By Pastor Kevin Harris of the Illawarra Community Baptist Church in Dapto, NSW
…unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Hebrews 9:28
The teacher said to the class, ‘I have to step out of the room for just a moment. I’ll be back soon. Stay in your seats and keep working on your papers until I get back.’ Then she left. Minutes crept by. Soon Steve and Bob began to talk and throw things at each other. As time moved on, they became more bold, getting up and playing. Suddenly the door opened, and there stood the teacher. Steve was standing on his desk while Bob was midway through throwing a paper aeroplane. While the class was glad to see her, Steve and Bob were not. They were not expecting her to return, and thus were caught.
This verse reminds us that there are two categories of people: those who look for the Lord’s return (the Rapture) and those who don’t. I am amongst those who are eager to be ‘caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air’ (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
We know our text refers to the Rapture because He will appear at His Second Coming seven years later regardless of whether people are looking for Him to return. This verse says He will appear the second time to those who are looking for Him. Therefore it is understood all believers will expect Christ’s gathering of His people at any moment. We refer to this as the imminent return of Christ.
The point of this doctrine is to live purely, ready at a moment’s notice. 1 John 3:2-3 ‘Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.’
Don’t be like Steve and Bob. Expect Christ to return at any moment.
Father, I have an imminent appointment to meet You in the air. Only You know when it will occur. Will it be this morning? Will it be while we’re eating lunch? Will You rapture us during the afternoon, or perhaps during the closing hours of the day?
When You come to collect me for this appointment, how will You find me? Oh, that I might not be in the midst of yielding to temptation! Oh, that You might find me communing with You, or speaking of You to someone else!
This morning I ask that You would prepare me for my imminent appointment with You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Kevin Harris is pastor of the Illawarra Community Baptist Church located in a suburb of Wollongong, NSW.