Sermon: Establishing Our Hearts Before Christ's Return
#1727-AM
Martin G. Collins
Given 16-Sep-23; 69 minutes
description: Military commanders require intense preparation before deploying forces into combat. God's first fruits are being prepared for a crucial conflict in which resurrected saints will follow Jesus Christ to permanently establish the Kingdom of God, a pivotal change when the government of God will forever destroy the government of carnal man (the horrible Babylonish system) under the rule of Satan. We will, like our forebears, find it difficult to exercise patience and endurance, developing the mindset of a patient farmer waiting for a crop to emerge. James emphasizes the cultivating of patience five separate times in that passage, suggesting that this may represent a capstone of saintly character, encompassing long-suffering, forbearance, diplomacy, and self-restraint, qualities absent today. We must learn to develop steadiness, stability, and firmness under trial, strengthening our hearts to remain loyal to God unconditionally, keeping our hearts with all diligence, as had the heroes of faith highlighted in Hebrews 11. Sadly, as evil ascends as the norm in our society, we struggle maintaining faith that a Romans 8:28 solution will ever occur. We must realize that our calculations of time and God's calculation of time are different. We must maintain our responsibility of getting our hearts fortified with godly love, benefiting others through shared help, inspiration, and encouragement through continuous fellowship. Waiting for Christ involves a careful balance between working diligently and developing a relationship with Our Lord.
transcript:
When a nation or a commander of an army goes into battle, he has to do a lot of preparation beforehand. He has to get his troops together, they have a plan to begin with, and they start implementing that plan. Along the way, they fight battles and they become conquerors of sections of the world or whole nations and that type of thing. In the world wars, they are trying to dominate the entire world, so that is their final goal. But it takes a tremendous amount of planning and patience and enduring going through all of that type of campaign.
We, as conquerors, also are going through similar things but on a spiritual level. In the struggles of life, we are conquerors as we fight spiritual battles against an enemy that is more than human. Our lifelong battles achieve eternal spiritual victories with rewards for our victories that surpass anything ever attained by earthly conquerors. We have an infinitely worthy and supreme goal and that is to glorify God in all that we do. We are exceptional conquerors thanks to God turning everything, even suffering and death, into good.
Romans 8:37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
The phrase "more than conquerors" is one word in the original Greek, meaning "to gain a surpassing victory." It is literally, we are hyper-conquerors. We are super-overcomers; that is, preeminently victorious thanks to Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit that dwells in us.
Please turn with me to Leviticus 23, verse 23. It is absolutely certain that nothing can ever sever us from the love of God. We must be conquerors extraordinaire. Now, tomorrow, and in the future at Jesus Christ's return, the Feast of Trumpets celebrates the second coming of Jesus Christ, the conqueror and deliverer, to intervene in world affairs, resurrect the firstfruits, and establish the Kingdom of God on earth.
Leviticus 23:23-25 [You are very familiar with this. It is the command to keep this day.] Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.'"
Moving on from that, please turn to Matthew 24, verse 30. Now, this feast symbolizes a vast turning point in world history. It pictures the pivotal change over between the age of man and darkness and Satan to the age of God, the World Tomorrow, the Millennium, and the Kingdom of God.
Matthew 24:30-31 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
So as part of God's redemptive plan, Christ comes again in clouds, with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.
Now please turn over to Revelation 11, verse 15. Jesus Christ's direct intervention in world affairs at the seventh and last trump will conquer and demolish the world's Babylonian system of government, completely replacing it with God's government.
Revelation 11:15-18 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on the faces and worshiped God, saying: "We give thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the one who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth."
The Feast of Trumpets, despite its heavy emphasis on troubles of a very dangerous proportion, is overall a day that should give all of us great hope, the greatest of hope. It is capable of lifting, encouraging, inspiring, and giving sense and reason to life. It fills us with hope and the right direction of our energies, but it also has its somber, painful, and destructive side.
