ニューイングランドの母校からアドヴェントメッセージの便り　その23

2015 Gordon-Conwell Advent Devotional
Day 24

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
The Lord will return like a thief in the night (v. 2), but we are not in darkness that this should take us unawares (v. 4). We who walk in the light know that the Lord’s return is “imminent.” That doesn’t mean that Christ’s return is going to happen soon (necessarily), only that it is next in the order of events—like a second string quarterback who knows that he will enter the game if the starting quarterback gets hurt. He doesn’t know when this will happen, only that it is next. Nothing need intervene. All is in readiness. Just so, our Lord has come, he has poured out his Spirit, and the Kingdom is growing. The second advent is next. For now, all creation groans as in childbirth, but as C. S. Lewis said, “All the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so.” (The Weight of Glory).
Dr. Jeffery Arthurs
Professor of Preaching and Communication