Who Will Be Faithful In Preparation For Jesus’ Return?
Good Morning Friends,
Today we look at the Church of God in Corinth considering part of the Olivet Discourse from the lips of Jesus to give us guidance not only to events that were about to take place in Jerusalem 2000 years ago, but also to those stretching far into the future. Specifically, three momentous occurrences are intertwined in today’s scripture, the coming judgement upon Jerusalem, the challenge of the saints in the church of God and the final judgement at the close of the world’s history when Jesus returns. Friends, I have read but not counted myself that are over 2,000 references to the second coming of Jesus in the Bible. For every prophecy concerning the first coming of Christ, that means that there are about eight that look forward to His second. It is that important. And it is presented as a certainty that Jesus will come back and when this happens the final judgment at the close of the world’s history will occur. There is much to be done in advance to build up the called-out assembly of God. There is much to be revealed. But, Who Will Be Faithful In Preparation For Jesus’ Return?
Scripture: Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians:1-9 (NRSV)
Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. “Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. But if that wicked slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know. He will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 24:42-51 (NRSV)
Message: The Corinthian church was unique in the usage of all the spiritual gifts, especially the more dramatic ones like praying in tongues and healing. It is disconcerting that even with all these gifts, the church ultimately failed. Something was missing. The problem is our Lord is not satisfied with half-measures. Something more was needed for this den of iniquity. We get a sense of it in the letters Paul sends them. They needed saintly love. The Holy Spirit gives gifts to take care of human problems and attract the unchurched to Our Lord. But it appears that the people in Corinth considered them to be something like entertainment. They prayed in tongues but, for instance, ignored the case of one of their members living in incest with a relative. But Paul does not launch into a condemnation. Instead he commends them on their exercise of these gifts, and then reorders them toward the eventual return of Our Lord. In other words, the gifts are not for personal glory or entertainment, but to build up the Church and prepare her for the return of Her Lord. Then, in our Gospel, Jesus reminds us that what is important as we wait for Christ’s return is to be faithful. As usual, anything less than full commitment to God not enough. The power of love must be linked inextricably to the mystery and purpose of the Father manifested in the Son in our experience and God’s gift to us of growth and life in the Holy Spirit.
Pray we believe that God has prepared a place for us through the work of Christ and engineered in our experience of sanctification the preparation to enter the presence of the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of life. Pray in this process that we can be holy and wholly useful to our Lord in building up the Kingdom of God. Pray we realize that we have a purpose before the end comes in sharing the Gospel of the Kingdom to both our neighbors and the nations.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 