We Love the Lord’s Appearing to Enjoy Christ as our Kingdom Reward at His Coming

If we want to enjoy Christ as our kingdom reward, we must love the Lord and His appearing, being lovers of God in today’s age of the church’s decline; the Lord’s appearing is His manifestation to us today and His presence with His people at His second coming. Amen!

This week we come to the last week in our morning revival on this topic, and the subject is, Receiving the Kingdom Reward of Christ as the Crown of Righteousness.

These weeks we have been focusing on 2 Tim. 4:7-8, which presents Paul’s testimony at the end of his life.

He testified that he fought the good fight, he finished the course, he kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for him the crown of righteousness, with which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will recompense him in that day, and not only him but all those who have loved His appearing.

What a good testimony from a good conscience before God!

Paul did not brag about how many churches he raised, how much he worked for God, how many people he got saved, and what a great work he carried out on earth, even from prison.

Rather, he testified simply that he fought the good fight of the faith, he ran the Christian race and finished the course, and he kept the faith delivered once for all to the saints.

Now he had the assurance, at the end of his life, that the Lord will reward him with the crown of righteousness, an incorruptible crown.

However, he was also assured that the Lord would recompense not only him but also those who loved the Lord’s appearing.

Amen, may we be those who love the Lord and love His appearing today!

As we are preparing for the Lord’s return to be His bride so taht He can take us when He comes secretly, we want to love the Lord’s appearing today so that He may reward us at His coming.

We want to love the Lord’s appearing and not love the present age.

We prepare ourselves for His coming also by growing in life unto maturity, by giving heed to the words of prophecy as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in our heart.

We prepare ourselves for the Lord’s coming by living a revived life and by having a labour of shepherding.

Amen, we want to be those who love the Lord and His appearing today.

We want to be able to testify as Paul did, that we have fought the good fight, we have finished the course, and we have kept the faith.

We don’t have to wait until we become older to do this; today we can be those who love the Lord and love His appearing.

May the Lord impress us with the things we need to take care of and experience so that we may be able to receive the Lord’s reward when He returns, so that we may receive the crown of righteousness at His coming.

Love the Lord’s Appearing to Enjoy Christ as our Kingdom Reward at His Coming

In order for us as believers in Christ to enjoy Christ as our kingdom reward at His coming, we must love the Lord’s appearing (2 Tim. 4:7-8).

The Lord’s appearing is His appearing and manifestation to us today and His presence with His people at His second coming (Acts 26:16; Rom. 8:19; 1 Thes. 5:23; 2 Thes. 1:10).

For us to love the Lord’s appearing, we need to stay on the constricted way of being watchful in service to be constituted as the bride of Christ (John 14:21, 23; Matt. 7:13-14; 24:3, 45-51; 25:9, 13, 21).

We need to not only have the Lord’s words but also keep them, for this is what it is to love the Lord; when we love the Lord and His word, we will be loved by the Father, the Lord will love us, and He will manifest Himself to us.

For us to have the Lord’s appearing, we need to love the Lord; loving the Lord’s appearing and loving the Lord Himself are inseparable (1 Cor. 2:9; 2 Tim. 4:8; John 14:21).

When we come to the Lord in His word, we will be infused with His preciousness, and we will simply love Him; we will desire to have His appearing with us all the time.

When we love the Lord’s appearing, we will enter through the narrow gate and walk on the constricted way, for this gate with this way leads to life, and we want to be those who find it.

When we love the Lord’s appearing, preparing ourselves for His return, we will be the prudent and faithful slaves whom the master has set over his household to give them food at the proper time.

We will not think in our heart that, since the master delays, we can mistreat others and squander our master’s possessions; rather, we will faithfully serve Him.

Furthermore, we will be like the prudent virgins who eagerly await the wedding feast and prepare not only oil in their lamp but even more, oil in their vessel.

Paul loved the Lord’s appearing and he took it as a warning, an encouragement, and an incentive and goal for his Christian life.

In our Christian life and work, we need to take the Lord’s appearing and His kingdom as the incentive and goal.

The Lord’s appearing will be for judgment, when He returns; He will reward each one of us (Matt. 16:27; Rev. 22:12).

The Lord’s kingdom will be for His reigning with His overcomers (Rev. 20:4, 6).

We need to take the Lord’s appearing and His kingdom as the incentive and goal for ourselves, and we need to faithfully fulfill our ministry of the word.

May we be those who love the Lord and love His appearing, taking His coming back as a warning, an encouragement, and an incentive to us.

