JESUS RETURNS TO HIS HOUSEHOLD

We read that after the death and resurrection of Jesus he spent 40 days with his disciples, instructing and encouraging them. Following this period he departed from them and ascended into heaven. But the disciples were told clearly about the fact that he would return:

"As they were looking, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they were looking steadfastly into heaven, as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? This same Jesus, which was received up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have beheld him going into heaven." Acts 1v9-11

So clearly Jesus is to return, but when? Jesus told his disciples that the days of his second coming would coincide with a period of universal unrest and trouble among the nations. He said there would be:

"upon the earth distress of nations, in perplexity; men's hearts fainting for fear, and for expectation of things which are coming on the earth." Luke 21v25-27.

There are many passages in the Bible that indicate that the return of Jesus will be unexpected by the majority. He would return suddenly, quietly and unobtrusively as a "thief in the night". Of the signs relating to the return of Jesus it is not our purpose to go into detail now. Other pages cover this subject in more detail - [link ] signs. But briefly, Jesus spoke of the time immediately prior to his return as being like they were in the days of Noah and Lot. These righteous servants of God were removed before the outpouring of Divine judgements upon their wicked contemporaries. [Luke 17v26-30] When Jesus returns, his first concern will be with the calling and judgement of his household:

"For the time is come for judgement to begin at the house of God: and if it begin with at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God." 1Peter 17-18

Judgement then is to begin with the household of Jesus; those who have had opportunity in the long years since Jesus left to learn the Gospel message and obey it. In this context we recall Jesus told a parable about a noble man who left on a journey to a far country in order that he may receive a Kingdom. Before he went he entrusted his servants with a certain amount of money to use wisely in his absence. Upon his return having received the kingdom he demanded to know how they had dealt with what they had been entrusted with. So we read:

"It came to pass when he was come back again, having received the kingdom, that he commanded those servants, unto whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by trading." Luke 19v15.

John gives us encouragement to strive to be faithful servants, wisely using in the service of Jesus all that he has entrusted to us. If we do we will not be ashamed when we must give an account to him of our lives when he returns. John writes:

"Now my little children, abide in him; that, if he shall be manifested, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming." 1John 2v28

It is only right that we should expect a judgement. We read all "must stand before the judgement seat of Christ." Much has been given, much will be expected. A great price has been paid for salvation and if we scorn and reject that salvation we can only deserve condemnation.

source; posted by permission of  www.biblelight.org 
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 "For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done." Matthew 16;27

 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left." 
Matthew 25;31

“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.  If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!"  Mark 13;35-37


 "And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." Acts 3;20-21

 "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." 1 Thessalonians 4;16


"(...)to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels  in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus." 2 Thessalonians 1;7

"for our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." Phillipians 3;20 

"Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." Hebrew 9;28

All will rise one day

“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out. Those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned." John 5;28-30
This is one of the great devotions  Charles Spurgeon wrote based on these words spoken by Jesus.
Have you ever thought about the magnificence of what this means? One day Christ will raise all the dead out of their graves. All does not only mean all whose bodies are actually in the grave at this time, but all who ever have been buried, all who have ever existed. Try to imagine all the people who lived in the earth, who lived before and after the flood.
Think of the all Adams descendants from Tarshish to Egypt, people in  Nineveh, Babylon, Chaldea, Persia, Greece, Rome. These were vast empires of men. Then the Saxons and the Franks and Celts, yet these nations were only some of a numerous group of nations. Think of the whole continent of Africa, people in India and China and Japan. Out of all who have ever lived  not one will be left in the tomb. We can say the same words as the psalmist did  of  another matter;
 " Such knowledge is too wonderful to me, it is high, I cannot attain unto it." Ps 139;6 

How has God marked all of the bodies , how has He tracked the remains of each one?  More of this  - He even knows all the stars and knows them by name. Billions of billions  of stars in every galaxy!

How will Jesus Christ  be able to raise them all?  We do not know it  but He will do it for He declared it and God has purposed it.
Jesus proved this fact that He can raise the dead ones to life  on several occasions in His lifetime; at the gates of Nain where He met the funeral procession  of the widow's son; then in the room of the dead daughter  of Jairus, and again at the tomb of the almost-decaying  Lazarus. Jesus had power to raise  the dead ones to life when He was on earth and He still has power to speak to those who have passed away and command them back to life.
"For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will".
John 5;21

 " All that are in the graves will hear His voice." All the righteous and the wicked,  no single individual will be omitted.
We all we see Him coming again in His glory; Revelation  1;7
“Look, he is coming with the clouds,”
    and every eye will see Him,
even those who pierced Him;
    and all peoples on earth will mourn because of Him.
So shall it be! Amen."
As`surely as you are alive right now, you will stand before the once- crucified Son of Man. It is not possible that you will be forgotten. We must all rise without a single exception. This is an amazing truth, and we should not doubt it.  We may be in awe of this and admire  the Lord who will  bring it to pass.
The first voice you will hear after you 'wake up' to life again, will be the voice of Jesus Christ himself.
 He knows everybody by name.

 For those who  don't want to hear the voice of Jesus Christ now, they  will surely  hear  it  then  whether they  wish  it or not.
"You may plug up your ears today, but there will be no doing  that in the Day of the last  trumpet, on that day,  you will have to hear." Charles Spurgeon.
 If you do not  respond to His voice this life, you will hear only the  summons of  judgement. Those who hear and obey His voice they  hear the summons  to mercy and  life with Christ. We all will become subject  to the power of God's omnipotent command and will appear before His sovereign judgement seat

The judgement, the  future resurrection  to life, seems to us  temporarily far away as we are busy with the present.
But Christ said; "The hour is coming(...)"  In God's mind the day of resurrection  is very near.
It may be thousand years off , yet to God it is only one day ( 2 Peter 3;8) 
"Christ wants us to try to think God's thoughts about it, He does not wants us to consider any amount of time  to be long , since time is very short by its own nature  and will be regarded it that way by us when it is past and the day has arrived. It is practical and wise for us to  come face- to face with  what is inevitable  and act as though it was as soon as tomorrow that the trumpet would sound  and we would be judged." Charles Spurgeon.

This day is appointed for all of us for the Scriptures  says;  Acts 17;31
"For he has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead."
 If people weren't going to be risen and be accountable for what they have done in their lives, think about the evil ones just sleeping forever and never paying for what they have done, would you call it a justice? Definitely not!  We all have to face the Lord.

Speaking about the resurrection the second part of  John 5;28-30  is sometimes confusing for some believers as it talks as if we were justified by works;
v.30" (...)those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned."
Will men  then be saved by their works?  No, by no means! Salvation is completely  the gift of grace
or else Jesus wouldn't have to die for us.
But the judgement will be guided by our works. We are justified by faith but not by the dead faith.
 The faith that justifies  is that which produces holiness  for without 'holiness' no man shall see the Lord. (Hebrew 12;14)

Knowing that there is life after death should help us to be aware that our actions are not confined to this present life so we shouldn't be careless about them. They are reaching far, they are casting influence  across an eternal destiny." Charles Spurgeon.

 "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil." 2 Corinthians 5;10.
 

The holiness is the evidence of your  faith because the faith without any works is considered dead.
 "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,  and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?  So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.  You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!  Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?  Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?  You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.  You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.  And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?  For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead." James 2;14-26

But there is a promise that by abiding in Christ you will be producing good fruit. Your heart will change if your life will be with Christ. (John 15;5).


Those who trusted and obey  Him  -they don't have to be afraid of the Judgement Day as Christ  is able to keep them from stumbling  and   present them before  His glorious presence with great joy without fault.
 ( Judy 1;24-25)