Faithful Readiness

Have you ever looked at the chaotic world today and felt sure that Jesus was coming back soon?

Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached in Westminster Chapel, saying:

“We may be witnessing the end of civilization as we have known it.” This was in 1941 during the German air raids known as “the Blitz.” 

In 1916, British preacher G. Campbell Morgan said, “I never begin my work without thinking perhaps (Christ) may interrupt my work and begin His own.”

He preached this while bombs fell on London in WW1. Most Christians then shared the conviction that the world was nearing its end.

After the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, John Wesley said in a sermon, “The great day is near! The signs of the times we see and hear proclaim it.”

In a letter in 1522, Martin Luther said, “I hope the Day of Judgment is not far off.” He speculated: “It will not be two hundred years before it comes.”

Whether it was the Black Death in the 14th century, the fall of Rome in the 5th century, or the destruction of Jerusalem in the 1st century, every generation of believers has looked at the world and assumed Christ’s return was close.

We say the same thing today. We search fastidiously through the book of Revelation like it’s a treasure map of clues and riddles, as if to confirm once and for all that we are the generation that will finally see the bodily return of Jesus.

Church, it’s good to long for Jesus to come back. The ache you feel when you see injustice, or egregious sin, or record-breaking weather, or concerning technological advancements, or the spread of anti-Christian ideologies, or another war erupts; this is the ache of the hope for God’s promised redemption. The desire for Christ to come again is a product of a sanctified heart. Romans 8 says that creation groans for redemption, and we groan with it.

But we must avoid the sin of growing anxious in the groaning.

Because friends, we can become so focused on the timing of His return that we lose sight of the purpose of His delay. Each day, each year, each generation that Jesus does not return is actually a sign of greater mercy for His people, not less.

So, what do we do? In Luke 12, Jesus gives His disciples a simple picture. He tells them to keep their lamps burning. He tells them to be dressed for action- literally, “Let your loins stay girded.” What He’s saying is: “Be ready.” But sometimes we have the tendency to hear that as “stock up on food and water and protect ourselves.”

What Jesus is describing is a posture of faithfulness. This is not searching the scriptures for more clues about a second coming. It’s a steady obedience in the ordinary duties of a Christian life. That’s “being ready.”

Giving a ride to someone to church, reading the Bible to your kids, praying with your spouse, forgiving a parent, taking a little extra time in the foyer to meet new members, faithfully stewarding both your time and finances, serving in the nursery, taking a meal to family with a newborn baby, actively listening and applying Sunday sermons, sharing the gospel with a coworker, loving those who don’t love you back —just to name a few things.

All of us will meet the Lord one day- whether in judgment, in glory, or yes, perhaps even in His return, and He will not be testing us on how well we predicted the hour. But He will know whether we kept the lamp burning while we waited.

Let’s take a moment of silence to repent for the ways we wrongly readied ourselves and ask the Lord to teach us faithful readiness until He comes again or calls us home. Let’s take that moment now, and then I’ll lead us in a prayer of confession.

Prayer of Confession

Father,

Forgive us for the times we have neglected faithful readiness. We have often cared more about our view of the millennium than our view of our neighbor. We engage with social media Bible clips more than a church member on the other side of this very room.

Sometimes we search the scriptures to align prophecy with what we see on the news more than we savor your Word in the abundant promise of peace and rest and hope in the treasure of Christ today. Redirect our hearts, Lord. Sanctify us so that we may be made into the image of your Son.

We pray this in the name of Jesus,

Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

Friends, after your confession, here is your assurance of pardon.

For those who are trusting in Christ, you are made righteous despite any unfaithful readiness. You are secure in Him and can live with calm expectation. You can serve with perseverance, and you can keep the lamp burning until He comes. The One who will appear in glory is the same Savior who already bore your judgment on the cross.

That’s why we sing:

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness

I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

Let’s stand and sing these truths together!