The Eager Mindset: Living in Light of His Return

• Grace vs. Legalism [00:40:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that the grace of God is the essential foundation for sanctification, warning that missing this truth leads to moralism and legalism, similar to the Judaizers of the first century.
• The Posture of Waiting [00:42:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines 'waiting' not as passive inactivity, but as an active, eager mental and spiritual posture of expectation regarding the return of Jesus Christ.
• Biblical Definition of Hope [00:44:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains the Greek terms 'elpidos' (fixed future event) and 'makarios' (blessed/happy) to define Christian hope as a certain, joyful expectation of Christ's return, distinct from wishful thinking.
• Spiritual Distractions [00:46:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies anxieties, fears, and fleeting worldly pleasures as forces that crowd out the 'blessed hope' of Christ's return in the believer's mind.
• The Second Coming as Historical Event [00:48:38 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that Paul viewed Christ's return as a definite historical event (epiphany), contrasting the believer's certainty with the secularist's anxiety about the future.
• Ethical Framework of Hope [00:57:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that expecting Christ's return is linked to ethical living, specifically renouncing ungodliness and living self-controlled lives, using the analogy of a child waiting for a parent.
• Parables of Readiness [01:00:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor analyzes the Parable of the Faithful Servant and the Parable of the Ten Virgins to illustrate that genuine faith results in righteous living while awaiting Christ's return.
• The Parable of the Faithful and Unfaithful Servant [01:03:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains the first parable where a servant acts wickedly, concluding that Jesus returns unexpectedly to judge hypocrisy, teaching believers to live righteously.
• The Parable of the Ten Virgins [01:04:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor details the story of the ten bridesmaids, distinguishing between the wise (prepared with oil) and foolish (unprepared), illustrating the need for spiritual alertness and readiness for Christ's return.
• The Parable of the Talents [01:09:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor analyzes the third parable regarding servants entrusted with money, emphasizing that true believers demonstrate faithfulness and generosity with their resources, while the unfaithful are judged.
• The Second Coming and Christ's Glory [01:15:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor discusses the 'epiphany of the glory' of Jesus, explaining that believers will see Christ in full glory and be transformed into holy, resurrection bodies, leading to eternal worship.
• Resurrection and Holiness [01:19:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that seeing Christ results in becoming like Him with resurrection bodies, completely holy and purified from sin, allowing us to gaze on His glory without the hindrance of sin.
• True vs. Professor Faith [01:21:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor challenges the congregation to distinguish between being a true servant of Christ and merely a 'professor' or 'through the motions' Christian, urging repentance and genuine faith.
• Ethical Living and Alertness [01:22:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor asks if the congregation is living righteously, alertly, and faithfully in light of Christ's coming glory, emphasizing that this reality should spur ethical living.
• Longing for Christ's Return [01:22:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor emphasizes that a genuine Christian heart must long to see Christ, contrasting this with being 'cold' or 'lukewarm,' and leads a prayer for God to set hearts aflame for this desire.

• Sermon Illustration [00:42:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of children eagerly waiting for a birthday or Christmas, parents of WWII soldiers waiting for their sons to return home, and his own personal countdown of 100 days to his wedding day to illustrate the concept of 'waiting' as an active, eager posture of the mind.
• Sermon Illustration [00:50:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of an illusionist suddenly disappearing and reappearing to explain the Greek word 'epiphaneia' (epiphany) regarding Christ's sudden return.
• Sermon Illustration [00:55:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the movie 'Independence Day' and other catastrophic films to illustrate the fear and uncertainty secularists have about the end of the world, contrasting it with the believer's hope.
• Sermon Illustration [00:58:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a child hearing their mother say 'wait till your father gets home' to explain how the expectation of Christ's return motivates ethical behavior and 'straightening up.'
• Sermon Illustration [01:04:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes the ancient tradition of wedding parties meeting the bridegroom with torches to explain the context of the Parable of the Ten Virgins.
• Sermon Illustration [01:05:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes the mechanics of ancient torches used in the parable of the ten virgins, explaining how a cloth wick is doused in oil to burn slowly, requiring trimming of the charred cloth and re-soaking to maintain the flame.
• Sermon Illustration [01:07:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses a football analogy, referencing the phrase 'keep your head on a swivel,' to illustrate the concept of being watchful and alert like the wise virgins waiting for the bridegroom.
• Sermon Illustration [01:17:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the Transfiguration and John's vision in Revelation (white hair, robe, golden sash, sword of the Word, eyes like fire) to illustrate the visible glory of Jesus that will be revealed at His return.
• Sermon Illustration [01:20:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the biblical account of Moses at the burning bush, who groveled in the dirt and was afraid to look up because he was on holy ground, contrasting this with the future state of believers who will gaze with unveiled faces.
• Sermon Illustration [01:21:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of wearing a 'Jesus t-shirt' to illustrate superficial religious affiliation, questioning if those who grow up in church or wear Christian symbols truly know and love Christ.

• Pastoral Charge [00:53:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > Write down the biblical references provided by the pastor.
• Pastoral Charge [00:59:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > Write down 1 John 3:3.
• Pastoral Charge [01:00:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > Turn to Matthew chapter 24 in their Bibles.
• Pastoral Charge [01:22:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor commands those who are merely 'professors' or 'through the motions' to repent, confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, and trust Him for salvation.
• Pastoral Charge [01:21:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > Repent of sins, confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, and trust Him for salvation.
• Pastoral Charge [01:23:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > Pray for God to fan the flames of love and longing for Christ's return in their hearts.

