Fellow Christian, are you looking for the Lord to come back? Is there a day of your life that passes without your thinking, Perhaps this is the day? I was in a home the other day and saw on the wall a motto: “Perhaps today!” Are you looking for Him? He has promised to come back. Do you believe He is coming?
Ready for a Visit!
Let me give a little illustration. About 25 years ago a brother and his wife called at a Christian home. They knocked. They could hear the loud booming of the radio inside the house giving forth anything but what would please the ear of heaven. The wife came to the door, looked through the glass, saw who it was, and called to her husband: “Turn it off; it’s the — ’s.” The thing was so loud that he could not hear what she said, and she had to shout again: “Turn it off; it’s the — ’s.” Finally, all was silent, the door opened, and they received a welcome. They were ushered into a little room where they hung their wraps. They noticed on the wall in front of them a picture of a prominent movie actress. That is a long time ago now, but those conditions told a story.
“The mills of God grind slowly,
But they grind exceeding small;
With patience He sits watching,
As He grindeth one and all.”
The young lady who had the movie actress’s picture on her wall long years ago married and had her little family, but now she has a broken home. The wife who was so fearful about the — ’s standing at the door was called home from this scene, a comparatively young woman. Ah, beloved, they were not ready for a visit.
What about the Lord’s coming? Oh, to be like unto men that wait for their Lord, that when He comes and knocks, they may open to Him immediately. Beloved, if you knew positively that the Lord was coming this week, would you make some radical changes in your home, in your relationships, or in your associations?
The Perfect Servant
It is not only waiting. “Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them” (Luke 12:3737Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. (Luke 12:37)). Did He mean it? Indeed He did. Someday, beloved Christian, dear child of God, you and I are going to be ushered into that bright glory above. We are going to be with and like our Lord, and up there we are going to find Him the same faithful Servant that He has been all down through the years. When He was here as a man below, He went about in faithful service from day to day. He healed the sick; He gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, raised the dead; His hands spread kindness and mercy wherever He went. Lovely, gracious words proceeded out of His mouth. He was the perfect Servant.
The Faithful Servant
Then the time came when He left this world. He led the disciples out as far as the Mount of Olives, and while He spoke with them, He was parted from them. The cloud received Him out of their sight. An angel said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.” He is coming back, but in the meantime, what is He doing up there? He is the Servant. You and I could not get through a day of our lives down here but for His advocacy and priesthood up there for us. He is the Servant up there, girded for service. Day by day He washes our feet. Day by day He cleanses our ways, and in time of need there comes mercy in abundance from His presence to meet us in our weakness. Oh, He is a faithful Servant.
Is that all? Oh, no. By and by He is going to give the shout in the air. He is going to see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied, and He is going to say, Now, sit down. He girds Himself — blessed, heavenly Man — makes us to sit down to meat, and comes forth and serves us. Ah, beloved, it is not enough to wait. We want to watch, too, and then the meeting in the air. Then that banquet in the glory when the Lord Himself will again serve us.
A Faithful and Wise Steward
In Luke 12:3636And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. (Luke 12:36), they are waiting; in Luke 12:3737Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. (Luke 12:37), they are watching. Now let us go on: “Then Peter said unto Him, Lord, speakest Thou this parable unto us, or even to all? And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing” (vss. 41-43). Waiting, watching, and now doing, but notice the order. If you and I are going to serve Christ acceptably, if there is going to be the right savor in that service, it will proceed from hearts that have been quickened by the hope of His return and by the expectancy of it. Blessed are those servants that shall be found so doing. Are you seeking to help the members of the body of Christ? Is that Christian you are associated with a better Christian because you are with him? That Christian who works in the same office with you, who lives in the same house with you, who sits beside you in school, that neighbor across the fence, is it easier for him to live for Christ because you have tried to drop a word in season? Are you “so doing”? If you are, it is going to have a blessed reward.
A Word of Warning
But there is a warning here. There is a servant here who says in his heart, “My lord delayeth his coming.” He does not put a trumpet to his lips and say, “I do not believe the Lord is coming,” but is there the thought down in the heart, “My lord delayeth his coming”? What is the effect? Our Lord tells us the effect. He begins to “beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken” — a twofold result of denying in our heart’s affections the nearness of Christ’s return. We begin to be careless as to our relationship with our dear brethren, and then what is the next step? Eating and drinking with the drunken — worldliness. Now I am quite aware that in its full application this scripture refers to the false servant, but the principle is the same for the children of God. The postponement of the Lord’s coming into the far distance is going to result in coldness in your heart and mine. The man who has the hope of the Lord’s coming daily before him is going to have its cleansing, purging effect in his life.
Our Lord Jesus Christ demands preeminence in your life and mine, beloved. Is He not worthy? Shall we supplant Him in our heart’s affections with any relationship in life, however dear? He demands first place. Ah, God has the very best for us, beloved. He wants to give to us out of the fullness of His heart.
C. H. Brown (adapted)