Living In The Expectation Of His Return

Living In the Expectation of His Return

Revelation 22:7, 12-20

Jimmy Modha, who was raised in a devout Hindu home in Leicester, England, enraged his family by coming to Christ and converting to Christianity. He told them his sins had been forgiven because he had found God.

“Which god?” shouted his father.

“It’s Jesus Christ,” replied Jimmy. “Actually He came and found me. He died on the cross for my sins; I am a Christian.”

His mother fainted, his father threw him out of the house, and his brother Jay prayed for the gods to kill him. “We would mourn his death,” said Jay, “but at least our family would not be dishonoured.”

Jay, a brilliant student working on his Ph.D. in parasitology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine disowned his brother and refused to talk to him. In parting, Jimmy said, “Jay, if you are ever desperate and no one is there to help you, remember Jesus loves you, and His hand is on your life. Call to Him and He will save you.”

Jay was furious, but Jimmy began praying earnestly for him.

Shortly Jay began having disturbing dreams. “It was as if I was awake in my bed at three in the morning when suddenly a blinding light broke through the roof and ceiling of my bedroom. In that light I could see a cloud descending from heaven, bearing three awesome, fiery men-like creatures. The first blew a trumpet so loud that I was sure the whole world could hear its thunderous sound. I knew whatever was coming was universal in consequence. The second creature cried out, ‘Prepare ye, for the Lord is coming to reap the harvest!’ Then the third swung a scythe over the earth and cried, ‘Now is the earth ready for harvest!’

“I tried to wake up from the dream because I felt I was going to have a heart attack from sheer fright. But I could not. Then, in the middle of the cloud, I noticed a Person who looked completely different. The brilliant light was coming from Him. His face shone so radiantly that no features were clear except for eyes that looked like blazing flames of fire. A robe went from His neck to His feet, which were like white-hot metal. He was dreadful in His beauty and terrible in His splendour.

“As He descended, He looked at me. I was completely undone, absolutely terrified. I could not bear to look at Him any longer, so I turned my head. To my amazement, there beside me was my brother Jimmy, who was not scared at all. In fact, his face was joyous, and he was reaching out as if to embrace the figure.

“When I gained the courage to look at Him again, He addressed me saying, ‘Jay, what are you going to do when this happens?’ Then everything vanished, and I woke up.”

It took Jay an hour to calm down, and he prayed for understanding.

A few days later, Jimmy called and, hearing of Jay’s dream, said, “Jay, what you saw is the Second Coming of Christ. Can I send you a Bible so you can read about it?” Jay hung up. But more dreams disturbed his sleep, and one night he awoke horrified to realize that he had been dreaming of praying to Jesus. In time, Jay received his doctorate and was awarded a prestigious research fellowship in Japan. But in Japan, his mental state deteriorated and one night, standing on his balcony, he nearly leaped to his death. But at the last minute, he pushed himself away from the railing, vowing to find out if Jesus was, in fact, the living and true God. For two years, God pursued him and every waking moment Jay felt the wrath of God hovering over him. At length, he dug from a cupboard a dust-covered old Bible and began to read in the Gospels. When he got to the Lord’s words from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they do,” Jay realized that he was a sinner for whom Christ had died. He prayed for forgiveness and the burden of his guilt lifted.

Jay grew quickly and, moving to Glasgow, joined a church and in time began teaching and preaching. Concluding that God was calling him into the ministry, he enrolled in Reformed Theological Seminary to prepare to preach the Gospel he had once so fervently resisted.

One of the foundations the Christian faith is based upon is the return of Jesus Christ. We read in Acts 1 that after Christ ascended into Heaven, two men in white robes address the disciples that were left there staring into the sky. “Men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking into the sky? Jesus, whom you saw taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you saw him go.” Acts 1:11, New Century Version