It is a day of rejoicing! And as the weekly Sabbath, holy to the Lord! And we have both, we have the weekly Sabbath and this annual Sabbath, which makes it an even greater day.
Repeatedly, Jesus warned us to wait and watch regarding His second coming. The church's genuine urgency for God's Kingdom to come to replace Satan's world has sometimes been one of impatience for the return of Christ to establish God's government on earth.
Please turn over to Acts 1, verse 6. Now, the same impatience characteristic of the church today affected Jesus Christ's disciples nearly 2,000 years ago. He corrected them for their impatience to know the time of His second coming.
Acts 1:6-11 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."
Today's culture has conspired against us to multiply the times of our tedious waiting for something or someone. We all hate to wait in line. We all hate to wait for our phones to boot up or computers to boot up. We hate to wait, wait, wait, wait. That is the programming that we have had from this society.
In contrast, biblically waiting for God is a positive experience. Waiting on God is a virtue. This waiting concerns patience, and resignation, and submission, dependence, and contentment with challenging circumstances. Not just the apostles, but the whole early church for decades lived in expectation of the immediate second coming of Jesus Christ. Even in the late AD 50s James exhorted scattered church members to wait patiently for the remaining years.
Please turn with me to James 1. James wrote his epistle to God's church members of the twelve tribes scattered abroad, including those who had been dispersed from Jerusalem in the persecution following Stephen's death. The scattered faithful east of the Mediterranean Sea no longer had easy access to the apostles. And by the late 50s AD the condition of the scattered church James saw and wrote about had increasing difficulties and persecutions confronting them. This was the time of the persecution of God's church by the Roman Emperor Nero, which lasted from about AD 54 to 68.
James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. [Then in verse 4, we see the spiritual reason for that patience.] But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing [and I will add to that, spiritually].
The religious beliefs of some were a little more than preferences and were becoming mere superficial formalities because of the pressure of persecution against the church. And apparently reports of such problems among the scattered brethren had reached James in Jerusalem. In response, he wrote to urge the saints to change their lives and their combined relationships, their connections with each other because it was starting to falter. They were starting to withdraw to within themselves rather than keeping their relationships with the other brethren alive and well. So James' letter focuses on fine tuning the inadequacies and mistakes of the church members and how they could correct them.
Flip over to James 5, please. The early preaching to the church was enthusiastically about the grace and the glory of the risen Christ. And as the enthusiasm wore off, the preaching concerned the imperfections of the members of the church because it was becoming so serious. So James warns the oppressing rich of coming judgment in the latter section and he encourages the oppressed members to be patient while waiting for Christ's return.
James 5:7-11 [the caption in my Bible for this section says, Be Patient and Persevering] Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and see the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
So there is a very important principle here in verse 8 that directly applies to us today. As we wait for Christ's return, we must establish our hearts. He says there in verse 8, "You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand." We must wait patiently for the return of Jesus Christ. Five times in James 5:7-11 James emphasizes patience. It is like a necessary thread woven through a piece of fabric.
Here, patience is a moderating force on our urgent tendencies for immediate action. We quite often do that, especially, as I mentioned, that society is programmed as such that we always want something solved right away. We have a pain, we run to the doctor for a painkiller or for something more than that. You know, it could be any number of things. That is just one example of many. We cannot wait to get things fixed in the house, when the air conditioning breaks or the heat is not working or whatever it is. We are an impatient people because of the society that we live in. And that is something that we should be conscious of because it carries into our spiritual lives as well.
Since James saw a problem with impatience in the church, it was extremely important to him to address this impatience tendency. What could be so hard about waiting patiently? We are told to do that. Why is not it easy for us to do? True patience is God-given restraint while facing trials. It is not passive by any stretch of the imagination. It takes a great deal of mental effort to be contently patient.
In the Old Testament, patience is more clearly seen by understanding that God is longsuffering and slow to anger. And here are two examples of its use.
Exodus 34:6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth.
