Day of Jesus Christ

Charles Whitaker focuses on the phenomenon of clouds as an emblem of God's ability—and penchant—for hiding Himself from some people, revealing Himself to others. As such, clouds—sometime referred to as the Shekinah—symbolize the dichotomy of revelation and concealment; God is in total control of what He reveals—and hides—at any time. We only learn of Him through His grace, not as a result of our intelligence. God's cloud grabs our attention, signaling His presence. His cloud serves as a lens of His glory. Historically, God used the Pillar of Cloud to illuminate His people and discomfort the Egyptians. He used them to lead His people through the Wilderness form the time of Sinai until they entered the Promised Land. Clouds provide a means of transportation for God, conveying His throne (Ezekiel 1). They were present at Christ's Transfiguration; they transported Him to heaven at the time of His ascension; they will accompany Him at His return. Massive displays of clouds will characterize the year-long Day of the Lord. Just as Christ presided over the Great Deluge, burying the entirety of a corrupt civilization as He "terror-formed" a new world, so will He preside over the year-long Day of the Lord from His Cloud, taking vengeance on His enemies as He builds a new topography. As in the time of the Flood, God will protect those He selects for entry into the Millennial age.

Martin Collins, warning that all prophetic speculations have been accompanied with a high degree of error and subsequent embarrassment to the speculator and his adherents, admonishes us that any prophetic speculation, accurate or not, is useless unless it is promotes diligence in living Godly lives, eagerly and expectantly preparing for the return of our Savior, living our lives to the glory of God. If we begin to doubt the veracity of Christ's return, our hearts will turn cold, causing us to imitate the evil servant who begins to mistreat his fellow servants. We have to exercise the same kind of watchful care as a night watchman on guard against thieves and robbers. It is natural for all of us to desire to protect our physical property; protecting our spiritual property should warrant a much higher priority. We must assiduously emulate the faithful servant rather than the evil servant, caught up in cruelty, carousing, and shirking responsibility. Faithless Christians will be judged with greater strictness and severity than non-believers who do not know any better; knowledge always creates a greater level of responsibility. The anticipation of seeing Christ return should be the greatest motivator, bringing about a dramatic change of behavior, living sanctified, set-apart, holy lives that please God, the kind of behavior which could actually bring about an acceleration of God's plans. We should be emulating Christ's model prayer, diligently beseeching the establishment of the Kingdom of God. We need to avoid two dangerous extremes, believing that nothing we can do will make a difference, and the notion that God cannot do anything unless we personally do it. As God's called-out ones, we avoid becoming unstable by growing spiritually, realizing that being saved by grace is only the beginning of the process; we must be constantly strengthened by grace, prompting us to keep God's Commandments as a testimony of our love for Him, maturing to the full stature of Christ.

Father's Day is a time we honor our human fathers, but a time is coming, after the day of the Lord, when our ultimate Father in heaven will be honored for all eternity!