we also appear in the sight of God. Are we guilty of play acting? Paul reminds us, "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory" (Colossians 3:4). When Christ comes and is man ifested we also shall be manifested. The life we now have in Christ, which is now concealed from the unsaved, will be made known to them. The Bible tells us that we will appear as we are. We can strive to be pious, holy, truthful and sincere but in that coming hour we will be shown for what we really are. Cer tainly, the judgment seat of Christ will reveal the all-important truth. There should be no question that Christ definitely will appear in a coming hour. The past appearance of the Saviour is spoken of when "Christ has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Hebrews 9:26). He also appears now in the presence of God for us (Hebrews 9:24). But we know that He shall also appear the second time (Hebrews 9:28). This is future and that day may be at any mo ment. This event will be public at Christ's second coming. So univer sal will be the manifestation of our dear Saviour that nothing will be hid from Him. His appearing will be as visible as the lightning (Mat thew 24:27). The Roman soldiers who inflicted the wounds upon the body of our Lord shall see Him (Zechariah 12:10). At the very sight of the omnipotent Christ they shall call upon the rocks and the moun tains to fall on them so that they may be hidden from His blessed face. In those days men shall seek death but will not find it. In view of Christ's appearing for Page 39
be feared. Is loving service to God and others our choice and our delight? Can we say with Paul that the love of Christ constrains us? If we can, then we may be certain that this is love divine. Let us make certain that His perfect love is being per fected in us. When we consider the waywardness and sinfulness of each one of us we can only con clude that we do not deserve God's matchless and merciful love. If we got our just deserve, we would be dealt with in wrath rather than in grace. This is why we are to mani fest that love to those with whom we come in contact. Is such love lacking in your home life? There is no room for bitterness, animosity and hatred in the heart of a real born-again Christian. Such is in compatible and does not make sense. It should be our prayer that God, through the teaching of His Word, will bring our hearts in sub jection and obedience to Divine truth proving that we are the chil dren of God. It is interesting to note that sev eral times in I John we find the wonderful testimony concerning the Saviour, "He shall appear" (2:28; 3:2). This is indeed the Chris tian's blessed hope. When the Lord comes He is going to be made manifest to mankind. For believ ers, "we shall see Him as He is" (I John 3:2). We live in a world of make-believe. The Greek word for a play actor is that from which we get our English term "hypocrite." When the Saviour comes, every thing will be made known; nothing can be hidden. Our responsibility now as believers is to make cer tain that we are genuinely sincere. We should appear before men as
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