We need to be Watchful and Ready for the Lord’s Coming, crying, Come, Lord Jesus!

We need to prepare ourselves for the Lord’s coming by being watchful and ready, not loving the present age but loving the Lord’s appearing, not storing up treasures for ourselves but being rich toward God, taking the Lord’s coming as a warning and encouragement, and crying out, come, Lord Jesus! Amen!

May we be the prudent and faithful slaves who are faithful to the Lord and prudent toward the saints as we serve the Lord and serve the saints.

The Lord said that He is coming quickly, but we may think that it has been two thousand years and He’s not here, so we have time to love the world.

If we have such an attitude, we are like the evil slave in Matt. 24:48-51 who said, My master delays. Oh Lord.

Yes, the Lord is not here yet, but His coming is imminent; what is needed is not merely that the outward situation would be prepared but even more that we as His people would be prepared.

The Lord’s coming depends on us; yes, there are some things in the world situation that need to take place, but He delays His coming because His bride is not prepared yet.

If we are those who say in their heart that their Master delays, we love the present age and do not love the Lord’s appearing.

May the Lord save us from being such ones. May we come to the Lord in His word every day to enjoy Him, partake of His riches, and be filled with Him.

May we take the Lord’s coming as a warning, an encouragement, and an incentive so that we may run the Christian race and live the Christian life with the Lord’s coming in view.

And may we serve the Lord and the saints diligently, being faithful to the Lord and prudent toward people to minister Christ to those around us at the proper time.

May the Lord save us from being an evil slave who mistreats his fellow believers. Instead of condemning them or judging them when we see something sinful or a weakness, we should pray for them and ask the Lord to give them life.

Instead of criticising others because of their situation or condition, we should be kind and tenderhearted, forgiving them even as God in Christ forgave us.

May we be one with the Lord in His loving and shepherding heart, and may we have the caring spirit of our Father God toward one another.

The Lord placed us in His household with no particularly special outward position, but He has entrusted us with His people and has given us His riches.

May we positively serve the Lord in the church by enjoying Him and ministering Him to the saints and also to unbelievers so that all the members of God’s household may be richly fed and supplied.

Being Watchful and Ready for the Lord’s Coming, Loving Him and His Appearing

As soon as we believe into the Lord, we need to love Him and love His appearing, being watchful and ready for His coming.

We turn away from idols to a true and living God. Our attitude is not to build an enterprise for ourselves on earth but to wait for the Lord’s coming, being watchful and ready for His return.

Our commonwealth is not on this earth but in the heavens, from which we also eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 2:30).

Such an attitude should be with us all the days of our life.

May the Lord be merciful to us so that we would not only know the signs of the Lord’s coming but even more, prepare ourselves for His return by being watchful and ready.

To be watchful and ready is to love the Lord’s appearing, His coming, His presence (Matt. 24:3, 37; Acts 26:16; 2 Cor. 2:10).

We need to treasure the Lord’s present presence today.

The Lord’s coming is closer and close to us, and He will return very soon.

We need to not only know what will happen in the world situation at the time of the Lord’s return but even more, be watchful and ready for the Lord’s coming by loving Him and loving His appearing.

We should not think that, since we’re clear concerning the signs of the Lord’s coming, we can now take it easy and love the Lord, and then later we will pursue the Lord when the last seven years of this age come.

Rather, we should love the Lord today and love His presence.

We even need to tell the Lord, Lord, why won’t You come today? Why would You delay Your return?

If we don’t have such an attitude, we need to check with the Lord, for we may love the present age, so the love for the Lord is not in us.

May we be the faithful and prudent slave who loves the Lord and loves His appearing, caring for the Lord’s fresh presence every day.

As long as we have today, we should love the Lord and His appearing; we should await His coming and take His coming as a warning, an encouragement, and an incentive (2 Tim. 4:8; Phil. 3:20; Rev. 22:12).

The Lord’s coming is an incentive and an encouragement to us, and it is also a warning, for we need to be watchful and ready for the Lord’s coming.

The Lord’s coming will not be as the Shepherd or as the Savior but as the Judge of the living and the dead; this is a warning to us.

The Lord’s appearing with His judgment is a warning to us; His coming is to bring in judgment according to the things we have done while on the earth.

But at the same time, we should be watchful and ready, loving the Lord and loving His appearing.

One way to be watchful and ready is to speak the word in season and out of season; it is to give food to the people of the Lord at the proper time.