Nehemiah 9:17 They [that is, the Israelites] refused to obey, and they were not mindful of Your wonders that You did among them. They hardened their necks, and in their rebellion they appointed a leader to return to their bondage. But You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and did not forsake them.
That should be extremely encouraging to each and every one of us, knowing that God does not give up on us. He does not leave us alone. So in the Old Testament, basically, the concept of patience is long in suffering while being slow to anger.
The book of Proverbs stresses the practical value of patience. It avoids strife and promotes peaceful resolution of disagreements, especially when one is provoked by another, which puts us at odds because of our human nature. We are trying to do the right thing when we are provoked and we are supposed to have a patient endurance. Peace between nations requires much patience, while diplomacy tries to find common ground on which the two sides can agree.
The term patience or patient in James 5, verses 7, 8, and 10 is translated from the Greek word makrothumia (which we heard about in Ronny's sermonette a few weeks ago). The New Testament Greek word is often translated in the New Testament as longsuffering and patience, meaning the longsuffering type of patience that enables the mind to remain firm before it becomes frustrated and angry. Its synonyms are forbearance and fortitude.
The other New Testament word often translated as patience is hupomone, which means constancy in endurance, patient continuance, and waiting. It is the word translated from James 5:11, which speaks of the perseverance of Job, or in some Bibles, the patience of Job. So the Greek verb describes the attitude of self-restraint that does not try to get back or get even for being wronged. It usually refers to patient continuance toward persons rather than things.
James calls for patience toward everyone but not to sin. Our patience with respect to people must be matched by equal patience with respect to circumstances, that is, in the face of illnesses and trials today. Revelation 13:10 says, "He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity, he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints."
Patience and faith in this context is that vengeance is God's. The Lord will repay for the wrong done to His saints, therefore, we must patiently wait for God to intervene and not take revenge into our own hands or try to solve the world's problems. And there are certainly a lot of problems, many, many problems forming every day with the idiocy of the leadership that we have, not just in this nation but worldwide. Therefore, we must patiently wait for God to intervene and not take revenge into our own hands.
Romans 12:19-21 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
You are so familiar with that scripture, that passage, that I did not bother to have you turn there. It is so obvious to you.
Please turn to Romans 5. Now, trials test our faith, encourage perseverance, and therefore produce patience. And here is another scripture that you are very familiar with.
Romans 5:3-4 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Here, Paul lists what tribulation will do in Christians' lives and why this is reassuring. So what benefit does this type of tribulation bring? Paul names one here, tribulation produces perseverance. Some versions say patience or others endurance and still others, patient endurance. The full meaning of the word perseverance becomes apparent when we consider it together with the word tribulation, which occurs just before it in the Greek text and which is what Paul says produces perseverance.
Tribulation here is from a Greek word that suggests the idea of pressing something down. It was used for crushing olives to extract their oil or for grapes to press out wine. So with that in mind, think now of perseverance. The Greek word translated as perseverance has a prefix meaning under or below. The second part of the Greek word means abode or a living place. So the whole Greek word means, to live under something. And that is certainly the way perseverance feels, that you are persevering under some weight of something, a trial or persecution or whatever it may be.
Now, if we take this word together with the word tribulation, we get the full idea—which is to live under difficult circumstances with patient endurance. So we express the idea positively when we say to someone "Well, hang in there." We hang in when the going gets tough, as it usually does sooner or later. Patient endurance also requires encouragement to others to continue on. This is something that separates the immature person from the mature person. Usually the immature believer tries to avoid difficulties and escape from them. So the mature Christian is steady under fire and does not quit his conviction.
James urges us to establish our hearts in James 5:8. What does he mean by establish our hearts? We cannot stand idly by during this waiting period and do nothing. That is not patience. We must do whatever it takes to confirm our faith and it must be firm and unwavering, not indecisive or unsettling. The clause in James 5:8 translated as "establish your hearts" is in the New Testament Greek, "strengthen your hearts." This phrase suggests that we must have solid support from God that enables us to stand without budging during trials. So this requires consistent self-examination and an intimate relationship with God.
