Mature Class Study, teacher Leslie Crain.
Do you ever wake up with your first thoughts being, the king is coming? Do you get excited when you hear those words? Christ was with his followers for 40 days after he was resurrected. He showed himself over and over, walking with them, talking with them. Sometimes they didn’t realize it was Jesus. They were with Jesus when the clouds received him. Don’t you think the disciples thought often of the two men in white and the words of the promise that he will return.
Acts 1:6-11 When they therefore were come together, they asked…Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said…It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen…
The King is coming! The chorus of the song “The King Is Coming” (by Bill & Gloria Gaither and Gaither Vocal Band) says,
O the King is coming, The King is coming, I just heard the trumpets sounding, And now His face I see,
O the King is coming, The King is coming, Praise God, He’s coming for me.
Our job is to let our light shine because the King is coming. If we have anxiety or fear, we need to remember the King is coming. The disciples knew the King was coming and that was their focus. They were keeping themselves righteous and godly because they knew the King was coming. They had a close connection with Jesus. He had washed their feet. They knew he was coming again. The followers expected Christ to return soon, as we see by the words of the apostles.
Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Peter was one of the most vocal disciples. Yet Jesus worked with him, led him, encouraged him, warned and forgave him. Peter knew about trials of faith. He spent a night in prison singing and praying. Some were in heaviness but rejoiced because they had victory and knew Jesus was going to appear again. They were keeping themselves ready. Peter wrote,
I Peter 1:6-8 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
The King is coming!
II Corinthians 5:20-21 (Amplified Bible) So we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us; we [as Christ’s representatives] plead with you on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God. He made Christ who knew no sin to [judicially] be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God [that is, we would be made acceptable to Him and placed in a right relationship with Him by His gracious lovingkindness].
II Corinthians 6:1-10 Working together with Him, we strongly urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain [by turning away from sound doctrine and His merciful kindness]. For He says, “At the acceptable time (the time of grace) I listened to you, And I helped you on the day of salvation.” Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”— we put no obstruction in anyone’s path, so that the ministry will not be discredited, but we commend ourselves in every way as servants of God: in great endurance, in sufferings, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in sleepless nights, in hunger, in purity and sincerity, in knowledge and spiritual insight, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in [speaking] the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand [like holding the sword to attack] and for the left [like holding the shield to defend], amid glory and dishonor; by evil report and good report; branded as deceivers and yet [vindicated as] truthful; as unknown [to the world], yet well-known [by God and His people]; as dying, yet we live; as punished, yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet bestowing riches on many; as having nothing, yet possessing all things.
God doesn’t keep track of time like we do. He sees the whole plan and wants souls to be saved. He wants us ready when he returns. When he comes back everything will be done and be dissolved. Don’t hold on too tight to the things here. We need to let our little light shine. The little things, like saying a kind word to someone, bring light to the world.
II Peter 3:8-12…be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works…therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Job lost hope when he was overcome by grief and pain (Job 7:6). Did he have promises of God to lean on? We have God’s promises in the Bible. Abraham held onto the promise of God that he was going to have a son, even when his age was against him (Romans 4:18-21). Abraham was strong in faith, believing God could do what he promised. In the book of Revelation, John didn’t know what the Lord meant by quickly but he held on and died in the faith. As we wait for the Lord, we can’t just sit on the couch and do nothing. We must be about the Father’s business of letting our little light shine. The King is coming!
Revelation 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Revelation 22:12-14 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Revelation 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.