How Should We Welcome the Return of Jesus?

   How Should We Welcome the Return of Jesus?

I have been expecting the return of the Lord Jesus since I believed in Him. I believe that every true believer in the Lord longs for His return and even more hopes to hear His words. Then, how should we welcome the return of Jesus? In order to find the answer, I studied the Bible many times and asked many brothers and sisters for help. Someone said, “The Bible records that the Lord Jesus will return in the same way He went into heaven, returning on a white cloud. Those who truly believe in the Lord will be caught up to heaven to meet Him. We should wait patiently and have faith in the Lord.” Some said, “The pastors and elders in the church will know it first when Jesus returns. Nothing will go wrong if we follow them.” After hearing these words, I just held onto them. 

Several years passed by. The brothers and sisters became cold in faith, most of whom were too busy making money to have time for the service, while the preachers repeated the same old things that brought me no enjoyment at all. Seeing this, I gradually lost the previous enthusiasm and could not feel the Lord’s presence. I thought, “Has the Lord Jesus forsaken us?” Then, I prayed to the Lord, “O Lord! Where are You? I am desperately longing for Your return. When will You come to meet us? Now I can’t feel Your presence and don’t want to attend the service at all. You are a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Please lead me. Amen!” At a later dinner meeting, I met a friend who also believed in the Lord. We talked about the return of the Lord. He asked me, “How will the Lord appear when He comes back?” I replied, “Absolutely He will come on a white cloud.” He said, “If so, God will appear in the spiritual body when He returns, right?” I said, “Definitely.” He then let me read Luke 17:20 and Luke 17:24-25. The verses go like this, “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God comes not with observation.” “For as the lightning, that lightens out of the one part under heaven, shines to the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. But first must he suffer many things, and again be rejected of this generation.” Then, he explained, “According to these verses, ‘The kingdom of God comes not with observation.’ If the Lord comes on a white cloud, everybody will see. How will you explain these verses? So if we want to welcome the return of Jesus, we should first know how God will appear when He comes back.” I asked, “How can we know it?” He said, “Luke 17: 24-25 mentions the descending of the Son of man. The Son of man refers to God’s incarnation, because only God’s incarnation can be called the Son of man. Apart from this, the verses said that ‘But first must he suffer many things, and again be rejected of this generation.’ This also indicates that God will appear as the Son of man, because only the flesh can suffer a lot while the Spirit cannot. What’s more, only the flesh can be rejected by this generation while the Spirit cannot.” I read the Bible over and over again. It was true. Why didn’t I notice it before? …

At that moment, he asked me, “If the Lord appears as the Son of man, how should we welcome His return? Will we recognize the Lord if He comes to do His work? How? From His appearance or anything else?” I said, “The pastors and elders will recognize the Lord when He comes back. They have served the Lord for many years, so He will first appear to them.” He said, “Actually, the Bible has already given the answer to this question. In Revelation, several verses mention that ‘He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit said to the churches.’ Why is it repeatedly mentioned? Just to remind people that man should be able to hear the voice of God if they want to welcome Him. As it is recorded in Revelation 3:20, ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.’ Here we can see that when the Lord comes to knock at the door, only those who open the door as they hear His voice will dine with Him. If we don’t distinguish His voice but judge from appearance or fame, won’t it be easy for us to regard God as a man and keep Him outside the door? Then how can we not become the ones who reject Jesus? Isn’t it a question worth careful consideration for each of us who are waiting for Jesus’ return?”

After a short pause, he went on, “At that time, the Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would come. Unexpectedly, God came with the name of Jesus and did the work outside the temple. The priests, scribes, and Pharisees who served Jehovah for many years made judgments from what they saw and imagined, condemning and resisting the Lord Jesus. Didn’t they do so just because He was not called Messiah? Afterwards, Jesus performed many wonders and signs, and numerous people got grace from Him. Jesus even resurrected Lazarus from the dead. All these facts proved that Jesus was God Himself. Why didn’t the Pharisees recognize God, thus becoming the ones who condemned Jesus? Didn’t they serve God for many years? Concerning the return of the Lord, won’t we be very pitiful if we worship and obey man blindly instead of distinguishing God’s voice? So we should learn lessons from previous failures and avoid repeating the same mistake. We should know that God does His work according to His own plan. He needn’t inform anybody of the way He will appear. So we shouldn’t confine God within our own notions and imaginations, thinking that God should do this or that, shouldn’t do this or that. On the contrary, we should seek to deal with the persons, matters, and things that come upon us. Besides, we should learn to discern between God’s voice and man’s voice. For example, many words of Jesus were not in accordance with the Old Testament, but what He said was from the Holy Spirit. The Pharisees’ words were in accordance with the scriptures, but they were man’s words.” I had believed in God for so many years, but I had never heard of these before. I thought he was sent by the Lord, and I should listen more to him. Out of curiosity, I asked him, “Where do you attend the service? Can you take me along?” He said, “Sure, that’s great!” In this way, I got in touch with the Church of Almighty God. The brothers and sisters there were full of vigor and vitality. I never saw such smiles as theirs in the religious world these years. They showed great concerns for me and fellowshipped with me patiently. I felt the love between brothers and sisters and enjoyed the Holy Spirit’s work. I thanked the Lord’s leading from the bottom of my heart. They gave me a book called The Scroll Opened by the Lamb. In this book, I found a piece of God’s word entitled as The “Savior” Has Already Returned Upon a “White Cloud.” I felt incredible, thinking: Really? Is it possible? To understand it, I kept on reading. It goes like this, “I was once known as Jehovah. I was also called the Messiah, and people once called Me Jesus the Savior because they loved and respected Me. Today I am no longer the Jehovah or Jesus that people knew in times past. I am the God who has returned in the last days, and who shall bring the age to an end. I am the God Himself that rises up at the ends of the earth, replete with My entire disposition, and full of authority, honor and glory. People have never engaged with Me, have never known Me, and have always been ignorant of My disposition. From the creation of the world until today, not one person has seen Me. This is the God who appears to man during the last days but is hidden among man. He resides among man, true and real, like the burning sun and a flaming fire, filled with power and brimming with authority. There is not a single person or thing that shall not be judged by My words, and not a single person or thing that shall not be purified through the burning of fire. Eventually, all nations shall be blessed because of My words, and also smashed to pieces because of My words. In this way, all people during the last days shall see that I am the Savior returned, I am the Almighty God that conquers all of mankind, and I was once the sin offering for man, but in the last days I also become the flames of the sun that burn all things, as well as the sun of righteousness that reveals all things. Such is My work of the last days. I took this name and am possessed of this disposition so that all people may see that I am a righteous God, and am the burning sun, and the flaming fire. It is so that all may worship Me, the only true God, and so that they may see My true face: I am not only the God of the Israelites, and am not just the Redeemer; I am the God of all creatures throughout heavens and earth and seas.” (from The Word Appears in the Flesh)  I felt so much power and authority in these words. After investigating for some time, I understood many truths that I didn’t understand before, such as God’s name, the meaning of God’s incarnation, mankind’s destination and outcome, and so on. I realized that these words fulfilled the prophecy in Revelation, “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit said to the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knows saving he that receives it.” (Rev 2:17)

Dear brothers and sisters, please investigate carefully, so as to keep up with God’s footsteps earlier.

Source from Find the Shepherd