We love the Lord, Earnestly Wait for His Coming, and we pray, Come, Lord Jesus!

As believers in Christ who pursue the Lord and love Him with the first love, we should love His appearing and earnestly await for the Lord’s coming; our very living should indicate that we have no other hope on earth.

As believers in Christ, genuine Christians, are a special group of people; we are not like those around us.

We have been regenerated unto a living hope, and our hope and future are not in this world but in the Lord.

We love the Lord not only in our personal relationship with Him but even more, we love Him so much that we want to be with Him all the time – we want Him to return and for us to be with Him!

If the Lord’s coming is precious to us, we will love His appearing (2 Tim. 4:8).

Loving the Lord and loving His appearing go together, for our love for the Lord is seen in our loving His presence with us, His fresh appearing. His appearing to us day by day is what keeps us going on.

Just as with Abraham, who was led by the Lord’s fresh appearing and went on with God to the land He promised him by having God’s appearing again and again, we also need the Lord’s appearing daily.

And we love to spend time with the Lord in His word, for He is so sweet, so rich, and so real to us.

When we call on the name of the Lord, we partake of His riches, and He becomes a rich God to us. Hallelujah!

Because we love Him so much, what the world has to offer to us simply fades away.

He is the unique One, the most precious One.

Yes, there are things in the world that are so attractive, and yes, there are so many things that try to entice us and distract us from the enjoyment of Christ, but because we love the Lord and we love His appearing, we are those who earnestly wait for the Lord’s coming and nothing here can distract us.

Even more, as we see the problems in the world today and pray desperately for the Lord to come in and make justice for us, we realize that our only hope for justice and righteousness is the Lord’s second coming.

When He returns, He will solve all the problems in this world.

When the Lord Jesus came for the first time, He did not come to solve the outward, societal problems; He came to mainly redeem us and provide a way for us to enjoy God and partake of Him.

The change He came to make in the world was the inner change, the change in life.

But when He comes a second time, He will come to judge the living and the dead, and He will bring in peace, restoration of all things, and righteousness.

All the problems we see so rampant in society today will be solved by the Lord’s second coming.

This is our hope and our prayer. We are here as those who earnestly await the Lord’s coming.

Our Prayer is, Come, Lord Jesus! We love Him as our Husband, and we want Him to Return!

Sister M. E. Barber was a dear sister in the Lord who loved Him very much.

One time, at the end of the year, she was walking with Brother Watchman Nee and, while they were taking a corner, she said, Maybe we will meet the Lord as we turn the corner!

She loved the Lord fervently, and her living and work were altogether toward the Lord’s coming.

We need to be such ones who, like the apostle John, simply tell the Lord in love, Come, Lord Jesus!

We need to earnestly wait for the Lord’s coming, for we love Him!

Our life should be one of preparing for the Lord’s return.

Especially as we end a certain year or begin another, we need to tell the Lord to return soon, for He promised, I come quickly.

Outwardly we can see that the world situation is being prepared to bring the Lord back, for the signs of the Lord’s coming can be seen in the world situation today.

Throughout the centuries, thousands of lovers of the Lord had the earnest expectation and eager awaiting for the Lord to return.

They desired the Lord’s coming every single day, and they had the Lord’s fresh appearing.

We should not think that, merely by being clear about the signs of the Lord’s coming, we can love the world a little today and then we will begin to pursue the Lord when the end is near.

During the last seven years of this age, we should believe that the Lord is fearsome.

May we not be like the rich man in Luke 12 who planned to store up his treasures and enlarge his barns, yet without any regard for God.

That very night, his soul was claimed, and what remained of what he has gathered?

As long as we love, as long as we have breath, we should love the Lord and His appearing.

As long as we still live, we should await His coming earnestly and exhort one another concerning this.

We are like a widow here, like the widow in Luke 18; our Husband is not here with us, and we come to the Lord to avenge us of our opponent.

Our only hope is in Him. We love Him and we want to be with Him.

We do not love the world not because the world is not lovable but because the Lord is too precious to us, much more precious than the world.

Wherever our Beloved is, that is a lovely place; our heart is not here, in this world, but with Him.

The world is just empty to us, for we’re not drawn to the world because the Lord is not here.

We are not drawn to the world because the world is not lovely but because we love our dear Lord Jesus and we earnestly wait for the Lord’s return.

This world has crucified Him and put Him to death, and this world is completely against the Lord and His interest; therefore, we love the Lord and we stay away from this world.

We indeed are standing here as a widow, who is mistreated by people but comes to the Lord again and again.

Our unique pursuit and desire are just Christ Himself.

Our only hope is Christ, and our only expectation is that He would return.

May the Lord gain every one of us so that we may have the heart of a widow in this world, realizing that our Husband is not here and earnestly expecting and desiring His return.

We wait for the Lord’s coming and love His appearing.

We are not satisfied merely with having His appearing today; we want to live in His appearing and we say, Come, Lord Jesus!

Lord Jesus, we love You and we want to be with You! We love You, dear Lord, and we love Your appearing. We love to be in Your presence. You are so lovely and precious. Nothing in the world compares to You. Our desire is for You to return. Come, Lord Jesus! Come and be with us all the time! Come and take us to Yourself! We do not belong to this world, Lord: we belong to You, and You are our dear Bridegroom! We are not here for ourselves or for the enjoyment in this world: we are here for You, and we enjoy You! Oh Lord, how much we love You! Increase our love for You. Our only hope is in You. Come, dear Lord Jesus! Come and bring in Your sweet and wonderful kingdom! Come and take us to Yourself so that we may be with You all the time! Lord Jesus, we love You!

