Why is God Waiting On the Second Coming? | W. Robert Godfrey

The Hope of Christ’s Return and the Salvation of the Elect

Think if the Thessalonians had gotten their wish and that their suffering had been ended, that Christ had returned in glory in the first century, what would have become of you? More importantly, what would have become of me?

Just seeing if you're still awake, just seeing. Why is God waiting? Well, He's waiting to gather all of the elect. He's waiting to gather all of the elect so that not one will be lost. One of the greatest promises of the New Testament, not one will be lost.

Paul says in 1 Thessalonians, he's waiting for the wicked to fill up their cup. That's a theme that runs through the Bible. God is giving the wicked time to repent. At the last day, the wicked will never have the right to say, I didn't have enough time.

God’s Patience Toward the Wicked and Time for Repentance

God's plan gives them time. And God's plan gives us time to be sanctified. Paul in 1 Thessalonians particular calls the Thessalonians to be a holy people. Paul occasionally, not very often, but occasionally uses language that we find troubling.

My nine-year-old grandson asked his six-year-old brother, what is sin? And the six-year-old brother said, sin is disobedience to God's law. Sin is doing things wrong. And then the six-year-old thought a minute and said, what are the good things we do?

And the nine-year-old being properly catechized said, we don't do any good things. Now, that's true up to a point. It's true before God's holy and perfect law. But Paul says to the Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, you know how I was blameless and righteous before you, and I want you, he says later in the letter, I want you to be blameless and holy before the Lord.

Blamelessness, Holiness, and Faithfulness in Christian Service

Now, if you're a Calvinist like me and inclined to say, oh, that can't be right. Maybe Paul could be blameless, although even then we're a little suspicious. What is Paul saying there? He's not saying that he has achieved moral perfection or that he expects us to achieve moral perfection, but he's saying he has been entirely set aside to the service of Christ.

And in that service, he's been faithful. And he's saying to the Thessalonians, he's saying to us, Christ wants us to be faithful, not to earn His favor, but to be servants who shine in this dark world.

That's why it's important that the Thessalonians work and not be lazy. It was why he called the Thessalonians to be sexually pure and not impure and defiled. It's why he called them to be faithful in their callings, because all of that is a way of testifying to Christ and to His saving grace in the world.

Living Faithfully While Waiting for Christ

And so, Paul is saying, while you wait, you have to be faithful, living for Christ and letting your light shine. And I think as we live in a world that is more and more antagonistic towards Christianity, more and more, it'll be our lives that people look at first and maybe hear our words more slowly.