Looking forward in hope
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The Second Advent
The Second Advent
Here we are this morning, the anticipation and presents and excitement of Christmas are now all over and a lot of people have a let down. But as believers Christmas isn’t just about these things it actually isn’t about these things at all. What we celebrated yesterday is much deeper than a baby being born. It was the fulfillment of a several thousand year promise. The promise can be found in Genesis 3.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
The promise that God would send a Messiah to rescue His people from sin and death. Several years ago I had the opportunity to meet some Jewish Rabbis and in just a few brief meetings I discovered that they are eagerly awaiting the coming of the Messiah. This actually put me to shame. If I am honest I don’t think about His second coming very much. Why? Why don’t we have more of a focus on the second coming of Christ?
Christmas was evidence that God is faithful and that when He makes a promise He will keep it. Christmas should encourage us to look forward to His second coming. As we turn to our passage this morning, James has some instructions for us while we wait for the second coming of Christ.
First James calls us to be patient. Listen to verse 7 of our passage.
James 5:7- 8 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
James calls for us to be patient while we wait for Christ’s second coming. He says we need to be patient like the farmer what better example for us than the farmer. We all should be familiar with this example even if you’re not a farmer. In the spring, the farmers around us plant corn and then we get the chance to watch it grow. But just like James says after you plant the corn you need the early rains for it to sprout and shoot up. Then later in the summer when it shoots tassel you also need rain because that is when the ear develops. I remember one year we had a lot of nice tall green corn stocks but we didn’t get the late rain and the ear didn’t fully develop. But as a farmer you have to be patient there is no way to speed up the process or make it rainYou must trust the Lord. So just like the farmer needs to be patient you also need to be patient as you wait on the second coming of Christ. How do you stay patient and there is nothing you can do to make it grow… I think it is tied to hope…
What are you hoping in?
Merriam-webster defines hope as “to cherish a desire with anticipation or to desire with expectation of obtainment.” So I have a serious question for you this morning, what are you hoping in? What desire are you cherishing with anticipation or what are you desiring with expectation of obtainment?
Where is your hope? Take a minute and really analyze yourself. What are you truly hoping in what are you longing for? What are you desiring in life?
1 Peter 1:13 answers this question with ultimate authority and clarity. But before we get to that there is a problem that needs to be resolved. When scripture speaks about hope is it the same as what I just described? Is hope in scripture the same?
According to R.C. Sproul, “The Biblical Word for hope is different from our normal English use of the term. When we say in English we hope something will happen, we are expressing a desire for a particular outcome about which we cannot be sure. In the Biblical usage, hope is not uncertainty but a certainty, which is why it is called “an anchor of the soul” (Heb 6:19). It is that which brings stability to us. It is faith looking to the future with the full assurance that God will do what He promises He will do.”
Let’s look at 1 Peter 1:13,
13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
What is the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ? Listen as I read 1 Peter 1:3-5
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Salvation resulting in eternal life! Our salvation will be complete when Jesus Christ returns. We have a living hope. After we die, our spirit doesn’t just float up to heaven and end of story. No, the dead will be raised. If you have faith in Jesus Christ, your will be resurrected as a new glorified body. Your hope must be in salvation that comes from God through His Son Jesus Christ.
Is there any hope besides salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ? Let’s look to Ephesians 2:11-12 for the answer which reads,
11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—
12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Without saving faith in Jesus Christ, you have no true hope.
An unknown Christian put it this way,
“life with Christ is an endless hope, without him a hopeless end.”
Let’s look at verse 13 of 1 Peter chapter 1 again. It begins, “Therefore” I was taught when you see that word you must figure out what it is there for. In verses 3-12, Peter describes the glorious salvation we have in Jesus Christ. The therefore of verse 13 indicates that because we have this awesome salvation revealed in Jesus Christ that angels longed to look at, this is how we are to respond. That is because of this salvation, therefore you should respond by ... preparing our minds- In the greek it is literally gird up the loins of your mind. The picture is of a middle eastern man that is wearing a long flowing robe, tying it up so he can run...the picture is prepare your mind for action ...what action you might ask?
Verses 14-16 of 1 Peter chapter 1
14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,
15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
Why is Peter writing this?
Because if you are not actively pursuing holiness, we will not obtain it. By default we are sinners. Our default behavior is sin. 1 Peter 1:18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers,
18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,
We must actively pursue holiness because it confirms our hope is in him. 1 John 3:3
3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
How do you actively pursue holiness, that is obedience to the commands of God? You must know what he commands and that can only come from dedicating yourself to the studying and memorizing God’s Word.
Warren Wiersbe put it this way:
The Word of God has a sanctifying ministry in the lives of dedicated believers (John 17:17). Those who delight in God’s Word, meditate on it, and seek to obey it will experience God’s direction and blessing in their lives (Psalm 1:1-3). The Word reveals God’s mind, so we should learn it; God’s heart, so we should love it; God’s will, so we should live it. Our whole being - mind, will, and heart - should be controlled by the Word of God.
We must live “no longer for human passions but for the will of God” as 1 Peter 4 states.
James also has a warning for us as we wait patiently. Listen to verse 9 of our passage,
9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
James concludes our passage with examples of patience during suffering while we wait for the Lord’s second coming.
10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
And of course Job’s story is well known.
Job Chapter 1, “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. [2] There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. [3] He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. [4] His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. [5] And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus Job did continually. [6] Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. [7] The Lord said to Satan, From where have you come? Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it. [8] And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? [9] Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Does Job fear God for no reason? [10] Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. [11] But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face. [12] And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. [13] Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, [14] and there came a messenger to Job and said, The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, [15] and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you. [16] While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you. [17] While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you. [18] While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, [19] and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you. [20] Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. [21] And he said, Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. [22] In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. (Job 2:1-10) [1] Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. [2] And the Lord said to Satan, From where have you come? Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it. [3] And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason. [4] Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. [5] But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face. [6] And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life. [7] So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. [8] And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. [9] Then his wife said to him, Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die. [10] But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
As we begin a new year next week will you place your hope in Christ? Will you establish your heart while you wait for Christ's second coming? I want to challenge you this year to read through the Bible.