Preparing for Christ’s Soon Return

(Message delivered by Dr Jeffrey Khoo at the True Life Church 10.30 am Service, Sep 18, 05)
Text: Heb. 10:21-25

Last Lord’s Day, our beloved pastor spoke on “Perilous Times of the Last Days.” The Lord’s return is nearer than we think. Considering the signs of the times (Matt 24:3-14). (I would recommend that you read or read again our pastor’s booklet entitled It is Nearer than You Think! to know what the Lord had taught about the end times so that we might be ready when He finally comes back.)

There are three “Let Us” exhortations in this passage (vv 22-24): Let us (1) draw near to God, (2) hold fast to our faith, and (3) provoke one another to love and good works. These three “Let us” verses are sandwiched by statements on what Christ has done for us in the past (v 21), and what Christ will do for us in the future (v 25).

What did the Lord Jesus Christ do for us in the past? He has gained for us direct access into the Most Holy Place—the very presence of God—by His life, His death, and His life again. Verses 19-20 says, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.” The mention of His blood and His flesh has to do with His redemptive ministry on earth—His life, His death and His life again—to save us from our sins. Jesus kept the Ten Commandments for us to earn the righteousness we need to be accepted by God, then as the Lamb without spot and blemish He died for us on the cross shedding His precious blood for the remission of sins. But that was not the end; He rose again the third day and is alive today as our Great High Priest making intercession for you and for me.

This same Jesus who is our Great High Priest has not only saved us in the past, and in the present, He will also save us in the future when He comes back. And so we should keep on “exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (v 25b). The “day” here refers to the day of His return to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. That day is “approaching.” It is getting nearer and nearer, and it is nearer than we think.

In light of the soon return of Christ, what must we do in order to prepare ourselves for it?

We are exhorted to do these three things:
(I) DRAW NEAR IN FAITH (v 22)

In verse 22, we are told to draw near to God in faith. The word “draw near” (proserchomai) is used three other times in Hebrews (4:16, 7:25, 11:6), and speaks of our approaching God with great reverence and sure confidence on the basis of the oncefor-all atonement of Christ and His unending ministry as our Great High Priest (Heb 7:22-28). With Christ as our Great High Priest, we have immediate and direct access to God the Father for we no longer worship the Lord outside the Holy of holies but inside the Holy of holies.

How are we to draw near to God? We are to draw near to God in the following ways: (1) By having a true heart. The true heart is the regenerated or “Born Again” heart. A true heart is a sincere heart that is 100% believing and nothing doubting (“in full assurance of faith”). The true heart is a heart that is fully assured by faith and not like the hypocritical heart that the Lord accused the Pharisees and Scribes of having: “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me” (Matt 15:8).

(2) By having a pure heart, cleansed once-for-all by the blood of Christ (cf Lev 16:14-16), and washed day-by-day by the Word of God (John 17:17). Are you born again? Are your sins forgiven? Are you washed by the blood of Christ? If not, draw near to God now in faith. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). For those of us who have already believed, let us continue to draw near to God by growing in our faith. RPG—Read, Pray, and Grow! Read your Bible, pray every day, and you will grow.

(II) HOLD FAST IN HOPE (v 23)
In verse 23, we are told to hold fast in hope. The word “faith” (elpidos) here concerns our hope in Christ. Our faith is one that is full of hope as stated in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” We have not seen Christ in person, and we have not yet arrived in heaven, but both Christ and heaven are true and real, and we shall see Christ and heaven for sure one day. This faith that is full of hope we must “hold fast.” The word “hold fast” (katechomen) literally means to “hold down,” or “pin under.” It has the idea of a wrestler holding down or pinning down his opponent giving him no chance to break loose. When we hold fast to this hope that we have, we will not waver in our faith, we nail it down, we make it firm. The words “without wavering” here means “without leaning.” We do not lean to the left or to the right, but steer a straight course. The wheels of our faith are not out of alignment. We will always travel on a straight and forward direction, not detouring to the left or to the right.

Our faith is “Yes” and “Amen,” not “Maybe.” Why? Because God is faithful—“for he is faithful that promised.” The Apostle Paul wrote, “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us . . . was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Cor 1:19-20). God will never fail to keep His words; He will never fail to keep His promises and will surely fulfill them to the jot and tittle (Matt 5:18). That was why Paul said, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6). Once saved, we will never lose our salvation no matter what—once saved, always saved.

This is good news, is it not? In our True Life gospel bookmark, we spread this good news that a perfect God has given us a perfect Book that tells us of a perfect Saviour who gives to us perfect Salvation. The Apostle James tells us, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (Jas 1:17). That is why we must never waver in our faith and hope—we must never doubt our God, never doubt His Book, never doubt our Saviour, never doubt our Salvation.

(III) PROVOKE ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE (vv 24-25)
The word “consider” here does not mean “let me think about,” but “let me pay full attention” to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ “to provoke [them] unto love and good works.” The word “provoke” here is a strong word for  disturbance. It is usually used in the negative sense of arousing ill feelings or stirring up trouble (eg, Acts 15:39). But here, it is used in the positive sense. It is holy provocation. We are told to stir up the feelings of fellow believers to love God more, and to do good works for Him—(1) to keep His commandments (Exod 20:1-17), (2) to bear the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23), and (3) to put on the whole armour of God (Eph 6:10-20).

The Christian religion is a “one another” religion. No Christian is an island. No Christian is a lone ranger. We are called to live out our faith in a community of God’s people. We must not abandon the “assembling of ourselves” (v 25). The word “assembling” here is the word for “synagogue.” A synagogue is a place where the Jews gather together for worship, prayer, Bible study, and service. Similarly, Christians should make every effort, as much as we can and as often as we can, to meet together for the purpose of “exhorting one another.” The word “exhorting” (parakaleo) here speaks of standing beside or alongside someone in order to help, guide or encourage him like a best friend or buddy.

Are we seeking every opportunity to meet with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ not only on the Lord’s Day at the worship service, but also prayer meetings, fellowship meetings, Bible study classes, and church camps? Or are we keeping our distance because we are too busy? We should not be staying away from such spiritual gatherings but to get together as much as possible, and all the more as we realise that the Lord is coming back real soon.

Conclusion
In light of Christ’s soon return, let us therefore cultivate the virtues of faith, hope and love. Let us draw near to God in faith; hold fast to our faith in hope, and encourage one another to press on in this faith and hope in love. And to do all this, we must do first things first: First we must get right with the Lord (v 22), then we need to work on strengthening our faith in the Lord (v 23), and it is only when we are strong in the Lord that we can help others to live for the Lord (v 24).

May the Lord help us all to be ready when He returns.