The Pursuit with A. W. Tozer
I Believe… In Jesus’s Return
Those who are expecting the Lord Jesus Christ to come and who look for that coming moment by moment and who long for that coming will be busy purifying themselves.
The Apostles' Creed by A.W. Tozer, chapter 6
Are you ready for the appearing of Jesus Christ, or are you among those who are merely curious about His coming?
Let me warn you that many preachers and Bible teachers will answer to God some day for encouraging curious speculations about the return of Christ and failing to stress the necessity for “loving His appearing”!
The Bible does not approve of this modern curiosity that plays with the Scriptures and which seeks only to impress credulous and gullible audiences with the “amazing” prophetic knowledge possessed by the brother who is preaching or teaching!
I cannot think of even one lonely passage in the New Testament which speaks of Christ’s revelation, manifestation, appearing, or coming that is not directly linked with moral conduct, faith, and spiritual holiness.
***
Why is it that such a small proportion of Christian ministers ever feel the necessity to preach a sermon on the truth of His second coming? Why should pastors depend in this matter upon those who travel around the country with their colored charts and their object lessons and their curious interpretations of Bible prophecy?
Should we not dare to believe what the apostle John wrote, that “we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2)?
Beloved, we are the sons of God now, for our faith is in the Son of God, Jesus Christ! We believe in Him and we rest upon Him, and yet it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear, when He shall be disclosed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
Then, John says bluntly and clearly: “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (v. 3). Everybody! Every man, he says! He singularizes it. Every man that has this hope in him purifies himself as He is pure.
Those who are expecting the Lord Jesus Christ to come and who look for that coming moment by moment and who long for that coming will be busy purifying themselves. They will not be indulging in curious speculations—they will be in preparation, purifying themselves!
Have you found yourself more concerned with the speculative details of Jesus’s second coming than with readying yourself to meet Him? How can you shift your focus this week?