The 18th century American missionary, David Brainerd (1718-1747), labored amongst the Indians of New England. His life was very short with continual afflictions of illness and infirmity. Nevertheless, he was a man of fervent prayer, and diligence in ministry. As his body gave way at 29 years old, his dying words were a citation of Hebrews 10:37: “He shall come, and will not tarry.”
On this Sunday, in which we celebrate the regal entrance of Christ into Jerusalem to accomplish our salvation, we should have those same words as our motto. The steadfast confession of God’s people is this certain confidence that “He shall come, and will not tarry.” The OT saints were often brought to cry out for God to come for their deliverance, and He always did. In fact, we should argue that all their prayers for immediate deliverance, were in fact prayers for ultimate deliverance. That ultimate deliverance arrived in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, who entered the city of peace upon the foal of a donkey; His face set like flint to face death and damnation on your behalf.
In light of this ultimate deliverance, we do not discontinue our cries of “Maranatha, come, Lord Jesus, come.” Rather, we persist with them. Jesus shall come politically, and overthrow the schemes of evil tyrants. He shall come ecclesiastically, and thwart the schisms of men of strife. He shall come domestically, and turn the hearts of fathers & sons towards each other. He shall come to us in our death, and bring us to be with Him where He is. And in the final judgement, He shall come to rectify all injustices, all the persecutions of the Righteous, and all the sorrows within this yet to be resurrected earth. This is our certain hope: our God shall come, and shall not keep silent (Ps. 50:3).
Leave a Reply