Living in Light of the Second Coming (James 5:7-12)

Very well -trained crowd. See what?

9 .30, at least by that clock. Of course,

I feel like I'm having an eclipse or something here. My eyes are dim.

Well, good morning and welcome back. We are here again, huh?

So let's begin with a word of prayer. Father, thank you that we can return again this morning to open your word together and to humble our hearts.

We pray for your spirit's enablement to do just that as we hear the word, that we would hear it with a receptive heart, a heart filled with faith and desire to be obedient, to be good hearers, biblical hearers, not just with the auditory sense, but with the reality that hearing implies doing.

And so in this very practical epistle from James to those believers so long ago who were in circumstances very much different from ours, we pray still that your spirit would just enable us to see the truth and to make application of it.

For the glory of Christ, we pray. Amen. All right, so let's start out with a couple of questions, kind of get our minds thinking here a little bit.

So my first question to you has to do with biblical prophecy and what role does it play in your daily life?

When you think about biblical prophecy, what role does it play, if any, in your life?

In other words, is this something that you think much about? Have you spent much time contemplating or considering what the scriptures would have to say with regard to the future?

Not our personal future, but the big picture future. What role does it play?

Or perhaps a follow -up. You have a question? Maybe you had an answer. You're looking like you've got a molten answer. Yes, he is coming back.

Amen. Amen. So that in and of itself is something we should dwell on for sure, huh?

But if it's not playing much of a role, should it? Perhaps it's a doctrine you haven't really thought too much about, or maybe you would say, you know,

I'm kind of agnostic with regard to all these things. I know it's going to work out and I'm not particularly interested in the hows and the whys and so forth.

Perhaps we can adjust your attitude a little bit in that this morning. But the title for this morning is

Living in Light of the Second Coming. And I'd have you open to James chapter five for that.

Living in Light of the Second Coming from James chapter five, and in particular, verses seven through 12.

You know, in 1970, Hal Lindsey co -authored a book entitled

The Late Great Planet Earth, The Late Great Planet Earth. And it was a popular attempt to relate biblical prophecy to current events.

And that book went on to sell, and there's all kinds of numbers out there, but I think this is a reasonably good estimate.

It went on to sell about 28 million copies of that book, 28 million copies of The Late Great Planet Earth.

And it probably, if it did anything positive, it generated a kind of a renewed interest in biblical prophecy among people there in the 1970s.

I think what the unfortunate side of it, at least in my judgment, is that the renewed interest in biblical prophecy was more of a sensational nature rather than spiritual.

And the movement itself spawned by Hal Lindsey and those was that they fell into date -setting.

And of course, the Bible tells us that date -setting is a fool's errand, and it was for them too.

And also what I would say would be fruitless attempts to fit contemporary politics into the prophetic scenario and events.

And that's something that still happens today for people. They read the newspaper in one hand and the Bible in the other, and they try to mesh the two together.

And I suspect, this is just my supposition, but I suspect the excesses associated with Hal Lindsey and his followers and their approach to prophecy led ultimately to a diminished study of prophecy and the doctrines of prophecy amongst the evangelical church.

People kind of got burned out on the whole Late Great Planet Earth kind of approach to things.

And so it fell actually into somewhat disuse. And I think that the church has been impoverished.

That's my opinion. But I believe the church has been impoverished by the reluctance of her teachers to tackle this difficult topic of eschatology.

I mean, the word eschatology itself, it's made up of two Greek words, eschaton, which means last, and logos, which means words.

So the idea of the last word or the final word from God about where it's all headed.

And so that's unfortunate, I believe. Now the New Testament itself is very, very clear that we are living in the last days.

That is absolutely clear from the New Testament. And the last days,

I believe, is the period that was inaugurated at Pentecost with the coming of the Spirit. We entered the last days, the last days.

And it's the age in which Christ will return to earth. He will judge his enemies.

He'll establish his kingdom. And that reality overhangs world history like the sword of Damocles.

It hangs above us. In this section of James' letter, verses 7 to 12,

James directly refers to the return of Christ at least three times.

