1 Thessalonians 5:6
So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.
Anyone who knows the history of the Adventist church knows that the founders started out believing they knew when Jesus would return. As they studied the prophecies of the Word of God, they became convinced that His return was imminent. When it didn’t happen as expected – that day we mark as the Great Disappointment on October 22, 1844 – many began to doubt and fall into discouragement. It was a few weeks after the Great Disappointment that William Miller wrote these words to the discouraged Advent believers:
“Although surrounded with enemies and scoffers, yet my mind is perfectly calm, and my hope in the coming of Christ is as sure as ever…. I have fixed my mind upon another time, and here I mean to stand until God gives me more light. – And that is To-day, TO-DAY, and TO-DAY, until He comes, and I see Him for whom my soul yearns.”
Many people through the years thought they could out how God’s mind works, but they obviously thought they knew better than Jesus, who says in,
Matthew 24:36 and in Mark 13:32
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Even the human nature Jesus had adopted did not know, so why would any of us presume to know.
Jesus told so many parables about how we should be living before He comes back, we have all heard them many times. We have to be investing in our future, not financially or by ‘good deeds’ but Spiritually so that our faith in Jesus and our belief in His atoning blood and justification ‘investments’ would be mature enough for eternal life. Paul tells us in,
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
We only need to be aware that when Jesus returns there will be no more chances to accept any of the grace offered and, the way the world is moving towards apostasy and Satan worship, we must be even more on our guard than ever.
Satan is moving ahead with his plans, hoping to thwart our Sovereign Lord God. We know that will not happen, but Satan doesn’t believe it. We know that if we put our trust and faith in God and the blood of His Son we will be safe with Jesus Christ, our Saviour.
Prayer
Precious Saviour, our hearts are sore at the thought of the brothers and sisters we are losing from the family of God. Those who once followed You have and are turning their backs on Christianity with ever increasing speed. We grieve for the souls that are being lost to the whisperings of the followers of the evil one. We pray for our young people who have never been told about what You did for us on the cross. The very adults who should be protecting them are leading them into disaster. There are no words available to us that can change things for these children, but we pray that the Lord God will have mercy on them. In Your own blessed name we ask, amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment