THE LORD DELAYS HIS COMING Matthew 24: 48-51

THE LORD DELAYS HIS COMING …

Matthew 24: 48-51 

“But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth”.

This parable reflects the ATTITUDE of some CHRISTIANS in the END-TIMES. They are saying: “Well, the Lord DELAYS His COMING, so I’ll just go on LIVING CARELESSLY”.

When Jesus returns, He will JUDGE that CARELESS people!

If you take the TEN VIRGINS (Matt. 25), they went forth to MEET the BRIDEGROOM. Well, the Bridegroom TARRIED; He DELAYED His coming (we know He has tarried); and they ALL SLUMBERED and SLEPT.

People say, "WHY did NOT ALL these good and holy people find it out long since?" ... WHY, because they ALL SLEPT!

They had ALL gone out to MEET the Bridegroom, but, as people say, it is NOT very COMFORTABLE to CAMP OUT, and so they all SLUMBERED TOGETHER, for people can very well SLEEP together.

But at MIDNIGHT the CRY was made, and then, when they began to AWAKE, they found they had NOT ALL got OIL; and the EFFECT of the CRY was to SEPARATE the FAKE from the TRUE ones.

The FAKE go to BUY, and whilst they are GONE the BRIDEGROOM COMES, and those that are READY go in with Him to the WEDDING!

** WHY DOES THE LORD DELAY HIS COMING? **

Almost 2000 YEARS have gone by. COUNTLESS GENERATIONS of Christians have WAITED, have become EXCITED by WORLD EVENTS that seem to indicate its PROXIMITY, have become DISAPPOINTED and, at times, have become DISCOURAGED, because the Lord DELAYED His COMING and had to FINALLY stare in the face of the great enemy, DEATH, and had to go the way of ALL men.

While all of these countless Christians WAITED, HOPED, LONGED FOR and then fell into trying DISAPPOINTMENT, the LORD was WATCHING their REACTION!

Christ SAW, Christ HEARD, Christ EMPATHIZED with their PAIN, but did NOT FULFILL their wish of RETURNING in THEIR generation.

WHY did Christ make His return so IMPORTANT and yet allowed so MANY GENERATIONS of Christians to go to their graves with their longing UNFULFILLED?

GOD created the human MIND. He knows how it works better than anyone else. God knows what MOTIVATES it; God knows what TESTS it; God knows exactly what SHAPES it. God KEPT the DATE of Christ’s RETURN a MYSTERY mostly because of three reasons:

• To MOTIVATE us
• To TEST us
• To MOLD and SHAPE us

1. ** TO MOTIVATE US **

NEW Christians seem to be affected by the concept of Christ’s IMMINENT RETURN very POSITIVELY.

Let’s think back at how EXCITING it all was for us when we learned about the POSSIBILITY of Christ’s IMMINENT Second Coming:

• Do we RECALL how OBSESSED we were with Christ’s RETURN?
• How much TIME we THINKING about it?
• How much it HELPED to bring us to CONVERSION and UNSHAKABLE through the horrible TRIALS that often accompany the years after conversion?

No matter WHO was AGAINST us; no matter how many PAINFUL TRIALS came our way, we HELD FIRM and UNSHAKABLE!

And this has been the case from the beginning:

“But call to REMEMBRANCE the FORMER DAYS, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance” (Heb. 10:32-34).

The Ephesians were GLADLY enduring HARDSHIPS and were NOT growing WEARY, and one of the reasons was because they were convinced that their LORD’S RETURN was NEAR, and that their TRIALS would have SOON ENDED:

“Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted” (Rev. 2:1-3).

2. ** TO TEST US **

God’s decision to use this approach was also a PERFECT way to TEST us. By ALLOWING the possibility of DISAPPOINTMENT into His great plan, He created a VERY POWERFUL TEST to DISTINGUISH between the FAKE and the TRUE; the TRULY CONVERTED and the SUPERFICIALLY converted; the ones who LOVE God and Christ DEEPLY and the ones who "WANT" eternity, as SOON as possible and nothing else.

“But of THAT DAY and HOUR KNOWETH NO MAN, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of NOAH were, so shall ALSO the COMING of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, UNTIL the day that Noe ENTERED into the ark, and KNEW NOT until the flood came, and TOOK THEM ALL AWAY; so shall ALSO the COMING of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be TAKEN, and the other LEFT. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be TAKEN, and the other LEFT. WATCH therefore: for ye KNOW NOT what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had KNOWN in what watch the THIEF would come, he would have WATCHED, and would NOT have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore BE YE ALSO READY: for in such an hour as ye THINK NOT the Son of man cometh” (Mat. 24:36-44).

