Eagerly Waiting
1) The Day - The day our “Lord Jesus Christ is to be revealed” (v. 7) and the “day of the Lord Jesus Christ” (v.8) both make reference to the same event, that is, the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The term “day” is not to be thought of as a single calendar day but as the entire period that will witness the final redemptive visitation of God in Christ.
a) This day of the Lord Jesus Christ is a day of rejoicing for us who believe and a day of sorrow and judgment for those who do not.
i) If you fully trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your absolute, one and only, all satisfying Lord and Savior, this day of the Lord Jesus Christ is the day of blessed hope for you. It is the day of sweet consummation. In this world you have had many tribulations, you have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials, but on this day your faith may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor. On this day, you will know more than ever that “it was worth it all.” This is the day our spirits within us cry out for and say, “come, Lord Jesus, come.”
(1) We live in a world that has been disturbed by evil and sin and on this day God will restore order to it. God will finally reconcile all things to himself through Christ. All things were originally created through Christ and for him (Col. 1:16), and he will finally enjoy the pre-eminence that is his due (Col. 1:18). This is the day the very cosmos, which has been rent by conflict and rebellion against God, will be restored to peace with its Sovereign Glorious Majestic Creator.
(2) Did you know creation itself awaits the revelation of us, when we shall experience the redemption of our bodies, for creation shall be freed from the bondage to decay and shall experience freedom from the burden of evil to which it has been subjected?
(a) Romans 8:19-23 – “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
(3) This is the day sin and death will be crushed, we will be raised with bodies incorruptible, free from pain and sickness, all trials and tribulations gone, no more bills to pay, etc.
(4) As wonderful as all that is, this pales in comparison to this – on this day we will see Jesus Christ fully revealed. We will see him in all his glory, majesty, and supremacy.
(a) It is on this day that the Lord Jesus Christ will be revealed, that is fully disclosed, or fully made bear in all of his glory, supremacy, majesty, splendor, brilliance, and radiance.
(i) Christ has already been elevated by his resurrection and exaltation to the right hand of God, where he has been given sovereignty over all spiritual foes.
1. Ephesians 1:20-23 – “which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet…
(ii) Christ now bears the name that is above every name; he is now the exalted Lord.
1. Philippians 2:9 – “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.”
(b) He is now reigning as King at God’s right hand. However, his reign and his Lordship are not evident to the world. His revealing will be the revealing to the world of the glory and power that are now his. Thus this day of his revealing will disclose his present Lordship to the world and be the means by which every knee shall finally bow and every tongue acknowledge his Lordship.
(c) Jesus Christ is the supreme reason for why we eagerly wait for this day. Here are 2 quotes in relation to Heaven, but what is said hold true for the day of the Lord also.
(i) Pink - That which makes heaven superlatively attractive to the heart of the saint is not that heaven is a place where we shall be delivered from all sorrow and suffering, nor is it that heaven is the place where we shall meet again those we loved in the Lord, nor is it that heaven is the place of golden streets and pearly gates and jasper walls - no, blessed as those things are, heaven without Christ would not be heaven. It is Christ the heart of the believer longs for and pants after - “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee” ( Psalm 73:25). And the most amazing thing is that heaven will not be heaven to Christ in the highest sense until his redeemed are gathered around him. It is his saints that his heart longs for. To come again and “receive us unto himself ” is the joyous expectation set before him. Not until he sees of the travail of his soul will he be fully satisfied.
(ii) This reminds me of John Piper’s words from God is the Gospel: “The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever say, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?” Too many Christians look to heaven for its benefits to us without understanding that the greatest benefit of all will the presence of Christ. We can long after all the good of heaven without feeling any desire to enjoy its greatest Good. And what a tragedy it is if we focus our attention and our affections on lesser treasures. To be absent from the body is to be present not with grandma or mom or dad, but first and foremost to be present with Christ. This promise should quicken our hearts and be at the forefront of our desires as we long for eternity.
ii) If you do not fully trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your absolute, one and only, all satisfying Lord and Savior, this day of blessed hope for those who do, is a day of wrath and sorrow and judgment for you. Make no mistake about it. Scripture leaves no doubt about it. It is a day of such terrible wrath and judgment you will cry for the mountains to fall upon you and hide you from Him.