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:05:42] Welcome this morning as we come together in worship. In 1 Chronicles 29, 1 Chronicles 29, David gives an outstanding example of benediction for God's goodness when he said in verse 10, So David blessed Yahweh in sight of all the assembly, and David said,
[00:06:05] Blessed are you, O Yahweh, the God of Israel, our Father, from everlasting to everlasting.
[00:06:12] Yours, O Yahweh, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed, everything that is in the heavens and the earth.
[00:06:24] yours is the kingdom oh Yahweh and you exalt yourself as head over all both riches and honor come from you and you rule over all and in your hand is power and might and it lies in your hand
[00:06:39] to make great and to strengthen everyone so now our God we are thanking you and praising your glorious name. And we would echo those words. They give us a picture of the majesty and awesomeness of God. But David also realized that it was not just the external act of praise
[00:07:03] and adoration that God was concerned with. Because in verse 17, he says, and I know, oh my God, that you try the heart and delight in uprightness. And then he says, in the uprightness of my heart,
[00:07:18] I have willingly offered all these things he says in verse 18 oh Yahweh the God of Abraham Isaac and Israel our fathers keep this forever in the intentions of the heart of your people and prepare
[00:07:35] their heart to you for external adoration is more than just words of praise because what has to be connected to that is those must be an indication of a heart that seeks after righteousness.
[00:07:56] So this morning, let's prepare our hearts to sacrifice to a holy God. Would you bow your heads in prayer? Father, we pray as David prayed, that God, you would rule over the intentions of our heart, that you would subject our will to you, to your sovereign power and grace, and that,
[00:08:29] Father, what flows from us this morning would be a spiritual act, Father, an act that seeks to adore you, to praise you, to honor you, to glorify you, that comes not only from our lips, from hearts
[00:08:48] that desire to please and worship a great and awesome God. Be glorified in our midst.
[00:08:59] We ask this in our Savior's name. Amen. Let's sing together that hymn, All Creatures of Our God and King. A couple new verses that we'll join together and sing on verse three and four, But would you stand together as we sing?

[00:10:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:10:12] Hallelujah.
[00:11:15] Joyous in His great love.
[00:11:55] Heard in power to reign.
[00:12:00] The earth will join to say, Oh, praise Him.
[00:12:07] Hallelujah.

[00:12:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:12:50] One another, one another in the name of Christ.

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:13:30] Good morning.

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:13:39] I love the sound of that as people greet one another and share what excitement, all the things that have happened over the week.
[00:13:46] And welcome.
[00:13:47] My name is Jim Briggs.
[00:13:49] I'm the pastor of discipleship here at the King's Chapel, and I do offer you a very warm welcome.
[00:13:55] A little bit humid as well, but welcome nonetheless.
[00:13:59] I wish you would go ahead and take out your insert for today's catechism questions.
[00:14:06] We're going to take a look at the Heidelberg Catechism, as we do every week.
[00:14:10] And the reason that we do this is because the catechism teaches us the core Christian doctrines and biblical truths. And it also helps to prepare us to defend the faith against wrong ideas.
[00:14:26] And so today we're going to take a look at a couple of questions dealing with the Lord's Prayer to help us better understand the Lord's Prayer. But in addition to teaching and helping us to defend the faith, it also gives us the words to help us to worship rightly our triune God. So
[00:14:43] if you will, I'm going to read the questions, starting with question 80, and we'll go to 81, and then you respond with the answer. So question 80. How does the Lord's Supper differ from the
[00:15:00] Roman Catholic Mass? The Lord's Supper declares to us that all our sins are completely forgiven through the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which he himself accomplished on the cross once for all.
[00:15:18] It also declares to us that the Holy Spirit wraps us into Christ, who is his true body, is now in heaven at the right hand of the Father, where he wants us to worship him.
[00:15:34] But the Mass teaches that the living and the dead do not have their sins forgiven through the suffering of Christ unless Christ is still offered for them daily by the priest.
[00:15:48] It also teaches that Christ is bodily present under the form of bread and wine where Christ is therefore to be worshipped.
[00:15:59] And that is basically nothing but a denial of the one sacrifice the suffering of Jesus Christ and a condemnable idolatry.
[00:16:12] Question 81.
[00:16:14] Who should come to the Lord's table?
[00:16:17] Those who are displeased with themselves because of their sins, but who nevertheless trust that their sins are pardoned and that their remaining weakness is covered by the suffering of the death of Christ, who also desire more and more to strengthen their faith
[00:16:40] and to lead a better life.
[00:16:43] Hypocrites and those who are unrepentant eat and drink judgment on themselves.
[00:16:51] Thank you.

