“Lord Jesus, please have mercy on us for we as Your doorkeepers have been sleeping on the job. We are responsible for what is taking place in our times. In Your name, we pray. Amen.”
Acts 3:19-21 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, (20) and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, (21) whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.
Jesus has given us times of refreshing. This is because we have repented and returned to Him as our Master, to whom we have surrendered completely.
Peter and John now tell the Jews that Jesus Christ, who was preached to them, was now received in the heavens. Jesus Christ appears in the presence of God for us. He is now our advocate as well as the judge.
Hebrews 9:24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
Since Jesus is the propitiation for our sins, He will appear to save those who have received His forgiveness and are living in the refreshing of the Lord. Hebrews 9:28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. This is about our eternal salvation, where we have moved from mortality to immortality.
Jesus will now appear, the second time, to gather those who are His elect. Mark 13:26-27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. (27) And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.
As His elect, knowing what awaits us, what are we to be doing?
Mark 13:32-37 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (33) Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. (34) It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. (35) Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning— (36) lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. (37) And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”
We have much to do, till he appears for the second time, for His church. We are to watch and pray. We are to be praying, not for ourselves, but for His kingdom to be established here on earth. Our struggle is against principalities and powers, whom Jesus has defeated on the cross.
We are to be doorkeepers to our areas of influence and concern. If there is wickedness taking place or if righteousness is taking place in our circles of influence and concern, in either case, the doorkeepers are responsible. This is why we must watch and pray.
When the Lord Jesus comes again, imagine if He were to find that the doorkeepers were sleeping on their job. The day of the Lord’s coming will be a terrible day for the doorkeepers.
When Jesus appears, He will reward His doorkeepers, according to how effectively we have kept the door to our areas of influence and concern. Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.
Jesus is our advocate because He has forgiven us our sins but He also becomes our judge. Acts 17:31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
Jesus will make those who were against Him, His footstool. Will not the sleeping doorkeepers be His enemies too? I’m frightened to answer that question, for the church, in my view, is still largely engrossed with itself. We are not realising that we are to be the doorkeepers for our societies, communities, and our nations.
Hebrews 10:12-13 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, (13) from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:30-31 For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” (31) It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Will the church wake up to be the doorkeepers for our times?