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Appointment to Keep



There are appointments in life! “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27)

 

If Christ delays His coming, there is a time when all of us come to a deadline---a step over the line into the presence of our God. “Absent from the body…present with the Lord.”

 

The greatest illustration on “Approaching the Deadline” is Christ. He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, toward the cross.

 

  1. The Cross was on His Mind “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” (John 18:37)
  2. The Cross was in His teaching. “Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more.” (John 14:19). In verses before that, He was instructing His disciples before approaching His deadline---His death on the cross.
  3. The Cross was in His Prayers. He prayed, saying, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done.” (Luke 22:42). In the Garden of Gethsemane, He agonized in prayer as He prepared for the cross. The cross was the deadline! There Christ died for our sins!

 

But there was another deadline---His resurrection. He had already told His disciples He would arise in three days. And He did!

 

Then another deadline was His ascension. The time was fixed. He met His disciples. He gave them the Great Commission, then ascended back to the Father! 

 

There is another deadline---the second coming of Christ. When? is in the hands of the Father. Jesus said, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man…but My Father only” (Matthew 24:36).

 

Are you prepared to stand before Christ one day and give an account of how you’ve lived your life since trusting Him as your Savior?

 

Have you put your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ that you can be “Born Again?”