Please turn to Proverbs 4. God inspired King Solomon to emphasize that it takes work to establish your heart. Faith without works is a dead faith, therefore, it does not produce patience.
Proverbs 4:23-27 Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of its spring the issues of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. [The only way to do that is to establish your heart.] Do not turn to the right or to the left; remove your foot from evil.
There is a lot of work involved in establishing your heart.
Our faith must undergird any tendency toward a faint heart, making it strong. We must know if our beliefs are preferences or convictions. A preference is something we like better than something else. It is the desire for something we hope for. It is our first choice but not our only choice. But conviction is a formidable belief. We are willing to suffer and/or die for. It is the only choice we will make. An established, diligent heart is convicted.
Now turn back over to James 5, verse 10, please. An illustration of patience and perseverance from James 5 is that of the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord.
James 5:10 [James writes] My brethren, take the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering [affliction] and of patience.
Although James refers to the prophets as a group, Jeremiah certainly stands out as one who endured mistreatment with patience. He was put in the stocks at one point, thrown into prison several times, and lowered into a miry dungeon, where he was up to his neck, probably in the sludge and whatever else went down into that. Yet he persisted in his ministry without bitterness or accusation.
Jeremiah 38:6 So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king's son, which was in the court of the prison, and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah sank in the mire.
So even after all this, Jeremiah persevered in his ministry without resenting or blaming anyone for the actions that they took against him. How many of us could maintain a positive, patient attitude during or after so much suffering? The answer is it is possible for all saints—all of us—if we let God establish our faith rather than being overcome by emotions.
We must be patient and not interfere with the will of God. God has a trustworthy plan to train and complete us in preparation for responsibility in His Kingdom. It would be selfish to dwell only on our own salvation without concern for the salvation of others. What if God granted our desire to be resurrected right now, interrupting His plan of salvation for others? How many would miss their opportunity to become part of the Kingdom of God? We must reconsider our impatience and adjust to God's timing and be patient for it to come, but not be lazy and not be apathetic or lackadaisical.
Just as those who have already died in the faith, we must wait for our time. This is not to say we should not feel a strong hope for Christ's return. We should. Waiting for God is done with hope and expectancy. While waiting, we anticipate the time that God will act, and in doing so, we learn lessons, many lessons.
Psalm 130:5-6 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning.
Turn over to Hebrews 11. A part of this hope is that God is good to those who wait for and seek Him. Faith enables us to have hope with patience.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:39-40 And all these [that is, saints] having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.
Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
So considering past examples of faith in the Scriptures and of Jesus' own endurance of the cross, we are to run with endurance the race of faith, knowing that God disciplines us for our good. So when injustices are committed against us, we must exercise longsuffering patience toward those who take advantage of us, which is extremely hard to do as long as we have human nature.
Please turn over to Psalm 31. James admonishes us to establish our hearts and develop stable and secure convictions about our beliefs, trusting that Christ will return according to the will of the Father. So the group designated as God's saints and the faithful are called, "You who hopefully wait for the Lord."
Psalm 31:23-24 Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints! For the Lord preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud person. Be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart, all you who hope in [or you can say, wait] for the Lord.
Now please turn over to Psalm 37 (just a few chapters forward). Psalm 37 addresses the problem caused when godless people prosper and it helps the faithful see that it is better to stay loyal to the Lord. This type of loyalty is expressed in contentment, in honest dealing, generosity, and just speech. The Lord will make the distinction between the two groups clear in His own time, and the faithful must wait patiently. So the Lord's saints have no reason to be envious of evildoers because He will never forsake His saints.
Psalm 37:1-13 Do not fret because of evildoers. [In this passage, he mentions do not fret three times, so it must be important.], nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret—it only causes harm. For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; indeed, you will look carefully for his place, but it shall be no more. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming.