May we enjoy the Lord’s appearing to us today and eagerly await it at His return.

May we love the Lord’s appearing and look forward to it with earnest expectation and joy.

If we want to receive the crown of righteousness as a reward from the Lord at the time of His coming, we need to love the Lord and love the Lord’s appearing.

Loving the Lord’s appearing means that we love Him and we also love Him appearing to us right now.

It is one thing to say we love the Lord and it is something else to say that we love His appearing.

To love the Lord’s appearing is that we must see Him, we must see His appearance, and we must touch Him, enjoy His intimate presence, and His whole being.

Many times, however, we may tell the Lord that we don’t want Him to come yet, for we still want to love this or that thing in the world.

We may want to love this aspect of the world and spend some time in that part of this world-system. Oh, Lord!

We want to taste the wine of this world for a while, and we may inwardly have the feeling that we don’t want the Lord to return soon but delay His return. Oh, Lord Jesus!

May we love the Lord not only with our mouths and our words, but our hearts is far away from us.

May we not be those who are afraid of the Lord’s coming back, thinking that we have so many things to enjoy and to do in this world before He return. Oh, Lord Jesus!

We need to be rekindled in our love for the Lord and love the Lord’s appearing.

Especially as He shines on us on so many things of the world that we love and spend time with, we need to give ourselves to Him to love Him more and enjoy Him more, even be in His word to have His fresh appearing. We may even tell the Lord,

Lord Jesus, appear to us today. Cause us to love You more than anything else. We want to take Your appearing as a warning, an encouragement, and an incentive to us. Save us from loving other things in this world more than You. Oh Lord, we must touch You intimately. We must enjoy Your intimate presence. We love You not only with our mouth and our words; our heart is for You, and we love Your appearing! We don’t want to taste the wine of this world, for nothing in this world satisfies us! We love You, Lord Jesus, and we love Your appearing. Appear to us today. We come to You in Your word to not only read but also keep Your word so that we may have Your fresh visitation, Your fresh appearance. Lord Jesus, Your presence and fresh appearing are everything to us. We want to live in the light of Your presence today. Amen Lord, may we be those who love Your appearing and look forward to it with earnest expectation and joy!

Being Lovers of God Today to have a Day of Glory in the Church’s Victory, not Lovers of the Self or of Money

The apostle Paul wrote that in the last days difficult times with time (2 Tim. 3:1).

For those who love the Lord and love the Lord’s appearing, the last days will be hard times, grievous times, even perilous times.

All those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (v. 12).

If we are those who pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, and if we are those who call on the name of the Lord out of a pure heart, the last days will be a difficult, grievous, and perilous time.

But we need to stand together with the saints in the word of God, and continue loving the Lord and loving His appearing.

We need to realize that, in the last days, men will be lovers of the self, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, and unholy (v. 2).

This evil condition portrays not the evil condition of the people outside of the church, the non-Christians; this is a picture of the corrupted situation in the degraded Christianity, mentioned in 2:20 as, the great house. Oh, Lord.

Paul wrote in a prophetic way concerning the last times to warn us and also encourage us that we would not be lovers of self or lovers of money but lovers of God.

Many today have an outward form of godliness but not the reality of it inwardly (3:5).

The situation in the degraded Christianity today is that so many of them are lovers of self and not lovers of God, for they love themselves and want to hear particular kind of teachings that builds them up.

Furthermore, many are lovers of money and lovers of pleasure. Oh, Lord!

May we be those who are lovers of God.

Whatever someone loves, his whole heart, even his entire being, is set on it and occupied and possessed by it; may we see how crucial this is.

If we love anything in this world, we will set our heart on it and spend time in it; this will cause us to be a lover of that thing.

Many times we tell the Lord that we love Him, and this is good; the more we tell the Lord we love Him, the better.

But we have to admit that sometimes our love for Him is quite superficial; we do not love Him with a hundred per cent of our heart but ninety per cent or even fifty per cent.

May we love the Lord and set our whole being on Him, having all our focus on Him and loving nothing else besides Him.

We should not be a Christian in the outward form yet deny the power of His godliness in us.

We should not be those who only serve God and worship Him in an outward way, yet denying the power of godliness which is His life.

May we be those who love the Lord day by day, more and more.

May we love the Lord and love the Lord’s appearing today.

In 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus seven kinds of lovers are mentioned: lovers of self, lovers of money (2 Tim. 3:2; 1 Tim. 6:10), lovers of pleasure, lovers of God (2 Tim. 3:4), lovers of good (Titus 1:8), lovers of husbands, and lovers of children (2:4).