At least three times he directly refers to the return of Christ. And he does so to believers who are struggling to live amongst some very challenging circumstances, great difficulties.

And in fact, James grounds his commands to them in light of the possibility that Christ could return for them at any moment.

That is the basis of his commands to them, is the reality of the return of Christ. Now, you remember from last week, contextually, the believers, they are poor and persecuted by wealthy and wicked people.

That's kind of the idea of 1 to 6. And you and I, we're not experiencing these kinds of circumstances clearly.

We do not experience this presently in our life. And so, again, we might think, well, okay, this is interesting, but it's not particularly relevant to me.

Maybe someday it will be, but not particularly today. And I would say that the nothing could be further from the truth than that.

The lessons that James is teaching the believers who are suffering intense hardship can and should be learned by us as we live in relative ease so that when that hard times come to us, we are suitably prepared.

We are suitably prepared. We are in the last days, and one of the characteristics of the last days is that difficult times will come.

That's Paul's statement in 2 Timothy 3, right? Difficult times, dangerous times are upon us.

And you know, you don't get ready to run a 10K overnight, right? You don't just wake up one morning and say,

I'm going to run a 10K. You have to work at it. You have to prepare for it. You train for it.

And as your muscles grow stronger and harder, you become more able to successfully complete a 10K race.

And I think the same is true of spiritual endurance. I think the same thing is true, is that we work at it, we grow stronger in it.

And in this particular case, in our understanding of eschatology, which will help prepare us for what lies ahead.

Let's read the text. And we're going to go back all the way to verse 1 of chapter 5 and get a running start at it so I don't have to start in the middle of a verse that begins with a therefore.

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.

Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth -eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire.

It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure. Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields and which has been withheld by you cries out against you.

The outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and have led a life of wanton pleasure.

You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and put to death the righteous man.

He does not resist you. Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the

Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it until it gets the early and latter rains.

You too be patient. Strengthen your hearts for the coming of the Lord is near. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged.

Behold, the judge is standing right at the door. As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the

Lord. We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the

Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and merciful. But above all, my brethren, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but your yes is to be yes and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

Okay, so verses 7 to 12. Put it together for us this way.

I think I can see in here three behaviors. That's what we're looking for.

Three behaviors that I would judge to be both essential and possible in light of the second coming of our

Lord. Three behaviors that are both essential and possible in light of the second coming of our

Lord. And that first behavior is living patiently.

Living patiently. Notice in verse 7, we begin with this command.

Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. That's the command. Be patient until the coming of the

Lord. This word patient, the verb patient or the noun patience, it means literally to be long -tempered.

To be long -tempered. In fact, it is an attitude of restraint in the face of provocation by other people.

That's what it means to be patient. It is to be restrained in the face of provocation.

Notice in verse 11, let your eyes go over there, where James speaks about endurance.

We count those blessed who endured. Endurance is a related but different term.

Carries a different nuance to it. There, the idea of endurance speaks about restraint in the face of difficult circumstances.

So one is restraint in the face of difficult people. That's patience. And the other is restraint in the face of difficult circumstances.

That's endurance. And James would have us both manifest both patience and endurance.

It's not like an either or. I can be patient but I can't endure. I can endure, I can't be patient. He would have us manifest both.

In fact, if we wanted to boil it down, we could say it this way. We're patient with people, we endure circumstances.

If you remember that, you got a good handle on it. We're patient with people, we endure circumstances.

The idea of patience is something that is spoken of in the

Proverbs with some regularity because it is the outworking of wisdom. It is the working of wisdom that shows itself in patience.

For example, in Proverbs chapter 14 and verse 29, we read he who is slow to anger has great understanding but he who is quick -tempered exalts folly.

He who is slow to anger, the idea there is have patience, has great understanding but he who is quick -tempered exalts folly.

Proverbs 15 -18, a hot -tempered man stirs up strife but the slow to anger pacifies contention.

Okay, so you see that idea of restraint in the face of provocation. 1911, a man's wisdom gives him patience.