[00:17:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:17:00] Well, good morning again.
[00:17:01] And just as Pastor Jim said, welcome to the King's Chapel on this beautiful Lord's Day.
[00:17:06] And if you're a visitor with us here at the church, welcome.
[00:17:08] We are so glad that you're here, and on the behalf of the staff, the pastoral staff and the elders, we are so glad that you're worshiping with us at the King's Chapel.
[00:17:18] One of the things I'd encourage you to do if you are a guest with us is, in the pew before you, you should see a connect card, a blue and white connect card.
[00:17:26] And I would encourage you, if you would, just take a few minutes and fill it out and then drop it in the offering plate so that you pass it around here in just a few moments.
[00:17:33] Or you can drop it off at the welcome desk, which is to my right, just around the corner here, as you exit through the gathering hall doors.
[00:17:41] We'd love to have the opportunity to meet you and to maybe answer any questions that you have regarding the King's Chapel.
[00:17:47] And you'll also see on that same card a prayer request, some lines to fill out a prayer request.
[00:17:53] And so if you do have something you would like the prayer team and the staff to pray for, please do the same and fill it out and then drop it in the offering plates, which will be passed around in just a second.
[00:18:03] But if you will, take just a few moments with me.
[00:18:06] that was for free the word the word jumble there but if you will take your bulletin and open up with me as you can see here in the life of our church we have a lot of events and ministry taking
[00:18:18] place but one thing i'd like to just bring to your attention as you can see in the handout are life groups life groups are starting back next sunday august 16th at 9 a.m so true or false
[00:18:30] they start at 10 a.m. All right, we're listening. So they start at nine o'clock, and I would encourage you to join us next Sunday. You have the class descriptions there, and so feel free to pray
[00:18:43] through these descriptions and then join us next Sunday. Now, one common question I always get here at the church is, do you have to sign up to attend a life class or life group? No, you don't. Or what
[00:18:55] happens if I miss one? Am I out for the whole year? No, please come. Even if you're a guest with us, or you want to pray through it and then come in a couple of weeks, join us.
[00:19:04] It's a great way to build gospel community, have the Word of God taught faithfully, and as well as to be able to just have a sweet time together of fellowship in our Life Group Hour.
[00:19:14] So again, join us next Sunday on the 16th.
[00:19:17] But as you can see here in the Life for Church, we have a lot going on here, and so I would encourage you to please make sure you check out our website as well as our bulletin
[00:19:25] to stay involved and as well as to sign up to participate with us in these ministry events.
[00:19:31] Well, I'm going to ask now if our ushers and deacons will come forward to receive our tithes and offerings. And if you will, let's go to the Lord in prayer and ask him to continue
[00:19:39] to bless our service this morning. Father, as your word reminds us, the Lord reigns.
[00:19:47] He is robed in majesty. The Lord is robed. He has put on the strength of his belt.
[00:19:51] Yes, the world is established, and it shall never be moved.
[00:19:55] Your throne is established from of old.
[00:19:57] You are from everlasting.
[00:19:59] Father, I pray that as we are here this morning on this Lord's Day, help us, Lord, to give you all the honor and the praise, Lord, from our hearts, from the depths of our souls.
[00:20:10] Father, I pray that as we continue to build a time, Lord, a fellowship, we pray together, sing songs of praise, and then as we will have the Word of God preached, Lord, transform us, Lord, in our hearts into the image of Christ.
[00:20:25] God, convict us of sin and encourage us in our walk with Christ.
[00:20:29] And Lord, that everything we do in this hour bring you honor and praise.
[00:20:33] Father, we love you and we pray these things in the good name of Christ.
[00:20:36] Amen.

[00:20:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:20:36] The fountain filled with blood Run from Emmanuel's face And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty state A dying thief rejoiced to see
[00:22:03] That fountain in his day And there may I, though vile as he wash all my sins away, wash all, wash all my sins away, and there may I, though vile as he, I'll show my sins
[00:22:45] Her sin by faith I saw stream Thy flowing wound Supply In love has been my theme And shall be till I die I sigh in the grave Any sweeter song I'll sing thy power to save, I'll sing power to many, a nobler, sweeter song, thy power to, I'll sing, join together as we sing this song, beautiful Savior, let's stand together as we sing.
[00:25:52] All my days, all my days, I will sing this song of gladness.
[00:26:12] Give my praise to the fountain of delight.
[00:26:20] For in my helplessness, you heard my cry.
[00:26:28] And waves of mercy pour down on my life We'll trust the cross of mother blood That lay of God's blood And life without end Beautiful say the truth, the lie We'll share, you're the way, the truth, the lie
[00:28:41] Beautiful say, oh, good man, you're the way, the truth, the lie I invite you to open your Bibles to Titus chapter 2 and parenthetically I've heard from many of you

[00:29:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:29:55] asking where are the notes this morning I intentionally didn't print them you know why because over the past few months before I left I noticed people weren't opening their Bibles you were just following along in the notes so we're getting the gonna get in the practice again of
[00:30:15] opening up our bibles and then maybe the notes will reappear so Titus 2 verse 11 for the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled upright and godly lives in the present age
[00:30:43] waiting for our 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 lawlessness and to purify for himself a people
[00:31:01] for his own possession who are zealous for good works declare these things exhort and rebuke with all authority let no one disregard you this is God's holy word you may be seated and let's go
[00:31:18] to the throne of grace in prayer heavenly father we come to you this morning by the righteousness and the blood and the resurrection power of Jesus Christ who ever lives to make intercession for us
[00:31:35] at the right hand of the Father. Jesus Christ, we confess, is our great pioneer, the one who has gone before us, our older brother who stands in our place, and it is by his name that we come this
[00:31:49] morning offering praises to God, not in Jerusalem, but here in Raleigh, North Carolina, in the power of the Holy Spirit, knowing that you hear us because of Jesus Christ. We come this morning and we worship in spirit and in truth.
[00:32:05] We worship in spirit, meaning our hearts.
[00:32:07] We give our hearts to you, the praise of a life of devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:32:14] And Lord, we aim to worship in truth.
[00:32:16] We do not want to worship in falsehoods, Lord.
[00:32:19] We want to worship you as you really are.
[00:32:21] We confess that you are the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except by you, that you are our beautiful Savior, our wonderful counselor everlasting father prince of peace mighty god you are our lord
[00:32:39] and lord we confess that we are your slaves we want to please you we want to serve you we want to live for you we want to be transformed by the renewing of our minds we want our lives to be
[00:32:53] holy sacrifices to you so Lord to that end we confess our sins we repent of our sins and we endeavor to live holy lives help us to do this Lord help us to be like lights amidst a crooked
[00:33:09] and depraved generation Lord you called us the salt of the earth the light of the world the city set on a hill so Lord may we live in that way Lord may your church be reformed and revived the only
[00:33:23] hope in this country, Lord, is for a revival of your church. So, Lord, may the people of God humble themselves, repent of our sins, and endeavor to follow Christ anew. Lord, we do not want to be
[00:33:38] found asleep when you come. We want our hearts to be zealous for you, burning for you. So, Lord, may we worship you now this morning in that way. We give you all the praise and all the glory for

[00:33:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:33:57] Christ's sake. Amen. The Apostle Paul reminds us that we should pray in the Spirit and ask you to remain seated and we'll sing this next song as a prayer. Holy Spirit, living breath of God.