Since we Love the Lord’s Appearing, we should Earnestly Wait for His Coming

In Rev. 22:12 the Lord Jesus said, Behold, I come quickly. Then in v. 20, He said again, Yes, I come quickly.

Our response should be like that of John’s, Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! (Rev. 22:20)

We should love the Lord and love His appearing.

The Lord’s coming is so precious, so we love His appearing and earnestly wait for His coming.

The apostle Paul was a pattern to us in this matter, for he lived a life of waiting for the Lord’s return.

If you read his first epistle to the Thessalonians, each of the five chapters concludes with the Lord’s coming back.

We need to love the Lord’s appearing (1 Tim. 4:8) and earnestly wait for His coming (Phil. 3:20; 1 Thes. 1:10).

This means that our living should indicate that we have no other hope on this earth.

Our hope is not here – it is in the coming Lord.

He is our future and our eternal destiny.

We have to take care of many things on earth, we have responsibilities and duties here, but our hope is not here but in the Lord.

As Paul said in 1 Cor. 7:29-31, those who have wives should be as though they had none, those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, and those who use the world as though they did not abuse it.

No matter what we do or have, we are not here for this world or for ourselves; we are here loving the Lord and earnestly waiting for His return.

The world with its fashion is passing away, and the time is shortened; we earnestly wait for the Lord’s coming.

We do not passively wait for His coming; rather, we do many things to take care of this and that, and we develop our faith and love for the Lord.

As the Lord’s coming is drawing near, we fear Him, realizing that we do not know what the next day will bring.

We do not store up riches for ourselves on this earth, nor do we seek to accumulate wealth, for we’re not here for ourselves or for our family but to bring the Lord back.

We take the Lord’s coming as our encouragement, and we are warned by His imminent return.

As long as we have today, as long as we are still here, we earnestly wait for the Lord’s coming and we want to hasten His return.

By the Lord’s judgment and kingdom, we should have a living that loves the Lord’s appearing (2 Tim. 4:1, 6-8).

On the one hand, we should not be discouraged nor should we backslide but rather, remain faithful to the end, not becoming weak.

On the other hand, we yearn for the Lord’s return and we tell Him earnestly, Come, Lord Jesus!

So many things are happening today, and it is easy to be discouraged as we see injustice and rebellion against God and His people, but we realize that the Lord is temporarily tolerating this situation.

It has been twenty centuries since the Lord said that He is coming back quickly, and He has tolerated many things.

May we be those who pray and are watchful for the Lord’s return.

May we prepare ourselves in our daily life, exercising our spirit to live one spirit with the Lord in all things.

May our heart not be attached to the things in this world, realizing that we are not here for ourselves or for the things in this world but for the Lord.

We love the Lord, we are His bride and He is our dear Bridegroom, and we are preparing ourselves for His return.

It is true that some things still need to happen in the world situation for the Lord’s return to be imminent, but at the same time, He is able to simply change things overnight.

What is important is that we as the Lord’s believers would be prepared to be the bride of Christ for whom He will return.

Our hope is in Him, and we love the Lord’s appearing.

We purify ourselves, as the Lord is pure, so that we can see Him face to face.

When we see Him, we will be transfigured into His glorious image. This is our hope. What a glorious hope!

Lord Jesus, we love Your appearing and we earnestly wait for Your coming! Come, Lord Jesus! How long will You delay Your return, dear Bridegroom? We purify ourselves and we want to be prepared for Your return. We have no other hope on earth, Lord, for we are not here for ourselves or for our family – we are here for You! Oh Lord, though we are married or have things, we want to live to You and bring You back soon! Our heart is not with this world – we are a widow here, for our Husband is not with us! Strengthen us, dear Lord, that we may not be discouraged or lose heart. We want to remain faithful to the end. Prepare us in our daily living. We want to watch and be ready, eagerly awaiting Your return. Come soon, 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, The Conclusion of the New Testament (msg. 435) by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Making Ourselves Ready for the Lord’s Coming (2023 ICSC), week 1, entitled, Making ourselves Ready for the Lord’s Coming by Loving His Appearing and Not Loving the Present Age.
• Further reading on this topic:
  – Loving His appearing, a portion via, The Vision of the Divine Dispensing and Guidelines for the Practice of the New Way, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee.
  – Preparation of the Bride Now and When the Lord Jesus Returns, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – The coming of the Lord, a portion from, The Kingdom, Chapter 19, by Witness Lee.
  – Walk with the Lord, article via, Living to Him.
  – How Do I Consecrate Myself to the Lord? Read more via Bibles for America blog.
  – The way for the Lord to come back, a portion from, The Practical Expression of the Church, Chapter 22, by Witness Lee.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – 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. (Hymns #1306 stanzas 1-2)
  – Since Thy departure from Olivet’s Mountain, / Why is Thy coming again so delayed? / Thru the long years we have longed for Thy coming; / Hast Thou not heard all the prayers that we’ve prayed? / Come Thou, come now; / Lord, for Thy coming we yearn; / All our desire is Thy promised returning, / Oh, may Thou quickly return. (Hymns #959 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – The Church has waited long, / Her absent Lord to see, / And still in loneliness she waits, / A friendless stranger she. / Age after age has gone, / Sun after sun has set, / And still in weeds of widowhood, / She weeps a mourner yet. (Hymns #961 stanza 1)