Series: Advent: The Season to Prepare for Jesus’ Arrival

Title: How to Wait on Jesus’ Return

Text: James 5:7-10

At Jesus’ first advent:

The people expected that he would come in great power to defeat the oppressive and cruel Romans.

They expected Him to come with sword in hand riding on a mighty war horse.

They expected Him to raise up a might army.

They expected Him to bring them great wealth.

They expected Jesus to be a great deliverer like:

King David who 1000 years earlier had defeated the pagan perverted Philistines.

Or Judas Maccabeus who in 168 BC, miraculous defeated the Greek ruler Antiochus Epiphanes, who had slaughter God’s people and desecrated the temple of God by sacrificing an unclean pig on the Altar of God.

 

 

Instead, Jesus came meek and mild, born in a manger.

He came in poverty. When it was time for his mother Mary to offer sacrifice in the temple for her purification after childbirth. They could not afford the standard sacrifice of a lamb, they could only afford the sacrifice of two doves, the sacrifice reserved for only the poorest in the land (Leviticus 12 & Luke 2).

When he rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he rode on a borrowed burro, not a great war horse (Matthew 21).

He came as a servant-king, not a tyrant.

His greatest triumph was through his tortuous shameful death on the cross.

Those who should have recognized him and worshiped him, rejected him:

King Herod

The Pharisees

The Scribes

The temple priests

 

Those who should not have recognized him, worshiped him:

The Persian magi.

Unschooled fishermen.

The unclean woman with the issue of blood.

The powerless blind man.

At Jesus’ second advent, he will not come meek and mild.

He will come in great power and might. He will come as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Two weeks ago, as I spoke from Matthew 24 on what it will be like at Jesus’ second advent.

Jesus said,

37As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:37 (NIV)

Though Noah had warned the people for 100 years of the coming flood of God’s judgment, the people refused to listen. When the flood came, those who had rejected God’s Word were surprised that they were swept away in God’s judgment.

"So it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." At the second advent of Jesus, those who reject him, those who refuse to repent, those who are not ready to meet Him, will be swept away in God’s judgment.

 

Revelation 19 tells us, he will come on a white horse:

With eyes blazing like fire.

With many crows upon his head.

With an iron scepter in his hand.

With a sharp sword to strike down the nations (Revelation 19).

As I asked two weeks ago:

Are you ready? Are you prepared?

Recently I read a poem with a familiar ring. Here goes...

‘Twas the night before Jesus came and all through the house

not a creature was praying, not one in the house.

Their Bibles were lain on the shelf without care

In hopes that Jesus would not come there.

The children were dressing to crawl into bed,

Not once ever kneeling or bowing a head.

And Mom in her rocker with the babe on her lap,

Was watching the Late Show while I took a nap.

When out of the East there arose such a clatter,

I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash!

When what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But angels proclaiming that Jesus was here!

With a light like the sun sending forth a bright ray.

I knew in a moment this must be THE DAY!

The light of His face made me cover my head,

It was Jesus returning just like He said!

And though I possessed worldly wisdom and immense wealth,

I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself.

In the Book of Life which He held in His hand,

Was written the name of every-saved man.

He spoke not a word as He searched for my name;

When He said, "It’s not here," my head hung in shame.

The people whose names had been written with love,

He gathered to take to His Father above.

With those who were ready He rose without a sound,

While all the rest were left standing around.

I fel1 to my knees, but it was too late;

I had waited too long and thus sealed my fate.

I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight;

Oh, if only we had been ready tonight!

In the words of this poem the meaning is clear;

The coming of Jesus is drawing near!

There's only one life and when comes the last call,

We’l1 find that the Bible was true after all!

Author Unknown

Are you ready to for Jesus’ second advent? Are you prepared?

As Jesus said in Matthew 24,

44So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Matthew 24:44 (NIV)

 

What should you do to be ready for Jesus’ second advent?

Our reading from James chapter five tells us what you should do.