It is his glory to overlook an offense. So this theme occurs in the

Proverbs with some regularity. The idea that patience is actually an essential outworking of biblical wisdom in our lives.

It demonstrates a maturity. Now, patience itself is an attribute of God.

Patience is an attribute of God and it is a behavior that is produced in believers by God's indwelling

Spirit. So it is God's attribute produced in us through the indwelling Spirit.

In other words, as he makes us like Christ, then patience is something that we begin to manifest to others.

The idea that it's an attribute of God, for example, in Romans 2 -4, we can read, do you think lightly of his riches, of the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience?

Not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance. So there it's spoken of as something that God demonstrates.

It's an attribute of his. And then, of course, over in Galatians 5 -22 is an outworking of the indwelling

Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, faithfulness, self -control.

So living patiently, which James commands of these believers who are in a very, very difficult situation, is really just the manifestation of the attribute of God.

He's going to illustrate it for us. It's not hard to understand it.

He's going to now illustrate it for us so it kind of fills out. We'll get a better understanding of what it is. And he actually gives us three examples that we'll follow here for us of what patience slash endurance slash waiting, so kind of that whole idea, what does it look like?

What would it look like? The first example here is in the second half of verse 7 and verse 8.

It's the example of the farmer, the example of the farmer. Notice, he says, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it until it gets the early and late rains.

You too be patient, strengthen your hearts for the coming of the Lord is near.

James cites the farmer as an example of what it means to wait and trust in the providential care of God and he brings forward the example of a farmer.

Now it's interesting, in what sense is a farmer patient? If you're patient with people, in what sense is the farmer patient?

I have to say he's patient with God. The farmer is patient with God to respond.

Because why? Because a farmer can really do very little to affect the outcome of his crops.

He sows his seed in faith and then he must wait for God to act.

Now we live in North Idaho and water is in abundance and so forth and so perhaps a little more challenging for us to think about and certainly if you're in the

Levant where they are very much dependent upon the early, the spring and the fall rains to bring the crops, then you would even more understand the reality of it.

But even here, I think a hay farmer understands that rain in the right time makes a big difference in terms of the outcome of the crops.

And the farmer can't do anything about it. Essentially, the farmer must wait upon the

Lord. And so James would say to us, so too, like the farmer, we must firmly adhere to the

Lord in faith, the idea of strength in your heart in the midst of the trying circumstances.

Same thing, like a farmer, so like us, we need to hang on to God and wait on Him.

He then brings forward in support of this command to be patient the example of the prophets. Next, we find the example of the prophets in verse 10.

As an example, brethren of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the

Lord. We count those blessed who endured.

We count those blessed who endured. Think about a prophet. The life of a prophet was a life of suffering.

To be a prophet was to suffer. The two go hand in hand.

Read the prophets, they all suffer, sometimes greatly. And in fact, though they spoke for God, and one might think, well, as a spokesman of God, then, you know, your life ought to be better off than the average bear.

But not so. Speaking for God did not shield them at all from suffering. And in fact, their suffering often came at the hands of their own countrymen.

It was no great thing to be a prophet. In fact, as I say, their countrymen was often the cause of their own suffering.

We can turn back to Hebrews chapter 11 and see there how they suffered, the motivation for their patient suffering.

The answer is it was because of their firm belief in the Messiah's kingdom. Hebrews 11 verse 35 and following, women received back their dead by resurrection, and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection.

And others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword.

They went about in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute, afflicted and ill -treated.

Men of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

Want to be a prophet? Rough stuff, huh? Verse 39, and all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us, they would not be made perfect.

It is the hope of resurrection that sustained the prophets. This is what enabled them to hold up in the face of this intense suffering as they spoke for God.

And it's not like they weren't challenged along the way. You certainly can read

Isaiah or Jeremiah or even Ezekiel. You see what they suffered and you see at times they're going,

Lord, okay, I'm sure that I heard what you said here, right? Is this exactly what it is? You know, Jeremiah says, you know what,

I'm done. I'm not talking anymore like this. And then he says, yeah, but it's like fire in my bones and it wells up and out it comes again.

