Torch, Spring 1985

"Watch therefore, for ye know neitherthe day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh" (Matt. 25:13). Jesus said that His disciples (we, too) should be sober and alert, watching and looking for Him. Looking for Him will cause you to live for Him. If you are living for Him, then you will be looking for Him. They go together (Titus 2:11-13). A living hope is a purifying hope (I John 3:2,3). If we really believed that Christ could come today, our lives would be radically changed. We would be living "soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world" (Titus 2: 12). "Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" (Matt. 24:44). Take a tip from the Boy Scouts: Be prepared! The hope of His return should produce comfort within the life of the believer by the Holy Spirit. At the death of a Christian loved one, we should have sorrow but not as "others which have no hope" (I Thess . 4:13). The Christian should realize that the departed believer is "absent from the body and ... present with the Lord" (II Cor. 5:8). One day they will see each other again , nevermore to be separated . "Wherefore comfort one another with these words" (I Thess . 4 :18). Belief in the imminent return of Christ should produce faithful, enthusiastic work for the Lord . Paul wrote: "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord" (I Cor. 15 :58) . Who knows how much more time we will have to serve Him? "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing" (Matt. 24:45,46) . This story is told about three fishermen, a father and his two married sons . After laboring all night harvesting the sea in their family boat, they began to return home . On the way back , they were discussing their wives. The first son said that he knew what his wife would be doing at the early morning hour. She would be waiting for him, sitting in the rocking chair by the open fire. The second son said that his wife also would be up, but in addition, she would be at the window, watching for his shadowy form to come up the lane . The father then smiled and said, "Your mother, my wife , also will be waiting and watching for me, but she will be busy working in the kitchen. She wants to greet her beloved husband with hot coffee and a warm breakfast, besides a loving kiss." Let us also be waiting, watching, and working for Him. Dr. Robert Gromacki is chairman of the Bible Department at Cedarville College and a pro– fessor of Bible and Greek . He earned a Th.D. from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1960, and is the author of 12 books , the latest of which is Stand Bold in Grace, published by Baker Book House. In a Twinkle of Time by Dr. Jack Riggs W hat could possibly happen in less than one second that would change the course of history, affecting literally every human being on this planet? The apostle Paul describes this coming event in I Corinthians 15:51 ,52. "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed , In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump : for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." Paul is speaking of the second coming of Jesus Christ to this earth - what has been commonly termed the rapture of the church. Our English word "atom" is derived from the Greek word for "moment," which means "indivisible." The "twinkling of an eye" refers to the rapid movement of a single stroke or beat of an eyelid. In the smallest particle of time and with the greatest rapidity , the rapture of the church will occur. How fascinating is this thought when we consider all that is included in that "blessed hope" (Titus 2: 13). Christians should not and need not speculate about 9