Our reading from James chapter five tells us how to wait on Jesus’ return.

1. Be patient for Jesus’ return.

2. Stand firm.

3. Refuse to grumble against each other.

4. Persevere in the face of suffering.

 

Please turn to James chapter five, beginning at verse seven.

First he tells us to:

7Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.

James 5:7 (NIV)

Just as the farmer plants his seeds, knowing a shoot, then the blade, then the grain, and then the harvest will come,

So you must be patient, knowing that Jesus will fulfill His promise to, "come again in glory to judge the living and the dead."

That is why we have the season of Advent, to make sure we continually hold before us the fact of Jesus’ second advent.

 

Secondly, in verse eight, James tells us to:

8...stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.

James 5:8 (NIV)

Stand firm in your faith in Jesus.

Stand firm in holy living.

Stand firm in the face of persecution – the jabs and jibs against your faith.

As 1 Peter 5:9 reminds us,

9Resist [Satan], standing firm in the faith...

1 Peter 5:8-9 (NIV)

As 2 Peter chapter three reminds us:

Stand firm against false teachers who try to infiltrate the church.

Secondly, stand firm.

Thirdly, in chapter five, verse nine, James commands us:

9Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

James 5:9 (NIV)

Grumbling creates an environment of discontent, of finger pointing, of divisiveness, of retribution.

Those who grumble play the blame game, but I guarantee you, they are NOT blaming themselves.

In the New Testament letter of Jude, grumblers are described like this:

16These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

Jude 1:16 (NIV)

In Exodus 15 the people grumbled against Moses, their anointed leader.

In Exodus 16 the people grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Moses told the people:

8...You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD."

Exodus 16:8 (NIV)

In Numbers 14,

26The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:

27"How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites.

28So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: ²⁹In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me.
Numbers 14:26-29 (NIV)

The Lord takes grumbling very very serious. The Lord wants you and me to be focused on Jesus, to be truly lovingly concerned for one another, to be focused on mission and ministry, not grumbling "against each other."

Fourthly, persevere in the face of suffering. In chapter five verse 10, James tells us:

10Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

For instance, the prophet Isaiah faithfully spoke the Word of God, he foretold the coming of Jesus, and he confronted the sins of God’s people,

but instead of repenting (as Noland encouraged us to do last week) the people refused to listen.

After refused to say what they wanted to hear, they decided to get rid of him; they literally sawed him in two.

http://wesley.nnu.edu/biblical_studies/noncanon/ot/pseudo/amartis.htm

Isaiah persevered even to the point of death. He did not give up!

The prophet Elijah, faithfully spoke the Word of God, to God’s people who had become increasingly immoral and corrupt.

Even though he defeated the prophets of Baal and Asherah through the mighty power of God,

He feared for his life and fled into the wilderness.

He felt like a total failure.

He was emotionally spent.

No one stood by him to encourage him.

Yet, in the face of financial, physical, and emotional suffering, Elijah persevered. He did not give up!

In chapter five verse 11, James goes on to describe, "Job’s perseverance," and how God rewarded him in the end because he did not give up.

Fourthly, persevere in the face of suffering.

How are you waiting on Jesus’ return? Are you following God’s instructions:

1. To be patient for Jesus’ return.

2. To stand firm.

3. To refuse to grumble against each other.

4. To persevere in the face of suffering.

 

One day in 1789, as the Connecticut House of Representatives was meeting, a dark ominous storm appeared.

It was so severe, some even wondered if Jesus was returning, bringing the Day of Judgment.

The Speaker of the House, Colonel Davenport, rose and said,

"The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought."

Henry Heintz, Troy, New York. Leadership, Vol. 5, no. 2.

How about you, when the Lord returns, will he find you doing your duty?

Will he find you:

1. Being patient for Jesus’ return?

2. Standing firm in the faith?

3. Refusing to grumble against each other?

4. Persevering in the face of suffering?