Out it comes. These people, these prophets of which, back to James 5, we are to draw an example, were convinced of the truth that Yahweh was going to resurrect them, that they were going to experience the new life in his kingdom someday and that sustained them.

And in fact, we could say in the words of Daniel chapter 12 and verses one and two, that what was promised to Daniel by Yahweh was true for them.

Where we read now at that time, Michael, the great Prince who stands guard over the sons of your people will arise.

So this is speaking of this future time. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time.

And at that time, your people, everyone who is found written in the book will be rescued. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.

They looked for the resurrection, the resurrection that comes when? At the coming of the

Messiah. This is what sustained the prophets. Beyond that,

James now gives us a third example. So we have example of the farmer waiting on the Lord's provision.

We have the example of the prophets waiting on the resurrection, and we have the example of Job.

Notice here again, verse 11, second half, you have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the

Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. In other words, the payoff, the lesson from Job is the payoff from patience will not come in this life, but in the next, in Messiah's kingdom.

That's when the payoff comes. That's when the payoff comes for them. That's when the payoff will come for us.

Job's hope in this coming kingdom is clear enough. For example, Job 1926, where he says, even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh,

I shall see God. Job is a contemporary of Abraham. And he says, in my flesh,

I shall see God. His hope of the resurrection, the bodily resurrection was very firm.

Now, again, back to James, the point he talks about his endurance, and we've seen the outcome of the

Lord's dealings. The Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. That is an interesting kind of description.

We think about Job, well, you have the patience of Job, the endurance of Job. Here, James focuses,

Job's, what steadied his heart was his bodily resurrection. But notice,

James picks up about how God's compassion to him, he's full of compassion, he's merciful.

And I think that just as God blessed Job in the end, he will bless his own children when they see him face to face.

Now, let's take a, we got a moment or two, let's just go back here to Job for a minute.

Go to Job chapter one. I want to show you something.

Maybe, maybe this is like old hat for you, but I just think it's so cool, so edifying.

When I think about the compassion of God upon Job.

Let me find my way here. Here we go. Job chapter one. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was

Job. And this man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.

Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. His possessions also were 7 ,000 sheep, 3 ,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants.

And that man was the greatest of all the men of the East. So this man was set up, right?

He had everything that from an earthly perspective, one could desire or want.

Now we know the story, right? God allows Satan to remove it all from him. And then we go all the way over to chapter 42.

Chapter 42, pick it up in verse 10, where it says, the

Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends and the Lord increased all that Job had twofold.

Then all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him came before, came to him and they ate bread with him in his house and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversities that the

Lord had brought on him. And each one gave him one piece of money and each a ring of gold. First of all, the

Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had notice 14 ,000 sheep, 6 ,000 camels, 1 ,000 yoke of oxen, and 1 ,000 female donkeys, double twofold what he had.

And he had seven sons and three daughters, which is what he had before. But, and here's the thought, if the resurrection is real and in his flesh, he will see the

Lord, will he not also see 14 sons and six daughters?

Won't the Lord return double to him there as well? I think we'd have to say yes.

Yes, indeed he will. And so, when does the final accounting come?

When does the final blessing come? It comes at the resurrection. It comes at the resurrection. I think about Jesus' words to his disciples there in the upper room in John 14, two and three, in my father's house are many dwelling places.

If it were not so, I would have told you. For I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

There is what is the anchor of our soul, is the return of Christ, the establishment of his kingdom, the bodily resurrection, and the restoration of all things.

Living patiently is possible and, yea, essential in light of that reality.

That's what enables it. Second, speaking rightly.

So, living patiently. Next is speaking rightly, and there are two aspects that James highlights for us of what it means to speak rightly.

The first is in verse nine, and it simply is, don't blame others for your troubles.

Don't blame others for your troubles, verse nine. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged.

Behold, the judge is standing right at the door. Now, interesting, huh?

Observation for us. Difficulties often bring disunity among people.

The difficulties that they are undergoing by the oppression and persecution of the wealthy actually can have the effect of creating division within the community of believers there.