Be READY! Be ready with the RIGHT ATTITUDE. Be SPIRITUALLY READY at ALL times. WATCH!

But WATCHING doesn’t just imply watch WORLD EVENTS:

• It also means WATCH YOURSELF;
• Watch your SPIRITUAL state;
• Watch your ATTITUDES and BEHAVIORS;
• Watch and NEVER ALLOW the PASSING of TIME, and the fact that your Lord DELAYS His coming to be an EXCUSE to take it EASY, to SLACKEN OFF, to COMPROMISE with SIN!

Yes, the day would come when SOME of those who had ENDURED for some TIME would FINALLY SAY "ENOUGH!

• I have WAITED long enough!
• I thought all the great rewards were NEAR, but decades have gone by and NOTHING has happened -- NOTHING!
• In the meantime my LIFE is going by and many of the MATERIAL things I would have LOVED to POSSESS, have gone by me as well.
• I still have some TIME left, though, and I will USE it to make up for the LOST time!

Yes, some who were FAITHFUL and COMMITTED and LONGED for their LORD’S RETURN, have set it all ASIDE and have embraced the WORLD instead. Some have created communities of SCOFFERS on the Internet and now take pleasure in RIDICULING the HOPE that they PREVIOUSLY embraced!

These are people who, SADLY, FAILED the TEST!

These are people who may have accepted Christianity for purely SELFISH REASONS and NEVER GREW SPIRITUALLY and never saw the BIG picture. They NEVER GREW in the LOVE of Christ and the love FOR Christ. They remained EXCITED for as long as CHRIST’S RETURN seemed IMMINENT, then, as the years went on, and SUFFERINGS continued, they became DISAPPOINTED, DISENCHANTED and ANGRY -- and FAILED THE TEST!

The Apostle John encourages us to STAY FIRM in the HOPE, so as NOT to FAIL the GREAT TEST:

“And now, little children, ABIDE IN HIM; that, WHEN He shall APPEAR, we may have CONFIDENCE, and NOT be ASHAMED before Him at His COMING” (I John 2:28).

The day will come when some SCOFFERS who might be alive might actually WITNESS the RETURN of Christ and they will be ASHAMED and AFRAID at His coming!

The only thing that matters is that His PROMISES WILL COME TO PASS and that ETERNITY awaits us FOR CERTAIN!. And if this is our ATTITUDE, then we are PASSING the TEST and, consequently, we are on our way to MEETING Christ at His second coming, NOT with SHAME and FEAR, but with JOY and EXCITEMENT!

3. ** TO MOLD US AND TO SHAPE US **

God chose to KEEP the EXACT TIME of Christ’s RETURN a MYSTERY, so as to MOLD us and SHAPE us. In WAITING year after year, decade after decade, traversing the crucible of life, we are SHAPED, we are MOLDED, we are MATURED and we are made COMPLETE!

In fact, PROLONGED WAITING is one of the GREATEST TOOLS God uses to ACCOMPLISH this:

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1: 2-4).

WAITING FAITHFULLY year after year for Christ’s return TESTS us, it MOLDS us, it SHAPES and helps to COMPLETE us:

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4: 12-13).

The REASON God the Father makes it seem that Christ DELAYS His coming is to BENEFIT us as we have seen today by MOTIVATING us, by TESTING us, and by SHAPING us. Yet the RETURN of Christ MUST remain the GREAT FOCUS of our Christian HOPE.

TIME may pass; the YEARS go by; SIGNS come and go, but the PROMISE REMAINS as SOLID as ever:

“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him” (1 Thes. 5:1-10).

THAT DAY is NEARER than we think! All the BIBLICAL SIGNS are SHOUTING it out! Everyday, we are closer and closer, and we KNOW that the GLORIOUS DAY will come when WE WILL FINALLY be with our Lord.

• Let's keep the HOPE ALIVE, therefore;

• Let’s keep the LONGING more VIBRANT than ever;

• In the meantime, let’s GROW in the GRACE and KNOWLEDGE of Christ;

• Let’s ALLOW God to MATURE us and to COMPLETE us, so that when Christ will appear we will indeed be READY MEET Him, with EXCEEDING JOY!