifices and worship to our Lord and Christ. Furthermore Paul admonishes us: "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” (Col 3:1-4). May we all take this stern and sound warning of our Lord's soon return to heart that we may not miss out on the spiritual reward both in this age and in the ages to come, and for all eternity.

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,” (Tit 2:11-13).