Also, two kinds of nonlovers are mentioned: nonlovers of good and nonlovers of God (2 Tim. 3:3-4).

Whether today in the church life we have a day of glory in the church’s victory or we have grievous days of the church’s decline depends on what kind of lovers we are.

If we love the Lord with the first love, we will enjoy days of glory in the church life, but if we lose our first love for the Lord, there will be grievous days of the church’s decline.

History tells us that the root of the decline of the church was the loss of her first love for the Lord.

Even one of Paul’s co-workers, Demas, has left him because he loved the present age more than the Lord. Oh, Lord!

We may be living in this world, not living a sinful life, but we may be lukewarm in the church life (Rev. 2:4; Matt. 24:12); we may not really care for the Lord and His interest.

May we learn to set our heart on the Lord and on His word today, loving Him and having His appearance day by day so that we may be lovers of God, not lovers of pleasures, lovers of money, or lovers of the self.

May we maintain the victorious standard of the church by being lovers of God and lovers of the good that pertains to God’s economy.

Lord Jesus, we love You. We give ourselves to You to love You and to love Your appearing. Save us from being swept away in the decline of the church by being lovers of the self, lovers of money, or lovers of pleasure. Oh, Lord Jesus! save us from merely having an outward form of godliness but denying its inner power. Cause us to love You more. Show us Your preciousness. Appear to us in Your word. Infuse us with Yourself. We want to remain on the firm foundation of God and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart! Keep us standing in Your word and loving Your appearing today, in these last days before Your return. Oh Lord, keep us loving You with all our heart. We do not want to indulge in loving the self, loving pleasures, or loving money; we want to just love You! Amen, Lord, we set our whole being on You. We want to live many days of glory in the church’s victory by loving the Lord and loving the Lord’s appearing! Amen, Lord, we want to maintain the victorious standard of the church by being lovers of God and lovers of the good that pertains to God’s economy!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 2 Timothy, 2nd ed., pp. 41-42, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Fighting the Good Fight, Finishing the Course, Keeping the Faith, and Loving the Lord’s Appearing in Order to Receive the Reward of Christ as the Crown of Righteousness (2024 ICSC), week 5, Receiving the Kingdom Reward of Christ as the Crown of Righteousness.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Following the Star out of Jacob led me to the Lord and the Church Life, via, Living to Him.
  – Love—The Basis and Power of Authority, via, Shepherding Words.
  – Loving His appearing, a portion from, The Vision of the Divine Dispensing and Guidelines for the Practice of the New Way, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee.
  – The Morning Star Rises and the Day Dawns unto the Full Day of New Jerusalem (2), via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Making Ourselves Ready for the Lord’s Coming by Loving His Appearing and Not Loving the Present Age, via, Church in New York City.
  – 4 Reasons to Pursue the Truth in the Bible this Year, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – The crystallization – the matured bride who loves the Lord’s appearing, article via, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Day 97: Prayer for the saints to love the Lord’s appearing, via, Beseeching.org.
  – Loving His appearing, a song via, Soundcloud.
  – SEUC 2021 Message 4 – Loving the Lord’s Appearing, Living under God’s Heavenly Rule, and Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, via, Uni Students.
  – Fighting the Good Fight, Finishing the Course, Keeping the Faith, and Loving the Lord’s Appearing in Order to Receive the Reward of Christ as the Crown of Righteousness, a new song via, Hymnal.net.
  – Message Four – Fighting the Good Fight, Finishing the Course, and Loving the Lord’s Appearing, message via, Heavenly Foods.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – The love of Christ constraineth, / Then let us work and pray, / And watch the glad appearing / Of that triumphant day, / When Father, Son, and Spirit, / By every tongue confessed, / All earth His broad dominion / In His dear love shall rest. (Hymns #898 stanza 4)
  – How real that He is coming— / Come quickly, Lord, again! / We watch for His appearing, / His precious Word amen. / Oh, don’t delay His coming, / Pray without ceasing, pray; / He’s eagerly awaiting / That coming wedding day. (Hymns #1323 stanza 2)
  – Lord, I recall the many years I’ve waited / For Thy return—yet, Lord, not I alone, / But Thy dear saints through many generations— / Beseeching Thee to come back for Thine own. / To countless tears and countless fervent pleadings, / By Thine appearing haste to make reply. / Oh, may Thou come, the echo of the ages, / Come, come and answer now this mighty corp’rate cry! (Hymns #958 stanza 7)