[00:34:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:34:15] Holy Spirit, living breath of God, breathe new life into my willing soul.
[00:34:39] Bring the presence of the risen Lord to renew my heart and make me whole.
[00:34:54] Cause your word to come alive in me.
[00:35:01] Give me faith for what I cannot see.
[00:35:08] Give me passion for your purity.
[00:35:12] the holy spirit breathe new life in me continuing praying together peace come up right with me may your joy be in all love enough covering in each thought and need and attitude to the greatest
[00:35:58] stand the gentleness that sows the path strivings into works of grace breath of god show christ in all life of creation god has made show your power once again your church hunger for your way amen
[00:36:54] Let the fragrance of our prayers lead us on the road of sacrifice of Christ.
[00:37:14] With me, would you bow your heads and would you pray quietly to yourself that if there is anyone

[00:38:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:38:31] here who does not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, that they would be convicted of their sins and that they would confess Christ as Lord.
[00:38:42] Would you pray that?
[00:38:54] And now would you pray for the person to your right and to your left, that the Lord would open their eyes spiritually, that they might see Christ afresh.
[00:39:16] And finally, would you pray for yourself that you would behold wondrous things from God's law?
[00:39:36] Lord, I pray that you would speak through me now in the power of your Holy Spirit.
[00:39:40] may you be honored and glorified for Christ's sake. Amen. I invite you to open your Bibles to Titus chapter 2. We've been studying this amazing epistle to Titus. Paul wrote this to Titus who was
[00:39:57] in Crete with instructions on how to lead in the church and how to order the church. If you look at all three chapters of Titus, chapter 1 deals with putting the church into order in terms of the
[00:40:08] elders in dealing with false teaching. Chapter two deals with life in the church, the virtues and character qualities of those within the church. And then chapter three deals with life in the world, how we are to live out there. Well, chapter two, we looked at, we've been studying
[00:40:27] this. We've looked at all the virtues that Paul talks about of the older men, the younger men, the older women, the younger women of slaves. We've looked at all these virtues and we saw the amazing reality, not to be missed, that the grace of God is the foundation and the fuel
[00:40:45] of all of the Christian life. In fact, if you miss the grace of God, all that you have is moralism and legalism. Have people been prone, denominations been prone to fall into legalism and moralism? You bet they have. That was the problem in the first century with the
[00:41:04] Judaizers. But if you miss the grace of God, that's what ultimately happens. So amazing truth, Paul says, it is the grace of God that appeared, bringing salvation for all men, verse 12, that trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, godly,
[00:41:28] and upright lives in this present age. So the grace of God is the foundation of our sanctification.
[00:41:36] It's what does this work of virtue in the Christian life. And it's easy to see all that and maybe move past this passage on to chapter three, our life in the world. But I think if we
[00:41:48] do, we're going to miss something incredibly important, massively important, astoundingly important. And that is found in verse 13. And this is the mindset of the Christian. This is the mindset of someone who has encountered God's grace. This is the posture. He says,
[00:42:13] they are waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Notice that word waiting, or sometimes it's translated looking.
[00:42:35] He's talking about looking with the eyes of your mind. Waiting is a posture of the mind. It's a posture of the heart. Children, you know all about this. Many of you, you have your birthday
[00:42:49] circled on the calendar, or Christmas, and you're waiting with eager expectation, caring about your life, but you're waiting for that day, that important moment. I think about all the parents that sent off their boys in World War II, and it might look like they were carrying
[00:43:11] on with their lives. They were going to work, maybe going fishing on the weekend, doing those things, but in the back of their mind, what was going on the whole time, those four or five years
[00:43:21] that their boys were gone, what was going on? They were waiting. They were waiting for that day that their boy was coming home. You see, it's a posture of the mind, and I remember when I was
[00:43:33] engaged to Grace Anna, I counted down the days from 100 to the day of our waiting, looking forward to that day with glorious expectation. And that's the idea, that the Christian has this mindset, should have this mindset, and in fact, must have this mindset where we are looking to the day
[00:44:03] when Jesus will return. And this mindset should dominate the Christian experience.
[00:44:15] Notice what Paul calls the second coming of Jesus Christ in verse 13. He uses one article and he links this phrase, the blessed hope, to the appearing of the glory of our great God and
[00:44:33] Savior Jesus Christ. What he's saying is, is that the appearing, the second coming of Jesus Christ is the blessed hope of the Christian. Now, that word hope, elpidos, it means a fixed event in the
[00:44:53] future that will happen. It's not wishful thinking. It's not, I hope the Cowboys will win the Super Bowl this year. It's, this will happen. And notice that word blessed. It's the word makarios.
[00:45:09] us. You could translate it happy, joyful, glorious. It's what's used in the Beatitudes.
[00:45:21] Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. So Paul says that this expectation of the second coming of Jesus Christ, the appearing of Christ, is the happy, joyful hope of the Christian. That
[00:45:43] this hope is in our hearts and in our minds. This is what we carry with us. Could you use some happy hope this morning? What I have found is that so often this eager expectation of Christ's coming,
[00:46:01] this happy, glorious hope is crowded out in our minds by all sorts of tribulations, anxieties, fears, where we become so fixated on our own problems here that we forget about these glorious realities that are promised to us when our Lord returns. It's not just anxieties and trials,
[00:46:30] it's also looking at the fleeting pleasures of this world, which pale in comparison to what we will experience when the Lord Jesus returns. So, as Christians, this is the defining mindset that we are to have, that we are to be in eager expectation of the Lord's return. Paul, numerous