(1) The wrath of the Lord is a fearsome thing. Do not take my word for it, read it for yourself!
(a) Amos 5:18-20 says, “Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light – pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?”
(b) Isaiah 13:9 says, “See, the day of the LORD is coming – a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger – to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it.”
(c) Zephaniah 1:14 -15 says, “the great day of the LORD is near – near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the day of the LORD will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior there. That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness…”
(2) You say well that is the Old Testament, it has no relevance for me today. You could not be further from the truth, but perhaps it would do you well to hear it from the lips of Jesus himself.
(3) Christ says in John 3:36,
(i) “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”
(b) If that is not enough Paul says
(i) in Romans 2:5ff, “but because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God will give to each person according to what he has done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger…”
(ii) 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 says, “This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and form the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.”
(4) You say well that is outmoded and outdated. God is not a God of wrath but a God of love. Truth is never outmoded and outdated. Truth is truth. Truth is not swayed by time and culture. Truth is absolute and is not a democracy. The truth is Scripture says in Ephesians 2:3 that apart from Christ we are “by nature objects of wrath” and in Romans 1:18-19 that “the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.”
(a) You may doubt God’s control, power, and sovereignty now, but in that day, God’s eternal sovereignty over all creation and nations will become unmistakable.
iii) What must you do then to be delivered from wrath? There is nothing you can do other than you must repent from your sins. You must turn from your wickedness and trust in Him who is able to save you. You must flee to Jesus for he rescues us from the coming wrath! You see, for those who believe in Christ, he has bore the great, dark, terrible, fearful wrath of God. Christ has satisfied the righteous demands of God. Christ has satisfied, appeased, absorbed the wrath of God for those who believe. So what must you do? You must cling to Jesus and he will purify you, he will make you complete, he will cleanse you from all unrighteousness! Let go of your pride, submit to the King of Kings, bow down in humility before him. Repent, for the day of the LORD is near and it is coming nearer. Repent, and you who were by nature an object of wrath will behold the wondrous love of God. God, being rich in mercy, will make you who were dead in your sins alive with Christ. He will raise you up with Christ and seat you with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to you in Christ Jesus.
2) The Responsibility –
a) Not idle……but active
i) As we wait for this day, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we are not to be idle or unoccupied like when you are waiting for a bus, but rather active and energetic in the work of the kingdom. Laziness, indifference, and apathy are not acceptable. It says in verse seven “you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.” “Eagerly wait” means to “look for, to expect fully, to wait in suspense, to be moved by a strong and urgent desire, to be marked by enthusiasm.” One could say on our tippy toes. Notice the emphasis on activity, not idleness and perhaps even worse, not busy bodies.
(1) Illustration – When we were called to come and serve here in full time ministry we were very excited and were, one could say, eagerly waiting for the day we would arrive here. But while we were eagerly waiting, we were not sitting around doing nothing just waiting for the day to come, we were busy preparing for that day, we were busy packing up everything, loading up everything, saying our goodbye’s, making sure everything was all in order. We were eagerly waiting by actively working for it.
(2) Waiting for God is not laziness. Waiting for God is not going to sleep. Waiting for God is not the abandonment of effort. Waiting for God means, first, activity under command; second, readiness for any new command that may come; third, the ability to do nothing until the command is given. - G. Campbell Morgan
ii) How we are to be actively waiting –
(1) We are to be employing our spiritual gifts in his service
(a) This is the biggest reason why we have spiritual gifts. Notice the connection Paul makes. “You are not lacking in any spiritual gift AS you eagerly await…” So what are we supposed to be doing as we eagerly await? Employing our spiritual gift.
