Awaiting the Messiah

#3 Christmas Series                                   12/15/91

                                                      E.B.C.

AWAITING THE MESSIAH

INTRODUCTION

A.  I don't know about you, but at our house the sense of anticipation regarding Christmas Eve is mounting by the minute. Everyone is busy buying presents, wrapping presents, thinking about what might be in the presents marked for them. Thoughts like: "What will it be," or "what will be the look on her face when my wife opens my present for her."

B.  The sense of anticipation which I have just described for you, we all know, should pale in comparison to the anticipation which we all should have for the advent of Christ, His second advent.

C.  I want to talk this morning about anticipation, and about waiting. The anticipation with which we should await Christ's coming.

I.  THE ANTICIPATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT SAINT.

A.  Ever since God's promise to Abraham of "Of thee I will make a great nation" (Gen. 12:2) the vision for a particular kingdom of their own increasingly burned in the hearts of the Jewish people.

B.  This vision increased as Israel entered the land of Canaan and eventually established a king to rule over them. The inspiration for an eternal kingdom was fueled in part by the covenant which God made with David "...and your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever" (2 Sam. 7:16).  

C.  Connected to this promise came a deeply rooted conviction that God would ultimately establish a messianic kingdom with the advent of a messiah who would rule with justice and righteousness (Ps. 98-99).

D.  With the passage of time and the disappointing results which a successive line of evil kings brought upon both the northern and southern kingdoms, and the eventually captivity of the people, a desperate future hope for a messiah was all that remained of the once glorious dream. An example would be Isaiah 4:2-6.

E.  Typically, the anticipation of the Jews focused on the glorious aspect of the Messiah's advent - His sovereign, visible rule of glory. Other prophecies regarding this messiah were swept to the background or radically reinterpreted.

1.  Prophecies like Isaiah 9 which suggested that this messiah would come as a child, "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us...".

2.  Prophecies like Isaiah 53 which compare this  messiah to a lamb being led to the slaughter indicating that his first coming would not be glorious but be marked by weakness, filled with suffering, and ultimately lead to death.

3.  Prophecies like Psalm 118 which suggest that this messiah would come twice, the first time to be rejected: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone".

F. They had great anticipation but only for a triumphant king and when the messiah came they missed him. 

II.  THE ANTICIPATION OF THE CONTEMPORARIES OF CHRIST.

A.  We know that just prior to Christ's initiating His public ministry John the Baptist attracted a large following by living in the desert and preaching a simple message which implored people to prepare fo the coming of the Messiah (Matt. 3:1-6).

B.  We also know that Christ attracted large crowds of people by the miracles he did and many believed him to be a prophet sent from God. But when Christ began telling them that he had come to die, not to be their political saviour, many stopped following him. Their anticipation for a messiah did not include weakness, suffering and death.

C.  Even among those who were devoted to him, most lost all hope after his death (Luke 24:13-27). They, too, anticipated a messiah but failed to recognize him.

III.  OUR ANTICIPATION OF CHRIST'S COMING.

A.  We, who stand in judgement at a distance of two thousand years, with the added benefit of recorded history, understand so much better that the prophets were speaking of two advents of Christ.

B.  We would not ask what the disciples asked of Christ after his resurrection "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel", would we?

C.  We would not be caught unprepared for His coming would we? Jesus said to his disciples, "It is not for you to know times or epoches which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." That is what we are to do in order to prepare for the advent of Christ.

D.  After Jesus had said these things to them, the people gazed into heaven as Jesus ascended to glory. Two angels asked of these people the question we must answer, "Men of Galilee, why do stand looking into the sky?" In other words, "You have work to do!"  To anticipate Christ's coming is to be about the business he gave us to do until he returns.

CONCLUSION

A.  At Christmas we as Christians love to dwell on the first advent of Christ. We even, piously, judge those of Jesus' day who did not recognize his coming. Is it possible that we might not be in any better state of readiness for Christ's second return than those people were of his first?

B.  I find it interesting that we read, study, preach and meditate so much upon the writings of Paul, Peter, and John. For is it not they who believed with such certainty in the imminent return of Christ and that they must use their time to the maximum benefit in telling people of Christ while there was yet time, that they suggested if one were single not to marry and if one had sufficient possessions to survive not to bother accumulating more?

C.  Are you waiting for Christ's coming? Are you ready for his coming?