[00:46:59] times says this. This is 1 Corinthians 1.7. He says, wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He describes the posture of the Christian in 1 Thessalonians 1.10 as waiting for God's Son from heaven. Peter said this. This is 1 Peter 1.13. He said, therefore, preparing your minds for
[00:47:23] action and being sober-minded, listen to this, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Let me ask you this, Christian, is your hope set
[00:47:38] fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ? Is it fully there?
[00:47:47] Or are you kind of like, well, I really like the things that I'm experiencing now, and it's kind of there if that's the answer which let's be honest we all struggle with that it's because we fail to realize the greatness of the promise I'm just being honest with you
[00:48:07] and it's because we struggle with sin we struggle with the proclivities of our flesh and we fail to see things as they really are the glories that we will experience when the Lord returns, and they are glorious. There's three frameworks of Paul's mindset in verse 13.
[00:48:32] Three aspects of his thinking, and I want to show them to you this morning.
[00:48:38] The first framework is the historical framework. Nothing is more clear than this, that Paul viewed the second coming, the bodily return of Christ, as a historical event at the end of the age. It's very clear. If you look at verse 11, verse 11 is in reference to the first
[00:49:02] coming of Jesus Christ. For the grace of God has appeared. That's an aorist tense. It means it's a completed action in history. The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people. That's talking about the first coming of Jesus Christ, 6 BC to 30 to 33 AD. That happened and Jesus brought
[00:49:25] salvation to all men through his death on the cross, which is laid out in verse 14. Then he says, but we're waiting for this, verse 13, appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus
[00:49:44] Christ. He uses the same word. Look at that word appearing. It's the Greek word epiphaneia.
[00:49:50] It's where we get our English word epiphany. And it speaks to the reality of suddenly appearing.
[00:49:58] You think about an illusionist. Maybe he's standing up on the platform and he all of a sudden disappears through a mirror or a cloak or something. And then the next thing you know, he appears up in the balcony, and everybody is awed by this fact that he suddenly appears. That's the
[00:50:20] idea. And Paul uses this word epiphany to describe the second coming of Jesus Christ. You think about this. You're going about your day. There's maybe some clouds in the sky, and then all of the sudden
[00:50:35] Paul's using this descriptive language to describe he's going to appear. He's going to be there.
[00:50:44] You're not going to see him one second and then the next second he's going to be on all the news networks. He's going to be in the sky. He's going to appear is what Paul is saying. And that language
[00:50:57] is how Paul refers to the second coming of Christ over and over and over again. For example, He tells Timothy, 1 Timothy 6, 14, he says, keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach.
[00:51:13] In other words, you be faithful until the epiphany of the Lord Jesus Christ, until that moment when he appears.
[00:51:22] He says in 2 Timothy, talking about preaching the word, he says, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is the judge, the living and the dead, and by his epiphany,
[00:51:33] by his appearing.
[00:51:34] In other words, you preach as if he's going to appear that moment.
[00:51:39] That's how important it is.
[00:51:40] That's how real it is.
[00:51:41] You preach the word, Timothy.
[00:51:45] He tells the Thessalonians, talking about the Antichrist, this final man of lawlessness, he says Jesus is going to destroy him when he appears, 2 Thessalonians 2.8.
[00:51:57] And then the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing at the appearance of his coming. So Paul uses this very descriptive language to describe this second return of Christ. He also uses the word where we
[00:52:18] get apocalyptic, revelation, describes it as the revelation of Jesus Christ. So Jesus will return, he will appear we will see him and of course this is what Jesus taught his disciples remember when Jesus ascended into heaven on the Mount of Olives the disciples were there looking up into the sky
[00:52:47] and then all of a sudden there were two angels there with them you remember what they told the disciples they says men of Galilee why do you stand looking into heaven this Jesus who was
[00:52:58] taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven so Jesus will return he will return in a glory cloud in the same way that he was taken up and Paul describes
[00:53:18] it as an epiphany and a revelation we will see him instantly and why are we to hope in this why is this the happy joyful hope of the Christian jot these references down Paul teaches
[00:53:35] that when Jesus returns the dead in Christ will be raised 1 Corinthians 15 23 and we will all receive resurrection bodies also 1 Corinthians 15 1 Thessalonians 4 16 when he comes Paul teaches that he will destroy the Antichrist and God's enemy, 2 Thessalonians 2. When he comes, he will
[00:54:05] judge the living and the dead. Amazing. No wrong will go unpunished. He will judge. That's 2 Timothy 4. He will deliver believers from the wrath to come, 1 Thessalonians 1. He will hand over the
[00:54:24] kingdom to the Father. That's 1 Corinthians 15, 24. And then, amazing, we will always be with the Lord. The believer will always be with the Lord, 1 Thessalonians 4, 17. I think it's important that
[00:54:45] we emphasize that this is a historical event in Paul's mind. This gives the Christian a great peace of mind. A great peace of mind. How does the secularist look at history? The secularist looks at history with question marks. I don't know how this world will end. I don't know what
[00:55:11] could happen. You could put in every catastrophic movie into that pause in the mind of the secularist. I remember watching, I remember Independence Day where the aliens show up and it's the end of the earth. Armageddon, an asteroid is going to come from heaven and
[00:55:39] destroy the earth. You have these other movies where you have pandemics that take over the entire earth and the population of the earth is destroyed. No, no, no, no. The believer knows exactly how history will culminate. History will culminate with the return of Jesus Christ.
[00:56:03] We've read ahead. We don't have to guess at where history is going. Furthermore, how do we look at evil in the world? What do we do when we're sinned against, when we're wronged?