(b) Now if I can dare to draw a connection here. Last week I commented how the problem with today’s church is not like the Corinthians who possessed and employed every spiritual gift they had, just improperly. The problem with today’s church is much the opposite. We have every spiritual gift; we are just failing to employ them for the building up of the kingdom of the church. Keep that in the back of your mind as I say this, that another problem with today’s church is we are not living expectantly. We are not altogether eagerly waiting his revelation. We live our lives in the here and now, with rarely a thought toward the future consummation of all things. When we buy things we think of how that impacts us now, when we do things, we think of how that impacts us now. We are “immediate, instant” people. Paul wants us to be just the opposite. He wants us to live up to what Christ has made us, citizens of heaven. We are eternal beings and we need to think with eternity in mind. It always blows my mind when I think about Paul saying we are currently seated in heavenly places. The implication of that is enormous! It means we are to be living now like were going to be living then, when Christ is revealed. Christ wants us to live expectantly 24/7. Whatever we put our hand to, we are to do it expectantly. Let me draw the connection now. I believe our failure to live in eager anticipation of the return of Jesus Christ is directly tied into our failure to actively employ our spiritual gifts. Isn’t that at least part of what Paul is saying here? Why do you not long for his return? Why does your spirit not cry out “Come Lord Jesus?” It is because you have little staked in it. If you are not daily putting your all into kingdom work, you are putting very little of “you” into it and if you are putting very little of “you” into it, you begin to care less and less about the eternal scheme of things, because that is what kingdom work is all about, and more and more about the constant present. But as you begin to employ your God given gifts for the service of Christ and his kingdom, as you begin to by God’s power and grace to wage war against hell and the devil and all principalities, because our battle is not against flesh and blood, you begin to stake more and more of yourself in it, and more and more you become more like Christ, and more and more you begin to long for the blessed hope and confidence of his imminent return. Do you see the connection? The more kingdom work you do, the more precious Christ become to you and the more you long to see and know him fully. To the extent you fail to put your spiritual gifts into practice, to that extent you fail to eagerly wait for the consummation of the kingdom of Christ.
(c) You can never be at a point in your life where you say you have nothing left to do for the kingdom of God. You can never say you don’t need me. You can never say you have nothing to contribute to the work of the kingdom. God gave you a gift, now use it for the building up of the church and to serve others.
(2) We are to be passionately spreading the gospel
(a) Having considered the great wrath of God that is upon all those whom do not believe, let this serve to spur you to spread the gospel. Let this put a renewed passion in your prayers for God to save your friends, family, and enemies, for God to send forth laborers in the field. Let this put a renewed passion in your life to share the gospel unashamedly to all! Consider that these are eternal persons desperately trying to find their way yet blinded and deceived by sin. Pray that God will open their eyes with the glorious, immaculate, light of the gospel!
(3) We are to be striving for holiness to the praise and glory and honor of God.
(a) Put off unrighteousness in your life and put on Christ.
(i) Romans 13:11-14 – “And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber; because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”
(b) Hate sin and abhor it and seek the holiness of God.
(i) 1 Peter 1:13-16 – “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: Be holy, because I am holy.”
(c) Perhaps you say I am overcome by age and sickness and the years of ministry and kingdom work are over may I encourage you with this –
(i) Reflect upon the Cross of Jesus who engaged in the ministry of prayer when he could do no other - “No longer might those hands minister to the sick, for they are nailed to the cross; no longer may those feet carry Him on errands of mercy, for they are fastened to the cruel tree; no longer may He engage in instructing the apostles, for they have forsaken Him and fled—how then does He occupy Himself? In the Ministry of Prayer! What a lesson for us.” From here he encourages Christians who may be overcome by age and sickness and who may feel that their years of ministry are over. He encourages them to use these times to engage in this ministry of prayer. Who knows, but you may “perhaps accomplish more by this than by all your past active service. If you are tempted to disparage such a ministry, remember your Savior. He prayed, prayed for others, prayed for sinners, even in His last hours.” And what an encouragement this must be—and what a challenge it is—for us. Even when we feel like we have nothing to offer, we can go to our knees and plead for others before the throne. This “invisible” ministry is one that is far more powerful than we know and one whose results we may only know in eternity. But what a blessing it was that Jesus prayed even while on that cross.
(ii)
3) The Promise –
4) The Explanation –
Do not mistake activity for achievement