基督再來
約翰一書二章28節至三章3節
28小子們哪，你們要住在主裡面。這樣，他若顯現，我們就可以坦然無懼；當他來的時候，在他面前也不至於慚愧。
29你們若知道他是公義的，就知道凡行公義之人都是他所生的。
1你看父賜給我們是何等的慈愛，使我們得稱為神的兒女；我們也真是他的兒女。世人所以不認識我們，是因未曾認識他。
2親愛的弟兄阿，我們現在是神的兒女，將來如何，還未顯明；但我們知道，主若顯現，我們必要像他、因為必得見他的真體。
3凡向他有這指望的，就潔淨自己，像他潔淨一樣。
信息分享
基督終有一天會在我們面前顯現，然後我們便會被帶到祂的面前。這個觀念先是令我們感到十分振奮，接著便對我們發出極大的挑戰，因為我們都要顯露在基督的審判台前。
這段經文告訴我們有關主再來的三方面。首先，我們要坦然無懼地面對祂的再來；其二，我們會在祂再來的時候改變；其三，我們要因著祂的再來而儆醒。讓我們分述如下：
當基督再來的時候，面對祂的基本上只有兩大類人，就是信徒和非信徒。可是，第28節卻告訴我們，信徒中間可能也分為兩大類：第一類是坦然無懼地迎接主的再來；第二類卻因主的再來而感到慚愧。
經文沒有暗示信徒可能會失去救恩；然而，一個生活散漫的信徒，又怎能與主保持美好的相交？當主再來的時候，他當然會感到無限慚愧了。
約翰繼續指出，當基督再來的時候，我們便會改變。祂當初降世為人，是道成肉身，成為我們中間的一個人。但當祂再來的時候，我們便會反過來變得像祂。我們將會有一個像祂那樣的身體，就是永不衰殘的身體。我們將會有祂一樣的性情，就是無罪的性情。此外，我們將會像祂一樣，永遠在天上與天父在一起。還有甚麼比這一切更寶貴呢？
最後，是基督再來提醒我們此刻要儆醒。盼望在主的再來時能變得像祂的信徒，此刻便應該學像主。信徒若能「潔淨自己」，便能夠愈來愈像主，像主的仁愛、像主的忠心、像主的真誠。
禱告：
主啊，求你使我常作準備，隨時預備迎接你的再來。
CHRIST'S COMING AGAIN
1 John 2:28 to 3:3
28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
Message
One of the many wonderful things about the Christian life is that it not only covers the past and the present but it also gives us a tremendous hope for the future. That hope is centred in the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Christ will one day appear for us and then we will appear before him. The first thought is thrilling. The second thought is challenging. 'We must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ.' These verses speak of three aspects of his coming. First being confident at his coming, then being changed at his coming and thirdly being challenged by his coming. Let's look briefly at each of these.
These verses do not say being confident of his coming, but confident at his coming. When he comes there will be two classes of people-the believers and the unbelievers. But this verse 28 says-to us that there will be two classes of believers at his coming. There will be those who will face him confidently and there will be those who will be ashamed before him at his coming.
There is no suggestion here that a true Christian may be lost at his coming but that it is possible to live such a careless, undisciplined life that we are out of fellowship with Christ when he comes. How could a person like that be anything else but ashamed at the coming of Christ?
John says also that we will be changed at Christ's coming. At Christ's first coming, he became like one of us. At his second coming we will become like him. We will have a body like his-eternal. We will have a nature like his-sinless. We will have a position like his-in heaven with our Father. Could anything be more wonderful than that?
Then there is the challenge of his coming. The Christian who hopes to be like him at his coming must begin to be like him now. The word 'purify' here really means to keep on purifying ourselves-in other words to grow more and more like him. It means to grow more loving, to be more faithful, to be more sincere, or putting it simply again, to be more like Christ.
A PRAYER:
Lord help me to be ready if you were to come today.