[00:56:19] How can we forgive? How can we take in all the injustice that we see in this world?
[00:56:24] remember what Paul says vengeance is mine says the Lord when will vengeance be meted out when will justice be done when the Lord returns so we can look at history and we know look it
[00:56:45] might seem like people are getting away with it but they're not there will be a day of justice and this brings great clarity to our thinking we know where history is going and we know what will
[00:57:06] be done and what a glorious day it will be by the way to always be with the Lord that's the happy hope that's the glorious hope is that when he comes we will forever then be with him so that's
[00:57:25] the historical framework of all this and that's clear in Paul's mind that he is looking with certainty at this event just like he looked at the certainty of the first coming of Jesus Christ but there's another aspect of Paul's thinking here that we need to see another part of his
[00:57:43] framework and that is the ethical framework in his thinking notice how Paul links verse 12 with verse 13. Look at verse 12. So the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men.
[00:58:02] Notice what the grace of God does. It's all ethical. He says it trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. Period, right? Wrong. No. Comma. The thought continues. In other words,
[00:58:24] Verse 12 is linked to verse 13. These ideas of godly living and expectation of the second coming of Christ, these ideas go together. As a kid, you ever hear from your mom, you wait till your
[00:58:41] father gets home. What does that do? It's a cry to straighten up because you don't want to be doing that when your dad gets home. So there's an ethical dimension of this. And that word that
[00:58:59] Paul uses, waiting, it implies an inactive waiting. We're not just, we're not just sitting on our thumbs. He says we're waiting. And this waiting for the Lord's coming is linked to renouncing ungodliness and worldly passions and living self-controlled, upright, and godly lives
[00:59:21] in this present age. Jot this verse down. This is 1 John 3.3. Everyone who hopes in him, talking about Christ, purifies himself as he is pure. So those who hope in the second coming of
[00:59:44] Christ purify themselves as Jesus is pure. In other words, thinking about the return of Christ changes how we live. That's what Paul is getting at. That's what Jesus taught, that thinking about his return changes how we live. We're going to take a little bit of an
[01:00:13] excursus here. I want you to turn to the left to the book of Matthew. So it's the very first book of the New Testament, and we're going to turn to Matthew chapter 24, which is a section of
[01:00:30] Scripture known as the Olivet Discourse, where Jesus is talking about future events. Jesus teaches us three parables in Matthew 24 and 25 that all have ethical dimensions to them about awaiting for his return. The first parable is the parable of the righteous and the unrighteous slave, and
[01:01:03] you find that in Matthew 24, verse 45. Look at verse 45. Who then is the faithful and wise servant or slave whom his master has set over his household to give them their food at the proper
[01:01:23] time. Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing, listen, when he comes. That's referencing the second coming. He says, truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.
[01:01:38] But if that wicked servant says to himself, my master is delayed and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he
[01:01:51] does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Let me explain
[01:02:08] this very briefly, very briefly. The servants represent those who profess Jesus Christ. He's not comparing a genuine disciple with an outright pagan. That's the scary part. He's comparing people that profess Christ in the church, two so-called slaves. Now, one is a faithful slave.
[01:02:36] that's the genuine born-again Christian the hypocrite is someone who professes Christ with their lips but doesn't actually believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord now the point of this is that in light of the second coming Jesus says that the faithful slave will live righteously
[01:03:01] he'll do what he's supposed to do he'll take the food that the master's food and he'll dispense it properly to the servants. So Jesus is saying the genuine believer will live righteously so that when Jesus returns, they will be found to be righteous by him. The professor,
[01:03:27] the hypocrite, they say, well, that's a long way off. It's free grace. I've believed in Jesus. I can live however I want. And he withholds the food from the servants. And Jesus says he will return
[01:03:46] in an hour that he does not expect. And this is language that Jesus all the time used to describe what you would call hell or later the lake of fire. He will cut him in pieces and put him with
[01:04:00] the hypocrites in that place. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The point is, Jesus is saying, in light of the second coming, his disciples will live righteously. That's the point. Second parable, really a fascinating parable that there's so much spiritual truth
[01:04:23] in this next parable. You could study it in a number of different messages, but it's the parable of the ten virgins. And again, this parable illustrates those waiting on the return of Christ. And in the parable, Jesus is compared to a bridegroom. And the bridegroom is not yet at the
[01:04:43] wedding party. So the bridal party would be at the bride's house. And they would be awaiting the bridegroom to come from the groom's house to the bridal house. And normally the wedding ceremonies would happen at the bride's house. And in this case, this is the wedding party. There are 10
[01:05:02] virgins. They are the bridesmaids. And the tradition would be that they would go out and meet the bridegroom and accompany the bridegroom to the wedding. And if it was night, they would light torches to do this. And so an ancient torch would be a long piece of bronze or some type of
[01:05:23] metal. On top, you would put kind of like Indiana Jones, you'd put a cloth up there and you would douse it in oil and the oil would keep the cloth from burning up so you would want the oil to be
[01:05:38] burning not the cloth so you would put oil there you would you would light it and then you could walk for a long time or at least until that oil all burned up and then the cloth would start to
[01:05:50] burn and then trimming the wicks if you will that's you're trimming off the part of the cloth that has been charred, and then you're re-soaking that cloth in oil so that it will keep burning.
[01:06:06] Now, same principle that Jesus taught with the unrighteous and the righteous slave. Now, the ten bridesmaids, the ten virgins, they're the professing church. These aren't pagans here.