Whether we think it is the right season or not, we need to give them food. If people welcome us, that is in season, but if they reject us, that is out of season; both in season and out of season, we need to minister the word to them.

There are many opportunities that come our way as we meet people, go to work, travel, and do things; we meet people, and the Lord wants to flow through us to them.

When we go to visit the new ones in their homes, we need to bring some food to nourish them spiritually; sometimes, however, they may be busy or cancel the meeting in the last moment. Whether it is in season or out of season, we need to give them food.

Today people heap up for themselves teachers according to their lust, to tickle their ears and preach to them what they want to hear. Oh Lord.

People like to hear myths and genealogies, and they want to be told things they like to hear. May we be watchful and ready for the Lord’s coming (Matt. 25:13; 24:44; Rev. 19:7).

First, we need to be watchful, and then, we need to be ready to watch. We should not sleep or be drowsy, nor should we allow ourselves to be stupefied by God’s enemy, but be watchful and ready for the Lord’s coming.

Many among Christians today receive and enjoy the sugar-coated gospel and are thus stupefied, for they want to hear about prosperity and going to heaven but do not listen to the warnings in God’s word.

May we rise up and wake up, and may we be delivered from anything that is stupefying us.

May we daily prepare ourselves in life and be ready for the Lord’s coming.

When He returns, He will settle accounts with us; this matter of the accounts is not an overnight matter – we are building our account with the Lord day by day.

As we are faithful in service to the Lord and prudent toward the saints, being faithful in dealing with the gifts the Lord gave us, we will be rewarded by Him at His return.

May we prepare ourselves daily, filling in our record and exercising our talents, the gift that the Lord has given us to earn interest for Him.

May we be watchful and ready for the Lord’s coming, preparing ourselves and being fearful of the Lord’s return, for He will come with judgment.

If we daily live in the light of the Lord’s return by loving Him and loving His appearing, when He returns we will have no fear, for we will know that His reward is coming with Him.

Lord Jesus, we want to be watchful and ready for the Lord’s coming. We do not want to be stupefied by loving the present age. We love You, Lord Jesus, and we love Your appearing. We treasure Your instant, fresh, present presence. Thank You that we have today; today we love You and we love Your appearing. We await Your coming, dear Lord, and we take Your coming as a warning, an encouragement, and an incentive. Grow in us day by day. Grow in us unto maturity little by little day by day. Amen, Lord, we want to be the faithful slaves who give food to the members of Your household at the proper time until You return. We want to be faithful in our service to You and prudent toward those in your household. Save us from heaping up for ourselves teachers that teach us things that we like to hear. Save us from being drugged and stupefied by the god of this age. We want to wake up and rise up from any stupor and be watchful and ready for the Lord’s coming!

Remember Lot’s Wife. Be Watchful and Beseeching. Come, Lord Jesus!

How can we be watchful and ready for the Lord’s coming? The Bible has many portions in which it speaks concerning our watchfulness and making ourselves ready.

For example, in Luke 12 we see the parable of the rich man who did not regard God as his riches increased, but planned to have bigger barns for his grain, and he wanted to enjoy all these.

But he was foolish, for he did not know that God will ask for his soul that very night.

We need to beware of covetousness, not storing up treasures for ourselves here on earth but being rich toward God (Luke 12:16-20; 2 Cor. 6:10; Eph. 3:8).

May the Lord cause us to know our end and realize how transient we are, and may we be watchful and ready for the Lord’s coming.

Our days are as mere handbreadths; we are not here to store up riches for ourselves but to be rich toward God.

Furthermore, we need to remember Lot’s wife; she loved that evil age and turned to see what was happening to it, so she turned into a pillar of salt.

May we not love or treasure the evil world that God is going to judge and utterly destroy (Luke 17:28-32).

He will destroy this world with all its things; if we love the present age, we will suffer dispensational punishment, but if we love the Lord and His appearing, we will be rewarded by Him at His return. Remember Lot’s wife.

She turned to take a lingering look at the world she loved, and she became a pillar of salt.

Luke 14 says that when salt becomes tasteless, it is useless – it is not suitable for the manure pile (the world) nor for the land on the farm (the church), and it will be cast into fire, the lake of fire, the biggest trash can in the universe. Oh Lord Jesus!

If we love the present age, the Lord’s coming will expose us, and He will have to leave us to pass through the great tribulation so that we may be put to shame until we become mature and are raptured.

