One More Promise To Go
April 7th, 2022
If someone had made 100 promises to you and had faithfully kept 99 of
them, you would expect the one remaining to come true as well, right?
God of the Bible, and Jesus Christ the Son of God, have fulfilled every
promise in the Bible, save one. Jesus hasn’t yet come back.
But He will.
I was raised in a small Southern Baptist church.
My Dad was my pastor most of those years.
I remember the old wooden Pulpit from which the Pastor preached.
I remember the old wooden pews in which we sat.
I remember the hymnbook racks in the backs of those old pews.
I remember the hymnals in those pew racks.
And I remember many of the old hymns in the pages of those hymnals.
Many of those old hymns talked about Jesus’ return.
It’s been roughly 50 years since I was a boy and sang those hymns from
my Dad’s church. I have sang them
many times since in many other churches. And
I remember them like it was yesterday.
The old song by Bill Philips, “Jesus is Coming Soon”, was
recorded by people from the Oak Ridge Boys to the Gaithers to the Temptations
and many more.
Jesus is coming soon, morning or night or noon
Many will meet their doom, trumpets will sound
All of the dead shall rise, righteous meet in the skies
Going where no one dies, heavenward bound
The version of this song I remember most is with my Uncle Clay B Pulley
playing piano and his wife my Aunt Betty Pulley singing with him, and sometimes
my Uncle Wally Taylor accompanying the bass lines.
To me, they beat the Oak Ridge Boys.
There are so many others old and new:
How Great Thou Art, The Lion & the Lamb,
O Come O Come Emmanuel, O Glorious Day, Even So Come, Come Thou Long
Expected Jesus, What A Day That Will Be, When The Roll is Called Up Yonder, The
King is Coming, I’ll Fly Away, Midnight Cry, Hallelujah What A Savior, Jesus
is Coming Again, Rise Again, We Shall Behold Him, Cornerstone,
It Is Well, Face To Face With Christ My Savior, and many, many more.
Why so many songs about the topic of Jesus’ return?
Because the indication of the return of Christ is all over the Bible.
The prophet Jeremiah said that at the Lord’s coming Jerusalem will be
made the throne of His glory. Ezekiel
tells of a restored Jerusalem. Zephaniah
gives us a new song that He will teach Israel and describes the overthrow of the
false Christ. Matthew says Christ
is like a bridegroom coming to receive his bride.
Mark describes Jesus’ return as a estate owner going on a long journey
and entrusting tasks to certain servants until his return.
In Luke, Jesus is a nobleman going to a far country to do business and
leaving his possessions with his servants to trade until his return.
John quotes Jesus as saying, “I go to prepare a place for you, and I
will come again and receive you to myself.”
The final book of the Bible, the Book of the Revelation, tells of the
return of Jesus Christ.
The Bible is full of promises. Every promise, save this one, has been fulfilled.
This one will be fulfilled for certain.
It is the only one remaining. Since
every promise in the Bible has been true, you can bet your bottom dollar this
one will be true also.
So, it is not a question of “if” it will happen, but “when”.
The Bible tells us we “do not know the day or hour but to stand
ready”.
So, are you ready?
How do you prepare for such an event?
John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world
that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not
perish but have everlasting life.”
Romans 10:9-10 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation.”
How do you prepare? Basically,
believe that Jesus is who He says that He is.
The Son of God who died on a cross as a man with never doing anything
wrong, as a sacrifice to connect you back to God of the Creation, to pay the
penalty for your sin, so that you might live forever.
And that he died and rose again to defeat death and pave the way for you
to do the same. If you but believe
on Him and accept His sacrifice as the only atonement for your own wrongdoing.
And in doing so, inherit eternal life.
Then you can prepare for the return of Jesus.
Read of the story of Jesus in one of the Gospels, be in Matthew, Mark,
Luke or John; all tell the story of Jesus. Look over to the book of Romans that
explains clearly that all of us have done wrong and gives the path for coming
back to God. Believe that Jesus is
the Son of God that died for your sins and rose for our victory over death.
And pray a prayer similar to this one:
“God, I know I have done wrong. Please forgive me. I
believe that you are who you say you are in the Bible, and I believe that Jesus
is your Son. I accept that Jesus
died for my sins and took the punishment in my place, and I believe that He rose
again defeating death, and stands by God to help me in my time of need.
I believe that one day Jesus is coming again.
I accept you this day Jesus as my Savior and Lord.
Thank you for saving me, Jesus.”
If you have prayed a prayer like this, then in accordance to God’s Word,
you are saved. And you are forgiven
your sins and will be in Heaven with Jesus when your time on earth is over.
It’s that simple.
And if you know that you are saved and forgiven and are already a follower
of Christ, then are you ready for His return?
Are you acting in such a way to make God proud?
Are you helping others know of Jesus?
Would
you act differently if you knew He was coming back today?
Greg Quinn