Now, the idea that difficulty can bring disunity and perhaps often brings disunity is probably really well illustrated for us when you think about a professional sports team.

Take a professional sports team, put them on an extended losing streak, and it will not take long before one by one they appear before the media and begin to bite and criticize and blame other teammates for the failures of the team.

It's predictable that it will happen. Why? Because the difficulty just draws out what lies deep in the heart.

You know, you can think of it this way. The hot water draws the flavor of the tea from the tea bag.

The hot water doesn't create the flavor. It merely draws out the flavor of the bag. And so, difficulty drawing out disunity is really only the hot water that God is using to bubble to the surface the reality that underneath there is tremendous disunity.

In fact, we could say that reality TV shows are loaded with the programming that is designed to place people in very stressful situations, and then there's some sort of morbid entertainment factor of watching them tear each other apart, right?

And then the producer stands by and kind of ramps up the pressure to get more and more of it. And it's kind of a popular genre.

Let's watch people fall apart for entertainment. It is morbid.

It is morbid. And newsflash, the people of God are not immune to this.

It's not just professional sports teams. It's not just reality show participants. The people of God are not immune.

You don't have to think too hard. You've got Moses in the wilderness for 40 years. Tremendous disunity, tremendous biting and going.

I mean, it entered into his own family with his sister and his older brother. And churches can in the same way turn on each other.

And often in a stressful situation, churches themselves, church members will turn and bite and snap and tear with each other.

And notice back to verse 9 that James says that Christ will judge this kind of ungodly behavior.

He says, do not complain, brethren, against one another so that you yourselves may not be judged.

Behold, the judge is standing right at that door. A church that falls prey to this kind of behavior,

Christians fall prey to this kind of behavior. There is a judgment coming. There is a judgment coming.

So the first aspect of speaking rightly, which is this essential behavior is don't blame others for your troubles.

Second, in verse 12, is don't be duplicitous in your speech. So don't blame others for your troubles.

Verse 12, don't be duplicitous in your speech. Verse 12, but above all, my brethren, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but your yes is to be yes and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

Now, historically, the Jews of that first century, they had developed an elaborate system and practice of oath -taking, and they did so in order to lend credibility to their words.

They had a very elaborate kind of system of oath -taking. They had a series of oaths that they would take, and each one was of increasing importance, severity, and thus truthfulness.

If I took this, you know, so forth. And some could be broken.

Some oaths could be broken, and some could not, and it depended by what one took the oath whether you had an escape valve, okay?

So fingers crossed, you know, behind the back kind of thing. And in fact, one writer says this.

I think it's very good. He says, quote, oaths in which the name of God was used were held to be binding, whereas those in which no direct mention of God was made were not held to be binding.

Thus, the force of the oath that to all appearance seemed binding could be evaded by minute inaccuracies in the formula used.

This is a studied approach to being disingenuous, right? You don't just fall into this.

This is a studied approach in how to be disingenuous, or we'd say duplicitous in our speech.

And James here in verse 12, and just like Jesus before him, his older brother, he denounces all such deceptive speech.

All of it, right? Let your yes be yes. Let your no be no. That's all that's required. Now, lest we think ourselves immune to this kind of duplicitous speech, we have our own formulas that we use to sort of enhance the credibility of our words, right?

To add integrity to our own speech. For example, we might say, well, to tell you the truth, and then we'll say something, really?

To tell you the truth as opposed to if I don't say that, what must I conclude?

Or quite honestly, quite honestly, or my favorite, cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.

Right? We have our own formulas. We have our own way of evasion and seeking to certify our words on this occasion versus that occasion.

And again, Jesus requires honest speech for all who will enter his kingdom.

He requires it of all of us. Matthew chapter five, verse 33.

Let's just be reminded you could hear it, but sometimes when you hear it and read it at the same time, it sticks a little better.

Hmm? So Matthew 5, 33.

Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, you shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the

Lord. But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king.

So you can see these were the little bit lesser oaths that indirectly invoke the name of Yahweh.

Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black, but let your statement be yes, yes, or no, no.

