Exposition
We have established that the promise of Jesus coming again is firm and sure. Jesus made His disciples to accept it as fact, though some of them wished He never left them. This assertion of Christ was confirmed by the angel in Acts 1:11, who said that “this same Jesus,” and not another
one, will come again.

Jesus did not give exact timelines to His second coming but the disciples were convinced that it was not going to be too long a time. They had an urgent expectation of His coming. Therefore, Apostle John in 1 John 2:18 said that we are in the last hour. Here, he refers to a certain kind of time and not a duration. Apostle Paul’s use of the expression “later times” carries the same meaning as John’s. They both refer to similar signs of such times.

We should therefore have a desperate expectation of Christ’s return more than ever before. We shouldn’t stop the habit of using the phrase, “if the Lord tarries…” when announcing future activities of the church. This serves as a constant reminder and keeps us in readiness for the sudden appearance of our Saviour Jesus. If the Lord tarries, we will continue tomorrow and look at what we are to do as we await Christ’s imminent return.