30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 21 25-28 WATCH AND PRAY IV 02 Luke 21 27 His power and great glory
📖 Luke 21:25-28
*FRIEND OF GOD*
06Jun2021 - *His power and great glory* - _Luke 21:25-28_ - WATCH AND PRAY IV (02) – Bible reading: _Revelation 1:7-8_
The Lord desires that we grow in holiness and maturity in Him. The Lord has provided us with all the resources for our growth, there is nothing that needs to hinder us as long as we are focused on Him.
There are daily lessons to be learnt, in our walk with the Lord. We are the ones who are prone to go away from the Lord and give in to the desires of our flesh and thereby experience defeat. This needn’t be our practice.
_Luke 21:27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with *power and great glory*._
This is the awesome sight that we, believers in Christ, are all waiting for. *Jesus will return with power and great glory*. This picture of His return must be deeply etched in our hearts so that as we go through these difficult times, we will not be troubled with what is happening around us but our strength will come from the fact that *our Lord is returning, in power and great glory*.
_I Thessalonians 4:13-18 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. (14) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus._
In this time of the pandemic, several of us have lost our loved ones and we are in grief.
Paul is referring to those who have left this world and gone to be with the Lord *as those who have slept in Jesus*. That is a beautiful expression. Yes, we do feel the sorrow and separation but we must see our loved ones as asleep in Jesus. Isn’t that a wonderful place of rest?
People of this world have no hope and for them the grief of losing a loved one is terrifying. This is not so with us, who know the Lord Jesus.
_(15) For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. (16) For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first._
Paul is encouraging those who have lost their loved ones that their loved one will be ahead of us, in joining with the Lord, when He returns. Does that not thrill our hearts?
_(17) Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus *we shall always be with the Lord*. (18) *Therefore comfort one another with these words*._
We shall always be with the Lord. This is the assurance that we have, who are in Jesus. The opposite of this assurance is the dreadful place of the lake of fire, where people will be tormented with pain and agony, forever.
The world, which today is not considering Christ, will be shocked when they see Jesus returning as the Lord of heaven and earth.
_Revelation 1:7-8 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And *all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him*. Even so, Amen. (8) "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."_
Even they who pierced Him will see Him as the Almighty. This is referring, mainly, to the Jews but also to the rest of the world.
Jesus came to His own. If anyone should have received and acknowledged Him as the King, it should have been the Jews, for they had the law and the prophets and they were eagerly expecting and waiting for the Messiah but they, tragically, rejected Christ.
The Jews were at the forefront in ensuring that Jesus was put to death.
_John 1:9-11 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. (10) He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and *the world did not know Him*. (11) He came to His own, and *His own did not receive Him*._
The world was made through Him but the world did not know Him. His own people should have welcomed Him, embraced Him and introduced Him to the rest of the world as the God of heaven and earth. Sadly, the Jews rejected Jesus.
_John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and *we beheld His glory*, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth._
Man has no excuse for when Jesus came and lived in this world, He manifested the power and the glory of God. Yet, the Jews and the rest of humanity have rejected the Creator, the Owner.
*He is returning in power and great glory* to a world that will be utterly shocked and in dismay when they see Him.
*Thought to ponder*
```Since we know what is to take place, can we not give ourselves entirely to be of service to Him, instead of worrying and fretting?```