May we be watchful and ready for the Lord’s return, not loving the present age nor taking a lingering look at the things of the world!

We need to be watchful and beseeching so that the day of the Lord’s coming would not come upon us suddenly as a snare (Luke 21:34-36; Matt. 2:3).

If we love the world and the things in the world, if we are filled with love for the present age, the day of the Lord’s coming will come upon us as a snare, and we will be surprised.

May we seek the Lord and take heed to ourselves, being watchful at every time, beseeching lest our hearts be weighed down with debauchery and drunkenness and the anxieties of life. Oh Lord.

Instead of being weighed down by the things related to this life and the things of the world, we should guard our hearts and give all the room in our hearts to the Lord!

May we beseech Him that we may prevail to escape all these things and stand before the Son of Man (Luke 21:34-36; Rev. 12:5-6, 14).

Amen, may we guard our hearts and beseech the Lord that we may escape the great tribulation, that we would be raptured to be with Him before the great tribulation.

Before His coming, we need to prepare ourselves, love Him, grow in Him, and love His appearing, so that at His appearing we would be mature and ready to be raptured and receive the reward.

Come, Lord Jesus! – this should be the longing, crying, and constant prayer of those who love the Lord and His appearing (Rev. 22:20; Titus 2:12-13).

May we really bring this matter before the Lord in prayer and tell Him,

Lord Jesus, we want to love You and love Your appearing today so that, at Your return, we would be raptured by You as Your precious ones, Your bride. Amen, Lord, our desire is for You; we want to be rich toward God, not storing up treasure for ourselves in this world. May all our affections be toward You and Your kingdom. May we remember Lot’s wife and take Your coming as a warning and an encouragement. Save us from loving and treasuring the evil world that God is going to judge and utterly destroy. Save us from casting a lingering look at the things in the world that the Lord will judge at His return. Oh Lord, may we be watchful and ready for the Lord’s coming! We beseech You, Lord, that You would prepare us for Your return, so that the day of the Lord’s coming would not come upon us as a snare! May our cry be, Come, Lord Jesus! Oh Lord Jesus, as those who love You and love Your appearing, we cry out, Come, dear Lord Jesus!

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, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1990, vol. 3, “The Up-to-date Presentation of the God-ordained Way and the Signs concerning the Coming of Christ,” ch. 7, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Making Ourselves Ready for the Lord’s Coming (2023 ICSC), week 4, entitled, Making Ourselves Ready for the Lord’s Coming by Being a Faithful and Prudent Slave.
• Further reading on this topic:
  – Encouraged by the coming of Christ while working in a faithful way, a portion from, General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church, A – Part 2: Romans through Philemon, Chapter 13, by Witness Lee.
  – Ministry Excerpts from Recent Conferences and Trainings, Making Ourselves Ready for the Lord’s Coming, 2023 International Chinese-speaking Blending Conference.
  – 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 word of righteousness – The rapture of the saints (3), article by John Campbell in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – What is the Rapture of the Overcomers? Read more via, Radio Newsletters.
  – Watching and Being Ready in Order to Be Prepared by the Lord for His Second and Imminent Coming, pdf outline via, Puget Sound Blending.
  – Dispensational Discipline, article via, Shepherding words.
  – The Present World Situation – 6 Ways for a Christian to Respond, article via, Holding to Truth.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Each time when of heavenly blessings I think, / O let my heart long to be raptured to Thee; / My only hope here is Thy coming again, / My only joy there, Lord, Thy presence will be. / Lord, teach me each day in Thy presence to live, / From morning to evening my one world Thou art; / O let not my heart be contented or rest / When loving or seeking what with Thee doth part. (Hymns #389 stanza 4)
  – The day approaches; Jesus soon is coming. / Redeem the time; it must not slip away. / Lord, make us ready for the cry: “Behold Him!” / By using every moment of each day. / When Jesus comes, will we go in to meet Him? / When Jesus comes, will we from self have ceased? / He’s coming soon to take the wise ones with Him. / Oh, let us not be left outside the feast. (Hymns #1307 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – We love Thy coming, Lord! / We know not when ’twill be, / But turn from all distracting things / Thine own dear face to see. / We serve the living God / And wait His Son to see; / For this we need faith, love, and hope, / Increasing constantly. / In Thy dear presence, Lord, / We hope we all may be / A crown of glory and a joy / To those we then shall see. (Hymns #1306 stanzas 1-3)