Wait for it...
Christmas and the Second Coming • Sermon • Submitted
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· 11 viewsComparing The Inn Keeper with Simeon and Anna so as to prepare ourselves for the return of Christ
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A couple of weeks ago we began a new Christmas series wherein we are taking a look at both those who missed the birth of Jesus and those who did not and what was different about them
The purpose for this series is so that we can take notice of those things in order to be ready ourselves for the soon return of the Messiah
You see missing His birth could prove to be a major problem for people but missing His return would be catastrophic and a chance that we do not want to take
Last time we compared Herod and his religious leaders with the wisemen and we saw that the major difference between them is that the wise men were watching for the coming
They were actively looking for the signs and were able to interpret what those signs meant while Herod and his cronies were completely oblivious
This morning we are going to compare 3 individuals, 1 that missed it the first time and two that didn’t
Open your Bible to the second chapter of Luke and I want to read a few different passages for you as we consider the inn keeper, Simeon, and Anna
Not necessarily major figures in the Christmas story but they have an important lesson to teach us about waiting
Luke 2:
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
Luke 2”21-29
There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
Luke 2:
As I already mentioned, the difference between the inn keeper, who missed what was going on right under his nose, and Simeon and Anna was that they were waiting for the coming of the messiah
And so this morning as we try to make sure that we do not miss His return I want us to take a look at what it means to “wait” for the Lord
The author of the book of Hebrews words it very strongly when he writes,
so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
“AND HE WILL RETURN A SECOND TIME…TO THOSE WHO ARE WAITING FOR HIM!”
Are you “waiting” for His return?
Well allow me to give you 3 characteristics of waiting that need to be present in the life of the believer for us not to miss his return
The first of the 3 is this,”Preparation” in order to be waiting one must first be ready
Anyone who is having people over to their house this coming Christmas season can concur that there is a big difference between “getting ready” and waiting
You have to get your house in order before you can relax and wait
The preparatory steps are all done in advance so that before the people arrive you can relax and wait for them
Had the inn keeper actually been ready and waiting for the messiah to arrive, Mary would not have had to give birth out in the stable because a room would have been prepared and when Joseph knocked on the door they would have opened it and said, ‘Come on in we were waiting for you.’
So what does that mean for us? How do we “get ready” for the return of the Lord?
The answer to that is as simple as A-B-C, Acknowledge that you are a sinner, Believe that Christ is the Son of God who came the first time to deal with the problem of your sin by dying on the cross, Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and Commit your life to Him
Well Pastor I like the whole message of Jesus and the love others and stuff but I’m not ready for that level of commitment
Than you are not “waiting” for His return
As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says,
“In the time of my favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.”
I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
Unless we have done so we are not ready to receive Him and, like the inn keeper, there is no room for the Messiah when He comes
The problem is that this time there will not be any second chances, there won’t be an opportunity to clean up as He pulls into the driveway because it will all happen in the twinkling of an eye and then it will be too late
Don’t put it off, do the preparation now
The second characteristic of waiting is “Dedication”
Dictionary.com gives the following examples in its definition of dedication, “commitment, devotion, consecration, wholeheartedness”
If you were here for Remembrance Day you will know that over the last couple of years I have gotten really interested in WWII
I’ve been doing some reading, I’ve been watching documentaries and I have been watching some of the many movies that depict that time in history
Why do I bring this up? Well because in a lot of those movies the as the lead character prepares to head off to war there is the good-bye scene between him and his love interest where inevitably she promises to “wait” for him
Now what is she really saying?
Well she’s saying that she will remain true to him during his absence, that she won’t love another, that she will wholeheartedly devote herself to him
Make no mistake I believe with all my heart that at the moment of salvation, that at the moment of dedication, should Jesus return we will be with Him
But what if there is an interval of time between our dedication and His return? Are we prepared to be dedicated? Will we “wait for Him or will we allow other things to take the place in our lives that he once occupied?
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Philippians 2:12-13
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
Philippians 1:
There are many who at one point or another have fallen in love with Christ and have received Him only to fall in love with the world and with the pleasures of the flesh and with the temporary fun of sin while He is away
Those people are not “waiting” for His return, although many have been deceived into believing that they are good, what they have done is nothing short of adultery and will be treated as such when He returns
The third aspect of waiting that I want to highlight this morning is this, “Anticipation”
As you know a lot of the motorcycle riding that I do is with my two buddies, Pastor Scott and Pastor Jay
Well let me let you in on a little secret, Pastor Jason is almost always late
If we say that we are meeting at Tim Hortons in whatever town at 7:30, we know that he will be there between 7:45 and 8
Now you might think then that Pastor Scott and I should then just show up for 7:45, but I can’t do that
If I am supposed to be somewhere for 7:30 chances are I will show up at 7:15, that’s just how I’m wired
Why do I tell you that? Well because I can say honestly that although I don’t really expect him to show up for another half an hour, every motorcycle I hear I have to look out the window hoping that it is him
You see I am full of anticipation because his arrival means that I get to ride my motorcycle with my two best friends
Did you notice the words of Simeon in our opening text? “You may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have see your salvation”
He wasn’t talking about leaving the temple and going home folks!
And Anna, she was so full of anticipation that she spent decades at the temple waiting for this to happen
If I can be truthful with you, when I was younger I knew that Jesus was coming and although I was prepared and dedicated I wasn’t waiting, you see there was too much that I wanted out of life first
As I have grown and matured in him I have learned this secret, that there is NOTHING that this world or this life can offer me that is worth delaying the return of Jesus and the reward that awaits me when He comes
For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.
Revelation 22:12
But there is another side to this as well,
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
2 Corinthians
Anyone familiar with the expression, ‘Just “WAIT” until your father gets home’
That wasn’t usually a good anticipation was it?
I mean from what I understand because I personally never got in trouble but my friends never told about the time they got an “A” on their report card and their Mom said, ‘Just wait until your father gets home young man’
It usually meant that punishment would be handed out
The same can be said about the return of Jesus, we can anticipate it being better than the best day that we could ever imagine or we can anticipate the full wrath of God bearing down on us
He IS going to return! of that we can be certain
And now that you know that He is going to return you have no choice but to anticipate that return
Will you anticipate it as a day of great joy as it was was for Simeon and Anna?
If so then you must be prepared and dedicated
So let me close with one more passage to encourage you as you wait,
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Titus 2:
Let’s pray