Anything beyond these is of evil or the evil one. Honest speech is a behavior that is not only suitable to a

Christian, but it is essential to a Christian. Because why? Because it reflects the character of our

God. And in fact, if you go to Revelation, we won't turn you there, but if you go to Revelation 22, verses 14 and 15, we read there, blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.

Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers, and the immoral persons, and the murderers, and the idolaters.

That's quite a rose gallery. And everyone who loves and practices lying, everyone who loves and practices lying, will be outside of Messiah's kingdom, living patiently, living patiently, back to James, speaking rightly.

And then James, I think, would have, and I would say this is an implication, and I believe it's a necessary implication, but here it is, the third essential behavior is thinking theologically.

So living patiently, be patient, right brethren, speak rightly, don't complain, don't be duplicitous.

And then third, I think this is a necessary implication, is think theologically.

Think theologically. This is the third and the final behavior I believe that is essential for Christians.

In other words, we need to think theologically. And in fact, according to James, it is the motivating basis for these other two behaviors.

What motivates patient living, and I can say honest or right speaking, it is a theological reality, thinking theologically with regard to the second coming of Christ.

We can learn to exercise patience, and we can learn to be good speakers as we think rightly about the second coming of the

Lord. That's the point. Now, this reality that the return of Christ is imminent is all over this text.

Verse seven, right? Verse seven, until the coming of the Lord. Verse eight, the coming of the

Lord is at hand. Verse nine, the judge is standing right at the door.

And I would say verse 12, so that you may not fall under judgment.

This text is shot through with references to the return of Christ, and it's done so as a motivation to right living.

Now, the English word imminent, I -M -M -I -N -E -T, if that is a new concept to you.

Did I spell it right? Try it again. I -M -M -I -N -E -N -T. There we go. I missed an N. Imminent.

Thank you. I only had to say it. You should see me spell. You should see me write.

I should have been a doctor. Anyway, this word imminent, it comes from a

Latin word immineo, and the verb has the idea of to overhang or to project.

To overhang or to project. And so the English word imminent carries with it the idea of hanging over one's head.

Hanging over one's head. One thinks about like the sore of a damocles, hanging over your head. It's the idea of ready to overtake or close at hand.

All those ideas are carried by this word. An imminent event, here you go, an imminent event is an event that is close at hand in the sense that it can overtake you at any time.

It is close at hand in the sense that it can overtake you at any time.

Other things may occur first, but nothing must necessarily happen before the event occurs.

Let me say it to you again because this is an important distinction. An imminent event is an event that is close at hand in the sense that it can overtake you at any time.

Other things may occur first, but nothing must necessarily occur first before the event happens.

This is the reality of the return of Christ. It can happen at any time.

Certainly, you can look back over 2 ,000 years and you could say, well, lots of things have happened and he has not yet returned and this is true, but none of those things from a human perspective were essential to happen before he could return.

Now, I get it. We're now plumbing deep into the mind of God and there's a place where we just kind of stop.

But let me say this as we continue to work at this. Imminent does not mean shortly.

It does not mean shortly because shortly implies a time period in which the event must occur.

The return of Christ is not going to happen shortly. It is imminent, meaning it can come at any time.

It hangs over us at any time. Now, the record of the New Testament with regard to the belief in the immensity of Christ is all over it.

It is everywhere evident. I'll give you a few examples. Let's look up a few of them.

Here we go. Again, it's better to see in here. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 15, 51 -52.

Paul says, Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

Now, what I want you to see is the use of the word we.

We. In other words, Paul is including himself in this statement.

His expectation, again, I don't have time to develop it all, but you could take my word for it and then test me later.

Paul's expectation was that he would himself live to see the return of Christ.

It is imminent. It is imminent. So, when he refers to these things, he includes himself in them.

For example, over in Philippians 4 -5, over to Philippians chapter 4 and verse 5, pick up in 4,

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentle spirit be known to all men.

The Lord is near. The Lord is near. Or 1

Thessalonians chapter 1 verses 9 and 10. For they themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true

God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, that is,

Jesus who rescues, notice again, us from the wrath to come.

