Making ourselves ready for the Lord's coming
Message One
Making Ourselves Ready for the Lord's Coming by Loving His Appearing and Not Loving the Present Age
Scripture Reading: 2 Tim. 4:8, 10, 18; Rom. 12:2; 1 John 2:15; 5:19b; Rev. 17:14; 22:20
I. If the Lord's second coming is precious to us, we will love His appearing—2?Tim. 4:8:
A. Loving the Lord's appearing and loving the Lord Himself are inseparable—1?Cor. 2:9; 2 Tim. 4:8.
B. If we are waiting for the Lord to come, we should be those who love His appearing—1 Thes. 1:10; 2 Tim. 4:8.
C. The Lord's appearing, His coming back, is a warning, an encouragement, and an incentive to us—vv. 1, 18:
1. We should love the Lord's appearing and look forward to it with earnest expectation and joy—Rev. 22:20.
2. We should have a living that loves the Lord's appearing; this causes us not to be discouraged but to remain faithful to the end—2 Tim. 4:8; Rev. 17:14.
II. "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him"—1 John 2:15:
A. The world is an evil system arranged systematically by Satan—vv. 15-17; James 4:4:
1. God created man to live on the earth for the fulfillment of His purpose, but?His enemy, Satan, in order to usurp the God-created man, formed an anti-God world system on this earth by systematizing people with culture, education, industry, commerce, entertainment, and religion—Eph. 3:11; Gen. 1:26-28; 2:8-9; 4:16-24.
2. All the things on the earth, especially those related to mankind, and all the things in the air have been systematized by Satan into his kingdom of darkness to occupy people and frustrate them from accomplishing the purpose of God and to distract them from the enjoyment of God—1 John 2:15-17.
3. The world is against God the Father, the things in the world are against the will of God, and those who love the world are enemies of God—vv. 15-17; James 4:4.
B. "The whole world," the satanic system, "lies in the evil one"—1 John 5:19b:
1. "The whole world" comprises the satanic world system and the people of the world, the fallen human race.
2. Lies means remaining passively in the sphere of the evil one's usurpation and manipulation; the whole world and the people of the world are lying passively under the usurping and manipulating hand of Satan, the evil one.
3. The Greek word rendered "evil" in 1 John 5:19 refers to one who is pernicious, harmfully evil, one who affects others, influencing them to be evil and vicious; such an evil one is Satan, the devil, in whom the whole world lies.
C. Satan is utilizing the material world and the things that are in the world to eventually head everything up in the kingdom of Antichrist; at that hour the world system will have reached its zenith, and every unit of it will be revealed to be anti-Christian—2 Thes. 2:3-12.
III. Loving the Lord's appearing is in contrast to loving the present age—2?Tim. 4:8, 10:
A. An age is a part, a section, or an aspect of the world system of Satan, which is used by him to usurp and occupy people and keep them away from God and His purpose—1 John 5:19; 2:15.
B. In 2 Timothy 4:10 the present age refers to the world that surrounds, attracts, and tempts us; we cannot contact the world unless we contact the present age of the world.
C. Demas loved the present age; due to the attraction of the present age, he forsook the apostle Paul—v. 10.
D. In Romans 12:2 Paul exhorts us to not be fashioned according to this age but to be transformed by the renewing of the mind:
1. This age in verse 2 denotes the present, practical part of the world, which stands in opposition to the Body life and replaces the Body life—vv. 4-5.
2. To be fashioned according to this age means to adopt the modern fashions of the present age; to be transformed is to allow an organic element to be wrought into our being, thus producing an inward metabolic change—v. 2; 2?Cor. 3:18.
3. Because the present age opposes the church, which is God's will, we must not be fashioned according to it—Rom. 12:2.
4. If we are to live in the Body of Christ, we should not follow the present age or be fashioned according to this age or conformed to it—vv. 4-5.
E. If we love the present age, we will take sides with the world; if we love the Lord's appearing, we will take sides with Him and fight with Him for His interests—2 Tim. 4:1-2, 4-8, 10.
IV. Those who love the Lord, wait for His coming, and love His appearing will overcome—1 Cor. 2:9; 2 Tim. 4:8; Rev. 22:20; 17:14:
A. Loving the Lord's appearing is a proof that we love the Lord and live for Him today; hence, it also becomes a condition for us to receive His reward—2 Tim. 4:8, 18.
B. To love the Lord's appearing does not mean that we should not live a normal life; rather, the more we love His appearing, the more we need to live a normal?life today—Matt. 24:40-42; 2 Thes. 1:10; 3:6-12; 1 Tim. 5:8.
C. As those who love the Lord Jesus, take Him as our life, live Him, and magnify Him, we should await His coming and love His appearing; this should be our heart's desire and our living as those who hope to enter into His joy, be saved into the Lord's heavenly kingdom, and receive the crown of righteousness—2?Tim. 4:8, 18.