[01:06:22] these are professors and he says five are faithful and five are foolish five are wise five are foolish and they go out and there's a period where it seems like the bridegroom has been delayed and
[01:06:42] they all fall asleep and maybe there's something to read into that about the church not being awake but suddenly the bridegroom is there and the five wise virgins they wake up they put oil on their
[01:06:57] lamps they they they get them lit and then the five fullest virgins are saying hey can we borrow some oil they said we don't have enough oil so they have to run to the market and by that time
[01:07:09] the bridegroom goes with the wise virgins into the banquet hall and then by the time the foolish virgins come, the door is shut, and it's too late. By the way, what's going on in the banquet hall?
[01:07:26] A party, a banquet, the marriage supper of the Lamb. That's what we're invited to.
[01:07:37] So what's the point of the parable? What's the singular point about what distinguished the the wise virgins from the foolish they lived alertly in other words they they were ready football we used to say keep your head on a swivel you know that the receiver he's not
[01:07:59] running for ice cream he's going to the you you watch they were watchful they were ready they were alert. If you look at verse 13, he says, watch therefore, for you know neither the day
[01:08:26] nor the hour. That's the point. You live with your soul ready to meet the Lord. No unfinished business, no unrepentant sin no secrets in the closet but you are ready you live ready to meet the Lord
[01:08:54] and then this third parable sometimes called the parable of the talents or you could say the parable of the stewards so so the first one the righteous and the unrighteous slave teaches you to live righteously. The second parable teaches you to live alertly. And then this third parable
[01:09:21] teaches you to live faithfully. Faithfully. Jesus says this is what this period in time of redemptive history is like. He says it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. Who does the man represent? Obviously, Jesus. Jesus
[01:09:43] has gone on a journey. He has gone into the right hand of the Father where he rules and reigns in heaven. And he has entrusted his servants with talents who are his servants. That would be us.
[01:09:56] A talent is a massive sum of money. Today, it would be equivalent to six to eight hundred thousand dollars. It's probably the amount of money that it would take a worker to earn in 10
[01:10:09] to 12 years. It's a massive investment. And Jesus says, this is what the kingdom of heaven is like now. He says, Jesus has gone, verse 15, he says he gives to one slave five talents, to another two,
[01:10:27] to another one, each according to his ability, and then he goes away. He says, he who received the five talents, went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he
[01:10:39] had two talents, made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. In other words, he does nothing. Nothing. What does he do with God
[01:10:52] gives him? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Verse 19, after a long time, the master of those servants came that's the second coming settled accounts with them he who had received the five talents came forward bringing five talents more saying master you delivered to me five talents here I
[01:11:14] made five talents more his master said and well done good and faithful servant you have been faithful over little I will set you over much enter into the joy of your master and he also
[01:11:25] he who had the two talents came forward saying master you delivered to me two talents here I have made two talents more his master said to him well done good and faithful servant you've been faithful over a little I will set you over much enter into the joy of your master in other
[01:11:42] words what you do with your time your talent your treasure now matters for the position and reward that you will have in heaven. Do you see that? How you steward the talents that you have now
[01:12:03] is indicative of what you will be given to steward at the final judgment in the eternal kingdom.
[01:12:13] It's amazing to think about. But he says, verse 24, he who also had received the one talent came forward saying, master, I knew you to be a hard man reaping where you did not sow and gathering
[01:12:29] where you scattered no seed so I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the ground here you have what is yours but his master answered him you wicked and slothful servant you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed then you ought
[01:12:48] to have invested my money with the bankers and at my coming I should have received what was mine own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For
[01:13:00] everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And again, the same judgment as before. This is the final
[01:13:16] wrath of God. He says, cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Here's the point. Those that are true believers, those have received grace, they will be faithful. They will be faithful. Obviously, to different
[01:13:36] degrees, that's part of Jesus' teaching. Some with the five talents, they're faithful with that.
[01:13:42] Those with the two talents, they're faithful with that. So we shouldn't look and compare. But nevertheless with the genuine Christian there will be faithfulness with what Jesus has given there will be generosity they will love to give to the church there will be a willingness to serve
[01:13:59] of my time yes I want to give my time to evangelize I want to give my time to to serve with the children I want to give my time to Jesus all by the way does anything that you have actually
[01:14:12] belong to you? The day that you have tomorrow, is it yours? No. Everything that we own belongs to him. And we have been called to be faithful, Jesus said. So Jesus teaches in three parables.
[01:14:36] He says, you better live righteously in light of the fact that I'm going to return.
[01:14:40] you better live alertly in light of the fact that I'm going to return and third you better live faithfully in light of the fact that I will return and that's the ethical framework that Paul is thinking about if you turn back that was the excursus so turn back to the right to
[01:15:02] to Titus so Paul is thinking okay this is historical he is going to appear in history Second, this is ethical. It matters then how we live. The fact that he's going to return, it trains us to renounce ungodliness and to live for him. And then the greatest aspect of Paul's
