The King is Coming

/ Sandra Bivens Smith

Each day this week we are pleased to share with you an excerpt from Alistair Begg’s “5 Bible Verses on the Second Coming of Christ”.

Luke 11:2 “Your kingdom come.”

“There is both a now and a not yet dimension to the kingdom. So, for example, Jesus spoke about conferring a kingdom on His disciples. And we anticipate a day when Jesus will say to the whole of His people—Matthew 25:34—‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.’ So, as much as we look for God’s kingly rule in the life of an individual who is presently in the dominion of darkness and is transferred into the kingdom of the Son he loves, and as much as we need to live in submission to His kingly rule in terms of the advancement of His reign within all the facets of our lives, so we look forward to a day when God will finally bring to completion this great master plan. …

“The King is coming, and the full disclosure of His reign, the ultimate establishment of His kingdom, awaits His coming. And when He comes, the visible establishment of God’s reign over all of the hosts and powers of evil will be seen. And for all the things that I don’t know and understand about the coming of the King, I do know and understand this: that the return of Jesus will be personal, and physical, and visible, and sudden, and glorious, and will usher His people into His everlasting kingdom. And it is the awareness of that then which brings transformation into this now. So it is only as we’re able to live with a genuine expectation of that consummation that we will then be prepared to live in such an expression of submission and we will continue to thank God for the wonder of our conversion.”

Commentary from the sermon “‘Your Kingdom Come’” by Alistair Begg:

Be Watchful

/ Sandra Bivens Smith

Each day this week we will be sharing with you an excerpt from Alistair Begg’s “5 Bible Verses on the Second Coming of Christ”.

Mark 13:33“Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.”

“In Jesus the kingdom has come; in the preaching of the Gospel, the kingdom is coming; and in the return of Jesus Christ, the kingdom will come in all of its fullness. …

“Let us be absolutely clear that we are ignorant about the time of Christ’s return. … We ought not to feel bad about that, because we’re in good company. Actually, we’re in a large company to begin with, because He says that ‘no one knows.’ …

“Our ignorance as to timing provides no excuse for being unprepared. Rather, it is our very ignorance of the timing of the event upon which the stress is actually laid by Jesus …. Ignorance, far from being an excuse, is to be an incentive.”

Commentary from the sermon “A Wake-Up Call!” by Alistair Begg:

Blessed Assurance

/ Sandra Bivens Smith
A Hymn by Fannie Crosby

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels, descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

The lyrics for this hymn are in the public domain and may be shared or reproduced without obtaining permission.