“Thus the LORD my God will come, and all the saints with Him.”
These last chapters of Zechariah describe ‘that day’ when
the Lord is coming. It describes how
Jerusalem will be attacked by an international force and that at some point,
the Lord says He will step in and fight against those nations. “Then
the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day
of battle. And in that day His feet will
stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,
from east to west, making a very large valley.” (Zechariah 14:4) This valley is described in scripture as a
way of escape.
In the midst of this description of the Lord’s coming, we
get a glimpse of who comes with Him.
Glory be to God that He will bring His saints with Him! It is so good to know – whether we die and go
to be with Jesus, or are raptured to be with Jesus – once we are with Jesus we
will ALWAYS be with Jesus. “Then we who are alive and remain shall be
caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And
thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
(1 Thessalonians 4:17)
Jesus loves us so much that He wants us with Him all the
time. He died for our sins so that He
could clothe us in His righteousness.
Why? Because He wants us to be
with Him for eternity. Whether Jesus is
in Heaven or He comes to make His claim on the earth, He wants us with
Him. Here are some other scriptures of
this beautiful picture of the Lord coming to earth with His saints:
“When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with
Him in glory.” (Colossians 3:4)
“And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,
followed Him on white horses.”
(Revelation 19:14)
“Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also,
saying “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints,” (Jude 14)
“Christ will appear again. He is now hid; and the heavens
must contain him; but he will appear in all the pomp of the upper world, with
his holy angels, and in his own glory and his Father’s glory. We shall then appear with him in glory. It
will be his glory to have his redeemed with him; he will come to be glorified in
his saints; and it will be their glory to come with him, and be with him for
ever. At the second coming of Christ
there will be a general meeting of all the saints; and those whose life is now
hid with Christ shall then appear with Christ in that glory which he himself
enjoys. Do we look for such a happiness,
and should we not set our affections upon that world, and live above this?” (Matthew Henry) We are to encourage each other with the future
that Jesus has for us. A victorious
future with Him. There is a time coming
when our Righteousness King will reign, and this gives us great hope.
But Jesus is not keeping us at arm’s length in the
meantime. Through His Holy Spirit, He is
right here with us. Jesus sees all and
misses nothing. He hears every prayer
and knows all of our troubles. While we
are currently limited by our unglorified bodily form, or earthly tabernacle as
the apostle Paul called it, we do not have to wait until we die or are raptured
to start spending eternity with Jesus. “We
are told to seek those things which are above, and set our mind on things
above. But how do we practically seek and set?
By spending time in the Word of God.
By spending time in prayer. By
spending time with things that build us up in God instead of merely
entertaining us. By gathering with
others in the Lord.” (David Guzik)
One of the wonders of spending more time in prayer, the
Word, worship, thanksgiving and serving is that you will long even more for the
coming of our Savior. You will lose your
desire for the things of this world and you will desire the things of God. “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather
to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8) Furthermore, it will help make you ready for
the day you meet Jesus. “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of
Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:44)
Are you ready? Is your
family ready? Are your friends
ready? “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming
quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22.20) “When will Jesus return? No one can say. Maybe today.
Maybe tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next century. No one knows the hour He will descend from
the clouds in great glory. But make no
mistake. He is coming!” (Charles Stanley)
If you are not sure you are ready for Jesus to come, leave
us a comment with a phone number. We
will keep your comment and contact information private.
May you make yourself ready for the next coming of Jesus,
and then may you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ.
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