A Great Day Coming

Articles

Ross Triplett
11/21/21 - Articles

In 1895, William Thompson wrote the hymn, “There’s A Great Day Coming.” For a hundred and twenty-five years, this hymn has echoed in the edifices of Christianity, asking the great question, “Are you ready for that day to come?”

Being ready for the coming of the Son of man requires preparation. If we do not prepare to be ready, then we do in essence prepare to not be ready. Who takes a journey and does not prepare? Who fails to prepare, who does not get far until they remember what they failed to bring? Readiness is not a matter of wishful thinking, but one of a determined effort. Readiness is not defined by our own personal desires and wishes but by God’s standard, His righteousness. The scriptures identify what preparations must be made to be ready. They also tell us who isn’t ready. The apostle Paul, as he was directed by the Holy Spirit, said, the Lord Jesus would come "rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus" (2 Thessalonians 1:8). The scriptures are cut and dried in that evaluation. If we fail to obey "the gospel of our Lord Jesus" then we are not ready to meet our Maker when "the spirit returneth unto God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Obeying the "gospel", the "good news," has a necessary inference that there is a message that defines obedience. "It is not in man that walketh to direct his own steps" (Jeremiah 10:23) and, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12). It matters not how much preparation an individual may make. It matters not how zealous an individual may be. If the preparations are not according to God’s righteousness, then they will not suffice to successfully complete the journey: "For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God" (Romans 10:2-3). Mankind was created to glorify God. Therefore, "whether…ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). But, "all have sinned, and (consequently, ret) fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Consequently "because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 5:6). "But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:18). Many have been brought, through the gospel, ("the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" - Romans 1:16), to the question, "What shall we do"? (Acts 2:37). The same answer, issued to the Jews, nineteen hundred and seventy years ago, still applies today: "Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38). Are you ready?

Remember the words of the old hymn, “There’s a great day coming,” as it concludes with these words, “Are you ready for the judgment day?” Ross Triplett, Sr.