Come Quickly

“Tell them I’m coming.”

I lay there in the darkness, His words repeating in me. I saw nothing clearly, had no spectacular vision of heaven or image of the Savior, had no amazingly detailed dream. Just a sensing that’d awakened me, a short phrase of Scripture about the throne and the “Son of Man,” and these words which had followed.

You’d think repeating it would be simple, but this one sentence has flummoxed me for days. “How do I say that?” I’ve asked Him again and again. What’s the lead-up? What opening lines do I use that I haven’t before? Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t like to be too repetitious, and you’re all, “Yawn. She’s said that already.”

But the truth is, He’s said that already.

He started saying it before He died on the cross, before He raised from the dead, before the Holy Spirit fell in the upper room. Jesus, still living and breathing as a man, spoke of His return, detailing all the signs when it would be imminent. (Mk 13:26)

His return is our greatest hope. We long for the day when He appears in the clouds, and we’re taken out of here. Justifiably so. At the same time, as one minister said, our hope has gotten a bit misplaced. We have great faith in His return and very little in the power of the gospel.

Because the truth is, He’s here already. He’s living in you and me and has given us authority over the enemy as well as every blessing we need for a joyful, successful life. (Lk 10:19) He’s coming back, yes, and it will be spectacular. Every eye will see Him and know who He is. (Rev 1:7) But He’s coming back for a mature church, a strong body of believers who took Him at His Word and spread the good news of His salvation across the earth. (Eph 5:27)

Revelation 22:12 says, “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”

We’ve perhaps read this in the negative, as judgment, and it can have that meaning, but reward also means the presentation of good. At the local grocery store, I can earn “rewards” toward dollars off certain items. Someone who accomplishes a particular sports feat earns a trophy, or reward, for their efforts.

The good we do here, the love we show to others, the people we pray for, the persecution we endure for our beliefs, all of those bring a reward. Heaven itself is our reward, but God is never satisfied with one blessing. He is the God of abundant life. (Jn 10:10) He is “exceeding abundantly above” all we could ever ask or think. (Eph 3:20) He longs to do so much more!

Now, earning the reward should not create arrogance in us. We long to serve Christ, and in serving, know He cannot help but bless us. We serve in humility, understanding He has been merciful when we did not deserve it. At the same time, we must see the reward is WHY He is returning. It will be more than an amazing light show. He is coming back to give reward.

I could continue, saying how He’s planned this all along, how He set it into motion before the foundation of the world. (Eph 1:4; Rev 13:8) I could include the words of Isaiah 46:9-10 where we are told He declared what the end would be when things began. I should then point out the book of Revelation is a picture of that end, where there will be no sorrow nor death anymore. (Rev 21:4)

I could also detail how specific and precise He is. You have only to consider the fullness of creation to learn that. Every scientific law came from Him, every cellular structure, every chemical compound, and math equation, and He declared all of it to be good. (Ge 1) Furthermore, we are told He designed the heavenly city. Any architect will tell you construction takes great precision. (Heb 11:10)

But what He wants us to take away from this is to continue to work, to do all He has given us to do while we are here to do it. (Jn 9:4) We cannot sit around waiting for Him to appear and “get us out of all this mess.” He isn’t an escape hatch we can use to be lazy. We have a commission. We must spread the good news that He died and rose again out of great love for us, that the devil is defeated, and hell is real, and you don’t have to go there.

Only THEN will the end come, only when He has harvested everyone He can into His kingdom. That is His heart. He wants no one to perish. (1Pe 3:9)

He is coming. IT WILL HAPPEN. We must tell everybody.

“‘Come,’ says the Holy Spirit and the Bride in divine duet. Let everyone who hears this duet join them in saying, ‘Come.’ Let everyone gripped with spiritual thirst say, ‘Come.’ And let everyone who craves the gift of living water come and drink it freely. ‘It is my gift to you! Come.’” (Rev 22:17 TPT)


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.feelgoodromance.com
www.suzannedwilliams.com