[01:15:26] thinking is found here at the end of verse 13, this final phrase. And this is the doxological framework of Paul's thinking. The doxological, that's a fancy word for glory. Notice this amazing, exalted language that he uses to describe the second coming of Christ. He says,
[01:15:52] the epiphany of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Whoa, that's loaded language.
[01:16:07] you can't get a higher Christology than that notice what he calls Jesus Christ look at this what does he call Jesus Christ and and by the way this is translated absolutely correctly there's one article that's used to describe great God sometimes people have separated this the
[01:16:29] appearing of the great God and the Savior Jesus Christ in other words great God doesn't necessarily refer to Savior Jesus Christ. There's one article that goes before all of it. It's talking about the same person because Jesus Christ is God. Paul is teaching the doctrine of the Trinity. There's one
[01:16:51] God, yes, but God is three, Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is truly God. The Son is truly God. The Holy Spirit is truly God. Paul calls Jesus the great God. He is the great God
[01:17:06] and Savior, Jesus Christ. And notice that he uses this word glory, the appearance of the glory of Jesus Christ. When Jesus was on this earth, his glory was concealed.
[01:17:27] that it was revealed remember on the mount of transfiguration peter james and john and and jesus said come up and he revealed in a moment his marvelous glory they were stunned and paul says when he comes back it'll be in that glory john if you read revelation chapter one he has a glimpse
[01:17:57] of this he says i saw the lord i saw him and he says he had white hair like wool he's wearing a robe a golden sash a sword which is the word of god and the sword is not a literal sword he's
[01:18:18] speaking the word of god and it's like a sword and john described him he said his eyes were like flames of fire and his face shone like the sun. So when Jesus comes back, we'll be caught up
[01:18:43] with the saints. You're going to see the apostle Paul in a resurrection body. You're going to see Abraham in a resurrection body. You're going to see Moses in a resurrection. You're going to see if your mother or father were Christians, you're going to see them in that resurrection body.
[01:19:04] maybe children that you've it's going to be amazing but the most amazing thing you will see is the glory of Jesus Christ and the fact that that doesn't wow us like it should shows how dull spiritually we've become but Paul says this is our blessed hope John says when we
[01:19:39] see him we will become like him this is this is an amazing reality not only will we see him in all of his glory we will become changed with resurrection bodies like his we will be made
[01:19:58] completely holy and here's what that means it means that we can gaze on his glory without the problem of sin. Remember even Moses, take off your sandals for you are on holy ground and he's
[01:20:15] groveling in the dirt, afraid to even look up. No, we will gaze with unveiled face, having been purified and cleansed from all sin. And we will be made like him and we will forever be with him
[01:20:36] and we will worship him forever and ever.
[01:20:43] So Christian, do you long for his appearing?
[01:20:52] That's the mindset of the Christian is that you long for that day.
[01:20:58] You can't wait for that day.
[01:21:04] Let me give you several things to think about in light of that.
[01:21:08] Several things to think about, very important.
[01:21:14] Only you can answer these questions.
[01:21:20] Are you a true servant of Christ or merely a professor? Lots of people grow up in the church.
[01:21:30] Lots of people go to Christian schools. Lots of kids in homeschool. Yeah, I wear the Jesus t-shirt.
[01:21:39] Yeah, but do you really know Christ? Do you really love him? Do you really live for him?
[01:21:47] Or are you just a through the motion type of Christian? Which, by the way, is no Christian at all. Don't let that be you. Don't let that be you. Repent. Confess Jesus as Lord and Savior
[01:22:05] and you will be saved. Repent of your sins. Trust him. A child simply believes in faith and that's all the Lord asks of you that you call out to him in faith. Second question. Again, only you can
[01:22:25] answer this. Are you living in light of the coming of his glory? Are you living righteously?
[01:22:38] Are you living alertly? Are you living faithfully in light of the coming of his glory? And third, does your heart long to see him listen listen if if if you don't that can change right now
[01:23:09] if you're just cold if you're just i've just been going you know i i don't really if i'm being honest i don't really want that i i don't i'm not really longing for that the thought is nice but
[01:23:21] it's not the the and the wellspring of my soul that can change now pray now lord fan of flame in my heart that I would love you awaken my soul I want to be the type of Christian that's sold
[01:23:39] out for Christ I want to see your glory make me that type of person that longs for the return of Christ you think if God did that work collectively here it would make a difference man that would be
[01:23:55] amazing. Let's not be a lukewarm church. Lord, would you set our hearts aflame for you with these realities of the glory of your return? May this not be a merely academic thought. Yes, you are coming at the end of history. Yes, that spurs us on to live righteously and ethically
[01:24:20] in this world. But Lord, we are stunned by the reality that we will see your glory. And when we see your glory we will be changed so lord stir those affections in our heart for this that we
[01:24:42] would desire to live for you our lord and savior jesus christ if there's anyone here lord who perhaps is merely a professor he's going through the motions i pray lord that you would open their
[01:24:57] eyes, that they might believe in Jesus and become a genuine disciple of Jesus Christ. And I pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Now, Phil's going to come and lead us, but let's stand and sing,
[01:25:17] and let's sing with the affections of our heart, looking to Christ, praising his name,

[01:25:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:25:22] giving him the glory. Let this be our prayer this morning. Be thou my vision.
[01:25:39] O Lord of my heart, be all else to save thee.
[01:25:54] Thou my best force, deliver me, and thou, thou my true dwelling, and I, it is I, the inheritance.
[01:27:05] sing it again heart of my own heart and if you would lift your hands as we sing together for from him and through him and to

[01:29:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[01:29:30] him are all things to christ be the glory forever and ever worlds without end amen