So those are pretty direct commands that he gives us there for waiting patiently and not fretting—and they go hand in hand.
The opening stanza here establishes the theme, "Do not fret because of evildoers" especially when it seems they prosper. "Trust in the Lord and do good." And the reason not to fret is the assurance that justice will come in the end. It takes patient endurance to wait for God to act, not just when He returns, but in our own lives now as we wait for Him to intervene on our behalf, whether it be sickness or some other trial.
The evildoers will soon fade like grass and shall be cut off, while the faithful, those who wait on the Lord, shall inherit the land and will remain after the Lord purges the wicked from the land. So the faithful will delight themselves in the Lord, commit their way to Him, be still before Him, and patiently wait for Him. Consequently, they will be able to refrain from anger and the resentment they would naturally feel toward the godless who prosper.
Do we need to know the exact moment of Christ's return? Do we really need to know it? We read earlier in James 5:8, "You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand." Well, that seems pretty imminent, does it not?
What does James mean by the coming of the Lord is at hand or has drawn near? In some translations it seems the early church expected the immediate return of Jesus Christ, so James urges the saints to wait to patiently, wait for the remaining few years. And in the meantime, they must strengthen and confirm their faith, or in other words, establish their hearts.
Turn over to Matthew 24. Obviously, the early church was mistaken and Jesus did not return within a generation, but we can understand why they thought this way, even just from some of the things that Jesus said that made things sound urgent.
Matthew 24:32-34 "Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and put forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place."
Now, commentaries have come up with many, many, many, many, many explanations of this, especially "for this generation will by no means pass away till these things take place." But "this generation," in my mind, basically means the generation that sees all these things being alive when the final period of great tribulation begins. They refer to the terrible characteristics of the end time. And the illustration of the fig tree shows that when the final events begin, the Great Tribulation will come soon. And just as "all these things" refer to the events leading up to but not including Christ's return.
This temporary nearness to the coming of the Lord is qualified by the expectation that certain events must happen first. So the New Testament provides signs by which the church will be warned of the approaching of the end. Many of these things would happen from when the church began to the end time—false saviors, wars, earthquakes, famines, pestilences, persecutions, apostasies, false prophets, persecutions of the church—and they increase and become massive global problems as the end is imminent.
Matthew 24:3-5 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many."
We are warned twice there not to allow ourselves to be deceived. You can see just how easily it is for people to become deceived. You just look at the past three years and how people just believed what the mainstream media said and just took it in and did whatever they said. And now we find that they lied and lied and lied and they did so much incredible damage to people.
Matthew 24:6-8 "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows."
We have seen this cycle of events going on for the last 2,000 years and even before that, but especially over the last 2,000 years. But verse 8 says, "All these things are the beginning of sorrows."
Matthew 24:9-13 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. [there again, the deceit part] And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved."
He who patiently waits for the return of Christ. But when we see all these things take place (and I emphasize the word all), we will know that the Great Tribulation of the Day of the Lord is imminent and the return of Jesus Christ will follow later.
Over the period of the last 2,000 years wars have come and gone, and all these false prophets have come and gone, and false teachers, but it has not ever been completely a worldwide domination or a worldwide movement. But that is what we are seeing form today and that is why it is different today than all these other years that the church has thought it was going to happen in their day, is that this is a worldwide event happening. And so that is one of the signs that we are in the end times. And these things are all getting greater and larger in their impact on mankind. When we see all these things take place, we will know that the Great Tribulation with the Day of the Lord is imminent.
Jesus encouraged an urgency about preparing for His coming because one may die at any time making Christ's return seem like a twinkling of an eye away. Since the dead know nothing, it will seem like no time has passed. You die and you wake up or are resurrected and it will be the twinkling of an eye. And so Christ, if you die today, then it will be in the twinkling of an eye that you are resurrected. So it is impossible to know individually how far away Christ's return is from our personal life because of the idea that we can pass away at any time. God-willing, that will not happen to us, but as we see, it does happen to God's people.