He's commending them. Why? He's commending them because they have turned from idols to Christ, and they are waiting for him to come.

Where would they get the notion that he would come for them? It came from the

Apostle Paul during his six -week teaching ministry in Thessalonica.

Again, short time with them there, and what topic, you know, you read 1 and 2 Thessalonians, it's all shot through with teaching about the second coming of Messiah, because it was important, and he had taught them.

Oh, we won't keep turning there, but anyway, we got Titus 2 .13. Now, go ahead, turn there.

Titus 2 .13. Paul says, this testimony is true.

That's 1 .13, and that's not the right verse. Here we go, 2 .13. I'm thinking, man, that doesn't look right, and indeed it wasn't.

All right, let's pick it up. Verse 11. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age.

Verse 13. Looking for the blessed hope in the appearing of the glory of our great

God and Savior, Christ Jesus. What is the motivation for denying ungodliness and worldly desires and living sensibly and righteously and godly in the present age?

It is the return of our great and God's Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the second coming.

The second coming. Oh, 1

John 2 .28, I'm going to turn there. But now, little children, abide in him,

John says, so that when he appears, we, notice it again, we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame at his coming.

By the way, Paul has passed on by now. John is the last living disciple, apostle.

And yet, even in his old age, he has seen them come and go. They all expected to see it and didn't.

And yet, for John, it is still that we may have confidence. He took his expectation to the grave with him as well.

Revelation 22 .7, Jesus says, behold, I am coming quickly.

Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book. So, belief in the imminent return of Christ, the any time return of Christ for us is a motivator towards righteous, holy living.

That's the way James uses it. That's the way Paul uses it. That's the way

John uses it. That's the way Jesus uses it. And that's the way we should use it as well.

It is not to satisfy our idle curiosity about what is going on in the latest news from the

Middle East or whatever. It is to promote holy living, holy living.

Now, put a bow around this. From God's perspective, the date of the return of Christ is fixed.

It is fixed. Acts 1 .7, he that is Jesus said to them, it is not for you.

Their question is, is it now? It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the

Father has fixed by his own authority. The time of the return of Christ is a fixed date, but only a fixed date known to God.

But from a human perspective, it can be any time, any time.

And that should motivate us. Because if we are actively looking for the blessed hope, it brings perspective for life's difficulties.

This is not going to go on forever. Whatever challenging situation you find yourself in at this moment or will soon come upon you, it's not forever.

It is not forever. Christ is coming again.

Amen? That is the anchor of our soul. And in light of that, the pity things that bother us, they begin to fade in terms of the glory of this coming kingdom.

They're right here in front of us. They seem to overwhelm us. But if we can just pull back, they begin to fade.

They begin to fade. And if and when we are called upon to suffer for his name's sake, it is the imminent return of Christ that gives us that firm anchor to which we can latch our souls.

That is its purpose. That is why the Church is impoverished when she fails to fully teach the full canon of God and, in particular, the amount of information that is included for us about the glorious return of Christ and the establishment of his kingdom.

It is an anchor for our souls. Let's pray. Well, Father, we pray that the glimpse that we have received this morning through the

Scriptures about the imminent return of your Son, who sits at your right hand waiting until you make your enemies a footstool for his feet, that he will come and return in glory with his angels.

And the wicked will be judged, and Satan will be bound, and sin will be vanquished.

And that your people, many of whom have suffered deeply through the ages, will see with their own eyes in their flesh, they will see the

Lord. And that all the suffering, all of the difficulties faced, all the decisions that were made in light of a belief in the second coming of Christ for us on the

New Testament side and for Messiah's kingdom on the Old Testament side, that anchor for the soul finds its final completion.

And so, Father, I pray for each and every one of us here this morning, some struggling greatly with great difficulties.

Father, I pray that you, by your Spirit, would help them to lift their eyes off of their circumstances and to look forward with eyes of faith to the imminent return of Christ.

It could be at any moment. We pray,

O Lord, Maranatha, come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen and Amen.

Well, beloved, we will see you again here next week as we finish the book of James.