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Over the past couple of weeks, we have been noting how the Old Testament prophets were anticipating the coming of the Messiah through their prophetic writings.  Their anticipation came to partial fruition with the arrival of the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.  In John’s Revelation chapter one verse three we read “for the time is near”. And then in the remaining chapters of Revelation we find these words from Jesus repeated four times: “I am coming soon”.

As we read the pages of the New Testament, we see that the apostles clearly anticipated the soon return of the Lord.  For example, in Philippians chapter four verse five Paul urges the Philippian believers to consider the Lord’s soon return to influence the way they conducted their lives in all they were doing.  “Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do.  Remember the Lord is coming soon.” Philippians 4:5 (NLT).

If you are like me, a believer living two thousand years later, you probably have wondered why these predictions were made saying that the Lord is coming soon when all these years have now passed without his return.  I am not sure that I have the complete answer to that question, but I offer some points to ponder.

First there is God’s merciful nature. Consider these words from II Peter 3:8 & 9 (NLT) But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.  The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

I believe another key point is found in the text from Philippians.. If we really believe the Lord is coming soon it will cause an urgency in all that we do.  I once heard a conference speaker challenge pastors in his audience this way: If you absolutely knew the Lord would come a month from today how would it change your ministry? He believed that church attendance would double! Follow up and visitation would dramatically increase with many being urged to consider their eternal future.

I believe that the New Testament writers were correctly inspired in what they wrote. God wants us to live ANTICIPATING that the Lord’s return in judgement will be soon and could be today!  If we were to really believe this personally, how would it affect the things we do and our personal ministry?                       Pastor Dave