Do you find yourself looking forward with anticipation to Christ's
return? I do, especially as I sing about those events yet to come.
From Christina Rossetti's Christmas hymn –
Our God, heaven cannot hold him,
nor earth sustain;
heaven and earth shall flee away
when he comes to reign.
Words penned by Edward Mote (tune: The Solid Rock) –
When he shall come with trumpet sound,*
O may I then in him be found!
Dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne!
*The trumpet will sound – see 1 Corinthians 15:51,52
Hear the campmeeting song, lyrics by Julia Ward Howe –
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
he is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
he hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword;
his truth is marching on.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
he is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat;
O be swift, my soul, to answer him; be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.
The last stanza of Stuart K. Hine's hymn –
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow in humble adoration,
and there proclaim, my God, how great thou art!
We see in those lines a glimpse of worship in heaven. Let's begin now,
entering his presence through the sprinkled blood of Jesus.
The hymn, "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come" begins as a call for
gratitude to God for supplying our physical needs. But then we find a
metaphor used by Jesus in parables. Fields of grain represent people –
For the Lord our God shall come,
And shall take his harvest home;
From His field shall in that day
All offenses purge away.
Give His angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast,**
But the fruitful ears to store
In His garner evermore.
Even so, Lord, quickly come***
To Thy final harvest-home;
Gather Thou Thy people in,
Free from sorrow, free from sin.
There forever purified,
In Thy presence to abide
Come, with all Thine angels come;
Raise the glorious harvest home.
** Tares & angels – see Jesus' parable in Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43.
*** "Even so, come, Lord Jesus" is the King James Version of Revelation
22:20. We find a similar exclamation by the apostle Paul as he closes
his first letter to the Corinthians – "Our Lord, come." The NASB
translation retains the Aramaic word, "Maranatha." This was an
expression used by the early church as a cry that the second coming of
Christ may soon take place.
Confident that his sin "is nailed to the cross," Horatio Spafford
writes –
And, Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,
"Even so" – it is well with my soul.
In our own difficult circumstances, we may in our hearts agree. O Lord,
come quickly. We look forward to the new heaven and new earth filled
with righteousness.
Yet, here in 2 Peter 3 we find an important reminder. "You must not
forget this one thing." Even though scoffers mock and slander the
truth. Even though the world is corrupted. Even though we must be
prepared to suffer for doing what is right. The Lord is not being
slow... No, he is patient, not wanting anyone to perish but to come to
saving knowledge of the truth.
And, I suspect he still has work to do refining us for that time when
"the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father"
(Matthew 13:43). We are admonished to grow in the grace and knowledge
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Lord, may we be fruitful for you.
Deetje Wildes
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