It is clearly stated that the exact date of Christ's second coming cannot be known in advance. Here in Matthew 24 I want to cherry pick three scriptures out here. I am just going to read these one after the other.
Matthew 24:36 "But of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only."
Matthew 24:42 "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour the Lord is coming."
Matthew 24:44 "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."
There again, our lives are different lengths so we do not know how long before Christ returns. We have a gut feeling that if we do live on what it will be, but it is just a gut feeling as far as how far away.
When Jesus said in verse 36, "But that day and hour, no one knows" He did not mean that astute biblical researchers and teachers can still nevertheless calculate when the time is. Those who have tried have always been wrong—always. I have been attending God's church for over 60 years. They have always been wrong, and I think 60 years is a good track record to find that out. But if you go back, keep going back and back through history and any time you can find it, they have always been wrong. How many people did the Worldwide Church of God choose to be the false prophet or the beast, the head of the beast power? I mean, there were many, on and on and on. So it is just fruitless to try to name names, so to speak.
And also over those years, I have seen quite a few people lead themselves astray by becoming obsessed with prophecy. One man even said, "But I have to know!" And I said, "Why do you have to know?" He could not answer that. It was such an obsession, and in most cases, when people become that obsessed, they end up eventually leaving the church. That is that dangerous. So that is one part of my caution here. It is not wrong to look into prophecy. It is fun to talk about it. But that is why the ministry in Church of the Great God keep away from anything beyond just telling you what it says. And maybe a little bit more, but we are very careful not to try to explain the details of this and what is coming. So my concern is the people I have seen that it has taken out of the church before. Just a caution to be careful, even though it is one of the more fun subjects to research on.
This deliberate contrast reinforces 1) that the return of Christ to gather His elect and judge the world is yet future. 2) that we do not know when this will be and that therefore, 3) we must keep watch and be ready since we will be lost and perish if we do not listen to God and watch and pray always.
In Matthew 10:22 Jesus said, "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved."
So about half of Matthew 24 deals with signs that are not true signs of Christ's return. Those verses are basically verses 4 through 26 and 32 through 35. And a very small section describes the return of Christ itself, that is verses 27 through 31. But a third of the chapter, that is, chapter 24, verses 36 to 51 and chapter 25, verses 1 through 46, a total of 62 verses, warn us to get ready since we do not know when that day of final reckoning will be. So there are far more scriptures in Matthew 24 and 25 that say "get ready" and "work on your own salvation" and "making your call and election sure," than it does on what is going to happen in the future.
Please turn with me to Mark 13. The application is clear and the question is clear. Are you watching? Are you ready for Jesus Christ's return?
Mark 13:32-33 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is."
So from this basic fact, one thing is clear: human speculation about the time of the second coming is in vain. Should we seek to gain knowledge hidden from Jesus Christ and resides only in the mind of God the Father? God says no one knows the day or the hour except the Father. If Jesus does not know, how do we expect we are going to know specifically. So is it not a lack of faith in Jesus Christ's word? And is it not calling Jesus a liar to try to calculate the day or the hour? (I am not going to answer that question other than just pose it there, let you think about it, and decide on your own.) Therefore, all calculations are ruled out and we live in daily expectation precisely because the date cannot be known. We have that urgency, or we should, that time is near.
Now, if human nature acts this way, if we were told the exact date, there would be some in the church who would sit back, kick up their feet, and wait for Christ to return. But when there is an urgency and not knowing—it cannot be tomorrow, Christ's return is going to be after the Tribulation and the Day of the Lord so we know it is years away—but that urgency is needed for motivating us. It helps to motivate us.
This is why we must have the patience that comes from faith, the faith that God is true to His promises and that Christ will come at the best possible time, according to the plan of God.
