Therefore encourage one another with these words. – 1 Thessalonians 4:18
R.A. Torrey was an American evangelist, pastor, educator, and author in the early 20th century. There is an account of his preaching to a crowd of nearly 3,000, on a day when there hadn’t been a cloud in the sky… yet! As he concluded his sermon, he said, “It may be before we arise in the morning or before we sleep tonight. It may be before we have finished our luncheon today. Indeed, it may be that before I finish this sermon that we shall hear the sound of the trump and the voice of the archangel announcing ‘He is here!’”
At that moment, there was a crash of thunder and a blinding flash of lightning filled the auditorium with light. In a panic, the crowd rushed to the exits. All except one woman who sat in the front. She just threw her head back and laughed. Afterward, she said, “I thought the Lord had come.” And that was what everybody else also thought, but their response had been one of terror rather than joy.
Jesus is coming again! “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief” (2 Peter 3:10). Jesus referred to Himself in a parable when he said, “The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know” (Luke 12:46). John reiterates that truth in Revelation 16:15, “Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on.”
Are you heeding Jesus’ warning? The truth that He is coming again is a reassurance to the one who believes. He wants you to be ready, to be like the woman in the front row listening to Torrey’s sermon.
Today in America, there are far too many who are not ready, for whom Christ’s return will not be a pleasant experience. You find them everywhere, including in the halls of the nation’s government, courts, and military. Intercede for their salvation while there is still time. Wait eagerly for Him with joy.
Today’s Verse: 1 Thessalonians 4:18
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: 2 Peter 3:8-18
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
