We have looked at one way to hasten the coming of the Lord: we can perform our righteous acts, providing ourselves with enough material to make the kind of wedding garment that we ought to wear. Now, having laid that as a sort of foundation, I want to deal with four practical ways we can express our obedience to the word of God.
Number one is align with God’s purpose. God has a purpose which is clearly revealed early on in the New Testament. God has never changed his purpose; He’s working toward it consistently. And it’s stated in a very familiar passage which we call the Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6:9–10:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”
That’s the approach. That’s not a prayer, that’s an approach. And the first specific prayer is:
“Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
What is the primary objective of God? It’s that His kingdom may come. And we can only align ourselves with God and with His purpose when we are aligned with the coming of God’s kingdom, when everything we do is ultimately directed towards the coming of the kingdom of God. In the same chapter of Matthew, verse 33, it says:
“Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all the other things will be added unto you.”
And when God says first, He means first, not second or third. In other words, our primary concern in life is to be the coming of the kingdom of God.
I am naive enough to believe there is no other solution for the ills of humanity. We’re confronted every day through the media with all the agony and the turmoil of humanity. I think people are naive who believe that man can solve that problem by himself.
Man has entertained the idea for hundreds of years that he can solve his own problems, bring peace and justice to the earth. I would say today we’re probably further away from it than we’ve ever been at any time in human history.
So, I’m not ashamed to say that I believe the only ultimate, realistic solution for the human race is the establishment of God’s kingdom on Earth under His appointed ruler Jesus Christ. I don’t feel intellectually inferior for believing that, I don’t believe it’s a pious superstition; I believe it’s a realistic appraisal of the situation in the world and the nature of man. So, I am committed to the coming of the kingdom of God. And insofar as lies in me, with many weaknesses and frailties, my life is directed toward that end.
Dear Lord, help me to always put the coming of Your Kingdom first, in all my decisions. I’m beginning to realize that this may imply that difficult times, a lot of shaking, will have to come before that. So I pray You will help me to stand firm, and to seek Your face for Your direction. In Jesus’ Name, amen.