Please turn with me to Matthew 24, verse 27. All the signs by which the church, at every period of history, knows that it lives in the end time like conditions, but the signs do not provide the time, a timetable. Only the coming of Christ itself is unmistakably the end of this evil world. And we know that Christ's second coming will be as sudden as the lightning and as unexpected as a thief in the night.
Matthew 24:27 "For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."
Matthew 24:37-39 "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."
But God does reveal more to those in His church who watch. We do have more information than the world does on when these things are to happen. To Sardis, He warns to hold fast, repent, and watch until He comes.
Revelation 3:3 "Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you."
There He is talking to Sardis, which is the true church, and He explains the problems that they have to overcome. But the message is to everyone at the end time, as are all the letters to the churches. And in this specific church, it even mentions you will [not?] know what hour I will come upon you. And so there we have an indication that this is at the end time, this church exists or this church attitude exists at the end time as well as the others do. And here Jesus reveals that if you do not live God's way of life and pay attention to the signs of the times, you will be shocked when it happens.
Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
So God will reveal to us and has revealed to us what we need to know. And if we need to know the day and hour of His coming, He will let us know that—after He lets Jesus Christ know! God does not promise to reveal the day or the hour to His church and ministry. And just as God did not let the Israelites know where they were going in their 40-year wandering, He also does not tell us where we go next until we need to know. He has given us a roadmap with only the major routes and destinations, but not the day or the hour we will arrive. And the comforting part is that He is the driver. We cannot sit back and just let Him drive, but we do have to do our part in getting ourselves ready because He does it all in one sense, as far as the driving is concerned.
Please turn to Luke 21. To establish our hearts while patiently waiting for the second coming of Christ, there are several things for which we must take responsibility. One is we are responsible for watching and praying, as we have been talking about.
Luke 21:36 "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."
So we servants whose master has gone away and who, not knowing when He will return, must have everything ready for His return, whether in the morning, afternoon, or evening.
Now please turn over to II Peter 3. Since we do not know when the tribulation will begin and we do not know when the Day of the Lord and the return of Christ are, we must always be ready. We are responsible for not letting what seems like a long delay produce hopelessness or depression. We are called to wait for the coming righteous Kingdom of God.
II Peter 3:3-14 Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? [You could say instead of "saying" and "mocked this," "Where is the promise of His coming?"] For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded by water.
But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with the great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness [there is the point], looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.
We are not going to get away with just being casual about living God's way of life. We have a lot of work to do and we have to keep pushing ourselves and find ways to motivate ourselves to push ahead while we wait patiently. We must be steadfast in living God's way of life while patiently waiting.
God does not see time as we do, as we saw. To Him 1,000 years is like a day. And even if the years pass, it does not mean He has either changed or abandoned His design.
Another responsibility we have is we are responsible for working with God to establish our hearts with godly love, actively using it to benefit everyone. Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."
Please turn with me to I Thessalonians. We are going to go quickly through a few of scriptures here. So as we delight ourselves in the Lord, our hearts will desire the right things.
I Thessalonians 3:12-13 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
An established heart is founded in the Word of God and we must lovingly apply it.
Please turn over to I Peter 4. The next responsibility is we are responsible for fellowshipping sincerely and not being irritable with one another.
I Peter 4:8-9 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins." Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.
Fervent love requires patience. Love and patience produce peace. Without them we do not take the time to show outgoing concern for others.
Now turn over to Hebrews 10. Shared selfless help, shared saintly fellowship, and shared frequent encouragement are increasingly needed as we near the day of Christ's return.
Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the Day approaching.
We must inspire one another to humbly and lovingly do good works, do good deeds. This shared activity becomes even more important as the return of Christ nears.
Another scripture in Luke 12, another responsibility. We are responsible for patiently enduring trials and tribulations and persecutions to the end. Those who endure to the end are saved here.
Luke 21:12-19 "But before all these things [as tribulation events], they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake. But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But not a hair of your head will be lost. By your patience, possess your souls."
