HASTENING HIS COMING
(week 42/01)
Olubi Johnson
The Coming of the Lord
When we speak of the coming of the Lord most Christians think of the ‘rapture’ or resurrection alone.
It is important to know that the coming of the Lord is in 3 phases:
His coming in us
His coming for us
His coming with us
His Coming in us
His coming in us speaks of his coming in us in the perfection and fullness of Christ in which we will manifest the glory of God and do the same works that Jesus did, and even greater works.
2 Thessalonians 1:10 KJV: When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
John 14:12 KJV: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
John 2:11 KJV: This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
Ephesians 4:12-15 KJV: For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
His coming for us
His coming for us speaks of the rapture and resurrection, after His coming in us has been used to preach and demonstrate the gospel of the Kingdom to all nations: every tribe, tongue and kindred.
Matthew 24:14 KJV: And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
1Thessalonians 4:17 KJV: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Revelation 12:5 KJV: And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
His coming with us
His coming with us speaks of the saints in heaven coming with the Lord Jesus to judge and destroy the antichrist and his armies, and reign with Him for 1000 years.
Revelation 17:14 KJV: These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
Revelation 19:11-14 KJV: And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Revelation 19:7-8 KJV: Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Matthew 24:30 KJV: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
No One Knows the day or the hour
Now Jesus himself has declared that no man knows the day or the hour of His coming. This is true of His coming in us, for us and with us.
Matthew 24:36 KJV: But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
So no man knows the day or hour of Christ coming in us, or of His coming for us, or of His coming with us.
Times and Seasons
It is very significant the Jesus specifically said no man knows the day or hour of His coming, because the scriptures reveal that we can, and in fact should, discern the times and seasons of God’s purposes in general and the coming of Christ in particular.
Luke 12:56 KJV: Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?
Matthew 24:32-33 KJV: Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
1Thessalonians 5:1-4 KJV: But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
In the scriptures above, the Holy Spirit, through the Lord Jesus and Paul, reveals to us that Christians should be able to discern the times and seasons of God’s purposes, by observing current and historical events, in the same way that the we discern the weather by looking at the sky.
In particular, we see that the coming the Lord should not take the discerning, watching and praying Christian by surprise:
Mark 13:33-37 KJV: Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
This is because even though, we will not know the day or the hour we should know the times and the seasons. For example, snow and intense cold should not be a surprise to any body in winter because winter is the season for snow. Consequently people will dress to be able to withstand the cold of the winter season. A man ignorant of the season can dress with summer clothes during winter and so ruin his health or even die from exposure to cold.
In the same way spiritually, we discern that the September 11th. terrorist attack on the US marked the beginning of the season of His coming in us and the dawning the great and terrible day of the Lord.
The purpose of this message is to alert us to dress up spiritually for this season. We must put on the whole armour of God, now and having done all to stand, stand in this evil day.
In our next article we will see why the September 11th. attack marked the beginning of the dawning of the day of the Lord and how to hasten His coming in us in this season.
