“Where is the promise of His coming?” (2 Pt. 3:4) This is the question which scoffers have and will continue to ask until that great and final day. Cephas, in his second epistle to the Dispersion wrote to them about “the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat” (2 Pt. 3:12). The Lord doesn’t view time the same way as we do, and Peter didn’t want them to be ignorant of this. He wrote “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Pt. 3:8). The Lord in longsuffering is giving men and women time and space to repent so that they do not perish in their sins when he appears, “the second time without sin unto salvation” (Heb. 9:28; Ref. 2 Pt. 3:9). These things being so, a man ought to always have the second coming in the forefront of his mind and do all that he can to get prepared (if he’s not already), stay prepared, and help others to prepare. 

The Second Advent of Christ will be a most glorious and terrifying day. This day should be one that we long for with great eagerness; it should not be dreadful in our eyes. Consider how a person orders a package from an online website. He waits with great expectation from the time the payment goes through until the package arrives on his doorstep. Throughout the week he’s constantly checking his phone to see if there’s any updates on the package. This ought to be a child of God’s outlook towards the return of his blessed Lord and Savior. However, if this isn’t your attitude towards this monumental event, the question I have for you is why? Brother or sister, I want to encourage you by reminding you that both of us can be prepared to meet the Lord in judgement knowing that each of us can hear those joyful words, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:23). With this in mind, we ought to mimic the prayer that Paul prayed, both for others and ourself. He said, “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God” (Php. 1:9-11).

When it comes to our preparation for this inevitable, unavoidable, and rewarding day, you and I would do well to treat everyday as if it were that day. How so? One way we can is in the morning when we wake up, let us thank God for allowing us to see another day and remind ourselves that today could be the day He sends His Son to the Earth again. Another way is remembering the promise Jesus spoke to the apostles (and by implication us) shortly before being crucified, buried, resurrected and ascending into Heaven. He said: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:1-3). These are only a couple of ways among others that can help us to be, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

This day will not take a faithful Christian by surprise for he will be waiting and watching as the Lord commanded him to (Luke 21:34-36). However, for those who are lost they, “shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; 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” (2 The. 1:9, 10). “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Cor. 5:11). With the aforementioned in mind, this will be a great and sad day. I want to remind you of the hymn we sometimes sing. It says: “There’s a sad day coming, A sad day coming, There’s a sad day coming by and by; When the sinner shall hear his doom, ‘Depart, I know ye not’, ‘Are you ready for that day to come?’ ” (Thompson) Brethren, let us strive to impart to others the wonderful words of life and to lead them in the way of salvation so that their souls can be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Christian has the great expectation to look forward to of living for eternity with God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. Let us strive each day to stay prepared so that whether we die and go to Hades or whether we’re alive when the trump of God sounds, we’re ready for what will come next. Furthermore, let us not forget about the soul salvation of others in that we make every effort and take every opportunity to lead them to Jesus.