So these are events that have happened before in history, but they are going to happen in a greater way when the tribulation is near and then enters into. Matthew 10:22 and Mark 13:13 add, "He who endures to the end will be saved."
"By your patience" includes perseverance and faith in God's Word and doctrine. This encourages us to establish our hearts and stand firm because God promises to deliver us. We must be urgent about the coming of Jesus Christ rather than impatient. Urgency is the immediate feeling we need to purposefully glorify God. Impatience is the need to take on any desperate action. It is a restless eagerness to do something—anything. It comes from annoyance because what we want has been delayed or opposed.
Some people have left the church, as I mentioned earlier, because they became impatient with God's timetable for carrying out His will. Some people in the Worldwide back in the 60s and early 70s were looking to 1972 for fleeing to the place of safety and possibly Christ coming in 1975. A large number of people left the church after that were dismayed it did not happen. They did not have a strong faith, they had an unstable faith, if any at all. And that was sad that that happened. Then some have come back since realizing the errors of their ways.
Obsessions about prophecy, trying to figure out the details of God's plan, and wanting to force God to do it the way they figured it out have caused some to become impatient and leave. A lack of faith and a failing faith cause impatience while waiting for God to fulfill the prophecy.
Now, while waiting for Christ's return, we should not get caught up in speculation about prophecy while neglecting our spiritual overcoming and character growth. And that is the key. Do not neglect our spiritual overcoming and character growth.
Please turn over to II Thessalonians 3. The apostle Paul requested the faithful Thessalonians to pray that the ministry's efforts to promote the Word of God would be successful and the Lord would instill in them godly love and patience.
II Thessalonians 3:1-5 Finally, brethren, pray for us [Paul speaking here], that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you. Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.
The patience of Christ means the same patience He exhibited in His earthly life and which He is ready and willing to give to us.
Revelation 1:9 I, John, both your brother and companion in tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
So Jesus Christ appears in magnificent and overpowering glory to assure His churches that by His death and resurrection, He has control of the danger and death that threatens us. Although He is exalted in heaven, He is also present with His church on earth and He knows our needs better than we know our needs ourselves.
Turn over to Hebrews 12. You already know what Hebrews 12 says, but it is meaningful for this sermon. There are only one or two instances in the New Testament where Jesus Christ is shown to be the great Example of patient endurance. In two connecting verses in the epistle to the Hebrews, we read that since Christ endured hostility and the cross, we should be encouraged that He has felt our pain and can sympathize with us.
Hebrews 12:1-3 [This first one you already have memorized, most likely.] Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
In verses 1 and 2, it applies endurance to Christ's actions or thoughts. And so the issue of the Lord's return requires a balance between waiting and working. It is a perspective that should encourage holiness and not idleness.
Now, for a final scripture, please turn to Revelation 3. In the book of Revelation, John records Christ's promise to the firstfruits of protection for our patient endurance and for our perseverance.
Revelation 3:10 [Jesus inspired John to write] "Because you have kept My command to persevere [in the ESV it says about patience, "my command about patient endurance"], I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth."
So to those who have kept His Word, Christ promises, "I will keep you from the hour of trial" which will put those who dwell on the earth to the test. Because this trial is coming on the whole world, it seems that before the final consummation, Revelation envisions a brief future period of intensified rebellious humanity. Jesus does not promise to spare believers from suffering or martyrdom, but to shield us from His wrath and to transform martyrdom into triumph.
Remember, we are conquerors. We are super-conquerors. We are hyper-conquerors, meaning we conquer above all other conquerors and it is because we have the Master Conqueror leading the way and leading us.
God's promise is to safeguard and remain faithful to believers who endured patiently during the hour of trial that is coming in preparation for meeting Jesus Christ. We must patiently develop an intimate relationship with Him that will establish our hearts in faith and love.
The indwelling of God's Spirit empowers us to patiently endure the trials God puts before us, which He uses to refine us into pure and righteous human beings worthy to meet Him at His return. So may God establish your hearts in preparation for the Kingdom of God!
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